The Hand of Okra [An SCP Fanfiction]

4. A Devastating Discovery [Part 2]

"Unfortunately, Ms. Jingyi isn't available for questioning right now. I can assure you that she is awake, but she is very disoriented. We are going to work with her until she is well enough to consent to testing and interviews. Would you like us to contact you when that happens?"

"If you could, please," Sage responded, their voice flat. "Thank you for your assistance."

Sage provided their phone extension to the medic, who immediately returned to their patient after pocketing the information. They stepped down the hall, looking to return to their office, but a shaky James Barrot appeared in their path.

"Ember! Is-is she alright? Did you talk to her? God, please say yes."

"I'm sorry, Barrot, but she's not in the right headspace yet." They placed a hand on his shoulder. "I will let you know when she's available, alright? You'll be the first person I contact."

James just looked at them, eyes blank but watery, before nodding. Sage nodded and patted his shoulder. They went to walk away before he suddenly whipped to face them.

"Wait, actually! I wanted to-"

Noah appeared in the hallway, immediately landing eyes on Sage. His ever-present smile was faint.

"Sage! I saw Barrot heading this way and figured you'd be down here. I have some info from the camera feed."

They looked at him, unmoving, almost certain of the upcoming news.

"Oh-four-nine and oh-three-five are, um... absent from their containment cells. We issued a search of the building, but they're probably gone."

Sage's brow furrowed. They clung to their already messy black-and-yellow hair and exclaimed.

"Of course! Of course they're fucking gone!! I'm gonna have to halt operations on zero-four-nine's project until we find it. Agh, what am I going to tell zero-three-five's director?! This all happened because of negligence!" They threw their hands into the air. "God dammit!! The site director's gonna have my head. How do I not even know what happened?!"

"Ac-actually!" James managed to catch their attention amidst the rant. "That's what I was going to offer. Can't we check the cameras to see what happened?"

"No, actually," Noah interjected. "There are no cameras in peoples' personal offices for privacy reasons. And everything seemed to happen in there. At least, given the lack of eyewitnesses and where Jingyi was found."

"But she was wearing someone else's clothes, right? Someone had to have broken in, so wouldn't we be able to see who went in? Unless they entered from a vent... but surely those are too small."

Noah brought a hand to his chin, looking towards Sage for a response. They swallowed hard before turning back to James.

"I've already submitted the clothes to the lab to be tested for DNA. They're comparing it to all persons of interest and employees, past and present." They grabbed at their collar. "But, just in case this was an anomaly or someone completely new... it couldn't hurt. Noah?"

"Of course. Barrot, you're already close with her, correct? We could use you to help analyze the footage."

James jumped. "Oh! Definitely, whatever helps..!"

The two followed Noah throughout the hallways, determined to get to the bottom of the situation. They received several worried glances from their coworkers as they passed. Word had really gotten around, at least in that branch of the building.

With a swipe of Noah's identification, they entered one of the several surveillance rooms. Sage immediately located a landline to contact a lab within the building.