The SCP Foundation

Chapter 163: A Child's Will

"He got away?"

The captain nodded, making colonel sigh in disappointment as she hung her head. She then slammed her fist on the desk and looked up at her subordinate again.

"What the hell happened?" the colonel asked in an angered tone. "I was sure that we fucking had him this time!"

"It seemed that Davidson rushed to him before the others could catch up to him..." the captain responded with a sigh. "He wanted to play the hero and tried to get him to surrender."

"That fucking idiot!" the colonel responded, then groaned and threw her hands up. "Great, now we have to find out where he is again, since he fucking blew it."

"Ma'am, I understand your frustration... but you should also understand why he tried to reason with him."

"And look where it fucking got him!" the colonel immediately rebutted. "Captain, he's way too far into this cultist shit! There's no chance to be fucking talking him out of it!"

The captain stayed silent as she watched her superior walking around her desk, trying to calm herself down.

"And since Team Iris is gonna be in the infirmary for a bit, Team Able's gonna have to step in to cover for them." the colonel continued. "How the hell do we make sure that Able's not gonna kill him?"

"He still has that collar around him." the captain answered. "As long as we still have that, we're still in control of him."

"Well, what if he suddenly decided that he doesn't wanna follow orders and turns on us?" the colonel asked again. "It's gonna draw a lot of attention to us! And that extraction you pulled almost drew the NYPD in!"

"I covered it up the best I could, ma'am." the captain responded. "Until there's new information about Dustin, we have no choice other than to continue the routine."

"We wasted so much resources on the on-field searches..." the colonel sat back down on her chair. "Scott and her team can tell us where he is... they have better seeing eyes in the skies."

"If that's how you wish to deal with this..." the captain responded. "So... what do you wish to do now, ma'am?"

"Well, I don't feel like doing anything right now..."

"Really?" the captain asked. "Nothing at all. Not even considering going to Josie today?"

"Listen, if Davidson didn't fuck up and stuck with the rest of the force, then I would've went ahead with my celebratory Josie pats." the colonel answered. "If I go to her now with a tantrum, then I'm just gonna be rough with her petting and end up ruffling her fur, and I don't want to put her through that."

"I see..."

"We need a new plan... something that is foolproof. A plan that is impossible to fuck up!"

"Very ambitious, ma'am..." the captain responded. "What would that be?"

"I think you should sit down for this..." the colonel directed her subordinate to the chair in front of her desk. "Because once I tell you my brilliant plan, then you'll have nothing else to do but praise me!"

"A little excessive... but fine..." the captain obliged, taking a seat. "So, what is it?"

"You did say that Portnow's in cahoots with the Scarlet King, yeah?"

"If it wasn't obvious enough, ma'am..."

"Don't interrupt me." the colonel spoke up, then continued. "So... I figured, what if, we get SCP-999 along for the ride?"

"Ma'am..."

"Hey, hear me out." the colonel interjected again, then continued. "Since SCP-999 is involved with the Scarlet King somehow... well, I'm thinking that if we train him, then maybe we can use him to our advantage to get Portnow back."