World-Class Thaumiel| Tales of the SCP Foundation

Maniacal Puppet

"I don't have anything to do today. Why am I even here?" Jack stretched his arms and yawned.

"Doc, if you want, we can drive around the city."

"Nah, I feel lazy today. I kinda wanna go back and sleep, but at the same time I wanna go do some workouts." The lunch bell rang and the three hurried to go to the cafeteria.

"Doctor, congratulations on your first test!" A young researcher greeted him.

"Thanks!" He replied back, falling in line for his food. By the way, where is Avery?

"Oh yeah, I heard that some kind of big shot is coming here from Japan." His ears were immediately listening.

"Seriously? Who did you hear that from?"

"From one of Doctor Krankov's students. He said that she's not in today because of that." They continued whispering right in front of Jack, but the rest were uninteresting stories. Nothing beats the feeling of overhearing a gossip.

It was finally his turn to get some food. "What can I get for you?"

"Just some coffee, please."

"Doc, that's not allowed to order. It needs to be a complete meal."

"Fine, some pizza and cola." He rolled his eyes and frowned.

"Yes, sir." He was immediately given the meal and rushed beside Pedro and Pietro.

"Doc, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm just getting ready for something." He pushed his pizza away and made room for his arms to rest in.

"You should at least eat something."

"Nah."

"Doctor, you act like a kid sometimes. Just eat the pizza."

"Ehh nahh. Besides, it's common etiquette to wait for everyone else before eating."

"Huh? Are we waiting for someone?"

"Yeah. Just wait." After 11 minutes of idling, the cafeteria became noisier, booming with murmurs and gossip.

"Why is there a toddler here? Even guarded by the MTF." They were talking about the 8-year old hugging a teddy bear at the entrance.

"It seems like they're here." Jack announced to his team.

"Wait a minute, that's Miss Angela, one of the higher ups!" Pietro whispered.

"Doc, have you met her before? How'd you know she was coming?"

"No questions asked, boys." The said toddler showed up behind Jack.

"Hey you, are you Jack Bright? The man from the prophecy?" The cafeteria went silent.

"Yes, madam. Here, have a seat." He offered her the seat across from him.

"Sure, you sound like such a gentleman compared to those disgusting people in the M5000." She jumped to reach her seat. "You're a genius too, considering that we higher ups move in utter secrecy yet you knew beforehand that I was coming."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Sure. Hey Caggher, order some food for the two of us. Bright here must be starving, having to wait for us."

"Yes, madam." The MTF moved away and fell in line.

"Before we start, I wanna ask a rather personal question."

"Go ahead." Angela coughed for a minute.

"How's your world? How'd you get here?"

"My world? It's in smithereens. I only got here thanks to an anomaly in my world."

"I see. I'm sorry for your loss." Her voice softened a little.

"It's been thousands of years. It's nothing to worry about."

"I see. What a pity, I was considering making a trip there and including it in the new project."

"Is this about the meeting yesterday?"

"Yeah, we are planning to go and visit other planets. Oh right, your nephew is included in this one too." The food was presented right in front of them.

"I see. How big is this project?"

"You're talking about the scale of this project? It's impossibly big. Our only hope is for a god to drop down and help us. You probably have an idea about what kind of project this is, right?"

"Indeed." He took a bite out of the pasta.

"By the way, my name's Angela Nagahara. Gosh, you remind me of the time when I was just a young researcher." She took a bite out of her pasta as well. "Anyways, I came here to invite you to Japan. You've at least heard of my satellites, right?"

"I'm afraid I still don't know much."

"Gosh, that darn old man. He's been overworking you, isn't he?"

"Uh, who?"

"He never even showed himself? The audacity! You're the man who will save the universe, and he didn't even make time for you?" Save the universe? Jack mocked her in his thoughts.

"Who is this exactly?"

"He's the one in charge of all Branch 19s here in Russia!"

"I see."

"Hmmm, how about I transfer you to Japan? All my branches are being treated right, and all my employees have 2-week vacations every month. How does that sound? What do you say?" He chuckled awkwardly.

"I thought I had no say in this. At the end of the day, I'm just an SCP."

"Had no say? Are you some kind of prisoner? You have free will, you know. And, if that old man rejects the transfer, I'll make sure to pull some strings. What do you say now?"

"I-I'll think about it. For now, we should talk about the details of your temporary invite to Japan." He chuckled awkwardly.

"Oh that. I was just inviting you to some sight seeing in space. Japan is most known to be the first ever country to build space ships and satellites, after all. Also, most of the satellites today are hand crafted by me."

"As expected."

"So, do you accept my invitation?" I need to make sure that Avery will be fine. She probably accepted the commission, seeing as she's the only one able to even make this project possible in the first place.

"Just the trip. I'll think about the transfer later."

"Wonderful. Are you done eating?"

"Sure." His plate was almost never touched, while Angela's plate was already empty.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" She stood up with the help of her bodyguard.

"Where are we going?"

"Where else? To the old man, of course. I'm gonna show him that he has no rights holding you here. Your talents and skills will go to waste by staying here in Russia." What exactly does she want? Why is she doing this?

Angela led the whole group outside of Branch 19 and let everyone inside her limousine.