Sanitarium Containment Procedures

Reborn

A few months later, things were relatively back to normal. The Foundation had been rebuilt and, along with a surprisingly high number of others, Cora had made a full recovery. She was back in the Foundation and she was back in Shilo's life. Or at least, most of her was. June had been Cora's host of choice for years and with June no longer alive, something else had to be done to keep Cora from going on another rampage.

Once again, a magic medicine from GeneCo was the cure. Cora took pills that altered her mind into thinking June was away on a weeklong trip, every week. That way, even though June was never coming back, Cora wouldn't know it and would so be able to live without going on a parasitic rampage. She would be convinced that June was only going to be gone for a little while longer...

As for what she would live off of with June gone? Well, Rotti and several others were trying to channel human essences over to Cora and even though Shilo still had no clue what that meant, it seemed to be working. Cora always looked and acted like one in good health, so whatever it was that Rotti was sending over, it was enough to keep Cora sane and sustained.

But speaking of Rotti, in all the time that it took to fix things, he had never once actually come over to visit the Foundation in person. Sure, he'd given quite a few grandiose speeches to the Foundation, but they were all done through a broadcast of some sort, and never a face-to-face talk. This irked a lot of people, especially given that Rotti was the father of the Foundation, but Shilo reasoned that it was probably all for the best. She personally hated Rotti enough that she would prefer him to stay as far away from her as possible, even if the idea of him refusing to visit his own creation seemed rather callous and immoral in the eyes of everyone else. He was just an all-out scumbag with nearly no redeeming qualities and Shilo knew nothing he would attempt would ever work because he was too corrupt of a man to ever mean anything good to anyone in the Foundation. He was the creator, yes, but that meant nothing. He was never around to truly support them. But that was not such a bad thing...

"I can't wait for June to come home!" Cora sighed wistfully as she and Shilo stood in the new Foundation.

"Don't worry, we'll see her again soon," Shilo murmured gently, knowing every word she said was a lie.

"Of course, I know," Cora smiled and hugged Shilo gently. "I know she's just busy right now, but so are we. I better get a move on with my duties. Dine with me tonight once we both get off of work?" she asked.

"Heck yeah!" Shilo play-punched Cora and Cora grinned back, little-knowing that Shilo's smile was a mask.

Shilo knew Cora would never see June again and even months later, this thought still broke Shilo's heart. But the grief didn't just come from June's absence within her life. On the contrary, it came from what had happened to June after the battle. She actually had not died upon that night, but the operations required to save her life pretty much forced her to succumb to her SCP side. It was either death, or becoming an SCP, and Shilo made the call for the latter option, unpleasant as that sounded. But the operation was carried out and June's life was saved, though she wasn't exactly the same girl Shilo had sent into the operating room...

"She's ready," Nathan had said about a month after the battle. He was, of course, referring to the "reborn" June.

"Can I see her now?" Shilo asked, eyes glittering fearfully as he said this.

"Are you sure?" Nathan asked uncertainly. Shilo nodded. "She may not be what you were used to," he warned.

"I don't care," Shilo promise bravely. "I just need to see her. Please!"

"Ok then, let's go," Nathan murmured, then he led his foster daughter to the Euclid Floor.

"There she is," Nathan whispered once they arrived at one of the many doors lining that floor. Shilo pressed her nose to the window of her door. June was facing away from them. She wore a red, tattered dress. Her hair was a bit more colored than before and it had been cut short. She sat at a tiny table under one little light, drinking tea and eating crumpets. The walls were lined in striped paper.