[ CHAPTER II (2): "SCP CONTAINMENT MISSION NO. 08: THE ABNORMAL CASE OF MISSING EARS IN NOWHERE, BEVERLY HIGH" ]
"Ears? Like an ear eating monster, or what?" Alex though, as he tries to remember similar entities; but he couldn't think of such SCPs. The closest he had was the Toothy Fairy.
A monster that collects teeth, and is unlike the beautiful toothy fairies shown in popular media, but is instead an anomaly made out of teeth with a drive to collect more teeth.
Specifically for children. And to him, that was a nightmarish entity that he doesn't want to face. And if he was facing an entity close to that; how is he gonna fight that?
Short answer, he can't. Long answer, he can, but he'll die after some time; gruesomely, with his ears likely being eaten and plucked out.
Is that scary? Absolutely. Even more so compared to SCPs that instantly killed him, as in the latter cases, he didn't feel that much pain, and it was instantaneous.
Feeling worried and annoyed, and even a tinge bit of fear as his eyes constantly dart around the surroundings; which is dark, in the middle of the night, with no people around.
He tries to stop himself from imagining cryptic monsters hiding in-between the shadow---though there is one---unless he sees it personally, completely, and in the light. He wouldn't imagine other monsters.
Though that resolve of his is already showing a tinge bit of dent in it, as Alex is naturally scared of the dark, even with Immortality at hand, and him no longer being a child.
He calmed himself down, trying not to panic, and continued reading the text, while the voice in his head continued playing. "Next."
[ THE PLAYER IS TASKED TO FIND AND IDENTIFY THE CULPRIT TO FIND OUT THE NECESSARY CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES ]
[ THE PLAYER WILL BE GIVEN AN HOUR TO COMPLETE THE CONTAINMENT MISSION ]
Alex read the new text, and couldn't help but sigh. Standard Containment Mission either lasts an hour, or three at most. For example, SCP-939 With Many Voices, lasted three hours long; but he was killed in mere ten minutes.
He doesn't know what'll happen to him if the time limit count reached zero, and the Containment wasn't done in the allotted time. The likeliest theory of his is that, he would be safe and zone, and return to base.
While the second most theory of his is that, he'll explode from the inside and die; which would then cause him to be transported back to base. That is but a mere theory, but the possibility isn't zero, which is somewhat motivational for the idle Alex.
After some time, the next from the System then fully disappeared. Which meant that there would be no more information given to him, and that, he is now alone on this.
[ 59:59 ]
Instead, what replaced the text was but a timer. The timer which counts down to his eventual death, or salvation; either way, it would be a failure and he would be sent back.
"Great..." Alex exclaimed, because in his eyes, an hour of ghost hunting sounds like a nightmare. And if he could, he would have run away. "Just great."
But due to the powers of the System, which he doesn't know the upper limit of. He is instead forced to stick around the vicinity, and can't exit the place no matter what he does.
This is enforced in many ways. Like for example, in the sewers of NYC, in the case of The Flesh Who Hates; Alex couldn't climb up the manhole, as there's a barrier that stops him from either opening the lid, or existing.
And in another case, in the Wendigo Skull incident. He wasn't able to exit the forest which the said anomaly resides in, enforced again by an invisible wall that he couldn't bypass.
In curiosity, he stepped away from the school, and tried to reach out behind him. Trying to find how big the barrier is, and where it starts, and where it ends in this case.
And after some time of grasping in the air, he was finally able to touch a solid surface. No, it wasn't wood or stone, or even the outer wall of the school, it is instead... air.
Or what Alex likes to call it as, "Game Wall", as the Containment Mission for him is like a game. And it does resemble the invisible walls that he sees in games, ones that bind the players in the playable map.
Overtime though, the game walls in video games did improve, and a more subtle way was enforced. But the "game walls" that Alex has is reminiscent of those old game walls, which made him lovingly call it that.
"I'm gonna die here, oooh god..."
Trying to calm himself down, and failing. Alex though with a shaky, wobbly leg, and a body that doesn't want to search for the anomaly. Still started his search, as he roamed around.
The school grounds wasn't fully visible to him, and with no lights going about, he felt blind. But thanks to the moon, he could still see somewhat, albeit he needs to squint his eyes and look closely to do so.
That, and add the fact that he has a pretty energetic mind, he couldn't help but imagine monsters of varying sizes and appearance, hiding and stalking in the dark.
"I-I'm not s-scared... I'm-I'm a big boy now. Ghosts aren't even that scary, ha-hah!"
If his Brothers, or anyone who knows him, or anyone in general could see him now. And the way he acts, as a grown ass man. They would undeniably laugh at him.
But Alex, who had experienced death multiple times via hostile anomalies, he doesn't care. Caution, and overthinking shrouded his thoughts, which is why he's hugging the wall.
Yes, that's right. He's trying to search for the anomaly while hugging the invisible boundary of the System, trying to stay far away from the buildings like they are the plague.
From past experiences he knows that the monsters are roaming about in the landmarks, and before he encounters them, Alex wants to find a weapon to defend himself with.
This is a school ground, American school ground. The likelihood of finding baseball bats are high, or even defensive gears, like those clunky wrestling helmets or rugby ones.
If not... then guns. But that's up for speculations, with the mass shooting happening all-about, all-around whenever Alex turns on the TV; the chances are high.
And weirdly enough. He does pray to some extent, that he may find a gun. But instead, after what felt like an hour long of searching, he could only find a small storage.
"I-I can't see shit." He crouched down and squinted his eyes, and only after confirming what he was seeing did he move into that direction, finally abandoning his game wall.
Albeit with caution, as he tries his best to be silent and lower his body as low as he could. And with training---and cases of failing---he to some extent, knows enough of this.
Worried that the ear-stealing SCP may be inside, did he first search the place through the small window in the side. Only moving after seeing no man-eating anomaly inside.
After going inside, he closed the door behind him, as silently as he could; winching slightly when he heard a small thud, which is more audible at night in comparison to day.
For a moment he paused, not daring to move, or even breath. In fear that he might have actually attracted something. He only continued when he heard no one, and in seeing no one approach his spot. "hah... safe."
With how wide his eyes are opened, one would have been concerned about him. But no, that is actually Alex's way of maximizing his vision, and staying alert.
His eyes trailing whenever he sees something move in his peripheral. And only calming down whenever he confirms that it was nothing, and not the yet to be found SCP.
Alex then scans the small room that he's in, and could see various equipment from sports. Though some are abandoned, in disrepair, broken, and have cobwebs and dust sticking in some parts, to him it is still useful.
"This is what I'm talking about!" Trying to hold down his excitement, he approached the nearest equipment he could find; and the one that instantly caught his fancy.
A baseball bat, one made out of wood and has damage in the topmost part of it, but still useful. Testing the thing, he felt the weight of it, before then swinging it a couple of times.
Feeling relish and safety whenever he hears the "whoosh" sound coming from it. At least for now, he has a fighting chance against whatever entity he might be facing.
And if he couldn't hurt the thing and instead enrage it, at least he has something to block it with as he runs away like the coward he might actually be. "This'll do."
Searching around the area, though cramped, he realized that the storage unit doesn't have quite that many useful items in it. Mostly junk, with most being damaged from extreme use.
But in the pile of junk, did he notice something that instantly caught his fancy, and that immediately bought a shit-eating smile to his face. "Damn jackpot...!"
And instantly did he grasp a handful of them, not caring that some fell in the ground. As they are piled in the ground in the first place, in the corner of the room. "Now I can finally see in this godforsaken place."
Yes, that's right. Flashlights. Albeit smaller than normal as they seem made to be mere keychains, and are less durable due to the fact that they are made out of plastics.
Though in the bright side, they do appear fashionable as they come in varying colors; and from what he's seeing that colors would be red, blue, green, yellow, black, and white.
And they could lit up the place---literally---and counter his fear of the dark, and in essence, also counter his mind who's overly imagining monsters roaming about in the dark.
Picking up the green flashlight, which is smaller than 1/3rd of his palm, he tried turning it on but noticed the lights are dim, and are flickering in and out of life. "Shame."
Alex quite likes the color green, which is why he picked the green flashlight, and also why he always wore his green zipper pulled down jacket with him, rarely not wearing it.
He just didn't expect that he would die wearing it, and be reborn always wearing it. Which isn't technically a bad thing, but it did happened. And so, he picked another and tried.
The same color, and this time, it worked. Which made him sigh in relief. And for safety measures, he also tested the other flashlights, bringing in backups as he segregated the working ones as he then put it in his pockets.
In case the flashlight in his hand ever dim, or lose battery, or lost completely, at least he had another to spare. And another reason is that, he is testing one of his theories.
Which is all about bringing items from Missions back to his home base, to tinker and play with in-between deployment. He wasn't able to confirm or debunk this one theory of his because he kept dying.
If Alex isn't wrong, then unless he completes the Mission and contains the said SCP of the day completely, without dying; or, unless the timer did ever run it, without him dying also.
Then there is a slim chance that he might be able to bring things, items, or whatever back into base. Key point, colorful flashlights, which is usable at any Containment Mission.
Which is why at the moment he's stuffing as many as he could in his pant's pockets, and due to the design of his pants---baggy---it could fit many small items in without worry.
He only ever did stop when he felt the weight in his pockets sagging slightly, and when he felt satisfied from his haul.
Hopeful that he might actually survive this one Mission; because if he actually did survive, then it'll be fantastic for his future Missions; as he'll have a mini flashlight for each one.
Holding his bat, he then search the place for small armors that he could. Like an helmet, or chest piece that'll cover him from impact if he ever did get tackled by the SCP he's searching.
But he froze mid action as he heard the System announcement, his breathing stopping for a moment as he reads the text; trying to confirm if what he is hearing is real.
[ WARNING: THE CULPRIT ENTITY IS CLOSE TO THE PLAYER'S VICINITY ]
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[ FUN FACT: "The SCP Foundation categorizes anomalous entities based on how difficult they are to contain. The most used categories are Safe, Euclid, and Keter. There are other categories, but the main three are those mentioned above." ]