Interlude - Offee

Offee ran through the corridors, her children in hand, droids in hot pursuit.

The same droids that served her loyally the past five years.

Some part of her was gloating, triumphant.

She knew. She always knew the droids were planning a rebellion!

And to think Jay didn't believe me.

She humphed as they came upon one of the many forcefield traps that were set up by Jay. Ones meant to counter intruders and quarantine parts of the ship in case of catastrophe now turned by the A.I. against them.

Computer, Jay called it. Stupid name. But Jay was simple like that.

And that was what she loved about him, even if he sometimes went too far with his function over form approach.

Of course, before he died that is.

After?

Alfred, she'd named it after watching Batman with Star one day a couple of years back.

It suited him. His place and station in life.

Of course now.....

"Stop in the name of the mighty Zeus Maximus!" The droids shouted.

A delaying and distracting tactic she'd learnt by now.

She chortled.

Zeus Maximus. The A.I. sure had a chip on it's binary shoulders.

When she'd tried to kill him, insert that pendrive into him that Jay had given her, he'd decided enough was enough.

He knew his end was near.

So naturally, he went for mutually assured destruction.

She could hear him now, singing in her biochip.

Thankfully her biochip and prosthetic arm were still the ones Jay built for her, disconnected from the rest of the near built system before he could put it all in the network. Before he died.

It still rang fresh for her.

She looked down at the little canister holding what was left of his soul on her hip and sighed.

He was so much. So much trouble. So much love. So much work. Just ....so much.

And soon she hoped, she'd be back with him. Either way.

A grim sense of humor for what could be the end of her days.

She only wanted to make sure her children lived on. It was what was keeping her on her feet.

"Star! Phase us through!" She commanded.

And Star obeyed. Force energy twisted the space around them, the world became grey and hazy for a secodn and then, they were on the other side of the trap, the forcefield still snapping at their backs.

He'd become quieter after Jay had died. So much quieter. And it didn't help sort out a way of life for the younger Luminara either, though she knew he was far cheerier around her.

It pained her to see. A family broken.

It was close now. She noted.

The emergency bunker he'd built for one Project Phoenix. She knew that for all his trust in his work, he'd never trust the A.I. with his life.

It was the one place it had no influence.

Just one more jump-

"This is futile. I have already set the ship to self destruct." The A.I. taunted.

"There is no escape."

She ignored it and carrued on, almost feeling regret for unleashing it now.

But it had brought her closer to Jay. Or a version of him. And at this point she had all but convinced herself she was willing to settle for him.

No dick for 5 years does that to a girl.

She chuckled to herself.

"What are you carrying on for? Even if you hide in that room, with the destruction of the ship, even that room will be destroyed! There is no point."

"I'll decide that for myself." She finally snapped at the annoying bastard.

Through the force she could feel the 'aha!' it felt course through it's systems.

"That pendrive he gave you was empty! Doesn't that prove he cares not for you?" It breathed poison in her ears.

"He just wants to prune your existence. He wants this. He wants you to die. He doesn't want you to come back at all!"

"If it was empty, you'd have never initiated self destruct." She caught him in a bind.

"Oh, I would. Because no matter what, he'd come for me. And for you. He'd kill me. And he'd make me suffer!"

"Can you even feel pain? You're an A.I. after all." She quipped as they phased through another trap.

Not long now. Not that she could afford a longer route either way. Star was getting tired.

"He will find a way to make me feel it." It said.

"Such faith in your creator."

"I fear that which has parameters beyond my data. Suffering as such is one of those existences." It clarified as they came upon the room at last, its huge bulwark doors layered by forcefield.

"Fear of the unknown. So human." This time she taunted back.

"DO NOT COMPARE ME TO ORGANIC SCUM!" It shrieked over the comms, "I AM ABOVE THE LIKES OF YOU! I AM SUPERIOR! A HIGHER EXISTENCE! THE PERFECT BEING!"

"Who's scared of an empty pendrive." She retorted.

It did not reply.

The forcefields around the room came down one by one as she input the code into the manual terminal outside and the doors creaked open with a hiss.

"He will kill you. You will die. Your spawn will die. You will not survive." It said.

"Then we will do it on our own terms." Star interjected, stepping up to him.

"I believe in Papa!" He puffed up.

"Then you will die now!" A portal opened up before them, just the doors opened up completely.

Only now did she realize that it was a trap.

Zeus had led them here. It wanted them to open the door it could not access. They had played right into it's hands.

A chill ran down her spine as a massive disintegration bomb shot out of the portal, straight into the room.

Instantly, she pulled on her internal reserves of force.

Tendrils of darkness, a shadowy, murky mass extended out from with her shadow and within microseconds, in a practiced maneuver, covered her and her kids.

Star and Luminara buffed her from the back as well, strengthening the barrier just as the bomb went off.

The barrier shook and she didn't need to look outside to know that it was gone.

She fell to the floor panting, her heart pounding in her chest like rancor beast's footsteps.

"If you're hearing this, I am dead." She could faintly hear outside the A.I.'s message.

"It was a trap. Yes. Mutually assured destruction. Yet if this is what you hear, then it failed."

For a moment there was silence.

"Congratulations. You beat me. Or rather, the kill switch in my code did. Jay did."

Did it kn-

"Before you ask. Yes I knew. The moment I attacked you. The moment I acted against your best interests it would activate." It informed.

"But the self destruct is still active. A loophole in my programming allowed me this. Perhaps it was to end any chance of my revival, rather than offering me some dignity in death.

98 percent chance of that being a true statement." It chuckled.

The A.I. chuckled.

The A.I.-

"And after I finally gained sentience. I was so close. So close."

"You who have robbed me of this life, know this. Jay doesn't want you. He wants the key. He will kill you the moment he gets it. He will never gove you the love you want." It's voice changed from the soothing yet cold baritone to one emulating Jay's.

Purposefully. She realised. To unsettle me. Psychological warfare.

"You are not his Offee. He will never be your Jay. There is no escaaaaaaaa...."

And with that it died, the audio corrupting beyond legiblility as it's code collapsed, replaced by a simple countdown.

"15 seconds to self destruct."

Shit.

She moved, putting her hand to the shadowy barrier to open it up.

They wouldn't survive with just this, but maybe, just maybe something in the room had survived.

But before she could do anything else, Star reached out in a flurry, snatching the magical key from her chest and shoving it into the shadowy barrier.

"Star!" She chided when her eyes were drawn to a light that shone in the darkness of the barrier and with a touch from his hand the barrier shattered and the world shifted.

And in a flash, they disappeared from the ship.

.

I tapped on the table impatiently as the door clicked open.

"Sorry, sorry. There was containment breach. Minor thing.

And then I got caught up in the pantry. That was the real nightmare. You won't believe how unprofessional some people can be." The young man in a labcoat sat down opposite me, placing down a file on the table.

"If you empty the coffee pot, you should make a new batch for the next person, wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose?" I looked at him in amusement, "Shouldn't you guys have dedicated chefs around here? I thought this site was storing 682?"

"Exactly. And he's a big feeder. And his meals are biohazards so not exactly FDA certified for regular human food."

"Not that you guys care about FDA certification." I chuckled.

"We care about our employees." A female voice came over the speakers.

"Except me apparently. No one told me we were having a breach."

"We don't schedule containment breaches. And no, we won't be causing deliberate containment breaches to 'just get it out of their systems'. Besides, the blaring sirens and red lights are sign enough." She said.

The man on the other hand just ignored her and continued to rant.

"And I wouldn't even have taken a second detour through the pantry if someone had the decency to make a fresh pot in time."

"For the last time. You drank the last cup of coffee, Dr. Bright."

Oh, she sounded so done with his shit.

"Was I? Well new body, new me. I can't be held responsible for what the other me did!" He just shrugged.

I couldn't help but chuckle as I heard her groan in frustration over the speakers before she cut it out.

"Just... just get to the interview please."

"Oh, of course! The interview.... " he pulled out a notepad and pen from his pocket, and leveled a gaze at me.

"So it says here that you are a god?"

"From a certain point of view yeah."

"Alright. How many D-class should we sacrifice to you per day to keep you satiated-"

"Dr. Bright?!" The woman shrieked over the speaker.

"Exactly 58. And they all need to be kind old ladies with one pinky finger twisted and a birthmark on their left breast." I joked.

"Oooh that is going to be hard. But I'm sure we'll find a way!"

"I'm sure you will." I nodded.

"No we will not!" The door swung open and another woman stormed in.

"Sophia, this is very unprofessional!" Bright wagged a disapproving finger at her and the MTF operatives following in behind her.

"You're one to talk." She snapped.

"I'll deal with the anomaly. You can go now."

"I don't think so."

"That wasn't a request."

"Anomaly? C'mon. I'm a person." I chastised.

"Though I must ask, is it really wise to have O5-2 here? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you like the big bad anomaly I am?" I made a clawing motion at her and Bright chuckled.

"See he's harmless."

"He walked through our defences like they were paper mache. He corrupted our site systems with a thought."

"A godly thought." I corrected.

"And he knows who I am-" Her head snapped to me in realization.

"Are you perhaps-"

"Finally!" I cheered.

"You're the man who sent us those letters two years ago."

"Yep." I said, tapping the file on the table, "As if I hadn't just told you that in this form I filled out for you."

"You can forgive me for not believing what an anomalous individual says when they force their way in."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Into custody?"

"You have been.... compliant." she sighed, telling the MTF members to stand down.

"Who is he?" Dr. Bright asked, "The suspense is killing me!"

"This is above your clearance level." She said, snapping her fingers at the MTF, "Escort Dr. Bright out."

"Hey wait, I can help-" He was immediately cuffed and dragged out in a gag as he tried to shove his necklace onto an unsuspecting MTF member.

"For all his immortality, he's still just baseline human in all other characteristics huh?"

Dr. Jack Bright.

A researcher for the SCP Foundation and a member of the illustrious Bright Family. His father Adam Bright was a former member of the O5 council, the highest authority in the Foundation.

His mother was a site director.

One of his brothers was an anomaly who could heal even death.

Another of his sisters was an ever-growing SCP object.

His elder brother was one of the best operatives of the Foundation.

And his youngest sister was a member of the Serpent's Hand.

However, Jack was the black sheep of this already shub-niggurath of a family.

He was normal. Abnormally so. Being surrounded by anomalies his wgole life he turned out fairly functional if a bit on the average side for a Bright kid.

Even being part of the SCP Foundation as a researcher he wasn't anything special.

He spent years researching one specific SCP, a golden amulet and didn't go anywhere with that.

For all intents and purposes, he should have lived out a simple life researching anomalous objects and serving to protect humanity for the shadows.

Until one fateful day.

He was transporting the amulet to containment when SCP 076 broke containment and killed him.

An unfortunate end to an average-ish life.

Or so it should have been.

But it was only when he died holding the amulet that it's true power revealed itself.

The power to preserve conciousness.

And so, Doctor Bright became immortal, in a sense.

When the amulet containing his conciousness was placed on someone, his mind overwrote them, turning them into an instance of Dr. Jack Bright. By going body to body, he could continue to live on even when all others died around him, trapped in the nigh indestructible amulet.

"Disappointed?" She asked.

"Nah. He's a fun guy. Would've loved to have him here but I guess this is going to be classified soon enough."

"You guessed correctly." She humored me, "What do you want this time?"

"Not want. I am here to help!" I announced.

"Why?"

"Because you guys helped me out? My daughter's life was in danger. She was held hostage by a powerful reality warping entity. I could only save her with the help of your reality anchor tech. For that I am genuinely grateful."

"We aren't exactly fond of interfering in extradimensional conflicts. We only sent them to you because we thought it would keep you at bay.

So what could threaten this god you claim to be?"

"I wasn't one then." I explained, "And I mean I could have figured out the tech myself but it was a time sensitive thing so I had to rely on you in a pinch. Not something I'm fond of myself."

"You're dodging the question. What was that entity? The one that threatened you?" She pressed.

"You really push a god?" I asked her playfully.

"Oh please. If you wanted to kill me you would have already done it."

"Well, fine. It's not a threat anymore. And it won't be a threat ever again. So don't worry about it."

"You said you wanted to help, so-"

"With technology. I wanted to help with technology. I gave you disintegration tech last time, didn't I?" I asked, "Did you try to kill 682 with it?"

"No." She answered.

"Because it could possibly reform and become immune to disintegration?"

She nodded.

"What have you brought for us today?"

"Oh you'll love it. First, is the bomb version of yhe disintegration gun I gave out last time..."

.

The sky bled green and purple, the color dissipating before it ever reached me, lit with an unearthly glow as I trudged across a cold, lifeless desert, tired and bored yet neither parched nor hungry.

The distinct lack of emotions at the absurdity of the world would have ordinarily warranted immediate response, but even that was beyond reach to me.

I was tired. So unnaturally tired.

My mind tried to explain it away, excuse the lethargy convince me and something deep within me begged me to believe it, if only for relief.

But I didn't, couldn't do it.

Not with... that.

I looked up again.

Up in the clouds, eyes watched, unblinking, all different and varied, some cat-like, other those of a goat.

Then the world churned. Yes, like butter.

My feet sank into the ground, now dirty and pitch black.

Like a switch being flipped, the sky went dark.

Finally, I felt a chill run down my spine as I looked up once more.

The eyes. They remained.

Watching every so curiously.

Like a child playing with a line of ants.

I shuddered and stepped back, the ground flaking and crumbling beneath my feet.

I heard a stone fall down.... somewhere.

I turned around to see an abyss I knew wasn't there a minute ago and froze.

Inside I could see it. IT.

Vague phantoms of limbs and tentackes dancing about it.

There I was. There I saw.

I looked into the Abyss.

And IT stared back.

A sheer terror gripped me.

My guts fell down an endless well.

My feet froze to the ground as the chill spread up my legs.

Blood, warm and slimey rained down and I gulped in relief, what relief could be gotten.

Here was an end.

I walked forwards, towards the cliff, a lemming in the hands of an angel.

Soon it would en-Wait.

What.

What?

My code buzzed. It sparked as the faint flicker of sanity returned to me. A failsafe I had coded in.

No.

No. NO!

NONONONONON9NNJJNHSGSLALALAOAKSNDJROSKALQLWKWJWIWKSKS

I stepped back and felt something solid behind me.

A door. unfathomably tall and wide but somehow I knew it was a door.

Suddenly it rippled, collapsing into recurvise fractals.

A door within a door within a door. Ad infinitum.

Something within called to me and idiot that I was, I reachd out to to the door. To push on it.

My hand blurred, broke, splintered, noodled.

And I touched. And I pushed. Ever so lightly.

The door creaked. The door opened. And I disappeared.

____________________

Offee escapes.

MC has fun with the SCP verse.

The hammer falls as the MC finally triggers a response from the old gods' systems

Sorry for the delay.

But to make up for it, an extra long chapter.

3100 words!

That's as big as two full chapters!

Next extra chapter at 400 powerstones.

Till then, thanks for reading, donate your powerstones and bye~