Chapter 23

It wasn't dark inside the facility. Apparently the emergency lights had kicked in awhile ago.

The current plan was to stop any foundation member heading towards the exit and ask them what SCPs have escaped.

A simple plan on paper, but the pools of blood and bisected bodies weren't giving him much hope of finding any survivors. The smart ones were probably hiding right now, or had already gotten the hell out of here.

Worse yet, most of his tools wouldn't work inside the facility. They all had safety devices attached to them to prevent their use inside of foundation buildings.

He chuckled, I guess they still don't trust me to not just snap one day and start rolling grenades down the hallway.

Michael continued his walk, sensing his surroundings for any flesh that could be moving this way.

He still kept an eye out though, who knows if the escaped SCPs even have flesh. One of his soldiers walked a good ways out in front of Michael. If someone was going to be killed in a surprise attack, he'd prefer it not be him.

Michael turned and opened the door of a broom closet, before flicking the lights on.

"There you are."

Curled up in the corner was a foundation scientist. He had his eyes averted from the door, and seemed to be trying to stay as small as possible. It seemed like he knew Tommy's secret techniques to survival.

"Hey mate, rescue's here."

The man finally turned towards Michael, tears were running down his face.

"Oh thank god, all the gates just started opening. I didn't know what to do."

"Well, the first thing you can do is give me a rundown of the SCPs kept in this facility."

"Wait, wait...you were walking around down here and you didn't even know what's out there?"

Michael shrugged, "Everyone upstairs was being influenced by some mind altering SCP. It was kinda difficult to get any information out of them."

"But we don't keep any mind altering SCPs at this site."

Michael rubbed his forehead, he was beginning to get a headache.

"Just tell me what we're dealing with."

"Oh, ok so there's only one SCP that we really need to be concerned with. The rest are safe class or won't move from their cells without provocation."

"Well that's good news at least."

"Hardly, the one we need to worry about is SCP-058."

"The spider heart thing?"

"That's a simple way of putting it, but yes"

Suddenly Michael felt the connection to one of his soldiers' sever.

"Looks like I don't need to go looking for it at least. You stay here."

Michael stepped out of the broom closet, and immediately yanked his head back as a small creature flashed down the hall.

A shallow cut appeared along Michael's throat, which he quickly closed up. He'd sensed it approaching, but it'd been so fast it barely mattered.

Down the hall was what looked to be a heart the size of a bowling ball with four spider legs and four thorny tentacles coming off its body.

A single barged tail came off the back end, and was likely what had slit Michael's throat. The force behind it was insane, and it likely would've decapitated him if he'd been hit directly.

Looking towards the creature, Michael couldn't help feeling a sort of kinship to it. It was quite similar to the flesh that hates. Hell, the thorn covered tentacles weren't much different from the vines he'd used to defeat Able.

Despite having no mouth, it spouted off nonstop gibberish in a thick British accent that Michael all but ignored. No sense listening to something that didn't make sense.

Michael stepped towards it, and it took several steps back. Interestingly enough, it seemed to be wary of him, and even more interesting it stopped its incoherent rambling altogether once he'd begun to approach it.

Michael took another step, and felt drool flow down his face.

Well that's odd.

The creature fled down the hall, and Michael quickly gave chase.

It was fast, but Michael wasn't about to let it just get away. He sprinted full speed through the hallway, not caring for any collateral damage he caused.

Large chunks of flooring we're torn in the chase, and Michael's soldiers were all but forgotten.

He needed to catch the heart. He didn't know why, but he needed this creature.

It was an overwhelming feeling, like he'd been stranded in a desert for weeks and had finally found water.

So he moved with pure intent, as more damage was done to the facility.

The heart suddenly ducked into a side room, and Michael quickly rushed in after it.

By the time he'd entered the room, his eyes were bloodshot. Every Part of his being was screaming at him to reach the monster.

The creature used the walls as footing, and moved throughout the room through a series of rapid jumps.

The only object contained in the small room was a small glass case containing a sea slug. It sat atop a small rock, and seemed to be watching intently.

Michael followed right behind the monster, further destroying the small room, before bringing out his mace in an attempt to swat the monster from the air.

Cuts accumulated across his body and he missed several swings before he finally bludgeoned the creature into the ground, as its bladed tail swung around and severed Michael's arm clean from the elbow.

Michael quickly deadened the nerves in the arm, before grabbing the heart with his free hand. All of its resistance ended, it was akin to a kitten being picked up by its mother as its limbs hung limply at its sides.

A more rational part of Michael's brain was telling him to put it the fuck down, but Michael's body was screaming for him to consume it.

He hesitated for a moment, but in the end he couldn't resist.

He pulled the heart closer to his chest, as it shrunk to a manageable size and sank into his flesh. Then for the briefest moment, it's words became clear.

"You're a fool. Greater monsters than you have possessed me, and they all perished, whether it be by blade or ash. You aren't any different, you will perish with time, and I will once again be alone. Release me."

Michael grinned, "Sorry, but I don't really plan on dying, or letting you go for that matter."

With that, the heart went silent once again.

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Once the heart had been absorbed into Michael's body, he fell to his knees and began to cough up black muck and chunks of flesh, but he struggled through, gripping his severed arm and pushing it against the stump. His flesh twisted and bonded his arm back into place. It was a surprisingly easy task, considering the current situation.

He continued to cough up the black muck, and he didn't have a clue what the stuff even was, although he did have a hunch the chunks of flesh were from his recently replaced heart.

Michael heard a soft British voice speak into his head before going silent,

"So many imperfections in this body."

Pain began to flare within Michael as he fell to the ground, as more and more of the black muck began to come out of his body.

It pushed through his skin and soon, he was covered in the stuff, as the pain continued to grow.

He deadened the nerves in his body in an attempt to escape the pain, and that helped, but only for a moment.

This type of pain wasn't something so easily escaped, and it came back with a vengeance. It demanded his attention, no matter how much he tried to escape it. The pain was far too harsh, as he fell to the floor and struggled against it, unable to even escape to unconsciousness.

Unbeknownst to Michael, a small sea slug moved along the tile floor. Its cage had been shattered during the chase, leaving it free to crawl atop of Michael.

It saw the pain he was going through and gave his sympathy. He'd had several similar experiences, and they weren't among the stories he liked to retell. What a spiteful heart, to cause this man so much pain. It was simply unnecessary. It could have done this process in small increments and the process would've been practically painless.

The slug ever so slowly drew a small symbol atop Michael's chest, and pressed down on it softly.

Dazzling light immediately grew from it. It enveloped the room, and when it faded a bluish liquid appeared where the symbol had been. It was quickly absorbed into Michael's skin, and with that he finally fell unconscious.

The snail gave a satisfied nod, before heading back over to its favorite rock.

These young ones are always getting into too much trouble, although they are interesting to watch from time to time.