Opening the Safe

They made their way down to a room on the 13th floor, which was led by Yang Xue. Zhang Jue saw that Gray, his daughter, as well as those researchers and security team members were lying inside. They were lying neatly on the floor in two rows. All of them were unconscious but still breathing. Zhang Jue caught a glimpse of the supervisor Gray with her daughter lying beside him.

"Where did you find them?" Zhang Jue asked.

"Right here." Yang Xue said, "I found them like this, and then I heard your voice before I followed you all the way up there."

Zhang Jue squatted down and checked Gray's body, not finding any obvious trauma.

"I've checked it. It's not a trauma that caused the coma." Yang Xue watched Zhang Jue's movements and said, "They should be suffering from mental trauma."

Zhang Jue nodded. It was unknown what these people had gone through during this day and night and who had put them here.

While the two were talking, Gray suddenly opened his eyes. At the same time, his body could not stop shaking and twitching, and the corners of his mouth kept spitting out white foam. This was not a good sign.

"Supervisor Gray! Wake up! Supervisor Gray!" Zhang Jue shook his body hard in an attempt to wake him up. But Gray didn't respond in the slightest to outside stimuli. No matter how loud Zhang Jue screamed, it was completely useless.

"Let me do it." Yang Xue suddenly said.

Zhang Jue glanced at her. Yang Xue's eyes were firm. There was no time for doubt. Zhang Jue immediately moved away and gave up his position to her. Yang Xue took out a bottle of potion from the backpack she had with her and a syringe. She skillfully used the syringe to break the bottle of meds and injected it into Gray's jugular vein. Although Gray kept twitching, Yang Xue's hand was steady, fast, and accurate. After the injection, Gray gradually calmed down and closed his eyes again, falling into a coma.

"What did you inject him?" Zhang Jue asked.

"A special tranquilizer." As she organized her backpack, Yang Xue said, "These people are not simply unconscious. According to my observations, their eyes are constantly twitching. Apparently, the consciousness level is still very active."

Zhang Jue waved his hand, "Can you summarize and say something that I could understand?"

Yang Xue sighed, "There are many reasons for this situation, but the most likely scenario is that either they are dreaming and it's a nightmare, or they are all caught up in a hallucination."

Yang Xue said while looking over Gray's pupils with a flashlight. Zhang Jue looked at her. After returning from the Chlamydia, this chick had indeed become skillful. Although he was affected by SCP-714 and his thinking was a bit sluggish, he was able to tail her all of her explanations.

Moreover, she could easily face all kinds of weird situations alone—no longer Dr. Yang, who only screamed. When Yang Xue finished, she saw that Zhang Jue did not respond and looked back at her.

Seeing Zhang Jue staring at her without saying anything, she said, "What are you looking at me for?"

"Nothing." Zhang Jue shook his head, "Is there any way to bring them back to normal?"

Yang Xue shook her head, "If it was simply a dream, you would have woken him up long ago by shaking his body so drastically just now. But looking at the situation now, they should be under the influence of a certain effect, and the usual methods definitely won't work. Unless you can disable the effects of that SCP."

"Heh, so that was it, huh?" Zhang Jue prepared himself.

Yang Xue looked at him, "You have a solution?"

Zhang Jue shrugged, "Finding what could possibly be the cause might be difficult at the moment. But to make that effect ineffective for him, I can try."

Yang Xue had lost her memory, forgetting that Zhang Jue had many great skills. Biased, Zhang Jue said it very gently. Feels like he was only bragging. Yang Xue became skeptical, but Zhang Jue didn't bother to explain it to her.

He placed his hand on Gray's head, pinched his temple between his thumb and middle finger, and started his work.

...

In a moment, Zhang Jue arrived somewhere with ruins all around. He looked around, there was only chaos all around, and there was no sun in the sky. He guessed that he should have come into the middle of Gray's subconscious.

He activated the skill he had obtained from SCP-049, expecting to wake Gray up immediately. But now, it seems that things are not as simple as he imagined. Not far ahead of him was a ruin. Zhang Jue squinted and saw that it was the three buildings of Site-237.

The three buildings looked as if they had been bombed by planes, filled with holes and crumbling. It seemed that in Gray's subconscious, Site-237 was already in jeopardy.

Zhang Jue walked step by step toward those three buildings. As he got closer, he realized that the buildings had been surrounded by many unknown plants. The plant was very tall, with its roots and stems wrapping around the three buildings with countless vines extending from its body, emitting a disgusting smell that could only be described as disgusting.

Zhang Jue stood in the middle of the building and shouted, "Is there anyone?"

No one responded to him. But this was Gray's subconscious. He must be here somewhere.

"Gray! I know you're here. Come out!" Zhang Jue shouted.

Still no response.

Zhang Jue looked around. Did he really have to go building by building? God knew how many times he'd been back and forth across these floors. Even if he had a lot of energy, it wasn't his most favorite thing to do. He would much rather be in bed doing something he loves to do. But there was no way around it. It seemed he left with no choice.

He sighed and was about to find a random building to rest when he suddenly faintly heard the sound of crying. In the middle of nowhere, in front of the abandoned building, the sound of intermittent crying can be heard.

It is simply a classic horror film bridge. Anyone here would tremble to fear, but not for Zhang Jue. He snapped his fingers, overjoyed, and almost shouted in excitement. He immediately darted towards the voice.

Under a window, Zhang Jue saw a half-grown boy. Judging by his height, he's about thirteen or fourteen years old. He was hugging his knees and sitting inside, crying. Zhang Jue cautiously walked up to him.

"Gray?" Zhang Jue tried to call out.

The boy lifted his head and looked at him. Although the other boy was still young, Zhang Jue could still see the resemblance between him and Gray. It seemed that this was Gray. He wondered why he had become this way.

"What's wrong with you?" Zhang Jue asked.

The boy covered his head in pain, "I, I don't know..."

"Take it easy." Zhang Jue said soothingly, "I'm here to help you."

The boy looked up at him, "You wanted to help me?"

"Yes." Zhang Jue patted his shoulder, "Gray, I know there are things you're powerless to fix. But no matter what, you're in charge here, and you need to take responsibility. Those terrible things, you are not their opponent. But you must face it. It is your duty!"

"My... duty..." Gray seemed to remember something.

He quieted down and stopped crying. Zhang Jue saw that his body was growing rapidly at a rate visible to the naked eye. The original 13 or 14 years old looking boy suddenly became taller, grew a beard, and eventually turned into the appearance Zhang Jue had when he saw him.

"We need to get out of here." Zhang Jue said.

Gray looked at Zhang Jue. He had forgotten who the person in front of him was. But Zhang Jue had opened his eyes which made him very grateful to Zhang Jue. The two walked out of the building, and by this time, the three buildings had somewhat recovered, unlike when Zhang Jue had just arrived here, which was in ruin.

However, the bizarre plants were still there. At the same time, a white circle of light appeared in the yard in front of the three buildings.

"Let's go there." Zhang Jue said.

Gray nodded. The two were about to set off. The earth actually began to shake. Zhang Jue looked around and saw that the huge plant had come to life. Countless vines grew out of their roots and sped toward him and Gray.

"Run!" Zhang Jue shouted.

They run toward the white light. But the vines were so fast that they had surrounded them in a flash. Zhang Jue summoned his long black sword, and with a single slash, the black vines retreated backward. In the next second, they launched an even fiercer attack. Zhang Jue led Gray as the two advanced bit by bit.

"Go on your own. I'll stay behind to deal with them." Gray suddenly shouted.

"Hell no!" Zhang Jue shouted, "If I were afraid, I wouldn't have come here at all. Hurry up and get out!"

Zhang Jue lifted Gray's collar and threw him into the circle of light like a chicken. The distance of a dozen meters was not a problem at all. Gray looked backward. In his line of sight, Zhang Jue was already surrounded by those vines.

"No!" Gray cried out, sitting up from the ground before letting out a violent cough.

"You're awake?" Yang Xue, who had been waiting for a long time, was surprised.

Gray looked at her, "You are-"

"I was sent by the Foundation to help you, don't you remember me?" Yang Xue explained.

Gray shook his head. His mind was very muddled right now. Then he saw Zhang Jue.

"He--"

At this moment, Yang Xue also noticed that Gray had obviously woken up. Why did Zhang Jue remain in the same position he had just been in without moving? Something hadn't happened to him, had it?

"Zhang Jue?" Yang Xue carefully pushed him, but there was no response. "Zhang Jue!" Yang Xue shouted.

Just as she was about to take some extreme measures, Zhang Jue suddenly coughed likewise.

"Motherfucker, dare to lay hands on me. I'll burn you all down with one fire when I have the chance!"

Zhang Jue cursed in a low voice filled with anger as if he had just been subjected to some inhumane treatment. His curses became increasingly unpleasant, and he cursed for several minutes before his hatred was relieved. He looked up and saw Yang Xue and Gray.

"Ah, everyone is here. Have you eaten, or shall we have some hotpot?"

...

Gray didn't remember the two of them or what had happened since they had arrived here. Zhang Jue was able to lift him out of his coma but couldn't bring back his memory. But he had just saved Gray, so after some questions, Gray believed their words. Not believing them was not an option.

Now there were only three of them left in the entire station. Gray looked at his daughter and seemed to have made up his mind about something. As Zhang Jue had said, among his memories, he stayed here because he had a mission. He had to take up his responsibilities.

He looked at Zhang Jue, "What should we do next?"

Yang Xue also looked at Zhang Jue. Obviously, whether they remembered Zhang Jue or not, the sense of security that Zhang Jue brought to them was tangible. Both of them unconsciously took him as their leader. Zhang Jue thought for a moment and led them to the underground.

Walking through the corridor that was filled with containment rooms, Gray's eyes trembled slightly. Yang Xue was also cautious. Anything that could make the Foundation spend so much manpower and resources to contain hundreds of meters deep under this desert must not be easy.

The three of them came to the central control room. Zhang Jue pointed to door number 3.

"Supervisor Gray, do you know what's in there?"

Faking that Yang Wensong had tried every possible way to trick him into going in, Zhang Jue was always very curious about what was inside. However, Gray had lost his memory for an unknown number of times, and in his impression, he had no idea that there was a building of this size underground here. Not to mention what was inside that door.

Seeing Gray's bewildered face, Zhang Jue shrugged his shoulders. After thinking about it, he first brought the two of them to the middle of that chamber. Yang Xue clenched his fists tightly by looking at the corpses of so many colleagues. These were all pioneers of the Foundation, colleagues of his father.

Under Zhang Jue's guidance, she found the empty coffin. Looking at the name on it, her emotions were very complicated, and for a moment, she didn't know whether to be grateful or sad. Gray waded through the many crystal coffins and finally returned behind Zhang Jue in silence.

"Remember anything?" Zhang Jue asked.

Gray shook his head. Although many of the faces looked familiar to him, he really didn't have any memories of them at all.

"It's okay. This is the result that was expected long ago." Zhang Jue patted his shoulder, "Trust me, sooner or later. You'll remember them."

After exiting the crypt, the three of them went back to the storage room in door number four. It held the safe that even Zhang Jue couldn't open.

"Do you know where the key is?" Zhang Jue asked casually, but in fact he didn't have much hope.

After all, Gray couldn't even remember those colleagues. But who knew that Gray froze and took out the pendant he had been wearing from his chest. Zhang Jue saw that there were two keys on it, one large and one small.

Holy shit? It couldn't be the key to door number 4 and this safe, could it?

Zhang Jue looked at him, "Where did you get it?"

Gray shook his head, "I don't know. As far as I can remember, it was always around my neck."

Not bothering to think about why Gray had the key to this safe, Zhang Jue was overjoyed and immediately said, "Quick, come and try to open it."

"Alright." Gray nodded his head.

He inserted the slightly smaller key into the safe's lock hole. It was a tight fit. Gray took a deep breath, his hands, and heard a click.

The door of the safe was opened.