fractured trust (part 1)
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The room was filled with the soft hum of machinery, the flickering of screens reflecting off the faces of the gathered personnel. Foundation operatives, high-ranking researchers, and security personnel all sat in tense silence, the gravity of their current situation weighing on them. In the center of the room, Dr. Hart, the lead of the operation to recapture the escaped SCPs, stood with a stern expression.
He tapped the screen in front of him, bringing up the current report on the containment breaches, a summary of the operation that had, at first, seemed successful.
"Let's review the mission," Dr. Hart began, his voice clipped but authoritative. "We have successfully recaptured SCP-2377 and SCP-7694-2. Both are secured in their respective containment cells and have been stabilized. There have been no further incidents since their retrieval."
A collective sigh of relief echoed through the room. The containment breach had sent shockwaves through the Foundation, and with the escape of multiple dangerous entities, everyone knew the stakes were high. Dr. Jin, seated beside Hart, glanced at him with a brief look of approval. For a moment, it seemed like they had regained control of the situation.
Dr. Hart's fingers danced across the screen, switching to the security footage of the operation. "We also retrieved what we believed to be SCP-23234—the smartphone that has been the key to this entire situation. That item is currently in isolation awaiting further analysis."
He paused for a moment, glancing at Dr. Jin again, whose expression had hardened. "What's the issue?" Hart asked, sensing her unease.
"The phone," Jin replied, her voice low but insistent. "We've just confirmed—it's not SCP-23234. It's a regular phone, a decoy."
A stunned silence swept across the room. The operatives exchanged uneasy glances, and the tension that had seemed to lift mere moments ago came crashing back down.
"What do you mean?" one of the operatives, Agent Reynolds, asked from the back of the room. "Are you saying we didn't capture the phone? How could we have missed that?"
"It was switched," Dr. Jin said, leaning forward, her eyes narrowing. "SCP-7694-1 used a regular phone as bait, and we fell for it. SCP-23234 is still out there—still with him."
The realization struck the room like a physical blow. Every person in that room knew the capabilities of SCP-23234—a smartphone with the ability to hack into any system, change its make and model to any existing phone, and most dangerously, provide the answer to any question asked. If SCP-7694-1 still had it in his possession, the threat level had just escalated beyond anything they had anticipated.
"Damn it," Hart muttered under his breath, pacing in front of the screen. "We thought we had them."
"Look," Dr. Jin interjected, her tone urgent. "We still have SCP-2377 and SCP-7694-2. They know more than they're letting on. We can interrogate them—find out exactly what SCP-7694-1 is planning."
Agent Reynolds stood, arms crossed, shaking his head. "But that doesn't solve the fact that SCP-23234 is still missing. We don't know where SCP-7694-1 is, and worse, we don't know how far ahead of us he is. If that phone is as powerful as we think it is—he could be watching us right now."
Hart's expression darkened. The paranoia that had been simmering under the surface since the breach now began to bubble up in earnest. The phone's capabilities were known—SCP-23234 could compromise any system, infiltrate security networks, and listen in on communications. If SCP-7694-1 still had it, they might be walking directly into his trap.
Dr. Vargas, the head of psychological operations, leaned forward. "We need to get ahead of this. If that phone is monitoring us, we have to assume that SCP-7694-1 knows everything we're doing. We have to act fast before he gains too much ground."
Hart nodded, his jaw tightening. "First, we need to find out how SCP-7694-1 escaped. Let's start with SCP-7694-2."
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Deep in the secure interrogation room, SCP-7694-2 sat shackled to the table, staring down at the polished metal surface. Despite his capture, his expression was oddly calm, as if the chains around his wrists were nothing more than an inconvenience.
Dr. Jin stood across from him, clipboard in hand, tapping her pen against the table.
"You don't seem too concerned, SCP-7694-2," she said, her voice sharp. "You've been recaptured, your ally SCP-2377 is back in containment, and we know SCP-7694-1 is still on the run. Care to explain what happened?"
SCP-7694-2's lips curled into a faint smile, but he said nothing at first. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes flicking to the overhead cameras. "He's not running," he finally said, his voice low and calm. "He's regrouping."
Dr. Jin stiffened, immediately catching on to the implications. "What do you mean? Did he leave you behind on purpose?"
SCP-7694-2 chuckled. "We were all supposed to escape together, you see. But then SCP-23234 told him something." He paused, letting the words hang in the air for effect. "The phone told him we wouldn't survive if we stayed together. It told him to leave—to go ahead and rescue us later."
Jin exchanged a glance with the other operative in the room. "The phone told him that?"
SCP-7694-2 nodded, his smile never faltering. "It knows everything, doesn't it? The phone told SCP-7694-1 to go on without us, to find his own way out. It said that he'd have a better chance rescuing us later if he went alone."
Dr. Jin's stomach turned. The phone was influencing SCP-7694-1's decisions, and it was already too late to track him. "And you believe him?" she asked. "You believe he'll come back for you?"
SCP-7694-2's smile widened. "He always does."
---
Back in the command center, the tension was palpable. Dr. Jin's report from the interrogation had only added fuel to the growing paranoia that was gripping the team.
Agent Reynolds paced the room, his brow furrowed. "So, let me get this straight. SCP-7694-1 has the smartphone, and it's telling him what to do? We have no idea where he is, or what his plan is, and now we're supposed to wait for him to come back and 'rescue' his allies?"
"That's what SCP-7694-2 believes," Dr. Jin confirmed, still unsettled by the revelation.
"We have to consider that SCP-23234 is already monitoring us," Dr. Vargas said, breaking the silence. His voice was calm but laced with urgency. "The phone's hacking capabilities are unlike anything we've seen before. It could be listening to this conversation as we speak."
Dr. Hart turned toward him, his face grim. "You think we've already been compromised?"
"It's a possibility," Vargas replied, his eyes scanning the room. "We can't trust any of our systems—not if SCP-23234 is involved."
The room fell silent as the weight of Vargas' words sank in. If SCP-23234 had infiltrated their systems, then no data, no communication, and no security protocol could be trusted. The enemy could be watching their every move, and they wouldn't even know it.
Specialist Carter, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke up. "We need to rethink our approach. If the phone is this powerful, we can't rely on tech to track SCP-7694-1. We're going to have to go old school. Surveillance, human intel, manual tracking—we need to get eyes on him before he disappears completely."
Hart nodded slowly, considering Carter's suggestion. "And how do you propose we do that?"
"We start by interrogating the captured SCPs more aggressively," Carter replied. "SCP-2377 and SCP-7694-2 know more than they're letting on. We break them, and we find out where SCP-7694-1 is headed."
Dr. Jin leaned back in her chair, her mind racing. "We're running out of time. If SCP-23234 is guiding SCP-7694-1, there's no telling how much farther ahead he is."
Hart's expression hardened. "Then we'll have to act now. Double the surveillance on all high-priority targets. Mobilize the task forces. And get ready for anything."
---
The meeting concluded with a sense of urgency in the air. As the team dispersed, each member left the room with the gnawing feeling that they were being watched. They had recaptured two of the escapees, but SCP-7694-1 remained at large, armed with one of the most dangerous objects the Foundation had ever contained.
And as the lights dimmed in the command center, a lone smartphone, unnoticed by anyone, quietly blinked from a corner of the room. It had already seen everything.
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