Chapter 150: Playing with Kindness? I Shall Uphold the Way of the Dao Without Hesitation!
After the failure to capture "Santa Claus," the Foundation dispatched D-class personnel to infiltrate the orphanage for investigation.
The following morning, when the orphanage doors opened, the D-class personnel mingled among the staff and children.
Through subtle questioning, the D-class personnel learned that all the children had received "Christmas presents" the previous night. That is, the toys, food, and other items the children had wished for had appeared in their Christmas stockings by their beds.
When asked, the orphanage staff claimed they had no idea where the "Christmas presents" had come from.
They assumed it was the gift of a kind-hearted benefactor.
However, a little girl at the orphanage interjected, confidently stating that they were Santa Claus's gifts.
Following Foundation directives, the D-class personnel inquired further about Santa Claus.
According to the little girl, Santa Claus wore a red hat, had a large white beard, dressed in a red winter coat, and wore black boots while carrying a huge sack of presents.
He had magical reindeer, magical elves, and magical cookies.
When asked if it was possible to capture Santa Claus, the little girl shook her head and said no, because Santa Claus had magic.
Following this, the Foundation took over the orphanage.
Upon investigation, the Foundation uncovered the truth behind this anomalous event.
First, every person in the orphanage, including the 30 staff members and children, was extraordinarily "kind."
The staff members worked without concern for wages, spent all their time playing with the children, and viewed this as their life's purpose.
If only one person in ten thousand displayed such extreme kindness, it would be unremarkable.
But for every single person in the orphanage to be this way was undeniably an anomaly.
Further investigation of the D-class personnel who had participated in the operation revealed that they, too, had become "kind."
One of them had been a deranged serial killer, responsible for seven gruesome murder cases, including dismemberment and corpse mutilation.
Yet, after this mission, he became genuinely compassionate, loved animals, protected children, helped elderly women cross the street, and was full of love for the world. Initial conclusions suggested that an anomalous force in the orphanage was altering the minds of those nearby, making them "kind."
However, further investigation revealed that, on the night of Santa Claus's appearance, the orphanage had played a Christmas cartoon.
After watching the cartoon, the little girl had become completely convinced of Santa Claus's existence.
And that night, Santa Claus had appeared and climbed down the chimney.
Tracing back further, the orphanage had instilled certain values in the little girl:
-Humans are kind.
-Everyone helps one another.
-People should be united, respect the elderly, love children, and care for animals.
-The teachers (staff) loved the orphanage's children unconditionally, but the children had to be obedient.
The little girl also had a picture book about a wise, talking cat.
And indeed, there was a black cat in the orphanage identical to the one in the book—except this one could actually talk… and even solve advanced mathematics.
Based on encounter records, the Foundation concluded that the little girl herself was the anomaly.
Her anomalous ability: Reality Manipulation through Belief.
Whenever she firmly believed something to be true, reality would warp to make it so, no matter how absurd it seemed.
Including the existence of Santa Claus.
The Foundation attempted to contain the little girl.
However, every staff member sent to capture her became "kind" upon approaching her.
And because they had become "kind," they simply couldn't bring themselves to capture such a sweet little girl.
Ultimately, the little girl was designated SCP-239, codenamed "The Witch Child."
Containment efforts were temporarily put on hold, and the case was escalated to the O5 Council.
Reading the report, Haruto clicked his tongue.
Reality manipulation…
This girl was obviously a high-tier Reality Bender.
Such individuals, designated "Type Green," possessed high Hume Index values and could distort reality by sheer will alone.
Reality Benders were notoriously difficult to handle.
Clearly, Haruto needed to personally intervene in SCP-239's containment.
Because if she ever witnessed the ugliness of the world… or watched the wrong kind of fiction… she might just destroy reality itself.
A chilling thought.
Thus, Haruto devised a plan.
One that would allow him to properly "utilize" the Little Witch's abilities…
If she had believed that human nature was ugly, the world would have been doomed to destruction...
Tsk tsk, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Afterward, Haruto deployed a batch of psychic-blocking alloys and a "computer plug-in."
Upon arriving at the orphanage, Haruto easily met the Little Witch.
She appeared to be an eight-year-old girl, standing one meter tall and weighing 20 kilograms. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, and her eyes "flickered" with a gray-green hue.
Hmm, those "flickering" eyes were probably the result of watching some anime. They actually looked pretty nice.
After a brief conversation, Haruto realized that the Little Witch was a kind and innocent individual.
When someone has a naturally kind heart... they are bound to attract others in.
As he dropped the "computer plug-in" into the Little Witch's cup, Haruto was also devising a plan to test her nature.
The Little Witch possessed an extremely powerful reality-warping ability.
If left unchecked, she might one day be exposed to something ugly or watch some fantasy work and end up destroying the world.
The safest method, naturally, was for Haruto to execute the Little Witch.
Powerful reality warpers had no human rights in the Foundation because the Foundation was responsible for all of humanity. However, on one hand, looking at those flickering, adorable eyes, Haruto found himself hesitant.
On the other hand, simply executing the Little Witch felt like a waste of valuable resources.
After the Little Witch drank the "computer plug-in" and fell into a deep sleep, Haruto came up with a plan.
He had to put the Little Witch's abilities to good use!
After equipping her with psychic-blocking alloys, Haruto took her back to the Foundation's containment site.
The Little Witch was temporarily placed in a nutrient pod within the high-security containment layer, with her containment room constructed entirely from psychic-blocking alloys.
Experiments showed that psychic-blocking alloys could mitigate her reality-warping abilities to a certain extent.
Meanwhile, the nutrient pod had to regularly supply the little shrine maiden with nutrients and special anesthetics.
Until the Foundation had fully prepared, the little shrine maiden had to remain in a state of slumber.
Afterward, Haruto approached Nao to take charge of this project.
Looking at the young girl inside the containment pod, Nao was somewhat surprised.
"This is the little witch (SCP-239)? A reality bender capable of destroying the world at any moment?"
Judging from her appearance, she didn't look like someone who could annihilate the world at will.
Haruto nodded.
"As long as this child believes something, it will become reality in this world. Destroying the world is a trivial matter for her."
Hearing this, Nao couldn't help but click her tongue.
"So, the mission this time is to utilize the little witch's abilities, but how exactly do we proceed?"
Nao asked about the plan.
Haruto snapped his fingers.
"It's simple. We… trick her. I call this plan the 'God's Eye Project.'"
Haruto roughly explained the plan to Nao.
After listening, Nao Tomori was stunned.
"This… Are you sure this won't backfire?"
She asked worriedly.
Haruto waved his hand dismissively.
"Absolutely not. When we… uh, execute the plan, I'll conduct an A-rank memory modification on all personnel involved. At that point, even the operatives will believe what they're saying is the 'truth,' so when they deceive the little witch, there's no way it will fail!"
After all, is all about tricking others and oneself alike.
Seeing Haruto's confident attitude, Nao could only nod and begin preparations.
The experiment site for this plan was set up on an island off the coast of Japan.
It was adjacent to the island where the Star Sea Academy was located but maintained some distance.
The Foundation urgently carried out large-scale modifications on the island.