Redemption

Less than five minutes after SCP-CN-722-5 left, the spatial tunnel reopened.

Aeolus was thrown out from the other end like a dead dog, landing at Luoshu's feet.

Struggling to get up, Aeolus hastily explained to SCP-CN-722-5, "You've got it all wrong! It was your brothers who attacked us, not the other way—"

Mid-sentence, he looked up and saw Luoshu's face. His expression twisted in horror as he shouted, "It's him! He's the one who did it! He's your real enemy!"

The problem was, why would SCP-CN-722-5 believe the words of her "enemy"?

If the Achilles' Heel operatives had been present back when she had dragged Luoshu to Site-CN-02, perhaps a confrontation could have been arranged.

At that time, as a pawn of the "God," SCP-CN-722-5 had inherently higher trust in Foundation personnel than in Luoshu, who bore the mark of the "God's" enemy.

But now, it was too late. Under the memetic effect of The SCP Field Guide, the state of "Anomalous Friend" was nearly irreversible—her trust in Luoshu was now on par with her obedience to the "God."

SCP-CN-722-5 kicked Aeolus and said to Luoshu, "I brought him to you. Do as you please!"

Bound by the "God's" restrictions, she couldn't kill Foundation personnel herself, but she had no obligation to stop others from doing so.

Luoshu studied Aeolus, momentarily conflicted.

Truth be told, while they were enemies, Luoshu bore no personal grudge against Aeolus—their conflict was purely a matter of opposing sides.

Even if killing Aeolus would grant him the man's abilities, Luoshu had no desire to kill indiscriminately.

He valued life, respected it, and refused to be driven by base desires.

There were ways to obtain Aeolus' abilities without resorting to murder—killing was the crudest method, one that would only deepen hostilities with the Foundation and draw greater scrutiny.

If possible, sitting down for a civil conversation and becoming friends would be far more in line with the spirit of a harmonious society.

However, given the blood feud between Luoshu and Achilles' Heel, convincing Aeolus to become an "Anomalous Friend" through persuasion alone was nearly impossible.

The ideal solution would be to use mental enslavement or divine charisma to turn Aeolus into a puppet or believer, making him a subject of the "Anomalous Sovereign" milestone.

The "Anomalous Sovereign" milestone allowed unconditional access to the subject's abilities—clearly a far more beneficial outcome than simple, brutal murder.

The contrast between the two milestone effects showed that even The SCP Field Guide encouraged gentler methods over indiscriminate killing.

Moreover, subjugating Aeolus had an obvious advantage: it would plant a mole within Achilles' Heel.

Unfortunately, Luoshu currently had no means to make Aeolus a subject of the "Anomalous Sovereign" milestone.

The mental enslavement of the Domination Mask was undeniably powerful, but its side effects were equally severe—it caused the enslaved to rot.

The only reason Luoshu dared use it on the two child laborers was because they were already corpses, revived and preserved by the "God's" reality-warping abilities.

Aeolus, though a reality bender, didn't seem immortal.

Using the mask on him would be no different from killing him outright—and worse, it would expose Luoshu's possession of the Domination Mask.

Mental enslavement was off the table, and divine charisma was too risky.

Divine charisma was a potent reality-warping ability, and using it would undoubtedly alert the satellites overhead—unless counter-distortions were employed to offset individual Hume levels.

But if Luoshu still had counter-distortion charges left, he wouldn't have needed to return to the capital to deal with Aeolus in the first place.

After careful consideration, Luoshu decided to reason with Aeolus, just as he had with IR1901.

If IR1901 could willingly acknowledge Luoshu as his "Anomalous Sovereign," why couldn't Aeolus?

Activating his persuasion ability, Luoshu began his heart-to-heart (coercive) talk.

"You're in my hands now. You have two choices: die or submit to me!"

SCP-CN-722-5 opened her mouth as if to object but hesitated.

Her preference was for Luoshu to kill the murderer of her brothers.

As a chosen enforcer of the "God," she was inherently distrustful of all men.

And since Achilles' Heel was responsible for her brothers' deaths, were it not for the "God's" prohibition against harming Foundation personnel, Aeolus would already be dead by her hand.

Noticing SCP-CN-722-5's dissatisfied expression, Luoshu guessed her thoughts.

But Aeolus couldn't be killed.

Doing so would not only escalate the Foundation's wariness of Luoshu but also expose his relationship with the child laborers.

If the "God" discovered Luoshu secretly poaching his assets, the consequences—whether executing the child laborers or reclaiming control over them—would be disastrous for Luoshu.

So he decided to placate SCP-CN-722-5 first.

"I know you want him dead, but not all of Achilles' Heel deserves death. Your brothers were killed by that reality bender, Heracles, but the mastermind was Barbie. Aeolus was just following orders, and he never harmed any of you."

Thanks to his persuasion ability, SCP-CN-722-5 listened and reluctantly nodded.

Luoshu continued, "Aeolus' crimes don't warrant death. If he's willing to repent and join us, we should give him a chance to turn over a new leaf."

Aeolus was speechless.

Who was the villain here? Who needed to repent?

Yet despite himself, he felt a flicker of gratitude toward Luoshu.

The situation was awkward.

First, Aeolus was terrified of Luoshu.

Having witnessed Luoshu kill "Cupid" and "Reminiscence" in front of him, Aeolus—a support-oriented Achilles' Heel operative—was acutely aware of the threat Luoshu posed.

Coupled with the effects of the "Anomalous Slayer" milestone, it was a miracle Aeolus hadn't collapsed like "White Eyes" had.

But now, cornered by Luoshu and SCP-CN-722-5, his composure shattered.

In this state, even the slightest hint of mercy from Luoshu felt like rain after a drought, breaking down his defenses completely.

It was textbook Stockholm syndrome—the victim developing sympathy for his captor.

Luoshu patted his shoulder. "Acknowledge me as your master. From now on, we're on the same side."

The moment Luoshu touched him, Aeolus envisioned his neck being snapped like "Cupid's." A shudder ran through him.

"I submit to you... Master."