[Anomaly: Cthulhu f'UCK OFF! (SCP-2662). Anomaly Level 4: Apollyon.]
[The anomaly manifests as a humanoid creature with partial characteristics of the mythical Cthulhu, possessing bat-like wings and twenty tentacles protruding from the back of its head (Is this thing really not Cthulhu?). It can flexibly use its tentacles and handle up to eleven tasks simultaneously.]
[The anomaly exhibits weak cognitive contamination, affecting humans with a cognitive level of 1, causing them to believe the anomaly is the supreme being Cthulhu and attempt to perform sacrifices, chants, and rituals in its name.]
[Note: Do you know how terrifying the cognitive level 1 range is? It includes about 3% of the entire human population! Only fools, delusional individuals, and a small fraction of humanity fall into this category.]
Reading the anomaly's characteristics, Haruto fell into deep thought.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
Levi helped it down from the throne of human bones.
The throne, pieced together from human bones, was surrounded by sharp bone fragments. Cthulhu f'UCK OFF! didn't want to get cut up, so it had been stuck on the throne.
As soon as it was freed, it began thanking the Foundation personnel. Levi, wearing the Crimson-1 exoskeleton, stood beside Haruto and whispered,
"What is this thing? Since when do monsters have manners?"
Haruto shrugged.
"Apparently, it's an anomaly that can communicate and has a relatively friendly behavior pattern."
Levi smirked.
"Excuse me, what organization are you? Can you take me with you? I can't stand those lunatics anymore. Oh god!"
Cthulhu asked Haruto, pleading.
Haruto's mouth twitched involuntarily.
The other Foundation personnel were also somewhat stunned. This was the first time they'd seen an anomaly begging to be contained by the Foundation.
It was just too damn weird!
Rubbing his temples, Haruto asked, "Can you tell us more about why you couldn't stand these... followers?"
Cthulhu immediately launched into a tragic tale,
"Oh god, these people dragged me here out of nowhere and put me on that bone throne. The blood on the bones wasn't even dry! There were still bits of flesh stuck to them. Ugh! And they cut me!
Then, they started these rituals I couldn't understand, dismembering people, skinning them, ripping out their hearts.
They even tried to make me eat the hearts. Oh god! I can't even talk about it anymore! Ugh!"
Seeing that Cthulhu was about to vomit, Haruto quickly waved his hand, signaling it to stop.
While it wasn't certain, preliminary observations suggested that this anomaly had a normal human sense of morality and preferences. Its diet wasn't human fear or anything like that; it preferred sandwiches and ham.
"If you come with us, you'll be confined to a room and won't be allowed to leave."
Haruto tested the anomaly.
Cthulhu hesitated.
Haruto's eyes grew cold, and he glanced at Levi, ready to give the order to attack.
"Will there be food?" it asked hesitantly.
Haruto: ...
"The Foundation provides three meals a day. Breakfast includes bread, fried eggs, and bacon. Lunch is one meat dish and two vegetable dishes."
Hearing this, Cthulhu's eyes lit up.
Haruto continued:
"Your containment room can have a computer, but no internet access. You'll get a daily newspaper or light novel, manga, etc. Every month, you'll have a budget of 6,000 yen (about $300) to buy single-player games, entertainment items, and so on."
At this point, Cthulhu Get Out slid over to Haruto's feet.
"Please, contain me! Thank you so much!"
Haruto rubbed his forehead and let out a long sigh.
"Prepare a containment unit. Transport it to the containment site. Equip the room as I just described."
Haruto ordered.
The Foundation personnel exchanged glances, then numbly went to prepare the containment unit.
Levi and Haruto walked out of the underground passage together.
Later, the area would be cleaned up by the Foundation's external assets, so there was no need to worry.
Some of the cultists had chased them out of the underground passage. Fortunately, the Foundation had already cleared the surrounding area. As long as some surveillance footage was erased, this containment operation would be considered a success.
As they walked side by side, Levi suddenly asked,
"Where did you send Erwin?"
Haruto wasn't surprised by the question.
To a large extent, Levi had joined the Foundation because of Erwin.
"He has more important tasks. You know, that man has the ability to shoulder the future of humanity."
Haruto replied.
He couldn't reveal Erwin's status as an O5 Council member.
Levi didn't press further.
As Haruto said, Erwin was someone who would never waver, no matter the difficulty. Even if it meant sacrificing himself, he would calmly give orders to fight for humanity's future.
As they exited the underground passage, Haruto's gaze inadvertently fell on a brunette figure.
On his way here, he had watched the real-time transmission of the containment footage.
He knew this was the sole surviving D-Class personnel, D-181.
Come to think of it, she was at the front when they went down, yet she was the only one who made it out alive.
Haruto walked over and gently tapped D-181 on the shoulder.
The D-Class turned around immediately. When she saw it was Haruto, her eyes lit up.
"Director!"
As a D-Class personnel, she knew very few Foundation staff, but she definitely knew the Director.
After all, Haruto's exploits were widely celebrated within the Foundation.
"You did well on this mission," Haruto praised.
"Huh!?" D-181's eyes widened. "The Director praised me! Does that mean I can be removed from the D-Class list?"
Haruto smiled. "Of course not."
D-181's hopeful expression instantly turned into a dead fish stare. Just kidding, did D-Class personnel really think they could escape their fate?
You're all death row inmates, for crying out loud!
"However, you'll be removed from this month's execution list. Please continue to contribute to humanity."
Haruto offered some appropriate encouragement to the brunette girl.
D-181 burst into tears.
Even if she wasn't executed, being a D-Class meant she'd still have to perform dangerous contact missions or be used as a test subject. Wasn't that the same thing?
Haruto, however, didn't care about her reaction. He waved his hand and left.
Returning to Chiba, it was already late. There was no way he'd make it back to class in time. So, Haruto decided to go tomorrow.
But before that...
He should check on his neighbor.
Although Haruto didn't want to deal with troublesome matters, Hiratsuka had asked him to look into Gabriel's situation.
Just as Haruto arrived at the apartment, he received a call from the Foundation. Cthulhu f'UCK OFF! (SCP-2662) had been hijacked during transport.
Hearing this, Haruto was stunned.
He had no choice but to rush to the Foundation site to assess the situation.
Fortunately, two hours later, thanks to the efforts of the armed personnel and Mobile Task Force A, Wings of Freedom, Cthulhu was recovered.
The hijacking incident was recorded as follows:
Cthulhu was transferred from a black containment unit to a Foundation RV.
The RV was accompanied by seven Foundation sedans and one Foundation transport vehicle.
Thirty armed personnel and five Wings of Freedom members were responsible for the transport.
Halfway through the journey, after leaving Osaka, the road ahead was suddenly blown up, forcing the convoy to stop.
At the time, Cthulhu was taking a shower in the RV, preparing to sleep.
Five civilians blew open the RV, attempting to climb in through the breach.
The armed personnel and Wings of Freedom immediately intervened, subduing the five civilians. However, two D-Class personnel took the opportunity to rush into the RV.
To avoid the explosive collars on the D-Class personnel harming the anomaly, remote detonation was not an option.
One D-Class personnel used a shard from the explosion to cut their hand, smearing blood and drawing strange symbols inside the RV.
The other D-Class personnel pulled out their (DATA EXPUNGED) and performed a (DATA EXPUNGED) act on the anomaly.
Cthulhu: "Oh god, you two, this is unsanitary and completely unnecessary!"
After the act, the D-Class personnel cut off their (DATA EXPUNGED) and smeared the blood and bodily fluids on the anomaly, all while singing loudly.
Cthulhu: "God! Stop! Please! I just took a shower!"
The two D-Class personnel were executed by the arriving armed personnel. The anomaly rushed into the bathroom and vomited profusely.
End of hijacking record.
Reading this report, Haruto wanted to curse but found himself speechless.
Why are there so many abstract artists in this world?
But then again, considering that cognitive level 1 individuals make up 3% of the human population...
With the sheer size of humanity, it's inevitable.
Ugh!
This made Cthulhu's anomaly level 4 seem not only appropriate but perhaps even a bit low.
Fortunately, Cthulhu was now securely contained in a containment chamber at the site.
[Anomaly successfully contained: Cthulhu f'UCK OFF! (SCP-2662).]
[Anomaly Level 4: Apollyon. Containment status: Excellent.]
[Reward: Level-4 Lottery Draw.]
Although the containment was successful, this incident served as a wake-up call for Haruto.
Some anomalies simply weren't suitable for containment in urban sites. The consequences of a containment breach were too severe.
Establishing secondary sites, especially in remote areas, had become an urgent priority.
Haruto pondered the Foundation's future development.
Unfortunately, Kaguya Shinomiya hadn't been in contact with the head of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu recently, not even meeting face-to-face.
The Blacklight Virus hadn't infected the Shinomiya patriarch yet.
It was time to take the initiative and bring the other four major zaibatsu under control.