Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be kept in a climate-controlled containment chamber fitted with thermal detection units.
If containment cell temperatures rise above negative twenty degrees celsius, a yellow alert is initiated. Maintenance, personnel are required to report to the containment area immediately to troubleshoot refrigeration units.
In the event that temperatures rise above zero degrees Celsius, a red alert will be initiated. The facility will then precede into a full lockdown mode until backup refrigeration units can be supplied and the SCP is contained.
The containment chamber is to be guarded by two armed guards at all times. No unauthorized personnel is allowed within the chamber. Any attempt of unauthorized entry will be considered an attempt at the release of the entity and will be met with the necessary force to prevent such.
All staff dealing with SCP-XXXX must pass a mental stability test. Any personnel that speaks of humanity's treatment of the Earth, the rescue of the entity, and/or appear to be sympathetic to SCP-XXXX are to be confined and observed. Individuals influenced by SCP-XXXX that have been left in a mentally unstable state are designated as SCP-XXXX-1. Individuals that are mentally sound but have a zealous reverence with the entity are designated as SCP-XXXX-2.
Note: I understand it isn't a huge scary monster and some of you have written to me about keeping it in a more hospitable enclosure. I don't know how many times I need to make this clear. This thing is a GOD. A very angry god. If you knew what happened before it's capture you would be grateful that it doesn't need more than extreme cold to keep it at bay.
Description: SCP-XXXX is considered by its followers as the deity of snakes. It appears as a white king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) measuring at 12.8 meters in length and 1,300 kg in weight. Notable features include pronounced eye ridges similar to that of an eyelash viper and a ridge of spines down its back. The entity has been capable of telepathy and mind control. The extent of this effect is unknown but has appeared to be strongest if in conjunction with direct eye contact while the entities hood has been spread.
SCP-XXXX was originally discovered by a group of archeologists sent by the National Museum of Brazil after herpetologists discovered a shrine inside of a cave located on the island of Ilha da Queimada Grande, also known as Snake Island.
Discovery Interviews
<Begin Log>
Interviewed: Dr. Jerome Marcus, the senior herpetologist that led the research expedition
Interviewer: Senior Foundation Agent Tray, disguised as a police officer
Foreword: The following is an audio recording taken place after SCP-XXXX was contained. Audio has been translated from Brazilian Portuguese.
Agent Tray: Please state your name for the record.
Dr. Marcus: I am Dr. Jerome Marcus.
Agent Tray: And what do you do for a living Dr. Marcus?
Dr. Marcus: I'm a herpetologist. Why? What's this about? Officer, I have work I need to do.
Agent Tray: Calm down Doctor. We are just conducting an investigation concerning a missing person believed to have been traveling to the island.
Dr. Marcus: I don't know what you're talking about man! My team was the only people anywhere near that island.
Agent Tray: Dr. Marcus, please cooperate with us. We just need a full report of what you were doing on the island.
Dr. Marcus: We were checking the snakes. The golden lancehead vipers. They live all over the island.
Agent Tray: Did you happen to see anything unusual while conducting your research?
Dr. Marcus: Yeah, we did. Can I go now?
Agent Tray: One more question, Dr. Marcus. Did you find anything unusual inside the cave?
Dr. Marcus: There was some sort of shrine there. Had a giant cobra statue in it. Told the museum to send the archeology boys to take a look. If you want more info ask them.
<End Log>
The team of archeologists discovered a passageway beneath the shrine. It led to a chamber containing SCP-XXXX in its mummified state. SCP-XXXX was taken to the National Museum of Brazil for further study via cargo ship.
Sometime during the study of SCP-XXXX, there was a power failure and the refrigeration units in the laboratory containing the entity failed. Coinciding with this event there were increased reports of snake bites and overly aggressive behavior of snakes around the world.
Shortly thereafter SCP-XXXX showed signs of life and broke free from the lab and proceeded to kill the researchers. See Addendum-XXXX-A for an interview with the only survivor of the lab incident. The entity then was spotted in a nearby neighborhood where it had summoned hundreds of snakes from the surrounding area and they attacked and killed civilians. Not all civilians were killed by SCP-XXXX; some civilians the entity turned mentally unstable or turned into slave-like followers. These followers seemed to worship the entity and behaved in a cult-like manner. See Addendum-XXXX-B for more details.
Armed forces were the first to respond to SCP-XXXX but were unable to cause any damage to it. The creature was finally contained by Foundation forces using excess amounts of liquid nitrogen and was able to be transported safely to site-19.
Addendum-XXXX-A:
Interviewed: Dr. Fernandez
Interviewer: Agent Derrick
Foreword: Subject has been lightly sedated to keep him calm. Audio has been translated from Brazilian Portuguese.
<Begin Log>
Agent Derrick: Dr. Fernandez, how are you feeling?
Dr. Fernandez: Better, thank you. Do we have to do this? They are all gone. All gone. Eaten by a giant snake.
Agent Derrick: I know. But we really need to know how this all started. Anything you can tell us will help.
Dr. Fernandez: How it started? We took the thing into the lab. Kept it cold. Didn't want… Didn't want it to decay.
Agent Derrick: Stay with us, doctor. What happened next?
Dr. Fernandez: Power failure. Our lab had a power failure. It started to move. The dried old skin creaked. And it bit him. (Dr. Fernandez's eyes opened wide) I bit him! It bit him! It bit him! I saw it bite him! It bit him and it ate him! It ate them all! But it didn't eat me! No, it didn't! It spoke to me! In my mind! It's angry! So angry!
Agent Derrick: (to medical staff off-screen) Hold on don't sedate him yet. (Speaking to the subject) Spoke to you? What did it say?
Dr. Fernandez: (becomes increasingly agitated) It told me why! It told me why! Why we all have to die! All must die! For things we did! For its imprisonment. For what we did to the land and sea! Oh, it's mad! It's so mad!
Agent Derrick: Why is it mad?
Dr. Fernandez: (twitched and continued to rock back and forth) It may have been sleeping all this time but it was aware of what we did. Oh yes! It knew! It watched us take over and bring destruction upon the world it loved!
Agent Derrick: What exactly did we do?
Dr. Fernandez: It told me! It put the images in my head!
(Dr. Fernandez started to hit his head with his fists)
Agent Derrick: Hey! Stop that or we will have to have you restrained!
(Dr. Fernandez froze and looked up at Agent Derrick with a snarled lip)
Dr. Fernandez: Restrained? Just like you restrained it? Oh no! It will not be restrained any further! I will release it so that it might rule again!
(Dr. Fernandez lunged at Agent Derrick but was quickly restrained and sedated by medical staff)
<End Log>
Closing Statement: The subject had to be heavily sedated after the interview. The following interviews do not seem feasible with the current subject. Dr. Fernandez has now been designated the first SCP-XXXX-1.
Addendum-XXXX-B:
The following interviews took place after SCP-XXXX was contained. The individuals that were interviewed have been mentally affected by the entity. Affected persons are either clinically insane or appear to have been brainwashed to worship the entity.
Interviewed: Alexandre Rodrigues, a former landscaper
Interviewer: Dr. Arantes, Foundation psychologist
Foreword: Alexandre Rodrigues was originally a landscaper that was working at a job site during SCP-XXXX's awakened. He was one of several hundred individuals spared during the incident. SCP-XXXX had invaded his mind and he became mentally unsound. This interview has been translated from Brazilian Portuguese.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Arantes: Hello my friend. How are you feeling today?
Rodrigues: (Rocks back and forth) Tired. Very tired.
Dr. Arantes: (Flips through patients file) It says here you didn't sleep last night, Mr. Rodrigues. Have you been having more nightmares?
Rodrigues: (shakes head vigorously, pauses then slowly nods) They are coming for me. If I sleep they will find me!
Dr. Arantes: (writes down notes into a file) I see. Mr. Rodrigues, we've talked about this before. You're in a safe place. Nothing can get you here. Can you tell me what the dreams were about?
Rodrigues: Snakes. Always about snakes. Chasing me. Whispering. They always find me! Always!
Dr. Arantes: (turns pages in patients file) It seems we gave you some medication to help you have better sleep. I'm assuming it's not working?
Rodrigues: (Shakes head) Nothing has worked doctor. They always come and whisper to me. Always following. Always whispering. Staring at me with their cold eyes. Judging me.
Dr. Arantes: I see. Can you understand what the snakes are saying when they whisper to you?
Rodrigues: (pauses rocking back and forth then nods and resumes rocking) Not at first. The whispers were too soft. I couldn't understand them.
Dr. Arantes: But you do now? What do they say?
Rodrigues: They whisper about sins. About murder. About judgment. They are coming for us. They will find us.
Dr. Arantes: These sins that the snakes talk about. Are they yours or someone else's?
Rodrigues: Sins of man. We have all sinned against nature. We imprisoned the rightful rulers of nature and claimed the world as ours alone! (Subject begins to rock faster back and forth. His eyes begin darting around frantically. Subject begins shouting) They will come and release the old rulers of the land! They will come! They will come! (Subjects voice drops down to a whisper) They will come. They will come. They will come.
Dr. Arantes: Can you clarify what you mean by the old rulers of the land?
Rodrigues: (Subject looks up at the doctor as if he sees him for the first time) The old animal gods. The first of their kind. They were put away. All put away. We replaced them with our own gods. The snake is awake and soon the others will be. The others. Once found they will awake. Awake. Awake. Awake. Time to wake up!
Dr. Arantes: I think we will end our session for today, Mr. Rodrigues. I will have an aide come and give you something to help calm you down.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Subject appeared to have suffered from extreme mental stress. Attempts to gather information as to the reason why SCP-XXXX did not kill the subject have been difficult due to the subject's inability to focus on details. The patient has been designated as a case of SCP-XXXX-1.
Interviewed: Antonio Ferreira, a former reporter
Interviewer: Dr. Arantes
Foreword: Antonio Ferreira was found 5 days after SCP-XXXX was contained. He was preaching in the street about the entity. This is the initial interview after he was found by the Foundation. The following interview has been translated from Brazilian Portuguese.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Arantes: Hello, Antonio, I'm Dr. Arantes. I'm here to evaluate you.
Antonio: Evaluate me? What for? What is this place?
Dr. Arantes: I'm here to evaluate your mental health. You were exposed to a nasty chemical leak that could possibly have harmed your mind.
Antonio: A chemical leak? Am I going to die?
Dr. Arantes: Not if we can help it. We just need you to answer a few simple questions and see what you remember about what happened when you were exposed to the chemical then you can be on your way. It's as simple as that.
Antonio: So if I answer your questions and can recall the event I can leave?
Dr. Arantes: (the doctor nods) It's as simple as that. Are you ready to begin?
Antonio: If it will get me out of here, I'll do anything.
Dr. Arantes: That's the spirit! Now the first question. What's today's date including the year?
Antonio: █ █/█ █/████
Dr. Arantes: Good. Now, what's your name?
Antonio: Antonio Ferreira. Is this gonna take much longer? I have stuff to do.
Dr. Arantes: Just a few more questions. Have patience. When were you born?
Antonio: █ █/█ █/████
Dr. Arantes: Good. Now let's talk about the event that happened five days ago. Do you recall the event?
Antonio: Of course I do! How could I forget when the First Serpent arose to reclaim what it and its brethren had lost so many years ago? Wasn't it glorious? Until that Foundation group came and stole it's glory away again!
Dr. Arantes: (the doctor raised an eyebrow) It was… How did you come to realize the greatness of this entity?
Antonio: It spoke to me! It chose me to spread its word.
Dr. Arantes: And what did it say to you?
Antonio: It told me that long ago when the Earth was young, the Earth gave birth to life. It created gods to protect the animals that it created. Each group of animals had its own god. The snakes, the lizards, the frogs, the birds, the fish, so on and so forth.
Dr. Arantes: That's a lot of gods. What happened to them?
Antonio: That comes next. The Earth then made Man. And it gave the First Man deity status too so that he might take care of his kind.
Dr. Arantes: Was this the Christian god or somebody else?
Antonio: That I do not know. But this First Man decided that it was the best of all the gods and secretly plotted with its followers to seal away all the other gods, so that man could be the ruler of the Earth and use Her as he saw fit. The humans did as their god commanded and imprisoned each deity using powers granted by the First Man.
Dr. Arantes: And is that why the Snake is mad?
Antonio: Not just that! While imprisoned the First Serpent saw man take what was not theirs to take! Humans cut down the trees that the birds roosted in and that animals climbed. They dirtied the waters that the fish swim in and that they themselves drink! We did not care! We ate more than our share! We drank too deeply of the resources given to us! And worst of all, we did not give a damn thing back! We ravaged the Earth! We stole what was previous to her and never gave a thought!
Dr. Arantes: (writes down notes) I see. So this god has now been released from its prison and is going to rain justice down on those that imprisoned it and hurt the world?
Antonio: It was going to release its brethren from imprisonment and cleanse the Earth of all humans except those that it decides will live. But then the Foundation came and captured it while it was still weak. We the true believers will find where they are keeping it and release it once more upon the world!
Dr. Arantes: I wish you luck in finding this Foundation of yours. The evaluation is over. You will be processed in due time.
Antonio: Processed? What do you mean processed? You said you would let me go if I answered your questions!
Dr. Arantes: I said if you answered them correctly. Unfortunately, you did not answer all of them correctly. So I'm afraid you must be detained here until processing. Don't worry, you will be taken good care of.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Subject is under the impression that SCP-XXXX is his god and plans to rescue it. The subject also possesses knowledge of the Foundations existence without having prior knowledge of it before. Subject to be designated as a case of SCP-XXXX-2.
Addendum-XXXX-C:
Since SCP-XXXX's appearance, a Church of the Snake has arisen. Their mission is to rescue SCP-XXXX. So far, ███ members have been detained. All of them came from the area around where the entity awakened. All of them have been designated as SCP-XXXX-2 and are to be under constant surveillance.
Tubbioca was dreaming of munchies and flowers. Tubby heard the door to his containment cell open slowly. He yawned and stretched his little plushie nubs, then slowly rolled over.
"Hello? Is it munchy time already?" No one was there.
"Playtime? Where is everyone at?" Still nobody.
A faint rustling noise was heard. This was confusing. His door was never left open without someone coming in or out.
"Who's there?" Silence.
Tubby jumped off his bed with a soft thump and started waddling towards the door. He wondered if anybody had any munchies for him.
"Munchies? Is it munchy time already?" More silence.
The plush paused in thought. Where were his friends? He didn't have an answer, so he decided to find out. Maybe he would find his munchies along the way.
"Where is everyone?" Tubby asked himself.
Tubbs waddled out of his containment cell and looked around. To his left, a long hallway with doors along both walls, that ended in an intersection with another. To his right, a similar hallway but this one ended in a large space far away. A sign was on the wall with words on it.
The right or the left? The tiny plush didn't know which way to go but decided to go to the right since it was shorter.
Off he waddled but stopped suddenly. He saw something on the wall halfway down the hallway. With fast little plushie waddles, he made his way over there. Tubby looked up at the wall, there was red stuff smeared on it.
"Those are pretty pictures!" The stuff on the wall must be pictures. They looked like the ones that a researcher showed him on several cards. She'd called them pretty pictures and asked him to tell her what they looked like to him.
He nodded happily, "They are really pretty pictures. Thank you whoever made them."
And the pictures were drawn in red too! He liked the color red. It reminded him of the juicy, crunchy, red munchies his friends sometimes brought him. This made him happy and he began to dance. First, he hopped. Then, he spun. Followed by a double hop, another spin, and finished with a roll from side to side.
After his little dance, he happily bounced down the hallway. Now and then he would pause to look at more pretty pictures on the wall, and repeat the process. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make this hallway pretty for him.
The plushie was so happy that he passed an open doorway and almost didn't notice it.
Tubby stopped and turned around. He tilted to one side, then the other. This was the only open door he'd seen since he started exploring. He forgot about the pretty pictures and waddled towards the open door.
"Hello? Anyone in there?" Only the soft rustling of paper answered him.
"Are you a friend?" This time, there was no sound.
Tubby frowned as much as his little plush face allowed. He knew he had heard something.
Silently he crept up to the doorway and looked inside. It was an office. Directly inside the office, there was a simple desk and chair with a trash bin next to them. He moved further inside and looked around. There was no sign of anyone in the room.
"Come out! Don't be scared. I'm a friend." He squeaked, getting frustrated.
Nothing moved, but Tubby knew there was something here. He scanned the room from just inside the doorway. Then he moved towards the desk and looked behind it, but nothing was there.
A rustling sound came from inside a drawer of the file cabinet. Tubby snuck over to investigate and out popped a small origami teddy bear holding a folder.
The origami teddy bear jumped down with the folder and ran out the door.
"Stop! That's not yours!" But, the figure was gone.
Tubby ran as fast as his little nubs could take him. Once he got into the hallway, he saw the figure flatten itself and disappear through a crack in the wall. It left the folder outside the crack.
"Wait! Let's be friends!" This thing was quick.
Tubby came to the crack and stared at it. He was confused. How could that thing fit in there? He pressed himself up against the crack. He couldn't fit. His plush body was too big. The origami figure shouldn't have been able to fit either, but somehow it did.
"Hello in there! Why did you hide?" His only answer was silence.
"Do you have munchies in there?" No answer. Tubby frowned.
"Fine! Stay in there! I don't wanna be your friend anyway." He huffed. What a rude paper creature!
He looked down at the folder. On it was a name and a small picture of one of the friends that would come visit him. Inside, there were papers with many words on them. Tubby frowned as he tried to make out the words but couldn't. He soon gave up and turned away with hurt feelings. All he'd wanted to do was make friends with the paper bear.
He walked towards the cafeteria. Several times, he turned around because he thought he'd seen an origami bear head poke out of the wall.
The cafeteria looked huge to the little plushie. And there were tables and chairs. He immediately forgot about the strange paper thing. Tubby stared in awe at the vending machines in front of him. Slowly he approached the vending machine.
"Wow! Munchies in a box," he muttered, "Big box."
He had never seen so many types of munchies. There were munchies in bags. Some were in wrappers. The wrappers were pretty. He particularly liked the shiny ones. The plushie tried to jump up to the dispensary opening but couldn't jump high enough.
"Bye munchies, I'll be back soon," he waddled away from the munchies in a box.
Tubbioca was distracted when he spotted a pool of red with an object next to it. He waddled over to investigate.
"What is this? It's so pretty!"
The plush poked it with a little nub. It was sticky and quickly stuck to his nub. He thought it felt weird. Tubbioca poked it again. And hopped up and down with excitement at discovering something new.
Tubby looked down and saw his nub had left a mark on the floor from the red fluid. His little eyes widened. He could draw pretty pictures with this red liquid.
Tubby dipped his nubs in the red liquid and started drawing. He didn't know what he was gonna draw but he knew it would be wonderful. Frantically his little nubs drew squiggles, circles, and he even managed a few squares.
"Ta-da! All done!" He was now standing in the middle of a crude drawing of himself about 5 times his actual size. All drawn in the red liquid.
Tubby nodded approvingly at his handiwork. He thought it was the best anyone would ever see.
The plush then finally noticed the object resting next to the pool of red.
"Oh, you're a pat-pat!" Tubbs squeaked.
He loved pat-pats. They solely existed to hold things and to give him pets. He was sure that's what they were naturally designed for.
He started to waddle over to the pat-pat but found his front nubs had difficulty moving. The red fluid had begun to dry on his little nubs and had gotten quite sticky.
"This stuff is sticky," he looked at his sticky nubs. How would he get rid of the stickiness, he wondered.
His eyes widened as he had an idea. He quickly popped his right front nub into his little plushie mouth and started to suck on it. Once that nub was clean, he proceeded to work on the left one. Within a few minutes, his little nubs were clean.
"Tastes kinda weird," he smacked his little plushie mouth.
Tubby circled the pat-pat, it wasn't attached to an arm-part, which he thought was peculiar. All the other pat-pats he had seen were connected to a human person with an arm-part. He then turned his attention back to the severed pat-pat and waddled over to it.
"Hey pat-pat, you gonna give me pets?" It just sat there and didn't respond.
"Pat-pat please give me pets?" Again it seemed to ignore him. He poked it. It didn't move.
"Do you have munchies?" He nudged it with his head.
The plush frowned. Maybe the pat-pat was sick. Or maybe it was lost and didn't know what to do without a human person. That must be it, he decided, the pat-pat must be lost.
"Do not worry pat-pat," he comforted, "I will find your human person."
Tubbioca waddled away, confident that he would find its missing human person. He headed towards the nearest door, which leads to the cafeteria kitchens.
Tubby pushed the door open to the kitchen and looked around.
"Pretty! Someone worked hard!"
The entire kitchen had been splattered with red liquid. It covered the floors and parts of the walls. A person sat slumped in a corner with several shards of bone embedded in his chest.
"Oops! You're sleeping. I'll come back later,"
Tubbioca waddled backward out the kitchen door. He tried to be careful to not wake the sleeping person in the corner but the kitchen door slammed closed.
"Shhhhhhh!" He scolded, "He's sleeping!"
A loud thud resounded through the cafeteria as something heavy hit the floor.
Tubby whirled around and saw a teddy bear-shaped entity made of various pieces of bone.
"Hello, friend!" He waved at the bear.
The bone teddy tilted its head to one side contemplating what to do about the grey plushie in front of it. Then it took a slow step forward. And then another.
"You want some munchies? There are munchies in the big box over there," He nodded towards the vending machine.
The bone bear stopped and stared at the little grey plush. Then it took another step forwards.
Suddenly, the bear covered the distance between the little grey plush and itself.
Tubby didn't have any time to react before he felt a sharp pain from behind and was sent flying end over end. He landed with a light thud and skittered across the floor.
"That really hurt!" Tubbs rolled back to his feet. Despite the pain, Tubby was unharmed, though there were light imprints on his rear.
The bear moved with surprising speed. Again it closed the gap and slapped Tubby across the face with razor-sharp skeletal claws.
Tubbioca was sent spinning from the force of the blow. When the spinning stopped, he felt dizzy and his face hurt. He felt tears welling up in his little plushie eyes.
"Why did you hurt me?" Tubby rubbed his face.
In response, the teddy smacked the grey plush across the face again.
"Go away!" He yelled and launched himself towards the bear with a headbutt.
The grey plush was sent flying over a table by the mighty smack that he received as a counter-attack.
He shook himself. That last hit had really hurt and had made him a little dizzy from the tumble. The bone bear ran towards him.
Tubby rolled to one side and jumped at the teddy. This time he made contact. His little body had enough force to knock the bone bear over on its back. Tubbs began to jump repeatedly on top of the entity.
"Why did you hurt me?" He jumped on the bone creature with each word.
In response, the entity fired a bone spike at Tubby's face, sending him flying backward. He landed a short distance away.
The bone creature jumped to its feet and extended an arm towards Tubbioca. It shot at Tubby again, this time barely missing him.
"Don't throw things at me! It's rude!" He was angry. He had tried to be friendly. He'd shown the thing where the munchies were. Was his kindness returned? No, instead this thing was trying to hurt him.
"You're making me angry!"
Tubby then did what he knew best. He munched. Tubby quickly engulfed the bone spike, pulling it from the floor
The change was slow at first but became faster as it progressed. First, little nodules began to form all over his body. Then, they began to grow outwards. Finally, they stopped growing and developed hard sharp tips on them. Tubbioca now looked like a hedgehog with spikes made of cloth-covered bone.
The bone teddy tilted its head to one side as if noticing the change in Tubby's appearance. It fired another spike at the plush but Tubby hopped to the side. And fired a bone spike right back at the bear, barely missing it.
"Take this!" The plush fired another shot, hitting the bear in the chest. The bone bear shook itself and fired back, but missed.
Tubbs shot several spikes at once towards the bear. Each spike hit and embedded into it. The bear wobbled and stumbled forwards a step. Tubby fired one last spike, once again striking the bears head. And the bone teddy fell over. Its bones separating once it hit the floor.
Tubby, the now spiky plush, shed a tear. He didn't know why the bone bear was not moving anymore. More tears came.
"Sorry! Soooo sorry!" Tears ran down his face
"Why'd you hu-urt me?" He cried as he piles more of the shattered bones together.
"Bones come back! I said I'm sorry! Wake up!" He nudged the pile of bones.
"Bye-bye bones, sleep well," One last tear fell down his cheek.
He turned away from the pile of bones. The plush was very sad. Tubby never wanted to hurt the bone bear but it had made him angry and was trying to hurt him.
Tubby shook himself, rattling his bone spikes. He turned to the next hallway and started waddling.
Tubbioca waddled aimlessly, thinking about what he'd done. When the floor suddenly dropped out from under his little nubs. Tubby was suddenly bouncing down a set of stairs. He hit each step on his way down with a little "oof" and the rattle of his bone spikes.
When he reached the bottom, Tubby shook himself and grinned. That had been kinda fun.
"Wow!" There was a long hallway before him.
The hallway was in a state of disarray. Light fixtures had been damaged and doors were broken or left open. There was red liquid on the walls and some on the floor. And to Tubby's surprise, there were people sitting or laying on the floor.
"Friends!" He was ecstatic to finally see someone else!
Not a single person moved. Tubby ran up to the closest one. A man with a black vest and a helmet on that was laying on the floor with red streams from his ears.
"You sleeping?" He nudged the man's arm.
"Can I go back to the room now? I'm very tired." The man didn't respond.
"Wake up! Why is everyone sleeping?" No one moved.
Tubbioca frowned and waddled quietly through the sleeping people. He suddenly stopped because he saw something.
"I've never seen you before ear-man. Are you a friend?" Tubby asked a man covered in ears. It didn't reply.
As he walked down the hallway he saw more and more strange bodies. Some had holes through their chests or abdomens. Tubby didn't understand what he saw.
Tubby waddled along then stopped. Some distance in front of him there was a large open room. Inside the room, he saw figures gathered in front of a slightly open set of massive double doors.
The plush got excited. These might be friends. Maybe they had munchies. Tubby ran towards the room.
"Hi, friends!"
The group of bear-shaped figures turned to face the plush. And tilted their heads to one side.
"You shouldn't be here," said an electronic voice.
"Why not?" Tubby asked. He looked around for the voice.
"I'm Tubbioca! Who are you? Do you wanna be friends?"
A normal looking teddy bear stepped forward with another bear that was made of wires and radio parts. The ordinary teddy bear stepped slightly further forward and motioned to itself.
"I am known as Builder Bear. The humans called me 1048. The others are companions that I built." Its words being relayed via the electronic bear.
"No objects are supposed to be wandering around."
The ordinary teddy turned towards the group and made several motions with its paws. All the bears spread out and encircled Tubby.
"Who let you out? Was it a human?"
"I dunno," Tubby shrugged, "I woke up and the door was open."
"Hello, friend! Nice to see you again!" He waved as he noticed the origami bear.
The origami bear ran and hid behind a metal bear.
"How do you know that one?" Radio bear gestured to the origami bear.
"I found him in a room with something that was not his."
Builder Bear glanced back at the paper bear and then looked back at Tubby.
Tubby smiled at the builder bear. He had made a friend he thought.
Builder Bear tilted its head and motioned at Tubby.
"Kill it."
"What? No, don't kill me!" Tubby was shocked. He thought they were friends.
All the bears started to move forwards. The metal bear was the fastest and leaped at Tubby ready to shred the plush to ribbons.
Tubbioca managed to roll out of the metal bears path just in time. Unfortunately, he rolled right into a bear made of batteries and wires. Tubby felt an intense electrical shock as the wires on the teddy bear wrapped around him.
Tubby struggled as hard as he could. A bone spike logged into the bear's central battery and suddenly the plush was let go. He turned around to see the bear staggering backward holding its chest.
"Sorry!" The plush apologized. Even when he had to, Tubby didn't like hurting things.
But Tubby didn't have time to feel sorry for the battery and wire bear. Other bears were quickly closing in.
The metal bear made it first again and hit the Tubby, sending him flying into a teddy bear made of nails.
The nail teddy tried to puncture Tubby. But Tubby's plushie skin would just bend. The plush did feel sharp pinpricks though where the nails tried to dig in.
Tubby thrashed violently to separate himself from the nail bear. His spikes managed to knock some of the creatures apart and it let go, but was quickly back up.
Slowly, Tubby was whittling down the bear's numbers. Several were left that Tubby's bone spikes could not damage. The Builder Bear with its radio bear companion stood off to the side and had not joined the fight.
The remaining teddy bear constructs circled the little plushie. Tubbioca was getting tired but these things were not giving him a break. He had three more bears left to fight. There was the metal bear, with its impenetrable metal structure and its raw power and speed. There was the nail bear with more metal defense and its strategy of bear hugging its opponents. And finally, there was the rubber bear, made of bits and pieces of rubber. Tubby's spikes could hurt it but not break it apart.
Near the giant open double doors, stood Builder Bear and radio bear. Builder Bear was busy trying to create another bear.
Tubby panicked as all three bears leaped straight for him. He shot all his bone spikes, launching them in all directions like an exploding porcupine.
Tubbioca closed his eyes and expected to feel pain from being beaten by the brutal bears. But all he felt was the weight of the teddy bear constructs as they fell on top of him.
He struggled to get out from under the bears. Fearing they would start attacking. Then he saw it. Builder Bear lay on the ground with two spikes in his teddy bear chest and one in his head.
He heard muffled crying from inside the giant doors.
"Hello?" More crying.
He walked over to Builder Bear and poked it. Builder Bear did not respond.
"Not sorry," Tubby waddled past the now deceased teddy bear. He gave a sigh of relief, content that he was now safe.
Inside the room with the double doors were all his friends. Many were wounded and some were sleeping but all were tied up and gagged.
"Wow, it's a party!" Tubby squeaked with joy! He had found his friends.
He started to waddle over to the group of his friends but paused. His stomach felt weird. And he noticed the spikes had never grown back. He felt a surge within his body and he regurgitated a spike of bone.
"No more pokeys, I guess," he shrugged.
Now Tubby was back to normal. He bounced over to his friends and nuzzled them. Many made sounds at him but he couldn't understand them with their gags in their mouths. The plush didn't care. He was just happy to be back with his friends.
Tubby found his favorite person, a researcher that visited him daily, snuggled up to him.
"Nice party. But I'm ready for bedtime! Can I have munchies later?"
The researcher looked confused at the plushie staring at him. Tubby didn't care because now he had found his friends. The plushie curled up and fell asleep.
Later, a group of men dressed in black, carrying metal objects in their hands came. They said everything was secured and began helping Tubby's friends. Tubby was placed back in his containment cell and given a big snack before he went back to sleep.
Dead. Broken. No more. These are the things that occupy my thoughts. Below me, I see the rubble of buildings. Buildings that once held people. No not people, in reality, they were our jailers. Keeping us within concrete walls. My life had been simple compared to some. Many were not as lucky as I was to have been so well taken care for.
"You're lost in your thoughts again, little one," a familiar voice said.
"I didn't hear you approach sir."
I can feel his eyes upon me from within the darkness of his hood. No light ever penetrated that darkness. But still, I could feel those eyes from the cloaked figure. Studying me.
"What are you looking at? The rubble down below?"
I nodded.
"Do you miss them?" He laughed.
Of course, I missed them. They had treated me well and shown me love, but he would never understand that.
"I do. They were kind to me."
"Not all of us had that experience," the figure sat down next to me.
"Were you treated well before the Foundation?"
His question took me by surprise. It had been a long time since I had thought back to the time before I was caught by the Foundation.
"Originally no, when my first memories of humans are not pleasant."
"Tell me."
So I told him.
Light. My first memory was of bright light. The sound of sewing machines and the rattle of carts being pushed around were the first things I heard. That factory was my birthplace.
I didn't know where I was or why I was there. In fact, I didn't know anything.
The box I was in contained others that looked just like me but were different at the same time. None of them moved. None of them spoke.
"Hello?" There was no response.
Crawling to the edge of the box, I peered out at the factory. Workers were busy sewing and stuffing other toys. None had heard me speak.
"Hello? Who are you guys?" Not a single worker lifted their heads to look at me.
I didn't know at the time that I couldn't be heard by humans except under special circumstances. But we will get to that later.
Nobody was noticing me. So I decided to go to them.
Climbing over the edge of the box, I lost my balance and fell to the floor. Picking myself up, I waddled over to one of the workers.
"Hi! What's your name?" She didn't reply.
I nudged her foot.
She looked down at me and saw me looking up at her. I waved a little nub. The lady panicked and kicked me across the floor.
"Back demon!" She yelled, making gestures to ward off evil.
The kick had hurt but not as much as the fact that she was scared of me. I didn't know who I was or why I was there.
"Can I be your friend? Please don't kick me again?"
I waddled towards her.
She threw her chair at me and screamed.
"Demon!" The cry rang out through the factory as more workers arrived.
This was getting scary so I ran. They chased me throughout the factory until I found myself in the woods outside.
It took the workers awhile to give up the search. I hid inside a hollow log until I was sure they were gone.
Thoughts were racing through my head. Why did they hate me? What is a demon? Why do I exist?
I spent the night there in that log. Alone with all my thoughts.
"Your first memories were of hatred and you still loved humans?"
I shook my head.
"Yes my first memories were not pleasant but I was a very simple plush back then. In someways I still am."
I could feel his gaze upon me again. What was he thinking? There was no way to tell unless he spoke.
"You are a strange one Tubbioca. Even when you are mistreated you do not hate your tormentors."
How could I explain myself to him? I gazed into the only darkness within his hood. Would he understand the deep set need I had, still have, to be loved? No, the figure sitting next to me had no such need. Probably never had needed love.
"I didn't go to the humans afterwards for a long time," I explained.
"How long of a time?" His gaze never left me.
How I must confuse him. As cold and calculating this being was he did not seem to comprehend love.
"I couldn't tell you how long I stayed in the forest. Time was meaningless to me back then," I shrugged.
His gaze left me. Glancing over at him, I could see that he was staring off into the distance.
"What did you do while in those woods?"
So I told him.
What is it to have a name? A name gives us a sense of identify. Without one we are lost.
I can into this world without a name. Confused and rejected, I too was lost.
Time was an alien concept to me in that forest. I don't know how long I wandered that night. Most of it was a haze of emotions. Despair, confusion, self loathing and loneliness was all that I felt. My first day alive and I had been rejected. How utterly depressing.
At some point I must have given up walking because I found myself laying next to a rock near a green field in the morning.
For the first time, I saw the beauty of that forest. The colors were so vibrant to me. They made me very happy. Happy enough to forget about my horrible first day on Earth. For a time at least.
The newness of everything was a great distraction. Feeling the grass beneath my nubs was an amazing feeling. I felt renewed energy flowing through me.
I ran through the grass. Loving the feel of it against my plush body.
Something darted in front of me. I stopped. Before me was a creature I had never seen before. It was about the shape as me but had longer legs. Those legs let it move in fast hops across my path. I followed it.
The creature stopped and turned to look at me. It had a small head with big ears. The front of its face twitched as it stared at me.
"Hello? Who are you?" I asked. It gave no response.
I took a few steps towards it and it took a few towards me.
The creature came and sniffed my face. I laughed. Its long hairs on its face tickled me.
Per 
