KuzonFilms

Tiana slowly walked into the semi-circle chamber, escorted by a single guard. The straight wall had a window, which faced an identical semi-circled chamber. In the window was a small, circular intercom device for talking. Tiana took a deep breath. This room was definitely built for conversation. The staff weren't lying to her. She was really going to speak with 'Steve.'

In her mind, she heard the other parts of herself arguing. Since there was nothing else for her to do right now, Tiana pulled her attention away from the real world and focused on the people inside her mind.

Tiana: I'm ready.

Felicia: Are you sure? You've got it?

Tiana: Yeah…yeah, I'll be fine.

AJ: Okay, everyone, just breath. Remain calm. Fugo, I need you to control yourself.

Fugo: Yeah, I know. Thank you for your oh-so-wonderful wisdom. Fucker.

Terrence: I don't wanna do this guys. I don't want to look him in the eyes! Come on, let's just let Fugo at the bastard and sit this one out.

Tiana: No. We can do this.

AJ: That's right, she doesn't have to face this alone. We're all going to be there to support her. We need to be a whole person on this one. One mind.

Fugo: But -

Amy: Shhhhhhh, baby.

Fugo: Get off me! Go take your charms somewhere else, you dumb bitch!

Amy: Betcha he wouldn't act like that -

Fugo: ENOUGH!

Felicia: Hey, Tiana, you want me to take over the controls?

Tiana: Um…yeah, someone else take over. AJ, I think you should do it.

AJ: Yes ma'am.

Terrence: Look at all the guards guys! Fugo, please, please don't do anything! I don't want to die.

Fugo: *snorts*

AJ: Terrence, Terrence, relax. They aren't going to do anything to us.

Terrence: *whimpers*

AJ: Repeat after me: The Foundation doesn't kill SCPs.

Terrence: The Foundation doesn't kill SCPs.

AJ: We are not going to die.

Fugo: I wish we would die. Take some of those monsters out there with us.

Terrence: We are…we are NOT going to die.

Felicia: That's right! We're going to tell 'Steve' what we want him to do for us, and he's going to be so happy that we're not mad at him that he'll do anything we say! Right?

Fugo: You can say "we're not mad at him" all you want. I know that's a lie.

Terrence: AH!

AJ: Shit, there he is. It's time. Tiana, can you let me have the controls?

AJ: Tiana.

AJ: Tiana!

Tiana: I know. Let's switch.

Tiana receded into the back of the brain, relinquishing the body to AJ's clinical personality. She felt her legs and torso grow, giving her an extra 10cms in height. Her long curls atop her head shrank back into a thin buzz cut. Her breasts receded into her chest. Her slender arms grew thin hairs. The last thing she felt before losing all sense of touch was the pounding of her heart. She took her seat at the council's semicircle, looking away from the screen that displayed the world outside of their collective body.

AJ blinked. He was in control. He watched the man they'd come to know as 'Steve' walk into the chamber opposite them.

Fugo: I can't do this guys. I can't.

Felicia: This is only going to take like 5 minutes!

Fugo: It only took 1 microsecond for him to fuck everything up! 5 minutes is way too long!

AJ couldn't help but feel Fugo's rage in his head. He couldn't blame the guy. After all, sitting across from them man responsible for their situation, with only a thick, pane of glass separating them. He muttered under his breath.

"If you don't control yourself, Jack will never get our letters."

Fugo: Fuck you. Fine.

By now, the guard had left 'Steve' alone on his side of the chamber. He wasn't looking at AJ, but instead was keeping his head down, looking at the floor. AJ tried to calculate what the man might be thinking. It was so difficult with these people that didn't shapeshift. Neither of them spoke for a little bit.

From the speakers in both chambers, a clinical voice was heard. "We didn't grant you this meeting with SCP-507 for you to just sit there, SCP-5198. Spit it out."

Tiana: Don't mess this up.

AJ spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Steve, I need you to listen to me."

The man on the other side of the glass continued to look at the ground.

AJ sighed. "I don't want to look at you any more than you do, but I need you to pay attention."

'Steve' just shook his head. "Sorry."

Fugo: Is that all he has to say? IS THAT ALL HE HAS TO FUCKING SAY?

Terrence: Oh god, please no!

Fugo threw AJ off the controls inserted himself into the center stage. His hair grew from a buzz cut to a short trim. His muscles swelled. His face morphed from the calm, collected baby-face of AJ to a grizzled, callused growl. He shrank a couple of inches, but gained at least 30kgs. Fugo got up from his chair and stared at 'Steve' with the most vengeful stare he could muster.

"Oh, well that just fixes everything, doesn't it?" he sneered. "You know? That's just great. I'm so glad that you regret your shit. Of course I'll forgive you! You know what? Why don't you come over to my cell next week? We can play video games and laugh about the good ol' days when I wasn't a test subject for your Foundation!"

Tiana: You juvenile little child.

Terrence: Somebody do something!

Fugo ignored the voice in his head, keeping his stare on 507.

"It'll be like nothing ever happened. We can just laugh it off! Hey, remember that time when you ripped me away from my home and trapped me in a world where everyone wears a mask and never shows their true face? That was so funny! Hahaha! HAHAHA! GOOD TIMES, YEAH?"

The voice from the speakers blasted into Fugo's ears. "SCP-5198-5, please change your form, or this conversation will be terminated."

Felicia: Ugh! Fugo won't get off the controls! I can't shake him!

Terrence: I knew this would happen. I knew it!

AJ: Tiana…I'm sorry. I was wrong. It has to be you. It's you that wanted this meeting to happen. It's you that needs to speak to 'Steve.'

Tiana: I…okay. Let me try something.

A rush of memories flew through Fugo's mind. The day that their son Jack learned how to change his forms on command. The day that Charlotte became Charlotte-Terese. Their wedding day with Paul (but they hadn't used that name of course). The memories made Fugo want to kill the man behind the glass even more, but…

Tiana: Don't you want to tell them that we're still alive?

Fugo sat back down on the chair and put his head in his hands.

"Fucking hell. Fine, Tiana, you win."

Fugo gave Tiana the controls, which she took reluctantly. Her breasts grew back. Her hair grew back to shoulder length. Her muscles shrank from bulky to slender. As she regained control, her eyes focused in on "Steve," who was still looking at the floor.

"I'm sorry about Fugo," she said. "Obviously, he's still very angry. I don't think he'll ever be fully okay with…everything."

'Steve' sighed and nodded. "I really am sorry. If I could send you back, I would." He nervously looked towards the door. "Well, they wouldn't let me, but you know."

Tiana had no idea whether he was telling the truth, but that didn't matter. "Steve, I can't accept your apology. If we were back in my world, you would all be considered psychopaths because you can't shapeshift. For all I know, you're lying."

"Why…why are you still calling me Steve?"

Amy: Because it's sexier than "507."

Terrence: Because it's a reminder that he lied about his name, so he'll lie about everything else too.

Fugo: Because fuck the Foundation

AJ: Why don't we call him "507?"

Felicia: Because I want to be talking to a human, not an SCP object!"

Tiana decided to go with Felicia's reasoning.

"Because in spite of everything you've done to me, you're still human. We're both humans." Tiana turned around, giving a glare to the guard standing behind her before returning her gaze to her fellow SCP. "I refuse to call you 507. And I don't have another name for you besides the one you originally gave me. So even if it's not your real name, I'm going to stick with it."

'Steve' said nothing, but he looked up and, for the first time, made eye contact with her. His green eyes glimmered with tears.

Fugo: Oh shoot, he might actually mean his apology. I feel kinda bad now.

Amy: That's all it takes to change your mind, Mr. Hyde?

Fugo: Don't call me that! I haven't ever seen someone fake tears, and neither have you.

AJ: Tiana, you need to get to the point. We have a limited amount of time.

Felicia: Ah, come on! We're finally having some real social interaction! Do you know how lonely I've been? This is really good for us.

Tiana took a mental note of AJ's pressure. He was right; she needed to get the main point across.

"Listen, I asked you to meet with me because, in spite of what you did…I need you to do something for me. And no, I'm not going to ask you to take me back to my dimension. I remember what you told me before. I understand that I'm not going back."

'Steve' sighed. "I know that I just said it, but I really am so, so sorry. I…I have no excuse."

"It doesn't matter. But there is something you can do for me; something that will make all of this mess a little bit more bearable."

"Okay…okay, yeah, if I can do it."

"When you leave this room, one of the staff is going to hand you a package. That package…"

Felicia: It's okay, girl. You've got this.

Tiana continued. "That package has letters to my kids, husband, and the rest of my extended family. You remember Jack and Charlotte, right?"

'Steve' nodded, maintaining eye contact with her. "Jack was also Arthur, Riley, and the Red Power Ranger, right?"

Tiana smiled. The Red Power Ranger running around doing faux-karate was a memory she had almost forgotten.

"That's right," she said. "I know that your powers are random, and you might never visit my world again. But if you do…deliver those letters. Can you do that for me?"

'Steve' looked back down. He didn't speak.

Terrence: Oh god, what if he says no? Our kids will never know!

Felicia: Hey, hey, he hasn't said no yet! Let's just keep waiting.

Tiana felt the unease coming from her other personalities. She prayed to the gods of this strange dimension to give 'Steve' the drive to do what she wanted, just this one time.

Finally, 'Steve' looked up and stared her straight in the eyes. "Yes. I don't know how long it'll be until I go back, or if I ever will. But if I do, I'll find them. I promise."

The possibility of contacting their kids was too much. Tiana could feel everyone in her mind starting to cry. Old memories flooded back to the forefront of their mind. Tiana felt her tears mix with those of Fugo and Felicia as they dripped down her face. She fought to maintain her composure.

AJ: Tiana, let me take over. He needs to know some more things.

Tiana shook her head. "No, AJ, I've got this. I can do this. I need to do this."

'Steve' cocked his head. "Is everything okay in there?"

Fugo: Shut your mouth, psycho.

Tiana smiled. "Shut your mouth, psycho."

The loudspeaker crackled to life. "Okay, SCP-5198, you got your point across. You'll both be escorted back to your cells."

AJ: WAIT!

Tiana felt herself ripped out of the controls. Her body shifted to its masculine form with the slim arms and buzz cut.

AJ started speaking as fast as he could. "Fuckfuckfuck, I forgot. Listen very carefully, okay?"

'Steve' jumped a little. "Uh, y-yeah, of course!"

"Remember; everyone's like me over there. And since so much time has passed, you might not recognize my family immediately, especially my kids. Dammit, how did I not think of this before! Forms change over time, especially with children. By the time you jump back, Jack might be calling himself Arthur, Brian, Lancelot or Octavius for all I know. He will not look the same. Neither will Charlotte. My husband will probably have the same forms, since he's an adult."

'Steve' looked confused. "So look for your husband then? I'm a little worried now. You never mentioned this before."

"You were a stranger! God, you're still a stranger!"

AJ pinched the bridge of his nose. There was only one solution to this problem, but the others probably wouldn't like it.

"I can't believe I'm telling you this. Look, we might be shapeshifters, with a different name for each form, but we…I have a true name that never changes, as does everyone where I come from. A name that's only shared with those closest to you, those you trust."

'Steve' furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't understand. Why are you telling me this?"

"If you tell my family that you bring a message from me, and use my true name, they'll know that it's really from me.

Fugo: No…

Felicia: Yes!

AJ sighed. This went against everything taught to them growing up, but it had to be done.

"My…my name is Milene."

'Steve' nodded. "That's…a nice name."

Amy: Ahhhhhhhhh, that's sweet.

Fugo: Oh fuck off!

Milene-AJ shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Just, deliver it, okay Steve? I…just make sure that they get it."

'Steve' nodded slowly, looking down. His feet shuffled. "Yeah."

With a loud buzzing noise, the doors to both chambers opened and armed security guards strode in. Milene-AJ turned and started to head towards the door. The mission had been accomplished. The staff would hand the package to 'Steve,' and then it would be left in his hands. He felt Terrence in the back of his mind, utterly convinced that their messenger would fail. But there was nothing that could be done about that.

"Hey, Milene?"

Milene-AJ shivered. He hadn't been addressed by his true name in what felt like years. He turned around to face 'Steve.'

The man in the jumpsuit opened his mouth, as if trying to force out the words. Finally, he spoke.

"My name is John."

Tiana: Please, AJ. Let me have this.

After she transformed, Tiana smiled.

"Thank you John."

John nodded. "And I really am sorry."

Milene-Tiana nodded back. "I know you are."