Per 
Researcher Fae Jessica Pace stretched and groaned at the sound of her alarm blaring next to her head. “It’s 5:00 A.M.,” the voice spoke loudly, but, thankfully not obnoxiously. She could only imagine how many cell phones she would have destroyed by now if not for the strides technology had taken in alarms in recent years. She had completely obliterated many clocks in her day. A few minutes after turning off her alarm, Fae realized it was Wednesday. This immediately put some pep into her morning routine. She loved Wednesdays. This was her day to get to assist in the care of SCP-999.
Fae practically bounced into the facility. She clocked in quickly, and grabbed 999’s breakfast. She also threw in a few Ferrero Rocher candies. A few months before she had eaten some while spending time with it, and it had expressed an interest in her favorite chocolates. Fae had gladly shared one with the friendly SCiP, and it had enjoyed it immensely. They had become even closer as friends ever since.
She walked to 999’s chamber. It was often allowed to roam the facility freely, but if no one sent it to bed, it would utterly exhaust itself while attempting to help everyone else. Fae could relate to this, since she was known for working herself into the ground also. Both of them needed a scheduled bedtime for sure. She swiped her badge, stepped into the chamber, and called softly, “Hey, Peanut Butter, time to wake up! Breakfast!” (Peanut Butter was her personal pet name for the adorable anomaly. It generally exuded the scent most pleasing to whomever was nearest to it. Fae’s personal favorites were citrus, mint chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla and peanut butter, depending on her current mood. And since the rest sounded to her like rather absurd stripper names, she chose Peanut Butter for her favorite SCiP.)
Once she was all the way inside the chamber, 999 wiggled up to her, its gelatinous body propelling it forward. It let out the distinctive “chirrup” sound it was known for, and wrapped a pseudopod around her leg, effective hugging her thigh like a young child. As usual, this caused Fae to feel like the most special individual on the planet. She smiled warmly down to it and petted the top of its squishy body.
“Hey, my favorite big guy! How’s your day going? I’m very happy to see you, too! Guess what? I brought breakfast!” Fae presented it with its tray of various sweets, including the Ferrero Rochers, which it made quick work of absorbing delightedly. It saved the Ferreros for last and expressed pleasure with wiggles and chirps. Fae petted the top of its body, smiling with true delight herself. She didn’t think there were many things that could give her as much simple warmth and happiness as seeing her little buddy enjoy itself.
As it gobbled up its meal, she inspected its appearance, as was a part of her major duties for the job. She noticed that there were some marked differences today. It’s color seemed slightly off, and it came much higher on her body than normal. She also noticed that, while it seemed happy with her offerings, it didn’t seem to have as much of its usual bouncy energy. Fae crouched down beside it, and using her best impressions as a researcher, peered into where she believed its face would most likely be. “Hey, big guy, you seem a little off. Are you okay? Anything I can help you with?”
999 reached its pseudopods around her and hugged her again. Normally, with many other beings it spent time around, this would be the beginning of a “tickle fight”, but Fae had let it know early on that while she really didn’t enjoy being tickled, she absolutely loved its hugs. She wrapped her arms back around it, noticing that, while her overall stress level and such was much lower than normal, this didn’t feel anything like the total euphoria that touching and being touched by the SCiP usually produced.
“Hey, PB, what’s wrong? Let me help you, buddy.” At this, 999 nudged her all the way down to a seated position. Fae complied, and scooted herself to where she could place her back against the wall of the chamber and began petting the top of its body. 999 pressed itself against her lap, its body forming what could best be described as a pliable sphere, molding its body to her lap, and began emitting a rhythmic breathing noise. “Well, that's the first time I’ve seen you need a nap after breakfast!” Fae found this to be a bit worrying but did not want to leave her little buddy to file a report just yet. The Foundation and its staff were known for being cold and clinical, but she just couldn’t jive with the sentiment in this situation. In fact, she was fairly certain that particular bit of her personality was why she’d been chosen as one of its caretakers. So instead, she wrapped her arms around him (she always thought of it as him, so why not), and petted his top, listening to his sleepy breathing noises.
They sat like this for quite some time. Fae looked down at her watch and nearly gasped at how much time had elapsed. She knew she had arrived in the containment chamber by no later than 0830. It was now 1130! She gently nudged 999 in his side. “Hey buddy, we might need to cut into this nap. It’s almost time for me to go grab your lunch!”
999 wiggled and stretched its body, it’s chirrups sounding most adorably like a sleepy child waking for morning. Then, to Fae’s utter amazement, it opened up what appeared to be two, perfectly round, luminous, beautiful blue eyes! Fae gasped in shock, which seemed to distress 999. It reached out a pseudopod to comfort her. She reached back, smiling and said, “Hey, buddy, it’s alright. It’s okay. You just gave me quite a shock there! But I promise, I am completely okay.”
Fae continued petting what she now knew for certain was the back of its head, continuing down the top of its back in sheer wonderment. She couldn’t get over the amazing beauty of the blue orbs staring now at her. “So, is this why you were so sleepy? You were having a growth spurt!” 999 made a somewhat concerned and confused sounding chirp. Fae reached down her hands, and leaned over, placing her palms on the sides of his head and her forehead to his. She closed her own eyes and said, “Don’t worry, big guy. I’ve got you. And I promise I will keep you safe while you keep growing.” At this, 999 curled itself back into the sphere shape from earlier, closed its brand-new eyes, and began to sleep again. Now, her only thoughts were, how to make sure she could keep that promise?
