But Old Yang completely ignored Zhou Ze's reaction and turned to look at the ceiling.
His gaze seemed to pierce the boundaries of matter and reach into the endless void. With a devout expression, as though offering some kind of prayer, he proclaimed in a drawn-out, ethereal voice:
"What thou desirest is what I wish. I shall uphold it as the highest truth and carry it through to the end, guiding the wheel of fate ever onward... Be patient and await good tidings, for every silence prepares the way for a more glorious blossoming..."
With that, Old Yang vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Dumbstruck, Zhou Ze could only interpret it as some sort of performance art on Old Yang's part.
What a nutcase...
"Knock, knock, knock..."
Suddenly, someone knocked at the door.
Zhou Ze hurriedly composed himself. After looking around to make sure nothing was out of place, he quickly got up and hopped off the bed.
"Who is it?"
As he spoke, he walked toward the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.
"D-87465, it's time for you to work."
The security guard with short brown hair stood outside.
Zhou Ze paused. "Now?"
"Yes, now." Little emotion showed in the guard's pale gray eyes.
"But... I haven't eaten yet..." Zhou Ze scratched his head.
"You can eat on the way. Hurry up..."
"Oh..."
When Zhou Ze entered SCP-239's containment chamber again and found himself in that beautiful, fairy-tale garden, he felt utterly out of place.
He was still wearing that nauseating orange-red Class-D Personnel uniform.
Seriously.
As some great wizard's magic apprentice, why couldn't I wear something befitting my role?
A gray robe or something...
Just then, a familiar male voice came through the earpiece concealed in his right ear.
"Listen, D-87465..."
Of course it's you... Dai Yong'an.
"Your task this time is to instill in the target, as much as possible, the conceptual distinction between justice and evil, guiding the subject to distinguish between good and evil to some degree. The exact degree isn't important. The key is to get her thinking about the question. I believe you understand what I mean, correct?"
Hmph. As far as I'm concerned, you people are evil itself...
"I understand." Zhou Ze betrayed nothing.
"Good. Incidentally, using stories to introduce this concept to the target might be a good approach, but they should preferably not involve supernatural powers. At the very least, they must not involve supernatural powers outside the established setting. Understood?"
Zhou Ze froze.
They'd given him a Western fantasy script, yet demanded that his stories avoid supernatural powers...
Wasn't that asking the impossible...?
"Understood."
Of course, Zhou Ze wasn't foolish enough to voice such a sensitive question.
"Go on..."
Zhou Ze headed toward the little wooden cottage in the center of the garden, his mind racing all the way.
He could understand guiding her values... That was part of education.
But why were they always so secretive about anything involving the supernatural?
What kind of anomaly did Alice possess... Was it related to personal perception...?
As he pondered this, he pushed open the cottage's oak door, carved with exquisite patterns.
"Mr. Zhou Ze?!"
Alice was clearly surprised to see Zhou Ze. Her eyes, as clear as lake water, brimmed with delighted surprise.
The girl struggled to get out of bed, but her frail, slender body prevented her from succeeding on her first attempt.
She wasn't discouraged, however, and instead offered him a warm, sincere smile.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Zhou Ze. I'm very happy to see you again."
"I'm happy to see you too, Alice." Zhou Ze shook his head with a soft chuckle and closed the wooden door.
It was neither politeness nor a lie.
If there was anyone in this hellhole whose company put Zhou Ze most at ease, aside from Old Yang, it had to be Alice.
Even though he knew perfectly well that Alice was, in essence, a humanoid anomaly locked in a cage.
But so what? Who wasn't locked in a cage?
"Mr. Zhou Ze, please sit down." Alice extended her small, pale, slender hand, gesturing for Zhou Ze to sit on the sofa.
"Thank you."
Compared with the anxiety of his first visit, Zhou Ze's state of mind was entirely different now.
Only now did he notice that beneath the comfortable sofa he had sat on last time were a pair of round red eyes and a tiny mouth wearing lipstick.
Its expression suggested considerable displeasure at the prospect of someone sitting on it.
Fortunately, perhaps out of consideration for Alice, the sofa did nothing else.
The discovery made Zhou Ze stiffen, but he still sat down as though nothing had happened, albeit feeling rather as if he were sitting on pins and needles.
Well, it certainly lived up to being a magical cottage...
"Mr. Zhou Ze..."
Before Zhou Ze could speak, he saw Alice eagerly pull a neatly folded sheet of white paper from beneath her pillow.
She quickly unfolded it and held it up to him, her face full of anticipation. "Look, look!"
It was a drawing.
More precisely, it was a pencil sketch.
The draftsmanship was exquisite, the lines fluid, and the contrast between light and shadow just right, producing an astonishingly lifelike effect. It hardly seemed possible that the little girl before him had drawn it.
The picture depicted a bearded Santa Claus in red clothes and a pointed red hat, smiling with kind, warm eyes.
Zhou Ze's eyes widened.
Thanks to the superb drawing, he recognized almost immediately that Santa Claus's face was modeled on his own.
"D-87465, tell me what's drawn on that paper." Dai Yong'an's voice suddenly came through the earpiece, unable to conceal his urgency. "...In whatever way you deem appropriate."
Zhou Ze froze.
They couldn't see what was in the drawing...
In that brief instant, countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Ze's mind, and he quickly made what he believed was the best decision.
"This is... Santa Claus. You did a wonderful job. It's beautiful..." Zhou Ze praised her first, then tried to change the subject without giving anything away. "Make sure you keep it safe... By the way, Alice, how have you... been these past few days?"
Although Zhou Ze appeared calm and unruffled, turmoil was already raging inside him.
He recalled the wildly growing beard he had found upon waking and what Old Yang had told him.
He recalled the experimental taboos he had been warned about time and again.
He recalled the researchers standing ready for anything and the almost obsessive importance the Containment Facility placed on Alice.
Alice's anomaly was related to perception...
Perception... Thoughts...
Could it be...
Whatever she wished came true...
That was just too...
Should I use this to do something...?
Not just for myself, but for poor Alice too...
Zhou Ze suddenly realized that this moment was the closest he had come to a chance of escaping his predicament since arriving in this world.
The door of fate had opened a crack before him, revealing a faint ray of hope.
No... This was only my guess. Even if it was true, I couldn't be certain exactly how much Alice could do...
Besides, secretly doing anything under such tight surveillance wouldn't be easy...
This needed careful planning...
Be cautious... Be cautious...
Before you continue