Sans didn't stop when he heard the alarm, a loud claxon that echoed off the austere walls of the facility. He needed to find Fuku and Artie, a task that was significantly harder seeing as every hallway looked the same. He occasionally came across a door with an alphanumeric designation: SCP-3105-034, SCP-3105-493, SCP 3356. He didn't understand the meaning, or why those doors without the 3105 prefix looked much more secure, but given that the researcher referred to him as an escaped SCP, he could cater a guess that his current location was some sort of storage for anomalous things, like Warehouse 13, but for people as well.
It certainly didn't feel much like the warehouse, however. The Warehouse had a strange air that was comforting, like that in the home of an old friend. More than once, Sans thought he'd caught the scent of apples during his brief stay. None of that was in the cold halls of the SCP facility, however; the facility bore the austerity of a scientific facility, which brought to mind old memories Sans didn't particularly want to recollect.
Unfortunately, Sans's search ended abruptly as he found his progress blocked by a heavy bulkhead door. Sans turned to double back, but barely made it three steps before the first of the soldiers ran into his long of sight.
"Hey." Sans said, raising his hands as more soldiers joined the first, their rifles aimed at his skull. "I was lookin' for the bathroom."
"Don't move." The lead soldier raised a radio to his mask-covered face. "We've surrounded SCP-3177 at Junction X-37."
"Understood. Proceed with caution." Came the reply.
Several of the soldiers slowly approached, one pulling a set of handcuffs made of some grey-greenish metal with a slight bluish tinge.
Sans could've wiped the floor with them. His telekinesis, his Gaster Blaster, and his skill at dodging would make it easy for him to escape without breaking a sweat ... but to where? He still didn't know where he was, or where Fuku or Artie might be. Perhaps if he went along with the situation, he'd have a chance to explain his situation to someone with a sympathetic ear. If it didn't work out, he could always hop through a shortcut.
"All right." Sans said, holding out his hands, "Ya got me, fair and square."
They didn't respond, though Sans thought he saw something between doubt and a slight measure of relief in the eyes of the soldier who eventually put the strange cuffs on Sans.
"Thanks." The soldier mumbled, much to Sans's surprise.
"Eh, I know when I'm beat." Sans said with a shrug. Raising his hands, he said, "Take me to your leader."
The soldiers escorted him through the hallways. While still giving him some berth, the soldiers seemed to be less afraid of him now that he wore the cuffs. Sans wasn't sure of the implication of that, but less-worred soldiers are soldiers less likely to start firing, so he didn't complain. He tried a few times to strike up a conversation, making jokes to break the ice and hopefully glean a little about his location, but none of the soldiers responded ... though Sans thought he saw the soldier who cuffed him crack a small grin at one point.
The soldiers eventually brought Sans to a small windowed room with a single table with two chairs, one facing the door and the other facing away from it. A nervous-looking young man in a lab coat stood by the table, his eyes shifting from the guard to Sans.
"Mind if I take a seat?" Sans asked.
"W-what? Oh! Er, g-go ahead."
Sans sat down in the chair facing the door and leaned back, resting his feet on the table and cradling his head in his cuffed hands. All but one soldier left the room, though Sans was fairly sure at least two more were waiting just outside should Sans try anything. The lab assistant flipped through a folder full of documents as though searching for something, but it was clear he was just trying to look busy so he wouldn't have to look at Sans.
"So," Sans said, "What's your name, kid?"
The man nearly dropped the folder. "What? Oh, m-me? I'm Researcher Gerald Neric."
"Nice ta meetcha." Sans said. "What've you got there?"
"Your file. Doctor Eddons requested I bring it here. She'll be here in a few moments."
"My file, huh? Anything interesting in there?"
The outer door opened before Researcher Neric could reply. A tall thin woman with a pinched face walked into the room, barely giving Neric the barest of nods before taking the remaining seat across from Sans. Once seated, she flipped open her folder and clicked the top of her ballpoint pen.
"Heya, Doc." Sans said, hoping to break the sudden chill in the atmosphere of the room.
Her gray eyes flashed in his direction, her pursed lips twitching in a very slight look of contempt. "SCP-3177. I see you made another escape attempt."
"Yeah, you know me." Sans said with a carefree shrug. "I like to stay busy."
"Hmm." The scratch of her pen across the page of her notebook was strangely loud in the small room. "You were discovered at junction X-37. Were you attempting to reach the surface?"
"Actually, I'm looking for my friends. One's a woman of blue frame and the other's a big rabbit fella, probably hanging out with a skeleton who looks like me, but flashing black and white and covered with these weird graphical glitches."
She stared at him for a moment before motioning to the guard.
"Radio Captain Dontrel and have him run a sweep of the facility; there may be other monsters out of containment."
"Understood." The guard made the call before resuming his position beside the door.
Meanwhile, the Doctor resuming writing. The sound of her pen scratching was starting to bother Sans. "And how did you escape your containment this time?"
"Door was open." Sans said with a shrug. "That's just careless."
"The door is a computer controlled lock that sets off an alarm as long as it is open." She replied, not looking up. "There is no record of it being opened since your previous escape eight months ago. How did you escape?"
After a few minutes of silence, Sans sighed and set his feet on the ground. "Look ... Eddons, right?"
"Doctor Eddons."
"Right. Doc, I'm gonna be brutally honest here: I'm from another dimension, and I've lost my friends. I honestly don't know where I am right now, or where my friends are, and I'm hoping you'll be willing to help me out. "
Somehow, the absence of the scratch of Doctor Eddon's pen seemed louder than its presence. Eddons looked directly at him, one gray eyebrow raising.
"I know, it sounds crazy." Sans chuckled and said, "And it is crazy. But it's true."
After a few moments, she set her pen down on the table and rubbed her eyes. "Do you think we're idiots, 3177?"
"You're the one calling me a number, Doc. Digit occur to you that's a little weird?"
The nervous man letslip a chuckle, but quickly caught himself at a glare from Doctor Eddons.
"Perhaps you are unaware of your situation." She said. "Given your violent nature and the number of deaths you've caused on your previous escapes, the Overseer Council has been considering simply killing you and being done with it. Rumor has it Doctor Bright wants to try throwing you at 682 to see what happens. The only reason that hasn't happened is because your new containment cell was thought to be perfect. I don't know how you escaped, or why you're trying to confuse us with this nonsense about alternate dimension ..."
"Actually, Doctor," Neric said, "Site 19 has several SCPs that have proven-"
"I'm not talking about Site 19!" Doctor Eddons snapped. "I'm talking about Site 37, this monster-infested gutter of a cave! It's bad enough we've contained less than half of this place without the half we have contained constantly draining what little manpower we have!"
Sans didn't say a word, though having a name for his location felt like a small victory, as was the implication that they were in the Underground ... somewhere. Doctor Eddons talked about him causing deaths. The knowledge that his alternate self was more violent didn't sit well with him.
Doctor Eddons shook her head and said, "Take him back to his containment cell and make sure it's under twenty-four hour watch. As for you, 3177, I warn you; one more escape, and I will recommend termination."
Researcher Neric and the guard approached Sans from either side, both looking a bit nervous. Sans simply shrugged and followed them out of the room. As they passed the two guards waiting outside (nailed it, Sans thought to himself with a grin), Sans said, "Bit of a stick in the mud, isn't she."
"A bit, yeah." Neric said with a grimace. The two guards followed as well, their weapons trained on Sans.
They led him through the halls to a very well fortified door with the label, "SCP-3177". There was even a little picture of Sans by the door, though it wasn't very flattering, Sans thought.
Another Doctor stood by the door, this one a younger woman wearing thick glasses. The moment she saw Neric, she started talking.
"Researcher Neric, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize-"
"It's okay, Mel. No one's blaming you. Is the chamber ready?"
"C-chamber? Oh, right, of course. I'll go open it."
Sans couldn't help but notice that Neric's eyes followed Mel as she hurried away, still apparently quite flustered. He raised an eyeridge at Neric as the Researcher turned back to him, only for Neric to blush.
Motioning to a large doorway that led to some sort of inner chamber, Neric said, "Might as well get in there; it'll take a minute for it to open."
"Sure thing." Sans said. He stepped through the doorway, still flanked by two guards. The room beyond was perfectly round and quite large; in the very center was a square container made of the same green-gray metal as the handcuffs, altogether as big as a trailer or a box truck.
It was then Sans made a worrysome realization. He tried to levitate one the radio from one of the guard's belt, but his telekinesis couldn't get a grasp on it.
"Stupid." He murmured, drawing a worried look from one of the guards. If 3177 was the Sans from that Universe, of course they'd have taken precautions to stop him from escaping or using his powers. The container was essentially a massive null, preventing the use of magic. Even a shortcut wouldn't get him out of there.
His worry faded almost immediately as another question rose in his mind. They mistook him for 3177 ... so where was the real 3177? Had he escaped, Sans's arrival being an extreme act of coincidence, or ...
Sans looked at the trailer as the locks on one side slowly released. There were no windows; the entire thing was solid metal. Surely they had cameras inside it ... but then again, even if they did, the first thing Sans would do if stuck in a similar situation would be to compromise them. Heat sensors? He was a skeleton; he didn't put off any heat. Some kind of pressure sensitivity? He could levitate within the box if he didn't want to be discovered.
A sudden cry of ,"Stop! Don't open the Null box!" from Neric confirmed his suspicions, but it was already too late. The last lock was unsealed, and the door slid open to reveal ... Sans.
They were almost identical in appearance, the only difference from Sans's perspective being that the blue coat and black shorts on 3177 had a few tears and appeared more worn than Sans's attire. There was something else, however, something that made the guards and even Sans step back;
The look of surprise (clearly a mirror to the one on Sans's face) lasted for only a moment before becoming a smile as 3177's left eye glowed a bright blue.
"Thanks for that." 3177 said, stepping out of the box and raising his own unshackled hands.
The guard turned his rifle on 3177, only to be thrown across the room to land on his head with a sickening crunch. While the sudden violence was jarring, Sans had enough presence of mind to hurry over to the guard who cuffed him and dig through his pockets for the key.
The other guards paid Sans no mind, focusing instead on 3177. They opened fire, but 3177 was far to fast. The first guard fell to the ground, a glowing bone sticking through his chest. The second guard backed away, reaching for something vaguely grenade like at his belt, only to find 3177's hand already there.
"Let me get that for you, bud." 3177 said before pulling the pin and slipping it beneath the soldier's body armor before sending the poor fellow flying into 3177's former prison. The explosion made Sans wince just as his fingerbones found the key. He managed to free one hand before spotting Neric through the observation window on the inner chamber wall. The Researcher was reaching for something that was clearly an alarm
Sans waved his free hand at Neric, his bone slamming into the alarm and shattering the plastic casing into pieces mere seconds before 3177 appeared in the office and grabbed Neric's hand. Sans hurried over to the window, still struggling with his other handcuff.
"You ... you weren't lying." Neric said as Sans hurried into the office. "You're really from another reality!"
"Believe me, it's just as confusing to me." Sans glanced at 3177. "Let him go, man; he's harmless."
"He'll sound the alarm." 3177 said grimly. "If we just let him go, it's only a matter of time."
"Only a matter of time anyway." Sans said. "I mean, I'm guessing someone checks on these cells other than the Researchers. Right?"
He was speaking to the woman with the glasses that Neric referred to as 'Mel', but she was frozen with a look of terror on her face.
Sighing, Sans said, "C'mon, you know it's wrong. You can feel it in your bones, right?"
3177 cracked a small smile. "You sayin' I don't have the spine for it."
"Clearly you do." Sans said, glancing back at the remains of the guards. "But there's a line. They're researchers, not commandos."
"Yeah? And do you know what these 'researchers' have been doing to our kind ever since they ..." 3177 was cut off by the sound of an alarm.
"I don't have time for this." 3177 said, shoving Neric toward Mel. "I'm leaving. If you want answers, you'll follow."
With that, 3177 headed for the door. Sans looked at the terrified researchers for a moment before shrugging. "We all have bad days, yeah?"
