SCP-4428 : Dr. Michaels is not in danger.

2019/10/20

08:16 UTC

Dr. Michaels is an asset to the Foundation because of his competencies in the fields of linguistics and miscommunications. The use of a Personal Safety Assessment Battery (or PSAB) is necessary to identify risks to his personal well-being. Designated personnel conducted the PSAB inside a locked containment chamber to identify issues with Dr. Michaels' mental health.

[BEGIN LOG]

Okay, so just tell me your name — as is protocol — and we'll start. How does that sound?

[He takes a deep breath.] Okay, my name is Doctor Jeremy Feldson Michaels.

Perfect, now–

[Interviewer glances above Dr. Michaels' head and shifts in their seat.]

Um, sorry. So anyway, you checked in with the Site Psychiatrist yesterday. Now, this is meant to be a sort of follow-up to your visit. Could you tell me about how it went?

Yes, well, I've been a bit foggy for the past little while now. You know how that is — we all get that way when we're stationed away from our families, right?

Hmm, could you be more specific? How does this “fogginess” manifest?

I have a constant looming feeling that I can't get out of my head. Like something just won't let go. I am speaking metaphorically, of course.

Can you tell me roughly when this feeling began?

I would say right after we lost D-4428-3. Like, within seconds.

[They write on a notepad.] Right, okay, so you had a traumatic experience.

It was something like that.

This particular D-Class was part of your personal research team. Am I correct in stating that?

You are.

Who else was on the team?

Well, in no particular order, that would be Agent Rosewood,2 D-4428-1,3
D-4428-2,4 Containment Engineer Howard Winters,5 and Researcher Gabi Kalpana.6

I see. So Jeremy, would you say these feelings are recurring?

No. Well, it comes and goes. Sometimes it pulls me down harder than I expect.

All right. Your files say your family has no history of traumatic experiences — ah, except for your brother. Do you have a brother, Jeremy?

I do have a brother, yes.

The doctor referred to him as a “stressor”. Could you explain? What happened to him?

Well, I couldn't tell you where he is now. It's not that I don't know. It's that I would rather not bring him up.

Correct me if I'm wrong… Your brother was a source of hostility toward you.

He was an arsehole, sure, but with him, it was more insidious than that. My parents took him in when he was a kid. He's been my foster brother ever since, and we did get along fairly well. When we were growing up, though, something inside him snapped. After that, all he ever did was weigh our family down.

And that's when he was hostile?

He wasn't confrontational — it wasn't like that — it was as if he was a dead weight on all of us, but especially on me. We grew up together, after all, and he was the most attached to me. When I went off to university, though, he– Well, he wouldn't let me go.

The doctor's notes say you called him a– What was it? You called him “a parasite”.

[He tenses up for a moment, and then sighs and regains his composure.] I wanted to be on my own, that’s all. But when I was getting moved in, weeks after last seeing him, he was just there. I was hundreds of miles away, but he was there somehow. He's done this to other people, too. I– We weren't the first.

Gotcha. [They flip through their notepad.] Now, Jeremy, what is your favorite color?

Pur– No, wait, maybe we can just skip that one.

Are– Uh, you sure?

Go to the next question. Please.

[They pause, putting a hand up to their ear, hidden from the recording device.] Actually, Dr. Michaels, you were here for the sewage backup, were you not?

[Dr. Michaels nods.]

I recently got a report that they found the source of that, actually. One of the security personnel — they found a huge pipe burst in one of the abandoned basement sub-levels. It was an absolute flood down there. Nobody is sure of the cause, though.

Just now?

No, it was about a week ago now. They sent down a task force and lost one in the muck, and when they came back to look for them, it was as if they were incapacitated. They were fine, but they moved too slowly.

Okay.

[They inhale sharply and lean forward in their chair.] The task force said they felt fogginess, as you did.

Did they, now? Huh, how coincidental.

Indeed.

[END LOG]

II. Final Note

RESEARCHER NOTE

I have tried making myself perfectly clear in this document. I am completely fine, though I don't know how much more of this I can take. Please, if you are reading this, and you understand nothing is wrong: This can't keep up much longer. One of these days, someone might slip up, or even me, and… I can't do that to myself, or my family, or my fellow personnel. Miscommunications is doing wonders, and it's a miracle they've been able to get me through this, but there's only so much they can handle.

Ultimately? I am okay, you understand? Please, please understand, and find some way to figure this all out.

[END OF FILE]