Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies-Chapter 304 - 298: Possessive Mask (SCP-035) and Its Lackeys

Paris, France

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A newly-formed Chaos Splitters squad, carrying anomalous items, had infiltrated the area.

Following a temporary deployment, all personnel in the regions traversed by the Chaos Splitters were replaced with E-class (temporary) Foundation staff.

Furthermore, seven out of every ten people appearing in Paris were infected with a virus.

The sound of coughing echoed endlessly throughout the city's streets. In this way, the Chaos Splitters would notice no discrepancies.

Their target seemed to be a Foundation site located on the outskirts of Paris.

Although the Foundation had several sites within the city, there were relatively few in the suburbs.

It appeared the Chaos Splitters had a clear objective.

Watching the constant flow of reports, Haruto raised an eyebrow.

"Paris... virus... is it the Plague Doctor?"

The Plague Doctor was contained at a suburban site outside the City.

The Illuminati, infiltrated by the Chaos Splitters, had first developed a virus targeting humans. After releasing the virus, they immediately made their way to the suburban Foundation site.

No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like a setup targeting the Plague Doctor.

It's well known that the Plague Doctor, would go completely berserk at the sight of even the flu.

If he were to learn that a "plague" was spreading globally...

One more terrifying than the Black Death of the Middle Ages...

What would the Plague Doctor do?

Tch, it was predictable.

He would most likely attempt to "treat" the entire world.

However, the Plague Doctor was contained after the Broken God's ascension event.

Since then, both the Universal Key (SCP-005) and the Invisible Friend (SCP-126) had been contained.

Foundation data leaks should have ended there.

Which meant the Plague Doctor's information—including his traits and containment site—should not have been exposed.

Unless another unknown intrusion had occurred at the Foundation sites.

Or perhaps...

The Plague Doctor's appearance had been planned from the beginning.

Haruto leaned toward the latter.

The combination of the Universal Key and Invisible Friend was not something that could be easily reproduced.

Moreover, after the Broken God's ascension, the Foundation had undergone internal purges.

Even their equipment had been upgraded.

If the Chaos Splitters could still hack into the current Foundation...

Then there'd be no need for them to hide. They could just confront the Foundation directly.

But if the Plague Doctor's emergence had been orchestrated...

Then everything made sense.

The Chaos Splitters must have discovered the Plague Doctor before the Foundation and, after communicating with him, learned his characteristics.

They then guided him to the outskirts of the City.

Anomalies like the Plague Doctor, whose contact with human society would trigger catastrophic outbreaks, were typically contained in suburban sites by the Foundation.

Unlike urban facilities, suburban sites were fewer in number and covered larger areas.

They were designed to contain anomalies that affected wide regions.

As for why they handed the Plague Doctor over to the Foundation...

Haruto speculated that the Chaos Splitters was simply incapable of controlling him.

If the Plague Doctor discovered they were developing infectious viruses, the result would be obvious.

Still, Haruto was curious—how could the Chaos Splitters be so confident?

Could they really breach a Foundation site?

It seemed the anomaly they brought was quite the threat.

Having seen through their objective, Haruto couldn't help but click his tongue.

They were definitely scheming.

The mastermind behind the Chaos Splitters was devious—one wrong move, and disaster would strike.

Be it the Broken God's ascension or this current combo of a global virus outbreak with the Plague Doctor, both posed serious threats to human society.

But unfortunately for them, no matter how cunning they were, they couldn't outscheme Aleister.

Sure enough, once the Chaos Splitters squad entered the city, they headed straight for the suburban site where the Plague Doctor was contained.

After some consideration, Haruto decided to cooperate and allow a containment breach.

While he could take them out now, the mastermind would likely vanish again. Instead, it was better to let the plan progress and create a bit of chaos. Force the mastermind to come out and handle things personally.

And to lure the snake from its hole, bait was needed.

So, all staff, agents, and Mobile Task Forces were evacuated from the Foundation site.

A group of D-class personnel, after memory modification, temporarily took over operations.

Anomalies of research value or high risk—such as crimsonite, vampires, and werewolves—were temporarily relocated.

A temporary site was built nearby.

Meanwhile, the evacuated staff, enjoying watermelon with big smiles, monitored everything via micro-drones.

Tactical hover-line networks were truly excellent.

Haruto had already acquired this tech from Aleister and began producing it. Haruto and the staff watched the surveillance footage with wide eyes.

A Chaos Splitters squad cautiously approached the site.

They didn't break in immediately.

Clearly, although they knew the site's location, they weren't confident enough to breach it.

Then, one of the Splitters carefully took a pitch-black glass case from his bag.

"Chairman, that seems like a basic containment unit—soundproof and lightproof,"

A staff member noted, eyeing the black glass case.

Foundation staff were no strangers to containment equipment.

They were highly experienced.

It only took a glance to understand what that kind of object was for.

"Looks like they can't control the anomaly themselves."

"Get ready. If this anomaly causes a large-scale incident, initiate containment and termination protocols immediately!"

Haruto issued the command.

All staff and task force members stood by, fully prepared.

On the drone's camera feed, the other Chaos Splitters quickly backed away from the one holding the case.

That individual, now isolated, seemed to struggle internally.

Then he opened the black glass case.

From within, he pulled out a white ceramic mask, similar in style to a theatrical face mask. The moment the mask appeared, the feed became pixelated.

None of the staff were surprised.

This wasn't a malfunction—the Foundation's AI systems had automatically censored the footage,

Deeming it cognitohazardous.

This tech had been developed from the AI system used against the Shy Guy (SCP-096) and was now widely used across Foundation surveillance.

It automatically censored any cognitohazardous imagery.

But Haruto was watching the uncensored version.

The white ceramic mask had a dramatic, sinister expression, making one shiver at first glance.

And from the eyes and mouth, it continuously secreted unknown fluids.

Then, the mask spoke.

"Wear me, and I shall grant you immortality!"

Even the audio was scrambled.

Clearly, not just the visual, but even the mask's voice was cognitohazardous.

This explained why the Chaos Splitters had sealed it in a soundproof, lightproof container.

The Splitter holding the mask lost all light in his eyes.

He fell under mental control.

His arm moved, bringing the white ceramic mask to his face.

The moment it was worn, the mask's secreted liquid began rapidly corroding his body.

He swiftly rotted into a highly decayed corpse.

Yet the body moved.

It was obvious he was completely possessed by the mask.

The mask then turned to the other Chaos Splitters.

"You all, become—"

It began to give an order.

Almost all of them fell under its control.

Only the leader barely retained a shred of reason and interrupted before it finished its command,

"Lord Possessive Mask, there are stronger bodies below. Let us help you claim them!"

The item known as the Possessive Mask paused.

Clearly, it possessed intelligence.

After brief contemplation, it released the Splitters from its control. They acted like loyal lackeys, guiding the Possessive Mask toward the Foundation site.

Haruto raised his eyebrow at the scene.

"So this is the Possessive Mask—SCP-035, huh?"