MidReal Story
Forgotten Memories: The Grey Encounter
Scenario: The story unfolds on the first day of work for Junior Researcher Kim at the Foundation. During his lunch break, he sits alone in a corner of the cafeteria, grappling with the knowledge he has acquired about SCPs (Secure, Contain, Protect) that morning. It is then that he encounters a mysterious figure named Alastair Grey, who stands out in his gray suit, appearing out of place in the utilitarian setting of the Foundation.Grey engages Kim in a conversation that reveals an unsettling familiarity with Kim's personal background. As the exchange progresses, Kim begins to suspect that Grey is not an ordinary individual but a memetic entity capable of consuming memories and knowledge, causing others to forget his existence. Grey's presence renders the Foundation staff oblivious to Kim, as if he were completely non-existent.In desperation, Kim attempts to seek help but finds himself unable to communicate with anyone. Realizing he must rely on himself to confront Grey, he undergoes a series of trials and failures. Kim discovers that Grey cannot be harmed by physical attacks but can be affected by a barrage of information. He ingeniously uses his phone and a hard drive from the lab to create an "information weapon," successfully inflicting damage on Grey.Ultimately, with the assistance of Marion Wheeler, the head of the Foundation's Memetic Department, Kim regains his memories and identity. He realizes that he is not a newcomer but a seasoned researcher in memetics. Wheeler praises his abilities and demands his continued work, analyzing Grey's patterns of behavior and determining what happens to the victims' bodies.This narrative delves into themes of memory, identity, and the perception of reality, while also offering a glimpse into the everyday workings of the Foundation as it deals with supernatural phenomena. Through Kim's perspective, readers are taken into the enigmatic and perilous world of the SCP Foundation.
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Kim Smith sat alone in the cafeteria.
He was new, so he didn’t have a lunch buddy yet, but he didn’t mind.
It was a good opportunity to observe his new coworkers.
They were nothing like he had expected, that was for sure.
He had been in awe of them at first, of course.
He’d been led on a tour of the facility this morning, and he’d met some of the most brilliant people he’d ever come across.
There were people who were authorities in their fields, people who had discovered things that would leave the rest of humanity reeling in terror or fascination, depending on how you looked at it.
Once he had seen the containment cells, however, it had begun to feel a little less glamorous.
His new bosses were some seriously scary people!
But now, as he sat in the cafeteria watching them, they seemed almost mundane.
Kim felt a little guilty about it.
After all, they were still some of the most brilliant minds on Earth!
But as he watched them idly shoveling food into their mouths with plastic forks, they seemed like any other person you might meet at any other job.
It was just like any other cafeteria anywhere else in the world.
Kim stared at the people around him and tried to wrap his mind around what they did here.
His new position was so hush-hush that even he didn’t know what it entailed yet.
All he knew was that it was in the Memetic Department of the Foundation, and that he should be very afraid of his bosses.
He was having trouble imagining what kind of memetic anomaly could possibly require this many people to contain.
There were dozens of them here in the cafeteria alone!
He looked at them and realized that even now, he felt a bit removed from them.
They felt oddly distant somehow.
Maybe because he didn’t know them yet?
Maybe because they all seemed to be eating alone too?
The cafeteria wasn’t empty, but there weren’t many people there either.
Not many, but enough to make quite a bit of noise.
Kim heard the clatter of trays and plates and silverware, conversations that were too loud or too quiet, too close or too far away.
A screeching sound overhead as someone opened a high window with difficulty.
Somewhere in the distance a cell phone rang, but he couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
He tried to focus on his colleagues instead of on these little distractions.
The one thing they all had in common was that they weren’t talking to him.
At least he wasn’t entirely alone.
Across from him sat an older man in a finely tailored gray suit.
It was one of those old-fashioned suits with a vest and a pocket watch on a chain across his waistcoat.
The man even wore a bowler hat!
It made Kim think of old London or something.
The man was dressed like he was on his way to a fancy dress party, but he didn’t act like it.
The man sat with his back ramrod straight, his hands folded neatly in his lap.
He studied a menu with an air of scholarly intensity, then picked up a pen and made a few notes before setting it down again.
Kim couldn’t help but think that he looked a little out of place.
The Foundation was a secretive organization, but it was also a research organization.
The researchers all wore uniforms, like he did.
There were no ties, no dresses, no suits.
Not even when you had a meeting with the O5 council.
The O5s themselves were rarely seen without their masks.
The guy across from him was wearing a mask too, in a way: a perfect mask of gray.
Kim’s eyes moved down from the man’s face to his tie.
It was made of gold, but it was so worn that it was almost completely black.
It had no pattern, no writing, nothing to suggest who it had been made by or where it had been bought.
A gold tie clip held it neatly at his throat.
Kim stared at it for a long time, wondering what it meant.
He wasn’t sure what he would do with that information if he figured it out, but it felt important somehow.
He wished he could ask someone about it.
He hadn’t really met anyone yet, besides his supervisor at orientation this morning.
It wouldn’t be a good idea to ask a stranger about their clothing in a place like this.
They might think he was a pervert or something.
He didn’t want that.
So he just watched the man curiously as he waited for his lunch.
The man glanced up from his menu and caught Kim’s eye.
He smiled and nodded.
Kim felt a little embarrassed to be caught staring, but he nodded back.
He tried not to look too obvious as he turned his attention back to his tray: a plastic sandwich wrapped in plastic and a plastic bottle of water filled with tap water from some undisclosed location.
He stared at it glumly for a few moments before trying to take a bite.
As he did so, he felt a sudden presence beside him and jumped in surprise.
His eyes widened when he saw that it was the man in gray.
The man sat down across from him and folded his hands on the table before him.
His eyes were very bright and blue behind his glasses.
The man said.
He extended a hand across the table.
It was a nice hand: slim fingers, unblemished skin, perfect manicure.
Kim shook it nervously.
he said.
“Not at all,” said the man.
“Just wanted to introduce myself.” He glanced down at Kim’s badge.
“Kim Smith,” he said.
Kim froze with his sandwich halfway to his mouth.
The man in gray didn’t react to his shock.
He just smiled and said, “Alastair Grey.”
Kim stared at him.
The man kept smiling.
“I’m quite new here myself,” he said.
“How are you finding your first day?”
Kim stared at him some more.
The man didn’t seem to mind.
“Adjusting is right,” Kim said at last.
“Well, I hope you’ll be very happy here,” said Alastair Grey.
Kim smiled weakly and nodded.
After a few moments of silence, Alastair got up and left him alone again.
Kim sat staring after him for a short time before he put his sandwich down and picked up his cell phone instead.
He had a new message from his supervisor:
Your first task is to find out who Alastair Grey is.
Kim sat frozen in place with his phone in his hand.
He already knew who Alastair Grey was.
He’d told him himself: Alastair Grey.
How had that happened?
Kim looked around the cafeteria.
There was a server and a few other people, but no one was looking in his direction.
He didn’t see the man in gray anywhere.
Kim stood up and made his way out of the cafeteria.
He tried not to look around too much, but he couldn’t help it.
He didn’t see the man in gray anywhere.
Kim poked his head into the hallway.
He didn’t see the man in gray anywhere.
Kim was about to turn around and go back to his duty station when a door opened nearby and the man in gray stepped out of it.
Kim hurried over to him.
The man glanced at him as though he’d forgotten something.
Kim held out his hand.
“You never told me how you found your first date on the job,” Kim said, trying to sound casual.
“Did you get lost?I got lost a little.”
“I’m sorry,” said the man in gray.
“I don’t have much time to talk right now.”
Kim stared at him.
“If there’s anything you need any help with, I’d be happy to help,” he said at last.
The man in gray looked at him with his bright blue eyes and smiled gently.
“Thank you,” he said, “but I’m quite alright.”
He glanced past Kim down the hallway behind him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but I must be going now.I hope we can talk another time.”
Kim stared after him as he walked quickly down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.
Then he set off after him again.
He felt almost sick with curiosity and unease now.
How had this man gotten into an area as restricted as this without anyone stopping him?
Why had no one else seemed to notice him?
Kim followed him around the corner and saw him walking quickly towards a set of double doors.
If he got there, Kim would never be able to follow him.
He hurried after him.
As he passed people in the hall, he tried to catch their eyes and get them to help him stop the man in gray.
But they all turned away from him or looked right through him.
“Hey!”
he said to a woman in a lab coat.
“Can you help me?”
She walked right through him without a glance.
“Hey!”
he said to a couple of men in suits.
“What is going on?”
He tried to grab one of them by the arm, but his hand went right through the fabric of his suit.
The men didn’t even break stride as they walked right past him and out a side door into the hallway.
The man in gray reached the double doors and pushed them open.
Kim rushed forward to follow him, but just as he reached them, they slammed shut in his face.
He beat on them desperately with his fists, but they wouldn’t budge.
