“O-Of all the…! Damn you, Dr. Goldman!” Dr. Selkie cried.
We assumed Dr. Goldman was refined to oblivion by The Clockworks, but now he’d reappeared as if nothing ever happened. Dr. Selkie was struggling to accept the reality he was alive; her mouth flapped open and shut as her voice issued sounds that refused to resolve into words. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Relief gradually washed over her face, which turned to joy…
“You jerk! I can’t believe you! How far must you push my buttons before you’re satisfied? I swear, I will never, ever forgive you for this so long as I live!” Dr. Selkie shouted, pouring such strong emotion into her words that it came across like a marriage proposal.
Then she ran straight toward Dr. Goldman. On the verge of death, her innards a scrambled mess, I wondered where she found the strength to run. Was a flood of endorphins making her oblivious to the pain? Or was this the power of love? The only reason that bit about love popped into my head was due to what Dr. Selkie did next.
Overcome with emotion, Dr. Selkie flung herself onto Dr. Goldman in an ecstatic embrace. It was a passionate hug. Feeling like we weren’t meant to see this, I reached my hands out to cover Iris’s eyes. But Iris was doing the exact same thing, and my hands met hers midway in the air. We slipped our fingers together without thinking, falling into a funny position as if we were dancing a waltz or something. The wild turn of events left us too stunned and confused to realize how awkward that was and pull our hands apart.
“There, there,” Dr. Goldman cooed. He lovingly wrapped his arms around Dr. Selkie while she cried like a baby. He gently laid his cheek on the top of her head as if they were tight-knit lovers. Actually, that could very well be the case.
The two researchers had a long relationship extending all the way back to their college days. After all the years they’ve spent working so closely, perhaps a special sort of bond formed between them. Whether it was romantic or not, I lacked the experience in such things to say for certain. But I vaguely felt jealous of the two.
…This was awesome. It was like they got their fairytale happy ending. Not that I had any idea what the heck was going on.
“Now if you’ll allow me to explain what happened! This was payback for the way you cruelly threw my beloved ring into SCP-914’s booth,” Dr. Goldman said in a resounding voice, then laughed merrily. “It was to be an innocent, little prank. Upon giving the appearance of following the ring into the Intake booth, I immediately concealed myself in the shadows of SCP-914’s main body. I’m proud to say that glorious performance would put any magician to shame.”
“……” Dr. Selkie didn’t respond. She was aghast. It seemed less like she couldn’t understand what Dr. Goldman was saying, and more like she didn’t want to understand.
I couldn’t see her very well from where I was standing, but I could sense intense emotions raging throughout her entire tiny body. She was like a volcano about to erupt.
“I was hoping you would realize the egregious mistake you made, grow flustered, and ultimately regret the error of your ways. You have a tendency to be somewhat impulsive and reckless. While I find both traits endearing, I hoped some introspection would help you grow as a person,” Dr. Goldman continued.
“……”
“But you were so much fun to watch, I missed my chance to come out. I actually planned to pop out shouting, ‘Surprise!’ much sooner.”
“……”
“While I was watching you fiddle around, things suddenly took a drastic turn for the worse… You threw yourself into the Intake booth. Don’t do anything dangerous like that ever again, my darling Selkie. It’s truly a blessing you’re still alive.”
“But,” Dr. Selkie whispered in a forced voice, finally breaking her silence, “you vanished…! I had to do something! My rash actions brought about that accident, and there’s no one in the facility I can turn to! I-I had to figure something out myself! That’s why I—Oh, forget it!”
Dr. Selkie pushed Dr. Goldman away and stomped her foot. “I can’t believe it! I risked my life to save you! I was worried sick! And you were off in some corner laughing at me the whole time?! Unbelievable! You’re the worst! I hate your guts!” Dr. Selkie’s voice cracked as she shouted, unable to restrain herself against the tide of anger, embarrassment, and a surge of other emotions.
I didn’t blame her. That was definitely a bit cruel of him. He took the prank too far. But something about his story didn’t add up.
Before I could determine why I thought something felt off, the gears in my head froze as Dr. Selkie began to make the most incredible proclamation. “I came here today with a specific purpose in mind. I wanted to move our relationship to the next level… I carefully practiced for the big proposal to ensure it was perfect down to the most minute detail, from the speech to the flick of my wrist,” Dr. Selkie wailed, her head lowered. She wiped the stream of her tears with the back of her hand.
“Here I was going to discuss something very important with you, and you had to pull that stupid prank… It made me so outraged, I lost my temper and threw your precious ring. But after this, I’m glad I didn’t tell you any of the things I had planned,” she sobbed.
With a loud crack, Dr. Selkie slapped Dr. Goldman across the cheek, spat in his face, turned on her heels, and ran toward the closed door. She didn’t turn back, face twisted in pain. She howled: “Stupid! A scoundrel like you should spend his whole life unloved and alone! I hope you die in some ditch without leaving any footprint on the world! Jerkface! I’ll have you know, I—” The rest of her words were lost in sobs.
Opening the door, Dr. Selkie ran out of the room. We could hear the sound of her feet hitting the floor grow distant. Silence began to waft through the space dominated by The Clockworks.
“……”
Left behind, neither Iris nor I were able to say anything as we simply stared like fools down the direction Dr. Selkie ran. Honestly, what could more-or-less uninvolved bystanders such as ourselves do when caught in the middle of a fight like this?
But Dr. Goldman was still frozen stiff on the floor where he fell from the slap, so I turned toward him out of concern. I hoped he was all right. If everything he said was true, he really was as big of a scumbag as Dr. Selkie claimed… While there was no room in my heart for sympathy, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. The whole time he played the villain, his eyes were filled with sorrow…