The first thing I saw were eyes. In the sliver of darkness born in the small space below the vending machine, there were two gleaming, giant eyeballs. Certain something creepy was lurking under there, I instinctively screamed and scooted away. Noticing how I was freaking out, the two researchers looked at me with eyes wide in surprise.
“What’s the matter?” Dr. Goldman asked as he put the boxes down on the spot and quickly raced toward me out of concern. He thrust his hand toward the slightly golden lab coat’s inner breast pocket to pull out a handgun of sorts. Due to the dangerous nature of their work, quite a few researchers bore arms on a regular basis. Still carrying the box, Dr. Selkie was timidly inching toward me.
“Is everything okay? Do you see cause for me to call security…?” Dr. Selkie asked.
“No need,” Dr. Goldman replied with a deep sigh of relief upon squatting next to me—I was too scared to stand. He took a peek under the vending machine for himself. “There’s nothing dangerous. The Eye Pods here gave him a fright.”
The Eye Pods…?
“Hey, come here. Come on out,” Dr. Goldman coaxed as if calling cats.
He placed a biscuit from one of the boxes on the palm of his hand and waved it in front of the vending machine. As he did this, I could hear the sound of a small wheel squeaking, and something slipped out from behind the vending machine. Possibly as a safety provision for earthquakes, the vending machine wasn’t pressed flat against the building wall, leaving a narrow space between it and the paint. The thing must have slipped through that narrow crack, just like a cat!
It was a strange creature unlike anything I had ever seen before. The thing was roughly thirty centimeters in height, making it about as tall as a human toddler. It didn’t resemble any other creature that existed on the face of the planet. Overall elliptical, the top of its body gently came to a point. In other words, it was tear-shaped—or you could say it was shaped like an almond. It was a dull orange (I didn’t learn until later, but apparently that color was called “burnt orange”). What appeared to be a massive blue eyeball was located smack in the center of its body.
I wasn’t sure how, but this strange creature was able to move on its own. Upon closer observation, I found a wheel-like protrusion at the base of this mysterious creature, which was how it slid across the floor.
What the heck…? I’ve seen a bunch of strange things since I first started living in this research facility, but these weird things never ceased to amaze me.
“It’s SCP-131-A, one of the ‘Eye Pods,’” Dr. Selkie explained with a smile as she came closer. She’d dropped her guard once she deciding there was no imminent danger. “Considered to be biomechanical creatures, they are deemed safe to be left unattended. Much like Builder Bear and Josie the Half-Cat, they are allowed to freely roam this site… I wonder why we have so many running loose here.”
“I imagine the Foundation is intentionally allowing multiple Safe SCP objects to wander around in order to observe how they interact,” Dr. Goldman responded.
I hesitantly interrupted the two researchers as they fell into another scientific-sounding conversation. Uh, it looked like another one of those so-called “Eye Pods” was under the vending machine. It was staring at me with its one big blue eye for some time now. Staring as if it needed help…
“Really?” Dr. Selkie bent over to check under the vending machine and clapped her hands to her mouth. “Good Heavens! Is the poor thing stuck?”
As if to agree, “Yes! This is horrible!” the burnt orange Eye Pod noisily squeaked its wheel as it spun excessively around us. With a shrug, Dr. Goldman thrust his hands beneath the vending machine. He motioned me to help with a flick of his eyes, so I went over to give him an assist.
“For the record, we have only verified the existence of SCP-131-A and SCP-131-B. They aren’t all that bright, so they get themselves caught in messes like this rather frequently,” Dr. Goldman explained.
“They’ve even managed to get stuck in air vents,” Dr. Selkie added.
The air vents…? As in the ducts behind the ventilation fan near the corridor ceiling? What I wanted to know was how the heck they got there to begin with.
“Beats me. They can climb sheer surfaces, so I suspect they accidentally fell in while running along the wall or ceiling,” Dr. Selkie said.
They really weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. I found that adorable, honestly. My heart melted for the little guys.
But moving right along! It took a bit of time, but with Dr. Goldman’s help, I was able to pull the other Eye Pod out from under the vending machine. It got itself jammed in there nice and good, and it took a great deal of strength and perseverance to save it. But it was well worth the effort. We successfully managed to rescue the other Eye Pod, which looked almost exactly the same as the one that popped out from behind the vending machine, albeit a bit dusty. The variation in color was the only true discrepancy, with this one a being dull yellow (supposedly called “mustard yellow”).
Rejoicing over their reunion, the two Eye Pods squeaked their wheels as they spun in place in a strange display of affection (I think?).
“I’m so happy for them. They must be relieved,” Dr. Selkie said, a surprisingly gentle expression on her face as she watched them.
As if in a show of gratitude, the two Eye Pods raced around us and rubbed up against our legs. However, their relief was short-lived. The Eye Pod that was trapped under the vending machine slipped on a dust bunny stuck to its wheel, tripping spectacularly. Racing directly behind it, the other tripped over the first and flipped over like something out of a hilarious slap-stick routine.
They really were stupid… But funny, too. We broke into peals of laughter as we watched their comical yet endearing antics for a while. Here at the SCP Foundation’s research site, this was one of the rare moments that was genuinely jovial and peaceful.