••|•••••|••|•

Bargaining

Even in the days following the experiment, D-5448 couldn't forget about that creature. It was what all of his waiting in solitude was leading up to. The most interesting, exciting experience in his life. It almost haunted his dreams. Seeing that thing again seemed like the only thing he wanted to do at this point.

The door of his cell slid open. It was the speaker from when he first came here in the usual protective outfit that his visitors wore.

"Hello, D-54. I'm here to tell you that your one month of service is almost complete. We know that you're still infected by SCP-217, but we have organized for a hospital to take you in. All of the costs have been taken care of by the Foundation, no need to thank us."

He never thought that it would be like this, but D-5448 actually didn't want to leave this place. Yeah, the solitude wasn't the most wonderful thing, but maybe he needed that in order to see that creature.

"Do you want your tattoos taken off before you leave? Or do you want to keep them? It's your choice, I won't judge."

"I'm keeping them," he responded in a low voice.

"Alright, nice. Cool. Awesome. That just makes the line for removal a bit shorter. Well, you'll be transferred to your new hospital by tomorrow. Thanks for volunteering, it helps a lot."

The visitor turned to leave. No. They couldn't leave. He couldn't leave.

"Hey, wait!" D-5448 stood up and took a step towards them.

They turned to him.

"Hm? Is there a problem?"

"I can't leave, please let me stay. This place is the only thing that makes me feel... well, anything in general. Even though sitting in this room is super boring, it's nice to think about how this virus will affect me. The people who have visited me have told me so much. Please don't make me leave."

The visitor scratched their head.

"Well, there's not much use for you to be here anymore. All you're really doing here at this point is rotting away and using up resources. We might as well just transfer you and have them give us updates. It's almost absolutely useless to keep you here."

"Please don't make me leave."

"I don't believe there's anything else we need you for."

"Please."

"What's so important that you have to stay here for?"

"I--" he began, but he didn't know how to word it. "You know that other test I was involved with? Other than 217."

"Another test? I don't remember being told about anything like that. What was it about?"

"I can't say."

"Why?"

"I just... I can't. Like, I literally can't."

The visitor seemed to think for a moment or two before finally realizing.

"The test?"

"Yeah, yeah! The writing thing."

"We only had you do that to see if a diseased person would go through the same process as a healthy one. You don't have to do anything else involving it."

"I don't think you understand. I want to do it again."

"So you enjoyed it?"

"Yes, actually."

The speaker stared at him in awe for a minute before laughing.

"You're a madman, do you know that?"

D-5448 smiled.

"How else could I have ended up on death row?"

"Alright, crazy, let me see. What could we use you for? You're diseased, so not much..."

"Is there anything else like that written test that I could do again? That was really interesting."

"Well..." the visitor began, but they trailed off. A moment of realization got them talking again. "There is one more thing we could test. I don't know how the others didn't think about it before now."

"What is it? I'm willing to do anything."

"Have you not learned anything about that thing? No mentioning. It's a surprise."

"I like surprises."

"I do kind of want to see how it goes down," they continued, "and I don't think that I have to do any orientations in about four days. We'll do it then."

"I just can't wait," D-5448 grinned.

The visitor gave him a satisfied smile before exiting the room.

D-5448 was in a better mood for the rest of the day as a result of the conversation. Being able to see that thing again made his adrenaline rush already. It seemed so strange, but in the days approaching the second experiment, he was genuinely happy.