[The Lone Outsider] 8 – My First Weeping Angel

I don't know how long I spent carving. Hours? Days? Weeks? No matter.

Much time must have passed as my...assistant, the one the Foundation assigned to me to teach me Wood Carving, had to leave, for what I did not know, but I assume it was so that he could rest, eat, and recover.

I hardly noticed if he was present anymore, as my mind was focused on one task at the time.

However, I think it was more for his mental well-being since I've started using more of my...Heritages.

I didn't really care how the SCP Foundation reacted to my presence or my wide variety of...forms, of which I had three.

My Harbinger Form, my Outsider Form, and then my Human one, but that's the thing...using my Human Form felt strange and somewhat uncomfortable, like wearing a tight necktie or uncomfortable suit.

So, I may or may not have been...shifting my meat suit around whenever I felt slight discomfort, and I had no doubt in my mind that the Scientists, likely observing my every move, noticed it.

I had no idea how my more...Eldritch appearance would react with a mortal mind, especially with how heavily I specked into the Heritage tre.

Disgust was the least I expected as a reaction from the Foundation, but knowing some stories from SCP-2662, otherwise known as Cthulhu,.

I wanted to meet him, in all honesty.

I remember that the dude was quite chill despite his Eldritch appearance and danger.

I certainly wouldn't mind hanging out with the young Eldritch God and playing some Halo...wait, does Halo exist in this world?

Shaking my head, I focused on the six-foot-tall wooden statue before me, depicting an Angel covering their eyes and wooden tears streaming down their face.

That's why they were called weeping angels because they always looked to be sad or weeping.

I added many details to the Weeping Angel, trying to make it as beautiful as I could...but I always found something wrong, and now? My entire cell was covered with wooden statues of weeping angels.

I couldn't tell you how many there were, but by my guess, there had to be at least hundreds of them, and just like I agreed with that Scientist whom I negotiated with, I haven't slept at all, and I haven't felt the need to either.

Although I felt that the Weeping Angel before me was far from being perfect, I felt it would suffice as my Totem.

So, now satisfied, for now at least, I grabbed the Statue and opened a portal to my Afterlife.

Well...It seems I have forgotten about the other souls I had collected...

Surrounding the log cabin were over three dozen figures, most of which were D-Class, Facility Guards, and Scientists.

Walking past them, I soon came upon the first soul, that same Elderly Scientist.

"Sorry for the long wait. Have you decided?" I asked.

Only briefly surprised by my return, he sighed, "I have."

"And?" I asked.

"And...I decided to do it; I'll become a 'Totem Bearer' or whatever you call it. But, I have a demand," He stated with seriousness.

I smiled and asked, "What's your demand?"

"Well...I want you to deliver a message to my family...and my will," He told me after a few moments of hesitation.

"Oh? Is that all?" I asked, baffled, as I was already planning on doing that for the man since he was essentially volunteering with a soul-altering experiment.

"...Yes...So, how do we do this?" The man asked, eyeing me with worry.

"Well, before we do anything, I'm going to need the will and message you want me to pass on to your family."

With a wave of my hand, a notebook and pen appeared.

Handing it to the man, I guided him back to the Cabin.

We sat in the living room for two hours while he wrote everything he ever wanted to say and tell his family.

From him, I learned that he was a hard-working man looking to care for his family, having had two daughters and a son, who had children of their own.

He was a grandfather to seven, and he was using most of his income to support his kids and grandchildren so they wouldn't have to worry about chasing their dreams.

"Luckily, I have great life insurance!" He joked before going silent and looking at the floor.

"Hey, don't be so gloomy. Just keep in mind that your family will eventually join you here, and I'll make sure you can visit them and they you. All I ask is that you carry out your duties and guide souls to my afterlife," I calmly asked, trying to calm the sad man.

"You're right. How do we do this?" The man asked, confident.

"Just relax," I gave him a soft smile, reaching out.

His form crumbled into the same small white flame representing his soul.

Cusping his soul in my hand, I got up and, with a thought, appeared back outside the cabin, startling all the others who were outside.

Ignoring their surprise and shock, I walked up to the Weeping Angel and gently guided the man's soul into it.

Following my instincts, I guided the soul right into the middle of the Statue, where I nodded it a bit, and it suddenly grew in size and intensity from where it was the size of an apple to the size of a basketball.

I watched with fascination as the soul seemed to emit 'tendrils' that stretched across the entire statue, forming a pulsing network.

It was beautiful, far more than I could ever hope to describe.

But it felt like I could still do more, so I let my instincts guide me.

I reached out and let part of my Outsider form peak through, causing my arm to deform into an ink-black tentacle.

My tentacle pierced right through the statute yet caused no damage; it was more like my eldritch limb had phased into it.

The tentacle pierced right into the soul, and to my surprise, the soul began to shift and change.

The soul took on a dark hue before a golden light seemed to encompass its edge.

I watched as the soul seemed to fundamentally change yet remain the same in all but appearance.

Having no idea what I had just done and what had changed, I reached back in and tapped the center of the soul, stirring it awake.

The statue's appearance remained the same, but that quickly changed as the statue's form began to creak and vibrate before suddenly becoming animate.

"Are you okay, Mr. Willson?" I asked, somewhat concerned about any changes that may have occurred.

Strangely enough, I felt a deep connection with the soul. I could hear Mr. Wilson think, and if I tried, I could even see through its 'eyes.'

'He' tried to speak, but all that came out was an uncomfortable creaking.

"Give it some time; you must adjust to your new body; how are you feeling?" I asked before listening to his thoughts.

'I...I feel...nothing?' He thought.

"Yes, I know it will be a bit disorientating at first, especially since you'll lack many of the sensations you had when you were human, but have no worry, give me some time, and I'll make sure you feel right as rain," I promised him.

"For now, I want you to try to move around and practice talking. If you need to communicate with any of the other souls here, you can use the notebook I gave you; I made sure to make a copy of what you've given me, and I'll make sure it gets to your family, you have my word," I promised the surprisingly calm man.

Smiling, I turned away to leave him to his devices and instead focused on some of the...other souls I felt hiding within the forest around the cabin. The multiple 939s that I killed on my way to deal with the Nightmares. I was considering what to do with them. I really could only think of three options.

The first was just to absorb their souls to strengthen myself.

The second would be to let them remain and continue roaming the forest.

Or, lastly, I could give a try at domesticating the creatures.

Though strangely, when I had that last thought, I pictured the dog-like creatures some Yautja would use to hunt their prey.