[Lone Outsider] 7 – Yet another interview and Totem

After...the incident, I ended up just wandering around my room, unable to sleep in fear of accidentally summoning more of those...Nightmares.

So, instead, I decided to finally check out my mansion, which happened to lie within my Demi-plane, my Afterlife, or, to be more accurate, it was my afterlife that dwelled within my demi-plane.

Opening a portal, I stepped through, finding myself standing outside a rather large modern mansion with a rather large driveway.

It was a bit too much, in my opinion, but required to get some of the other things that come with the mansion.

Exploring the mansion revealed it had four bathrooms, twelve guest bedrooms, one master bedroom, a library, a kitchen, a garage, a living room, dining room, and at the center of the mansion, I found some control room that allowed me to change the shape and structure of both my mansion and demi-plane however I like.

So, using it, I changed the island I found myself on to that of a forest comprised of Dark Oak, Oak, Birch, Spruce, and countless other plants and trees.

I then created a basement and moved all of the outside workshops and warehouses underground, forming a rather large basement for the mansion.

I then went down into the basement and looked over the workshops available.

There was a workshop seemingly for every profession, from something as simple as wood carving to as advanced as a laboratory for...something I did not know.

The underground warehouses contained pallets upon pallets of many different materials and ingredients.

I ended up grabbing a wood carving knife and a small log of oak before returning to my cell.

I wanted to create my first Totem personally, and I had an image already in my mind, that of a Weeping Angel, but there exists one problem. I have never carved before.

So, sitting on the bed, I carefully raised the knife and, with one cut...cleaved the log in half.

Blinking in surprise, I stared at the top half of the log that now lay on the floor, the piece still in my hand.

"Well...this may very well take some time..."

I worked for hours, having to be far more delicate than I ever thought I'd have to be while the Foundation worked to bring the site back to order, containing any breached SCPs and cleaning up the bodies and the damages caused by the Nightmares, I wondered how the new souls introduced to my afterlife were doing.

After this morning's situation, I had more than 30 new souls added to my afterlife, 34 souls that were more than likely panicking or experiencing shock toward their deaths.

Suddenly, my cell's door slid open, and looking up, revealed an old man, clearly in his mid-40s or 50s, with clear signs of stress and age marring his face.

His hair and beard showed strands of white, and he had wrinkles beginning to show on his face. His face was stoic, and his eyes bore into me before scanning the room, his eyes briefly scanning each iteration of Totem lying around the room.

Some of the Totems were missing entire chunks, and some had large gashes, but with each iteration, the log was becoming more and more of what I envisioned.

The log in my hand was showing a humanoid figure with wings, but I hadn't made it past that, so the figure remained featureless, and while it was humanoid, it was clear one side was slightly longer than the other, making it disproportional and yet proved to be yet another failure, but with my 2x talent in Aesthetics, I found myself improving with each iteration.

Wordlessly, the man walked forward, picking up one of the many failures.

Moments passed as the man examined the wood before he looked up and asked, "What are your intentions here?"

"Sorry?" I asked, acting oblivious to his intentions.

"Why are you still here? Clearly, an entity of your nature could leave whenever they wish, so why have you not left yet?" The man asked stoically.

"Do you think I am a fool? I know full well the capabilities of the Foundation, and while I know, I could easily leave whenever I so wish, I know that your Foundation would harass me till the end of time so long as I remain on this planet due to my nature," I tell the man without any hesitation.

Seemingly reevaluating me, the man spoke, "Then that makes you smarter than most of the SCPs who prove to be difficult to contain."

Raising my eyebrow, I looked at him, wondering where he was going with this.

"But that's not why I am here," The man stated, staring at me.

"You are here because of the nightmares," I replied, seeing his intentions.

"Is that what you call them? No matter, do you not find it strange that a secure site of the Foundation is under attack by unknown creatures a day after we receive a new and unknown SCP entity?" He asked eyes focused on me.

"That's because I do not think it was a coincidence," I answered honestly with a shrug.

He showed no outward change in expression but asked, "What do you mean?"

"Simple, I think I created...no, conjured them into existence," I explained.

"What do you mean, 'Conjured?'" The Man asked.

"Don't know how to explain it, but what I will say is that I had a nightmare, and they were in it, and lo and behold, not long after, they show up in reality," I explain nonchalantly.

"You are saying you...dreamt, and they just...appeared?" The man asked, concerned.

"Correct," I answered, leaning back and putting my back against the wall.

"Do you require sleep?" The man asked, serious.

"I do not know," I answered honestly.

"...I want you to try to stay awake for at least two days. We will employ whatever methods necessary to ensure this," The man asked.

"Sure, I can stay up for two days if you want. I'm guessing it's so you can gather enough men for some future test?" I asked, getting only silence in return.

Knowing I got it right in one, I made my demands, "Then I want something in return."

"What do you want?" The man asked.

"Someone who can teach me more about wood carving," I requested, knowing that having someone to teach me would hasten my progress in creating my first Totem.

"We can do that. We will have someone come in shortly," The man told me before calmly leaving the room.

Well...that went better than I was expecting.

I was expecting some 'Young Master' type conversation where the guy acted all smug or confident and acted like they could control me.

Instead, he asked me to stay awake for two days professionally and even agreed to my simple demand.

Mindlessly, I went back to carving, hopping into my mansion shortly after to bring a large pile of logs that I placed in the corner of my cell.

Hours later, the man they brought in was obviously D-class, with their orange jumper that had 'D-Class' written on its back.

"Hey...there, uh, I am Jack. They told me you needed help with something...?" The man asked, clearly nervous.

"Indeed, do you have any experience with the art of wood carving?" I asked, curious to see if that man met my demands.

"Uh, yeah. Spent a few years working on making wood furniture and specialty items," The man answered, eyes focused on my failures around the room.

"Perfect. I don't know if they told you what to expect, but I need some guidance. I am quite new to the art of Wood Carving," I informed the man.

With that, we got to work, and the man offered his expertise, teaching me more than I ever expected to have to learn. From different ways to polish the wood to teaching me about different types of wood and the techniques required to work the wood.

It didn't take long till I finished making my first totem, and while it certainly wasn't the prettiest, I was making progress. Now to keep carving until I make a Totem I am satisfied with.