No one knew whether a poison strong enough to harm "The Old Man", or "The Shy Guy" who goes mad at the sight of his reflection, could truly be created. That question, however, was about to receive a clear answer as they still had a few coins left in their hands.
He walked up to the strange coffee machine and slid one coin inside. Yet before entering the command, he froze. His brows furrowed as he hesitated, thinking deeply.
"If it really is possible to make it," Brit murmured, "then how are we supposed to get 'The Old Man' actually to drink it?"
The group exchanged uneasy glances. That was indeed the problem. "The Old Man" wasn't some obedient creature that would accept a cup of poison and drink it down. Even if the coffee machine could create a deadly liquid, it would have to work on contact rather than ingestion. At best, it needed to be something that killed the moment it was poured over him.
After a tense silence, Brit's eyes lit up.
"There is a way!" he declared.
He turned to the machine and typed in the command: [ A glass of liquid that can poison SCP-106 just by touching it ]
As the order was given, Brit stared nervously at the machine. Vale and the others leaned in behind him, their faces taut with expectation. The viewers in the stream were equally on edge, holding their breath.
The coffee machine, after all, was nothing short of miraculous; it could even create conceptual liquids. But whether it could conjure a substance powerful enough to kill the scary old man was another matter entirely.
Seconds passed before the machine hummed to life. Then words appeared on the panel: "Out of range!"
The answer hit them all like a weight. The coffee machine could not create anything capable of killing the scary old man. Disappointment flickered across their faces, but none were surprised. If it had been that easy, the Foundation would have already done it long ago.
"I suppose the shy one would yield the same result," Brit sighed. "The machine can't kill him either…"
He fed in another coin and changed the target from the scary old man to the shy man. Predictably, the result was the same: failure.
"It seems we can't use this thing to kill him after all." Brit let out a long breath and glanced at the two remaining coins in his palm.
"Oh well… no shortcuts, then. We'll just have to deal with it the hard way." Beside him, Kiwo sighed regretfully as her eyes lingered on the coffee machine.
Amazing as it was, it couldn't handle the terrifying anomalies. If they encountered "The Old Man" again in the next round, their only option would be to run. Brit and the others shared the same heavy thought.
For a moment, silence hung in the room. Then Brit suddenly spoke again, his voice firm: "Maybe we've been thinking about this the wrong way."
Vale and the others turned toward him.
Brit's gaze sharpened. "What if, instead of poison, we tried something else? For example… a liquid that makes me superhuman. What do you think?"
His eyes gleamed with sudden inspiration. In fact, the idea had already flashed across the chat, though Brit hadn't noticed earlier. Now, his thought matched perfectly with what the viewers had been saying.
Vale's eyes lit up for an instant before he suddenly coughed and spat out blood.
"Vale!" Brit and the others rushed to him in alarm, but Vale waved them off, grimacing.
"No… not like that. There's always a price," he rasped. "The side effects… they're getting worse. Damn, it hurts…"
Vale was nearing his limit. Though he had gained tremendous strength, the cost to his body was brutal. It was clear he wouldn't last until the end of the game.
"Even if the machine could make such a liquid," he muttered, wiping the blood from his mouth, "the side effects would be monstrous. Maybe fatal."
Brit and the others exchanged grim nods. Vale was right. Every great power demanded a price. Superfinishing was the perfect example, an extraordinary strength that devoured the body. Perhaps the machine could brew an elixir, but the side effect would likely be instant death.
"That's the truth of it." Brit exhaled.
"Or… maybe we should still try," Kiwo suggested hesitantly. "The coins won't do us any good otherwise. You can't exactly throw them at the scary old man and expect him to die, can you?"
After some thought, the group nodded. She was right.
Brit placed another coin into the slot and entered a new command: [ A glass of liquid that, once drunk, grants great strength and transforms the drinker into a superhuman ]
The machine rattled, buzzed, and displayed the same frustrating words as before: "Out of range!"
Their disappointment was palpable, though fleeting. After all, if creating superhumans were that easy, the Foundation would already have mass-produced them. Brit studied the final coin in his hand, deep in thought. A new idea slowly formed.
He looked up at Vale and the others. "Our real goal is to clear the game. Since the coffee machine can't give us poison or superpowers, why not think bigger, change the concept itself?"
A small smile touched his lips. Under the expectant eyes of Vale, the others, and the countless viewers watching the stream, Brit fed the last coin into the coffee machine.
This time, he entered a bold command: [ A glass of liquid that can help us beat the game ]
Yes, this was it. A conceptual directive. He had no idea whether the coffee machine could fulfill such an impossible request, but there was no harm in trying. All eyes were fixed on the machine as it whirred to life.
For once, it didn't display the dreaded words "Out of range." Instead, with a mechanical click, the machine lowered a cup onto the tray.