Half an hour later.
A fine sheen of sweat beaded on Dr. A167's forehead as he re-verified the telemetry from the field bots. At last he turned to Felix Ragnell, face tight.
"Sir… situation change."
"Search failed. All surface and shallow subsurface biomass was completely vaporized by the detonation. However… we did not locate its core rhizome."
He brought up a subsurface model. A new red line traced a fresh tunnel.
"Per residual energy tracking, SCP-307's primary root triggered a violent energy burst just before the blast and punched into a natural karst system beneath the valley… It escaped."
"Escaped?" Phil Coulson's worldview lurched. "Doctor, you're saying a plant… ran away?"
A167 stared at Coulson as if he'd asked whether water was dry. His impatience was unmasked.
"Agent Coulson, discard every quaint idea you've ever had about 'plants.' SCP-307 can torsion its rhizomes into arthropod-like 'legs' and move at speed when required. It doesn't even need soil in the short term—if its biomass reserves are sufficient, it can migrate like an animal."
Coulson choked on the reply, a dull ache rising under his sternum.
Talking to these people was more exhausting than reasoning with the Hulk.
What did not match the room's mood was Felix's expression. On hearing the bad news, his lips actually ticked—just a fraction—but it was there.
It ran?
Good.
A contained SCP pays out once. But a loose one, roaming in the wild? Every sighting, every attack, churns rumor into legend—and legends pay. Again and again.
As for civilian harm…
Felix wasn't worried. This was a desolate Middle Eastern gorge—no flocks, no herders, mostly militants. And within the Foundation's bestiary, SCP-307 was hardly top tier.
"Where did it go?" Felix asked, calm as ever.
"Track shows it crossed two ridgelines into another valley. Sir, that location…" A167's tone hardened. "Our intel flags it as a local insurgent stronghold. They call themselves the Ten Rings."
"To be clear, it's just borrowed branding—ordinary terrorists and warlords," he added, flatly.
"But it still means a valley full of people. If 307 reaches them…"
He didn't finish. He didn't have to.
A creature that had just eaten a S.H.I.E.L.D. squad and hit its final ramp—if it devoured an entire camp of militants next… who knew how monstrous it would become? From there, cities might follow.
Coulson's face drained.
He stopped caring about the Foundation's methods—or his dead agents—for the moment. A protector of civilians first, he read the stakes instantly.
He looked to A167, voice iron.
"Then do we… fire another one?"
A167's head snapped toward him. For the first time, there was no derision behind the lenses—only a flicker of approval.
A silent, Good. You're learning.
The approval made Coulson's skin crawl.
When had he started proposing nuclear solutions?
This place—this organization—was quietly rewiring his mind.
A167 was already pivoting to queue the silo when Felix raised a hand.
"No."
The single word froze the room.
A167 frowned. "Sir? If we delay, 307 will absorb the militants. Its threat class may jump to Keter-class."
"Nuking is the optimal answer. It isn't the only one," Felix said mildly. "And we've been tight on budget, haven't we?"
Budget?
Natasha glanced at Melinda; both saw only bafflement mirrored back.
An outfit that tosses nukes like darts… is short on money?
"Loose Euclid-class anomaly. A terror valley with over a hundred gunmen. And a high-value human asset." Felix sounded like he was pricing inventory.
"A167, doesn't that strike you as an excellent chance to solve our funding issue?"
A167 blinked—then comprehension detonated behind his glasses, hotter than the blast they'd just watched.
"Sir… you mean the human asset?"
"Exactly." Felix's gaze slid to Coulson. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been turning the world over for a missing arms tycoon, hasn't it?"
Coulson's heart lurched.
"A man named Tony Stark."
Thunder ripped through Coulson's skull.
Finding Stark was the top priority for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. military alike. They'd spent nearly everything and come up empty.
And now Felix said his name like it was nothing.
He knows where Tony is.
Coulson's breath hitched. "He's in that valley?" he blurted.
"A billionaire the rabble would risk kidnapping. A walking dollar sign," Felix said, not quite answering—because he didn't need to. "And one of this century's brightest minds."
"He's a resource. He does not die to vines or a warhead. We're going to bring him back."
The war inside Coulson lasted less than a heartbeat.
"I'm coming," he said, meeting Felix's eyes. "I know Tony Stark. I can identify him."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]