Night had fallen.
Inside the SCP Sobu High Branch club room, the lights were dimmed to the lowest point, leaving only a desk lamp projecting people's swaying shadows on the wall.
The atmosphere felt tense.
Darius stood with his back to the others, making final preparations before the operation began. He removed his school uniform jacket, replacing it with a long black raincoat, then put on the hood until only his stern and cold jawline remained visible.
"Nighttime infiltration must minimize optical visibility as much as possible." He said while zipping up his raincoat, "This 'thermo-optical camouflage' combat suit can effectively absorb surrounding light and heat."
Yui followed his lead, taking out her own sports jacket to wear, then whispered enthusiastically: "Beta-2, dressing procedure complete!"
Only Yukino still wore her school uniform, sitting motionless in her chair with a face full of refusal.
"I'll say it once more, I won't accompany you in playing this stalker-like game."
"This isn't a game." Darius turned around. Under his raincoat hood, his gaze appeared very deep. "This is a rescue mission. Member Yukinoshita, your hesitation will destroy our only hope."
He walked to the corner of the room, picked up a broom leaning there, then presented it before Yukino.
"This is your weapon."
Yukino stared at the seemingly ordinary broom, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly: "...A broom?"
"High-Frequency Vibration Particle Spear." Darius corrected. "This spear shaft uses high-density carbon fiber composite material, possessing both toughness and strength. The broom head can effectively disrupt enemy vision during close combat, and scatter dust to provide cover during our tactical maneuvers."
He said it very seriously, as if the object truly wasn't a broom.
Yukino took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Shizuka's face briefly flashed through her mind.
—"Monitor him, Yukinoshita. This is for your year-end evaluation."
She opened her eyes and accepted the broom as if already resigned to fate.
"Good." Darius nodded with satisfaction. "All personnel are now armed. Now, ammunition check."
He walked to the table, pouring out Yui's bag of "anti-matter grenades." Dozens of cookie pieces in various shapes and pitch black color scattered across the table.
Darius put on rubber gloves he had "borrowed" from the chemistry lab, then very carefully picked up one of them.
"Energy reaction stable, structure intact."
He picked up another piece, tapping it with his knuckles until it produced a hard collision sound like stone.
"Hardness level meets standard, can be used for armor penetration."
Finally, his gaze locked onto a cookie piece that was the largest, darkest in color, even its edges seemingly distorted the surrounding light.
"This is it." Darius said in a fanatical tone like he'd just discovered a new element, "The mass collapse inside has already approached the critical point. This one is our 'tactical nuclear warhead'."
He solemnly handed the "nuclear warhead" into Yui's hands.
"Member Yuigahama, you are our explosives expert. This ultimate weapon will be kept by you. Remember, don't use it except on my orders."
"Ready, Commander!" Yui cupped the cookie with both hands, her expression so grand as if receiving nuclear bomb launch keys.
Yukino gripped her broom, feeling her common sense being severed one by one.
"Prepare to depart." Darius gave the final instruction, "Target: last location Kawasaki Saki was seen."
He grabbed the still-dazed Yukino's hand, ignoring her protests, and forcibly dragged her toward the door. Yui hugged her "warhead" tightly while following from behind.
"Let me go! I told you I don't want to go!"
"During missions, disobeying orders is forbidden, D-Class Personnel."
"I'm not D-Class Personnel!"
The three-person "SCP Special Operations Unit" left the special building and disappeared into the night's darkness, accompanied by Yukino's futile struggles and Yui's enthusiastic whispers.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Chiba city's lights began to illuminate.
Darius walked at the front, the edge of his raincoat fluttering in the night wind. Occasionally he raised his hand to his collar, speaking in a very low voice.
"Command Center, this is Alpha Team. We have arrived at area A-3 coordinates, moving toward target point 'Nest'. No infected individuals detected along the way, civilian emotions monitored as stable. Over."
Yukino following behind had completely stopped thinking. She only stepped mechanically while holding the broom, her eyes vacant as if her soul had already floated out of her body.
Meanwhile, Yui looked around with curiosity, then whispered: "Commander, is there a reply from Command Center?"
"Conducting encrypted signal transmission, remain silent." Darius answered without looking back.
After passing through several small alleys, they finally stopped at a street intersection. Darius raised his hand, signaling the team to halt. He leaned against the corner of a wall, only peeking half his head out to observe the situation across the street.
"Target location confirmed." His voice contained slight tension.
Yukino and Yui followed his gaze. Across the street was a bar.
Viewed from outside, its decoration was very classy. A wooden sign reading "Angel Ladder" hung in front of the door, warm light penetrating frosted glass windows, accompanied by the faint sound of jazz music.
Everything appeared so normal and peaceful.
However, in Darius's eyes, behind this tranquility churned darkness sufficient to swallow the entire city.
"Very good disguise." He said coldly. "Classic 'Beehive' entrance type. Using normal commercial facilities as cover, inside there must be another hidden world."