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The sun beamed brightly down outside, a gentle breeze carrying the faint scent of spring and dirt through the air. In the distance, there were a few stray trees, an indicator of the forest just beyond the horizon. Closer, there was sand and dirt, some of which was held to the ground by the roots of the occasional grassy patches, but most of which was picked up and carried away with the wind. The long journey of some of this dirt was stopped short, however, as it hit a large grey building and fell back to the ground.Site-12 stood out among the empty landscape. On the outside, it was coated with grey paint and had the large logo of the SCP Foundation painted in white, a few security guards, and a large fence. It was almost comfortingly warm, the sun heating all animals below just enough for the chill of the breeze to be nullified. On the inside, the white halls and fluorescent lights confused the senses and made it all the more difficult to navigate the maze of a building. The strong smell of disinfectant would cause most people's eyes to water and the stagnant air was moved only by people in white lab coats rushing back and forth.Underground one floor, close to the west wall of the building, there was a particular containment room filled with water, vegetation, and a bit of leftover rotting meat. The cell lacked any anomalies that would usually be contained, but pieces of evidence were scattered about. A few D-Class personnel cleaned the cell while low-level personnel monitored. In an adjacent monitoring room, a Level 4 seethed over piles of paperwork to be rechecked for any errors. A few guards stood idly around, unsure of what to do now that the specimen the cell contained was not there. The stench of rotting flesh was carried through the halls, somehow a relief in comparison to the usual sharp scents. Wet footprints led away from the cell and up a hall, down one corridor, then another. They trailed down the halls before drying up near the elevator. Beyond that point, vaguely confused guards and armed personnel stood at the ready, waiting for the breach sirens to go off, though for the remainder of that day, the only noises would be the distant footsteps of personnel rushing off to their next assignment and quiet whispers between bored guards. The creature that had been released from their usual confinement wasn't a breach or escapee, but instead a visitor going to see a friend two stories up.Up one floor from ground level, close to the south wall of the building, there was a particular containment room filled with religious items of varying nature, one bed, and a young girl of an anomalous variety. The room smelled faintly of flowers and paper and there was a constant ticking from a clock a few seconds off hanging from a wall.Epon sat on her bed, fiddling with her rosary. In a strange way, she felt nervous; then again, she always felt nervous when something different was happening. There was always a chance of something going wrong, of her getting hurt. Of her friend getting hurt.No, she wasn't afraid of her visitor. She was afraid of the guards she knew were positioned outside of her room. She was afraid of the dozens of scientists and researchers that she innately knew would be remotely monitoring this encounter. She wasn't afraid of her visitor, her friend; she was afraid of the ones who controlled the world.The sound of footsteps echoing down the hall outside her room brought her back from her thoughts. It took a moment for her to realize she was shaking; they would be here any moment now. What if something went wrong?She looked to one of the walls, silently wondering what it would look like outside. Would there be woods, with tall trees and beautiful flowers to hide this cell? Or would it be hidden in plain sight, in a bustling city with people rushing to and fro to get somewhere that doesn't really matter? Would she ever know?The footsteps weren't echoing anymore. They had stopped right outside of her door. The beginning and end of these interactions were always the worst; everything in between was nothing short of joyful, if dangerous.She was upset that she had to sacrifice half of her vacation for these visits. She was grateful for them, but she longed to feel the sand and sun on her skin while she read, no painful lights or distant hums, only the ocean fighting against the shore, trying to swallow it all while salt lingered in the air.The door to her room beeped, unlocking and sliding open. Three people stepped in: Two armed personnel, their faces hidden by helmets, and the visitor. The friend. Aé.Aé was covered head to toe by some sort of special suit that provided only a window so she could see. Through the window, a wide smile filled with sharp teeth spread across her face. Despite the suit, the stench of rotting flesh and blood clung to her, infecting the soft scent of the room."Epon!" she greeted excitedly, her voice muffled by the suit. She ran over to her friend, lugging with her a large box with several indicators on it. It was hooked up to her suit with a few cords. Epon remembered the box from last time; she wasn't supposed to mess with it. Only God knew why, it just looked like a fancy box to her."Aé!" she returned, scooting aside so her friend could take a seat on the bed with her. "How have you been?""Bean good. No turtle yet. How have you bean?" Aé slowly answered, tripping over her words a bit. Since her visits to Epon, her English has improved, but she was still far from fluent. Both Epon and herself spoke in short, clearly pronounced phrases so she could understand."Been okay! Tried new shampoo. I think it smells nice!""Oaky?""Like good, but smaller.""Oaky! Why not good?""It's just not.""New shampoo?"And so their conversation went on, discussing hair care, turtles, their families, religion, and so on, with Epon occasionally explaining new words and Aé trying her best to pronounce them correctly.Because Aé had trouble expressing the asnwers to researcher's questions or even understanding the questions, people had lost interest in her and where she came from and stopped trying to teach her English. Fortunately, since her visits to Epon, her communication skills were growing exponentially. She was able to speak to those put in charge of caring for her and, even if she couldn't say something, she could more often than not show it.Epon was also improving from Aé's visits, though in a much different way. She found herself looking forward to something other than her escape from this hellish room. It was certainly more pleasant than the rest of the facility, but how was she to know that? She wasn't allowed to leave her room and had long since forgotten what it was like to walk down the halls, the only sounds being her own rushing heart and distant gunshots. No, she didn't know anything about the place outside her small prison other than the fact that it was better than the room, that it had to be better than the room. And yet, she found herself more at peace with her situation. It was still miserable, but less so now that there was someone, anyone other than those who controlled the world, was there with her.Suddenly, the visit was up and the guards were ushering Aé out. Aé and Epon hardly got out their goodbyes before the metal door blocking the room off from the outside world slammed shut and beeped, being locked again. Epon looked up to the clock that was still constantly ticking away. 6:00:43, 44, 45, 46. 6:00:46. When Aé came, it was 5:00:-something; they had allowed her to stay for a full hour this visit instead of just a half. Maybe one day, many years in the future, she'd even be able to stay a night! But probably not. No, certainly not. That would be too enjoyable, and if Epon knew anything, it was that the Foundation hates enjoyable things.