Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies

From the fragmented memories, Haruto caught sight of that strange, rectangular gray metal.

Clearly, it was some kind of anomaly.

"Was it enlightenment… or something else?"

Haruto pondered over the true purpose of that gray metal block.

From what he could tell, it had granted these monkeys an entirely new linguistic system, indirectly triggering a miniature Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

In any case, his first step was to try and contain and recover that rectangular gray metal. Unfortunately, the fragmented memories didn't reveal its exact location. But that didn't matter, these monkeys had settled around the cave where the metal was located, forming a residential zone.

So, he would simply have this monkey lead the way.

With that thought, Haruto snapped his fingers, restoring the monkey's vital signs.

The monkey quickly regained consciousness.

As soon as it saw its fallen companions and Haruto standing before it, it shrieked in terror.

However, its language was difficult to decipher.

Even after Haruto used the Blacklight Virus to assimilate its genes, he still couldn't grasp the linguistic system.

Clearly, this wasn't a simple learned language, it was more like an external force imposed upon them. The monkeys didn't truly own this language; they had merely gained temporary access to it.

Haruto adjusted his mental energy slightly, then cast a sharp glance at the panicked monkey.

The moment their eyes met, the monkey reacted as if it had encountered a natural predator.

Without hesitation, it bolted toward the depths of the forest.

Haruto nodded in satisfaction and followed.

As it turned out, despite gaining a linguistic system, these monkeys still had extremely low intelligence.

A minor scare was enough to make this one flee straight toward its dwelling—

Without even considering whether it was leading a potential disaster right to its own tribe.

Before long, with the monkey leading the way, Haruto, Mitsuha, and Suzume arrived at the monkey settlement.

Even before they got close, the fleeing monkey screeched something loudly.

Immediately, a wave of agitation spread through the forest.

The next moment—

Rocks rained down like a storm, hurtling toward the three of them.

Mitsuha and Suzume gasped in shock and instinctively moved to take cover behind the trees.

But Haruto simply waved his hand.

A fierce wind howled to life in front of him.

The incoming stones were caught in the whirlwind, then sent flying back in an instant—

Each rock returning at a speed even greater than before, aimed with perfect accuracy.

A series of dull thuds echoed through the trees.

Then, like raindrops, numerous monkeys plummeted from the trees, crashing onto the ground.

Mitsuha and Suzume's eyes widened in shock at the sight.

Haruto, however, remained indifferent.

It was merely a small application of physical force, not even an ability worth mentioning. These monkeys were definitely going to be taken in. The Foundation couldn't allow a group of linguistically capable monkeys to roam freely.

However, although he had already notified the Foundation, it would take some time for personnel to arrive.

In the meantime, Haruto decided to head to the cave and examine the anomaly's true properties.

Beyond this small grove lay a low mountain.

Following the images from the monkeys' memories, he quickly spotted the location of the cave.

What surprised him, however, was the mess of scattered branches and twigs at the cave's entrance.

It was a crude attempt at camouflage—something the monkey tribe had used to hide the cave.

Simple as it was, it had been enough to deter most of the creatures in this forest.

Yet now, the disguise lay in disarray.

Clearly, something—or someone—had already entered the cave.

Because of the unknown effects within the range of that gray metal block, Haruto had Mitsuha and Suzume wait outside.

Alone, he stepped into the darkness of the cave.

His heightened senses immediately picked up the sounds of movement inside.

A heartbeat.*Footsteps.*Breathing.*

It seemed… to be a human.

Haruto raised an eyebrow and quickened his pace.

Before long, he saw the person's true identity.

A girl with short, ash-blond hair stood motionless beside the rectangular gray metal, her back facing him.

It was Shoko Nishimiya.

For a moment, Haruto was filled with questions and confusion.

Why was Shoko here?

Just then, as if finally realizing something, Shoko turned around—

And upon seeing Haruto, her expression immediately tensed with guilt. She bowed deeply and began signing with her hands: "I'm sorry."

Haruto let out a deep sigh in his heart.

This girl was simply too timid and soft.

The situation hadn't even been clarified, yet she instinctively blamed herself.

It was painful to watch.

However—

The next moment, Haruto's expression turned serious.

Perhaps realizing that not everyone understood sign language, Shoko hesitated—

Then attempted to apologize out loud.

Normally, she would struggle to pronounce the words correctly, but she would still stammer out a shaky gomen…

Due to her hearing impairment, Shoko's speech was naturally imprecise, making it difficult for her to speak.

Yet, at this moment, she fluently uttered a strange language.

Although Haruto had yet to fully grasp its intricate structure, he could still recognize that the language she spoke was the very same anomalous one.

As the words left her lips, Shoko herself seemed startled.

She knew better than anyone that speaking wasn't something that came easily to her. And judging by the expression on Haruto's face, she became even more anxious.

She realized that something had undoubtedly changed within her.

And perhaps, it wasn't something good.

For a moment, Shoko was so overwhelmed with worry that she was on the verge of tears.

Not for herself, but out of fear that she had somehow caused trouble for the big brother in front of her.

Seeing this, Haruto adjusted his expression and signed:

"Don't cry. Don't be afraid."

Shoko's eyes widened.

It was rare for her to meet someone who could communicate with sign language.

Aside from her mother, the only other people she had seen using sign language were at her school for the hearing impaired.

"Did I cause trouble for you? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

She hurriedly signed, bowing deeply once more.

Haruto shook his head.

"It's not your fault. You don't have to apologize, Shoko."

Such a gentle response left Shoko stunned, her eyes turning red with emotion.

Haruto hadn't expected such a small reassurance to move her so deeply.

After soothing her emotions, he turned his attention to the rectangular gray metal. As he approached, a system panel popped up, revealing the anomaly's properties.

[Anomaly: The Broken Tongue (SCP-1139). Anomaly Level: Class-1 Hazardous.]

[This object manifests as a rectangular gray metal that affects all individuals within a certain radius through unknown means. Anyone within this radius will begin speaking and writing in a completely new language, despite believing they are using their native tongue.]

[The object exhibits extreme cognitive contamination. All individuals within its radius will undergo a forced cognitive distortion, fundamentally altering their linguistic framework. Affected individuals will lose the ability to understand any known language.]

Reading the panel, Haruto let out a sigh of relief.

However, his gaze lingered on the phrase "extreme cognitive contamination."

Extreme?

Normally, the system categorized anomaly severity into six levels: Weak, Lesser, Moderate, Greater, Strong, and Extreme.

For comparison, the cognitive contamination from the entity Cthulhu was rated as Weak.

Even the infamous Hanged King's Lament only had a Strong cognitive contamination rating. Yet, this was the first time Haruto had ever encountered an Extreme level cognitive contamination.

But from what he could see, the only effect was replacing one's language system.

It wasn't deadly. It had no special means of spreading. So why was it considered Extreme?

As he pondered this, his gaze landed on Shoko.

She blinked in confusion as Haruto reached out and gently tapped her forehead.

Blacklight Virus Infection. Initiating Class-A Memory Erasure.

Shoko's body instantly went limp, and she collapsed backward, only to be caught in Haruto's arms.

Carrying her, he stepped away from the anomaly's range of influence.

A moment later, Shoko's eyes fluttered open.

The first thing she saw was Haruto's face, mere inches away.

Her face turned bright red in an instant.

(T/N: ...Thats an Elem schooler bro....)

Seeing that she had awakened, Haruto set her down.

Shoko looked around in confusion, unable to remember why she was inside a cave.

Haruto then signed:

"Can you try speaking? Say: One, two, three. Three, two, one. Ah, ah."

Shoko was briefly stunned before her eyes lit up.

Without questioning why, she obediently attempted to speak. A string of unintelligible words left her lips.

Shoko immediately covered her mouth, shocked at how smoothly she had spoken.

Haruto, on the other hand, frowned deeply.

Class-A Memory Erasure had failed?

Now, he understood why the cognitive contamination was rated as Extreme.

Normally, memetic or cognitohazardous anomalies could be neutralized by erasing related memories. Once the affected person forgot, they would typically return to normal. However, even after losing all memories related to Tongue of Ruin, Shoko remained affected.

This was troublesome.

Seeing Haruto's furrowed brows, Shoko hesitated, then reached out with her small hand---------------

Hovering uncertainly in the air.

She seemed to want to smooth out the creases on his forehead, but her height wasn't enough to reach.

After a brief pause, she signed:

"I'm sorry… Did I cause trouble for you?"

Haruto didn't explain anything.

Instead, he crouched down and gently pulled her into a hug. The warmth of his embrace left Shoko momentarily frozen. Then, she finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Waking up in an unfamiliar cave, experiencing an inexplicable change in her body—

For a girl her age, these things were terrifying enough to make her scream and panic.

She had remained composed all this time, not because she was mentally strong—

But simply because she didn't want to be a burden to Haruto.

Now, wrapped in his arms, she no longer held back.

She let out all her fear and anxiety in tears.

This child… was so considerate that it was heartbreaking.