Chapter 184: The Fear Sphere.

『"Fear isn't a feeling. It's something else."』

The Alpha Beam deposited the aircraft inside the Institute's transport hangar with a low mechanical hum.

A moment later, the rear ramp hissed open, and the Five, along with the others aboard, stepped out.

Director Daniel Hale was waiting for them at the edge of the platform, his hands rested at the top of his cane.

Beside him stood a woman in a white lab coat, a tablet tucked beneath one arm, and a pen wedged into her hair.

Hale gave them a small nod. "Jerry briefed me on what happened. You all performed admirably."

The woman beside him looked over the group. "That's the Five for you."

Hiro glanced at the others, then at Raj. "We don't feel very Five-y right now."

Everyone's eyes naturally drifted toward Raj, and Hale took notice. Then he introduced the woman beside him. "This is Dr. Fiona Radcliffe. She's our lead scientist."

Fiona gave them an enthusiastic little wave. "Hi."

"Dr. Fiona has found something concerning about the Fear Sphere," Hale continued. "Something that may be relevant to protecting the Anchors."

"Sweet." Sophia looked at Raj again. "But we have something we need to tell you."

"That can wait." Hale glanced briefly at Raj, as though he already had an idea of what they wanted to say. "Let's go to the laboratory first."

Yelena cracked her neck from side to side as the others began to move. "I need to take shower. May I be excused?"

Hale nodded. "Maya will relay whatever we learn."

Yelena gave him a brief nod before walking away. Then Dante raised a hand. "Can I be excused as well?"

"No."

Dante's shoulders dropped. "Definitely don't need a shower. I wasn't uppercut all the way to Rio or anything." He scratched his head. "The Jesus statue was harder than I thought it would be..."

Hale stared at him, and Dante lowered his hand. "Never mind."

As they proceeded to the lab, Amara glanced at Raj, whose entire body remained tense. "We're going to the lab, right? They probably have something that can help."

She looked toward Hale, who was ahead of them. "This is as good a time as any to tell him what really happened back in the cave."

Hiro rubbed his fingers together. "Yeah, yeah. Totally. They'll probably take a drop of blood, run a few tests, and you'll be golden."

Sophia glanced at him. "We both know this isn't a science problem."

Hiro looked offended. "That's very disappointing coming from someone studying medicine."

Sophia rolled her eyes.

They followed Hale and Fiona deeper into the Institute until the corridors gradually changed.

The familiar sections gave way to areas Amara had never seen before.

Thick glass separated laboratories from the main walkway. Scientists moved between workstations, monitoring strange devices and stranger specimens.

At one station, a researcher tested an enormous metallic glove that crackled with electricity every time its fingers moved.

At another, two scientists observed a black substance sealed inside a transparent containment chamber.

The substance shifted constantly, and a nearby tablet displayed images of various pieces of technology.

Whenever an object was placed within five feet of the substance, its surface immediately reshaped itself to mimic the technology.

A scientist hurriedly scribbled observations onto a clipboard.

Amara slowed slightly. "I don't think we've ever been to this part of the Sun branch."

Ethan glanced through the glass of another station. "It only gets more interesting."

They continued.

Then Sophia stopped. "What the hell?"

Inside the next station was a large demonic circle etched into the floor.

A human skull rested at its center while a scientist stood nearby, reading from an ancient tome bearing the same markings.

At the same time, subsonic frequencies pulsed through the room as another scientist monitored the markings for any reaction, carefully documenting the results.

Sophia stared for a moment, then ran a hand through her hair. "I stand corrected."

Amara looked around, her attention drawn to the equipment surrounding them. She noticed that almost every instrument in the laboratory was composed of the same familiar element.

Margaronium.

She stopped at a machine that emitted a blue energy beam into what looked like a pillar of stone. "These tools are all made from margaronium?"

Hale didn't slow down. "Eyes forward."

Everyone immediately looked ahead. At the end of the corridor was their destination.

The Fear Sphere rested inside a thick glass casing, and Amara's eyes immediately locked onto it. "The Fear Sphere..." Her hand slowly curled into a fist.

Ethan noticed, and without saying anything, he reached over and interlocked his fingers with hers.

Amara looked at him. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Beside them, Fiona pulled the pen from her hair and immediately put it between her teeth. "Okay!" she said brightly. "Here we are."

She pointed toward the containment chamber. "The Fear Sphere." She looked at them. "You said you found this in a cave?"

Hiro nodded. "A wendigo cave, to be specific."

Fiona's eyebrows rose. "A wendigo cave?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

She turned back toward the sphere. "Well, whatever this thing is, we ran a bunch of tests on it, and you won't believe what we found."

Raj finally lifted his head. "What?"

Fiona smiled. "Nothing."

Silence filled the research station.

"What?" Raj asked.

"Nothing," Fiona repeated cheerfully. "We found absolutely nothing."

Dante sighed. "You've gotta be shitting me."

Fiona flipped through her tablet. "We ran it through the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma. Ultraviolet. Visible light. Infrared. Microwaves. Radio waves..."

She shrugged. "Nothing. No reaction whatsoever."

"But you did find something." Hiro's eyes narrowed. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here."

Fiona looked at him. A grin slowly appeared on her face. "He's a sharp one." She pointed her pen toward Hale. "A little mouthy, but sharp."

Hiro raised an eyebrow.

Hale sighed. "Fiona."

"Right. Right." She sat on a wheeled chair and rolled over to a nearby workstation, then pulled a file from the desk.

"This Fear Sphere," she said, making exaggerated air quotes around the name, "doesn't just broadcast fear. It interacts directly with the brain's chemistry."

Amara frowned. "When you say broadcast fear, you mean it releases chemicals that target the brain's fear receptors?"

Fiona's smile faded slightly. "That's the weird part." She removed her glasses. "That's only a side effect."

She looked at the sphere. "When I say it broadcasts fear, I mean fear in the literal sense."

Nobody spoke, and Fiona continued. "I know. Crazy." She tapped the side of her head. "I had to test it on myself to be certain."

Raj leaned toward Sophia and whispered, "She's crazy."

Fiona continued without acknowledging him. "I nearly ruptured a blood vessel in my brain from the hallucinations. Luckily, we contained it before anything permanent happened."

Sophia leaned over to Raj and whispered back, "Definitely."

She flipped another page. "We also confirmed that the sphere has mass. Actual physical mass. That's why the SCP containment system worked."

Amara shook her head. "Okay. Hold on." She pointed at the sphere. "What exactly do you mean by literal fear?"

Fiona looked at her. "You have a sword that can cut literal space." She shrugged. "What do you think?"

Amara stared at her. "This is crazy."

"I know, right?" Fiona responded quickly.

Hale cleared his throat. "Fiona found two other things."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "If this is what nothing looks like, I wonder what her data for something looks like."

Fiona slowly turned toward him. "Are you sassing me?"

Hiro blinked. "No. Definitely not."

She leaned in closer, her nose almost touching his. "It sounds like you're sassing me."

"What even is sassing?" Hiro said with a nervous chuckle.

Fiona narrowed her eyes. "You're doing it again."

Hiro raised both hands. "I swear I'm not sassing you. Honestly? I don't even know what that word means."

Fiona grinned. Then she grabbed another file from the desk. "Alright." She placed it on the table. "You guys may want to sit down for this one."