When Sebastian returned to the test chamber, I had already taught Tomato multiple tricks like sit, roll and play dead. I was practicing “give paw” when I heard the door open.

“I found a blue harness originally made for a large German shepherd dog. I think it should fit Tomato pretty neatly.”

Sebastian threw the harness to me, along with what looked like a keycard.

“I explained the situation to the higher ups, they agreed to reinstate your level-3 clearance. You’re welcome.”

I smiled at Sebastian and clenched the keycard in my hands. “Thanks, Seb.”

Sebastian sat down on the floor beside me. I told Tomato to sit, and he obliged.

“Well, aren’t you a clever one.” Sebastian reached out a hand toward Tomato, prompting him to grit his teeth a little.

“Easy Tomato, he’s a friend.”

Tomato looked at me, then back at Sebastian before cautiously approaching his outstretched hand, letting it rub against his head.

Sebastian smiled and pet Tomato. “Hey Tomato, my name is Sebastian.”

“Sebastian.” Tomato repeated Seb’s name using his own voice.

Sebastian helped me get Tomato into the harness, and it fit pretty well. There was a name tag attached to the harness, it was devoid of any markings, so I produced a permanent marker and wrote “Tomato” on it.

“There you go, boy! you look super snug!”

Tomato seemed to like his new harness and voiced a laugh. The laugh was in Sebastian’s voice.

Sebastian nervously laughed. “It’s almost creepy how similar their voices are to the real deal.” Sebastian looked up at me. “Allright, I think he’s good to go now. Do keep a leash on him though, you never know what they might do.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I nodded. “So, can I take him to my quarters?”

Sebastian looked like he was going to answer, but he stopped himself. “I think it might be good if you take him to the 939 containment, actually. All our instances are contained there, and suddenly losing track of where one is, well, it could lead to some complications.”

I nodded. “I understand. It’s right here in the Keter wing, right?”

“Right.” Sebastian opened the door leading out into the main hall of the Keter wing. “Sub-level #7. If you need me, I'll be in 682’s containment chamber.” Sebastian left the door open when he left.

I clicked a leash onto Tomato’s chassis and exited through the door.

Now, I have to find the elevator.

“Tomato, you’ll get your own cell down there. Behave well with the other 939’s, okay?”

“Yes.” Tomato answered using my own voice.

“Good boy.”

“Sublevel #7, SCP-939 containment.”

The elevator let out a hiss as the pneumatic doors opened into the containment area. The room was narrow but long, and very tall. Right outside the elevator doors was a catwalk leading up to two rooms, between which there was a spiral staircase leading downward.

One of the rooms was unlabeled while the other was a storage room.

I looked through the grating of the catwalk flooring, and down at the different 939 cells. They looked like they fit maybe 4 people standing shoulder to shoulder in both width and length.

“Allright Tomato, do you remember which cell is yours?”

We began descending the staircase. At the bottom was a gate fence which I had to unlock with my keycard. The lock clicked open, and I stepped out into the main hall of the containment area.

Straight ahead was what looked to be a kitchen where various slices of meat were lying in plastic bags.

To my right and left were rows of cells. They all seemed to contain a 939, except for one cell.

Tomato scratched at the empty cell. “Do you remember which cell is yours?”

I smirked. “This is your cell, huh?” I looked inside. It looked just like the other cells.

I unlocked the door and Tomato reluctantly stepped inside the chamber. “Harness.”

Oh, right. It might not be super comfortable wearing that harness all the time.

I helped Tomato get out of the harness with some struggling before collecting the different pieces. “I’ll be back before you know it, buddy.”

Tomato laid down on the floor, seeming content with being freed from the harness.

I waved one last goodbye to my little red friend before locking the door behind me.

I climbed the stairs once more, with the harness in hand.

Do I recall correctly if I say Sebastian was planning to train 939’s to work alongside guards? I looked at the unlabeled room, and back at my harness.

If he’s going to go through with that idea, I think it might be a good idea to have a room for their harnesses. I looked inside the room and found some empty lockers. I put the harness inside one of them, closed it and labeled it “Tomato”.

Before walking back to the elevators, I labeled the door as “939 harness storage” and closed it.

I could really use something to drink around now. Maybe I should go to the cafeteria.

Yeah, I'll do that.