The long flight gave Luo Shu plenty of time to study his new acquisition—the Restraint Cuffs he'd swiped from Achilles' Heel.
These are a real treasure!
They can seal anomalous abilities!
As the cuffs' new owner, the Anomalous Entity Catalog automatically added a new entry:
[Page: 48]
[Entity Name: Restraint Cuffs]
[Object Class: Safe]
[Entity Image: …]
[Entity Description: …]
[Special Containment Procedures: …]
[Entity Ability: Ability Lock. You think these are just handcuffs? Well, technically, yes. But in essence, they're a capability-sealing loop crafted from exotic materials native to ████. Designed to suppress anomalous manifestations within the loop, making them MTF Omega-12's go-to tool for capturing powerful reality benders. (Though if you'd rather pair them with whips and candles for… recreational purposes, I won't judge.)]
[Entity Status: Successfully Contained]
[Interaction History: Click to Play]
[O]
Ignoring the… suggestive commentary, the cuffs were incredibly useful.
But questions remained:
What's their upper limit? Can they suppress any anomaly?
How long does the effect last when activated via the Catalog?
These details required field testing.
Unfortunately, Flight HU7958 had no other anomalies aboard.
No matter. I'll test them later.
Tucking the cuffs away, Luo Shu turned to bigger concerns.
Life on the Run
Now that he'd escaped the Foundation, Luo Shu—regardless of whether he was truly Chaos Insurgency—would be branded a traitor.
The Foundation's global reach made evasion nearly impossible.
In its history, only one D-Class had successfully escaped and remained free: D-97605, who exploited the Rainbow Lollipop Barnum Incident.
Everyone else? Recaptured and terminated.
Luo Shu had the Rainbow Lollipop. He could rely on deception.
But he refused to spend his life as a con artist.
He needed a plan before landing.
Luckily, HU7958 was bound for Beijing.
In China, his East Asian features would blend in seamlessly—unlike in Israel or Greece, where he'd stand out.
Plus, his abilities—teleportation, antimemetics, persuasion, reality distortion negation, malice detection—made him harder to catch than a Level-4 reality bender.
And now I've got their cuffs. Let's see who hunts whom.
But survival wasn't his main worry.
The truth was.
If the Liar's Furnace confirmed he was Chaos Insurgency, then IR1901's claims were true.
Which meant his memories were lies.
Before uncovering the truth, he needed power.
And power meant containing more anomalies to expand the Catalog.
But without the Foundation's resources, how?
Join the Chaos Insurgency?
No.
Even if the furnace said he was CI, that didn't mean he accepted their ideology.
Maybe the truth was he'd rejected his past as a CI operative and sought redemption.
Unlikely… but possible.
More importantly—
"God" said he was CI.
Barbie said he was CI.
The furnace said he was CI.
If he ran to the CI now, wouldn't that prove them right?
I refuse.
I won't let them dictate my path.
The Hunt Begins
If not the CI, then where?
The Foundation had hundreds of Sites in China, but their locations were classified.
From memory, Luo Shu had visited:
Site-19
Area-███ (Scarlet Bride containment)
SCP-100
Site-17
Area-14
AE-3221
Site-403
But he'd never found these places himself—the Foundation had taken him there.
Could I locate one alone?
Unlikely.
His knowledge of Foundation-China was spotty at best.
Maybe I should return to the Americas.
Sites like Site-19 and Site-17 were easier to find, with dozens of uncontained anomalies.
Decision made.
Try China first.
If nothing turns up, head west.
Touchdown in Beijing
Ten hours later, the A330 landed smoothly.
As Luo Shu stepped onto Chinese soil, his mind was set.
First goal: Find a Foundation Site.
Second goal: Plunder it.
Third goal: Uncover the truth.
And if the Foundation came for him?
Well.
They'd regret it.
With the Restraint Cuffs in his pocket and the Catalog at his fingertips—
The hunt was on.