Into The Depths [Discontinued]

Chapter 7

I blinked in realization that the sandwiches had disappeared. I was rather disappointed, they had been rather good. Small, yes, but good nonetheless. My tongue flicked over my teeth, trying to catch any leftover pieces of the short meal. The spade of my tail skittered against the floor, slowly moving back and forth as I studied the now conversing humans. I slowly crept out from under the table, resuming my previous seat before my instincts ran free. The men across the room noticed my movement immediately, beginning to slowly meander over back to the table, as if I would lunge at them again. To be fair, they probably weren't expecting that. Hell, even I can't predict it. I folded my claws neatly on the table, somewhat reassuring the humans that I wasn't going to pull another underhand trick. The doctor sat down again, this time the guards standing directly behind him. My instincts commented that the man's move was stupid; you should always keep an eye on those around you. I silently agreed, mainly just to shut them up.

"So..... what was... that all about..?" Saltzer spoke, watching my reaction very carefully.  "̵S̴o̷r̷r̸y̸.̶.̶.̶"̴ I murmured. I was rather ashamed I had let my instincts take advantage of the situation, and I assumed it showed. "Were you hungry?" I silently nodded, feeling guilty I had scared the scientist so badly. The look in his eyes when I had gone feral... I was sure the man knew what had caused it, since all animals suffered from the same primal urges. At least, I was until the man spoke again. "Why'd you lunge at me like that? I would have given both to you if you had asked." I blinked in surprise. He didn't know? "̴Y̴o̶u̴ ̷s̵h̵o̷u̷l̷d̷ ̵k̶n̶o̷w̵.̴ ̶I̸n̵s̵t̷i̶n̶c̵t̵s̵?̶"̴ I said the word to see if it rang a bell. It didn't. "What are instincts?"

I only gaped at him.

⊱⊰ Saltzer's Pov⊱⊰

"What are instincts?" I asked, earning a disbelieving look from the Scp. "̴W̴a̴i̵t̶,̵ ̴y̸o̴u̵ ̶d̸o̶n̸'̴t̶ ̶h̷a̸v̸e̵ ̵i̷n̷s̷t̵i̸n̶c̴t̸s̸?̴!̴"̸ I heard it exclaim, sounding shocked and confused. "I don't think so?" I was surprised at its reactions. 6030 always seemed calm and calculating, albeit sometimes annoyed, and seeing a different, stronger reaction was rather... startling. "̵W̶e̵l̷l̸ ̶t̸h̵e̸n̵ ̷h̵o̸w̷ ̴t̶h̸e̸ ̵h̷e̷l̴l̶ ̶d̷i̴d̸ ̷y̶o̴u̴r̴ ̴s̵p̶e̸c̶i̸e̵s̵ ̷c̵l̵i̵m̷b̷ ̴t̵o̷ ̷t̶h̷e̶ ̶t̶o̸p̵ ̷o̴f̸ ̸t̸h̸e̴ ̸f̴o̵o̸d̷ ̴c̸h̸a̶i̶n̵?̵"̸ If the Scp worded it like that, it probably meant that these 'instincts' were important. Did it mean the animal ones? I just shook my head, preparing my clipboard. "Mind explaining it to us?" The Scp tilted its head. "̷W̷e̷l̶l̸.̸.̸.̵ ̴t̵h̶i̴s̸ ̶i̵s̴ ̴g̴o̷i̴n̶g̴ ̸t̸o̴ ̶b̴e̷ ̴h̶a̶r̴d̶ ̶s̵i̶n̶c̸e̷ ̴y̸o̴u̶ ̵o̸b̷v̶i̸o̸u̷s̴l̴y̶ ̷h̶a̴v̶e̸ ̸n̵o̵ ̶c̵l̴u̵e̸,̵ ̷b̶u̴t̵ ̵i̸n̶s̵t̴i̶n̴c̴t̵s̶ ̴a̴r̵e̶ ̸b̴a̷s̷i̴c̵a̶l̶l̵y̷.̸.̴.̶"̵ The Scp trailed off, as if unsure how to word it. I nodded, my pen tip hovering dangerously close to the paper.

"̵I̵t̸s̷ ̵b̸a̴s̸i̷c̷a̶l̴l̶y̷ ̴h̸e̵l̵p̷f̵u̷l̴ ̴a̴d̶v̶i̶c̷e̸ ̴t̸h̴a̶t̶'̷s̸ ̶n̴o̷t̷ ̴a̶l̸w̶a̸y̸s̷ ̴h̴e̴l̵p̶f̴u̵l̸.̵"̷  It was my turn to look at the Scp curiously. I could tell the men behind me were interested too, as I felt them lean closer. "Can you go into that further?" The Scp shrugged, its tail flicking back and forth. "̶L̴e̴t̸s̶ ̴s̴a̵y̷ ̶I̵ ̵f̴i̸n̸d̸ ̷a̷ ̵m̸u̶s̷h̴r̵o̸o̴m̶.̵ ̷I̷n̸s̴t̶i̵n̴c̶t̴s̶ ̷c̵a̵n̵ ̵t̶e̵l̴l̷ ̵i̶f̸ ̴i̸t̶ ̷c̴a̶n̷ ̸b̷e̴ ̵p̸o̶i̴s̵o̷n̵o̵u̵s̴,̷ ̶b̸u̶t̵ ̵n̴o̸t̶ ̴i̴f̸ ̶i̷t̷ ̸a̶c̷t̶u̵a̷l̶l̶y̵ ̴i̸s̴.̶ ̵Y̷o̷u̷ ̶w̷o̴u̴l̵d̷ ̶h̵a̸v̷e̴ ̵t̶o̴ ̴k̸n̵o̸w̸ ̶y̴o̵u̵r̷s̵e̷l̸f̶ ̴i̴f̷ ̷i̵t̸ ̵i̸s̴ ̷o̸r̸ ̷i̴s̷n̵'̵t̴.̴ ̷G̴e̷t̷ ̶i̸t̸?̷"̸  The Scp sounded aprehensive, as if unsure why we would actually need this information and how to properly explain it. I quickly wrote it down, word for word. I was ecstatic I was actually getting decent information out of 6030, since it seemed harder to open then a live clamshell. "I think I do... So, tell me. How does this relate to food?"