The air shimmered around me as the holographic projectors activated, forming a ring of translucent figures—my fellow O5 members, or at least the ones who bothered to attend. Their faces appeared life‑sized, hovering above the polished black surface of my command table. I leaned back in my chair, crossing one leg over the other, fingers steepled.
A genius, a supergenius, Rick‑Prime‑tier intelligence—and yet somehow I had forgotten to mention the Star Destroyers. Oops.
Julius—O5‑2, Sentinel—was the first to speak, voice deep, stern, and already exhausted with me."Administrator… would you like to explain why two triangular, absolutely massive vessels just casually broke atmospheric silence over the Pacific?"
I smiled sweetly. "Ah, so you noticed."
Thomas Hobbes—O5‑11, The Executioner—leaned forward, the hologram glitching slightly as he stabbed a finger at me."Of course we noticed. They're the size of cities. They shook half the satellites we don't even officially have."
Victor von Doom, O5‑6, simply folded his arms, metallic gauntlets clinking softly. "You created capital‑class warships without informing the Council. Again."
Cleopatra—O5‑5, The Accountant—massaged the bridge of her nose. "Do you understand the logistical nightmare this creates? Budgets do not stretch infinitely, even for you."
"Technically," I said with a shrug, "they're not 'created' so much as… imported."
Lincoln—O5‑10, The Ambassador—arched a holographic eyebrow. "From where, exactly?"
"The Star Wars universe," I said casually. "Via SCP‑7905. The cave network actually connects to thousands of fictional realities. I just picked something practical."
Darius—O5‑3, The Watcher—blinked several times. "You took warships from a fictional universe."
"Didn't just take them," I corrected proudly. "I replicated the designs, upgraded the reactors, improved the hull plating, replaced the faulty Empire‑tier targeting software, and—"
Sun Tzu—O5‑4, Factotum—cut in. "Why were they launched into space without Council authorization?"
Here it came. The part they wouldn't like.
"I needed something to guard the orbital perimeter while we had SCP‑7905 open," I said. "We just extracted Jean Grey—host of the Phoenix Force, remember? Better safe than sorry. These Star Destroyers aren't for conquering nations. They're a defensive net."
Silence. Heavy, crackling silence.
Isaac Newton—O5‑9, The Blackbird—finally spoke, voice soft but sharp as a razor."The Phoenix Force. And you brought her here."
My hologram flickered as I leaned forward. "Of course. SCP‑148 cuffs suppress her powers. She's secured at Site‑999. If we hadn't taken her, someone else in that world would have. Or she would've gone Dark Phoenix and eaten a star. I'm not wrong."
"The issue," Doom said slowly, "is not the kidnapping. It is that you concealed it."
"Kidnapped," Cleopatra echoed flatly. "One of Xavier's children."
"Well, Magneto got the blame," I said with a shrug. "And honestly? He probably deserves some blame for something he hasn't done yet. It balances out."
Julius pinched the bridge of his nose. "Administrator… your genius is undeniable. But your communication skills are—"
"Non‑existent?" I offered.
"'Chaotic' was the word I was going for."
I smirked. "I prefer 'efficient.' Look—everything is under control. Jean is secured. The portal is sealed. The Star Destroyers are simply stationed where no Civil War‑era nation can even perceive them, much less panic about them. This is the safest, simplest, smartest play."
Lincoln exhaled slowly. "You really do think five moves ahead of everyone."
"More like fifty," I corrected.
Doom's eyes narrowed. "And what is the next of those fifty moves?"
I let my smile widen.
"That, my dear Council, is classified until I finish it."
A collective groan washed through the holograms.
But none of them disconnected.And that meant they trusted me——or they were too afraid not to.