Dr. Stochasta sighs a little, not unsympathetically.  "I suspect the guards did plenty of things wrong with you that day, given how awful a place the Foundation used to be.  But let me show you the report - "

She looks to the end, when she was taken away:

Staff entering at the end of the test phase are immediately attacked by SCP-682, resulting in two deaths and five injuries.  SCP-682 contained and moved to separate containment unit.  SCP-053 observed crying for several minutes after SCP-682 is removed.

That... doesn't sound quite right probably won't impress Dr. Stochasta, but it doesn't.

"Immediately attacked," she says musingly.  "As soon as they opened the doors, entered the room?"

"Charlotte," says Dr. Stochasta.  "Ms. Fiftythree.  With all due respect, you only interacted with this object once, when you were three years old.  It seemed docile to you because your secondary anomaly interacted strangely with it.  I think your memory of this test is colored by the abuse you suffered at the hands of the old turn-of-the-century Foundation.  By all accounts SCP-682 is and remains one of the most violent, dangerous object we have in containment.  It finds human beings hateful and repellent, and has never expressed a desire toward any of us except you other than the urge to destroy us.  That your secondary anomaly would shield you personally from it, rather than render it completely docile, is completely in line with my understanding both of 682 and of your own anomaly - in the case of ordinary humans, the emotions it inspires are also directed solely at you."

"I don't want to make any apologies for how the guards or staff may have treated you, but you shouldn't project that onto 682."

"Can you answer my question?"

"You were three years old.  You had every reason to be more afraid of the guards than of 682.  I believe what the report says."

She rubs her forehead.  "Okay.  But even granting that, 682 was docile enough not to try to escape, while exposed to my secondary anomaly, before the other guards entered.  Exposing it to me is a lot cheaper than constantly replenishing its acid bath."

"There are other counterindications.  Cross-testing is almost always a bad idea a priori, and 682 is one of our most dangerous, highest-security anomalies, it's not something we give to students to play with.  As for the cost, it'd be cheap enough to throw you two in a room together if we knew that was safe, but we don't, and proving it is would be a lot of work and a lot of money that could come to naught if it turns out it isn't safe, at which point it would've been much cheaper to keep it where it was.  Not to mention - "

She stops, tries to gentle her voice.

"I understand that - it seems like you had a formative experience with it.  You might have imprinted on - the thing it seemed like it was, under the influence of your anomaly.  But after the number of people it's killed, no one's losing sleep over how comfortable it is in containment, and as hard as it might be for you to hear I can't say I blame them."

"I killed people before I was contained and if no one had lost sleep over me we wouldn't be having this conversation.  We're keeping it in conditions that were set down in the fucking nineties under Boone and, and Frederick Chilton, when everybody wanted to be the next Robert Montauk!  Even if I can't contain it it's absurd to think there's nothing I could learn from it, I'm the only thing in the Foundation that can talk to it!"

"Charlotte," Dr. Stochasta says sharply.  "This is a bad idea.  It would be a bad idea to carry out if anyone went for it, and it would be a bad idea to pitch because no one would go for it.  This is a warning I am giving you as someone who knows the Foundation better than you do.  Maybe in thirty years if you're Senior Staff and the O5's darling you could pull something like this off, but not as your doctoral thesis before you're even a proper researcher."

She looks away from the screen and rubs her forehead.

Not that Stochasta can even see her face.

"We don't have to decide right now," Dr. Stochasta says, sounding like she's trying to ratchet down a little.  "I'm not your thesis advisor.  And I do think it's admirable to want to look out for even dangerous anomalies.  But the Foundation takes 682 very seriously.  People won't go for this."

"I should get a thesis advisor."

"All right.  I do wish you good luck, Charlotte, and I do think you'll do great things for the Foundation."

"Thank you, Doctor.  I've learned a lot from your lecture tapes.  Thanks for recommending me."

"You're welcome."

She closes out the call.

Rubs her hands over her face, sighs.  Growls a little, wordlessly.

She gets up and puts on some music and heads for one of her exercise machines.  She needs to let off steam.

FROM: charlotte053@scp.foundation
TO: stanleyhux@scp.foundation
SUBJECT: Request for Thesis Supervision

---

Professor,

Hello.  My name is Charlotte Fiftythree.  You may know me by my SCP designation of SCP-053.  I'm a student in my 10th year of O5-1/963-2's and Agatha Rights's anomalous human education program.  I've heard several of your lecture tapes and attended some of your live lectures by videoconference; we spoke briefly after a talk you gave on assistive communication devices for nonhumanoids.  I hope it's not too forward to say that I'm a great admirer of your work both on SCP-5031 and in the Foundation's internal educational program.

I hope to enroll in the Foundation's internal doctorate program with a focus on sapient nonhumanoid containment and communication.  Right now I'm drafting a thesis proposal concerning a sapient, hostile nonhuman anomaly; it's sufficiently high-security that it wouldn't normally be the purview of a graduate student, but I believe my own secondary anomalies give me a unique opportunity to communicate with it.  It's my understanding that you're currently accepting graduate students; I'd like to request that you consider my proposal.  I've attached a draft to this email.  If you do accept I'd be honored to work under you.

Thank you for your time,

Charlotte Fiftythree

FROM: stanleyhux@scp.foundation
TO: charlotte053@scp.foundation
SUBJECT: re: Request for Thesis Supervision

---

Charlotte,

You certainly know how to bury the lede!

You're not wrong that 682 isn't something anyone wants to give a graduate student access to.  But you're also right that the current containment procedures are appalling, and I'm as intrigued as you by the effect your telepathic emanation seems to have on it.  I'm ashamed to say that even after the great declassification I hadn't read that particular termination report until today.

It'd be a hard sell and I can't promise that anyone but me will go for it, but I think your project is a worthy one and I can't help but admire your ambition.  I've got plenty of thoughts on your thesis - we should talk in person.  Send me your availability for a videoconference?

--Stanley Huxtable

Time to set up another meeting.

"Charlotte!  Do you prefer Charlotte, or Ms. Fiftythree, or...?"

"Charlotte's fine, Dr. Huxtable."

He waves his hand.  "Oh, please, call me Stanley, I get enough Dr. Huxtable from people who are angry at me."

She chuckles.  "All right, Stanley.  You read my draft...?"

"Right into it!  Yes, I read it.  As I said in my email I agree with you that your telepathic effect uniquely positions you to interact productively with six-eightytwo.  You'll definitely want to push that angle, it gives you an in for interacting with an entity that'd otherwise be the purview of senior researchers."

(She starts taking notes.)