As I woke up I felt like I had someone bash my head in with a hammer while wringing my neck as they repeatedly stabbed me. To say when I came to I felt like I was eating myself inside out while imploding would be saying that being burnt alive was as painful as being shot by a water gun. I continued in my absolute torture as I felt as if I was being skinned, tipped and torn from my very being. Until eventually,
[Initialization Complete]
The pain slowly faded as I felt my metaphysical body lay down as I faded in and out of consciousness the stimulus from the searing pain no longer holding me back.
I didn't know when it ended or how long it took as I repeatedly fell in and out of consciousness once my brain couldn't bear it. Eventually, however, I got up and looked around finding myself in the same pitch-black void. Instead of some pearly gates or an expected hellscape, I found a display screen floating in front of me with a timer displayed.
[8D 13h 32m 9s]
However, I couldn't inspect it further as another popup appeared overtop it.
[Quest: Complete The Tutorial]
You went through hell and back you're not gonna stop at some dinky tutorial, are you?
[Reward: Basic System Functions]
After the message, a diagram of myself and my non-existent body showed up with labels.
[Murrey]
[Strength: None]
[Dexterity: None]
[Endurance: None]
[Wisdom: Above Average]
[Intelligence: Above Average]
[Charisma: None]
[Inquiry Detected: User's stats are dictated by their current state of being.]
After reviewing my "stats" on the top of the screen there were tabs for,
[Loyalty] [Achievments] [Faction Overview]
When I willed the screen to show the loyalty tab this was revealed.
[Loyalty Based from 100 to -100]
[Inquiry Detected: Loyalty dictates how willing a person or group of people are to listen to you, take your orders or oppose you]
It was simple enough keep the number high and I won't find myself with a pipebomb in my mailbox.
Next up was [Achievments] and boy was I impressed with myself.
[Achievments are an alternative way to generate [Shop Points] your previous lifetime has been taken into account]
Shadow Organization Legend
[1,500 SP]
Dismantled Government x2
[2,000 SP]
Initiated Revolution x3
[750 SP]
Quietly Killed Governmental Leaders x5
[1,250 SP]
Wanted Worldwide x1
[500 SP]
.
.
.
At the end of it all the [System] tallied up my [Achievments] gained bank balance to be [12,450 SP]. I didn't know what these are for, but money is always welcome no matter what form. Even more intrigued by what this [Shop] was I went to [Faction Overview].
[Faction Overview: All listed personnel Sites and notable individuals. Includes all active missions, attacks and relations with other factions]
[Headquarters: None]
[Personell: None]
[Notable Individuals: None]
[Active Missions: None]
[Attacks: None]
[Relations with other factions]
None
Done with my quick flip through this tab my reward for my efforts was given to me.
[Quest: Complete The Tutorial]
You went through hell and back you're not gonna stop at some dinky tutorial, are you?
[Reward: Basic System Functions]
[System Notice: The [Item] tab will be deleted from the shop when the timer runs out]
After acknowledging the wuest completion and reading the notice the screen suddenly changed. The timer originally front and centre when not in another tab went into the top left corner as a button popped up in the middle of the screen labelled {Shop}. Willing the screen to show what lay beyond it I was greeted by 4 buttons nearing the corners of the screen.
[SCP's], [Items],
[Buildings], [Recruitment]
Curious as to what SCPs were I was thoroughly intrigued at first. Things that went against the laws of physics in such a way to be both lethal, weird and generally confusing. My opinion changed and my wariness grew as I kept reading, however. Field reports and files about what some of these things were capable of were downright horrifying. However, this SCP Foundation that I had been reading files off of seemed to have missed the mark. Some of these objects would be beneficial not just to utilize these objects' capabilities for combat, but humanity as a whole. An infinite water canteen that had water perpetually refilled with no source, drugs that could heal any illness with no side effects. And even a Fountain of Youth that both extends your lifespan and boosts your immune system to the point of never getting sick again.
I completely understood the need for secrecy when it came to things as abnormal as this, but the Foundation had made no point in improving the lives of those in the world. Locking up something and "testing" it to see its capabilities only to then lock it up without trying to replicate its beneficial effects is both idiotic and wasteful. The amount of things held in countless Foundation sites across the world was so baffling that it spoke values of their influence within the international community. To keep itself hidden through both the shadows and controlling entire governments just to hide from the public and prevent a leak of its existence due to some newly elected bravado-driven leader.
The Foundation seemed as though they had intertwined themselves with society as a whole. However, the files in which they were that influential were decades apart. As when viewing earlier versions the Foundation as a whole had constant problems with countries and their unwillingness to give up paranormal items that could be used to benefit both their country and themselves. This was usually then solved through backroom deals, or getting the international community to force them to give it to them.
Along with the vital information on their classification system not being based on dangerousness but on how hard it was to keep in a box. The field reports attached to these files detailed multiple incidents relating to the conflict between the factions of the world. The Chaos Insurgency as the name suggested was an insurgency, a split so to speak. The Foundation seemed convinced someone pulled the strings in regards to that though seemed careful to not put too much in the files about this mysterious individual.
The G.O.C. or Global Occult Coalition was an organization that was founded after the seventh occult war. Unlike the Foundation they just went scorched earth killing any anomaly they came across. Overall a waste when you consider what could be done with the things they "Neutralized". Didn't like them too much, but makes sense someone would want everything dead.
Last but not least was the Serpent's Hand. Originally in the older versions of the reports on them, the Foundation didn't know much about them. They only knew that they wanted to free all anomalies, resided in an extradimensional space called the Wanderers Library, and hated the G.O.C. However they eventually deemed it necessary to commit to a Very expensive excursion because their numbers seemed to be growing with the amount of anomalies showing up.
After throwing money at the problem it worked because they couldn't crack the Library's anomalous means of transportation. The G.O.C. found itself inside the Library and found some Serpents to take for interrogation, but promptly got themselves wiped out by both Serpents Hands members and previously unknown entities nicknamed "Librarians". It was a disaster and the Serpent's Hand intensified their attacks on the G.O.C. in retaliation.
After doing a little bit of background research into the world I directed my attention to the actual shop part. I wondered if any summoned SCPs would be loyal as some of them were rather powerful.
[Inquiry Detected: Summoned SCPs will not be loyal to the user unless it is in their nature.]
That ruined many of my forming plans to ride off of the efforts of things more powerful than me. As from the files I had read the more powerful an entity is, is almost always directly proportionate to its hate for human life. With some exceptions of course, but those exceptions were leagues ahead of the cost of summoning an orange slime creature that made things around it happy costing [1,000,000 SP]. What a joke for just some emotional support, though to give it credit it seemed unstoppable.
However, the more utility-driven anomalies seemed cheaper than the more sentient anomalies. I had little knowledge of why it would be this way as you would think the more beneficial objects would cost more. However, I wasn't complaining and made a list of the ones I would think most beneficial.
[SCP-662 5,000 SP]
A bell that summons a completely loyal butler that from the reports seemed quite proficient in everything you asked it to do. Except for giving you a haircut. I was hesitant however as the price for it as [5,000 SP] was rather steep. And although a loyal summonable person that's a Jack of All may be a good thing those holes could be plugged by other people.
[1 Bottle of Stabilized SCP-207 3,000 SP]
Originally whenever 5 millilitres of the liquid were consumed you would receive a 50% increase in all capabilities including reaction time, IQ and physical capabilities. This occurred via an increase of 5% every 6 hours. It also had the effect of the person who drank 5 or more millilitres to no longer require sleep or attempt to. However, the downside came with the side effect of instant death in 48 hours. People under its effects also found themselves underestimating their newfound speed and physical capabilities.
[Inquiry Detected: Stabilized SCP objects have found their negative effects removed while keeping their original benefits. However, due to fundamental changes, they cannot be altered.]
That made it infinitely more valuable considering that there were 6.5 ounces of liquid in the bottle that would give me thousands if not tens of thousands of uses. I would just have to measure out the liquid. This was a definite grab if not solely for the fact that it would increase every aspect of myself by 50%, but because I had enough of it to use it more.
Putting SCP-207 on the list to buy I continued looking and came upon something rather unique.
[SCP-5094 "Miss J" 3,000 SP]
This entity is a children's educational learning game with a sapient entity inside. Housed in a ROM floppy disk with the label Miss J's Whiz Kidz it is fully aware of its surroundings and the locations of other copies. It takes the form of a 2D polygonal female-shaped humanoid with blank white skin and a blocky ponytail held by a red rectangular ribbon. A green blocky shirtdress, and yellow pants with blue and red colouration up to their hands.
Any conversation with Miss J would have them try to guide said conversation to the topic of education. And this is where my appeal to it begins. Miss J can teach any topics on anything, except the occult and subjects deemed "not for kids" being restricted, with more complex lessons taking longer. The lessons would last anywhere from 6-30 hours with scheduled breaks for eating, sleep and if necessary work. The file emphasized how anyone who learned something from Miss J would be able to recall that knowledge seemingly forever bypassing any problems regarding memory recall, or the brain only being able to store so much information.
It is because of the ability to teach incredibly complex subjects in a manner of at most a few days that stuck out to me. Since considering if I wanted to harness or use these anomalies to my benefit I would have to understand how they affected to world. And what better way to know everything about the world and the laws that govern it? I wouldn't even attempt this if not for the emphasis of whoever learning from her having incredible retention.
If I wanted both [SCP-207] and [SCP-5094] I would find myself with only [6,450 SP]. Some other SCPs caught my attention such as a cap that when worn made everyone ignore your presence. However, it had the side effect of permanently making everyone not notice you the longer you wore it. And if the [Faction Overview] and [Recruitment] tabs weren't a clue as to what I would have available to me it would be stupid to get.
When I went into the [Items] tab I quickly realized something. They were incredibly similar to SCP's but with one glaring difference. Usually SCP's despite being beneficial had some crippling side effects. Such as the Cola Bottles killing you after 48 hours of consumption. However, these [Items] were in the millions with no downsides, and the more beneficial the effect the greater the cost.
I found an almost replica of [SCP-662] ["The Butlers Hand Bell"] it cost [7,500 SP].
[Inquiry Detected: [Items] are anomalous items tailored to be purely beneficial. Due to this, they are much more expensive than both SCP objects and Stabilized SCP objects.]
That made me wonder what downside was detected to be with [SCP-662]. But I wasn't going to get it and moved on. One thing I was looking for was something purely defensive. At minimum to defend against gunfire and at most explosions. I had to set a price range of [1,000 SP - 3,000 SP] due to the millions of [items] that showed up when I willed the shop to show me defensive [Items]. As much as a "Totem of Undying" was useful it wasn't worth [100,000 SP].
Then I came upon the thing I was looking for.
[Martyr's Trenchcoat 1,000 SP]
A conscientious objector all red trenchcoat that was worn by an enlisted soldier. They had sworn as their religious duty to never kill, nor hurt another man woman or child. This belief was strengthened after seeing their comrade execute a grieving mother mourning their dead child. They of course were executed when they failed to commit to a charge and were hanged in the trenches to set an example. This sparked tensions and caused several strikes to occur once the people had heard of what had transpired. The man's family once recovering the Trenchcoat from their cold corpse after the war passed it through the generations as an heirloom. Unknowing that the original owner's spirited beliefs continued to cling to it.
[Traits]
[Freedom From Doubt]
Your affirmation of your beliefs and yourself directly influences how much control you can exhibit. Through both strengthening and shaping the Trenchcoat itself.
This was exactly what I needed, and I would imagine my willpower was rather strong. The price wasn't too much, but it still hurt when you realized what else could be bought. However, if any faction were to try to capture me, or kill me in the G.O.C.'s case, I would need something both inconspicuous with the ability to provide adequate defence.
Now with [4,450 SP ], I was turning to the [Buildings] section. However something caught my eye, and my instincts told me I was looking at something valuable.
[Timekeeper Imbued Pocketwatch 1,000 SP]
The Pocketwatch of a special species tasked with overseeing the flow of time. However, in their hubris and longing for more, they fought each other in an attempt to seize control over the strands of time. In their conflict, they had unknowingly severed themselves from reality as time splintered scattering themselves across time as a whole. The remnants of a Timekeeper's power bound themselves to this pocketwatch in an attempt to sustain itself from the minuscule power the pocketwatch held as a symbol.
[Glimpse At Your Future]
You gain a faint notion of when and how something unfortunate will happen to you in the next few seconds.
[I Never Was Here]
Dangling the Pocketwatch in front of a person and swaying it will have them perceive reality in the past. The length of the swaying dictates how far back their perception will go. The effect wears off after 6 hours causing the victim to snap back to the present with no memory of past actions.
This was an amazing find. Being able to tell when something bad will happen even if by a few seconds is powerful in its own right.
Setting my price range to [1,000-2,000 SP] one building immediately caught my eye.
[Beginner's Site-19 Bundle 2,000 SP]
An SCP Foundation research Site which previously housed a catastrophic containment breach that occurred leading to the deaths of everyone in the facility. What hadn't helped was the layout of the whole facility being nonsensical with winding corridors and the weird way the floors were designed due to a rather ineffective "module" type construction plan. Due to this the Site is suboptimal for research purposes.
Comes with a nuclear payload alpha class warhead, 500 security guards, 1,000 science and 1,000 auxiliary personnel (cafeteria staff, janitorial staff, etc)
[Traits]
[Confusing Labyrinth]
-Reduces research output by 20%
-The chance of invaders getting lost every 5 corridors is 50%
Although I wanted to reverse engineer anomalies I needed to make sure I wouldn't be wiped off the face of the earth at first contact. And this seemed like the perfect idea to do so. Although the reduced research output is annoying, an underground facility with confusing hallways that get your enemies lost is amazing. And that's not even taking into consideration the ambush opportunities available with such a layout.
Looking further for anything more that could help me gain some money or gather information. I needed this not only to know what other factions were doing but cover up my actions while locating SCPs to exploit. And I wasn't going to stop at the paranormal as the benefits of getting real-life people to willingly join my faction would be great to have me spend my [SP] on other things than having to get people to fill in the gaps.
After searching for some time I picked a couple of options and narrowed them down to the most cost-efficient, yet useful building I could find.
[Web of Intrigue 2,000 SP]
A spy network that at first includes only a singular base of operations located wherever you wish. However, as the agents under your control gain experience and complete their objectives the network will grow exponentially larger.
Comes with 1 Spy Master, 1 Agent
(Will increase as spy network expands, Equipment not included)
[Traits]
[Cyanide Doctorine]
Any captured spies will immediately kill themselves to prevent information leaks. To further severe ties and prevent association once a spy is confirmed captured, or their life signs are to be flatlined their base of operations is to be detonated via [System] provided ordinance.
[Everexpanding]
The spy network will continue to grow as long as operations are successful. This will happen through anomalous means to truly keep the location hidden from any would-be enemies.
This was necessary in my opinion as having an organization that could cover up my own, or those of my faction's actions would be paramount. Getting information on anomalous sightings would also be important if I didn't want to have to raid the SCP Foundation. And that came with the risk of worsening relations because I at the very least wanted to be neutral. The Foundation if anything seemed wasteful, the G.O.C. were a branch of the United Nations meant to eliminate all threats to human life, and the Chaos Insurgency was just that an insurgency of the Foundation that made money off mercenary work with someone probably pulling the strings from the shadows.
And I wanted to be informed. The last thing I needed was to be set up somewhere get myself started and have my door kicked down by the G.O.C. Which brought me to the last section [Recruitment] with [2,450 SP]. I intended to spend the rest of my [SP] here as I hoped to get certain types of individuals.
[MTF Unit Tau-5 "Samsara"]
[1,000,000 SP]
Tweaking the [System] to show me [Recruits] I could afford I was greeted by this.
[MTF Unit Epsilon-11 "Nine-Tailed Fox]
[1,500 SP]
[Threateningly Charismatic Politician
[1,000 SP]
[Experienced Mercenary Company]
[500 SP]
[Established Financial Company]
[500 SP]
[Inquiry Detected: The [System] will randomly select an individual/group from the multiverse that correlates to the descriptor above.]
[Inquiry Detected: Individuals/groups will have their existence written in by the [System]. Transported individuals brought by the [System] will be completely loyal to the user though this can change over time.
I was torn as I wanted both
[MTF Unit Epsilon-11] and,
[Threateningly Charismatic Politician].
I wanted them as Epsilon-11 was a special ops unit of 9 members specifically tasked with internal security. And the politician because why else would you want a politician under your control? To win an election and control the country.
It's a shame either way, but I found the idea of getting a really good politician that could allow me to gain assets greater than [Epsillon-11] more valuable than a force that if in the initial stages had to act would spell doom for both me and my faction's future.
With [1,450 SP] left I decided on getting the [Established Financial Company] bringing me down to [950 SP]. Deciding to invest more in politics and get involved in the Private Military Company market I decided on.
[Experienced Mercenary Company]
[500 SP]
[Accurate Political Advisor]
[250 SP] x2
I saw it fit to get involved in the PMC world as I doubted that Private Military Companies weren't hired to kill or capture anomalies. And although it may be rare I would rather have the possibility than find myself missing out.
With all my purchases done and the timer at [7D 23h 51m 12s], I decided to once again study SCP files. I then realized something. When I went into the [SCP] tab it started me at SCP-002 "The Living Room". However, there was no option to go to the previous anomaly. So I imagined a search bar and thought out SCP-001.
Access Denied
[Hidden Quest Unlocked: The End Times]
The world as you will soon come to know is severely different than your original. With it comes anomalies, entities that bend reality or rewrite it in some way, it is no surprise that with all that some would be capable of ending the wor- System Override Detected, Verifying
Verifying,
Verification Complete,
This is 05-1 Head, Chief, head of security whatever you want to call it of the SCP Foundation. To whoever, or whatever hears, reads or from what medium you are receiving this message we have failed. The world will end and is in the process of already. The resistance we put up now is only delaying the inevitable. When we reset reality to avoid our fate adding to the countless times we have no doubt done so already I only hope you will save us all. With this message are the override codes for all Foundation-based facilities. Now you may be asking why don't I seek you out and tell you the end of the world is coming?
Simply, no one will believe you. The Dream Man, SCP-990, has been telling us this for decades and they have the credibility of being right thousands of times before. Unfortunately, those codes will only work once and if used too much will prompt me in whatever timeline you find yourself in to make new ones. I would provide you Foundation secrets, however, I do not know you, your nature or if you want to enslave us. The black tentacle beings outside of the earth's galaxy the size of planets that want to eat us all, and the fact that whenever something new pops up is rarely friendly doesn't spark confidence if you were to show up. However, if we ever wish to break this seemingly endless cycle my universe finds itself in I must hope for your good intentions.
For a brighter future,
05-1
[Rewards: 100,000,000,000 SP]
That was something. Would be helpful if they said what time this disaster happened, or what I was facing, literally any information besides "The End is Nigh" would be fucking helpful about now. But Nooooo this motherfucker has to be all cryptic and shit about what they and now probably I am going to have to face. Secret society bullshit and all.
But it's not like I'm going to just lie down and panic over knowing the world had a very real possibility to crash and burn. Now I knew there had to be some sort of catch with this "Live a new life no strings attached bullshit". There was no use moping however so I got back to reading SCP files noting down which ones were intriguing and useful and trying to commit them to memory.
[0D 0h 0m 0s]
When the timer hit zero I felt myself grow increasingly heavy until I collapsed onto the surface of the void.
Author Note: Special Thanks to Notgull on the SCP wiki (although they probably won't see this) for making an entire page about Site-19 for me to find the number of people at the Site. Not to mention the absolutely amazing story site-19 has in it.
Link here: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-siege-of-site-19#:~:text=Site%2D19%20inventory%3A,staff%2C%20janitorial%20staff%2C%20etc)
.