TW mc has a panic attack about halfway through the chapter. Starts at "Your mouth went dry" and ends at "...the door slid open".

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|| "What do you know about time loops?" ||

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"Log [----]. Subject [----]-[-------]. Upon containment of the subject, 8 items were found on their person. Keycards, level 1, 3, 4 and 5, a small medkit, SCP 1499, a gas mask and a S-Nav. The latter two appear to have been upgraded within SCP 914. It is unknown how the subject was able to determine the use of SCP 914 and operate it. Additionally, a small swarm of SCP 408 was found gathered around the subject."

"From security footage, the foundation has determined the SCPs who had escaped containment during the breach that have interacted with the subject. Sentient SCP are being interviewed on their interactions with the subject. Dr. Kondraki has been assigned to interview SCP 408."

"As of [--/--/----], the subject has yet to awaken."

X.x.X

Nothing.

Well, almost nothing. You could tell there was a red light somewhere, and maybe a floor since you were laying on some sort of flat path. It felt more like a void though. You weren't really sure what was happening or where you were now but you could tell you weren't tired. This place was strange. Reality... well. This reality was shifty but not really. There was something but not enough of something for there to really be something.

It was just you, laying in the middle of nowhere. You, the almost non-existent reality and red. You could talk, move, do nothing in particular but you were alone. You were here for a day perhaps? A little more? Time didn't feel much more than a construct. You groaned and rolled over. Life really felt like a fever dream. SCPs, alternate realities... Abruptly, you sat up.

Red reality. SCP 3001.

Reality and reality bending was a very, very, messy thing within the SCP universe. Terribly complicated and not enough was known about it. SCP 3001 was some sort of parallel or pocket dimension that was almost completely devoid of matter. The SCP file consisted mostly of audio logs from a former doctor named Scranton. There was... a lot that had happened in that file. It was quite interesting when you read it though.

You remembered that Scranton was trapped in the red reality for at least 5 years, 11 months and 21 days. Assuming this was where you were now, you didn't think you would live that long. But who's to say death is the end? You learned that the hard way. Within SCP 3001, matter decayed at an extremely low rate. There was also something about hume levels and Dr. Scranton's return to Site-120 but that didn't end happily.

These stories never did.

But, lucky you, the tides of reality would bring you back eventually. It was just a question of when. Life would never let you stay here forever. A taste of another reality would be enough for now. You really shouldn't get too comfortable here. Though perhaps, in retrospect, this fate may have been kinder. It won't matter in the end.

You're beloved by time after all.

X.x.X

Light was the first thing that reached your eyes and you immediately knew that you weren't in the void.

The second thing you noticed was that you weren't on the ground. Instead, a soft mattress and pillow seemed to be below you. Oh, and you could actually breathe. That was different. Slowly opening your eyes, you stared up at a white ceiling. Your face scrunched up a little. The light was too bright for your tastes which wasn't all too strange since you spent who knows how long in almost complete darkness.

Turning your head to your right, you took in your surroundings. White walls, a door across from the bed, a table and two chairs in the centre of the room, a bookshelf pressed against a wall and what looked to be a closet beside it. The bed you were on seemed to be in the corner of the room, flush with the walls. You turned your head back to the ceiling and did your best to sit up. It was mostly fine. You just felt sore from lack of movement.

On the opposite side to you, was a door with the SCP logo on it. Beside it, taking up a good amount of the wall, was a glass window. A little shelf thing was attached to the bottom of the window just under a slot. Your mouth went dry. Right, right, okay, this was fine. Just breathe. At the top of the room was a security camera. That was normal. This was just the foundation. Shallowly, you breathed in and out. What did you remember?

You remembered home, distant. You remembered the containment breach, dying and time turning back. You remembered the anomalies. You remembered dying. Well, dying was the thing you remembered the most clearly. And then... a void. 3001. Nothing. A lot of nothing. And now, here. Numbly, you gripped the bedsheets. You were alive. Maybe. Probably.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Name 5 things you could see. A trash can at the foot of the bed, the wooden table, the light hanging above you, a metal chair and the single book tucked into the bookshelf that you hadn't noticed earlier. Four things you could touch. The strangely soft bedsheet, the wall, your own hand, the metal bed frame. 3 things you could hear. Your heartbeat, your breathing and footsteps. Wait. Footsteps? Your face shot up and pinned your gaze on the door.

Okay, okay, almost done before anyone came into the room. 2 things you could smell. A citrusy-lemon chemical and bleach. 1 thing you could taste. Nothing. Just your dry mouth. Water would probably be nice. As your breathing evened out, the door slid open.

A person in a white lab coat was on the other side. They had a clipboard and pen in one hand as well as a glass of water in the other. They were perfectly nondescript in the same way that faceless dead bodies littered the halls. Uninteresting, boring, every synonym for dull in the dictionary. But being nothing special was good wasn't it? It meant you weren't an anomaly. You weren't sure if you were envious or curious.

"Hello," they greeted, "are you thirsty?"

You nodded. The doctor handed you the glass of water as the door shut behind them. Your eyes trailed to the window, catching sight of someone messing with a control panel under the window. You looked back at the glass in your hand. Swirling the glass, you inspected the water. It looked okay. Cautiously, you took a large gulp of water. Humming contently, you took another gulp. The doctor took a seat at the table in the chair closest to the door.

"Take a seat," they said.

Not finding any reason not to, you shifted off your bed and went to the other seat across from them. You put the glass of water down before taking a seat. You wondered if this was how all the interview processes went. The doctor seemed to stare at you for a moment while you looked at them expectantly, not quite making eye contact.

"Do you know where you are?" they asked.

You shrugged, deciding that giving a straight answer might not be the best idea. They tapped the pen on their clipboard before scribbling a note. They sighed before speaking again.

"Regardless, welcome to the SCP foundation. The foundation specializes in securing and containing anomalies. You have been detained due to suspicion that you may have anomalous abilities. Please refer to me as Dr. Smith. If you have any issues with the conditions of your containment, you may voice them at this time, and the procedures will be reviewed if your objections are valid."

You nodded.

"Very well then, I will begin asking a few questions. What is your name?"

"(Y/n)," you stated.

They continued on, asking questions about your age, family, place of residence, etc. Nothing about anomalies yet. If they were going to try to find you in this reality, you weren't sure if it would work. You didn't exist in this reality but an alternate version of you might. Hopefully they were doing better than you were.

"Are you aware of how you appeared within our facilities?"

You paused for a second. Well, your appearance in this universe was convoluted in and of itself. "No. I don't know how I got here."

"I see," they muttered before sighing. "That'll be all for now. Food will be given at 8:30 AM, 1 PM, and 6:30 PM. I will be back in half an hour. Should you have any questions before then, knock on the window."

"What time is it right now?"

The doctor looked out the window. Someone nodded on the other side. They turned back to you and said, "10 AM."

It sure didn't feel like a 10 AM kind of day though to be fair, time was basically an illusion at this point. Plus, you didn't have any windows in this room.

"And can I have a book to read?"

"Any preferences?"

"No."

They nodded sharply before standing up and moving to exit your containment cell. You didn't stop them. You assumed that there had to be someone outside in order to open the cell's door. You sighed as they left. 30 minutes would be long if you didn't have anything to do. Well, there was that book on the bookshelf that you could check out. Pushing the chair back, you stood up and moved to the bookshelf. You picked the book off the shelf and examined the cover.

Lord of the Flies. Of course.

Well, you had nothing better to do so you might as well read it. About a quarter of the way through the book, someone slipped another book through the slot. Getting up from the table, you went over to pick up the book. On the cover of the book was a blue sticky note saying that this book was approved for you. It was signed by Dr. Smith. You peeled the sticky note off and stuck it to the table before placing the book into the bookshelf.

Time passed, as it does, while you read. The book was the same as you remembered from English class. Some things remained constant throughout universes you supposed. You wouldn't be surprised if there were some classic books that were just slightly different. Soon enough, the door to your cell opened up. You lifted your eyes from the pages and stared at the person at the door.

That was not the doctor was the first thing you noticed. The second was the gun in their hand. Before you got the chance to say anything, they pulled the trigger. The bullet went straight through your head. As your body fell backwards, the world shifted and faded to black.

Your eyes opened again with the book in your hands. Damn it.

"Can't have sh*t in the SCP foundation," you grumbled as the door opened up again.

Immediately, you shoved your chair backwards and ducked under the table. A ring echoed as the bullet hit the ground and not your head. You counted to five before peeking your head above the table again. The guard's gun was lowered while someone from behind them said something. They stepped away from the door as Dr. Smith entered the room.

"You made me lose the page I was on," you half-heartedly complained.

"You knew what was going to happen," they said like it was a fact.

"Sure," you answered as you flipped the book open again to try to find your page, "If you want to say that."

Found it. You peeled the sticky note off of the table and tucked it into the page. You closed the book and set it aside. The doctor had sat down in the seat across from you at this point, expectantly staring at you. You didn't elaborate, more than happy to be uncooperative out of spite. You counted in your head, waiting for them to break and ask you about your anomaly. 10 seconds... 15... 20...

Finally, they sighed. "Do you know what your anomaly is?"

You chuckled. You knew they'd break faster than you would. Leaning back in your chair, you asked a simple question.

"What do you know about time loops?"

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New SCPs in this chapter:

SCP 3001

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Published: June 30, 2021

Word count: 2,049

Death Counter: 6

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This arc is probably going to be much more dialogue focussed which happens to not be what I'm good at but I'll try my best. Thanks for reading!