Retrograde Motion [SCP X Reader]

Chapter 9: Hints

"Very well, I accept your conditions." He held his hand out, probably for a handshake.

You weren't going to take the chance of shaking his hand. At the sight of you shaking your head, he let his hand down.

"Alright then. One, you were indeed the one who 'cured' me. And two, my anomaly is a part of the reason why I'm still alive," you said. "I'm sure you can figure out the rest."

"Certainly, I am sure that once I find the answer, it will help me develop the perfect cure. My cure is most effective."

You gave a non-committed hum at his words. Who cared if his cure was indeed the most effective when no one, maybe not even 049 himself, knew what he was curing. The Pestilence he spoke of may very well be something real within this universe though it was equally likely that it never existed in the first place. Perhaps a cure does exist but who knew if a perfect one could be created when whatever the Pestilence was had been lost to time.

"Anything else you want to know?" you asked.

"What should I refer to you as?"

Seeing no harm in telling him your name, you gave him an answer. "(Y/n), but, I suppose you could also refer to me as SCP [----] since I officially got classified. How about you?"

"049 or simply Doctor will suffice," he said in response.

You were pretty sure 049 and probably many of the doctors within the foundation had never gotten a medical license. Even if they did, you would place very little trust in them actually being able to cure any sort of illness beyond a cold or something. Though you did recall a few beneficial SCP that did cure people such as SCP 500 or SCP 2295. Those beneficial SCPs were few and far in between considering that at its core, SCP is a horror universe above all else.

There were over 6000 SCPs on the site. You were certain that at least some of them didn't exist in this universe. Some SCPs were aligned with a certain canon, others were more about the meta than the horror, and some were perhaps closer to a tale than an SCP. If you were to take SCP 4231, for example, you could argue that it didn't exist in the world you were currently in. You supposed the earlier SCPs were easier to know if they existed or not. Ones that were objects rather than stories were always easier to grasp. The universe had always been shifty you supposed.

On the topic of whether some SCPs existed or not, you wondered if joke ones were here in this universe.

"Something on your mind?" 049 interrupted your train of thought.

You blinked. Leisurely, you shook your head. "It's nothing important."

He clearly didn't believe you. If you could see his face, you were sure you would have seen amusement cross it. You didn't care much to answer him if he wanted to know what you were thinking about. Given then the foundation staff were listening in on this conversation as well, you knew they'd be interested as well. You looked out the glass, making eye contact with one of the doctors outside.

"When do you think they'll let me out?" you inquired, tone light-hearted.

"Perhaps when they are done running their little experiments," 049 said. "Or perhaps when they have gathered what information they want to their liking."

"I'd be here for an eternity then," you quipped.

He stifled a small chuckle. "Indeed. They had entertained the idea of letting me see you, no doubt for information too."

"You asked for me because you wanted information and they took me here because they too wanted information. What did I say? People of science and curiosity."

"How blunt of you."

"I might as well call out what we all know, no?"

"Do you fear death?"

That came out of nowhere, didn't it? You weren't sure, in all honesty. Death was supposed to be the end of everything, the thing that tied all living things together. Everything will end someday and death would be the end of the path. Perhaps, dying wasn't so bad. Surviving was much worse.

"You may leave the containment cell now, [----]," the intercom buzzed before you could answer.

You nodded, preparing to stand up. "Until next time."

You pushed the chair out from the table and turned away from him. Then, something found its way around your wrist. Your body shivered and goosebumps appeared on your arm. You looked back.

"Do take care, dear," 049 said. His hand rested on your wrist that remained on the table, deceptively innocent.

You weren't dead.

You weren't dead.

Shakily, you let go of your breath. Screw this universe, screw the rules of this universe and screw fate. You hated it here. You breathed in, then out, letting it even out. This was fine. You were fine. You were okay. A little more than okay but perhaps being okay in this situation made it all the more complicated.

"You as well, Doctor," you replied.

Shaking his hand off your wrist, you began to take your leave. How cruel of this world, to let you die. How cruel of this world, to let you live. Sometimes, you wondered.

Just what was all this for?

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New SCPs in this chapter:

SCP 500

SCP 2295 

SCP 4231 

SCP 049 (Original Article) 

SCP 049 (Keter Rewrite)

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Published: August 10, 2021

Word count: 2,070

Death Counter: 7

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Writing people is hard. On a side note, does anyone know why people call 035 "dyo/deo (?)" sometimes? I see it sometimes but I've got no clue what it means. Thanks for reading!