A Fishbowl, Shattered - SCP Foundation

| A Fishbowl, Shattered | An Opportunity, Gained »

“Smoke?”

“No, I don’t smoke.”

“Yeah, I don’t either. But it helps to have them. Puts people at ease to have a smoke.”

“I-”

“Hold on. Let’s clarify what type of conversation this is. This is the type of conversation where I talk and you listen. Because I’m sure you have over a million questions and I’m not going to be able to answer them. I’ll answer a few though.”

“O-”

“First, did you really see what you just saw? That will depend on a choice you’re going to need to make very soon. But right now I can say that what officially happened was a simple serial murder case. What actually happened was an eleven-foot tall mammal-like reptile you might call a ‘chupacabra’ came along, injected a powerful hemorrhagic poison into your neighbors and family, then sucked up their insides before we could catch it and lock it up.”

“B-”

“Stop. We don’t have time for tears right now. Like I told you, you are going to make a very important choice very soon, so you need to pay attention. To make an incredibly long story short, everything is real. Everything. There are monsters, aliens, cursed objects, and anything you could ever imagine trying to hurt you out in this world that is so much bigger than you thought. You still with me?”

“Good. Let’s put it like this: your world has been a fishbowl. And now, the fishbowl just shattered. Welcome to the real world. In every shadow is a new unspeakable monstrosity, a new fatal curse. A human with extraordinary and terrible powers in every crowd. And on every block of every street is a new nefarious organization trying to control them and you.”

“Don’t worry, we’re the good guys. And why am I saying that? Because we let you live this far. The others wouldn’t do that. You’re just gonna have to trust me on that.”

“Who are we? We are the SCP Foundation. That stands for Special Containment Procedures. We do three things: we secure the anomalies that go bump in the night like chupacabra back there, we contain them, so situations like this don’t happens, and we do it to protect you. We’re a worldwide organization composed of scientists and agents who have dedicated our lives to this cause.”

“We’re going to offer you a choice. You see, we’ve seen your work and we like what you do. So you’ve got two options. Listen carefully. You may not have looked into the void but its looked back at you. Now the question: do you turn back?”

“This is a basic amnestic inhalant. Take it, and we fix your little fishbowl, and you can go back to living in it. Or you don’t. That’s the other option: Remember it all. Maybe you’re sick of the fishbowl. Sick of the captivity and the monotony and small bubble that is your life. I don’t know. What I do know is that I don’t have time for you to think it over.”

“Of course, you don’t just get to walk away free. You’d be one of us. No leeway with that, unfortunately. But it’s not a bad position. Pay’s alright, vacation hours are good. And you’re spending your time literally researching the impossible. Could be worse. Not a single day is boring though.”

“Yesterday I worked with a Tibetan monk who moves at 200 kilometers per hour constantly, every day. And the day before that? A giant metal ball that turns people into living Picasso’s. You’d have to see it to believe it, not that anyone should have to see something like that. It’s the most wonderful and the most soul-crushing job in the world. Sometimes both in the same day.”

“So what do you think?”

“…”

“I can see the look in your eyes. You were in before I even gave you the option, weren’t you?”

“Welcome to the SCP Foundation.”

“Now let’s see….your name was Henry, right? Henry Dromgoole? Gonna have to change the last name. Sort of a tradition around here.”