Previous Part | Next Part
Unbeknownst to Eli and Dictator, something was happening to SCP-1032.
The clock's hands spun their lazy way around its face, as usual. The fifth sped ahead of its brethren, as usual, and the fourth (to everyone's great relief) was very nearly stationary, as usual. One of the hands struck midnight and as it did a diner closed its doors for the final time. This was all perfectly expected.
The hand that struck midnight began moving once again, but this time the label had changed to “Dr. 's Plan,” with the space after “Dr.” left blank. Nobody would notice this until later. It ticked onwards until “Dr. 's Plan” caught up with “The Universe” and “The SCP Foundation.”
The three hands began moving in conjunction, and sped up as they did.
—
“So, who's the lucky guy?”
Eli stopped in his tracks when Dictator moved in front of him, arms crossed over their chest. He stopped more out of shock rather than not wanting to run into Dictator, as he did not particularly care whether he ran into them or not.
“The hell you on about?” Eli squinted at them. Dictator waggled an eyebrow and smiled.
They had to be in some kind of mood if they were acting like this. Maybe I shouldn't have let them talk to 2715…
“You came in later than you usually do this morning,” Dictator replied simply. “So, again, who's the lucky guy? I would've thought you would tell me if you were dating someone.”
“We're not dating. It's just- talking.” Eli narrowed his eyes at Dictator. “Who told you?”
“No one,” Dictator laughed. “I was bullshitting you. Pretty good, right?”
It didn't register until about a second later. “Gimme a break,” Eli hissed. “You're real insufferable, you know.”
He was preparing to grab Dictator by the shoulders and start shaking them, when he noticed something in his periphery: some new kid with a round face and clad in a dwarfing labcoat coming in their direction. He was slightly out of breath. Dictator stepped back as he approached Eli.
“Dr. Jones?”
Eli glanced at Dictator. “That's me.”
“Uh. I'm here on order of Dean Elwood, you know him. He wants you in 1032's containment unit stat.”
“What? Why?” Eli asked, motioning for Dictator to stay behind him.
“It's- you just need to see it. I'm not at liberty to discuss it here.”
Eli and Dictator exchanged a look, and then Eli turned back to look at the other doctor. “Alright. Let's go then.”
—-
They arrived at 1032's containment area within five minutes. Dictator had to practically run to keep up with Eli, and they were panting by the time they came to the containment area. They leaned over, putting their hands on their knees for a moment as Eli made his way over to the crowd of doctors forming around the object.
“What's going on?” Eli hissed, keeping his voice low.
“There was a midnight event- you know about that, right?”
“Yes!”
“Twelfth one- well, it changed. They're not letting people see it, but they've got pictures. It says something about a doctor, but it doesn't specify which one. Then it caught up with the twenty-first and fourth, and now everybody's losing their shit.”
“Which ones were those again?”
“Eli!” Dictator's frightened voice rose above the din of the other doctors' voices. “Eli, look!” They were standing beside one of the screens, trained on the object with a camera attached to a microscope. Turning his head towards Dictator, he finally managed to catch a glimpse of the screen through a gap in the crowd.
When he saw the labels on the hands, all moving together as one, he inhaled.
The end of the Foundation, the Universe, and Dr. 's Plan.
Eli stared at the screen like it was some eldritch being. All three at once. He watched them go one microscopic distance to the left.
He didn't realize he was tipping over until his head hit the ground and everything went dark.