Chapter 1 Obeying Orders and Making His Own Decisions

Carrying a paper cup around was obviously inconvenient, so Feng Bujue headed straight for the stairwell after leaving the lounge.

Behind that open electronic door, Brother Jue didn't find SCP-173, but there seemed to be a few more corpses in the stairwell behind the door…

"Yoo-hoo~" Then, Feng Bujue shouted into the doorway, as if calling a pet, and winked.

The next second, SCP-173's massive figure really did appear instantly before Brother Jue's eyes.

"Heh… great, I was worried you'd run off to another floor." Feng Bujue said in a relaxed tone, stepping forward and splashing the liquid in his hand onto 173.

He waited patiently for a full thirty seconds, but nothing happened.

There were no light effects, sound effects, or changes in odor, and 173 itself did not move.

Anyone else might have panicked and questioned whether the liquid was effective. But Feng Bujue wouldn't. He firmly believed… that even if there was no chemical reaction in front of him, the effectiveness of the liquid was beyond doubt.

So, he did something very, very bold – he blinked.

He stood directly in front of SCP-173, at arm's length… and blinked.

The result… nothing happened.

At this moment, SCP-173 seemed to have become a statue in the truest sense of the word, motionless, and living up to its name (173's name is the_sculpture).

"Whew… done." With this major hidden danger eliminated, Feng Bujue breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't completely relax, because he couldn't be sure whether the effect of the liquid was permanent or temporary. "Well… while you can't teleport around, let me quickly advance the main quest."

As Feng Bujue spoke, he walked past 173 and down the stairs.

Although he could have returned to B2 to explore or utilize other SCPs, he didn't. Feng Bujue, who had a lot of Nightmare Scenario experience, knew very well that in this mode, it was best to advance the main quest whenever possible…

* * *

*Di—*

Feng Bujue used his Level 3 access card on the card reader next to the electronic door on B3, but… the device replied in a voice: [Your authorization is insufficient to enter this area.]

"Level 3 personnel aren't allowed in?" Feng Bujue thought. "What's going on on this floor…" Something flashed in his mind. "Could it be… there's a keter-class item inside?"

Keter (Hebrew for "crown," the highest sephirot in the Kabbalah): Keter-class items not only exhibit strong, active hostility toward human life, civilization, and/or four-dimensional space, but also have the ability to cause significant damage in the event of a containment breach. These items must be cataloged, contained according to special containment procedures, and destroyed where possible.

Most keter-class items are non-sentient, and most are inanimate objects. An SCP that is merely hostile to humans is not classified as keter. A keter-class item not only has the ability to cause devastating damage to human life and civilization, but in order to prevent it from doing so… the containment protocols must be extensive, complex, and precise.

Researching how to destroy keter-class items has always been a priority goal of the SCP Foundation. However, few keter-class items under the Foundation's control have been destroyed by Foundation personnel, mainly for three reasons: First, some items are difficult to destroy due to their impervious nature or similar circumstances; second, some items are retained due to their significant tactical value to the Foundation; third, some items may cause even greater harm to humanity if destroyed, and are therefore permanently contained.

"That's not right… generally speaking… would keter-class things and Anomalous items be handled on the same floor?" Feng Bujue then thought. "If the items to be assessed are affected by nearby keter items, the consequences would be unimaginable…"

Thinking of this, he had a flash of inspiration: "Could it be…"

That's right, the answer was obvious. Clearly… the Anomalous item that Feng Bujue was going to retrieve, although not yet classified, had been regarded by the Foundation as an item with keter-class qualities, and therefore… it was being kept in such a high-clearance containment layer.

"Hmph… interesting." Feng Bujue's interest was piqued as he reasoned this out. "Just what do they want me to take out of the base…"

* * *

At the same time, on the ninth floor underground, in the command center.

This was a part located on the lowest level of the entire facility, with a higher security level than the emergency refuge on the eighth floor.

Everything in the base… including the security and monitoring departments on the seventh floor underground, was also under the supervision of this floor.

The walls here were imprinted with the Foundation's huge, black circular Logo, with the Foundation's motto written below – To secure, contain, and protect.

"It has been confirmed that the initial power outage was caused by the containment breach of SCP-106. That guy seems to have woken up from his 'fake hibernation' and contaminated the engine room while killing the security personnel."

At this time, an agent in a black suit was reporting the situation to another, older man in a suit who looked very similar to him.

"Has the Nine-Tailed Fox squad received the message?" The officer responded without turning his head, while simultaneously staring at several monitoring screens.

"Yes, they are on their way and are expected to arrive within twenty minutes," the agent replied.

"Too slow," the officer continued. "Who do they think they are? Firefighters? Want to be nuked? Get them here in fifteen minutes!"

"Yes, sir," the agent replied, and prepared to turn around to make a call, but he seemed to suddenly remember something and added, "By the way… sir." He paused for half a second. "The actions of a D-class personnel on B2… are a bit concerning."

"What did he do?" the officer asked quickly.

"He… used SCP-294," the agent replied.

"You're reporting to me that a D-class personnel went to the lounge for a cup of coffee?" the officer responded impatiently.

"Uh… actually… sir… he…" the agent stammered.

"What's wrong with him?" the officer replied. "Did he order some strange drink and mutate after drinking it?"

"He seems to have subdued SCP-173 with a drink…"

"What?" the officer turned his head back with wide eyes.

"According to the information relayed by the security personnel watching the surveillance video…" the agent added, "This D-class personnel used SCP-294 a total of three times… the first time, the machine did not dispense any liquid; the second time, the machine dispensed an unknown liquid, and he used this liquid to stop 173's movements; as for the third time… the machine also dispensed liquid, and he drank it, but the effect of the third drink is currently unknown."

"Hmm…" the officer was silent for a few seconds after hearing this. "Where is this person now?"

"He…" the agent hesitated for half a second, then replied, "He seems to be planning to enter B3…"

"What?" the officer exclaimed.

"And… he has obtained access cards and weapons from some corpses," the agent added. "However, the access cards he was able to find don't seem to have enough clearance, so he has now run off to B1 and is searching the corpses on that floor…"

"Immediately send someone to bring him back," the officer ordered. "If he resists… kill him without exception."

"Sir…" the agent thought for a moment. "The drink he drank…"

"Eliminating the threat is the top priority. If conditions permit, we can recover his body and perform an autopsy after this situation is resolved," the officer replied.

"Understood," the agent nodded and turned to leave.

The officer quickly turned his head and looked at a staff member in the distance on the right: "Mark, switch the B1 footage to the main screen."

* * *

On the first floor underground, in front of a certain containment measure door.

"Heh… found something interesting." Feng Bujue looked at the words [SCP-738] printed on the door and revealed a meaningful smile.

[Item Number: SCP-738]

[Item Class: Keter]

[Special Containment Procedures: SCP-738 is to be kept in a holding cell that is to be triple-locked at all times with armed guards, remote detonation devices, and audio-visual surveillance. The following procedures must be strictly observed based on changes observed during communications with SCP-738, its power, and unknown limits—

I. When SCP-738 is idle, each of its components must be stored separately. Assembly or disassembly of SCP-738 is to be accomplished using machinery built into the storage area. If the mechanical assembly system fails, testing must be canceled until an engineer wearing an explosive collar is dispatched to repair the mechanical system. If this engineer attempts to communicate with any part of SCP-738, the collar is to be detonated immediately.

II. If remote mechanical assembly fails, SCP-738 is to be disassembled with pre-installed conical charges, and then an engineer wearing an explosive collar is dispatched to repair and reset the system.

III. All D-class personnel used for testing must be of low intelligence or slow-witted, and must wear explosive collars. This is to prevent them from learning too much about SCP-738 and using SCP-738 to harm the Foundation. Only D-class personnel with an IQ not exceeding 60 may enter the room where SCP-738 is located. D-class personnel may only enter the room for experimental purposes, and must be continuously guided by the experimenter.]

It can be seen from the containment measures that this thing is extremely dangerous… of course, 99% of keter-class items are like this…

Generally speaking… most keter-class items are causality weapons that pose a devastating threat and hostility to humanity, and this SCP-738 in front of him is no exception.

The "description" of this item will not be written in detail here, because… Feng Bujue will soon be using it.