NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: "Prologue"
Imagine you are living through your typical day, which, as always, starts with you waking up. You get out of bed, head to the bathroom to wash your face and brush your teeth. Then you prepare breakfast, eat it, and get ready for work. At exactly 7:30 AM, you leave your house, heading to your car and greeting your neighbors along the way. You drive to the office, park your car, and walk into the building. You greet the security guards and your colleagues, sit down at your workstation, and start doing your job.
When you've completed more than half of your work and are preparing to go for lunch, your boss approaches you, nearly shouting, causing everyone to look at you. She demands the report on yesterday's case. You endure her behavior, mask your irritation with a calm face, and reply that you left the report on her desk before leaving yesterday. She tries to appear composed, but inside she is boiling with rage, especially annoyed at your composed response and the fact that everyone is eavesdropping on your conversation. She tells you she'll check, but, due to her bad mood and spiteful nature, she dumps extra work on you. You respond that you cannot take on additional tasks and that you are going for lunch, already having five unfinished assignments and reports. She insists that you must complete the extra work no matter what, adding that you will have to stay late, possibly even until morning.
You almost lose your composure when you see her self-satisfied expression, knowing you have no argument to refuse. Enduring again, you respond that you will do it, and she scoffs before heading back to her office. Watching her from behind, you notice her attractive figure, thinking how much you would like to slap her and spill out everything you hate about her, how much of a bitch she is...
Exhale. Inhale.
You calm your mind, realizing such thoughts won't help. You head to the nearest café for lunch, ordering coffee and a sandwich. After finishing, you go to the restroom, because when nature calls, why wait? Once done, you wash your hands and look in the mirror, seeing a 32-year-old man with messy black hair and a disheveled beard. If you look closely, you can spot crumbs from your lunch stuck in the beard. You have blue eyes and an average face, wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a bluish suit. This man is the protagonist of our story, and his name is Alastor Morningstar.
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The narrative now shifts to Alastor's perspective.
"I look at my reflection in the mirror and wonder how I ended up like this, pushed around by a younger woman. Back in school and college, I was a different person. Back then, I was the Alpha, a legend, a Giga-Chad. I was admired because I excelled academically and had a bad-boy image. I was the rebellious guy every girl desired. I could have any girl I wanted: classmates, seniors, teachers, even my friends' moms. Man, if I had a tan back then, I'd have looked like one of those villains from NTR-themed hentai mangas."
"But after reminiscing about those times, the big question remains: How did I end up like this? The answer is simple: a girl. Yes, it's because of a girl and my naivety. Like a fool, I fell in love at first sight. I met her in a club when I was 26. We got to know each other... Sigh, I don't want to remember."
*After these thoughts, I splashed water on my face and left the restroom, only to regret it immediately. As I exited, three masked men with guns entered the café. In that moment, I thought, 'Why would people come here to rob? No, why rob a café when there's a bank nearby?' I didn't get to finish my thought, because before the masked men could notice me, I tried to quietly retreat back to the restroom. But suddenly, a man came out of the men's room, saw the scene, and shouted, "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"
Internally, I cursed every possible curse, realizing the robbers had spotted me because of this idiot. Before I could react, I heard gunshots fired in my direction. All the bullets hit me, and I collapsed, feeling nothing but wondering to myself:
"So this is how I die? Because of some idiot? Well, now's not the time to think about that."
Usually, when people die earlier than expected, the only emotion they feel is regret. Regret for what they didn't accomplish, for not spending enough time with family, and so on. Our hero also felt regret as he took his last breath, closed his eyes, and died.
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[ATTENTION! ATTENTION!]
[THE SYSTEM OF FICTIONAL CHARACTER MERGING AND JOURNEYS HAS IDENTIFIED A USER]
[DEAR USER, DO YOU WISH TO ACCEPT THE SYSTEM?]
[YES/NO]
...
[IF YOU DO NOT MAKE A SELECTION WITHIN 15 SECONDS, THE SYSTEM WILL CHOOSE FOR YOU!]
...
...
...
[SINCE YOU DID NOT MAKE A SELECTION IN THE GIVEN TIME, THE SYSTEM WILL CHOOSE AUTOMATICALLY!]
[SELECTION: YES]
[LOADING SYSTEM...]
[...1%.....23%.....47%....87%...99%...100%]
[SYSTEM SUCCESSFULLY LOADED AND INTEGRATED WITH USER]
[SYSTEM INITIATES CHARACTER SELECTION ROULETTE]
...
...
...
...
[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE CHARACTER: SCP-001: THE SCARLET KING]
[COMMENCING MERGING WITH THE CHARACTER]
[CHARACTER IS RESISTING MERGING]
[SYSTEM INITIATES FORCED MERGING]
[ERROR... ERROR... ERROR...]
[IT APPEARS THE CHARACTER IS OF A HIGHER LEVEL THAN MULTIPLE UNIVERSES]
[SYSTEM ATTEMPTS TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE CHARACTER]
...
...
...
[SYSTEM UNDER ATTACK... ERROR... SYSTEM UNDER ATTA....…...…..............….......................... SYSTEM DEFENDED ITSELF]
[SYSTEM ATTEMPTS TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE CHARACTER AGAIN (crossed out) THE SCARLET KING]
[THIS TIME THE SCARLET KING AGREED. BEGINNING USER MERGING WITH T
HE SCARLET KING]
Object #: SCP-001
Object Class: Keter Safe
Special Containment Procedures: Given the recent research of Dr. Robert Montauk, there is no need to take any action to contain SCP-001 at this time. The object is completely self-contained, and any Foundation intervention would cause irreparable damage to SCP-001's containment.
Foundation personnel are not to interact with any materials related to SCP-001, excluding anomalies already in Foundation custody.
Description: SCP-001 is an entity commonly referred to as the Crimson King . SCP-001 currently exists in multiple alternate dimensions simultaneously, and is unable to enter the prime dimension. However, it is theorized that it has attempted to enter the prime dimension on multiple occasions over the last several thousand years ( three hundred years). The physical, mental, and conceptual properties of SCP-001 are unknown to the Foundation; however, it continues to exert a strong influence on a number of individuals and events in the prime dimension.
SCP-001's existence is believed to represent an active, but currently temporarily inactive, Tashkent-class "Cross-Pollination" scenario.1. If SCP-001 were to enter the main timeline, irreparable damage would be done to the current reality. Containment of SCP-001 is a priority , but is not required. Any attempt to change SCP-001's classification will result in immediate termination by O5 Command.
References to SCP-001 have appeared in the art and folklore of human and non-human cultures across the universe, including societies that have never previously interacted with one another. All descriptions are similar in that they feature a red creature of enormous size, wearing a golden crown or other headdress symbolizing monarchical power. While names attributed to SCP-001 vary, most contain two elements: a word denoting royalty, combined with a word denoting the color red (or a shade of red). Cultures that do not have a concept of the color red but form a name based on this pattern use a color analogous to the concept of red in English.
Most personnel, with the exception of those assigned to anomalies related to SCP-001, are unaware of the entity. As part of SCP-2317's containment procedures, Level 4 personnel2must be informed that SCP-2317 is, in fact, SCP-001. The truth of this claim is unknown, but it has received strong support from several council members. The likelihood of SCP-2317 being more than a single incarnation of SCP-001 is quite low, as SCP-001 must exist in multiple dimensions simultaneously.
It is unknown when SCP-001 was discovered. The loss of several archives pertaining to the Foundation's origins in 1889 during the "Great Confusion" has prevented a full reconstruction of events, though an investigation was soon conducted [DATA EXPUNGED]. Over the years, there have been numerous factions dedicated to summoning SCP-001 into the prime dimension, the most recent being the "Children of the Scarlet King", which was destroyed in a joint operation between the SCP Foundation and the Global Occult Coalition in January of 2018. Its former leader, Dipesh Spivak, is currently in Foundation custody as PoI-3172.
Addendum 01/06/2018: SCP-001 has recently been subjected to extensive investigation by Dr. Robert Montauk, head of projects SCP-001, SCP-231, and SCP-2317 and creator of Procedure 110-Montauk.
Based on the results of the investigation, SCP-001 has been reclassified as Safe by the O5 Council. At the request of former O5-13, a number of documents related to the investigation and providing additional context have been posted below. The documents have been sorted, categorized, and added by former O5-13 herself, with permission from O5-1, to support this reclassification.
+Phase 1: "Blood"
+Phase 2: «Concrete»
+Phase 3: «Howl»
[aaaaCC62SS DEN---]
Snowy
1. A Class K scenario in which the alteration of reality or the destruction of all human life is caused by the interaction of two radically different types of anomalous objects.
2 . With the exception of Dr. Robert Montauk, head of projects SCP-001, SCP-231, and SCP-2317
3 . An obsolete name for amnestics used in some areas.
4 . A gathering involving a group of friends (usually but not necessarily men) who meet to discuss literature, social affairs, and other aspects of life. It could often last for several hours.
Structural: object
Object class: safe
Article type: 001
Branch: in
Associated Organization or Person: palm_snake scarlet_king gok
Anomaly: interdimensional
Subject: cryptohistory class_scenario_k religion