Retrograde Motion [SCP X Reader]

Chapter 2: Live

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|| It was inevitable that your shoes would get bloodied. ||

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It was like trudging through water. With every step, you sunk deeper and deeper. Your lungs filled with water as everything only grew darker. Everything pushed against your body. Heavier, heavier, there was so much pressure. You were going to die. You were dying. You were already dead.

But, you refused.

You kicked upward, reaching for the surface. For anything. Something. This can't be the end, it couldn't. Your fingertips grazed the surface of the water. Just a little more. With the last of your strength, you kicked up one more time. You gasped and-

And your eyes opened again.

You very nearly tripped and fell. What...? Your head whipped around the room, taking in your surroundings again. This was the lockdown checkpoint again. You brought your hand back up to your neck. It had definitely been broken and you definitely should have died. An uncomfortable feeling crawled up your spine. How were you still here? The ground spun and you probably would have vomited if it weren't for you actively holding it back.

Leaning against a wall, you tried to regain your bearings. Was this more like the game than you thought? If you died, you would go back to a checkpoint where you had "saved". But... you couldn't choose when to save nor could you load so was it an automatic thing? Did you only go back after you died?

"Today has just gone from bad to worse," you declared.

Really preferring not to test out the limits of whatever just happened, you decided to just ignore it until it became relevant again. If it caught up to you later, well, that was for later you to think about. Why actually perceive something terrible happened when you could just not? You pushed that entire experience to the back of your mind.

With the urge to vomit subsiding, you inserted the keycard and walked through the door. If it was what you thought it would be, then Peanut wouldn't be in this catwalk but the next one. You put on the gas mask and ran right through the first room. You still eyed the short end of the hall before blinking and entering the second catwalk.

Running, you swiftly crossed the catwalk. You ignored the faint blurriness of your vision as you spotted the statue and exited the catwalk. Shutting the door behind you, you came across two paths. You winced as you kneaded your head gently. A throbbing headache pulsed before disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

You pulled out the S-Nav to check the layout of the Heavy Containment Zone. There was a dead end closer to the right. Pocketing the S-Nav, you went left. You opened the door and blinked in surprise. A tesla gate. Wait, if the tesla gate was here then-

On cue, a woman ran through the other side of the room, looking like she was sprinting for dear life. Her hair was messy and she looked to be out of breath.

"Ma'am! That is a-" Too late, she ran through the tesla gate. It electrocuted her as one would expect. Unfortunately, you had the pleasure of watching her jolt and fall to the ground. "Tesla gate..."

You could feel the static electricity in the air from the gate. Maybe you should move that body. After taking a good look at the dead woman, you decided nah. You'll just leave it to whoever was the poor janitor in this facility. You hoped they got paid enough to deal with that. Now, how should you go through the tesla gate... You knew you had to get close enough to activate it and then sprint through but it was rather daunting in person. You stared at it for a good long while until you sighed and shrugged. "Yolo."