Rize’s POV

YOU HAVE DIED.

WILL YOU RESURRECT?

Resurrect?

What was that supposed to mean?

Aren’t I already dead?

A load of questions piled on inside my brain, which, wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place as my head was cracked open and my brain was gouged out the last thing I remembered. Even the gruesome pain from having my brains pulled out down until the spinal cord weren’t there anymore. What I felt now is a strangely soothing sensation, which engulfed me along with this pitch darkness in my view.

Where am I?

And, what is these sentences in front of me?

In a period of a few moments, all I did was stare at those sentences. I don’t dare to touch it or even reply to it, I don’t know what kind of thing will happen if I decided to do so. So, during that time, I thought that it’s better to be careful than to not.

I am not saying this out of pure scepticism. If the world is suddenly addressed to have fallen into an apocalypse, everyone would be wary of their choices. This is not the kind of world where you can just pick a choice and laugh at it when you made a mistake, not anymore.

Since the time a strange portal appeared in several places in the world, monsters started to spawn out from these portals and destroyed civilization. This calamity would have wiped the majority of the world’s population in just a matter of days if the humans weren’t given something to protect themselves. At the very same time the monsters started invading, humans began gaining special abilities which the people addressed them as ‘awakened’. Because of that, their invasion was gradually halted, and somehow the situation in the big cities of each country calmed down.

Though, I couldn’t say the same for my workplace.

My name is Rize Maria, one of the scientists which managed an ultra-protected facility called the SCP (Secure, Contain, Protect) Foundation. Because of how dangerous the SCPs inside this facility are, it is tightly guarded and was built in a secluded area inside a huge estate. No people should live near the facility within a few hundred kilometres radius. However, it was probably luck that had abandoned us when a small, unidentified portal appeared inside our facility and start pouring in monsters, which in turn, called in for a huge security breach.

Most of the personnels on site died from the monsters and some of the escaped SCPs, and the researchers too died gradually due to the lack of protection from the security guards even before they are able to escape the facility’s huge grounds. I too am among the ones who died. That is, what I labelled myself.

I mean everyone will die if they are to face off against one of the most dangerous SCPs out there; that is SCP-106. The moment the siren blares throughout the surrounding, I was nearly inside the SCP-106’s containment cell, originally doing my rounds. That didn’t save me anything when I noticed that its cell was already partially destroyed, and there were black mucus stains everywhere on sight. To my horror, I slipped into one of the mucus patches and entered a pocket dimension usually generated by SCP-106 before it slowly killed its victims.

I was horrified. I tried to be optimistic that everything will be okay, that I will somehow be able to escape this cave-like interior that connects with one path to each other and doesn’t seem to end. Though I know pretty well that the possibility of a person to be out alive from this place is zero.

A literal, zero.

In the midst of the blending emotions that wind like blizzard inside me, a spark of concern about the outside world suddenly dropped by.

If, per chance, I managed to escape this place…

What will become of the outside world?

Will the world be the same after this?

What about my family? My friends? And…

“Andrew…” I muttered. I almost crouched down on my knees to weep on my sorrows, thinking about the safety of my lover. We are almost there in forging an eternal bond between us, a sacred ceremony called marriage. We were supposed to be married in two months’ time but…

I don’t think the situation right now will allow us to do so.

Nor…

I even have a speck of doubt that he wasn’t even alive anymore.

Suddenly the murky, oil glazed path shook me from my stun. My eyes darted around towards my sides while I tried hard on stabilizing my ragged breath. I must calm down. Whatever I did, I MUST calm down.

Against my senses, SCP-106 appeared in front of me. It all happened so fast. Starting from its deteriorating but huge hand that grabbed my head tight as if it wants to destroy it, to the moment I felt a sheer but sharp pain before I saw the scalp of my head flew off in front of me past where the SCP appeared. The monster acted as if it was opening a present, ripping my skin off as if it was the wrapper.

I felt a thick, iron taste liquid filling my mouth as I gritted my jaw tight to held in the scream. I know even if I did no one would come to save me. The least I can do is to bestow myself a silent death, albeit excruciatingly painful.

The last thing I saw before I lost all my senses was its hands that reached out to my face, and a sensation of something stuck inside my eye sockets.

YOU HAVE DIED.

Now back to the present.

“Hm.” Was the only word that I muttered after staring at the pair of sentences that doesn’t seem like it will disappear anytime soon.

Now that I have spent some time inside the darkness, somehow the sense of wariness toned down a bit, that I was able to utter a question in this kind of tight situation.

“Is this a joke?”

Silence.

After a short while, I laughed at myself.

“Of course, who would be here to answer me. I was literally alone.” I reasoned myself and shook my head, seriously questioning my rationality now.

Still, I might have to answer this question. There is no answer to choose so I guess I have to either think about it or said it out loud. I passed my gaze to the sentence and halted at the ‘Resurrection’ word.

Resurrection, sounds like a fantasy story being brought to reality. I am not a fan of fantasy stories, not when I dealt with fantasy-like creatures almost every day. Some of them might be cute, but the majority of them are harmful to humanity. Though, I won’t know the difference anymore between the SCP’s or the monsters given the world is in this state.

Despite the scepticism, I do want to resurrect.

I still have a lot of things to do and many things to discover. I need to know what happens to those who are close to me and the situation of the outside world. Plus, if I indeed can be resurrected, I wouldn’t want to miss this golden chance, do I? I might never get this kind of chance again.

“Yes.” I said, to whoever was listening in this darkness.

Suddenly the pair of sentences disappeared, replaced with several windows that looks like a hologram.

CONGRATULATIONS!

            YOU HAVE BEEN AWAKENED.

            GENERATING YOUR STATUS…

NAME: RIZE MARIA

LEVEL: 1

HP: 100

MP: 100

TITLE: MARIONETTE OF CORPSES

EXP: 0/1 000 000

STATUS: 1. STR: 20

    2. AGI: 20

    3. INT: 50

    4. DEX: 30

    5. WILL: 60

“Will?” I arched an eyebrow. What is ‘Will’? I have played some RPG games before but I have never seen any status that had ‘Will’ in it. From the moment the status appeared in front of me I know something was off, but I just can’t put it where.

But…

If the status was proven to be true, does that mean…

RESURRECTING MARIONETTE OF CORPSES, RIZE MARIA.

MAY YOUR JOURNEY BE ON EASE, MY LIEGE.

My liege?

In an instant, my surrounding lit up, giving me no space to ponder about that sentence. Nervously, I let the whatever light to engulf me and closed my eyes as I waited for it to turn dark again. When it did, I opened my eyes slowly, contemplating of what to expect.

My goodness, why am I still here?

I narrowed my eyes judgingly as I scanned around. Given the dark surrounding with walls glazed with murky oil and the mixture of oily, iron-like, and rotting smell, I can ascertain myself that I am still inside this pocket dimension SCP-106 created. Well at the very least, I am not as afraid of where I am as before.

I started to scan my surroundings, this time rationally. Now that I take a closer look, I can see that I am inside a hallway like structure, albeit there is no windows and the hallway seemed endless. SCP-106 might also spawn randomly so I might have to be cautious of that.

Hah, strange.

I was so sure I’m about to piss myself when I entered this dimension. Talking about abrupt character growth, I suddenly became much braver that I even have the audacity to think about how to counteract SCP-106’s brutal attacks.

I might need to have a weapon, though I don’t think there is anything I can use around me except for the few pieces of pen in my lab coat pocket and my spectacles that I have with me. If I am skilled enough, I might be able to use my long nails for scratch attacks like how other women did when they were in a cat fight.

Good, now all that’s left to do is to try getting out of this place without getting killed by SCP-106, or best, try to kill SCP-106 and then escape. Killing an entity which is unkillable sounds like I was reaching out my hands to grab the stars in the sky, but for some reason I am confident that I have the chance to eradicate it. My guts told me that I can do it.

Just when I was about to compose my confident steps, the ground shook. This can only be a sign that SCP-106 is nearby. If in the outside world SCP-106 would traverse through matters without making a sound, it travelled inside this dimension like a king by showing its presence loudly. As if it was a ruler of this pocket dimension. I can’t say that’s a lie because it is the ruler of its own dimension. But the point is, how long will it last before I managed to eradicate it?

I guess I’ll have to see it for myself.

SCP-106 appeared in front of me like a gust of vortex that suddenly brushed past. Soundless, yet murderous. Though oddly enough, I can feel my lips twitching.

Was it fear?

If it’s fear, then why was the corner of my mouth curled up?