The Pan-Dimensional Containment Initiative

Haidu City, an old residential area in the south of the city, 11:47 pm. The memory rushed into Gongsun Qi's mind and disappeared completely within a second. He remembered that he was obviously dead. During the containment breach at Site-19, the heaven-defying thing from 682 broke through secondary containment. And he, as O5 Council No. 13, personally initiated the site's self-destruction program. Then came heat, flames, and then endless darkness. But now this is. . . Gongsun Qizhe sat up and glanced around. A small single room of less than fifteen square meters, with a bed, a desk, and a broken wardrobe. The table was full of leftover instant noodle boxes and empty drink bottles, and there were a few two-dimensional posters on the wall. A boy with a scar on his forehead, a white-haired guy wearing an eyepatch, and... . . He narrowed his eyes. In the corners of the poster, on the clothes of the characters, there are lines that are so small that they are almost invisible. No, that's not a pattern. It is a special kind of text. A kind of text that he clearly didn't recognize, but his brain could automatically translate it. "Demon Slayer... the spell returns..." Two strange words popped into his head. Immediately afterwards, a bunch of messy memory fragments rushed in: This world is called Blue Star, and the cultural and entertainment industry is very developed. The market is full of works about "different worlds", "superpowers", and "ghosts". And his current name is Gongsun Qizhe. He is twenty-three years old. He is an ordinary working man in Haidu City. His parents are gone and he lives alone. He died suddenly in a rental house yesterday because he worked too much overtime. No. This isn't right. Gongsun Qizhe looked down at his hands. The fingers are slender, with a thin layer of calluses on the fingertips. This is not a cocoon that can be worn out by programmers by typing on the keyboard. This is the result of long-term exposure to guns and operating precision instruments. He lifted his clothes, and there was a faded scar on his stomach, which was left when he dealt with a Keter-class breach at Site-17 three years ago. Two completely unrelated memories drove a bumper car in my mind, and finally collided. Thirty-seven years old, a member of the O5 Council of the SCP Foundation. His real name has long been deleted from all records, and his code name is "Watcher". Twenty-three-year-old, ordinary social animal, the unlucky guy who just died suddenly yesterday. Then he was, and he is now. "Fusion and rebirth..." Gongsun Qizhe muttered in a low voice. He walked over to the only mirror in the room. The face in the mirror is very young and delicate, and the black hair is a bit messy, but those eyes - those belong to a thirty-seven-year-old man. Calm, rational, and as deep as a well, like two frozen ancient wells. At this moment, the night sky outside the window suddenly lit up. Not lightning. The light was softer and weirder. It is light blue, like phosphorus fire, but clearer than phosphorus fire. The light came from the third-floor window of the old building opposite that was about to be demolished. It flashed and flashed, very rhythmically, as if it was breathing. Gongsun Qizhe's temples twitched. A piece of information flow directly entered his mind: [Abnormal energy fluctuation detected] [Coordinates: Current plane, 121.47° east longitude, 31.23° north latitude, 8.6 meters vertical height] [Energy characteristics: life proliferation type, safety level: Safe] [The containment protocol system is being activated. . . 】 In the upper right corner of his field of vision, a line of translucent white words jumped out. He was very familiar with that font, the Foundation's standard display font. Immediately afterwards, more words were written down like a waterfall: [System initialization completed] [Welcome back, O5-13] [This system is the ‘Interdimensional Anomaly Containment Auxiliary Protocol’, version 7.31] [Current mission: Contain the first abnormal item] [Project temporary number: CN-001-temporary] [Location: 32 meters directly in front of the building you are in, room on the west side of the third floor] [Recommended Action: Go to confirm immediately and implement basic containment procedures] Gongsun Qizhe stood motionless. Thirty-seven years of experience with the Foundation have developed a terrible instinct in him - when faced with any supernatural phenomenon, his first reaction is not excitement or fear, but evaluation. Assess its threat level, assess its containment possibilities, and assess the cost. But now, he has no D-class personnel, no mobile task force, and no containment unit. He only has a young body of twenty-three years old, and this thing that calls itself "the system". The blue light outside the window flashed again. This time it was brighter and longer. The light shines through the window, casting strange shadows on the wall. Those shadows are crawling, like vines or tentacles. Gongsun Qizhe walked to the window and opened the curtains. The window of the west room on the third floor of the opposite building is open. There is a pot of flowers on the windowsill. A pot of flowers that is glowing blue. The petals are translucent, like crystal and ice. There is a brighter light source in the center of the flower, which flickers on and off with the rhythm of "breathing". On the flower stems, tiny lines of light pulse like blood vessels. The weirdest thing is that around the pot of flowers, a thin layer of moss that also glows blue grows on the cement surface of the window sill. The moss was spreading so fast that it was visible to the naked eye, crawling over the edge of the window sill and extending toward the wall. [Warning: Acceleration of abnormal proliferation effects] [It is expected to spread to the entire building within 72 hours] [Recommend immediate intervention] Gongsun Qizhe closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. "Tell me basic containment procedures," he said in his mind. An interface immediately unfolded before my eyes. Simple, cool, and full of foundation style. The left side is the project information, and the right side is the operation process. [Basic Containment Protocol (Safe Level)] Step 1: Confirm the physical form and abnormal properties of the item Step 2: Prepare basic containment unit (standard specifications: sealed, opaque, anti-corrosion) Step 3: Wear basic protection (gloves, mask, goggles) Step 4: Contact and transfer object to containment unit Step 5: Seal unit, mark number Step 6: Record containment log "I don't have a containment unit," Gongsun Qizhe said. [The system can provide basic material support] [Currently available resources: D-class personnel quota × 1, basic storage box × 1, basic protective suit × 1] 【Do you want to call? 】 "D-class personnel?" Gongsun Qizhe frowned. [This system is connected to a multi-dimensional criminal database and can temporarily recruit death row prisoners as D-class personnel] [The first call is free, subsequent calls need to consume ‘containment points’] [Note: D-class personnel only know basic mission information and do not know the existence of the Foundation] Gongsun Qizhe was silent for about five seconds. "Call." [Confirmation of calling instructions] [D-class personnel are being recruited from the multidimensional prison ‘Tartarus’. . . 】 【Recruitment completed】 [Target: D-114514, male, 33 years old, former world serial murderer, executed] [Teleport coordinates: the room you are in] [Teleport countdown: 3, 2, 1] The air in the center of the room began to twist. Like the heat wave on the road in summer, the light bends and folds, and then a figure squeezes out of the air. First the skeleton, then muscles, skin, and clothes. The whole process took less than three seconds before a bald man wearing an orange prison uniform appeared in the room. The man staggered and looked around blankly. He saw Gongsun Qizhe and this unfamiliar room, and the expression on his face changed from confusion to shock, and then to ecstasy. "I...I'm not dead?! Where the hell is this? You-" "D-114514." Gongsun Qizhe spoke, his voice as calm as if he was reading a report. The man visibly shook. this number. . . This is his prison number. How could the young man in front of me know? "You have two choices." Gongsun Qizhe walked to the desk and opened the drawer. There used to be only some odds and ends in the drawer, but now there is a silver-white metal box and a set of neatly folded protective clothing. "First, cooperate with me to complete a task. After completion, you will be sent back to where you came from - but you will be exempted from the death penalty and your sentence will be commuted indefinitely." The man's eyes lit up for a moment, but he immediately became wary: "Original place? What original place? Who are you?" "Second." Gongsun Qizhe did not answer him, but continued to say in that terrifyingly calm tone, "I will send you back now and continue to receive your injection. You have ten seconds to choose." "ten." "Nine-" "I choose one! I choose one!!!" The man almost shouted. Between death and survival, the prisoner will always choose the latter. Gongsun Qizhe nodded and threw the protective clothing to him: "Put it on. Gloves, masks, goggles, all. Then take this box." It was a metal box about forty centimeters long, thirty centimeters wide, and thirty centimeters high. The whole body is silver-white, with no seams on the surface, except for a round push switch on the top. There is a line of small words printed on the side of the box: [Standard Containment Unit-Safe Level-Basic Type]. The D-class personnel hurriedly put on protective clothing. The clothes are one piece, made of a special material, thin but very strong. The gloves are three-layered, with the outermost layer made of synthetic material. The mask is N100 grade and the goggles are completely sealed. After he finished putting it on, Gongsun Qizhe also put on a set of the same protective suit, which was the second set provided by the system. "Ren...what is the mission?" The D-class personnel's voice came through the mask, a bit muffled. Gongsun Qizhe walked to the window and pointed to the pot of glowing blue flowers on the third floor opposite: "Go to that room, put the pot of flowers into the box, close the lid, and press the switch on the top. Then bring it back." "Just...that's it?" "That's it." Gongsun Qizhe turned around and stared at him with his eyes behind the goggles, "But there are a few rules. One, you are not allowed to stare at the heart of the flower for more than three seconds. Two, don't touch the luminous patterns on the flower pole. Three, if you feel dizzy, nauseous, or see something you shouldn't see, immediately close your eyes and step back, counting in your heart. Do you understand?" The D-class personnel swallowed and nodded desperately. "Box." Gongsun Qizhe pointed to the metal box, "Open it." The D-class pressed a hidden button on the side of the box. The lid slid open silently. There is a black cushion inside, which is very soft and seems to adapt to the shape of the object. There is a groove in the middle of the cushion, just big enough to hold the potted flower. "Go ahead." Gongsun Qizhe said, "I'll give you fifteen minutes."