I’m In Charge of SCP

Chapter 19: Cockatrice!

The calmed SCP-049 was generally more docile and willing to cooperate with the Foundation, but his knowledge was limited. Zhang Jue asked a few more questions, but he could not provide any more valid information than the appearance of the enemy.

After placing SCP-049 in a staff break room and having him summon back all of 049-2 (those zombies) and deactivate them, and after a brief moment, the two set out for the elevator room again. The matter was urgent, and they had to get out quickly to inform the Foundation about the intruders.

"Obviously, the enemy knows the situation inside Site-14 very well and has adopted a simple and straightforward tactic of releasing the anomalies in the containment area as cover and then taking the security team down one by one." Zhang Jue said as he walked.

Yang Xue asked, "What exactly does he want to do?"

Zhang Jue said, "For now, there are too few clues. If we simply rely on guessing, then I guess that he should be here for a specific anomaly- it can't be for tourism, right?"

Following Zhang Jue's train of thought, Yang Xue subconsciously asked, "What could it be?"

"I must say, Dr. Yang, are you the most inquisitive person in the world?" Zhang Jue couldn't help but spit it out. Yang Xue was stunned.

Within Site-14, she had always been known for her competence, and those researchers would come to her for advice when they encountered problems. But at some point, she seemed to have developed a habit of relying on Zhang Jue. As long as Zhang Jue was around, her way of thinking would always be half a step slower - or rather, Zhang Jue's thoughts were always one, or even steps ahead of hers.

Not expecting his thoughtless remark to keep Yang Xue silent for so long, Zhang Jue shrugged and said, "From the catalog you provided me with earlier, I didn't find any valuable anomalous objects that could make the intruder go such lengths, and even if there were, it would be in the sixth floor of the containment area, which you don't even have the permission to access it."

As the two spoke, they had arrived at the elevator room. Just as Zhang Jue wanted to go to the next area by scanning his fingerprint.

"Boom!" The sound of an explosion can be heard. Immediately afterward, a huge wave of air shot out from the gap in the elevator door. Zhang Jue instinctively shielded Yang Xue, and together they were propelled several meters away.

"A few more times like that, and I'll get a brain concussion sooner or later..." Zhang Jue helped Yang Xue up from the ground and rubbed her head.

Yang Xue was still in a state of shock, "What happened...?"

Zhang Jue pointed to the elevator door that had been destroyed: "Isn't it obvious enough that someone blew up the elevator shaft." Before Zhang Jue finished talking, explosions came one after another from other directions.

Yang Xue's face turned pale, "This is bad, the other elevator rooms-"

"Ah, as expected." Zhang Jue rubbed his head, "The enemy came here single-handedly. Surely he doesn't intend to fight the Mobile Task Force head-on. He only wants to achieve a certain goal."

For safety reasons, the SCP Foundation's sites generally did not have stairwells between the containment area and the safe zone, and with the intruder blowing up several elevator shafts, it would take at least an hour or two for the people above to open the passageway, which was more than enough time for him to do anything.

"We have to stop him." Yang Xue said.

To be honest, Zhang Jue's enthusiasm for stopping the intruder's invasion wasn't that high. The culprit had prepared it quite well when to launch his plan, the way the Foundation would respond, the reaction time, almost all within his calculations. Along with his goal, Site-14 had fallen on its face this time.

But he was also a little curious, what thing does the sixth floor contain to make the enemy so determined. The two continued to search within the second floor, expecting to find any valuable clues, as the two SCP-939 (The Beast With Many Voices) were still nearby, and they could only speak in whispers.

"Ever since I saw SCP-049 (Plague Doctor) just now. You looked a little unnatural." Zhang Jue said, "Is there something that you noticed about him?"

"No, nothing." Yang Xue shook her head. Yang Xue was not good at lying. Her expression was so bad that even a child could see that something was wrong, so how could she fool Zhang Jue, an adult being. But since she refused to tell, Zhang Jue didn't push.

The two continued all the way to the surveillance room, where the first alarm was triggered. The monitoring equipment had been destroyed, and the video had all been burned, and two of the security team members were lying on the bench, bleeding profusely.

Zhang Jue turned the two staff members over, checked their wounds, and found that both had been touched in the neck with sharp instruments. What a sharp cut. The two men didn't even have time to move. The intruder seems to be very strong.

Zhang Jue judged the gap between himself and the other side in his mind. He was good at fighting and brawling against hooligans, but he could only take a beating compared to this kind of professional agent.

He stood up, ready to find out if there were any other clues. Then he saw Yang Xue standing in the doorway of the inner room, not moving and not saying anything. There was a small room inside the monitoring room for a temporary break for the staff, was there something inside?

Zhang Jue whispered to her, "Dr. Yang?" No respond. Zhang Jue knew that there was a high chance that this woman was being targeted. He cautiously walked towards Yang Xue's side.

Zhang Jue walked behind Yang Xue and peered inside through the gap between her and the room's door. He saw a large rooster standing on the iron-framed bed where the staff was resting in the darkness, looking towards the door and right at Yang Xue.

She was so scared by a chicken that she couldn't move? Zhang Jue was about to approach it when the chicken noticed his presence and turned its gaze over. Both of their eyes were met.

Zhang Jue only felt a tingling all over his body, as if countless fleas had run through his body, and then nothing special. He frowned, and something was not right.

When the chicken saw that Zhang Jue was not affected, it opened its fleshy webbing around its neck like a peacock fanning its skin. This time revealing its entire body, Zhang Jue was able to see clearly what this big rooster was.

Item No: SCP-1013 (Cockatrice)

Object Class: Keter

Description: SCP-1013 is a small lizard with a bird-like head and a long frill around its head that can be opened up by the bones that surround its neck. Most of its body appears similar to the most common lizard, except for its head and unusually long tail. The main part of its body is only 60 cm long, and its tail is 121 cm long and very flexible. SCP-1013 will use its tail to catch and disrupt large prey.

SCP-1013 hunts by releasing unknown radiation, wave, or memetic force to its prey through visual contact. Subjects report sudden tingling in most major muscle groups of the body and general paralysis within three seconds. The paralysis lasts eight minutes and stops completely after ten minutes.

If the paralyzed subject is bitten, they will enter the calcification process. The external skin tissue calcifies rapidly and becomes dense and hard within a few minutes. This transformation will start from the point of contact and spread throughout the body, calcifying the entire body within fifteen minutes.

SCP-1013 will peck through the hardened outer layer of skin, swallow the internal tissues, and gradually eat into the body as it consumes. The prey will generally die of blood loss or internal injuries before being eaten up. The remaining body tissue will remain within the calcified tissue to slowly decompose and decay.

Special Containment Procedures: Standard safety procedures for visually-reactive items (ED-8) shall be applied at all times. Any personnel entering the containment area must wear an AR-68 armored variant protective suit.

Personnel leaving the area with damaged clothing must be quarantined for one hour. Personnel who were paralyzed during cleaning/feeding/testing will be removed from medical evaluation.

SCP-1013 will be fed small mammals (rabbits, rats, cats, or dogs) once per day. Feeding may only be done if no calcified remains are present in the containment area. Calcified remains that are no longer consumed must be immediately removed from the holding area and destroyed by incineration.

Personnel dying from the pre-feeding effects of SCP-1013 will be removed and cremated, and all remains must be destroyed within one hour of a complete calcification.

-----

The SCP-1013 can fixate on any creature that looks at their eyes with it, a common trick when hunting. Realizing that its gaze was not producing the desired effect, SCP-1013 took a few more steps forward, its eyes looking straight at Zhang Jue.

Instead of turning paralyzed, Zhang Jue rubbed his wrist and pressed his fingers to click as if he was preparing something. If SCP-087-1 were here, it would have told SCP-1013 to never look at Zhang Jue!

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