This entire foundation, the work it did, it unnerved me. The specialists working here could drill it into my skull a million times that this work, everything the foundation is doing, was for the best, but I would likely never be convinced. I can hardly remember how I ended up in this place, but it wasn't a standard telling. All I know is that I am trapped here and that any requests to leave have been met with hostility and retaliation. I very little understand my purpose for being here - I haven't even interacted with any of the SCPs, not that I wish to - only that I am not leaving. Far as I can see, I am just around to organize the thoughts and files of others. Why would that be needed? Would they not organize themselves?

Time is something I hardly have a concept of. Aside from the fact that I haven't a clue what the date was when I arrived here, the current date is something I am not informed of, and I cannot track day and night myself for I never get to see the light. Sometimes I wonder if I even remember what exactly the sun looks like. It is sort of yellow? A little round? Does it glow brightly? I hope I have my facts correct.

As I cannot process time, I can thus not tell anyone how long I have been following the same static path, the same actions. I spend elongated periods of time - it might be many hours, or nowhere near; still I cannot get answers - following the same actions, the same scenarios. I have been constantly moved into the same room, forced to follow the same tasks, and on some occasions, listen to discussions over that creature, whatever it is.

My eyes glowed and I flashed a glance upwards as I hear noise. When I am not on site, supposedly achieving nothing, I am in a small, almost featureless room. There is naught to interact with. It is simply a plain white room with a bed, and the bed is equally as plain as the rest. Its monotonous, dull, and I can feel it slowly sapping all the enthusiasm from my body. It is almost as if one of those SCPs is sitting in the room with me, always out of sight, draining my livelihood to power itself. I would ask if there was such an SCP, but I would likely be terminated for asking such questions. I am highly limited.

The door slid open, loudly, and my eyes focused on the figure of a heavily armoured, and armed, man before he could even deduce where I was sitting exactly. I rose quickly from the corner I had placed myself in. I had been counting - what I was counting I wasn't sure, but I had made it into the ten thousands - before he had arrived. I knew to react quickly, but not to seem too hasty. Too slow would get a hostile threat, too fast would get a weapon pointed at you. Neither ended well and I had heard gunshots echo through the halls numerous times before. They were shooting people. I knew it. I lurched every time I heard it and pictured it being me at the end of the barrel.

The armed man was highly alert, his senses acute as his head turned to me. "You are needed in SCP-049's chamber again. Obey and do not make a mockery of yourself - I have no orders against terminating you." the man growled at me, strong and adamant.

There it was again, the same SCP. It was as if the others, however many there were, didn't exist. Every time I was greeted by one of these hostile bastards, it was the same creature. That same creepy doctor, whatever it was supposed to be. I didn't like it, not that any of the creatures I had met were nice. Naturally, I hadn't interacted with the creature, but I was worried I would have to one day. One of these days, they were going to attempt to thrust me into a chamber with one of these SCP things, and I feared it would be 049.

I said nothing. The last time I even tried to politely agree with one of these individuals - I wonder if they're even the same person, or if its always someone different - I had a weapon pointed at me and a sharp threat involving a violent wound to the side of the head. I simply moved towards him and allowed myself to be guided.

It was terrifying, weaving through these maze-like halls while hovering less then a foot behind you was a heavily armed individual with a stick up his ass. I would never tell him about that, or even say it alone for fear I was being observed while alone in my room, but I believed it nevertheless. When I was alone, I kept quiet. When I was in the company of others, I also kept quiet. I did not speak unless absolutely required when I was in the company of other people, and when alone I would say nothing aside from counting or random colours for fear I would be misinterpreted as conspiring.

There was a moment where we paused in front of a large metallic door and the armed man slammed his hand into a button. After several moments of waiting, the door opened, and he ordered, "Into the elevator, now!"

I moved quickly within the confined space, trying to keep my breathing steady as he followed me and activated the elevator once more. If I remembered rightly, this was not the path I had taken last time - or maybe it was. Maybe I was being misled by these people by taking different paths to the same containment area, or maybe I was misleading myself by convincing myself the same path over and over was actually a different path. I couldn't think straight, couldn't concentrate, didn't care either. How deep was I going? I knew by heart that this particular SPC was contained far deeper underground then some of the others, but never knew if it was the only one. Was there a reason for it being kept this far under? I would never ask.

The door opened with a chime and a short grind. I hoped this place was functioning properly, that nothing was broken in even the slightest. I didn't fully understand most of what was contained here, but if they were anything like SCP-049 - highly lethal, that is - I feared what would happen if they broke out. Hopefully everything worked correctly. Hopefully everything was constantly repaired. I recalled once seeing SCP-049 reach out for a window and place its hand on there. It stared, strongly, and wouldn't move. All I could think about that day, as I tried to avoid looking at the thing, was what I heard the other men around saying; 'It's touch is lethal. If it touches you, you die.' and I hoped it would never touch me. There was no middle-ground, no questions asked. One touch and you were dead. I couldn't even see its eyes - no one could, I had heard rumours its mask was actually part of its body - as it stared. All I saw were two black slits gazing out from behind the glass.

I felt a shudder as I turned a corner and saw its picture, a human-like being in black wearing a white mask with a long pointed nose. My heart skipped a beat looking at the black slits that hid eyes and remembering it staring out from the glass. I kept far away from the glass every time it moved towards it. I didn't want it to notice me. Maybe it hadn't yet, and maybe it already had.

I wasn't looking the correct way, at the door. I had frozen with my gaze on its picture as the armed man cleared the door. I nearly yelped as the door ground open, but reduced myself to a jump. Nonetheless, the armed man did react, lifting his weapon with a swift acuteness and aiming it at me. When I was noted I meant no harm, I was not shot, but the gun was still pointed my way.

"You'd best watch yourself. You aren't here to play games." the man snarled, and I felt weakened. He lowered the weapon a little, pointing towards the chamber. "Get in there and do as you're told, or I'll be back for you." He grinned at me. "And not in a way you'd like."

With a gulp, I entered the room. Numerous people moved around within, mostly scientists with no real combat abilities. The door slammed shut behind me and I knew I was trapped. I instantly thought about what would happen if SCP-049 escaped. It would have a clear path to me and I would have no escape route.

"There you are!" a voice called to me, harsh, but nowhere near the intensity the armed man had thrown my way. I turned around, meeting with a person I could not attach a name to. Whether by accident or purpose, these people had made their names no clearer to me then what exactly these creatures even were. "You are late."

"Its hardly her fault, sir." a female voice called in from behind, a far more kindly individual then the man who had initially spoken to me.

The man huffed. " I don't see why not." When the woman threw him an unconvinced glance, a subtle lift of the eyebrow, he cleared his throat. "Perhaps... Fine, I'll speak with the guards about bringing her in earlier. I need her here as soon as possible. There is a lot to get done, far too complex for her mind to understand, but I need her scampering." He glanced back for a moment. "Get her started. It looks like someone is messing up my desk again." He scowled before turning away.

The woman now looked at me with a small smile, attempting to comfort me even a little. "Don't mind him. He's just disgruntled because SCP-049 has ceased all communications again." She turned to look at it, and on instinct, I followed, although I quickly looked away from it.

Despite how quickly I attempted to look away, I still spotted it, and it was still discomforting to look at. It had isolated itself in a corner of its containment chamber, sitting on the floor. I hadn't looked at it long enough to confirm what it was doing, but nothing was likely to be an answer. Still, looking at that blank white mask and those deep black robes that covered most of its figure was enough to startle me into looking away from it. It hadn't been looking my way thankfully, but I still feared it knew I was here nonetheless.

She tried to flash me a smile as I looked at her, but quickly realized I would never cheer up with the position I was in. "I'm sure you know how long we spent assuming 049 was incapable of speech, so learning it could speak with us was amazing, but it doesn't seem very chatty. You might have noticed him hovering near the glass recently. He's trying to get it to talk. It isn't going to. I've told him that a thousand times. It doesn't want to talk with us. It doesn't feel a need to. Yet, he's persistent, and I admire that, but it may be too harsh of persistence." She quickly shook her head out. "I'm really not supposed to be telling you all of this. Don't tell anyone we had this chat and I won't turn you in. I promise." She smiled, but I showed no change in disposition. "Anyways, come over here with me." I followed her as she spoke. "We've recently been getting a lot of paperwork in - classified topics, of course - but the general theme exists. It's becoming a nuisance. We're going to be moving around several reports on 049's behavioral patterns, quite a mess you can assume. You keep things flowing out, organize what comes in. I'll try to keep things calm for you today. Just keep the paperwork quiet and I'll try to keep him away from you. Alright?"

She was likely hoping for a verbal reply, but I stared at her quietly for many moments, and eventually she frowned and nudged me towards the paperwork before moving back to her previous spot.

I sighed deep within as I moved towards the stacks of paper. It would be copious amounts of fun for the day, organizing things I currently couldn't care less about while having little notions on where they were meant to go. Part of me was curious, wanted to know what these papers said; the other part would trade the notion that I would never know just to be emancipated.

I kept to the same general corner, putting forth extra effort to distance myself from any and all in the room. It wasn't that they were all hostile, - some of them were very friendly, in fact - it was just that I feared interrupting their work for even a second, and tipping off those who were less friendly. There was always the chance of ending up at the end of a gun barrel all over some papers. As long as I don't have to meet any of those SCPs. I'll organize papers until I develop an irrational fear of them just to avoid those creatures. It was abnormal, but I wouldn't complain too much.

Quickly did I throw myself to the side as two scientists passed by, having a friendly chat about SCP-049 and its activities. I ignored most of it on purpose. I didn't care what that doctor was doing in its cell. Let it throw itself into the wall for all I cared. It was of no interest to me.

There was a brief moment where several of the staff left, but they were switched back into place not long after their replacements arrived. I kept my eyes off of the new just as well as I blissfully dismissed the old. In fact, I aligned a stack of papers that was already as even as it was going to get just to avoid contact.

For quite a while - I cannot say several hours as although it felt like hours, I had no way to confirm any truth behind this - the flow of papers was very steady, just as I had been informed. It seemed like every time I was coming close to clearing everything out, a brand new stack, often larger then the previous, would grace me with its presence. How badly I wanted to read even one of these, even a single sentence, just to know what was going on here. It never made it past a quiet desire, though, for I would never make such an attempt, regardless of how safe it seemed, how unlikely it appeared I would be caught. The risk was not worth reading something I didn't even have any way of knowing was important. For all I knew, they could simply be hiding from me a list of what they've been drinking for the past week, and that would definitely not be worth any threat. It would be great fun to know they like their coffee dark before I was silenced.

I crossed the room, nearing the glass, but making certain not to look into it. If I didn't look at the creature, perhaps it would notice me just as little. It wasn't a threat in there anyways. I just had to move some papers and then I could move away once more.

"SCP-049 has been very quiet lately." I heard a highly familiar voice comment nearby. I tried to dismiss the conversation as well as I could. "It hasn't even made an attempt to move."

"What does it matter?" a far less familiar male voice replied. "It isn't in our hands what it does and doesn't do. Besides, look at it this way, there's less for us to write about if it just stands in a corner. Let it. I'd prefer not to have to write an elongated report on what it does with its time anyways."

With a slightly sarcastic chuckle, the first male answered, "At least you don't have to organize the paperwork." I stiffened and furthered my attempts to ignore them.

The conversation moved on with several bored comments about whether or not SCP-049 was doing nothing on purpose with no real conclusion being reached before the conversation was interrupted. I heard large portions of it at first, but managed to push more and more of it aside as time passed, returning back to the dull but familiar flow of organizing papers.

"What is 049 doing?" asked one of the two suddenly. I continued organizing, my brain barely processing what was being said behind me.

"What's wrong?" questioned the other in response.

"SCP-049 is looking this way. It stood up and it's now looking out of the glass. It looks really interested in something." the first noted as soon as he could.

"Get the head scientist over here! SCP-049 is moving towards the glass!" the second cried in a frenzy, rushing past the first to get the attention of the disgruntled head of the operation. Loud footfalls echoed behind me as the two moved to inform their superior. "Sir, sir!"

A grumpy response barked, "What?"

"SCP-049 is active again. Its moving around, nearing the glass." one of the man attempted to explain, speaking over his friend until the latter gave in to the former and silenced himself. "It just arose and after several moments of intense staring, began moving towards the glass." The explanation continued on with several repeats of what was already said, but I heard just as much of it as I had the rest, which was very little.

My mind completely ignored the tapping nearby - although it was pretty quiet in the first place - on the glass, and a deep voice asked, "Miss?"

"What is it doing?" I recognized the man who had first interacted with me upon entry into this room, but I failed to process the words I heard, despite hearing them quite well. "What is 049 doing? God dammit! Document this, get a handle on it! SCP-049 will not go against me!"

Eventually, my mind processed the nearby sounds - not the screaming of the scientists as they argued over SCP-049 and its actions, but the tapping sound, growing louder as the focus it was trying to garner failed to notice it. The tapping was coming from the glass of the containment area next to me, and as I glanced over I came to the startling observation that 049 was standing directly in front of the glass, its black slit eyes focused on me. It lowered its hand as I looked at it and asked, "Miss?"

Terror flashed through me as I hoped to God it was not trying to communicate with me. Nervously, I pointed to myself and timidly asked, "Me?"

Before SCP-049 could reply, a nearby guard rushed forward and savagely took hold of me. I howled as he grabbed me - 049 fell quiet, but did not seem to show any further emotion towards the assault launched on me - attempting a struggle for only half a second before realizing things would go worse for me the more I resisted, so I fell limp in his grasp. "You are not authorized to speak to SCP-049!" The command was screeched in my ear and my head vibrated.

"Wait!" I instantly recognized the female that put forth so much effort to make nice with me. "SCP-049 is capable of speech, but it has refused to talk to anyone for months!"

"Don't use time!" ordered the disgruntled head of the operation, his eyes burning brightly as he noted I had been given a time period. It was useless information to me, but the notion of what he would order now that I had it was terrifying - and guaranteed to be worse than being late.

The female replied, "She hasn't been observing 049. She doesn't know if it was talking before or after she was transferred here." She turned her focus between the two, rather then focused on just one person. "Point is, we've been trying to get SCP-049 to speak for a very long time and for the first time in forever it spoke, to her. We couldn't even start a conversation with it, nonetheless get it to start one of its own. Now it wants to talk to someone and you're going to throw this away over something as trivial as who she is or isn't authorized to speak to? If you won't allow this, then forget it, but I thought you cared about your studies and we need 049 to speak. If you won't authorize her to speak to it, then I will, because I need this information. Even if its trivial, I need it."

The head of the operation then barked, "You aren't in charge here!"

"No, I'm not, but we live in a democracy, and I'm sure those here agree with me that we should take any chance that SCP-049 wants to speak that we can." she responded. Several quiet murmurs rose among the group, but none spoke directly.

"I'll silence her." the guard who grabbed me huffed, referring to me directly. I felt a newborn fear, worse then what I felt when I looked at SCP-049, worse then what I imagined when I pictured it escaping.

With a shake of the head, the head of the group replied, "No. She's pardoned. I will authorize her to speak to SCP-049, but only this once." He dug his eyes deep into mine as he growled, "You are not to attempt conversation with SCP-049 after this instance." He turned to the guard. "Release her."

I felt relief for a moment upon being dropped to the ground, but as quickly as the fear relented did it rush back into me. It hurried back to its resting spot as my mind hit a realization. If I were being released, that meant I was expected to hold a conversation with SCP-049, whose eyes were still trained on me.

I approached the glass once more, glancing nervously at the colourless and featureless mask the being wore. Timidly, I said, "H-Hello?"

"Greetings, Miss." the being replied instantly, sounding a trifle excited. As it spoke, even just two words, many around me began scribbling down notes. I was being watched from every direction, including by this creature. "You are different."

I didn't want to talk with this thing, and despite the fact that this conversation saved me from termination, - and it seemed to meant a lot to the people observing too - I still didn't fancy it in the slightest, and I still hoped the creature would grow bored of this debate as quickly as it wanted to start it and go back to its life. "What do you mean?" I didn't want to continue this conversation, but I was worried I would be ordered to be killed all over if I purposely ruined this conversation, so instead I simply tried to be blunt with the creature.

"Miss, those around you are infected with a nasty disease. They are all very ill. You are healthy - different." the creature informed me, its head seeming to turn for half a second to those behind me before nodding back to me again.

I had heard this thing believing people to be infected, but far as I had heard, it thought everyone was infected. Now here it was standing in front of me and saying something new - someone wasn't ill. I wasn't ill. "What are they infected with?" I was now a little curious.

"The Great Pestilence, Miss." replied SCP-049 immediately, seemingly a little more excited as it discussed a topic that interested it.

Tilting my head, I inquired, "The what?"

Before SCP-049 could explain, one of the scientists behind me piped in, adding, "The plague, the Bubonic plague. 049 is referencing to the plague."

I turned back to look at it and it made no signs that the scientist had identified what it was speaking of incorrectly. "Nobody here is infected. I can tell you that."

SCP-049 shook its head, clicking its tongue at me. "You are misinformed, Miss. Perhaps you have been lied to, or it could just be that you do not understand the disease as I do, but these people are all infected." It lifted its head. "I want to know something, though. I want to understand. How are you healthy when you are surrounded by the infected? It is, as far as I can see, contagious. You are impeccable, Miss, resisting the illness as you have." I tried to speak, but I had gotten it excited, and it spoke over me. "Miss, it is my job to protect people from the Great Pestilence. It is my goal in life to cure the afflicted and protect the healthy, few of those as there are."

"That happened a long time ago!" I protested loudly. "It isn't a threat like it was. That was in the sixteen hundreds - hundreds of years ago. Besides, I thought there weren't effective cures for it around."

"I can assure you, Miss, my cure is quite effective." SCP-049 replied, and I felt a shudder go down my spine. Although it sounded as though it was no issuing a threat, I still perceived one anyways.

"If I'm not sick, then why are you talking to me? Don't you wanna cure the afflicted? Shouldn't you be telling these other guys about how sick they are?" Nerves raced through me as I questioned the creature. I should've acted like I didn't care, end this quickly, but I couldn't pretend there was no degree of interest in the creature and its beliefs where there was.

It answered, "Miss, I am speaking with you because I am doing my job. I told you, it is just as much my job to protect the healthy as it is to treat the afflicted. I have not come across an uninfected individual for a very long time. I must protect you from obtaining the disease. You and I, we are not infected." I dared not ask. I allowed it to speak. "I request you come in here with me, join me within these walls before you too are infected. I can protect you."

Several howls of protest arose from behind me. A couple attempted to calm the crowd, but the masses won control quite prominently.

The head of the operation rushed forward, slamming a fist on the glass. "You do not make the orders around here, 049! It is not your place to command anyone under me, important or not!"

SCP-049 fully ignored the man yelling at him, not so much as turning his head to glance. He failed to give anyone else the time of day except me, staring, and waiting. "Miss, I insist you come to me. Do not allow yourself to get infected. You are different. You are very different."

"No!" I howled at the creature, throwing myself away from the glass before looking back into its blank, masked face. "I'm not going in there with you! Even if I was allowed to, I wouldn't. You'll only kill me! If I go in there with you, you'd touch me, and you'd kill me! I'm not any different from everyone else here, aside from the fact that I'm disposable! Nobody here is infected! There isn't a plague here! You don't know what you're talking about! There isn't a plague and you know it! I won't go anywhere near you."

Several whispered conversations were taking place behind me, most of them debating whether or not I should be separated from the creature. Regardless of what the opinion was about this conversation, I was approached from behind by the kindly female, who placed a hand on my shoulder and nodded as she stared into my eyes. She soundlessly caught the attention of a nearby guard, who approached me and made to escort me out of the room. I did not argue. I kept my eyes off 049, attempted to ignore it.

I almost ignored SCP-049 as I was guided out. I failed to hear everything it said, almost. But before the door closed behind me, I heard SCP-049 mumble, "It is my job to protect you."