~LARGE AUTHOR'S NOTE/UPDATE~

"PASSED TIME"

So, it's been a while huh? I'm gonna be honest, it's been years since I've even really thought about this site, much less get on it. Literally, it's been 7 years since my last update on this fanfic. But a couple days ago, I came back on here mainly on a whim, having seen an old video on YT that I liked a lot(and still do) and it made me crave some fanfics all over again, so I came back to the website.

I have been reading again, but I also took a look at my profile, cringed at my old things, and fell into the old habit of checking the reviews of my most popular fic, this one. A cruddy, short, fairly cringey SCP fanfic, filled with terrible writing and needless sex scenes. And I was surprised to see reviews having been left just 2 years ago, when I expected this story to pretty much be dead and buried, and yet some people seem to still enjoy this random fanfic I made when I was younger.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate the attention it's got! But at the same time, having grown older at this point, I cringe at all of the prior chapters, including the unsatisfying note I left it off on in Chapter 8. And strangely enough, a part of me wants to continue it! But given the time difference, I've been struggling to figure out how.

Obviously, I've changed a lot, but at the same time plenty is at least somewhat the same. My writing ability is, as far as I can tell, about the same level it used to be. I think(and hope) I've improved at least in some regard, like, my vocab is probably a bit better than it used to be. But I'm still OOZING amatuer hour here, it's obvious. And I know I don't need to be Neil Gaimon to write a fanfic here, but I feel like my pride and self-judgment has increased ten fold.

So here we are. I'm now in my 20s, wondering how to pick up a 7, but technically 11 year old fanfic I never expected to go anywhere. Not that I'm saying it's going anywhere lol

But! I'm genuinely interested in trying to pick this back up! So, I'm sorry to tease you guys so much with a long author's note and not an actual chapter yet, I know I used to hate that when I was waiting for updates on a story. BUT, to try and give anyone still actually following this story something to hold in the meantime, I have a couple things.

I'm gonna let you guys know some things about my plans/ideas for this fic, and I might hold a poll to let all y'all help decide where to go from here! My current ideas for the continuation consist of A, just trying to pick up where the original left off, and try to ignore the shortcomings of the original chapters. B, is basically treating it sort of like Samurai Jack season 5 to a degree, with possibly a timeskip or something, and carry on from a different point. C, is essentially just redoing the whole story. Either redoing it chapter by chapter, and then working my way to the long awaited chapter 9, or start over on a new file for the same story but reworked from the ground up. I might come up with more ideas, and if any of you have ideas feel free to share!

After I finish this long ass update, I want to give you all at least something, so I'm going to write a short bit in the story here, likely not directly continuing from where the last chapter left off, but it's gonna be at least something from within the story. And to try and keep the options for the actual next chapter open, this will be from the perspective of a random soldier! But it's gonna be at least something to give all of you.

Anyways, thanks for reading my rambling, and thank you to anyone who either stumbled on this trash heap recently and actually liked it, and anyone who found it early on and has stayed here all this time. All of you are the biggest, if not the ONLY reason I plan on trying to revive this thing at all. I do have some desire to, but you guys give me the motivation to actually try and do it!

So now, with all the boring and mushy stuff out of the way, it is my pleasure to present to you, hopefully a good window into what will come! Enjoy!

My heavy breathing seemed to echo in the storage room I holed up in, the only other sound I could hear being my heart beating through my chest and layers of armor. I knew this was all in my head, everything was deathly silent in this part of the facility, at least in this moment. No growls, no gunshots, no more screams. I might've been the only one left in this sector, to my knowledge, seeing as I saw countless people die within minutes of the breach. And those I didn't see actually die, have all but disappeared into the darkness one way or another.

"One, two, inhale… One, two, exhale… One, two, inhale… one, two, exhale…" I repeated this mantra over and over to myself in a low whisper, doing my best to slow my labored breathing. A sorry attempt to calm my nerves, but something my team lead taught me early on after I joined. From the stories I heard alone I knew I'd need to use it, but I didn't expect it to save me this time.

Clichés aside, I was considered one of the only remaining rookies on my team. I had only been on this team for about a year, yet everyone else had years of experience in this kind of hellish work. They all outranked me in every way, and I was always chastised for it. My short military work before this wasn't easy by any means, covert ops, rescue missions from remote locations, and a few months on front lines work. I always performed as highly as I could, not only trying to make an example for the others, but to try and propel myself farther, faster.

Eventually it must've worked, landing me a one way ticket to working for the Foundation. I was ready and willing at first but after only a year here I would go to the front lines in any other current shithole in a heartbeat.

I mentally slapped myself for getting so lost in thought like that, and focused on taking inventory, and trying to establish what little I could depend on right now.

"Primary, sidearm, blade, ammo… Radio, with dead batteries…" I sighed to myself, making note to add those to the checklist of things I needed right now, right alongside the rest of my team and damn stiff drink. I shuffled through the rest of my items, discarding anything that wouldn't be of use right now. "Some papers, cigarettes and my lighter… Actually, on second thought…" I thought about it for a moment, stuffing those back in my pockets, you never know after all.

My organizing and rationalizing was cut short by a loud bang nearby, sounding like a door slamming closed. I froze for a moment, gathering myself and my things, holding my gun close to my in preparation. Heavy footsteps approach slowly, followed by a low grumbling. I held my breath, waiting expectantly if whatever was outside would pass by, or try to enter my small safe haven.

WELL I hope that that lil tidbit was at least SOMETHING to help the long absence, even though it was super simple and didn't really have any action. But it's super late right now and I wanted to try and get this finished before going to sleep. But I hope you enjoyed and await whatever comes next for this fanfic!