Chapter 97

Dr. Bright pinched his chin, pondering slightly.

Afterward, he took a bunch of keys out of his pocket, held them in his hand, but did not make up his mind to actually open the iron lock.

It seemed he was weighing, it seemed he was hesitating.

After thinking for a while, he answered with a serious expression:

"It's not that there is anything strange about this building."

"The problem is a flight of stairs inside."

"It winds and turns downward, with no end in sight. No matter what light source is held, the visual range does not exceed 1.5 flights of stairs."

"What's even more eerie is that there are ceaseless painful cries inside, far away at 200 meters underground, and no matter how one descends, one will never get closer to the source of the sound."

"How about it? Still want to go down?"

Dr. Bright turned his head to look at Sampo, using his gaze to ask for his answer.

And in a place beyond Sampo's line of sight, lines of text appeared.

[Contained Object: Immortality]

[Item Number: SCP-963]

[Danger Level: Euclid]

[Item Description: "SCP-963" must be attached to the subject's forehead or back of the hand using epoxy resin of appropriate strength. (Deprecated)]

[Changed to: "SCP-963-1" is currently hung around the subject's neck with a chain. It is not permitted to hide "SCP-963-1" on the subject's body. If anyone attempts to do so, they must be executed immediately.]

[If the current D-class subject survives for more than 30 days, they must be executed, and another subject must be selected to wear "SCP-963-1." (Deprecated)]

[Changed to: According to the order of O5-█, any host of "SCP-963-1" must have their execution deferred until it is passed on due to natural causes, or "SCP-963-1" is transferred to a new host.]

Looking at the document on the screen.

Herta had to admit.

She was seduced by the word "Immortality," actually naively categorizing the Foundation's contained object with her collection of Curios.

Although this contained object didn't seem to have any danger, it was linked to the O5 Council, had traces of deletion and modification, and even appeared with the words "execution" and "capital punishment."

This looked very unreliable no matter how you looked at it.

"'Host'... could it be that this contained object has biological characteristics, that it is parasitic in nature?"

"Then, what is the situation with that Dr. Bright? Is he willing to be parasitized by 'SCP-963'?"

"But why was it written as 'SCP-963' in the file at the beginning, and then it became 'SCP-963-1' later?"

This was the first time in the files provided by the Foundation that there had been deletions and modifications to the file content.

And regardless of the original text or the modified content, both revealed the evil nature of "Immortality."

This made her worry whether Dr. Bright, who was wearing "Immortality," had already been parasitized, or if some unknown changes had occurred.

In her heart, Herta still hoped that this Dr. Bright was safe.

After all, people who could be crowned with the title of Doctor in the Foundation were, more or less, people with quite high intelligence.

Perhaps, like her, he was also a rare genius in the world.

The doctors currently known to the Foundation, besides the well-known "Dr. Bright," Dr. M who studied the "Unclean," were only this Dr. Bright.

Amidst Herta's doubts and worries, more file content was made public.

[At the time of the incident, Dr. Jack Bright was a fully qualified junior researcher, assigned to be responsible for studying the properties of "SCP-963-1," and was authorized to access [REDACTED].]

[When "SCP-076-2" breached containment, Dr. Bright happened to be passing by the containment unit of "SCP-076-2" while holding "SCP-963-1," and became the first personnel to die from a containment breach 0 ....... ]

[Approximately █ days later, D1-113, who was assigned to clean up the ruins, discovered and picked up "SCP-963-1" in the wreckage. D1-113 then immediately underwent significant changes.]

[The content of the interview with him is as follows:

████: Can you tell me your name?

D1-113: I am Jack Bright, you damn well know that!

████: I believe you are Tom Higly, working for us to offset your life sentence.

D1-113: Don't talk nonsense! I can't be— ("SCP-963-1" was removed from D1-113 at this time. Further MRI scans showed that D1-113 ceased all higher brain functions. 963-1 was put back, and D1-113's brain function immediately returned to normal)

████: Dr. Bright?

D1-113: What?

████: It seems we have run into some trouble.]

Inside the Astral Express.

Dan Heng browsed through these contents line by line, and in his heart, he had a vague guess about the essence of this contained object.

As a member of the Vidyadhara, he himself was a descendant of the Aeon of "The Abundance," and the power of "The Abundance" flowed in his blood.

Therefore, he was particularly sensitive to this term.

His pupils dilated slightly, and he whispered:

"It's actually this kind of 'Immortality'... Yes, this is indeed a kind of 'Immortality'."

Looking again at the amulet in front of Dr. Bright, Dan Heng's eyes were full of wariness.

"The real Dr. Bright is already dead, so what exactly is the one on the screen?"

"A fake? Or an unlucky guy who was possessed?"

[After numerous experiments, it has been discovered that when any simian suborder comes into direct contact with "SCP-963-1," the subject's consciousness will be erased, and Dr. Bright's consciousness will be projected from "SCP-963-1" onto the subject.]

[Dr. Bright's original memories will also be passed on between hosts.]

[If the subject is in contact with "SCP-963-1" for thirty days, their brain function will become a copy of the previous Dr. Bright.]

[If "SCP-963-1" is removed after this stage, the subject will become an independent copy retaining Jack Bright's consciousness.]

[To avoid creating multiple instances of Dr. Bright, such entities must be executed to prevent Dr. Bright from colluding with himself.]

[But facts have proven that such actions are unnecessary, because Dr. Bright has completely dedicated himself to the Foundation and its cause.]

[Dr. Bright himself has conducted extensive experiments on "SCP-963-1," showing a strong desire to be liberated from it.]

[Interviews with Dr. Bright indicate that █████████ committed suicide in the process of using the power of "SCP-963-1," but it was precisely this act that caused him to fail to subordinate his own consciousness into this amulet.]

[Dr. Bright speculates that he himself, due to homicide, rather than the attempted suicide that the original creator did, inadvertently activated the power of "SCP-963-1."]

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