Anomaly

By Rose

The anomaly itself is...almost unremarkable. What seems to be a thin gash in the rocky wall gushes out clear water, flowing down the surface, pooling up across the floor of the immense cave. The water remains abnormally clear of dirt and debris, sure - and it doesn't drain away despite the endless flow. But if one was to simply walk in, there'd be no way to tell that anything was wrong for a while. It's fortunate for us that the impossible gash, or perhaps the water source behind it, is so overwhelmingly emissive in several anomalous energy sources; if it wasn't a screaming, burning fountain of EVE, Akiva radiation and Humes, it'd be nearly impossible to discover it by accident.

Nevertheless, here we are. A perimeter has been set up around the edge of the pool, and we've already blocked off the gigantic cavern entrance. I'd argued for a boundary further out too. Something to try and hide the frankly terrifying energy output, but it's taking time to get everything set up in such a wide perimeter and so for now, we're using the chance to get a closer look.

I take a step up to the barrier around the pool of water, setting down the thaumometer as lead researcher, Dr. Illissi, makes her way through the decontamination and joins me. I'm really mostly just here to hold some of the equipment today, nothing too exciting, but honestly it's technically a good chance for some career moves. Unlike me, she's apparently in a pretty bubbly mood today so, hopes are high so long as all goes well and I can put on a good enough face.

"All good there, Nisk?"

Damn, did she already see through me? I thought I was doing pretty well at pretending I'm not in a secretly crap mood-

"All good! Just waiting here. Nice and cool in here at least"

Whew. Good job me, that's some great instinctual acting. Illissi seems to be content with the response, nodding halfheartedly and opening up the gate into the pool. She seems to hesitate on the edge; she's not the first to go in, not even the tenth, but I understand her entirely. Even from outside of it, there's something about the pool that seems simply... different than everything around it. Still, after the brief moment of pause she marches on in unimpeded, striding to the far end of the cave where the main anomaly awaits. Even in the sealed rubber boots, even across the unsteady ground of the cave, she's one hell of a power-walker. I scoop up the thaumometer and jog on after her, not wanting to be left beh-

Oh, hold on, why the hell am I standing on two legs, that's not right.

I've caught myself even before I know I'm falling, forelegs just barely absorbing the impact that my tail failed to correct. I try to move it out of the way and sit back on my haunches, but I'm missing the weight of it's comfortable counterbalance, and I slam backwards instead, wincing at the agony that shoots through my twisted tailbase.

"Oh shit- Nisk, you okay?!"

I crane my aching neck to see Dr. Illissi full sprinting back to me. I want to tell her it's okay, but I have the wrong tongue in the wrong mouth, and the words come out garbled and slurred. That most definitively does not reassure her, but compared to the sudden loss of my wings and the confusion rising in my brain, that seems mild in comparison.

I mentally run through the cognitohazard checklist just in case. "Am I still thinking." Check. "Am I still in control of my body?" I try to pull my tail around in front of me, and nothing happens. Shit. Then my foreleg- that gets better results, and it does indeed move, but now I seem to be missing-

Oh.

I look down at the broken thaumometer in the water. Up at Dr Illissi, shouting something I can't focus on, and trying to pull me out of the water. I have just broken an exceedingly expensive piece of equipment, and embarrassed myself in front of my boss...because I'm feeling a bit too nonhuman today. I want to curl up and cry until I flood this cave, and drown in my own tears; but I truthfully couldn't say whether it's from seeing my job prospects lying ruined in the water, or because I'm feeling so intensely dysphoric at the horrible realization that I haven't suddenly become...

"Nisk! Are you good? We need to get you out—"

"I- it's... fine. I'm just stupid."

"What?"

I push her away as gently as I can, and shake my head. I still can't quite figure out how to stand, but that action still maps out correctly, and the realization that nothing has actually changed in my mouth means I can at least get the words out...

"It wasn't anything. I just... I just had a moment. N-nothing related to the anomaly, I think."

I want to explain myself to her. I so badly do. But I don't even know where I'd begin; particularly when it comes to the fact I'd find it easier to crawl out of the pool on all fours currently. It's beyond frustrating, especially that a part of me I thought I'd had in check has just become so...disastrous.

Although, that in itself is a touch strange. My mind starts to spin back up again, and red flags that I just put down start pinging back. I'm not...completely sure that I am in control of my body. My physical sensory map is completely wrong, and while the dysphoria isn't new, this is levels of phantom sense beyond comparison. It overtook not just my conscious mind, but my instinctual reactions too, even motor control.

I stare down into the water once more, and feel my not-tail curling and coiling nervously behind me, no wings flared. I don't want to say it, because it's going to be a long and incredibly uncomfortable discussion but...

It's calling to me. Really, really loudly.

"Actually...no, I might have to retract that. It's uh - it's a hard thing to explain, but it's...there's a compulsive effect. It's pretty strong to be honest."

"Okay, understood. Is it getting stronger? Can you get yourself out of the water?"

I can see something in her eyes re-categorising me. I'm a potential part of the anomaly now, and she's no longer trying to grab and lift me out of the water anymore. Now she's making distance, getting back across the barrier and pressing the emergency call button, sending a piercing siren ringing through the temporary containment site. It's the right call, and I hate it, because now there'll be an audience to my fuck up too!

"It's nothing bad. It's not... It's not going away, but it's not getting stronger either, I don't think. And it's not... not directly stopping me. Just, one moment."

It's not graceful. In fact I'm certain that if she wasn't in survival research mode, Dr, Illissi would currently be laughing her ass off, but regardless of how silly it looks, rolling over and then walking quad out of the water does easily bring me free. But the moment I step away from the waters edge...I desperately wish I hadn't. Now that I'm farther from it I can feel some part of me screaming in desperate, frantic longing-

"Alright, good...lets just get away, then we can run the full screening. How's the compulsion?"

"I...it's complicated."

It's not. It's not complicated. It's so, so simple and I need to get back in that water more than anything. I know, I know deeply that this is exactly how a compulsive anomaly would function, but..the risk is worth it for me, every single day. I'm not just gonna rush back in however; it didn't actually do anything physically the first time regardless, so until I know more, all I can really do is...whatever I'm told.

"Just, sit over there, try to explain best you can till we get some support, okay? What exactly is it compelling you to do?"

"...I suppose it's not technically a compulsion. More of a promise, or an idea of uh... Physical transfiguration, I suppose. I can't entirely tell."

"Hhrm. That's not extremely out of the ordinary for a compulsive effect I suppose? Usually it's more like "power", or wealth, or it's injecting some new desire and then promising to grant it. That actually sounds applicable-"

"It's uh... it's not new."

"Ah, then- hold on, so you do know what it is?"

"I..."

Shit.

"...Yes. Basically. It's not like I know exactly what it's specifically TRYING to do, just how it's coming across to my brain and the way it's being interpreted, but it's—"

"I'm gonna shorten this and just ask: In your judgement, is it imminently dangerous?"

"I don't think so."

"What is it actively doing to you, such that you were able to judge that it's compulsive?"

"Uh...I have an abnormally heightened sense of phantom touch and phantom limbs. And...issues with my brain to body mapping."

"Phantom limbs?"

"It's...soldiers sometimes get it after they-"

"I know what it is, I meant what limbs does it feel like you don't have? And what issues with body mapping?"

"...uh..."

"Are you- if you're embarrassed to say then...well I appreciate that it's uncomfortable, but this is an active, barely secured anomaly presenting previously unknown behavior-"

"Yeah I-... It's just. Tail, wings, uh...quadrupedal body mapping, that sort of thing.."

"Oh, so- OH. That's why you said it's not new. Shot in the dark, is it essentially just mapping out your dragon theriotype onto your body?"

Ah. Evidently I shouldn't be allowed to work in a top secret organization because apparently, I suck at keeping secrets. Or perhaps they're just very good at uncovering them? Either way I'm pretty sure I just felt my heart drop into my feet.

"I....

....yeah, but how do you even know?! Is that in my personel file?! A-and how do you know what theriotypes are?!-"

"Nisk, we have each others phone numbers. And we both use telegram. You don't have your profile settings on private or whatever. I've seen your pronouns, your character, all of that. Cute design by the way. And you have the theta delta symbol in your profile so...it's hardly hidden.

...That said, it probably IS in your personnel file because it's honestly not a bad indicator of someones likelihood for trying to access anomalous means to change their body. That happens SO damn often. I used to work on tracking down POIs, and believe me you're not the first, nor the twentieth that I've met."

Wow. I'm not sure what to say. In some ways, having everything out in the open is extraordinarily freeing, and in another way, I want to curl up into a smaller and smaller ball until I shrivel and disappear entirely, vanishing away from the world and taking all memory of my existence with me...

"Oh come on, don't give me that look! It's fine. Like I said you're not the first."

"...Mmm."

"If- oh, I think I hear the backup coming. Look, if it helps...if we determine that this isn't linked to any malicious entity, and it's not gonna take your soul or steal your mind and all the secrets, and there's no other eminent danger, and if it's judged to be safe to test the effects of this anomaly further...I can help recommend you for testing if you want that. Obviously you'll have to volunteer yourself first, but I can try to convince the higher ups on using you to see what happens if you "take the deal" so to speak."

"YES- Uh, I...yup. Yeah that'd probably be...good."

"Figured that might go down well. Plus, if you do become SCP-9950-B, you won't even have to ask people to start calling you "it.". Now then, backup's coming so lets just stay back, let them wave the guns around till we can explain why we hit the alarm."

It's difficult to see through the hazmat suits, but I'm pretty sure I just saw her quietly chuckle. It's a bit scary, because that means she and anyone else can for sure see whatever bizarre combination of confusion, embarrassment, glee and longing my face is currently trying to pull off.

Seven weeks later

"Beginning experiment 31. Primary parties present: Dr. Maria Triskin: Cryptobiology department. Dr Lina Illissi, Geology department. Three members of MTF Xi-13, with a contingent of MTF Sigma-9 on standby. And Junior researcher Nisk Anise, here-on known as SCP-9950-B-19, who has volunteered to be the test subject for this experiment.

The goal is to ascertain the end point of the transfiguration effect caused by SCP-9950-A upon humans, and how it relates to the emissions from the center of the anomaly. This test is estimated to run for approximately twenty-two hours based on previous experiments.

SCP-9950-B-19, you may enter the pool to begin when ready."

After seven weeks, two days, six hours, and thirty-eight minutes, they're lucky they even get to ask me once. The most intense parts of the phantom touch may have worn off, but something deeper remained, and it's been making it extraordinarily difficult to stay away for so long. But now I'm finally back, and I know what to expect this time. I don't bother trying to walk in upright; instead I stride forwards on my hands, knees just barely off the ground, tensing up in anticipation as I once more pass the boundary of the pool...

FINALLY.

That's better than two legs for sure, but something is still off. Missing the counterbalance of my tail and wings is dysphoric to say the least, but it's bliss just to have such strong phantom feelings again.

"Anything noticeable?"

It's something of a comfort to have Dr Illissi back with me. Though there was some CONSIDERABLE resistance to letting me return to 9950, she'd apparently been a huge part in convincing the committee that my volunteering was not purely an effect of the anomaly, and that it would in fact be the most ethical way to gather more critically needed information. If it wasn't for her, I may still be sitting in rehabilitation and monitoring. Instead I'm here, laying in the pool, letting the warm water soak into my coveralls and bathing in the feeling of almost being...complete.

"Oh yeah. Same as last time, maybe even stronger? It's...whooh. I can feel my skin- well, feels more like scales but- yeah I can feel it shifting when I move my wings, but then I try and look and nothing. It's extremely bizarre..."

"Hrrm. Well, there's no anomalous movement anywhere physically, it just looks like you're slightly shifting your shoulders. Alright keep us updated on any new or different feelings. It'll probably take around an hour before any notable physical changes start to happen, and we've no idea when they finish. Previous tests indicate you may experience some physical discomfort during the changes, but there was never anything extremely severe"

"All good. Is there any particular way I should be sitting, or?..."

"Honestly, just get comfortable."

"Will do."

As much as I can with 5 cameras pointing at me from several different angles, I settle down, and try to relax.

01:32:41...

"-and it's like, some fancy new thing too, so of course it's the first thing to get hit when the breach happens!"

"Holy shit. So that's why he was so fuckin' uniquely pissed that it escaped?"

"Yeah! Ah, speaking of giant lizards, how are you doing?"

Someone with 5 times my mental strength would have a hard time handling what THAT does to me, but I do my very best to remain a true professional. I mean I fail, turning beet red and stifling a euphoric growl, but I do try.

"...mmmhhhhm. Good! Uh, very good, though I haven't particularly felt many changes yet. Although...OH. OH! My uh, my nails! They're more like claws now! They're sharp and they're sorta...growing downwards into my fingers a bit? If you've ever seen feline claws, sort of like that? I don't know if they're gonna be retractable. I'd like them to be, I think. Oh it's weird but..it doesn't hurt or anything."

"Could you get a closer shot with a handheld camera? We've got a go-pro we can toss over. And check if any other bits have changed too, while you're there."

A few minutes later and I'm scanning the camera over the top of my fingers, giving the best shot I can of the changing claws to the live feed. It does feel somehow exhibitionist with such a considerable audience and so many cameras, but the strangeness is effortlessly offset by the excitement of seeing my body start to change...

"Hold on, can you go back up a bit? Around the mouth- I thought I saw some changes to your teeth too. Looks like some sharpening, roughly what we expected but sooner than with the last human test subject. Might be seeing an accelerated timeline? We'll keep watch..."

02:27:12...

"My booooonnnneessss...."

"That bad huh? You can technically pull out now if you wa-"

"NO, nononono. It's fine, it's just...Wow. More than ever I'm painfully aware how wrong the shape of all my bones are.

"Right. Well, unfortunately we can't offer you any anesthetic, since we don't know if it would influence the experiment, so...I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to deal with it for however long it lasts..."

"GGHHRRGGggggrrrrrrrgrgrggrrrr..."

"...Did you just growl at me?"

I did and I'm not sorry. It genuinely feels like every single bone is either broken or breaking, and though the totality of the pain isn't as severe as it should be, it's sure as shit not particularly pleasant. Nor is it exactly pleasing to look at. It's at least symmetrical, but it seems to affect my body with in different parts more at different times. My ribcage started to stretch first, leaving me with a strangely bloated shape until my arms and legs began to lengthen and engorge too. My skin did not split into scales as I thought it might; instead it's been peeling away to reveal them beneath, like a snake shedding it's skin. If it was happening to me without context, the sheer disgust at my own body would have practically killed me, but as a transitory stage...it's bearable.

"It's..it's been hard not to do that for the past half hour. I'm fine, I'm still me, it's just a touch intense. I promise, I'll call it off if it ever gets too much..."

"I don't actually believe you. But it's your own pain tolerance, so...very well."

I nod, and slump back down into the water. She's not wrong: there's no way in hell I'd pull out, but that doesn't make it any less intense. At least I can feel my wings and tail starting to form, growing in slowly, and painfully...but surely.

03:48:33...

"Dr Triskin recording here. Subject of experiment: SCP-9950-B-19. Experiment 31, 3 hours, 48 minutes after initial entry into SCP-9950-A. Subject has grown by at least 500kg, possibly more. Total length now reaches...Hmm, could you stretch out a bit for me B-19?"

An unpleasant chorus of popping and cracking groans out from my body as I do my best to oblige, laying myself prone across the cavern floor. It's unpleasant, form caught between two shapes, yet taking neither fully quite yet.

"Okay, looks like... sixteen and a half feet. Subjects skin has changed texture and color dramatically, becoming a deep red around the hands, forearms, feet and calves, and a paler red around most of the rest of it's body. It's head is beginning to elongate, and all of it's limbs have begun to change shape, mostly elongating, with considerable changes to the ratio of the feet to the legs, and each section of joints to each other. Subject is no longer easily recognizable as a human being. It appears to be turning into some sort of scaled quadruped with wings; Similarities in appearance to a fictional character design created by subject B-19 itself are notable."

She lowers the recorder a little, raising an eyebrow as she glances down at something on the table, out of my line of sight.

"Personal note: I admit curiosity about a particular aspect of this design, or rather how it will be translated into the ongoing transformation. The character design created by SCP-9950-B-19 posses a piece of floating physiology, not physically connected in any way to its body, in the form of red orb present between its horns. Will SCP-9950s transfiguration also be capable of producing this form of anomalous physiology?"

Though the horrible realization that she probably has a copy of my ref sheet does sort of feel like being shot in the gut, it's offset somewhat by the fact that she's definitely already seen my genitals...and then seen them shrink away into a cloaca. It's clear that everything I am is laid out on full display at this point, my privacy nonexistent, so...whatever. It doesn't matter anymore.

I'm becoming the version of myself that I don't want to hide.

04:02:45...

"It says in your reference sheet that you have electrosensitivity also tied to your vision, and the ability to detect and absorb incoming magic with your orb"

"I just!...I thought it'd be a really nice feeling. The thought of having more senses has always been something deeply euphoric, I guess?"

"Oh hey no argument. I can sense magic, and...yeah. It's something you don't really ever get used to, in a good way-"

"You're a thaumaturge?!"

"Used to be more of one. Life...happened, and I lost most of it. But in places where it's strong, like here...I can still weave my hands through the flow of EVE. It's part of why I was the lead researcher for this whole thing, they wanted someone who could potentially interact with it in ways most couldn't. Anyways, what I wanted to ask was if you're actually feeling any of those new senses?"

"I...I don't know. T-the orb hasn't formed yet so magic sense is out, and...well the electroreceptive organ is meant to be in my snout. Maybe when I'm done changing, then I'll be able to do that?"

"Ah, that sounds...logical, yeah. By the way, have you felt any mental changes at all? Dr Triskin is gonna do a proper test soon but, I'm just curious"

"I think so! I mean for the first time in...god knows how long, my head actually feels clear. It's like all the accumulated stress and pain and...whatever. It's all been scraped away and I'm genuinely just me, clean of the crud. I...I can actually remember stuff now! And I've been thinking back over some of my previous research papers, and the one I was working on before all this and...wow. Suddenly it's like it doesn't hurt to think too hard, it's incredible to be honest!

That genuinely seems to stump Dr Illissi. I can see her eyes go wide even from several meters back, her expression changing from surprise, to confusion, to curiosity...

"Well, that's wonderful! Uh...any other changes? Anything...y'know, dragon-y?"

"...If you give me nesting materials, I will build a VERY lovely nest. Actually...that would be really really nice right now. And, well... I was vegan before but I could do very messy things to a steak right now. Or probably an entire cow."

"What about humans?"

Ah. That's a dangerous question for me. I don't know how patient Dr Triskin is, but I can't pause too long; that'd be suspicious. But neither can I rush my answer and fuck it up in any way, because it has already occurred to me that I could very well be contained forever, never to be let free. My wings have unfortunately already given away my surprise, flaring up behind me, but I have to at least play it off correctly still...

It's not particularly helpful that the true answer is not actually all that comforting.

"No, I don't have any desire whatsoever to eat a person."

"Why?"

"WHY? D-do you wanna eat a person?! Would you, if you had the chance?!"

I'm really, really hoping that I sounded appropriately disgusted. It's hard to gauge exactly how she and the others are reacting though; Dr Illissi looks like she might be stifling a laugh, and the squad members of Xi-13 barely react, but Dr Triskin is impossible to read. Very much unlike myself, my aggressively raised wings and nervously writhing tail making it hard to hide anything...

"If given the ideal form for it, and opportunity, I would at least be curious. Surely it's something you must have considered, given the state of your body. You are an obligate carnivore now, yes? The entirety of the human population is technically on the menu for you."

"I didn't just magically lose all of my fucking morality though! I wouldn't just...murder someone!"

"What about someone who's trying to kill you? A member of the Chaos insurgency perhaps? The killing itself isn't an issue, it's no longer "murder" as you said. It's self defense. You wouldn't be tempted, even just curious, to see what humans taste like?"

"...I'm really glad you're not the one turning into a dragon."

"Answer the question."

"I...there's a difference between wondering about something and doing it. You must have had random intrusive thoughts from time to time. "Curiosity" when you're standing somewhere high, and you suddenly really want to jump. It's..it's like that."

"So you have indeed thought about it"

"Apparently not half as much as you."

She seems to be...not satisfied, but done with the questions at least. Which is extremely fortunate because I'm scared if she asked me any more, I would have punched through the concrete barricades, and showed her exactly what I'm now thinking about eating people.

04:26:17...

Ooooooough, I have suuuuuuch a lovely tail...swiiiisssh...

04:39:41...

"Oop! There it goes, popped right out! It's floating too, right where it should be."

"Fascinating...it'll be worth investigating what force is holding it there. It may have other applications too..."

"Potentially. Well lets see what it's actually doing first, might be even more useful than we imagine."

"B-19! How does that feel now?"

I have my orb now! It's smooth and pearlescent, and its surface swims with shimmering reds, flowing across it like waves. I never even had it fully drawn like that- it's just how I'd always imagined it, and it's perfect. A touch hard to see due to its placement, but if I look down at my reflection in the water, it's definitely floating there between my horns! I reach up and run a claw very gently across it, shivering at the extremely bizarre sensations it gives...

"It's...It's so perfect..."

"Well that's good, but I more meant in terms of the sensory aspect. Is it capable of sensing thaumaturgy?"

A heavy thump brings me back onto my haunches, now almost properly formed. Though there's still a bit to go, and I'm a touch too small and a bit too thin and gangly, it's far easier for me to walk on all four legs now than two. And with my arms almost entirely formed into forelegs, I can even get up a good jog, gleefully trotting closer to the gash in the cave wall that's been blasting out EVE.

I don't technically need to - I can already feel it in the air, feel it flowing around and into my body. And though the sensations aren't as strong as they should be, I at least have a very basic sense for EVE now!

"Yeah, I can feel it! Given how much is apparently pouring out here, I can't feel it as strongly as I probably should be able to, but I can definitely sense it! I-I can actually kind of...see it, too? It's faint, and it doesn't seem to exactly overlap with my regular vision, but there are these thick lines seeping out from the wall..."

"Now that is fascinating. We'll have to run some proper testing for it sometime but, it appears this might actually be a way to turn someone into a type blue."

"And a dragon."

"Well, yes that too. The question is if it only works if you genuinely WANT to be able to sense EVE. And if you have to be a dragon therian on top of that, or if simply having one specific sensory desire is enough..."

"...I foresee a lot of people getting turned into dragons..."

"Probably not TOO many, no. A few who're after such a thing may be best. And testing some basics on those who've gone into SCP-9950-A before wouldn't be a bad idea. Several...well, ALL, have reported new or renewed interest in dragons, and feelings of "longing" or euphoria associated with them when questioned. Some of them may be more than willing to go through this full transformation for testing purposes"

"You've been in before too, have you not? Do you plan on excluding yourself for the purpose of carrying out this research?"

"I wouldn't dream of putting other colleagues through something I'm unwilling to go through myself. I appreciate that I may have to excuse myself from being head of research for this project. I would even be willing to be part of the testing group, if it's required."

"...I see. Purely for testing purposes, I assume."

"...Of course."

04:57:03...

MTF Sigma 9, and MTF Xi-13s people have departed, called off for other more critical missions. Instead I am awaited for any mistake by MTF Eta-5. It's a strange thing to bring me euphoria, but it does. I am a large scale aggressor, or at least, I am believed to have the potential to be one.

I can't say they're wrong. I may bear no aggression; particularly now that my wings and tail have grown in, finally granting me the satisfaction of feeling their weight, their balance, my body and mind welcoming them back as if they'd never been missing at all; but I can feel how utterly lethal I could be. When I drag my claws against the rock, it yields to them, leaving deep gouges in the surface. When I stretch, or roll or growl, the world seems to shake with me. I am one hundred and fifteen feet long, thirty-four tons, and when I move, it's terrifyingly fast. I feel as if I weigh almost nothing at all.

I wonder if it makes those in attendance feel more or less comfortable that I'm laid on my back, wriggling and purring like a cat on catnip?

It's not REALLY my fault. Anyone would do the same, given the cocktail of utter BLISS running through my brain. Each and every neuron feels new. There's something else different too: It's harder to quantify, but I THINK that my nerve transmission rate might be faster. It's one of many things, but combined with the bottomless well of euphoria, a wealth of new or enhanced senses, and the fact that I'M A FUCKING DRAGON NOW, all I can do is lay there and drink it all in, floating on the chemicals in a brain that finally seems to be obeying me...

"Uh...did you hear me, B-19?"

"...Hrmm? Oh, sorry yes. I'm still me, I am SO MUCH me. There's just a LOT of new sensations and I'm...fuck, I can't even begin to describe it! I..I just..!...."

I give up on words. Nothing can describe this. I fall back and let tears of joy mix into the water, stretching out with fresh new limbs, vast membranous wings scraping at the edge of the cave. When I shift them, I feel the air pressure across their surface, the lift from their movement. I feel my tail curling behind me, and glance back to see it in all of its glory, thick and prehensile, its tip tracing patterns in the water, the flow of EVE caressing over my scales.

I am...complete. Ideal. Perfect, at least, to myself.

"I think..I think I'm done. This is...my body cannot get any more ideal than this, not for me..."

"Understood. I don't think we've seen any other changes for a little bit, so that tracks. Just give us a bit, and we'll get you somewhere more comfortable, okay?"

"Yeah, that- that sounds good. Also, uhm...since I assume I'm going into containment for a bit, could I make a simple request for my chamber?"

"Can't promise it'll be granted, or ready by the time you're moved there even if it is, but shoot"

"I would really, really love some nesting materials. Truth be told, I've been feeling like i should be making one ever since it came up earlier..."

"Anomalous compulsion?"

"Whu- not unless it's anomalous in birds, I guess?!"

Four hours later...

"How do you normally deal with LSAs anyways?"

"I'm definitely not supposed to talk to you..."

"I'm not asking for anything classified, I'm honestly just curious. Maybe I can help! Don't act like you don't want to see two LSAs fighting. I'd even let you mount guns on me as long as you're careful. And as long as I can still continue on my research paper in the meantime..."

"...No matter how that idea sounds, I don't have the clearance to agree to it"

"Heh, knew you'd love the sound of that..."

Four hours later...

"Can you tuck your fuckin tail in?!"

"I am! It's not my fault you brought in such tiny containers!"

"It's fifteen metres long!"

"And I'm more than that! I thought you lot were the Kaiju killers, how are you so bad at this?!"

"A: We're the Jaeger Bombers, and B: blowing you up isn't the hard part!"

"Oh is that so? What, do you shout at them till they detonate too?"

"As it happens, we brought one of our brand new KF-51s just for you, and if you don't TUCK YOUR TAIL-"

Eleven hours later...

It's strangely nerve wracking walking up to the door of my containment unit. Since I was given an exceedingly heavy armed escort into a nearby containment site, I've been given basically no information other than what I can overhear from the members of Eta-5. If I didn't know better, it would feel like being lead to my death. I do know better, but my mind is nonetheless spiraling with horrific ideas for what can be on the other side of the vast steel door. Not that I have a choice anymore: there is another behind me, and that will not be opening again.

With a deep mechanical groan, it starts to vanish into the wall. Agonizingly slow, the metallic grinding rings through my head like the drawing of the executioners blade... But, when it finally retreats, there's no danger. It's just a standard containment unit, albeit hastily built...

And in the center, there's a spectacular collection of things! There's not really any specific order or theme to them, just a vague pile of large items that could hypothetically be good for dragon comfort. Impressively, there's several entire quite large trees in the pile, which my brain instantly ascertains will make for very good nesting materials!

...I probably shouldn't be as excited about that as I am. But since I'm able to fluently switch between thoughts of "Nest building" and "The theoretical carrier particle of Elan Vital Energy, and it's hypothetical anti-particle" I haven't really got anything to complain about either.

I'm about halfway through stripping a tree of it's branches with a hindpaw when Dr Illissis voice suddenly pipes up over the intercom system.

"Gooooood morning SCP-9950-B-19. I..was going to ask how you're doing, but it seems like you're already busy. Weren't kidding about the nest building I see?"

"I'm still doing pretty fantastic honestly! Well...you wouldn't believe the kind of craving I have to take to the sky, but other than that? I'm feeling...beyond incredible. I...if you ever get the chance to do this..don't miss it. Eeeeeven knowing I'm gonna be contained for a little while, it's BLISS."

A sudden crunch echoes out through the cell as the tree I was holding in my tail is snapped into several pieces with my over-excitement. I can't see Dr Illissis face, but there's a familiar chuckle over the intercom as I turn to start sorting out which pieces I want, scooping them up closer with a wing...

"Oh and, thank you for all of these nesting bits too. It's absolutely ideal for this!

"You're a little lucky on that one. There's been a lot of tree clearing going on for this containment site, and then there was some debate about expanding it too, so we've got lots of spare materials lying about. Plus, to my surprise and yours I assume, Maria actually backed me on giving you this stuff."

"Ah. So it's probably some sort of test then."

I clamp my jaws down on the now stripped section of tree-trunk, and idly flick it out of the way of my nest. Perhaps a tad too exuberantly, as it goes sailing first into the ceiling, and then crashing back down into the floor of the containment chamber before coming to a rest in the corner.

I...knew I was strong now, but it's genuinely bizarre feeling how light everything seems. I desperately need to learn how to moderate my own strength apparently, a thought which makes it exceedingly hard to keep a delighted grin off of my face.

"...Hmm. Yeah, uh...maybe. I doubt you need to worry about it though. Just be patient; It may take a while before you're given consideration as a researcher again."

"I know, I know. I had seven weeks to decide what I was getting into. Or... ten seconds to decide, and then seven weeks to wait. I'm good at patience."

There's a worryingly long silence after that. I try not to pay it too much mind, coiling up the next tree in my tail to snap it apart, while intertwining the leafy branches into a more comfortable resting spot. I'm starting to get the impression that I might be needing it for a while...

"...It might not just be something like seven weeks. I don't know what we're looking at to be honest. It could be days, it could be years. There might be changes to your containment cell to make it a bit more bearable, maybe some time allowances to give you space outdoors, or you might be back on as a researcher within the month. Believe me, I'm going to try my best to push for the best outcome, but especially right now, I have no idea what's gonna happen with you."

"What do you mean "right now"? What's going on?"

"Oh, right. Uh...something is happening to anomalies. All across the world, all across..well, all across OUR multiverse at least. It's weakening, shrinking. Dying out everywhere. It's not that strong right now, but at the rate it's growing, it might consume the entirety of the anomalous world."

"I..hold on. I'M an anomaly now, what-"

"9950 hasn't shown any signs of being affected! And neither have any of the other animals fully affected by it. That was another part of why you were approved for this, because higher ups wanted to know if there's a potential solution within SCP-9950."

"...Shit. Okay that's...holy shit. Are- are you're allowed to tell me any of this by the way?"

"Not officially, but nothing about this anomaly is being handled like usual. It may work out to your advantage, it may not. Like I said, just...be patient."

"Has it been given a slot yet?"

"You're not gonna be able to access a terminal for a while Nisk. But uh...it's been assigned the 6500 slot, I believe."