Warning: This work has been rated 18+ for language and violence.
Zachary Michael O’Ryan walks into Sergeant Jasmine Cartwright’s office, his tail wagging and flicking behind him. His signature pointed-toothed smile is already in place, ears on top of his head giving a small, involuntary wiggle as he steps inside.
The black-haired woman behind the desk doesn’t react. Not even a flicker. Her expression is serious—almost permanently etched into a stoic neutrality that makes her look perpetually unimpressed. Thoroughly unamused would be generous.
“1849,” she says flatly. “Where is your mandated escort?”
“Corporal Chavez?” Zachary tilts his head slightly, the smile never quite leaving. “Uh—still in the exam room, I think. Observation, maybe. I don’t know.” He shrugs, tail slowing just a touch. “I kind of left after the cross-testing. He was really engrossed in his phone. I gave him like fifteen, twenty minutes to finish up, but…” Another shrug. “I got bored and left.”
The sergeant rubs her temples, already reaching for her radio.
Zachary steps forward quickly, hands up. “Wait. Wait. Wait—wait, wait, wait. This could be a learning experience for the young corporal. Think about it.”
She pauses, fingers still hovering near the transmit button. “And what kind of learning experience would this be?”
“A very amusing one,” he says easily. “Think about it. I didn’t even tell you what I did after I left the exam room—or cross-testing chamber, whatever you guys call those things. I still don’t know.”
She says nothing. Zachary takes that as permission.
“Okay, okay, okay,” he continues. “So. After I left the exam room—cross-testing chamber, whatever it’s called—I went straight to Dr. Jack Bright’s office for tea and lunch.” His tail gives a small flick at the memory. “We had a thorough laugh at the corporal’s expense. He noticed immediately that I wasn’t being shadowed like he’d mandated. Laughed that I slipped him so easily.”
He rolls one shoulder, casual. “After that, I went to the mess hall to grab some bottled water. Then I hit the gym and sparred with a few members from MTF Theta-7. After that, I went back to my containment chamber to change into something more comfortable.” A brief pause. “I was pretty sweaty.”
“You involved—” She stops, rubbing her temples again. “The Site Director in your… let’s call them shenanigans.”
Zachary doesn’t hesitate. “Yeah. Me and him have lunch almost at least once a week. He finds my brand of chaos refreshing.”
By now, Zachary is already sitting in the chair opposite her desk, spinning slowly in place. His pointed, toothed smile is permanently etched on his face, tail lazily swaying with each rotation.
The sergeant grimaces. “It would be so much easier if I was allowed to shoot you.”
Zachary stops spinning and turns to face her fully. “What fun would that be? Who would brighten up your day when you’re drowning in paperwork and boredom?”
She exhales through her nose. “Alright. I have to ask. How long have you been unsupervised—and what hell have you gotten into?”
“None at all,” he replies immediately. “I’ve only done things I normally do.” He shrugs. “I just slipped that incompetent guard. Chaperone guy. He was really bad at his job.”
His tone stays casual, almost instructional. “That was at the beginning of the day. It’s almost the end of my day now, and I’m only just coming to tell you that, yeah, I lost him in the first two hours. I’ve been unaccompanied for about five hours.”
He lifts a finger, as if correcting a report. “Though, to be fair, I spent a good chunk of the day with Theta-7. So technically, I’ve been supervised most of the day.” A beat. “By both Dr. Jack Bright and Theta-7.”
“1847,” she says dryly.
“Yes, Sergeant Jasmine Cartwright,” he replies, just as dry.
She exhales, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’re going to drive me to drink.”
Zachary’s ears perk straight up, tail wagging as he springs to his feet and points at the ceiling, as if struck by revelation. “Oh—that’s interesting. I just got my endorsement. I’m allowed to drive a deuce-and-a-half now.” He grins. “And I finally learned how to drive stick.”
He drops his arm and looks at her expectantly. “So, where are we off to? Some of the guys were saying that a couple miles out there’s a small town with a really nice pub. And some really lovely ladies who love a man in uniform.” His tail flicks. “Especially if you ply them with the right amount of liquor and currency. Whatever that’s supposed to mean.”
Sergeant Jasmine Cartwright looks him dead in the face. “Fox boy, you can’t be that dense.”
“No,” Zachary says easily, smile sharpening just a bit. “I’m not. I just love to pretend to.”
Zachary’s ears twitch, and he quietly shifts seats, moving to the normal chair positioned near the door. He’s barely settled for a few seconds when a very worried man comes barging into the corner office.
The breathless corporal stumbles in, immediately adjusting his gear and straightening his vest like muscle memory might save him. “Sergeant Jasmine—please don’t be mad, but I kind of—ma’am, I can’t find SCP-1849. He was—he was there, and now he’s gone. I think he slipped me like an hour ago. I swear.”
Before the sergeant can respond, Zachary speaks up.
The cheer is gone. Completely replaced by something flatter. Sharper.
“You lying piece of shit,” Zachary says calmly. “You know damn well I slipped you five hours ago. Don’t try to lie to the sergeant.”
The young corporal spins around, eyes going wide as he spots the kitsune. “Where—where did you come from?”
Zachary blinks, ears angling forward. “Dude. I’ve been in here for like fifteen minutes now.”
“Well, the cross-testing lasted about an hour and a half,” Zachary continues evenly. “And from what I could see through the reinforced safety glass, you were sitting in the corner of the room playing on your phone.” A brief pause. “Exam room. Observation room. I still get those mixed up.”
He shifts slightly in the chair, ears angling back just a fraction—not defensive, just thoughtful. “After my test was over, I stayed there for another fifteen minutes. You didn’t move. Didn’t look up. Still on your phone. So I left.”
The words are delivered without heat. No accusation. No exaggeration. Just a clean recounting.
The color drains from the young corporal’s face. His orange hair begins to stick to his forehead as sweat breaks through, and he drags both hands back through it, fingers catching and tugging harder than necessary. His posture tightens, shoulders rising as if bracing for impact that still hasn’t come.
The silence after Zachary finishes feels heavier than the explanation itself.
Sergeant Jasmine adds flatly, “Cell phone.” A pause. “You had a personal device on your person outside of authorized areas. Is that what I’m hearing, Corporal?”
The corporal’s eyes flick to Zachary, then back to the sergeant, mouth opening as if he might try to speak his way out of it.
Her voice cuts in before he can. Louder now. Firmer. “Don’t look at him.” A beat. “We’ll deal with him later.”
She turns her attention fully to Zachary, and for the first time, actually uses his name. “Zachary.”
The shift isn’t dramatic. It’s deliberate.
“Could you go back to your containment cell?” she continues. “We’ll talk about your… whatever this is later.” Her tone tightens slightly. “And please close the door on your way out.”
She hesitates, eyes tracking toward the hallway beyond him. “Actually—could you send in one of the guards from the barracks on your way?”
The request is phrased politely. It doesn’t sound optional.
Zachary heads for the door, closing it most of the way behind him before turning and heading down the hall. The farther he gets from the office, the more the sound changes—tight, controlled silence giving way to laughter, overlapping voices, and the dull thud of something heavy hitting a locker.
He rounds the corner into the barracks.
The room is alive in that loose, half-off-duty way: guards standing in a lazy circle, some shirtless, others halfway in or out of uniform. One sits on a bunk in socks, lacing boots with no urgency. Another leans against an open locker, vest tossed inside, arguing loudly about chow quality. Someone laughs too hard at a joke that probably wasn’t that funny. The air smells faintly of sweat, detergent, metal, and cheap aftershave.
Zachary clears his throat.
“Hey, guys. Um—can someone go to Sergeant Jasmine’s office? She’s requesting one person’s presence.” He hesitates, then adds, dry, “I think you’re about to witness a murder.”
“Oh, damn,” someone mutters.
“Who pissed Cartwright off this time?” another asks.
One of the guards swings his legs off a bunk and moves fast, already reaching for his footlocker. “I got it.” He grabs his tool belt, secures it with practiced motions, and ruffles Zachary’s hair as he passes. “Alright, Fuzzy Butt. You behave now.”
A chorus of snickers follows him out.
“Good luck, man.”
“Tell the corporal we barely knew him.”
Zachary watches the guard disappear down the hall, ears twitching once as the laughter swells back up behind him.
He doesn’t linger.
By the time he’s halfway down the corridor, raised voices carry faintly from the office behind him—sharp, panicked, pleading—before being swallowed by concrete and distance.
He keeps walking.
Out of the administrative area, down the hall, then a right. Guards pass him going the other way, some nodding, some too busy to notice. Radios crackle. Boots scuff against the floor. A door hisses open and seals shut nearby.
Life in the SCP Foundation goes on.
He hadn’t meant to get the guy fired.
But if you couldn’t focus on a cooperative Euclid asset—on him—then you had no business working here. Absenteeism like that didn’t just mean missed paperwork or a bad evaluation. It got people killed. It got you killed. Or worse, someone who trusted you to be paying attention.
Zachary slows slightly, ears angling back.
His last shadow had been a good guy. Competent. Attentive. During a containment breach, he’d done everything right—and still ended up badly hurt. Last Zachary had heard, the prognosis wasn’t good. Maybe he wouldn’t make it.
He didn’t want to see someone young, someone with a future, die because they couldn’t tear their eyes away from a screen long enough to do their job. Not here. Not in a place like this.
If that meant ratting someone out—then so be it.
He keeps moving, tail low but steady, blending back into the controlled chaos of the halls.
SCP-1847 is required to wear a tracking device at all times while outside its containment cell. The device may take the form of a necklace or a standard-issue GeForce tactical watch, visually indistinguishable from those issued to Mobile Task Force (MTF) operators.
Removal, tampering, or loss of the tracking device will result in an immediate silent alarm being issued to the site’s Quick Reaction Force (QRF).
SCP-1847 is granted Level 1 security clearance and is authorized to roam designated areas of the facility freely between 08:00 and 21:30 hours. SCP-1847 is required to return to its containment cell no later than 22:00 hours.
Following Incident SCP-1847-3, SCP-1847 is no longer permitted to exit its containment cell unaccompanied, even while wearing its assigned tracking device.
When SCP-1847 is outside of its containment cell, a designated chaperone is required at all times. The chaperone must be a Foundation staff member with appropriate clearance and briefing regarding SCP-1847’s behavioral profile.
Failure to maintain direct supervision will result in immediate corrective action and may escalate to QRF involvement at the discretion of Site Security.
REDACTED — Higher clearance required
Details pertaining to Incident SCP-1847-3 have been sealed under higher-level clearance. Personnel without appropriate authorization are advised that this incident resulted in a reassessment of SCP-1847’s threat potential, supervision requirements, and containment procedures. Further information is available upon approval from Site Command.
SCP-1847 is a humanoid male entity, approximately 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) in height and of REDACTED years of age.
SCP-1847 identifies himself as Zachary Michael O’Ryan and will also respond to the shortened name “Zach.” SCP-1847 has voiced consistent displeasure at being referred to solely by its SCP designation (“SCP” or “SCP-1847”), particularly in casual or informal interactions.
In formal, procedural, or operational contexts, SCP-1847 will acknowledge and respond to the designation “1847.” Foundation personnel are advised that respectful use of SCP-1847’s preferred name during non-critical interactions has been observed to improve cooperation and reduce agitation. Repeated or deliberate misuse of SCP-1847’s designation outside of formal documentation may result in verbal reprimands from SCP-1847, though no hostile behavior has been recorded in response to such incidents.
At first glance, SCP-1847 appears human. Closer examination reveals several anomalous traits consistent with vulpine canidae morphology. SCP-1847 possesses a pair of K-9-type ears resembling those of Vulpes species, as well as a tail emerging from the base of the spine above the gluteal region.
SCP-1847’s hair is black with white coloration at the tips, a trait mirrored in the fur of its tail. Despite these features, SCP-1847 retains otherwise human cranial structure, with no fur present along the sides of the head or face.
Dentition includes elongated and sharpened canine teeth, visually similar to those of terrestrial canids. SCP-1847’s eyes appear human under normal conditions; however, during periods of heightened stress, exertion, or anomalous activity, the eyes have been observed to emit a faint golden luminescence. The source of this phenomenon is currently classified as unknown.
The fingertips of SCP-1847 resemble human nails stained black; however, under certain conditions, these digits can manifest retractable claws capable of scoring and scratching metallic surfaces.
Following Incident SCP-1847-3 (see Addendum SCP-1847-3, access restricted), SCP-1847 demonstrated anomalous capabilities beyond previously recorded behavioral baselines. As a result, containment procedures were revised to include mandatory supervision outside of containment and enhanced response protocols.
SCP-1847 is generally cooperative, communicative, and compliant with Foundation personnel, particularly when treated with a degree of personal respect. SCP-1847 displays a consistent sense of humor, frequently employing sarcasm or deflection when interacting with staff. While this behavior has not been observed to correlate with hostility, it has occasionally resulted in procedural lapses when personnel underestimate SCP-1847’s situational awareness or intelligence.
SCP-1847 has demonstrated a strong awareness of Foundation protocols and has, on multiple occasions, identified procedural failures by assigned staff. While not inherently malicious, SCP-1847’s ability to exploit inattentiveness has contributed to its Euclid classification.
Points:
Time spent:
IP address:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
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138,658 Literary Works • 672,190 Reviews
Hello there, human! I'm reviewing using the YWS S'more Method today!
Shalt we commence with the ghoulish s’more?
Top Graham Cracker - Zachary is an SCP who would not like to be called by his SCP name all the time. He goes by his life just fine in the facility, he just wants the person who supervises him to actually do their job.
Slightly Burnt Marshmallow - I don’t know if Zachary’s SCP name is 1849 or 1847, but maybe it changed over time.
Chocolate Bar - I like how Zachary is kind of just okay with being in the SCP facility, as long as he gets to roam around and talk to the guys. I also like how he kind of is helping the guy out in his way, because even he knows how hard this job can be.
Closing Graham Cracker - Overall, a lovely prologue. I will be sure to read the first chapter tomorrow and the other chapters when it’s updated. I’m excited to read about an SCP character and so…
I wish you an amazing day/night! ^v^
That is a typo on the SCP numbering thing I got to go back and fix that
Okay ^v^
Hello hello! It is I, CrimsonTears (or Crim for short)! I am here to read and review this amazing piece! Typically, I read and review as I go and so as usual, that is also how I will review your work here! Let’s dig in, shall we!
I will try to also not repeat what I first reviewed in Chapter 1 :] )
(I didn’t notice I was reading your story out of order so let’s pretend I didn’t read the chapter first
As always, I like to start with the title and genre the writer has chosen.
Prolog. is a unique title and I don’t think I’ve seen this type of intro to a book ever presented this way! I like how the genre is Action/Adventure, Horror. Automatically this tells me this is gonna be a fun read with an interesting take or twist on things!
Anyways, moving on into the actual review here…
I like how right off the bat we get an idea of what Zachary looks like. There isn’t any doubt he is a normal typical person!
I like how additionally to his presentation, we also get a quickly introduced first impression of his personality! He seems like the typical impatient teen or young man but at the same time very unique!
Once again his personality is very unique and I like how he is quick on his feet and is confident in giving the details.
This is an interesting was to show description of Zachary. The insult makes me wonder if she is calling him this because of his colors or his tail, both very key traits to a fox distinguishment.
I really like how this is written because it shows the authority she has without needing more detail.
Further reading, I like how you show the procedure, requirement, report, ect of being a SCP. Someone like me who is very uneducated in this type of world of writing finds this very helpful to get more of a background to this world of writing per say. It also makes me more intrigued to this story and character knowing his life seems to very interesting with being restricted yet free at the same time. I don’t know if that makes sense but uh yeah. I like that.
When reading about these specifically targeted to Zachary though I like how it doesn’t seem to be a copy and paste but unique to Zachary himself and only him. I do also like that he has some freedom and isn’t locked up entirely.
I like how when we go into the description of him it’s a more professional notes reading. I can tell you put quite a bit of thought into how to accurate present this! I’m surprised though to see that in the writing unless I missed it there wasn’t a description that said “like so and so animal” to give a mental image of the tail shape or such.
Overall this entire chapter and especially the SCP notes were very fascinating to read and I really like the story so far!
The critiques…
1. I was a little confused at the end of Zachary’s encounter with the Cartwright if he was actually feel bad of what was happening to the guy after he left or if he was numb to it. It’s hard to decipher if he’s being cold or genuinely feels bad. While it’s clear he definitely is feeling something it’s hard to tell what emotion that is.
2. I know I said In the beginning of this that I was gonna try to not reference the next chapter and pretend I read this one first but I want to bring this to mention. I’m a little confused of the timeline with this prologue and the chapter. It seems like in the first chapter, Zachary has no idea what’s going on and was taken hostage but then in this prologue he knows exactly what’s going on so much so that he knows the entire layout and details about anything he can know. The timeline is just a little confusing and I’m not sure what order this is trying to be presented.
But now for the highlights!
1. I really liked this prologue a lot. There was a good blend of story and information and the information specifically was fascinating and interesting to read about! I really like how you kept those two separate in this story as well. Typically I will suggest people blend description into the story but with this SCP writing, it just feels more logical to sepate them. But not only did you separate them, you also included into the story, in my opinion, perfectly. It blended very nicely and I also appreciated how you put it at the end of the reading and not the beginning. I think in doing so you will keep the reader’s attention longer!
2. I like Zachary’s character. Besides the obvious physical description I like how besides that his personality is unique and not a copy and paste kind. I can tell you’re definitely thought about this character and I believe you have presented and written about him well!
3. Finally, I like the entire story. Again, I have not actually read any SCP works yet and my only knowledge of SCP comes from Markiplier so I am really enjoying this story and getting to know the SCP world a little better! Though I’m sure you have added your own twist to SCP (which makes writing it more fun of course!) I still really enjoy reading it and this is a story I would like to continue reading till it’s end!
Overall this was a great read and I hope to read more of your writing soon! Especially anything to do with SCP! Please tag me in the future writings of this story!!
Have an amazing rest of your day/night!
Crim signing out!
So I'm happy where the prolog
Even in the official SCP dossier on Zachary I left hooks
The redacted section
{{Spoiler}} I left out his shape shifting ability on purpose and his use of Foxfire I was left out on purpose {{spoiler\}}
But you're absolutely right The prologue is let's say present day and undetermined amount of years days months or weeks
And when you read chapter 1 that is an undisclosed amount of time in the past hence in the name of the chapter intake
But now I have writer's block on chapters 2 I don't know if I want to continue writing from Zachary's perspective either present day or in the past or do I want to shift to my other character here's a head to my writing style if the character has a last name or a full name they're actually a protagonist. Bull disclosure Dr Jack Bright is not one of my characters he is already established character in the SCP universe