Was it truly a reset?
No. The Anomalous Project Encyclopedia had already recorded SCP-096 and SCP-008, proving time hadn't rewound—at least not for Luo Shu.
So what really happened?
Luo Shu's thoughts turned to SCP-055. It would know.
He stood abruptly. "Stay here. I'll be back."
To avoid crossing paths with SCP-096, he flipped to Page 37 and activated:
"Pursuit Over a Thousand Miles."
Target: "The Shy Guy."
The screen showed SCP-096 docile in its containment cell, nowhere near Site-19.
February 17th had changed.
SCP-096 wasn't coming.
Luo Shu re-read the entry:
[Status: Mental Enslavement]
"Under the 'God's' influence, you cannot command this entity—but you can freely activate its abilities. To fully control it, defeat the 'God'!"
Conclusion: SCP-096 remained his enslaved asset, harmless to him.
Relieved, he activated SCP-055's anti-memetic effect and strode out, heading straight for Sublevel-5.
"My friend, what happened today?"
SCP-055's garbled reply: "J█X█J█S█!"
"JXJS?" Luo Shu repeated, piecing it together.
"Wait—SCP-2000 ('Deus Ex Machina')?!"
Yes.
The Foundation had deployed SCP-2000, their reality-rewriting failsafe.
Bearded Jack and the MTF squad? Clones, implanted with memories up to February 16th.
SCP-2000 didn't just mass-produce humans—it could roll back timelines.
Hence the "reset" to 00:00 on the 17th.
But the Encyclopedia—immune to the rewrite—preserved Luo Shu's original experiences.
As for the "second strike" that felled him?
Not a neutron bomb.
A mnestic warhead, designed to erase memories of the outbreak, synced with SCP-2000's reset.
Everyone—civilians, soldiers, even SCP-049—had their memories altered.
Except SCP-055.
And now, Luo Shu.
"So IR1901 orchestrated the mask incident," he realized.
Time to confront the traitor.
The Invisible Betrayal
Luo Shu stormed into SCP-126's unit, yelling: "1901! SHOW YOURSELF!"
Silence.
No snoring. No shuffling.
"You can't hide from me."
He reset "Pursuit Over a Thousand Miles" to target:
"The Unseen Friend."
A mental ping placed IR1901 cowering in a corner.
Luo Shu grabbed empty air—and seized fabric.
"Why? You almost got me killed!"
IR1901 whimpered: "I didn't mean to! Orders from above!"
Luo Shu considered enslaving him, but held back.
Too many secrets would rot away.
Instead, he demanded: "How do you remember today? The mnestic bomb should've wiped you."
Pride seeped into IR1901's voice: "Anti-memes resist memetics! I'm immune!"
Of course.
Like SCP-055.
Luo Shu pressed: "You said this was 'orders'? I thought I was your 'truth-bringer'?"
IR1901 backtracked: "No, no! This was your 'Awakening Protocol'!"