The moment the biometric scans confirmed one of the candidates had survived the implantation process, the entire lab froze. For a full heartbeat, no one breathed. Not the researchers, not the guards, not even Orochimaru, who had been leaning over the subject with that predatory curiosity of his.
Then the monitor spiked again—heart rate stabilizing, bone density rising, cellular restructuring accelerating instead of collapsing.
It was real.
Finally.
I exhaled slowly, the tension draining from my shoulders. After a year of failure, a year of D-class bodies liquefying, combusting, mutating, or simply ceasing to exist, we finally had one living subject.
The first proto–Space Marine.
His name didn't matter. His past didn't matter. What mattered was that he remained intact—breathing, conscious, and radiating enough raw biological power to snap steel cuffs if he wished.
Exactly what the SCP Foundation needed.Exactly what I needed.
I stepped away from the observation window, my white lab coat brushing against the reinforced door as I opened it. The air in the transformation chamber was sharp—antiseptic, metal, ozone, and blood. The newly-transformed agent sat strapped to an adamantium chair, muscles already swelling beyond baseline human limits, veins glowing faintly from the stabilizing serum.
He raised his head weakly when I approached.
"…O-5… ma'am…?"
"Congratulations," I said calmly, my voice echoing off the surgical walls. "You survived. That means you live."
His eyes widened slightly—relief and confusion mixing with the barely-contained ferocity awakening in his genome.
Behind me, Orochimaru let out a soft hiss of laughter."Well… it appears your theory was correct. Strong willpower does improve survivability."
I glanced back at him. "Begin full medical analysis. I want a report within four hours. Neuro-mapping, reflex evaluation, chakra flow analysis, psionic stability, everything."
He bowed slightly—an unsettling gesture when it came from him."As you command."
With the project now proven viable, my work here was complete. I had given the blueprint, built the foundation, unlocked the impossible. Now it was time for a specialist to take over.
That specialist was Orochimaru.
He thrived on long-term experimentation and perfectionism.And I had more important matters to return to—my research, my daughter, and the countless other cosmic-scale threats looming over the future.
I pulled off my gloves and turned toward the exit.
The door shut behind me with a resonant metal thud.
As I walked down the empty hallway, the sterile lights humming overhead, I finally allowed the smallest smile to touch my lips.
"Project Astartes is viable," I said aloud, knowing Site 999's AI surveillance would record every word. "Space Marines are now a reality."
For a moment, I simply stood there, letting the weight of the achievement settle.
Humanity had just stepped into a new era.No… the SCP Foundation had.
Unkillable soldiers.Enhanced beyond human limits.Immune to corruption, immune to fear, immune to reality distortion.
Eventually, I'd perfect the process further and create elite units capable of fighting gods, eldritch horrors, invaders from alternate dimensions—ANYTHING.
But my part was done for now.
I headed toward the elevator, my Reality Stone amulet humming softly against my chest. Even suppressed, its power gently folded space around me, like a comforting pulse. A reminder that I had far greater goals than just this one project.
As the elevator descended toward my private sector, my thoughts drifted to Luna.
My little moonflower.
She would be waking from her nap soon.
Space Marines were important, yes—but she was more important.
When the elevator doors opened, I stepped out into the pristine hallways of my research wing. The invisible energy shield I created from Rick Prime's knowledge shimmered faintly as I passed through a doorway—still active, still perfect, still impenetrable.
A soft cooing echoed from my quarters.
I smiled.
The world—the universe—could wait.Right now, I had a daughter to hold.
And tomorrow?
Tomorrow, Orochimaru would bring me results.
The first Space Marine was only the beginning