O5-6 -206

The addition of an extra member of the O5 council could throw the very delicate balance completely out of order. Making the council devolve into petty infighting until order had been restored with even more members to fill more gaps.

Currently, each of the original five overseers had only a single vote, making them all but equal. However, with the introduction of another member of the council, that wasn't the case anymore.

While every council member was meant to be free and equal, the council was still divided into five factions.

Each one was led by one of the original Overseers. As such, the new vote would almost always support its leader.

O5-6, The Watcher also belonged to a faction, which now gave this faction a large advantage since it held two of six votes.

Now, O5-6, The Watcher was a great boon to the Foundation, or rather, the many resources and facilities he brought with him. Unfortunately, the political situation was not that simple.

The watcher lived up to his name, and O5-6 was in charge of Intelligence. He was the eyes and ears of the Foundation, someone in charge of all the many spies and other forms of surveillance, including all kinds of backdoors in other systems.

This would reduce the effort needed to find some of the SCP objects, not to mention the large number of extra satellites this might give the Foundation. All in all, it was largely a positive thing, more so for Alexander, since O5-6 was part of his faction.

So, he personally stood to gain a lot from having one of his closest allies and most trusted subordinates join him. However, it would also keep him far busier than any of the other Overseers.

Alexander swiftly made a call to O5-6. The holographic screen flickered to life, and the image of O5-6 appeared, seated in his high-tech command center.

"Watcher," Alexander began, his tone measured.

He was, however, quickly interrupted. "Please, Alexander, it's just the two of us on this line. Is there any need for all those formalities? Just call me by my name, and I will do the same.

Alexander just nodded, knowing full well that it would go this way. They always did this back-and-forth, and it was, in fact, a clever way to test whether they were truly talking with the right person.

A measure that was put in place in the early days of distant instant communication. It was better than something like a simple code since it didn't seem like one. Clearly hidden in a normal enough interaction that should someone be spying on them, they were likely to miss it.

"Very well, Thomas. It is as you say." He finished with his part of the correct answer. And seeing Thomas nod, he continued. "I must ask you how much you know and how much you need to have explained before we are ready to stand before the others. We wouldn't want them to take advantage of your lack of information."

Thomas, The Watcher, leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I must admit, I'm sure there is a lot I don't understand. I feel as if something big has happened, yet I know nothing about it."

Alexander nodded his head, expecting this answer. After all, be it 05-2 or any of the other overseers, they had all known nothing about the situation when they appeared. They had all explained it as if they had just recovered from having their very time been frozen, with no concept that anything had changed.

Naturally, people like them were very addicted to realizing when something was off. After all, they did have several reality-bending objects in containment. They had the means to realize when reality or time had been altered in some way.

Not to mention that their internal communications system was filled with all kinds of urgent messages, clear signs that a stretch of time had passed, one that they had no knowledge of.

It was no surprise that Thomas felt the same. Once again, it was his duty to ensure that his fellow overseer was properly informed of everything.

It wouldn't be a great advantage if Thomas wasn't aware of what was happening when the next meeting was called. If he did not know what was happening, it would be easy enough for the others to disregard his vote, citing that since he was never aware of the situation, his vote shouldn't be included.

"We find ourselves in a rather curious situation—a rather dire one at that—but we and, in fact, the entire world have been the victims of the CK-class scenario."

Thomas's eyes widened at the mention of a CK-class scenario. These were reality-altering events, often catastrophic in nature, and usually required immediate and precise action from the Foundation. "CK-class? What exactly happened?"

"We are still unsure as to what happened. But we do know the results of it." Alexander then quickly started to explain the situation.

How they had their minds messed with to forget important knowledge and information, he urged Thomas to get himself an earring like his own to shield his mind from any possible effects.

He explained everything, how he had appeared the first, how the Foundation had been nearly nothing at the time, and how he had built it back up one SITE at a time.

He carefully and detailed listed out the SCP objects summoned and how they always appeared with parts of the Foundation, tied together.

This naturally led Thomas to ask the following question: "How is that possible? By what mechanism is this happening?"

"By using a forbidden SCP, one even you are not allowed to know about. Something only the original five know of, and all of us need to agree to use, and all, myself included, have sworn never to use."

The information about Solomon's Wisdom was a highly guarded secret of the Old Five. And even the other members of the council weren't allowed to know about it. The information should belong only to the five of them.

And should they die, then the secret should die with them. Allowing none ever to use Solomon's Wisdom, yet their plan seemed not to have worked, given that they themselves seemed to have used it.

"So the five of you are using some secret SCP to deal with the situation, even though you swore not to do so?" Thomas asked.

"The use of it predates the CK-Class event. We have no idea how it was used, but it seems to be currently in effect and is stopping all SCP objects from appearing all at once, though as a downside, it also keeps parts of the Foundation from materializing."

Thomas processed this information, his expression shifting from confusion to understanding. "So, This secret SCP object is active, managing the SCPs' appearances to prevent overwhelming our containment capabilities. But it's also causing parts of the Foundation to manifest piecemeal."

"Exactly," Alexander confirmed. "We are dealing with the consequences of its use, and we must adapt our strategies to maintain control. The fragmented arrival of Foundation sites and personnel complicates our efforts, but it's a necessary trade-off to prevent a mass outbreak of SCPs."

Thomas nodded slowly. "I see. And this explains the sudden reappearance of Foundation members, including myself, with gaps in our memories. We are essentially being reinserted into a reality that's been partially rewritten."

Alexander enjoyed talking with smart people; they didn't need too much of an explanation. Just give them the important bits of key information, and they will be able to figure out the rest themselves.

And Thomas was indeed an intelligent person, able to figure out the situation he was in with just a short explanation. "Correct, that summaries the situation quite well. I will send over some good reading material, and then you can call a meeting once you are ready. None but me should currently know you have been reinserted into reality."

Thomas took a deep breath, processing the weight of the situation. "Thank you, Alexander. I will go through the materials and make sure I'm up to speed. This is unprecedented, but we'll manage it."

Alexander nodded. "I have no doubt. We've always thrived in the face of chaos. We must ensure that we handle this situation with the utmost precision. The world's balance depends on it."

Thomas's expression hardened with determination. "Agreed. I'll notify you once I'm ready to convene the council. We need to act quickly and decisively."

With that, the call ended, and Alexander turned his attention back to the immediate tasks at hand. He needed to oversee the preparations for the containment of the newly arrived SCPs and ensure that O5-6 and his parts of the Foundation were integrated into the Foundation's operations smoothly.

"I really wish I knew what it would take to get another member to show up; having Leo join us would be such a massive boon that I'm almost tempted to summon until he shows up." Alexander said wishfully before shaking his head and getting to work.

A/N

If you want to read up to 10 chapters ahead or even get the chance to pick what SCPs get summoned, or just support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / SCPsystem