As it Stands (Being Remade)

Chapter 1

2 months. Cory had been back at the foundation for 2 months now. Going back hadn't been as bad as he thought it'd be, but something still seemed off to him. Trying to keep up his old dumb facade was getting especially harder with each passing day. He knew everyone else still thought he was an idiot. It stung that they all bought it, but he knew the only reason was because of his solid acting. Sometimes he really wished he'd picked another defense mechanism.

It was weird to him that all these thoughts were only resurfacing now. He'd been numb for the first month only taking time to talk to Doctor Patience. But then again, who could blame him? Trianna had negotiated to get his status as an SCP revoked, but he could still see the looks in people's eyes when he walked by. The looks of fear and disgust were almost enough to make him just pack his bags and quit. He knew that wasn't possible, he'd only been at the foundation for 7 months in total. But the looks made him hurt so he could tell no one.

Cory's little defense mechanism of acting dumb and happy was a great coverup for all his baggage, and for spying on the foundation. His parents weren't the greatest. Cory still didn't know whether to blame them for all the things they did. Throughout his life, Cory's parents had been bumping heads. He always thought it was the normal bickering that came from being married as long as they had.  But their marriage was never stable, and it only got worse when Cory came into the picture.

They had always had a hard time accepting their son's "condition." They were always telling others that it was just a mask he loved to wear all the time, and that excuse held up. At least, it did until middle school. The thing about your parents telling people you wear a mask all the time is it'll get you a lot of negative attention.

His brain annoyed him. Who did it think it was bringing up all these bad memories now? You'd think it was his first daybreak from how his head was thinking. Then again, though, his first day coming back to the foundation hadn't been the best.

He'd been separated from pretty much he knew before he even made it back to the facility. Hey had promoted Trianna to running her own facility, and Laura was even working there too now. He missed the two of them even if Trianna was constantly nagging him; he liked them. They were like family. Well, Laura was his girlfriend, but Trianna was definitely like family to him. Hooper had gotten thrown into prison with his loyalty to the corrupt foundation Otis had run.

Now, here he was, standing outside the doors of the guys' barracks. He felt like a stranger here and he could still feel people' eyes trained on him wherever he went. His face usually got this treatment, but he knew it was mostly because everyone here had heard about Otis temporarily naming him an SCP.

Luckily, he'd been able to skate by with his "dumb" card so far. Most people suspicions of him went away when they say how oblivious he seemed to be.

whenever Trianna or Doc had thought something was wrong. The facade held up fairly well, too. At least, he had until word of Laura being held captive It sent him over the edge. It had killed
him to leave her at the Foundation especially when he had so much left to say to her. Eventually, he'd finally managed to get his feelings out, sorta. Technically, Laura had been the one to confess. But it was still a win in his book.

With a slight sigh, Cory made his way into the guy's barracks. He was exhausted from having to do all these weird tasks for everyone. I mean, Bricky doesn't even wear shoes! But, he was too tired to give it too much thought. He just flopped onto his cot and let the world disappear as soon as his head hit the pillow.