The Monster Maketh the Man [ZhongChi/TartaLi]
24 parts Complete MatureSecure. Contain. Protect.
These are the words Zhongli lives by, working his way up the ranks of the SCP Foundation-an organisation dedicated to protecting humanity against anomalous threats. Now a respected researcher, he has spent the past two months as a consultant in Sumeru. His time on his current case at its end, the details of his next assignment arrive: he will relocate to Snezhnaya to assist with the initial analysis of a freshly contained SCP-a creature infused with forbidden energy and an insatiable drive to fight any who dare enter its containment cell.
For a man who has built his career on the principle of protecting humanity, his new assignment will test his resolve as he discovers that there is humanity even in the most monstrous of appearances, and a little monster hidden in the places least expected.
Cover art is a commission for this fic by AyuPixel on Twitter. Please do not repost / reuse.
Warnings / Ao3 Tags:
Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation
Alternate Universe - Modern Setting
Alternate Universe - No Visions
Supernatural Elements
Suspense
Plot Twists
Unethical Experimentation
Ethical Dilemmas
Zhongli is trying his best
The inherent hopelessness of trying to fight the system
Worldbuilding
Built on lore up to and including Version 3.2
Tartaglia's Foul Legacy Transformation
Captivity
SCP Foul Legacy
SCP Researcher Zhongli
Power Imbalance (Although they don't get together until that's resolved)
Age Difference (Ajax is 22 Zhongli is 31)
Widower Zhongli
Past Guizhong/Zhongli
Guilt Angst
Slow Burn
Angst with a Happy Ending
Tartaglia is Called Ajax
Torture (Of SCP-231)
Minor mentions of loss / grief / moving on in relation to Guizhong
Violence