SCP-202: The Rewind Man

SCP-202: The Rewind Man SCP-202 is a forty-one-year-old Asian-British man who performs his physical actions backward. Walking, speaking, eating, and even the workings of his body run in reverse. He says he used to live an ordinary life in Stockport, England, until he woke up one morning four years before the report and discovered that every movement came out wrong. He has tried to move normally and says he cannot. He can walk backward through a crowded hallway without colliding with anyone, but he cannot explain how he manages it. His speech is reversed English with a British accent. Researchers can understand him by recording it and playing the recording backward at its original speed. His thoughts still run normally. He cannot see the future, despite what some personnel have assumed, and he does not appear to age backward. He is aware of his condition and can discuss it. That distinction matters because the file describes someone trying to understand what his own body is doing, with no special knowledge of what happens next. His circulation is reversed too. The chambers of his heart behave like vacuums, drawing blood toward the heart through arteries and sending it away through veins. He processes carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen. Researchers are trying to understand how his respiratory system supports this, including whether the chemical reactions involved in metabolism could somehow operate in reverse. Eating creates another problem. Food rises from his stomach into his mouth, where backward chewing restores it. A sandwich can gradually emerge as portions are reconstructed and added together. Testing finds the finished sandwich normal and edible. He says he does not know what food will appear until the process starts. The Foundation classifies him as Safe and keeps him at Bio-Research Area-12, where researchers are looking for an explanation and a cure. Outside examinations, he has the amenities provided in Level-0 personnel quarters. He believes he is a hospital patient, and staff are instructed to preserve that belief. He enjoys dismantling jigsaw puzzles and is good at Rubik's Cubes. The final addendum is an order to stop discussing his bathroom habits and expunge the records until someone has a legitimate research reason to investigate. Neither the scientists nor the plumbers can explain what happens. For once, the official response is to leave the man some privacy. Original Entry: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-202