The SCP Experience - Pound Off the Pounds | SCP-1085

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Tasked with testing a mind-warping SCP disguised as a harmless workout DVD, a man fights to maintain his sanity as the women he dates slowly waste away—physically and psychologically—before his eyes. But when the madness consumes him and the truth surfaces, he realizes he’s not just a test subject… he’s been the Foundation’s favorite tool all along. This story was derived from ⁠⁠https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1085 and is released under Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0. ⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/⁠⁠ Author: Matt Doggett * * * CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content not limited to intense themes, strong language, and depictions of violence intended for adults. Parental guidance is strongly advised for children under the age of 17. Listener discretion is advised.  #thescpexperience #scp #scpfoundation #scpencounters #securecontainprotect #scpstories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the moments between when I knocked on her door and when she answered it, the madness crept in. I slapped a smile on my face, but as though it had a mind of its own, the smile turned into a grin, and then a grimace. Screams echoed in my head, accompanied by images of women suffering slow, horrific deaths. Still, I couldn't force my face to shift, and my muscles quickly began to ache from the strain. I knew I looked like a madman, because I had seen the same face in the mirror many times, more so lately, as the madness came more frequently. I shifted the gift bag I held in my left hand, half surprised that I still had control of some portions of my body, just not my face.

As thudding footsteps approached from inside the modest ranch-style home, I briefly entertained the thought of turning to run. I pictured myself bolting down the sunny street, the insubes Gremis still stuck on my face. I imagined it staying there for hours, days, and always, with the horrific screams and scenes playing on repeat in my head. A sick chuckle nearly fell out of my mouth as she unlocked the deadbolt. She was going to see how insane I looked and slammed the door in my face. Good. Maybe that's what I wanted. The door swung open, and Jessica's plump, pretty face beamed out at me. I waited for her and her. expression to change to one of horror. But it didn't. And I realized I was no longer grimacing.

I was smiling. How did I do that? I imagine the whole thing? No. The ache remained in my facial muscles. Must be the training. Hey! Jessica said, brown eyes shining. Come in! She wore a blue and white summer dress with no shoes or socks. Her wavy brown hair fell around her shoulders. I see, stepped off the porch and into the cool entryway. She closed the door behind me, and then she turned to me and we embraced, kissing deeply. My lips tried to pull into a grin in the middle of the kiss, and I had to force them not to. It took some effort to keep the madness away, but I managed. I'm so happy to see you, she said after the kiss. Me too. I brought you something, a little one-month anniversary gift. I held up the gift bag with the colorful tissue paper

sticking out the top. Jessica smiled but flushed with embarrassment. It made my heartache. I didn't get you anything. I didn't know we were doing a one-month gift exchange. I waved her concern away. Open it. We moved into the nearby living room and sat hip-to-hip on the couch while she opened the gift. There were two Blu-rays and a DVD inside. The two Blu-Rays were cheesy horror movies that she didn't yet have in her extensive collection. She beamed and squealed thank-yos when she saw them. Two more for my shelves, she said, gesturing at the bookshelves, loaded with Blu-Rays and DVDs that flanked her television. But when she looked at the DVD, a bit of the mirth left her face.

I reached out and touched her hand. I'm not trying to tell you something. I like you just the way you are. But I do remember you telling me you wanted to get into a little better shape. I saw that one at a secondhand shop and got it on a whim. I'll take it back if you want. No, she said. This is great.

I've been meaning to try one of these home workout videos. It's perfect. Thank you. She leaned in and we shared a kiss. This time, the madness did not come. Only an oppressive sadness that threatened to make me weep. Jessica slept soundly behind me. as I sat on the edge of her bed, head grasped in my hands. The pungent smell of sex still hung in the room,

and I clenched my jaw harder and harder with each inhale. She's a sweet woman, I thought, a fine woman. Anyone would be lucky to have her. Unable to take it any longer, I stood up, pulled my clothes on, and slipped silently out of the room. With the stench of sex no longer assaulting me, I eased my jaw slightly. But when I came to the living room, I saw the workout DVD I'd given her. It featured a fit woman and a bright pink leotard on the front. One of her legs stretched up next to her head as she did some kind of aerobic kick. She grinned from the cover, her perfectly white teeth gleaming in her tanned face. The title read, Suzanne Sutherland, One month to pound off the pounds. I stood behind the couch, staring at the deep.

DVD. Teeth pressed, together hard enough to send bolts of pain deep into my brain. I could take it and go, I thought, just leave. But nothing. Live a different life. Find another job, any job. They would never let you go. You know that. You're in too deep. These two warring voices in my head went back and forth like that for some time, till I was too exhausted to think clearly about anything. That was the way this went. I always seemed to mentally tire myself out. and when I did that, I simply reverted to the path of least resistance. Still clenching my teeth, I walked to the front door, opened it quietly, and headed out to my car. Two minutes later, I came back into the house with a bag over my shoulder.

Being as silent as I could, I got to work in the living room. A week had passed when Jessica and I had got together. We had been texting, of course, and she had invited me over days earlier, but I told her I had work and that weekends were best. Now, as I arrived at her door with a bottle of wine and some Italian takeout, the madness was blessedly absent. I had convinced myself she wouldn't ever watch the workout DVD, that she would never pound off the pounds.

After all, she hadn't mentioned it in any of our text exchanges. She hadn't spoken of it since I had given it to her. But when she opened the door out of breath and wearing baggy workout clothes, I felt hysteria bubble up my throat like a swarm of corpse flies seeking escape. Although I smiled, or tried to, I also clamped my teeth together to keep the insanity inside. Oh my gosh, is it seven already? Jessica said, huffing. She put a hand over her face.

You can't see me like this. I'm a mess. She turned and ventured back into the house, leaving the door open. Come in and make yourself comfortable. I'll be out as soon as I can. Before I entered the house, I heard Suzanne Sutherland's voice coming from the living room TV. The workout, you will give it to me. You will never stop giving. As those words caused the swarming madness to frenzy inside, I raced into the living room, barely noticing that the coffee table had been moved to make space for working out.

I found the remote, seeing the blonde Sutherland doing jump kicks with a deranged grin on her face before I turned the TV off. I had dropped the takeout on the floor and my panic to grab the remote, but I still had the wine bottle in one hand. Thankfully, the food hadn't spilled out of the bag. I left it on the floor and went to find a corkscrew, and glass of wine buzzing in my stomach. I went back into the living room, moved the furniture back into place, and then ejected the DVD from the combination Blu-ray DVD player.

As I held the disc in my hand, ready to snap it in half, I paused. realizing in a flash what the consequences would be. Slowly, I peered over my shoulder at the air vent near the ceiling. A grin crept onto my face as I stared at the dark lines between the metal vent slats, and it kept growing until mad, braying laughter escaped my throat. The laughter soon turned to shrieks, but I couldn't stop myself. I could hear the shower running at the back of the house, and part of me prayed it would cover the shrieks I was letting loose.

Another part of me hoped she would hear them and break up with me immediately. As my energy flagged and the shrieking died, along with my grin, I put the DVD back into its case and set it beside the player. Then I grabbed the bag of food from the floor and went back to the kitchen for more wine. By the time Jessica came out of her bedroom 20 minutes later, showered and rosy-cheeked, I had already drunk half the bottle. You started without me? She said, but with a smile.

She really was a sweet woman, which made it that much worse. How was your workout? I asked, pouring her a glass of wine. Oh, it was good. I'm kind of surprised at how easy it was, especially since I haven't exercised in a long time. I'm feeling pretty pumped. Thank you for getting it for me. She leaned in and planted a kiss on my cheek. I peered past her into the living room. Then I looked at her and leaned forward to whisper.

It was a stupid kid. Why are you whispering? Am I? It's a sweet offer, but I think I need to work my way up to going to the gym. And the DVD is going to help. So I think I'll stick with it for now. She took the glass of wine I offered. Now, I've worked up an appetite.

Let's eat. The next time I pulled up outside of Jessica's house, I hopped the curb and nearly took her mailbox out. I would have parked in the driveway, but there were two cars there already. Jessica's Ford sedan and her sister's Toyota minivan. Anyway, it was a good thing I didn't, because I was so drunk I probably would have hit either car or the garage door. As it was, I was lucky to have missed the mailbox.

I stumbled out of my vehicle as the front door opened. Outrushed Lizzie, Jessica's older sister. She was the reason I was here. She'd called me, worried about her sister. Lizzie had the same dark, curly hair as her sister. sibling, but otherwise there were few similarities. Whereas Jessica looked kind and caring, Lizzie looked stern and severe. I had thought the same thing when looking at the pictures of her around Jessica's house. And now that I saw her in person, my thoughts were verified. Her dark brown eyes on me,

Lizzie stopped halfway across the small lawn as I weaved toward her. Are you drunk? No, I'm Tony. Didn't your sister tell you my name? I tried smiling at my. my poor attempted humor, but the look on Lizzie's face caused me to falter. That was good, because if I started smiling, I might not stop. I could see the mental calculations going through Lizzie's head for a long moment. Apparently, she'd decided that her sister's well-being was more important than giving me shit about being drunk. Talk about poor first impressions. Not that it would matter soon enough anyway. What did you do to my sister? She wasn't like this until she started dating you.

Like what? I asked, although I knew. And not just because I could hear the workout video through the open front door of the house. Lizzie grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the door. Maybe you can talk some sense into her because she's not listening to me. We entered the house to see Jessica doing aerobics

in the living room. She had lost a lot of weight since I'd last seen her nearly two weeks ago when I had almost broken the DVD but chickened out at the last moment. Now, looking at her, I knew I should have done it. The consequences be damned. And now it was too late.

Jessica paid us no mind. Her baggy workout clothes, which had once done little to hide her overweight body, now hung from her, making her look like a child wearing an adult's clothes. She didn't appear healthy. There's no healthy way to lose that much weight in such a short time. Jess! Lissy called over the audio from the workout video. I've almost done.

Jessica snapped. Just stop for one minute. Your boyfriend is here. Jessica shook her head, ponytail swinging. I can't let her down. Can't let who down? As if answering Lizzie's question, Suzanne Sutherland on the TV said,

Lizzie turned to me, arm thrust toward the TV, and eyebrows halfway up her forehead. Did you hear that? What kind of video is this? You gave this to her. I opened my mouth to say, I didn't know. But the lie wouldn't form on my tongue.

I did know. I did fucking know. Look at her! Lizzie said, now pointing at her sister. That's not healthy. She hasn't been to work for a week. She's about to lose her job, because all she does is work out.

I swayed in place, a war raging inside me. For the past two weeks, alcohol had kept the madness at bay. Now that I was again facing the consequences of my actions, It was no longer working. It took all the energy I had not to start grinning insanely. And if I started grinning, I would start laughing.

And if I started laughing, there was no telling what I would do next. Well, aren't you going to do something? Unable to look at Lizzie's accusatory eyes any longer. I cast my gaze to the floor. Unbelievable. Lizzie shook her head. I could see it in my periphery. That's it.

She stomped around the couch and straight to the TV. What are you doing? Jessica shouted. Lizzie shut the TV off and turned to face her sister. Unable to help myself, I looked up as the two siblings faced off in the living room. No! She'll be so mad at me! Jessica cried.

Turn it back on! We need to talk about this obsession. It's getting out of hand. It's already out of hand. Jessica started sobbing. Turn it back on. I need to finish. Are you crying?

Jesus. Jess, this is ridiculous. Turn it back on! Jessica screamed, lunging at her sister. I raced toward them, still unsteady on my feet, as the two sisters grappled. Jessica slammed Lizzie into one of the shelves filled with Blu-rays, and movies tumbled to the floor as the sibling screamed and fought. Before I could reach them, they fell to the floor.

I knelt and tried to pull Jessica off Lizzie, but she elbowed me in the mouth, splitting my lip, and knocking a couple of teeth loose. The pain pushed back the madness for a few moments, as if it was some small penance for what I'd done. I backed away, suddenly realizing how I could get them to stop fighting. I turned the TV back on. Suzanne Sutherland said from the TV as she did body weight squats. As soon as Jessica heard Sutherland, she let go of her sister and scrambled to her feet,

positioning herself in front of the TV before following along. I stood to one side, looking at Jessica, and then down at Lizzie. still on the floor. Her face was red. Her hair frazzled from where Jessica had been gripping it. She stared at her sister with a mixture of anger and hurt. Then she turned her attention to me, and the hurt left her face, leaving only anger. What the fuck are you smiling a bad asshole? I didn't realize it until she said it, but I was smiling, grinning in fact. The laughter would come soon. Lizzie got to her feet and stormed to the front door. When she turned back into the living,

room, tears were streaming down her face. You take care of her then! She left, slamming the door. Moments later, I heard her minivan pull out of the driveway. For my spot to one side of the TV, I stared at Jessica, still grinning like a madman. She was focused entirely on the screen, like I wasn't even there. I knew what would happen next. Soon enough, Suzanne Sutherland would disappear from the screen, and the DVD would only show the empty room where the workhouse,

had thus far taken place. At this point, Jessica would have a complete psychotic break, shouting, bring her back! Or something to that effect at the TV. She would stop working out for a little while, but eventually, when Suzanne remained gone, she would start exercising again in front of the TV screen. She would exercise until she died. That's how this went. I'd seen it happened several times. I was the reason it happened. All this went through my mind. mind, my grin kept getting wider. I could feel blood running down my chin and neck from my split lip. The loose teeth sent jolts of pain through my mouth as I continued to grin, clamping the teeth together. But this time the pain did nothing to keep the madness away.

I looked up at the air vent on the opposite side of the room, and that's when I heard laughter escaping my mouth. It was the cackle of someone who had lost touch with reality. But I didn't feel like I'd lost touch, I felt more sane than ever. Pulling my eyes away from the vent, I headed for the kitchen, taking care not to cross in front of the TV. I took the long way, knowing just where I was headed. I laughed the whole way, but it didn't sound like me. It was as if a track of someone else's laughter played through the room. When I returned to the living room moments later, I held a knife in one hand, an incredibly sharp, boning knife. Jessica was doing jumping jacks as I came up behind her.

I paused, just a few feet away, and looked over my shoulder at the air vent. Still laughing, I turned back to Jessica and went to work with the knife. It didn't take much. A slit along one side of her neck. She didn't even register it. She just kept on doing jumping jacks. Of course, her movement made the slit larger than it otherwise would have been. Her heart was pumping so hard and fast, the blood spewed out of her like water from a

a garden hose with a thumb pressed over the spout. It soaked the carpet and the fallen blue rays and bits of the couch. Laughing, I stepped back and watched her last moments, secure in the fact that I'd done the right thing. A quick death was better than a slow one. Jessica collapsed in the middle of a jumping jack. She toppled forward and smashed headfirst into the TV, breaking the screen and destroying the image. She fell to the floor and soon went still as the The spew of blood slowed to a trickle. The speaker still worked, but my laughter was too loud for me to hear Suzanne Sutherland over it. Lazzange sur-gillet,

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on the machine-assaubeckbas Bonanza. Depos minimum of $10. Veil jeaned to fashion responsible. The conditions apply. I was no longer laughing, no longer grinning, when the door to Jessica's house opened. I stared blankly at the broken TV

from where I sat on the couch. The DVD's audio continued, but I barely heard it. And since I hadn't watched the DVD from the beginning, it had no effect on me. Several pairs of feet stopped. jumped into the house, but I didn't look. I already knew who it was, and I knew I was going to be in serious trouble for what I'd done, maybe even D-class trouble. That's why I was surprised

when I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. My boss, Dr. Malcolm Rodriguez, asked. How are you doing, Anthony? I turned my face toward him, which felt like so much limp putty, and looked up into his eyes. I can't do this anymore. I'm done. Rodriguez shook his head sadly as he squeezed my shoulder gently. No, I'm afraid not. That's what you always say. But it doesn't matter. My brows came together, and I shook my head, barely aware of the tears screaming down my face.

What I always say? How many women have you tested 1085 on? I knew the answer by heart, because I still saw their faces, still heard their screams when the madness was strongest. Six, I said. Including Jessica, six. Again, Rodriguez shook his head. Try 29.

Each one in a different city. Over the course of the last seven years, it took us some time to find out what worked, so those first couple of years were slow. But you wouldn't remember, would you? That's not funny, I said, batting his hand off as I stood up. Before this assignment, I was in a research role. I remember it. I remember. You remember, because we implanted those memories in your head.

Behind Rodriguez, a member of the cleanup crew was retrieving the camera I'd placed in the vent. Other members, I knew, were fetching the other cameras I'd hidden around the place. The knife was where I'd dropped it on the floor, and I glanced at it, suddenly suppressing the urge to stab Rodriguez. No, it's not funny, I said again. It's not a joke. The balding man standing behind the couch said, Do you know how many times we've had this conversation? I shook my head, stepping closer to the knife.

Shut up. Just shut the fuck up. This is the fifth time. You tested it on nine women before we had to anesthetize you the first time. Nine? That's pretty good. Since then, we've never gotten close to that number. I sank to my haunches and grabbed fistfuls of my hair with both hands. Why would you do this to me? Rodriguez stepped around the couch to approach me.

You know why? No. Yes, you do. Think about it. Can you remember? Can you recall volunteering for this seven years ago? No, I said, easing my left hand down toward the knife. You're lying.

Rodriguez stopped within striking distance inside. Testing 1085 is only part of it. We're also testing. the limits of amnestics. And you're the guinea pig. I snatched the knife up and whipped it toward the doctor. But strong hands seized me from behind before the blade could make contact with Rodriguez. Two men, though I hadn't heard, sneak up on me, wrestled the knife out of my hand, and then got my arms bound behind me. They held me to the floor. After a few long moments, Rodriguez knelt beside me with a syringe. Do you know how many times you've tried to kill me

in seven years. I didn't answer, only kept struggling. After we amnesticized you that first time, you've tried to kill me each subsequent time. I guess that means the amnestics are doing their job, wouldn't you say? Fuck you! He shoved the tip of the syringe into my shoulder, through my shirt. But on the off chance, you remember any of this, I'd like to say one thing. Let's try for nine again this time. What do you think? He pressed the plumber. He pressed the plumber. injecting the amnestics into my bloodstream. SCP 1085 is a fitness exercise DVD entitled Suzanne Sutherland, One Month to Pound Off the Pounds.

Starring the eponymous fitness guru, The DVD contains four calisthenic routines of increasing difficulty, each designed to be performed five to six times per week before moving on to the next level. The DVD's anomalous effects are present in 29% of the copies of pound off the number. of Pound Off the Pounds, produced to date. The majority of copies lack any anomalous properties, and neither Sutherland herself nor any part

in the DVD's production has been verified to be responsible for these anomalies. These properties begin to manifest when one or more individuals watch the workouts contained on the DVD. Effects vary depending on the routine being done in any given week. Once subjects progress past the first week of workouts, there has been a one- 100% fatality rate with no known remedies, including the use of amnestics. Further testing is ongoing.