Dr. Lawler, at the end of day 28 of their expedition into SCP-4408.
Item #: SCP-4408
Object Class: Safe Euclid (See Addendum 4408-1)
Special Containment Procedures: Foundation operatives will monitor flight control near the Chatham Islands and redirect all flights passing within 2 km of SCP-4408. MTF Delta-11 "Birdshooters" will conduct information operations to discourage recreational aviation in the area, as well as lobby towards more stringent laws for amateur aviators.
Description: SCP-4408 is a pocket universe entered by flying at an altitude of approximately 3.4 km, traveling north through the airspace 65 km directly east of the Chatham Islands. SCP-4408 can only be occupied by one living person at a time. SCP-4408 covers an area of at least 250 km2, 47 km2 of which have been explored and documented. The ground within SCP-4408 is composed entirely of ice, going down at least five meters.
When a person enters SCP-4408, any vehicle or device used to enter SCP-4408 will begin to fail1. If it requires fuel, it will become empty. Otherwise, a small part will break off, forcing it to land. An observer of someone entering SCP-4408 will perceive the event as the plane disappearing into a cloud. The person entering SCP-4408 will perceive their entrance as a sudden parting of clouds. This is regardless of weather conditions at the time of entrance.
Once landed, after exactly thirty days they will find a means of leaving SCP-4408. This has included finding fuel, making a sudden breakthrough in how to fix a part, and, in one case, finding a door that led into [DATA EXPUNGED], Nelson, New Zealand. However, unlike other equipment brought into SCP-4408, any items used to leave SCP-4408 are not persistent between explorations.
Discovery: SCP-4408 was initially discovered when Agent Wellington failed to meet his daily report-in time while on leave on 04/19/19██. Investigation showed the anomalous departure of Agent Wellington's own aircraft into SCP-4408, and a UAV was sent into SCP-4408. The operator immediately lost contact with the UAV.
On 09/23/19██, a civilian aircraft passed into SCP-4408, evading containment procedures due to a storm in the area. Civilian authorities cited the storm as the cause of the disappearance without the need for Foundation interference.
On 10/23/19██, the civilian aircraft reappeared. MTF Delta-11 detained its pilot, Martha Weber, and interrogated her after she received medical care for starvation and exposure. She was administered class-D amnestics and released onto the beach of Chatham Island. Weber reintegrated into society without additional side effects.
Continuous audio logs are kept of each expedition in case a research team fails to leave SCP-4408 before dying, to aid in collection of data by future teams.
Day 1
<TIMESTAMP: 00:00:00>Dr. Lawler: They weren’t lying when they said Keter duty was a myth. I hate this.
Agent Sutcliffe: You know, I just thought of something. Didn’t we work together a few months ago?
Dr. Lawler: I still don’t see why they can’t get D-Class to do it.
Agent Sutcliffe: What was it, SCP-2235? 2236? God, it was something with space. I really can’t remember.
Dr. Lawler: Just wire some communications equipment through the entrance for control and we’re golden.
Agent Sutcliffe: You know, doc, maybe you could be the one to make that breakthrough. Isn’t that exciting?
Dr. Lawler: Let’s just get this over with. Let me look at the inventory log for this… No cold weather gear?
Agent Sutcliffe: You really dragged your feet on this, huh?
Dr. Lawler: What’s that supposed to mean?
Agent Sutcliffe: The ice there is different. It’s supposed to be forty to fifty-degree temperatures for the whole time. And here I thought the research and documentation would be the part you liked.
Dr. Lawler: If I only cared about that, I’d be getting tenure at my alma mater by now, not doing this crap.
Agent Sutcliffe: How exactly did you get picked for this?
Dr. Lawler: Fuck off.
Agent Sutcliffe: With that sort of laissez-faire attitude, I can’t think of a single reason why someone like you would irritate a higher up.
Dr. Lawler: Agent Sutcliffe, I think we've passed the entrance. Shut up so I can crash us properly.
<TIMESTAMP: 00:01:47>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 5:54:55>
Agent Sutcliffe: I wonder if this is how the astronauts felt, going to the moon for the first time.
Dr. Lawler: The first time.
Agent Sutcliffe: Going to the moon for what they thought was the first time. All on their own, and if one little thing goes wrong with life support, they’re trapped in a void.
Dr. Lawler: I get the connection. But we’re hardly the first ones here. Look, even Agent Wellington’s wreck is still kicking.
Agent Sutcliffe: You can really see the rust glisten in the morning sun. Hey, I thought you skipped the documents?
Dr. Lawler: Not the ones that could kill me.
<TIMESTAMP: 5:55:37>
Day 2
<TIMESTAMP: 13:25:21>Agent Sutcliffe: Are you really just an academic type?
Dr. Lawler: What do you want?
Agent Sutcliffe: Nothing, it’s just that most lab coats would be a bit less focused about this sort of life or death survival situation. One mess up with the rations, and we’re goners.
Dr. Lawler: So then we don’t mess up the rations.
Agent Sutcliffe: Not really what I meant. Here you are, in a survival situation, fiddling around with some equipment.
Dr. Lawler: I’m trying to take readings. You know, our actual job here. You’re the one that’s supposed to be focused on the survival and security aspect.
Agent Sutcliffe: Oh, I see. You’re ignoring any risk based on your trust in me.
Dr. Lawler: No. I’m just trying to work, and you should too.
Agent Sutcliffe: There’s a little bit of trust there.
Dr. Lawler: None whatsoever. You mentioned that I must have pissed someone off to end up here. Well, wouldn’t that have happened to you, too?
Agent Sutcliffe: Something like that.
Dr. Lawler: Uh-huh.
Agent Sutcliffe: I’ll go secure the other side of the camp.
Dr. Lawler: You do that.
<TIMESTAMP: 13:26:44>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 21:09:11>
Dr. Lawler: Do you recall if either of the expedition teams found abnormalities in their data?
Agent Sutcliffe: What are you asking me for?
Dr. Lawler: Nevermind, I'll go check the documents out myself.
Agent Sutcliffe: What, did you find something?
Dr. Lawler: Yes, with the temperatures. They aren't changing whatsoever.
Agent Sutcliffe: So? The climate here's supposed to be stable.
Dr. Lawler: No, I mean I can't pick up any temperature change even with the most sensitive equipment here. There should at least be fluctuations based on minor manufacturing flaws. Really, even when I start shaking the thermometer-
Agent Sutcliffe: I'm not the expert here, but maybe don't do that.
Dr. Lawler: -the readout remains the same.
Agent Sutcliffe: So your complaint is that your equipment is working perfectly?
Dr. Lawler: Too perfectly.
<TIMESTAMP: 21:09:51>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 21:52:58>
Dr. Lawler: It's not just temperature, either. It's even with our own equipment.
Agent Sutcliffe: You were serious about that?
Dr. Lawler: See, look at the output on our generator.
Agent Sutcliffe: It's 240. That's what it's supposed to be.
Dr. Lawler: No, it's 240.00. There is no fluctuation. Look, it's not even changing when I switch the lights on and off-
Agent Sutcliffe: Is that necessary?
Dr. Lawler: The output didn't even go to 240.01 or 239.99.
Agent Sutcliffe: So the Foundation has a nice generator. What's the big deal?
Dr. Lawler: What's the big- how long have you been working here?
Agent Sutcliffe: Almost seven years, now.
Dr. Lawler: And you're a skeptic about the anomalous?
Agent Sutcliffe: Listen, doc, I've seen some weird shit tear people inside out or make the world sound like oatmeal. This isn't anomalous, this is mildly unusual.
Dr. Lawler: It could explain why the only properties that we've found about this place are the entrance and the thirty-day limit.
Agent Sutcliffe: Maybe those are the only properties that matter about this place! Are we really going to expand the Foundation's capabilities by discovering that pocket universes have boring weather?
Dr. Lawler: We won't know until we apply the data. There's a lot of unstable extradimensional spaces out there, maybe this one has the answers to making sure those universes don't tear apart the reality of our universe.
Agent Sutcliffe: I think you're grasping at straws here. I think you really fucked up on your last assignment, and you're trying to fix things so that you're not stuck doing dumb shit forever. But you're getting way too into this, and I need to sleep.
Dr. Lawler: Maybe that wouldn't be a concern for you if you gave a shit about your job. You seem awfully preoccupied with what I did to get here. But what did you do?
Agent Sutcliffe: This isn't the time for that. If your theory's right, you'll be getting the same data tomorrow morning anyways.
<TIMESTAMP: 21:55:15>
Day 3
<TIMESTAMP: 4:43:29>Dr. Lawler: Sutcliffe, wake up.
Agent Sutcliffe: What- it's almost 5 AM, what are you doing?
Dr. Lawler: You seemed a bit tense last night, so I let you sleep in.
Agent Sutcliffe: Thanks.
Dr. Lawler: The abnormalities are gone- look.
Agent Sutcliffe: Yep. Generator's going strong at 240.
Dr. Lawler: No, look-
Agent Sutcliffe: ARGH! Doc, I just woke up… Have a little mercy, huh?
Dr. Lawler: The output's fluctuating! Do you see what this means?
Agent Sutcliffe: That you're a dumbass?
Dr. Lawler: No, it means that SCP-4408 is reacting to make itself normal. It wants to be boring.
Agent Sutcliffe: I don't follow. What makes you think it has a motivation?
Dr. Lawler: Well, maybe I shouldn't go that far. But it definitely reacts to stimuli. I checked the temperature data of all previous expeditions- exactly 45.0 degrees the whole time. But this morning, it's about 41 degrees, and it's been climbing.
Agent Sutcliffe: I thought it was supposed to be forty to fifty degrees here?
Dr. Lawler: That's how the reports described it. I guess the first two expeditions were more concerned with mapping the place.
Agent Sutcliffe: Sure, you have to make sure the whole place is blank and boring. You never can be too sure when an ice monster will show up.
Agent Sutcliffe: Uh, doc?
Dr. Lawler: Don't jinx it.
<TIMESTAMP: 4:45:01>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 7:21:18>
Dr. Lawler: Here's the other thing that's been bothering me.
Agent Sutcliffe: That you'll never get the taste of c-rations out of your mouth?
Dr. Lawler: All of Agent Wellington's shit is still here, right?
Agent Sutcliffe: Well, where else would it go?
Dr. Lawler: So's the stuff from the two teams before us. But why isn't there anything before that?
Agent Sutcliffe: I thought Agent Wellington was the first person to find SCP-4408.
Dr. Lawler: But this one was just sitting out in the open. And, coincidentally, one of our guys was the first one to run into it? We're diligent, but we're never that lucky.
Agent Sutcliffe: Didn't you tell me, like, two hours ago not to jinx things? And here you go off trying to find some other conspiracy.
Dr. Lawler: All I'm saying is that if SCP-4408 is aware enough of our conversations to adapt, it probably knows about the Foundation.
Agent Sutcliffe: Okay, but we can't do anything about that now. We've still got 27 days until we "discover" a way out.
Dr. Lawler: Yeah, but why would SCP-4408 let anyone out in the first place? Especially Foundation? If it adapted to make itself uninhabitable to anyone, then the Foundation never would've found out about the extradimensional space. We might've classified the entrance as a portal, sure, but since nobody comes out we probably would've assumed it led into a void, or even to a random spot in space.
Agent Sutcliffe: Maybe it just doesn't see us as a threat.
Dr. Lawler: Maybe. I mean, everyone has gotten out of here, even that civilian a while back. Well, except Wellington the skeleton over there.
Agent Sutcliffe: That's true. There's probably a limit to what SCP-4408 can do, then.
Dr. Lawler: It certainly appears that way, don't you think?
Agent Sutcliffe: What do you mean?
Dr. Lawler: Finish your breakfast. I'll let you know as soon as I complete this experiment.
<TIMESTAMP: 7:23:33>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 8:05:38>
Agent Sutcliffe: What in the- was all this equipment in the plane?
Dr. Lawler: Technically. I reworked some of the measurement equipment. We're pushing the envelope, Sutcliffe.
Agent Sutcliffe: It looks like you're pushing your luck. I don't know who taught you cable management, but that's going to start a fire if you hook it up to the generator.
Dr. Lawler: You think so? Hm.
Agent Sutcliffe: Are you seriously hooking up more things to this? What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
Dr. Lawler: Well, what do you think I'm trying to accomplish?
Agent Sutcliffe: The mild 45-degree weather has gotten to you, so you have the sudden urge to start a fire.
Dr. Lawler: Ah. That concerns you?
Agent Sutcliffe: A little bit, yes. I know we're supposed to leave most of the equipment here, anyways, but if we blow out the generator it's going to be a miserable month eating cold c-rations.
Dr. Lawler: Oh, I could tell. You were taking your time with your rations, huh?
Agent Sutcliffe: Listen, I left the army because I wanted a job with edible food, okay?
Dr. Lawler: There are worse reasons to join the Foundation. But no. A little fire shouldn't be your main concern.
Agent Sutcliffe: I think this is going to cause more than a little fire.
Dr. Lawler: No, our main concern is the fact that SCP-4408 is capable of changing itself based on our conversations, and we're stuck in here for the next 27 days. We need to find out its limits, so that we know what kinds of experiments are safe to run and which ones are not.
Agent Sutcliffe: Right. Don't want ice monsters.
Dr. Lawler: You see this right here? It's a Hume reader, or more accurately, a Kant counter.
Agent Sutcliffe: Uh.
Dr. Lawler: Now, little-known fact about Kant counters- they actually access pocket universes to get their readings. They've been operating normally since we've got here, which means this pocket is stable enough to connect to other pocket universes. But there are places on earth where incorrectly configured Kant readers can cause wrinkles, if it's in an area with low enough Humes. So, what do you think is going to happen if we muddle with it here?
Agent Sutcliffe: I have no idea. You've lost me.
Dr. Lawler: That's fine. What I think is going to happen, is that we're going to see how far this pocket universe can go to keep its stability. Or, for our purposes, how far it's willing to go.
Agent Sutcliffe: And what if it can't maintain stability, and we get ripped to shreds in the implosion?
Dr. Lawler: Oh, nothing that dramatic will happen. Definitely not. The nature of the pocket universes I'm connecting to merely means that any readings we take will be abnormal.
Agent Sutcliffe: I guess that makes sense.
Dr. Lawler: If that's what you believe, then I'm going to go ahead and hook this up to the generator.
Agent Sutcliffe: I still think it's just going to set the generator on fire.
Dr. Lawler: Really? Well, there's only one way to find out.
[AUDIBLE EXPLOSION]
<TIMESTAMP: 8:05:38>
Day 7
<TIMESTAMP: 6:07:12>Dr. Lawler: Sutcliffe- Sutcliffe, wake up.
Agent Sutcliffe: Huh? Aren't we supposed to be conserving our strength?
Dr. Lawler: I wouldn't worry about that, look what I found.
[AUDIBLE CLUNK]
Agent Sutcliffe: Where did you find it?
Dr. Lawler: It was just sitting outside. I guess SCP-4408 can do more than we thought it could.
Agent Sutcliffe: Well, none of the expeditions before us ran into a rations issue.
Dr. Lawler: I said I was sorry, okay? Still… SCP-4408 couldn't do better than c-rations, huh?
Agent Sutcliffe: It has its limits, I suppose. But it seems that SCP-4408 ensures you make it to the 30-day mark.
Dr. Lawler: No, it doesn't.
Agent Sutcliffe: What do you mean?
Dr. Lawler: Agent Wellington died, remember? SCP-4408 killed him.
Agent Sutcliffe: Indirectly.
Dr. Lawler: We don't know that.
Agent Sutcliffe: Well, clearly it wants us to live, or else it would've starved us. Or, more accurately, you would have starved us.
Dr. Lawler: I know. That's what I'm trying to figure out. You haven't killed anyone who's come here except for Agent Wellington. Why is that?
Agent Sutcliffe: Well, that's probably because- uh- Oh. Shit.
Dr. Lawler: Sutcliffe?
Dr. Lawler: Where the fuck did you go… Shit.
<TIMESTAMP: 6:08:29>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 6:24:29>
Dr. Lawler: SUTCLIFFE, YOU ARE BEING A GODDAMN BRAT-
Agent Sutcliffe: Okay, okay, take it easy!
Dr. Lawler: Jesus Christ. Well, you just poofed out of there! And now you poofed back in!
Agent Sutcliffe: I panicked, okay? I didn't think you'd figure it out. How did you figure it out?
Dr. Lawler: Are you going to wipe my mind right after if I tell you?
Agent Sutcliffe: You, uh, figured that out too, huh?
Dr. Lawler: I finally read the containment procedures.
Agent Sutcliffe: It took you seven days to read-
Dr. Lawler: It didn't seem relevant at the time, okay?
Agent Sutcliffe: Well, what if I was an ice monster, huh?
Dr. Lawler: Then the research data would have had, I don't know, fur measurements or something. Look, are you going to wipe my mind?
Agent Sutcliffe: That part, uh, only kicks in after you leave.
Dr. Lawler: Okay then. Well, on my containment procedures, it says "SCP-4408 can only be occupied by two living people at a time."
Agent Sutcliffe: Okay? That's you and me.
Dr. Lawler: On yours, it says "SCP-4408 can only be occupied by one living person at a time."
Agent Sutcliffe: Oh. So-
Dr. Lawler: At first, I thought that I might be part of the SCP, and you were sent in to study me. But then, I figured there's no way someone as inept and lazy as you could be a researcher.
Agent Sutcliffe: That's hurtful. Ice monsters have feelings, too, you know.
Dr. Lawler: You're not a goddamn ice monster. I tried to figure out why there would be a difference- you had read the containment procedures, and never mentioned the inconsistency. This could have been chalked up to a lack of concentration, but the one thing you've been diligent about is the exact conditions of SCP-4408. So you were getting the documents from me, making adjustments, and giving them back at the same time you adjusted my memories of you.
Dr. Lawler: At least, I'm assuming you haven't been hanging around the Foundation for years, undetected, and then decided to visit the one area you have complete control over.
Agent Sutcliffe: No, you're right. Shit. But that's still a bit of a jump.
Dr. Lawler: It's an educated guess. You confirmed it.
Agent Sutcliffe: You really don't have anything else on me? That was my only mistake?
Dr. Lawler: That's above your clearance, Sutcliffe. Or, should I say, SCP-4408?
Agent Sutcliffe: You shouldn't.
Dr. Lawler: Sutcliffe's fine. If the higher-ups get irritated, I'll just say I was concerned about an ice monster eating me so it was the pragmatic decision.
Agent Sutcliffe: Ha. You know, I really can make an ice monster.
Dr. Lawler: What? Shut up, no you can't.
Dr. Lawler: OH, SHIT! PUT IT BACK!
Agent Sutcliffe: Sorry.
Dr. Lawler: Jesus Christ almighty! You've got an overactive imagination, you know that?
<TIMESTAMP: 6:27:22>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 6:52:57>
Agent Sutcliffe: Uh, you feeling okay now?
Dr. Lawler: Yeah, I'm fine. Jeez, you must have been laughing your ass off at all the ice monster jokes the first few days, huh?
Agent Sutcliffe: A little.
Dr. Lawler: Hm. So why'd you kill Agent Wellington, then?
Agent Sutcliffe: Right for the throat, huh doc?
Dr. Lawler: Sutcliffe.
Agent Sutcliffe: Okay, it's not what you think. Sutcliffe is a ruse, I'm pretty sure I'm Wellington's ghost.
Agent Sutcliffe: Ow! Personal bubble, doc.
Dr. Lawler: You seem pretty corporeal to me, Wellington.
Agent Sutcliffe: Ah, you can stick to Sutcliffe. I guess I'm a magic ghost. Rules are different.
Dr. Lawler: Did you know magic before you died?
Agent Sutcliffe: Uh, no.
Dr. Lawler: You seem a bit more like a type green to me. One with a remarkable control over Hume levels.
Agent Sutcliffe: I wasn't one of those before I died, either.
Dr. Lawler: Rules for reality benders are different, by definition. If you were using magic, that would've made a blip on the thaumatological sensors.
Agent Sutcliffe: Uh.
Dr. Lawler: Magic detectors. GOC design, so you would need a high level of skill, not power, to fool those.
Agent Sutcliffe: Then why aren't I throwing off the human levels?
Dr. Lawler: Hume. It's a measure of how stable reality is, more or less. I bet if I had a sensor running when you brought in that ice monster, there would have been a blip. And no, I do not want to run an experiment to check, thanks.
Agent Sutcliffe: I wasn't going to ask! Besides, it's not like anyone spent years making those ice monsters look cool or anything.
Dr. Lawler: If you have an ice rabbit or something you'd like to show me-
Agent Sutcliffe: I don't need your pity, doc.
Dr. Lawler: Okay, fine.
Agent Sutcliffe: Got any other questions to throw at me?
Dr. Lawler: For now, just one.
Agent Sutcliffe: Shoot.
Dr. Lawler: Can you really not make any better food than c-rations?
<TIMESTAMP: 6:55:14>
[…]
<TIMESTAMP: 7:18:49>
Dr. Lawler: Have you ever seen food before?
Agent Sutcliffe: It's been awhile! And besides, I only eat food here to prove I'm human. I don't actually need it.
Dr. Lawler: Uh-huh. I'll stick to your c-rations. They're about the same level of edible as normal c-rations.
Agent Sutcliffe: That's what gave it away, wasn't it?
Dr. Lawler: It confirmed that 'Agent Sutcliffe' wasn't a complete ruse- that you had some level of empathy. But no. I knew before then.
Agent Sutcliffe: Really? From just the error in the containment procedures?
Dr. Lawler: Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't know. I knew from day 3.
Agent Sutcliffe: How does you messing up and blowing up rations prove that I'm anomalous?
Dr. Lawler: Because it's what you believed would happen. That's also why I think you're a reality bender, not a magic user.
Agent Sutcliffe: Don't pin that on me. That was an engineering nightmare.
Dr. Lawler: It was a Kant counter with a bunch of spare parts duct taped to it. Seriously, a Kant counter draws about as much power as a lightbulb. It wasn't going to set off a fire without outside intervention.
Agent Sutcliffe: That's not what it sounded like.
Dr. Lawler: Of course not. It wouldn't be a very good test if I explained to you what I was testing, would it?
Agent Sutcliffe: So then what? What if you died? You'd only known me for three days. You had no idea if I might just kill you to stop you from plugging it in, in case there actually was a chance of this pocket collapsing.
Dr. Lawler: It's because you were concerned. It sounded genuine. The whole time I was talking to you about the experiment, you were concerned about the danger to us. Not you, both of us. So I took a risk.
Agent Sutcliffe: Don't you have anyone outside waiting for you?
Dr. Lawler: Of course I do. That's why I need to make sure I never get stuck in a situation like this again- I need to be able to go home to them.
<TIMESTAMP: 7:20:44>
Day 11
<TIMESTAMP: 10:11:19>Dr. Lawler: So why just blank ice?
Agent Sutcliffe: I wanted to discourage too much research into the place. Honestly, you were the only one to keep doing measurements after I made things like this.
Dr. Lawler: What? Well, what did the other researchers do?
Agent Sutcliffe: Oh, they had the equipment running. But instead of looking into the data, they just collected it. They were all in your boat, you know. Made a big mistake or pissed someone off. Nobody chooses to abandon the world for thirty days to be alone in an unknown world, with no communication.
Dr. Lawler: You're right. Everyone coming in thought they would be isolated. No one likes to be alone.
Agent Sutcliffe: Yeah. I was almost kind of glad when the Foundation started sending people in. I actually did work for the Foundation for seven years, you know. It was nice to be with my coworkers again.
Dr. Lawler: I guess when I get out I'll have the same boring data as usual. Too bad, the Foundation might actually stop sending people here if they can't find anything of interest.
Agent Sutcliffe: Not exactly. The only thing that gets wiped is my participation. Any data you have on SCP-4408 itself will still be around. It will just look spontaneous, or as part of the environment.
Dr. Lawler: Is that why you're never any help with data collection? I thought you were trying to slow down my research. Or, you know. You're kind of a loaf.
Agent Sutcliffe: Ha. It's not like I have any life goals, here. There's no future for me.
<TIMESTAMP: 10:12:58>
Day 14
<TIMESTAMP: 14:34:09>Dr. Lawler: You're not actually trying to slow down research, are you?
Agent Sutcliffe: You mean like messing with the measurements? Not anymore.
Dr. Lawler: Ah, I figured.
Agent Sutcliffe: Why, is something wrong?
Dr. Lawler: Well, remember the discrepancy I found in the beginning?
Agent Sutcliffe: The temperature thing?
Dr. Lawler: Right. I haven't found anything else odd since then.
Agent Sutcliffe: Well, doc, I had two whole other expeditions to get things to normal.
Dr. Lawler: What? You changed things, and nobody caught on?
Agent Sutcliffe: Oh, they knew something was up. At least until they left. But they never thought it would be me.
Dr. Lawler: You do give off an air of haplessness. That's actually pretty good, I didn't think you'd go that far with your acting.
Dr. Lawler: …Sutcliffe?
Agent Sutcliffe: …It's not acting.
Dr. Lawler: Oh. Uh.
Agent Sutcliffe: Uh-huh.
Dr. Lawler: You really didn't want to be found out.
Agent Sutcliffe: I was concerned that they might find a way around the wipe. I really didn't get too much into the science thing, not even of reality benders.
Dr. Lawler: And you're not concerned about me looking for a way? Or do you just not think I'm capable?
Agent Sutcliffe: The way it works, is that if I think you can't find a way around the wipe, you won't be able to, right?
Dr. Lawler: Maybe. Most of your stuff revolves around affecting the environment here. You haven't been able to mess with others' thoughts, right?
Agent Sutcliffe: To be honest, doc, I haven't tried. I don't exactly want to. I have enough troubles with all the things I've seen done at my time with the Foundation, never mind…
Dr. Lawler: …Right. I guess in the time you've been alone, you've been hashing out your memories.
Agent Sutcliffe: I don't want to forget who I am. Fortunately, what we do is difficult to forget. But adding someone else's thoughts into the mix would muddle things.
Dr. Lawler: And meanwhile, you've grown comfortable with a mask.
Agent Sutcliffe: Maybe. Sometimes, I wonder if Wellington was the real mask.
Dr. Lawler: For all you know, you were never Wellington in the first place.
Agent Sutcliffe: I guess that's possible.
Dr. Lawler: Either way, I think Sutcliffe suits you just fine.
Agent Sutcliffe: Ha. You're a laugh a minute, doc.
<TIMESTAMP: 14:36:14>
Day 27
<TIMESTAMP: 16:49:33>Agent Sutcliffe: Come on, who did you piss off to get sent here?
Dr. Lawler: That's still not any of your business.
Agent Sutcliffe: Seriously? You come into my house, dissect my whole life story-
Dr. Lawler: Okay, okay! It was just a series of bad performance reviews.
Agent Sutcliffe: What? No.
Dr. Lawler: Look, I'm not exactly the greatest scientist, okay?
Agent Sutcliffe: No, I mean- I don't know. I just figured you slipped up during an alien dissection or something, severed some SCP's brain stem.
Dr. Lawler: What is with you and dissections? You really do have an overactive imagination.
Agent Sutcliffe: Hey, I've seen it happen!
Agent Sutcliffe: Well.
Dr. Lawler: You don't have to give me the details. It's probably need-to-know anyways, I can deal without the amnestics cocktail.
Agent Sutcliffe: Ha. I guess some things never change.
Dr. Lawler: Huh. When exactly did you enter SCP-4408?
Agent Sutcliffe: Uh, why do you ask?
Dr. Lawler: You act like a twenty-year-old, but you've obviously lived longer than that. I just need to do the math.
Agent Sutcliffe: Doc, hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to ask someone's age?
Dr. Lawler: You had no problem with me weighing you.
Agent Sutcliffe: Yeah, but I control that- hey! It's not going to be in my documents! They're redacted, too!
Dr. Lawler: I'm just going to check anyways. It's a scientific concern, field agents like you don't need to worry their pretty little heads about it.
Agent Sutcliffe: Hey! Give it!
<TIMESTAMP: 16:51:02>
Day 28
<TIMESTAMP: 15:12:44>Dr. Lawler: Ugh. I still can't believe that in a few days, I'm going to forget all about you.
Agent Sutcliffe: I could delay your exit, if you wanted.
Dr. Lawler: Wait, you control that part of this?
Agent Sutcliffe: Well-
Dr. Lawler: Then let me leave now! You think I don't have any friends or family out there that I'd like to talk about? You think that I don't miss anyone?
Agent Sutcliffe: Doc-
Dr. Lawler: Sutcliffe, do you really think you're the only one who's alone? Or is it that you just can't empathize with others anymore?
Agent Sutcliffe: I can, it's just that I don't know the next time the Foundation will send someone. It took decades for anyone to find this place. And even after I let Martha go, it was still a few years before the Foundation risked an expedition. And as soon as you leave, you'll forget all about me, like I didn't matter. Even if they sent you back in.
Dr. Lawler: You control that too, don't you? You lied to me.
Agent Sutcliffe: I don't want to get dissected. You know the procedures.
Dr. Lawler: I don't think anyone's going to try to stick you for a blood sample.
Agent Sutcliffe: That's not what I meant. You know what the Foundation does to minds. Especially to people like me. Things like me. I'm alone now, but at least I'm safe.
Dr. Lawler: Look- you haven't been outside SCP-4408, have you?
Agent Sutcliffe: No, of course not. What, you think I can just go flying in and out without the Foundation doing something about it? In the best case scenario, they'd stop sending people in and they'd nab me as soon as I left. And in the worst case, they'd figure out a way to send in a strike force, of people who can take down someone like me. I know it's possible. Hell, I helped take down a couple of reality benders back when I was human. Then, I'll be sitting in a cell in some forgotten site, and I won't have any control over it. Not like I do here.
Dr. Lawler: SCP-4408 is pretty well contained. Hell, you know that. You have all the documents I brought in, after all. I don't think the Foundation has any reason to drag you out of a situation like this.
Agent Sutcliffe: So? Then they'll bring the scalpels here-
Dr. Lawler: And here, everything is on your terms.
Agent Sutcliffe: Well, that doesn't mean they can't find any countermeasures. Just from your data alone, they might find something. I don't want to give them a reason.
Dr. Lawler: Look, the Foundation's changed a lot since you crashed. If an anomaly cooperates, treatment is humane. Let me try and talk to them, okay?
Agent Sutcliffe: You don't want me to wipe your memory. Or the audio logs.
Dr. Lawler: Do you trust me?
<TIMESTAMP: 15:15:12>
SCP-4408-A is a humanoid entity posing as "Agent Sutcliffe." The appearance and behavior of SCP-4408-A correspond with Agent Wellington, declared MIA on 04/19/1932. Any personnel who enter SCP-4408 will be immediately joined by SCP-4408-A. SCP-4408-A has a memetic effect that will cause someone within SCP-4408 to regard them as a work acquaintance, able to recall memories of working with SCP-4408-A. Upon leaving SCP-4408, personnel will lose memories of SCP-4408-A, with the exception of Expedition 3. All recordings of SCP-4408-A similarly disappear upon exiting SCP-4408.
Expedition logs stored at level 3 and below will refer to SCP-4408-A as "Agent Sutcliffe" to avoid hostile actions by SCP-4408-A towards researchers.
SCP-4408-A has the same security clearance as Agent Wellington, at level 3, despite his security clearance being revoked when he went MIA.
Ongoing research efforts are targeted at building a psychological profile of SCP-4408-A with the goal of coaxing it into a more controllable containment setting. Other than Dr. Lawler, no other Foundation researcher has retained their memories of SCP-4408-A. When Dr. Lawler was sent back into SCP-4408 with the goal of coaxing SCP-4408-A outside of SCP-4408, they returned at the thirty-day mark with no memories of their time in SCP-4408, or even that they had gone into SCP-4408 a second time.
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"SCP-4408" by AquaBlack, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scpwiki.com/scp-4408. Licensed under CC-BY-SA.
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