There's a portal to a mansion in the back of a van.
A Portal to a Mansion in the Back of a Van
| Item #: SCP-5472 | Level 4/5472 |
| Object Class: Thaumiel | Classified |
| Assigned Site | Site Director | Research Head | Assigned Task Force |
| Area-73 | Dir. Lester Kuo | SCP-5472-1 | N/A |
A bedroom in all instances of SCP-5472-A.
Special Containment Procedures: Currently, eight known instances of SCP-5472-A are known to exist to the Foundation. All instances require Level 4/5472 Clearance to access.
Creation of a new instance of SCP-5472-A requires approval of three Level 4 personnel, including the Director of the facility in which the new space will be located.
SCP-5472-1 is currently located at Area-73. In the event that SCP-5472-1 desires to leave the Foundation, they are to instruct SCP-5472 to three other Level 4 personnel for preservation of the anomaly prior to amnestization.
SCP-5472-3 is to be stored in a standard containment locker for posterity.
Description: SCP-5472 is a method in which non-Euclidean spatial anomalies may be created. These spaces, designated SCP-5472-A, universally resemble the same large residential mansion interior with three floors, totaling an area of approximately 375 square metres each. Each instance contains translucent windows with seemingly natural light that corresponds to the location of the instance's SCP-5472-B location.
SCP-5472-B is the designation for the doors that are selected during each SCP-5472 process to become the sole access point for their unique SCP-5472-A instance. The new space will override the previously existing space that was accessible by SCP-5472-B.
SCP-5472-A spaces contain access to residential utilities through an unknown source; these utilities are activated by the power supply that initially supplied the space that the SCP-5472-A space now inhabits. Each instance, while resembling each other during initial creation, are independently malleable from each other, although the walls and surfaces that would correspond to an exterior are unable to be destroyed or otherwise structurally manipulated.
SCP-5472-1 is Foundation Area-73 Researcher Manuel van Portshire, who is the inventor of the SCP-5472 phenomenon. They claim to have obtained knowledge of SCP-5472 through telepathic communication with an unknown humanoid group of entities; no further communication could be established. Other than their knowledge of the procedure, the individual possesses no other anomalous properties.
SCP-5472-2 was a male individual named Engel Dominicus, who was associated with SCP-5472-1 at the time of the anomaly's discovery.
SCP-5472-3 at the time of recovery.
SCP-5472-3 is a composition notebook, its contents written by SCP-5472-1. The item contains instructions and documentation pertaining to SCP-5472, written in a linguistic dialect comprehensible only to SCP-5472-1 and SCP-5472-2. At the time of its discovery, an attempt at its destruction by SCP-5472-2 was made due to fears of execution by Foundation personnel following the retrieval of the object; analysis of the text became more difficult as a result.
On July 16, 2020, translation of SCP-5472-3 was successfully completed. However, as SCP-5472-1 lacked complete fluency over the language in which the item was written, the possibility of deciphering the entire language was deemed impossible.
History: The SCP-5472 phenomenon was first discovered on September 9, 2019 in British Columbia, Canada. Investigation concluded that SCP-5472-11 had instructed SCP-5472-2 how to perform the method through SCP-5472-3 to create an instance of the anomaly in the rear cargo hold of a 2013 Ford Transit Connect owned by SCP-5472-2. The affected vehicle, designated as SCP-5472-B-1, was obtained by Area-73 personnel along with the two individuals.
It is believed that SCP-5472-2 was attempting to sell knowledge of SCP-5472 to Marshall, Carter, & Dark LLP. prior to Foundation containment. No further leads could be established.
Despite initial hostility towards the Foundation and each other, SCP-5472-1 and SCP-5472-2 began to cooperate following a revision of protocol and attempts by each other to make amends. Approved allocations of amenities proved successful in fostering cooperation from both individuals.
Over the following months, SCP-5472-1 instructed the SCP-5472 process to Foundation researchers. Their knowledge of the science behind SCP-5472 was limited to manifesting the same residential interior with one access point, although subsequent experimentation allowed SCP-5472-A instances to be constructed in fixed structures.
On December 20, 2020, SCP-5472-1 accepted an official researcher position at the Foundation for their work in the creation and study of the SCP-5472 phenomenon, and for their continued cooperation with the Foundation.
Due to the lack of radioactivity and cognitohazardous phenomena from SCP-5472-A instances and the increasing cost of constructing underground facilities, use of the SCP-5472 phenomenon to construct supplemental storage space and personnel living quarters within Foundation facilities was accepted by the O5 Council on October 8, 2022. SCP-5472 received a reclassification to Thaumiel.
Addendum: On July 1, 2023, SCP-5472-2 submitted a request to leave Foundation custody, stating that their usefulness in the study of SCP-5472 had been depleted, and that they no longer wish to live at Area-73. Following a review by the Area Director, their request was approved. SCP-5472-2 was administered Class-E amnestics, with false memories implanted per standard protocol and civilian living situations arranged. On July 5, 2023, SCP-5472-2 was released successfully.
A letter was written by SCP-5472-1 regarding the departure of SCP-5472-2.
To my colleagues at the Foundation,
Tomorrow, on July 5, 2023, my good friend and colleague Engel Dominicus will leave the Foundation. He will have no memory of our facility; of the mansion that was in the back of his van; of you or me. All he will have is a normal roof over his head and a position as a welder at an established company, both of which I have personally arranged for him.
I spoke with Engel for hours about his decision, asking, no, pleading with him to reconsider. His knowledge of what we now call SCP-5472 was just as extensive as mine. Additionally, his welding expertise proved essential in not only performing the process in which to create these spaces, but also in retrofitting the new storage areas, the new dormitories we were creating. We got to witness and study the paranormal; help protect humanity from dangerous, world-ending anomalies and events.
His mind was made up, however. He simply told me about how he missed the outside world, how he missed being ignorant of all the dangerous anomalies contained within the Foundation, and how he missed not worrying about forgetting something that shouldn't be forgotten. In a way, I found myself missing that too.
Five years ago, I was visited by what I now recognize to be anomalous, inhuman entities. They communicated to me how to create new spaces in the world, how to squeeze large rooms into tiny dimensions. I drafted what I learned into a book that I left untitled at the time, so I can remember them. I will always be glad that I did not leave this book behind during the breakdown of my marriage.
When I met Engel, he was desperate for permanent shelter. Circumstances beyond his control had led him to living out of his van, during a cold Canadian winter. He had no one to talk to, no one to trust, no one to provide. I recognized myself in him.
I began instructing him on how to read my book and perform the process, so he could finally have the shelter he deserves. Unfortunately, a Mountie that was having a bad day prevented me from doing so. When I was released, Engel's need for gas, food, and money had drawn him to Vancouver with my book in hand to sell to a rival Group of Interest.
My initial impression of the Foundation was poor. Engel mistook their eagerness to find my book as hostility, and due to the fear planted in him by a certain businessman, he attempted to destroy my book before the Foundation could find it. I remember my initial anger, before I realized that his actions were out of desperation and self-preservation. Researcher Wilson Duong eventually reached a consensus with us, where we agreed to share our knowledge with the Foundation, in exchange for permanent residence at Area-73, with three meals a day.
Over the months that followed, I would stay up almost every night to translate what was left of my book into English, racking my brain over and over for the word that most accurately describes the phrase on the page. I would go to bed every night hoping that the entities would speak to me once more, to help me spread their knowledge to others. Alas, they never did. Perhaps that was for the best; if they reached me again, would they be happy that I let the Foundation aware of their existence? That was not something I found myself willing to risk.
It was Engel who suggested appealing to the O5 Council to allow us to create more mansion spaces exclusively for Foundation use. I tried to dissuade him, but he insisted that the cost savings of building these interiors for the Foundation would total in the billions when implemented in facilities around the world. I did the calculations, and he was right. If even 10% of new facility area constructed every year were SCP-5472-A, it could save at least $4 billion2 a year. Our proposal was eventually accepted by a majority vote by the O5 Council, but not before weeks of sleepless nights and stressful meetings.
I had expansive plans for the two of us to travel across North America, creating portals to mansions in any Foundation facility whose Director gave the thumbs-up. As of now, those plans will come to fruition without him. Even so, I made sure that his fresh start will be on solid ground, with the necessities of functioning in society, so he will never be destitute again.
Meeting Engel was the start of the chain reaction I needed to finally find my true calling as a scientist for the Foundation. This I will be forever grateful for. I will miss Engel greatly, but I will always be assured that returning to normalcy is what he has chosen for himself.
I thank everyone at Area-73, and everyone at the Foundation, for both the opportunities given to me, and for the respect given to Engel's decision.
Secure. Contain. Protect.
Researcher Manuel van Portshire (SCP-5472-1)
