SCP-6148

rating: +3+x
Item#: SCP-6148
Level2
Containment Class:
euclid
Secondary Class:
none
Disruption Class:
vlam
Risk Class:
notice

Special Containment Procedures: Until the full anomalous effects of SCP-6148 are discovered, guards are to be stationed around the perimeter of SCP-6148. Any non-Foundation personnel are to be turned away from SCP-6148 and administered Class A amnestics.

Description: SCP-6148 is a forest in ██████, Pennsylvania, USA. It is of a roughly circular shape, and covers about 900 square kilometers of land. SCP-6148 is extremely dense, with approximately three times the standard forest density.
The primary anomalous qualities of SCP-6148 are properties of its trees, hereafter referred to as SCP-6148-1. They are of an unidentified species, resembling oak trees but with no branches other than at the canopies. Dead or fallen instances are yet to be documented, despite the nutrient density in the soil being insufficient to support the size of the forest. SCP-6148 was discovered on ██/██/2020, after a small town was reported to have completely disappeared from satellite scans, in its place being a mass of vegetation. Shortly after preliminary scans, initial containment procedures were established and an expedition was planned, with the intent of discovering the full anomalous effects of the forest, primarily its reproductive methods.


SCP-6148| Exploration Video Log Transcript

Foreword: Discover the full anomalous properties or effects of SCP-6148, with a secondary goal of finding information on the whereabouts of the missing town.

Team Members:
Dr. Jonathan Merion, Wooded Anomalies
Dr. Abigail Wynne, Spatial Anomalies
Dr. Adam Lancaster, Spatial Anomalies, formerly Wooded Anomalies

Team Leader:
SITE COMMAND, Wooded Anomalies


[BEGIN LOG]

Shown is SCP-6148, about fifty feet from the border. The team is behind the camera, with the exception of Dr. Lancaster.

Merion: Testing, testing, one, two… I believe it's working!

Lancaster: Red light's on, should be rolling. Shall we begin?

Shuffling can be heard in the background.

Wynne: Should be ready.

Lancaster: All righty then. First things first, time is 6:00 A.M., date is April 2nd, 2020. Small expedition lead by three scientists, with Command in our ears. Purpose: gather samples of SCP-6148-1, along with attempting to discern their lack of nutritional or spatial needs. One-day trip, returning tonight, with a week's worth of rations just in case.

Merion: On board. What's the point in restating this anyway? We've been prepping for this for weeks.

Lancaster: Never know what they'll put in the article. Easier to sort logs this way. Let's take inventory, for the same reason. Rations?

Dr. Merion holds up a packet of MREs.

Merion: Pretty gross, but we've got them.

Lancaster: Standard-issue audio and video recording device?

Wynne: That's called a camera, Adam, and obviously we have one. How else would we be recording this?

Lancaster: …Check.

Lancaster: Spare standard issue audio and video recording device?

Merion: Yeah, right here.

Lancaster: Sample gathering tools, including a tree tap, pliers, bolt cutters, and notebooks?

Merion: Check.

Lancaster: Camping equipment, including a tent, flashlights, and a lighter?

Merion: Yep. Brought s'mores ingredients… never know when you'll need a s'more.

Dr. Lancaster reviews the checklist an additional time and is taken aback.

Lancaster: Looks like we've had an additional piece of tech… they've given us a solar-powered ion battery pack, compatible with both flashlights and cameras.

Wynne: Was wondering what this box is. I've heard of these, they've just pushed them out of prototypes. Don't know why they'd give us one. Heard they still take a hell of a while to charge- at least a day, probably more with the amount of light that canopy'll be blocking. Cool though.

Lancaster: Shouldn't need it given we won't be in there longer than a day, but I guess it's good to have. Let's set out!

Having finished taking inventory, Dr. Lancaster leads the group into the forest.

Merion: Wow… It's dark as hell in here. Bright early morning, and it feels like dusk. I can see, but just barely.

The camera's automatic exposure has shifted significantly to account for the darkness.

COMMAND: What's your view distance?

Merion: Twenty, thirty feet? Not great. I'm sure you guys can see better, but even with this flashlight the density's making it difficult to see far.

Wynne: Five minutes in, and this place is already giving me the creeps. At first, these trees look pretty similar to oak, but… none of them have branches, other than the ones at the very top. Tree structure is weird too: one large trunk that bifurcates close to the canopy. No fallen trees anywhere. No dead ones either… hmm.

Dr. Wynne leans close to the ground.

Wynne: There's barely any life down here. It's just grass. No flowers, no mushrooms, no fallen leaves. That's bizarre.

Lancaster: Huh. Odd…

Dr. Lancaster becomes still for a few seconds, looking off into the distance. His hands shake slightly, and he resumes walking.

Merion: Adam? You okay?

Lancaster: Yeah. Just thought I heard someo-… something.

Merion: I didn't hear anything. Wynne?

Wynne: Nope. Command?

COMMAND: Negative. No anomalous audio detected.

Lancaster: Something's off. I've got a… a feeling. Something's wrong. I don't think… I don't think I'm meant to be here.

Dr. Lancaster pauses and takes a deep breath.

Lancaster: I'm better now. Let's worry about this later, and continue the expedition.

Merion: We don't exactly know where we are, do we? Continuing the expedition in any given direction seems difficult, apart from maybe sample-gathering.

Wynne: Let's start with that, and assess our position later. It's hard enough to see where we are, let alone move in a straight direction. I say we get samples and then eat.

The team gathers samples, including bark, roots, sap, and soil. Of note is the variations between the samples, later elaborated upon by Dr. Lancaster.

Merion: I'm hungry, and it's cold and dark in here. Command, are we cleared to set up a fire?

COMMAND: Clear. Keep the fire small and low.

Dr. Wynne begins to prepare a fire while Dr. Merion rests. Dr. Lancaster is sat on a large tangle of roots, inspecting a bark sample. For about an hour, nobody speaks, as the team eats in silence. Dr. Merion seems apprehensive at the contents of the meal, which includes freeze-dried fruit, glazed pork, and s'mores.


Dr. Lancaster breaks the silence.

Lancaster: Some of these trees look decayed. Slower sap flow, roots are easier to snap, some of the bark is flaking off. There wasn't anything like this closer to the edge.

Merion: I suppose that even though these trees can't die, they can still succumb to atrophy.

Lancaster: Perhaps because they take up space instead of decomposing, the forest's growth is radial- starting at some epicenter and growing steadily over time. If we knew how long it took a tree to decay, we could date each section of the forest based on decay distribution.

Wynne: If there's anything dangerous about this forest, the growth will be something for us to worry about. On its own, it'll already be difficult to contain if it grows, but… there's no seeds anywhere. Why is it getting bigger at all? What's the cause of this growth in the first place?

Lancaster: No clue. But it may be worth some inquiry, if we have time. Perhaps a few more… a few more days of exploration.

Merion: A few days? That's not in the protocol, and these MREs suck. I don't want to be eating these for longer than I have to.

Dr. Lancaster stares into the distance, in the direction where the trees seem to be the most decayed.

Lancaster: …another time. Fine. Let's get out of here.

Merion: Time is 5:00 PM. Samples gathered, batteries almost depleted. Command, are we cleared to leave?

COMMAND: Clear.

Merion: Team?

Lancaster: Ready. Dr. Wynne?

Wynne: Question: Everything here is the same. How do we get out?

Lancaster: I've been thinking about this. We have, in my mind, two options: one, we could go in a straight line in any direction, but we risk having to travel the full diameter of the forest and come out on the opposite side. Alternatively, we could try to track the decay patterns, and go outwards. The problem there is that once we get farther out, we may hit a point where there won't be any more decay, and then we'll be lost.

Merion: Second one definitely sounds better. We'll have to just keep walking in the same direction once we hit an area with no decay.

The team sets out, in the direction with the least decay. There are several hours of silence, interrupted by Dr. Merion.

Merion: Agh!

Wynne: What? Merion? Is everything okay?

Merion: Keep tripping on these damn roots. It's so dense, if I'm not looking down all the time I feel like I'm gonna fall.

Lancaster: Yeah… this sucks. I'd love to get out of here, but I don't know how it'll happen. I've still got this feeling… it feels like we're going the wrong way. Our directions seem fine, but something still feels wrong.

Dr. Lancaster's hands begin shaking as the edge of the forest comes into view.

Wynne: Is that… It's the border?

Merion: It would appear to be.

Wynne: Time is 7:00 PM. That's certainly odd. Two hours of walking from a location it took us several more to get to. Something's going on.

Merion: At least it's in our favor. One day has never felt longer for me. Almost out.

Lancaster: This feels wrong. My body… My mind is still telling me this is the wrong way. I can see the edge, but… my stomach hurts. I don't belong out there. I don't think I can leave.

Wynne: Adam, what are you talking about?

Dr. Wynne pans the camera to show Dr. Lancaster, revealing the campfire and a brush of decayed trees. The edge of the forest is nowhere in sight.

Merion: This is wrong. We're stuck here.

Dr. Lancaster sits down and puts his head in his hands.

Lancaster: No, you aren't. I am.

Wynne: What?

Lancaster: I can't explain. I can't put it into words. They won't let me leave.

Wynne: Adam, what are you talking about? I've never heard you like this before-

Lancaster: I know. And you never will again. I know what must be done.

Merion: Adam, what the hell are you on about? Snap out of it, and we'll- we'll find a way out! We have a week's rations, we have time, there's no reason to do anything drastic just for a goddamn kind of creepy skip-

Dr. Lancaster stands up suddenly. His hands are shaking rapidly.

Lancaster: No. There's nothing you can do, except to let me do this. I'm sorry, Jon. Abby, I'm so sorry that I'll never make it home. Maybe… maybe there will be a way. But not for a long time. They're calling me. It's so loud…

Dr. Lancaster, with the full supply pack, jolts away. Dr. Wynne tries to run after him, but as he is fully obscured by a tree he disappears from view.

Wynne: What the hell. He's gone, and he took all our supplies with him. We've got the samples and main camera, but that's it. What the fuck do we do?

Merion: I don't know. Maybe he just snapped. If he knows what he's talking about, there really is no use going back for him. If he just sacrificed his life for no goddamn reason then he'll make his way out. Or he won't. I don't know. Maybe I just want to get the hell out of here.

Wynne: I want to find him. I have to find him. Oh, God, what will I do? Why would he do that to himself?

Merion: As much as I want to leave, I don't think I could live with myself if I left him here.

Dr. Wynne begins to run though the forest, calling for Dr. Lancaster. No response is heard, other than the panicked sounds of Dr. Merion trying to keep up with her.

COMMAND: Please return to Site as soon as possible. The loss of Dr. Lancaster is unfortunate, but the samples are of utmost importance. Given the possible mental toll of SCP-6148, future expeditions may not be conducted.

Wynne: What about Adam? What will you do? I need to find him. Please let me look for him. Please.

COMMAND: The loss of Dr. Lancaster is unfortunate, but the samples are of utmost importance. Please return to Site as soon as possible.

Wynne: I've got to find him. Why wouldn't you want me to?

COMMAND: Potential effects of SCP-6148 may prevent the remaining team members from returning. While your mental state is still intact, return to Site.

Wynne: Intact mental state? He just left me! How could my mental state possibly be intact after that?

COMMAND: Dr. Wynne, you will forfeit your position at the Foundation if you continue. Return to Site.

Wynne: You'd better look for him when we get back. You'd fucking better. I can't have him out here, alone. He'll die. Screw you all.


Afterword: Drs. Wynne and Merion begin to walk along the previously transcribed path. At approximately 10:30 PM, the remaining team reaches the edge, passing across the border without contention. Both of them return to Site without issue, and their samples are submitted for testing. Of note is the level of distress displayed by Dr. Wynne, who expressed contempt towards the Foundation for disallowing her from further exploration.

[END LOG]


Addendum 4/6/2021- Results of Sample Testing

Testing of samples largely proved inconclusive, with sap and bark samples proving almost identical to oak, save for some discoloration. Soil samples contained an abundance of nutrients in SCP-6148, but none in the root samples, indicative of several possible outcomes: either SCP-6148-1 requires no nutrients to survive, or it somehow creates nutrients on its own. More research would be required to determine its reproductive tendencies, but at present, containment procedures can be established.
-Dr. Ardemor, Director of Wooded Anomalies


THE FOLLOWING FILES ARE LEVEL 4/6148 CLASSIFIED


ANY ATTEMPT TO ACCESS THEM WITHOUT LEVEL 4/6148 AUTHORIZATION WILL BE LOGGED AND WILL LEAD TO IMMEDIATE DISCIPLINARY ACTION.


YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Addendum 02/02/2021- Additional Information

On 02/01/2021, a series of videos were sent directly to Foundation computer systems. These videos contained several months of expedition logs of Dr. Adam Lancaster, previously thought to be deceased, detailing an extended journey through SCP-6148, lasting far longer than his food supplies should have lasted. The internal data of the camera tracked the date of each recording. The footage is cleared for viewing by all personnel with Level 4/6148 access, and will be fully evaluated soon.



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