This file is presented unabridged due to the unresolved and potentially catastrophic state of its subject. I have elected to spare no details, as an explanation continues to elude our foremost experts and the subject matter lies well beyond the bounds of my own expertise. Updates to this file will continue until either the problem has been solved, or the universe unravels.
— Dr. Bradley Fellows, Acting Director, Provisional Site-232
SCP-6836.
Special Containment Procedures: Access to SCP-6836 for testing purposes is permitted to all qualified personnel, but transits involving any objects, living or otherwise, are to be carried out only under the supervision of Acting Director Fellows or MTF Captain Gallant. Unauthorized transits risk a potential large-scale uncontrolled nuclear fusion event.
SCP-6836 is located in a standard containment cell that was erected around it subsequent to its appearance. Decommissioning of SCP-6836 may be possible via structural damage to the wall to which it is affixed, though this is unverified. Attempts to physically relocate SCP-6836 are also likely to result in neutralization.
Due to its intangibility, SCP-6836's 'terminus' does not require containment, but is to be kept under constant surveillance by MTF Epsilon-129 ("Queen's Highwaymen").
Investigation into SCP-6836's origin and purpose is ongoing and should be considered high-priority, as failure to resolve this anomaly could result in outcomes ranging from nothing at all, to the total dissolution of reality along all linked timelines.
Description: SCP-6836 is a rectangular aperture in the east wall of Utility Corridor Ground-1-E of the Strathroy-Caradoc Plaza mall. The aperture is approximately 2m tall and 1m wide. Attempts to measure any depth have been unsuccessful, and it has been tentatively concluded that SCP-6836 does not meaningfully interact with the third spatial dimension. SCP-6836 opens to neither the interior, nor the other side of the corridor wall, as would typically be expected of such an aperture. It instead opens immediately onto a sidewalk in the city of Mississauga, baseline reality, some 170km to the northeast of the anomaly. The coordinates of SCP-6836's apparent terminus are 43.53325, -79.66082. No aperture back into the corridor is visible or accessible from this location.1 Unusual patches of snow accumulate at regular intervals along the edges of the sidewalk in temperatures below 10°C; the patches melt in warmer weather, but reaccumulate when the temperature falls.
Addendum 6836-1, Context of Discovery: The following historical background is provided as context for the Foundation's presence during, and involvement in, the discovery of SCP-6836. This information may also be relevant in deciphering the cause and purpose of SCP-6836's materialization, as well as the potential existential threat it poses.
On 2021/05/10, Strathroy-Caradoc Plaza — a shopping mall located at 1000 Plaza Blvd. in the township of Strathroy-Caradoc, Ontario, Canada — was designated Outpost-232 under the supervision of Site-43. Its remit was to surveil an unusual preponderance of low-level GoI activity in the area. Site security and field surveillance were conducted by MTF Lambda-232 ("Interference Pattern") under the command of Captain Rain Gallant, while research, Veil Threat Discernment, and GoI-liaising were overseen by Dr. Bradley Fellows and a team of technicians and assistants.
Inter-GoI tensions in the nearby city of London soon reached a critical point with the arrival of the exiled radical known as the Grey Capirote from Toronto, and the injection of the members of his particularly adversarial faction into the local Chainsaw Capuchins (GoI-811).2 The immediate result was an "Occult Turf War" pitting the Chainsaw Capuchins against the Royal Hylozoists' Society (GoI-446).3 Shortly thereafter the Ætrian Nidus (GoI-1349),4 capitalizing on the violent situation, made their presence in the city known by creating an untenable anomalous pathobiological situation. Outpost-232 was therefore redesignated a Provisional Site, to serve as staging ground for Veil-maintaining operations during the conflict.
The exterior of Strathroy-Caradoc Plaza.
Addendum 6836-2, Discovery: On October 9th, 2021 an anomaly was discovered in the east wall of the east ground floor utility corridor of the Strathroy-Caradoc Plaza. The incident report is appended below.
| INCIDENT REPORT: 232-22407-1 |
|---|
| Date: October 9, 2021 Officer of Record: Rain Gallant, Captain MTF Lambda-232 ("Interference Pattern") |
|
Approx. 1330 hours: Agent Beaulieu alerted me over handheld to a civilian-involved incident in Utility Corridor Ground-1-E. 1340 hours: Arrived at location of incident to find:
Agent Beaulieu was attempting to offer a reasonable explanation to civilian. Civilian was mopping the corridor. 1400 hours: After a brief interrogation, I was confident of civilian's disinterest and compliance. I dispatched him to the First Aid Station to request an amnestic, assuring him they would know what it meant. His pronunciation was adequate. I then ordered Agent Beaulieu to stand watch over the aperture, and contacted Agent Gao and Agent Stapleton to cordon off the corridor, thus barring further civilian access. |
The following reports detail Dr. Fellows' preliminary assessment of SCP-6836, and the results of early testing.
| INCIDENT REPORT: 6836-22407-1 |
|---|
| Date: October 9, 2021 Officer of Record: Dr. Bradley Fellows, Acting Director of Provisional Site-232 |
The terminus location at the time of MTF Epsilon-129's arrival.
|
Addendum 6836-3, Analysis: Site-43 dispatched Dr. Heather Delacqua and her team from the Quantum Supermechanics Section to assist with analysis of SCP-6836. A construction crew was also dispatched to erect a permanent containment cell around the anomaly.
MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 9, 2021
Dr. Fellows: So, what can you tell us about our… weird portal thing?
Dr. Delacqua: Well, I think it's some sort of weird portal thing.
Dr. Fellows: Fantastic, thanks.
Dr. Delacqua: In all seriousness though, this one is pretty atypical compared to what I usually see.
Dr. Fellows: There's such a thing as a… typical magic portal?
Dr. Delacqua: Funny you should say magic, but I'll circle back around to that. I mean, yeah, kinda? Most portals can be traversed from both ends, for example. This one, the exit end isn't even visible or easily detectable. That's pretty weird.
Dr. Fellows: And what's with the little snow piles? We clear them away and they come back after a few hours.
Dr. Delacqua: Well, most portals are spatial flexures held open by a solitonic negative energy conduit, as I'm sure you know.
Dr. Fellows: I am not a physicist.
Dr. Delacqua: Well they are. The conduit extends beyond the ends of the portal itself, like a sleeve or a shunt, which is normal. For some reason, those snow patches are forming at specific structural points, line convergences, in the conduit, but I'm not sure why. Worth noting though that the structure of this thing is very, very clean.
Dr. Fellows: What does that mean?
Dr. Delacqua: Are you asking me what clean means?
Dr. Fellows: What does it imply?
Dr. Delacqua: Well this was definitely created intentionally, it's not some natural phenomenon, or freak accident. I also suspect it's thaumaturgical rather than parascientific. My instruments throw up tons of errors when scanning this thing, meaning the energies at work are detectable, but not readily identifiable. Also parascience stuff like this tends to be kind of [pause] grainy? In terms of structure I mean. This is, like I said, clean, smooth, and that, in my experience, usually means thaumaturgy.
Dr. Fellows: Is there anything you can see in the structure of this that would suggest to you a reason it was created?
Dr. Delacqua: Motive? No, not really. But if I was to take a total stab in the dark, I would say you should call 120.
Dr. Fellows: Ontokinetics?
Dr. Delacqua: Yeah, like, I say this isn't a freak accident, but I'm wondering if it isn't some sort of accident? It just doesn't make a lot of sense does it? It makes me think maybe someone tried to open a portal into another dimension or parallel universe or whatever the hell, and they fucked it up and got stuck with this dumb, weird thing.
Dr. Fellows: Well, actually, we're stuck with it. Anyways, I'll reach out to 120. I was also wondering, though: what would you expect to happen if… for example… someone passed through the portal while someone else was in the space occupied by the terminus?
Dr. Delacqua: Well, assuming no safeguards are built into the portal, which, though unlikely, is always the safest assumption, and assuming that physics on either side is relatively "classical," you know, aside from the whole "portal" thing, the two masses would likely become forcefully physically overlaid. This would, of course, be fatal. It's also likely that at least some portion of the two masses would undergo a fusion reaction, at the atomic level.
Dr. Fellows: That sounds… undesirable?
Dr. Delacqua: Oh yeah, assuming two adult humans, lets say about 150 pounds each, maybe like, 30% mass fusion… you'd be looking at an explosion that would likely sterilize the eastern half of the continent and destabilize global climate patterns. Probably K-Class event, or very near anyways.
Dr. Fellows: Well, thank you, sincerely this time. If nothing else, we now know what tests not to administer.
Dr. Delacqua: Mind if I stick around? I kind of want to see where this goes.
Dr. Fellows: You're welcome to. I expect we'll need all the help we can get to figure this one out.
An interior shopping area of Strathroy-Caradoc Plaza.
Dr. Delacqua and her technical team remained at Provisional Site-232, and Dr. Fellows contacted Site-120 to arrange for consultation with experts in Ontokinetics. Site-120 being in Poland, said experts would not arrive for two days. During the wait, Dr. Fellows made contact with three local, Foundation-allied GoIs to consult with them about SCP-6836.
MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 10, 2021
The participants in this conversation are as follows:
- Myself, Dr. Bradley Fellows;
- A "Gentlewoman Druid" of the highly theatrical animist GoI known as the Royal Hylozoist Society (GoI-446), operating under the alias (I assume and hope) Professor Theodosia Elmstone;
- A representative of the Red Circle (GoI-185), a GoI with extensive pan-indigenous integration in First Nation communities and claiming pre-Beringian origins. He offered what I am assuming is his real name, Pete Shawnoo;
- A member of Illuminus Rationalis (GoI-3690), a fervently anti-theist magic order who claim to employ a scientific approach to what otherwise appears to be conventional, though efficacious, European Occultism. He gave the alias of Frater Elenkhos.
SCP-6836 terminus posterior view.
Dr. Fellows: So? Anything?
Shawnoo: You were right, it's definitely magical. I couldn't tell you much about the structure of it, but the spirits on both sides of the portal are acting… weird.
Elmstone: The spirits, yes! The spirits. Though savage at the best of times they are particularly—
Shawnoo: Excuse me, savage?
Elmstone: [gesticulating mystically] Yes, there is a great disturbance in the spirit world. A nightmare in the ancestral dream!
Shawnoo: This is offensive. What you're doing is offensive.
Elenkhos: You're both either charlatans or superstitious fools. There's no such thing as 'spirits,' that's merely your own projective apophenia. Clearly it's an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, a gateway in space and time—
Elmstone: [standing and shouting] You call me a fool? How dare you!
[Elmstone and Elenkhos argue, becoming unintelligible]
Dr. Fellows: Acting weird, you were saying, Mr. Shawnoo?
Shawnoo: Uh, Pete, please, and yeah. A city spirit on the other side was trying to communicate and, I mean, talking to spirits is always tricky, they aren't really using language, it's just symbolism, but it kind of turns into language when it touches you? Anyways, it was trying to say something about hatchlings becoming ancestral, axes emerging from self-hewn wood, or something. I really couldn't tell you what it means. Nothing I've ever heard before.
Dr. Fellows: Interesting. Something to do with time? Causality?
Shawnoo: [shrugs] Way out of my wheelhouse, but I guess that sounds like it makes sense?
[Elenkhos takes notice and ceases arguing]
Elenkhos: Causality, yes! Just as I said, a gateway through space and time, none of this primitive 'spirit' mumbo jumbo.
Elmstone: You insolent upstart! You know nothing! You dress our timeless traditions in the trappings of modernity but you're just a snake oil salesman!
[Arguing resumes]
Shawnoo: Can I go?
Dr. Fellows: Yeah. Thanks for taking a look, Pete.
Shawnoo: Anytime, Doc.
Drs. Albrecht Wandernoth and Wiegand Anetzberger, experts in Extradimensionality and Multicosmology from Site-120's Department of Ontokinetics, arrived at Provisional Site-232 the following day. Present technical staff, including Dr. Delacqua's team, assisted them in setting up equipment and gathering data.
MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 11, 2021
Dr. Anetzberger: Dr. Fellows.
Dr. Wandernoth: Yes, Dr. Fellows.
Dr. Fellows: [nodding acknowledgement] Doctors. Thanks again for making the trip.
Dr. Anetzberger: It is our pleasure. Fascinating and strange the thing you have here.
Dr. Wandernoth: Our pleasure, yes.
Dr. Fellows: Your team's findings?
Dr. Wandernoth: Yes, findings, the data. Yes, Dr. Anetzberger?
Dr. Anetzberger: Thank you Dr. Wandernoth. Hume levels are within expected parameters, and I see nothing to suggest Dr. Delacqua's suppositions. All evidence suggests this portal was opened to bridge these two points in this reality. An accidental perforation of space would not end up so careful and orderly, even if it began that way. Too many unforeseen perturbations acting upon the conduit lattice structure.
Dr. Wandernoth: Too many perturbations. Far too many perturbations.
Dr. Fellows: But couldn't that explain, maybe, why the portal only works one way? Why the exit isn't just inaccessible but invisible? Almost entirely undetectable? Wouldn't the only explanation be some sort of fold or wrinkle or… or pocket? Or something? In space, I mean?
Dr. Anetzberger: It is true that this is strange. We do not have an explanation to offer for this apparent intangibility. What you say would indeed explain this; but it is, per our readings, not the case. Beyond the portal itself there exists at this location no unexpected spatial flexure of any kind.
Dr. Wandernoth: None. Nothing. Yes. However, unable to discount possibility of precisely identical parallel universe where exact copies are conducting exact same tests.
Dr. Anetzberger: Yes, this conjecture is the Universal Non-Excludable and while it must be accounted for, [raising his voice] it is unhelpful as a consideration!
Dr. Wandernoth: [nodding sagely]
Dr. Fellows: …okay. But, what else could be happening here? Something has to be making the terminus act the way it does. Doctors, I'm not saying I disagree with your findings, but there has to be some sort of answer to this.
[Sound of papers rustling as Dr. Wandernoth, seemingly having a thought, examines equipment readouts. Dr. Wandernoth holds up a paper to Dr. Anetzberger, pointing at something; the two Drs. speak in hushed tones, indiscernable to Dr. Fellows and the recording.]
Dr. Fellows: Did you find something?
Dr. Anetzberger: There is a possibility. My colleague has directed my attention to an anomaly in the data collection.
Dr. Fellows: An anomaly?
Dr. Wandernoth: Yes, yes here. [Dr. Wandernoth slides the page across the table with one finger pointing to a waveform diagram flanked by two bar graphs] Thought at time must be result of unexpected interactions between formation's apparent thaumaturgical structure and instruments as does not seem possible reading no no.
[Dr. Fellows stares blankly at the diagram]
Dr. Fellows: Can you explain what it means? This is not my area of expertise.
Hume flow graph. Anomalous reading indicated in pen.
Dr. Anetzberger: These [motioning to the bar graphs dismissively] are measurements of ambient Hume levels on either side of the formation. They are as expected and thus, [raising his voice] they are irrelevant! This [pointing to the waveform in the centre] is a measurement of the Hume flow through the portal itself. Here [pointing to a small spot on the waveform] there is a trough. This should be a peak. A trough here is impossible, in this context. Or it should be. My colleague had thought this was the result of instrument confusion from the magics. It may be. Or it may be of significance.
Dr. Fellows: Why is that… should be impossible?
Dr. Wandernoth: Yes peak bradyonic. Trough [leaning in dramatically] tachyonic.
Dr. Fellows: Wait, tachyonic? Like, faster than light?
Dr. Anetzberger: Faster than light or…
Dr. Wandernoth: Backwards in time.
[The three doctors sit in silence]
Dr. Fellows: So, this is something I should ask Delacqua about then I guess?
Dr. Anetzberger: She may be of help, but we will also contact an associate of ours in Chronometrics Division.
Dr. Fellows: I'm not familiar with them.
Dr. Anetzberger: Many are not.
Dr. Fellows' report on his initial contact with Dr. Danica Azzopardi of Chronometrics Division, and the irregular circumstances surrounding her visit a day later, is appended verbatim.
MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 12, 2021
Dr. Wandernoth gave me the contact information of one Dr. Azzopardi, a Foundation scientist from something called the Chronometrics Division. I asked Wandernoth what time zone she was in, for the purposes of calling her during business hours, and he replied that he was unsure, cryptically adding that "she may not be." As it was now evening, I decided to wait until late morning on the following day to call Dr. Azzopardi. I was instead awoken in the very early morning by an unexpected call. Our brief exchange is transcribed below.
Dr. Fellows: [waking up] Hello… Uh… Dr. Bradley Fellows Provision Direction Acting 232 here.
Dr. Azzopardi: Dr. Fellows, hi, sorry to wake you, it's Dr. Azzopardi, Chronometrics.
Dr. Fellows: Dr. Azzopardi? Did Wandernoth give you my number? I was intending to call you.
Dr. Azzopardi: Yeah, I got your number from when you called me.
Dr. Fellows: I didn't call you though.
Dr. Azzopardi: Well, you did, later today.
Dr. Fellows: …pardon?
Dr. Azzopardi: It's unusual, I know, but I got excited after you told me about the anomaly and I didn't want to wait. I know you've got a weird one! I don't remember what you told me but I wanted to hear about it early, so I called as soon as I was able to remember your number. So could you tell me what this is?
Dr. Fellows: Uh, well, it's a portal of sorts. Visible at the entrance but invisible and unusable at the exit. Apparently non-fatally human-traversable and Hume compliant. But the 120 guys, Anetzberger and Wandernoth, they said the Hume flow through the portal conduit was tachyonic, and suggested I call you so that's… what I was going to… [trailing off]
Dr. Azzopardi: I can't wait to see it! Can you provide me with your address? I could remember your number but not the address.
Dr. Fellows: Of course, it's 1000 Plaza Boulevard, Strathroy.
Dr. Azzopardi: I'll be there, in the future. Like, after this, this right now. But not a lot. Only a bit after. Soon!
Dr. Fellows: …I'll see you then, Dr. Azzopardi.
Dr. Azzopardi: Then!
Several hours later, Dr. Azzopardi arrived alone, without a vehicle or any apparent use of public transit. She provided me with identification and top-level clearance. At first she produced a card with a logo reading "Sol-Central Local Bubble High Command" which she quickly pocketed saying "oops, not that yet, wrong one," before showing me a Level-5 Clearance document.
Shortly after her arrival, I and several other staff members began to experience what I thought, at first, were headaches; I subsequently realized the pain seemed localized an inch or so behind my head. Dr. Azzopardi assured us this was a "normal" consequence of her being "early" and that we'd feel fine after "renormalization" in several hours. Dr. Azzopardi enlisted the assistance of several already on-site technical personnel. The sight of one technician, whose services she did not retain, appeared to cause her distress, briefly moving her to tears.
Her tests and observations persisted until the next afternoon, and included two transits thereof (followed by her bussing back to London from Mississauga). She remained visibly excited through all of this.
Her findings are presented below.
Dr. Fellows: Hello again Dr. Azzopardi.
Dr. Azzopardi: Hi Brad!
Dr. Fellows: So what can yo—
Dr. Azzopardi: [Interrupting] Shit, sorry, Dr. Fellows, the Brad thing is later, right.
Dr. Fellows: …um… So Dr. Azzopardi, what can you tell me about th—
Dr. Azzopardi: [Interrupting] Ooh I was right, you got a weird one here! So the portal is ever so slightly displaced out of the regular timeline which—
Dr. Fellows: [Interjecting] Hold on, sorry, clarification: displaced forwards? Or backwards?
Dr. Azzopardi: [Pauses to think] Kind of more like [pause] sideways? As a whole. It's still present, moving through with us, but it's been folded inside-out, or like, extruded through itself. That's why what we call the entrance is visible to us, because it's always moving towards us, from slightly in the future, but we can't see the, what we call the exit, because it's slightly in the past, moving away from us. But also those aren't correct.
Dr. Fellows: The past and future parts, you mean?
Dr. Azzopardi: No, the entrance, exit part. The exit is the entrance for who or whatever made this, and the entrance is the exit. They came from that sidewalk in Mississauga, into the corridor. Or they will come. Or they have already, but after this. That part is kind of hard to express.
Dr. Fellows: We didn't see any intruders, and it's been nearly a week since it opened.
Dr. Azzopardi: Well the intruder clearly has, or at least has the ability to assume, an irregular coupling to the causation vector. It's possible they came through and weren't visible to us, or weren't recognizable as an intruder. Or it's possible that even though the portal opened in our past, that the intruder entered in what we see as our future.
Dr. Fellows: Why would they be coming here though? And like this? This is a public place, they could just walk in. Surely that would be easier?
Dr. Azzopardi: Maybe, but they wouldn't be able to access the containment cell.
Dr. Fellows: We built that containment cell to contain the portal, so that—
Dr. Azzopardi: [Interrupting] Well that's how it seems, now. But maybe you built the cell to contain something else, and they opened the portal to retrieve that something from the cell, but because of the order of things, it now looks to us like we built the cell for the portal, since we haven't yet put the, [pause] the MacGuffin, I suppose, into the cell. I also see that this place is fast becoming a Site in its own right, what with its accretion of scientists.
Dr. Fellows: Yes, because of the portal, again.
Dr. Azzopardi: Maybe, but I'd be careful using "becauses" around this. Things may not be so simple or straightforward, or even straightbackward for you anymore, or yet.
Close view of unusual snow pile.
Dr. Fellows: …okay, let me come back to this in a moment. I noticed you observing the snow piles collected along the sidewalk, do you have an explanation of some sort for those?
Dr. Azzopardi: …hmm? Oh, right, those, yeah. Nothing too interesting really. They're formed by pockets of localized chronometric impedance agglomerating around confluence points in the exit conduit's thaumaturgical lattice structure. Haven't seen it before, but it makes sense really.
Dr. Fellows: Oh yes, perfect sense. But why no snow on this side? Is the… localized chronometric impedance different on this side because… I don't know, time? Or something?
Dr. Azzopardi: I think it's just because we're indoors.
[Silence on recording]
Dr. Fellows: [Sighs] Okay Dr. Azzopardi, so what's the verdict here? No immediate threat, but we should keep an eye out for an intruder to pass through backwards, or who may already be here?
Dr. Azzopardi: Yeah, that seems like it might end up being worth doing maybe. We should also consider trying to figure out what, if I'm right, that containment cell was built for before the portal's appearance confused everything. Or indeed, what caused all of us to gather here, aside from that.
Dr. Fellows: If you are correct, and the portal was opened… or will be, or whatever, to remove something from the containment cell, what do we do with that? Do we just follow regular containment procedures and not let it be taken? Or will that even be possible?
Dr. Azzopardi: Honestly, I'm not sure. We may be obligated to place the MacGuffin in the cell to allow it to be taken.
Dr. Fellows: Obligated?
Dr. Azzopardi: Causally. Like, that's what has to happen because it already did because that's why the portal exists and it's why the cell was built and why we are gathered et cetera et cetera.
Dr. Fellows: So we may be… "causally obligated" to violate our own containment procedures?
Dr. Azzopardi: Assuming we can even figure out what it was.
Dr. Fellows: If we don't?
Dr. Azzopardi: Also hard to say. Maybe nothing happens. Maybe it just happens on its own without this version of us needing to do anything. Or we might die, or get replaced, or the portal might explode, or implode, or something else a different way. Or maybe reality unravels. We should definitely try.
Dr. Fellows: We definitely will. Thank you for the assistance Dr. Azzopardi, this is the nearest anyone has come to answering the questions posed by this thing.
Dr. Azzopardi: I trust you won't mind if I stick around?
Dr. Fellows: I'm not sure we can even figure this out without you.
Dr. Azzopardi deemed SCP-6836 sufficiently contained at present, but warranting further investigation. Taking into account
- the anomaly's unresolved implications;
- the accumulation of scientists and technicians at Strathroy-Caradoc Plaza; and
- continually escalating GoI tensions in the London area,
Dr. Fellows applied to Overwatch Command for full Site status. The facility was resultantly redesignated Site-232 on 2021/10/20.
This file contains one (1) pending update, appended below.
Addendum 6836-4, Present Considerations: The following is an informal update by Assistant Director Dr. Bradley Fellows on changing conditions at Site-232, and the ongoing investigation into SCP-6836.
January 15, 2022
Three months have passed since the appearance of SCP-6836. Site-232's mission has progressed, and we are now containing several anomalies which would have otherwise been bound for the already overtaxed staff at Site-43. On a related note, I have stepped aside as Acting Site Director, and a proper Site Director has taken my place. She has proven to be an invaluable asset in our ongoing endeavours to maintain Veil integrity through the GoI conflict in London.
Nevertheless, our investigation into the matter of SCP-6836's "causal obligation," and the possibly disastrous, even eschatological ramifications thereof, has stalled. While the others have moved on to other investigations and pursuits, I find myself unable to put this concern from my mind.
I have attempted to reach out to my contacts in chronometrically-adept, Foundation-friendly GoIs. My email to @n@chr0n777 of the Vapor Augurs (GoI-305) was responded to by his colleague Y3ARZ3R0, who informed me that the former was unable to answer as he was "transiently unborn," whatever that means. Basalt Dolmen of the Wardens of the Elder Zodiac (GoI-193) had an automated voicemail message informing me that she would return my call when she was again embodied.
Finally, I asked the Director. She muttered something about "the Stellar Haruspex" before vanishing, again — leaving behind her clothes in a pile, glasses perched atop, for me to fold. I have repeatedly asked her not to do this while I'm looking at her, since it gives me a headache and makes me taste baking soda, so I'm pretty sure it isn't good for me. She has yet to heed my request. At the time of this writing she has not returned, but this is not without precedent and I expect she will be back soon. I dare to hope, with answers.
The problem remains unresolved.
And yet…
Looking around at what we have built, what this Site has become, I dread the possibility that perhaps our gathering was the sole and actual purpose of all this; that the portal is not part of some heist to abscond with an anomalous object, or an escape route, or an entry point, but merely a lure.
And we took the bait.
