Assigned Site(s) | Site Director | Research Head | Assigned Task Force |
Site-167-A Site-167-B |
Dir. Ryan Kestle | Fatima al-Khalid | MTF Pi-22 "Librators of Etemenanki" |
Special Containment Procedures: All trespassers into SCP-6958's exclusion zone are to be apprehended, interrogated, and held within Site-167-A. At the discretion of the Site Director, trespassers may be administered amnestics and released. Any incursion from Site-167-B into SCP-6958-1 must be monitored and a member of the Foundation's Anomalous Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology division is to be present. Should any site personnel tamper with SCP-6958-1, the offender(s) are to be immediately removed and Protocol 11-1 is to be initiated. Should Protocol 11-1 fail and/or repair of the affected area after 6 hours not be achieved, any culture(s) and/or language(s) within the affected region are to be considered lost. In this event, Protocol 10-5 is to be initiated and a CK-class Reconfiguration Scenario is to be declared.
Description: SCP-6958 is a series of structures located at 28°4'17.1"N 44°3'59.2"E within the At-Taysiyah Natural Reserve. SCP-6958 is comprised of two circular walls, with the outer wall extending 6km outwards from the center. Both walls are separated from each other by 3km, set 150m tall, and 52.5m thick, and each only has two entrances and exits located on their poles. The area between the outer and inner walls, referred to as Zone A, is a maze that leads to Zone B. Despite aerial photography indicating a defined path towards the inner wall, ground teams report that the path is different from aerial observation. To date no ground team has made it through the maze and access into Zone B is done through helicopter landing at Site-167-B.
Within the inner wall, referred to as Zone B, is a series of well-preserved ruins that surround a tower, designated as SCP-6958-1, measuring 1km tall. The ruins surround SCP-6958-1 in circular patterns with four pathways leading to SCP-6958-1. The ruins themselves suggest signs of the previous habitation with bathhouses, dwellings, markets, storages, and barracks identified within the inner wall. Dating and analysis of the structures suggest they were built sometime within the 16th century BCE and were inhabited up until the 2nd century BCE. SCP-6958-1 could not be accurately dated, however carvings and pieces of pottery indicate that SCP-6958-1 was built alongside SCP-6958 or that it had existed prior to SCP-6958. Despite SCP-6958's massive size, individuals unaware of its existence are unable to perceive SCP-6958 until they are 5km from its outer wall.
In order to facilitate the protection, research, and continued operations within SCP-6958 two sites have been constructed. The primary facility, Site-167-A, is located 800m southwest from SCP-6958 and handles the primary protection and staffing of both sites. A smaller satellite site, Site-167-B, is located within Zone B of SCP-6958 and is 545m northeast of SCP-6958-1. An exclusion zone of 7km has been established and the region is patrolled by elements of MTF Pi-22 on a 24h basis.
Within SCP-6958-1 is a stone tapestry comprised of various drawings representing different cultures and languages throughout human history. The most recent culture to appear on the tapestry is the South Sudanese culture which, as of 2022, is still being formed. The most recent language to appear was Ohranian.1 Should a section of the tapestry be removed or destroyed, the culture(s) and/or language(s) are removed from reality following a six-hour period. Within this time, Protocol 11-1 is initiated to prevent a CK-class event. Protocol 11-1 is the process in which the damaged portion of the tapestry is recreated through both conventional and anomalous means.2 Should Protocol 11-1 fail to achieve its goal, Protocol 10-5 is instead initiated. Protocol 10-5 is the process in which all information and data of an erased culture and/or language is stored within Site-167. All individuals that are within SCP-6958, SCP-6958-1, or within 5km of SCP-6958 retain the knowledge and awareness of an erased culture and/or language from a CK-class event. All objects that are associated with or come from the location of a CK-class event are also erased, regardless of whether they are within SCP-6958 or not.
Addendum.1: Exploration of Zone A
On the 22nd of November, 1987 a full exploration into Zone A of SCP-6958 was conducted by 10 elements of MTF Pi-22, split into two fireteams. One team, Pi-22-γ entered Zone A via its northern entrance while another team, Pi-22-ε, entered via the southern entrance from Zone B. Prior to November 1987 only aerial reconnaissance of Zone A and preliminary explorations were conducted. The mission log for Pi-22-ε is provided below. All team members were outfitted with standard equipment and beacon tracking devices. All irrelevant sections of audio and video have been cut for clarity.
Addendum.2: Discovery
Knowledge of SCP-6958's existence has been known by various individuals and nations since at least the 5th century.5 Multiple British, French, American, and Ottoman expeditions in the late 1800s attempted to locate SCP-6958 without success. SCP-6958 was officially rediscovered when a Saudi expedition discovered its location in 1937. The Foundation seized the area shortly afterward when agents embedded in Saudi Arabia intercepted a report from the expedition to King Saud. Upon the realization of Zone A's anomalous properties, Site-167-B was established in 1939. The first expedition into SCP-6958-1 was launched in 1940. The team was comprised of three members from Provisional Task Force Pi-22 and three research personnel. A summary of the expedition written by one of the researchers, Emmanuel Olequier, transcribes as follows.
Addendum.3: Report on the Events of 13-09-2022
The following is a transcribed report from Site-167 director Ryan Kestle. In it, he describes an unknown and unrecorded ZK-Class Reality Failure Scenario. According to the secretary department of Site-167, nothing remarkable happened that day aside from "Director Kestle appeared 5 minutes late for the weekly site debriefing." The report is as follows.
I should preempt this report by saying that I am fully aware that the events that will be outlined in this document will not have been recorded by any instrument or other personnel. This event happened on 13-09-2022 and through which I will offer my perspective of the events that unfolded, given that I am the sole existing witness.
The day-to-day operations at Site-167 began as normal. I arrived at the weekly site debriefing 10 minutes before its 0900 hour start time in order to finalize preparations for the debriefing. Said meeting went by smoothly and, by 1000 hours, the meeting had concluded. As I sat down in my office shortly after the conclusion of the debriefing, a commanding officer of MTF Pi-22 informed me that Protocol 11-1 had been initiated. I was informed that the cause for the initiation was classified as 'anomalous', due to surveillance within SCP-6958-1 recording multiple fractures being recorded within the tapestry. The officer informed me that multiple teams had already been deployed to repair the tapestry, however, at the current rate of destruction Protocol 10-5 will likely have to be initiated.
Currently, many bronze and iron age cultures and languages were facing a permanent erasure of reality. I swiftly boarded a helicopter bound for Site-167-B and began monitoring the progress of the repairs for the tapestry. As I was in communication with multiple team leaders, I was also observing SCP-6958-1. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't worried that the worst-case scenario would occur. Given that reports that new fractures were beginning to form in the tapestry, as well as signs that cracks were forming around the outside of SCP-6958-1, led me to the conclusion that it would collapse. We had no definitive idea what would happen, but site researchers theorized that the most likely outcome would be a ZK-Class Reality Failure Scenario whose overarching effects would be unknown.
My worst fears came to fruition when I saw a large piece of the tower, approximately 30 meters in diameter, fall off from about its midway point. Before I could even begin to contact the teams to begin an evacuation, our helicopter suddenly began losing altitude as we approached Zone B. Looking in the cockpit I saw that our pilot was nowhere to be found and as I did the co-pilot suddenly… vanished. Instantaneously. I immediately looked back towards the tower to see that even more pieces were beginning to fall off in rapid succession of one another. As we were losing altitude, the remaining people in the helicopter began to panic as the onset of what was happening around them began to set in. We could have regained control of the helicopter but, as the panicked screams within the cabin suddenly were ended by their sources' vanishing, I realized it was pointless. Soon, I was the last one in the cabin.
Looking back at the tower once more, I saw large pieces of it had collapsed and were at its base. Then, it began to fully collapse in on itself, and when it did you could visually see reality tearing apart. Never before had I seen something so horrifically beautiful, which seems ironic considering my line of work. I then closed my eyes and awaited either to die of blunt force trauma or be erased from existence. Either way, I was sure it wouldn't be a… pleasurable experience. And then…
Then, as suddenly as that happened, I was back in my office. I scrambled to check my surroundings, to see that it was 9:03 A.M. on the same day. My secretary then walked up to my office to ask if I was alright and that the weekly debriefing had begun. I straightened myself together and headed towards the conference room, where events proceeded normally. As the meeting concluded I called that commanding officer to my office and asked if surveillance within SCP-6958-1 had recorded any fractures on the tapestry. He informed me no such incidents had been reported to his knowledge, and that it was business as usual. I called the surveillance team at Site-167-B and they confirmed the officer's report that no fractures had been observed appearing within SCP-6958-1. By mid-afternoon, no damage to the tapestry or SCP-6958-1 was reported and it appeared that the event wouldn't repeat itself.
I am not sure what exactly happened. A temporal shift, reality reconfiguration, or a simulated reality my consciousness is running to cope with what happened? I don't think I will ever know the true answer to that question. What I can do, however, is to ensure that another scenario like that never happens again. Whether this is a simulated reality or a real one, I will still try regardless.
- Director of Site-167, Ryan Kestle
Closing Statements: Shortly after this report was submitted and reviewed, a Foundation-wide sweep was conducted to measure if there were any alterations with baseline reality that would coincide with Dir. Kestle's report. Indeed, it appeared there was a slight 'bump' in reality detected between 10:02 A.M. to 10:53 A.M directly coinciding with the timeframe given within the report. The investigation and study of this 'bump' are ongoing. In the days following the report Dir. Kestle drafted the Caretaker Directive, requesting that additional funding should be given to Site-167 so that it may begin to preserve the state of SCP-6958-1 in addition to Site-167's current duties. The O-5 Council approved the request 11-to-1. Dir. Kestle has also been assigned a psychological therapist to monitor his mental state.
On 07-11-2022, an expedition into SCP-6958-1 found that a new culture had appeared at 0.88 kilometers up in the tower. Symbols and insignia were found to closely resemble SCP-6958 itself, as well as those belonging to the Foundation.