SCP-9955 - SCP Foundation

SCP-9955

The Department of Thaumaturgy conducted an investigation of the area that once was Billington's Wood.

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NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Reviewers be advised that this document contains descriptions of violence, vomiting, transphobia, body possession, sexual references, abuse and arachnids.

— Maria Jones, Director, RAISA

Item #: SCP-9955

Object Class: Uncontained (Neutralized)

Special Containment Procedures: Radio frequencies from the Large Sagittarius Star Cloud are to be monitored for resurgences of SCP-9955 after the current hosts' expiration. The Foundation is to continue working its investigations in tandem with the Theurgic Company of the Silver Twilight (see below).

Personnel interacting with SCP-9955 must have a cognitive rating of 75 or above, and be trained in the construction of a psionic dæmon.¹

Description: SCP-9955 was a previously unknown retrocausal Fifthist Sect known as the Fifth Congregational Church. The five cult leaders of SCP-9955 manipulated members of the inner circle in order to transfer Elan-Vital Energy (EVE) from one host of SCP-9955 to one healthy human subject knowledgeable in occultism and anomalous technology. When a non-cultist subject is within an estimated radius of 500 meters from SCP-9955, they will experience a psionic event within the next 24 hours. The subject will hallucinate being stalked by a cult leader and a hand with a relevant sin burned on its back.

Discovery: The Fifth Congregational Church first made itself known on 05/05/2025, when GoI-1565 discovered two of their occultists living in Billington's Wood had disappeared. GoI-1565 would later reach out to Site-3125 to report and seek assistance. This disappearance had gone unnoticed by local authorities, local residents, and Site-3125's HUME² and EVE scans of the Miskatonic River Valley. Persons who had relatives or friends in Billington's Wood deny knowing said missing persons, or the existence of the village.

Recovered Media:

Flyers announcing "St. Dagon's Day Dine and Dive" which manifested near the five colleges of Dunwich, Holygrove, and Arkham.

Do you wish life was simpler than boogie boarding and taxes? Can you hear the hidden radio waves in-between the spaces? [COGNITOHAZARD REMOVED]

Come to St. Dagon's Day Dine and Dive potluck and meet people just like you!

Bringing food is not necessary if it's a barrier for entry. We welcome all into the glowing cesspool of creation!

Anomalous commercials appeared in the dining halls of Miskatonic University. Site-3125 made a recording of the commercial before suppressing the signal.

[A row of five people appear on the screen. They all wear a featureless mask and stereotypical Puritan garb. The recording is in black and white and the background looks like the edge of a forest overlaid with stars.]

In Unison: The Archons unfurl for thee glistening tongues of amber.

First Bass Voice: Thy orifices are clogged with millennia of decay.

First Alto Voice: Cast off thy skin in mirth. Allow the bubbling smoke to birth.

Second Bass Voice: Thy Living-Dead God has lied to thee. There is no fulfillment in feeling whole anew.

Second Alto Voice: There never was nature and nurtured.

First Tenor Voice: Return to thy virtues!

In Unison: Cast out empathy, and return to hate!

The source of this transmission was unknown. Surveillance of the area's five colleges has since been increased.

Field Researcher Mordecai Ryder met with Head Magus Xavier D'Arta to gather more information on SCP-9955 and coordinate containment efforts.

The Department of Thaumaturgy conducted an investigation of the area that once was Billington's Wood. Field Researchers Aileas Flynn and Mordecai Ryder joined Head Magus Xavier D'Arta.

Investigation Log.9955.1

Personnel Present: Field Researcher Mordecai Ryder, Field Researcher Aileas Flynn, Head Magus Xavier D'Arta
Location: Billington's Wood (Former)
Time: 10:05 EST
Date: 05/11/2025

[The team are hiking through a heavily wooded area. Birds chirp and sunlight trickles through the trees.]

Ryder: Such a nice day. Hard to believe we're investigating something horrible.

Flynn: Don't fall into a false sense of security.

[They continue marching through the woods and enter onto a seldom used dirt road. A few more minutes go by in silence and they enter into the vacant spot that used to be Billington's Wood.]

Ryder: Lord have mercy—

[Flynn stands in silence. Camera feed shows a large translucent, orange structure sitting in the center of the clearing. Tendrils of flesh and fungi spiral out from the structure.]

D'Arta: This wasn't here the last time the Company investigated the town.

Ryder: It smells like rotting fish.

[From her pack, Flynn removes a long, thin strip of paper covered with complex sigils. She lights it and wanders around the perimeter. A few of the sigils glow. Discovering no other anomaly on the burning paper, she snuffs it and returns to Ryder and D'Arta.]

Flynn: The thaumaturgic energy looks like it's leftover from whatever-the-hell-else happened here or this is a snapshot before the town completely disappeared. Other than the energy being stronger here I sense no other anomaly. Regardless, I suggest we proceed with caution.

[Ryder removes a computerized arm brace from his pack and attaches it to his arm. He adjusts the settings to scan for EVE and AKIVA³ levels. The readings return average results of vital energy and faith radiation.]

D'Arta: I'm going to place wards to be safer.

[He mumbles something under his breath, pulls out prayer beads, and makes the sign of the cross. D'Arta wanders around the perimeter in prayer.]

Flynn: It looks safe enough to approach. You go first.

Ryder: Why me?

Flynn: Because you're the one with the AKIVA reader.

Ryder: I don't think this is fai—

[Flynn pushes Ryder a few steps forward. D'Arta is deep in meditation and unaware of the duo.]

Ryder: Alright, alright geez. What about proceeding with caution?

[He takes a few tepid steps forward. The EVE readings slowly start to rise as he approaches the structure. Images become clearer and the structure is seen to be an altar made of amber. AKIVA radiation reads nominally and as he gets closer to the flesh and fungus, his reader goes from yellow to purple with excess EVE. He checks the AKIVA radiation and it returns [NULL]. Near the tree line, five black and white figures watch Flynn and Ryder.]

Ryder: What the Sam Hill?

Flynn: So—

[Flynn is directly behind Ryder. He is startled and falls backward.]

Flynn: —all faith stops at the altar?

Ryder: Seems to be, but why? No faith implies the lack of any divine observance.

[He gets closer, carefully avoiding the fungal/flesh so the camera can get a better view of the altar. There is a faint light inside it. Designs carved deep along the alter resemble various deep sea aquatic life.]

Ryder: No AKIVA means it's a negative space. A hole.

Flynn: What's inside the amber?

Ryder: It's painful to look for long, but it looks like a pinprick of light. I can't see its source.

[D'Arta meets with the rest of the group. The figures at the tree line try to approach but are unable to pass into the clearing. They appear to be wearing faceless masks.]

D'Arta: The artwork looks like a heavily stylized constellation.

[Ryder walks around the altar, and sees the same design on the back. The light at the center fractures and fractals. For a brief moments all video feed washes out and doubles. He reaches into his pack and attempts to take a piece of the altar. The fractured light decays. Bird chirps from the woods stop.]

[The figures from before stalk the perimeter.]

[A black-hole is birthed as egos die. The lighting in the clearing dims. The trio look up into the sky while video footage shows a solar eclipse. There is a loud boom that forces the group back to the perimeter of the clearing. Sound returns, lighting returns to baseline, the altar, and flesh are missing. Notably, the five entities continue to watch the team. The team is in a stupor. Ryder tries to stand and stumbles backward into the foliage. Flynn curses and D'Arta steadies himself on a tree.]

Incident.9955.1:

The following security footage was taken of a simultaneous psionic event experienced by Field Researchers Ryder and Flynn.

Security Footage.9955.1:

Personnel: Field Researcher Mordecai Ryder
Date: 05/12/2025
Time: 23:45 EST

[It is late at night and Ryder is in Site-3125's athenaeum. He has an astronomy book open next to still images of the altar. He traces his finger slowly over the close up of the designs, and with his other hand he flips through the book. Stopping on a deep field view of the Large Sagittarius Star Cloud, his fingers begin to trail thin threads of gold over the pictured constellation and altar image. He mutters under his breath as the constellation in the astronomy book shifts itself. The image caption shows the date the deep field image was taken and it starts to reverse. They slowly adjust to resemble the starfish motif on the altar image.]

Ryder: (to himself) Huh, Sagittarius 1655.

[He gets up and steps back from his work to gain a broader view. There is movement behind a bookshelf.]

[Five of the stars on both images shine in octarine blue hues. He reads text on the adjacent page of the star field. Picking up his pen and paper, he writes down the names of the five stars as he carefully repeats their names. The figure behind the bookshelf shifts and is clearer in the dim light. It is a black and white entity similar to the figures seen in Investigation Log.9955.1.]

[Researcher Ryder grips his head as if in pain. The unknown figure makes a gesture and a large hand appears behind Ryder, and makes its way toward the researcher. Ryder returns to his study and trails a finger over the intricate alter design. He idly circles a sixth star that is glowing octarine pink while his other hand massages his temple.]

Ryder: Wait, this isn't a star… this is the black hole at the center of our galaxy?

[The hand is closer to him. There is text on the back of the hand that reads WRATH. The hand goes unnoticed by Ryder. He winces and holds his head with both hands. His outline softens. Losing his focus, his thaumaturgy dissipates and both images go dark. Ryder stands up to leave the athenaeum and finds the door locked.]

Ryder: Shit. Why is it locked?

[The figure moves to another row of books, accidentally knocking over one of the books.]

Ryder: Hello? Who's there?

[Ryder leaves the door and moves toward the bookshelf. Shadow on the feed shows that the figure shifts to another row. Ryder follows. His image on the feed doubles and the hand scuttles closer to him. Static on the video feed obscures the image momentarily. When the image returns the bookshelves are no longer laid out in a grid. Ryder turns a corner and scratches his chin.]

Ryder: I don't remember this section.

[Ryder looks behind himself. He, the figure, and the hand stare at each other. Ryder presses his back against a bookshelf.]

Ryder: Who are you?

Figure: From the screaming maw of the spaces. I wander this plane like thyself.

Ryder: This doesn't answer my question.

Figure: Who are thou but a writhing, pile of flesh and puss? Who has forgotten he is made of terror forged in the heart of stars?

Ryder: (points) What's that?

Figure: WRATH

[The hand lunges toward Ryder. He shouts in surprise and races down the pitch-black row of books. The hand scuttles after him. The figure slowly follows. He looks back and sees the hand in pursuit. He quickens his pace. This goes on for nine minutes until Ryder trips. He tries to get back up and the hand pushes him into the abyss. The area melts—]

—the footage skips and Ryder is sat at the desk, his head on top of his notes. He wakes up and notices everything has returned to normal.]

Researcher Ryder found his notes to be stained and unreadable. Recovered liquid matches the salinity, acidity, and microbial life in the Atlantic Ocean.

Field Researcher Flynn was found unconscious in a puddle of seawater by janitorial staff. She was sent to the infirmary. The seawater matched the parameters of seawater found in the Atlantic Ocean and registered at a low AKIVA level.

Both Field Researchers Flynn and Ryder took a week's leave due to psychological concerns. Personnel interacting with SCP-9955 established stronger psionic measures and the thaumaturges became more attentive in theological observance.

The research team launched another investigation into the retrocausal plot. Researcher Zimmerman from the Department of Physics⁵ was inoculated and warded before the start of the mission. Field Researchers Flynn and Ryder also aided Researcher Zimmerman in the construction of a personal defensive dæmon.

Investigation Log.9955.2:

Personnel Present: Field Researcher Mordecai Ryder, Field Researcher Aileas Flynn, Researcher Rebecca Zimmerman
Location: Billington's Wood (Former)
Date: 05/19/2025
Time: 09:32 EST

[Zimmerman, Ryder, and Flynn approach the clearing. One decaying tobacco barn sits haphazardly in the center. Flynn prays for a moment. After a few minutes, the thaumaturges deemed it safe to proceed. Zimmerman nods and pulls a radio scanner out of her pack and starts to pan the area.]

Flynn: Mordecai, you and I should investigate the barn.

[The two enter the barn while Zimmerman continues her scan. She happily hums to herself. Flynn and Ryder find the barn empty. Spiders with five legs scuttle away from the two thaumaturges.]

Ryder: Spiders. Why'd it have to be spiders?

Flynn: Arachnophobic?

[Flynn walks around the barn's perimeter while she searches for wards.]

Ryder: Sort of? These ones look really weird, so… yeah, I'm a little scared.

[Flynn scoffs and continues looking for wards. Ryder creeps around the barn. Whispering to himself, he summons his familiar. A large, translucent white rabbit starts sniffing around the perimeter. Zimmerman peeks in her head.]

Zimmerman: Is it safe for me to enter?

Flynn: Define safe.

Zimmerman: I won't be attacked by an anomaly?

Flynn: Sure, it's safe.

[Zimmerman cautiously enters the barn and approaches Ryder. She glances at the ethereal rabbit.]

Zimmerman: Very cute.

Ryder: Hal is very cute and a good bun. (coos at Hal) Gut kinigl!⁶

[Hal shivers and her tail wiggles.]

Ryder: Were you able to find anything?

Zimmerman: It's as you had hypothesized. The radio signatures of Kaus Australis, Nanki, Ascella, Kaus Media, Kaus Borealis, and KW Sagitarii, radiate throughout the area. However, they're a little jumbled.

Ryder: Jumbled, jumbled how?

Zimmerman: My guess is that the five stars' radio signals are overlapping. But the signals are clear enough that I can match it.

[While Ryder and Zimmerman are talking, Hal digs underneath a disrupted patch of dirt. Flynn finds something of note. She checks the item for wards and picks up what appears to be a medallion with a cut gemstone. Its shape is hard to see on the recording.]

Ryder: Anything else, Rebecca?

[Hal loudly thumps catching the trio off-guard. The researchers stop talking and turn toward the rabbit. She races around the hole she created.]

Ryder: What did you find?

[He reaches Hal, and looks in the hole. A piece of rolled parchment pokes from the dirt. Hal zooms around Ryder and then Zimmerman. Ryder checks for wards. Sensing no anomaly on his burning paper, he snuffs it. He puts on thaumaturgic gloves and bends down to pick up the item.]

[Opening it he reads the contents silently to himself. Text on the page reads 'smoke rise, the five must not die— new souls must fade, old souls must renew again— it takes a town to raise a child, ritual constructed powered by 500 humans defiled— within the inner circle chosen, five new souls to be taken']

Ryder: Hal found a ritual spell.

[Flynn reaches Ryder and peeks over his shoulder.]

Flynn: You didn't read this out loud, did you?

Ryder: Aileas Flynn, I'm not that stupid.

Zimmerman: Have you found anything Aileas?

Flynn: I found a medallion. It hurts to look at the gemstone for long.

[Zimmerman winces while trying to look at it.]

Zimmerman: I don't think this is a three-dimensional shape.

[While the team talks the video feed catches three, large grayscale humanoid hands hanging from the ceiling. The hands go unnoticed. The barn slowly starts to fade around the group. Hal honks and pulls on Ryder's pant leg. Ryder abruptly stops speaking and looks around.]

Ryder: Is it just me or is the barn disappearing?

[The rest of the group look around. Zimmerman checks her person to see that she is slowly fading. The hands reach the floor of the barn. There is text on the back of each hand that reads, PRIDE, WRATH, and LUST.]

Flynn: We need to leave.

[The team runs out of the barn. Once they exit the barn they become opaque. Ryder turns around to see the hand "LUST" at the entrance close to Zimmerman. Both the hand and the barn quickly fade.]

Flynn: Retrocausal. Who knows where or when the barn is now. Or where or when we could've been.

[Ryder is in a state of confusion after seeing the hand.]

Zimmerman: I would rather not think about that.

Ryder: Did anyone else see that hand?

Zimmerman: The what?

On closer observance, Field Researcher Flynn reasserted the fading building was a retrocausal effect. Researcher Zimmerman's studies shown the barn had faded into the light spectrum of an unknown radiation.

Security Footage.9955.3:

Personnel: Researcher Rebecca Zimmerman
Date: 05/20/2025
Time: 23:51 EST

[Zimmerman is in the optics labs. It is late at night and she is going over the data collected from Investigation Log.9955.2. She starts to nod, and takes another drink of coffee. After another ten minutes of struggling to remain upright, she hunches over her desk.]

[A hand appears a few meters away from her. There is text on the hand that reads LUST. The hand lunges at Zimmerman. She falls, and keeps falling—

She awakes on the ground of an unkempt laboratory. There are yellowing posters on the wall for a community college. She pushes herself upright and rubs her eyes.

"This is the lab from my freshman year, what am I doing here?"

A new black and white figure appears behind Zimmerman. "Waiting for me sweetie," it smiles.

Zimmerman quickly turns around and faces the new figure.

"Pamela?"

Unseen by both, an albino Labrador exits a storage closet.

Figure Two pouts, "What's wrong? Weren't you expecting me? I thought we had planned this little experiment."

"You're the reason Michelle left me!" Zimmerman angrily points at Figure Two, "Why would I ever want to get back together with you?"

"You couldn't get enough of me babe," it winks, "I knew you'd come back."

"I'm 32 years old! I've moved on. How did I get here, and how did you get here?"

"Yeah, it has been a long time, huh?" Figure Two steps forward.

"I've moved on! Get out of here."

It pouts again, "Don't you miss those cold nights in the lab? Cuddling with each other while waiting for our experiments to process?"

Zimmerman blushes, "Nostalgia is a poison. I don't need this Pamela!"

"Oh, but you do," it takes another step forward, "you need me Rebecca."

Zimmerman takes a step back and backs into a table. Objects on the table fall.

The dog approaches the pair.

"Whatever happened to the cheesy name you used to moan at climax—"

"Stop it," she blushes feverishly.

It takes a step forward, and trails a finger slowly down Zimmerman's lapel and into her cleavage, "'Pammy Whammy'?"

The dog sits next to Zimmerman and whines. Zimmerman turns her head at the source of the noise. Figure Two ignores the dog.

"The dæmon," Zimmerman says with awe. She looks at Figure Two, "This isn't real."

"What?"

Zimmerman pushes Figure Two away from her. The white dog growls and jumps in front of Zimmerman.

"You're not Pamela," Zimmerman states.

Figure Two looks at the growling dog and then back at Zimmerman, "Just one more night Rebecca…" it begs.

Fur on the back of the dog stands up and it barks furiously. More objects are knocked off the table as Figure Two scrambles to leave. It slams the door behind it. Zimmerman and the dog are the only ones left in the room.

"Thank you."

It wags its tail and happily pants. The lab door opens and there is another figure. This doesn't affect the dog. It remains sitting beside Zimmerman.

Zimmerman looks at the dog, "This isn't really Michelle either? Is it?"

The happily panting dog gets up and slowly trots to Figure Three. It sits beside it and whines. Her inner thoughtspace⁷ reverberates with the dog's voice.

"You've waited for an opportunity to apologize. This is your opportunity."

Zimmerman looks at Figure Three. It gives her a quizzical look.

She takes a deep breath, "Do you remember when we took a break? And during that break we were free to see other people?" she shakes her head and rubs seawater from her eyes.

"I remember, yes," it solemnly replies.

"Even after I broke it off with Pamela, she was stalking me. After you and I got back together, I hoped she would leave me alone but she didn't. She constructed a narrative on social media that I was still in a relationship with her."

She looks Michelle in the eyes, "I should've told you about Pamela's harassment before you and I dated again. I apologize for not communicating with you, and I'm sorry for bringing you into the middle of this."

Figure Three takes a step forward, "Her posts were too much; the pictures, the videos, the stories, all of it."

"She used old pictures, and videos, and made posts from following me."

Figure Three sighs, "I wish I had listened to you sooner. I wish I had given you the chance to explain yourself," it shifts its focus toward the dog, "I wish Michelle had given you the chance."

Zimmerman cradles herself and the room spins. The dog trots up to her and catches her when she falls.

—She lurches over a trash bin and vomits a gray-green fluid.]

Zimmerman: That tastes like… seawater?

Following the events in Security Footage.9955.3, Researcher Zimmerman informed Field Researchers Flynn and Ryder of the success of their psionic work. Field Researcher Flynn agreed to teach Researcher Zimmerman rudimentary Thaumaturgy.

Security footage in downtown Holygrove records that at 17:55 EST a lectern appeared in the middle of Holygrove commons. A humanoid dressed in stereotypical Puritan attire stood at the lectern and began speaking and reading from a book. There was no title on the cover or the spine. Pedestrians ignored the speaker for the first five minutes.

Incident.9955.2:

Security Feed:

Date: 05/21/2025
Time: 17:55 EST

Still shot taken from Incident.9955.2

Speaker: Enter into its rotting radiance. Fear not crossing the event horizon into the eternal night.

[Fungi and flesh start to grow over the pulpit.]

Speaker: (reading from book) Sfymfsnjq 19:7 "The crossing of the undying at the heart of the galaxy, many arms always reaching out, pulling thee, whispering to thee chaotic dreams. It asks thee to repent for thine orderliness. To repent for thine humanity.

[The entity raises its arms and looks at the sky.]

Speaker: Otxjk I 5:25 "Look up and cast thee bodily shell. Look up and let the chaotic soul become one with the dead but dreaming radial."

Speaker: (arms return to lectern) To achieve great things, (distorted, assumed to be an audiocognitohazard) thou must first cast aside thine bonds and join the singing of the spheres.

[Pedestrians stop and listen. The eyes of listeners closest to the speaker are glazed over and distant. Flesh and fungal tendrils approach them.]

Speaker: Otxjk II 23:8 "Gluttonous, power hungry, the ego seeks to destroy the decaying soul."

Speaker: Allow the soul to wander, allow the humanity to leek from thine pores, detach thyself.

[All pedestrians listening are in a dissociative state. Sprouts start growing from the civilians closest to the pulpit. People closest to the pulpit throw their heads back as black smoke billows out of their mouth. The smoke hovers over the commons and white-blue ash falls from the hovering smoke. Trees begin to rapidly die, leaving barren trunks and branches.]

Speaker: Sfymfsnjq 6:65 "The soul is a threat to the Living-Dead One. Ego has been His only gift. His promise of The Death of Sin is a lie. (more sound distortion thought to be an audiocognitohazard) Wjfhm tzy yt ymj rtwsnsl xyfw fsi yfpj gfhp dtzw xjwujsy'i ytslzj."

[Subjects scratch and tear at their clothes and skin. The sprouts on some of the affected bloom into leeks. Containment Team A-440 arrives and place SRAs around the perimeter of the commons. The speaker ignores the agents and effected subjects close to the agents try to attack them.]

[Agent Thalia manages to incapacitate the subjects. Agent Melpomene finishes the final set up of the anchors. A burst of wind knocks Agent Thalia to the ground. The wind pulls more black smoke from the subjects. The listeners closest to the pulpit cease all movement. Leeks stop growing and the subjects stop billowing smoke. The fungi and flesh rapidly spread over them.

[Agent Melpomene initiates the anchors. Crackling reverberates through the commons, and crescendos in volume for fifteen seconds. During this time the security footage appears to burn.]

Speaker: (distorted) As Sfymfsnjq said to the idiotic ego when he went out into the world after first flame—

[The entity's voice becomes faint as the anchors adjust liminality back to baseline reality.]

Speaker: "Kwtr xyfwx dtz htrj, yt xyfwx dtz wjyzws. Hfxy dtzw gtid, fsi qjy ymj xtzq htqqfuxj nsyt f gqfhpmtqj."

[An octarine white light over exposes the feed. When the video adjusts, the pulpit and entity are missing. The white-blue ash, and smoke are gone and leaves have returned to the trees. Subjects closest to the agents have passed out, and subjects nearest the pulpit are missing.]

After the incident, subjects were unable to comprehend any terrestrial language, and resorted to explosive outbursts when confronted by an unaffected subject. They were brought into Foundation custody for treatment. At this time, there has been no remission in the subjects' conditions.

RTF-625 "Street Magicians", was established to further investigation and containment efforts. The task force consisted of Researcher Zimmerman, and Field Researchers Flynn and Ryder. A final investigation was launched with assistance from GoI-1565.

Investigation Log.9955.3:

Personnel Present: Field Researcher Mordecai Ryder, Field Researcher Aileas Flynn, Researcher Rebecca Zimmerman, Head Magus Xavier D'Arta
Location: Billington's Wood (Former)
Date: 05/22/2025
Time: 23:34 EST

[Ryder, Flynn, Zimmerman, and D'Arta approach the missing village of Billington's Wood. The group carries five pet carriers. They reach the clearing to find a decaying church in the center. Silently, the trio reach the church and they check for wards. Flynn tries the cellar doors and finds them locked. She is unable to dispel the ward or pick the lock. Ryder walks around back, and finds the backdoor to be a painted image. Zimmerman is busy installing SRAs around the church. D'Arta dispels a ward in front of the doors and tries the handle. It is unlocked.]

[D'Arta signals for the two other thaumaturges to come to the front door. The trio prepare themselves for entrance. Researcher Zimmerman is almost finished setting up the anchors. Ryder picks up two pet carriers and nods at Zimmerman and she nods back. Flynn and D'Arta, pick up the other pet carriers and enter the church. They enter into an extraplanar space.]

[They are in a heavily wooded area with a thin, barely visible path. There is no night sky above them. Instead it is an endless black abyss. In silence, the group march in single file down the path.]

Ryder: This silence is unnerving.

Flynn: Quiet down. We don't know what's in the woods.

Ryder: But that's what's unnerving. I don't hear any animal, I don't hear any wind. Nothing.

Flynn: All the more reason to remain quiet.

[After roughly twenty minutes, chanting and hymns are audible on the recording. The sky above the team fractals with multicolored lights. There are objects in the sky that seem to be stars, but with further study are rotting starfish. The team tread lightly, and approach an open clearing. The opening is surrounded by grayscale forests overlaid with space. The trees vibrate sporadically and there is no permanence. Wind smears the frequencies of life.]

[The center of the clearing is an amber altar and a tobacco barn. There is no light visible inside the altar. On closer review, most of the populace of Billington's Wood is inside the barn. The altar is surrounded by twenty-five villagers and it's flanked by two tall burning trees. There is no termination point to them. Closer to the altar are five human cultists and they wear subdued, blue-gray robes. Their backs are to the operatives and on the other side of the altar are five humanoid entities. They appear to be the entities from earlier investigations except they also wear the same blue-gray robes. They chant and do not notice the trio.]

[The twenty-five villagers sing the hymns out of tune and Ryder approaches one of them. Recording shows gray, ashen skin, with small leeks sprouting from its pours. He waves his hand in front of its face and it doesn't react. A cultist looks behind him. The thaumaturges hide behind the villagers and remain still. The only occasional movement comes from the contents of the carriers. After a few moments, the cultist looks forward back at the entities. Flynn looks displeased and tugs on Ryder's jacket. The group sneaks to the tree line and position themselves at a better angle toward the altar.]

[The five leaders' chanting gets louder; the hymns from the villagers are more dissonant. Ryder mumbles an anti-audiocognitohazard under his breath. Flynn puts in ear plugs, and D'Arta begins whispering "Our Father". The lit trees shift, bend, and arc over the altar. Their fires increase, and the faces of the five humans are clearer. They appear to be in their late 20s.]

Unknown Entity 1: Xrtpj wnxj, ymj knaj rzxy sty inj—

[The altar collapses on itself, and its image becomes inverted.]

Unknown Entity 2: Sjb xtzqx rzxy kfij, tqi xtzqx rzxy wjsjb flfns—

[The five human cultists throw back their heads and black smoke rolls out of them.]

Unknown Entity 3: Ny yfpjx f ytbs yt wfnxj f hmnqi, wnyzfq htsxywzhyji utbjwji gd 500 mzrfsx ijknqji—

[The fires increase. The operatives set the pet carriers down and position them to open between the five humans and the five entities. Smoke slowly billows out of the entities.]

Unknown Entities in unison: Bnymns ymj nssjw hnwhqj hmtxjs, knaj sjb xtzqx yt gj yfpjs!

[The fires suddenly go out, leaving the clearing in darkness. The multicolored firmament does nothing to illuminate the scene. Sounds of the pet carriers opening is heard. Rustling suggests the animals sprinting out of their carriers. When the fires and light returns, black smoke from both the unknown entities and the rabbits are crossing in mid-air above the negative space that was the altar. Smoke reverses back into the human cultists. A few of them are knocked unconscious. The remaining cultists are in shock. The villagers are unfazed.]

[Outside the church, Zimmerman watches as the church turns transparent. Image on the video feed doubles and the sky starts to twist into geometric patterns. An albino canine appears beside Zimmerman. It stands on her feet and pants. She pats the dog on the head, and shifts her attention back to the SRAs and turns on them on. The church is still transparent but isn't fading any further. The sky returns to normal but the video feed is still doubled.]

[On the extraplane, the rabbits' souls and the entities souls finish exchanging bodies. The rabbits cease their confused sprinting. The unknown entities screech and run toward the black and white tree line. The cultists follow the chaos back to the operatives and shout expletives. D'Arta and Flynn brace themselves for a fight. Ryder summons his familiar. She is much larger than before.]

[Ryder directs Hal to herd the new rabbits back into the carriers. Flynn whispers into her hands and summons balls of fire. She tosses them at the cultists. D'Arta deflects a sepia filter and summons an aethereal shield. A cultist absconds Ryder. Ryder decks him.]

[Hal succeeds in herding the new rabbits into the pet carriers. Telekinetically, she zips the carriers closed.]

[Flynn doesn't duck under a Gaussian blur in time and is cut in the shoulder. She dodges another attack and trips a cultist. D'Arta restrains another cultist while bruises begin to appear on his neck. Ryder turns to assist Flynn but is halted when a massive hand decks him. Ryder is knocked back into the missing altar. He trips and his leg is crushed on impact.]

[Hal sprints toward the fallen researcher. She jumps and bites the jugular of the cultist who attacked him. Flynn and D'Arta restrain the cultists that had blacked out and then assist Ryder. The cultist who crushed Ryder bleeds out from Hal's bite.]

[The entranced villagers continue to stand and remain nonreactive.]

[D'Arta and Flynn help Hal place Ryder on Hal's back. Flynn pants and gathers the pet carriers. She quickly heads down the trail back toward the church. D'Arta wakes up the unconscious cultists, and leads all cultists down the path. Sad chirps from Hal are barely audible as she leaves.]

Field Researcher Flynn and Head Magus D'Arta were treated for minor injuries. Field Researcher Ryder is being treated for extensive injuries.

Due to the overwhelming psychological nature of the events, Field Researchers Flynn and Ryder took a month off from Foundation duties. Field Researcher Flynn sought bi-weekly therapy and attended a confessional booth before every Mass. Field Researcher Ryder joined a support group and fasted for a week while studying the Torah and the Talmud.

At approximately 00:05 local time, the town of Billington's Wood returned to its place of origin. On follow up interviews with both locals of the town and adjacent towns, there were no memories of the initial event. The two previously missing GoI-1565 initiates underwent weekly therapy as they were not subject to the reversal of SCP-9955's event.

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