Special Containment Procedures: SCP-9958 is contained inside a safe in the storage wing of Site-7. All experiments with SCP-9958 are currently banned by order of the O5 council.
Description: SCP-9958 is an audio cassette, containing a 23 minute and 58 second long recording. The phrase "Oh, lost sheep blinded by false light, for you I shed my blood, for you I died" is written on the cassette with a white marker. SCP-9958 is a source of unique cognitohazards that are referred to as the "Words of Wisdom" by the entities related to the anomaly. Research into the specific nature of these cognitohazards is ongoing.
Discovery: SCP-9958 was discovered at an isolated alpine cabin in Alpes-Maritimes, France. The owner of the house was found dead in the snow 1.2 km away from his home. He was identified as an 84-year-old recluse and a former Catholic priest named Jacob. It was concluded that the man had died attempting to reach the nearest settlement in a severe blizzard. The reason the deceased decided to visit the village remains unclear. The locals reported last seeing Jacob 40 years ago as he was leaving to live in the mountains after his daughter had "vanished." Jacob's daughter was identified as 23-year-old Arianna Laval, who went missing in 1982. Upon further investigation, the authorities discovered the following on the deceased's property:
- Desecrated items of worship.
- Multiple pencil drawings, each depicting a field of lilies.
- One drawing showing people on the field previously mentioned.
- Depiction of a crucified woman drawn with coal on a wall.
- Text underneath the previously mentioned cross. "Oh, Mother (illegible), Oh, dual-faced angel, hear my longing. (illegible) of life lived without true faith. I beg of you, take my face and grant me one anew! As (illegible) is one with her love, may our faces (illegible)!"
It should have remained in the safe. We conducted an experiment to determine the object's anomalous qualities, as we always did.
We made D-12536 listen to it, expecting him to die. But he didn't die. He became the Flowers' Chosen.
Addendum 1: Experiment N1 - The Flowers' Chosen.
Day 1
Test subject: D-12536, Vladimir Yarosalvovich Kormov, 26 years old.
Experiment administrator: Doctor Yuri Orlov.
Experiment goal: Identify SCP-9958's anomalous properties.
D-12536 enters the anechoic chamber,1 set up for the experiment. Doors close.
00:00: The cassette player containing SCP-9958 is activated. D-12536 sits down on the floor.
0:12: D-12536 smiles.
0:45: D-12536 quickly stands up and begins to actively dance around the cell. The subject’s movements appear to be haphazard as he enters the state of ecstasy.
4:14: Dancing abruptly stops and D-12536 collapses on the floor, where he would lie motionless for the remaining 19 minutes 44 seconds of the SCP-9958's runtime.
23:58: The record ends. D-12536 begins to exhibit weak movements.
28:34: D-12536 is able to stand up. The subject stumbles to the exit.
29:06: The anechoic chamber's doors open and D-12536 leaves the experiment room.
D-12536: I was in heaven? O, Lord, You are all-merciful, You did not abandon me, You did not cast me away as a leper. Forgive me… Forgive me for doubting Your love.
Doctor Orlov: Pause, take a breath and try to speak coherently. What happened there?
D-12536: Like many times before you locked me up in gray lifeless walls… No, something was different; these walls were filled with great joy! I heard the most tender, most immaculate music flowing all across the cell. It could not come from your scuffed player, it just could not! It had no source, it was everywhere, in every cursed corner of this god-forsaken place. I heard the music and danced!2
The subject smiles, looking past the researcher.
D-12536: All my worries had vanished and from my overflowing rapture I danced and danced. Oh, the angelic voices that joined the music. Oh, the most pure, most gentle, most perfect voices!
Doctor Orlov: You were indeed seen dancing on the video record, yet you fell on the floor 4 minutes and 14 seconds after the start of the experiment. Do you recall any changes in the… "angelic music" or anything strange happening before you fell?
D-12536: What are you talking about? I never fell! I just danced to an angelic song until I was no longer in your cell with sharp walls. I danced on a field of snow-white lilies. I was inhaling fresh air overfilled with the fragrance of the white flowers, warm sunrays caressed my face. Oh, for how long had I not seen the sun? For how long had I not breathed in fresh air?
Doctor Orlov: What you're saying implies that you traveled there physically, not in a vision or a dream, yet the cameras showed you lying on the floor unconscious throughout the experiment. Can you explain how it's possible to be in the experiment room and on some field of lilies at the same time?
D-12536: I wasn't in your prison! And it wasn't just any field of lilies! Yes, my hands are tainted with blood, yet, He did not forsake me! God has shown me, a murderer, paradise…
The researcher fidgets with his pen.
Doctor Orlov: And can you explain why he showed paradise to you in particular? Do you think it might have had anything to do with the cassette you listened to?
The subject begins to cry.
D-12536: I said it had nothing to do with your cassette! The music was too perfect, too divine for this world. God wants me to remember His ways, to atone for my sins. I am going to repent, I will wash these men's blood away with the prayer and so at the hour of death I will find myself in His paradise once again but this time — for all eternity. Maybe He will show heaven to you too!
The researcher briefly glances around the room before turning to the subject and looking him in the eyes.
Doctor Orlov: Double homicide is a rather common reason people like you end up here. Just a week ago I saw one of my subjects being torn to shreds because of a minor… calculation error. And a month prior another one had died of suffocation because she'd failed to follow simple instructions. These guys must be burning in hell now but I'm pretty sure they could've used a quick trip to paradise as a reminder to repent while they were still alive. So I'll ask you again: why did God show paradise to you in particular?
D-12536: Because when a shepherd finds a lost sheep he rejoices more over one found sheep than ninety-nine sheep who did not need saving. And if the shepherd loses all the hundred sheep, he'll go and look for them night and day. And even if he finds just one…he'll rejoice and call his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him.
Addendum 2: Experiment N1 - The Flower’s Chosen.
Day 2
D-12536 requested the following items for personal use.
- Bible(1) - approved
- Cross(1) - approved
- Holy water bottle(1) - denied
- Priest's visit - denied
- Church lamp(1) - denied
At 8:30 a.m. of the following day Doctor Orlov called D-12536 for the second interview with the purpose of observing the subject's condition.
Doctor Orlov: Hello, D-12536. How are you feeling today?
D-12536: Better than I've ever felt! Tonight I've been to paradise again!
Doctor Orlov: It sounds like we shall return to the issue of the cameras… They recorded you sleeping in your warm, soft bed all night. There's nothing to suggest you ever left this "prison", as you like to call it. Have you come up with an explanation for this already?
D-12536: No, no! You don't understand! This time I saw it in a dream! Although, it was no ordinary dream. I know it was divine. I felt it. I felt it all!
Doctor Orlov: Alright, it was a dream — one problem out of the way. And what made it divine? You may start by specifying what you felt visiting that "paradise" of yours.
D-12536:The balmy sun shone upon me from the cloudless blue skies. I spread out my arms and ran across the heavenly field, letting the fragrant breeze play with my hair. I fell onto flowers, drowned in snow-white petals. I laughed and smiled; smiled and laughed. I never thought I would experience joy so pure! Even as a child I’d watch others play and have fun from afar, feeling jealous. But at that moment I was happier than all of them.
The subject's voice becomes quiet and somber.
D-12536: Until false angels sent their delusions… They tainted the heaven!
Doctor Orlov: Some false angels appeared in your "divine dream"? Don't tell me they looked like the small demon things from the children's books they used to sell in churches. That would have been so trivial. It should take much more to scare an adult into devotion.
D-12536: I was blessed to not have seen them, yet I still witnessed their vile visions. The horrid things they did to my paradise…
Doctor Orlov: Then tell me about the "vile visions" they sent.
D-12536: At first these monsters stole the sounds…The wind was no longer blowing, the flowers were no longer rustling. Dead silence had set in paradise. It was consuming me: this oppressive, unbreakable silence.
The researcher puts his journal on the table and observes the subject intently.
Doctor Orlov: A picture-perfect paradise, without a single sound? I never liked the thought of eternal life in heaven with nothing to do. But this… I hope you didn't do anything stupid and tried to wake up as soon as you felt something was off? I really can't afford to have another dead subject on my record.
D-12536: I couldn't leave. I needed my paradise back, I had to hear the angelic hymn again! I started walking to at least hear the sound of my own steps but they didn’t produce any. It was as if I went deaf!
The subject grabs his head.
D-12536: Anything! Anything but that silence! They wanted to take my paradise away! Woe, unto you, the false-god3 and your devious angels, for I saw a silhouette lying in the flowers.
Doctor Orlov: And what did you do whe—
D-12536: Oh, nothing ill could ever be in paradise! Nothing could ever hurt me but my own impiety! To think I almost fell for temptation, to think—
Doctor Orlov: Stop rambling and answer my questions. What did you do when you saw the silhouette?
D-12536: Oh, that figure! I approached it to take a closer look. But as soon as I saw it clearly, the terror fettered me. A dead woman was lying on the ground. Her lifeless eyes were staring at the sky. Strands of fair hair, tarnished in dried blood, were resting on her forehead. Her mouth was wide open, at her palms and feet the morbid rotting wounds were gaping while the wreath of long-withered flowers crowned her head. I wanted to turn away and run but couldn't even peel my eyes off the grimace of absolute terror frozen on her face. The sun painted crimson, abyssal black cliffs appeared out of thin air, a snake began crawling out of the deceased's body’s mouth… and then the fallen angels receded and the delusions dispersed.
The researcher rubs his face.
Doctor Orlov: And how could God allow these false angels to enter his paradise and tempt you like that? Wasn't he guiding you to the "right path" just yesterday?
D-12536: He was testing my faith…to see if my love for Him was stronger than the temptation; temptation to doubt.
Doctor Orlov: Yeah, God and his loyal servants on Earth surely love to do the tests of faith to see how much humiliation one can endure. Still, I don't understand why you didn't even try to leave that place. Are you actively trying to get yourself killed? Seriously, did you stop to think what would have happened had you failed this test and given into temptation?
The researcher leans over the table.
Doctor Orlov: Are you sure you would have still woken up? What if you'd remained with that corpse surrounded by these Black Mountai—
D-12536: Shut up, shut up, shut up! It wouldn't have happened, as long as I have faith it cannot happen!
The researcher sits back down in silence. He smiles and proceeds with the interview several seconds later.
Doctor Orlov: Very well."The delusions dispersed", what was next? Did the paradise simply return to its normal state? And what about that woman's corpse? Did it vanish?
D-12536: Oh, you won't believe it! There was actually no corpse at all! Instead, in the flowers a woman, who looked nothing alike, was sleeping in a white summer dress.
The subject is shaking.
D-12536: Her face was adorned with red, like a burning flame, hair. I couldn’t see her eyes, yet I looked at where they were supposed to be, mesmerized… Oh, the sleeping beauty, so divine! Forgetting everything in the world, I exclaimed words of praise to the Lord and disturbed her sleep. I should've been thrown into the abyss for this! Yet, she spoke to me with a voice as sweet as the angelic song.
The subject folds his hands in an unknown gesture each time he quotes the alleged angel.
D-12536: “May the True God be with you, Vladimir.” I sank in the gaze of her bottomless, pitch-black eyes and serenity filled my soul. It was as if I had never lived that miserable life! I fell at her feet and through the tears of joy implored “Who are you?” And she graced me with the sound of her voice again. “I am Arianna, messenger of the Lord.”
Doctor Orlov: Were you not concerned by the fact that Arianna appeared exactly where that corpse was lying? I wonder what the Bible, you read just the night before, would have to say about that?
The researcher glances at the empty corner several times as the subject speaks.
D-12536: Why would I care? She was an angel! Angel to whom I confessed to the murders. I was sorry. I just wanted to stay in paradise forever. I am not to blame, I needed money. Yes, I only stabbed them 6 times. I suffered enough for this already! I'm sorry! I can say "sorry" more! I just need to stay in—
Doctor Orlov: Stay on the subject and stop staring at the corner while I'm talking to you! You confessed to the murders, what happened next?
D-12536: Arianna helped me to stand up. The melody of her voice could soothe the deepest wounds. "There’s no need to crawl in grief and beseech forgiveness to go to paradise! Can’t you see you’re already here? The True God is merciful and has never been wrathful to you, Vladimir."
Doctor Orlov: Yesterday you stated you had to atone for the murders before you could stay in paradise and that made sense; every Christian needs repentance to go to heaven… Even children have to confess their "sins" to strangers if they don't want to burn in hell. Why is that no longer required of you?
The subject ignores the researcher's question.
D-12536: She hugged me, said that she loved me! And that God loved me! I told her how the world had treated me. She listened to everything! I told her how my father would hit me whenever I didn’t act like a real man, how he made me bury bags with my mother’s body…
The researcher grips his pen and raises his voice.
Doctor Orlov: That's unimportant. While Arianna was condoling with you, did she ever address the topic of fallen angels? I think some explaining was due. They made her appear as another woman's body with rotting wounds, after all.
D-12536: Of course, she didn't! She'd never make me think about these horrors, she'd never hurt me like that!
Doctor Orlov: It seems like getting a hug made you lose capacity to question things. Assuming you had it to begin with… So you never saw these "fallen angels" and Arianna chose to ignore the topic. How did you even find out that these "delusions" were their doing?
D-12536: The devious false angels planted a seed of doubt in my mind! The seed sprouted, the Black Mountains shadows fell on me again, the crimson sun burnt my skin as more morbid figures appeared in the distance. Terrible formless voids stared at me instead of faces…
The subject laughs hysterically.
D-12536: Oh, three angels! Each as majestic as Arianna. One's moustache was coal-black and the hair that fell to his shoulders were even darker. One's curly locks were golden as the sun and his smile shone even brighter. One was akin to a nightingale. All three looked at me with the same unfathomable gaze. To think I almost gave in to temptation again! To think…
Doctor Orlov: You saw them appear as faceless entities and still think they were real angels? And then the high D-class death rates are my fault. Was seeing them assume more appealing forms truly enough to make you believe they were real angels?
D-12536: Fool! They caressed me, consoled me, spoke the truths to me!
The subject stands up as he solemnly recites the angels' words.
D-12536: "Did the warped angels try to lead you astray? Did they tarnish our beautiful garden to make your faith falter? We have come at the one and only Lord’s behest. False angels, servants of the false-god, want you back. Do not give in, do not let them rend the truth away from you and soon the Messiah will meet you personally to bestow a great gift upon you, for He sees you are not giving in to the false-god's servants' machinations."
Doctor Orlov: What? God is going to meet you personally to grant you a reward!? First you were going to repent, then you told me you were suddenly forgiven and now you're also being rewarded by the Lord himself? People are told they'll burn in hell for simply leaving their cults and children are told they'll perish if they ever try to achieve anything without God's help! Did these "angels" explain why a murderer like you is receiving such an honor?
D-12536: No, they simply let go of me and went round and round in a mesmerizing dance. My eye couldn’t comprehend their graceful movement but my heart felt joy so great that had it been just a little stronger, the delight would have turned into unbearable pain.
The subject sighs heavily, closing his eyes.
D-12536: Then I woke up in this kingdom of lies where I'm suffocated with stuffy air, the dim fluorescent lights hurt my eyes and I've got a splitting headache from its buzz. I have to endure this human-made travesty instead of listening to the angelic hymn. Nevertheless, I feel better than I've ever felt!
Doctor Orlov: You spent the entirety of your free time after the last interview praying and reading the Bible. Now you won't stop talking about how you met angels and how you'll soon see God himself. And yet, this morning you didn't even look at your "prayer table." Why?
D-12536: Do not try to lead me into temptation! Yes, yes! You want me to doubt the Lord! But I won't listen to your lies. I will see my Messiah. I will be saved and I will help Him lead all the lost sheep to salvation.
Addendum 3: Experiment N1 - The Flowers' Chosen.
Day 3
2 hours and 20 minutes after the previous interview, D-12536 fell asleep. The subject was in a state of deep sleep for 18 hours. Upon waking up D-12536 immediately walked to his “prayer table,” took the Bible and tore it apart. The subject stepped on the damaged Bible and threw the cross against the wall three times. D-12536 refused to take food and water reasoning that he would not "eat or drink in this filthy stall."
Doctor Orlov: Hello, D-12536, how are you feeling?
D-12536: How dare you address me by a number? My name is Vladimir. Vladimir! You will show due respect to the one, whom the Lord Himself has called the Flowers' Chosen.
The researcher looks at the subject intently.
Doctor Orlov: Can we please slow down? You can tell me everything about God and your new title when I ask you to.
D-12536: I wouldn't even speak to a dirty, paltry wight like you. But the Lord said he could not free me from the nightmare and anoint me as his angel before I share the Words of Wisdom with at least one human. For now, ask your questions.
Doctor Orlov: As far as I'm concerned, your mother was a devout Christian. Your dossier states that you attended Sunday school, and almost never missed a service at church, even after you turned you into an alcoholic dealing with your mother's death. In fact, on the day you really, really needed money for that bottle, you didn't miss a church service and got arrested right there. And it even seems like your God forgave you. You claim that tonight you were honored to meet him yourself. So, what made you desecrate the book you'd requested?
D-12536: All my life the Bible had been deceiving me, grazing me with a fairy tale of a "God" who loved everything and everyone except for those who didn't want to kneel, cadging for his forgiveness. The angels were right. The real God is not like this. For today I met the True Messiah and His name is Tiufal.
The researcher sneers.
Doctor Orlov: Oh, yeah, another only God who is kind and merciful… And how did you meet him? Was it another "divine dream"?
D-12536: It was no dream! The angels! The angels came to me at night! They brought me there; I ascended accompanied by their chants and stood in paradise, surrounded by celestial effulgence, gazing up to the sky. I was about to see God, God almighty… But the false-god and his servants made one last effort to deceive me. All the angelic immaculate visages turned into voids, their graceful bodies grew grotesque and swollen; their skin — dark purple with tiny bloody punctures all over the place. The Garden of Life withered, the dark ominous Mountains appeared again. Arianna tried to shield me from the terrors of temptation. She closed my eyes with the palm of her hand. But I could still see. Through her gaping, rotting wound of crucifixion I could see!
Doctor Orlov: I could start by saying that our cameras show neither angels, nor you being taken somewhere but… Why do you still believe that all of these "morbid delusions" you see in paradise are some "false-angels" tempting you? You only ever heard of them from the entities you call real angels. And Arianna having crucifixion wounds…
The subject smiles and ignores the researcher's questions.
D-12536: Amidst the hellscape of delusion I saw the Messiah, descending from the dark sky. He appeared as a gigantic serpent that closed the crimson sun. Countless [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] spider legs all performed motions incomprehensible to my mind. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think as I witnessed God soaring closer and closer on twelve [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] hawk wings. The gusts of wind that came with them nearly knocked me over. The True God has come.
Doctor Orlov: What the hell…
Excitement in the subject's voice rapidly increases.
D-12536: I looked into His eyes. They were shapeless, yet of all shapes at once. They shimmered brightly with the thousands of colors humans had never seen before, yet they were endlessly dark. There I saw [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] growing [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] visages covered by twelve wings and beautiful paradise returned; the false angels retreated once and for all. And I let my soul drown in the formidable might of God.
The researcher drops his pen and does not notice it.
Doctor Orlov: We need to contain this thing. If humanity worships this, if it grows in servitude, faceless… I'll nev—
D-12536: Angelic chants faded and I heard the Lord's velvet voice calling me: "Come close, dear child of Mine. Drink the nectar of the white lilies and I shall call you the Flowers’ Chosen."
The subject smirks at the researcher.
D-12536: God named me the Flowers' Chosen. And you dared to throw me into jail? I merely killed some heathens and you tried to punish me? Me? You must envy that I tasted the lilies' nectar so sweet, the nectar that emerged in the goblet out of Tiufal's [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] black moving congestion, in [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED]. It wrapped around me, inviting me to accept the divine gift… The warmth, the unearthly sweetness of the nectar coursed through my body as Arianna crowned me with a wreath of white flowers. The Angels sang again. At last I fathomed their chants!
The subject stands up and dances around the room, imitating the angelic song.
D-12536: “Hail the Serpent, Hail the Spider, Hail the Hawk, Hail the Triune Beast.4 Hail, Hail Tiufal, our True God. Blessed be Sophia and the children of hers unto the ages, for thine sacrifice opened up the path to salvation. Blessed be Sophia, the dual-faced angel, and the children of hers unto the ages. Rejoice, oh, Vladimir, for thou art destined to be her child, for thou art the Flowers’ Chosen, who abjured the false-god. Rejoice, oh, Vladimir, the promised angel of God.
The subject spreads out his arms and raises them to the ceiling.
D-12536: The nectar made all my earthly memories fade away. It was as if I'd never been or will ever be anywhere but paradise. I fell into the flowers as more and more of Tiufal’s [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] soft [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] limbs reached me, coiled around me, cradled me. With boundless, most pure love the Lord spoke of Sophia and the false-god.
The researcher picks up his pen and attempts to continue the interview.
Doctor Orlov: Who is Sophia? Is she one of the false-god's angels? Why do—
D-12536: Silence! You dared to insult the one, who died on the cross for our Saviour. And very soon you'll have to answer for that!
The researcher sits in silence for several moments.
Doctor Orlov: Your answer implies that the cross is still sacred to you. But you desecrated it along with the Bible this morning. You've been seen trampling the book you used to deem sacred with the sole of your shoe, then you hurled the cross you requested yourself against the wall three times. This makes no sense.
D-12536: You threw an unholy crucifixion at me and thought I wouldn't notice? The real sacrament bears the sign of our Mother, adorned by the Lord's flowers; of Mother Sophia. The one who sought True God. The one whose pure soul managed to break through the darkness of the world's miscreance. The one to whom Tiufal came in a dream as she dozed amidst silken lilies. Rejoice, oh, Sophia and your children, for you're the new angels of God! Please, let me be your child too. I can no longer endure the torture of this nightmare, of this prison, of the kingdom of lies. It hurts, oh, Lord, please, take me with you…
The subject stares into the ceiling.
D-12536: The false-god, the traitor angel, left Tiufal and led all the other angels astray, proclaimed himself to be God, then left humanity forever. He made the Garden of Life wither without faith…5 Sophia, with your innocent heart you have found the True God, with your blood you made the flowers bloom again, you have become the Mother of the new angels. Now the fools that blindly follow the false-god may hear the Words of Wisdom and be saved.
The subject performs a series of unknown gestures.
D-12536: "Only the faith that is stronger than death can bring back the bloom to the Garden of Life."
Doctor Orlov: If the “false-god's followers”6 can be saved, what will happen if a person who's never believed in the existence of the supernatural… By that I mean, has never worshipped any of the false-god's forms. What will happen if this person discovers these "Words of Wisdom"?
D-12536: You mean atheists? Scared for yourself, aren’t you? You are a pathetic nobody, who sits in the laboratory all day, trying to comprehend the incomprehensible with your flimsy mind. I know you. You kill people, watch them die in agony, nod your head, make notes in your little journal and smile! Don't be afraid, the Lord will show mercy even to the likes of you! He will reveal the strength and beauty of Sophia's faith before [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED]!
The researcher throws his journal at the wall and breaks the pen in half.
Doctor Orlov: Shut your damn mouth! Am I supposed to believe that to the atheists your God will reveal Sophia's sacrifice as some token of mercy? Why would someone need to see what "the true faith is capable of" if they're to be thrown into eternal suffering anyway?
The subject glares at the researcher until he breaks eye contact.
D-12536: He will show you everything Sophia and her children endured for Him! Once your eyes have been opened you will beg to join angels in eternal ecstasy, to sing praises for the Lord but will only see [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] God! [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] and grief. [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] beyond Black Mountains [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] appears. [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] dreaming [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] of mind [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] as One [COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED] flown far away!
Doctor Orlov: What? What the fuck are you saying? I am not going to humbly sit here, waiting to succumb to some abomination. I'll drag your "God" out of his garden. He will rot in the darkest, deepest containment cell where he belongs!
D-12536: [silence]
D-12536: Hail the Serpent. Hail the Hawk. Hail the Spider. Hail, Tiufal, our True God. I, the Flowers’ Chosen, call upon You, for I have done what You told me! I have spoken the Words of Wisdom to this man. I beg of you, take my face and grant me one anew! Take my life and grant me one anew! Make me an angel of Yours, set me free from the pain, from the nightmare of these concrete walls.
Receive me in Your Garden of Life, where the white lilies grow. Break away the chains! I said: break away the chains!!!
D-12536 collapsed on the floor. Originally personnel detected the loss of consciousness, however, multiple attempts to awake the subject failed. In 4 hours and 58 minutes, at 5:08 a.m D-12536's death was confirmed.
Addendum 4: Experiment N2 - If You Don’t Like the Angels.
To: [REDACTED]
From: Doctor Oleg Novikov
Subject: Concerns about Doctor Orlov's mental state and SCP-9958.
Dear [REDACTED],
I am writing to you in regards to Doctor Orlov's unconventional behaviour. The only thing we have discovered about SCP-9958 so far is that it contains cognitohazards that influence human dreams. Once these cognitohazards affect an individual, they are likely to continue to perpetuate their harm by reappearing in their dreams. It has been 35 hours since the experiment with D-12536 was concluded. Doctor Orlov has been avoiding going to sleep since; instead, he has been researching the dream-world, the afterlife and various obscure cults. He also has been sending me frantic emails, demanding atheistic subjects to urgently conduct another experiment with SCP-9958.
My hypothesis is that Dr. Orlov fell victim to SCP-9958's cognitohazards and is now seeking a way to save himself. I sent my assistants to inquire about the matter and Orlov claimed that he had to "Find a way to drag this monstrosity into our reality and put it into containment." However, I strongly doubt his words. It's far more likely that he will waste more D-class personnel, trying to research the object's effects on atheists in hopes to find a cure for himself.
I am personally against subjecting any more people to underresearched cognitohazards simply to save one researcher with a questionable track record and high D-class death rates. Instead, I ordered my assistants to secretly use amnestics on Dr. Orlov. We started with the C-class amnestic targeted at the memories of the experiment and D-12536's "sermons" but it yielded no results. Having my suspicions, I ordered A-class amnestic to be administered, and sure enough, he forgot everything that had transpired within the last 3 days, except for the events of the experiment N1.
I am requesting your permission to make Dr. Orlov fall asleep and record his dreams with Dream Capture Machine to research how SCP-9958 affects atheists and their dreams. While it is an irregular procedure, I do not think there are any major drawbacks to experimenting on a person who is already under the anomaly's influence and is unlikely to recover.
Best regards,
Dr. Oleg Novikov.
Test Subject: Doctor Yuri Orlov
Experiment Goal Research how SCP-9958 cognitohazards manifest in the dreams of the affected people. Establish how the object affects atheists.
Researcher: Doctor Oleg Novikov.
A large dose of sedatives was secretly added to Orlov's coffee. The subject fell asleep on the desk in his cabinet. The Dream Capture Machine was connected to the subject. The transcript of the anomalous dream is attached below.
Orlov enters a stone hall with a vaulted ceiling. Long narrow windows are filled with pitch-black glass. There is a tall wooden cross in the middle of the room. A crowd has gathered around it.
Orlov's thoughts: Who are they? Why did they call me?
Orlov looks at the crowd. All the people are trying to hug or talk to a fair-haired woman in a white dress. He looks past them and sees wooden boxes placed behind the cross.
Orlov's thoughts: Hissing boxes?7 What's going on here? Can it be…
Orlov notices a recording device on one of the boxes. The subject comprehends the reason he was called to the gathering and experiences terror. He attempts to escape but realizes he is fully paralysed.
Unknown man in the crowd: When God takes away my face I'll ask Him to give me the most beautiful smile in the whole world!
Unknown woman in the crowd: And when I surrender my face to the Lord, He'll give me the face of a beautiful nightingale! What face will you ask God for once He takes yours, Sophia?
Sophia: I will ask for a face that resembles Arianna. I used to love her, yet she left our church. She does not desire the Messiah's gift. That foolish woman wants to keep her beautiful face and her miserable life. Yet, the True God promised me that I and Arianna will live together when the Garden of Life blooms. And the Lord's promise will be fulfilled in spite of her betrayal. She has heard the Words of Wisdom and she cannot escape.
Orlov's thoughts: Shit, shit! Why am I sleeping? I should be awake, I should be looking for a way to capture that abomination. I have to wake up! I can't let things end now. I still haven't shown what I can achieve, what humans can achieve. I'll wake up and I'll show… I'll find a way to keep this petty God and his faceless toys in containment.
Sophia: I will keep my face and the Lord will claim hers instead. In exchange for Arianna's face l will be granted a second visage that looks exactly like hers. She will have no face and I will have two. She will have no life and I will have two. I will wear her face over mine. I will be myself. And I will be her. As her, I will live the eternal life in paradise she foolishly rejected. As myself, I will exist as the prophecy of the day humanity becomes one with Tiufal.
A man from the crowd taps Sophia's shoulder.
The unknown man: Everything is ready, Mother.
Sophia: Start the record.
Orlov attempts to wake up 26 times. All the attempts result in failure.
Sophia walks towards the cross. The crowd forms a circle around her and begins to chant in an unknown language. Orlov remains fully paralysed. He silently cries.
Orlov's thoughts: You're just another group of bastards that want me to grovel before a monster. I've run from people like you before. I won't be scared into submission ever again. I just have to wake up and everything will be fine.
Sophia raises her hand and the chants instantly stop. People in the crowd bow their heads as Sophia begins to give a solemn sermon.
Sophia: "Children of mine, you all know why we gathered here. For years we have been searching for the True God, for years we have been craving the truth. Three days ago, at noon, I was lying on a flowery meadow, adoze. In my dream I saw a dreadful wasteland, tormenting my very soul.
Orlov's thoughts: I'll throw it back into oblivion. It won't eat my face, it won't…
Sophia: The field of withered flowers where the eternal dusk had settled and once shining sun had become but a scorching scarlet disk hanging low over distant cliffs that were black as the void. Even briefly glancing at their shadows made my heart shatter in pieces under unbearable sorrow. The cold wind carried a weak, dying voice calling out my name. I followed it and found Tiufal.
Orlov's thoughts: No, no, no! I have to contain it, I have to accept Tiufal as a guiding light for my hollow being. I must heed Sophia's words.
Sophia: He told me of the times out of mind when all people were happy and sinless. Everyone could become forever young and beautiful in His garden! Yet, He, the one and only True God, was betrayed by His own angels. The false-god, whom Messiah cherished as His favourite child, betrayed the Lord and led the other angels astray. For millennia the True God lay there, alone and forsaken. The flowers withered; the twilight fell upon the Garden of Life, the perfection of paradise crumbled!
Sophia: Angels used to maintain the bloom with their faith. Without them, the Garden of Life turned into a sullen wasteland. But those who serve the false-god are not fully lost; their hearts are tainted, yet, they still yearn for the divine. One day they will hear the record of our last service and return to the Lord! To the lost sheep our suffering will sound like the sweetest song!
Orlov's thoughts: I'll burn this fucking cassette, I'll crush it, I'll suffer eternally for the cardinal sin of disbelief.
Sophia: I called all of you my children, but Arianna I called my love. Yet, she fled in fear when she found out what exactly we had to do for our Lord. But I ask of you, do not be afraid! Surrender your faces and you will be given ones anew, surrender your lives and you will be given ones anew! Only the faith that is stronger than death can bring back the bloom to the Garden of Life!
Three women walk out of the crowd and put a wreath of white lilies on Sophia's head. They dance around her and sing a song.
Three women: “Tiufal, Tiufal, come to our feast. Tiufal, Tiufal, awake as Triune Beast. Tiufal, Tiufal, show us your light, Tiufal, Tiufal, Lord of lilies white!”
Sophia climbs the cross and stretches her arms along the wooden beams. Two men come out of the crowd and crucify Sophia.
[Signal of the Dream Capture Machine has been lost. Disconnect the machine and abort the experiment.]
The blood of our mother streams down the cross, yet she is silent. For her joy is greater than the pain could ever be. The joy of the True God being reborn. Her blood flows down the dark wood and the Garden of Life blooms once again. The faithless fool sees it all. His eyes are red from tears for paradise blooms not for him.
We release dozens of serpents, locked in wooden boxes. They crawl under our sacristies. Their sharp fangs tear through our flesh. We dare not cry, we dare not run, for Sophia named us, lost sheep who had worshipped the false-god, her children. We will become the Messiah's new angels, akin to her.
[Failure to abort the experiment. Destroy the anomalously recorded transcript and wake up the subject.]
We bring the chalice forth to Mother Sophia. She partakes in a holy communion of honey and poison. She screams. Her scream tears the mind of the faithless fool to pieces. He stands still as all our joint pain transfixes his body. We won't allow him to move until the withered garden is born within his mind. Through tears he sees the walls distort. They sing in unison with the agony of our Mother. The walls wriggle, coil, swirl and churn before fading away.
[All attempts to wake up Orlov have failed.]
The faithless fool stood amidst a dark field. The Black Mountains loomed in the distance and the fool walked towards them. His feet left the blood on the sharp petals of the withered lilies. His skin turned dry and brittle under the crimson sun. The cries for help got lost in the gusting wind. All the desires had become the desire to wake up; all the feelings had become solitude beneath the shadows of the Black Mountains.
The shallowest of all souls, rejoice, for you have been shown the beauty of Sophia's sacrifice. Rejoice!
The Mountains were as distant as the day he had lost all hope to ever wake up. He beheld Sophia, among a pile of swollen, faceless corpses like a devilish mermaid sitting on a lonely stone at a twilight embraced lake. He beheld Sophia, sitting with the other beautiful angels, amidst pristine flowers of our God.
The fool betrayed even the false-god, the fool ran away from his faith. The selfish shell of a man, undeserving of divine grace. Yet, when Sophia saw him, the most miserable of all existences, stumbling, bleeding and crying, she called unto him.
If only he had faith, he could've seen the serene white flowers. He could've danced and sung for Tiufal in everlasting joy. Yet, there, on the Other Side, only grief remained.
His mind was no longer infested with the futile thoughts of waking up. He fell on his knees and begged Sophia for one thing: for his unbearable sorrow to have a purpose in the timeless void of withered flowers.
Rejoice, for our Messiah won't let your grief be in vain! Rejoice, for one day your pain of unending solitude will grow so unthinkable, it will flow from the withered Garden, permeate all the human minds, bring the Words of Wisdom to each and every dream! Soon every human will know of the True God.
And only once every soul has been blessed with the Words of Wisdom, you will cross the Black Mountains.
The faithless fool: No, no, I'm a human. I don't want to be an empty serving shell. I am a human, a human! I can…
His words died in the wind. Who knows how many eternities will pass in his ailing mind before he awakens one last time?
Addendum 5: Incident - F1358 “Midday Fainting”
Experiment N2 was urgently stopped due to multiple anomalous occurrences within the subject's dream. For security reasons, the part of the experiment N2 transcript, which was anomalously recorded in spite of the Dream Capture Machine's malfunction, was deleted.
Orlov was transferred to a standard humanoid containment cell at 10:21 p.m. where he was found dead on the floor at noon on the following day. The transcript from the security cameras is presented below.
1:01 a.m. Orlov wakes up and runs stumbling to the door of the containment cell. He attempts to open the door.
Who the hell locked the door? I have to go and work, I have to lock that thing. Hey, does anyone hear me? Open the door! It's Doctor Yuri Olrov, I…
1:02 a.m. Orlov goes silent and looks around the cell for 26 seconds. Then the subject screams and attempts to break the door open.
Let me out, assholes! Do you know who I am? I work for the Foundation, I know Novikov! Open the fucking door or you're all gonna regret it! Let me out! Let me the fuck out!
The subject continues to hit the door and scream in a similar manner for the next 48 minutes.
1:50 a.m. Orlov falls on his knees and cries, scratching the metal door with both hands.
I'm a good researcher, a scientist and a valuable member of society — I can achieve everything by myself. I am a human, I don't have to serve or worship anything! I can achieve, I can create, I can… I'm a good researcher, the Foundation needs me. The Foundation will let me out. Novikov will… I'm a good researcher! I can contain it! Everyone will see: I'm a good researcher! I wanted to be free, I don't deserve it. I am a human, a human! I am a good researcher. I'm a good researcher! Why am I ending like this? Why, why, why?
Orlov proceeds to walk around the containment cell and talk to himself, occasionally trying to break the door open for the next hour and 35 minutes.
3:25 a.m. The subject stops, looks at an empty corner, begins to scream and pull his hair.
No, no, not again! The weight of the Black Mountains’ shadows…
Orlov struggles to breathe and falls on the floor.
The dry petals! Petals sharp as razors; razors under my skin. Stop this, stop… get the petals out of me!
3:26 a.m Orlov begins to vigorously scratch his skin. Then the subject shudders and walks backwards, stumbling and pointing at the empty corner.
Get away. Get away from me! How are you mocking me if you have no faces?
3:28 a.m. Orlov laughs hysterically.
Oh, I see! I feel it! Your faces [FAILURE TO EXPUNGE CONGNITOHAZARD. Behold the Words of Wisdom: are inside Tiufal and they are laughing at me.] Your eyes are [FAILURE TO EXPUNGE COGNITOHAZARD. Behold the Words of Wisdom: watching me from the depths of His eyes.]
3:30 a.m. Orlov grabs his head and begins to cry. The subject's legs shake.
I just want to kill myself, please, I don't want to go back to the faded lilies. Not the Mountains again, not that sun. You'll drag me there after I die, you'll deny me my sweet, sweet oblivion!
Why? Why are you here? Why are you laughing at me? Damn you! Why didn't he just take your face as well, why must your face exist? Leave, Sophia! Tell your swollen faceless corpses to leave.
03:33a.m. Orlov falls on his knees.
I'm sorry. I'm begging you, please, leave, Sophia, leave. I'm sorry, please, I'll repent. I'll worship Tiufal, I'll serve Him, I'll sing for Him. I'll pray, I'll spread the… I'll preach the Words of Wisdom. I'm sorry, sorry! Just leave me be!
Orlov keeps begging the supposed angels for the next 48 minutes before losing consciousness.
11:58 a.m. Orlov briefly wakes up.
Oh, beautiful people in my room, who are you? You look so kind. Tell me… was I… was I a good researcher? Oh, you'll tell me when we're home? But I don’t know where home is.
Addendum 6: Incident OMEGA
On the 27th of November, 2022, in London, England, a suspicious middle-aged male was noticed on a busy city square. The subject appeared to be a regular street preacher. In spite of the fact that the individual in question could not have had access to SCP-9958 and that both D-12536, and Doctor Yuri Orlov had been all dead for at least 160 days, the subject’s behavior strongly resembled that of D-12536. Due to an extraordinarily high number of cognitohazards in the speech, all of its records were destroyed. The extent of harm dealt to the passerby is currently being investigated.