by Nagiros
Contains themes of abuse and emotional manipulation.
MEMO TO THE OFFICE OF THE SITE-17 DIRECTOR
From: Dr. Yesenia, assigned to SCP-4051 as an onsite therapist.
Graham,
It's been some time since I've received a formal update from you regarding SCP-4051. Despite my best efforts to acquire anything of substance related to the work Dr. Edwards is doing on him, all my attempts have led to failure.
I am not asking for a higher clearance level. I am attempting to provide you with some advice. I have my suspicions about the nature of Project 350-JANUS, and what you're trying to accomplish, but whatever it is, it's evidently important to your superiors. Due to the time it has taken to develop the project, I can only imagine that you're receiving significant push-back from them. Although I cannot help with the development of the project, I have a proposal for you.
SCP-4051 has a remarkable desire to help. His aid in site maintenance has doubtlessly alleviated some of your financial concerns, and he has proven to be resourceful, as well as capable and eager to help the Foundation.
If you want to get your superiors off your back, I'd recommend showing them these traits. Explain Rainer to them in a way they'll understand: prove he is a valuable asset to Site-17 by having him engage in the recovery of a low-threat anomaly. Rainer's ability grants him a versatility that humans do not possess. If you throw him underwater, he can create a breathing apparatus at will. If a member of his team is wounded, he can provide immediate medical support.
I want to be clear here. As someone with a connection with him, I have a certain bias. I want him to be freer, happier. But consider the idea that allowing him to support the Foundation in a more active role will be advantageous to you, the Foundation at large, and the people giving Dr. Edwards the money he needs to continue his experimentation.
Joint_MTF_Retrieval(P7-S3)_07.18.2013:1500
Pre-Mission Report: A six-person team, comprised of four members of MTF Psi-7 ("Home Improvement"), one member of MTF Sigma-3 ("Bibliographers"), and SCP-4051, will investigate the site of confirmed anomalous activity, a building located in Chicago, Illinois. The building has two underground sub-levels and is suspected of being an abandoned nexus for inter-dimensional travel. A Class-S "Slow Burn" amnestic1 has been administered to SCP-4051, who has been supplied with standard exploration gear and a gun loaded with rubber bullets. SCP-4051 has been granted limited membership to MTF Psi-7 for the ease of documentation, and will be referred to as "P-7 Rainer".
<Begin Log>
P-7 Charlie: Mic check. Everybody call in.
P-7 Jayla: I hear you.
P-7 Rico: Same on my end.
P-7 Trevor: Radio's good.
P-7 Rainer: Good over here.
S-3 Morgan: Resident Type Blue present. We heading in now?
SiteCommand: Affirmative.
(Team enters the structure via a back door into an unfurnished concrete room.)
P-7 Charlie: Command, we have some graffiti on the walls here.
SiteCommand: Noted. Filters aren't catching any memetics, so you should be fine.
S-3 Morgan: There are some thaumaturgical symbols here. Looks like variations on… well, they should be misdirecting and hiding something.
P-7 Rainer: So there could be something in the room we can't see?
S-3 Morgan: Command, are you guys catching anything like that?
SiteCommand: Negative, Morgan.
S-3 Morgan: Okay, then the symbols are probably meant for people passing by the building on the street. They're not hiding it from view, more… making it unremarkable.
P-7 Charlie: Command, this room is clear. Entering the next one.
SiteCommand: Understood.
(Team enters the adjacent room. The room has more garbage on the floor than the last.)
P-7 Jayla: Morgan, anything different with the graffiti here?
S-3 Morgan: Not that I can see. More runes to misdirect the unsuspecting.
(Team searches the items on the floor for two minutes.)
P-7 Charlie: This room seems clear. Our anomaly should be on another floor.
P-7 Rainer: Hey, I read the file report, but what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?
P-7 Rico: The reports we got suggest that this place has some extradimensional abnormality. We'll be getting close when the symbols on the walls start changing.
P-7 Charlie: Alright team, moving out now. Morgan, let us know if you see anything.
(Team enters a stairwell and begins traveling downwards. Morgan pauses.)
S-3 Morgan: New symbols. That one up ahead has a serif that imbues it with the power to harm.
P-7 Jayla: Meaning?
S-3 Morgan: The people who were using this building didn't want the uninvited to enter, so they set up defensive mechanisms on the walls to discourage non-magic users. Let's see, there should be some prerequisite… right, that one up ahead means "Potential".
P-7 Rainer: That's what the Hand calls magical capability, right?
S-3 Morgan: Yeah, although… did they give you the same pre-mission materials as us?
P-7 Rainer: I think so. They gave me an amnestic and told me that after two hours I wouldn't remember anything I'd read.
P-7 Charlie: Morgan, how do we proceed?
S-3 Morgan: Go ahead and blow out the sections of wall with the runes. They were probably just trying to keep homeless people and teenagers out of here.
P-7 Charlie: Alright, Jayla, get—
SiteCommand: Charlie, you hear me?
P-7 Charlie: I do. Do you advise against using incendiaries?
SiteCommand: Let Rainer assist in detonation. We're using this mission as a sort of trial run.
P-7 Charlie: Right. Rainer, manifest two charges. We'll attach and detonate them.
(P-7 Rainer complies and the team detonates the charges.)
P-7 Trevor: Hey, Jayla, this kid keeps it up and you'll be out of a job.
S-3 Morgan: You all should be able to proceed now.
(Team enters the first sublevel. The room they enter has less graffiti on the walls, although more thaumaturgical symbols are present.)
P-7 Charlie: Morgan, what are we looking at?
S-3 Morgan: A bunch of enhancement runes. One of those makes materials harder to break, another boosts perception, another makes you move faster. Anyone feeling those effects?
P-7 Rico: Negative.
P-7 Rainer: Not me.
P-7 Charlie: Nope.
P-7 Jayla: No.
P-7 Trevor: Not that I can feel.
S-3 Morgan: The serifs over the runes seem to mean it's targeting a specific entity or type of entity.
P-7 Trevor: Did the reports say anything about this place besides the symbols visible from the outside and the homeless guy talking about going to the other dimension?
P-7 Charlie: No, they didn't. Command, did you read anything with a thermal scan of the building?
SiteCommand: Negative.
P-7 Charlie: Jayla, clear this room for us. We'll scout the adjacent rooms and determine if there's another entity here.
P-7 Jayla: Is the kid staying with me?
P-7 Charlie: He's coming with us. Graham probably wants us to test how he does under pressure.
(P-7 Jayla remains in the room while the rest of the team clears the remaining rooms on the floor. Extraneous ten minutes of dialogue removed from transcript. P-7 Rico enters the final room, which has a frameless mirror leaning against the back wall.)
P-7 Rico: Hey, got something here, boss.
P-7 Charlie: Command, Rico has found a mirror that seems mostly intact.
SiteCommand: You have permission to engage and determine if it's anomalous.
P-7 Charlie: Understood.
(P-7 Charlie presses a hand against the glass. His reflection is seen to stare directly at him, while P-7 Charlie is directly observing the surface he is touching. P-7 Charlie unexpectedly applies pressure to the mirror, and his reflection is observed to buckle its arm with a surprised expression before walking out of view.)
P-7 Trevor: Well, fuck that.
P-7 Charlie: Command, we have a confirmed anomalous object. Is this the portal we’re looking for?
SiteCommand: That’s not likely. Continue to the second sublevel.
P-7 Charlie: Understood. Jayla, we’re coming back to you and entering the next floor.
P-7 Jayla: Understood.
(Team regroups and enters the staircase. Sounds of an unknown entity shuffling on the second sublevel are heard from the staircase. Team halts.)
P-7 Charlie: Command, advise.
SiteCommand: Proceed.
P-7 Charlie: Everyone, weapons ready. Rainer, get in the back.
(P-7 Charlie enters the second sublevel from the stairwell and performs a visual scan of the room. No entity is confirmed, although detection is made difficult due to the darkness. The walls and floor are free of graffiti and litter.)
(P-7 Charlie signals for the rest of the team to proceed and activate their shoulder-mounted lights. The team approaches the only doorway, and a loud screech is heard before a creature travels extremely quickly past the doorway from the adjacent hallway. The creature is approximately one meter in height, two meters in length, and resembles an arachnid. The head of the creature is ostensibly a hairless humanoid, disregarding the lack of discernible eyes or comparable organs.)
(The team retreats to the entrance of the stairwell.)
P-7 Charlie: Morgan, what’s the likelihood that the runes upstairs apply to that thing?
S-3 Morgan: Very high. Its speed, perception, and durability have been augmented.
P-7 Trevor: Define “durability”.
S-3 Morgan: Physical force won’t do much damage to it. That means bullets are essentially useless.
P-7 Trevor: Hell yeah.
P-7 Charlie: Command, did the report say that this floor is just this room, a hallway, and a large central room?
SiteCommand: That should be the case.
P-7 Charlie: Our goal is to get into that central room. There should be an entrance in the hallway, so we need a way to clear out the spiders. Trevor, you want to help with that?
P-7 Trevor: You know I do.
(The team enters the hallway, with P-7 Rico observing the south end of the hallway for hostile entities while P-7 Charlie observes the north end. Turns to the east are visible in both directions at the ends of the hallway. The team proceeds to the north for approximately five meters before P-7 Rico sights an entity turning from the eastern hall and proceeding towards them.)
P-7 Rico: Trevor, we got one in my direction, coming in fast!
(P-7 Trevor turns towards the entity and uses his supplied flamethrower. The entity is engulfed in flame and emits a loud shriek before the flames abate, revealing its charred corpse. Several shrieks are also heard from elsewhere in the building along with rapid shuffling, converging on the team’s location.)
P-7 Jayla: Shit, Trevor, cover that end, we’ll slow ours down with bullets.
P-7 Charlie: Rainer, use your flamethrower and cover us on this end while we move down the hallway.
P-7 Rainer: Understood.
(The team moves north and is met with resistance by the entities. Three approach from the south towards P-7 Trevor and are promptly dispatched. Two approach from the north, and are incapacitated by P-7 Rainer after P-7 Charlie, P-7 Jayla, and S-3 Morgan deter the entities with conventional firearms.)
(The team turns at the corner and dispatch five more entities before coming to an entrance to the central room. The walls of the room are covered in thaumaturgical symbols, and a large circular pattern of an unidentified red liquid is present on the floor.)
P-7 Trevor: Shit, did we kill them all? I was just starting to have some fun.
P-7 Charlie: Trevor, quiet.
(P-7 Charlie’s shoulder-mounted light illuminates a child huddled in the corner of the room. It appears to be female and clothed in a thin, white dress.)
S-3 Morgan: Shit…
P-7 Charlie: Command, did the report mention anything about cult activity in this building?
SiteCommand: Negative.
P-7 Jayla: May I approach?
P-7 Charlie: Go ahead.
(P-7 Jayla switches off her shoulder-mounted light and approaches the child, lowering herself to be eye-to-eye with it. The child appears to have various injuries and cuts on its arms and legs.)
P-7 Jayla: Hey, you alright?
(The child does not respond, but raises its head to look at P-7 Jayla.)
P-7 Jayla: Do you know how you got here?
Child: I was in a library.
P-7 Jayla: Oh? Where?
Child: A far-away place, and yet, so close.
P-7 Jayla: Um…
P-7 Rico: Charlie, just a reminder that this is definitely some demon shit.
Child: I was cast out. Kept a prisoner from knowledge. Left to lurk in the darkened places beneath those holy shelves.
(The child begins to stand but is stopped by P-7 Jayla when she aims her firearm at the child’s forehead.)
P-7 Jayla: I wouldn’t do that if I were you, sweetie.
Child: You cannot harm me more than they did. Even if your bullets could pierce me, it would be nothing compared to the agony I felt underneath the stone.
P-7 Charlie: Jayla, take the shot.
(P-7 Jayla fires a single round at the child’s forehead. It stumbles back before emitting a screech, and its body begins to be disfigured as it transforms into an arachnid, similar to the entities encountered previously. Its new form measures roughly five meters in length and height. P-7 Jayla is consequentially knocked back and pinned beneath it as it writhes on the ground.)
P-7 Jayla: Shit, get it off me!
(The team engages with the entity for roughly ten seconds as it regains its balance. Bullets have little effect, and the flames produced by P-7 Trevor and P-7 Rainer appear to cause pain, but do not deter the entity. It lifts itself up and uses its mouth to grab hold of P-7 Jayla’s right leg, breaking it in the process. It drags P-7 Jayla to the center of the circular pattern and begins to mutilate her legs, causing P-7 Jayla to lose consciousness. At this time, the thaumaturgical symbols present on the walls are seen to glow softly, and the floor contained by the circular pattern begins to dematerialize. After five seconds, the floor becomes a portal into an unknown location, with dirty brick walls and floor of a tunnel visible. P-7 Jayla and the entity fall through the portal.)
P-7 Trevor: Shit! Jayla!
P-7 Rico: We’ve got company!
(Twenty smaller arachnid entities emerge from the hallway behind the team. Despite P-7 Trevor’s usage of his flamethrower and S-3 Morgan’s usage of their thaumaturgical ability, incapacitating ten of the twenty arachnids, the team is overwhelmed. S-3 Morgan, P-7 Trevor, P-7 Charlie, and P-7 Rico are dragged by five of the entities into the portal, and P-7 Rainer successfully terminates the remaining five with his makeshift flamethrower.)
(At this time, SiteCommand's connection with the rest of the team is intermittently lost and reestablished.)
SiteCommand: Rainer, can you hear me?
P-7 Rainer: I can. Shit, what the hell?
SiteCommand: How were you able to terminate the remaining entities without aid?
P-7 Rainer: I, um… I memorized the symbols that we saw upstairs. And then I manifested a few strips of tape with the symbols inscribed on them and put them on my suit. So… speed, perception, misdirection… what was the other one?
SiteCommand: Rainer, is the portal still open?
P-7 Rainer: Yeah, it is. I'm seeing a brick tunnel. It's real dark down there.
SiteCommand: Abort the mission. Return to the back door of the building immediately and wait for retrieval.
P-7 Rainer: Do I… do I have to?
SiteCommand: Yes, you have to. Failure to comply will result in—
P-7 Rainer: Um, listen, I'm going in. That's what a hero does, right? He disobeys his superiors to save the day?
SiteCommand: Disobedience will almost certainly mean that you'll never be selected for another mission.
P-7 Rainer: I know, but… they can't have gone far. At the very least, I can try to explore that other place for you guys.
(SiteCommand's connection with P-7 Rainer is lost as he enters the portal. A support team composed of additional members from MTF Psi-7 is requested for retrieval. Connection is reestablished after thirty seconds.)
(P-7 Rainer is seen running down the brick tunnel, using his shoulder-mounted light to illuminate the area in front of him.)
SiteCommand: Connection reestablished. Rainer, where are you?
P-7 Rainer: One of them is up ahead. I can hear it dragging… shit, is that Morgan? Hey!
(P-7 Rainer's shoulder-mounted light illuminates an Aleph-Order semi-physical entity2 lifting S-3 Morgan and pushing them against the wall of the tunnel. S-3 Morgan's body appears to be merging with the brick structure of the wall, causing them extreme pain, but they are unable to vocalize it for unknown reasons. Two halves of the corpse of an arachnid entity are present farther down the tunnel.)
(P-7 Rainer removes his provided firearm and fires five rounds at the entity. None of the bullets appear to strike the entity, although three pass through space it occupies. The entity turns its head from S-3 Morgan and approaches P-7 Rainer, leaving S-3 Morgan suspended inside the wall. P-7 Rainer manifests "fire" and aims the flamethrower towards the entity, who does not appear burned but recoils regardless. Its form appears to be disrupted by the light from the flames.)
P-7 Rainer: Morgan, close your eyes!
(S-3 Morgan is unable to respond but shuts their eyes, turning their head away from P-7 Rainer. P-7 Rainer manifests another object, creating a bright flash in the tunnel and temporarily disabling video. After the effects of the flash abate, the entity is not observed and is presumed to have either demanifested or been terminated.)
SiteCommand: Video has been reestablished.
S-3 Morgan: Command?
SiteCommand: Morgan, can you extricate yourself from the wall?
S-3 Morgan: Fuck no. It's like my arm and the wall are the same thing.
(SiteCommand discusses options for S-3 Morgan's retrieval as P-7 Rainer gives medical attention to their other injuries.)
SiteCommand: Morgan, would you consent to removing the arm entirely?
S-3 Morgan: Over what? Waiting for another team to get here? Fuck that.
P-7 Rainer: Do you want me to do the procedure?
SiteCommand: Manifest a "laser" and test it on the arachnid corpse near you.
(P-7 Rainer complies. The manifested portal produces a bright red beam that cleaves the flesh of the arachnid and immediately cauterizes the inflicted wound.)
P-7 Rainer: Right, um, this should be quick. Do you want something to—
S-3 Morgan: Go ahead and do it. I'll be fine.
(P-7 Rainer again manifests a laser and successfully detaches S-3 Morgan's arm from their shoulder. The shoulder is cauterized, and S-3 Morgan expresses extreme pain.)
SiteCommand: Rainer, manifest painkillers. The variety referenced in your pre-mission materials, preferably.
(P-7 Rainer complies and administers the painkillers to S-3 Morgan. S-3 Morgan vocalizes extreme discomfort and pain for another sixty seconds.)
S-3 Morgan: Jesus… okay, it's better now.
P-7 Rainer: Do you have any other injuries?
S-3 Morgan: Honestly? After that, I don't think anything's going to feel painful again.
P-7 Rainer: Alright. Do you want to leave and re-enter the building through the portal, or continue down the tunnel?
S-3 Morgan: Command, are you sending in a rescue team?
SiteCommand: The team has been assembled and is currently en route to the building. It would cut down on potential complications if you would—
S-3 Morgan: Great. Tell them Rainer and I are going further into the tunnel, after the rest of our team.
SiteCommand: Do you have any particular justification for this egregious breach of protocol?
S-3 Morgan: Eh… yeah. I'd prefer to keep it to myself, though.
SiteCommand: I'll put your preference down on record, but I doubt that will be sufficient enough for anyone reviewing your behavior post-mission.
S-3 Morgan: Listen, I'm ex-Hand. I wasn't particularly knowledgable about the Wanderers' Library when I was active, but I knew some stuff. The Foundation is currently barred from accessing the Library, which is pretty standard procedure for undesirable groups. That spider thing that carried off Charlie and the rest is worse than the Foundation, as far as the Library's concerned.
SiteCommand: Can you give me a simple reason for this protocol breach?
S-3 Morgan: Right, sure. That thing is attempting to break back into the Library, and I need to stop it. Put it under, uh… "Protection of noncombatants."
SiteCommand: Noted.
S-3 Morgan: Alright kid, you ever fucked with magic before?
P-7 Rainer: I haven't. Can you walk?
S-3 Morgan: Give me a hand and we'll see.
(P-7 Rainer assists S-3 Morgan in standing.)
S-3 Morgan: Command, uh… right, adrenaline is coming down.
(P-7 Rainer begins to support S-3 Morgan as they walk down the tunnel.)
S-3 Morgan: There's a fork up ahead. I saw the spiders take the rest of the team to the right.
P-7 Rainer: Understood. Are you feeling any better?
S-3 Morgan: I am.
P-7 Rainer: Just, if it gets painful, think about the opposite of the pain.
S-3 Morgan: The opposite?
P-7 Rainer: It helps more than just thinking about the pain being gone. Think of it more like pain's inverse, I guess. That doesn't make any sense. I'm sorry.
(Both are silent for several seconds.)
S-3 Morgan: Did you receive that scar during the fight?
P-7 Rainer: The one on my arm?
S-3 Morgan: Yes. I saw it before you manifested the light to kill the thing attacking me.
P-7 Rainer: No, I got this before.
S-3 Morgan: I think I can fix that with my thaumaturgy. Err… I could have fixed it. I guess being a Type Blue with one arm is going to be difficult.
P-7 Rainer: What's it like, being a magician?
S-3 Morgan: Great, at first. You feel like you're on top of the world. Then someone finds out. You ask them to keep it quiet, but of course they don't. You go to the Library because where else can you go?
P-7 Rainer: Was it lonely in the Library?
S-3 Morgan: Alone and without a book to read, yes. It's dreadful. You can see others around you, imbibing a universe of knowledge, being happy and free among the shelves, but you're trapped with your own self-doubt. It's like coming out as nonbinary all over… hold on.
(Both stay still as they observe the fork in the tunnel. Two entities are present to the right turn. One appears to be a floating, tattered cloak, obscuring the wearer from view. The other's form is unobservable, due to several localized reality distortions surrounding it, but appears to be somewhat humanoid. The two entities are engaging in hostilities with one another.)
S-3 Morgan: We'll have to pass these two if we want to follow the team. I recognize the Shroud from the Library, before it was banished. It has a particular distaste for the written word and seeks to absorb literature into the oblivion beneath its fabric.
P-7 Rainer: And the other?
S-3 Morgan: I can't be certain. I've read about it in the Library, but… well, I haven't entered the Library for a long time. I believe it's an entity that… "rewrites" reality. Both presented a high-level threat to the knowledge contained by the Library and were subsequently sent here.
P-7 Rainer: Any advice for combat?
S-3 Morgan: Physical force won't be particularly effective. I'd recommend letting me use my thaumaturgy, but I'll be a bit slower with my blue-spells than usual. We either have… what are those things on your suit?
P-7 Rainer: Strips of duct tape. I manifested them so that the runes we saw on the upper floors were inscribed into them.
S-3 Morgan: …
P-7 Rainer: Is that bad?
S-3 Morgan: It's… inventive. Our goal should be to pass them without being noticed. Unfortunately, that means waiting until they start to fight. Command, how soon until that second team reaches the building?
SiteCommand: Approximately five minutes.
S-3 Morgan: Understood. You ready, Rainer?
P-7 Rainer: I am.
(The two observe as the entities circle each other until the shrouded figure reaches to open its robe. Several isolated spacial distortions form around the shrouded figure but are abruptly nullified when it removes the front section of cloth. The second entity reacts aggressively to this, appearing to phase from the visible light spectrum before several thaumaturgical symbols are observed on the fabric of the cloaked figure. The symbols glow red, and the shrouded figure acts agitated and removes the robe entirely, discarding it. The discarded shroud is surrounded in an explosion, destroying a section of the wall close to S-3 Morgan and P-7 Rainer.)
S-3 Morgan: Alright, sprint as quickly as you can.
(P-7 Rainer assists S-3 Morgan as they run through the tunnel. As they pass the entities, both take notice of them but appear unwilling to pursue. P-7 Rainer and S-3 Morgan run for three more seconds before a shriek is heard, presumably emanating from the previously cloaked figure.)
S-3 Morgan: The Shroud is about to absorb us.
P-7 Rainer: It's about to what?
(A loud sound echoes through the tunnel as an unseen force is seen pulling S-3 Morgan and P-7 Rainer towards the two entities as S-3 Morgan attempts to use their thaumaturgical ability to cancel the effect. Both are pulled backward along the tunnel floor, and the previously cloaked entity is observed. It appears to be a mass of corporeal, black tendrils.)
P-7 Rainer: Morgan! The fuck do we do?
S-3 Morgan: Hold on to my arm if you can.
P-7 Rainer: Shit! Shit!
(S-3 Morgan is unable to resist the unseen force due to their previously sustained injuries, and is pulled rapidly towards the entity. P-7 Rainer reacts by letting go of his hold on the brick floor and manifesting a portal while in mid-air. The manifested object is inconsistent in form but appears to be a series of white tendrils, shifting in and out of the visible spectrum. The manifested object approaches the entity at a faster rate than either S-3 Morgan or P-7 Rainer, and upon making contact with the entity, disappears. The hostile entity, likewise, cannot be located. S-3 Morgan falls to the ground, otherwise unharmed. Both are silent for several seconds.)
S-3 Morgan: Kid, what the hell was that?
P-7 Rainer: I-I panicked. I saw that it was about to get you, and… I thought about how much I didn't want it to be there, and… shit! Look out!
(Several localized spatial distortions appear around P-7 Rainer's body, resulting in loss of audio and video connection to SiteCommand. S-3 Morgan's video is likewise affected, but audio indicates that S-3 Morgan dispelled the remaining entity after a few seconds.)
SiteCommand: Connection has been reestablished.
S-3 Morgan: I read you, Command. Kid, you alright?
(P-7 Rainer vocalizes extreme distress and sounds as though he is holding back tears.)
P-7 Rainer: Did I kill that guy, Morgan?
S-3 Morgan: It wasn't human. It was an aberration whose existence was dedicated to the destruction of knowledge.
P-7 Rainer: I manifested… oh god, I manifested the exact opposite of it. In space and matter. It must have canceled out with the real thing, and now they just don't exist.
S-3 Morgan: Command, I've changed my mind, and I'm aborting the mission. Knowing Charlie, he's already managed to kill the arachnid.
SiteCommand: Denied, Morgan.
S-3 Morgan: What?
SiteCommand: Dr. Edwards is currently viewing the video of this exploration and has made it very clear that the operation should continue.
(P-7 Rainer visibly flinches at the mention of Dr. Edwards.)
S-3 Morgan: And I'm supposed to listen to some researcher sitting safe and sound in Site-17?
SiteCommand: Dr. Edwards is the current Director for the SCP-4051 project, and has been given authority over this operation by Site Director Graham.
(S-3 Morgan silently deliberates for several seconds before turning to P-7 Rainer.)
S-3 Morgan: Can you stand?
P-7 Rainer: Yes.
S-3 Morgan: We're continuing the mission. We shouldn't be too far from the rest of the team. Stay behind me.
P-7 Rainer: Understood.
(The two continue down the tunnel in silence. After four minutes of walking, both audio devices detect sounds of a struggle echoing from farther down the tunnel.)
S-3 Morgan: Kid, uh, you alright?
P-7 Rainer: I'm fine. Are you?
S-3 Morgan: Yes. How did you get the scar on your arm?
P-7 Rainer: I don't want to say.
S-3 Morgan: Why's that?
P-7 Rainer: I just don't.
(There is silence for one minute.)
P-7 Rainer: I messed it up in a containment breach. They sometimes let me out to help around the site, and an anomaly got out during one of my sessions. Big thing, lots of claws. Scratched my arm before the guards took it out.
S-3 Morgan: Alright. Sorry you had to go through that.
P-7 Rainer: Me too.
(Several tremors shake the section of the tunnel.)
S-3 Morgan: We should hurry.
(S-3 Morgan and P-7 Rainer sprint down the tunnel. As they do, the walls of the tunnel begin to undergo spatial manipulation, elongating and contracting repeatedly.)
P-7 Rainer: We have company.
S-3 Morgan: Get behind me.
(The spatial manipulation intensifies in a particular area of the floor, as the head of a large anomalous entity emerges from the brick. The entity appears to be humanoid and continues to rise until its form occupies the entirety of the tunnel. Its body is roughly twenty meters in height, requiring the walls and ceiling to warp around it. Its skin appears to be pure white, with several unknown runes and designs marked in a black substance along its forearms and chest.)
Unknown Entity: A hundred chains to bind me, a hundred more before me.
S-3 Morgan: Your path so far removed, must you tarry long?
Unknown Entity: I come as a preventer of misfortune. The one behind you is shadowed in doubt, a thing I have known well. A granter of wishes, I was, in another life; a slave to others by nature, all come undone when one spoke the fell words, "I wish for the destruction of the Wanderer's Library." In this purgation, I sensed a kindred soul.
S-3 Morgan: Your purgation is not yet complete, your powers still beyond you. You may not prevent our passing.
P-7 Rainer: I see no comparison between you and I.3
S-3 Morgan: Rainer, be quiet.
Unknown Entity: A free man, you see yourself? You who are entangled in bindings, both physical and mental?
P-7 Rainer: I, who am—
S-3 Morgan: [Speech is unintelligible due to low volume.]
(Multiple thaumaturgical symbols manifest around P-7 Rainer's head, silencing him. The entity's eyes glow and it leans towards P-7 Rainer, appearing to manipulate the runes with its fingers. The runes glow, and dissipate before reappearing around S-3 Morgan, effectively paralyzing them.)
P-7 Rainer: I, who am free, know my own nature.
Unknown Entity: You are crippled by doubt. Your mind is a boiling sea of indecision.
P-7 Rainer: And I am free to make it thus.
Unknown Entity: You are wrong. A foreign binding compels your hand.
(The entity begins to reach for P-7 Rainer, but is repelled when P-7 Rainer manifests "fire". It retracts its hand and returns to a standing position, the black runes on its skin beginning to glow red.)
Unknown Entity: In my eternal perdition, I seek redemption for a crime not my own. I cannot allow a kinder spirit to suffer as I have.
(Reality begins to distort around P-7 Rainer's location, and video connection is lost. S-3 Morgan is released from their magically-induced paralysis and immediately fires at the entity, who has begun to destabilize. The entity is unaffected and disperses its physical form into the localized reality distortion surrounding P-7 Rainer. P-7 Rainer vocalizes acute distress and pain.)
P-7 Rainer: I [unintelligible] slave. [unintelligible] need them. I can't [unintelligible].
(The distorted space appears to fluctuate, and S-3 Morgan retreats to a safe distance.)
P-7 Rainer: I will not be your slave as well! [unintelligible]
S-3 Morgan: Command, I need advice here!
SiteCommand: Working on it.
(Several tremors shake the tunnel, and P-7 Rainer vocalizes extreme pain. The fluctuations of the distortion increase, and the walls of the tunnel begin to undergo rapid contraction and expansion.)
S-3 Morgan: I need an answer now!
(A circle of unidentifiable runes surrounds the floor around P-7 Rainer, appearing to glow and emit sparks of white lightning, which strike the distorted space from all sides. Sections of the walls close to P-7 Rainer disintegrate, causing unknown damage to the tunnel's structural integrity.)
SiteCommand: Initiating emergency activation of P-7 Rainer's Type-S "Slow Burn" amnestic in 3, 2, 1.
(At this time, all anomalous phenomena surrounding P-7 Rainer cease, and P-7 Rainer falls to the ground, unconscious.)
S-3 Morgan: How long will he be like this?
SiteCommand: Acclimation takes roughly—
(Abruptly, P-7 Rainer regains consciousness and immediately stands, apparently only moderately impeded by residual effects of the amnestic, and begins to sprint down the tunnel.)
S-3 Morgan: Rainer, wait!
(S-3 Morgan is unable to match P-7 Rainer's pace, and soon falls behind.)
P-7 Rainer: Get out of my head, get out of my head!
(P-7 Rainer manifests an object, and all brick walls within a 30-meter radius of him abruptly disintegrate. A path is revealed, and a large arachnid creature is seen at the end, before disappearing from view.)
P-7 Rainer: I've got you now!
(P-7 Rainer's pace increases until he enters a large chamber at the end of the path. The chamber is composed entirely of brick and is several stories tall. Inside the chamber, P-7 Rico, P-7 Trevor, and P-7 Charlie are seen engaging the arachnid creature. On the floor, an elaborate design of red liquid has been created, with the body of P-7 Jayla in the center. Letters of various known and unknown languages manifest from the border of the design.)
P-7 Trevor: Rainer! What the fuck happened to you?
(P-7 Rainer screams as the massive, humanoid entity reforms above the group, standing suspended in the chamber. Its eyes begin to glow as it looks down on all of them.)
P-7 Rainer: Take this!
<End Log>
Transcript of Therapy-Session-4051-59
Foreward: SCP-4051 is remaining within its containment unit, while Dr. Yesenia communicates with it via the unit's audio-surveillance system.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Yesenia: Rainer? Can you hear me?
SCP-4051: Oh! Dr. Yesenia! How are you?
Dr. Yesenia: I'm doing well. How about you?
SCP-4051: I'm doing great! I just got back from a mission.
Dr. Yesenia: Oh? Tell me about it.
SCP-4051: I helped a lot of people. Fought a spider. Saved Jayla and Trevor and Rico. And I found out more about my anomaly!
Dr. Yesenia: Oh? You did?
SCP-4051: Yeah! I can get rid of things by making their opposite. Walls, enemies, monsters. Maybe when I'm doing maintenance, I can clean out—
Dr. Yesenia: Rainer, your maintenance sessions have been indefinitely canceled.
SCP-4051: They've… they've what?
Dr. Yesenia: We can no longer allow you to exit your containment unit, due to the threat you now present to the Foundation at large, and the world.
(SCP-4051 is silent for several seconds, before standing and beginning to pace the room, nodding repeatedly.)
SCP-4051: That makes sense. It makes sense. I'm sorry.
Dr. Yesenia: You don't need to be sorry for anything.
SCP-4051: Can I still help you?
(There are several seconds of silence.)
Dr. Yesenia: You help us just by being here, Rainer.
SCP-4051: I do?
Dr. Yesenia: Yes, you do. But more importantly, you… you need us.
SCP-4051: Oh, I know that. I need you. I know that. I… Thank you for caring for me.
Dr. Yesenia: You're welcome, Rainer. Goodbye for now.
SCP-4051: Goodbye, Dr. Yesenia!
(SCP-4051 sits in the corner of its room and smiles, and remains there.)
<End Log>
To: Researcher David Edwards
From: Site Director Thomas Graham
Subject: Cleanup
Edwards,
What follows is the unofficial report on the incident involving SCP-4051, the anomalous object placed under your care by Ethics Committee liaison Jeremiah Cimmerian.
On 18 July 2013, 1500 hours, a joint mobile task force, composed primarily of members of MTF Psi-7 ("Home Improvement"), but also SCP-4051 and a single member of MTF Sigma-3 ("Bibliographers"), entered an anomalous location in Chicago, Illinois. During the exploration, the team unintentionally entered an extradimensional space located beneath the Wanderer's Library. All members of the team, except SCP-4051 — who entered voluntarily — were forced into the portal.
While a secondary retrieval team was being prepped, SCP-4051's Slow Burn amnestic was activated prematurely in an attempt to expel a hostile entity from its mind. Doing this resulted in a near-complete collapse of SCP-4051's mental stability, and it revealed that it now could manifest the "inverse" of any given object that it could adequately "picture", giving it the ability to destroy any matter it can comprehend. It utilized this ability to destroy a large section of the extra-dimensional space, neutralizing the hostile arachnid entity as well as the humanoid entity which had entered its mind. The secondary retrieval team reported a massive crater, roughly 100 meters in diameter, with SCP-4051 at the center. SCP-4051 did not resist being incapacitated.
Below are the official statuses of all operatives involved in the initial exploration effort.
TL P-7 Charlie: Alive, currently deployed at another location.
P-7 Trevor: Hospitalized, expected recovery in two weeks.
P-7 Rico: Hospitalized, expected recovery in one week.
P-7 Jayla: Killed in action.
S-3 Morgan: Hospitalized, expected recovery in three weeks.
SCP-4051: Contained.
This incident has resulted in the immediate reclassification of SCP-4051 to Keter, and its current containment cell is being outfitted with preventative measures, should it attempt to breach containment. The Special Containment Procedures need to be updated, as well as all relevant staff briefed on the new situation we're facing.
Naturally, the official report on this incident will read differently. In terms of the repercussions of this, I'm expecting an immediate review of all procedures and projects related to SCP-4051 by an Ethics Committee that is no longer willing to turn a blind eye for the greater good. I'm sorry, Edwards. I can no longer protect you.
I'm sorry about what SCP-4051 did to your brother. Dr. Roswell was one of the finest researchers we had at this site. I know we've all grieved, and found different methods of doing it, you included.
Have a good life, Edwards.
NEW MESSAGE!
To: Site Director Thomas Graham
From: Researcher David Edwards
Subject: Re:Cleanup
Graham,
Rot in hell, you piece of shit.
Cite this page as:
"The Beast Beneath The Library" by Nagiros, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-beast-beneath-the-library. Licensed under CC-BY-SA.
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