- White Wedding
- Magical Mystery Tour
- Nocturne
- 21 September 1869
- 16 August 2002
- 14 Julius, 9 AD
- notes and drafts
« Blackout | Ombres Malvants »
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
"Amen." The word echoed through the darkened vault of the cavern, back to the fifty men who spoke it.
The black-clad man on the dais continued. "We have come rejoicing into the house of the Lord for this celebration, dear brothers, and now we stand with these men, and these women …"
Tomàs watched as some of the men walked between the marble slabs, awakening the unconscious women lying atop them. He glanced down at Agent Diego, her green control patch removed, but still not awake.
"… for us this is a moment of unique importance. Let us listen attentively to the word that God speaks to us today …"
The "priest" gave a glance sideways at Cousin Johnny, who said nothing.
"… let us humbly pray to our God, that he lovingly accept them, bless them, and make them always one."
Tomàs looked over to Veronica, who was standing protectively over the young woman she had called Ashy. She tensed as two of the men approached, but as the priest kept speaking, Tomàs saw her body relax, and her eyes fall vacant.
"Dearly beloved, you have come together into this holy place, so that your intention may be strengthened by the Lord with a sacred seal …"
Tomàs realised suddenly that he couldn't move. He watched helplessly as Veronica was dragged away, limp, towards the edge of the circle of lights. The men pulled Ashy upright on her slab, and Veronica's eyes went wide, but she was still and silent. Her captors left her standing next to the Plague Doctor, his arms bound by the animal control noose with which they had caught him.
The dark figure on the podium went on, his deep voice turning Tomàs' limbs to wax. The air thickened, time curdled, and his will with it. He had to stop the mass, save these women from whatever would happen to them, but waves of sound rolled through the chamber, and the flood overwhelmed him. Tomàs tried desperately to think of a way to resist, to interrupt the flow, but without being able to move it was -
An electronic chime, bright and sharp, cut like lemon juice through treacle.
The priest faltered for a second. The chime rang again - it came from Agent Diego's pocket.
The echoes of the voice died away, and Tomàs could move. He reached forward and fumbled with Diego's uniform, pulling out a phone. The agent began to stir.
"Hey!" Tomàs shouted. Anything to stop the mass. "Hey, shit-eater! I think you have a call here."
He glanced at the phone. Two Snapchat messages - how did it even have reception down here?
The man on the dais turned to face Tomàs, frowning. "The Catholic rite does not permit interruptions, Mr. Rey. You should be holding your peace, like these good girls here."
Agent Diego was awake, and moving like she might sit up. Tomàs put a hand on her shoulder, pressing downwards. He needed to let her know he was Foundation too, without these men realising that she was no longer under their chemical control. He needed every advantage he could get.
He called out again. "What are you, some kind of black moon cult?" Tomàs felt Agent Diego tense in recognition of the phrase. Good. Now to shift attention away from her. He strode towards the dais, talking loudly for the benefit of the crowd of men. "
Through the smoke, the iron door loomed.
Scholars from the alchemy department busied themselves with the candles and alembics attached to it, measuring precise quantities of silvery liquids and wood shavings. Their movements echoed in the circular stone chamber; the others gathered here were silent.
Dr. Calixto Narváez watched, rapt, as garish light flared from the crucible and the air filled with a sharp odour. He seemed scarcely able to prevent himself from joining the ministrations of the cabalistic researchers, concealed here beneath the Tower of London.
Next to him, Emma saw the avid gleam in his eye, and felt uncertain. Dr. Narváez was an expert on Alagadda, but he would not travel with them today. Orders from on high, apparently: higher than Site-Director Arosa. Maybe it was just nervousness, but it felt like a bad sign.
There was a bubbling from the glass tubes across the chamber, and a deep red liquid began to drip into the basin below the door handle. A member of the alchemy department turned to them and nodded, silently. Emma took a deep breath and looked over at her task force.
They stood along the edge of the vault, in various states of attention. Charla seemed as engrossed in the alchemical workings as Dr. Narváez, which was unsurprising given her background. Mike was doing his best to be interested, but a stifled yawn betrayed him. Next to Mike, Hennessy was looking down at his feet, ignoring Dee, who was leaning on the stonework shooting him a meaningful look that Emma couldn't decode. Beyond them, she could see Roger Anderson shifting his weight, no doubt feeling his age from standing still so long. Dr. Reynard had her chin raised stiffly, which felt like a deliberate contrast. Finally, Zhao, her lieutenant, was calming looking back at her, waiting for instruction. What would Emma do without her?
With a glance towards Dr. Narváez, Emma began. "Squad, eyes up." The motley group of agents pulled themselves into line and waited expectantly. Emma was struck, again, by how unreal this felt.
"You've all read the briefing, so I'll keep this short. Once the door is open, we're going in. We can't take equipment, and we can't remove the masks, but we should have consistency in our costume, so you'll be able to identify each other. Remember your infosec while talking, and use hand signals at distance."
Emma could see in their eyes as the team's focus shifted. They were listening, but starting to visualise what it might be like in there.
"Don't be distracted by the limited colours or any spatial or gravitational anomalies. It will feel dreamlike, but stay alert. It's just like you trained for. Keep the mission parameters in mind - information or evidence of SCP-012. But don't engage too much with the inhabitants. No gifts, no dancing. If you start to lose focus, or lose track of time, look for any unlocked door - it should lead you back here."
She looked over her shoulder. "Anything to add, Dr. Narváez?"
With a shudder of his head, like he was coming up from beneath deep water, the thin academic spoke in a lilting voice. "Thank you, Commander. I do not have much to say that has not already been said. You should be quite safe if you can remain lucid and vigilant. Be watchful in all things. Do not speak of the Masked Lords. Do not seek the silent city. And if you explore, do not travel downwards. Descent leads to the Ambassador."
The silence at this warning was cut by the clank of the door's iron bolts. The door swung slowly open. Nothing was visible beyond.
"Ready, Eta-11?" called Emma. "Then shall we?"
On the other side of the door, something is different. I can already feel it. The slipperiness of every sensation is like a reflection in a still pool; to grasp at this world would be to muddle and dispel it. I force myself to breathe slowly, trying to relax.
My eyes open. I am at the threshold of a gothic palace, yellow stone arches vaulting above me into shadow. The tiles below are bone-white, the door before me deep red. No other colours here. From beyond the door, loud noises, muffled.
I turn towards my team. Their versicolour tunics are chessboards beneath black bauta masks with pyramid chins protruding. They move slowly, careful with their ripples in this watery reality. The nearest to me gasps as they turn, and I look down: my costume is different, white silk shot with streaks of red. I must be wearing a mask, but I cannot feel it. Here, it is my face.
Mike + Charla - masquerade ball - third person, past tense - white
Hennessy, Roger, Zhao - library, Wanderer, icon - first person (Zhao), past tense - black
Emma, Reynard, Dee - pleasure garden - third person, present tense - orange
Reynard, Dee - observatory, stars - second person, future tense - yellow
Emma alone - first person, present tense, stream of consciousness - red
A freezing midnight fog has overtaken Florence. The empty streets are filled with air made visible, unnaturally still. If the sky above ever held a moon, it has abdicated; it is exiled, fled, driven out. Dee and Reynard should be following me, but the world is wrapped in wet cotton, and we are snow-blind. Maybe we were always blind.
Last time I was in Florence, all the water was below us, rising up.
In our wake, the mist swirls in whirlwinds and whips, tongues and talons. I take a deep breath, and catch myself wondering what it looks like inside our lungs?
Dee is tense, almost coiled. Energy compressed in her shoulders, her gloved hands.
The fog gathers closer to watch.
The flames of the kerosene lamps flickered dully behind soot-blackened glass as Friedrich hurried through the backstage corridors. The design of this place was torturous, a diabolical collage of Gothic, Romanesque and Italianate, with no clear plan and no straight pathways that he could discern. He snorted: what could one expect from the architecture of a known anarchist. It was hardly Friedrich's fault that reaching the dressing rooms took forever.
Nevertheless, he picked up his pace. His client was waiting for Mathilde, and Karl had not yet brought her. He did not have time to waste.
Finally Friedrich reached the door of the dressing room, hearing the sound of raised voices from inside. He drew himself up, and barged in.
A crystal wineglass flew past his head and shattered on the doorframe with a crash. Friedrich flinched. He saw Karl, his stage manager, almost topple a candelabra as he ducked out of the way. Across the room, Mathilde Haupt burst into a peal of cruel laughter at their reaction.
Friedrich was livid with indignation. "What is the meaning of this?" he bellowed.
The laughing soprano showed no inclination to explain, so it was left to Karl. "I'm sorry, Herr Director, but she does not agree to come."
"I refuse to be paraded in front of some foreign swine," said Mathilde scornfully. She tossed her head, her long hair falling back over the shoulder of her yellow dress from the opera's final scene.
"That 'swine' is an extremely important English gentleman," replied Friedrich, "and is looking to invest heavily in the opera company. If he wishes to meet with the cast, then you shall meet him."
"I certainly shall not." Mathilde crossed her arms, and gave an ostentatious stamp of her foot.
Friedrich's temper boiled over. "You may think yourself important, just because you sing Eva tonight. But if you do not come now, I will have you sweeping ash from the fireplaces by tomorrow."
"You would not -" began Mathilde, cutting off as she saw the ferocity in his look. She looked down, sullen, and followed Friedrich from the room, allowing herself a defiant sniff as she passed Karl.
They wound back through the lamp-lit corridors - Friedrich trying to ignore the continual barbed exclamations from the prima donna behind him - until they reached the door to the royal box.
Inside, a handsome man sat looking at his pocket-watch. His dark hair was shot with grey, and his tailcoat and white bow tie were impeccably styled and fitted to his slim figure. Beyond him, the great opera house was cavernous and dark, but for a few distant candles.
"I feared you were lost," he said, putting away his watch and standing to give a languorous bow. His German held only the slightest hint of an accent.
Friedrich bowed deeply, and said only, "My apologies, we wished to give the fraulein time to make herself ready to meet you."
"I doubt that took any time at all," was the reply, both a compliment to Mathilde and a rebuke to Friedrich. The gentleman took her hand and bowed again to kiss it.
"Fraulein Haupt, may I introduce Herr Carter of London."
Mathilde made at least some effort to play the simpering coquette. "Did you enjoy the opera, sir?"
"Your performance was captivating," Carter replied, "but as for 'Die Meistersinger', I have seen it before. Have you nothing new, Friedrich?"
The opera director bristled but remained calm. "Die Meistersinger was premiered here, and is still extremely popular, Herr Carter. Another full house this evening, as you saw."
"But it has been playing since January. Tomorrow I travel to Munich to see the premiere of a new Wagner opera. Why does it not play here?"
"This is the new opera about the cursed gold that all men desire?" asked Mathilde. "It hardly seems a natural subject."
"Less plausible than the commonfolk being brought together by the power of song?" returned Carter.
Already Mathilde's arch expression had returned. "I understand that you are in trade, sir," she said, voice brim-full of condescension.
"Herr Carter is a very wealthy merchant," interrupted Friedrich, trying to smooth the matter over. "He has expressed an interest in investing -"
Carter gave Friedrich a look like he might give a buzzing fly. "Yes, I am a merchant," he said to Mathilde, "and a collector of - you might say - curiosities."
"And what do you collect, Herr Carter?"
A flicker of the lamps sent shadows chasing across Carter's face, as his gaze fixed on Mathilde. "Just now, my dear, I collect opera singers. But only for the night."
Friedrich gasped. Mathilde swung a hand to slap Carter, but the blow was checked by his hand on her wrist. She yelped in pain as the tall man's fingers gripped her arm.
"Sir, I must insist," began Friedrich.
"Oh, calm yourself," said Carter, dropping Mathilde's arm. "She doesn't hold a candle to the women I have had, to the women I can have."
Mathilde was incensed. She snatched an oil lamp from the table next to her, and looked ready to hurl it at Carter.
Friedrich stepped forward, his own anger burning. "Sir," he said with a steely tone. "You are not welcome here. You must leave my opera house immediately, before I have you thrown out."
Looking at them both, Carter laughed imperiously. "Your opera house? This place is already irrelevant - it is the past, and the future is being built elsewhere."
He stepped closer, towering over Friedrich. "And you would be wise not to threaten me, Herr Director. It would be terrible for an accident to befall this place."
Without another word, Carter strode from the room and into the smoky light of the corridor. Behind him, he could hear a vicious argument flaring to life.
"Foundation Personnel pursued SCP-353 to Dresden, Germany, where they determined that she had successfully contracted Marburg and redistributed said virus to [DATA EXPUNGED]. Subject was eventually subdued by physical means and taken into Foundation custody with minimal loss of life."
After-action report
1. Code Name: Operation Eagle Arrow
2. Dates of Operation: 16 August 2002, 0800 hours – 1300 hours
3. Location: Semper Opera House (Grid 33UVS██████████) and surrounds in central Dresden, Germany.
4. Task Organization: Mobile Task Force Beta-7 ("Haz Matters") acting with support from two squads from MTF Pi-1 ("City Slickers"). Local MTF Beta-7 Commander Lehmann had operational responsibility, with oversight from European Command at Site-06-3.
5. Intelligence: The operation's target (PoI-353) had been identified as a potential anomalous humanoid based on her activities in Africa since 1996, after a Johannesburg hospital reported an unauthorised visitor to a nurse under treatment for Ebola virus. Over subsequent years, further reports were obtained of suspicious activity, apparently involving the same individual, during bacterial and viral epidemics in a range of African countries.
A report in 2000 from an illegal gold mine in Durba, Democratic Republic of Congo led the Foundation to believe that the individual may have obtained a sample of Marburg virus. Subsequent intelligence increased the Foundation's understanding of the nature of PoI-353's anomalous properties and intentions, but agents had not been able to determine the PoI's identity.
In mid-2002, Foundation HUMINT learned that PoI-353 had arranged to sell anomalously modified viral and bacterial samples to the Russian State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, and were able to obtain her full description. Agents tracked PoI-353's movement from Burundi to Frankfurt, Germany and subsequently to Dresden. It was anticipated that this would be the location for the exchange.
6. Concept of Operations: MTF Pi-1 Squad 1 follows the target from her hotel in Dresden to the site of the exchange. MTF Pi-1 Squad 2 and MTF Beta-7 Squads 2-4 establish a 50m perimeter, exclude civilians from the area to the extent possible and set up biohazard prevention measures.
Once PoI-353's contacts are identified, MTF Beta-7 Squad 1 apprehends the target and any contacts, and prevents the release of any bacterial or viral agents at the scene. MTF Pi-1 Squad 1 acts as support in case the contact is armed or civilian security forces attempt to intervene.
Once the target and contacts are contained and MTF Beta-7 confirms the sterilization of the area, all units withdraw and MTF Beta-7 returns PoI-353 to Site-06-3 for processing.
7. Execution: All aspects of the operation were severely disrupted by local flooding from the Elbe River. The evacuation of major portions of Dresden made the presence and movements of all MTF squads significantly more conspicuous, impeding close-range surveillance and shadowing. Beta-7 Squads 3 and 4 were delayed in crossing the river, and did not reach the operational location on time. Pi-1 Squad 1 requested mission abort at 0715, but was denied by Command.
The remaining MTF agents arrived at surveillance positions at 0800. Pi-1 Squad 2 posed as local emergency services, encouraging civilians to evacuate the area and gaining access to homes and business to establish line of sight to PoI-353's hotel room.
The target was observed within the hotel, packing a small bag of unidentified supplies. At 0946, the target left the hotel, carrying the bag, and proceeded to walk across Dresden in the direction of the old town. MTF squads employed standard urban tailing methods, with Pi-1 Squad 2 moving ahead in the anticipated direction of travel to clear civilians where possible. Full biohazard countermeasures were not able to be set up, due to the continuing delays to Beta-7 Squads 3 and 4.
At 1014, the target arrived at Theaterplatz in central Dresden. The area was partially flooded from the nearby Elbe, with water at ankle height in places. Few civilians were present, so MTF agents withdrew to the perimeter of the plaza to avoid detection. The target waited on the steps of the statue in the middle of the square.
At 1034, two men (Target W and Target X) entered Theaterplatz from the North-West corner and approached PoI-353. Target W was identified as an operative for GRU-P, and Target X is suspected of being a member of the Russian State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology. The men spoke briefly with the target, but due to Pi-1's revised locations, much of the conversation was not captured on surveillance equipment. After approximately 3 minutes, PoI-353 handed her bag to Target X.
Pi-1 Squad Leader ordered agents to move in. Due to the MTF's removed position and the absence of civilian cover, Target X detected the movement of the agents before they entered the square, and alerted Target W to their approach.
Target W opened fire on approaching agents with an anomalous projectile weapon, requiring Pi-1 Squad 1 and Beta-7 Squad 1 to retreat to cover. Target X ran towards the Western side of the square, carrying the bag. PoI-353 paused to spit into the water in the plaza, then ran to the Semperoper, entering the building.
After approximately 5 minutes of sustained fire, Target W was shot and killed by agents from Pi-1 Squad 2 in flanking positions on the South-Eastern corner of the Theaterplatz. A detachment of agents from Beta-7 Squad 2 pursued Target X into the streets of the old town, but was unable to locate the target.
Beta-7 Squad 1 followed PoI-353 into the Semperoper, the lower levels of which were filling with water. As the team spread out to search corridors and vestibules, Agent Radbruch was assaulted by PoI-353, who kissed the agent several times on the mouth and face before attempting to escape. Agent Radbruch pursued, before reporting sudden blindness and pain in the extremities. Agent Spencer responded, discovering Agent Radbruch in the course of an aneurysm that led to her death on the scene. Remaining Beta-7 agents were advised to approach PoI-353 with utmost caution.
Remaining MTF squads in Theaterplatz began reporting symptoms of sudden illness, including eczema, skin ulcers, disorientation and faintness. Beta-7 Squad 3, which had arrived at the scene, identified skin contact with local water as the likely cause, and removed all affected agents to dry ground. Beta-7 agents attempted to isolate the water within the plaza, but were cut off from the Semperoper and unable to support Beta-7 Squad 1.
Inside the Semperoper, PoI-353 had been located within the building's foyer, which was partly flooded. The target attempted to throw blood towards the agents, who delayed action to put on their SCBA equipment. During this time, PoI-353 appeared to be drinking rapidly from the floodwater. As the agents proceeded forward with caution, PoI-353 announced a plan to infect all of the flood waters with an anomalous form of cholera, with the aim of causing significant civilian casualties.
At this time, Beta-7 agents within the Semperoper reported hearing the sound of a loud bell (although this was not consistent with reports from outside the building). The floodwaters within the foyer spontaneously retreated, leaving PoI-353 without access to drinking water and unable to disperse anomalous bacteria. The target exhibited symptoms of extreme dehydration and began to suffer a seizure. Agents proceeded to physically restrain the target, containing her within a Hazmat suit for transport.
Upon their exit from the Semperoper, Beta-7 Squad 1 rejoined the remaining operational team, and proceeded with the captive target to Extraction Point Delta.
8. Results: Initial operational parameters were not achieved. PoI-353 was successful in distributing unknown materials (presumed to be an anomalous variant of Marburg virus) to agents of the Russian government. The capture and containment of PoI-353 was achieved, but at the cost of 17 casualties, including one MTF agent and one hostile KIA.
Agent Radbruch was found to have been killed by an anomalous form of Treponema pallidum causing sudden-onset tertiary syphilis. The waters in Theaterplatz tested positive for a highly-transmissible and aggressive variant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. PoI-353's blood was found to contain virulent Streptococcus pyogenes, and her digestive system a previously-unknown form of Vibrio cholerae. All anomalous microorganisms were successfully contained at the scene.
MTF Beta-7's ability to contain the threat of anomalous disease was significantly aided by the target's inability to spread the cholera strain to floodwaters during the operation. This was possible only through the spontaneous ebbing of water within the Semperoper foyer, an occurrence which has not adequately been explained. Investigations are ongoing.
Here is a Roman legionary. His name is Lucius. Lucius is always working. He is very tired. See him digging a drainage channel from the camp to the river.
The camp is rather large. There are 350 Roman soldiers here, from the 18th Legion. See their helmets and shields. Their army lost a big battle in a forest in Germany. After the battle, they marched a long way East. They think they are looking for a golden eagle on a pole. They are wrong.
Lucius has finished digging the ditch. He walks slowly back to the camp. It is almost night-time. The stars are coming out, and a thin smoke curls close to the ground. The soldiers think it is mist, coming up from the river at dusk. They are wrong.
See Lucius walk past a big tent. This tent is for the cohort's tribune, an important man. The tribune is named Quintus. He is inside the tent, thinking. The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves. His thought has come from a long way away.
Look at the fires between the dark tents. They are burning low. The Romans are going to bed. Good-night, Romans.
It is morning, and the Romans are marching. See how straight and proud they look. They are marching beside the river. There is Lucius, carrying his spear. There is Quintus, riding a horse. Quintus is searching for something. It is not the same thing the soldiers are searching for.
Look, here it is! A big building near the river. The soldiers have never seen anything like it. It has columns, sandstone walls, metal statues, glass windows, electric lights. The Romans walk closer. They see a statue of Euripides. They see other figures, but they do not recognise Shakespeare or Moliere. Lucius sees a carving of Dionysus. He thinks this may be a temple. He is almost right.
Quintus is happy. He knew he would find this building. He knows what will destroy it. We, ourselves, lie in the faults in our stars. He waits.
Now something funny happens.
The Romans can see a second world, moving around and through the first. They are observing not just the reflections of light from surfaces, but watching the light waves themselves propagate through space. They can hear gravitational vibrations echo through the Higgs field, a kind of silent music. They still see the looming mass of the Semperoper, the fields and the broad Elbe, but now they are surrounded by the shadows of energy - platonic doubles shifting and flowing like the river itself. The Romans are two thousand years from understanding that they have been granted the sight of dark matter as it passes through the visible universe - in their minds, what they are seeing is the air that the gods breathe.
This is the revelation that Quintus has been waiting for, but he is still stunned by it into immobility. Suddenly, a huge shape emerges into the shadow-world, floating above the opera house. It is gargantuan - three hundred metres of body flanked by rippling fins, like oars from a chitinous trireme. The head has five stalks tipped with flat black crab-eyes, and beneath it hangs a long, flexible proboscis ending in a spiny claw-like structure as tall as a lighthouse.
The legionaries are frozen, awe-struck. The monstrous proboscis reaches down, the claw grasping at the aetheric shadow of the opera house. It wrenches a piece out, leaving the physical structure intact but tearing the second likeness away and lifting it back towards a gaping mouth on the underside of the creature's head. Again the claw extends down and retracts upwards, and more of the building's essence is consumed. Gradually the soldiers' awareness of the opera house diminishes, their minds wiped clean of knowledge and memory of the place. The eyes of an outside observer would still see the Semperoper, but the image would fail to register on their brain. This is a destruction of its very existence, its erasure from the face of time.
But there is something that will not allow it. Neither time, nor any other enemy, shall destroy this sacred place. All at once, the air is full of metal wires, stretched taut. They angle through the air around the Semperoper, extending beyond sight in every direction. Their shadows are not dark, but have a brilliant clarity - a whiteness beyond white, crackling with potential. The Romans are filled simultaneously with hope, terror, pride and feelings they cannot name. Above, the behemoth hesitates.
With a ringing sound, the wires move, tilting and constricting inexorably inward. The beast thrashes, but is helpless. The wires slice through it in a thousand places, cutting it into shadows and smoke. As its body collapses, the Semperoper's substance returns.
Quintus is devastated. This is not the victory he was promised. He has put his trust in the wrong oracles. Our faulty stars lie.
The legionaries turn to each other. They see that they have wires too. Running from their necks, wrists and ankles, upwards and out of sight. One gives an experimental pull, and the wire jerks back, raising his arm. Others try to run, or draw their swords. They cannot. The soldiers are now marionettes.
The silent music starts again.
See the soldiers dance. Dance, soldiers, dance!
See Lucius stop breathing. See Quintus, torn apart. See the Semperoper watch. Impassive. Impervious. Eternal.
One way of analysing SCP articles is "bait, hook, payoff". In brief summary:
- Bait - the thing about your entry that entices a reader to keep reading. Usually near the start, for obvious reasons. The Containment Procedures themselves often provide this - "why would minimum 3 persons be necessary?" for example.
- Hook - the substance of the entry, the part that produces an effect on the reader - fear, confusion, amusement etc. For example: "The object cannot move while within a direct line of sight… Object is reported to attack by snapping the neck at the base of the skull, or by strangulation."
- Payoff - the ending of the story started by the hook. Sometimes an escalation of the effect on the reader, sometimes a reversal, sometimes ironic (eg "The enclosure must be cleaned on a bi-weekly basis").
The other, other shoe.
1111, 11, 10
Magical Mystery Tour
Nocturne
Knowing The Score
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
Hear No Evil
Come Together
It All Comes Back To Blood
Lessons for Old Gods
- "In his work The Four Elements of Architecture Semper attempts to classify systematically for the first time all architectural forms as a kind of typology of architecture, A strong hypothesis which I believe Frank Lloyd Wright makes more known much later. Semper’s aim was “to discover the underlying order to architecture style and its forms (similarities & relationships)” (Lecture). His four elements focused on: Hearth, platform, roof, and enclosure." (http://m-arch329-miller.blogspot.co.uk/)
- On the night of 7 March 1933, [Busch's] tenure came to an abrupt end. A violent Nazi-backed demonstration broke up a performance of Rigoletto Busch was conducting at the Semper Oper. The fighting in the audience caused such an uproar that Busch finally left the pit. Before long, his second Kapell-meister Kurt Striegler entered the pit to shrill, Nazi-inspired applause an completed the performance.
- In 1990, after German reunification, it was revealed that the Semperoper building had been hardwired to be linked with East Germany's notorious surveillance and security ministry, the Stasi. It's one point of irony in the long history of a structure - or, rather, three structures - bearing the name Semper in Dresden.
The scrapheap
A place where articles that were deleted from the site can live on in infamy.
Item #: SCP-VVVV
Object Class: Thaumiel
Special Containment Procedures: At present, all SCP-VVVV devices are in active containment use.1 When not in use, SCP-VVVV devices are to be returned to high security storage lockers at Site 19. Due to the limited number of devices, inclusion of SCP-VVVV in particular containment protocols must be authorised by O5 Command.
SCP-VVVV-A operators are to be kept in VVVV-Humanoid Containment Units at each site at which SCP-VVVV is installed. SCP-VVVV-A shall be monitored by a dedicated medical team at each site to ensure health and longevity. In the event of an imminent K-Class scenario, all SCP-VVVV-A operators are to be evacuated from individual Foundation sites for immediate re-deployment in accordance with the Ganymede Protocol. Recruitment of additional SCP-VVVV-A operators is a Level 2B priority.
All personnel, other than those with Level 5 or 4/VVVV clearance, are to be led to believe that SCP-VVVV comprises mechanical/electronic technology produced by Foundation research and that the scientific principles governing its effect have been established and settled. For this purpose, SCP-VVVV is to be referred to by its common designation at all times, and fabricated technical information is to be disseminated at Level 4 clearance. The anomalous nature of SCP-VVVV, and its connection with SCP-VVVV-A, may not be disclosed under any circumstances.
Description: SCP-VVVV is a device for the imposition of reality within a discrete area. The device is commonly referred to as a Scranton Reality Anchor. Within its area of effect, SCP-VVVV is capable of preventing (or reducing the magnitude of) anomalous changes in matter, physical laws, spacetime, causality and logic. The casing and interior circuitry of SCP-VVVV devices are constructed of a beryllium bronze alloy.
The process by which the devices translate electronic signals into reality-control is not known and is considered anomalous.2 Decades of research has provided only limited insight into this effect, despite the investment of significant Foundation resources. Former project directors have expressed the view that a number of SCP-VVVV's elements are not capable of explanation. The best-understood element of SCP-VVVV operation is its connection to SCP-VVVV-A.
SCP-VVVV-A is the collective designation for Type Green entities (humans colloquially referred to as "reality benders") whose cognitive processes are required for the operation of SCP-VVVV devices. Each SCP-VVVV-A operator will be assigned to one or more SCP-VVVV devices - once assigned, any previous SCP designation given to the operator will be disapplied.
Generally, Type Green entities use cognitive actualisation to modify baseline reality, through a variety of anomalous means. While the methods of reality modification are not understood, a common factor is the involvement of the perceptual and imaginative centres of the Type Green entity's brain. The entity will impose its subjective reality on its environment (either consciously or subconsciously), overcoming the resistance of objective physical laws and logical constraints.
SCP-VVVV adapts the same process to stabilise reality in the direction of the (non-anomalous) consensus. In layman's terms, the SCP-VVVV-A operator "bends reality back" towards a baseline state, reimposing the operator's perception of objective reality and its attendant physical constants. Reimposition of reality to reduce anomalous activity will depend on the Hume differential between SCP-VVVV and the anomaly, with the device less effective for anomalies exhibiting high Hume levels.3
Discovery: All SCP-VVVV devices currently in Foundation custody were discovered in a 1972 raid on a GOI-██ "Dream Temple" facility in the Turkmen S.S.R. Interrogation of the 16 Type Green entities captured in the raid revealed that the devices had been unearthed at the site by GOI-██ agents, and the facility constructed around them to allow the creation of altered reality states. The devices were used to allow GOI members in a separate area of the facility to experience these altered realities without the Type Green entities themselves being exposed to any attendant risks.
To achieve this result, the SCP-VVVV device was connected to an optical fibre bundle, which was run through casings in the facility walls and linked to the rooms in which the Type Green entities resided. The fibre bundle terminated in a beryllium bronze electronic connector 10 cm in diameter, which was fitted to a Type Green entity (via a circular area removed from its skull) when the device was in use.
Research summary: While limited progress has been made in understanding the devices' mechanism, research is continuing. It was determined in 1998 that multiple SCP-VVVV devices could be linked in an array, using a single operator (increasing the total area of effect, but decreasing the magnitude of effect produced by each device). A significant advance was made in 2014 when the VVVV project team used readings from the devices and output from SCP-VVVV-A operators to synthesize the first Kant counter, a sensor which measures fluctuations from baseline reality. As the necessary resources have become available, Kant counters have been issued to many Foundation sites and field teams.
Following initial recovery of SCP-VVVV, Dr Jan Isaacs and Dr Anthony Wei were assigned to test the range and dispersal pattern of the area of effect of each of the devices. Their analysis drew interest from the staff of Project Vico, a research group originally tasked with developing an alternative to SCP-148 for use in containment. Project Vico proposed that an appropriate Type Green entity could use the device to adjust reality towards its base state, instead of warping it. It was determined through extensive testing that, in order to achieve this result and prevent unwanted anomalies arising from within the device itself, each such SCP-VVVV-A operator must be deprived of its imaginative faculties through specialised treatment.
Medical Notes on SCP-VVVV operators
Selection of candidates: Selection of Type Green entities as SCP-VVVV-A candidates involves comprehensive psychological screening (outlined in Document VVVV-K/6), to ensure that the candidate's perception accords with reality. Candidates with unstable perception are not recommended for the SCP-VVVV-A program. See Incident Reports VVVV/12-VVVV/47 for further details.
Preparation: The process for adjusting a Type Green entity to an SCP-VVVV-A operator involves a range of techniques. The entity will first be given moderate sedation to limit the risk of containment breach, and will then be subject to an extended period of sensory deprivation, punctuated with brief episodes of sensory overload (visual, aural and tactile). After several months of treatment, the entity will generally be ready for surgery.
Surgical procedures: An SCP-VVVV-A candidate will have conventional open neurosurgery performed on it by Foundation specialists. Surgeons will insert a series of wire filaments into specific areas of the occipital, parietal, precuneus, and dorsolateral prefrontal regions of the neocortex. The filaments will then be heated rapidly to cauterize these areas. Specially manufactured peptides will be injected into the thalamus using nanoneedles to cause equivalent chemical damage.
At the conclusion of surgery, the bone flap of the operator's skull will be reattached, but with a circular area 5 cm in radius removed from the crown of the head for the attachment of the connection plate and optical fibre bundle. As SCP-VVVV devices require continuous operation, the optical fibre bundle must be permanently attached to the skull.
Notes on post-surgical care
Following transition to SCP-VVVV-A status, the relevant operator will remain able to respond to stimuli, but will have no ability to visualise, dream or imagine and will exhibit severely limited memory and problem-solving skills. Operators will display only basic emotional responses such as indifference or aversion.
In containment, SCP-VVVV-A operators must be provided with constant low-level neural stimulus, in the form of approved television documentaries.4 Exercise is to be limited to the minimum necessary for continued health, and must be closely supervised. Care must be taken that the heavy fibre bundle is not accidentally snagged by the SCP-VVVV-A operator, as this may tear the adapter from the skull cavity and damage the equipment.
Despite efforts to increase this figure, median life expectancy for SCP-VVVV-A operators is 12 years post-surgery, and is reduced if an operator is connected to multiple devices. Following neutralisation of an SCP-VVVV-A operator, thin samples of the thalamus and pineal glands are to be extracted for use in the detection plates for Kant counters.5
Addendum: Proposals for the broad-spectrum dampening of anomalous effects have been made and researched throughout the Foundation's history. One of the earliest references can be found in the following extract from an address by Dr Robert Scranton to Her Majesty's Fellowship for the Study of Curiosities and Phantasmagoria in 1889:
"… and that, gentlemen, leads me to my recommended course. I have given you evidence that wonders may be capable of creation by the human brain alone, without extraneous tool or assistance. I have told you my hypothesis that there are men - and I say men, good sirs, for whatever their differences to us, surely they are created in God's image as we are - there are men for whom fancy and fact are as one.
So if these men, these homo prometheus, truly exist, then our duty is clear. We must seek them out and make common cause with them. They will be our greatest allies in the search for truth, and for control over the unnatural world. We need not fear the unknown, we must instead harness their unique talents to help us keep the cosmos in its current balance. Together with them, we will forge bonds of brotherhood for the benefit and progress of all Mankind. These are the goals which we must pursue, because it is the achievement of these goals for which this Fellowship was founded. Thank you, gentlemen."
Item #: SCP-OOOO-EX
Object Class: Explained
Special Containment Procedures: Containment of SCP-OOOO-EX is to be maintained until civilian knowledge is authorised by O5 Command. Until that time:
- Foundation agents within UNOOSA are to ensure that international laws regarding outer space continue to prohibit the exploitation of the Moon for mining or other activities.
- Seismological and other studies of the Moon's interior are to be falsified or suppressed under Protocol PHANTASM. Studies of lunar lava tubes are to be prevented or limited to the extent possible.
- Any non-Foundation mission to the Moon is to be limited to the collection of regolith, without deeper excavation.
Description: SCP-OOOO-EX is the internal composition and structure of Earth's Moon.
The exterior surface of the Moon consists of an outer layer of approximately 2-20 metres of regolith (loose, heterogeneous broken rock, dust and related materials) and a rocky crust. Scientific consensus is that the crust is between 35-70 kilometres thick. Foundation research and excavations have determined that in fact the typical depth of the lunar crust is approximately 20 metres.
Beneath the lunar crust, the Moon is composed of hardened concrete, reinforced with basalt, iron and titanium rebar in a uniform honeycomb lattice. Foundation boreholes have revealed that this reinforced concrete array extends to at least 2 kilometres below the lunar surface. Seismological scans suggest that this layer may extend to a depth in excess of 1,000 kilometres, close to the core of the Moon.
Following the construction of Lunar Area-32, Foundation research established the following explanation for SCP-OOOO-EX:
[REDACTED - LEVEL 5 CLEARANCE REQUIRED]
On the recommendation of Lunar Area-32 Command, the O5 Council voted unanimously to continue the containment of SCP-OOOO-EX, and to restrict Foundation access to details of its source, despite its non-anomalous nature. These restrictions will continue until an O5 Council determination that the release of information (either within the Foundation or to civilian authorities) would no longer be prejudicial to the safety of humanity as a whole.
Can be found through the following link: http://scp-sandbox-3.wikidot.com/collab:psul-001
Feedback:
Cimmerian:
I don't know how to put this but I was left kinda unimpressed with this. It's got some nice world building but ultimately the characters involved feel mostly flat.
The documents in some of the later sections are tedious and honestly in some places I can't figure out why they're on the same page at all (in universe that is, they are placed well from a narrative standpoint at least). By the time you get to the medical records near the end you've already lost me, and the conversations don't connect with me at all because I don't know or care much about the characters.
I should note the technical work and writing is competently executed. I just didn't find the piece, on the whole, to be that engaging.
MaliceAforethought:
No-voting for what Cimmerian said, and also the fact that we've already got a load of 'death is anomalous' or 'immortality is bad' stuff on the site. I could easily have looked past that if it was a good enough piece of writing, but this doesn't really live up to the same standard as your other works on the site. Sorry.
MacWarren:
I'll be brief on this one: I'm up there with Cimmerian. It came off as boring for me. There's not a lot here for me to care about with these characters, and because of that, it became such a slog to read through. Especially when I kept clicking through the files, hoping that one of them would wrap the whole thing up quickly.
The actual 001 in question didn't really strike a chord with me either. This may be just me, but it felt like I was reading an inverted version of End of Death, but without adding anything new to the table.
mickeyten:
Honestly pains me to downvote this, because the writing is excellent (though the dialogue could use a little work) and I really feel the passion and ambition behind the article. But, in this case, I feel your reach exceeds your grasp - there's a lot of buildup, and the first couple offsets got me pretty stoked, and then it rushes through the Red Right Hand coup and a somber "we were wrong, and BTW death is Thaumiel, the end" that just doesn't feel earned. I'd like a lot more exploration of why death can't be put in a box, aside from some grisly experiment results.
I love this author's other pieces, and speaking for myself, I really hope this goes through some thorough editing and revision followed by a repost. On a side note, the final interview log really pulled me out of the article - who was recording (and then transcribing) the assassination of an O5-1, complete with sound effects of strangulation and a body hitting the floor? Taylor? If so, why?
ETA a more positive note: I really did love the groundwork laid by the first couple offsets - I prefer the more esoteric headcanons, but I love the way you firmly ground the mortality of the O5, and the early history of the Foundation. The letters, photos, interviews, even examining obsolete object classes (particularly the way death was intended to be the only Keter) - that's all fantastically detailed and well-written, and got me really excited for the rest of the article. The back half of it just didn't live up to that for this reader.
Decibelles:
The technical aspect of this article is pretty neat, so I'll commend you on that. Actually, it'd be fine if it wasn't for the first two offsets which, by their nature, instill a sense of build and hype that you really wanna have pay off. I don't think it pays off here, because I think you actually move through the story a bit too quickly by the end. It's in a position with some weird pacing; lots of buildup, a conclusion, but not much middle ground to help stabilize it, and the first two offsets contribute to this wonky pacing and unsatisfactory way of building up your article's importance despite it being actually cool.
Otherwise, I nth what's being said by others. If you do end up reworking it, you don't even need to make your 001 a non-tale; the format is fine.
Croquembouche:
Unlike other readers, perhaps, as I was reading this I felt that it was well-written and pretty well-structured. The worldbuilding in the first half was genuinely excellent, and I could see that as a realistic origin story for the Foundation. I was also very impressed with the burned notes.
My only issue was the ending. Death was Keter, and this made sense. But to suddenly reclassify it as Thaumiel and declare that it must be protected at all costs doesn't make any sense, especially when the only things that went into this decision were the failure of Amrita and one agent going rogue. In fact, Amrita actually worked, for at least one test subject.
There's nothing inherent to death itself that makes it worth protecting.
Still, it's an upvote overall for the worldbuilding alone.
Tufto:
I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with the others- excellently written, as ever, and with some great worldbuilding, but with a rather hollow core. It needs more subversion, or a better point, or a point that isn't quite so on the nose. You can see where this is going from quite some distance, and it feels awfully similar to other proposals and skips that have similar concepts or approaches to the Foundation's origin.
This really is excellently written, though, and I really hope that you don't give up on this idea if it does end up deleted. The character work and dialogue is particularly good. Reluctant -1, but I think this proposal has real promise if it can only be given a bit more of a spark in it.