Excerpts from Site-300-14's Applied Thaumatology Orientation - SCP Foundation

Applied Thaumatology Orientation

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F.A.Q.

"Right. I guess we should, uh. Get started." The doctor's tapdance shoes resonate over the vast, empty background that composes the majority of the auditorium, which seems to be filled with dozens - even hundreds, - of researchers in white and black coats as a large, digital screen begins shining and showcasing a powerpoint document.

"So, my name is Dr. Cameron Abbett; not a doctor, but a paratechnician." The man pauses as he clears his throat.

"You have been chosen as a candidate for the Applied Thaumatology Department's lower council. This means that you may end up being a member. And yes, you need Level 4 Clearance to be in such a position, so be proud if you succeed."

"So… Hey, you. The one with the dunce cap, yes, in the background. What department do you come from? The PARATECH Division? Good! And what about you, one with the black coat? Thaumatology? Excellent!"

"So, you'll notice that almost everyone among you was either employed in the Thaumatology Department, PARATECH Division, Applied Force Department, or any other Foundation divisions and branches specialized on ontokinetics and engineering, which is mostly the reason as to why you're here. If you've ever achieved something great in your position as a researcher, you're mostly going to end up among us, or simply between the higher-ups depending on your specialty."

"However, out of all of the researchers that are selected as personnel for Applied Thaumatology, only about a 32% is selected to fulfill our task. This doesn't mean that you're going to be inferior to your colleagues if you are rejected: We are not any different from any other department. However, our task requires a lot of accuracy, and therefore we attempt to reject personnel that may be outside our requisites."

"Yes. Of course. Once you exit this auditorium, we will perform the Chen-Campbell Testing Protocol on you a few times, and you'll await the results, which are dropped next week."

"Applied Thaumatology is split in a system that we denominate the Trinary Composition, which we define as the three disciplines required in order to put our department to work. The Trinary Composition consists of strategy, paratechnology, and thaumaturgy. However, we have branches, so this is different. Before we talk about them, let's talk a bit about our purpose as personnel of the Applied Thaumatology Department."

"Applied Thaumatology is a term we give to the compilation of strategic military procedures that use thaumaturgy to fulfill its purpose. Therefore, we are like Applied Force, but we use magic. Let's talk a bit about how we do what we do."

"Going back to the Trinary Composition, we need each of its disciplines to fulfill our objectives. We apply one on top of another, and we do the same thing repeatedly. Let's imagine a cleaver that can cut through gold, for example. If we could apply thaumaturgy to that cleaver, we could get a much stronger weapon. But there's thousands of gold monsters in a shooting ground and we need to get rid of them, that's where the strategy comes in. Applied Thaumatology studies the creation of newer, stronger weaponry through the use of the Trinary Composition."

"Now, how do we deem whether a weapon is sufficiently effective or not within the AT Department? All things into consideration, we follow a large process of application. In order to modify weaponry until it becomes accurate enough for Applied Thaumatology, we need an exact replica of a model."

"For example, we want to modify a standard M2010 rifle used for MTF Nu-9, Hammer Down. But a single sniper rifle won't be enough to take down all of our targets. First of all, we need an exact same replica of our rifle, with the same assets as the one we want to modify. Said rifle undergoes a process of paramechanization, applying anomalous mechanical assets in order to present the duplication of bullets or augment via anomalous methodology its sight. This process needs to meet the requirements as shown by the higher-ups of the Task Force Department per request."

"Paraweaponry modified by Applied Thaumatology needs to undergo a process of revision by the Council of Three and Applied Force prior to entering thaumaturgic application. This is to confirm that the object is doing its job as intended, and that there aren't any current discrepancies."

"Once the revision process is finished, Foundation thaumaturgists are to apply the required thaumaturgic spell and/or addition requested by its client. This is the most complex process of the whole application process, and therefore it is important to be precise and accurate at the time of doing so." Dr. Abbett pulls out a modified M2010 from his back, and begins showing some thaumaturgic seals applied to its sound suppressor.

"This suppressor has a seal that can modify the bullets damage depending on its host's desires. Therefore, you have to make a weekly ritual to make this thing work as requested."

"And if you ask, yes. Thaumaturgy has a revision process based on checking the applied thaumatological procedures, its accuracy and how the applied procedure was executed. And trust me, sometimes we send people to Keter Duty or kick them out from the Foundation if they mess around with spells."

"Then we have strategy, which is probably the most important discipline within Applied Thaumatology. To explain this part, models are to be used within spaces, time, and properties that are deemed adequate within an operation. Let's say we're sending someone with this sweet ol' rifle to somewhere in big, green Borneo to fight off the Chaos Insurgency or some foe. It is important to remember that this boy won't serve you for nothin' if you don't know how to begin the assault, if you don't know what you're going to do next."

"Strategy is, in simple words, planning what you're going to do next. Applied Thaumatology isn't only about making magical weapons and weird AKs, nah. It's also about chugging from that holy grail of thaumaturgy, and using it against your objectives. Therefore, on the shooting grounds you're not only going to be a man with a gun. You're going to be a wizard with a gun. Strategy deals with you becoming a wizard in the shooting grounds."

"Oh, yes. Those weapons aren't for you. But even if you don't want to, some of you are going to be forced into the battlefield."

"So, talking about flying people in the sky. They're not people. Oh, didn't we talk about our hierarchical structure? Oh, okay. The DoAT is divided into three different parts. We have the lower council, the workers. Then there's the high council, or workers, although more important. And last and most important, the Council of Three, currently composed by 3 personnel as of now."

"The DoAT was created by Foundation Lieutenant Catherine Campbell, currently assigned as the Head of Strategy. As mentioned in our Site Dossier, the Department was forged due to our increment in thaumaturgy, and our need to use it against our enemies. Therefore, it is your duty to keep them at bay. So that they can't threaten us anymore. And yes, they will come, so be ready."

"Did I say the DoAT is a branch of Applied Force?"

"Members recently assigned to the DoAT and considered as former Applied Force personnel will be tasked with introducing task force soldiers into our recent studies on thaumaturgy. It is to be deemed as a top priority, so next week strategy-elected personnel will begin sessions with Lt. Campbell and high council personnel located within one of Site-300's branches. Most likely, members of the Strategy branch will be redirected to Site-300-15 or here."

"All other personnel will be redirected into other Sites as recorded in your brand new DoAT clearance card, of course, if you are selected. Some of Site-300's subdivisions solely host members of different branches, such as Site-300-04, only hosting Paratechnology personnel, or Site-300-12, which hosts personnel of Thaumatology, or Thaumaturgy."

"I think we've come to the end of our first orientation class. All newcomers to the department will receive an e-mail through SCiPNet in less than a period of 24 hours following their application as a member. Please exit through the door in your back; any remaining questions will be answered in a 20-minute period starting from now on."

"Support is located at the end of the hallway. Any unanswered questions can be responded in the Support Office, led by Dr. Valentine Quentin. Thank you for coming to this session, and good luck on your application. See you next week."

Cameron sat perplexingly as he stared at the video, recorded by his own companions mid-class. "Could've been better, y'know?" He took a sip at his coffee, pulled a handgun from his desk and walked out of the site. "Hey, Matt. Would you mind bringing the camera outside?"

Chen nodded, as he took a chair and a camera outside along with his friend. Just as he was about to go out, he was stopped by security, who brought him to a decontamination chamber and later pulled him out. Matthew did the same, and so they walked for a while. Finally, after roughly 35 minutes of walking downhill, Cameron placed his gun on a rock.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm going to show them how we use guns. Then I want some of your personal clips with the foes to show to all the guys, to know what we play with." Cameron nodded.

Chen would set up the camera and call Cameron, although he would be a bit deafened by the cold wind that passed through the green fields of Krasnoyarsk.

"You ready?"

"Wait, let me set up my microphone. Otherwise no one will hear anything for this video."

Matthew nodded once again, and Abbett placed his microphone on his bearded, smooth face, as it was directly connected via Bluetooth to a small speaker he had stuck to his black, victorian coat. He took the gun, and tried a few shots on a tree in the distance, which would drop in the form of bullets.

"Record in three, alright?"

After 3 seconds, he would be ready, locked and loaded. "G'day. My name is Cameron Abbett, and I'm going to teach you how to shoot a fucking gun."