Nx-28 - SCP Foundation

by stormbreath

Former hotel within Nx-28; now abandoned.

Nexus #: Nx-28

Civilian Designation: Broken Hill

Population: 562

Area Class: Briar

Nexus Interaction Protocol: Outpost-86 has been disguised as a convenience store1 in Nx-28, with a small operational facility covertly installed in the basement of the store2, with all sensitive materials and operations located within this half of Outpost-86.

Outpost-86 has been designated as a low-risk area suitable for the final stages of Foundation training, most notably for field training with post-mortem anomalies. It is to have a total staff capacity of six, working in shifts of one year, during which time they will receive on-location field experience and remote training.

The population of Nx-28 are unaware of its anomalous effects. Broken Hill Mine has been closed to the public through a lobbying operation completed in 1962 with the Nx-28 local government; it is not expected to reopen. As such, the likelihood of civilians being exposed to anomalous phenomena within Nx-28 is low.

Containment Facility: Outpost-86

Description: Nx-28 is a former mining town in Western Australia. It is located approximately 537 kilometers from Perth, and sits within the middle of the Australian Outback. From Nx-28's founding in 1890 to 1914, it was one of the largest towns in Western Australia, having gained prominence as a major source of gold and silver. However, these gold and silver reserves quickly dried up, causing the town to become abandoned.

Nx-28 was named after the Broken Hill Mine, which itself was named for large scarification inflicted on the ground in order to mine it. Broken Hill Mine was the largest mine in Nx-28, but five smaller mines existed on the outskirts of town. Broken Hill Mine lasted the longest of these, only drying up in 19133. Currently, Broken Hill Mine is the locus for Nx-28's anomalous effects.

Nx-28 is currently the location of a collection of 348 post-mortem vectors4 associated with individuals5 who died within Broken Hill Mine. These post-mortem vectors are capable of leaving Broken Hill Mine but typically remain within.

Broken Hill Mine itself is host to variable topography that does not conform to Euclidean models. The tunnel system of the mine has been greatly expanded since closure. It is estimated that there are over two thousand kilometers of mine shafts within the mine at present: all of these tunnels fit underneath Nx-28 despite the physical impossibility of this location. All expansion has been completed at the hands of the post-mortem vectors.

Addendum A: Interview Log N-28-348.1

Interview Log Transcript

Interviewer: Junior Researcher Grey

Interviewee: UAE-28-3486

Date: June 6th, 1986

JR Grey: Hello doctor, thank you for meeting with me here. You have no problems with coming into Outpost-86?

UAE-28-348: No, not doctor. You have a number for me now, right?

JR Grey: Uh, well, yeah… It's "UAE-28-348".

UAE-28-348: Yes, that's right. That's who I am now, then. Call me that. And we can talk about me later. The first task of business should be discussion of the original anomaly.

JR Grey: Right… Um…

JR Grey shuffles around with his papers on the desk.

UAE-28-348: Start generally. Just ask any vague question. Let the anomaly do most of the work, ask questions as needed.

JR Grey: Right. So, have you interacted with the other post-mortem vectors within Broken Hill Mine?

UAE-28-348: I'm the only person that's going to understand that. Can't use that tone with the other ghosties.

JR Grey: Have you interacted with the other ghosts within Broken Hill Mine?

UAE-28-348: Yes, I have. All of them are miners from the original mine, but none of them ever gave up on mining. Still trying to strike gold, all of them.

JR Grey: They're still mining?

UAE-28-384: Sure are. That's where all the tunnels are coming from.

JR Grey: But the mine hasn't been active in decades? Where is all the waste material going?

UAE-28-384: You're asking good questions. To be honest, I don't really know what they do with all the rock, just that it never ends. I'm going to try to work on getting a closer look at the mining operations soon to try and answer that.

JR Grey: That'd be great if you could.

UAE-28-384: Look at you, giving me advice.

JR Grey: Why are they still mining? It's been decades.

UAE-28-384: All has to do with why they came here in the first place. They came during a gold rush, trying to get rich. But the mine owned all the land out here, and there wasn't much gold to be found on the surface after the first few years anyway. So they started working with the mine, and that was the end of it.

JR Grey: Did everyone die in the mine, like you?

UAE-28-384: Indeed they did. Broken Hill Mine was the deadliest of the six here, and from what I can tell there was some interaction with the Factory. I can't tell for certain - just a passing mention once or twice from the miners.

JR Grey: Which factory?

UAE-28-384: Ah right, not necessarily something you would be cleared for. It's a group of interest, an anomalous factory. Not too much more than that, frankly.

JR Grey: I see.

UAE-28-384: That might have some connection to why the post-mortem vectors stuck around, but I'm not sure. I didn't have any connection, and neither did the others who came. I think there's just something to be said about unfinished business.

JR Grey: The others are the three outlier vectors?

UAE-28-348: Yep. Three unlucky saps who came here thinking they could find gold in an abandoned mine. Not good spelunkers, any of them. All died and joined the rest of the miners. Still digging to this day.

JR Grey: What's your unfinished business, then?

UAE-28-348: Mostly academic, I think. There were a few papers I was working on, a unified theory of post-mortem anomalies… Oh, and training the staff here.

JR Grey: Ah. Sorry to keep you.

UAE-28-348: If that's why I'm still here, I don't think I'll need to be around much longer. You're doing a great job without me.

JR Grey: Thank you, sir.

UAE-28-348: What questions do you have left for me, anyway? About the mine, that is.

JR Grey: Nothing I don't already know… Just your death is the one thing.

UAE-28-348: Ah, but is this interview for you, or the Foundation as a whole?

JR Grey: Right, right. Could you talk about how you died?

UAE-28-348: I had been investigating the mine on my own. I brought oxygen with me, we knew that was necessary from our basic investigations of the mine. But I got lost in the maze that the mine is and the oxygen ran out. All I remember after that was … waking up next to my own body.

JR Grey: I'm sorry.

UAE-28-348: Really, I should be the one apologizing to you. It was my own carelessness that got us here.

JR Grey: Are you … alright, being a post-mortem vector?

UAE-28-348: On the whole? It's not too bad. I can't leave Nx-28, but I don't have to worry about my body anymore. If I keep my mind sharp, I shouldn't go insane like the rest of the vectors. And I can always come here, to Daly's Station for that.

JR Grey: I'm just happy I can help at all.

UAE-28-348: Me too.

Postscript: JR Grey received a Foundation Doctorate in Post-Mortem Studies in 1992, sponsored by UAE-28-348. UAE-28-348 has not demanifested, as initially expected, but has instead elected to remain within Outpost-28 and act as a sponsor for further Foundation PhD candidates.

Footnotes

1. Daly's Station

2. Outpost-86 was constructed over/inside of an abandoned mineshaft. The basement is this mineshaft.

3. Compared to 1893, 1899, 1907, 1910 and 1911 for the other five mines.

4. Anomalous phenomena associated with the consciousness/personalities of deceased individuals, typically mostly incorporeal.

5. 344 are miners who died prior to 1913. Three are local individuals who died in accidents between 1913 and 1956. One is a former Foundation staff member.

6. Formerly Foundation Doctor Lucas Richter