By Marcelles D. Raynes

Item #: SCP-7896

Object Class: Safe Neutralized

Archived Special Containment Procedures: SCP-7896's orbit is to remain unaltered until the conclusion of Researcher Glacier's reconnaissance mission. SCP-7896's orbital velocity is exponentially decelerating, and the object will collide with its star, Salimus Prime in two to three years, S.C.S.T.

Prevention of the discovery of SCP-7896 by intelligent, space-faring civilizations falls under the direct jurisdiction of the Galactic Foundation. Per Ethics Committee accords, only non-lethal force is to be used to prevent the discovery of SCP-7896 from unauthorized parties. As SCP-7896 will be destroyed by Salimus Prime within three years S.C.S.T., actions to indefinitely conceal the anomaly's presence from sapient organisms is unnecessary.

The removal of Calvin Glacier from the Orthagonal Quantum Superposition located within SCP-7896 is a Rho Level Priority.

Description: SCP-7896 is an artificial megastructure orbiting the star Salimus Prime in the Plastic Galaxy. It is comprised of a highly reflective, anomalously durable material of unknown origin, although the design of the non-reflective shell of SCP-7896 is reminiscent of post-Etherian War Sarian architecture.

SCP-7896.

When viewed, SCP-7896 displays iterations of the viewer(s) from alternate timelines and realities, typically showing favorable outcomes for the viewer. This may include individuals being shown realities where their planet of origin is in a more favorable, economicly sound state, or perhaps showing the individual achieving great measures of political influence, for example.

The exact mechanic behind what SCP-7896 displays, or how what is displayed changes, is unclear. User desire for favorable situations is hypothesized to influence SCP-7896, although this cannot be confirmed.

At any point, individuals viewing SCP-7896 may make physical contact with the anomaly and step through the reflective surface into the alternate reality. At that point, SCP-7896 will cease to function temporarily, and the viewer will not be seen in any alternate reality in the future.

Following Incident 7896.01, the current theory is that individuals who enter SCP-7896 are transported to the Orthagonal Quantum Superposition, where they exist in all possible alternate realities displayed by SCP-7896 simultaneously.

Documented Discoveries: SCP-7896 was discovered on 8 December 2403 S.C.S.T1 by Galactic Foundation Researcher Calvin Glacier. Researcher Glacier was observing the waning radial arm of the Plastic Galaxy using the improved James Webb Space Telescope when he noticed an irregular light pattern emanating near Salimus Prime.

Upon closer inspection, Researcher Glacier confirmed that SCP-7896 had existed before the construction of the Foundation's intergalactic star maps, although he could not decipher what civilization had constructed it, or how it had remained unnoticed until now. He submitted a research request to the O5 Council and, following approval, began documentation.

Researcher Glacier was allotted six months S.C.S.T. to research and document SCP-7896 for the safety of himself as well as the crew he was assigned. He was assigned two additional co-pilots who were knowledgeable with Sarian warp drives technology, although Researcher Glacier departed before either could board the transportation vessel.

Researcher Glacier would remain orbiting Salimus Prime for three years S.C.S.T. despite multiple orders from O5 Command to return, until Incident 7896.01.

His research notes have been attached below.

Dec. 15 2403

How could anyone not have noticed this before? It's a mirror. That's all that it is, a giant, monstrous mirror floating around a neighboring galaxy. It took well over two hundred years for civilian tech to chart out the Milky Way, and it took the Foundation even less time to chart the rest of the universe with the Animus. And yet, somehow, someway, in the two hundred years following that, no one ever noticed a megastructure practically built on top of a star. Makes me wonder if we were being lazy, or if someone didn't want us to find this thing.

Based on my calulations, it's going to be a few years before the whole anomaly crashes into the sun. I can't exactly tell what material it's made of from here, but it looks ancient, maybe even pre-humanity, definitely post-Etherian War. The angles are too sharp, too direct, too angry to be anything else. I'd recognize the patterns anywhere.

The Salimus Prime solar system is dead dead. I've looked at every planet, every little moon floating around out there, every comet and every asteroid, and there is not a single sign of life, living or deceased. There could be fossil records somewhere beneath the surface though. I'll see if the O5 will let me take a recon star skipper out with a small team. Haven't gotten my hands dirty in a while. Maybe you'll will join me, Katalina. One last "hoo-rah" into an alien world. Might even win you back.

Science is no place for emotion.

1 January 2404

Recon and basic experimentation was approved, and they even gave me a small crew of fifteen. Not sure why that surprises me. Maybe it was how fast the O5 responded, or the amount of test subjects they gave me for experimentation. Real mixed bag of organisms there, anything that's sentient enough to have any sort of semblence to human emotion is ripe for the taking. I've selected five in total: a Sandariate from the Kahron III Expanse, an Etherian from Sagittarius A, an Etruscan from the Jibular Nebula, and two very specific humans from Earth.

I ran the decision about the humans by the Ethics Committee and they gave me the greenlight. Personal drama aside, those two candidates are particularly good for this type of mission I feel. One, a soulless monster capable of bringing great heartache on the people who try to love her. The other is a replacement, taking the stand where I used to be. The place where I should be now, with my children, living together as a cohesive family unit. I'm particularly curious as to what the anomaly will do in their case. Maybe I'll send them in together, as if they know how to be apart from one another.

I'll try not to let my emotions get in the way of my decision making.

No one else on the crew knows how to use the Sarian warp drives but me apparently. Small issue, I'm sure. I'll have to figure out something before we head back, god forbid something terrible happens.

15 August 2404

We finally arrived at the outpost in Salimus Prime. We're close enough to the anomaly that we can see it with the naked eye, but far enough away from the star to avoid getting sucked into it entirely. The rotational speed of Salimus Prime is, quite literally, astronomical. By my calculations it's spinning four times faster than Sol, and is at least four times as large.

Fluctuations in the gravitational sensors on the star skipper make maintaining orbit in the Goldilocks zone incredibly difficult, and we will have enough quantum synaptic resonating gel to orbit this star for three years S.C.S.T. Factoring in expenditure for the test subjects' return trip from the anomaly, as well as the trip back, we really only have enough fuel to stay in orbit for about twenty Earth months.

Gotta work fast.

20 August 2404

The mirror's orbital speed seems to be falling at a steady pace. There will be enough time to conduct research and run plenty of tests, at least by my approximation. I hope that my math is as good as I think it is.

The Sandariate was the first to take the voyage to SCP-7896. They seemed almost eager to risk their life for the sake of science. If only we could all be so naive.

Calculating the amount of time it took the Sandariate to reach SCP-7896, compared to any of the initial probes we sent upon de-warping here, proves that the anomaly's orbital velocity is less than the speed needed to remain unaffected by the Salimus Prime's gravitational pull.

In layman's terms; SCP-7896 is crashing into the star. By my estimate it will be vaporized by the time we have to return. Guess the stars really aligned there, huh, Katalina?

I observed the Sandariate approach the anomaly in one of the escape pods through the observation deck. I could almost see its many arms wriggling around in the pod on the way there. It might have been protesting or perhaps scared, but my knowledge on extra terrestrial communication is severely lacking. Doesn't really matter, though, the science has to get done one way or another. I almost feel bad. Almost.

When the Sandariate was within astronomical spitting distance of the mirror, the mirror began to change and the escape pod stopped moving completely. The mirror, SCP-7896, was no longer reflecting natural surfaces like it had been up to this point. It began to show scenes from Galactus Omega, a forsaken world on the Outer Rim plagued by war and radioactive fallout. Only instead of a barren wasteland of irradiated creatures and ruins like how the planet is in baseline reality, the versions shown on SCP-7896 were different.

There were lush forests filled to the brim with undocumented extraterrestrial, biomechanical life. Birds with chainsaws for beaks, deer with headlights for eyes. Things that fit the aesthetic I've come to know about the Sandariate civilization. Industrial, mechanical, and cruel.

But the things the anomaly were showing were symbiotic, harmonious even, instead of the miasma of smog and poison that we can observe on Galactus Omega in baseline reality. The tall, contorting buildings constructed out of dead machine-men and synthetic immitations of natural resources were absent entirely. Every scene, every moment, every flicker in time the mirror showed the Sandariate lacked the death and destruction of the natural world that occurredover the last thousand years.

I did not understand what the Sandariate was saying to the intercomms, but I do understand crying when I hear it.

Eventually the mirror stopped showing different moments in time and stayed on one particular instance, I assume one of great significance to the Sandariate. The mirror showed a location overlooking a clifface during a green sunset. I could see the silhouettes of great, biomechanical whale-like creatures breaching the surface of the ocean of oil. The mechanical roots of the nearby trees twisted and gnarled over the edge, forming a strange pattern. The roots were pulsating, and the Sandariate continued to cry.

Despite engaging the manual override from the base at this point, the escape pod continued to move toward the anomaly. Extrernal sensors failed to indicate any sort of tractor beam pulling the escape pod in, and the pod's own controls were not being used. The Sandariate approached the mirror and, right after making physical contact, vanished.

The anomaly continued to exhibit its expected behavior after that. I do not know what happened to the Sandariate.

30 September 2404

The Etherian was the second in the line of test subjects I had amassed. This one was tall by comparison to its species, about half a meter in height, and it was missing a few arms and eyes. From what little I know of Etherian language, I could piece together that this one participated in the Etherian War at a young age, probably toward the end. A former child soldier, to put a human perspective on it.

I worry that the Etherian will be lost to SCP-7896, but there is no place for emotions in science.

The escape pod proved to be a viable vessle during the last test, so I elected to use another one again. There are three left, not counting this one. Enough for the experiements, and for me and a few crew members to make it back home should things go awry. I hope you don't get any ideas, Katalina.

As the Etherian approached the anomaly, several of the same events took place. Its velocity was terminated instantly, the manual override was overridden, and the Etherian began expressing a whole swathe of emotions as the mirror began to change. Close approximations to guilt, shame, anger, if I had to guess.

The mirror showed a planet orbiting Saggitarius A, the Etherian homeworld of Xanatan, in what must have been thousands of years before the War. The diminuitive stature of the Etherians was made even more apparent by the mountains that had yet to be colonized. The wilds of Xanatan were untamed, and the Etherians were reduced to a tribal state, one without conflict or neutrino bombs or plasma rifles. A world too simple to handle the strife that would come a milennia after this moment.

A world at peace.

The mirror changed significantly less for the Etherian than it did for the Sandariate, only a handful of times rather than hundreds. Still, eventually the mirror stopped changing and settled on one particular scene that met whatever requirements the Etherian had set.

The scene showed Xanatan from above, taking place somewhere in high orbit but sub-outer space. The Dyson sphere around Sagittarius A was missing, as were the many, many space stations they used for conducting research on Sarian war tactics and weaponry. There was only one interstellar warp gate in orbit, and by the rust and erosian it seemed defunct. The planet itself was whole, unlike how it is in baseline, and the atmosphere was the right shade of red. The ring of dead bodies orbiting the planet was gone, like it had never been there in the first place.

I often wonder what was going through the Etherian's head when it passed through the mirror.

31 October 2404

There are times, Katalina, that I wonder if things would have worked out different between us. I wonder if I had just been more of what you needed, if I had changed or made you happy, that you wouldn't have left and broken my heart.

I wonder if there is some alternate timeline where things did pan out between us and we're both happy at the Foundation because we have each other. All those years of abuse would have been erased. All the fun times would have been erased too. Do you think I deserve a do-over? I think I do.

I still love you, despite everything. I want to try again.

You should want that too.

19 December 2404

The mirror's orbital speed is dropping exponentially. It will collide with the surface of the Salimus Prime and be destroyed soon.

The Etruscan had a tougher time adjusting to the tangiblity of the escape pod, but once we were able to convince it through a serious of elaborate "touch tests", it was able to take the journey without effort. I'm grateful for your help, Katalina, but you didn't seem to care much for converstation with me at all. Too busy with Alec Riktor to talk to me. That's fine. Perfectly fine.

Science is no place for emotion anyway.

The mirror showed the Jibular Nebula as it had been the last time I saw it with my own eyes. Serene and peaceful, filled with supernovae and quasars. The Etruscan seemed delighted at the sight, and the mirror changed even less for it than it did the Etherian.

The luminant substance beneath the Etruscan's exterior shell began to glow a range of indescribable colors, and the tangibility exercise we performed seemed to have worn off. SCP-7896 changed three times before the Etruscan phased through the exterior of the escape pod and floated toward the anomaly on its own accord.

The last I saw of the Etruscan, the mirror had showed it the Jibular Nebula being destroyed in the wake of a massive supernova, spewing the gaseous material that it was made of across space almost indefinitely. Etruscan consciousness merged with one another in a fiery miasma of stardust and radiation.

Is that what the mirror shows? Those alternate timelines I was talking about? One where the viewer is happy with themselves, or perhaps their circumstances? I'll have to examine the data from the previous test subjects with this lens in mind, but I have a running theory for now at least.

There's one way I can test that theory for certain though. I hope you and Alec are up for the task.

14 February 2405

You and Alec were not as cooperative as I wanted you to be. You protested and thrashed and fought me every step of the way till the synaptic dampener kicked in, and then you were more agreeable. It'll wear off by the time you get to SCP-7896 though. I need your senses intact. For science, of course.

When you arrived within orbit of the anomaly, you were scared. You told me so through the comms, and I could see it on your stupid fucking faces. Why couldn't you have been this scared when you shattered my heart and left it to die? Why didn't you cry when you gave the heart that I so tenderly cared for and warmed for years to another man?

You were holding each other dearly as the escape pod approached. You knew what was coming, and so did I. At least I was far enough away to watch the show from the comfort of my own space station. We are going to learn so much, together.

I should thank you, Katalina, for breaking my heart. I wouldn't have had the motivation for this level of scientific research otherwise. Your communication skills really facilitated the research process. Your screams have been recorded and documented for this project.

But then the mirror activated, and didn't change. Not once. I heard you calming each other down before you both decided to look through the window at the anomaly. It showed you Earth, your house. The one you bought together in the Catskills in upstate New York.

You remember the place, surely. You raised Alec's kids there with him after his wife left. You were happy there, together, far away from me.

It showed you all sitting at the dinner table, you, his two kids, and him. He'd just finished making you all dinner and you were laughing about something. The Galactic Foundation badge hung proudly on each of your outfits. Your children had no idea what it meant, and they never would because you stopped wearing them a little after this moment. You told me as much at work, that the kids were asking too many questions. You did a little mind rewriting, if I recall correctly. You sick, pathetic fuck.

Why does he get to be happy with you and I don't? What does he have that I don't? Why did you willingly go into the mirror with him, when you could have stayed here and been safe and alive and happy with me? The anomaly is literally crashing into the fucking sun and-

Why don't you love me anymore?

Incident 7896.01: The following incident occurred on 25 February 2405 S.C.S.T. Event was observed from Observation Station Signus 2, orbiting the star, Orion. Despite the on-site staff's protests regarding Researcher Glacier's participation in SCP-7896 experimentation, as he was the only person capable of successfully navigating the reconnaissance station to Earth using warp-drives, Researcher Glacier boarded an escape pod. He then piloted the escape pod to SCP-7896 moments before it collided with the surface of Salimus Prime.

Update: Shortly after Researcher Glacier attempts to establish physical contact with SCP-7896, Salimus Prime began to undergo rapid nuclear fusion, heating up exponentially within seconds. The star went critical and exploded, destroying nearby planets and displacing the reconnaissance space station. Attempts to recover the crew of the reconnaissance space station are on-going.

The following log was recorded during Researcher Glacier's flight.

<Begin Log>

Researcher Glacier: My name is Calvin Glacier, interstellar researcher of the Galactic Foundation. I've run four tests using sentient and sapient subjects in order to understand the anomalous properties of SCP-7896. I now believe that I have the knowledge necessary to take an impromptu expedition into the anomaly, into a location I have temporarily named the Orthagonal Quantum Superposition. The OQS, if you would.

There is turbulance as Researcher Glacier passes a nearby planet.

Researcher Glacier: The OQS is a series of alternate realities that SCP-7896 presents to viewers through some anomalous method I don't quite understand. It shows you what you want to see, different versions of what you want to see. When you find one that you like, you enter through the mirror by touching it. Once that happens, you're in the OQS proper, assumed to live out your life with your memories in tact but in a whole new alternate reality.

The cockpit of the escape pod become illuminated as Researcher Glacier draws nearer to SCP-7896. He equips a pair of UV-resistant sunglasses before continuing.

Researcher Glacier: The Sandariate saw its homeworld before it was destroyed by the rapid onset of machine integration and capitalism. It saw a world free of pollution and corruption, one where natural machines were integrateed into the planet, rather than artificial machines destroying the ecosystem.

Researcher Glacier equips a UV radiation resistant flight suit.

Researcher Glacier: The Etherian saw a world long before the war, long before the weapons and technology they used to start the war were ever concieved. It saw its world at peace, something I believed that it longed for.

Researcher Glacier equips a space helmet. SCP-7896 can be observed through the escape pod's exterior cameras starting to illuminate due to the metal shell melting.

Researcher Glacier: The Etruscan saw a world of gas, one where it was free of the hard shell that contained its inner essence. It saw unity and peace, and happiness for all members of its race. One where the collective Etruscan consciousness took over the galaxy.

Researcher Glacier moves to the escape pod exit hatch. SCP-7896 makes contact with the Salimus Prime. The surface of SCP-7896 begins to alter, showcasing an isolated house in a forested area on Earth similar to the location shown during the final test. Researcher Glacier can be observed within SCP-7896, standing beside Katalina. They appear to be holding hands and wearing matching rings on their ring fingers.

Researcher Glacier: And you saw a world without me in it.

Researcher Glacier exits the escape pod as twenty percent of SCP-7896's total mass melts into the Salimus Prime. The image shown on SCP-7896 becomes distorted but is still distinguishable. Researcher Glacier activates the jet propeller on the suit, moving him toward SCP-7896 rapidly.

Researcher Glacier: Why couldn't you just be happy with me?

<End Log>

Footnotes

1. System Collective Standardized Time