Hey Liv,

I know you'd rather I just summarize it, but I think this one justifies the format. I stole it off of a blind-drunk Hand operative in Plattsburg after the curfew went down. What's in here was enough to override his conditioning and make him head for the hills (well, Canada). Given the current state of the Hand's memetic conditioning, that's saying quite a lot.

Our fair acquaintances have got both New Yorks locked down; getting this out would've been hard without my, ah, advanced knowledge (lucky me!). Hopefully this'll give you enough boots to kick ass upstairs.

Enjoy,

Alex.

SCP: 4582

Classification: Realitätsbrecher

Severity: Gelb Rot

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the inherent risks of a broken SCP-4582 cycle, containment primarily focuses on maintaining the integrity and stability of SCP-4582. As SCP-4582's cycle is currently contained within Containment Area 15, and currently poses no threat to civilian or Foundation personnel1, maintenance of proper SCP-4582 cycling is to be considered paramount. As of 4/14/37, testing is to be conducted on the malleability of SCP-4582 cycling under the jurisdiction of Colonel Richards2.

Description: SCP-4582 is an unstable cumulative pseudo-temporal loop3 initiated on 3/01/37 that encompasses semideterministic4 locales within Containment Area 155.

SCP-4582's loop consists of three components: SCP-4582-1, SCP-4582-2, and SCP-4582-3.

SCP-4582-1 is a prototype Boeing Model One that has been heavily modified from its registered specifications. Its wingspan has been increased by four point five inches6 from the original eight point three eight meters. The outermost wing supports have been removed, resulting in severe wing instability. All aviation fuel in the engine has been replaced with a mixture of sucrose, water, and sawdust that is unable to undergo combustion. The entire chassis of SCP-4582-1 (including pontoons) has been replaced with concrete7, raising the weight far beyond the accepted tolerance of the engine, wings, or fuselage. Though SCP-4582-1 is extremely durable, it is not capable of powered flight. SCP-4582-1 has been theorized as the motive force behind SCP-4582; however, this cannot be conclusively established due to SCP-4582's effects.

SCP-4582-2 is the corpse of William E. Boeing8. Cause of death was blood loss from three gunshot wounds to the upper torso. In addition, SCP-4582-2's stomach was filled with a mixture of sucrose, water, and sawdust9. SCP-4582-2 was well-preserved at the time of containment; however, multiple SCP-4582 cycles have significantly degraded its condition. SCP-4582-2, as of 7/05/37, no longer maintains cohesion and consists of an unidentifiable mass of meats and fluids10. This has not impacted its participation in SCP-4582. As Mr. Boeing was last seen during the Hawaiian tsunami on 2/25/37, the mechanism by which SCP-4582-2 was moved to Containment Area 15 is currently unknown.

SCP-4582-3 is former Mobile Foundation Platform Alpha-Seven ("Beats Walking")11. SCP-4582-3 was the first Mobile Foundation Platform to recover SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2, and was subsequently incorporated into SCP-4582. All personnel inside SCP-4582-3 were killed during the initiation of the SCP-4582 cycle. Repeated SCP-4582 cycles have significantly degraded both the facility and the corpses inside; as of 7/05/37 the facility consists of a mixture of ash, pulverized airship material, and macerated human flesh. Despite this, SCP-4582-3 maintains enough cohesion to complete an SCP-4582 cycle.

SCP-4582's crash location can be adjusted via small modifications to SCP-4582-1. Changes in aerodynamicism12 result in wildly variable crash locations within Containment Area 15. These changes are extremely difficult to predict, and no accurate predictive model has been established. As of 4/14/37, MTFs Epsilon-5 ("So Good They Named It Twice") and Epsilon-6 ("When They Didn't Need To Name It At All")13 have been established to conduct these experiments.

SCP-4582 cycles are internally consistent but lack external chronological coherency14. A full SCP-4582 cycle lasts a variable amount of observer time and thirty minutes of local time. SCP-4582 cycles demonstrate extreme chronospatial distortion, routinely violating causality, and are capable of radically reconfiguring the local geography and time flow of Containment Area 1515. There is a small period during recovery in which restructuring does not occur around SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2.

Addendum 4582-1:

The following is an attempt to describe the internal chronology of an SCP-4582 cycle. It has been assembled based on reports from SCP-4582-3 before the initiation of the initial SCP-4582 cycle. Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding SCP-4582 cycling, derivations in this pattern are extremely difficult to track16. The initial cycle started on 3/1/1937 and has not, as far as we can determine, ended in local time. All time stamps are in minutes. —Doctor Caldmann

[00] SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2 crash-land. Kinetic energy produced in the crash is greater than would be predicted given the weight and velocity of SCP-4582-117.

[01] SCP-4582-3 begins to move to SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2's location to initiate containment.

[05] SCP-4582-3 arrives at SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2 and begins containment.

[10] SCP-4582-3 completes initial containment of SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2. SCP-4582-1 is taken to the hanger. SCP-4582-2 is taken to the morgue. Respective analysis begins.

[15] Autopsy of SCP-4582-2 does not reveal any anomalous features. Analysis of SCP-4582-1 engine begins. SCP-4582-1 begins emitting large amounts of thermal energy18.

[17] Inspection of SCP-4582-1 ceases due to the large amounts of thermal energy. Several clothing fires are extinguished. Hangar is evacuated.

[20] SCP-4582-2 reanimates and begins vocalizing sounds of distress. SCP-4582-2 does not appear capable of human speech. Waveform analysis conducted at Provisional Site-3519 indicates similarities to damaged internal combustion engines. SCP-4582-2 begins to move towards SCP-4582-1.

[22] SCP-4582-2 encounters SCP-4582-3 security forces. SCP-4582-2 is affected by ordnance, but locomotion20 is not impeded.

[25] SCP-4582-2 reaches SCP-4582-1. Ambient temperature around SCP-4582-1 begins to char SCP-4582-2; however, locomotion towards SCP-4582-1 continues. Expressions of pain and distress increase.

[28] SCP-4582-2 arrives at SCP-4582-1 and seats itself in the cockpit. A large explosion originating from the hangar, presumed to be from SCP-4582-1, compromises SCP-4582-3's structural integrity. SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2 fall from SCP-4582-3.

[30/0] SCP-4582-1 and SCP-4582-2 crash-land into a location determined partially by the aerodynamicism of SCP-4582-1. Cycle repeats.

+ A Note

- Lots of love~

And that's the end of the main article proper. A real mess, eh? You can see how badly the author(s) wanted to use the phrase "causality loop." It isn't one, though! While I was in New York I saw it firsthand. It really is indescribable, but let me try and do the best I can:

I was in Brooklyn, looking back towards New Jersey. There was a tremendous roar, so loud I thought the bomb had gone off, and I saw the whole island of Manhattan fold in on itself like it was a game board being put away. Some of the buildings stayed locked to their foundations (ha!) but others weren't, and they (and a tremendous amount of rubble) cascaded down the island into the sea. It was a sound I hope to never hear again: an urban rockslide, the sound of chaos. A concrete seaplane flew into a cloud of rubble like a rocket (a jet-propelled tube of metal, usually carrying an explosive) and an explosion played in reverse, and in another location the whole thing happened but slower, and the right way around….

There were no less than four of the things all flailing around doing things out of order. I am convinced it simply does not work in a way we mortals, stuck in the fixed frame of linear time, can comprehend. If I were you, back at HQ, I'd try very hard to find out what caused it. I highly doubt it was Boeing; it sounds like he was fished out of the Pacific after the assassination and dumped into the plane.

The destructive power of this thing is incredible. It's already annihilated one of the largest cities in the world, and is making good headway on the rubble that's left. If my rough plots are correct, its area of effect is expanding by at least several feet per day….

There's just a bit more I got out of the Hand operative; these were not put into the article (though they should have been!) but were instead buried on a series of punch tapes in the possession of Colonel Richards (how the operative was supposed to have acquired these I couldn't tell you).

On a more personal note, since you asked, I'm doing as well as could be hoped. Twenty years is a lot to live over again (though I'm back in my younger body, thank God), and I am finding, more than anything else, how boring it is. I've seen all the movies, I know all the events, I know most of the people…. My accent and word choices net me strange looks. Hilarious, since when I was (will have been?) on the moon in '57, I was always known as a terminal square.

It's strange. I don't like it. I lose track of when I am and what has and has not happened. When I'm alone at night with my thoughts I worry that I'm an old woman still, that dementia has caught up with me at last, and I'm losing what little I had left.

But I'm sure I'll get on; I have already arranged things so that I will be nowhere near the explosion when it happens. If it happens. Maybe that, at least, will change.

Lots of love,

Alexandria.

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+ Transcript of Private Correspondence Between Colonel Richards and Doctor James Caldmann

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I've removed all the extraneous headers/footers/greetings/niceties/encryption for you. —Alex

I understand your reticence and your feelings over being replaced by someone who you must see as an interloper. However, determining a sound basis for SCP-4582's crash location is of paramount importance, and I will not stop work on it. I was given an assignment, and I will carry it out.

Colonel Richards

I know I must sound bitter, but please believe me when I say I am not! I am just concerned about what you are doing! We have been extremely lucky so far that the anomaly has not broken past the boundaries of New York—the more you interfere with it, the more likely that possibility becomes!

I understand your grief—believe me, I do. I also understand that one or more members of the council21 has decided to grant you this privilege (not knowing, I must assume, what you are trying to accomplish!). However, if you will allow your grief to cloud your judgement in this way, I feel I must raise the issue with our superiors. I am really very sorry, but I cannot allow this to continue!22

Doctor Caldmann23

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+ Message From Doctor Caldmann to the Ethics Committee

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I must strongly object to the accusations outlined in your previous letter to me.

Colonel Richards's containment strategy is methodical, cautious, and well-thought; I see no reason to halt its progress. While I may have expressed reservations in the past, I have the utmost faith in Colonel Richards's ability to safely experiment on the anomaly in question.

Sincerely,

Doctor James Caldmann24

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+ List of Casualties From Mobile Foundation Platform Alpha-Seven ("Beats Walking")

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As I received it from the Hand operative from the person of Colonel Richards, in no particular order. —Alex

Officer Lisa Ward

Nurse Loren Caldmann

Officer Adrian Vasquez

Nurse Jessica Schneider

Director Doyle Hogan

Doctor Emanuel Harrington

Doctor Thomas Collier

Nurse Felicia Norman

Officer Angela Walsh

Technician Carole Delgado

Technician Roderick Hammond

Doctor Timmy Hicks

Nurse Maryann Simpson

Staff Kelly Bryant

Staff Santos Holt

Staff Olivia Neal

Doctor Dennis Moran

Technician Jared Douglas

Doctor Lester Daniels

Staff Matthew Hudson

Doctor Kaitlin Richards

Colonel Michael Richards !!!!!!!25

Footnotes

1. Due to the full evacuation of Containment Area 15 following several major containment breaches on 11/15/36.

2. By O5 order, replacing Doctor Caldmann.

3. Don't worry; they don't know what this means either. —Alex

4. Partially malleable according to modification of a set of criteria listed below.

5. As in New York, New York, at least before those SCPs whose numbers I can never remember broke containment, as it was so euphemistically put to the public. The reality benders, among others. Real mess on their part. Given the Foundation's typical anality re: strikethroughs, I couldn't tell you why this has been removed. —Alex

6. This should be in metric, per the official Foundation style guide. Note that the following measurement is in meters, and a bizarre one at that—an even 27 ft 6 inches in imperial. What's more is that this error has been preserved through at least five rounds of editing. —Alex

7. This appears to have been cast from molds taken from an original Boeing Model One; no such molds are believed to exist.

8. As established by visual confirmation and fingerprint comparison.

9. The plot thickens! —Alex

10. Lovely image. —Alex

11. I've always loved the silly names the Foundation gives their airships. —Alex

12. Including wing thickness, elevator positions, and center of gravity

13. Why two? What's the other one being used for? —Alex

14. Translation: they're nonlinear to any observers. —Alex

15. I saw one of these firsthand. See my note below. —Alex

16. Translation: Who knows? —Alex

17. Translation: "There was a big explosion. We don't know why." —Alex

18. Otherwise known as heat. —Alex

19. Formerly Bell Labs. —Alex

20. The writer did the impossible: they made the mobile screaming corpse of William Boeing sound like a choo-choo train. —Alex

21. Someone (else) in intelligence should determine if Colonel Richards ever received O5 fiat. —Alex

22. Overuse! Of! Exclamation! Points! —Alex

23. How much are you willing to bet that this asshole authored the initial report? —Alex

24. Such eloquence! Such generosity! Such a reversal! Mark my words: something is rotten in Denmark. —Alex

25. This is it. This is why the Hand agent ran. I'm not surprised. I'm not sure it's even human, and it's playing around with one of the most destructive and uncontrollable phenomenons I've ever seen. Something needs to be done. Fast. —Alex