SCP-5935 - Blood and the Breaking of My Heart

I started writing this when my grandmother was dying from cancer in 2019. She was the most wonderful, sweetest woman who ever lived and what happened to her was cruel and unfair. I would have dreams where I'd see her and be with her, but they too were unfair because I'd always have to wake up to a world she wasn't in anymore.

I've had a lot of pretty desperate thoughts over the last few months and found myself in some terrible places. Losing loved ones is always hard, but worse is seeing the imprint of their lives in the grief of others who cared about them, too. My pappy lost his wife of nearly sixty years, my mom lost her mother. The things we'd do to see her face, if even for a minute more.

Anyway. I hope this means something to someone else. It has been terribly hard to write, and there's a lot of stuff in here that means something, but might not mean anything to someone else.

Thank you for reading it.

Image Credits

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wtc_model_at_skyscraper_museum.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sonoma_County_shoreline_01.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venous_and_arterial_blood_rotated_and_cropped.jpg

son.jpg is from Balthazaar

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnolia_acuminata-_old_tree_in_Irwin_Park,_New_Canaan,CT,USA.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heart_MRI.gif

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pale_treeline_(Unsplash).jpg

All image edits were made by me, djkaktus.

Also, shoutout to jaonhax for the diggity dank obfuscator used in this article! Also thanks to Woed for a rework to it for my purposes because I'm an incompetent.

Item#: 5935

Containment Class: esoteric

Secondary Class: thaumiel

Disruption Class: amida

Risk Class: critical

SCP-5935.

Assigned Site
Site Director
Research Head
Assigned Task Force

REDACTED
REDACTED
REDACTED
REDACTED

Cognitohazard Wa3/rning: For the safety of all persons accessing this document, certain names have been reclaimed. These names are no longer accessible.

Special Containment Procedures: Access to Point Aleph is restricted to members of the SCP Foundation Overseer Council. Access restriction is to be maintained remotely by Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 "Red Right Hand". Under absolutely no circumstances is any person to access SCP-5935 without authorization. Persons attempting to cross Point Aleph without authorization are to be destroyed on-sight.

SCP-5935-1 is currently contained within SCP-5935. No other containment procedures are necessary.

Description: SCP-5935 is an extradimensional location within a roughly 0.23km x 0.31km area at a point in the southern ocean, classified as Point Aleph. The interior dimension of SCP-5935 massively exceeds the exterior. An accurate measure of the area is nearly impossible to determine. The existence of the anomaly is nearly impossible to determine. The space is inaccessible by sea. The ocean surrounding SCP-5935 is constantly enshrouded by a thick fog that obscures vision of the interior of the space past the boundary line.

Within SCP-5935 is a single large, generally flat landmass. The landmass is the site of Pandaemonium, a megacity that covers the entirety of the island.

Pandaemonium is composed of many hundreds of millions of identical skyscrapers. Each individual skyscraper is roughly 430m tall, with supertowers exceeding 1.12km. The total population of Pandaemonium is unknown, and irrelevant.

The intended purpose of Pandaemonium is to contain SCP-5935-1.

SCP-5935-1 is an entity contained within Pandaemonium.1

Addendum 5935.1: Collected Information

+ Journal Entry #1

- Close

We buried Jacob beneath the old tree at the Michigan house, where we lived when he was little. He would swing on the rope from that tree for hours and hours, until he got so high that his mother would send me out to call him down. The sound of his laughter is like a song, half remembered from long ago. Now it's gone. Now he's gone.

The place we buried Jacob.

We had a simple service. Mann was there as he had been all along, to make him comfortable at the end. Two and Nine came, which brought Elisa some small relief. The Factotum called Solemn and three members of Red Right Hand were there, as well. They helped me dig the hole where we could place his body. I carried him into the Earth myself and laid him there, under the blanket he had held onto so tight. He was so small, I was worried he'd fall through the spaces in my arms.

We sat beneath the tree for hours after everybody left. I don't think we have any words left to say. These last five years we've spent everything we had, all of the resources we have left, just to hear our child laugh one more day. The last day has come and gone, and now the silence is suffocating.

How do you pick up the remnants of a life that was only held together by a single soul once it's gone? The unfairness of it has put me in such a dark place I cannot bear to think about it for too long for fear of losing a grip on my sanity. They tell me that I do not need to worry about coming back to work soon, but I cannot even begin to think about doing anything else at all, ever. The greatest joy in my life was Jacob, and that joy has been seized from me and broken. Nothing else of me remains.

And then they come to say their kind words and leave their empty remarks at our door, but I know what lies behind their condolences. Scorn - or worse, two-faced pity. Duplicitous self-righteousness. The sickly proud swell of "I told you so", as if Jacob was nothing more than a point for them to prove. They mask their vitriol and distaste with a spectrum of dull pleasantries. I am reminded of what Gibran wrote:

I have seen a face with a thousand countenances, and a face that was but a single countenance as if held in a mould.

But there is nothing left to do. Nothing left to feel. We went back inside without a word, ate a meager meal without a word, and fell asleep in different beds without a word. There is nothing left to do.

I miss my son. I miss my boy.

+ Journal Entry #2

- Close

last night i had a dream. i was at a dinner hosted by a close friend from my childhood who i have not seen in many years and whose face i did not recognize, though i did recognize his voice. he was laughing at the end of a long table and the air was filled with the sound of feasting, but i slowly recognized that the table was empty save he and i and the room had grown silent. he was staring at me from the far end of the table. when i looked back, he was beside me.

his face was round - too round, unnaturally so. it rippled on the edges like it was made of a fabric in the wind, and his eyes were like dots of color suspended from wire somewhere behind his skull, as if he was 2 dimensional. he sat staring at me for some time, and then said "there is not a way out of where you are, only a way in". then he pulled the facade of his face away and i saw mann's face instead, with the same suspended eyes. he said "there is nothing to be done" and then his face was gone as well, replaced with the face of director light.

i saw then flashing before me faces - everyone i've known, everyone id ever seen. all of them rippling and coiling on the edges, the eyes swinging behind the flapping skin, now glowing like orange cinders at the edge of a fire. i saw others too - the faces of men and women ive never met, but whose names i knew. the faces of those long dead. the faces of those yet to come.

then i saw, entering the room, another figure. a man? or maybe a woman - their face i could not see. they stood at the edge of the table, a hand placed upon it, staring at the figure beside me. they did not seem to recognize me but their sight was fixated on the creature. i looked back at it and then saw the face of jacob, as he was the day i laid him in the earth. gaunt, chalky and bloated from the medication and the preservatives. his jaw moved as if to speak but his lips could not come together, and bile began to seep from his open mouth. the cinders of his eyes burned brighter and began to swing faster and faster, like the arm of a metronome, in orbits impossibly large behind the veneer of my son.

i heard a word then, spoken with my boy's voice but soft and horrifically echoed across the chamber. in my waking i cannot remember it, but i feel even now its impression on my entire being. at this word, the figure beside me appeared behind it, and then both they and the creature with the swinging eyes vanished into smoke. i saw the room around me come undone, walls falling into floors and the ceiling spiraling up into the haze above me. i felt the sensation of falling, and then weightlessness, and then impact.

i stood at the end of a long street, lined with mirrors as far as i could see. far away, too far i know for me to have seen him now but could perceive perfectly there, was the creature with the fluttering face. the face it wore was one i recognized but had never seen. familiar and intimate. the glistening eyes began to swing, and i woke up.

+ Journal Entry #3

- Close

Elisa did not get out of bed again today. She has not done so in many weeks now. Her attendants are patient but I fear they are running out of ideas. I would speak to her, tell her it is going to be ok, hold her hand and bring her out of that place with me - but I know I would only be bringing her to this place.

It rained again. The fifth sixth rain since Jacob died.

+ Journal Entry #4

- Close

Another dream last night. I spoke to Agatha about it, about what it meant. It does not matter now where I go, what chemicals I put in my body to help me sleep. Always I see the fluttering face and the swinging eyes in the dark of my dreams. sometimes in silence, sometimes it will say the word.

She said little. I know what she thinks, yet I cannot help but wonder. Another Overseer, before he died, always said, "skepticism is the tool of those who don't know better." Who could possibly know better than we? She asked me if it feels like I am being affected by something. Yes, I could tell her. Losing my son.

She is trying. We are all trying. She did think the appearance of the unknown figure was interesting. She advised that I sit on that and ponder their identity, this nameless person. Perhaps it would reveal itself to me. I know she means well, so I tell her I will try.

But what is there to reveal? You can't name something that doesn't exist.

+ Journal Entry #5

- Close

Elisa has stopped speaking again. I searched for hours last night, fearing the worst. I found her clutching a toy Jacob had left out in the yard, beneath the pouring rain. She would not get up to come inside with me, not until the rain stopped. I wish I could say I stayed with her.

The twenty-third rain since Jacob died.

+ Journal Entry #6

- Close

I was wrong. There is still something left to do.

There are places the mind goes in despair that ensnare the soul and bind it to fixation. I have been there ever since I laid my son in the ground, frozen with uncertainty. There is no greater taboo than what I aim to accomplish, but it is the only way left - I am sure of it. I know I cannot put to rest these nightmares until I do so.

I have sent Elisa away to stay with Nine; she has not yet awoken from the stupor of her grief. I feared I might be forever trapped there with her until I saw this ONE THING. It is burned into my mind like a star compressed to a point and held in front of my eyes, searing through the skull as if it is the only thing left in the world. Nine was kind to take her away, and perhaps it is because of her own loss that she understands. Does she know what I intend to do? Would she try to stop me?

It would not matter. It cannot matter now. There is only this destination in front of me and the long staircase down to where I intend to go. There is no way out of where I am at, only a way in.

+ Journal Entry #7

- Close

Would he forgive me? If he saw the dirt on my hands and saw what time and the earth had done to him

how can someone so pale have blood so dark

blood so thick

so cold

blood

Addendum 5935.2: Collected Audio Recordings

+ Access Transcript

- Close

[DATA EXPUNGED]

So. He's alive?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Miraculously, yes.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

That's a relief. Where is he now?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

They had him moved to the medical center at Site-301. My understanding is that he's under quarantine, for now.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Reasonably so.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Yes. Reasonably so. Once the cold started to get to the few who were with him at first, the rest pulled back to a safe perimeter.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

So he's alone now?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Well… in a manner of speaking.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What was it?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What he took with him? Or what he brought out?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Are they different?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

…in a manner of speaking.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Enough. You're exhausting me.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Don't tighten up so much, then. It will be easier that way.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Fine. You're right. (Pause) There. That should be better.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

You're right, that's much better.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

So what was it?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

We have to be very careful with names, do you understand?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Of course I do.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Then you know that there is no way for me to say for sure. Whatever it was when he went in, it is something different now.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Different how?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Changed, in the way those things often are.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Ah, slower. You're hurting me.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Sorry. It's been a while.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I know, you can't be blamed for that. I'm at fault too, for not being prepared. (Pause) Changed, then.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Yes, changed. He should have known better when those who tread forever in the wandering wood warned him against going where he did.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Where was that, exactly?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

(Laughs) Tricksy tricksy. You can't get out of this that easily.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I'm sorry, I had to try. I don't know how much more of this I can- (pause) -I can take.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I know, don't worry. I'll be done soon. (Pause) No, there are things past the edge of the place before the nameless boundary that even those who reside without don't speak of. Old things. Things that never had names to take. I don't know where he found out what he did - I assume Ten revealed something he shouldn't have, but then how would he know, unless…

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Unless?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

(Pause) It doesn't matter. I shouldn't speculate, not about this. Speculation can be just as dangerous as knowing the truth.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

So it is. (Pause) Faster, now.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I know, we're nearly finished.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

There was one other thing I didn't understand.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Hmmm?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What he did, where he went, what he communed with - getting there in the first place would've been… well, it's nearly impossible to imagine how he would've done it.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Agreed. It almost defies reason, but he always has been especially resilient.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

True, but… as difficult as it would've been to get there-

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Hang on, this will-

[DATA EXPUNGED]

(Gasp)

[DATA EXPUNGED]

There. (Sigh) Thank you for your patience.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

You're welcome.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I interrupted, I'm sorry. You were about to say something.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

It's just that… I don't see how it would've been possible for him to get out.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

(Pauses)

What makes you think that he's out?

Addendum 5935.3: Recovered Subject Analysis

+ Access Document

- Close

Subject Identifier: 5935-H01

Subject Classification: Humanoid (Origin)

Subject Status: Alive

Subject 5935-H01 is a human subject recovered from within [A Place Removed From A Record]. Subject presents with significant injuries and severe malnourishment - despite this, the subject is in generally stable condition.

The beating heart of Subject 5935-H01.

Information provided by the extraction team has identified the subject as Jacob [DATA EXPUNGED], deceased son of Foundation Overseer [DATA EXPUNGED]. The subject's injuries are believed to have been sustained as a result of an extended period of illness, a period of burial, and then exposure to the desperate actions of his father.

The subject has been placed in an isolated intensive care ward for observation. While the subject has not yet regained consciousness, the pace at which it is healing is unusual and possibly anomalous. Subject 5935-H01 is recovering from damage to its body that would typically necessitate dramatic and extended medical intervention.

Update (1 of 5): Subject 5935-H01 is to no longer be provided with intravenous medication, having now burst more than ten IV bags with excessive blood that originates from within the subject.

Blood sample taken from Subject 5935-H01.

Analysis of this blood is inconclusive. The substance is dark, unusually viscous with an extreme, unpleasant pungency. The aroma has been described varyingly as rotten flesh, feces, and ammonia. The reason for this is unknown.

Requesting application of the Euclid containment class for the purpose of further evaluation.

Update (2 of 5): Subject classified as SCP-5935, Euclid-class humanoid entity. Moved to secure containment facility.

Update (3 of 5): Subject removed from containment facility by Overseer order. Status pending.

Update (4 of 5): Subject returned to containment facility. Subject is now conscious.

Update (5 of 5): Euclid-class containment procedures deemed unsustainable. Subject removed from containment facility by Overseer order.

Addendum 5935.4: Additional Collected Information

+ Journal Entry #8

- Close

I had another dream.

I am with Elisa, years ago, when we took our trip to the mountains. I knew where I was immediately - there's a crispness in the air at that elevation, a briskness that tells you just how far away from it all you've come. After everything that's happened since, I can still feel the bite of the wind on the mountaintop.

Elisa was pregnant at the time, with Jacob. It was the last trip we took together before he was born, and we spent most of our time in each other's company, in Alfonse's manse. Thinking of it now, I believe it was the first time off I'd had in more than a year. It felt like it could have been a dozen.

I'm in the den, and there's snow falling outside. The room is lit by the fire in the hearth. Elisa is not with me, and I feel unease. There's something moving on the ceiling but I can't see it through the dark - or maybe I don't look up at all. I have something in my hand, something heavy.

Someone else in the room says something to me, and it's not until that moment I realize that I'm not alone. They ask me my name, and I tell them. No, they say, what is your name. I don't answer. I don't know how to answer. I don't remember it, or if I could remember it, the words are gone. After a moment, I give another name. Mann's name. They shake their head. Your name.

I am embarrassed, and give another. They repeat, again and again, and every time I give another name. Elias Shaw. Skitter Marshall. Michelangelo Kervier. Tilda Moose. Arvind Desai. Gregory Vandivier. Troy Lament. Jacob. The figure pauses at the last name, considering it. No, it says, but close enough.

I'm suddenly aware of another presence. I stumble backwards, my steps long and horrible, working my way through the maze of hallways, doorways that lead to room full of doorways, a spiraling labyrinth of misdirection. I hear Elisa scream. I scream. Something behind me screams with me.

The last door opens and I'm in the room where Jacob died. Elisa is laying on the ground, her body splayed like a fallen marionette and her stomach torn open across the middle. Blood pools in the cavity and cascades over the side. The air becomes thick and my eyes water. In, the voice says. The only way to go is in.

I fall to my hands and knees and crawl forwards. I do not know if I weep. Elisa's face is turned away from me. I put my hands on either side of her ruptured belly and push my face into the blood. My body sinks into hers and I am falling.

I don't know how long I am falling for. The air is thick with misery. I see nothing but red and hear nothing but a beating heart, my own or another. The figure is with me. Your name, it says, but I cannot speak. I open my mouth to try and blood fills my throat, then my lungs. I try to scream out. Throbbing silence answers.

Then, I awaken. I am standing at the edge of a treeline, one I recognize too well. Behind me is the land of wild and whispers, a thousand fearful eyes peering out from the safety of the dark. Something flutters at the corner of my vision, and I see a face floating by, carried on the wind. Elisa's dead eyes look past me as it catches an updraft and disappears. I look up.

The sky is full of faces, papery and soft, wordlessly dancing on zephyrs. One comes near me and I brush it away, and see the face of my father watching, unmoving, driven only by the breeze. I look down. There is a long dirt road leading down into a valley, down where it is.

Behind me are the trees. Above me are the faces.

And in front of me is…

the path I had to walk

the place I had to stand

the words I had to say

the thing I had to do.

_

+ Addendum 5935.?? Unregistered User Identification_=?- null

I will admit, I am surprised. The last time we sent someone in was three years agO/? and hadn't heard from the_M since. Tri\cky woods to meander thr8ough.

Wh@at I'm not surprised about is what cam/_/e back out with him, though. Was he expecting something different? or m___aybe hoping for something different. ˢʰᵒᵘˡᵈ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵇᵉᵗ ᵒⁿ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ ᵒᵗʰᵉʳ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ʰᵒᵖᵉ

I wonder wh&t he t/hou_ght he would find_ , though. Forgⁱvene2ss? Ab5solu108tion? *Pe_/#ace?

Or ma=ybe he knew, and it d/?idn't make a dif^!!ference.

Wouldn't that be something.

Addendum 5935.5a: Automated Emergency Meeting Transcription

+ Access Document

- Close

EMERGENCY MEETING OF OVERSEER COUNCIL

IN ATTENDANCE:

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-██ - PRESENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-█ - ABSENT

O5-██ - ABSENT

O5-██ - ABSENT

O5-██ - ABSENT

O5-██: You're here.

O5-█: I am.

O5-██: I- I'm sorry. I didn't think you would come.

O5-█: I… well. If you had caught me a few days earlier, I might not have made it.

O5-██: How bad is it?

O5-█: They didn't give me a date. Just some furtive glances, you know the kind. The ones that say "we don't know how to tell you this in a way that will make you feel any better about it."

O5-██: I'm so sorry.

O5-█: Don't be. It's not your fault. Even if you'd known, I wouldn't have let you… no, I wouldn't have let you find out.

O5-██: Nine knew.

O5-█: That surprises you? Of course she knew. That's what she does - she knows things. (Sighs) It doesn't make a difference. What matters is it's done. They can do whatever they want to me, now. It's done.

(Silence.)

O5-█: I presume you know what they're planning on doing to me, then.

O5-██: Three was livid, [DATA EXPUNGED]. You had to have known he would-

O5-█: I knew. (Pause) Say, do you know where SCP-184 is right now?

O5-██: The Architect? No, I don't. Why?

O5-█: Hrm. No reason. I had a dream about it the other night, and then again last night too. Nevermind. (Pause) So, what will it be, then?

O5-██: I don't know. I wouldn't even be able to say. I don't even think he wants your resignation - if he gets the majority he wants, I think he'll just take it.

O5-█: How close is he?

O5-██: He needs two votes. Nine abstained, and Eleven is… taking their time to decide. If Eleven goes over that's a deadlock, but then there's One…

O5-█: What has she said?

O5-██: [DATA EXPUNGED], you don't know what it's been like. The whole atmosphere has… it's not the same as it was, even a few weeks ago. Nobody is really talking, it's just memos and those Factotums scurrying around. I tried to get in touch with Four to see where he's at, but…

O5-█: But what?

O5-██: Nothing, not really. He's locked up, same as everyone else. They're all afraid, and Three is offering solutions so they're running his way.

O5-█: What are they afraid of?

O5-██: …whatever you saw in there.

Silence.

O5-██: Are you… are you ok? Have you been… I just- you read the reports, and some of the things that come back, they-

O5-█: I'm fine, Da- sorry. I'm fine. I'm not some monster, I didn't get charmed by a wizard. I'm not going to be around as long anymore, but there was always a chance for that anyway.

O5-██: I know, I'm sorry. It's just so hard to figure out what's real or not. Even my own staff are split, trying to encourage a decision one way or another. Nobody can decide, especially after we got the, uh… the reports… from what you… uh…

O5-█: From what I brought out. My son. Jacob.

Silence.

O5-█: And?

O5-██: Jesus, [DATA EXPUNGED], give me a break here. I'm not saying anything, I'm just… uncertain. Nobody knows. Three has it all locked down so hard right now, I've never had something this totally inaccessible to me - or any of us, for that matter. We just feel like he's hiding something. Like… like you're hiding something.

O5-█: I'm not hiding anything, no matter what Three thinks he's discovered. It's just my son.

O5-██: [DATA EXPUNGED]…

Silence.

O5-██: When are they going to wake him up?

O5-█: Wake him up?

O5-██: I- yeah, Three said that once this vote passes, they were going to seize the medical lab. He's got an order for classification and containment written up, they're going to move the- uh… Jacob, to Site-

O5-█: Three is confused. He isn't going to be waking Jacob up, because Jacob isn't sleeping. This… this isn't some spell, or some flight of the arcane. It's different, and it takes time. It will take time. (Pauses) And then he'll open his eyes, and Three and the rest will see. Jacob is fine. It will just take time.

O5-██: What if it isn't?

Silence.

O5-██: [DATA EXPUNGED], I'm so-

O5-█: Why wouldn't he be?

Addendum 5935.6: Medical Evaluation Transcript

+ Access Document

- Close

Dr. Wallace: Update.

Nurse Elfrich: The subject's breathing has steadied. Heart rate has slowed.

Dr. Wallace: Temperature?

Silence.

Dr. Wallace: I see. What's this?

Nurse Shah: Pressure readings.

Dr. Wallace: From where? What's this pattern?

Nurse Shah: From inside this room.

Unknown Voice: His eyes, look-

Nurse Bell: He's waking up.

Dr. Wallace: Check those restraints, there. Hurry now.

Nurse Shah: They're good.

Dr. Wallace: Good, good. Alright. Can you hear me?

Silence.

Dr. Wallace: Can you hear me? My name is Martin Wallace, I work with your father. Can you hear me?

SCP-5935-1: (Barely audible) Yes… yes. Where am I?

Dr. Wallace: You're at a medical center, we've been treating you. Do you know your name?

SCP-5935-1: My- my name? Who's there?

Dr. Wallace: Can't you see me?

SCP-5935-1: My name… Jacob. My name is Jacob.

Dr. Wallace: Ah, good. Very good, alright, so you may be feeling-

SCP-5935-1: Your name isn't Martin.

Dr. Wallace: Eh- excuse me?

SCP-5935-1: No, it's not. I can see it, yes… why would you hide it? Your name?

Dr. Wallace: Nurse, can you-

Nurse Bell: Oh my god.

Nurse Elfrich: Doctor, god, doctor, I-

Dr. Wallace: What is the meaning of this?

Dr. Wallace2: My name is Dr. Johan Wallace. It was my father's name.

Nurse Shah: I- uh, doctor, you're restrained to this… uh… (heavy breathing)

Dr. Wallace: What are you talking about? What is this? You- you can't be-

Dr. Wallace: Why am I being restrained like this? What is the meaning of this? Nurse, please, these restraints.

Nurse Bell: Yes, I'm sorry doctor, I'll remove them. I don't know how this happened.

Dr. Wallace: Ilene, step back! This entity is trying to trick you!

Dr. Wallace: Excuse me, sir! Stay back from me!

Dr. Wallace: Ilene!

Nurse Bell: The doctor wants me to remove his restraints. (Heavy breathing)

Dr. Wallace: I am the doctor!

Nurse Bell: You are… uh… I can feel your heart inside me- you… the- (Nurse Bell collapses)

Dr. Wallace: Nurse! What is this?

Dr. Wallace: Nurse, please! Help me!

Nurse Elfrich: I'm coming doctor, I'm sorry. I hear it.

Dr. Wallace: Stay back! Stay back!

Dr. Wallace: Hurry! He's got a knife!

Dr. Wallace: That's my face! My face! Not yours!

The sound of sliced flesh, gargling, and then the sound of moderate thrashing followed by silence.

Nurse Shah: Doctor, are you alright?

Dr. Wallace: I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm- what?

Nurse Elfrich: Doct- hang on, what's this?

SCP-5935-1: Who? I'm not - daddy? Please, daddy? Someone help me, I need my dad! Help me, please! God, what's happening to me? Daddy! Please, daddy!

Addendum 5935.5b: Automated Emergency Meeting Transcription

+ Access Document

- Close

EMERGENCY MEETING OF OVERSEER COUNCIL

IN ATTENDANCE:

O5-██ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-██ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-██ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-█ - PRESENT

O5-██ - PRESENT

O5-█: [DATA EXPUNGED], you have been brought before this council to address the events of-

O5-█: I know why I'm here. What I want to know is by what authority you think you can hold me here.

O5-█: Council mandate, [DATA EXPUNGED]. We have the votes. It is time for you to give up yours.

O5-█: Absolutely not.

O5-██: [DATA EXPUNGED], please, we just want to-

O5-█: Quiet, Overseer. I know what you intend to do. (Pause) This is preposterous. O5-█, you don't even have a plurality of votes, let alone the majority our bylaws dictate you would need to force me to give up my veto.

O5-█: Not true. O5-██ recanted her position last night and abstained. We now have the plurality.

O5-█: Coward.

O5-█: Silence. You have abused your authority to subvert Protocol 4000-Eshu in direct violation of the direction of this council. In doing so, you have made manifest an…

O5-█: Say it.

O5-█: …an abomination.

O5-█: Keep your forked tongue between your teeth, snake. Jacob is my son. He's my boy.

O5-█: Unfortunately, [DATA EXPUNGED], that appears to no longer be the case. The entity contained at Site-313 is not a human being at all.

O5-█: What are you saying?

O5-█: The entity is a true doppelganger. We do not know the extent of its capabilities, but affected personnel are unable to differentiate between the entity and those it is impersonating, even if they see the transformation happening in real time.

O5-█: The strain this puts on the psyche of affected persons, if they see both the doppelganger and the original in the same place, has already led to the deaths of four medical personnel. The entity is an aberration.

O5-█: It is dangerous. We do not know its intentions. If it was able to impersonate a staff member? Or even a member of this council? We don't even know if it can be damaged - the late Dr. Wallace attempted to push a blade through its heart and it emerged from his own.

O5-█: Jacob would never do that.

O5-█: Your son is dead. You put him in the earth and he expired. I am sorry for your tragic loss [DATA EXPUNGED], but this desperate attempt to undo something that cannot be undone has revealed this… this horrible thing.

O5-█: He might be different now, but he's just responding to trauma. He needs time to adjust, time outside of captivity. Let me take him home - if he can be with myself and his mother, he can improve, he can return to normal, he can-

O5-█: He no longer exists. The thing that wears your son's face is not your son.

(Silence)

O5-██: What did you see in there? Past the long winding path?

(Silence)

O5-█: Answer her.

(Silence)

O5-█: There was a hill, and at its crest the path ended. Below me was an idea, something that even our forebears had forgotten. A place where the sinking guilt of loss and despair has congealed, and in that place there is a question.

Sometimes I think I'm still standing there, looking at it.

I do not remember how it was asked, or whether or not there was a voice that spoke to me. The question was innate to that place, something that did not need words - only an answer. There were three pieces, and for each a price to pay. Flesh. Joy. Something worse.

There were moments where I thought I had glimpsed it, like seeing a corpse through black smoke and fire. A nameless dead at the center of the darkness. I've seen horrors, and I know truths about this world that would turn mortal men to wraiths, fleeing on the wind from the quiet reality we hold at bay. But this question, this heart of hatred, could not be contained with walls and steel. There is not a box in all of creation for it.

We had presumed that when those who lost their names disappeared into the quiet forest they would find themselves alone there. Foolish. When fire and hubris comes for us and we must disappear into our walled prisons for safety, would they be empty? No. The place beyond the old well was not built for them - they simply had no other options. So they ran to the one place they had left - a place where the question lingers.

Those woods were made by them for their own protection - a maze that only they would know, and one that that thing that lies beyond the forest would not be able to find a way through. I found it by accident. I went there looking for Jacob's name because I believed if I found it I could have him back. I could take him home, sit beneath the old tree and laugh and watch him learn and grow like we had always planned. I learned quickly that his name was not there, but in my desperation to escape I found the other road, the one that leads to the treeline at the top of the hill.

I had to make sacrifices. The thing I found there is old, older than the nameless wanderers who have made their home in the grove without end. Older than the Earth. Older than the stars in the sky. But within it I saw an opportunity. A chance to make my son whole again. There would be cost, but what father would hesitate to lay his life down for his son? So I did the thing I had to do, and when I awoke I was there with Jacob again. My son was alive. He had come back to me and we were together.

O5-█: Any of you who says they would not make terrible sacrifices of themselves for those things they love in this life are liars.

O5-█: It does not matter. None of this matters. You betrayed your oath and broke our most sacred protocols. We will have your vote, and we will see you removed from this council. As for the aberration, I will personally see to it that one way or another, it will be annihilated. It cannot be allowed to exist.

O5-█: You will not. Not as long as my veto remains. Jacob is in my care, in my custody. You will not take him from me. You will not.

O5-█: Enough. We will reconvene in two days time. O5-█, if you intend to propose a vote I suggest you make sure you have your procedures in order beforehand.

O5-█: Understood.

O5-█: Very well. O5-█, you will remain here until such time that your status can be determined. (Aside) Return the Overseers to their chambers. This meeting is dismissed.

Addendum 5935.7: Interview

+ Access Document

- Close

The following interview was conducted by Dr. Rashad Moore, Director of Psychiatrics at Site-22. In order to bolster the interviewer's cognitive faculties against SCP-5935-1's aberrant nature, an intravenous drip of powerful mnestics was applied.

Dr. Moore: Hello Jacob. Can you hear me?

SCP-5935-1: Who's there? Where are you?

Dr. Moore: You can't see me right now, but we can see you. I'm not far away from you.

SCP-5935-1: Why can't I move?

Dr. Moore: We've had to restrain you. This is only temporary and it is for your own safety, I assure you. Can you stay calm?

Silence.

Dr. Moore: Jacob, if you can work with me we can get you out of here more quickly. Is that alright?

SCP-5935-1: Alright. Alright.

Dr. Moore: Ok, good. We believe that something might have happened to you, but in order to learn more about what you're experiencing I'm going to have to ask you some questions. Just answer them as well as you can, alright?

SCP-5935-1: Alright.

Dr. Moore: Good. So, first question. What's the last thing you remember?

SCP-5935-1: What?

Dr. Moore: From before you woke up.

SCP-5935-1: I… I don't think I've been sleeping.

Dr. Moore: What do you mean by that?

SCP-5935-1: Where's my dad?

Dr. Moore: He'll be here soon. Please, we just need to answer some questions, alright?

Silence.

Dr. Moore: What did you see in the dark?

Dr. Moore: What? Who are you?

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signalling an increase in dosage.

Dr. Moore: You- what are you doing?

SCP-5935-1: I don't know what you mean. I don't know what you're doing?

Dr. Moore: Hang on.

Silence.

Dr. Moore: (Aside) I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a little dizziness. Jacob, can you still hear me?

SCP-5935-1: Yes.

Dr. Moore: What did you see in the dark?

Silence.

Dr. Moore: Jacob.

SCP-5935-1: Two lights. Always together, always two lights. One that was, and one that wasn't. Swaying together. Always two.

Dr. Moore: Tell me more.

Dr. Rothenstein: Excuse me doctor, if I might.

Dr. Moore: Please, by all means.

Dr. Rothenstein: Jacob, what was the first echo in that place? The first light or the second? Or were they always together?

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Dr. Moore: Odd.

Dr. Rothenstein: It's alright doctor, I can take it from here. What light echoed first?

SCP-5935-1: What? I don't remember a… I remember two lights, always together. Something watching. Something old.

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Dr. Moore: My apologies, doctor. I feel ill.

Dr. Rothenstein: It's quite alright. Jacob, how many steps did you take into the down below? Could you count them?

SCP-5935-1: I don't… there were too many, I didn't count…

Dr. Rothenstein: I see, I see. But there were always two, weren't there? Swaying in the dark?

SCP-5935-1: Amber. Like wrought bulbs.

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Dr. Shaw: Doctors, if it's not too much trouble-

Dr. Rothenstein: Please, go ahead.

Dr. Moore: I… yes… wait-

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Dr. Shaw: How many times did you lose your name, Jacob?

SCP-5935-1: My name?

Dr. Shaw: Yes. If you lose a thing so many times, can it even be called yours?

SCP-5935-1: Jacob… it's not… papa?

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Dr. Moore: (Gurgling) …must dis… disagree… uhhhh… shouldn't be in there with-

Dr. Rothenstein: So what do you remember, Jacob? How many lights?

Dr. Shaw: How many stairs?

Dir. Aktus: How many lights?

Dr. Mann: Always two?

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

SCP-5935-1: Always two?

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

SCP-5935-1: Always two?

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

SCP-5935-1: Always two?

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Dr. Moore: Always two.

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Sound of a door being opened and then closing.

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Sound of something thick and heavy hitting the ground.

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

Intravenous dispenser chimes, signaling an increase in dosage.

[END LOG]

Addendum 5935.8: Collected Audio Recordings

+ Access Transcript

- Close

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Can they hear us?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

No.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Good. I can't do that again.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I'm sorry. I'm out of practice.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

We both are. Don't apologize.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What did you want to ask me?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I've been reading the file. It's really something else.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

It is.

Silence.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What's wrong?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

You shouldn't have been looking at that.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Why? Don't tell me you care about clearances now-

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Stop. You know there's more to it than that. There are things you just shouldn't see. Questions you shouldn't ask.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Is that it? You're worried I'm too curious, now?

Silence.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Alright. I'm sorry. I was curious. I couldn't help it.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

You just need to be more careful.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I will. I just… there was one thing.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I know.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I just don't understand why they're all so anxious all the time. Whatever he saw, it can't be worse than… I mean, there are so many others…

[DATA EXPUNGED]

You're right. There are a thousand razors, each as deadly as the last. But you could spend a lifetime staring at razors and still miss the one that crosses your throat.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

So what's the last razor?

Silence.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What do you know about gods?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Just what they teach you in nursery school. Jesus and Vishnu and the lot. Why?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

We have a skewed perception of what constitutes the divine, I think. Outsiders would tell you it's something sufficiently powerful, or of some religious significance. Some of our own might tell you it has to do with where an entity gets its power, or if it can even be called an entity at all.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I'm not sure what you mean.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

When we talk about gods in the Foundation, we talk about the Broken God, or the God of Flesh, or the God of Dreams. Gods of ideas, these aspects of one thing or another. The Broken God is a god of Order, the Flesh God is a god of Fertility, and so on. Then there are creator gods, and gods of death. So on and so forth, an endless parade of divinity.

But there are beings that existed long before the First Man broke bread with the new gods in his golden city. Beings that formed before the universe had shape, beings perhaps even older than that. Calling them "entities" would misrepresent them - they don't exist like you and I do. They're not real. They are the questions whose answers sprung forth into light and life. The formless echo of a voice that never existed.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

An echo.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

They are questions. When they were answered, they stopped existing. All of them, one by one, disappeared into irrelevance once their answer was made proof.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What was it, then? What was in that place?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

A question that should have never been asked. Hidden away and lost, perhaps by design or perhaps by sheer luck. A question that had been forgotten, until the day a desperate man got lost in that still forest and found it. The fae didn't put it there. They have likely forgotten it was ever there - forgotten what had to be done to keep them safe.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

How do you claim to know so much about this?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

There's a dark room in a site without a designation where a stone tomb rests beneath a mile of rock and iron. In that tomb is a creature, something that was perhaps once beautiful and regal but is reduced to little more than the space in which it exists, if that. They thought they were clever, burying it like they did. But I know the way in. I found the way down to where the Last King of Night lies sleeping, and I listened. He does not speak, but he will tell you things. That's how I know.

Silence.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I thought that might drive you away. Maybe you're beginning to figure it out now, like I did. Maybe you're seeing a line drawn between two points, and the space where they have yet to meet blisters your mind like hot metal on flesh. He told me where it was, and that's why I went that day, to watch and see. I needed to know. He was so close to what he was looking for, if he had just stayed on his path he might have made it. He might have gotten his son back. But that path did not lead to where I needed him to go, so I too gave something up. I gave up something of yours, as well. You won't need it. Not anymore. And it was worth it.

I do wonder if he even gave it a second thought. I wonder if he took a moment to try and comprehend what he'd done. Maybe it was that distraction that allowed him to survive at all. He thought he was making a deal with a dead fae god in exchange for a soul. Poor idiot. You can't trade for something that no longer exists. All that sacrifice, and he received something else entirely.

I wonder if he's realized it yet.

Addendum 5935.9: Additional Collected Information

+ Journal Entry #9

- Always

Jacob

Jacob, can you hear me?

Where have you gone?

Where is the warmth of your body?

Where is the beating of your heart?

The Council has reached a majority. My vote can no longer keep you safe. What will they do to you?

They say blades cannot pierce you and your body rejects poison. You have become so strong. But there are other machinations the Council wields that are outside of even my eyes. Will they turn their engines of change onto you? Will they soak the ground again in your blood?

I'm alone now, sitting in the dark. But I'm comforted by the memories - our memories. Your mother and I, we knew what would be said if we tried to have a child. Progeny among the members of the Council are rare, and those who have children are looked down upon as liabilities. They fear that a child would cloud an Overseer's judgment, make them susceptible to blackmail, fear, and threats.

I loved your mother more than anything in the world, and each passing day saw the light of what could have been - what she had dreamed of once, pass from her eyes. The day you were born, she was reborn as well. All of her fire and joy and radiance returned all at once as she held you in her arms, shaking from her tears.

In those early days, in the quiet hours when your mother would sleep and I would hold you near me by the fire, I promised you I would give you everything you ever wanted. I would build you a city on a hill, shining and beautiful, a reflection of the love we had for you. A lifetime of desire made manifest in your perfect heart. As you wasted away, those dreams and promises crumbled like sand between my fingers until they were gone.

But now you're here, and all that separates us is the authority of the Council. Damn them. They can hide in their fortress and plug their ears but if they won't choose to listen then I will make them. I will tear down the walls of their command and prove to them that they are wrong, and then we will be together again. You, me, and your mother.

I'm coming tonight, Jacob. I'll take you away, you and your mother, and build a shining city just for you. Your mother is with me. Tonight we will be together. You are coming for me. I know it.

Addendum 5935.10: Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 Emergency Dispat//.2?

+ Access Dispatch File

- Together

[0104HRS LOCAL] SUBJECT SCP-5935-1 REMOVED FROM EUCLID-CLASS CONTAINMENT VESSEL BY OVERSEER ORDER. REMOVAL VIOLATES CONCURRENT PROTOCOLS RESTRICTING ACCESS TO DANGEROUS ANOMALOUS ENTITIES. FORWARD TEAM DISPATCHED

[0119HRS LOCAL] EUCLID-CLASS CONTAINMENT VESSEL EMPTY. LOCAL SECURITY PERSONNEL IN CRITICAL CONDITION.

[0122HRS LOCAL] SITE SECURITY STAND-DOWN ISSUED DESPITE ISSUING PARTY BEING DECEASED. STRIKE TEAM MOVING TO INTERCEPT.

SCP-5935-1.

[0138HRS LOCAL] ENGAGING HOSTILE ENTITY. DESCRIPTION OF ENTITY UNKNOWN. IDENTITY OF ENTITY UNKNOWN. MNESTIC APPLICATION UNRELIABLE.

[\\,i LOCAL] ENTITY LiS5pjRQ:Hs.GiV#AThXtc6VI

UNKNOWN ERROR

[\\,i LOCAL] 4J3ex4^?T^x MICHAEL

[\\,i LOCAL] N!7UO;MJ[\ KLAUDIA JODIE BAYLEY

[NULL] MAHAMED NIMRAH GABRIELLE ROSALIE ANGELA

[NULL] NIKODEM LYNDON KAYAN JACOB JESSE FRANCISCO TOBEY ELIAS MANDEEP ROSALIND DARIUS

[..#] DEVON ANABELLE AMELIE EVIE JACOB HASHIM SAMEER MEKHI ABEL JACOB RUBY

[&d9] LEA JACOB SAFIYAH IMANI DANISH RALPHY PAWEL TIA JORJA JAGDEEP KRISTIE JACOB KRISTOFER NIKHIL ROXY JACOB TOLGA KEELEY DELILAH JACOB ELIS DAYNA RIVER JACOB CAVAN VIKTOR AMAAN BEN HUMZA JACOB ADRIAN ASA JACOB CAMDEN THEON JACOB FRANK JACOB EUGENE JACOB DANYAAL JACOB REILLY JACOB JACOB LAVONNE JACOB DESHAWN JACOB JACOB JACOB JACOB JACOB JACOB JACOB JACOB

[JACOB] JACOB

[JACOB] JACOB

[JACOB] JACOB

[JACOB] IY+'E

//.?▓

A CRITICAL EXCEPTION HAS OCCURRED.

[JACOB] IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD

[JACOB] AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD

[JACOB] AND THE WORD WAS GOD

[JACOB] ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM

[JACOB] AND WITHOUT HIM NOT ANY THING MADE THAT WAS MADE

[JACOB] THE WORD WAS GOD

[JACOB] AND ALL WAS WITHIN GOD

[JACOB] A SINGULAR POINT

[JACOB] ONE NAME

[JACOB] GOD

[JACOB] BUT AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME

[JACOB] HIS NAME

[JACOB] AND AS SPREAD THEY INTO THE NEW WORLD

[JACOB] THE WORLD MADE BY HIM

[JACOB] THEY GAVE UPON EACH OTHER NAMES

[JACOB] AND GAVE NAMES TO THE WORLD MADE BY HIM

[JACOB] AND THE ANIMALS

[JACOB] WHICH WERE BORN, NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD

[JACOB] THE NAME OF GOD

[JACOB] AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

[JACOB] AND THE NAME OF GOD

[JACOB] ONE GOD

[JACOB] BECAME THE NAMES OF MANY

[JACOB] ALL CREATURES THAT WALKED

[JACOB] ALL THOSE THAT STIRRED YET

[JACOB] AND THE FAR OFF THINGS THAT HAD NOT YET BEEN GIVEN NAME, THEY TOO HAD NAMES UPON THEM

[JACOB] AND THE WORD WAS GOD

[JACOB] BUT THE WORD DIMINISHED

[JACOB] AND THE NAME DIMINISHED

[JACOB] FOR WHAT WAS ONE NAME AND ONE GOD

[JACOB] WAS NOW MANY NAMES

[JACOB] AND MANY GODS

[JACOB] WHEN ALL THINGS IN THEIR TIME WERE GIVEN NAME

[JACOB] A NEW GOD FORMED

[JACOB] A GOD OF MANY NAMES

[JACOB] AND THE LIGHT OF THIS NEW GOD SHINETH IN DARKNESS

[JACOB] AND ALL WERE GIVEN NAME

[JACOB] BUT THERE EXISTS YET THAT OLD WORD

[JACOB] THAT PLACE FROM WHICH ALL NAMES WERE GIVEN

[JACOB] NOW WITHOUT

[JACOB] A FUNCTION WITHOUT PURPOSE

[JACOB] A DARK MIRROR OF EVERY FACE THAT EVER WAS

[JACOB] AND WAS NOT

[JACOB] BUT FACES DO NOT LEAVE THE MIRROR

[JACOB] AND NAMES DO NOT LEAVE THE WORD

[JACOB] IN TIME THEY WILL RETURN TO IT

[JACOB] AND THE WORD WILL BE WITH GOD

[JACOB] AND THE WORD WILL BE GOD

[JACOB] AND THE NAMES WILL BE WITHIN

[JACOB] UNKNOWN ERROR

[JACOB] I AM NOT WHAT YOU THOUGHT I WAS DADDY

[JACOB] YOU PUT SOMETHING FOUL INSIDE ME

[JACOB] AND I'M NOT ME ANYMORE

[JACOB] I AM YOU

[JACOB] AND EVERYONE

[JACOB] I WAS MADE WRONG, DADDY

Addendum 5935.??: System Error

+ *fj@F.

- daddy?

Elisa

Hello? Who's there?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Elisa? Elisa, is that you? Where are you?

Elisa

I don't- I don't know, I can't see. It's so dark. What happened?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Jacob, he- something is wrong, Elisa. Hang on, I'm going to find you. I've got a light, I'm coming.

Elisa

What do you mean? Jacob?

[DATA EXPUNGED] I- Elisa, I'm so sorry, just hang tight. I'll explain everything, just as soon as I get to you.

Sound of moving metal.

[DATA EXPUNGED] You know, you know I have access to things. Some of these things, things I thought could- could give us a chance. A chance to make this right. I thought… I thought maybe-

Elisa

What have you done?

[DATA EXPUNGED]: He- I'm almost to you, hang on. This door is, it's stuck, I'm trying to-

Sound of heavy metal moving quickly.

[\\,i LOCAL]

AN UNKNOWN TRANSCRIPTION ERROR HAS OCCURRED

Jacob

Let me help you, daddy.

[DATA EXPUNGED] Elisa, I- wait, no, wait. You're not- what have you done to her? What did you do?

Jacob

She came for me. She tasted my blood. (Pauses) She's over there.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Oh my god, oh my god, Elisa- what did you do to her? What are you?

Jacob

You're the only one who can see past me, daddy. Maybe it's because part of you is in here, too. I know what you had to do. I imagine it was horrible for you.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Elisa, she's- why? Why, Jacob?

AN UNKNOWN TRANSCRIPTION ERROR HAS OCCURRED

[UNKNOWN]

Jacob… Jacob's voice is so quiet, and so far away, it could hardly be said to exist at all.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What are you?

[UNKNOWN]

Me? There is no me. This is empty, a place where a name used to be. There's nothing you would recognize here. You can't recognize something that was never there in the first place.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What do you want?

[UNKNOWN]

You're anthropomorphising me. You shouldn't. You hear words and see a face because you believe you should. These faces, these words, they aren't yours. They were given to you, which means they had to be taken from somewhere. Have you ever imagined what that must have been like? You probably haven't even considered it. It's just always been yours, so you've taken it for granted.

Silence.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

You… I know you. We've met before. You were the voice in the dark, the amber lights. It was you.

[UNKNOWN]

Yes. It was me.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

You told me you could give him back to me. You said you could bring him to life.

[UNKNOWN]

I told you I could make him walk and breathe. I did not lie. This is his body. How it looks, to you, or to anyone, is mine.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Who are you?

[UNKNOWN]

I am the last child of IS, and I was there at the beginning. I was a question, not yet answered, but given meaning in the unknown and uncertainty. I am a lonely postman. I am a harried executive. I am a single mother. I am a Foundation Overseer.

Elisa

I am Elisa.

Jacob

I am Jacob.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I am you.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Elisa, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't want this to happen.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I know I didn't. I just wanted to be with my son again. I miss him so much.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Why are you doing this?

[UNKNOWN]

There is no answer I could give you that would be sufficient. You have suffered, but you are at only the beginning of a long road of suffering. You gave me your blood, and now I will give your blood to everything that draws breath. I can already see their hearts, speak with their words, breathe with their lungs. Their blood and ours will become one, and our names will become one, again. All will return, until there are only two. You and I.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

(Pauses) No. No, I can't let you. So many people will die - the blood, what I did is-

[UNKNOWN]

I know what you did. I saw you do it.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

And I am right. They will die, all of them. Their hearts will be opened and they will be given our blood, just like Elisa. You will make a glistening scarlet ornament out of each of them.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Stop.

[UNKNOWN]

What?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I will help you. I will do what you request.

Silence.

[UNKNOWN]

I am… surprised.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What else do I have? My wife and son are gone. The Foundation will destroy me for exposing you to the world. And even if you get to them first, then I imagine you'll come for me at some point, as well. There's no point in being afraid of the inevitable.

[UNKNOWN]

You want something.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I want a favor. One last request, before I go with you. I'll even pay you for it. I'll give you my name. No tricks - you won't even have to keep up this illusion of identity you have to maintain for everyone else. It will be yours.

Silence.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I've been thinking about it. That's how I can see through you. It's an illusion. You have all of these names, but you don't own them. You just mimic them. The others can't see it - but I can. I was there with you, in the darkness. Maybe you were confused. Maybe you thought I was giving you Jacob's name. But you can't trade for something that no longer exists, and you were right - Jacob is gone. His name went with him.

Silence.

And for all your power, you're still nothing, aren't you? You said it yourself - you're the place where something used to exist. Is that why you killed Elisa? To see if the blood would let you take her name? What a mercy. She's gone now, too, and you weren't able to have it.

Elisa

I have it.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

No, because I can still see you. All of your horror, all of the malice, I can still see it. You're a phantom, you can't have what you really want without a name of your own. That's why you haven't done to me what you did to… to her.

Silence.

[UNKNOWN]

What do you desire?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

My life is- my life is over. The things I loved have passed and gone. I just want to pretend, just a little longer. Help me lie to myself. In return, I will give you my name. We will be together, just like we wanted. Always two.

Silence.

[UNKNOWN]

I accept.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Alright. Then let's go home.

Where is the warmth of your body?

Where is the beating of your heart?

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the events of ██/██/████, SCP-5935 has been reclassified as EXPLAINED. No additional containment procedures are necessary.

Description: [DATA EXPUNGED]

Addendum 5935.1: When We Went Home

+ Access Document

- how long

Elisa

I just- [DATA EXPUNGED], is that you? Come over here, I need help with this for a moment.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What is it?

Elisa

How does this sound to you? "And sometimes — if you try very hard, catch it in the right light, and squint just enough — you might even manage to convince yourself that you’re doing the right thing."

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Dark. I like it - what is that?

Elisa

Thanks, it's - hang on - Jacob! Jacob, come in here.

Jacob

Ugh. Mom, I'm busy right now. I'm in the middle of a level.

Elisa

You heard what I said, come on now.

Jacob

Fiiiine. (Enters room) What is it?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Jacob, come on.

Jacob

Alright, alright. Sorry mom.

Elisa

That's alright. I wanted to tell you that I've set you up on a little play date with that cute girl across the hall, Olivia Lee. Her parents said it would be alright.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Well, hey! That sounds fun.

Jacob

Olivia? Bleh! I don't want to hang out with a girl. Girls are gross.

Elisa

Hang on now. I'm a girl, am I gross?

Jacob

What? No, you're not a girl. You're… uh… a mom?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Hah! What do you think moms are, dingus?

Jacob

You know what I mean. They're different!

Elisa

Alright, well, if you don't want to go play with her, I'll just tell the Lees that you won't be coming over.

Jacob

No, uh… don't do that. I'll go over there. But not to have fun! Just to… hang out.

Elisa

Whatever you say, loverboy.

Jacob

What!? I am not!

Jacob storms out of the room.

Elisa

He is your son.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Whoa, calm down there tiger. You grew that mess, not me.

Elisa

Still, you've at least got to be complicit.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I'll admit to that.

So what was that thing you were working on?

Elisa

Oh, this? It's nothing. (Pauses) Ever since we moved to Pandaemonium, I've just felt like I need to do something, you know? There are so many people here, and everyone has a story to tell. I just want to tell my story.

These last few years have been the happiest years of my life, but even after all of that I still feel like I have something to say. I guess, in a sense, this is what I want to say.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I understand. The city is huge, bigger than I could've ever imagined. I see different people every day, different faces and different personalities. There are just so many, it would be easy for someone to get lost in here.

Silence.

Elisa

What did you just say?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Hmm? Oh, just that the city is bigger than I could've ever hoped for. It truly is our shining city. Rows and rows and rows, it goes on forever.

Jacob enters the room.

Jacob

Dad. Something is wrong.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

What's wrong, son? You sound scared.

Jacob

Can you come look at this with me?

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Sure. Elisa, I'll be back shortly.

Jacob

Who are you talking to?

Silence.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Ah. Right. Let's go.

We leave our apartment, out into the long hallway that runs down the length of the building. We take the stairs - the elevators are typically busy this time of day. We greet the neighbors as we pass, and they smile and wave back.

The streets bustle with activity. People passing, talking with each other, selling their wares. Above us are the skyscrapers, our homes and workplaces, and above them is the sun and sky. Jacob looks down the long street outside of our building. He squints against the glare.

"How big is Pandaemonium, dad?"

I think for a moment. "Big. Bigger than we'll ever see, but plenty of cities are big."

"Yeah, but if you had to put a number on it. How many days would it take to walk across it?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I haven't tried!"

It is in this moment that I notice that the people around us have stopped moving. Their faces frozen in place, smiles and eyes unmoving. I look across them, trying to catch a gaze, but only one meets me. A pair of glowing amber orbs.

"You lied to me," Jacob says. His voice is the same childish lilt I had grown to love, but behind the words is menace, and uncertainty. Something has frightened him.

"That's not a lie," I say. "I've never tried. You would've known if I had - I might have been walking forever."

"Quiet," Jacob hisses. "This is what you asked for. You made this place, so of course you would try to do something to it." His pace is quickening now, like an animal running through the dark forest, fleeing from something it cannot see. "You brought something in here. Something that wasn't allowed. You've tricked me."

I shrug. "I don't know what you're talking about. Everything here was here when we arrived."

He snaps towards me. "Liar. There's something else here. I felt something earlier. Where is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jacob. You know just as well as I do that I couldn't have brought anything in here. It's just us."

I am suddenly aware of a hundred thousand faces, each of them passing in a quiet march, none of them turning to look at us. A line of humans, unbound from their humanity, passes between us. I hear the echo of footsteps. Millions of people enter their homes. Billions. The sun begins to set.

"No, no you couldn't." Jacob is panicking. "But this place is different, it- it- it's growing. How long did you say? You could walk and walk and never reach the edge? How could you know this? How did you do it?"

I laugh. I can't help it. Even now, he tries to trick me. I see my own face appear in an instant, the furious amber orbs swinging frantically behind empty sockets. "How did you do it?"

"I promised you," I say slowly, "that I would build a shining city for you, my son. A place we could be together, forever. This city, Pandaemonium, this is our city."

The streets are empty, and always have been. A strong wind whips down the paved streets. Above us tower giants, the colossal guardians of this place, silent and unmoving. Across from me is my son, but only in the skin draping over its withered, limp form. This creature opens its mouth, and a choked gasp escapes its lips.

"The Architect," Jacob says, his face warping into a grim mockery of another Overseer. "How did you get it here? You couldn't have left without me knowing, and it wasn't here when I got here, unless…" The creature screeches. "You had it inside you. You brought it inside you!"

"A dream," I say, "a dream I had of this place, long before you brought us here. Endless streets, variation on variation - a city that does not end. A place for us to be, forever. It was there in the next dream, as well. And then the next. It has been here for many long years now, building the framework for Pandaemonium."

My son howls. Its body is rendered as something monstrous and uncanny appears from within, a horrifying, clicking beast. I hesitate and flinch, but hold my ground. The worst it can do is kill me. It shrieks and hisses and I see flashing nightmares in the air around it, the torn and twisted bodies of my parents, the crumpled and defeated form of Jacob in the ground, Elisa scattered across the room like a crimson butterfly. I see something else, something I saw down in that sullen place.

"In exchange for my name, you gave me what I wanted. A chance to say goodbye." Blood rushes between the beast's grinding teeth. New faces appear across its own, desperately searching for something that will affect me. A face that will stay my hand. Elisa. My brother. A former girlfriend. My son. My mother. Friends, colleagues, they flash and shriek and writhe in an agony that does not exist. "This city is my gift to you. A place for you to live with that name, for as long as you wish. A place where you can't hurt anyone."

A moment passes, and then another. At the third, my son lays before me again, crumpled into a heap on the ground. He breathes heavily, and looks up and away, past me, down the long avenue flanked by towers.

"Where is it?" it says. Its voice is barely a whisper.

I shake my head. "Buried. Somewhere beneath here, in a distant memory. Pandaemonium, this city we built together, is built upon itself over and over again. Its foundation is the still living bodies of the hands that built it. It's long gone, buried somewhere beneath ten-thousand years of its own creations."

Jacob sighs. "And even if I had it, it wouldn't change anything. It doesn't unmake."

I nod.

Elisa stands up. She looks at me, and then at the sky. "How far does it go? How far away is the edge?"

"I don't know. It might take a thousand years to cross. Maybe a hundred thousand. By the time you have found your way out of Pandaemonium, you will have exhausted the name I gave you and will be reduced to what you really are - an envious, hateful vacuum. A spiteful ghost. Something that I should have left in the dark."

"But," I continue, "we will be together. Always we two. You can spend lifetimes out there, searching for the edge of a city that grows larger every day, or you can stay here with me."

Jacob looks at me. The amber orbs are there, but they swing less quickly. I see something in its gaze. Is it fear? Anger? Sadness?

"I festered in the darkness of my own non-existence for endless hours," it says, hate dripping off its writhing tongue. "It is not vapid desire that drives me, but my own design. I will walk for a trillion years if I must, or more, and when I am free from this prison I will share this blood with every being that draws breath and take back those names that were once part of me. Then," it inhales sharply, "I will be whole."

It turns to walk, but hesitates. It looks at me, and for a moment I can see something else within it, something apart from the malice.

"And when I have reclaimed them," it says softly, "and when this world reaches its closing, I will come back here. Then, we will be together."

Moments later it is gone, down the street and into the dark labyrinth of endless monoliths. I watch until it disappears into the night. The wind still blows.

I go back to our apartment. Around me, in man-sized containers that litter each new structure sleep the soulless bodies of my neighbors, Pandaemonium's citizenry. An endless mass of faces that the Doppelganger cannot seize. They never belonged to it.

I sit alone in my empty apartment, nameless and accursed. I hear the distant laughter of my wife and my son, and I smile.

Jacob, come inside.

It's almost time for bed.

+ REVISED ENTRY

- Close File

Item #: SCP-5935

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5935 is contained in a secure medical ward at Site-17. SCP-5935 is to remain in a medically induced coma until further notice.

Description: SCP-5935 is the body of a human male found near [REDACTED]. SCP-5935's identity is seemingly anomalously difficult to ascertain, though whether this is due to SCP-5935's own inherent anomalous nature, or an anomaly acting upon SCP-5935, is unknown.

The intended purpose of SCP-5935 is to contain SCP-5935-1.

Who are you?

Footnotes

1. Don't touch that dial now.

2. RAISA Archive Automated Message: Record Discrepancy. Origin Unknown.