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Item #: 8457

Object Class: Tiamat1 Euclid

Archived Special Containment Procedures: To investigate, identify and root out SCP-8457-B infiltrations, Operation Antarctic Sleuths has been approved, consisting of a coordinated effort between Foundation MTFs Pi-1 "City Slickers", Epsilon-6 "Village Idiots", GOC Strike Teams 3447 "Radiant Hounds" and 6879 "Pretty Peepers". Anomalous governmental agencies should be contacted on a case-by-case basis to facilitate operations on their territories.

Isolated SCP-8457-B instances may safely be engaged out of public views. Upon confirming the location of a SCP-8457-B hive, civilians must be discretely evacuated before the location can be raided. At least one SCP-8457-B instance must be captured alive from each hive and brought back for questioning.

All captive SCP-8457-B instances are held in Tidewall, a GOC-controlled holding facility in the Norwegian sea. Instances may only be interrogated individually by a lone interviewer who must be able to confirm their identity after exiting the cell.

The main objective of these interrogations must be determining the fate and locations of civilians replaced by SCP-8457-B.

Current Special Containment Procedures: Operation Antarctic Sleuths will remain active for an additional six months to deal with stray SCP-8457-B instances. As the previously captured instances are held under the joint custody of the Foundation and the GOC, negotiations are underway between the two parties to determine how these captives may be split once the operation ends.

Foundation surveillance satellites will be fitted with the means to detect further incursions from SCP-8457-A, although such an event is considered unlikely.

Description: SCP-8457-A is an extradimensional area of unknown size, theorized to be larger than Earth. The atmosphere of SCP-8457-A is suitable for human life, although it possesses a higher concentration of oxygen owing to the abundance of plant life over its surface. It was once inhabited by numerous civilisations. This was changed as a result of the actions of SCP-8457-B

SCP-8457-B are the dominant species on SCP-8457-A. Although humanoid in appearance, their skin is naturally transparent and they are closer to invertebrate insects. SCP-8457-B begin their lives in a larval stage and grow up to walk on two hind legs, interacting with the world around them with two pairs of upper limbs. At later stages of their lives, the top pair of limbs are absorbed back inside their bodies to re-emerge as wings, granting them flight.

Before this late stage, SCP-8457-B are able to rearrange the shape and colours of their skin in order to mimic the appearance of other species, an ability they have used in their conquest of SCP-8457-A.

SCP-8457-B's society revolves around constant conquest and expansion, a fact that eventually lead them to attempt an invasion of baseline reality.

The Foundation became aware of SCP-8457-B on 31/01/2017 following the disappearance of Mélanie Leroy, agent of MTF Pi-1 "City Slickers".

Addendum 1

Discovery

Agent Leroy had taken five days of personal leave to attend the 2017 comic book festival of Angoulême, France, as she did every year. On the thirtieth of January, she was on her way back to her home base of Site-13 in Marseille when she stopped at a highway rest area.

This rest area was her last known location until the culmination of the SCP-8457 case. The following logs were only obtained upon her return to baseline reality.

The last picture shared by Agent Leroy, updating her colleagues on her return trip.

Agent Mélanie Leroy wakes up from a nap within her car and unplug the charging cable from her eye implants2. She checks the time.

Leroy: Twelve past noon? Time to get a bite.

Agent Leroy puts on sunglasses and exits her car. The rest area is surrounded in heavy fog, isolating it from the rest of the highway. A few other vehicles are parked next to the main building, including a bus surrounded by teenagers listening to an adult man.

School teacher: Now listen, we won't get moving again until the weather clears, so if you need to use the bathroom, buy a snack or stretch your legs well… you have plenty of time.

Agent Leroy walks past the school group and enters the main building. A few groups are inside, mainly consisting of families perusing the shop or lining up at the restaurants, and a group of truckers chatting over cups of coffee. She walks up to the counter of the bakery and waves to the clerk.

Sandwich clerk: What can I get you today Madame?

Leroy: A pa— wait, that might not be what you call it here, let me check.

Agent Leroy leans in to inspect the display window. Something in the reflection catches her attention and she turns around.

Outside of the building, the fog is growing thicker and rolling in closer. Its shade is slowly turning green.

Leroy: Hell, not now.

Agent Leroy exits the building, ignoring the clerk calling out to her. She takes off her sunglasses, takes out her phone and opens a secure Foundation communication line, but receives no signal.

Leroy: Spatial anomaly then. Observe, assess and-

Her thoughts are interrupted by a horrified scream coming from her left. The students around the bus are panicking, their teacher nowhere to be seen.

The buzzing of wings grows closer and something grabs Agent Leroy from behind. She reacts before her assailant is able to lift her from the ground, twisting her body to shake off its hold. She scans the skies around her but sees nothing, her field of vision clouded by the fog.

The rhythmic sounds of boots marching surrounds the area, drawing Agent Leroy's attention as well as that of other civilians who exit the main building.

Three platoons of SCP-8457-B footsoldiers march in from within the fog. They are equipped with plate armour and pointed helmets, armed with spears, all forged out of a golden metal. The platoons take position while the civilians keep staring, incredulous. Agent Leroy rushes to her car.

Agent Leroy dives into her car just as a war horn blares. The platoons charge in. The civilians are terrified, some attempt to run to their vehicles, some try to run away into the fog, others panic aimlessly. The students retreat inside their bus.

Agent Leroy emerges from her car. She dons a gendarmerie beret3 and aims her handgun at an approaching SCP-8457-B soldier. She shoots the soldier between the eyes and shouts towards the civilians.

Leroy: I'm a member of the special forces! Everyone get inside the building, now!

She slowly retreats towards the main building, taking opportunity shots to slow down the approaching soldiers who are now wary of her. Her clip empties as she reaches the door of the building but she does not yet reload, keeping the weapon trained on the soldiers.

Trucker: What the fuck is going on lady? Who are these freaks?

Leroy: No time for answers, just do as I say! Everyone who can fight needs to grab something they can use as a weapon and get ready to use it. Everyone else needs to take the children and lock themselves in the bathrooms.

The civilians begin to move behind Leroy. She stares at the soldiers, exhales, and begins to reload her gun. The soldiers notice this and charge in.

Agent Leroy shoots into the advancing platoons, dropping their numbers as much as she can before they reach the building. Five soldiers charge at her, attempting to cross through the door. The others break in through the windows.

Agent Leroy is only able to catch glimpses of the struggle behind her. The civilians have armed themselves with makeshift weapons gathered from the building: kitchen knives, chairs, slings made out of clothes. She hears another person shoot a firearm but is unable to see them.

More soldiers attack Agent Leroy in close quarters, one of them manages to grab hold of her arms and prevent her from shooting. With its lower pair of arms, the soldier gets ready to slash at Leroy but stops dead when a thrown bread knife embeds itself into its head.

Sandwich clerk: Ohmygod I'm so glad I didn't hit her.

Agent Leroy quickly pulls the knife out of her assailant and uses it to engage the other in close combat. Between her efforts and the desperate struggle of the civilians behind her, the tide of incoming soldiers is stalled.

Screams of terror come from outside. Agent Leroy looks at the school bus and sees the terrified students, who had remained in the vehicle, backing away from the entrance as a dozen SCP-8457-B walk in.

Leroy: NO!

She struggles against her assailants in an attempt to push past them. But just as she is stopping them from getting in, they are stopping her from getting out. She is unable to get anywhere close to the bus, the screaming students are being dragged out by the soldiers.

Unknown: I'm NOT dying here, not today!

Something rumbles in the bus. Three of the soldiers run out in a panic.

A large creature resembling a large ape covered in chitin rather than hair bursts through the side of the bus, dragging two soldiers along with it. It lands and slams them into the ground before throwing them into the soldiers crowding the bus and pouncing after them.

Agent Leroy is distracted by her attackers and loses sight of the bus. She catches an incoming spear between her side and her arm and shoots its wielder in the head. She kicks its body away to trip the soldiers behind it. This lets her catch a glimpse of the dead soldiers around the bus.

The creature dives into the ranks of the soldiers attacking the building, crushing them with heavy blows. Between its onslaught and the resistance from the civilians lead by Agent Leroy, the SCP-8457-B platoons take huge losses.

A war horn blares in the distance. At this signal, all the soldiers retreat into the fog.

The creature's body twists and cracks, it contracts and shifts until it returns to the form of one of the male students from earlier.

The teenager and Agent Leroy stare at each other for a few seconds.

Leroy: What are you, a Sarkic?

Sarkic teenager: No, I'm Nälkä. What about you, you one of the Bookburners?

Leroy: Foundation, actually.

Sarkic teenager: So a Jailer then. Look I hope you won't mind if I avoid what would otherwise be a very awkward situation for both of us and just walk away.

He turns around and takes a few steps away. He does not get far before the fog all around them dissipates, revealing the area they now find themselves in.

Instead of the highway, the rest area is now surrounded by a forest thick with unidentified trees. Two suns shine brightly in the sky.

Sarkic teenager: Fucking fantastic.

When Agent Leroy failed to report back to Site-13 twenty-four hours after her scheduled return, she was declared missing and a team of her fellow Pi-1 agents were sent to investigate her last known location.

The investigation team is composed of Agents Auclair, Lavaud, Molin, Thiers and Benett, all previously familiar with the missing Agent Leroy.

11:06: The team arrives in front of the highway rest area and finds the road leading to it blocked by a pile of vehicles, currently being observed by a pair of maintenance workers. All agents disembark their van.

11:10: The maintenance workers are convinced to leave the area. The team proceeds past the blockade. Agent Thiers remarks that the vehicles look off.

11:12: The team sees the rest area for the first time. All agents observe that it looks like a poor imitation. Several details are missing or wrong, such as the colours of the buildings, the shape of the roof or the absence of any text.

11:14: The team splits in two with Auclair, Lavaud and Molin investigating the main building while Thiers and Bennet investigate the smaller employees' annex.

11:20: Inside the main building, the team is ambushed by a group of hostile humanoids that emerge from the bathrooms.

11:27: All hostiles have been dispatched via gunfire. Auclair exits the building to check on the other half of the team and encounters Thiers carrying a wounded and unconscious Bennet. Thiers' clothes are bloodied but he shows no signs of injury and declines Auclair's help, saying he will get Bennet back to their van and "get him better".

11:29: Auclair is called back inside by the rest of the team. Lavaud and Molin have singled out one of the humanoids' corpses and noted its likeness to Agent Leroy, with slight variations in height, build and hair density. Molin compares it to a painting made from memory without a clear reference of the subject.

11:32: All agents inside hear their van start up and drive off. They rush outside to see that the vehicle has already left.

11:33: Auclair attempts to call Thiers on his radio and is surprised to hear her own voice coming from inside the annex building.

11:35: Inside the annex building, the team finds Thiers' dropped radio. Venturing further inside, they find Agent Thiers' bloodied and naked corpse.

A more complete investigation of the area revealed that all vehicles, buildings and objects inside were made out of a wax-like substance and hollowed out to serve as hives. A number of larvae were recovered from within the room from which the humanoids emerged, and sent to be studied and contained.

With the confirmation that these entities were a potentially widespread species capable of hostile action against humans, they were classified as SCP-84574.

Agent Leroy was declared missing in action.

Addendum 2

Escalation

Agent Leroy is within the main building, supervising the care of the wounded. A group of people accost her.

Trucker: You've got to explain yourself, lady. What happened here?

Leroy: I would love to explain, but I don't have answers for this specific situation. For now all you need to know is that I am part of a… special task force that handles cases like this. As long as you stick with me, we should get through this.

Sandwich clerk: So you're from the government?

Leroy: I… yes I am. Part of a top-secret governmental agency, but after what you've already seen here I can tell you that we are experts in this type of scenario.

Most members of the crowd look relaxed after this explanation. Two of the students approach.

Student A: And what about Liam, miss. Is he gonna alright?

Leroy: Liam?

Student B: Our friend. The one who uh, transformed.

Leroy: Ah, him. Well I haven't seen him since he walked into the woods. Say, did you know him well?

Student A: Not that well, no. He switched schools two years ago and he hasn't really gotten close to anyone.

Student B: He's nice though. He helps out.

Student A: He helps out yeah, but he never hangs out with anyone. That's why we didn't know he was… that.

Leroy: It's a good thing you didn't know. And let me tell you, him walking out on us was actually good news.

Trucker: How could you say that? Sure, the kid looked a little fucked up, but don't you feel bad knowing he's out there alone?

Leroy: Look, it's like I told you: my agency has experience dealing with things like this. I know what he is and I can't afford the trouble his kinds brings. Our situation is already complex enough, my main focus has to be on protecting all of you, not worrying about another anomalous factor. I don't even know if he has anything to do with getting us stranded in another world!

Student A: Did you just say another world?

Leroy: Another world, another plane, another dimension, I'm not sure which one it is exactly. But we're obviously not on Earth anymore.

Student A boldly swipes his hands in front of himself and shouts.

Student A: [STATUS!] [Cheat skill activate!]

Nothing happens. All present stare at him.

Student B: You know Mathis, even if my ideas about reality are crumbling right now, it's nice to know that despite it all you're still a proven weeb.

Student A: I mean… it was worth a try.

Footage from the second day consists of Agent Leroy taking charge of the group of survivors. All survivors fit to work are split in different groups.

One group cleans up the remains of the battle, fixes breaches, tends to the wounded and buries the dead. Agent Leroy had ordered the SCP-8457-B corpses to be disposed of, however all appear to have disappeared overnight. Upon closer inspection, Agent Leroy notices trails left behind by heavy objects being dragged into the woods.

A second group takes the inventory of the rest area, with particular attention being paid to food stocks and water reserves. A third group, lead by Agent Leroy, sets up barricades at designated key points.

The evening is spent sharing information and formulating plans for the group's continued survival. No other individuals come forth with knowledge of the anomalous, strengthening Leroy's position as leader of the group. She declares the woods surrounding the area off-limits for the time being.

A widespread search for other SCP-8457 hives was initiated but yielded no results due to a lack of knowledge at the time.

The case received a new development on 13/02/2017 when the Global Occult Coalition besieged Area-67 near Strasbourg, France. GOC officials accused the Foundation of conducting a raid on a meeting between members of the New Synarchist Pact, an organisation seated on the Council of 108.

Footage from the raid showed individuals bearing the likeness of Agents Thiers and Bennet barging into the room and taking everyone present captive. The files regarding SCP-8457 were forwarded to the GOC to prove the Foundation's lack of involvement, but this explanation was rejected for its insufficient amount of proof.

On 15/02/2017; Foundation forces were ordered to gather around the besieged Area in order to break through the encirclement. Before any hostilities could begin, a car bearing the insignia of the French Ministry of Sub-Veil Affairs parked itself between the two camps. Attendants exited the vehicle and invited the commanding officers of both camps to step inside.

Attending: Commander Anne Demars (MTF Nu-7 "Hammer Down"), Captain Corentin Bleiz (Strike Teams 3447 "Radiant Hounds"), Léonard Guillot (Minister of Sub-Veil Affairs), Philippe Arnaud (New Synarchist Pact).

Commander Demars bends down to step inside the car. She finds herself inside a large room furnished with only a round table and chairs. Captain Bleiz, Mr Guillot and Mr Arnaud are already seated.

Demars: Woah, it's—

Guillot: Not actually bigger on the inside, it'd be a hassle to drive it around. The doors simply act as portals to my offices.

Bleiz: Guess it would take more than that to bring you out of your hidey-hole, eh Minister?

Mr Guillot does not answer. Commander Demars takes a seat.

Guillot: So, it is probably obvious why I called for this meeting.

Demars: Go ahead and explain it anyway, for the record.

She taps her bodycam.

Guillot: If you want it spelled out: you two represent the most dangerous military organisations on the planet, and the President would rather you didn't start a war on French soil. So I thought it best to calm things down before this skirmish can grow into something worse for everyone.

Arnaud: Especially when there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything.

Captain Bleiz stares at Mr Arnaud, sniffs and frowns.

Bleiz: You seem familiar. Should I recognise you from something?

Demars: Are you serious gocker? He's one of the Synarchists you all claimed were kidnapped.

Bleiz tilts his head.

Demars: The reason your side started all this?

Bleiz: Eh, I don't really follow the politics. I'm just the guy they send to do stuff.

Demars: For the love of… Anyway, how is it that you're here, Mr Arnaud?

Guillot: You can thank me for that. The Synarchists have some sway in our government, so when a dozen of them goes missing it isn't something that I can ignore. I sent some people to look into it and what do they find in Mr Arnaud's own home?

Arnaud: Me! Can you believe it?

They both laugh.

Arnaud: Of course, I'm not the real Philippe Arnaud so that's too bad for you.

Guillot: What?

Demars: What?

Bleiz: What?

Mr Arnaud's skin loosens and turns transparent, a secondary pair of arms split from his sides. His appearance shifts into a SCP-8457-B instance.

Fake Arnaud: The real Philippe Arnaud is probably slaving away in a logging camp now that we've gotten everything we needed out of him. And you will join him soon.

Captain Bleiz lunges at the fake Arnaud and pins him to the ground.

Bleiz: If you think we'll let you, you son of—

Fake Arnaud: Let me? It's already too late. This whole meeting was a trap, a shiny bait to grab military leaders from our biggest potential threats. And you, minister, so eager to calm the tensions. How do you feel, knowing that your form will give us the keys to your country?

Guillot: Will it?

Fake Arnaud: Go ahead, try to leave this room. You will find that are no longer in your world and that my people already surround you.

Mr Guilot calmly gets up from his seat and walks to the door. He opens it to reveal a brightly-lit office room in which a secretary awaits.

Guillot: Miss Dubois? It worked, you can turn off the anchors now.

The secretary nods and leaves.

Fake Arnaud: What? How?

Guillot: Right. Commander Demars, Captain Bleiz, I believe this will serve as sufficient proof that another party was involved in that awful raid. Now you can all pack up your armies and start looking into whoever "his people" are, correct?

Bleiz: Right on!

Bleiz punches the fake Arnaud unconscious and slings its body up his shoulder.

Bleiz: With that guy's scent, me and my men will track out the rest in no time.

Demars: Hold on! We also need him for questioning!

Bleiz: That's for your boss and my boss to figure out between themselves.

Captain Bleiz exits the room through one of the doors leading to the outside of the car. Commander Demars sighs.

Demars: Can I at least ask how you knew?

Guillot: Someone is abducting French citizens en masse, Commander. It is my job to know and do something about this type of thing.

Demars: With all due respect Minister, you're thinking small.

Guillot: Pardon?

Demars: We're lucky if this stops at France.

The captured SCP-8457-B instance promptly self-terminated upon regaining consciousness. Post-mortem interrogation conducted by GOC thaumaturges revealed the following information, which was shared with the Foundation:

SCP-8457-B are of extradimensional origin.

They possess limited means to observe baseline reality

They are able, through special workings, to replace small areas of baseline reality with a corresponding area from their plane of origin.

The structures and individuals captured in this way are then studied to inform and improve the mimicry of theirs hives and soldiers.

Captives that have been studied enough are then sent "to keep it at bay." No further information could be gleaned from the deceased subject.

Following this, Operation Antarctic Sleuths was launched. As predicted by Commander Demars, SCP-8457-B hives were found in countries besides France, predominantly in rural or isolated areas.

To: Antarctic Sleuths Reports

From: Agent Auclair, Pi-1

Subject: Agent behind enemy lines.

To whoever gets this email, I've realised something.

Antarctic Sleuths has been going great. It's not always easy working with the GOC but we all have to admit these extrasensory types they keep sending are just what we needed to go hunting the changelings. Some of them could do with shedding less, but that's not what I want to talk about.

See, every hive we raid has something in common: excellent mimicry. The changelings might get a few details wrong, and if you go punching their walls you'll get a fistful of wax, but generally they look like their victims, talk like their victims and can even keep their backstories straight. It's like this in every hive.

All except one, the first one we ever found. The soldiers there were pale imitations of the people they had abducted, something we've never seen anywhere else. Today I remembered how one of my teammates compared their mimicry to drawing without a reference. That's when it hit me.

That first hive had something else setting it apart. Every other one we've raided was just mimicking civilians, but that one time they went and grabbed a Foundation agent. That one time, they weren't able to study anyone because she was there to protect everyone.

Agent Mélanie Leroy is alive. And wherever the changelings are coming from, she's stuck there.

Addendum 3

Worldwide efforts

On the third day, it becomes apparent that the survivors' food stocks will not last long, as the rest area mostly contained snacks and perishables. Agent Leroy convinces the truckers that they do not need to conserve their cargo and that they should open up their trucks for use by the group. Of the three trucks, only one contained food. The second contained electronics, of which Agent Leroy grabs a handful . The third contained heather fencing which the group uses to reinforce their barricades.

Two of the civilians wounded on the first day pass away in the night and are buried in the morning. Agent Leroy estimates the group has about a week left worth of food and water.

On the fifth day, the morning watch discovers a large amount of unknown fruits piled up by the annex building. Agent Leroy's words of warning prove insufficient to stop some of the students from biting into the fruits.

These fruits are proven to be edible and are added to the group's stocks, despite complaints about their taste.

During the night watch of the eighth day, Agent Leroy hears screams coming from the forest.

The next day, another pile of fruits is found next to the annex building. Agent Leroy notices drops of blood on some of the fruits.

On the tenth day, two flying soldiers attempt to abduct survivors on the morning watch. Agent Leroy is able to shoot them down but uses her last magazine to do so.

One of the truckers reveals he possesses a personal gun and leverages it for authority. He gathers a group of discontented survivors and heads into the woods.

On the thirteenth day, the morning watch sounds the alarm. Fog is rolling in.

Leroy: The enemy is coming back, everyone get ready!

The survivors grab their makeshift weapons, which have been improved with Agent Leroy's guidance, and take position behind the barricades.

The number of SCP-8457-B soldiers exiting the fog is less than that of the first day, however Agent Leroy quickly notices that a few among them are equipped with firearms.

Leroy: How did they…

The soldiers open fire, forcing Agent Leroy and the survivors to take cover. The survivors return fire with slings and hand-thrown projectiles, barely slowing the advancing troops. Agent Leroy orders the group to fall back to the second row of barricades inside the building.

Agent Leroy stays behind to cover the retreat. A flying soldier dives straight at her, which she notices too late.

Trucker B: Hands off!

A gunshot rings out and the flying soldier drops from the sky. The trucker who had left earlier runs to Agent Leroy's side.

Leroy: Tired of playing leader?

Trucker B: Are you kidding me? It's a death trap out there!

Trucker B fires a few shots towards the advancing soldiers, who stop in their tracks. He discards his empty gun and follows Agent Leroy inside the building, she closes the door right after. The SCP-8457-B troops take position by the gas pumps, spears at the ready.

Sandwich Clerk: What are they doing? Why are they not charging in?

Leroy: They know they've got us surrounded, they don't need to take risks.

Sandwich Clerk: So they've already won?

Leroy: No, they—

Trucker B: Yes, we have.

New arms peel off the side of Trucker B and stab at Agent Leroy. She reacts too late, attempts to dodge the attack but is nonetheless stabbed in the thigh. She collapses and can only watch as Trucker B reverts into a SCP-8457-B soldier.

Fake trucker: I did say it was a death trap out there.

The survivors brace themselves for a fight. The fake trucker waves his dagger.

Fake trucker: None of that, now. All it would take is one signal from me and all the troops out there will rush in here and, well, kill you all. And that would be a waste of perfectly good hostages.

Leroy: Hostages? [She coughs.] Why do you need hostages?

Fake trucker: For you, Agent Mélanie Leroy.

She gasps.

Fake trucker: Surprised? We've been learning a lot about the Foundation you see, and it seems they're quite invested in getting you back. First, you thwart our first incursion in ages and cause us -quite frankly- no end of trouble; and then it turns out you have a lot of worth for one of our biggest enemies. So tell me, Agent Leroy, what makes you so special?

Leroy: Fuck you.

Fake trucker: Ah, I see I need to "negotiate". You'll have to excuse me, it's not something we're used to.

The fake trucker walks up to Student A and stabs him in the throat. The dead student drops to the ground, the survivors scream.

Fake trucker: There, I believe I have negotiated our terms. Now you give me something I want or…

He grabs the sandwich clerk by the hair and holds his dagger up to her throat.

Leroy: Wait! I'll talk!

Fake trucker: There we go! Was it really so hard?

Leroy: It's the O5, they gave me… [She chokes.]

Fake Trucker: Oh please, you're past the point where stalling is a good idea.

Leroy: No it's… memetic… can't say it out loud… not with the civilians. Need to whisper.

Agent Leroy attempts to stand up but her legs give out and she falls back down, below the windows' level.

Fake trucker: Oh for the love of… just make it quick, alright?

The Fake trucker lets go of his hostage and approaches Agent Leroy. He squats down to listen to her.

Leroy: They told me… you can't signal your troops if they can't see you.

Agent Leroy grabs the fake trucker's neck and pulls him in, smashing his face against the floor. He struggles, but she twists around and mounts his back. While keeping him in place, she grabs a hold of his dagger and stabs through his skull.

Leroy: Quick! Plan Firebomb!

The sandwich clerk runs behind the counter and retrieves an item which she hands to Agent Leroy. It is a can of cassoulet which has been emptied, tinkered with and re-sealed. Electronic parts are taped to it and it makes a sloshing sound when Agent Leroy takes it. She hauls herself up to one of the window and pushes it open. The troops around the gas pumps notice, but do not yet react.

Leroy: Gotta make it count.

Agent Leroy throws the can at the soldiers' feet. They observe it, confused.

Leroy: And now duck!

All the survivors take cover as a large detonation rocks the building. The windows shatter.

Agent Leroy painstakingly gets up to look outside again. Flames are spreading all over the scene, burning the bodies of the SCP-8457-B soldiers, spreading to the main building.

Sandwich clerk: Now what?

Leroy: I don't know. But we can't stay here.

Notes: While retrieving Agent Leroy was considered a sub-objective of gaining access to SCP-8457-A, she was not given any official priority. It is possible that SCP-8457-B, having only acquired partial information on Operation Antarctic Sleuths, confused the efforts of MTF Pi-1 agents who personally knew Agent Leroy for the wider policy of the operation. Alternatively, it has been theorized that due to SCP-8457-B's culture not placing any value on the lives of common soldiers, any amount of effort towards rescuing a lost agent appeared unusual for them.

Operation Antarctic Sleuths encountered great success in its early stages, but was later met with numerous hurdles. Captured SCP-8457-B instances remained resistant to interrogation, however their actions and the frequency of their deployment made it clear that they were escalating their level of response against the Foundation and the GOC.

Notable incidents involving SCP-8457-B:

Location
Incident
Notes

Site-61, France
Junior researcher Delarue attempts to assassinate Minister Guillot during the latter's visit of the Site. Delarue is terminated by Site security and reverts into a SCP-8457-B instance, but not before critically wounding his target.
While being rushed to the hospital, Guillot theorized the attack was an act of revenge for his involvement in the capture of the fake Arnaud, indicating a likely information leak coming from either organization.

Bremen, Germany
During a raid on a hive posing as a hotel in the city, a SCP-8457-B instance disrupts the Working being cast by GOC thaumaturges. The resulting backlash causes the entire hive to combust and the death of all parties involved.
It remains unclear if this result was unexpected by SCP-8457-B or if they willingly sacrificed the hive.

Site-19-S, USA
Security Chief Robert Gervais pursues a SCP-8457-B instance which was found disoriented in the Site's underground. Gervais temporarily loses sight of his mark until he enters a room where he finds two identical versions of Researcher Grim, both insisting they are the real one. Gervais shoots both individuals, successfully capturing the intruder and mildly annoying SCP-6729.
During its interrogation, the captive instance seemed disappointed when it learned the designation of the Site it had been captured in.

Site-120, Poland
Security systems within Site-120 detect an extradimensional incursion in progress and divert it. 350 SCP-8457-B instances materialize two hundred feet into the air next to the Site and fall to their death.
The readings captured by the Site's system are forwarded to the research staff of Operation Antarctic Sleuths to develop potential ways to gain access to SCP-8457-A.

Nanning, China
All contact is lost with the three members of Strike Team 6879 who were dispatched to capture an isolated instance.
None.

Suez, Egypt
Anomalous fog surrounds the location of a raid lead by Captain Bleiz, exchanging the hive with the building it had previously replaced. All agents are lost in action.
No civilians were present inside the returned building, which only contained the traces of a past struggle.

GOC holding facility Tidewall
A group of SCP-8457-B instances attempt to infiltrate the facility by posing as a raiding team bringing in captives. Their identities are exposed at a security checkpoint, at which point hostilities begin. Security is bolstered around the area holding all SCP-8457-B captives, which is in turn wholly ignored by the intruders. The groups that manage to break through the fighting instead aim for the areas containing high-risk prisoners. Tidewall vanishes from baseline reality after the release of KTE-4427 Moro-Black and returns three days later with all intruders terminated and over 34% of the facility lost.
SCP-8457-B appears to be extracting information from captured personnel and targeting key infrastructure.

Site-19, USA
A SCP-8457-B instance posing as Level 4 researcher Robins bypasses all memetic checks and begins to activate the on-Site nuclear warheads. Additional memetic payloads are broadcasted into the room, to no effect. The procedure is interrupted in its last stages by Dr. Clef unplugging the impostor's device and strangling it to death with the cable.
Non-compliant SCP-8457-B captives will be selected for memetic testing in order to improve security systems with more effective memetic agents.

Joint Statement from the Antarctic Sleuths command.

The current situation cannot stand.

Our forces remain superior in the field, that much is true, but it has grown increasingly clear that the loss of hives, even by the hundreds, does not affect our enemy.

And while we play whack-a-mole with changeling hives, they target us where it hurts. We have had critical facilities raided and key figures abducted. We have had to react to their attacks as they keep throwing troops at us

We cannot stay on the defensive.

Henceforth, experts on dimensional research from both of our organizations will be added to the ranks of Antarctic Sleuths. The mission of gaining access to SCP-8457-A is to be given top priority above all other objectives.

It is time to bring the fight to their home field.

Agent Leroy limps through the woods, leading the survivors away from the burning rest area.

Sandwich clerk: Miss, I know we're in a rush but you really need to treat that wound better.

Leroy: No time. If they come back again, we're done for.

Trucker: Do you have any idea where to go? You'd better not be getting us lost.

Leroy: Water… if we find a river and follow it, we should arrive… somewhere. I don't know.

Student B: Great, so you have no plan.

Leroy: I do. These… people, they must have had some back-and-forth with Earth. That's how they… got the info and weapons. If we can find out how they do it…

Trucker: We could go back home. Sure, I follow your logic. Just one problem: how are we supposed to take that from them?

Leroy: I'll figure that out… later.

Agent Leroy is able to keep the survivors' discontent in check and urges them onwards. This is the first time that she truly observes the woods.

None of the flora corresponds to species existing on Earth. While Agent Leroy notices some variety in the grass and flowers that grow at ground level, the number tree species is extremely limited. Tall trees with grey bark stretch on upwards, blocking the view of the sky. At first, flowery vines appear to wrap around these grey trees. On closer inspection, these vines turn out to be branches growing from the only other tree species around: tall willow-like trees bearing a high amount of flowers and fruit. The same branches are clutched around the remains of other trees, all reduced to withered husks and rotting logs.

Leroy: Are these some kind of parasites? And we've been eating from them…

Student B: Hey, I found something!

The group gathers around the student's discovery. She has pulled the grass apart to reveal a decayed brick road.

Student B: That has to lead somewhere, right?

Trucker: Not somewhere with a lot of traffic, by the looks of it.

Leroy: That's good then. We might be able to find a new shelter.

The group begins to follow along the abandoned brick road.

Leroy: It is weird though. The soldiers looked like they were brought in by magic each time. If this kind of infrastructure exists, why aren't they using it?

Lost in thought, Agent Leroy bumps into the trucker ahead of her. He is standing still, trembling

Trucker: Maybe tha— that's why.

The trucker points a shaky finger towards a large mass ahead of them. Many dozens of SCP-8457-B corpses have been stripped of their armour and piled up across the road.

Three slender hexapedal mammals prowl around the pile of corpses, occasionnaly tearing off chunks of flesh with their fangs and feeding upon them. Agent Leroy silently gestures to the group to back away and is obeyed.

While retreating, a brick crumbles beneath Agent Leroy's foot, which gets stuck in the resulting crevice. This sudden shock to her wounded leg causes her to lose balance and hit the ground. The three creatures turn their attention to the sound.

Leroy: Forget about me, just run!

The creatures hiss and growl, they arch their backs to prepare to run. The survivors are unable to act, stuck between looking at Agent Leroy and the creatures. Agent Leroy fails to get herself unstuck.

The creatures leap forward at great speeds. They will reach the group in a matter of seconds.

The first of the creatures trips upon something, soon followed by the two others. Agent Leroy hears a rope snap above her. She looks up in time to see a bundle of spears tied together fall from the treetop and impale the creatures.

Unknown: Got tired of just eating fruit already? I was just about to solve that.

Someone leaps down from the branches and lands in front of the group. Agent Leroy recognizes the student who had left on the first day.

Leroy: You.

She manages to pull herself from the crevice and draws her knife, positioning herself between him and the group of survivors.

Liam: Yes, me. Now how about we put the sharp things away and chat. I've got a place where we can stay.

Addendum 4

Counterattack

The group of survivors has not moved and Agent Leroy still stands in the same position. Liam is the only one who has moved, he is currently sitting on a stump and clutching his head.

Leroy: … and how did you even KNOW that these fruits were safe for us to eat?

Liam: Because I tried them myself first! Now, do you suddenly have a problem with human testing, or can we move this along?

Leroy: One last thing. How do I know you're not one of those shapeshifters?

Liam: Well I… okay that's actually a sensible question. Hey, maybe one of my classmates can ask me some stuff only I would know.

Liam looks to the crowd of survivors. His expression turns confused as he searches for someone.

Liam: Ah, there you are Clara. Say, where's Mathis?

Student B sobs.

Student B: He… in the attack, he…

Leroy: We were attacked again, that's the whole reason we're here. There were some, some losses. I'm sorry.

Liam stays silent for a few seconds. Cracks form in the bark where his hand grips the stump.

Liam: Fuck me. He was good, nice. I should've been there.

Leroy snaps her finger.

Leroy: Still waiting for proof that you are who you say you are.

Liam: Guess I shouldn't expect too much empathy from a Jailer.

Liam pulls his jaw wide open. Something can be seen slithering under his skin, going up his throat. A pale worm emerges from his mouth and retracts after a few seconds. Liam coughs.

Liam: Fine, there, my Akuloth. You happy?

Leroy: Alright, I believe you. You said you had a place to stay?

Liam: Yeah. It's got a roof, walls… no running water or anything but it's nice enough compared to the rest of everywhere else.

Agent Leroy pauses. She looks to the survivors behind her, then back to Liam. She sheates her knife.

Leroy: And I have people to look after. So, truce?

Liam: I didn't realise you thought we were fighting but sure, truce.

He gets up and turns around, waving for the group to follow after him.

Liam: It's a fair walk until we get here but we should still have sunlight. Or is it sunslight? Because there's two of them?

As he walks by the impaled predators, Liam pulls one of the spears out of their carcass and bites into the flesh that came out with it.

Liam: Anyone else want a snack for the road?

There is only a disgusted silence.

Liam: Just me then. But here, catch.

He snaps the speartip off and tosses the shaft to Agent Leroy.

Liam: Walking stick, for your leg.

Liam is leading the survivors through the forest. Although they are still following along the brick road, they come across several intersections and have to follow the directions he indicates.

Leroy: Have you looked into where the other roads lead to?

Liam: Ruins, mostly. I found one that seems to lead out of the woods, but it's teeming with soldiers so I haven't looked that far into it.

Leroy: Really? It doesn't look like you've had that much trouble killing the ones you find.

Liam: Oh, that pile? Most of it wasn't me. They don't last very long under the trees and I think I know why.

Leroy: You—

Liam: I'll show you when we get there. We're not too far.

Liam continues ahead. Agent Leroy observes him from behind, lingering on his head. The top of his skull is completely devoid of hair and is instead covered in scar tissue.

Leroy: What happened to your head, kid?

Liam: Nothing recent, if that's what you're worried about. I just lost the wig, and it's not like there's a point in hiding it now.

Leroy: That doesn't answer my question.

Liam: And why do you need to know? Do you think this is a containment intake interview?

Leroy: How do you even— nevermind that, you need to be careful what you talk about in front of civilians!

Liam: Do I? You're the only one here who signed a contract with the shadiest global conspiracy out there.

Leroy: For the last time: stop talking about classified topics!

The two stop walking to glare at each other.

Liam: Or what? You'll throw me in jail? Why do I have the feeling that it's already your plan for when we leave this place?

Leroy: I just might if you keep at it!

The trucker runs up to stand between the two.

Trucker: Hey, calm down! Didn't you two just agree to a truce?

Agent Leroy groans. Liam keeps glaring.

Trucker: Please, you're really worrying the rest of us.

Leroy: Alright fine. But you better watch it.

Liam: I thought "watching" was supposed to be your—

He catches sight of the group behind Agent Leroy.

Liam: Nevermind, it's fine.

They walk silently for some time.

Liam: It was a Revelation, by the way.

Leroy: What was?

Liam: My head. A Revelation with a capital "R", you know. Knowledge from on high that makes its way down into your mind. It's quite an honour to receive one but my… It happened when I was young so it had to make some room in there you see.

Leroy: I don't see, that sounds horrifying.

Liam: Hah, yeah! It probably was. Good thing I passed out early in the process.

Leroy: Say, I've heard that there's different types of Sar— of Nälkä. Which one are you?

Liam: The good one.

Leroy: That's very vague.

Liam: And it's all you're getting. The full version would be too long to explain for the time we've got left on the road.

The survivors are still walking. Sunlight has grown dimmer as the suns have descended in the sky.

Leroy: There's no way that story could have taken so long to explain.

Liam: What? Oh, you're still thinking about that? I meant what I said and look: we're here.

Liam pushes dangling branches away, revealing a tall structure behind them. It is made of the same bricks as the road, arranged in an upside-down pyramid. Coiled vines tether its four corners to the ground. One entrance is carved at the bottom, it is surrounded by bipedal skeletons.

Trucker: What the fuck? We've been running from these freaks and you've brought us right to their temple!

Leroy: No, it's not theirs. Look closer.

All the skeletons only possess one pair of arms. They do possess a very high number of bones and a dozen joints per individual limb.

Leroy: Who were they?

Liam: Dunno, haven't found any of them alive. But evidently, those shapeshifters don't have a history of playing nice with others. Have a look inside.

The group enters the structure. Inside is a staircase leading to a wide corridor branching into six rooms on each side.

Liam: I've cleaned up and stocked some food in those rooms, if you all want to settle in and take a break. You might want to follow me upstairs though, Agent.

Agent Leroy follows him to the end of the corridor, which leads into a spiral staircase. They go up and end up inside a dark room.

Liam: I didn't find any torches, so I hope you have darkvision.

Agent Leroy closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose.

Liam: It's uh, I haven't played it myself but I heard it's a big joke from…

Leroy: I know what D&D is, kid. I'm actually trying to turn on my night vision.

Liam: Oh, right, you have those… what happened to your eyes actually?

Leroy: Long story.

Liam: I suppose that's fair.

Agent Leroy opens her eyes again. A battery warning briefly flashes at the corner of her vision which she does not notice, too absorbed by the sight of the chamber.

The chamber is tall and wide, likely taking over half the space of the building. There are altars facing each wall. At the centre of the room, surrounded by even more skeletons, is a faded ritual circle. It has been drawn around a big wooden shell which has been split in two.

Leroy: Is that a seed?

Liam: Look at the murals.

Murals are painted across the walls behind each altar.

The first mural represent five groups of people represented by simplistic figures with stylistic differences. A particular focus is given to a group with triangular heads and another with round heads. As the mural flows towards the second wall, round heads begin to appear among the other five groups.

The second mural shows the round-headed group slaughtering the other four, both with marching armies and traitors from within. The triangle-headed people flee towards the third wall.

The third mural shows the triangle-headed people taking refuge inside this temple. While guards defend against a superior number of round-headed attackers, others pray around a giant seed. A tree emerges from the seed, its branches drop and spread over a disc bearing a few continents.

Leroy: Wait, so these people were flat-worlders?

Liam: Shh, just keep looking.

The fourth mural shows a great expanse of flowering trees. Dots fall from these trees, covering a horde of round-headed soldiers. The soldiers appear to be falling to the ground, their corpses drop to join a pit containing bodies from the four other groups.

Leroy: So these people lost a war…

Liam: And they made sure their killers wouldn't win either. Tragic, but damn bold.

Leroy: But this looks like it happened a long time ago. How are they still around?

Liam: I was wondering that too. Until I found this.

Liam steps behind the fourth altar and shows Agent Leroy a pair of skeletons, these ones with four arms. A scroll rests next to them, with illustrations in the style of the murals. It shows the triangle-headed people pulling the seed through a fog barrier connecting to an inaccurate but recognisable depiction of Earth. The rest of the scroll has been torn off.

Liam: If I had to guess, the rest was about how they went to Earth in the first place. These two's companions must have taken it home. And they found out that while their kind is deathly allergic to that pollen…

Leroy: … humans aren't.

SCP-8457 counteroffensive research results:

Method
Results
Notes

Interrogation and persuasion experts from both organisations intensify their work on captive SCP-8457-B
New information about SCP-8457-B's societal structure is learned and dismissed as irrelevant. Captured humans are in work camps at the border of SCP-8457's territory and made to work to halt the spread of an ecological threat. Confirmation that Agent Mélanie Leroy and accompanying civilians still evade capture.
GOC experts suggest that the presence of a lone Foundation agent is perhaps not sufficient to explain the group's continued survival5.

Cross-referencing surveillance files of the area in which Agent Leroy was abducted.
Reviewing footage provided by the Foundation, GOC analysts identify Liam ████ ████, a POI previously unknown to the Foundation and actively searched for by the GOC's Witness Protection agency.
"Sarkic Practices" added to the list of topics that rescued civilians should be amnesticized for.

Long-term observation of SCP-8457-B hives
Activity patterns studied and understood. The anomalous fog used by SCP-8457-B to travel to and from SCP-8457-A appears to be controlled by troops on the other side who are able to accurately select travelling subjects, and is ruled out as a means to access SCP-8457-A.
Resuming elimination of all hives.

Capturing a SCP-8457-B instance, implanting it with subdermal recording equipment and letting it escape.
Instance returns to hive and is brought back to SCP-8457-A. A few minutes of footage are obtained before the equipment falls off while the instance shapeshifts.
Instance had a partial view of the transportation centre. Thaumaturgical nature of travel confirmed, Foundation and GOC thaumatugists begin to analyse the footage to replicate it.

Incitation to treachery
SCP-8457-B instances born in SCP-8457-A remain loyal and uncooperative. Instances born on hives on Earth can be convinced to change allegiances but possess a limited amount of knowledge.
Captive instances begin slaughtering all Earth-born captives. Few remaining cooperators moved to another holding facility.

Infiltration by GOC-aligned shapeshifters
Three Type Yellow assets manage to infiltrate SCP-8457-B hives and gain access to SCP-8457-A. Two are exposed and terminated while scouting enemy headquarters, one escapes and plans to flee SCP-8457-B's territory. Contact with the last asset is lost when her equipment's battery runs out.
A partial map and evaluation of SCP-8457-B military installations is obtained. SCP-8457-B increase their own security measures. All Earth-Born troops are sent back to SCP-8457-A and hives are no longer used as hatching locations.

Portal
All attempts to open a portal to SCP-8457-A fail. SCP-8457-A's position within the local universe is unstable and cannot be accurately pinpointed.
Researchers from the Department of Ontokinetics suggest it might be possible to establish an accurate connection by aiming at a precise anchor on SCP-8457-A.

Agent Leroy is keeping watch outside the building. Liam emerges from the woods, dragging a leather bag behind him. He is visibly wounded.

Liam: Got some food. It's still the same fruits as ever, not much else on offer with those trees.

Leroy: What happened to you?

Liam: Nothing much, just wasn't the only hungry one out there. I'll be fine in a few hours.

He drops the bag by the entrance and sits down, slumping against the wall.

Liam: Mind taking it inside and sharing with everyone? I can keep watch.

Leroy: Why don't you do it yourself? I barely ever see you spend time with anyone, even the other students.

Liam: It's for the best. You already have a hard enough time maintaining yourself as a leader in their eyes, you don't need me messing with the group's integrity.

Leroy: Or you could try being part of the group.

Liam: What's the point? If we make it out of here, your people will make sure they don't remember any of it.

Leroy: Suit yourself.

Agent Leroy brings the food inside and distributes it among the group. She talks with everyone to organise the coming days and reassure them. Two hours later, she returns outside.

Liam is standing in the distance, praying with his face turned to the suns. Agent Leroy waits for him to finish before tossing him a fruit.

Leroy: Here, in case you forgot to take enough for yourself.

Liam: You're not taking your own advice about being with the group?

Leroy: You're part of my group too, kid. Even if you don't make it easy.

Liam stands still, he looks surprised.

Leroy: If it wasn't absolutely necessary, I wouldn't be okay with you going out there and fighting beasts or whatever. I mean, what are you, 14?

Liam: … 16 actually.

Leroy: Shit, really? You don't look like it.

Liam: It's a long story but after my homeschooling I really didn't have the level to sign up for the appropriate class so I had to start lower than where my age would put me, and I thought it would be easier if I looked the part when I faked my papers. And I had to get fake papers because, you know…

Leroy: Yeah, I get it. Still, you're a kid, you shouldn't have to do all this.

Liam: But I can, so I have to.

Leroy: Heh, okay Peter Parker.

Liam: What?

Leroy: You know, "with great power comes—" wait do you really not know who Peter Parker is?

Liam: I only got into pop-culture stuff two years ago.

Leroy: Two years and you still don't know about Spider-Man? Now I'm really pitying you.

Liam: Well if you want you can—

Liam goes silent. His ears pivot up.

Leroy: It's freaky how you can do that.

Liam: Shh. Listen.

Agent Leroy goes silent too. The sound of distant shouting is heard.

Leroy: Is that… a human shouting? Everyone is inside, I checked.

Liam: It's getting closer and it's… coming from above?

They both look to the sky, looking for the source of the sound. After some time, something can be seen moving through holes in the canopy. The duo carefully follow after it until they arrive at a clearing. Hiding behind a bush, they observe the moving shape.

With a clear view, the shape turns out to be four flying SCP-8457-B soldiers carrying a net, inside of which is a struggling person. Although Agent Leroy cannot recognize him, this person is Corentin Bleiz, captain of Strike Team 3447 "Radiant Hounds".

Bleiz: You guys can keep catching me all you want, one day I'll get out for good!

The soldiers shake the net, further entangling Captain Bleiz. They laugh.

Bleiz: Ah screw you! If we were still on Earth, I'd be the one laughing.

Captain Bleiz continues struggling inside the net. Eventually he falls in a position where his face is looking towards where Agent Leroy and Liam are hiding.

Bleiz: What's… huh. Hey you bastards! I know it's still thirteen kilometres straight North to the heavily guarded prisoner camp, and I'll keep shouting all the rest of the way!

The soldiers shake the net again. They disappear from view, with Captain Bleiz still shouting.

Liam: Who was that guy?

Leroy: No idea, but he was really unsubtle. Still, if he noticed us and bothered to share info, he must be from our side of the Veil. Maybe another agent like me.

Liam: Not as good as you, if he keeps getting captured.

Leroy lightly punches him on the shoulder. Liam exaggeratedly stumbles backwards. As he does so, he reveals a symbol engraved in the tree behind him.

Leroy: Wait, what's this?

They lean in to inspect the symbol, an "X" cross with numbers in each corner.

Leroy: I feel like I've seen this before… right, I think that's one of the GOC's field codes.

Liam: What does it mean?

Leroy: I have no clue. But look, there's foot tracks, whoever made it went this way.

They follow the trail for 12 minutes, before arriving in front of a particularly large grey tree.

Leroy: Ugh, something reeks. Almost like a corpse.

Liam: It is a corpse. A weird one though.

Leroy: It's really creepy that you can tell.

Going around the tree, they find a hollow spot in it. Inside is the mauled and partially eaten corpse of the third Type Yellow asset.

Liam: Poor lady must have escaped from that prisoner camp and thought the woods were safe.

Agent Leroy notices something shining behind the corpse.

Leroy: I don't think a prisoner would have this.

Contact with SCP-8457-A:

Four days after contact was lost with the last Type Yellow asset, their equipment started broadcasting again.

Operators in the Antarctic Sleuths communications centre work to re-establish a connection with the third asset's equipment. The feed is projected on a wide screen. Audio contact is regained.

Unidentified: Alright, why can you do that?

Unidentified: It's electrogenic, like eels. I can't make a lot of it, but it should be enough to charge this thing some.

Operator: Hello? Please identify yourselves.

Unidentified: It worked!

Visual contact is regained. Two individuals, identified as Foundation agent Mélanie Leroy and ████ ████ are facing the equipment.

Leroy: Agent Mélanie Leroy, MTF Pi-1, reporting in. Who am I speaking to?

Operator: One moment please.

The operator receives new information.

Operator: Agent Leroy, Mr ████ ████, we are going to need you to confirm your identities.

Liam scowls, veins bulge up all over his body.

Liam: Call me by that name again and I'll find a way to knock your face in through this camera.

Operator: I was told you might react this way. I have a question for you from our colleagues in the GOC: what animal did you use to secretly contact Sergeant Myers four years ago?

Liam calms down.

Liam: A grey parrot. I stole it from the zoo, modified it just a bit to make it remember the message and left it behind. That good enough for you?

Operator: Indeed. Now Agent Leroy—

Leroy: Do you want me to recite my identification codes? I made sure to remember them just in case.

Operator: I'm afraid that due to an unknown number of security leaks, we cannot trust these outdated codes. Instead I have a question provided by your team in Pi-1: who is your sworn rival?

Leroy: These guys… Liam, do you mind stepping away for a moment?

Liam: Nah, I want to hear this.

Leroy: Argh, fine. It's Lucky Luke6, okay? The comic book character. I made a joke once about how I bet I could shoot faster than him and my team never let me forget it.

Operator: Confirmed. To answer your earlier question, you are currently in contact with the headquarters of Operation Antarctic Sleuths, a joint operation between our Foundation and the GOC to combat the threat of SCP-8457. The equipment you are currently broadcasting from belongs to an undercover asset deployed by the GOC, do you know what happened to her?

Liam: Poor lady was found by the wildlife. We finished burying her before calling you.

Leroy: Hold on, did you say we've partnered up with the GOC? How bad is it back home?

Operator: The situation is quite tense. The Veil is still intact—

Liam: Bummer.

Operator: — but we have been unable to deal with the threat for good. You might be able to help with that, but first can I ask for a report of your situation?

Leroy: I can do you one better.

Agent Leroy unplugs a cable from the equipment and plugs it in her eye implant.

Liam: That is so gross.

Leroy: You have no right to say that!

The operator receives the video logs recorded by Agent Leroy's eyes7 and takes the time to review them.

Operator: Right, some of this corresponds with what we have learned here, but there is useful new information. I will pass all of this along to Command. For now, go back to your shelter and protect the civilians. Tomorrow, we will give you new instructions.

Liam: Hey, in case you didn't notice, I'm not one of your pawns. Why should I follow your "instructions"?

Operator: Because, if you do, we can finally deal with the SCP-8457 crisis.

Liam: Tell me, how many victims have the impostors made back home?

Operator: ██████

Liam: Shit. Alright, I'm in.

Further incidents involving SCP-8457-B:

Location
Incident
Notes

Brussels, Belgium
The representatives of 30 anomalous governmental agencies meet to discuss the SCP-8457 crisis. This meeting is interrupted when the representatives from Italy and Brazil reveal themselves to be armed SCP-8457-B soldiers and are subsequently terminated by the guards that other countries had snuck into the meeting. The representative from South Korea also reveals himself to be a SCP-8457-B instance and surrenders.
None.

Paris, France
Having replaced 17 members of the television channel France 2, SCP-8457-B instances attempt to leak Veil-Breaking information during the 8PM News Broadcast. Members of MTF Gamma-5 "Red Herrings" present at the time are able to cut the feed before it is transmitted to civilian televisions, but are noticed and killed by the imposters. France 2's office building is then raided and cleared by MTF Pi-1 under pretence of a terrorist attack.
This was most likely an attempt to create a new crisis for Normalcy organisations to handle, lowering their commitment to Antarctic Sleuths.

Bengaluru, India
SCP-8457-B instances infiltrate and disrupt a MC&D auction sale, making off with an unknown quantity of anomalous items.
Shortly after this incident, a package was delivered to Antarctic Sleuths command, containing a long list of yet unidentified SCP-8457-B hives in several countries.

GOC Research Facility "Fumes", Russia
The GOC High Command loses contact with the facility overnight. An assessment team is deployed in the nearby town of █████ and discover it to have been entirely replaced with a hive. The team is then ambushed by SCP-8457-B soldiers wielding Gen-2 weaponry previously under development at "Fumes". Two members of the Assessment team manage to escape the ambush and re-establish a link with the facility long enough for a self-destruct order to be issued.
None.

Addendum 5

Victory

After reviewing the footage provided by Agent Leroy and referencing it with everything Antarctic Sleuths had learned, a plan was formulated.

Liam was given the mission to infiltrate SCP-8457-B's transportation centre and create an anchor point that Antarctic Sleuths engineers could target. This would allow for the mass transportation of troops to SCP-8457-A, who would be tasked with rescuing captured civilians and raiding SCP-8457-B's military infrastructures to prevent them from regaining access to Earth.

Three days were spent teaching Liam the ritual necessary to create the anchor point. To fully ensure his cooperation, he was offered amnesty for his actions. He responded saying that he was not aware that he had done anything that required amnesty and that he did not need any further motivation, but would gladly accept it.

Lacking the thaumaturgical ability to conduct the ritual, Agent Leroy was given another mission. As SCP-8457-B had demonstrated willingness to execute their own captives and the "scorched earth" tactics shown by other civilizations of SCP-8457-A in the past, it was estimated that they might execute their human captives before the Antarctic Sleuths troops could rescue them.

As such, Agent Leroy was ordered to infiltrate the work camps and coordinate with Captain Bleiz as well as any other surviving GOC and Foundation captives in order to stage a revolt and protect the civilians until reinforcements could arrive. Since this would require days of planning and scouting, she left to begin her mission while Liam was still being instructed on the ritual, and was cut off from communicating with baseline reality.

Agent Leroy climbs a tall, withering tree. She grasps at the flowering branches that wrap around its trunk to pull herself and uses them as footing.

Leroy: I'm starting to think I won't even need all that rope.

She reaches the top of the tree. Its foliage has long since wilted and fallen, offering her a clear view of what lies ahead.

In the distance, a fortified wall rises high into the sky. It is made of the same bricks as the road and the building previously seen; although the bricks are of different sizes and colours as if taken from different sources. Only one thing can be seen rising above the wall: the spires of a castle-like structure made of the same material as the hives found on Earth. Based on the distance and the portion that can be seen, this structure is estimated to be approximately two kilometres tall.

The small expanse of land between this wall and the woods is entirely dedicated to the work camps.

Round cabins and tall guard towers are spread out in the area closest to the wall. SCP-8457-B soldiers patrol around this area, keeping a tight watch on the human workers.

All the human workers are bound with metal collars attached to chains that link them to a rail network dug into the ground, which limits their movement to only predetermined pathways. A small amount of flying SCP-8457-B soldiers patrol this area from above. Their heads are covered by full golden helmets and they regularly change shifts to return to the cabins.

To Agent Leroy's shock, none of the human workers have tools. They are instead made to use their bare hands to dig the ground around the flowering trees' roots while another team pulls them down with roots. Downed trees are carried away to large bonfires and burned entirely. This process takes a long time for each individual tree, Agent Leroy spots new sprouts growing at an anomalously fast rate where other trees once stood.

Leroy: That doesn't make any sense. Why not give them tools?

Unknown: Because putting axes in the hands of prisoners is a terrible idea?

Agent Leroy spins around with her knife drawn and stabs at the source of the voice. Captain Bleiz barely catches the blade before it pierces him.

Leroy: You, you were the one in the net.

Bleiz: And you were in the bush. I didn't think you'd come here so soon.

Leroy: I had orders to find you. You were Captain… what was it again?

Bleiz: Captain Bleiz, of the Radiant Hounds.

Leroy: And you work for…

Bleiz: My wife!

Leroy: Really? I thought you were GOC.

Bleiz: Yeah, and so is she. Higher up than me, so when I get orders from the top, it's usually her.

Captain Bleiz blinks.

Bleiz: Ah wait a minute, you're testing me to see if I'm the real one, aren't you?

Leroy: I was, sorry. The fact that you're here among the trees and doing fine should be enough of a tell, but you can never be too sure. So you escaped again, why do you keep doing that?

Bleiz: It's true that I don't get much done on these escapades but what's the alternative? Be a nice prisoner and follow orders? At least it tires the guards when they have to go catch me again. Or at least I hope it does.

Leroy: It's kind of surprising they haven't executed you yet.

Bleiz: What's the point? They know we'll all die from the work at some point. You can see how it is: if we don't die from the exhaustion, the crap food, the falling trees or the fires well… they make sure it happens anyway at some point.

Leroy: If they're working you like this, I understand why they don't want you holding anything that could be a weapon. Still, that rhythm with so few trees fallen and so many regrowing, it can't be sustainable for their home.

Bleiz: Oh it's not. In the long term, they are terminally screwed. That's if we don't finish them first. You said you had orders?

Leroy: Right, let's do this.

After sharing the plan with Captain Bleiz, Agent Leroy pretended to be another escaped worker in order to be recaptured along with him. Once inside the work camp, they began to spread information among the prisoners.

Leroy: Wait, how do you keep breaking out anyway? Do you have some sort of super-strength? Because that could be useful for the next part of the plan.

Bleiz: Nope. I usually strengthen myself with some special Workings but none of them work here. I'm only as strong as training can get me.

Leroy: So what's your method?

Bleiz: When we pull down a tree, I tie its branches to my rail and go in the opposite direction. The force of the fall yanks the chain right out of the ground.

Leroy: That's… smarter than I expected, but we can't use that to free everyone. Not fast anyway.

Bleiz: You got another idea?

Leroy: I was thinking that we could always just beat up a guard to steal a key.

Bleiz: Now that's the kind of plan I like!

After Liam's instruction was complete, he went on to infiltrate SCP-8457-B's fortified city. The recovered communication equipment allowed him to stay in contact with Antarctic Sleuths' command centre.

Night has fallen. Liam has successfully sneaked through the guards' cabins, he slowly rises from the mud through which he was crawling.

Liam: Eurgh. I hear that kids with normal childhoods like to play in that, I do not get the appeal.

Operator: You've made it to the wall, do you really plan on scaling it?

Liam: Yeah I do, the gates have too many guards. Now, watch this.

His skin shivers as suction cups grown along the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. He pushes against the wall and pulls himself up.

Liam: Ouch.

With every step up, he must pull himself away from the surface of the wall and stick to it again above the parting point.

Liam: Ouch. Is this how octopi feel all the time? This is horrible.

Operator: Can you stop yourself from feeling the pain? It would help the infiltration if you were more quiet.

Liam: Right, I'm sure my lack of a medical degree makes me qualified to mess around with my own nervous system, no risk of completely fucking up.

Liam stays silent for a moment, still climbing.

Liam: I'm sorry for the sarcasm. Mélanie said I should work on that.

Operator: I can cut down on the chatter if you want.

Liam: No, please, I want to keep talking. There's still so much of that wall left and I need to keep my mind off the pain.

Liam: Funny thing about pain: did you know I was taught it's a blessing? "Pain is a path to power, growth comes from healing from harm."

Operator: "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger." I know, I work with a lot of soldiers.

Liam: And it's true in some way. I mean, just look at muscles, that's how they work I think. But there's different ways to go about it.

Liam: You can focus on the healing, put in the time and effort to make sure you come out of it better. Or you can seek as much pain as possible. You can think of suffering as a deluge, that pushing back against it is what makes you stronger. You can think of harm as a tool, that every part of you that doesn't heal is shaved away until your strongest core is left.

Operator: That doesn't sound right.

Liam: Yeah well, unfortunately that kind of pedagogy doesn't really teach common sense.

Liam: Alright, I feel like I'm killing the mood with my topics, it's your turn to talk about something.

48 minutes of extraneous chatter abbreviated. Liam reaches the top of the wall. The wind at this height is strong, blowing in from the back. He sneezes, loudly, and ducks to cover.

While hiding, he is able to look around the length of the wall. No one else is present.

Liam: Huh. You'd think they'd have patrols up here.

Operator: They are the last people in this world, invaders are not on their list of issues.

Liam: Fair enough, I guess it means there won't be that much security inside either.

Liam reaches the other side of the wall and leans in to observe the city. All the buildings are arranged in a hexagonal grid with the castle at its centre.

Liam: These are all barracks. Where are the houses?

Operator: From what we learned, there are no longer any civilians in SCP-8457-B's society. They have become entirely militarized to work towards their survival.

Liam: And even after all that, they're doing such a bad job at it.

Liam inspects the length of the wall.

Liam: Well, only one thing left to do.

He lowers himself down and begins to repeat the same climbing process.

Liam: Ouch.

While Liam was infiltrating the city, Agent Leroy and Captain Bleiz were slowly planning the revolt inside the camp. By distributing stolen keys, they had allowed some of the prisoners to escape into the woods undetected, with instructions to take shelter within the building occupied by Agent Leroy's group of survivors.

Agent Leroy walks along the rail to approach a group of workers digging the soil around a tree, and blends in with them. She is soon joined by Captain Bleiz.

Bleiz: I managed to get in contact with one of my teammates who was held in the southern quadrant. They've got a key of their own and are prepping for the revolt.

Leroy: Good, now we have people all over the place. If we can keep the guards busy for long enough, everyone else will have time to either flee or join up with us.

Leroy looks to the skies above them. They are clear of any patrolling SCP-8457-B.

Leroy: There's been less guards than usual here, was it the same where you went?

Bleiz: Now that you mention it, it's been easier to not get noticed today. Maybe they're committing to something else.

Leroy: I hope the kid didn't get caught.

Two hours after descending from the wall, Liam made it inside the castle at the centre of the city.

Operator: And I'm telling you, we have studied these people. They have no advanced sense of smell, there was no need for you to cover yourself in all that wax and trash to mask your scent.

Liam: You never know. Besides, I've been in the woods for weeks without a proper shower, that stuff wasn't going to make me smell worse, just different bad.

Liam looks upwards to admire the castle.

Liam: For a dying people, they sure went all out with that thing. I can't say it's ugly.

Operator: You will have time to admire the inside, the transportation centre is eight floors up.

Liam: And you'll have more time to see how good I am at slinking.

Liam moves quietly through the castle, avoiding groups of SCP-8457-B soldiers. The floors become progressively more crowded as he goes up, forcing him to hide in an empty room on the fourth floor.

Liam: Are they gathering their whole army in here or something?

Operator: They might have increased their security after we tried sneaking in spies from the hives on Earth.

Liam: Well I hope you prepared a bunch of troops for your attack, because they'll have a lot of fighting ahead.

Liam: How's that gonna work, by the way? I thought Jailers weren't too fond of wholesale extermination.

Operator: There's been negotiations on that topic. The Foundation conceded that there were enough captive instances on Earth to make containment a lesser objective moving forward.

Liam prepares to talk back, but a group of three soldiers enter the room. They notice Liam and although they do not display hostility, they start shouting at him.

Operator: They're asking why you haven't shifted out of your disguise yet.

Liam's skin shivers as he turns slightly transparent to match SCP-8457-B. This appears to reassure the soldiers. While continuing to fake a transformation, he goes to shut the door to the room.

One of the soldiers looks at Liam's back and notices the grains of pollen stuck to his clothes. It screams. All soldiers cover their mouths and noses with one pair of arms while pointing their spears at Liam with the other pair.

Liam: I fucked up!

Liam drops to the ground to avoid the soldiers' attacks. He grabs onto the closest soldiers' feet and pulls it down to the ground. He grapples with the soldier, putting it above himself for cover and strangling it.

The soldier retracts its arms inside its chest plate and pushes it down to expose its bare chest. The other two soldiers thrust their spears, piercing through their comrade to stab Liam.

Liam: Argh!

Liam pushes the soldier and rolls away. As he gets up, chitin begins to pour out from his wounds to cover his body. The two remaining soldiers rush in. Liam lets their spears be deflected off of his body and steps up to grab onto their faces. The first lets its skin fall loose to slip out of Liam's grip, but the second fails to react fast enough. Liam's nails extend, digging into the soldier's head. Liam catches its helmet when it drops dead to the ground.

Liam exhales hard, his chitinous cover crumbles and falls away. The last soldier, seeing this as an opening, picks up his comrade's spear and throws it at Liam who manages to catch the tip inside the helmet but is pushed back by the impact. He manages to avoid the soldier's following attacks, stepping back with each evaded thrust. He soon finds himself with his back pressed to the wall. The soldier takes a stance.

Operator: Watch out!

Liam: It's alright.

The soldier stumbles.

Liam: The claws would have made it faster, but this guy was already finished the moment I managed to shove that pollen down his throat.

The soldier coughs and retches, grasping at its throat. It dies seconds later. Liam sits down to tend to his wounds.

Liam: Oh man, this is draining. Don't think I can pull off anything big for a while, the armour barely lasted two attacks.

Operator: Will you be able to perform the anchor Working?

Liam: Not if I get into any more fights.

Liam looks at the bodies of the dead soldiers.

Liam: Oh I'm such a genius.

Liam walks through the fifth floor. His skin is still transparent and he is wholly covered in the soldiers' plate armour. Two of the soldiers' arms, which he has ripped off, are propped up inside the armour so as to stick out of the lower arm holes.

Operator: I still think you should prioritise stealth.

Liam: No way, this is foolproof.

Somehow, none of the other soldiers walking around the castle stop him. Liam reaches the eighth floor unhindered.

SCP-8457-B's transportation centre takes up the majority of the eigth floor. Its walls are mounted with a multitude of compound orbs, known to be used to scry on baseline reality. The core of the centre is a large elevated platform resting atop a pit filled with glowing crystals. The platform itself is at least a hundred meters long and half as wide.

A group of soldiers enter the centre, escorting a dozen wounded SCP-8457-B instances. The wounded instances are given a scroll each and made to kneel around the crystal pit. They begin chanting. As they chant, the glow of the crystals intensifies while the instances' bodies wither. They drop one by one.

Operator: That's the working they use to travel to and from Earth. I guess now we know why it has limits.

Liam: That's abhorrent.

Operator: The people SCP-8457-B stole it from were losing a war of anhiliation, a few more sacrifices didn't mean much to them.

One of the soldiers traces runes into the air. Fog rises from the crystals, engulfing the platform. When the fog dissipates a full platoon of soldiers stands on the platform, carrying human-made firearms. All the soldiers present exit the transportation centre, dragging away the deceased instances. Liam steps into the room.

Liam: I'd almost feel bad for them, if they weren't so horrible.

Operator: Why?

Liam: I mean, just look at their situation. They're slowly dying from a magic tree apocalypse, they're trying to resist it with an inefficient system, and when they tried ramping up that system they went and pissed off our two biggest superpowers. They have no hope of winning, especially not with this gateway you're about to open.

Operator: They deserve what's coming.

Liam: Oh totally. It's just, you know, they had no way out since the start. You said they gathered a lot of info about the Jai— you guys?

Operator: That's right. We still don't know the extent of what they learned about our organisations, but they had access to a significant amount of information, enough to stage attacks on key facilities.

Liam: See, if I was them the moment I knew who I was up against I'd have tried negotiating, not angering you.

The operator is pinged by Antarctic Sleuths command and temporarily disconnects. Liam does not notice this.

Liam: But then again I guess it's because we the little guys on that side of the Veil keep on hearing about how scary you are. These ones must have thought they had a chance.

Liam approaches the crystal pit. The crystal still emit a bright glow.

Liam: Woah, this place is radiating with magic. They didn't even need to sacrifice those wounded, just look at how much they still have in reserve. Maybe I can tap into it for the anchor ritual. I'm ready to start it, by the way.

Liam waits for a response.

Liam: Hey voice-in-my-ear, you still here?

No response.

Liam: Taking another call? I'm kind of helping save the world here, that deserves some preferential treatment.

Liam: Right then, can't start it without the go-ahead but I might as well get prepared.

Tendrils emerge from the base of his neck, covered with flagellum that quiver in the air. Liam freezes. The operator reconnects.

Liam: What are—

Operator: Liam, we're aborting the mission, get out of here!

Hatches open from the ceiling, dropping a large number of flying SCP-8457-B soldiers. Liam turns to run but is tackled to the ground.

Contact is lost.

The following footage, recorded by Agent Leroy, was only recovered later.

The prisoners' revolt has started. Agent Leroy finishes strangling a SCP-8457-B soldier with a length of broken chain. She picks up its spear and tosses it to a nearby prisoner.

Leroy: Don't fight them alone! Your objective is to survive, not risk everything!

Next to her, Captain Bleiz plunges a piece of tree bark into a bonfire. When it catches fire, he lobs it into the air. It soon lands on one of the guards' barracks, which catches fire as well.

Bleiz: I think we've got them on the ropes, there's a lot less of them!

Fog manifests in the air above them.

Bleiz: I shouldn't have said that. Watch out for reinforcements!

The fog dissipates just as Liam falls from within. He drops hard against the ground.

Leroy: Kid!

Agent Leroy rushes to Liam's side. Getting close, she is able to see that he is heavily wounded: scabs are struggling to form over numerous cuts across his body, his right hand -missing two fingers- is covering his eye.

Liam: The trees…

Leroy: Hang in there kid! You're tough right? You can heal from this, right?

Captain Bleiz taps her on the shoulder, drawing her attention to the fog rolling in around them. Full squads of SCP-8457-B soldiers emerge from the fog, many of them bearing firearms. One individual, leading the march, is still holding a human appearance.

Leroy: Thiers? André Thiers, is that you?

Fake Thiers: Not quite.

A second pair of arms emerges from the individual's sides. Apart from this, it retains the appearance of MTF Pi-1 Agent André Thiers.

Fake Thiers: Don't feel too bad for your old friend, he was so very useful to us. We wouldn't have learned so much about you without him.

Fake Thiers: By "you" I mean your Foundation, of course. You yourself are inconsequential. There was another we took that day, my kin who took his form got too hung up on his words and thought there was something special about you. So much effort was wasted on looking for frightened scraps hiding in the woods. At least his death fuelled our rituals.

Fake Thiers: I suppose I should at least commend you for going through with this plan. If only you had finished it, we would have all been so much better off.

Bleiz: Buddy if you think you had the upper hand, you must have had no clue what our plan was.

Fake Thiers: Not the particulars, of course. I must admit it was quite a surprise to see you start it from our side. Do you have any idea how hard it was to let it go your way without you noticing anything?

Bleiz: Huh?

Agent Leroy looks to Liam and to the troops surrounding them. She looks behind her, to the trees that are already growing and slowly inching towards the giant wall. She looks up, to the pollen being carried in the sky by the wind.

Leroy: Ah, that's why.

Fake Thiers: Looks like we have a smart one. Figured it out, did you?

Bleiz: Do you mean me or her? Because I have no clue.

Leroy: They wanted us to open that portal. They wanted it all along.

The fake Agent Thiers claps slowly, with all four hands.

Fake Thiers: Bravo. I knew it the moment I learned about the armies that protect your world. I knew that we would not win this war. You've seen for yourself that we cannot stop the growth of these damnable trees. Maybe we could have, with more of your people working at it, but we could never reach that goal with your organisations waiting for us.

Fake Thiers: So we baited you. So many lives captured, so many petty attacks on your bases, all to bait you into coming here directly. Of course, we tried our best to weaken you and bolster our forces, it would only be fair to level the playing field.

Bleiz: Hah, "level the playing field" he says. Like grabbing a few guns would make a difference against the pros we were gonna send here.

Leroy: Bleiz, shut up.

Fake Thiers: But he is right. It was only obvious that you would send your best of the best on your assault, and our chances against them were slim at best. That is why we made sure to keep the travel platform charged and ready to go. All our soldiers in the castle would keep yours busy and concentrated in one place and once all of them had come through we would simply send them far away. To one of the long fallen cities maybe. All of us would have left this place long before your forces could return.

Fake Thiers: I am telling you all this so you understand how important this is for us. So you understand I am very motivated to make it happen.

The fake Agent Thiers snaps its fingers. Soldiers surround the group, others go to pursue the human prisoners still revolting against their guards.

Fake Thiers: The boy abomination refused to do it, but there are bound to be others who can do it in his stead. Maybe you, Captain. Or maybe I can still change his mind. He seemed quite resilient to his own pain, I wonder how much I can inflict to those you tried to save before he begs me to stop.

Agent Leroy pulls Liam to put him behind her.

Bleiz: Hey, what's that in his hand?

Captain Bleiz steps in front of the two, holding a glowing crystal.

Bleiz: It's not often I see that much EVE packed into such a tiny thing.

Fake Thiers: That little monster must have stolen it. Get that back!

Soldiers march in on the group.

Bleiz: It's not what I usually use but maybe it'll do for something simple.

Captain Bleiz crushes the crystals between his hands and spreads the resulting dust all around himself. He mutters something.

The ground below the group rumbles.

Bleiz: Huh, why isn't it—

The growth of the trees behind them accelerates. Captain Bleiz is thrown back when a new sprout rises from the ground below him and grows to its full height in a matter of seconds.

Bleiz: That also works. Everyone run!

New trees obscure Captain Bleiz from Agent Leroy's view. She picks Liam up and runs away, towards the woods.

Fake Thiers: Put on your face coverings and get after them! We'll all die if this fails, at least use your last moments for the sake of the plan!

Agent Leroy is running through the woods, carrying Liam on her back. Gunshots ring out and bullets impact the tree next to her. She keeps running.

Leroy: It was easier when all they had were spears!

Hearing the sound of wings approaching fast, Agent Leroy grabs onto dangling branches and pulls them down in front of her. The incoming flying soldier gets caught in the branches and falls down. Before it can get up, Agent Leroy takes away its helmet, which had its sides joined to form a mouthguard. As she runs away, the soldier can be heard coughing behind her.

Leroy: I'm gonna need you to wake up at some point, kid.

A soldier emerges from the trees to her left and runs at her with its spear pointed forwards. She throws the helmet at its head and keeps running while it is stunned.

Agent Leroy arrives at the place where they had found the body of the Type-Yellow asset four days ago. She sets the still-unconscious Liam down inside the tree's hollow spot.

Two soldiers arrive, one from each side of the tree. The one on her left holds a handgun, the one to her left is armed with a spear.

Agent Leroy draws her knife and dashes towards the soldier with the gun, moving from side to side. The soldier fires twice but misses both times.

Leroy: Four arms and you can't even handle the recoil, rookie!

A battery warning flashes across Agent Leroy's vision.

Leroy: Not now!

Having gotten close to the soldier she slashes upwards, aiming for its gun. The soldier catches her hand with both its left arms. Agent Leroy quickly lets go of her knife and catches it with her own left hand. She strikes upwards again, stabbing the soldier through its neck.

The warning indicates that only five seconds of vision remain.

Agent Leroy turns to look behind her. The second soldier is rushing in, spear raised.

4.

Agent Leroy attempts to grab the first soldier's gun. It stumbles backwards to avoid her.

3.

The wounded soldier trips and falls, still holding on to Agent Leroy's right arm. It drags her down with itself.

2.

Agent Leroy pulls her knife out of the soldier's jaw and struggles against its weakening grip.

1.

Agent Leroy frees herself. She rolls on her back. The second soldier has leapt into the air, its spear aimed for a downwards plunge.

Agent Leroy's eye implants run out of battery. Video and audio are no longer recorded.

Audio resumes recording.

Only the sound of Agent Leroy's heavy breathing can be heard, following by a zapping sound.

Video resumes recording. Fingers slowly retract from above Agent Leroy's eyes.

Agent Leroy blinks and looks at what is in front of her. The second soldier lies dead on top of her, her knife driven into its skull. Her own left arm is pinned under the shaft of the soldier's spear, it is visibly broken.

With effort, Agent Leroy pushes the dead soldier away and stand up. Liam is sitting with his back against the tree, his breathing is heavy.

Leroy: The electrogenic trick again, huh? You'll have to teach me how to do that.

Liam remains silent. He is trembling.

Leroy: Hey come on kid, now is the time where you make one of your sarcastic jokes like, if I want to use it to—

Liam starts crying. Tears run down his face, but only from his left eye.

Leroy: Kid, Liam, you alright?

She kneels down in front of him.

Liam: No I'm not!

He sobs.

Liam: I can't… I can't do this anymore! I can't keep going. I'm hurt, I'm exhausted, and these people want to kill me for real and they've already killed Mathis and they almost killed you and they…

He sobs, louder.

Liam: They hurt me, so much. I just want to stop.

He looks up at Agent Leroy.

Liam: But if I stop helping, that makes me just as bad as them, right?

Agent Leroy hugs him.

Leroy: Oh kid, no. It's alright, you're alright. You've already done a lot and we asked you to keep helping us, but no one's going to blame you for hitting your limit. Just leave the rest up to us.

Liam: I'm sorry. I acted so big but, but I don't even like fighting. I just wanted everyone to think I'm good.

Leroy: But you are. No, look at me. I mean it. Remember the people from the rest area? I was so sure you'd left us for good on that first day but you kept coming back, you helped us. That's good. You're good.

Liam: Even if I—

Agent Leroy sees something glint in the bushes ahead. She pushes Liam away just as a gun is fired, hitting her in the right shoulder.

Fake Thiers: Touching.

The SCP-8457-B instance imitating Agent Thiers steps out of the bushes, gun in hand. Blood is dripping from his nose.

Fake Thiers: How lucky, I won't need to bring you back, child. I can just hurt that woman until you decide to obey me.

Leroy: Oh stop it already, your plan's never going to work.

A bullet grazes Agent Leroy's face.

Fake Thiers: It will work. I will make it work.

Leroy: You won't be able to force the kid to make that portal you want so much. He doesn't even know how to.

Liam: That's— that's true. I was only supposed to help our side on Earth aim their portal, but they called it off. Since they figured out it was a trap, they won't do it!

Fake Thiers: No.

Leroy: You lost.

The fake Thiers drops his weapon.

Fake Thiers: No!

Blood drips from its nose and mouth. Its face loses the features of Agent Thiers, its skin returns to its original transparency. Its upper arms shrink back inside its body and shoot back out as newly-formed wings dripping with bodily fluids.

Fake Thiers: This is not how we lose!

The transformed instance moves fast, closing in on Agent Leroy. It grabs onto her and flies up, bringing them both above the canopy.

Fake Thiers: This is how we win, how we always won!

It tries to strangle Agent Leroy but she fights back. She pushes her upper body out of its reach, ignoring the pain from her wounded arms. From this high vantage point, her field of view extends all the way back to SCP-8457-B's fortified city.

Leroy: You never won. You lost a long time ago, you just never realised it.

Leroy: And you know what the best part is?

The flowering trees have already grown past the giant wall. New trees are budding up on the sides of the central castle, their newly-growing roots wrapped tight against the castle's spire. Pollen wafts in the air.

Leroy: It wasn't even us who did it.

There is a bright flash of light coming from the castle's eighth floor. The trees' growth accelerates even further, their roots multiply and constrict.

Agent Leroy sees the castle's spire crumble and fall long before the sound of its crushing reaches her ears.

Fake Thiers: Nooooooooooooooo!

The fake Thiers flails around, its hands grasping at the distant castle. Doing so, it lets go of Agent Leroy who swing around to lock her legs over its chest.

Leroy: That's enough poetic justice. Between you and me though, it's personal.

The fake Thiers is losing altitude. Agent Leroy tries to draw her knife again but her right arm gives out and she drops it. Her opponent wraps its hands around her neck.

Fake Thiers: I'm dead. I've already died. The last thing I'll ever do is make sure you don't get to win either.

Agent Leroy chokes. With gritted teeth, she forces her broken left arm to move again and jabs, poking the fake Thiers in the eyes. It screams and rears back in pain. Agent Leroy lets go of it and falls in time to see it fly blindly and crash into a tree. It does not move again.

As she plummets down, Agent Leroy can see Liam run across a branch and jump to catch her.

Agent Leroy and Liam are limping through the woods, supporting each other.

A howl draws their attention to the side. Amidst the trees roams a pack of five of the hexapedal mammals they saw on the day the survivors fled the rest area. They are feeding on the corpses of many SCP-8457-B soldiers.

The beasts lock eyes with the duo. Both groups stare at each other for a long moment. Then, the beasts ignore them to resume feeding.

Agent Liam and Leroy walk on.

The woods resonate with birdsong.

Agent Leroy and Liam reach the brick building where they had left the group of survivors. There are now many more people, some of whom Agent Leroy recognises from the prison camp.

Captain Bleiz pushes through the crowd to go embrace the duo.

Leroy: Ow. Ow, Captain, that's enough, I already have enough broken bones.

Liam: Starting to envy those invertebrate jerks.

Bleiz: I have excellent news! I was running around the trees to admire them when, before I knew it, I ended up in the enemy's castle. And guess what I found!

He brandishes an assortment of wires and transmitters.

Bleiz: More of our spies' communication equipment! They were running tests on them. Just give me a few hours to put it back together and we can call home to let them know we can come back.

Leroy: I'm sorry, a few hours?

Bleiz: I don't have a degree in tech. But we can go home! Focus on that!

Liam smiles.

Liam: Yeah. Let's go home.

To: gro.liamdiov|liametsrifsmail#gro.liamdiov|liametsrifsmail

From: Commander Mélanie Leroy, Pi-1

Subject: Confidential Greetings

Hey kid.

Yes, you read right, I'm a commander now. As it turns out, the kinds of exploits I got up to last year are the kind that get you promoted

So, you've been asking about it, and I finally received authorisation to share the SCP file with you. What do you think? Makes us look pretty heroic, no? It goes without saying that this version has been majorly edited, I cut out all the behind-the-scenes operations and top secret stuff to leave only a summary of what you were there for or heard about in the debriefings.

Do you know I still have to go to those? Debriefings, post-crisis planning meetings… Even if it's already over, we still have our hands full with repairs and amnesticizations. I won't go into detail on that last part, I know you don't like it.

It's about time for you to re-start school, if my calendar is right. How is that going for you? Don't worry, none of the teachers are secretly Foundation Agents. We don't have that kind of reach where you went.

I almost forgot! You might notice something not quite clinical at the top of the file: it's my own personal touch. I had a lot of time on my hands during my recovery, so I decided I would try to make my own comic book. What do you think of the cover page?

Send me news about how you're doing, or I'll come get you.

Mélanie Leroy.