Co-written by Ralliston and Rounderhouse.

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5/7545 LEVEL 5/7545

CLASSIFIED

Item #: SCP-7545

Safe

Aboveground portions of SCP-7545.

SPECIAL CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES: The information regarding the exact location of SCP-7545 is currently limited only to the O5 Council and personnel deemed necessary for SCP-7545 research. SCP-7545 is otherwise self-containing. All SCP-7545-A entities reside within SCP-7545 and are similarly self-containing. In the absence of the Administrator, custody of SCP-7545 is retained by the O5 Council.

DESCRIPTION: SCP-7545 is Sanctum Eleven, an underground bunker complex located in [REDACTED] and owned by O5-11 from 1919 up until his death in 1998. As Sanctums are built as extended safe work and living spaces for Overseers and their staff members, SCP-7545 contains extensive accommodations for long-term occupation by up to forty personnel.

SCP-7545-A is the collective designation for four biological machines, genetically identical and visually similar to the late O5-11, currently inhabiting SCP-7545.

Addendum 7545.1

DISCOVERY

TRANSCRIPT OF A RECORDING OF A TELEPHONE

CONVERSATION BETWEEN O5-1 AND O5-11 ON APRIL 30, 1998 FROM 7:46 TO 7:53 P.M.

O5-1: Hello? Who is this?

O5-11: (Heavy breathing.)

O5-1: This is a secure government line. I would strongly recommend you hang up the—

O5-11: (Dry, hacking cough) They're not people.

O5-1: Eleven? Is that you?

O5-11: Little more than automata of flesh. Conditional machines.

O5-1: What are you talking about? Listen, are you alright? We haven't heard from you in—

O5-11: (Voice rising) Remember it! They're failures, facsimiles of— of me. Half-remembrances.

O5-1: What are you saying? Where are you?

O5-11: Come to the Sanctum, Django. See for yourself. You've been a good friend.

[Call terminated.]

Immediately following this conversation, O5-1 dispatched Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 ("Red Right Hand") to Sanctum Eleven to ascertain O5-11's condition. Upon arrival in [REDACTED], Fireteams TRIPTYCH, RAZOR, and SHRINE overrode the security protocols and automatic defenses, gaining entrance into SCP-7545.

Despite containing enough living space for dozens of staff members and guards, the vast majority of SCP-7545 was abandoned and littered with objects of disparate make and function. Alpha-1 operators quickly moved through and secured the facility, finding O5-11 within his private living space and study on the third and final sublevel. He was pronounced dead on arrival by Alpha-1 medics, who requested and received authorization from Overwatch Command to secure O5-11's body and transport it to the nearest Foundation facility. In the process of removing the body from SCP-7545, they encountered four SCP-7545-A instances within O5-11's apartment and instead moved to secure the anomalies.

Upon confirmation that SCP-7545-A instances were non-hostile, O5-1 arrived three hours later to evaluate the situation. He ordered that he be the one to interview the SCP-7545-A instances, along with assisting in the cataloging of the contents of the Sanctum.

Addendum 7545.2

ASSORTED LOGS

FILE 7545.B83: Statement from Odongo Tejani, chairman of the Ethics Committee, when informed of the death of O5-11.

What a horrid man. It's not kind to speak ill of the dead, and I recognize that — but I'm of the opinion that at a certain point, once you commit enough atrocities in your life, you lose the right to a peaceful death. If there's anyone on Earth that qualifies for that dubious achievement, it was Benjamin.

FILE 7545.L91: Overseer Edict #111, c. 1890

AND with regards to the Indian encroach on the Western Containment Facility, Overseer Lambda1 has arranged for the Government of the United States of America to relocate the native tribes from federal-held land leased to the Foundation for private use. Their claim to the land has been deemed of secondary importance to the security of the facility and the continued operation of the Foundation.

▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀

▷CLOSE◁

«BEGIN LOG»

[O5-1 enters the impromptu holding area for SCP-7545-A1, a small, well-furnished storage room. The shelves are lined with World War II era machine guns, grenades, and equipment. Similarly to the rest of the Sanctum, it is clean but still coated in a thick layer of dust. Ten operators from MTF Alpha-1 Fireteam TRIPTYCH line the walls of the room, weapons drawn. SCP-7545-A1 stands in the center of the room, still and unmoving, eyes unfocused. It appears visually identical to the late O5-11 in his last appearances: close-cropped grey hair, and a goatee.]

O5-1: Eleven?

[SCP-7545-A1 does not respond.]

O5-1: Ben?

SCP-7545-A1: Hello, Django.2

O5-1: What is this? Who are you?

SCP-7545-A1: I've never met you before. But I recognize you.

O5-1: What?

SCP-7545-A1: I find memories of you. Memories of you on the beaches of Gallipoli, water choked with bodies. Memories of you sitting on the opposite end of the table during Council meetings. Memories of the both of you, here with your staff. You were important to him.

O5-1: So you're not Benjamin.

SCP-7545-A1: No.

O5-1: What, then? A clone? A revenant?

SCP-7545-A1: I don't know what I am. But I came into this world with his memories, and the first of my own is that disappointed stare.

[O5-1 sighs.]

O5-1: Damn it. I know what you are. A homunculus — artificial man. He always had an interest in alchemy, you know. Often spoke about his desire to find the great concepts — the magnum opus, prima materia, cintamani. And, in your case, neidan.

SCP-7545-A1: A method of preserving the soul after death.

O5-1: Yes.

SCP-7545-A1: I was meant to be his holder of memories. An empty vessel to fill with whatever he chose.

O5-1: It's a cruel existence. I'm sorry, for what little it's worth. [Pause] I told him not to pursue it, but…

SCP-7545-A1: He never had much care for ethical concerns. That's why you stopped talking to him, is it not?

O5-1: That's not true. [Pause] But if you're saying it, it means he thought it was. [Sigh] Damn it all to hell.

[Silence.]

O5-1: I have to say, this is… unsettling. You look just like him. It's as though I'm talking to him but… not.

SCP-7545-A1: I am the only one that does. I was his last.

O5-1: Are the others also like you? Homunculi?

SCP-7545-A1: Correct. But they are failures. More so than I. They were not completed correctly — providing a snapshot into a moment of his life, rather than the whole picture. A vessel that he tried to pour more memories into than would fit.

O5-1: But you contain all of his memories, correct? Until this moment of his death?

SCP-7545-A1: I was the last thing he ever created. Yes.

O5-1: Then why were you a failure to him?

SCP-7545-A1: I do not know. He was looking for something more than the sum of his experiences, I think. And I simply did not have it.

O5-1: I see. I will have to talk to the others, then.

SCP-7545-A1: Of course.

O5-1: But as for you… what happened to him? In the past few years he retreated entirely from us. He would send his Secretary to meetings, he never came to Site-01 or Overwatch anymore.

SCP-7545-A1: I contain his memories, but I cannot tell you his thought process behind the decision. I lack such insight.

[Pause.]

SCP-7545-A1: Perhaps that is why I was a failure.

[Silence.]

SCP-7545-A1: What will happen to us?

O5-1: I'm not sure yet. I'll need to speak to the rest before I make a decision.

SCP-7545-A1: Understandable. Though I'd caution you that not all of them are as ambivalent about — or aware of — the nature of their existence as I am.

O5-1: I see. I'll tread carefully. Thank you.

«END LOG»

▷CLOSE◁

FILE 7545.O23: Ethics Committee Edict #001 (regarding SCP-5549) c. 1977

For egregious and excessive ethics violations in the treatment of SCP-5549 and in the course of Project LONDON BRIDGE, O5-11 is hereby placed on administrative leave for a period of no less than two years. It is the opinion of the committee that the judgments made by O5-11 were motivated by a desire to weaponize anomalies for Foundation use, rather than in the greater interests of the Foundation.

While this in and of itself is a significant ethical violation, it is noteworthy to point out that the Foundation has done so prior to the 1920 Restructuring. O5-11's violation was doing this through institutional support and protection of a baseless project rather than through official channels and with the consent of the rest of the Council. His decisions resulted in the deaths of several dozen Foundation staff and the creation of a dangerous anomaly extremely hostile to the Foundation.

While this committee does not have the power to permanently remove members of the Council, it is our urgent recommendation that the Administrator reconsider O5-11's station in light of recent events. There is blood on his hands.

FILE 7545.Z31: United States Army Field Promotion Order c. 1863

[…] AND FOR taking command of his regiment when his superior officer was struck down in the line of battle and leading a successful charge to protect a civilian from massacre by enemy forces, Benjamin ████████ is HEREBY awarded the Medal of Honor of these United States for gallantry in combat AND promoted to First Lieutenant of the 15th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Signed by President Abraham Lincoln and witnessed […]

▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀

▷CLOSE◁

«BEGIN LOG»

[O5-1 steps into SCP-7545-A2's holding area. It is a private library, containing two levels of mahogany shelves filled with books. A small fireplace, long-since sealed, lies before a chair and small table. SCP-7545-A2 is seated in the chair. He is younger but still clearly reminiscent of O5-11, appearing to be in his early 50s. Alpha-1 guards block the exits. SCP-7545-A2 turns to the door as O5-1 enters, and his face breaks out into a wide smile.]

SCP-7545-A2: Django!

[He leaps out of the armchair. The Alpha-1 guards begin to raise their guns but are waved down by O5-1. He sticks his hand out, but SCP-7545-A2 pulls him into a hug.]

SCP-7545-A2: Good lord, how long has it been? Still holed up in Switzerland?3

O5-1: [Slowly] Yes. Yes, just working with the United Nations. Trying to ensure the fledgling organization isn't too hostile to us.

SCP-7545-A2: Good man. Why the abundance of guards?

O5-1: Oh, just a regular security precaution. Don't worry about it. Come, sit.

[They settle in the pair of armchairs.]

O5-1: Is there anything you'd like to… share with me?

[SCP-7545-A2 looks at him strangely.]

SCP-7545-A2: What do you mean?

O5-1: Nevermind. Do you remember what we covered at the latest Council meeting?

SCP-7545-A2: Of course. Though we're overdue for another session. We chartered a dedicated medical Site,4 proceeded through some generic containment decisions… the same old. A few discussions on the Occult Coalition talks in Rome, but I don't expect it to become anything significant — that many cooks in the kitchen, I suspect it'll be yet another organization paralyzed by politics.

O5-1: I don't know, it could end up being a major player.

SCP-7545-A2: You're the one there, so I'll defer to you. As for me, I'll believe it when I see it. But you didn't come all the way here to chitchat, boy.

O5-1: No. I'm feeling philosophical lately.

SCP-7545-A2: Anything particular on your mind?

O5-1: Future goals. The world is changing, and the Foundation is at a crossroads. I wanted to speak with you about where you imagine the organization going.

SCP-7545-A2: That's a big question, lad.

O5-1: It is. But I'm sure you have an answer already.

SCP-7545-A2: Smart kid. That I do. You know I've never been quite happy with our Administrator's hesitance to utilize the treasures we're sitting on.

O5-1: Do you trust his judgement?

SCP-7545-A2: To the extent one can. You've met the man, he headhunted you for the Council. I'm sure you came to the same conclusion I did.

O5-1: That he's not quite human?

SCP-7545-A2: Aye. Those eyes carry the weight of centuries. He puts up a good front, for certain, but I've been on the Council for seventy years, and met him regularly. The mask is imperfect — he misses mannerisms that other people don't even think about. His mind works differently. At first, I assumed he was just a mage of some kind, but that's not it.

O5-1: His every action is restrained. Like he has to hold himself back.

SCP-7545-A2: A nuclear explosion, kept contained in a bell jar. But I digress. He clearly has his own interests at play, but they seem to align with humanity's for the most part. So I'm fine to defer to his judgement. But it doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.

O5-1: I hope that doesn't mean you're going to do anything rash.

[SCP-7545-A2 fidgets.]

O5-1: Ben…

SCP-7545-A2: It's nothing serious. Just a few projects, they're classified under codephrase Thaumiel. He won't mind.

O5-1: You know why we don't use anomalies.

SCP-7545-A2: I don't agree with it. It's hogwash.

O5-1: What?

SCP-7545-A2: Look around! I've been alive for nearly a hundred years and I look like I'm not even half that. We have objects that can produce endless food. We could've intervened and ended the wars that wracked the world for the century, the ones both of us fought and lost friends and family in! How can we look at the incredible power we have and justify not taking action?

O5-1: There are risks.

SCP-7545-A2: Yes, yes. Spare me the diatribe, we've been friends too long for that. I know the risks, that's why I'm not advocating for dropping the Veil. These are just my little rebellions.

O5-1: Just careful they don't turn into anything more. No one wants to see the outcome of that, what would happen to you.

SCP-7545-A2: You're behaving very strangely today, Django. Do you know something I don't?

O5-1: Unfortunately, the answer to that is always yes.

[SCP-7545-A2 laughs.]

SCP-7545-A2: Bastard. I just want to change things around here for the better a bit. Is that so much to ask?

O5-1: No. Admirable, even.

[O5-1 begins to say something, then cuts himself off.]

O5-1: I have to go. Be well, Ben.

SCP-7545-A2: Go with God.

«END LOG»

▷CLOSE◁

FILE 7545.K82: Memo from the office of O5-11, 7-18-1963

I'm disappointed in you, Director Conway. Very, very disappointed. My understanding when I hired you was that you were a visionary. And visionaries are what define the future of our organization — strong men, doing what needs to be done, seeing the whole board when most people can barely look a square or two beyond.

I can however now see that that is not true. Your vision is still utterly limited by the prejudices and biases of the old world. The Foundation has the unique ability to exist without having to conform to society's idiosyncratic bigotries. And our mission is too important to compromise because you're too much of an insecure spineless buffoon to realize that someone's skin color has no bearing on their ability to do the job. Probably better than you, frankly.

Drop the racial hiring embargo at your Site and onboard Ms. Jones, or I'll fly down and make you.

FILE 7545.F72: Excerpt from Operation TANGIER CUT debriefing, c. 1969.

Per O5-11's orders, all suspected GRU-P infiltrators were covertly detained by Internal Security agents in a simultaneous action across 8 Sites and involving nearly 39 personnel at 2:11 AM GMT. Where possible, Persons of Interest were brought to on-Site interrogation units and exposed to both anomalous and mundane interrogation performed by Atypical Persuasion Unit personnel. 21 of the 39 detainees confessed to being GRU-P deep cover agents. In accordance with O5-11's standing orders, this accounts for over half the number of detainees; as such, all 39 of them have been terminated to reduce the Foundation's risk factor.

▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀

▷CLOSE◁

«BEGIN LOG»

[SCP-7545-A3 is being held in an observation room inside the Sanctum. It has a two-way mirror that looks out over the snowy wastes. Outside, a snowstorm rages, limiting visibility — the inside of the room, however, is warm. SCP-7545-A3 stands a few feet from the glass wall. He is physically the same as SCP-7545-A2, perhaps slightly older, but has a wearier atmosphere to him.]

SCP-7545-A3: Hello, One.

O5-1: Eleven.

SCP-7545-A3: No, not Eleven. Do not patronize me; I do not labor under the same delusions the others do. I am acutely, inextricably aware that I am not the man I was created from.

O5-1: That's good. It's nice to speak on open terms.

SCP-7545-A3: I imagine.

O5-1: How far do your memories go to?

SCP-7545-A3: I couldn't tell you. I have no frame of reference. Ask me whether I remember something.

O5-1: Do you remember the last time we spoke?

SCP-7545-A3: Ah. Yes, Overwatch Command, Antarctica, September 4th, 1994. He voiced concerns over the ongoing absence of the Administrator, and it developed into an argument.

O5-1: It wasn't an argument, I was just disagree—

SCP-7545-A3: He thought it was an argument. He thought you were making excuses for him, because he was bitter that the Administrator played favorites. Bitter that he had been placed on sabbatical after Project LONDON BRIDGE went awry.

O5-1: That was his own fault. I tried to warn him.

SCP-7545-A3: No, you didn't. You can lie to yourself, Django, but you can't lie to me.

O5-1: Maybe I could have pushed him to stop, but he predated me on the Council by fifty years.

SCP-7545-A3: But the Administrator made you O5-1.

O5-1: We're all equals.

SCP-7545-A3: Don't be disingenuous. The position of O5-1 has always been primes inter pares. First among equals.

[Pause.]

O5-1: Are you saying he was jealous of me?

SCP-7545-A3: No. He simply felt you were unfit to be the leader of the Council, however informal. As your friend, he had seen you at your worst and lowest. It tainted his view of you. And he resented the Administrator for appointing you and vanishing.

O5-1: I had no idea.

SCP-7545-A3: He was a bitter man. He kept it under wraps, he tried his best. But it ate away at him. It got to where he couldn't stand to be around the rest of you. But he still cared about the Foundation, and more importantly, he still cared about you. He loved you and hated you and hated himself for hating you.

O5-1: So you retreated here, to a lifestyle of being a hermit in a mountain fortress? You should've just talked to me, we could've—

SCP-7545-A3: I am not him, Django.

O5-1: You're right. I apologize. I just… wish I knew this when he was still here.

[Silence.]

O5-1: When did it start? I know he didn't always feel this way. We were close. And then he started drifting away.

SCP-7545-A3: When the rest of the Council voted to censure him after SCP-5549. He was thrown out of the organization he'd given lifetimes to. It poisoned him.

O5-1: I thought his sabbatical did him well.

SCP-7545-A3: Of course you did. He didn't want to lose the only friend he had left on the Council. For all his grand achievements — integrating the Foundation, playing an instrumental role in the Restructuring, essentially manning Applied Force — he was a sad, sad man. Obsessed with saving the world.

O5-1: I never really understood his… fixation on weaponizing anomalies. He saw the Occult Wars, how could he think that using anomalies would cause less death and destruction?

SCP-7545-A3: That's because you're as limited as you've always been, Django. You came into the Foundation from the Sixth Occult War. That informed your perspective. His was a century prior, where disease slaughtered more than the war did, where entire armies were massacred. You were both soldiers, but you came from trench warfare and machine guns, and he came from cavalry and muskets.

O5-1: I still don't see the difference.

SCP-7545-A3: Because it was never about using anomalies, boy! It was about the Foundation! It was about the fact that he fought—

[SCP-7545-A3 sighs and rubs his temples.]

SCP-7545-A3: You witnessed the Sixth Occult Wars, and then joined the Foundation, and your first thought was "My god, how fortunate we were that more of these horrors weren't unleashed on the battlefields of Verdun and the Somme and Galipoli." He fought in the Civil War. The anomalous theatre was incredibly, incredibly limited — only really present in the ASCI Alphacampus and Betacampus in Georgia. His first thought after joining the Foundation was "My god, we could have stopped all of this before it began".

O5-1: … I never considered that.

SCP-7545-A3: Of course you didn't.

[Silence.]

O5-1: We were friends, yes?

SCP-7545-A3: To whatever extent men like you can have friends.

O5-1: Did he… ever have anything he wanted to tell me? Any regrets?

[SCP-7545-A3 tightens his jaw, and turns towards the glass again, gazing out into the snowstorm. His face is impassive.]

SCP-7545-A3: No. No regrets.

«END LOG»

▷CLOSE◁

FILE 7545.B12: Communication from the Administrator to O5-11, c. 1976

Hello, Eleven.

It's been quite some time. I hope you've been well. Despite recent events, know that I have no hard feelings toward you; I'm not sure I'm capable of grudges anymore. But that's neither here nor there. You made a mistake. An egregious, ugly, incomprehensibly large mistake, perhaps, but a mistake nonetheless. You did not seek to undermine the organization, only bring it back to a time when you thought it was stronger, more effective in its mission.

You were wrong, needless to say. That is the only reason your removal from the Council is temporary — I sincerely believe you have failed to understand how the Foundation has evolved. So allow me to illustrate it for you: the Foundation has cycles. Ebbs and flows. Periods where the use of anomalies is encouraged, and periods where it is discouraged. When I began the organization two centuries ago, we were a loose confederation of alchemists, mages, and scholars, trying to understand and use the anomalous to protect humanity. That is the Foundation you came into.

After the Restructuring and the Great War, things changed. There was a strong sentiment that the Foundation should not get involved in these mundane wars, even if they trickled into the Occult World. This is the Foundation we are now in. Scientists and researchers more interested in containment than use.

I understand this doesn't sit well with you. I don't care. You are a relic of an older time, Benjamin, much like myself. I have adapted to the times, as you must. Adapt or die. Your sabbatical from the Council is set for five years. Make the most of it.

Yours,

Franz Williams, the Administrator.

▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀

▷CLOSE◁

«BEGIN LOG»

[SCP-7545-A4 is seated in the armory of the Sanctum. Modern and historical weapons line the walls — swords, rapiers, assault rifles, muskets, flintlocks, and a range of other tools of war. SCP-7545-A4 is standing a distance from the walls. He is young-looking, perhaps in his late 20s or early 30s. His hair has not yet gone gray, and his beard is replaced by a trimmed goatee.]

O5-1: Hello.

SCP-7545-A4: Oh! Hello there.

O5-1: I don't suppose we've met?

SCP-7545-A4: No, I don't believe so.

[He sticks his hand out.]

SCP-7545-A4: Lieutenant Benjamin Kondraki. Though I suppose I'm not a lieutenant anymore, working for the Foundation. And you are?

O5-1: My name is Django Bridge. O5-1.

[SCP-7545-A4 furrows his eyebrows.]

SCP-7545-A4: I'm sorry?

O5-1: Ah. Right. Overseer Alpha.

SCP-7545-A4: Oh! Apologies, I was always told Overseer Alpha was… older.

O5-1: I age well. Let's talk about you. What's your position in the Foundation?

SCP-7545-A4: At the moment, I direct the recruitment of able-bodied men into our guardsmen and clever men into our Agents Corps.

O5-1: I see. An important job. Do you enjoy it?

SCP-7545-A4: I enjoy it enough. It's skilled work, and I'm certainly suited for it.

O5-1: I see.

[Silence.]

SCP-7545-A4: I'm sorry, sir, have I said something wrong? You have a strange look on your face.

O5-1: Oh? I apologize. I'm a bit distracted, I'm… meeting an old friend soon.

SCP-7545-A4: Ah. Old friends are the best kind. I hope it goes well.

O5-1: Much appreciated. What if I informed you you were being considered for a leadership position in the Foundation?

SCP-7545-A4: I… would be quite confused, sir. I don't have any magical or paranatural abilities. I'm not an alchemist or a mage or even a reader.

O5-1: Yes, well, that's not going to be important soon. We need more of the kind of people we're protecting in our ranks.

SCP-7545-A4: I see. What kind of position?

O5-1: An Overseer's seat has opened up recently. You are one of the candidates.

SCP-7545-A4: Good lord. That's— I couldn't possibly handle that, Mr. Bridge, sir.

O5-1: I'm not so sure. You've got a good head on your shoulders. You're smart, quick-witted, caring. Sometimes to a fault. Loyal as all hell.

SCP-7545-A4: Well, I appreciate that, sir. But I don't know the first thing about what such a job would require.

O5-1: Why don't you tell me about what you were doing before the Foundation?

SCP-7545-A4: Fighting, sir. In the Union Army. Like most of our men.

O5-1: You must've seen awful things.

SCP-7545-A4: Many, sir. My family's farm in Virginia was razed by shelling.

O5-1: Your family?

SCP-7545-A4: Killed, sir.

O5-1: My condolences. But you understand that doesn't excuse anything you do in their name.

[Pause.]

SCP-7545-A4: I'm… sorry, sir? I don't understand.

O5-1: Nevermind. Were you to become an Overseer, what would be your desire for the organization's future? Feel free to take your time to think about it.

SCP-7545-A4: That's an easy one, sir.

O5-1: Oh?

SCP-7545-A4: My parents raised me to believe absolute power corrupts absolutely. That having ultimate power over the fates of others leads to a rot of the soul.

O5-1: And?

SCP-7545-A4: They're gone now because no one had the power to do what had to be done. I would like to push the Foundation in the direction of a world where the Foundation is no longer needed. To improve the world, not be beholden to it. To save the people we have an obligation to.

O5-1: I see. Interesting.

SCP-7545-A4: I hope that was adequate, sir.

O5-1: More than you know, Lieutenant Kondraki. We'll be in contact.

SCP-7545-A4: Of course, sir. Good luck with your friend.

O5-1: Thank you.

«END LOG»

▷CLOSE◁

FILE 7545.Y17: O5-1 delivering O5-11's eulogy, March 5th, 1998

It's nice to see all of you, gathered here. Many faces I haven't seen in as many years. To be honest, Ben and I didn't expect crowds at either of our funerals. We've both outlived practically everyone else we knew. There are no brothers and sisters or sons and daughters left to mourn us. In Ben's case, there was another reason he didn't expect tears at his death.

I could very easily stand here and lie to all of you. You wouldn't know the difference. I could sit here and tell you that he was an unequivocally good man who tried to do the right thing, even if he made mistakes along the way. I was his best friend. I have an obligation to make the last memories people have of him good ones. Don't I?

But I'm not a liar. He wasn't lucky enough to be a good man. Or a bad man. Instead, he was like most dead people: infinitely complicated. A Foundation man to the bone. I saw him step away from his beloved granddaughter's birthday party to order the termination of an entire department. We pushed for the Foundation to drop old-world biases against women and minorities while he consolidated power in his own office. He encouraged the Administrator to intervene in the Great War to save lives, but was more than happy to sacrifice entire units to deny GRU-P or PENTAGRAM control of anomalies during the Cold War. Infinitely complicated, no matter how much we'd like to pretend they're not.

Many people here will only remember him at the end of his life — a paranoid authoritarian, trying fruitlessly to bring back the good old days he so desperately craved. Supporting ethical atrocities and causing the loss of one of our greatest assets. I don't blame anyone for judging him as they did based on the things he had done. But in the same lifetime and often in the same day, he was an ardent pusher for change in the Foundation, to support our people from all walks of life, to make us a force for good in a cruel, uncaring world. Like all of us, Ben was the sum of his experiences. Born in a different century's war, and spending his entire life trying to apply what he learned to peacetime. Some people will say he was a monster. But just as many will say he was a hero.

The only thing I can say for sure is that my friend is dead.

FILE 7545.A11: Excerpt from autopsy report on O5-11's body.

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM: At the time of death, blood samples indicated the presence of apoaequorin, cholinesterase inhibitors, and █████████ in the system, substances which are rarely encountered together outside of their role as active ingredients in Foundation mnestic drugs. The levels encountered were significantly higher than what would constitute a lethal dose.

▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀

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«BEGIN LOG»

[O5-1 sits in O5-11's study in the living quarters of SCP-7545. The room lacks any kind of digital or electronic equipment, and is richly decorated with mahogany paneling, oil portraits, and expensive ephemera. With a nod, O5-1 dismisses the remaining Alpha-1 security personnel. He is left alone in O5-11's study, surrounded by portraits and photographs of the late Overseer, his own face alongside O5-11's in many of them. He does not appear aware he is being recorded.]

[A few minutes pass as he walks around the study, examining the framed documents on the walls.]

[He then walks over to the well-worn leather chair behind the mahogany desk, and takes a seat in it.]

[He leans his elbows on the desk, places his head in his hands, and begins to quietly shake, entirely alone.]

«END LOG»

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Footnotes

1. Archaic codename for O5-11; until 1920, the codename schema for members of the Overseer Council was based on the Greek alphabet.

2. This was the first time an SCP-7545-A instance had been observed to speak.

3. O5-1 occupied a secondary stronghold in the Swiss Alps for much of the late 1940s, during the formation of the United Nations Global Occult Coalition.

4. Site-12.