SCP-3935 - This Thing a Quiet Madness Made

Item#: 3935

Containment Class: euclid

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: keneq

Risk Class: caution

Salvation High School.

Salvation, IN, US

Special Containment Procedures: The town of Salvation, Indiana has been evacuated and a fenced 2km quarantine zone has been established around the center of the town. Roads leading to the nearby town of Eminence have been removed and rerouted. Foundation personnel are to monitor all known travel routes into Salvation for signs of civilians. Any civilians caught attempting to enter Salvation are to be remanded to the custody of local authorities. Cover story 3935.18 “Hazardous Waste Disaster” is currently being disseminated.

The building containing SCP-3935, Salvation High School, is to be guarded by Foundation security personnel. Under no circumstances are any non-authorized personnel to enter SCP-3935. Individuals believed to be affected in any way by SCP-3935 are to be moved to Temporary Site-81-5 near Eminence for evaluation.

It is currently believed that original inhabitants of Salvation are unable to reproduce. Deviation from this expectation is to be closely monitored.

Exploration into SCP-3935 is currently forbidden. Due to the hazardous conditions within SCP-3935, any future exploration attempts are restricted to Class-D personnel only.

Description: SCP-3935 is an extra-temporal, extra-spatial, non-Euclidean space located beneath the Salvation High School in Salvation, Indiana. While SCP-3935 is the designation for the specific anomaly mentioned above, it is believed that the anomaly currently affects the entire town of Salvation, as individuals have reported anomalous events taking place outside of SCP-3935 as well. The full extent of these effects is not known.

SCP-3935 is reachable only through a collapsed section of sub-basement beneath the Salvation High School, near the northwest corner of the building, below the school’s pool. It is believed that SCP-3935 was the source of anomalous activity that took place in Salvation High School in the mid 1970s, which was investigated and contained by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Unusual Incidents Unit. Information pertaining to their investigation is available elsewhere in this file.

The access point to SCP-3935 proper exists roughly 25m below the collapsed section of basement, in a small antechamber containing a stone arch. The original creator of the arch, or how it became buried so far underground in the first place, are the subjects of investigation. Inscribed on the arch is a phrase in English, not believed to exist elsewhere in literature:

The way below winds deeper, longer,

unspeakable its patterns laid.

The lost forever damned to wander

this thing a quiet madness made.

Addendum 3935.1: Discovery

SCP-3935 was originally discovered following a series of paranormal events that took place within the Salvation High School during the week of June 18th, 1976 (see Addendum 3935.2). Sometime after the end of the primary anomalous activity period at the school, the collapsed section of wall and floor leading to a narrow gap in the foundation was discovered by a member of the custodial staff. The collapsed wall, which is located in an unspecified basement room below the primary basement, deteriorated even further until the gap in the foundation was large enough that a person could fit into.

During an audit of the damage by a contractor, a member of the independent team accidentally slipped and fell into the antechamber near SCP-3935. Without a way to easily extract the individual, their supervisor encouraged them to proceed into SCP-3935 a short distance and see if there was a way out. When the individual did not return from SCP-3935, a search was conducted by members of the contractor team and local authorities. When only two of the eleven individuals who entered SCP-3935 returned to the antechamber, and when they began to give accounts of their experiences within, Foundation personnel embedded in local authorities took over the investigation.

Over time, anomalous activity began to become more common outside of the high school in Salvation. After the events that took place in June 1976, the town was officially condemned and the entire populace1 was relocated.

Addendum 3935.2: UIU Field Report

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Note: The following is a summary of the field report filed by UIU Field Agents Lonnie Carter, Patrick Wilson, and Ella Hughes.

TOP SECRET

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

UNUSUAL INCIDENTS UNIT

Image attached to UIU file. Context unknown.

The following is a comprehensive report detailing paranormal activity that took place in the town of SALVATION, INDIANA, between June 18th and June 23rd, 1976. Agents Carter, Wilson, and Hughes dispatched to site of reported activity. Substantial paranormal activity encountered - additional resources requested and employed in cover-up of paranormal activity. No reported involvement by SCP Foundation or its agents. No reported involvement by Global Occult Coalition or its agents. No reported involvement by other notable entities or their agents.

After ascertaining the scope of the reported paranormal activity, dispatched agents applied doses of CHEMICAL 1102 to the entire populace of SALVATION. All inhabitants accounted for, and moved to processing center in Indianapolis for further analysis. Quarantine established around SALVATION.

After extensive interviews of the population of SALVATION, the following timeline of paranormal activity has been constructed from these eyewitness accounts:

Sunday Night: 10th grade students Diane Beasley and Cassandra Thompson report hearing what they described as “someone trying to speak under the ground” when passing by the high school on their way home from a Sunday night church service. Ms. Thompson reports this to her mother, who ignores it.

Monday: During gym class, 11th grade student Oliver Baker claims that he can hear voices coming from underneath the pool. Several other students corroborate this story. When school officials come to investigate, they do not discern anything unusual. Notably, the lining at the bottom of the pool appears cracked.

Several female students report seeing “faceless things” instead of their own reflections in the mirror of a second story bathroom during a passing period. They do not seem bothered by this.

During lunch announcements, many students describe being able to hear a third voice3 speaking unintelligibly below the broadcast. The PA room sits in a media center near the pool, less than 40m from the entrance of the sub-basement room and collapsed wall.

Tuesday: Students arriving to the school notice that the Indiana state flag is more than three meters above the top of the flagpole, attached to nothing. The American flag is not found. When observed, students claim that they can also see nine female figures hanging by ropes from the flagpole, which disappear immediately after being seen.

During a freshman biology class, one student suddenly stands, is seen rolling their eyes back in their head, and descending suddenly into the floor and out of sight. They reappear shortly later above a ceiling panel in the corner of the room. Despite being unable to identify the student, several of his classmates insist it was just a joke4.

Several students describe seeing a student they did not recognize at the school on Tuesday. When pushed to give details of the student’s appearance, none are able to do so. Apparently the only defining characteristic of this student was a purple satchel with the word “Syncope” written on the side in white embroidery.

A custodian reports seeing something standing at the bottom of the pool staring at him.

Wednesday: Upon arriving at the school, maintenance staff and the custodians note that there is a full two inches of water across all levels of the school. Inexplicably, the school’s principal, Dr. Irvin White, decides to not close the school.

At 7:56am, the entire school hears someone whisper the word “hello” in their right ear.

Members of the school band realize that their instruments no longer produce any sound. However, when played the students report seeing a “small, black human-shaped thing” flickering in and out of view in the corner of the room, facing the wall.

One student, Ava Lideway, witnesses a dark figure walking up and away from the school through the air at an impossible angle. Eventually the figure disappears from sight and is never seen again. No other students address this.

Thursday: During a gym class, senior Nate Bennett avoids a dodgeball when it phases through him. As he begins to sink into the floor, he screams for help. Nobody who noticed seemed motivated enough to help him.

The entire school shifts up roughly a foot off its foundations at 11:23am. The vice principal sent to inspect it describes “something small, with too many faces, grinning at him from underneath the building” before the school slowly resettles.

The boys locker rooms disappear and are replaced by "something that screamed". Witnesses are unable to provide any further details.

As the students leave the school for the day, they see nine young women hanging in the air, tilted forward at a 45 degree angle, roughly 25m above the school’s parking lot. They can be seen silently mouthing words. All witnesses described their appearance as "ugly" and "unremarkable". They vanish at approximately 3:00 pm; the majority of all residents describe hearing a child's voice say the word "hello" below them at this time. A panic ensues as town officials have no response for the women in the sky. The principal decides to close the school on Friday.

Friday: The entire student body shows up for school on Friday. Being unable to get into the school due to the doors being locked, they assemble outside the front door and wait. No individuals in this group could describe why they were there. There is a knock on a window, and the entire student body sees a small, black, humanoid form standing outside of a second story classroom. The figure begins to phase in and out of the window. The figure disappears, and then begins to phase in and out of other windows. Witnesses describe its movements as “jerky, erratic, and spasmodic”. The figure disappears and the front door unlocks itself. The student body enters the school.

The interior of the school has become non-Euclidean. As the students approach the “back” of the space, they realize they are moving down, not into. All students now hear whispers, and some at the edge of the group hear drums in the distance. In the distance, they see the archway leading to SCP-3935. Suddenly, the entire mass of students shifts 50m outside of the space, and are suddenly encased in rock and earth. The students spend roughly 20 seconds trapped in this area, before reappearing back in the school.

All students report being the only one in the building and, after wandering through the hallways for a short time, coming across a “doorway below a doorway” and entering the small sub-basement room. Inside the students report seeing three separate visions: a woman crouched over a body of water, blood surrounding her feet and her arms extended into the water up to her elbows, a farmhouse in the middle of a grove of trees that is burning while nine humanoid figures hang in the air overhead, and a weeping woman digging in a field until her hands begin to rot and fall apart. Once the visions subside, the small black humanoid appears. Students hear the entity say the word “hello” again, are immediately surrounded by nine screaming female figures, and then are suddenly in their own homes.

As additional agents begin to enter the town to apply amnestics to the subjects, additional anomalous activity is reported around the town. Several individuals report seeing bodies hanging in the sky. Several individuals report turning on their taps and human hair and mucus flowing out instead of water. Several individuals report feeling as if their facial features had disappeared entirely, while several other reported seeing faceless creatures in town. A completely still black humanoid entity is seen frantically appearing and reappearing in rapid succession up and down the main thoroughfare in the town.

One unidentified woman reports witnessing a weeping young woman running back into the school building. After following her into the now-unlocked sub-basement, she is unable to find the young woman but is the first to report the collapsed floor.

Aftermath Summary: Over the next few days, UIU amnestic regimens begin to take effect. Most townspeople are readily convinced that the things they saw were hallucinations as a result of toxic gasses blown south from a factory to the north. At the end of the next week, contractors assessing the damage to the school discover the sub-basement room, as well as the entrance to SCP-3935. Foundation involvement begins shortly thereafter.

Addendum 3935.3: Initial Exploration and Recovery Log

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Addendum 3935.4: Anomalous Activity in Salvation

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The following are incidents of anomalous activity in Salvation, Indiana reported by staff during the Foundation’s occupancy of the town.

Reports of a figure, dressed as a UIU agent, who tries to direct individuals towards the high school. This figure disappears if observed for too long.

Agent Wills reported seeing a small black figure sitting underneath his vehicle upon approaching. After looking beneath the vehicle, the figure was not there. Afterwards, Agent Wills reports always seeing the black figure in his peripheral vision.

Many reports of sounds coming from a grove of trees near the high school. Examination of the grove returned only a dilapidated one-bedroom house and nine [DATA EXPUNGED] in the backyard. The appearance of nine hanging female figures drives off the exploration team. Further examination of the grove was unable to locate the house.

After dark, many agents report seeing the nine female humanoid entities5 jerkily moving towards them in the dark only to slide into the earth or fade away before reaching them. Several reports of similar figures up in trees.

Reports of several bodies (no more than nine at a time) that float up from the bottom of a small pond outside of the town and rest at the surface of the water before sinking and disappearing. Likely connected in some way to the nine [DATA EXPUNGED] that appeared behind the house in the grove.

Addendum 3935.5: Interview with Person of Interest

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Note: The following interview was conducted by Agent Ryan Aimes in 2002. The subject, Mrs. Valerie Fletcher, was a teacher at Salvation High School during the period of anomalous activity in 1976.

Image of an unidentified figure in the sky. Collected from UIU report.

[BEGIN LOG]

Agent Aimes: Can you tell me about your time at Salvation?

Mrs. Fletcher: Oh, well… you know, I already told you about the memory loss. Just can't seem to string anything together anymore6… I was a teacher though, see. I taught, uh… English… I believe, and yes, I was at Salvation for some time.

Agent Aimes: What can you tell me about the town? Anything you remember that stands out?

Mrs. Fletcher: Well… it was quiet, you know. One road in and one road out. We didn't get many outsiders, so we were a pretty tight knit community. I don't even think we had police, you know, because who would need them? We didn't have crime, not really. (Pauses) There were always some people who would tell stories, you know. They…

Agent Aimes: Yes?

Mrs. Fletcher: What? Hello? Hello?

Agent Aimes: You were just talking about people telling stories, Mrs. Fletcher.

Mrs. Fletcher: Oh. The young people would go out into the woods and get themselves all riled up about whatever spook or specter they thought they were seeing out there. (Pauses) There were some things that were strange. Well, I don't know if they were actually strange, or if it's just my memory giving me trouble again. Like… sometimes, you'd be driving down the street and you'd see somebody standing on the side of the road, waving, just like this. And you'd look back and nobody would be there. I think it was just the kids playing pranks on people.

Agent Aimes: What about at the high school? Anything strange ever happen there?

Mrs. Fletcher: High school?

Agent Aimes: Where you were a teacher. Salvation High School?

Mrs. Fletcher: I… yes, I was a teacher. I taught English, I think.

Agent Aimes: Do you remember anything strange happening at the school?

Mrs. Fletcher: No… no, I mean, nothing out of the ordinary. We did have a child disappear once, I think. The last she was seen was by the pool… and then nobody ever saw them again. I just think- well, I think they ended up saying they just ran away. Some of them were problem children, you know, trouble. And there's just nothing you can do. Maybe it was better for them, I don't know. There were a lot of people in Salvation who had some strong opinions, and some of them didn't sit very well with the young people.

Agent Aimes: What do you mean?

Mrs. Fletcher: Oh, you know. The church was very important in town, we had a few and almost everyone went. But we had, if I remember this right, there was one girl who got pregnant, I think… I'm sorry, what were we talking about? I can't… I can't seem to… hello?

Agent Aimes: A girl who got pregnant.

Mrs. Fletcher: Yes, out of wedlock; it was quite a scandal. I don't remember what happened to her, but I know a lot of people were very upset about it. (Pauses) You know, I don't remember that girl's name… no, no… but I do remember her coming to me one time and asking about something strange she had heard. She was pregnant, out of wedlock. It was quite a scandal, and didn't want- well, didn't want the boys to see, but… she said she was sitting on the bleachers, and kept hearing a- a knocking. Like somebody hitting… hitting something… she didn't want the… the boys… didn't want them to-

Agent Aimes: Mrs. Fletcher?

Mrs. Fletcher: I'm sorry, I'm just so all over anymore. She, uh, she said she would see things sometimes too, but I don't know anything about that. She also… well, I don't know if I dreamed this or not, but I remember her saying hello to me, too many times. All at once, too, not like a greeting. Like it was the only word she knew for… for a moment, like she… like it was all she… hello?

Agent Aimes: Is there anything else about Salvation you remember?

Mrs. Fletcher: I… (pauses) It all blurs together, after all this time. I seem to remember there was one time… one time when the, ah, well, somebody found a girl… maybe the, the same… well, I don't know, but they were strung up in the woods, like a hanging. I think they called it a suicide, one of the girls who did cheer, you know, but uh, it was somebody who… well, I don't know why they'd do anything like that. They had a note, uh, they had written… with uh… I'm sorry, anyway, a note in their hand. Actually asked me to look at it, see if it was the same handwriting and everything.

Agent Aimes: What did it say?

Mrs. Fletcher: Oh, well… if I remember right, it was on one side, they just had a, just like a drawing. Like a building, but strange somehow… I don't remember why. On the other it was just a word written over and over again… I don't remember what it was, I think it was wet, or… or something, you couldn't make it out. Very queer, now that I think… think of it… what a strange thing to write just before you die. Don't you think?

Agent Aimes: Do you remember anything from the week you were evacuated?

Mrs. Fletcher: No, no, well… I mean, the vapors were very strong that week, from the factory. They said that we might experience hallucinations, and I definitely did… see, I saw, I mean, saw some things. I saw… well, there was one day I imagined a child floating backwards into a wall and then… well, then they, uh… suffocated. Heard him screaming and pounding against the wall, we all did. It was a… a strange hallucination. He stopped… I'm sorry, what am I doing here again?

Agent Aimes: We're just talking, Mrs. Fletcher. I'm here with the insurance company. You were talking about the hallucination, remember? About the boy in the wall?

Mrs. Fletcher: Oh, yes. I'm sorry, I just don't remember quite so well anymore. The hallucination, though… I saw that boy go in, and then we didn't hear anything else. Now that I think about it, that's very peculiar. The hallucination was very clear, he just… he cried for a long time, and seemed so afraid, but… well… I don't, um… I don't seem to remember it bothering me. I… I think it must have just been a- a prank.

Agent Aimes: One last question, Mrs. Fletcher. After the earthquake, they found a room underneath the basement near the pool. Do you know anything about that?

Mrs. Fletcher: (Shifts uncomfortably) No, I don't- nobody ever went into that room but the janitors, I think. Just storage. Though… (pauses) you know, I think that girl asked about that room once. Said she… well… she heard some things coming from it. She was very interested in it, I think, before she… uh… well, either way. But I don't know, I might not be remembering that right. I do- well, some of the hallucinations, you know, they told us not to think about them anymore, so I do try not to, but… I know some other people who have, and they… they aren't doing very well anymore.

Agent Aimes: Thank you again for your time, Mrs. Fletcher. (Stands to leave) Actually, before I go, do you think you know anything about this? (Shows the subject an image taken of the nine unidentified female figures.)

At this point, the subject becomes noticeably pale and short of breath.

Mrs. Fletcher: Well… yes, I do. Those are the, uh- that's the cheerleaders. (Pauses) There were, uh, well, let me think… there were ten of them, though, I think. Unless something happened to one of them, there were definitely ten.

Footnotes

1. No more than 1,400 people.

2. An early model UIU amnestic, similar to the discontinued Foundation Class Silver amnestics (now replaced with the Y-909 Class B amnestic). Notable for its toxicity and tendency to cause severe damage to human memory centers.

3. Alongside the two announcing students.

4. This student is not accounted for in the attached Salvation population dossier.

5. With extremely distended features, or no features at all.

6. Likely due to the experimental amnestic "Chemical 110" utilized by the UIU in the 1970s.