Item#: 4437

Containment Class: safe

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: vlam

Risk Class: warning

The area in which SCP-4437 may manifest.

Special Containment Procedures: The entrance to SCP-4437 is to be sealed off with concrete, declared condemned, and to be removed from any subway maps. Any person who views 2065 is to be given Class-A amnestics. As a safety precaution, any subjects who enter SCP-4437 for testing must not disembark from their vehicle, due to the risk of a Vaxt τ-Class "Chronography Change" Scenario.1 DEEPWELL systems are to be calibrated due to immense strain caused by use of SCP-4437.

Description: SCP-4437 refers to a temporal anomaly currently encompassing a section of New York City's 7 subway track, approximately one mile in length. Any train that enters SCP-4437's span, as well as any passengers, will be transported into the past or future relative to their acceleration upon entering SCP-4437. The direction of the car's acceleration determines the direction of temporal displacement: acceleration results in forward temporal displacement, while deceleration denotes backward temporal displacement. The exact proportion is not known. Current approximations are between 20 km/s2 to 57 years, and 20 km/s2 to 150 years.

All temporal displacement of the train car ceases upon any personnel-created change in speed, returning displaced objects and individuals to a non-anomalous section of the 7 track, travelling at the speed limit for that particular section. SCP-4437 only triggers under the following conditions:

A subway car enters SCP-4437.

The subway car must typically travel on the 7 track.

The subway car must be accelerating or decelerating when entering SCP-4437.

The subway car is travelling at an initial velocity greater than 5 km/hr.

The subway car must not be automated.

Any failure to fulfill these conditions results in those attempting to enter SCP-4437 to simply run down the track, generally resulting in crashes once SCP-4437's track ends. Failed attempts at entering SCP-4437 have resulted in 24 Foundation casualties.

+ Under the orders of the O5 council, the remainder of this file is locked.

- CLEARANCE ACCEPTED: WELCOME O5

Following the events of Incident 4437/4, SCP-4437 is to be considered unusable.

Recovery Log

SCP-4437 was discovered approximately 3 days after its initial appearance, following reports of spontaneous disappearance of subway cars. Foundation personnel quickly removed any mention of SCP-4437 from online presence, as well as new subway maps, and instituted containment procedures.

Addenda:

Addendum 4437.1 - Audio Log

Note: This interview was conducted between Jonathan Howe, a former New York subway driver, and Head Researcher Likona.

<BEGIN LOG>

Howe: Wow. You really do exist, huh? I always thought this sorta X-Files thing was utter bullshit.

Likona: Yep. We do.

Howe: (He looks around the interview room, eventually fixating on the recording device.) Wow. I wish I could tell my kids about this. They love this sorta stuff.

Likona: Please focus.

Howe: Sorry, sorry, man. It's just my kids are always, or were always into that stuff. E.T. was their favorite movie. In fact, my youngest, Tatiana, dressed up as Scully for Halloween, 3 years in a row. She used to bust out my old suits, and grab a Super Soaker. Held up half the houses in our neighborhoods for a king-sized Snickers bar. (He smiles fondly, slowly moving his arms around as he speaks.)

Likona: Alright, that aside, let's begin with the interview. Mr. Howe, you were a driver for the New York City's subway, right?

Howe: Mhm. 7, R, and M lines, for 25 years.

Likona: Ok, let's forget the R and M lines, and focus on the 7. Was there anything off about it, that you noticed? Perhaps an odd turn, or two?

Howe: No, everything was pretty normal. Nothing interesting ever happens on the line, nothing juicy. The B line's where everything's at. Power outages, things on the track, wild pigeon stampede. Man, ol' Tyrone was so lucky, damn his penny-pinching ass. The 7 line… it was filled with just shitty operators. They'd pop out of nowhere, sitting in odd off-tracks I'd never seen.

Likona: Anything else? Anything at all, out of the ordinary? Anything recent, perhaps?

Howe: Lemme think. The noggin needs the old kick in the pants sometimes, you know? My memory's not as great as it used to be. (Howe sighs and rubs his temple.) I've been taking a bunch of supplements lately, supposed to help with the brain. Doctors say I'm at risk for dementia, ya know? A few months ago, I got hit with a weird bout of… narcolepsy? Narcolepsy? Yeah. Right, that's the word. I must have fallen asleep, because trains would just… pop out of nowhere in front of me. Thankfully there was no crash, and none of the passengers noticed either. They just… showed.

Likona: Did you see anything before these cars appeared?

Howe: No UFOs, no. Though, I heard an odd squawk or roar once. Like some car screeching to a stop, only above the el tracks2. That was about it. I figured it was the pigeons. (He chuckles.) They're fucking mutants at this point.

Likona: You didn't see anything? Try to jog your memory.

Howe: Doc, I swear. Nothing. Driving the subway's already boring. You turn a lever here, turn it the other way there, then just sit. Even a man like me doesn't forget stuff that easy. Come on. Sometimes you take a wrong turn and you gotta pick yourself up and dust yourself off.

Likona: Further tests will be necessary. Thank you Mr. Howe.

(Howe remains silent, before continuing.)

Howe: Sorry, but I guess that's just time, right?

<END LOG>

Addendum 4437.2 - Audio Log

Note: During this test, D-19872, who was arrested under charges of grand theft auto, reckless endangerment, and vehicular manslaughter, was instructed to drive a subway car into SCP-4437, while decelerating at a rate of 10 km/h.

<BEGIN LOG>

D-19872: Ok, just because I stole a fucking car doesn't mean I know how to drive one of these things, no matter how much practice you guys give me.

Likona: (Over a radio.) Just pull the lever: we've set out instructions for you. It should be relatively simple from there.

D-19872: Lemme see. (The sounds of multiple objects falling over can be heard, until the subway car starts, presumably from D-19872 inadvertently striking the starting lever.) Oh. There. Seems I must've accidentally hit it. Well, let's get comfy, I guess. We're going to the past?

Likona: Indeed.

(The train begins to speed up as it approaches SCP-4437.)

Likona: You need to slow down when you enter. Decelerate your car to a speed of 42 km/h, please.

D-19872: Oh shit. You're not kidding right?

Likona: No, I most certainly am not.

D-19872: I wonder if I can catch a pic with a T-Rex? Can I, sir?

Likona: No. You are not to exit the vehicle.

D-19872: Damn. Well, it's slowing, at least. I turn right up here?

Likona: Yes. We've already taken the liberty of triggering your track switcher, so you must not touch anything else. Leave it, you will be fine.

D-19872: Sure. Sounds good. This chair is awfully comfy. I should've stolen one of these.

Likona: I doubt you would get far. You were caught less than 12 hours later driving a car, no? This would certainly be much more difficult to actually maneuver.

D-19872: Ouch, sir. Ouch. I told you not to talk about that.

(Some time passes. D-19872 has begun to approach SCP-4437.)

D-19872: You sure this is the spot? It looks pretty normal to me.

Likona: Just give it time, Marcus. Patience is key.

D-19872: Whatever you said, sir.

(Approximately 30 seconds later, SCP-4437 is triggered. The subway car disappears. 5 seconds afterwards, it returns. The log is paused until D-19872 is well enough to dictate what happened.)

<LOG RESUME>

(D-19872 and Researcher Likona have returned to the interview room. D-19872 has returned to normal body vitals, and has indicated he is well enough to interview.)

D-19872: It's been awhile since I've smelled the scent of these concrete walls. If the sun works the same way back then, probably around 4 days, maybe? 5, as a high-shot?

Likona: Describe what you see.

D-19872: Ok, I'm gonna start off with a few problems I noticed. First of all: no dinosaurs. What the fuck, sir?

Likona: We were not sure how far in the past you would go. I may not show it, but I am deeply disappointed by the lack of Velociraptor in your testing environment as well. Please tell us about where you ended up.

D-19872: Well… at first, I didn't know. I popped out in some city, I'm guessing, cause there were a ton of buildings around. They were all tepees. Buncha natives, I'm wagering. They didn't seem to notice, and acted like… I wasn't there, I guess. It was freaky, cause the car would roll right through a buffalo wrangling, and I was under the car, completely terrified. But they just didn't care. The car kept rolling, and I was super surprised, cause we were hitting a hill, I guess. I could feel it tilt up. So I peek my head out the window, and there's fucking tracks. Just appearing. Like, real, live, railroad tracks.

Likona: And this continued until your return here?

D-19872: It did. They only showed up where the train was, really. I'd turn to the left, the tracks would turn. Et cetera, et cetera. Thanks for the note by the way, super helpful.

Likona: It was no issue.

D-19872: So that aside, I decide that I might as well see the sights for a few days, you know? If this is anything like the Hot Tub Time Machine movie, it'd make sense, cause I'd just pop up right where I started whenever I came back. I hit a right, went over some ocean for a long, long time. I saw some ships, three of them, going back to where I came from. Big things, red crosses on the sail. Drove right through them. I ended up in England, I'm guessing, cause there were castles and shit around. Ended up running out of food, though. Didn't see much more.

Likona: So, you couldn't interact with any object, alive or not?

D-19872: (Rustling can be heard.) Nope. Went right through 'em, just like a ghost. Spooky business, sir.

Likona: Understandably. One final question: did you see anything, notice anything strange about the time period you traveled to?

D-19872: I suppose… the longer I spent, the stranger it felt, physically. Like something was sort of spaghettifying, stretching out my insides. At the time, I figured it was just the lack of food though. Also, the train kept… fucking around. Half of it would sometimes sort of fall into itself, or straight up fuzz out and disappear. Another time, I looked, and turned to grab a Snickers I hid in my pocket, which was melted, but when I turned back half of the fucking train was gone, but it was still running. I saw a little black dot, over in the back, kinda where I came out from, sort of a rip in the sky, I guess. I figured it was where I was coming from. You know, like the rift in Back To The Future. It disappeared after awhile. But trust me, it was fun, sir. (He falls silent.)

D-19872: Never doing it again.

Likona: Why is that, D-19872?

D-19872: It was just freaky. Too damn risky, I did not like it one bit. Also, no dinosaurs. (He laughs.)

Likona: I'll ensure it doesn't happen again, Marcus.

D-19872: Thanks, sir. It's about time.

<END LOG>

Addendum 4437.3 - Testing Log

Acceleration
Time Traveled To In America
Notes

18 km/s2
2045.
Buildings in 2045-era New York appeared similar to present day, though less of a presence of fossil fuel-based energy systems were noted. Furthermore, greater biodiversity was recorded, especially in urban areas. The U.S. Capitol Hill building was destroyed, and a large building with 'United States Voting Center' was in its place. No replacement buildings were located.

-41 km/s2
1707, traveled to Japan.
The subway car's view is briefly obscured while driving over Mt. Fuji. Internal temperature peaks at 49 degrees Celsius, as Mt. Fuji erupts. Townsfolk can be seen scattering. No events of history appeared to be different.

-23 km/s2
1932,traveled to Australia.
A large congregation of emus could be seen across the continent, as a large battalion of soldiers gather in Sydney. No events of history appeared to be different.

21 km/s2
2064.
Gravitational force increases to 1.4 g's. Discomfort initially expressed by D-19872 is noted by all subjects. Metropolitan areas are devoid of all residents.

21 km/s2
2064.
Numerous murals and large paintings of a large hand can be seen on the ground. Numerous buildings spontaneously lose chunks, only for them to reappear.

21 km/s2
2064.
Previous murals have disappeared. Graffiti is present on nearly every building in every United States metropolitan area, stating that a force known as 'The Hand' is here, 'repairing the continuum.' Large amounts of saliva-like fluid spontaneously appear in the air as well, and no residents are seen anywhere on the continental United States. Due to massive gravitational abnormalities, leaving the continent is impossible.

22 km/s2
New Year's Day, 2065.
Buildings intermittently suffer spontaneous spatial displacements, and continue fading in and out. Occasionally, two buildings crash into the ground, resulting in their destruction before returning to their original position. Upon returning, no sign of damage is present. No residents are seen. The test is aborted after 15 minutes.

22 km/s2
2065.
Upper Manhattan appears to have vanished, leaving a crater. This crater is affected by gravitational and perceptual abnormalities, and thus inaccessible, imperceptible, and is constantly expanding. It is theorized that any form of matter does not exist within the crater.

23 km/s2
2065.
The crater has expanded to encompass all of North America. A singularity is detected approximately 170 million kilometers away, near the sun.

23.5 km/s2
2066.
The crater has ceased expansion, encompassing all of North and South America. See Incident 4437/4.

Addendum 4437.4 - Incident 4437/4

Note: Due to the presence of emptiness in 2065, active radio communication was impossible. This video was recorded by security cameras on the subway car, and sent to Foundation personnel as part of a failsafe.

<BEGIN LOG>

(D-19872 can be seen attempting to control the car's direction.)

D-19872: Damn thing won't fucking turn. I said I don't wanna do it again, Alex.

(He falls silent.)

D-19872: Fuck you, Alex. Fuck you.

(Large amounts of light can be seen falling into the event horizon of the singularity.)

D-19872: Aw, shit.

(The car does not change its track. The lever is unable to be moved by D-19872.)

D-19872: Hell.

(A loud sound can be heard as the camera detects movement farther back in the train. An alternate view shows the entire back half has disappeared. The metal shows no signs of being ripped or torn.)

D-19872: I fucking told them. I said.

(The back half is reattached. Its origin is unknown. It is then torn off again. This loop continues for approximately 3 minutes.)

D-19872: I fucking told them. I said.

(Light can be seen as the car is pulled closer to the center of the singularity. The roof can be seen caving in.)

D-19872: I fucking told them. I said. I'm sorry.

(The back half of the car disappears again. The metal displays signs of being torn, with five distinct finger-like marks made on the remaining car.)

D-19872: Fuck you. Fuck you, Alex. I said I don't wanna do it again, Alex.

(The front half of the train enters the event horizon.)

D-19872: Hell. I'm sorry.

(The subway car is flattened, before being ripped in two. D-19872 is killed on impact. The back half returns as transmission cuts out.)

<END LOG>

Footnotes

1. In which a temporal paradox is formed, altering the present timeline due to actions in the past.

2. Slang for elevated train tracks.