Item#: SCP-6148

Containment Class: euclid

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: vlam

Risk Class: notice

Special Containment Procedures: Until the full anomalous effects of SCP-6148 are discovered, guards are to be stationed around the perimeter of SCP-6148. Any non-Foundation personnel are to be turned away from SCP-6148 and administered Class A amnestics.

Description: SCP-6148 is a forest in ██████, Pennsylvania, USA. It is of a roughly circular shape, and covers about 900 square kilometers of land. SCP-6148 is extremely dense, with approximately three times the standard forest density.

The primary anomalous qualities of SCP-6148 are properties of its trees, hereafter referred to as SCP-6148-1. They are of an unidentified species, resembling oak trees but with no branches other than at the canopies. Dead or fallen instances are yet to be documented, despite the nutrient density in the soil being insufficient to support the size of the forest. SCP-6148 was discovered on ██/██/2020, after a small town was reported to have completely disappeared from satellite scans, in its place being a mass of vegetation. Shortly after preliminary scans, initial containment procedures were established and an expedition was planned, with the intent of discovering the full anomalous effects of the forest, primarily its reproductive methods.

SCP-6148| Exploration Video Log Transcript

Foreword: Discover the full anomalous properties or effects of SCP-6148, with a secondary goal of finding information on the whereabouts of the missing town.

Team Members:

Dr. Jonathan Merion, Wooded Anomalies

Dr. Abigail Wynne, Spatial Anomalies

Dr. Adam Lancaster, Spatial Anomalies, formerly Wooded Anomalies

Team Leader:

SITE COMMAND, Wooded Anomalies

[BEGIN LOG]

Shown is SCP-6148, about fifty feet from the border. The team is behind the camera, with the exception of Dr. Lancaster.

Merion: Testing, testing, one, two… I believe it's working!

Lancaster: Red light's on, should be rolling. Shall we begin?

Shuffling can be heard in the background.

Wynne: Should be ready.

Lancaster: All righty then. First things first, time is 6:00 A.M., date is April 2nd, 2020. Small expedition lead by three scientists, with Command in our ears. Purpose: gather samples of SCP-6148-1, along with attempting to discern their lack of nutritional or spatial needs. One-day trip, returning tonight, with a week's worth of rations just in case.

Merion: On board. What's the point in restating this anyway? We've been prepping for this for weeks.

Lancaster: Never know what they'll put in the article. Easier to sort logs this way. Let's take inventory, for the same reason. Rations?

Dr. Merion holds up a packet of MREs.

Merion: Pretty gross, but we've got them.

Lancaster: Standard-issue audio and video recording device?

Wynne: That's called a camera, Adam, and obviously we have one. How else would we be recording this?

Lancaster: …Check.

Lancaster: Spare standard issue audio and video recording device?

Merion: Yeah, right here.

Lancaster: Sample gathering tools, including a tree tap, pliers, bolt cutters, and notebooks?

Merion: Check.

Lancaster: Camping equipment, including a tent, flashlights, and a lighter?

Merion: Yep. Brought s'mores ingredients… never know when you'll need a s'more.

Dr. Lancaster reviews the checklist an additional time and is taken aback.

Lancaster: Looks like we've had an additional piece of tech… they've given us a solar-powered ion battery pack, compatible with both flashlights and cameras.

Wynne: Was wondering what this box is. I've heard of these, they've just pushed them out of prototypes. Don't know why they'd give us one. Heard they still take a hell of a while to charge- at least a day, probably more with the amount of light that canopy'll be blocking. Cool though.

Lancaster: Shouldn't need it given we won't be in there longer than a day, but I guess it's good to have. Let's set out!

Having finished taking inventory, Dr. Lancaster leads the group into the forest.

Merion: Wow… It's dark as hell in here. Bright early morning, and it feels like dusk. I can see, but just barely.

The camera's automatic exposure has shifted significantly to account for the darkness.

COMMAND: What's your view distance?

Merion: Twenty, thirty feet? Not great. I'm sure you guys can see better, but even with this flashlight the density's making it difficult to see far.

Wynne: Five minutes in, and this place is already giving me the creeps. At first, these trees look pretty similar to oak, but… none of them have branches, other than the ones at the very top. Tree structure is weird too: one large trunk that bifurcates close to the canopy. No fallen trees anywhere. No dead ones either… hmm.

Dr. Wynne leans close to the ground.

Wynne: There's barely any life down here. It's just grass. No flowers, no mushrooms, no fallen leaves. That's bizarre.

Lancaster: Huh. Odd…

Dr. Lancaster becomes still for a few seconds, looking off into the distance. His hands shake slightly, and he resumes walking.

Merion: Adam? You okay?

Lancaster: Yeah. Just thought I heard someo-… something.

Merion: I didn't hear anything. Wynne?

Wynne: Nope. Command?

COMMAND: Negative. No anomalous audio detected.

Lancaster: Something's off. I've got a… a feeling. Something's wrong. I don't think… I don't think I'm meant to be here.

Dr. Lancaster pauses and takes a deep breath.

Lancaster: I'm better now. Let's worry about this later, and continue the expedition.

Merion: We don't exactly know where we are, do we? Continuing the expedition in any given direction seems difficult, apart from maybe sample-gathering.

Wynne: Let's start with that, and assess our position later. It's hard enough to see where we are, let alone move in a straight direction. I say we get samples and then eat.

The team gathers samples, including bark, roots, sap, and soil. Of note is the variations between the samples, later elaborated upon by Dr. Lancaster.

Merion: I'm hungry, and it's cold and dark in here. Command, are we cleared to set up a fire?

COMMAND: Clear. Keep the fire small and low.

Dr. Wynne begins to prepare a fire while Dr. Merion rests. Dr. Lancaster is sat on a large tangle of roots, inspecting a bark sample. For about an hour, nobody speaks, as the team eats in silence. Dr. Merion seems apprehensive at the contents of the meal, which includes freeze-dried fruit, glazed pork, and s'mores.

Dr. Lancaster breaks the silence.

Lancaster: Some of these trees look decayed. Slower sap flow, roots are easier to snap, some of the bark is flaking off. There wasn't anything like this closer to the edge.

Merion: I suppose that even though these trees can't die, they can still succumb to atrophy.

Lancaster: Perhaps because they take up space instead of decomposing, the forest's growth is radial- starting at some epicenter and growing steadily over time. If we knew how long it took a tree to decay, we could date each section of the forest based on decay distribution.

Wynne: If there's anything dangerous about this forest, the growth will be something for us to worry about. On its own, it'll already be difficult to contain if it grows, but… there's no seeds anywhere. Why is it getting bigger at all? What's the cause of this growth in the first place?

Lancaster: No clue. But it may be worth some inquiry, if we have time. Perhaps a few more… a few more days of exploration.

Merion: A few days? That's not in the protocol, and these MREs suck. I don't want to be eating these for longer than I have to.

Dr. Lancaster stares into the distance, in the direction where the trees seem to be the most decayed.

Lancaster: …another time. Fine. Let's get out of here.

Merion: Time is 5:00 PM. Samples gathered, batteries almost depleted. Command, are we cleared to leave?

COMMAND: Clear.

Merion: Team?

Lancaster: Ready. Dr. Wynne?

Wynne: Question: Everything here is the same. How do we get out?

Lancaster: I've been thinking about this. We have, in my mind, two options: one, we could go in a straight line in any direction, but we risk having to travel the full diameter of the forest and come out on the opposite side. Alternatively, we could try to track the decay patterns, and go outwards. The problem there is that once we get farther out, we may hit a point where there won't be any more decay, and then we'll be lost.

Merion: Second one definitely sounds better. We'll have to just keep walking in the same direction once we hit an area with no decay.

The team sets out, in the direction with the least decay. There are several hours of silence, interrupted by Dr. Merion.

Merion: Agh!

Wynne: What? Merion? Is everything okay?

Merion: Keep tripping on these damn roots. It's so dense, if I'm not looking down all the time I feel like I'm gonna fall.

Lancaster: Yeah… this sucks. I'd love to get out of here, but I don't know how it'll happen. I've still got this feeling… it feels like we're going the wrong way. Our directions seem fine, but something still feels wrong.

Dr. Lancaster's hands begin shaking as the edge of the forest comes into view.

Wynne: Is that… It's the border?

Merion: It would appear to be.

Wynne: Time is 7:00 PM. That's certainly odd. Two hours of walking from a location it took us several more to get to. Something's going on.

Merion: At least it's in our favor. One day has never felt longer for me. Almost out.

Lancaster: This feels wrong. My body… My mind is still telling me this is the wrong way. I can see the edge, but… my stomach hurts. I don't belong out there. I don't think I can leave.

Wynne: Adam, what are you talking about?

Dr. Wynne pans the camera to show Dr. Lancaster, revealing the campfire and a brush of decayed trees. The edge of the forest is nowhere in sight.

Merion: This is wrong. We're stuck here.

Dr. Lancaster sits down and puts his head in his hands.

Lancaster: No, you aren't. I am.

Wynne: What?

Lancaster: I can't explain. I can't put it into words. They won't let me leave.

Wynne: Adam, what are you talking about? I've never heard you like this before-

Lancaster: I know. And you never will again. I know what must be done.

Merion: Adam, what the hell are you on about? Snap out of it, and we'll- we'll find a way out! We have a week's rations, we have time, there's no reason to do anything drastic just for a goddamn kind of creepy skip-

Dr. Lancaster stands up suddenly. His hands are shaking rapidly.

Lancaster: No. There's nothing you can do, except to let me do this. I'm sorry, Jon. Abby, I'm so sorry that I'll never make it home. Maybe… maybe there will be a way. But not for a long time. They're calling me. It's so loud…

Dr. Lancaster, with the full supply pack, jolts away. Dr. Wynne tries to run after him, but as he is fully obscured by a tree he disappears from view.

Wynne: What the hell. He's gone, and he took all our supplies with him. We've got the samples and main camera, but that's it. What the fuck do we do?

Merion: I don't know. Maybe he just snapped. If he knows what he's talking about, there really is no use going back for him. If he just sacrificed his life for no goddamn reason then he'll make his way out. Or he won't. I don't know. Maybe I just want to get the hell out of here.

Wynne: I want to find him. I have to find him. Oh, God, what will I do? Why would he do that to himself?

Merion: As much as I want to leave, I don't think I could live with myself if I left him here.

Dr. Wynne begins to run though the forest, calling for Dr. Lancaster. No response is heard, other than the panicked sounds of Dr. Merion trying to keep up with her.

COMMAND: Please return to Site as soon as possible. The loss of Dr. Lancaster is unfortunate, but the samples are of utmost importance. Given the possible mental toll of SCP-6148, future expeditions may not be conducted.

Wynne: What about Adam? What will you do? I need to find him. Please let me look for him. Please.

COMMAND: The loss of Dr. Lancaster is unfortunate, but the samples are of utmost importance. Please return to Site as soon as possible.

Wynne: I've got to find him. Why wouldn't you want me to?

COMMAND: Potential effects of SCP-6148 may prevent the remaining team members from returning. While your mental state is still intact, return to Site.

Wynne: Intact mental state? He just left me! How could my mental state possibly be intact after that?

COMMAND: Dr. Wynne, you will forfeit your position at the Foundation if you continue. Return to Site.

Wynne: You'd better look for him when we get back. You'd fucking better. I can't have him out here, alone. He'll die. Screw you all.

Afterword: Drs. Wynne and Merion begin to walk along the previously transcribed path. At approximately 10:30 PM, the remaining team reaches the edge, passing across the border without contention. Both of them return to Site without issue, and their samples are submitted for testing. Of note is the level of distress displayed by Dr. Wynne, who expressed contempt towards the Foundation for disallowing her from further exploration.

[END LOG]

Addendum 4/6/2021- Results of Sample Testing

Testing of samples largely proved inconclusive, with sap and bark samples proving almost identical to oak, save for some discoloration. Soil samples contained an abundance of nutrients in SCP-6148, but none in the root samples, indicative of several possible outcomes: either SCP-6148-1 requires no nutrients to survive, or it somehow creates nutrients on its own. More research would be required to determine its reproductive tendencies, but at present, containment procedures can be established.

-Dr. Ardemor, Director of Wooded Anomalies

THE FOLLOWING FILES ARE LEVEL 4/6148 CLASSIFIED

ANY ATTEMPT TO ACCESS THEM WITHOUT LEVEL 4/6148 AUTHORIZATION WILL BE LOGGED AND WILL LEAD TO IMMEDIATE DISCIPLINARY ACTION.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Addendum 02/02/2021- Additional Information

On 02/01/2021, a series of videos were sent directly to Foundation computer systems. These videos contained several months of expedition logs of Dr. Adam Lancaster, previously thought to be deceased, detailing an extended journey through SCP-6148, lasting far longer than his food supplies should have lasted. The internal data of the camera tracked the date of each recording. The footage is cleared for viewing by all personnel with Level 4/6148 access, and will be fully evaluated soon.

►Access Recovered Materials

▼Hide Recovered Materials

Video Log I- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/03/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

The camera switches on. Shown is a wide stretch of trees, with no notable differences visible. Dr. Lancaster is behind the camera.

Lancaster: I…

Dr. Lancaster takes a deep breath.

Lancaster: I owe you an explanation.

Dr. Lancaster repositions the camera to view his face. His skin is pale, and his hands are completely still.

Lancaster: I can hear them. What they're saying, I don't know. I don't understand tree. I can't figure that out yet, although I have some suspicions. SCP-6148, somehow, from somewhere, is calling me. It's not with words, it's a… feeling? A tug in my gut. I can't leave because of it. Earlier, with Abig-

Dr. Lancaster cuts himself off, shaking slightly. After about thirty seconds, he recomposes himself.

Lancaster: -with Dr. Wynne, when we were at the edge, the feeling changed. Before, it was a nagging sensation, just a feeling that something was wrong, but as we got closer to that border, it felt like a tug in my head- fucking with me, preventing me from thinking straight, pulling my thoughts towards the center. If my mind was a physical thing- a soul, perhaps- it was being pulled out of my body and dragged away, and I had no choice but to follow it and put it back in me.

Dr. Lancaster picks up the camera and begins walking. He chuckles and sighs.

Lancaster: A forest gave me a panic attack. Isn't that fucked?

Lancaster: Funnily enough, this tug lets me know where to go. I know when I'm getting farther from the edge when the tug gets weaker. It's a gross feeling of satisfaction, spawned from the absence of pain rather than the presence of pleasure. So I follow it, if only to cease this nagging sensation in my body. And while I'm here, and I have a camera, I guess I'll record as much as I can. I'm gonna sleep.

[END LOG]

Video Log II- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/04/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

The camera turns on. Shown is the same grouping of trees at the end of the last log. Dr. Lancaster is walking and eating. His skin is paling.

Lancaster: I think it's morning. Couldn't know for sure, though. I trip every five seconds. I don't feel the pull as much as yesterday, but it's still there, letting me know where to go. I've got my own damn compass. Hope I don't turn magnetic.

Lancaster: I hate this food. I've got about five days left, and after that- well, I don't really know. I wasn't meant to be a field agent, just a scientist and a one-day research trip. I don't know how to survive in the wild. I can't wait to get-

The log cuts off abruptly.

[END LOG]

Video Log III- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/06/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Lancaster stares at the camera as it turns on. He is gaunt, but his skin is a healthier color than before. Above is a stream of light breaking through the canopy.

Lancaster: It's my third day in here. I've been sitting here, in this small strain of light, waiting for this thing to charge. Died in the middle of the last recording. Took five hours to find a spot where there was enough light, and a full day to charge it. Apparently when the battery dies, it needs to charge to full before it can be turned back on. R&D can crank out new stuff faster than anyone, but damn if they don't send it through enough QA testing first.

Lancaster: Since I haven't been continuing the journey, I've been conserving food. The sun is doing me good for now, but eating one meal per day is… tough. Four days of food left, though. Hope it's enough to get me where I need to go. Where that is, I'm still not sure. The pull gets stronger when I get hungrier, like it's filling the gap in my stomach that's normally filled by food. When I've eaten, it gets weaker.

Lancaster: Now that the camera's charged, I have no reason to stay here. I've got to move. Goodbye for now.

[END LOG]

Video Log IV- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/09/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

The camera is already moving when it turns on. Dr. Lancaster is walking at a brisk pace, frequently tripping over roots as he occasionally shifts direction.

Lancaster: I've been walking for a few days to no end. It's still just trees in every direction, with my body telling me where to go. It's been empty, moving straight but still feeling directionless. A few minutes ago, the pull changed. It's going in two directions now, one much stronger than the other. There's something nearby, and whatever it is has its roots sunk deeply into the core of this place. I think it wants to be seen.

Dr. Lancaster stops hiking, seemingly struck by his own words.

Lancaster: I realize I've been talking about SCP-6148 very differently from how a Foundation researcher should. I've been treating it as if it were a human: someone with thoughts, feelings, and desires, but there has been no reasonable amount of evidence for the sentience of this forest. And until I see anything otherwise, I should continue to refer to it as an SCP, not as a person. But I probably won't. It's like my anxiety- a little troll in my brain, telling me things that aren't real.

In the distance several large shapes appear of unknown identity, shrouded in fog. They are out of visible range for Dr. Lancaster. Despite this, he begins to move faster.

Lancaster: It's close. I can't see it, but it's nearby. The pull grows stronger.

Dr. Lancaster continues to walk, continuing his pace. As he walks, the camera shakes, showing him stepping over roots, seemingly effortlessly.

Dr. Lancaster stops, clearly noticing the shapes in the distance. For several minutes, Dr. Lancaster walks silently forward. A small town comes into view as Dr. Lancaster gasps.

Lancaster: A ghost town… it's not stopping. I feel empty, tired, hungry. I… what happened here?

The state of the town becomes visible as Dr. Lancaster progresses to the middle of the street. Buildings are decrepit and run-down, cars are still and covered with dust, and vegetation has run rampant throughout the area. Roads have been cracked and upturned by roots. SCP-6148-1 is abundant, growing through roofs, walls, and paths. Several of them show signs of age similar to those found in earlier research. The region is noticeably darker than the rest of the forest, likely due to the density of trees being even higher than previously shown. There is no sign of human life anywhere.

Lancaster: There's so much destruction… I had hoped to find answers when I followed my gut, but… this just leaves me with more questions.

Lancaster: It's like it was hit by a tornado. Run through with no care for what happens, destroying everything there and letting everything die. Are we allowed to be angry at it, if it didn't know what it was doing? What will come of us when we are struck by our own tornadoes? Will we fall to pieces in the face of our imminent demise, or will we stand strong and face it? What will happen when we…

Dr. Lancaster pauses and laughs for several seconds.

Lancaster: I'm so hungry, I'm philosophizing. This is the SCP Foundation, not Ancient Greece.

After a few more minutes, Dr. Lancaster's speech picks up again, slurring as he walks.

Lancaster: Cellars. Refrigerators? Anything. Help me.

Dr. Lancaster limps towards a nearby house as he continues to speak under his breath. Most of his words are unintelligible.

Lancaster: …trees, everything I do is being controlled by these goddamn sticks of wood that have no idea I'm even here and I just want to leave and-

Dr. Lancaster approaches the front of a house. The door is knocked down, as the doorframe has been split open by a root.

Lancaster: …nothing I say or do can possibly get them to get out of my head or my body and it's driving me insane because I can't see my-

Tripping inside the house, he continues to move forwards.

Lancaster: …and it's pulling me in farther away from any chance I have of escape but I have to know why it's doing this to me and-

Dr. Lancaster approaches a staircase. Several SCP-6148-1 specimens have burst through the staircase, rendering the upper floors of the house inaccessible. A downward staircase is visible, descending into the dark.

Lancaster: …they'll keep growing and growing because they're mad at us for what we've done to them but I'll never be able to give them what they want from me-

Dr. Lancaster stumbles down the stairs. In the dark is a cellar filled with supplies: canned meat, beans, and bottled water, some of which were empty, but most of which were unopened. Some hand tools are visible, including a handsaw and hammer. An instance of SCP-6148-1 is rooted deeply into the floor, likely one of the ones breaching the staircase above.

Lancaster: …can I? Have they chosen me because I can provide what they need? In the end, perhaps they want me to be with them… because…

Dr. Lancaster drops the camera. As it tumbles to the ground, for a few frames a shelf is shown, upon which several jars of an unidentified liquid are placed.

Lancaster: … because soon, only the trees will remain.

Dr. Lancaster faints, landing next to the camera. His face is almost pure white, and his clothes are ragged and torn. The skin around his lips and nose is cracked and dry. His body is almost completely still.

The camera continues to roll. For several hours, there is no change in Dr. Lancaster's body position, and his breathing is not visible on camera, either extremely shallow or not present. After sixteen hours, the feed goes dark, presumably from the battery life of the camera running out.

[END LOG]

Video Log V- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/15/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

The feed begins. Shown is the same basement as before, but noticeably brighter; a hole can be seen in the top, and sunlight is visible. On the ground is a set of tools, some of which are from Dr. Lancaster's supply pack, others from the basement. The cans are completely empty, and the water bottles are almost so. The jars of unidentified liquid have been laid out on the floor, one of which is half empty. Dr. Lancaster is sitting down in the corner of the room, staring at the camera. His skin and face is in a healthier state than before. It is several minutes before he speaks.

Lancaster: I don't know what happened that day. I got close to this building and blacked out. I have some vague recollection of things- the layout of the first floor of this house, the path from the center of town to here- but I don't remember getting here.

Lancaster: It's been six days since I hit the floor. That, I know. It's been two since I woke up. How I slept for four days, I don't know. Over the course of these two days I've been eating canned food and drinking bottled water, and now I'm out. The pull is back to one direction. Perhaps the second one was bringing me to the food? I don't know.

Dr. Lancaster furrows his brow, seemingly lost in thought.

Lancaster: I almost died of several things that day. Once from hunger, once from dehydration, and once from exhaustion. That should be fairly obvious from what I've recorded so far, and it's not what I'm concerned about. What's concerning to me is that I woke up at all. I should have been dead: no food for a full day, no water for four, and not a single good sleep in two weeks. What happened was quite to the contrary: I woke up invigorated. Not in my prime, of course- I hadn't had any fucking food- but I felt significantly better than before I lost consciousness, as if I had just had a nice meal and gone for a refreshing walk.

Lancaster: Great, right? Four days of rest, and then I'm feeling good for the first time in a while! Here's the caveat: whatever that stuff is on the floor is why. I woke up with a half empty jar of it next to me. Somehow, some way, I consumed it while asleep.

Lancaster: I think I may have to take them with me. I'm out of food, and this is the only thing left down here that could count as any kind of nourishment. I've got to check the other houses first. This stuff kept me alive for a while, and presumably could do so for a while longer, but on the other hand I'd also rather eat literally anything else at any possible opportunity.

Dr. Lancaster turns off the camera and switches it back on a few minutes later. When the camera finishes focusing, he is outside.

Lancaster: I'm gonna take a quick run through a bunch of the houses, and scrounge up what I can.

Dr. Lancaster walks to several houses and searches their basements. None of them have food, apart from each of them having a differently sized stockpile of the unknown substance. Dr. Lancaster becomes visibly distressed as he puts more and more into his pack.

Lancaster: There's nothing else here. This stuff is the only nutritional substance in the whole town. To be honest, if that doesn't scream "cult," I don't know what does.

Lancaster: I've got to get the hell out of here. Nerves are going up. I'm shaking. Should I be shaking? I don't know. My stomach feels empty, but the thought of eating anything makes me want to puke. I think… I think I'm going to record myself eating that stuff, if I ever do. The Foundation should know.

Lancaster: I'm going to start walking away. This place is giving me the creeps, more than anywhere else so far. It's desolate. Goodbye for now, I guess.

[END LOG]

Video Log VI- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/18/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

The camera turns on with Dr. Lancaster sitting on a root. He is once again gaunt and sickly, with pale skin and shrunken lips. He is holding the half-filled jar of liquid from before. When he speaks, his voice is whisper-quiet and crackly.

Lancaster: It's been three days since I have eaten. One since water. More since I've felt any kind of energized. I'm so stiff. I think I need some oil for my joints, heh. Hunger is just about ready to consume me. Why haven't I had any of that stuff, you're asking?

Lancaster: Truth is, I'm scared. I've been here for two weeks now, and it feels like I've done nothing. After so long I made it to a town with nobody in it and a bunch of goop in jars. If anything, I'm left with more questions than I had before. And this damn pulling, this incessant, nonstop, constant pulling, on my mind and soul and body- it's going to be the death of me. For the past day I've been trudging across the forest, following the direction my body tells me to go, and not thinking about my own health. My mental health is shot already. That is, more than it was when I entered.

Lancaster: Clearly it's anomalous, otherwise it wouldn't have done this. But goddamn if it isn't terrifying. Putting whoever-knows-what in my body, just to keep myself alive long enough to get to the center of a forest I wasn't supposed to be in for more than a day, just to give information to people I'll never see again. It's all fucked, man.

Dr. Lancaster opens the jar and holds it up to his lips. His hands are shaking.

Lancaster: Bottoms up.

The liquid flows out of the jar with a consistency similar to honey. A long trail enters Dr. Lancaster's mouth, who recoils slightly. He continues to wait as the remaining contents of the jar pour into his mouth. The liquid continues to flow down his throat as he begins to gag. Over the course of the next thirty seconds, he starts to convulse violently as he chokes. Signs of asphyxiation are visible, including a reddened face, constriction of the throat and nose, and crossed eyes. After a full minute of choking, Dr. Lancaster collapses to the ground, gasping for air and panting.

It is fifteen minutes of panting before Dr. Lancaster slows his breathing and sits up. As he speaks, his voice is noticeably different, nasal and shrill.

Lancaster: That was hell. I don't know what I expected that to taste like, but it was worse than I could have ever imagined. It was… metallic. Salty. Like fucking gasoline. Too liquid to chew, and too solid to swallow. I can still feel it, coating the back of my throat, like the worst cup of tea you've ever had does. It's… muck. I just let half a mason jar of gasoline-flavored molasses slide down my throat. I still can't goddamn breathe. Never in my life have I had my breathing restricted for several minutes by eating something. I… I don't ever want to do that again. Ever. I think I'd rather die.

Lancaster: Definitely a cult. Sickos. Good night, camera.

[END LOG]

Video Log VII- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/19/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

It is morning. Dr. Lancaster looks noticeably healthier than the previous log.

Lancaster: Hello. I'm feeling better today. Not like I could run a mile, but… satisfied. Like I've eaten a full, hearty breakfast. It's a nice feeling, one I haven't felt in a while. I've still got the taste in my throat, and the pull in my gut. It's different now. Much more bearable, now that my stomach is full. I still know which way to go. Forward, always forward. I haven't looked back yet, and I won't now. More walking.

Lancaster: I may begin recording less now. It's just trees and trees and trees, as far as the eye can see. Not much of note. In the meantime, I've got to work on this camera.

[END LOG]

Video Log VIII- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 04/21/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

Lancaster: Something is changing. The pull is more defined, more articulate. So far, it's had two traits- direction and intensity. But now there's another one, hard to describe. A further detail? I can feel how it's affecting me. A tingling in my fingers and toes, and over my skin. If anything, it reminds me of being underwater, a subtle pressure on my whole body. It's not overpowering, the pressure isn't painful, but in a way it tells me where my boundaries lie. I can feel where my body ends and the air begins, just from the light touch of the forest. My body- humans' bodies- have boundaries, sections of ourselves that separates us from everything else. On most of the surface, it's the skin, but in other places it's something else- skin, or nails, or hair.

Lancaster: But feeling this boundary- the one between me and the world around me- is concerning. In the past, I've never felt it before- after all, who feels the edges of their skin? But something in here, whether it knows it or not, is heightening my senses, telling me where I end and it begins.

Dr. Lancaster lifts his hand and observes it, turning over his palm and flexing his fingers.

Lancaster: If you've ever looked at your finger with one eye, you'd see a tiny fraction of space around it that looks warped, light itself seeming to move unnaturally due to how our eyes focus. Our brains filter most of it out, but some remains. This light-warping, a phenomenon that exists only due to how we view the world, not how it actually exists, creates an outline around all of us, a visual border around everything that is visible only to us. Isn't that remarkable? We humans have a feature built into our brains that shows us things that aren't real. It feels like a bubble, like everyone is surrounded by their own little light-field that they only notice when they look really hard. But I… I can feel mine now. I can feel where "me" ends and "everything else" begins.

Lancaster: And that border… it's fading. Slowly, gradually, as I grow closer to the center of this forest, my outline is being pulled from me, converging towards a single point. Some part of me is being pulled faster than I am, moving farther and farther away from my body. It's like it's a few feet away from me, always in front, and the farther I get, the faster it's going. I'm not chasing it- it only moves when I do- but it feels like it's moving farther and farther away from me.

Lancaster: The weight of my soul is being subjected to the gravity of the forest, and I don't know how long it'll be until I lose track of it.

[END LOG]

Video Logs- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148- Corrupted Footage

Several of the recovered videos are heavily corrupted, presumably due to Dr. Lancaster's tampering with his camera. Due to their length, they have been grouped together, organized by date.

IX-04/22/20

X-04/29/20

XI-05/06/20

XII-05/13/20

XIII-05/20/20

XIV-05/27/20

XV-06/03/20

Lancaster: … think I got the camera working. If I don't turn it on for a full week, it turns on automatically and records for an hour. I still haven't figured out how to send the data back to Site, but I know where to put it once I do. I don't know how long it'll take me to get this done, though, because this damn [FOOTAGE CORRUPTED]

When the recording begins, Dr. Lancaster is already speaking, seemingly unprompted and not to the camera. The camera is attached to his shoulder.

Lancaster: … getting closer. Closer, closer. Center is near. Ever closer. Where is it? Where has my soul gone?

[FOOTAGE CORRUPTED]

Lancaster: …losing blood gimme yours help me

Dr. Lancaster stops moving and begins to whisper.

Lancaster: …keep it flowing.

Dr. Lancaster stumbles to the ground and is heard crying.

Lancaster: Do I deserve this?

[FOOTAGE CORRUPTED]

The camera automatically switches on as Dr. Lancaster is sat on the ground with his legs crossed. The camera is on the floor, likely after falling off of his shoulder. He is holding one of the jars of liquid and staring at it. His pupils are enlarged, almost to where they encompass his entire eyes. His figure is gaunt, and his bone structure is visible. He shows signs of severe malnutrition, possibly not having eaten in the three weeks since consuming the liquid for the first time. He is shaking as he tips the jar towards him.

Lancaster: …more blood.

Dr. Lancaster watches as the entire jar's contents flow down his throat. Unlike his previous attempt, he does not convulse or choke, gulping several times per second as he motionlessly swallows. Despite the level of liquid being over twice as much as last time, Dr. Lancaster takes about the same amount of time to swallow as before. After he finishes swallowing, he collapses to the ground, enters the fetal position, and sobs. When he speaks, his voice is constricted and gravelly.

Lancaster: …never enough blood. will never be enough.

[FOOTAGE CORRUPTED]

Dr. Lancaster's cadence shifts repeatedly, as if he were having a conversation with himself.

Lancaster: Kill me. Later. Kill me. Later. Kill me.

Lancaster: When?

Lancaster: Now?

[FOOTAGE CORRUPTED]

Dr. Lancaster is shown drinking an entire jar of liquid from one of the jars while crying. His skin is smooth, almost unnaturally so, as he swallows. After several minutes of heavy breathing, he screams, and the camera cuts.

[FOOTAGE CORRUPTED]

Dr. Lancaster is once again shown draining a jar of liquid into his mouth. His face is stretched and waxy. When he finishes, he stares at the camera. His eyes are bloodshot and crazed.

Lancaster: …deep beneath the surface of this world…

Dr. Lancaster turns and throws the jar to the ground, shattering it violently.

Lancaster: …at the very center of the forest…

Dr. Lancaster's gaze returns to the camera.

Lancaster: There is something truly evil.

[FOOTAGE CORRUPTED]

Video Log XVI- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 06/05/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

The camera turns on to show Dr. Lancaster staring at the camera. His skin is of a normal tone and texture, much healthier than in the several logs before. There is no corrupted footage for the entirety of this log, or for future logs.

Lancaster: Here's something odd. I've been walking for a long, long time. I don't remember sleeping, or eating, or turning on the camera, or talking, or pissing or shitting or crying or panicking. I have been walking for months with no breaks at all, and I haven't felt like doing any of those things in a while.

Lancaster: There are five empty jars in my supply. I've got one left. I don't know what happened to them, or what they might be doing to me, but I'm not hungry- and I haven't felt hunger in a while. I don't think I've felt much of anything in some time, and when I do… it's not good.

Lancaster: I feel like I've been a prisoner in my own body for so long now. Sometimes I have control- brief, fleeting moments of clarity- but most of my movements have become autonomous, happening without my input or idea.

Dr. Lancaster presses his fingers into his temple.

Lancaster: Something is in here. I can tell. Something else's outline is supplanting mine. Perhaps… perhaps many.

Lancaster: Asleep in my own consciousness, stuck in the forest; unable to think, unable to breathe. I'm there, I can feel it. Just a few more days.

[END LOG]

Video Log XVII- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 06/07/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

As the system activates, Dr. Lancaster is already speaking, presumably having turned on the camera and then switched cadence shortly after.

Lancaster: …she's gonna help me right? …where are you? …where are all of them? …there's so much blood. there- the- the eyes of the soul of the many are incapable of enduring the gaze of the divine.

Dr. Lancaster exclaims as he falls to the ground.

Lancaster: Agh! I… what the hell? I turned on the camera, and then blacked out again. For a moment, I was somewhere else. Dark. Moist. Full of life. Ready to spawn more, and hungry for the resources to do so.

Lancaster: My outline has reached the middle, and for a split second I was there.

Lancaster: II will reach the center today. I will find what is wrong with me, and with this accursed forest. And then…

[END LOG]

Video Log XVIII- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 06/07/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

The video begins not long after the completion of the previous one. Dr. Lancaster is stood in front of a house. Around him is an even higher density of SCP-6148-1 instances than before, and all of them are decayed. Of all areas shown on camera thus far, this location has by far the most decay.

As Dr. Lancaster steps towards the house, its features become more visible: it is composed entirely out of vegetation. Its walls and roof are shaped from trees that are still rooted in the ground. Notably, these trees have no leaves or branches, implying that they may not be specimens of SCP-6148-1.

Dr. Lancaster enters the house, through the empty doorframe. He does not speak as he ventures though the house. On the walls are several groups of writing, etched into the bark. Among them is English sentences, Ancient Greek lettering, and symbols of an unknown origin. The English sentences are all indecipherable, save for a few words, and the Greek is equally so. Among the visible English lettering is "FEED," "BLOOD," and "TREES." Liquid leaks from the ceiling.

Lancaster: This place is ancient. Older than me, older than that town, perhaps older than the forest itself. These markings… they're not recent. I am not the first person to find this place, not by hundreds of years.

Lancaster: My outline- my soul- has diffused. I can feel it, all over here, spreading throughout the forest. I feel at home here, if anything. But I know that I shouldn't. This place is wrong, it's off-kilter, it offends everything human in me. But some of me likes it. And that must… That must…

Lancaster: …it must mean that I'm not all human anymore. This stuff that I've been eating, it's kept me alive, but I've wondered- what's the cost? Some of me is gone, and something else is in its place. Some remnant of the soul of this forest, of its trees, has wormed its way into my mind, and there it lays, ready to end me for who I am.

Lancaster: The human consciousness is like a ball of string. It's built to be manipulated, flexed, and stored. Pull the right strands and put them in the right places and you make a beautiful tapestry, a celebration of how wonderful our lives can be or have been. A testament to the resilience of our species. But touch it in the wrong places and pull a little bit too hard, and it all begins to unravel. One small tug in the wrong location can unwind everything, all the progress we've made on ourselves, with enough time.

Lancaster: I am unraveling, and there's nobody around to stop it. The fragments of my life are being cast across the forest, spread so thin that they cannot be classified as me anymore.

Dr. Lancaster leaves the house and sits on the front steps, looking past the camera, off into the distance. His eyes are cloudy and his brow is furrowed.

Lancaster: I will check in when I can. I do not know when that will be. I am going to stay here, drinking this disgusting slime, until I run out. And then I will die.

Lancaster: At least, I hope I will.

[END LOG]

Video Log XIX- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 06/14/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Lancaster is sat inside the center of the house's living room. On the floor next to him is the last empty jar. His hands are covered with blood and the anomalous liquid. His eyes are dilated, and his skin is waxy- stretched tight. He seems confused, lost in thought. In the back of the room, behind him, there are more sigils, carved into the walls. Liquid oozes from them- they have been created recently.

Lancaster: When… When did I get here? How long have I been here?

Dr. Lancaster opens and closes his mouth several times as he furrows his brow.

Lancaster: Months. Months since I've come here. Months since I've seen the world. Weeks…

Dr. Lancaster's cadence shifts slightly, and his posture changes to become straighter.

Lancaster: Weeks since I was invited into here. The forest of immortals. I have endured their trials, and they have rewarded me with the nectar of the gods. It has sustained me, readying me for the transformation. My body is ready… but am I?

Dr. Lancaster shakes slightly, and changes to his normal cadence.

Lancaster: How long has it been, since I've been me? Who have I become, and what has brought me here?

Lancaster: For some time now- when I've been in control, at least- I've questioned the nature of my ailment. And I think I may have figured it out- some of it, at least.

Lancaster: I have been hearing voices. They started the moment I entered this place. They were subdued, quiet- enough to make me believe that they weren't human. They died down once I abandoned my team. And they didn't pick back up, not until I woke up in that damn basement. Something is in this liquid that brought the voices back. And they weren't subdued this time, they're right up in my head, constantly talking and screaming and laughing and crying and they've only gotten worse since.

Lancaster: Sometimes, they take control. One of their voices becomes my voice, and I am cast out into the ether, placed in stasis, waiting for myself to return. And when I'm me, I've been asking myself… what do they want from me?

Lancaster: Here's the sickest, weirdest part: absolutely fucking nothing.

Dr. Lancaster pauses to breathe.

Lancaster: They're not seizing control, or ordering my body around- the voices in my head don't speak to me, or to each other. They're experiencing lives, reliving memories, and crying out for help. A thousand lost souls, all stuck in my head, driving me to insanity.

Lancaster: And one of them… One of them made this place. Or at least, lived here, in a little wooden house in the center of an ever-growing forest. And when their voice conquers mine-

Dr. Lancaster looks around, particularly at the newly created sigils behind him.

Lancaster: -boy, they've been up to something. And based on the fact that it's been using my blood and the last jar of stuff that kept me alive, I don't think it's something good. Given what's happening with everyone else in here…

Dr. Lancaster taps his temple with one finger.

Lancaster: …they might not even know they're doing it, just a centuries-old memory repeating what it did before.

Lancaster: Either way, I don't think I want to see it finish.

[END LOG]

Video Log XX- Recovered Materials: Independent Exploration of SCP-6148

Date: 06/16/2020

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Lancaster is in the same position as the previous log, despite a two full days passing.

Lancaster: I have decided: today is the day that I die. When I finish recording this log, I am sending them back to the Foundation. I hope that they will aid in containment- and maybe give them something to remember me by.

Lancaster: It has been eerily quiet in my mind. I have sat here unmoving since the last recording, pondering what to do with myself. How will I end my life? Starvation doesn't seem like it will do it- whenever I get hungry, they take control again, and I wake up satisfied. The only way to end it is to surrender to them.

Dr. Lancaster lays down and stares at the ceiling.

Lancaster: I'm exhausted. I'm fucking tired of this place, dying slowly while I sustain myself on god-knows-what as I trudge through this desolate place. Never in my life have I found a place so full of life yet so… so wrong, so warped, so devoid of anything that makes nature special to me. It's so much more primal than the nature I'm used to, not caring who or what it destroys as it grows and grows.

Lancaster: These trees- they've been watching me. For a very long time, maybe even before I came here. They extended their wooden fingers and grabbed me the moment I stepped foot in here. I was lost before I realized it. These trees…

Dr. Lancaster spreads his arms to the side.

Lancaster: …they have eyes.

Dr. Lancaster sits up and stares at the camera.

Lancaster: This is who I am, and this is all I will ever be. A broken man in a wooden house at the center of an ever-growing forest.

Lancaster: Goodbye, SCP Foundation.

Lancaster: Goodbye, Abigail. I love you.

[END LOG]

►Access Revised Special Containment Procedures

▼Hide Containment Procedures

Item#: SCP-6148

Containment Class: euclid

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: ekhi

Risk Class: danger

Special Containment Procedures: No access into SCP-6148 is to be granted to Foundation personnel or to civilians. Any civilians or Foundation personnel attempting to enter SCP-6148 are to be turned away and administered Class C amnestics, targeting any and all memories related to:

missing or lost family members

missing or lost friends

the town of ██████, Pennsylvania, USA.

Description: SCP-6148 is a forest in ██████, Pennsylvania, USA. It is of a roughly circular shape, and covers about 1,100 square kilometers of land. SCP-6148 is extremely dense, with approximately three times the standard forest density.

The primary anomalous qualities of SCP-6148 are properties of its trees, SCP-6148-1. They are of an unidentified species, resembling oak trees but with no branches other than at the canopies. Dead or fallen instances are yet to be documented, despite the nutrient density in the soil being insufficient to support the size of the forest. SCP-6148 was discovered on ██/██/2020, after a small town was reported to have completely disappeared from satellite scans, in its place being a mass of vegetation.