"Since when did the Library get an H.P Brewcraft? Can I get a 
Frapaccthulhu? Extra whipped cream, extra drizzle, extra existential 
horror? | can handle it, I'm a Clown," Lolly ordered as she juggled 
three books excitedly, before all three were calmly pulled out of the 
air by her companion. 


"| think you've had enough sugar though,” Icky smirked as she 
pointed at a small group of dark-robed figures sitting around a table, 
who were watching the pair with an intense gaze. "Remember 
darling, we're still on thin ice with the Library because of You-Know- 
Who. We need to be a bit more respectful." 


Lolly noticed the mouthless docents (who enjoyed the coffee shop 
purely for the aroma), and stopped giggling. She put her hands 
behind her back and whistled, as if she hadn't been doing anything 
at all. The two turned back towards the counter, hoping the docents 
would be gone by the time they had finished their drinks. 


"They give me the creeps. Or should | say..." Lolly pointed to a 
display case by the counter, which contained various baked goods. 
"The crepes!" 


Icky tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help but snicker. 


Across the counter, an unamused barista tapped the cash register 
with a tentacle impatiently. "So it that a yay or nay on the 
Frapaccthulhu?" Lolly looked up at Icky with pleading eyes. 


"Please? I'm already on a sugar rush, and if | don't get more I'm 
going to crash," she asked. 


"Alright, one Frapaccthulhu with everything she said before, and a 
Yog-Espressoth, whatever size is the biggest." Icky relented. 


The barista punched the order in, and uttered unknowable noises at 
a server, who began to pour dark liquids into non-Euclidean cups, all 
of which proudly displayed their Fairtrade certification. 


The interior of the café was comfortingly normal, with just enough 
light to create a soothing atmosphere. The scents of freshly baked 
goods and hot coffee mixed together with bizarre and alien smells, 
bringing in patrons of the Library from all over the multiverse. One 
patron in particular, a human, cleared his throat and motioned for 
the pair to come over to his booth. 


Lolly slid into the booth quickly, as Icky calmly took a seat next to 
her. The man across from them had dark hair, scruffy stubble, and 
an eyepatch over his left eye. He regarded the two coldly, before 
lifting a steaming mug of coffee to take a drink. As he did, he turned 
his hand, making sure to display a tattoo of a certain symbol. 


"| was under the impression that we would be meeting the Captain 
herself," Icky said, trying to hide her disappointment. 


The man spoke in a gruff voice. "She couldn't make it. Something 
about wrangling a kaiju for some zoo. The usual." 


"That's the usual? What's exciting for you? / want to wrangle a 
kaiju!" Lolly said. "Also, who is this guy? He's not as cute as the 
Captain." 


The man templed his fingers, responding curtly. "Munin, of the 
Nautilus. Second mate to Captain Nemo." 


Lolly leaned forward, scrutinizing Munin, who didn't even blink his 
eye. "I'm pretty sure all those names are from a book. | don't think 
any of those names were real. Then again, my name's not real 
either so | probably shouldn't be so judgey. What is your real name 
anyway? Is it Jeffrey? You look like a Jeffrey. It's probably Jeffery." 
She sat back, and whispered to Icky, "Is his real name Jeffery?" 


Icky shrugged. "That's hardly any of our concern darling. Munin— or 
Jeffrey or whatever— is here to inform us about the locale of our 
next show." 


Across the table, Munin nodded. He reached into his jacket, pulled 
out a small brochure, and slid it across the table. "I'm still not sure 
why you want to perform there, of all places. You've got a whole 
Earth to entertain, don't you?" 


"More than one, actually." 


Their drinks arrived, each bearing an image of the Dread Cthulhu in 
the style of the Starbucks Siren. Icky picked up the brochure with 
one hand as she sipped her Yog-Espressoth in the other. 


"But we can't keep calling ourselves the Greatest Show in all the 
Worlds without pushing ourselves to new heights, now can we?" 


The pictures in the brochure showed a completely alien landscape. 
A mess of colors and shapes, all of them bizarre and disquieting. 
Vague figures, like fetal animals floating in rose-colored bubbles, 
strange devices with wicked curves and bright colors. Icky 
absentmindedly ran a fingernail over the image, revealing it to be 
scratch-n'-sniff. Cute. 


"The Nautilus can get us there safely? | know the docents wouldn't 
be thrilled to see our entire Circus parading through the Library. 
Even Lolly's too much for them to handle on occasion." 


Lolly looked up from her cup, and licked off a whipped cream 
mustache, "Yeah, sitting quietly isn't really my thing, which can be a 
problem at libraries. And Doctor's offices. And funerals. And..." 


"He gets the idea, sweetie." 


"| assure you, the Nautilus can go places even your Kaleidoscope 
can't. No world, realm, or plane is beyond our reach." Munin 
scratched the area around his eyepatch, briefly revealing a green 
light beneath it. 


Lolly downed the remainder of her drink quickly. "Does this mean 
we're going on a road trip?" 


"It will be less of a road trip than it will be a..." Munin paused as 
Lolly looked at him with puppy-dog eyes, and Icky raised her 
eyebrows expectantly. "...Yes, it's a road trip." 


"Yes!" Lolly bounced in place with excitement. 


Munin's expression remained as serious as it had been upon first 
meeting the two. "For my own curiosity's sake; how do you plan to 
be a Circus of the Disquieting when you're performing for people in 
a completely alien world?" 


Icky hesitated for a moment, thinking. "I'm still working on that. But | 
do have an idea. Have you ever seen The Little Mermaid?" 


Lolly's eyes lit up. "Oh, | have! | loved it when | was a kid, partially 
for the music and partially because all those half-naked mermaids 
made me feel funny for reasons | didn't understand yet," 


Icky shot her a perplexed glance, while Munin barely raised an 
eyebrow. 


"Well | understand now, obviously." 


The bow of the Nautilus sped through a technicolor void at a 
breakneck pace, propelled by jets of emerald green light expelled 
from the backside of the hull. Below it was a swirling ocean of lights 
and images of other times, places, and creatures. 


"Wha'd'ya think of that view, Lollipop?" Rang out the voice of the 
Captain as she leaped down from the upper deck. Captain Nemo 
was a young woman with a proud stance. Over both of her eyes, 
she wore a strange band with various symbols woven into the fabric. 
On her head was a blood-red tricorne, signifying her status. "I'd 
challenge you to find a view so breathtaking as the eldritch plane 
before you." 


"Eh, it's alright | guess." Lolly said, as she leaned over the railing on 
the port bow. She glanced disinterestedly at a technicolor leviathan, 
which breached a few meters from the ship, before turning back to 
the Captain. "| was expecting the Not to be a little more 'Mountains 
of Madness’, you know? Iris said she was weeping blood and seeing 
through time after only eight minutes in here." 


Icky appeared from below deck, dusting off her hands. "Everything's 
secured, for now at least. Manny's making sure that Eugene's taken 
his seasickness pills, and Bubblegum has already self-medicated 
herself into a stupor." 


Nemo gave the pair what would have been a side-eye, if she hadn't 
been wearing a blindfold. "You two are sure you want to stay up 
here when we make the dive below the surface? | appreciate your 
courage, but it doesn't agree with most of you..." 


“Landlubbers'?" Icky suggested. The Captain shook her head, a sly 
smile on her face. 


"You'll survive. But it's one hell of a sight to see." The Captain's look 
hardened. She barked a few orders to her crew, who were making 
the final preparations by tying down any loose equipment. "| haven't 
made a jump this far since Blackwood and | were smuggling 
supplies to the refugees of Kul-Manas. Last chance to back out, you 
two." 


Lolly sighed dramatically. "The anticipation is driving me crazy! Let's 
do it!" 


Icky turned to the captain with an excited grin on her face. "You 
heard the little lady." 


Nemo nodded, and motioned to Munin, who was battening a hatch. 
Quickly, he shifted his eyepatch to the opposing eye, revealing an 
eerie green glow radiating from a freshly exposed orb. He called up 
to the other crew members, who all quickly did the same. Finally, 
Nemo lifted her own blindfold, revealing two emerald orbs of her 
own. The air suddenly grew tense, as if lightning were about to 
strike. 


The scene blurred around the Nautilus, as it slipped below the 
surface, and began to pick up speed. Lights and images seemed to 
blur together as they continued onward. Nemo held her hands in 
front of her, taking hold of an unseen steering wheel with an iron 


grip. 


Lolly tried to speak, but she found herself nearly paralyzed by the 
sheer speed they were moving at. She gripped Icky's arm tightly, as 
the latter gave her a comforting look. The Captain's arms moved to 
and fro, making split-second decisions to adjust the trajectory of the 
ship, or avoid monoliths which protruded from the sea. Still, they 
were accelerating. Light itself seemed to be dissolving and bleeding 
around them— 


As suddenly as it begun, it ended. The Nautilus slowed to its 
previous pace as it surfaced, and Icky and Lolly found themselves 
releasing a deep breath they didn't realize they had been holding. 
Lolly slowly turned towards Icky, her hair still frozen behind her. 
Silently, she mouthed 'Wow', before collapsing backwards, giggling. 


Icky too was left in awe. She turned to the Captain, who had begun 
to pull her blindfold back down. Nemo merely smirked, and walked 
up to the prow of the ship. "You're still conscious. I'm impressed. 

We'll reach your destination shortly. As for the matter of payment... 


Icky nodded. "I have a plan in mind. According to the pamphlets, 
carbon is pretty rare in this world, so it's used as a currency." 


"And where we come from, it isn't. What's your point?" 


"They also view arranging the atoms of it into crystal latices as one 
of the highest forms of art, which increases it in value even more." 


Nemo's eyebrows arched beneath her blindfold. "Diamonds. Clever. 


The Nautilus neared a large whirlpool, and slowed to a stop. Icky 
staggered forward, clutching the railing for support. She could 
already see the reflection of the world they were preparing to 
descend into. Her eyes gleamed with a mischievious determination. 


"Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted Eldritch beings of all genders and 
the lack thereof, give it up one more time for Charlotte and her 
arachnid assistants!" Icky paused, as the audience chattered 
excitedly. 


"And now, for our final act of the evening..." 


The crowd of alien beings leaned forward in their seats. The Big Top 
was packed to the brim with attendees. Each one appeared to be a 
fetal animal, floating in a bubble of deep pink liquid that stayed 
suspended just a few centimeters from the ground. One or two 
reached a long, spindly limb out to grab a stick of cotton candy, 
which rapidly dissolved into the liquid. 


Icky signaled to Lolly, who gave her an excited thumbs up in return 
from offstage, indicating that everything was prepared. "As you 
know, we have come to you from a far away dimension. So, we 
have no shortage of wonders to share with you. You've seen our 
freaks, but now we're going to show you..." 


Lolly wheeled out a small cart, covered by a deep purple tablecloth, 

and stopped just in front of Icky. There was an unsettling squelching 
noise- like balloons being rubbed together- as the aliens pressed in 

once more to get a better look. 


"... Something truly disquieting!" Icky whipped the cloth off of the 


cart, revealing a small white box, with a black tail protruding from the 
backside, ending in three golden points. The crowd broke out in 
whispers. Uncertainty, doubt, confusion. 


After a moment, a smaller alien floated upwards in its seat, and 
called out in a shrill voice. Icky wasn't sure exactly what it was 
saying— the device they had been loaned by Marshall, Carter, and 
Dark only allowed for one-way universal translations— but the 
curious tone in its voice was universal enough that she understood 
all the same. 


Icky smirked, and took off her hat. From it, she produced a cup, 
which was full of small orange objects. Each of them tapered to a 
point on one side, like an egg, which was lighter than the rest of it. 
Icky applied pressure to one part of the box, causing the front of it to 
swing open with a loud noise. She placed the cup inside, and 
pressed another part of the box with her finger. 


There was a gasp from the crowd as the box began to emit a low 
hum, and the front of it lit up with an eerie yellow glow. Before long, 
there was a series of loud popping noises, as the orange objects 
began to jump wildly inside, as if they were in pain. After a minute or 
two, Icky opened the box again, and tiny white things began to fall 
out. 


Icky beckoned to the smaller alien who had spoken out earlier, and 
Lolly walked into the stands to escort her down to the center of the 
Big Top, quietly assuring the young alien that everything would be 
alright. "Alright everyone, give it up for our brave volunteer! She's 
about to be the first to try this snack from our dimension, eaten 
across the world!" 


Lolly took out a small paper bag, and scooped some of the snack 
into it, before drizzling it with an orange liquid, and covering it with a 
light dusting of some strange smelling powder. With a broad smile 
on her face, she held the bag up to the small creature before her. 


Timidly, the alien stuck a limb out of its bubble, and grabbed a tiny 
fistful of the white material, which was surprisingly brittle and flaky to 
the touch. It retracted the arm into its bubble, where the food began 
to quickly dissolve. The alien hummed excitedly, and did a 


understand how it does what it does, we could have an unlimited 
supply of energy. All the top researchers on it, stat! -Site 
Supervisory R O 


Note / /1942:F __ , I've figured it out. What to do with it. We 
simply [DATA REDACTED] It'll work. -Senior Researcher A 
E 


Note / /1942: We're moving forward with this project, as of now. 
Good jobA _ , you've got a promotion coming. We'll be [DATA 
EXPUNGED]-Site SupervisorJ R  O 


Note / /1945: My god, what have we done? -Site Supervisor 
J RO 


« SCP-626 | SCP-627 | SCP-628 » 


somersault within its bubble! 


As the audience looked on in excitement, Lolly popped open the 
door of the box again, and jumped all the way inside. The popping 
noise from earlier increased in volume until it was nearly deafening, 
and the cart fell over, leaving the white box on its back. 


With a sound like an explosion, Lolly shot out like a cannonball, 
sending more of the snack flying in every direction, showering down 
on the audience like snow! 


A chorus of coos and shrill excited shrieks echoed through the Big 
Top once again as Lolly gently floated downwards, clutching a 
parasol, back to the center with Icky. As the audience applauded, 
she let go of the parasol and backflipped onto the ground. 


"And we've got more where that came from!" Lolly said, giving Icky a 
wink. 


"A round of applause for my lovely and beloved assistance, if you 
would be so kind folks," Icky requested. Instead of clapping their 
hands, the creatures produced a rapid stream of popping air bubbles 
in the outer membranes to signal approbation. "Lolly my love, seeing 
our crowd osmosising our earthly fare makes me think that they 
might be interested in seeing how you and | eat." 


The crowd cheered their agreement.