Mission still aborted, Base? 

Base: Yes, there's really nothing more you can do up there. 
P does not respond. 

Base: P? 


A sound resembling a muted shriek is heard, source unclear; 
contact is then lost. 


P, J, and L are first observed finishing their descent forty-five hours 
later. P was physically well (aside from issues attributable to the 
conditions, though no permanent damage was accrued), J was 
suffering from frostbite and had to have three digits amputated, and 
L has no memory of the events on K2 whatsoever. 


P and J were able to attest that they had encountered SCP-2585-1 
again during their descent, and had attempted to contact Base 
Camp several times, without response. The "muted shriek" heard 
prior to communication failure was created by J upon seeing 
SCP-2585-1. Aside from SCP-2585-1's reappearance, the team 
reported no further anomalies during descent. 


Analysis of the video feed demonstrated an abnormality, however. 
While the team reported that SCP-2585-1's face plate was opaque, 
this is not the case in the video. SCP-2585-1's face plate generates 
bands of visible light at varying intensities and hues. At times these 
bands produce an image similar to a human face, or alternatively a 
set of fractals that coincide with a heightened presence of digital 
artifacts. Closer analysis reveals that, in several images, both the 
human face and the second phenomenon are visible. During these 
periods, the two images appear to either "share" the area behind the 
face plate, or "merge" together (the latter of which is extremely 
distressful for the human face). P and J were not able to account for 
this inconsistency; L, however, who has remained consistent that he 
cannot remember any of the events on K2, screamed at the sight of 
the video and became so distressed that he had to be administered 
sedatives. Following the episode, L could not account for why he 
screamed, and did not react as such during a second viewing. 


The topographical anomalies observed on K2 during the exploration 
were not evident on the mountain after SCP-2585 dissipated. 


Footnotes 

1. A block of ice formed in glacial regions. 

2. A mountain located in Switzerland, the north face of which is 
known asMordwandor "Murder Wall." 

3. The tenth highest mountain in the world, located in Nepal, and 
noteworthy for its 38% fatality rate among climbers. 


SCP-2585 Exploration Log C 


Exploration Log C 
/ /1991 


Following the results of Exploration B, SCP-2585 activity continued, 
however, no further excursions were planned due to personnel 
constraints. In 1991, however, the disappearance of a private 
aircraft (carrying five civilians) over the Karakorum region during an 
SCP-2585 manifestation prompted further inspection. In addition to 
upgraded mountaineering equipment, the personnel selected (R, O, 
and H) were given a video/audio recording unit with direct upload to 
Outpost-2585, and three Beretta Series 89 pistols. As with the 
previous explorations, the team ascended via the "Abruzzi Spur." 


[Sections of the climb prior to Camp C have been omitted for 
brevity.] 


R: Righto, our rest is over. Are you seeing this, Base? 


The video feed displays a milder section of terrain, consistent with 
Camp C. 


Base: Affirmative, R. Visibility's just as poor. Can you see the Base 
Camp at all? 


R: Negative. 

The video feed confirms this. 

Base: Is there anything wrong with the team? Anything at all? 
R: No, we're all fine - physically, mentally, everything. 


Base: Right. Continue whenever you're ready; notify us with any 
development. 


R: Will do. Out. 


Over twenty-five minutes, the team is observed scaling the 
mountain. No anomalies or sightings of SCP-2585-1 were detected 
by either the team or Base Camp during the trek. Thus far, the route 
seems consistent with K2 in its natural state, and inconsistent with 
the previous explorations. The turbulence of the weather, also, 
appears less severe than previously. 


R: It doesn't seem too bad up here. | saw the previous recordings; 
are we sure this is a genuine manifestation? 


Base: What's the atmospheric pressure? 


R: ...Yeah, it's at about a thousand hectopascals. That's almost sea 
level pressure. | guess it is genuine. 


Base: Don't relax too much. Team status? 
R: All green. 
Base: Alright. Continue your ascent. 


No irregularities are observed on the video feed of the ascent for 
seventeen minutes. 


H: What is that? 
Base: What? 


R: Hold up, Base, we're going to get a good look at it-it's something 
on the ground. 


H: Oh fuck. 
R: Il-oh. Base, are you seeing this? 


SCP-2585-1 is visible, prostrate and motionless on the ground. The 
suit is heavily damaged, the face-plate is broken open, and there 
appears to be nothing inside. 


Base: Is there activity on it, inside it, anything? 


R: Nothing. 


H: | can't figure out what caused this damage-R, get the camera on 
this. 


A close-up of the suit's damage is taken. It appears to be partially 
disintegrated, though no sign of burn or chemical damage is 
present. 


R: It looks like it's just turned to dust. 
O: Wait, so if it's dead, is that why things aren't so bad up here? 
H: Maybe. 


Base: Yet the anomaly is still present, which means that 
SCP-2585-1 was not the source. 


R: Do we continue, Base? 
Base: ...Yes, proceed with utmost caution. 
R: Continuing mission. Out. 


Over the next seven hours, the team continues climbing. While no 
disturbances are observed or reported, it is noticed by both the team 
and Base that ambient light inside SCP-2585 has reduced 
significantly (the current time is only 3:39PM). 


Base: R, is the camera malfunctioning? 
R: No, it really is that dark. How's the light outside this mess? 
Base: Normal, it's still bright out here. 


R: It almost looks like nighttime here. This isn't something it's done 
before, is it? 


Base: No. This is new. 
O: Fuck. 
H: We're not too far from Camp D, | think. 


R: | think you're right. l-what the...? 


SCP-290: The Picasso Machine 


Item #: SCP-290 
Object Class: Safe 


Special Containment Procedures: SCP-290 is to be held ina5m 
x5mx5 mcell at Site-19. Personnel are forbidden from interacting 
with SCP-290 except during an approved testing procedure, and any 
personnel who attempt to do so must be terminated with any force 
necessary. During any interaction with SCP-290, three guards with 
full Knowledge of the object must flank the object's aperture; anyone 
(other than Class-D personnel) attempting to enter must be removed 
from the object's cell. Subjects who undergo reconfiguration are 
terminated at the conclusion of experimentation. 


Description: SCP-290 is a hollow metallic sohere 3 m in diameter, 
with a circular opening of diameter 90 cm cut into one side. This 
sphere is welded to four metal posts 50 cm in height. Scans have 
shown that SCP-290 is composed of a combination of aluminium 
and [DATA EXPUNGED], many of which do not match any known 
atomic structure. All attempts to take samples of the metal for more 
detailed analysis have failed. The external temperature of the 
sphere remains constant at 318 Kelvin (45 °C) regardless of the 
ambient conditions. As no power source for the device has been 
found, how it maintains this temperature is as yet unknown. 
Researchers have noted that personnel appear to display slightly 
elevated curiosity about SCP-290's function, although whether this 
is evidence of a psychological effect or simply due to its abnormality 
is not known. 


Should a subject enter SCP-290 through the circular opening, the 
aperture will shrink rapidly, rendering the inside section inaccessible. 
After 5-20 minutes, the aperture will reopen. No sound can be heard 
emanating from SCP-290 during this period. Subjects emerge from 
this process alive, conscious (albeit often in a state of extreme 
distress), but with their anatomy significantly altered. Limbs, facial 


H: Whoa. 

Base: What's going on? 

O: Stars. 

R: Base, are you seeing this? 


The camera shows that the cloud cover has dissipated, and the 
night sky is visible. 


Base: The mountain still appears to be completely concealed by 
cloud cover from our location. 


R: Extradimensional? 
O: Fuck. 


H: Calm down, we might be able to get out by just climbing down, 
this is way too soon to lose your shit. 


Base: Details, R, what do you see? 


R: Everything looks normal up here, it's just night. There's cloud 
below us, | assume that's the scip itself-well | guess we're inside the 
scip now but, you know what | mean. 


Base: Anything new or unusual on the mountain itself? 
R: It looks fine, I-wait. 

H: Do you see it too? 

O: See what? 

Base: What is it? 


R: Faint light coming off a slope above us, it's not too far away, but 
from this angle, we can't see what's projecting it. 


Base: Can you describe the light? What color is it? 


R: It's-no, I...I'm not sure. Investigate? 


O: Fuck no! 
H: We may not get another chance to see what's up here. 
O: I'm fine with that! 


Base: R, listen to me. Observe only, try to get images on the 
recording unit. Avoid direct contact and return once you get a look. 


R: Roger. 

O: No! We need to leave! 
H: Shut up! 

R: O, be quiet, we're-O, no! 


O is observed to flee from the area, retreating down into the cloud 
cover. In his haste, he stumbles and falls out of sight, presumably to 
his death. 


R: ...Man down, Base. 
Base: Get the images and get out of there, R. 
R: Doing. Out. 


The remaining team members ascend the terrain between their 
current position and the unidentified light source. The trek takes 
seven minutes. No abnormalities are reported by the team or 
observed on the video feed. 


R: Base. 
H: My God. 


Visible on the feed is a crater, roughly thirty meters in diameter, 
extending into the side of K2. The crater contains the wreckage of 
an unknown model space shuttle. The light is seen to emanate from 
among the debris, though the exact source is not yet identified. 


R: The hell is this doing here? 


Base: Can you see what the light source is? 
R: Negative. 


Base: Go ahead and return, R, we'll see what we can get out of this 
footage. 


R: Alright, we- 
H: RA, look! 


Something moves in the wreckage. A humanoid figure emerges, 
limply suspended by unknown means. The figure appears to be 
dressed in the same manner as the team. 


H: It's O. 


This is confirmed on the video feed as it stabilizes. Also visible are 
luminescent phenomena similar to the fractal imagery seen in 
Exploration Log B. 


R: What the fuck happened to him? He-oh God. 

[DATA EXPUNGED] 

SCP-2585-1: R, H, get back down to the cloud cover! 

The team attempts to descend the mountain as [DATA EXPUNGED] 


SCP-2585-1: -eaten away. I'm running out, but I'll try to make the 
terrain easier down there. Goodbye, guys. 


Contact is lost. R and H returned to Base Camp ten minutes l/ater, 
though how this was accomplished is presently unclear. Further 
details regarding Exploration C, including the debriefing report, are 
currently restricted to Clearance 3/2585. 


Executive Brief Investigative Report Orpheus 


Executive Brief, Investigative Report "Orpheus" 


Due to the results of Exploration Log C, the Outpost-2585 supervisor 
made a formal request to Overwatch, pending an investigation of the 
United States space travel program and its possible connection to 
SCP-2585. 


Appropriated documents and testimony from the US Government 
and NASA indicate that, starting from the commencement of the 
Space Shuttle Program in 1972, both the aforementioned parties are 
shown to have been involved with an individual or organization 
identified only as "Black Eagle" (assumed to be a code-name). 
There is no evidence that Rockwell International (now Boeing 
Defense, Space and Security) had any connection with, or indeed 
was even aware to the existence of, the party known as "Black 
Eagle." In 1974, under the supervision of the US Government 
(though not NASA or Rockwell International), "Black Eagle" 
performed several alterations to the Space Shuttle Horizon, a Space 
Shuttle Orbiter prototype developed prior to the first officially 
recognized model, the Enterprise. No explicit record of these 
alterations is known to exist. Space Shuttle Horizon performed its 
first orbital flight in 1975, one year before the unveiling of the Space 
Shuttle Enterprise and six years before the first orbital flight of the 
Space Shuttle Co/umbia. Details regarding the Horizon's launch 
facility at [REDACTED], along with information regarding specific 
personnel involved, is limited to the full report (see SECURE-FILE- 
ORPHEUS). Contact was lost with the Horizon two hours and thirty- 
nine minutes after launch, at which time the spacecraft was orbiting 
Earth over the Indian Ocean. 


The following piece of testimony was compelled from Derek Wright, 
a former employee of the National Security Agency (NSA) in 1995: 


| need to make it abundantly clear that | don't know who 
or what the hell "Black Eagle" is, and none of my 


colleagues had any idea either. Information on BE was 
classified above my pay-grade, and my bosses were 
touchy on the subject. 


It was the seventies, we'd put the first human foot on the 
moon, but the space race wasn't even close to being 
over. There was immense pressure towards militarization 
of space, and the SSP was critical on that front. Ever 
since Saylut 1 went up, there was a frenzy to get our 
own space station in orbit, and plans for putting missiles 
on such a station were very seriously being considered. 
If that prospect sounds crazy now, believe me, it 
sounded crazy then too, but it's what we had to work on. 
Just to be clear, | was never actually involved in any of 
this "work," | only made sure that the proceedings were 
secure, so | can't speak for any of the technical aspects 
of these subjects, | can only talk about what | saw or 
heard. In any case, missiles on a space station wasn't 
even the craziest notion. We'd actually proposed 
outfitting the shuttles for a weapons program, but the 
consensus was that such a system would be too 
cumbersome, conspicuous, and inefficient. 


That was before BE. 


| said before that | don't know who they are, and | meant 
that. | never saw these people, someone saw them, 
apparently, but it wasn't me or any of my colleagues. 
They barely existed on paper; virtually everything issued 
or relayed about them was done so by mouth. That was 
unusual, but not unheard of. What bugged me was how 
often | heard "Let BE take care of it." | heard it all the 
time. Weirder still was that we seemed to be ahead of 
schedule on everything. In my line of work, we're never 
ahead of schedule. The launch date kept becoming 
sooner and sooner, and it seemed like things became 
too quick to notice. | heard whispers, hurried quiet 
conversations about the "unprecedented weapon" that 
BE was working on, and all | can remember thinking is 
when did the SSP become cemented as a weapons 


project when it was deemed unfeasible less than a year 
earlier? It was so fast, so bizarre that it was surreal, and | 
found myself just going along with it, right up until the 
night of the launch.