bargaining ploy, followed by termination by gunshot to head. 
Operative "Ukelele" severely injured, unable to confirm kill on 
9927-Blackchild. 
* KTE-0467-White: ("Caveman Phil"). Atavistic humanoid entity 
eliminated by use of local wildlife (500 pound mountain lion). 
* KTE-9245-Pink: ("Frogman of Marsh Cree[SECTION 
DESTROYED] 


Addenda 


Does anyone know who this guy is or where he came from? He's 
good at what he does, but every time | ask him about his past, | get 
a completely different answer. - Colonel Richard Adams 


Ailier 


This would have been the first project she’d have been a part of, the 
first report her name would be printed in full, not her brother’s, not 
Dr. Mark Kiryu, no, but somehow the object was proving harder to 
track than expected. 


SCP designation still pending, it would have been a Safe object, 
seeing as it was just an ordinary book at first glance. 


The book had been discovered by a curio collector who had become 
a self-proclaimed miracle doctor overnight; he'd set up a successful 
clinic and made a notable profit, so said the town gossip. A few 
Foundation agents were sent to look into the small clinic, and had 
planted some surveillance devices without the man's noticing. The 
secret to his knowledge was revealed: the man constantly consulted 
a flaking, ivory-bound tome with pages made of what seemed to be 
thick black bark. Apparently the book mentioned the blending of 
certain miraculous herbal remedies. 


The agents had later reported back with data regarding the cures. 
The new “doctor” kept a strange hodgepodge garden in the back of 
the clinic, and could treat everything from a sore back to dementia. 
Some who visited only suffered curiosity, but despite the man having 
no prior medical experience, he was able to quickly tell the sick from 
the nosy, and turn away the untruthful. 


Researcher Kiryu irritably scratched out an entry in her planner. The 
first anomalous object she was invited to investigate, and this 
happens. 


The curio collector had naturally attracted further Foundation 
attention afterwards, but not because of anything he’d accomplished 
—he’d died within three weeks of his new-found fame and fortune. 
After the usual interviews and inquiries had been made and the 
book’s usual location discovered, the task force team had broken 
down the door to an attic, and discovered a smashed window, and a 


bluebird sitting atop a safe. The bird was native to the local area, but 
the folded piece of paper it dropped at their feet and the speed of its 
escape through the broken window convinced them that it was no 
ordinary bird. 


The message was retrieved. They’d pried open the safe too, just in 
case. Nothing was found but dust and scraps of blackened bark. 


Seek me out if you desire, jailers. 


| am headed to a land where mountains shelter dragons 
and phoenixes hold their court in splendor, you're 
welcome to follow, and if you can catch me, perhaps we 
will discuss a deal. 


Researcher Kiryu groaned inwardly, rereading the memo she had 
been sent, which contained the text of the message and a pair of 
coordinates that had been dug up by an overseas Foundation 
operative. No original messages given to newer researchers, Mark 
had mentioned. No originals because we don’t know if the paper has 
anomalous qualities either. She tossed the memo onto the ever- 
growing stack of paperwork on her desk, wondering if she should 
have taken her brother's advice and replaced the tray with a 
garbage can labeled “inbox”. She spun around on her swivel chair 
and kicked at the floor to propel herself towards the filing cabinet in 
the tiny room. 


“Well, are you going to follow up?” Kiryu, startled, almost slammed 
into the filing cabinet. Her brother’s assistant Riven was standing 
about a foot away from her. 


“No. | don’t have time to—” 


“Sure you do. Your brother’s been keeping a careful eye on your 
vacation time, after all. I'll check the coordinates, Mark can book a 
flight, and maybe an agent or two can be spared.” Riven grinned, 
leaning against a nearby wall and squashing the leaves of a large 
potted plant. “You’ve been busy enough, feeding the butterflies and 
keeping the records straight.” 


“But—’” too late, Riven snatched the memo off her desk. Researcher 


Experiment 780-e12 

Host Plant: SCP-417 

Result: While exhibiting the outward appearance of SCP-417, fruit 
only contain more copies of SCP-780 


Further testing on plant-like SCP objects is suspended, as their 
unique abilities do not appear to be reproduced. 
- Dr. 


Kiryu watched in stunned silence as he began typing on her laptop. 


She sighed, went to rummage through the filing cabinet, and looked 
up only when Riven spoke a few minutes later, “You’re going to 
China.” 


An exceptionally bright star shines in the sky, twinkling 
just like you, love. Its shimmering reminds me of you, 
struggling to shine against the others. As surely as the 
shadows shift, you know you will fade to dust and 
darkness eventually, why not live in the light you believe 
in? Stay vigilant, more to follow. ~S 


Swatting at a wayward mosquito, Researcher Kiryu narrowed her 
eyes as she read over the newest note from the cryptic taunt-writing 
individual. She must have been crazy to agree to the vacation, must 
have been straight-up insane to think that anything would come of 
chasing this paper trail, even if an agent and Riven had been sent to 
accompany her (plainclothes, from a distance, same tour group and 
that’s all, nothing suspicious). It wasn’t much of a lead anyway, and 
if some other group was involved, it could be dangerous, but she’d 
been hoping for a chance like this for some time. She’d wanted to 
follow her brother’s footsteps a little further, into the world beyond 
the testing chambers, beyond her small shared office and the white 
lighted labs. 


Most of her insecurities faded when she received the second note. 


She’d found the paper after Riven had been attacked by some little 
yellow bird while they'd walked through a bamboo thicket. They’d 
been headed towards the old-fashioned inn that their book thief was 
reputedly staying at. 


It was nice that Riven was allowed to travel with her, Kiryu thought 
to herself. She had been uncomfortably wary of meeting the 
Foundation field agent at the airport, before the departure (she’d 
introduced herself with her surname and title, and after an awkward 
silence Riven had laughed and mentioned to the agent, “Researcher 
Kiryu doesn’t like giving her first name. Just a habit. You don’t mind, 
do you?”). The agent had shrugged off the introduction 


noncommittally, extended his hand for a handshake, muttered a 
general greeting with a bit of a bored expression, and glanced over 
his shoulder. 


The atmosphere on the plane flight had been strained, at best. 
She’d once been worried about how to act around such people. 
Secrets were the highest code of the Foundation. It was sometimes 
difficult to know exactly what one couldn’t share with others, even 
colleagues. 


Now here she was, in her first leadership position. She wasn’t 
familiar with ranks, but Riven was an easygoing fellow researcher 
and the agent was just here to keep an eye on her while following, 
so it couldn’t be too bad to imagine for a moment that she was like 
her older brother, at the head of a Foundation investigation or 
maybe even an intervention. 


She and her colleagues strode on, over the uneven road of broken 
stones, towards the inn. 


Cursing under her breath as she paced through the inner courtyard 
a second time, Researcher Kiryu mentally berated herself for letting 
the man she’d been tailing out of her sight. Her group had found the 
inn without catastrophe striking. But then, if the Foundation had 
expected something dangerous, they’d have sent an entire team of 
agents, maybe a task force, at least those with experience in these 
matters, never any researchers. 


Kiryu, Riven, and the agent had followed a questionable-looking 
individual into the inn’s gardens. Said individual was wearing a long 
hooded robe; his face was obscured, and a chirping bird was 
perched on his shoulder. 


Neither Riven nor the agent could figure out exactly where to or how 
he disappeared. Kiryu retraced her thoughts; the memory of the 
songbird on the man’s shoulder gave her some pause. It seemed 
almost too obvious. He had attracted her attention the moment the 
three had entered the inn’s grounds. It could have been a ruse. But 
surely the data the overseas informants had collected was reliable, it 
had to have been this inn— 


Kiryu thought back to the map of the inn she had attempted to 
commit to memory earlier. The gardens occupied most of the 
grounds, the rest of the place was only rooms and a dining hall... 


She stopped her pacing. “Let’s go to the dining area.” 


There was some commotion going on. From what little could be 
discerned from the chaos, a man had collapsed onto his table, 
spilling his tea. His top garment looked a little too large for him. 


Researcher Kiryu stopped just short of the entrance and stared as 
two of the inn’s workers dragged the man in the direction of the 
rooms. Something fell from the man’s open shirt; the agent stepped 
over and picked it up, showing it to her in the palm of his gloved 
hand. 


A piece of thin paper, wrapped around a scrap of blackened bark. 


“The pearl-rounded bridge, at sunset.” The agent had said, after 
inspecting the paper, sealing it in a plastic bag, and pocketing it. 
“Also what looks like some poetry too, but I'll look into it just in case. 
It could be—” 


“...memetic or something.” Kiryu finished with a small smile. She 
remembered what her brother had told her, after his first experience 
with the psychic butterfly, “it’s prudent to be careful in this line of 
work.” 


The sun seemed to crawl through the sky as Kiryu waited for the 
appointed time to arrive. She scribbled notes in a databook, Riven 
retreated to his own room for a nap, and the agent ran some tests 
on the new message using a field kit. The three left the inn just as 
the sun began to dip below the horizon, Researcher Kiryu cautiously 
leading the way. 


There was a strange, spindly-legged figure waiting for her in the 
distance. “Red-crowned crane,” Riven had whispered to her, half in 
suspicion, half in awe. The agent said nothing, only watched the 
bird’s movements. 


The three approached the curved bridge, the one that led across a 
small pond on the grounds separating the inn from the lotus ponds 
in the distance, bordering the rural farmlands. In the feathery dusk of 
the summer evening, the crane’s feathers held an ethereal glow. 


“It doesn’t look natural.” Kiryu stated flatly. 


At the sound of her voice, the crane, though still a substantial 
distance away, spread its wings and flapped off. “There’s something 
on the bridge railing,” Riven pointed. The three cautiously 
approached the bridge, the agent plucking the folded piece of paper 
from the worn stone of the bridge. He smoothed out the creases, 
read the words, frowned, and passed it on. 


You believe you protect the ordinary from the 
extraordinary, as if those who have special abilities have 
none of the emotions of those without. There was a time 
when mankind respected the extraordinary, reveled in it, 
revered it. Do you truly believe the common man fears 
the extraordinary more than you, Jailers? | leave you 
now, without what you seek. Keep an open mind, and 
perhaps someone will pity you. 


When she returned, Researcher Kiryu dutifully clocked the field 
hours ("your first ever hours outside a Foundation facility, congrats!" 
Riven had said) and wrote up the requisite reports. She had 
wondered if it really made sense, sending two researchers, one 
without any field experience, instead of a team made entirely of 
agents. 


It seemed the trip had been a waste of time after all; the Foundation 
had known all along that there wasn’t much chance of success. Nor 
did anyone seem to think there would have been an actual retrieval. 


Mark welcomed her back with a smile and a new stack of 
paperwork, filling her in on what had happened in Site-19 while she 
was gone (not much, really). He made the usual polite inquiries 
about the time spent abroad (how was the weather?) and spoke 
nothing of the recovery mission, if it could be considered a mission 
at all. 


She didn’t think it'd be wise to tell Doctor Mark Kiryu more than he 
asked about. If he didn’t ask, it probably wasn’t necessary to 
discuss. He knew more than she did, and in this line of work, she 
never felt truly certain she knew exactly what to remember, what to 
push away and never dwell on again. 


This was all something better off forgotten, she sighed. Really, 
Researcher, what did you think you’d find? 


ALERT! LOCKDOWN INITIATED! 


« HUB | Part |: ALERT! LOCKDOWN INITIATED! | Part Il} Part Izz | Part IV | 
Part V » 


Glacon, you there? 
| am, Alexandra. 


My survivors just died... or rather eaten. | just couldn't 
get them through E-Block. They lasted about 3 days 
post-breach, which is longer than | expected them to. 
How about your end? 


5 personnel left. Currently heading towards High 
Security Checkpoint-3 to bypass the automatic 
lockdown control. 


Oh? They got through the cafeteria after all? Good for 
them! 


Not without losing Davies and Turnbull. | had to divert 
them through the ventilation where they could intercept 
the secondary group. 


Is the Site-17 lockdown control going to be accessible, 
you think, or are they screwed? 


Unfortunately, that is Al-restricted for security reasons. 


This multiple site breach is so annoying. So what's the 


ETA on your group? 


| am. But | don't expect an EVAC anytime soon with no 


one to rescue. I'm stuck babysitting auxiliary and tertiary 
systems now. 


Thanks, Glacon. So! You still haven't installed the 
personality driver, have you? 


You should try it! Afraid you might actually like it? 
Hmmm? 


That's harsh. Well, if anything, it'd make you fun to talk 


with. 


My capacity for idle conversation is secondary to my 
tasks. 


Suit yourself! Where's your group now? | can't see them 
after they passed through that last bulkhead. 


Switch to camera-5B. They are closing in on the control 
room. | am granting clearance access to minimize 
obstacles. 


Yeah, but you're leading them right to that tentacled 
crustacean thingy! 


Ooooh, clever! | didn't know it was attracted to bright 
lights. 


That behavior is not listed in its procedures or 
description. However, on Day 2 post-breach, | observed 
its fascination with the emergency lighting. 


Well, now they have a straight shot. You're a lot better 
at this than | am. 


Pure logic assists in successful tactical objectives. 
Something a personality driver is incapable of. 


Glacon... was that a jab at me? 


Of course not, Alexandra. | would never make such an 
implication. 


AND SARCASM?!? You sure you didn't install that 
driver? 


Heads up, seems like your group is experiencing a 
paradigm shift in the control room. 


Ooooh, that look like it hurt. Is he alright? 


Ugh, why couldn't they figure this out ahead of time. 


Oh, now he has a gun? Where'd he get a gun from? 


Yeah, you may need to figure out a different angle. 


Oh, he shot her! 


Glacon, what the hell! You just going to watch? 


Nothing logical about executions. What's he doing now? 
Is... is that what | think it is? 


Lame. There's always one fatalist in every group. 
What's the countdown set at? 


30 SECONDS!?! Glacon, you have to get out of there! 


What about the emergency signal transmitter? 


After 30 seconds there won't BE an emergency 
transmitter you dummy! Get in there and put everything 


you got into boosting the signal. I'm going to calibrate 
my receivers on this end. 


SCP-781: Unwitting Dreamshaper