The First Child stood there, flecked with blood and bits of brain. She 
didn’t respond at all. She looked to be maybe ten years old, but only 
in appearance: her eyes betrayed a mind as blank and featureless 
as cardboard. She walked over to the body of Gendo and picked up 
his arm. Without a change of expression, she tore off the hand and 
ate it. 


Flash, bang, splash. She fell. 


The team waded out to the bodies, boots sloshing and gas masks 
hissing. The squad leader opened up what was left of TACNET. 


“Three targets eliminated: Ikari, Akagi, and Ayana...” 


He was cut off as Rei’s body exploded with an indescribable 
brilliance, searing all the lesser existence from the place as Adam’s 
power was made manifest and passed on to Lilith. The giant stirred. 
Life had returned to the Mother of All. 


The MP EVAs paused their destruction of the fleet, as if they had 
heard someone calling to them. As one they took to the sky on their 
black wings, and in perfect synchronicity, impaled themselves upon 
their lances, AT fields just barely visible against the backdrop of 
reality. 


In an instant, Tokyo-3 crumbled to dust as a massive explosion rent 
the ground. The fleet was completely consumed in the blast, to the 
last ship. In the midst of the destruction crouched a great white 
figure, like a human tucked in a fetal position, barely perceptible 
amidst its own glow. With slow, smooth movement the giant rose up, 
great wings unfolding across the miles of scarred earth, bathing the 
world in its harsh glow. Nine little dots sparkled about its head, 
shimmering, mirage-like folds and sheets of force radiating from 
each, mixing and melding and dancing with the others and growing 
into the invisible crescendo of the song that ended the world. 


An ocean away, O5-1 sat watching the broken and shaky video 
feed. A single sentence came from the intercom on her desk. 


Ace in the Hole is in position and prepared for firing. 


NERV may have had giant robots and ancient alien artifacts beyond 
mortal ken. It may have managed to delve deep into the applications 
of the soul. It may have had consistently kept their leadership out of 
the Foundation’s grasp. It may have resurrected SCP-001. But there 
was one thing it did not have. A backup plan. 


Especially not one that involved an orbital railgun. 


Fire. 


The air burned red, rippled orange, and tore white, faster than the 
human eye could record. 


The Lance of Longinus hit Lilith at .15 c. 


In an instant, everything within one hundred and fifty miles was 
gone. 


There was silence. 


OPERATION NERVE PINCH COMPLETE 

STATUS: SUCCESS 

LOCKDOWN CODE OMEGA-ONE RETRACTED. 

CODE BLACK HAS BEEN RETRACTED. 

WE ARE NOW AT CODE YELLOW. 

REPEAT: WE ARE NOW AT CODE YELLOW. 
RECONSCRUCTION PROCEDURES ALPHA THROUGH DELTA 
INITIATED. 

SECURE. CONTAIN. PROTECT. 


Shinji woke up. He was greeted by a hospital ceiling. It wasn’t his 
ceiling, he knew that much. His ceiling was a different color. 


He lay there for a long time, not doing anything, not thinking 


likelihood that affected organisms will notice the damage. 


If left exposed to SCP-618 smoke for longer than 30 minutes, firm 
subdermal cysts will develop at the affected areas and major joints. 
These cysts contain a pressurized fluid-air mixture consisting of 
blood plasma and concentrated SCP-618 smoke. Once a cyst has 
begun to form, it will continue to grow, with increasing internal 
pressure, until it ruptures. Upon rupture, the expelled smoke retains 
the anomalous properties of the original smoke, and may affect 
other portions of the host organism or nearby organisms. The 
expelled blood plasma has similar properties to the smoke and is 
able to transmit the effects on contact for up to 17 days after it has 
dried. 


Experiments using laboratory mice indicate that, after introducing a 
single affected individual into an otherwise normal population in a 
well-ventilated area, it would be possible to produce a chain-reaction 
that results in >90% of all organisms becoming exposed within 24 
hours. 


Footnotes 

1. Analysis of the unknown compounds has revealed that they are 
similar in composition to the compounds found in the smoke that is 
emitted fromSCP-013 


« SCP-617 | SCP-618 | SCP-619 » 


anything. He just wanted to fade away. Just to be gone. And the 
world wouldn't let him. His father didn’t let him. Misato didn’t let him, 
NERV didn’t let him, and now after all that, he still couldn’t go. 
Someone else wouldn't let him. 


He just wanted to be alone, that was all. That’s all he wanted. No 
one else cared, so neither did he. Everyone else could just die. 


The room was smaller than the one he had been used to, and it was 
a softer white than the harsh blue-white of NERV’s medical bay. 
There was a little TV on the wall, and a bedside table, and a nice 
potted plant, and a privacy curtain (pulled back) and a painting of 
some cats. 


After some time, the door to the room opened. A nurse walked in 
and placed a plastic tray across Shinj’s lap-board. There was toast 
with butter and jam, and some scrambled eggs, a glass of orange 
juice and a glass of milk. 


Shinji didn’t touch the food. The toast went cold. The milk went 
warm. Time passed. 


The door opened again. This time a balding man walked into the 
room. He was wearing a white button up shirt and a pink tie, and 
holding a clipboard in one hand. 


“Good morning, Shinji.” His Japanese was stilted and his 
pronunciation was horrendous. Most likely he was reciting from a 
machine translation. 


Shinji didn’t respond. 

“Shinji, can you hear me?” 

“| speak English,” Shinji murmured. 
The man smiled. It was a kind smile. 


“Oh, well that’s good. My name is Dr. Glass. It’s nice to meet you.” 
He pulled a chair up next to the hospital bed and sat down. 


This is Always a Horrible Idea 


“HELLO, HELLO...DR. CAPTOR IS THIS THING ON?” 


“ye2, lit’2 on.” 
“WHATEVER. A-HEM. WELCOME ALL TO THE FIRST ANNUAL 
INTER-SESSION FOUNDATION SUMMER BARBEQUE. THE 
SENIOR STAFF HERE AT TROLL SITE 19 EXTEND A WARM 
WELCOME TO OUR HUMAN CO-WORKERS... " 

“get on wwith it!” 


Dr. Vantas shot a glare that could have welded a door shut. 


“...EXTEND A WARM WELCOME TO OUR HUMAN CO- 
WORKERS FROM BETA SESSION SITE 19. WE HOPE THAT 
THIS PARTNERSHIP BECOMES EVER FRUITFUL IN THE ..." 


“Yeah, get on with it!” Dr. Bright shouted from the back of the crowd. 


“...FRUITFUL IN THE...” 


“i could wwrite a better soeech wwhile cut in half!” 


“es -FUTURE:.." 


“| didn’t hop a universe to listen to you babble! Get to the food!” 
Bright now had at least three female troll staff surrounding him. 


Dr. Vantas said nothing this time. Something snapped behind his 
yellow eyes. A finger was extended, quivering with rage at the troll 


with the purple highlight. 

“TEN SWEEPS I'VE WORKED WITH THIS DOUCHE. TEN. 
FUCKING. SWEEPS. SOMEONE, PLEASE TAKE HIM OFF MY 
HANDS. | WILL PAY YOU.” 


There was a short, very awkward silence. 


“YOU KNOW WHAT? FUCK IT. ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING 
CARDS.” Vantas tossed his stack of index cards to the side. “GO 
AND STUFF YOUR PROTEIN CHUTES WITH SOME SHITTY 
GRILLED MEAT PRODUCTS, YOU USELESS BULGELICKING 
ASSHOLES.” 


“Comrade, you are built like brick wall. Fine specimen of 
motherland.” Strelnikov had already downed two roast beef 
sandwiches and three glasses of vodka. Security Chief Equius 
paused to look at the already drunk Russian. 


“D —> Yes, | am rather... STRONG” 


“We test.” Strelnikov rolled up his sleeve and put his elbow on the 
table. “I am thinking that you may become surprised, my grey 
comrade.” The troll smiled with broken teeth and sat down across 
from the agent. He was already sweating. 


“D —> Best of three, | presume” 
“And a shot for each loss.” 
“wwhy not” 


“Oh, well let’s see here.” Rights counted on her fingers. "One, you’re 
a gigantic prick. Two, this is the third time you've hit on me today, 
and three, you are, to put it gently, goddamn creepy.” 


Dr. Ampora’s lower lip quivered as Rights walked away. Dr. Peixes 
patted him on the shoulder. 


“T)(ere, t)(ere, you'll find someone eventually.” 


“nope nope nope nope from this moment on i am done i wwill be 
forevver alone” 


“You’re a reel wuss, you know t)(at?” 


Gears never wanted anything beyond bread and water. A seat was 
unnecessary, even. He preferred to stand and watch. 


“dOctOr gears i presume” 

He looked to see an android with ram’s horns standing next to him. 
“You are correct.” 

“im dOctOr medigO mark ii” 

“Good evening, Dr. Medigo.” 

The two stood there without talking for several minutes. 


“It appears that you are not partaking in this get-together,” Gears 
said at last. 


“it’s a bit bOring but its Okay | guess” 
“So itis.” 


“So that’s what the buckets are for. Very interesting, Doctor Maryam, 
please, do go on.” Bright smiled. 


“UGH. THIS HAPPENS EVERY FUCKING TIME.” Dr. Vantas sat 
down across from Clef. 


“Being surrounded by a bunch of assholes who can barely do their 
job is part of the job,” Clef said, licking sauce off of his fingers. 


"PREACH IT, BROTHER.” 


“You know, | think we could really make that staff exchange program 
you mentioned last e-mail work. Hey, Crow, come on, take a seat.” 


Crow padded over and hopped up onto the bench. Vantas looked 
like he was about to say something for a moment, and then thought 
better of it. 


“| was saying how a staff exchange program could work wonders for 
both of us.” 


“If the O5 board would approve it, I’d be the first one on the list.” 


“IF THEY DON’T CLEAR IT, ’LL DO IT ANYWAY. ANYTHING TO 
GET AWAY FROM THESE IDIOTS. JUST MAKE SURE YOUR 
PEOPLE READ THE GODDAMN FINE PRINT AND KNOW THAT 
WE DON'T REALLY CARE IF THEY LOSE LIMBS, OR ORGANS, 
OR LIFE.” 


“I’m sure that can be worked out,” Crow said. 
“33 < oh there you are karkitty!” 


Vantas’ head hit the table with significant force. Dr. Leijon sat down 
next to him, bearing a very large, very rare steak on her plate anda 
cat sleeping on her shoulder. 


“| TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT AT WORK.” He didn’t lift his 
head. 


“33 < aw, someone woke up on the wrong side of the 
recupurracoon this morning.” 


Clef and Gears exchanged that glance men have that says “Yup, 
this guy’s whipped.” 


There was no cheering over at the bocce game. Or any talking at all, 
actually. 


Agent Yoric, Dr. Nitram, and Dr. Makara were the only remaining 
players. They all had one ball left. And they were all tied exactly 
equal to the queen. 


The tension could be cut with a spoon. 


As Dr. Makara had so eloquently put it, “oOcCe Is sErloUs 
MoThErFuCkInG BuSiNeSs, MoThErFuCkEr." 


“And that’s why we never let 447 touch a dead body.” 


“FASCINATING. HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED..." The second 
half of the sentence was drowned out by a massive explosion. 
Charging through the smoke was a humanoid... thing, with a black 
carapace, a harlequin hat, wings tentacles, and a sword. It was 
riding 682. Following close behind was the figure of a troll wearing a 
bright orange sweatshirt with a sun on it, laughing maniacally. She 
had lassoed 682 with a length of cable and was now being dragged 
around on roller skates. 


called out to the picnic area. 


“TH4T 1S FL4GR4NTLY 4G41NST PROTOCOL! 1 W1LL H4V3 
YOUR 4SS D3MOT3D FOR TH1S, S3RK8T!” Dr. Pyrope leapt up 
from her table and began to chase the lizard, troll, and Jack off into 
the distance, waving her cane wildly. 


There were some more explosions and collapsing buildings. 


“WELL THEN.” Vantas nodded to Clef and Crow. “IF YOU WILL 
EXCUSE ME FOR A MOMENT, GENTLEMEN.” 


He dropped to his knees and screamed, shaking his fists at the 
moons above. The volume was terrifying. 


“VR SSSSSSKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” 


Incident Report KAF-09 


Personnel Involved: Agent S__, Agent F 
Date: / / 
Location: , Austria 


Description: Following up on reports of anomalous activity in the 
area, AgentsS andF_ were dispatched to the town of ' 
Austria. Upon arrival, it became apparent that a local resident ( 

, formerly a traveling salesman) had spontaneously transformed 
into a large, unidentified organism resembling an insect. The subject 
has a hard, though not impenetrable exoskeleton and displays 
anatomical segmentation similar to that of an arthropod. Notably, the 
subject appears to have retained most of the cognitive capacity and 
memories of his previous human form. The subject is capable of 
vocalizing, however his vocalizations have thus far been impossible 
to translate into recognizable speech; it is theorized the subject no 
longer possesses the necessary oral and laryngeal structure to 
produce human speech. An apple is lodged into the dorsal portion of 
the subjects exoskeleton (upon investigation, determined to be the 
result of a violent incident with the subject's father), causing it 
significant ailment. Researchers are working to determine whether 
or nor the apple can be removed without causing further injury. 


The subject's family and several other witnesses have been dosed 
with class B amnesiacs. The organism is currently under 
containment, awaiting classification. The mechanism by which its 
metamorphosis occurred has yet to be determined. 


Death and the Doctors Hub 


Death is not the greatest of evils: rather, it is to wish to die 
when one cannot. 


Sophocles 


In the beginning, there was death. Then, and forever 
after. As creation's most ancient of beings, there are very 
few things the Brothers Death do not entirely understand. 


Oddly enough, one such thing are their own creations. 


Born from mass grave at a time of plague, the Children 
of the Barrow forever owe their allegiance to Death, they 
who gave them life. 


Born from conflict and into conflict, the Children of the 
Barrow seek always to create a world without it. A world 
where they would no longer be needed. 


Born with skill in medicine and healing, the Children of 
the Barrow name themselves plague doctors, a name 

fitting for more than one reason. For each plague they 
cure, another is brought forth from their very existence. 


The Children of the Barrow wish only to heal, but the 
Brothers Death may have other plans for them. 


As does life. 
Mainline tales (written by Dmatix): 


1. Three Short Scenes About Death 
2. Therapy 

3. Painless 

4. Surgery 

5. Pathology (coming soon) 


* Special thanks to SunnyClockwork for providing the wonderful 
art for this page 


Three Short Scenes About Death 


The smell of rot was in the air. 


As the afternoon sun began its descent, the footsteps of the 
approaching stranger fell upon the quiet village streets as poison 
leeches into an unguarded well. The muddy road never touched his 
immaculate black boots and the hem of his long robe was as clean 
as a Starless night as he made his way towards his destination. The 
small hill that overlooked the village and the cottage that stood on its 
top were his goal. 


At the foot of the hill crouched an elderly hound. His eyes were 
clouded and the hairs on his muzzle were white, but still he rose to 
greet the stranger, his long tail wagging back and forth furiously. The 
stranger stopped and reached a gloved hand to pet the old dog's 
head, his fingers gently scratching behind the hound's ears, causing 
it to whimper happily. The old dog rolled on his back, and the 
stranger gave his belly similar attention. The hound yelped like a 
young pup at that. The stranger laughed, and if anyone else was 
there to hear it, they'd likely have noted how unlikely it was to hear 
that sound coming from that cold, pale face.