Milephanes has slanderously alleged that we exert inappropriate 
control over the sacred institution of Democracy. This is patent 
nonsense. It has been eternally acknowledged that a democratic 
system is only as wise as its free men. We strengthen the people 
and so through them Democracy itself. The University, | would 
argue, presents the greatest ally Democracy has ever had. We 
teach all of you the finest wisdom of our forefathers, and protect you 
from the false beliefs that have been the ever-present enemy of a 
just and free society. And what proof more of an enlightened society 
could anyone ask than unanimity? 


This wellspring of filth does not end there, however. Milephanes 
hews to that old, discredited, and counter-Aristotelian idea that there 
is or could be some equivalency in nature between slave and free 
man. He treats a notion more commonly found in comedies as 
though it had some serious philosophical merit. Imagine, however 


hard it may be, a world where he were right. Just imagine a world 
without slaves! How would Milephanes propose fields be sowed? 
How would he propose houses be maintained? How would he 
propose wars be fought? 


And he is most evidently not correct. Have you ever tried to speak to 
a slave? Most of them are unable to understand anything outside 
their duties, and those few that are capable of conversation know 
nothing of the Classical philosophers. They could not comprehend 
the nature of poetry, comedy, or tragedy. Only the keener mind of a 
free man, especially one educated at the University by the finest 
philosophers of this era, can contain the subtleties. Did not the great 
Hippocrates aptly observe that some, such as the Anatolians, were 
particularly suited as slaves? The slave is adept at the physical, like 
the beast; the free man is adept at the rational, like the Gods. The 
natures do not intersect. 


The University has perfected this distinction. Thanks to our 
advancements in natural philosophy, no one need ever fear a slave 
or wife who has transgressed the bounds of orthoskepsi. The life of 
a citizen is freer and safer than ever before. 


Not a word comes out of Milephanes's mouth that does not deceive, 
corrupt, and lead astray. |, and my fellow Chancellors at our other 
campuses, are committed to seeing an end to these dangerous 
views. We will not tolerate any more mention or acceptance of them 
on pain of expulsion or revocation of degree. These are harsh 
measures, | know, but experience has taught the Administration that 
it is better to extirpate this kind of heresy immediately than to allow it 
to survive long enough to collapse under the weight of its own 
falseness. 


| bear the name of my father and his father before him, back to the 
earliest days of the Classical era. Love of the truth runs in my veins 
like ichor. And it is with the full weight of my legacy when | ask you, 
as an equal: Do not give credence to this madness. Let it begin and 
end in Milephanes, and let freedom and harmony return 
untarnished. Alexylva University is and remains a beacon of 
knowledge and wisdom. Never forget that. 


May the Gods smile upon us all. Now, back to class! 


Cover Letter for After-Action Report: Operation Free 
Market 


To: 
From: 
Subject: 


Likely you have already heard 
some of the immediate details of 
this operation's aftermath, 
through unofficial channels, 
before receiving this account. 
While you will find collected in the 
Official file all the pertinent reports 
from my Force's operatives in the 
field, | feel obliged to append my 
own review and rationalization for 
the actions that were taken and 
their results. 


The first point to address is that, 
in spite of our own focus on 
tactical espionage, our plans were 
hampered by a spy within the 
Foundation. Please note that this 
double-agent was not a member 
of MTF Mu-3, but nosed their way 
into our mission regardless. The 
complications which arose are, 
almost entirely, to blame on this 
unexpected element. 


| say almost entirely because | am 
not above shouldering my share 
of the responsibility. Our ambition 


The Office of The Foundation's 
Director of Mobile Task Forces 
Major Roger Dunn <MTFC, 
Mu-3> 

Re: Operation Free Market 


SCP-780: Seed Bead 


Item #: SCP-780 
Object Class: Safe 


Special Containment Procedures: SCP-780 must be kept ina 
locked steel box 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm, with walls at least 1 cm 
thick. This box is to be kept on a 5 meter pedestal, at the center of a 
20 meter x 20 meter concrete room. Individuals wishing to approach 
SCP-780 must submit to a full-body search, and may not bring 
plants (living or artificial), images of plants, descriptions of plants, or 
digital displays of any kind within 10 meters of SCP-780 except as 
part of a preapproved test protocol. Individuals with plant tattoos are 
likewise forbidden from approaching SCP-780 except during testing. 


Description: SCP-780 is a small bead, 1 cm in diameter, shaped 
like a rounded gem with numerous facets and a hole at its center. It 
appears to be made of a clear amorphous substance; studies 
suggest it has a structure similar to that of polyvinyl chloride, but this 
does not account for its reaction to plants. While SCP-780 does not 
melt at temperatures exceeding 3500 K, cooling it to below 24 K 
temporarily changes its structure into a crystalline form, allowing it to 
be damaged by blunt impacts. 


When a plant or representation of a plant (including artificial plants, 
photographs of plants, drawings and paintings of plants, particularly 
vivid textual descriptions of plants, or any of the above appearing on 
a screen of any sort) is placed within 10 meters of SCP-780, it 
begins to levitate and will fly towards the plant. How SCP-780 
detects plants is unknown at this time. If restrained, SCP-780 will 
become increasingly agitated until the plant is removed from its 
radius. 


If allowed to come into contact with the plant (hereafter the "host 
plant"), SCP-780 will stick to it for a period of five (5) seconds, at 
which time it will fall to the floor. Once it lays flat against the ground, 


was to strike an unexpected and 
severe blow to Marshall, Carter 
and Dark, LLP (which, remember, 
we did do in the form of removing 
a valuable Item from circulation, 
and a Broker from their roster). 
Our decision to recruit a U-MTF 
Handler from outside our own 
Task Force, for access to their 
long-standing deep-cover 
contacts, is what created the 
information gap that gave the 
former Agent Roman the 
opportunity to insert themselves 
into the operation. 


Let me state now, for the record, 
that this is not an admonition of 
Handler Aaron Moore. | fully 
understand his concerns for the 
safety of his contacts, and 
maintaining their cover. But the 
inherent value of the information, 
and strict adherence to InfoSec 
practices in response, limited 
Mu-3's overall ability to 
communicate and effect a truly 
cohesive plan of action. 


In light of this mitigating factor, 
Captain Al Yorston's ability to 
improvise and implement a plan 
to recover the items deserves 
particular regard. Our Task Force 
makes use of advanced 
equipment and techniques, but 
instilled in each operative is also 
a healthy respect for the classic 
tenets of this work. Cpt. Yorston 
demonstrated a textbook 


application of the principle 'Adapt 
and Overcome’, at more than one 
point in this operation. For 
exceeding expectations in the 
face of a constantly deteriorating 
situation, | commend Cpt. Yorston 
and his squad. 


| acknowledge that the events 
which unfolded on the river were 
highly publicized, despite our best 
efforts to keep the entire 
operation covert. But the Public 
Relations Dept has released a 
suitable cover story to the general 
population. And MC&D Ltd's 
knowledge of our involvement, 
after things played out the way 
they did, was an unavoidable 
conclusion. 


In summary, | urge you to refrain 
from making any hasty decisions 
based on the less successful 
aspects of this mission. Rather, 
my hope is you'll measure Mu-3's 
performance against the full facts 
of the situation. In which regard, | 
believe, our operatives displayed 
quick thinking and capable 
response to a highly complex and 
constantly evolving situation. To 
respond to deteriorating 
circumstances, not with panic or a 
loss of resolve, but improvisation 
and determined spirit, are 
characteristics of a good team. 
And, in my eyes, this team put 
those traits on display beyond any 
doubt. With the experience of this 


operation, | anticipate even 
greater results from MTF Mu-3 
moving forward. 


Maj. Roger Dunn <MTFC, Mu-3 
"Highest Bidders"> 


After Amusement 


A small loudspeaker, suspended only by a fragile cord, hung high 
above the blasted ruins of the amusement park it once served. A 
long time ago, it had been part of an intricate system designed to 
play a hypnotic tune. Upon hearing its music, everyone in earshot it 
would be driven to madness and eventually find themselves dead. 
The reasons behind it all were a mystery, but the tune still played, 
until the day came when the park was shut down for good. Still the 
music played on, as rides rusted and trees overtook concrete. Still it 
played, luring unsuspecting and careless men and women to their 
deaths. Even when the men and women left to focus their efforts on 
something far more important, the tiny, jingling tune played, 
searching for victims. 


Then the Blast came. And there weren't any victims anymore. 


From a hundred feet in the air, it hardly looked any different. True, 
all the plant life had been incinerated from miles around, and 
everything had an ashen grey tint to it, but this was an old park, built 
to last. Most of the structures had barely shuddered when the 
shockwave rushed over them, and even the roller-coaster was still 
standing. It didn't even have half its support beams anymore! The 
Blast hadn't changed anything major. It had just made it a touch 
harder to find victims. 


And there still were victims down there. Three men, coated in rags 
and ash, had wandered into the park last night, no doubt seeking 
shelter. What kind of shelter they expected to find in a long- 
abandoned, half-destroyed amusement park really couldn't be said. 
But people probably didn't act rationally after the apocalypse. They 
certainly didn't act rationally when they heard the music. And the 
music would play. 


The speaker let out a few small, tinny bursts of static. It was always 
the first to activate, a good tenth of a second before any of the other 
speakers in the park got the signal to start playing. Now, with the 


cables frayed and corroded, it took the others a whole minute and a 
half to start playing after this one did. But it didn't matter; people only 
needed to hear a handful of the notes for the madness to kick in, 
and these men were sitting right below the speaker. Only this one 
speaker would need to activate in order to fulfill the purpose of an 
entire park. 


Slowly, the notes began to play, sounding out a calliope tune in very 
slow motion. Admittedly, the sound quality was awful, and the timing 
between notes was all off, but it was OK. The speaker just needed a 
bit of time to warm up. It had been a while since the park had any 
visitors, and all the components were just a little out of tune. One of 
the men looked up, and another twitched slightly, looking at his 
companions in an odd way. 


The cable holding the speaker snapped after ten years of tension, 
and it tumbled down behind the huddled group with a hollow clang. 


One of them commented on the danger of the park. Another 
commented on the danger everywhere after the Blast. They all 
huddled a little closer together, and never heard any music. 


After Destruction 


Document 144b-O5-EO was discovered in, OTT 5 
following an experiment with SCP- _ to investigate nearby 
Refer to Document 144a-O5-E0O for full recovery report. 


Hello world. Goodbye world. 


I'm writing this now, before it's too late. Turns out a good, thick layer 
of SCP- (anda few other precautions) can slow down... Whatever 
they're doing to us. It's already hard to remember, though, but 
putting this on paper helps a bit. Keeps me from losing my train of 
thought again. It's a little like being detailed on SCP-... Well, | don't 
remember which one it was, but you know. That one you can't 
remember. | think. 


It started about two years ago, in the fall. We thought it was the 
GOC, maybe even those stupid Cl bastards making a move on us. 
The damn skips were going missing left and right all of a sudden, 
and it was scaring hell out of O5, because people barely 
remembered we'd had 'em a few weeks after they'd disappear. 
There was a bunch of new regs we had to follow, stuff to help catch 
benders and detect reality shifts | guess, but nothing came up. 


But then someone remembered 1050 and its damn predictions. 
About six months back, we'd damn near shit ourselves worrying 
about the arrival of "the Destroyers", but gradually stopped worrying 
about it after that mess over in Uganda, figured that was what the 
prediction was about. Heck, we even patted ourselves on the back 
about how we'd contained it with "acceptable losses" and kept it 
from getting near XK. 


Turns out we were wrong. Uganda had nothing to do with the event 
timer, as far as | can guess. We let our guard down... And then it all 
started. Or stopped. Or whatever. 


If you ask me what the Destroyers are, let me just tell you: | have no 
idea. Maybe | did a few months ago. Maybe | didn't. But all those 
nightmare stories on SCP-__... Those weren't about the Destroyers. 
Not really, anyway. It was just memories and fragments of whatever 
was before. Stories about black claws, dark souls from beyond the 
cosmos and fire and blood? We hear those every day over lunch in 
the cafeteria about what we did on our morning shifts. That doesn't 
scare anyone very much, not at the Foundation. 


No, whatever the Destroyers are, they're a lot worse than that, in the 
same way that having your soul stolen by Cthulhu is worse than 
dying. Death is a little scary, but compared to a timeless eternity in a 
mad hellscape, I'd pick death every time. 


I'm not sure what the right words are for what happened to us, but | 
remember once in my one semester of community college, some 
professor was talking about Jung's archetypes. He didn't say too 
much about them, but it got me interested enough to check a few 
books out of the library. | guess I've still got them somewhere, 
because | dropped out a week later and never bothered to return 
them. Anyway, | had plenty of time to read them on my way to 
Argentina in the Marine Corps, so | did. Turns out that we've all got 
these shapes in our head of the way things are, like creation myths, 
your mom and dad as these wise and magical figures, heroes and 
villains... And the Shadow. Those things always scared the hell out 
of me, in a way, because it sounded too much like the skips that | 
deal with; these weird things that sound like they were dredged out 
of the dark places in our minds, the "collective unconscious" as Jung 
called it. 


And the Shadow. Man, let me tell you, I'm not afraid to say that that 
one always kind of freaked me out. It's like Jung just waved his hand 
and said "Okay, and here's all the bad stuff. It's meaninglessness, 
emptiness and seeing it makes you want to be dead, because it's 
better than being alive in the shadows.". Damn if that doesn't sound 
like what I'm seeing out there. 


Let me also just say, | really believe in what we're doing in the 
Foundation. | like even more that, outside of preventing the 
Apocalypse, we sometimes manage to improve the world a little bit 
with some of the technology, medicine and ideas we derive from