“| am overseeing all research regarding the engine. All eight of us 
had previously decided that this would be the case. Are you 
questioning my authority?” 


“No. No, I’m not, but—Michelle, we are indebted to the O5 Council. 
They have elected us to be their most trusted soldiers.” 


Even in the darkness he could feel the intensity of Michelle’s stare. “I 
am doing nothing but honor the trust they have placed in us. | serve 
nothing but the better tomorrow that the O5 Council works towards. 
What do you serve?” 


Over the course of the conversation, Michelle had advanced close 
enough that he would have had to kill her if he had any doubt about 
her intentions. He felt her eyes take hold of him, dissect him and 
subject him to the relentless force of her will. He said nothing 
because he knew that if he surrendered, she would release him. 


Without saying anything, Michelle walked past Arjun and left the 
rooftop. 


Arjun stood, watching the sky until the sun rose and light washed 
over him. Now, he could see the painting. In the middle of the night 
sky above the San Francisco skyline, one star shone brighter than 
all the rest. Eight rays of light emanated from the star. Each ray 
curved and then split into more and more lines of light which spread 
across the sky. 


Chaos Insurgency Hub | next » 


Asymptomatic Carrier 


By Arjun’s estimations, the Coalition was surprisingly professional 
for an organization that was barely three years old. There was 
something in the methodical, cold way that they operated that 
reminded Arjun of the Foundation itself. But there was also a naiveté 
that Arjun had never seen in the Foundation. When they sent out 
retrieval teams, they had no insurance. There were no specifically 
expendable personnel to sacrifice in the case of disaster. 


Arjun removed the binoculars from his eyes, wiped sand out of the 
lens, and then stowed the instrument back into his pack. Beside him, 
Zhi Xin was talking to Owen. 


“So Owen, what do you think the GOC’s got its hands on this time?” 
Owen adjusted his shoelaces. 


“You know, they say—or at least their internal communications say 
—that they think this hole has information about the Ahnernerbe’s 
new toys. But who knows? They might find something more 
interesting.” 


Owen turned to his side and quietly issued a command through the 
radio. 


“If you find anything useful with those eagle eyes of yours, make 
sure to nab it, right? Make Michelle happy. Give her something to 
show off to the O5. | mean, they’re asking for more and God knows 
Michelle wants to give it.” 


“You think it’s strange that the O5 wants more from us,” Arjun said. 


Zhi Xin chuckled. “Not strange. Tedious. Look at these guys. 
Crawling around in the sand, trying to figure out what it is that 
they’ve dug up so that they can set the wheels of intergovernmental 
bureaucracy into motion. Is it a threat to consensus reality? Can we 


negotiate with it? If not, how easily can we blow it up? Wait, but first, 
can we use it and then blow it up later? And the 05 wants more in 
the event that we fight them.” 


Without turning to face either of them, Owen said, “They’re here.” 


Arjun stood up as a vehicle pulled beside them. Insurgency 
operatives began hauling heavy equipment out of the vehicle. 
Assembly of the instrument took the better part of an hour, while 
Arjun, Zhi Xin, and Owen looked on. Eventually, a large, crude metal 
gate stood before them. Arjun looked into the gate and saw the 
universe shatter into an infinitely replicating fractal pattern. He pitied 
the men who had built the machine. They could not appreciate its 
beauty. 


“Remember,” Arjun said, “reconnaissance. Find what they’re looking 
for. Evaluate its threat potential. Take it if necessary. Zhi Xin, if 
anybody dies or if anything gets destroyed, I'll hold you 
accountable.” 


“Your leadership inspires me not to disappoint you,” Zhi Xin said. 
Immediately afterwards, she walked into the gate and disappeared. 


Arjun and Owen made eye contact. “You haven't learned how to 
shut her up,” Owen said. 


“No. It’s regrettable.” 
Owen shrugged. “Time to go.” 


The two of them entered the gate together. When he exited, Arjun 
found himself stepping outside of a tent. Workers with the emblem of 
the United Nations on their vests moved about, covered in dirt, 
hauling pickaxes and barking orders. Nobody took any notice of 
Arjun. Part of their mind was too busy, and the other part that would 
have ordinarily noticed the three was too occupied appreciating the 
invisible memetic fireworks display taking place three yards to the 
left of the intruders to pay any attention to them. 


“Well, | should say sorry to Michelle. Maybe memetics isn’t bullshit 
after all,” Zhi Xin said. 


Without saying anything, Owen disappeared into the crowd of GOC 
workers. Arjun turned to Zhi Xin. “Come on, Xin,” he said. 


“Why such a hurry?” Xin asked. “We already know exactly where 
we’re supposed to go.” 


“What?” 
“Really, Arjun?” 


Arjun looked back at the chaotic throng of people swarming the dig 
site. Zhi Xin was right. He could see a pattern in their movement, in 
the way their voices melded together into one indiscernible mass, in 
the ways their eyes traveled and their feet shuffled. Their actions 
and their thoughts were all caught in the gravitational well of a 
certain object, and if Arjun only looked to find the center of their 
collective orbit, he could find what he was looking for. 


“| see it,” Arjun said. 
Zhi Xin snorted. “Then let’s go.” 


As the two moved towards the target illuminated by the HALMAS, 
Arjun felt his mind stir uneasily. There was very little chance that 
anything would go wrong; even if they were noticed, it was almost 
impossible that they would be caught or killed, and no possibility 
either way that the Foundation would have to bear any 
consequences. Arjun imagined what it was like for the people who 
lived in consensus reality and were exposed to the anomalous. The 
universe itself was revealed to be a lie, a comfortable veneer draped 
over the true world by an unseen hand, and in truth, reality was an 
alien, terrifying place. 


Arjun had known the unknowable for as long as he could remember, 
but now, walking through the Coalition dig site, he felt like the 
ignorant uninitiated about to be baptized in murky, dark water. 


The two of them stopped in front of a non-descript tent. For a 
moment, neither of them moved or said anything. 


“It's here,” Zhi Xin said. “Whatever it is. We came here to find out, 
didn’t we?” 


“Is something wrong?” 


Zhi Xin was staring at the tent. “I think so. But | don’t know what. It’s 
an unpleasant sensation.” 


“You're being nonsensical again.” 
“Am |? Whatever.” 


Zhi Xin passed Arjun and entered the tent. Arjun followed close 
behind. 


Inside, Arjun found himself completely incapable of noticing any 
details about the interior of the tent. His attention was captured 
entirely by a small book sitting on a table in the middle of the tent. 
Zhi Xin had already flipped to a page inside the book. 


“What are you doing?” 


“How long have you been on HALMAS, Arjun? Can’t you see? This 
is—this is—* 


Zhi Xin looked up from the book. Her face was set in the rocky tones 
of determination; her eyes radiated the fragile gleam of fear. “You 
need to stand at the door and make sure nobody comes in,” she 
said. “You’ve served the O5 Council faithfully all your life. You’ve 
done it because you know that there is some greater purpose 
behind everything. If you still think that, then do this.” 


“What’s going on?” 


“If you can’t see, that just—it just means that something is definitely 
wrong. Watch the door, or else | know that things are going to get 
worse.” 


“What?” 
“Give me thirty seconds, Arjun.” 


Zhi Xin took a syringe of HALMAS out of her pocket and stuck it into 
her arm. 


When Arjun turned around to stand at the door, he found himself 
staring Owen in the face. 


“Let me in,” he said. 
“No.” 


“Zhi Xin told you not to let me in.” 


al ” 


“You don’t know why.” 


Owen’s cold blue eyes did not move. They were as dry and endless 
as the desert itself. “She’s found something.” 


“Yes, and—” 


“You don’t know what it is. You don’t know what she’s doing. Let me 
in.” 


Arjun stayed in place. There were things that he knew. He knew that 
it was against protocol for Zhi Xin to be taking HALMAS while in 
direct exposure to a possible cognitohazard; he knew that it was a 
betrayal for Michelle to fail to inform the O5 Council about the 
developments surrounding the engine. He knew all these things but 
he did not know them, like he knew but did not know of that greater 
purpose floating somewhere out there. For all anyone knew, it was 
in outer space, or buried a thousand miles underground, or maybe it 
didn’t even exist. He had realized by now that he knew but did not 
know so many things, and the only thing that he really knew was 
that he had always trusted Chen Zhi Xin. 


“Move, Arjun.” 
She had asked for thirty seconds and now he had to give them. 


“| can’t. She told me not to let anyone in. | don’t know why, but you 
sure as hell don’t know why you need to get in there. | can see it in 
your face, Owen, don’t lie to me.” 


Owen reached into his pocket, pulled out a thin metal cylinder, and 


pressed a button at the top. When Arjun regained consciousness, 
Owen was behind him and inside the tent. A second later, he pulled 
out a lighter and tossed into onto the book. Zhi Xin swore and 
dropped it to the ground, where green flames consumed the book 
instantly. 


Zhi Xin put a hand on her pistol. “Owen, what the hell?” 


“It was cognitohazardous. If you suffered continued exposure while 
on HALMAS, your memory would store the cognitohazard and you 
would become unacceptably compromised. This is standard 
protocol.” 


For a few moments, Zhi Xin only breathed heavily. Then, she said, 
“You’re right. | fucked up. So did you; you just destroyed that thing 
when it was obviously important. So how about we make a deal? If 
anybody—Michelle in particular—hears about this, we’re both 
fucked. Right, Owen?” 


“Fine.” 
Nobody spoke as they left the tent. 


Hours later, when Arjun was in his quarters and staring at the 
ceiling, he was struck by a sudden hatred for the O5 Council. He 
remembered the metal cylinder and the green fire. Neither of those 
things should have existed. And if now they existed, then what 
cause was he fighting for? 


Nothing made sense anymore. 


« back | Chaos Insurgency Hub | next » 


building held by the Foundation were designated 
Containment Site-28. Task Force Pi-1 (“City 
Slickers”) was established to keep civilians out of 
Site-28 areas. [DATA EXPUNGED] was established as a 
front business on the ground floor of the building. 


Site-28 has expanded its scope since its founding, 
serving as a base of operations for the Foundation in the 
northeastern US, temporary and permanent housing for 
Foundation personnel, and a containment site for a few 
Safe SCPs. Pi-1 was upgraded to a Mobile Task Force, 
specializing in acquisition and containment of anomalous 
objects in heavily-populated environments. Members of 
Pi-1 also offer training in Urban Operations at Site-28. 
For more information on the Urban Operations 
curriculum, see Document P1-UrbOps. 


Addendum 2: Document 602-L01, Exploration Log 
Show First Exploration Attempt 


Note: Unless otherwise noted, in all 
procedures involving SCP-602, subject(s) are 
dressed as maintenance personnel, and all 
civilians who live on the same floor as 
SCP-602, as well as those directly above or 
below Apt. _, are outside the building. 
Surveillance of these civilians is provided by 
Pi-1. 


Exploration Log 1, / /198 
Materials: 
* Subject D-602-01, equipped with a TV camera and 
two-way radio. 
¢ A second camera on a tripod. 


Procedure: 


The Ant 


Three days later, Arjun found Zhi Xin on the rooftop of the San 
Francisco headquarters. There was a smile on her face as pale and 
insubstantial as the moon itself. Cigarette smoke formed a light 
cloud around her head. When she saw him, her smile grew wider. 
She said, “Hi, Arjun.” 


“What are you doing up here?” 


“I’ve been hard at work over the past three days, and I’ve decided 
that | want...a break. Yes. What have you been doing? With what 
endeavor have you been spending your life and time?” 


“Trying to make sense of whatever you were doing with the book.” 
“Were you? Wonderful. And what have you discovered?” 
“Nothing.” 


“Even better. You’re as ignorant as always. Come on, Arjun, sit 
down.” 


Arjun approached slowly. Zhi Xin was slumped against the fence 
that encircled the perimeter of the rooftop. Beyond her, the darkness 
past the edge of the building loomed. 


“| told nobody about what happened,” Arjun said. 
“Good for you,” Zhi Xin said. 


Zhi Xin took the cigarette out of her mouth and crushed it into the 
ground. “Why do you think the O5 created us?” 


“| could say that they wanted us to do their dirty work for them, but | 
don’t think that’s the answer you want.” 


When Arjun spoke to the O5, he did not use his sight to look too 


closely at what took place behind their closed doors. The reality of 
the situation was that they were reasonably competent bureaucrats 
in starched suits sipping water out of shiny glass cups during board 
meetings, but Arjun knew reality to be wildly inconsistent and often 
misleading. Reality was the cage. That which defied reason was 
hunched over in the damp cell behind reality. 


“What do you think the engine is?” 
Arjun shook his head. “I don’t know.” 


“The O5 knows what it is,” Zhi Xin said. She laughed. “What did we 
expect? That we could hide from their all-seeing eye? They know... 
they’ve known, for God knows how long, exactly what this thing is. 
But they’re not telling us.” 


“That—that can’t be true. They wouldn't withhold that sort of 
information.” 


“It’s containment, Arjun. They are pruning the tree.” 


Maybe the O5 Council and the Insurgency had made the mistakes 
that mattered far before they had ever seen the engine. 


Arjun wondered just how deeply the anomalous had been part of the 
Insurgency—not just a tool, but an organ, the beating heart. He 
wondered how long the O5 had known of their mistake, or how they 
would punish those responsible for the mistake. It was the 
intermittent vengeance of an inscrutable force from on high, a force 
that splintered and reconstructed itself at the same time. 


The sound of Michelle opening the rooftop door startled Arjun out of 
his thoughts. 


“Hey, Michelle,” Zhi Xin said. Arjun could only stare at her. His 
tongue was wrapped in too many questions to choose one. 


“Arjun, Zhi Xin,” she said. “What are you two doing up here?” 
Zhi Xin shrugged. “Shooting the shit.” 


“Why don’t you two follow me? | have something I'd like to show 


both of you.” 
“By all means,” Zhi Xin said. “Come on, Arjun.” 


Arjun followed in complete silence. The hand of dread was gripping 
tight around his throat, preventing him from speaking. He was only 
now realizing that for some time he had been dependent on the 
security that the Foundation provided. The base was cracking now, 
and with each step Arjun felt the earth shake as the Foundation 
rattled itself apart. 


Michelle led them down to the basement of headquarters, where 
they stopped at the room in Zhi Xin’s picture. The engine still sat 
quietly in the middle of the laboratory. 


“Don't be afraid, Arjun,” Michelle said. 
Zhi Xin snorted. “Yeah, Arjun, don’t be scared. It’s too late for that.”