"As much as I'd love to discuss my husband and daughter with you, 
there are some more pressing topics of conversation at hand,” Merlo 
replied sharply. 


"Fair enough," Anderson shrugged again. "What do we have to 
discuss?" 


"The whereabouts of Dr. Contos and Mr. Dillard," Merlo answered. 
"We have Dr. Wilson and the Phineas Al construct in our custody. 
Both have been highly cooperative up to this point and confirmed 
that you had a fail-safe evacuation plan for each of them in the event 
of a major raid. In exchange for their final destination, we are 
prepared to offer you some of the components you need for your 
more... flashy repairs." 


"I'm surprised Phineas didn't demand you delete him." Anderson 
chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Yes, | know where they 
are. But | think you'll find perusing them to be a moot point in the 
upcoming days." 


"And why is that?" 
Anderson smiled and tapped on his head. 


"How much do you know about the technology | used to control that 
Saker unit?" 


"Not much," Merlo said with a frown. "Just that you were able to 
transmit your intelligence from your actual body to a robotic one 
using a derivative of the Maxwellist hivemind." 


"That’s a good summary," Anderson said with a nod. "But it’s a little 
more complicated than that. Let me explain. The Maxwellists use 
this tech to transmit their consciousnesses into a large collective in 
which the real time free exchange of data and thought can occur 
between all church members. | tweaked this to allow for me to 
transmit one consciousness to one destination for an extended 
period of time. Turns out if you tweak it some more, you can simplify 
the process down to allow for the transmission of individual thoughts 
and ideas into the minds of others, provided they have an 
appropriate receiver." 


Merlo became pale. She looked towards the one-way mirror, 
paused, then returned her attention back to Anderson. 


"What did you do..." she said, her eyes narrowing in accusation. 


"The second you were promoted, and had access to increased 
resources and firepower, | figured the days of Anderson Robotics 
were numbered," Anderson replied with a sad smile. "So, | had the 
company crank out a few extra thousand Amur drones, and fitted 
them with a means of implanting a specialized receiver chip. From 
there, | implanted the chips into the minds of computer scientists, 
engineers, medical researchers, etc. etc., the world over. Since 
2022 I've been beaming the 'how-to' on all my company's 
technology and research into their subconscious, one thought at a 
time. The second your raid began on the 24th, | sent out a master 
signal to bring those ideas to the surface. The fastest of those 
researchers should be confirming their results today." 


Merlo remained speechless. She watched as Anderson snapped his 
fingers, and caused a black king chess piece to materialize on the 
table beside him. The walls of the cell glowed with bright blue runes 
for several seconds, causing Anderson to briefly writhe in pain. He 
shuddered and laughed as the effect stopped. 


"Man," he said. "Those anti-magic effects are no joke. That really 
hurt. But, uh, yeah. Checkmate Sasha. | believe your friends call this 
kind of thing a 'shift of consensus normalcy’ or something like that. 
No need to pursue Medea or Isaac if they aren't doing anything 
anomalous." 


Anderson tipped the king over. 
Merlo stood, her face blank, and made her way toward the cell door. 


"Remember what | said the first time we spoke over the phone, 
Sasha, way back in 2014?" Anderson called out. "Given enough 
time even anomalous technology becomes mainstream. Well, this is 
what | meant." 


Merlo didn't respond. She simply looked back at her adversary and 
gave a small nod before returning to the adjoining observation room. 


"Could one of you show me the way to the administrative offices?" 
Merlo asked no one in particular. "| believe | have a few phone calls 
to make to the O5 council." 


May 30th, 2024 
Site-64 
Administrative Offices 


Assistant Director Sasha Merlo sat quietly in her office. The lights 
were out, the only illumination coming from the computer monitor. 
The sound of keystrokes the only noise in her self-imposed silence. 
Eventually, a knock came from the door. 


"It’s open," Merlo said quietly. She blinked as the door opened, filling 
the room with the light from her reception area. Gabe Merlo entered, 
a large cup of coffee in his hand. 


"| got your text," he said, walking over and placing it down on her 
desk. "Figured that if you're going to be here overnight, again, you 
could use something better than the swill they call coffee in the 
cafeteria." 


Merlo gave her husband a tired smile and nodded in thanks. 
"Who's watching Jessie?" she asked, taking a sip from the cup. 


"Clarissa offered. Said something about ice cream and a movie," 
Gabe replied. "How are you holding up." 


"Well, Holman and | haven't been terminated, yet," she weakly 
chuckled, "but there are no less than 20 hearings coming up that 
we'll need to attend. It’s going to be years before this all blows over. 
The O5s aren't exactly thrilled when they have to readjust 
consensus normalcy to account for the actions of a few gung-ho site 
directors." 


"That's fine and all, but it doesn't really answer the question. How 
are you holding up?" 


Merlo sighed and placed her head in her hands, rubbing her eyes 
with her palms to try and remove some of the sleep deprivation. 


"I'm tired, Gabe," she finally answered. "I'm really fucking tired. You 
remember the myth of Sisyphus?" 


"Yes?" Gabe raised an eyebrow. "Greek guy. Pissed off Hades and 
got sent to Tartarus to push a boulder uphill for eternity. Every time 
he got to the top, the boulder would roll downhill again. Moral of the 
story, don't piss off Hades. What’s your point?" 


"Anderson was my boulder," Merlo elaborated. "Every time we got 
close to taking him and his operation down, something would 
happen. Without fail. Something would happen. Lives were lost, 
resources were wasted, and careers were ruined. Now the boulder 
is gone, but I'm still supposed to push it up the hill. He won, Gabe. 
He finally won." 


"I'd call it more of a stalemate," Gabe shrugged. "| mean, you guys 
did tear down his life's work brick-by-brick, and you do have him in 
custody. It’s going to be hard for him to enjoy his final 'fuck you’ from 
the inside of a cell. Besides, if Anderson figured out how to do what 
he did, eventually others would have as well. Anomalous technology 
doesn't stay anomalous forever. Someone would have followed in 
his footsteps eventually, and then another, and another." 


"Sweetie, I'm exhausted, please get on with it." 


"My point is, you were faced with an uphill battle from the start," 
Gabe continued. "You, Clarissa, Carter, and the whole of 
Gamma-13 manned the post valiantly, but it was never meant to be 


a permanent thing, | think. The tech eventually gains critical mass, 
and normalcy shifts to accommodate. The Foundation has seen it a 
thousand times before. And we'll see it a thousand times more." 


"Is that supposed to make me feel better that | failed?" Merlo sighed. 
"Christ, Gabe, you're really not a good motivational speaker." 


"It’s not supposed to take the sting off the fact you got the wool 
pulled over your eyes." Gabe placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. 
"But it should at least make you a little proud how well you did when 
the Foundation needed you to man the post. Know what I'm 
saying?" 


Merlo closed her eyes and nodded. Gabe wrapped her in a hug. 
"Even if you aren't proud of your accomplishments, | am." 

Merlo smirked and shook her head. 

"You are so fucking biased," she said. "Thanks, though." 
"Anytime." 


Gabe gave her a peck on the cheek then began to make his way 
towards the door. 


"I'm going to grab takeout," he said upon the threshold. "Any 
requests?" 


"Pad Thai?" Merlo asked. "If you don't mind." 
"Not at all." 


Gabe gave a small wave, and vanished into the reception area, 
leaving Merlo once again alone in the dark. She sighed as she 
looked over the various tabs open on her computer. There was still 
so much work to do. She then proceeded to close them, and got out 
of her chair. If she hurried, she could still catch Gabe before he got 
to the surface. The paperwork would still be there when she got 
back. 


« Decisions We Make | Anderson Robotics Hub | No Matter 
What Mask You Wear » 


SCP-744-1 is a voice, calling itself . SCP-744-1 claims to be 
a production manager for SCP-744, and that it is in an undisclosed 
location within SCP-744. SCP-744-1 will attempt to communicate 
with any person who enters SCP-744 through the use of speakers 
which are located throughout SCP-744. These communications 
usually consist of SCP-744-1 attempting to convince the person that 
SCP-744 is a highly advanced manufacturing facility in need of 
minor repairs, and to convince the person that they should assist it 
in restoring SCP-744 so it can resume working towards its 
"purpose". Attempts to receive further explanation of this "purpose" 
from SCP-744-1 have failed; the entity is either unable or unwilling 
to provide further details on this subject. 


SCP-744 was discovered on / /1954, when reports of a "Haunted 
Factory" reached agents embedded in the local military base. 
Agents dispatched to investigate SCP-744 were able to establish 
communications with SCP-744-1 and confirm its anomalous nature. 
Containment procedures were enacted on / /1955, with the 
construction of Containment Facility 744-A. Persons known to have 
reported the "Haunted factory" story were issued Class-C 
amnestics. Containment was successfully completed by agents of 
MTF-w-7 "Home Improvement". As of / /1961, SCP-744 has been 
classified as Euclid. 


Log of items produced by 
SCP-7/44. 

Manufacturing Port o Manufacturing 3 cm galvanized 
nails at a rate of 100 every hour. 
Nails are of low quality, and most 
appear to be heavily degraded 
with rust and age. 

Manufacturing Port G Manufactures large steel beach 
umbrellas. Umbrellas are made of 
a variety of low-quality metals, 
and are usually heavily degraded. 
Produced at a rate of 1 every 11 
hours. 

Manufacturing Port n Manufactures 0.3 x 0.5 x 0.3 
meter blocks of steel. Steel is 
usually of high quality, and 


Time Contest! 


The "SCPs In Time" Contest 


In First Place is... And the 
Winner Is..., by Smapti! 


In Second Place is... Skipping 
Time, by Roget! 


In Third Place is... Automata Et 
Cetera, by Ihpkmn! 


Congratulations to all our entrants and thank you for 
participating! 


What's all this, then? 


It's a contest. Specifically, it's a contest to explore the ultimate 
decider, the one foe against which all things will fall. Barbra 
Streisand Time. 


Everything is affected by the passage of time, however much or 
little. Everything changes or is changed. So your task, should you 
choose to accept it, is to write about how one (or more!) SCP Item 
interacts with time or changes over time or how it existed in a 
different time period or, well, you get the idea. And although this 
doesn't exclude SCPs that explicitly deal with time, wouldn't it be 
more interesting to work with one that doesn't obviously do so? 


Can you give me some examples of what might be 
acceptable? 


Sure: 


¢« What was SCP-049 like back during the time of the Black 

Plague? 

Metal eventually corrodes. How does SCP-359 react over the 

course of years or decades to this slow degradation? 

What might happen if SCP-682 got caught in a time loop? 

¢ SCP-1048 uses some unusual ingredients when he makes 

new friends. Can he make a new friend out of Time itself? 

The article for SCP-1124 was written by a future version of the 

Foundation. How would the current-era Foundation react to it? 

* SCP-1323 is only accessible at certain times of the year. How 
do the inhabitants react to this time-based restriction? 

¢ What happens if two SCPs that deal with time are 
accidentally exposed to each other? 


If you want to use on of these as a jumping-off point, feel free. But 
these are just examples; you don't have to stick with them. 


Why're you doing this, Drewbear? 


| always like seeing what people come up with when challenged, 
and as a new Admin | felt like flexing my muscles a bit. 


So what're the rules? 


All entries must reference or utilize an already existing SCP. 
One entry per author. Collaborations are okay, but that counts 
as each author's entry; no writing both a collab and an 
independent entry. No more than 2 authors per collab. 

¢ Entries must be new. That is, you can't submit a Tale that 
already existed before this contest started. 

All entries must be tagged with "tc2013" ("Time Contest 
2013") to be considered. 

* No significant edits to entries once they're posted. 1 

¢ No entries will be deleted while the contest is running, even if 
they drop below the normal deletion threshold. 


All entries must be posted by 2359 EST (UTC -05:00), August 

31, 2013. 

Voting will remain open until 2359 EST (UTC -05:00), 

September 7, 2013. 

« Entries must be rated +20 when the voting period ends in 
order to be considered. If there aren't any that clear that 
threshold, there won't be a winner. 

¢ The Tale with the highest vote-count wins. In the event of a 

tie, | could do something silly to break the tie, but probably 

won't. Probably. 


Enough about the rules. What do | get if | win? 


The winner will get to pick one of their own articles to be featured on 
the Front Page. If a collab wins, each author will get to choose 
one of their articles to be featured, with scheduling at Admin 
discretion.2 


| have other questions. Why didn't you look into the 
future to know what they were going to be and answer 
them already? 


Because despite what you have may heard, | don't actually have 
any control over my precognitive abilities. At least, that's what | tell 
my Foundation handlers. 


Seriously, though: ask any other questions in the comments and, if 
they're significant enough, | might post & answer 'em here on the 


page. 


Are contestants allowed to vote on other entries? 
Tentatively, yes. That said, | will be keeping an eye out and 
if it looks like anyone is maliciously downvoting other entries 
so as to improve their own chances, we will Have Words, 
and | might disregard their votes for the purposes of judging. 
On a related note, | won't vote or comment on any entries or 
give feedback for drafts for entries until after the contest is 
over, so | don't unduly affect things. 

Does cleaning up purple prose count as "changing content" for 

purposes of whether you're allowed to make the edit? 


Yes, cleaning up purple prose does count as changing 
content. 

Can! remove my entry to rewrite it, then resubmit it? 
Nope. Sorry, but you thought it was good enough to submit, 
so you're going to have to deal with it as-is. Besides, that's 
rather blatantly an attempt to change content, which is 
already against the rules. You're always free to rewrite and 
repost AFTER the contest, though. 

If | want to write a Tale about an SCP Item in a different time 

period, how far back/forward should I go, minimum? 
The farther you go, the better, but | personally would 
consider there to be a minimum of 50 years. Basically, far 
enough out of the "modern" era that tech and society/culture 
would be significantly different. If you could replace all dates 
in your Tale with "2013" and it wouldn't make a difference, 
you need to rethink. 


List of Entries 


- Automata Et Cetera by Ihp 

- Out of Time by Garrey 

- And the Winner Is... by Smapti 

- Skipping Time by Roget 

- Surveyor by Aelanna 

- I'll See You Next Time by Anborough 
- Worn by Captain Cain 

- Bronze by DrBerggren 

- The Deep End by FortuneFavorsBold 
- The Killer by Chaoseed