Path of the Dead

**Path of the Dead** is the first episode of The SCPs of Sodor and the seventy-first episode overall.

Path of the Dead/Transcript

## Plot

In 1957, two men are hiking on a trail along the Culdee Fell Mountain when they hear an unusual sound. They go over to the source of the noise, which is just wind blowing through a couple of rocks. They then notice a cave in the distance, which they go over to get a closer look. Above the entrance to the cave is a message written in an unknown language. The bearded man decides to go inside, and when he does so, there is a sudden scream and something seems to fly out quickly. The other man runs away in fear.

Sometime later, a base has been set up near the location and a woman has arrived from a helicopter after having returned from an assignment in Turkey. A man named Dr. Pierce introduces himself to her, and she introduces herself, Dr. Gwen Hatley. They go over to the entrance of the cave, and make introductions to Agent Potter, their chief of security, who warns Dr. Hatley to stay back. Dr. Hatley and Dr. Angus Murphy then introduce themselves. Dr. Hatley then says that the text on the entrance of the cave is in Ancient Sudrian, one of the most mysterious Britannic languages, and she gets to work deciphering the text.

When Dr. Murphy checks in on her, she tells him that she was able to translate the entire text, except for the last word. He advises her to take a break, and she remarks how she had wanted to visit Sodor because of its history and mythology. Presently, the D-Class has arrived. The foundation has set up the radar as well as squads and aircraft in case they need to chase anything beyond Sodor. Dr. Pierce then orders D-7426 to bring a radio inside the cave and report what he sees. D-7426 is hesitant, but decides to go in. Suddenly, they hear a scream and something flies out. The radar had been working, but nothing showed up. At Elsbridge, Toby has arrived with a stone train and, to his shock, he sees Jeffries, the old stationmaster. When Toby tells him he had died, Jeffries has a mental breakdown and collapses.

At Fort Sudrian, the SCP Foundation had found out about Stationmaster Jeffries from Toby and his crew before wiping their memories. Dr. Hatley then finds out the text on the entrance of the cave: “If life enters before its time, the dead will return.” She then explains that the Path of the Dead was erected by ancient shamans who wanted to explore the afterlife, which offended the spirits, so it was cursed so that if an alive person were to enter, they would be killed and be replaced by the dead. She also says that the legend of King Godred was the only context where Culdee was said to have thrown people in for his own amusement. Potter and Dr. Hatley are worried about further testing, and Dr. Pierce tells them they’re free to not observe the tests.

Later, at the cave, Dr. Hatley explains that she was an archaeologist who dug up slaves, who were just left where they died and she thinks of the D-Class as slaves, but doesn’t see them being criminals as a problem. She then walks up to a D-Class person, D-5702, and asks him how he ended up working with them. He says he was in prison and wanted to get out to be killed because he got drunk one night and burned down his house with his wife and kids inside, having wished to die ever since. Dr. Pierce tells him to proceed, and before going inside, he gives out his name, Bobby Cooper. He goes in, and the radar, despite being adjusted, couldn’t track what came out.

They continued their testing, and despite the tweaks they kept making to the radar, they still couldn’t track what came out. The next year, they were back at Fort Sudrian when Dr. Hatley noticed a green diesel numbered D-5702. She told Agent Potter and Dr. Pierce about the diesel and one morning, they go to ask D-5702, whose name is BoCo, short for Bobby Cooper. They then start asking him questions, and BoCo gets confused as the questions get stranger before he suddenly realises he needs to take the express. Dr. Pierce assumes that everything BoCo said was the truth, and Dr. Hatley confirms that there is no more information on the Path of the Dead. Dr. Pierce thanks her for her work, and he says the foundation was about to suspend further testing on the cave, and with the newfound conclusion, they were able to continue.

Back in 2015, Edward says that because they were never able to track the entities, the foundation left the mountain and had the Sodor Council ban hiking on Culdee Fell. Edward believes the Council was pressured, not from the foundation, but from the Culdee Fell’s anonymous investors, as they could discourage hiking by having people pay to get to the summit rather than climbing for free. However, some still climbed the mountain, either paying a hefty fine or disappearing. Edward did tell and ask BoCo about the SCP Wikia, and the Class 28 wasn’t happy about being a reincarnation of a dead prisoner. Edward himself thinks the cave could exist, but hopes the next person who finds it won’t let curiosity kill them.

Meanwhile, a man has parked his car at the base of Culdee Fell and after some walking, finds the cave and goes inside. Meanwhile, Douglas is taking a passenger train. Halfway up Gordon’s Hill, he stops, and to his horror, a spiteful brake van is standing on the line in front of him.

## Characters

* Edward
* Toby
* Diesel
* Barry
* Iris
* Salty
* BoCo
* Stationmaster Jeffries
* Gwen Hatley
* Gavin Potter
* Angus Murphy
* Rodney Pierce
* D-7426
* Douglas *(cameo)*
* Dominick *(cameo)*
* Mickey *(mentioned)*
* Brian *(mentioned)*
* Mr. Star *(mentioned)*

## Trivia

* If taken as canon, this episode confirms the Revenant Theory, as BoCo is the reincarnation of a D-class named Bob Cooper who was sent into the cave. BoCo's number, D5702, is even shared with Bob Cooper's D-class number.