Oh boy, here we go again. SCP-001. Over 30 different bizarre anomalies claim
this number one spot in the database - and in a sense, they’re all right. Or are they? If you’re feeling confused already, that’s
fine, we don’t expect that to change. Because today, we’re dealing with one of
the most strange and intricate 001 entries out there: Keter Duty. Just pray you never get assigned to it. You see, when you work around weirdness, you
sometimes get a little weird yourself. And nobody deals with more weirdness than
employees of the SCP Foundation. They regularly rub elbows with everything
from godlike cicadas to hyper-infectious supernatural viruses. And as the famous Tom Jones song goes, “it’s
not unusual to suddenly take on anomalous traits after consistently working with anomalies
for years.” That’s how the lyrics go, right? Anyway, one of the Foundation’s most iconic
researchers, Dr. Jack Bright, is technically just an anomalous necklace himself. But outside of some famous exceptions, the
SCP Foundation is in the business of containing anomalous entities, not hiring them on and
giving them a paycheck and retirement plan. That’s why, if you suddenly start displaying
anomalous traits while on the Foundation payroll, you might receive a company memo assigning
you to the dreaded “Keter Duty.” But what is Keter Duty, and what kind of anomalous
traits can get you assigned to it? Let’s start with the second question first. The Official Keter Duty guidelines list a
surprisingly vast number of afflictions. These include chronic anomalous illnesses,
such as Lycanthropy - turning into a werewolf - something called Stevenson Syndrome, and
the incredibly unpleasant-sounding Photonic Gastric Discharge Syndrome. You could also be placed on Keter Duty because
you’re suffering from the manifestation of spectral phenomena, including being haunted
by spirits, whether they’re there to torment you or protect you. The sudden expression of anomalous traits
in your DNA, which is unsettlingly vague will also land you on Keter Duty, as will the awakening
of powerful magical or psionic abilities, especially ones which could be used in a potentially
offensive manner. The “Keter Duty” assignment - which involves
being relocated and forced to work in a different, highly secretive location that will be discussed
soon - is framed as a punishment for the people involved. That way, it discourages Foundation employees
from ever trying to develop anomalous powers on purpose. So what exactly is Keter Duty, and where does
it happen? To reinforce that “punishment” element
mentioned, the Foundation has spread lies among their own personnel about where the
job takes place, often involving being posted in some of the least desirable Foundation
areas imaginable. These include Point Nemo - the area of the
ocean farthest from any piece of land on earth - Pyongyang in North Korea, Stonehenge, Roswell,
Lunar Area-32, and a number of Foundation waste disposal sites. However, the reality of where those on Keter
Duty end up is even stranger: Site-100, which in this particular instance, is the true SCP-001. This Thaumiel-class anomaly is perhaps the
most unique of all multi-anomaly Foundation containment sites, a bizarre labyrinth of
non-euclidean geometry that defies true explanation. But we’ll do the best we can. In a sense, Site-100 is a facility with a
mind of its own. It’s a sprawling underground base with a
layout that defies spacetime, and what’s more, it undergoes so-called “Migration
Events.” Every so often, it will begin to exhibit a
sense of dimensional instability, before teleporting to a different location somewhere on earth. Currently, the primary entrance to Site-100
- known as Alpha Entrance - is located in the Southwest United States, though all signs
point to another migration event happening this very year. But knowing where the entrance is will only
get you so far. People assigned to Keter Duty are sent from
the Alpha Entrance to the Administration Sector to be given their initial breaching, at which
point, the true madness begins. Let’s take a look at a map of Site-100. Yikes. So there are ten major sectors in Site-100
that you should be aware of: Entrance Alpha, Administration, Archives, Technological Containment,
Bio-Containment, Sapient Containment, Cognitohazardous/Memetic/and Semantic - or CMS Containment, Esoteric Containment,
Conceptual Containment, and the Core Sector. As you can tell, they have almost everything
covered here. But just as insane as the anomalies that Site-100
contains and the methods they use to contain them, is how you actually get around the site. Site-100 is a spatial anomaly of truly epic
proportions. While the Foundation is aware of the existence
of its component sectors, it’s impossible to map out any meaningful connections between
them. It would be pretty much impossible to even
travel from one to another without passageways known as The Roots. However, these aren’t just mere portals
that you can hop through like the Ways in and out of the Wanderer’s Library. Each Root between the sectors is its own complex
environment, with its own sets of protocols and rituals required to safely travel through
it. Root Aleph, the bridge between the Archives
and the inaccessible core of Site-100, is a Volcanic Beach blocked off by an apparently
limitless obsidian wall, where fish made from living rock swim in the nearby waters. Root Beth, connecting the core and Sapient
Containment, is a huge and sprawling funhouse hall of mirrors. Anyone who attempts to travel through it inevitably
ends up turned around and arrives back at their starting point in Sapient Containment. Root Daleth, the bridge that connects Conceptual
Containment and the Core, is a massive ocean that has resisted all attempts by the Foundation
to traverse it. Root Vav, the bridge between Esoteric Containment
and Conceptual Containment, is a massive field filled with unidentified fruit trees. Foundation expeditions have found that it
too seems impossible to traverse. One expedition team was trapped inside for
a whole year, until one member of the team expressed a desire to go home. At that point, they were immediately teleported
back to the starting point. Root Tzaddi
connecting Administration to the CMS Sector, is a huge, lush forest on top of a floating
mountain. The only animals that seem to populate this
forest are non-anomalous flamingos. Next, we have Root Peh, the bridge between
the Archive and Administration, which appears to be a hallway on the fifth floor of a tenement
building in a city that the Foundation haven’t been able to locate. This building is populated by non-hostile
humanoid creatures, who will approach Foundation staff traversing Root Peh and invite them
into their apartments, offering to partake in recreational activities with them such
as video games, board games, or watching movies. The Foundation discourages its staff from
accepting any of these offers while on the job. And then there’s Root Shin, which connects
the Sapient and Conceptual containment sectors. This Root is unique in the sense that it acts
as a power generator for the rest of Site-100, as it’s filled with hundreds of large perpetual
motion machines producing a constant 8.7 gigawatts of electricity. These are only some of the many Roots illustrated
on the Site-100 diagram. As you’ve probably gathered by now, it’s
less like a conventional building and more like a whole crazy dimension unto itself. Why does the Foundation work to maintain such
a crazy place? Wouldn’t it just be easier to keep it a
secret, and contain it like any other anomaly? Well Site-100 wouldn’t be given the SCP-001
designation if it wasn’t incredibly important. If Site-100 was ever compromised, it would
lead to an inevitable K-Class End of the World Scenario, because the site is intrinsically
tied to the nature and containment of literally every single Keter-Class SCP in our universe
- hence the nickname “Keter Duty” for those working at the site. In fact, an anomaly can’t even be classed
as a Keter if it isn’t given “permission” by Site-100. The various sectors of Site-100 cover the
entire spectrum of anomalies, and each sector is a massive panoptic structure connected
by networks of glass elevators. Whenever a new Keter-Class SCP is discovered,
its name and a brief description of its anomalous traits will inscribe itself on one of the
walls in its corresponding sector. Ever been frustrated when the 05 Council refused
to sign off on an upgrade to Keter Class for a clearly dangerous SCP that poses extreme
risk of containment breach? Don’t blame them - it’s simply that Site-100
didn’t sanction the change. Any time that Site-100 sanctions a new SCP,
it also undergoes another unique process: It selects an SCP-001-K instance for the new
Keter, and creates a connection between them - using access points known as “Thresholds.” Think of it as simply opening a spatially-anomalous
door between two SCPs. Much like A Good Boy, another SCP vying for
the 001 slot, Site-100 has an intuitive grasp of the unseen connections between Keter-Class
anomalies, and each SCP-001-K instance is a complementary Keter Class that will essentially
cancel out the threat of its other half. Site-100 is a containment matchmaker, its
innate ability to use the anomalous to contain the anomalous is second to none. First, it took SCP-3984, an anomalous phenomenon
that seemed to prevent death from happening to all lifeforms. In order to mitigate the effects of 3984,
Site-100 opened a threshold between it and SCP-2935, also known as “O, Death” - an
alternate universe hidden beyond a limestone cavern where all life simultaneously ceased
to exist, even down to the bacterial level. By opening the threshold and allowing these
two absolute opposites to mix, it seemed to undermine the effects of both and create a
non-anomalous happy medium: Life, but mortal life. Next, SCP-5007. This terrifying underwater anomaly manifests
as a series of tentacle-like protrusions that snatch unfortunate creatures that get too
close, and assimilate them into its own mass. Site-100 cleverly opened a threshold to SCP-169,
a massive underwater arthropod known as The Leviathan. SCP-169 was tangled up by the tentacles, but
it’s too big to be fully consumed or assimilated, and the result is that 5007 is trapped in
a perpetually incapaciated state akin to choking, keeping it contained and stopping it from
going after anyone else. Let’s take a look at two even more hostile
and dangerous Keter-Class anomalies matched up by Site-100. First, we’ve got SCP-5501, an old camera
from the 1800s that comes with 18 photographs. These photographs act as a kind of portal
to an incredibly frightening alternate reality that creatures regularly crawl out of, attacking
and killing anyone within reach. Site-100 found a perfect match for this nasty
customer: SCP-1983. This is a small house that acts as a portal
to a race of tall monsters with needle-like appendages that leave the house in search
of victims. When they catch these victims, they take out
their hearts, and bring them back to the nest. Site-100 opened a threshold into the SCP-1983
house and placed the 5501 photographs inside. As a result, the hostile creatures from both
dimensions now regulate each other’s populations by killing each other. Another job well done for Site-100. Another Keter-Class dealt with by Site-100
is SCP-PL-122. This is a deadly plot of land in Poland, which
decays and corrodes all matter - organic or inorganic - placed within its confines. This would be bad enough, but as you’ll
often find with anomalous plots of deadly land, its area of influence is growing. Even knowing about it can cause it to become
more powerful. But Site-100 found its perfect Keter-Class
counterpart: SCP-1262. This is a massive mass of plant matter that
grows at a truly astonishing rate, expanding by around seven kilometers an hour. Much like absolute death and absolute life,
by putting 1262 into SCP-PL-122, a healthy medium was found somewhere in between. And finally, perhaps the strangest and most
creative match Site-100 has ever pulled off: SCP-3852 and SCP-2547. 3852 is an anonymous corpse that manifests
in small towns, sowing fear and suspicion. Eventually, a local person is believed to
be responsible for this murder, and is lynched in a rage by the townspeople as a form of
vigilante justice. The corpse then moves on to the next town. 2547, if you can believe it, is even weirder:
It’s a pack of dogs led by an intelligent talking Coyote dressed as a priest. Site-100 had the truly galaxy-brain idea to
open a threshold and connect the two. As a result, whenever the corpse manifests
in the town, the dogs rampage in and take over. At that point, they set up a kind of ridiculous
kangaroo court, where a jury made up of people from the town are forced to find 3852’s
scapegoat innocent. If they don’t, the dogs will simply hold
the town’s water supply hostage until 3852’s anomalous effects pass. Such an obvious idea! Now why didn’t the Foundation think of that? Keter Duty may not be the most conventional,
easy, or attractive work, but like everything the Foundation does, making sure Site-100
can keep doing its job is a necessary part of keeping our world safe from anomalous threats. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to get
going. Hmmm. Do you know which is the right Root out of
here? Now go check out “SCP-001 - Which is the
Real 001?” and “SCP-001 - When Day Breaks” for more on the mysterious SCP-001!
