Dr. Bethany Moore was exhausted. She’d been pulling an all-nighter to digitize
some old files about SCP-2317 - the door to another world - and she could feel herself
nodding off, little by little, as the night drew on. For Dr. Moore, it’d been a whole week of
long days, something even worse when you work a job as stressful as being a researcher for
the SCP Foundation, and the exertion was starting to catch up with her. At around 2:30 AM, she sighed, rolled back
her office chair, and decided to take a quick break to grab a coffee and refuel. If she didn’t get some pretty hardcore caffeine
in her over the next few minutes, she was absolutely going to pass out on her keyboard. The fact that the rooms in the facility were
kept at relatively low light at this time of night to save power really wasn’t helping
her fatigue. Dr. Moore dragged herself down to the break
room, too tired and too focused on her work to notice that things were eerily quiet. She was punching in her order for the largest
Espresso available when she noticed the quiet sound of footsteps approaching her from behind. Slow, methodical, and unsettling, especially
at this kind of hour. She turned and felt an immense relief wash
over her. It was just Security Officer Chuck Walker,
one of the regular guards at this site. Dr. Moore and Security Officer Walker weren’t
exactly best friends, but they’d crossed paths on the job on numerous occasions, and
they’d always been polite, friendly, and cordial any time they’d directly interacted. “Hey Chuck,” she said, while her coffee
began to pour into the less than environmentally friendly styrofoam cup behind her. “Long night. Working hard or hardly working, eh?” Security Officer Walker didn’t respond. It was only now that Dr. Moore seemed to register
just how dark the break room was. Really, the only source of light was the soft
glow coming from the coffee machine itself. But light or no light, she could see that
something was wrong with Walker. His eyes seemed oddly distant, like he wasn’t
even looking at her, he was looking through her, off into some unknown place. Dr. Moore cleared her throat. “Everything okay, Chu-“ Before she could even finish her sentence,
Chuck’s hands were clasped around her throat. The movement was so sudden and violent. Her back was shoved up against the coffee
machine, spilling the Espresso everywhere. She tried to scream, but she couldn’t get
enough air. Chuck squeezed; his grip was like iron around
her thin neck. She silently gasped and spluttered as he choked
her, still maintaining that glassy, almost dead look in his eye, like doing this meant
absolutely nothing to him. As things started to go dark, Dr. Moore’s
thoughts were naturally along the lines of, “Why is he doing this to me?” And that’s exactly when she got her answer. There were two eyes that seemed almost to
be floating in the darkness behind Security Office Walker, staring with equal indifference
at this sudden and awful display of meaningless violence. She could only just make out the slender shape
of the creature’s mostly obsidian body, with the occasional patch of white. It was Her. It all made sense now. It all made so much sense. The Daughter Of- Snap. Dr. Moore’s neck broke, leaving her last
thought forever unfinished. Security Office Walker loosened his grip,
allowing Dr. Moore’s body to slump to the ground. He turned to his Mistress for approval, but
she didn’t say a word. She just left the room, and he obediently
followed. This was the very first casualty of a containment
breach that would go on to claim the lives of 43 members of SCP Foundation personnel. Several male members of staff experienced
what can only be described as a descent into violent insanity, turning on fellow members
of personnel and committing murder, largely through the act of strangulation. A female Mobile Task Force was brought in
to deal with this rapidly-escalating situation. The brainwashed staff members were relatively
easy to neutralize, given the superior training of the MTF compared to on-site staff, but
the being that did this to them would be a considerably more challenging foe: SCP-029,
the Daughter Of Shadows, an extremely violent and dangerous Keter-Class anomaly. She was still loose on the site, and that
meant nobody was safe. The MTF prowled the hallways in three-person
squads, while another small detachment headed to the maintenance and security rooms. They couldn’t rely on the on-site guards
for any help on this one, considering half the brainwashed murderers they’d just terminated
had formerly been site guards. One of the squads finally encountered SCP-029
in a dark hallway and engaged her in violent combat. The Daughter Of Shadows is an incredibly formidable
opponent: She’s significantly stronger than a non-anomalous human being, she’s highly
resistant to most forms of damage, and her reflexes are around four times faster than
some of the fastest recorded non-anomalous human reflexes. In other words, seeing as she can shrug off
bullets and seems to be one of the world’s most proficient stranglers, you really don’t
want to have to engage with SCP-029 in a physical fight. One of the three MTF operatives attempting
to subdue SCP-029 was already dead, her neck practically caved in from the force of a squeeze,
when the lights finally came back on. While the Foundation didn’t know a great
deal about the Daughter of Shadows, they were aware of one thing: Her anomalous powers were
significantly weakened when faced with bright light. The operatives in the maintenance and security
rooms had turned up the lights in the hallway to their maximum brightness, stunning the
Daughter Of Shadows just long enough for the Mobile Task Force to converge and, through
their combined strength and resources, subdue and contain the creature again. She was swiftly delivered back to her high-security
containment chamber and locked away once more. The containment chamber is sealed with a triple
airlock, and powerful floodlights on the walls keep the creature in a constant state of stark
illumination. A truly foolish mistake by Security Officer
Walker - who’d been shot to death not even an hour prior by the Mobile Task Force - had
caused this particularly deadly containment breach. Ignoring very specific Foundation containment
protocols out of his own sense of foolish morbid curiosity, he’d strayed too close
to SCP-029’s containment chamber, and been dragged into her terrible thrall. Considering the vast array of potential world
or even universe-enders on the SCP Foundation’s roster, SCP-029 is far from the most dangerous
anomaly out there, but she’s proven time and time again to be one of the most problematic
to contain. And due to her incredibly violent temperament
and dangerous anomalous abilities, every time SCP-029 does breach containment, a lot of
innocent Foundation employees are bound to die. The Daughter of Shadows, a self-given name
that seems to be inspired by the fact her skin pigmentation is 80% True Black, has a
seemingly unquenchable blood lust. Though ironically, she despises the actual
shedding of blood. SCP-029 has been shown to be capable of improvising
a weapon out of almost any object, truly the MacGyver of Murder, but she will always kill
in a manner that causes no blood to be spilled, hence her preference for strangulation. She also has the ability to brainwash male
victims into committing murder on her behalf, by making them believe that she is some form
of Goddess. Despite showing clear sentience and sound
tactical reasoning, it’s impossible to reason with the Daughter Of Shadows, as she has no
compassion or better judgment to appeal to. Her requests for a bed, a blanket, some books,
and some clothes have all been denied, due to the pretty justifiable belief that all
these requests are just a pretense to get security lowered around her. This harsh treatment actually led to an official
complaint by Dr. Ericka Bodeen. It stated, “This is ridiculous! The girl can't even have clothes? We are not animals, let her cover herself!” Dr. Sophia Light posted an official reply,
saying, “Dr. Bodeen, you are granted permission to deliver clothes to SCP-029.” Life sadly punished Dr. Bodeen for her compassion. The Daughter Of Shadows murdered her with
the very clothes she brought in to keep it warm, and the tape of her grisly death is
now used as an educational tool for anyone assigned to SCP-029 - A grim reminder of the
real and present danger that the creature poses to anyone in its vicinity. Because of the nature of the anomaly and her
abilities, the Foundation takes a very hands-off approach to interacting with her. Guards are posted outside, and not even food
is brought into the chamber, as SCP-029 seems to be able to survive just fine without it. At this point, you’re probably wondering:
What is this thing, really? And how did the SCP Foundation find it in
the first place? We’ll tell you all we can about that. But be warned: SCP-029 is also linked to one
of the darkest things the Foundation has ever needed to do in the pursuit of keeping an
anomaly contained... It all began with what seemed like an incredibly
random assault on Agent Ramachandran, an SCP Foundation Field Operative stationed in rural
India. The assailant attempted to strangle Agent
Ramachandran before being quickly subdued. Because of the strangeness of the event, the
agent began a weeks-long investigation into who the man was, and why he’d committed
this attack. That sent Agent Ramachandran down a frightening
rabbit hole toward a small but incredibly violent local cult. The men claimed to be Thuggees - A historically
frightening group of roving robbers and murderers who terrorized parts of India throughout its
long history - and what’s more, this particular sect of thugs seemed to worship the Daughter
Of Shadows as a kind of earth-bound demigod. They believed that if they made one million
sacrifices to the violence-loving entity, it would bring about the end of the world. However, they also believed that only sacrifices
committed via strangulation would count towards their million-soul total. The Foundation amassed a small invasion force
to infiltrate and take down their mountainside fortress from within. Naturally, they were met with considerable
violent resistance - which sadly caused the death of Agent Ramachandran, the very reason
we were able to locate the Daughter Of Shadows in the first place - but in the end, the Foundation
prevailed. The Thuggees were either slaughtered or repelled,
and the Foundation operatives discovered SCP-029 within the temple, along with a huge number
of corpses, believed to be the cult’s prior victims. Given how dark it was inside the temple, the
Daughter of Shadows was at a formidable level of power. She killed and brainwashed several of the
agents who attempted to contain her, but was eventually subdued and transported back to
the nearest secure containment site. One of the most infamous incidents that SCP-029
is associated with happened around seven years after her capture. The level of dark pigmentation on her skin
was beginning to increase, prompting concern among researchers. When they asked her what was happening, she
simply said that her followers were on the move again, prompting concern that 029’s
Thuggee cult was due for another resurgence. Knowing how dangerous this cult could be,
the SCP Foundation decided that drastic action would be needed to deal with them this time. When they eventually located members of the
cult, they began tracking them and gathering intelligence. They discovered that a mass gathering of the
entire cult was imminent, on a day that they believed to be holy. The Foundation waited until then to strike. When the cult was gathered in worship, the
Foundation conducted an aerial strike, killing them all in an instant. The second this happened, the Daughter Of
Shadows sat bolt upright and screamed for several hours, mourning the death of her beloved
followers. She learned a hard lesson that day: While
she and her methods were undeniably brutal, when the situation called for it, the SCP
Foundation could be plenty brutal, as well. Since this incident, SCP-029 has increased
her efforts to escape. Perhaps so she can get the jump on building
a brand new cult. Now go check out “SCP-1179 - Centralian
Fire Demon” and “SCP-2845 - Alien God Crash Lands on Earth - THE DEER” for more
fascinating and terrifying entities from the SCP Foundation!
