The SCP Foundation has encountered so many
bizarre and horrifying things at this point, that you might think there would be nothing
left in the world that could surprise them. But every so often, they happen upon something
that even these experts in the anomalous were not prepared for. In the Jabal al-Druze mountains of Syria,
they found one such thing. Well actually, it wasn’t a thing exactly. It was a place, filled with ancient secrets
and unimaginable power. On March 6, 2006, IAEA monitors began to pick
up radiation from within a cave complex approximately 81 kilometers from El Taebah, Syria. They initially believed it to be the location
of a Syrian nuclear reactor. A number of Israeli air strikes were deployed
against the site, and the destruction revealed three mysterious chambers within. The Israeli and Syrian governments both established
contact with the SCP Foundation, and agents promptly responded to identify and contain
the anomalies present in the cave complex. There, they found not just one unusual thing,
but three. Inside the cave complex, a humanoid entity
was found carrying out some sort of ritual practice of unknown origins. It was reciting text in an unknown Southern
Semitic language, as well as performing a variety of other religious practices that
have been redacted from official records to prevent unauthorized staff from attempting
to perform them. These rituals have been designated SCP-1348-02,
and seem to be intended to prevent retraction of the veil protecting SCP-1348-03. But more on both of those later. The humanoid entity - designated SCP-1348-01-E
- was promptly contained and offered food, water, and bedding. It declined all of those, and, aside from
occasionally speaking in an unknown language, the entity made no attempts to speak to Foundation
staff. After three weeks in containment, the entity
had a seizure and died. An autopsy was scheduled, in order to understand
more about the being and where it might have come from. What was it doing there? And what was it protecting? Well, that takes us back to SCP-1348-02. The specific details of the rituals have been
kept secret due to the virulent memetic nature of the ritual practices themselves. Those exposed to the practices have an approximately
38% chance of experiencing religious mania and an intense desire to join in and perform
the ritual practices themselves. For unknown reasons, some people with specific
ancestry are more resistant to this memetic effect. The primary purpose of these rituals seems
to be to keep the veil covering SCP-1348-03 closed. SCP-1348-03 is the central chamber of the
cave complex. Because of the high neutron flux present,
this is the area that was originally believed to be the storage site for a nuclear reactor
core or for high-grade radioactive waste. Neither are actually present, and instead
there is a rectangular chamber inside. Remote drone investigation revealed an elaborately
decorated room decorated in a proto-Semitic style, with repeated motifs of rams, serpents,
slaughtered bulls, wounded lions, hawks, and depictions of the SCP-1348-02 ritual practices. In the center of the room, there is a raised
platform with a radius of 9 meters, surrounded by a cylindrical sheath made of beryllium
bronze. At dawn, noon, and dusk, the sheath appears
to retract and cause the neutron flux inside of the chamber to raise to deadly levels. No one but those performing the rituals has
been able to see within the sheath, and the celebrants performing the rituals have refused
to say what they saw inside. So, what about the humanoid SCP-1348-01-E? What did the autopsy find? External examination revealed that it was
an anomalous human that originally had ten external limbs. Three of those limbs, both of its legs and
one of its many wings, had been amputated. The being’s body was injured in other ways,
including missing eyes and crushing injuries to the frontal sinuses. The entity did not appear to have any external
genitals. An internal examination revealed the presence
of a liver, lungs, heart, and brain, the absence of kidneys, and a lack of urinary tracks. There were no stomach contents, indicating
that the being may not have needed to eat to survive. However, in a confusing turn of events, the
cause of death was determined to be malnutrition. Site Director Benjamin Kahn was assigned to
head the research into 1348, working alongside a Research Director known in the file only
as Dr. X. Dr. X was the head of Containment Team B,
the containment team assigned to the interior of 1348. In one of their containment meetings, Dr.
Kahn and Dr. X began to argue about the safety of the continued containment methods, and
the possible danger of the anomaly itself. Dr. Kahn explained to Dr. X that the Overwatch
Council was threatening to shut Team B down, asking, “How are we supposed to protect
civilians from what’s in there if we don’t know what it is?” Dr. X responded, “He’s not dangerous.” At this time, Dr. X’s teeth were falling
out, and his skin was covered in sores from the radiation exposure. He insisted it was still not deliberately
dangerous, saying, “We’re not protecting the world from Him, we’re protecting Him
from the world.” Dr. Kahn saw this as proof that the memetics
of the rituals were beginning to affect Dr. X. Dr. X essentially confirmed this, saying,
“I used to think that there was some mistake. Then I passed the veil. Now I know it’s all for the best.” On December 5, 2011, Dr. X was found unconscious
in his quarters, suffering from radiation poisoning. His symptoms were severe, and it looked dire. Dr. Kahn, desperate for answers, sought approval
from the Overwatch Council to send an Omega-class ritual celebrant into the central chamber
of SCP-1348-03, also referred to as the Inner Sanctum. When he emerged, the Omega-Class was unresponsive
for three days before eventually speaking. Dr. Kahn conducted an interview with him to
seek answers. Kahn asked the man what he had seen inside,
and he said, “He is very old. He is hurting very badly. He is underwater, in space, and everywhere
else. He cannot get off his chair. He is stuck there forever because he is so
badly hurt.” Dr. Kahn asked how the being inside became
hurt. The man said, “I think we did something
bad. The song is about how bad we are. No, that's wrong. We didn't do anything bad. We weren't supposed to happen. We happened. It wasn't our fault that we happened.” He had trouble explaining himself, his mind
swimming from the pain and the injuries. He continued, “What he did saved us. Now he has to be punished. Now he has to stay behind the veil.” Dr. Kahn asked what the being was doing. The Omega Class said, “He was looking out. I saw that he saw us. We saw him. Others saw him. They weren't in the circle with us. They were standing outside the circle. Then we had to sing about how much he hurts
because of us. To make the veil close. So the others don't see him back. They are very angry. They don't remember things for very long. Less well than me, I guess.” The man was very tired, and asked to rest
and sleep, but Dr. Kahn had one more question. “Is he dangerous?” The man shook his head, and simply responded,
“He says he wants you to come home. He misses you.” Because SCP-1348 cannot be transported anywhere,
the Foundation put a series of containment measures in place on-site and set up a containment
team at the Site 87 Archaeological Containment Unit in the mountains where the anomaly is
located. The containment duties were split between
two teams, Team A and Team B. These teams were allowed limited contact - with the exception
of meetings between the Directors and inter-team meetings in Conference Room 2a - in order
to minimize any memetic cross-contamination. Containment Team A was made up of Foundation
employees recommended by Class 3 site supervisory personnel and could be disqualified at any
time for one of these reasons: membership in a religious faith, exposure to registered
memetic agents, and fluency in Amharic, Ge'ez, or Aramaic. Team A was responsible for providing ritual
supplies necessary for the performance of SCP-1348-02, keeping an eye on civilian celebrants
and Team B members, selecting those who would participate in all ritual behaviors, and providing
updated daily protocols for the rituals. They were also responsible for developing
and executing Protocol 228-MELECHAH, which could only be carried out by personnel who
have not been exposed to any recordings or transcripts of the rituals, or entered the
inner sanctum of SCP-1348-03. Containment Team B was made up of members
descended from Druze, Mandean, or Mizrahi Jewish populations. Their ancestry was thought to make them more
resilient to the memetic effects of SCP-1348, and able to perform the rituals of SCP-1348-02
without any adverse effects. They would follow strict guidelines to maintain
purity for these rituals, including a specific diet. Team B members were only permitted to exit
the containment area, access classified documents, or contact members of their families if written
permission was given by the Site Director. These containment procedures remained in place
for several years. However, in 2011, three days after the interview
with O-9142 and the death of Team B’s Director, Site Director Kahn did something that would
change the containment procedures for good. He prepared a new instance of SCP-1348-02
and entered the inner sanctum, without permission. He performed the ritual, and proceeded into
SCP-1348-03. He was never recovered from inside. The Foundation could not figure out what would
motivate Dr. Kahn to breach security in this way, to expose himself to danger and enter
the inner sanctum. Perhaps, they thought, he was acting out of
extreme distress following the death of his colleague. They investigated all of his personal writings,
his belongings, his emails, anything that could give them a clue about what had been
going on in his mind. Sometime later, a letter was returned, unopened,
to Dr. Kahn’s home address, and they got their answer. The contents of the letter caused the Foundation
to suspend containment Team B, believing that their ancestry was no longer sufficient protection
from the memetic effects of SCP-1348. The letter was from Dr. Kahn to his daughter,
Judith. He began the letter by saying it was the last
one he would ever write. Clearly, he knew he was going to die soon. In his letter, he confessed his work for the
Foundation and apologized to her for his actions throughout her life. He was absent a lot of her life, while she
believed he was some kind of spy. In truth, he was working for the Foundation
and forced to hide that from her. He apologized to her for disowning her over
religion, abandoning his relationship with her when she married, and left to study the
Torah and dedicate herself to her faith. He wrote, “But I was wrong, Judith. What does the Torah tell us? That the Name once moved upon the water; that
He broke bread with Abraham, that He wrestled with Jacob and broke his thigh, that He buried
Moses in the clay beside the Jordan. But now the Temple is a ruin, the people of
Moses are scattered, and we have lost even the Name. For so long, I have stood on the edge of the
chasm which separates us, demanding that He explain. When you married Eleizer, and you covered
your hair, I thought you were abandoning me. But you were seeking after the Name which
I had abandoned, unafraid to cast your forgiveness into the depths of the mystery. If you were unafraid, even as a child, why
have I hesitated for so long?” He planned to face the mystery, to look into
the depths he had avoided for his entire life. He concluded the letter, detailing his plans
to breach containment and walk into the heart of SCP-1348: “It is late. I am tired. Tomorrow, I will anoint myself with oil, I
will bathe in the font, and I will speak His terrible name. When the sun rises, I will stand before my
broken father, and the fathers who were broken before him, as someday you will stand before
me, as someday you will stand before Him. I will be held to account for my absence. I will hold the Name to account for His. And I will forgive Him.” Who knows what happened once Dr. Kahn passed
through the veil into the inner sanctum, giving himself up for what he believed in? Maybe he did find and share that forgiveness
and attain the peace he so desperately sought. Perhaps, in his communion with the injured
protector, trapped forever behind the veil, he could find the strength to forgive himself,
too. Now go check out “SCP-001- Scarlet King
- Dust and Blood” and “SCP-2718 - What Happens After Death” for more anomalies
of truly cosmic proportions!
