London is the second largest city in Europe,
and underneath this bustling city is one of the oldest and largest networks of train tunnels
in the world. But that's not the only huge, old structure
located beneath the city of London. Below even the deepest underground metro stations
of this historic city, there's a whole artificial world of surveillance cyborgs, impossible
architecture, and stomach churning nutritional supplements. So be sure to mind the gap, because we're
about to take you on a tour of SCP-1678, also known as UnLondon. SCP-1678 is located one kilometer below the
city of London, England. From all appearances, it seems to be an exact
copy of the city, though aesthetically, it's more in line with how it was around the turn
of the 20th century. Gas streetlights stand on every corner, and
the modern skyscrapers of the business district are recreated in the style of Victorian architecture. The epicenter of construction appears to be
the houses of parliament, which is evidenced by the more unfinished and flawed the city
becomes further out from the center one goes. Some of the buildings are made of nonsensical
materials like copper pipes, and some of the 'gas lamps' are nothing more than a ball of
disembodied light floating atop a metal pole. The first big question that the Foundation
had upon discovering this location was, of course, why on earth was it created? And they wouldn’t have to look far, as an
explanation of this bizarre mirror city plays automatically upon entering - “My fellow citizen. If you are hearing this tape, then the world
as we knew it has finished. The sky has broken, the ground heaves with
the tramp of terrible feet, and all the horror and madness from the dark corners of the world
has broken free to exact its vengeance on the world of Man. Evil has raised its bloody flag upon all nations
of the world and crowed its unholy victory to the broken sky. Yes, this is the end. But there is a new hope. Welcome to UnLondon, a city of the survivors,
a city of the free. Together, fellow citizen, we will wait and
prepare for the new beginning, the grand new world that is soon to come. Let the world above burn. We will endure. Let the monsters have their world. We will prepare. We will wait. And I tell you, citizen, that there will be
a new morning. And you will emerge from UnLondon, and stand
blinking in the sun. And on that day, citizen, there shall be a
new order, as we raise the Union Flag over the entire world. I welcome you to UnLondon, the Last City. And the first.” From this message, it seems that this mirror
city was built to be a refuge for survivors of an apocalyptic scenario, but the SCP Foundation
had no knowledge of such a plan. In fact, it's still unknown who created this
place, or how they did it. The one fact that was evident to the Foundation
was that even though this strange place was intended to be a safe haven, it was far too
poorly constructed to actually act as one. Illumination was unreliable, and most of the
buildings were damp and infested with mold. It's also unclear to the Foundation where
the oxygen and gas supply of UnLondon was coming from. Throughout the day, the loudspeakers around
UnLondon play automated messages such as “No one is safe from the influence of memetic
beings.”, “Bryson’s Home for the Poor is here to help.” and “Crime will not
be tolerated in UnLondon...The tormentors of society will become its defenders.” At the end of every hour that passes, the
speakers announce the time, followed by “...and all is well”. When the SCP Foundation first entered UnLondon,
it was unknown whether or not any living things inhabited the city. On first investigation, it seemed from its
state of disrepair that the city had been long abandoned. But soon the foundation met their first inhabitant
of the underground city. Mobile Task Force members were inspecting
the area around the houses of parliament when they discovered what looked to be a bank. As they approached the doors, they heard the
following announcement over the nearby loudspeakers: “Citizen, you are entering a restricted
area. Have your authorization papers ready. A Bobby will arrive to escort you shortly.” This signaled the approach of SCP-1678-A,
also known as 'the bobbies'. A single instance of SCP-1678-A appeared with
the unmistakable sound of a police whistle, and as soon as it arrived it started attacking
the members of the task force. Another announcement came over the speakers-
‘‘Police! Halt, criminal!’’ The bobbies are the main threat to visitors
in UnLondon, and they will attack on sight with any improvised weapon they can find. True to their name, they are all dressed in
uniforms consistent with those of London city police officers from the Victorian era. What sets them apart from their historical
counterparts, is their construction. These beings are made out of human corpses,
crudely dismembered at the joints and re-assembled using metal hinges and bolts, with their heads
wrapped in bandages. Bobbies are extremely hard to kill, with only
high-caliber rounds and explosive weapons being effective at putting them down. Autopsies of dead bobbies have shown that
underneath the police uniform, the bobbies all wear prison inmate-style jumpsuits. This adds a chilling context to the announcement
about 'the tormentors of society becoming its defenders'- it appears that the bobbies
are the reanimated bodies of prisoners. In addition to the bobbies, the Foundation
cataloged two additional forms of artificial life present within UnLondon. First are SCP-1678-B, or Eyes in the Sky,
hybrid bio-mechanical birds made of flesh with an exoskeleton of copper wiring. Some of these creatures are covered in a deteriorating
outer layer of plastic and feathers, suggesting that they were originally meant to resemble
pigeons. As their name suggests, eyes in the sky serve
as a type of surveillance drone, and while they have no offensive capabilities, they
still pose a significant threat to the Foundation. It's still unclear whether they're able to
communicate with or summon the bobbies, but the SCP takes no chances. The last 'life form' present in SCP-1678 is
the strangest and the most frightening - SCP-1678-C, known as the wretch. The wretch has only ever been encountered
outside the zone which is now under SCP Foundation control, and it's uncertain how many instances
of this being exist. The wretch resembles an old woman, or sometimes
old man, dressed in filthy rags. The wretch sits at street corners holding
a begging tray, and will attempt to elicit pity from anyone who happens to walk by. The wretch will ask for food or money, but
if food is supplied, it will start weeping before vanishing into a puff of black smoke. On a few occasions, audio notices playing
on the city's loudspeakers have alluded to this being, saying “Do not pity the Wretch. Allow them to pay the price of their betrayal
for all eternity.” The current Foundation protocol with regards
to the wretch… is to not engage with it at all. In addition to the bobbies, the eyes in the
sky, and the wretches, there's another strange component to the world of UnLondon. Throughout the city, in any area designed
for human habitation, the Foundation discovered multiple machines that resembled modern gas
pumps. These machines are fitted with coin slots
and rubber hoses that, when coins are inserted, dispense a porridge-like substance advertised
as 'Dr. Goody's Wonderfood'. According to posters around the city, Wonderfood
is a meal replacement supplement, supposedly containing all of the required nutrients for
survival. Wonderfood also appears to be the only food
source available in UnLondon. Despite the claims by various posters around
the city that Wonderfood ‘Contains all the nutrients you need!’ and ‘Completely restores
health and vitality!’examination of the substance has revealed that it is, much like
the rest of UnLondon, unsuitable for sustaining life. Tests have confirmed that Wonderfood is a
synthetic starch gel heavily enriched with various minerals, vitamins, fats and bulking
agents, and it contains artificially engineered DNA helix structures. While it does contain all the elements required
for short-term survival, consuming the product for longer than 6 weeks will result in severe
malnutrition and eventually scurvy. Further tests have shown that Wonderfood also
contains certain psychoactive properties. The porridge contains a mixture of unknown
molecular compounds which, through regular consumption, make subjects calmer, less anxious,
and less likely to resist authority. It also seems to have been engineered to cause
withdrawal symptoms that set in if a person stops eating it, symptoms which include headaches
and depression. Foundation personnel are forbidden to consume
Wonderfood, but the substance is highly attractive to instances of SCP-1678-B and 1678-C. Like most things in UnLondon, the quality
of Wonderfood varies wildly, with some dispensers putting out a product that is so degraded
that it can cause sickness, deformities, or even death in the consumer. But strangely, the Foundation has also recorded
a type of unknown colorful mollusk which feeds on spillage from the Wonderfood dispensers. At present, UnLondon is only partially contained. Mobile Task Forces Tau-4 and Epsilon-6 have
succeeded in establishing a perimeter around the Hyde Park district where they have managed
to stop any incursion from SCP-1678-A. Even though this is the only area that is fully
under Foundation control, explorations have been conducted of buildings outside that perimeter. The investigations are vital for the Foundation's
main purpose in UnLondon, which is figuring out who built it, and exactly what kind of
event this underground mirror city was meant to prepare for. The interior of the Natural History Museum
yielded particularly strange insights into the purpose of UnLondon. For the most part, the museum is close to
how it appears in the above ground, but with one key difference. The task force investigating the museum discovered
an exhibit called 'The Fall of Man', exactly where the Darwin Wing should have been. The exhibit, as its name suggests, details
the apocalyptic scenario that would've theoretically driven people underground into UnLondon. But, to everyone’s surprise, its dioramas
and displays didn't depict an asteroid impact, plague, or nuclear armageddon. To the Foundation task force members, the
scenes of destruction depicted in the exhibit were far more familiar. They recognized the reptilian form of SCP-682,
the ordinary-looking brownstone basement door that serves as a gateway to SCP-2317, and,
most chillingly, the imposing many-eyed figure of the Scarlet King. These were only some of the known Keter class
SCPs depicted in the museum exhibit. It was clear that even though the SCP Foundation
hadn't built this city, whoever did knew a lot about the SCP Foundation's activities. It's believed by the Foundation that whoever
or whatever created UnLondon still resides in the houses of parliament, and the ultimate
goal of the task forces is to infiltrate the building. But in order to do that, they will first need
to find where the bobbies are made and halt their production. It's believed that Bryson's Home for the Poor
is where they originate from, but it's unclear exactly where the materials to make them come
from, nor is it clear just how they're produced. Ultimately, the Foundation's goal is to catalog
the entire city, and, once they have stopped the production of more bobbies, MTF Tau-4
and Epsilon-6 will storm the houses of parliament and contain whatever force has created UnLondon. But, London is a very big city, and UnLondon
is just as big. So, there's no telling what else they might
find exploring this bizarre location. Now go check out “SCP - 035 - The Possessive
Mask” and “SCP - 2935 - O, Death” for more chilling stories from the SCP Foundation!
