It has long been the mission of the SCP
Foundation to secure and contain any anomalies they encounter, all to protect the safety of
the human race. Sometimes, containing an SCP is a trivial task, as simple as guarding a room
or keeping an eye on an artifact with strange, but mostly harmless, properties. Other times
though, anomalies require a considerable number of the Foundation’s personnel and
resources to keep them under control. This latter category commonly includes some of
the more dangerous creatures and entities that the SCP Foundation keeps under lock and key.
However, while it might be only in very rare cases, every so often an SCP comes along with
its very own built-in method of containment. This can often be the result of someone
encountering an anomaly and discovering the perfect way of imprisoning it before the SCP
Foundation comes along and steals all the credit. Undoubtedly, this makes the job of securing an
anomaly all the easier for the Foundation’s staff. After all, someone else has already done the hard
part of that job for them. Or rather, it would make things easier, if only the Foundation’s
own researchers chose not to interfere, and could leave a deadly threat kept safely in its
box without trying to find out what makes it tick. SCP-5001 is, in some ways, a reminder that some
things are best left alone. But it is also a grave warning not to tamper with that which
you do not understand. Both of these lessons would soon be imparted on the SCP Foundation.
Buried sixty kilometers below the ground in Northern Russia is SCP-5001, a fifty three
kilometer wide structure. It is an enormous biomechanical machine, but to the untrained eye,
there is nothing anomalous about the object. And according to the Foundation’s findings, this
is indeed the case, there is nothing inherently anomalous about the structure itself.
But there are a number of characteristics that seem to suggest it is, in some way,
connected to anomalous phenomena. For one, there’s the sheer scale of the structure. And
then there’s the records that were uncovered about SCP-5001, which appear to have been
monitoring and tracking its status. Perhaps whoever constructed it, or discovered
it, kept a record as they observed the structure. Nothing too out of the ordinary
about that, but what’s strange, is that these date back to 11,000 BC, and yet were
somehow made with modern systems of measurement. And other, weirder documents have been
recovered from inside of SCP-5001, records written in languages from all over the
world, and even some in languages lost to time. Among them are papers in Phoenician, Ancient
Hebrew, both Ancient and Modern Greek, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, along with Modern Russian, English,
and Mandarin. Some of these documents are even written in languages that the SCP Foundation’s
top researchers are yet to properly identify. The explanation for all this would seem
obvious, wouldn’t it? Writing in both ancient and contemporary languages, records that date all
the way back to the last of the prehistoric era. It all seems to point in a certain direction:
Somehow, SCP-5001 has a link to time travel. Perhaps it was even a hub for a
group of time travelers, right? Wrong.
The Foundation already thought that might be the case, and
checked for any signs of temporal anomalies. And yet, they found nothing, no evidence to
suggest that there had even been any time travel near or using SCP-5001. There were no devices on
site that could affect time, and no traces of any residue or fallout from a temporal occurrence.
So, what exactly does this thing even do? Well, we’re afraid to say the Foundation researchers
have been stumped on the answer to that question too, and they are not the only ones, either. Way
back in the fifties, the GRU’s Division P also had an interest in SCP-5001. For anyone
who isn't already acquainted with them, they are one of the SCP Foundation’s numerous
Groups of Interest, a list of organizations, corporations, and agencies from around the
world who have also had dealings with anomalies. In the case of GRU-P, they were originally a
division of the Russian army during the Cold War. The specialty of GRU Division P was the
acquisition of anomalous objects and entities. In other words, they were the Soviet
Union’s very own SCP Foundation. In 1953, GRU Division P was alerted to
abnormal seismic activity in a narrow region of Northern Russia. A team was
immediately sent in to investigate, and began attempting to take seismological
measurements of the area in question. During their various experiments and tests, GRU Division
P realized a discrepancy in their readings. Again and again they checked and double-checked
their results, only to discover that this reading wasn’t the result of faulty equipment or even
human error. There was something big nearby. What they hadn’t yet realized was that around
thirty kilometers away, deep underground, was SCP-5001. Immediately, GRU Division P began
drilling towards the location of SCP-5001, but for years found that they were unable to
breach the exterior of the structure. Defeated, the project was abandoned in 1955. However, Soviet
leader First Secretary Khrushchev seemed to have a vested interest in gaining access to SCP-5001. As
a result, he privately funded the GRU Division P operation, allowing them to continue their
work in secret for a number of years, from 1959 until Khrushchev was deposed in 1964.
Of course, this was all during the height of the Cold War, but by the late 1960s, international
relations between the Soviet Union and the United States of America were starting to ease. Thanks to
the relaxing tensions, a contract was introduced allowing the two nations’ secret organizations
to work together on a number of operations involving potentially dangerous anomalies.
This meant that the SCP Foundation was finally able to step in and contribute to the GRU
Division P’s project concerning SCP-5001. Their first task? Actually getting inside
the subterranean structure. Naturally, given how well versed the Foundation is in dealing
with anomalies, they had ideas for how to crack this nut. By acquiring anomalous technology from
the Global Occult Coalition, another Group of Interest, as well as experimental designs created
by one Doctor Elijah Rachma, the SCP Foundation were finally able to breach the structure in 1971.
From then until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the SCP Foundation and GRU Division
P worked together to conduct a number of studies into the origin and purpose of SCP-5001. Both
organizations were curious as to the technology the structure possessed, and attempts were even
made to recreate some of the devices found within. Among this advanced technology were Ontological
Stabilizers, also known as Scranton Reality Anchors, which are located around SCP-5001’s inner
chamber. These were designed to directly alter the amount of Humes in a given area.
What’s a Hume? Well, to keep it simple, a Hume is a measure
of the reality around us. If it helps, imagine reality as a pile of sand. Now imagine that you
remove a single grain of sand from the pile. Congratulations, you just removed one Hume
from this reality. Taking one away doesn’t really do much, but start grabbing handfuls
and the pile gets smaller, scattered, less a pile and more a light dusting of sand. Reality
works the same way. Take too much of it away, and it starts to lose whatever it was before.
Being able to alter the amount of Humes in an area meant that these Ontological Stabilizers
could alter the strength of reality itself, even nullify the reality bending properties of
some anomalies. In theory, an SCP with the power to influence reality could be contained using this
technology, the effects of their abilities reduced significantly although not negated entirely.
Another noteworthy piece of technology uncovered was codenamed “Omega.” Omega
was discovered in an unmarked room on a computer terminal that was connected to
every area of SCP-5001 by dozens of cables. The software itself was an Artificial Intelligence
Construct, a computerized consciousness that seemed to serve the purpose of controlling
the various systems within SCP-5001. The Omega seemed to work by providing an answer whenever
someone used a keyboard to input a question. The artificial intelligence of Omega appeared
able to hold a conversation, but would refuse to give any insight into when the SCP-5001
structure was built, or what its purpose was. Despite neither group knowing what SCP-5001’s
function was, an agreement between the SCP Foundation and GRU Division P was formed. Both
organizations shared the belief that Omega, the Ontological Stabilizers, as well as the
other anomalous technologies could never under any circumstances be allowed
to fall into the wrong hands. They had a pact to keep the knowledge of SCP-5001
and these devices strictly between themselves. However this agreement was, sadly, not to last.
In the early nineties, GRU Division P liquidated its assets and disbanded. A number of
the Russian division’s highest ranking officers stole the anomalous technology that the
organization had in its possession, which they then sold to Marshall, Carter and Dark Ltd.
M, C, and D L-T-D are yet another of the SCP Foundation’s Groups of Interest. According to
Foundation intelligence, Marshall, Carter and Dark Ltd is a London based club that has caused
numerous problems for the Foundation over the years. They have ties to wealthy figures across
the globe, and cater to their super rich clientele by providing them with the most exclusive,
expensive, and rare experiences available. How do they do this? By gathering anomalous items
and auctioning them off to the highest bidders. A number of GRU Division P operatives also
joined up with The Chaos Insurgency. This is a Group of Interest that consists of personnel
who previously worked for the Foundation, but have since broken away to pursue their
own, rogue agenda. Much like a number of other Groups of Interest, the Insurgency uses
anomalies and SCPs for their own benefit, as well as dabbling in a bit of arms dealing and
the selling of highly classified intelligence. Hey, it’s good to have a diverse portfolio.
Despite former members of GRU Division P seeking alternative employment with some less
than reputable groups, the SCP Foundation still managed to keep the existence and location of
SCP-5001 a closely guarded secret. However, even with the structure fully under their control,
their leading researchers were still baffled as to what exactly the purpose of the underground
structure was. Or rather, that was the case. On December 30th 2019, an explosion erupted in
the northeast sector of SCP-5001, the cause of the explosion was unknown but the damage caused a
tremendous and almost catastrophic loss of power. Whether the explosion had been triggered by one
of the many Groups of Interest, like the former GRU Division P, or just a machinery malfunction,
it almost caused the total destruction of SC-5001. What would be so bad about that? Well, remember
earlier when we said that every so often an SCP comes along with its very own built in
method of containment? You see, it wasn’t the structure or technology of SCP-5001 that
the Foundation should have been worried about: it was the thing inside of SCP-5001.
Just as some Foundation researchers had long theorized, SCP-5001 was a cage, a containment
unit for its own anomalous object within. Something powerful enough to alter reality
right down to the Humes, hence the need for Ontological Stabilizers to dampen its power and
Omega to keep the place running. This entity, known either as SCP-5001-A or “The Devourer”
was being held inside SCP-5001, and when the structure was damaged it was almost freed.
While there was no data on SCP-5001’s computer system about this being’s appearance, or the
extent of its anomalous powers, whoever created SCP-5001 went to considerable effort to keep The
Devourer contained, viewing it as a threat to all of reality. And all that effort was almost undone
when the structure was damaged by the explosion. Fortunately, the SCP Foundation was able
to re-establish containment of SCP-5001-A, though at the cost of a tremendous amount of
lives. When personnel were finally permitted to re-enter SCP-5001, a number of the structure’s
core systems had been damaged, but it was still able to perform its primary function and
keep The Devourer safely contained within. As personnel entered the
structure, a message appeared through the Omega computer system that read:
“Hello, my children. Although you have grown immensely since your earliest days, you have
much room to grow. Your species’ intellect is merely a bud, with so much potential. Your
weapons are powerful; your medicine is supreme; your engineering is beautiful. With proper
guidance and care, you are sure to reach an elevated state of being, and transcend your
bodies for something more whole and perfect. “That is why it pains me so dearly to request that
you leave this place immediately. Your studying and probing have almost resulted in the end of
all I had worked towards to keep you alive. If you comply, I guarantee that The Devourer will never
escape, and your species will be free to pursue the enlightenment of technology for all eternity.
“Let this be my final gift to you, directly from the center of my broken heart.”
Okay, back up. “Broken Heart.” Interesting. Where have we heard something like that
before? We’d hate to jump to any conclusions, but when one hears about a being of great
power, related to large and mysterious machines, and that word again - “Broken.” All the groups
of interest that seem to be tied into SCP-5001, and we’d neglected to mention perhaps the most
important of all: The Church of the Broken God. This religious organization that reveres
industry and technology over the impurity of flesh has been united in a singular purpose:
Rebuilding their deity, the Broken God Mekhane, whose body was split apart in an attempt to
preserve the future of mankind. Perhaps the heart of this great and ancient machine, this Devourer,
is actually the heart of something else entirely. Though of course, there’s only so much we can
speculate. Knowledge, after all, can sometimes be like a flame. It can light your way, but if
you get too close, you will inevitably be burned. If ever you’re in doubt, ask the people Devoured
and assimilated by the Heart of Mekhane the last time it was freed by the Church. If ever the Heart
gets out again, you’ll certainly be with them. The SCP Foundation has come so far. Their
technology, their knowledge, their vast resources, all allow them to contain some of the most
powerful forces mankind has ever seen, and even some we haven’t. But as SCP-5001 shows, there’s
still much that even the brightest researchers at the Foundation don’t yet understand, and their
drive to poke and prod at the unknown nearly led to the end of reality as we know it. Perhaps one
day we’ll be able to fully understand just what the Devourer is, and the ways that SCP-5001 worked
to protect us from it, but we’re not there yet, and there’s no guarantee that we ever will
be. While the pursuit of knowledge is always an admirable one, when it comes to SCP-5001, maybe
the Foundation should have left well enough alone. Now go check out “SCP-5545 - Mysterious Tunnels
in Antarctica - ABNORMALITY” and “SCP-1461 - House of the Worm” for more mysterious, underground
structures from the files of the SCP Foundation!
