It writhes against the snow, red, raw, and
vicious. Too many mouths, too many limbs. Twitching and dripping. Once, it looked a lot like you, but now, it’s
something different entirely. If ever it escapes its bounds, it’ll rebuild
the whole world in its image. It is known and feared by everyone with sufficient
clearance at the SCP Foundation, and for good reason: It’ll infect anyone and anything,
and a death sentence is preferable to infection. It is a disease that thinks. The crawling corruption. The Flesh That Hates. Or, if you fear its true name too much to
speak it, and find comfort in the categorization and clinical eyes of the SCP Foundation: SCP-610. SCP-610 is a contagious skin disease, transmitted
by direct contact. Anyone infected with it suffers a horrific
mutation, turning them into fleshy, inhuman monstrosities. These infected creatures will attack and infect
anyone nearby that isn’t also carrying SCP-610. This also happens to be “The Flesh” described
and adored by those following the twisted religion of Sarkicism, a violent cult and
Group of Interest that worships flesh, corruption, and disease. And as the Foundation operatives tasked with
observing Groups of Interest know, Sarkicism is a sect that directly
opposes the machine-revering Church of the Broken God. And to understand the events of the tale known
to the SCP Foundation as Aftermath - the beginning that leads to its brutal and world-changing
end - one must first understand the endless conflict between these two groups. The Church of The Broken God is a religion
that the SCP Foundation has had a number of encounters with over the years. Members of the Church share in the belief
that biological, flesh-based life is an inherently wrong and evil abomination. They worship mechanization; the process of
making organic bodies something more mechanical in nature. According to the beliefs of the Church, two
gods, Yaldabaoth and Mekhane, created humanity together. Yaldabaoth was the god of flesh and animal
instinct, granting humans bodies. Meanwhile, the god of machine and intellect,
Mekhane, blessed man with the power of free thought. As humankind developed machines, Yaldabaoth
became enraged that they were ignoring the instincts she had given them and endeavored
to destroy the creations of man. As the Church’s legend goes, Mekhane acted
as humanity’s savior, and tried desperately to stop Yaldabaoth. The god of machines shattered
himself, transforming his body into a number of pieces to form a cage for his fellow god. Fragments of Mekhane rained down on planet
Earth. Now, the Church of the Broken God believes
it is their duty to recover these missing parts. There could potentially be hundreds of pieces
needed to rebuild Mekhane, and a number of these happen to be catalogued SCPs that the Foundation is either aware
of, or has in containment. Our story begins not with the long-awaited
return of Mekhane, the Broken God. Instead, it begins with a man. A Foundation foot soldier named Roderick Freeman. This is the story of Aftermath. In 2003, at the age of seventeen, Roderick’s
ambition was to join the US Navy and become a member of the renowned Navy SEALs. After enlisting and completing three years
of rigorous training, he achieved his ambition, only to climb even further, to heights he
never could have foreseen. In 2017, Roderick, now a SEAL, was recruited
by the SCP Foundation, after his skills and aptitude caught the attention of their embedded
recruiters. He joined one of the Foundation’s MTFs,
or Mobile Task Forces, elite units that are often sent in to directly deal with anomalous
threats. Specifically, Freeman became a member of MTF
Nu-7, also known by the codename “Hammer Down” - the task force you call in when
literally nothing else can do the job. To bring Hammer Down onto the scene for anything
less than a potential XK is like swatting a housefly with a nuclear warhead. So Roderick, a gung-ho soldier boy if there
ever was one, would fit right in. But what does this Mobile Task Force have
to do with all that talk about the Church of the Broken God and the Flesh That Hates? Well, after an incident that broke out in
the Irkutsk area of Russia, they were the ones responsible for cleaning up the mess
left behind. According to Roderick’s account, a robot
the size of a small building was spotted in this area during December 2018. This thirty foot tall robot had apparently
come to wipe out a rapidly-spreading disease. As you can probably guess, that disease was
SCP-610, the Flesh That Hates. At first, the Global Occult Coalition had
fired on the robot, launching a volley of ballistic missiles in an attempt to take it
down. This move failed, the robot protecting itself
so that not even a piece of shrapnel could hit it. It barely seemed fazed by the attack, and
went about destroying remnants of SCP-610 as it found them. Any infected with the Flesh were obliterated,
and when its job was done, the robot simply left. Perhaps this wasn’t quite the grandiose
return for Mekhane that the Church of the Broken God had envisioned for their deity,
but it was nevertheless the long-awaited return they got. What had happened was what the SCP Foundation
called a Lifted Veil scenario. The truth was now out, the world would soon
be aware of the existence of anomalies. Afterwards, Freeman and the rest of Hammer
Down recovered a series of tablets that had been left behind by Mekhane. Each one of them bore a simple, repeated phrase
in a variety of languages, just the words “I will return”. A short time later, riots began to spark across
the world. It was a disaster too big for even the Foundation
to cover up. According to Roderick, multiple anomalous
groups such as the Serpent’s Hand and the Chaos Insurgency had gone public. In Mexico, the Insurgency became involved
in illegal businesses that gave the cartels an anomalous run for their ill-gotten money,
while members of the Serpent’s Hand used the air of tension to incite riots. In short, everything was a mess, and this
eventually escalated to a full-scale civil war in Mexico in 2021. During the build up to this, around 2019,
there was unrest around the world, and Mobile Task Forces like Hammer Down were being deployed to train alongside various
public safety organizations - all in hopes of getting the world prepared
for the storm gathering all around them. The Insurgency and the Hand had revealed the
truth about anomalies to the world, and so the Foundation’s MTFs were aiding law enforcement,
special forces and the like, readying them to defend against the anomalous. In 2022, the Foundation finally decided to
intervene in the situation down in Mexico, where the Chaos Insurgency and the Serpent’s
Hand had been causing disruption. Roderick Freeman was one of those sent to
Juarez, coming face to face with former cartel members turned lackeys for the Insurgency. The Chaos Insurgency had been fighting with
the Foundation for decades, and knew all their tactics. Combine that with the ferocity and brutality
of a lifelong cartel member and even the toughest soldier is in for a fight. As it turns out, the fight wasn’t even the
worst part for our dedicated little soldier. While attempting to transport a person of
interest across the Texas/Mexico border, Roderick and his squad were ambushed by a sniper. During the attack, Freeman received a wound
to his spine that left him paralyzed from the hip down. However, even though the Foundation didn’t
like to admit it, the Church of the Broken God was actually highly skilled in surgery. After all, they worshipped mechanization, and would often augment
themselves using technology. Or, to use Roderick’s own words: “If you
wanted an iPhone in your skull in 2009, they could've pulled it off. If you wanted to be able to turn the lights
on and off in your home by blinking, they had an upgrade for that. If you lost the use of your legs because of
a sniper on a rooftop in Juarez, they had you covered.” Thanks to members of the Church, there had
been a new technological revolution since the lifting of the Veil. By 2024, devices that felt like they were
twenty years more advanced than technology should have been were now commonly available. So, that’s how Roderick Freeman was able
to walk again. However, the SCP Foundation refused to let him return to duty, forcing
him into an administrative role. Frustrated, he applied for a job as a containment
specialist. Meanwhile, the state of the world was constantly
changing, with the SCP Foundation handing over safe anomalies to world governments. New divisions and departments were being formed
to deal with the containment of SCPs, there was even an Anomaly Registration Program that
allowed people to call 911 to report dangerous or life-threatening anomalies. Anyone exhibiting anomalous abilities could
now find doctors or therapists rather than being carted off to a containment cell. In short, the Foundation’s days were numbered. However, this was not as idyllic as it sounds. According to Roderick, this should have been
a chance for the civil rights of anomalous people to be respected - something the Serpent’s
Hand had been campaigning for since their modern inception. Instead, it meant that anyone with anomalous
traits perceived to be dangerous was arrested as threats to national security. Things were nowhere near as restrictive as
under the Foundation, the safer anomalies could even have visits from family. But there was one boy, Thomas, whom Roderick
had to look after, remarking that he wasn’t old enough to be kept in a containment setting. Little did Roderick know, the tests that were
being run on Thomas were keeping tabs on him. Somehow, the boy was able to use anomalous
abilities to watch where Roderick was at all times. The SCP Foundation was finally disbanded in
2027, with the containment of anomalies becoming the responsibility of the Global Coalition
Council. This organization had long been the official,
sanctioned counterpart to the more “off the books” Foundation, despite their more
violent methods, but now the GOC was making their work known to the public. But, with the Foundation gone, Roderick was
out of work, picking up odd jobs over the next six years. There was widespread criticism of the SCP
Foundation and its dubious methods, the dark things they’d done to keep anomalies contained. Civilians killed, entire populations given
memory wiping drugs to forget about SCPs, the horrific treatment of D-Class personnel. A document containing details about these
practices and more was leaked, causing an outcry. The SCP Foundation’s brutal methods were
declared to be crimes against humanity. Alongside this, paranoia about anomalies was
spreading. Governments were encouraging their citizens
to report paranormal happenings, and people with anomalous traits were being registered
and arrested. In Roderick’s account, he says “When people
don't understand something, one of two things will happen: they will try to understand it,
so they can use it for their own ends. Or, and this is far more likely, they will
grow afraid of it and try to destroy it. So, it was when humanity rediscovered anomalies. Former Foundation employees were declared
public enemy number one, with anomalous persons at a close second.” When former members of the Foundation began
to find themselves on trial by the United Nations, the public began
executing any ex-Foundation personnel they could find. At first, local police or even the National
Guard would intervene, but some eventually started actively helping the vigilante mobs. There was nowhere for Roderick to hide, the
FBI even used the Unusual Incidents Unit to track down the Foundation’s remaining members. Some had even been hired by the UIU to bring
in their former co-workers. And for anyone who knows how utterly useless
the Unusual Incidents Unit are, to be brought in for execution by them is a truly humiliating
death. Unsure who to trust, Roderick turned to Agent
Leonard Wells, a man whose life he had once saved. Meeting at a diner in Wisconsin, Leonard agreed
to smuggle Roderick to Russia for five thousand dollars, getting him safely out of the FBI’s
jurisdiction. Freeman agreed, and was then led into an SUV
with three other men that he didn’t recognize. According to Leonard, they were just there
to help smuggle Roderick. The five of them drove to an isolated stretch
of road, only to stop. Something was terribly wrong. Leonard told Roderick to exit the car, claiming
that they would need to switch vehicles. As the SUV drove off, Leonard handed Roderick
a flashlight and told him to signal a nearby grove of trees. And then… According to a report, Roderick X. Freeman
was wanted by the US government for the actions he was involved in during his time at the
SCP Foundation. He was believed to have been responsible for
human rights violations, and was picked up by agents of the FBI’s Unusual Incidents
Unit. The report claimed that Roderick engaged the
UIU agents with a small firearm, although he had reached out to Agent Leonard Wells
for help. Whether he was executed or tried to run away,
Roderick Freeman was shot and killed. But that was far from the worst part about
his death. Dying is bad enough, but witnessing death,
especially at a young age, is something that can have a long-lasting effect. But who was there to see what happened? Or rather, who could see without being there. Thomas, the young anomalous boy Roderick had
been assigned to, had seen the whole thing. The world had changed, undeniably. It has been said that the Foundation dies
in the dark so that we can live in the light. But when that same light was turned to the
Foundation itself, it seemed they couldn’t survive under its scrutiny, either. Whether the world is better or worse without
them is something only you can decide... Now check out “SCP-5000 Why? - The Full Story Compilation” and “The
O5 Council Must Die SCP-001 - The Way It Ends - Ouroboros Cycle” for more terrifying tales
from another timeline…
