It’s the end of the world as we know it,
and you’re feeling...less than fine. That’s because some of the SCP Foundation’s
greatest fears have been realized, and we’re in the middle of an XK Class End of the World
Scenario. But what exactly is an XK Class, specifically? How does it fit in among the other K-Class
scenarios that the Foundation stays ever vigilant for? What are some of the ways the world can end
as a result of anomalous activity, and if one of these events does unfold, what can
be done to stop it? Well grab your water filters and head down
to the nearest Foundation-approved apocalypse bunker, not that it’ll save you, because
we’re talking XK Class End of the World Scenarios! Sadly for us, there’s actually a huge number
of ways that the life and reality we consider “normal” can suddenly disappear. These are known to the Foundation as “K-Class
Scenarios”, a description given to any event that will severely alter reality or normality
on a global scale. There are too many of these to list right
now, but the most prominent threats are SK, NK, CK, ZK, and of course, XK Scenarios. An SK scenario is when another species or
civilization surpasses or replaces humanity, such as the threat that the Foundation believes
SCP-1000 poses, while an NK, or “Grey Goo”, Scenario posits that the world may be overrun
by out of control, self-replicating nanomachines, covering everything in grey goo. CK-Class restructuring scenarios refer to
a situation in which some kind of reality-warping anomaly irreparably alters or restructures
reality as we know it. By contrast, a ZK-Class “End of Reality”
scenario involves an anomaly in physics causing reality in general to just cease. But most feared of all, and the most abundant
in its potential causes, is the XK Class End of the World Scenario. This is quite literally the apocalypse. Armageddon. Judgment day. End times. Lights out. There are well in excess of sixty anomalies
capable of triggering an XK Class Scenario, and sadly, far fewer that can reverse them. T.S. Eliot wrote, “This is the way the world
ends, not with a bang but a whimper.” As anyone at the SCP Foundation could tell
you, there are plenty more ways the world can end than that. Here are some of the most strange, terrifying,
or downright interesting examples of anomalous apocalypses. Starting with the more ridiculous end of the
apocalyptic scale. SCP-871 is a series of over 200 cakes, varying
in size and variety of cake. If any of these cakes are eaten, they’ll
be replaced by a magically appearing cake within 24 hours. However, if the cakes are not eaten, they’ll
still produce a replacement. If the cakes are damaged but not eaten, a
replacement will appear instantaneously. In other words, if the replication is not
properly inhibited by the SCP Foundation, there’s a considerable risk of the world
being overrun with impossible quantities of cake. It may seem silly, but Foundation scientists
have estimated that an uncontrolled outbreak of SCP-871 would render the world completely
uninhabitable in a mere 80 days. The Foundation tracks a number of frightening
SCPs capable of quickly getting out of control such as the 100% infectious and deadly prion
SCP-008, and SCP - 610, aka The Flesh That Hates. But, none seem to present the same genuine
threat to human life as an epidemic of global cake duplication. Another bizarre anomaly capable of causing
an abrupt apocalypse is SCP-5092. This anomaly is a strange phenomena that exclusively
affects every sitting US President. At 7:53 PM every single night, the president’s
nose will begin to itch. When this happens, naturally, the president
will itch his nose. This may seem like an extremely innocent pattern
of behavior, but the true danger occurs when the president affected by 5092 doesn’t act
on this sudden and irritating itch. If the president doesn’t itch, it will cause
SCP-5092-1 to spontaneously manifest. 5092-1 is a massive asteroid, over twenty
kilometers in diameter, that manifests above the North Pole and begins hurtling towards
earth at incredible speeds. If the president fails to scratch his nose
by 8:53 PM every single night, this asteroid will collide with Earth and invariably cause
an XK-Class End of the World Scenario. The Foundation is required to keep a constant
watch on the current sitting US President for this exact reason. SCP-2950 is in a similar situation. It’s not necessarily always a potential
XK Class waiting to happen, but under the right circumstances it absolutely can be. According to the surface-level files, 2950
is an anomalous folding metal chair. When sat on for over an hour, it becomes impossible
to convince the sitter to leave the chair without using force. However, as a file only accessible by a single
member of O5 Council reveals, 2950 is actually an anomaly that takes the form of whatever
the majority of people aware of it think it is. The misinformation about it actually being
a chair has been spread this whole time just to reduce its potential threat. An ancient tome from the sacred library of
the Serpent’s Hand though, depicts 2950 as an all-powerful and incredibly deadly XK
Class Scenario Threat. If this book ever fell into the wrong hands
and its information was shared, it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and likely result
in the exact kind of XK Class apocalypse we fear. SCP-2935, also known as “O’ Death”,
is a limestone cavern in Indiana leading to an alternate world that already experienced
an XK Class End of the World Scenario, a complete and total extinction event so powerful it
even led to the deaths of thought-to-be-immortal figures like SCP-682 and Dr. Bright. While the cavern is thankfully now sealed
off, it’s believed that the force of pure death lurking on the other side is more than
capable of causing the same mass extinction event in our reality if ever it gained passage
here. Another anomaly very likely to cause an XK
Class End of the World Scenario is a creature known as The Devourer Of Worlds which lives
in a desert-like pocket dimension beyond SCP-2317. While the beast is currently bound, Foundation
scientists anticipate it breaking from its bonds and moving into our dimension, at which
point it’s likely to live up to its name and eat all of us. Perhaps the most feared entity in all of SCP
Foundation lore, The Scarlet King is an ultra-powerful, godlike being created by the tension between
organized modernity and the primal violence of the past. The Scarlet King makes repeated attempts to
enter our reality, and his various devoted cults do what they can to help him make the
jump. It’s believed that if he ever did find his
way into our dimension, the end of the world is an extremely likely outcome, given his
seething hatred for all modern societies. Some anomalies don’t seem to cause XK Class
End of the World Events, but they are predicted to potentially cause them to happen some time
in the future. One such example is SCP-3769, a seemingly
normal scientific calculator that binds itself to the body of whatever touches it. It then, depending on the number input into
the calculator, regresses the biology of the user into some prior stage of evolution. But when the calculator was tested on SCP-411,
a 400 year old man who ages in reverse, it broke, and began performing the exact opposite
function to what was intended. It started evolving the subjects it touched
into future stages of evolution. While this worked successfully on all animals
tested, from octopi to macaques, it killed every human it was tested on even when the
evolution feature was cranked down to its smallest setting of a single generation. Humans, it seems, are at the end of the road
in terms of our evolutionary journey. Foundation Scientists have posited that this
could foretell an XK-Class human extinction event within our lifetimes, though we don’t
know what form it will take. Another SCP that seems to function as a grim
omen is SCP-152. This is a large, hardcover book that features
startlingly detailed descriptions of events in the past, present, and future. The one common denominator is that small differences,
often about the actions of the Foundation, lead to calamitous XK Class End of the World
Scenarios in the book. The Foundation has found this incredibly pessimistic
work of literature valuable as an instruction guide in avoiding the coming disasters that
it predicts, but it’s possible that it may somehow predict an incoming XK that we can’t
wriggle out of. Another grim harbinger of a potential dark
future is SCP-1678, also known as “Unlondon.” This sprawling dystopian city beneath modern
day London suggests an XK Class extinction scenario above ground caused by rampaging
anomalies getting loose from Foundation containment. The museum in the doomed underground city
displays a number of dangerous, Keter Class anomalies wreaking havoc on the surface world. For all we know, these horrifying events may
someday come to pass for us. At this point, it’s understandable if you’re
feeling a little paranoid. With all these possible XK Scenarios looming
over us, from being smothered by cake to doom foretold by a calculator, it’s easy to let
a sense of hopeless roll over you. And these aren’t even all of the anomalies
capable of doing this. But never fear, there are three anomalies
out there that have the capability to reverse even some of the most dire XK situations. The one hope is that they can be reached in
time. One of the more practical methods is activating
SCP-2000. This anomaly is a huge facility hidden beneath
Yellowstone National Park. Through a number of anomalous technologies,
2000 is capable of making exact copies of everyone who existed on earth in the last
20 years. The facility also stores all human knowledge,
allowing things to pick up right after they left off. This new race of humans is then able to rebuild
society from the ground up, at which point the Foundation will re-emerge and erase everyone’s
memories of the XK Class End of the World Scenario that started it all. SCP-2000 isn’t effective in all situations
though. What if, for example, the XK scenario destroyed
the conditions for supporting human life on Earth? Or what if SCP-2000 itself is destroyed during
the process of the XK Class Scenario? Thankfully, when it seems like all other hopes
have failed, there are two remaining anomalies that can function as a sort of total reset
button if brought together, no matter the severity of the apocalypse. These are SCP-055, the unknowable Anti-Meme,
and SCP-579, another mysterious anomaly known only by its extensive containment procedures. The combination of the anomalous effects of
055 and 579, as laid out in Roget’s Proposal and the article for SCP-2998, is the Foundation’s
ultimate secret weapon for preventing an XK-Class end of the world scenario. If the two are united during said scenario,
the universe resets to a time before the XK Class started and prevents it from happening. That’s why, if the world is ending around
you, there’s no better hope of canceling the apocalypse than bringing 055 and 579 together. So there you have it: Everything you need
to know to have a basic knowledge about the end of all life on Earth. Preventing an XK Class End of the World Scenario
is like playing an extremely high stakes game of whack-a-mole, you never really know when
the next existential threat is going to pop up. And perhaps the one that finally ends it all
is closer than you think... Now go check out “SCP Chaos Insurgency Explained”
and “SCP - 4511 - SWINE GOD” for more frightening Foundation facts!
