Shopping malls are one of the most common
locations in the United States and are usually quite predictable and boring. So then why is one mall near Havensbrook,
Indiana one of the most closely guarded SCP Foundation sites? The SouthWood Park Mall has been shuttered,
with the mall encircled by fencing and all entrances closed off. Foundation agents under the supervision of
Commander Lana Grey have standing orders that if anything emerges from the mall, it is to
be contained by any means necessary or eliminated with necessary force. Just what is lurking inside? This is SCP-4971… a terrifying, uncontained
entity that is capable of initializing a VK-Class “Salted Earth” End of Human Habitability
Scenario. While SCP-4971 appears to be a standard closed
American shopping mall from the outside, what’s inside is completely different. Within the mall is a time-space anomaly, and
anyone who steps inside will find themselves in a massive outdoor climate under a sun that
looks to be perpetually setting. While the climate and flora in the area appear
to be similar to the Pacific Northwest or Yukon territory, testing of samples has been
inconclusive. What is clear to those who have explored this
biosphere within the mall is that it is much larger than the confines of the mall and the
limits of its territory are unknown. But those who wander in are not alone - and
that’s where the threat lies. The SouthWood Park Mall had operated since
1985, but by 2006 the last stores closed and the mall was left vacant and abandoned. This sign of urban blight soon attracted trespassers
and criminals. Soon rumors began swirling about the strange
rituals being performed by local teens. While many people alleged supernatural doings,
no proof was found. That is, until 2007. It started as a standard break-in, and police
were notified. But as they explored, they started hearing
disturbing sounds - screams and sounds that didn’t sound like they came from this world. The trespassers were nowhere to be found,
despite reports that a huge group was there. The search eventually revealed the portal
to SCP-4971 - which appears at different places in the mall and doesn’t seem to be consistent. The SCP Foundation was contacted - but several
of the officers who entered the mall were never seen again. The Foundation quickly compiled all the information
they had on the site, and discovered connections to a dangerous group. One of the people reported to break in was
Katarina Randolph, a local missing teenager with ties to Anna Christian, who was a known
occultist in possession of artifacts used in summoning rituals. Both were members of the Daughters of Eden,
a cult that believed that mankind had disrupted the natural order and magic must be used to
restore nature to its proper place. The Foundation believed Christian might have
been in possession of the Last Appeal of Biphi, a text supposedly based on the last words
of a witch killed during a botched exorcism. Many believed the text had the power to summon
nature spirits to drive away colonists. While most copies had been destroyed, this
one had made its way from Nazi Germany all the way to Miskatonic University in Massachusetts. And now it was potentially in the hands of
dangerous cultists. While Anna Christian was apprehended months
earlier in a raid on the Daughters of Eden, the manuscript was nowhere to be found, and
neither was Katarina Randolph - until she was seen breaking into the SouthWood Park
Mall just before the anomalous activity began. While the book contains several minor rituals,
the final one claims to summon something called “The One Who Knows Silence in the Earth”
- the entity Biphi reportedly called out for in her last words. A raid on Randlph’s former living quarters
revealed a rambling message where she referred to herself as a daughter of Gaia and Eden
and vowed to avenge the crimes committed against Earth and Nature. Knowing these facts, the Foundation debated
on how to contain SCP-4971. While they didn’t believe the entity had
been summoned, they believed it was in process - with the final ritual yet to be completed,
a ritual that requires a high level of human sacrifice. A team was deployed consisting of code-named
agents. There was the team leader Eclipse, fire team
Roman and Mercury, science team Atlantis and Bangkok, and Nine-Eyes on communications. They entered the closed mall, where there
had been little activity, and turned on their lights to see around the darkened facility. It seemed normal at first, except for the
disrepair and vandalism, but they soon noticed something odd. The mall didn’t smell like an abandoned
building. There was wind in it, and it smelled deeply
unpleasant. As they entered the deserted atrium, they
noticed the destruction seemed worse than expected, with a collapsed skywalk that couldn’t
have been knocked down by the vandals. As the team explored an abandoned clothing
store, they encountered a humanoid figure that seemed to be covered in thick webbing
- like they had been the victim of giant spiders who had planned to eat them later. And just beyond them, three unidentified figures
lurked but didn’t move, their eyes glowing in the darkness. They left the clothing store, and decided
to watch if the strange figures would follow them, but they remained where they were. The team advanced into the mall, where they
could hear the sound of rushing water get louder despite no water in sight. And it was clear that the area they were exploring
was far longer than the SouthWood Park Mall should be. A sign on a store seemed to be written in
no language at all. As the team entered another large atrium,
the mall suddenly ended. And they found themselves in a different world. They stood atop a massive cliff overlooking
a forest that seemed to extend forever. The sun was low in the sky, and didn’t move
no matter how long they waited. The land seemed natural, except for a large
symbol several meters away. It looked like a series of rings surrounding
triangles and smaller rings carved into the round. An area in the middle was burned, as if it
had been the site of a fire, and several glass vials on the ground had been shattered. But most disturbing was the thick red liquid
filling the trenches surrounding the symbols. A quick analysis of the liquid revealed it
to be human blood. Further examination of the site revealed an
altar, a machete, and pages from the Last Appeal of Biphi - specifically the ones to
summon the entity described in the end. But while the ritual demanded a high level
of human sacrifice, no bodies could be found. The ritual was governed by the weight of the
human hearts sacrificed,and an analysis revealed that the sixty-one people who had entered
the mall and the four officers who went missing would have reached a sufficient number to
complete the ritual. The Foundation was preparing to bring in a
heavy fire team to eliminate the entity before it became a larger threat, but the team was
skeptical. They hadn’t seen any hostile presence yet
and had no idea what this entity was even supposed to resemble. They reported their findings back to Command,
offering to bring back the manuscript and other evidence, but were asked to move to
a nearby water source and to hold their position until the heavy fire team arrived. They hiked through the nearby woods, noticing
an increase in electromagnetic static that started to mess with their equipment. Mercury soon realized they were being watched. While the other team members were skeptical,
Mercury insisted that five or six entities were tailing them to the east. They started hearing odd chattering, unlike
any known animal sound. They couldn’t locate the entity on thermal,
but it soon came into view. It appeared to be an animal, but an odd flashing
light appeared around its head and it kept appearing and disappearing. As they approached the river, the sun - which
had not moved for hours - suddenly started setting, and it became abnormally dark. They tried to make contact with Command, but
the static had shut down their equipment. All recordings then cut out simultaneously,
and contact with the team was lost. While the team was not recovered, the Foundation
obtained enough information to put together a report on the entity for the Heavy Fire
team. They had determined that SCP-4971 was the
largest spatial anomaly ever encountered, being at least 400,000 meters in volume. It seemed to be self-sustaining and maintained
by an entity of enormous power. The symbol that appeared in the ritual was
known as the Voxen Eye, and appeared in the Last Appeal of Biphi as the symbol she carved
into her chest. It had been referenced repeatedly in arcane
writings and seemed to have its roots in the pre-Columbian North American occult. And it also appeared to be linked to The One
Who Knows Silence in the Earth - the ancient being that took its payment in human hearts. It was time to send in the Heavy Fire team. The team consisted of Team Lead Horizon, Communications
officer Aleppo, and Heavy Fire agents Vestige, Kato, Carrier, Ashen, and Wild. They followed the original team, who had lost
contact but was still transmitting their location. The Foundation wanted to set up a long-range
transmitter that would make it easier to communicate and set up a permanent base inside the anomaly. They advanced into the eerily quiet forest,
the sun back in its usual position. As they walked, an unknown signal suddenly
came over their broadcast. It was a song, broken up by static. “The Girl from Ipanema”. The team was confused, but they would soon
have much bigger concerns. There was a rustling in the woods, and a large
group of figures emerged, followed by a single, much larger figure. It looked vaguely humanoid, but it was surrounded
by a tangle of branches, vines, and leaves. More disturbingly, it didn’t have a head. In place of where its face would be, there
was a strange bright triangle that seemed to be vibrating in and out of place. The recorders became more and more distorted
as soon as this being appeared. The team tried to make contact with the entity,
but it didn’t respond. They fired their weapons, and the creature
screamed and collapsed against a tree. The strange symbol shattered. While the entity seemed to be dead, the sensors
picked up a mob of figures moving their way. They heard a high-pitched scream over their
earpieces, and they were surrounded by dozens of similar entities. The beings gathered around their fallen member,
the team heard the odd sound of breaking glass mending, and the creature rose from the ground
and rejoined its brothers - and started advancing towards the team. The team moved away, but was quickly overwhelmed. Kato fell and was overcome by the creatures. Ashen fell in battle, and Wild lost an arm. As the group fled from the creatures, Aleppo’s
communicator went off. It was Eclipse, from the first team, contacting
for help. Horizon made contact and listened to instructions
that told them to head for high ground. The remaining members of the heavy fire team
headed for a nearby rise, still chased by the chattering entities. The ground under them shook, and Wild fell
behind and was snatched by the entities. In the end, it was only Aleppo, Vestige, and
Carrier that survived to meet Eclipse. They compared notes, and Eclipse said they
had been there for a week trying to survive against the hostile beings. But the Heavy Fire team had entered less than
a day after them, and had been there less than half a day. Something was wrong with the passage of time. But the team had barely any time to reflect
on this in their new safe spot. They heard intense static from their radios,
followed by a low droning sound. Their cameras broadcast a single still frame
of something approaching, a multi-legged entity. And then their communications cut out and
both teams were lost again. Additional recordings were found from the
survivors of the first team led by Eclipse, detailing their experiences within the anomaly. They reported being in there for months, with
their rations running out. While the water was drinkable, they reported
it may be making them sick. The plants were inedible, burning their mouths,
and the sun seemed to move only with their movements. They approached a mountain, seeking what they
believed was a way back home. But as they approached, they encountered a
mysterious figure that appeared to be a naked woman dancing near a symbol on the ground
and a human heart. The team tried to contact her, and realized
she was singing the same song they had heard on the radio earlier. It was Katarina Randolph. The missing cultist. When she turned around, they could see a large
wound on her chest. As she ignored the team’s orders, Nine-Eyes
fired and Randolph crumpled to the ground. Suddenly, there was a surge of energy, and
the team was knocked to the ground. A new entity appeared in front of them, a
massive being with a deerlike appearance but missing its head and neck. Surrounded by glowing orbs and with a massive
white crest in place of its head. Suddenly, Randolph’s body lifted into the
air, and the girl began speaking again. She called out to Gaia, claiming the entity
could have her, and Randolph was transformed into one of the entities as her head collapsed
in on itself. The sky darkened, and the team was lifted
into the air, their hearts suddenly pulled from their chests. Only Mercury was left standing, running for
safety. He was cornered by Katrina, pulled his gun,
and the footage cut out one last time. SCP-4971-▽ had been discovered - and it
was one of the most dangerous beings the Foundation had ever encountered. An interview with Anna Christian, now in Foundation
custody, revealed that the creature was sustained by rituals - all magical rituals, of any kind. Human sacrifice gave it extra power, but it
derived strength from everything - including the Foundation’s many magical locks to contain
entities. Stopping all operations would weaken the creature,
but would also endanger the Earth countless times over by the potential release of the
other contained entities. It was unkillable, it was near-impossible
to contain, and it was searching for the way out into the world - and it was only a matter
of time before it found it. The good news is that there’s a reverse
ritual - but the price is high. The Last Appeal of Biphi contains a reverse-incantation
that seals the portal to SCP-4971. But it requires a human sacrifice as well,
and the cost increases exponentially. The Foundation investigated, and discovered
that the cost would eventually increase to the lives of every living being on Earth that
had not already been converted into the beings inside SCP-4971. The SCP Foundation was faced with an impossible
choice - here was an incredibly powerful being that could end the world, and the only two
ways to stop it both posed an unacceptable risk to the world. Ther Foundation met to discuss their options,
and came up with a new, esoteric classification for this object. Cernunnos. Objects classified as Cernunnos can be functionally
contained, but the Foundation cannot achieve this due to logistical or ethical reasons. Therefore, SCP-4971 remains within the SouthWood
Park Mall, guarded by the Foundation, with SCP-4971-▽ inside and hopefully contained
there - at least for now. For more on unearthly objects contained within
mundane locations, watch “SCP-3008 - Trapped in Ikea”, or check out this video instead.
