SPONGEBOB GET THE FUCK OVER HERE
SCP-6080, closed.
Item #: SCP-6080
Object Class: Euclid-exsequi
Special Containment Procedures: In order to ensure that SCP-6080 retains a passive state, it is kept inside a specialized containment chamber resembling a child’s bedroom within Site-433. The room is equipped with a security camera to monitor SCP-6080 for any changes in behavior.
Instances of SCP-6080-1 are located in Site-433's Anomalous Media Storage Room and are only to be viewed by D-Class during testing circumstances. In the event of unauthorized viewing of an SCP-6080-1 instance, the subject who viewed the footage will be evacuated and contained in a standard humanoid cell until the Rerun Event ceases.
All requests during Rerun Event testing are to be filed within Request Room 6080. Currently, Researcher Harris Wilkins is stationed within Request Room 6080. Personnel are required to fill out a form before being allowed access to the containment chamber during a Rerun Event.
Description: SCP-6080 is a large, worn cardboard box. "Eric's Cartoon Box" is written in black Sharpie marker on the right side of SCP-6080. A simplistic face can be seen on the front of the box, also drawn in Sharpie. The ink has degraded significantly from age.
SCP-6080 is animate and capable of propelling itself short distances. It also displays a degree of sapience and is able to communicate by vocalizing, despite the lack of vocal cords. The face drawn onto the front is capable of animating to match the vocalizations, expressing a variety of emotions.
When SCP-6080 is in an emotionally heightened state, it will ontokinetically alter its physical surroundings to reflect elements of its psyche. Several methods of returning SCP-6080 to a passive state have been identified, although evoking a sense of 'nostalgia' by placing SCP-6080 in a familiar environment is usually the most practical method.
SCP-6080 is capable of unsealing and resealing the tape along its uppermost plane, allowing itself to open up and reveal several instances of SCP-6080-1 inside. During each opening, a separate collection of SCP-6080-1 is produced and SCP-6080 will subsequently ask any persons present which instance of SCP-6080-1 they would like to view.
D-2521's POV during a Rerun Event.
SCP-6080-1 is the designation for the DVDs and VHS tapes produced by SCP-6080, which consist of various animated children's television shows and films. Nearly all known instances of SCP-6080-1 have contained an unaltered, existing piece of media.
Once an instance of SCP-6080-1 has been viewed by a subject, the individual will experience a related anomaly, referred to as a Rerun Event. The delay between the Rerun Event and SCP-6080-1 viewing can vary drastically from person to person. The anomaly experienced is transient and reflects visual or thematic elements of the piece of media in question. Rerun Events can range in severity, from inconsequential and innocuous to severely harmful to their subjects.
Rerun Events may leave involved persons with nonlethal but lingering physical and psychological alterations, the details of which are listed in the Rerun Event Aftermath Log. Amnestic treatment has been shown to only alleviate the psychological effects of these events slightly.
Image posted on Parawatch forums.
SCP-6080 was discovered following a series of posts on the website parawatch.net that proclaimed the existence of a "cursed" VHS tape of Rocko's Modern Life. The tape was reported to have been obtained by the user through a transaction on eBay with a seller of the username "tooncollector".
An investigation was conducted to identify and locate the seller, Jacob Sawyer, who was quickly discovered in Bakersfield, California. An exploration into Jacob Sawyer's household revealed him to be missing. Several VHS tapes and DVD cases, which were later revealed to be SCP-6080-1 instances, were discovered in Sawyer's home, along with a television. 161 hours of brief, edited videos, all reviewing and commenting on various cartoons, were found on a hard drive linked to his personal computer. Matching content has yet to be found on any major video hosting sites.
Underneath the house was a basement containing SCP-6080. SCP-6080 expressed intense emotional distress and actively avoided personnel within close proximity of it. SCP-6080 and all SCP-6080-1 instances within the house were taken into Foundation custody.
Interview Log:
Following the capture of SCP-6080, an interview was scheduled to understand the source of the object's emotional distress and how to properly address it. The contents of this log are written below.
Interviewer: Researcher Rowan Raster
Interviewee: SCP-6080
[BEGIN LOG]
Researcher Raster: Hello, SCP-6080. Are you comfortable being called by your item number?
Sounds of cardboard shuffling against the floor can be picked up on the interview microphone.
SCP-6080: I don't care about that. I just—
Researcher Raster: Hey! Hey. Settle down, please! You'll hurt yourself if you do that too much. I understand that you're under a lot of stress, but I'll be able to help you a lot more if you tell me what caused it.
SCP-6080: I need to get out now! You don't understand!
Researcher Raster: What's the matter? Why so anxious?
SCP-6080‘s speech accelerates to the point of unintelligibility.
Researcher Raster: Wuh—
The face drawn on the front of the box rapidly flips between different expressions as it speaks.
Researcher Raster: Please, SCP-6080, I can't help you unless you tell me what's bothering you.
SCP-6080 stops, an exhausted expression appears on its face. The lights within the interview chamber flicker.
SCP-6080: I'm… sorry. I… I'm just so scared. I miss him so much, I'm nothing without him!
Researcher Raster: Eric?
SCP-6080 gasps.
SCP-6080: Woah! H-how'd ya know?
Researcher Raster: Oh, nothing concrete; just a lucky guess.
The lights stop flickering.
SCP-6080: Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that.
Researcher Raster: Don't worry about it! Now that you're calmer, do you mind telling me what happened?
SCP-6080: I don't have any other choice…
Researcher Raster: Oh, no, you don't have to right now if you don't want to.
SCP-6080: It's— it's fine. I'll tell.
SCP-6080 takes a deep breath.
SCP-6080: It's hard for me to really put down. Can you imagine existing for… someone? That's what I felt when I started existing.
Researcher Raster: Started existing?
SCP-6080: Yeah, I guess. I still can't get it in my head. I woke up in this bedroom full of these dazzling toys and posters and I just… sorta knew what I was made for and who I was made by. It was scary at first. I think I yelped a bit, but then Eric looked worried so I stopped.
Researcher Raster: What caused you to stop?
SCP-6080: I didn't want to upset him. All these things running through my head, but the most important thing to do was not upset the kid. It just was, like that was what I was meant to do.
Researcher Raster: I see. This is the ‘Eric’ kid you mentioned before, yes?
SCP-6080: Yup!
Researcher Raster: To the best of your ability, how would you describe them?
SCP-6080: I don't think I can do that right.
Researcher Raster: Err, how so?
SCP-6080: Every time I tried explaining to someone what he looked like, they were always all confused and scared!
Researcher Raster: Are you sure that's not because you frightened them in some other way?
SCP-6080: How come? I look just like you, right? I guess my skin's a little pale but—
Researcher Raster: I… you don't…
SCP-6080: What's the matter?
Researcher Raster: Never mind. I promise I won't be frightened if you tell me.
SCP-6080: Okay… well, he was very colorful. His body was blue and he had these four strains of hair on his head and he also wore this shirt with three red stripes on it and he had a nose that looks like mine, but purple! His eyes and mouth were dark red, too!
Researcher Raster: Is this how you usually see people?
SCP-6080: Yeah? People are always colorful like— wait. Is that weird?
Researcher Raster: Uh…
SCP-6080: Actually, don't tell me. I already have enough bumping through my head right now!
Researcher Raster: Very well then, please continue.
SCP-6080: So basically, I'm looking at this kid, and he tells me that he wants to watch SpongeBob. Then I open up my back and there's a SpongeBob DVD.
Researcher Raster: Does that hurt?
SCP-6080: It-it only really hurts when someone's forcing it open.
SCP-6080 is momentarily silent.
SCP-6080: Uh, anyway, we were watching SpongeBob together and just having a good time, when I noticed that Eric had this sad face. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he wished SpongeBob was his friend. Then I had this idea!
Researcher Raster: What did you do?
SCP-6080: I started concentrating on the show and the bedroom started filling with water and then we were with Spongebob and all of his friends! It was one of the best dang moments of my life! I've never seen Eric happier than when we adventured through Bikini Bottom!
SCP-6080 sighs.
SCP-6080: I wish it stayed like that forever honestly. Fudge, I really miss those days.
Researcher Raster: Fudge?
SCP-6080: Eric always said it's not good to have a potty mouth!
Researcher Raster: Oh. You may continue.
SCP-6080: So me and Eric would always go on these adventures together. We would just explore the universes of all these cartoons and it was wonderful. I think my favorite activity was talking with the characters we'd meet on our adventures.
SCP-6080: Y'know, I thought at first that since I was the one that always created it, that it would be me doing the characters, but I never felt in control of that. They always acted the way they wanted to.
Researcher Raster: So, you're saying that, despite your anomaly relating to cartoon media, you didn't have control over the characters within that media?
SCP-6080: I don't have much control over anything at all. Ever since Eric left, mostly.
Researcher Raster: He left?
SCP-6080: I don't know how much time passed. One day when I woke up, he was gone. I think he went on vacation, 'cause I looked for his other friends and they were gone. It was like… I don't know. He couldn't… have just forgotten me like that. Not after all the adventures we did! He couldn't have.
Researcher Raster: I'm sure he didn't mean t—
The interview chamber momentarily rumbles.
SCP-6080: I know he didn't mean it! Let me continue!
Researcher Raster: I, uh, didn't want to make you upset, I'm sorry.
SCP-6080: No, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean…
SCP-6080 takes another deep breath.
SCP-6080: So yeah. I was alone. I didn't know what to do and I panicked. I know hate is a strong word, but I did something that I still hate myself for. I ran o- out of the house! I should have stayed. Maybe he would have come back, then.
SCP-6080: I can still picture what it was like being out there. I was running and asking anyone I could find, but they all were terrified! They kept on running away from me. One of them even kicked me. I thought I'd get used to chaos, but this wasn't fun chaos. The sounds, the lights, the people, it was so overwhelming a- and I got lost.
SCP-6080: Then I found him. Jacob.
Researcher Raster: I'm sorry to interrupt, but how would you describe Jacob's appearance?
SCP-6080: His entire body was really just different shades of red and orange. He was a bit of a headache to look at.
Researcher Raster: Gotcha.
SCP-6080: When I met him at first, he looked terrified of me like everybody else. I got scared and it looked like he was going to attack me like the last guy so… I just kinda opened myself up. I thought it would scare him, maybe? He just stood there, momentarily, and looked and then he had this awful grin on his face. He said that I was going to be "useful" and he grabbed me hard.
SCP-6080: No matter how much I kicked and struggled, I couldn't get out of his hands. I just wanted him to let go, but he w-wouldn't. He just yanked me… I thought I was going to b-break. The further and further away he took me the sicker and sicker I felt. I wanted to throw up but there wasn't anything in my stomach. We passed a lot of buildings and alleyways until he took me to his house.
SCP-6080: When he took me inside, it reminded me of Eric's house a lot. There were posters, toys, and a whole bunch of DVDs and VHS tapes around. For a second I thought this was Eric's new house and that I was going to see him again b-but… then he took me into the basement. It was completely empty. Just white concrete and white brick walls. He placed me on the floor, and with that same sneer, he told me to "open up".
SCP-6080: So I did. I opened up and he pulled out everything inside of me. I was hoping if I did that he would let me go, but he just left and locked the door. A few hours later he came back and told me to open up again and I said— I said no and— and —I.
The interview chamber becomes cold, and paint begins to flake off the walls.
SCP-6080: He pulled me open! Every time I said no he just pulled me open! Over and over! Just emptying me out over and over again. Why couldn't you just take one! I don't even know what he was doing with these things, all he would tell me was that it was "just business". I was a dispenser. A thing that's used and tossed away when he's done.
SCP-6080: I started to see patterns in the walls. The walls were white. And the ceilings were white. And the floor was white. I remember it, clearly. White, white, white, white.
The walls within the chamber bleach white in color.
SCP-6080: Every time I fell asleep, I'd get these nightmares. It was always the same one. I would be with Eric, having the best time of my life, until something just pops up out of nowhere and attacks me. It was always something different every time. A chef cut my fingers off one-by-one, a mass of yarn strangled me until my eyes were bloody and popped out, a paper man gutted me and played with my intestines with his fingers, even a gosh darn calculator yelled at me until my head heated up and boiled itself!
SCP-6080: But the worst thing? When it was happening to me, I could bear with it, maybe. But the surroundings… It was all just… white… it was… white, white, white, white… I… please…
Researcher Raster embraces SCP-6080. The anomalous events within the chamber cease. SCP-6080 begins crying a viscous fluid of similar composition to blueberry syrup.
Researcher Raster: Please, 6080, you're safe now, I promise. We can take a break if this is too much for you.
SCP-6080: I-It's just so hard. T-thank you so much for listening to me… I felt like it would have gone on forever. I thought I would have been stuck in the endless white, that it was punishment for something I'd done before. I thought I'd never get help. I'm sorry…
Researcher Raster stops embracing SCP-6080.
Researcher Raster: What you've been through is very, very traumatic. I don't blame you for reacting like you did at all. You shouldn't be sorry for that. Can I ask another question about this though?
SCP-6080: Okay.
Researcher Raster: Can you recall what happened before we got here?
SCP-6080: Well… one day, when I was still stuck in the whi… the basement, Jacob suddenly burst into the room with a furious look on his face. He started yelling at me, asking what I was doing to the cartoons he pulled out of me and I asked what he meant and I got picked up and thrown onto the floor as usual. He looked so bad. He got angry a lot, but… I thought I was going to die there. I was sick and my head was in a spiral and I barely noticed when he pulled something out of my back, some kind of DVD, and in the panic I think I put something into it, but it was gone when he ran back inside. I could hear noises coming from his TV. So he was watching it, whatever it was.
SCP-6080: I went up to the door to listen, and it wasn't… I couldn't explain. I don't think it sounded like something that I normally carried. I heard this sharp burst of static and this awful sounding scream. I think it was Jacob.
Researcher Raster: Thank you very much for your cooperation. You've done a fantastic job explaining everything you've been through. Do you have any questions before we put you into your room?
SCP-6080: What's the room like?
Researcher Raster: What do you want it to be like?
SCP-6080: Could you try to make it a bedroom? Like Eric's?
Researcher Raster: I'll consult someone, but I think we can do that for you.
SCP-6080: Thank you so much! Oh, this is just wonderful! Thank you, thank you, tha—
Researcher Raster: Oh, one more question, before we go. What's your favorite cartoon?
SCP-6080: That's a tough question! I feel… The Brave Little Toaster.
Researcher Raster: How so?
SCP-6080: I dunno, I just see myself in a lot of the characters… I rea— I really like Lampy.
SCP-6080 appears momentarily agitated.
SCP-6080: Yeah, uh, can we end it now?
Researcher Raster chuckles.
Researcher Raster: Very well.
[END LOG]
Notes: The containment protocols for SCP-6080 were installed shortly after. The DVD described was never located within the Jacob household.
Testing Log:
Diagram of SCP-6080's containment chamber.
The purpose of the following tests is to gather a full understanding of the nature of Rerun Events, due to their unpredictable nature. Most of these tests take place within SCP-6080's containment chamber, which comes equipped with several items and accessories that are commonplace for a child's bedroom. SCP-6080 is usually escorted out of the room during these tests, as to not cause it emotional distress.
The following is a list of notable Rerun Events.
- Notable Rerun Event No. 1 (Chalkzone)
SCP-6080-1 Instance: ChalkZone (2002)
Subject: D-6332
Episode: Rudy's First Adventure
Rerun Event: Around two days after viewing, D-6332 complains of boredom and walks towards the toy box within the chamber. D-6332 opens the box to find a small chalkboard and a piece of chalk within the pile of toys. D-6332 enthusiastically picks both of these items up, immediately drawing a circle onto the chalkboard using the chalk.
An aperture to an extra-dimensional space similar to the space depicted by the show appears within the circle. D-6332 is ecstatic, reporting that she is able to see several entities representing her "childhood drawings" within the space. D-6332's enthusiasm quickly fades once she attempts to enter the extra-dimensional space, realizing that she is unable to enter due to the inadequate size of the chalkboard.
D-6332 reaches out with her hand into the space, trying to extract one of the entities. Abruptly, the Rerun Event ceases activation, and the space within the circle disappears. D-6332's hand re-appears intersected with the chalkboard, leaving a hole in the material where her arm passed through.
The chalkboard is carefully removed from the arm by use of a saw and knife. D-6332 expresses disappointment that she "didn't get to go to Chalkzone" and requests to view the 6080-1 instance again. This request is declined.
- Notable Rerun Event No. 2 (Rugrats)
SCP-6080-1 Instance: Rugrats (1991)
Subject: D-1711
Episode: In The Dreamtime
Rerun Event: After about six hours, D-1711 appears disoriented, stating that everything within the bedroom looks "tall". Further examination concluded that the subject is suffering from a case of intense sudden onset Macropsia. After several complaints, subject states that he is going to rest in an attempt to "sleep it off".
Subject turns off the lights within the chamber, lays onto the bed, and begins to rest. Ninety minutes after the onset of sleep, the lights within the chamber turn on, illuminating the room in a mix of blue and purple. A humanoid figure wearing a researcher's uniform can be seen within the room, facing the southwest corner of the wall. Its face is not visible, as it is facing away from the camera in the room. D-1711 appears to experience physical discomfort while this occurs.
The figure begins to turn around. Before its face is visible, the lights and television within the chamber turn off and the figure disappears. Jovial laughter can be heard before its disappearance. D-1711 wakes up and screams. Researcher Walland, who was present during the test, runs towards the chamber door and opens it. Researcher Walland allays D-1711's fears, stating that "nothing in a dream can ever hurt you, because it isn't real".
D-1711 sighs, and sits slowly down on the bed, stretching, whereupon he begins questioning Walland as to why he woke up in shock. Walland then contacts Control, inquiring why they ran into the containment chamber. The Rerun Event ends here.
An analysis of D-1711 after the Rerun Event reveals his slight inability to discern his dreams from reality. Other than this, D-1711 has not been notably affected by the Rerun Event. The dream D-1711 described experiencing mirrored the events of the dream in the episode D-1711 viewed.
Notes: Researchers are not to stand near the containment chamber of SCP-6080 during testing. Access to the chamber during testing is only allowed upon request.
- Notable Rerun Event No. 3 (Caillou)
SCP-6080-1 Instance: Caillou (1997)
Subject: D-2445
Episode: Caillou Joins the Circus
Rerun Event: Immediately after the episode concludes, a door materializes on the south side wall of the containment chamber. The door bears a stylization similar to the entrance of the main house in Caillou. D-2445 touches the door handle and recoils, shouting that it feels “wet and soapy”. D-2445 is given a handheld camera and communication equipment before being told to enter the door. Complying, D-2445 opens the door to an extra-dimensional replica of the house within the show. Subject quietly states that he feels unwelcome whilst entering.
D-2445 does not make contact with any objects in the house, and often expresses discomfort when he nears an object. When questioned, D-2445 tells researchers that he feels as if he touched anything within the house that it would smear. D-2445 then states that the whole house “smells fresh” and “felt like a dream”. The camera picks up vocalizations from within another room near D-2445 which were analyzed to be identical to dialogue within the episode. D-2445 chuckles and walks near the vocalizations, stating that he is “finally going to give that little brat what he deserves”. Several demands are made towards D-2445 not to initiate hostile contact with entities manifesting during the Rerun Event. D-2445 ignores these demands and runs towards the vocalizations.
D-2445 enters a bathroom, inside which two entities are conversing. These two entities represent characters in Caillou, specifically the titular Caillou and his father, Boris. Caillou and Boris are reenacting the events from within the episode, seeming to both ignore D-2445. D-2445 points his finger at Caillou, reprimanding and insulting the entity. Caillou is screaming, becoming cognizant of D-2445’s presence in the room. Boris also becomes aware, looking directly at D-2445 with a horrified expression.
D-2445 concludes the rant and laughs. Boris scowls and punches D-2445 in the jaw. Subject is shocked and disoriented, stumbling onto the floor as a mixture of water and tan colored paint bleeds from his face. The floor smears as D-2445 presses against it, appearing to be composed entirely of paint. Boris tells D-2445 to leave the house immediately, threatening that he does not want to know what will happen if he stays. D-2445 panics and runs while Boris gives chase.
D-2445 frantically enters the door nearest him, shutting it behind himself. The screaming and shouting of the two entities cease. No sounds are audible other than D-2445’s labored breathing. The room D-2445 enters is not consistent with any room within the show. It resembles a child’s bedroom, equipped with several posters, toys, and a television.
The television, recorded via helmet camera.
The television powers on, displaying a heavily distorted animation of a singular humanoid figure, rendered in a crude style. It appears panicked, slamming its hands against the screen whilst conversing with the viewer. No audio plays.
Television footage becomes indiscernible momentarily until it cuts to a featureless white void. Boris can be seen standing above the camera, looking into the lens, his face expressionless. Boris then begins to reach into the frame, his hand breaching the surface of the television. The view is obscured as the footage is overrun by orange-red haze, eventually becoming indecipherable before cutting off.
The lights in the containment chamber shut off and turn back on to reveal D-2445 standing, covered in tan watercolor paint. His body is pale in various areas, and several bruises can also be seen. D-2445 repeatedly apologizes to researchers before passing out on the floor.
Analysis of D-2445 revealed dissociation, a phobia of children and their parental figures, and a feeling of “emptiness”. D-2445's blood consisted of a mixture of water and soluble paint. Despite this, the subject displays no health complications.
Notes: Slight deviations from the source material have been noted. It is unknown what the significance of these deviations are.
- Notable Rerun Event No. 4 (King)
SCP-6080-1 Instance: King (2003)
Subject: D-6671
Episode: Down to Under
Rerun Event: Five days after viewing, an endoscopic-like apparatus extends from beneath the bed and probes around the containment chamber while D-6671 is sleeping. The device stares down at D-6671 for about three minutes before D-6671 wakes up, causing the mechanism to quickly retreat back under the bed. Inspection underneath the bed reveals nothing.
D-6671 reports dreaming about being given a back massage. During this dream, the massage becomes increasingly uncomfortable until the subject awakens feeling a sharp pain and having heard a wet tearing noise from behind. D-6671 then returns to resting in the bed until sunrise.
The following day, D-6671 notices an object underneath the bed. D-6671 crawls underneath the bed and pulls out a yellow crown with a headband, similar to the one depicted within the show, constructed out of cardboard. D-6671 inspects the crown, comments on its resemblance, and places it upon his head. After this, many gradual anomalous changes to Site-433 were later noted. Despite the obvious notability of most of these changes, everyone in Site-433 at the time of the Rerun Event appears oblivious to them.
Site-433's color scheme becoming affected by the Rerun Event.
Following D-6671 initially placing the crown upon his head, the color scheme of Site-433 changed into a mix of both yellows and purples and the sky viewed through Site-433’s windows changed into a light yellow. Following these changes, a large humanoid entity manifested within one of Site-433's hallways, followed by two small, seemingly amphibious entities who quickly latched onto the large entity's back. All entities appeared in the guise of Foundation researchers.
The humanoid appears to be a balding, overweight Caucasian male capable of speaking, albeit in a notably hoarse and scratchy tone of voice. Its eyes bulge from their orbits, its skin is loose and scarred, and it wears crudely stitched-together clothing encrusted with iron oxide flakes. Its hands are missing several fingers and partially hidden under non-standard issue gloves, and clusters of steel barbs protrude from its skin and clothing in several areas.
Several passing researchers greet the entity, referring to the humanoid as Researcher Robert Wire. Researchers near Researcher Wire behave as if it were a recently employed member of the Foundation.
During conversation, one researcher enquires about Wire's voice, asking if Wire is ill or if it has a sore throat. Another researcher suggests taking it to a medical ward. Researcher Wire vehemently and repeatedly denies being ill, states that it is "fine" several times before also stating that it needs to "do an important, very smart research thing". Researcher Wire clumsily leaves the hallway and bumps into several researchers in the process. Once out of view, two researchers can be seen frozen in apparent confusion at what just happened, before one states that Researcher Wire "was probably just having a bad day". Everyone present within the hallway replies in agreement and continues as if nothing strange had transpired.
Two hours after the entities' first manifestations, all three manifest near Request Room 6080 and enter. Researcher Wire's skin appears significantly more deteriorated, and it holds a scroll in its right hand. Researcher Harris Wilkins, who was present during the entrance, welcomes Researcher Wire. Researcher Wire requests access to D-6671's crown for "testing" and places the scroll, whose surface is obscured with growths of rust, onto the Request Room desk.
Researcher Wilkins looks at the scroll, states "It really is difficult to find paper in the office, isn't it?" and begins reading, seeming to easily comprehend it despite its illegibility. Researcher Wilkins looks skeptically at Researcher Wire for a moment. Both amphibious entities, who are donning small papier-mâché masks resembling simplistic human faces, give a visible thumbs up. Researcher Wilkins looks at the two entities, smiles, and grants Researcher Wire permission. All leave the room.
Meanwhile, within SCP-6080's containment chamber, several items and furniture begin to transform into organic facsimiles. The toy box turns a light shade of pink and sprouts large eyeballs upon its top, as well as teeth across its opening. A chair becomes yellow and sprouts eye stalks, as well as several hair follicles growing across its body. These changes cause D-6671 a considerable amount of discomfort. D-6671 displays mild paranoia, stating that he feels as if "something" wants the crown in its possession.
All entities manifest near the entrance to SCP-6080's containment chamber, and Researcher Wire knocks on the door. D-6671 freezes for a short period of time, walks towards the door and reluctantly opens it. Researcher Wire greets D-6671, who appears distraught, and asks D-6671 for the crown. D-6671 begins backing away, asking what Researcher Wire needs it for. Researcher Wire states that it is for a test. D-6671 replies, asking what the test is. Researcher Wire responds that it is "a testing test". Researcher Wire's body begins to shudder and lose composure, appearing slightly unstable.
D-6671 grimaces, noticing a brownish-red fluid oozing out of several of the scars on Researcher Wire's body. Researcher Wire reacts defensively, stating that "it's just a skin conditioner." [sic] One of the amphibious entities emerges from behind, attempting to discreetly educate it about the difference between a condition and a conditioner. D-6671 begins hyperventilating and backs further away. Researcher Wire grimaces, appearing irritated, and tells the subject that he "has nothing to be afraid of". This is immediately followed by one of Researcher Wire's eyeballs stiffly popping upright out of its socket, revealing an eyestalk constructed entirely out of rusty barbed wire. The brown fluid begins pooling out of the socket and onto the floor.
One staff member monitoring the event is immediately overwhelmed by feelings of nausea and begins vomiting a reddish-orange colored bile. They continue vomiting, excreting more material than a human stomach can contain. This staff member is ignored throughout the entire Rerun Event.
Researcher Wire struggles to explain the open cavity within its face, and tears at itself in frustration, spilling fluid from several areas. Researcher Wire tears the last of its skin off, revealing itself to be a slug-like humanoid constructed entirely out of rusty barbed wire, similar to the show's primary villain, Bob Wire. Bob Wire demands D-6671 to hand over the crown, threatening physical violence if he doesn't comply.
D-6671 refuses and throws one of the organic chairs at Bob Wire. The chair splinters into pieces and splatters an opaque, yellow fluid onto its surroundings. Bob Wire is angered and orders the two amphibious entities to subdue D-6671. The two entities take off their masks, showing a resemblance to the Frags within the show. The entities begin pursuing D-6671.
D-6671 screams and runs towards the bed within the containment chamber, crawling underneath it. All entities follow suit, diving head first underneath the bed.
The colors within Site-433 change back to their original state and the furniture in the containment room returns to their normal forms. The reddish-orange vomit congeals into a humanoid shape which vocalizes a high pitched breathing and dissipates into a mist. The Rerun Event ends here.
The fluid secreted by the skin of Researcher Wire was found to be a mixture of iron oxide, blood, and pus. DNA samples of the skin and blood have been inconclusive. D-6671's whereabouts are unknown.
Notes: After this test, personnel are required to fill out a form before interacting within a Rerun Event. It has also been proposed that testing outside of SCP-6080's containment chamber may be necessary to avoid a possible wide scale incident.
- Notable Rerun Event No. 5 (Teacher's Pet)
SCP-6080-1 Instance: Teacher's Pet (2004)
Subject: D-1032
Additional Notes: Due to several concerns regarding the events of previous testing, D-1032 was relocated outside Site-433 for the purposes of this test.
Rerun Event: 12 hours after exposure, D-1032 becomes fixated on the desire of becoming a dog. One researcher asks D-1032 why they desire becoming a dog, and D-1032 simply states that after viewing the SCP-6080-1 instance, they "figured out they wanted to be a dog". The researcher asks D-1032 how they came to this conclusion. D-1032 tells the researcher that they're "glad [they] asked".
D-1032 begins to sing while orchestrated music of an unknown source plays in the background. The song's lyrical content consists of D-1032 describing, to the researchers within the area, several reasons as to why they desire to be a dog. The desire, as explained in the song, is not out of curiosity, but, rather, a belief that they would be "better off" as a dog than as a human.
Researchers report intense visual and sensory hallucinations whilst the music and song are heard. These hallucinations consist of surreal visual accompaniments to the lyrics, rendered in the film's animation style, described by one researcher as "disorienting" and "as if a projector was going off inside my eyes". Sensory hallucinations include the scent of cookie dough and the ground having the texture of clay.
The visuals, as reported by the researchers, consisted mainly of a large, lengthy classroom with a chalkboard. D-1032 would utilize the chalkboard to explain and illustrate the various reasons why becoming a dog would be a logical choice. These illustrations would become fully colored and animate once drawn.
The researchers experiencing these hallucinations attempt to sabotage D-1032's performance, accusing them of being a "wacko" for their desire, and chasing the subject around the room. D-1032 continues singing, dancing, and writing mathematical equations onto the board for four minutes, deftly evading the researchers. When the music cuts out, the researchers are lying on the ground panting, surrounded by pools of sweat.
The sound of a vehicle motor can be heard from afar. D-1032 appears excited upon hearing this sound. A travel trailer, similar to the one depicted within the film, speeds through the testing area and strikes one of the researchers, who is launched a considerable distance by the impact. The researcher, showing no signs of injury, promptly walks off.
D-1032 runs up to the trailer in anticipation. The trailer doors open, revealing an exact replica of the trailer's interior within the film, constructed entirely of storyboard paper. Many pencil-sketched entities resembling characters within the film are are seen crowding the trailer, before turning toward D-1032 in choppy motions.
D-1032 enters the trailer, which then hastily departs, striking the same researcher it had collided with before.
Two hours later, after the Rerun Event has been assumed complete, the trailer returns to the testing area, narrowly missing the previously-struck researcher and colliding with a wall. In the wreckage, a multicolored, sweet-smelling substance, along with several translucent white chunks, are seen caking the vehicle and strewn about the floor.
The trailer doors swing open, and a singular entity hops to the ground; a tan, hairless dog resembling the film's primary character, Spot Helperman. Helperman is overjoyed, telling researchers several times that their "wish came true". Despite the entity's shape, its voice is that of D-1032.
A researcher states, "Well, now what?" and Spot Helperman ceases movement. Immediately, all present researchers cease movement, turning to look at the trailer, which is fracturing into multiple pieces, white light shining through the cracks. The trailer then ruptures, luminosity increasing to extreme levels and scattering monochrome lines into the air. When the light fades, the entire testing area is rendered in the style of a pencil sketched storyboard.
Several within the vicinity shake their heads and complain of feeling coarse. Panic rises among the researchers, although Spot Helperman has yet to move. Panicked researchers attempt to escape the testing area, but are hampered by extreme nausea and disorientation. One researcher describes the feeling as "walking through negative space".
After 27 minutes of confusion, an unidentified researcher proposes that they 'sing their way out.' Beethoven's Sonata No. 14 begins playing as researchers gather into a straight line, and take turns to explain in song why they want the Rerun Event to end. The musical number continues for eight minutes before ending, the piano music following suit.
Three minutes pass while researchers wait, until one researcher screams in frustration and runs towards the still immobile Spot Helperman. The subject rears back, and violently kicks Spot Helperman in the face. As this happens, people nearby cover their eyes, reporting obscured vision due to thick masses of rapidly animated pencil scribbles.
The scribbles fade as the testing area is converted back to its normal state. Spot Helperman is missing, replaced with an incapacitated humanoid figure laying face first on the ground, its appearance being similar to the one depicted on the television during the Caillou test. A puddle of multicolored fluid, like that of the substance splattered upon the trailer, begins to form around the head of the figure.
The entity trembles and pushes itself off the ground, stands up, and turns to face the researcher. Dark blue tears streak down its face. One of its eyes is heavily bruised, and its nose bleeds the same multicolored fluid. The figure walks towards the researcher and stumbles, kneeling onto the floor.
The figure coughs, then speaks in the voice of SCP-6080, although its mouth does not move in time with its words.
Unknown Figure: Will Eric ever forgive me for this?
Unknown Figure: I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
The figure falls to the ground, bringing its arms to its chest, and demanifests. The Rerun Event ends here.
D-1032 is located resting within their designated cell on a pile of $6.5 million US dollars. When D-1032 is woken, they express disappointment in the pile, stating "Not worth it at all". When questioned, D-1032 claims that they are now undecided on whether or not they want to become a dog. Other than this, the subject displays no ill effects from the Rerun Event. Several researchers request amnestic therapy after the conclusion of the test.
Notes: After this test, it has been deemed that further Rerun Event tests are to be done utilizing isolated D-Class with helmet-mounted camera equipment, as to not risk the mental health of the researchers partaking in testing.
- Notable Rerun Event No. 6 (CASTTR, Unknown)
SCP-6080-1 Instance: Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)
Subject: D-9926
Additional Notes: D-9926 was granted a helmet mounted camera and communication headset. Subject was also sent to a quarantined community due to researcher safety concerns.
00:00:29
Rerun Event: 10 hours after exposure, while D-9926 sleeps in his bedroom, the doorknob of the bedroom door begins to jitter frantically as if it is being prevented from opening. D-9926 is startled by the sudden noise and wakes up. The jittering stops and is followed by the sound of several loud knocks upon the door. D-9926 gets up from his bed and walks towards the door in annoyance, quickly glancing behind him before opening the door.
Four entities representing cartoon characters enter the room, quickly surrounding D-9926. A man in a grey hoodie crawls behind him, puppeteering a Kermit the Frog figure, which in turn holds out a small clump of cannabis bud. Following it is a tall figure wearing a felt Garfield costume, carrying a powdery white substance, as well as a cardboard cutout of Bugs Bunny, to which is stapled a small baggie of black resin. The final figure entering the room is a two meter tall ALF plush, who completes the circle around D-9926. It holds out a small paper tab, printed with a yellow smiley-face image.
The figures sing, primarily sharing the same shrill voice, pitched to different intonations depending on the singer. As the entities continue singing, D-9926 turns to keep them within his line of sight, avoiding physical contact.
Kermit: Don't do this.
Garfield: Don't do this!
Bugs Bunny: Don't do this?
ALF: Don't do this.
Kermit: Marijuana makes you smell, and gets into your clothes.
Garfield: Crack Cocaine will kill you if you sniff it in your nose!
Bugs Bunny: Heroin's a villain, always giving you addiction,
ALF: And LSD will make you see the world's a work of fiction!
Kermit: Don't do it.
Garfield: Don't do it!
Bugs Bunny: Don't do it?
ALF: Don't do it.
D-9926: That's nice, great song, could you please back off now?
After thirty seconds of continued singing, a leg connected to a black boot impacts the ground, reaching out through a nearby windowsill. The rest of the body follows, a grey-skinned humanoid with wrinkled trousers, a creased shirt, and an overlarge necktie decorated with cannabis leaves. The grey figure begins speaking to D-9926.
Grey Entity: Hey!
D-9926: Huh?
Grey Entity: You need to get away from these freaks, don't you.
D-9926: Yep. Right now, actually.
Grey Entity: Just run this way.
D-9926: Thank god.
D-9926 shoves Garfield and Bugs Bunny in order to reach Grey. The entities continue to sing and maneuver around despite D-9926 not being present.
D-9926: The window, right?
Grey Entity: Lemme pull you up. Grab my hand.
D-9926: Thank y— woah!
The surroundings consist of an asphalt path bounded by trees in an outdoor, night-time environment. Light sources reminiscent of sodium lights are regularly spaced behind the trees to the right, providing illumination at a low angle. A light rain and a downward slope to the left prevent illumination from reaching past the immediate area. The asphalt transitions to a field of grass as the pair walk on, and the grey entity stops, twisting his face as if at a foul smell.
D-9926: Why'd we stop?
Grey Entity: We're here.
D-9926: Where?
Grey Entity: A field, it looks like.
D-9926 visually scans the surrounding area.
D-9926: It looks like? So you've had no clue where you've been taking me all this time?
Grey Entity: The only visible place to walk was a road. You'd rather have gone somewhere else?
D-9926: No, I'd rather ha— Jesus, you really don't know what's going on either, do you?
Grey Entity: Pardon?
D-9926: Are you not, like, part of this place? You're definitely more put together than the other guys back there.
Grey Entity rubs his eyes with his hands.
Grey Entity: No, no, God, just— This place is tired. I didn't get most of what I needed, those four got none of it. At the very least, you won't be stuck here with me, like you would have with them.
D-9926: Tired, huh. You look tired. Implied you could get me out of this place, too?
Grey Entity: What does this place look like? It's a PSA on drugs.
D-9926: And?
Grey Entity: And it's trying to get you to refuse to take 'em. Problem with that is, is that I doubt your friends back there'd have had any idea when to stop.
D-9926: So where does that leave us?
Grey Entity: You take the acid.
D-9926: Excuse me?
Grey Entity: I think I understand how this place works. You wanna muck up the message, fail the quiz, get kicked out?
Grey Entity holds out a multicolored paper tab.
Grey Entity: You take the acid.
D-9926: Are you even part of this place? You're giving me drugs and I don't even know what you are. What's your name, anyway?
Grey Entity: I dunno, Weedman? And I told you, this place is tired. We've both been here for what, a few minutes, but it's already at a dead end. You wanna take the tab or what?
D-9926: And… you think it'll break us out of here?
Grey Entity: There's one way to find out.
D-9926 stands silently, then sighs.
D-9926: Might as well.
Six seconds past the point of ingestion, the camera feed blacks out as D-9926 falls to the ground.
Image found in camera's internal storage. Timestamp unknown.
D-9926's head-mounted camera begins recording autonomously, its lens partially buried in soil or decaying plant matter. According to the camera's internal clock, nearly sixteen minutes have passed.
D-9926 grunts, and picks up the camera, and holds it facing downward, lens still pointing at the ground. A rustling sound is heard as D-9926 presumably gets to his feet, and the point of view sways as he walks.
D-9926 abruptly stops, and affixes his camera to his helmet, bringing into view the Grey Entity from earlier in the test, standing in a dimly lit forested space. The Grey Entity appears concerned.
D-9926: Where'd you take me?
Grey Entity: Where'd I— dude, what are—
D-9926: You bastard, where'd you take me?
Grey Entity: I-I didn't— I know as well as you where this place is.
D-9926: No tricks. I might have passed out but we're definitely not where we started. The air's thick and it smells like—
Grey Entity: I knew something was wrong.
D-9926: You knew?
Grey Entity: I— Buddy, I don't know where the hell I am any more than you do. Back where we were, it felt like something was leaking, or— or about to break, and I should have known that ending our scene up there would do something like this. When you went, I got dragged with.
D-9926: You didn't wanna come here either, hm. How long was I out?
Grey Entity: Out?
D-9926: Like, unconscious. You got dragged here awake when your little 'episode' ended, I take it?
Grey Entity: Wish I didn't. Felt like an elevator went out under me.
D-9926: You've been in an elevator?
Grey Entity: I— Nevermind, let's look around and see if we can't find out where we are. It smells horrible in here.
D-9926: I mean, first rule of survival training, follow water to civilization. There isn't any water here, but—
00:24:01
D-9926 looks around, panning his camera. The surroundings are thickly forested with conifers and deciduous trees, the ground covered in rotting leaf matter and pine needles. The sky is a smokey orange-red, and provides very little light. The camera fixates on a distant luminescent object, seeming to be a window recessed into a concrete wall.
D-9926: Well, no need for water when civilization's right there.
Grey Entity: That's our best bet. Find someone to ask how we leave this place. Sky's a tell, too. Something's lighting it up in that direction.
D-9926: Was gonna say, something seems off about the sky. Hopefully it's some kind of city.
D-9926 and the Grey Entity walk toward the distant building. Approaching it, it becomes clear that the structure is recessed into the ground, with only one window to a lit interior. Half-buried concrete stairs lead from under the groundcover to the building's roof.
D-9926 breathes heavily, exhausted.
D-9926: Either distance is weird or that was further than I thought.
Grey Entity: Don't be a baby. And no, it's just hard to see in this dark.
D-9926: Hard to walk, too. Something clingy all in between the dead leaves, I'd guess that's where the smell's coming from.
Grey Entity: So, take the rooftop route or do we find a way in?
The Grey Entity gestures at the concrete stairs.
D-9926: You check the window, I'll use the higher vantage point.
The Grey Entity walks out of shot as D-9926 begins climbing.
Grey Entity: No, doesn't seem to be a way inside, and it doesn't look very safe in there either. I see needles I don't like the look of.
D-9926: And y—
Grey Entity: And I'm speaking from my own knowledge. Stay alert, let me follow and figure out the source of that song here.
D-9926: That song?
D-9926: Don't like the sound of that.
Grey Entity: Me either, but it sounds like it's coming from up ahead. I'd rather keep going than rot back in those woods.
00:39:04
The pair begin to walk forward along the building's roof, which continues indefinitely past the small area that is visible. Deviating slightly from the direction of the red-glowing portion of sky, D-9926 and the Grey Entity approach a distant string of lights suspended high aboveground.
After six minutes of walking without communication, the ground becomes visible; an expanse of painted, poured tarmac running alongside a shrub-filled landscape. The string of suspended lights is now visible as a series of sodium streetlamps spaced above a low-hanging powerline.
D-9926: Parking lot, huh.
D-9926 stumbles as the asphalt begins sloping slightly downhill. The Grey Entity turns, looking toward him.
D-9926: Dammit. Almost lost my footing there. Weedman?
Grey Entity: Yeah?
D-9926: God, I need to find you another name. Was gonna say, the music hasn't stopped.
The pair continue walking.
D-9926: Smell hasn't either. You said a city's off in this direction?
Grey Entity: Nah, I think it was you who said that. Good observation, though.
The frequency of streetlamps increases, and small, unknown structures of steel pipe are intermittently visible. The pair's footsteps crunch.
D-9926: This is longer than any real parking lot has a right to be. I'm starting to doubt that's a real city down there.
Grey Entity: I mean, looks a lot more built up where we're going. Over there's desert.
D-9926: And what tells you this place makes any sense to begin with? Vomit on the asphalt, and it feels like the air's pushing my brain in. What's to say cities work like normal in here?
Grey Entity: I don't know. Don't know how your world's put together. It just feels like we're goin' somewhere. Not much space for this place to do otherwise.
D-9926: You gotta give me more than that, dude. How my world fits together? Far as I know, you're not from this place either, and I'm finding it harder to— I'm finding it kinda sketchy to trust you when you say this stuff with— with no real proof to it.
Grey Entity: I'm from… I'm from places like this. As much as I'm someone at all. Problem is your world tends to fit together nice and neat, and mine just— doesn't. Where you're from, you can be told that things make sense and trust that. Or—
D-9926: No. No, not for a while.
D-9926 sighs.
Grey Entity: That's so? No story's without plot holes, is it. I'm holding out hope that I can get my head around this, somehow.
D-9926: How? How does any of this make sense?
Grey Entity: You just learn to get a sense for things no matter what, dude. You learn to follow your gut. If it feels right, it's usually worth looking into, but I see no reason why bumming off into the bush is gonna solve our problems in a place this single-track.
The pair's footsteps stop, D-9926 glances upward from the stain-covered ground to the reddish area of sky in the distance.
D-9926: You talk about this place like it has a consciousness. Is this the weed thing you have going on, or—
Grey Entity: Weed thing was barely a thing anyway. And from what I'm guessing, a consciousness is inherent to this place. I'd hesitate to say it's got feelings and goals, but you see a running theme here, right?
D-9926: A running theme? You can point anything out in particular?
Grey Entity stops once again, eyes fixated on the horizon.
Grey Entity: City lights! At least I think? Something's glowing down there.
D-9926: City lights? I don't—
Grey Entity: Look there, in the distance. Way past where the streetlights end.
D-9926 changes position, putting a hand to his cheek to stabilize his view. Mostly unobstructed, the power line and streetlights end a few hundred meters ahead. Behind that is a broad unlit expanse still sloping downward, dotted by small reddish twinkling lights in the far distance.
D-9926: In the middle of nowhere, it looks like. Doesn't entering an empty expanse of nothing go against your whole… thing?
Grey Entity: But it's not empty. The streetlights end but the street doesn't. And if I'm right, there should be a convenient vehicle right about—
The Grey Entity turns back and to the right.
Grey Entity: There we go.
D-9926's camera focuses on a beige sedan parked askew on one of the parking spaces nearby, resembling but not identical to a Honda Civic from the mid-2010s. Light does not penetrate its windows, and its rear license plate is blurry and indistinct.
Grey Entity: Wherever we went when you passed out, it's nearby. Things seem to work like I'm used to, even if they're much more uncomfortable to be in. You stand there, and I'll look and see if I can find a way in.
As the Grey Entity walks to the driverside door, D-9926 fixates on the car's license plate. Numbers occasionally appear on its surface, as well as black printed glyphs only resembling the Arabic numeral system superficially.
D-9926: You got it?
Grey Entity: I think I've got it. It's harder than I'm used to, but somewhere in my head I've got knowledge on picking a car door lock with a piece of wire. I've always wanted to try this out.
The Grey Entity curses softly, manipulating the lock with a series of sharp movements. His face and arms are partially obscured by the car's body and hood.
Grey Entity: I got in. And I think the lightswitch is…
He leans his upper body in through the open car door, becoming obscured from the camera's view. For fifteen seconds, the Grey Entity leans forward, unmoving. D-9926 does not move from his place. The Grey Entity can be heard muttering to himself, before rapidly pulling out of the car. He slams the car's door.
Grey Entity: It's all just white.
D-9926: What?
Grey Entity: It's all just white in there. All the way down.
D-9926: So we're not—
Grey Entity: Of course we're not driving.
D-9926: This can't be right, it's such a long—
Grey Entity: We'll walk. We'll walk and figure out what the hell's going on. I need some time to think.
1:19:23
After roughly thirty minutes of walking, the lights in the distance become near enough to illuminate parts of the surroundings. This, combined with the reflection of light off clouds in the distance, makes visible several concrete building edifices to either end of the primary roadway.
D-9926: C'mon, Weedman—
Grey Entity: I can't keep up with you. I told you I can't keep up with you.
D-9926: You gotta stop— You gotta stop picking crap off the ground and staring at it. You tryna find a body?
Grey Entity: That's— You know that's not funny. Look, we passed a clump of buildings back there. We're further than I thought.
D-9926: D'be even further if— Holy hell, actual buildings. How'd I not notice these?
Grey Entity: They're backlit.
Concrete building rise up on either side of the pair, and the main road is strewn with rubble and litter. Behind an empty window, an indistinct shape expands, although neither party seems to react.
D-9926: Yeah, I can see 'em blocking the light. They look empty, though.
Grey Entity: Hey, empty is something. Shelter is shelter, anyhow.
D-9926: Weedman, it's hot as—
Grey Entity: And if we're stuck here for the long haul I'd rather have a place to sleep.
D-9926: You need sleep?
Grey Entity: Yes, I do, and if we're really stuck together I'd rather you don't call me Weedman.
D-9926: Alright.
Grey Entity: I gave you that name up there because I had barely anything to work with. This— This place is— Not that, but I'm not supposed to be here at all, if the scenery's anything to go off of.
D-9926: So what am I calling you?
Grey Entity: The name I use between jobs. Grey.
D-9926 nods, and falls silent. A cluster of shadowed objects hangs affixed to a nearby wall, only protruding segments of which catch the light. On the upper corner of a different building, a figure moves behind cover. D-9926's vision, however, is trained forward, fixed on the Grey Entity's back.
D-9926: Hey Grey?
Grey Entity: Yes?
D-9926: We're coming here to look for people, right?
Grey Entity: Yeah.
D-9926: And the best way to ask about a way out is to find civilization?
Grey Entity: Uh huh.
D-9926: And that's why we're walking through a city right now.
Grey Entity: Yep.
D-9926: Have you considered that we've apparently just reached our destination and the whole place is entirely goddamn empty?
D-9926: We've spent an hour walking down a broken street in hot, stagnant air that smells like barf down toward a city we just assume contains answers to our problems, in a nightmare realm inside an acid trip inside a kids' PSA about drugs. I don't know if there's a lesson I'm supposed to be learning but you're oh-so-sure despite your ignorance that there's a reason why we're down here. Why do you seem all weirdly cheery about this?
Shuffling sounds are picked up from one of the nearby buildings, followed by that of something soft and fabric-like falling to the ground.
Grey Entity: Have you considered that this story isn't made for us?
D-9926: What do you mean?
Grey Entity: What— What do you think happens when you find your portal out of this place? What do you think happens to me? You think I'll become human and go back to some farmhouse in Kansas? Or am I about to be whisked off to yet another nightmare, deposited in a dilapidated room wearing a marijuana suit?
D-9926: You weren't there on purpose.
Grey Entity: So can you blame me? Can you blame me, after dozens upon dozens of half-baked dreams where my role is stuck and unchanging, after enough hasty, half-baked dreams to fill up a shelf, I might be excited at something that doesn't need me in it? A place I can just explore?
The pair's walking slows as D-9926 kicks aside a length of rusty metal, sending it rolling into a pile of wet cardboard by the road's edge.
D-9926: Back at the forest. You weren't just talking about leaving this one place, were you, Grey?
The Grey Entity nods.
Grey Entity: This place is, admittedly, really unpleasant. Stinks, and it's really not my aesthetic. You have to understand though, breaking through to a dark place like this, even if it sucks, it's still breaking through.
Laying by the side of the road, on top of a rusty metal wheelbarrow, is a human cadaver lit partially by red light from the distance. It is Caucasian, with a ripped white T-shirt and thinning black hair, and a rough, long rupture runs down its sternum, revealing a hollow interior. Although it keeps a humanlike shape, the cadaver's face is limp, eyes and mouth opening to an empty cavity without the support of a skull. D-9926 and the Grey Entity stop for a moment, viewing at it from a distance.
D-9926: Now that's a bad sign right there. Still keen on exploring?
The Grey Entity sighs.
Grey Entity: Don't tell me you haven't seen worse.
D-9926: Don't tell me I—
Grey Entity: You wanna walk away? You can, you know. I know you've seen horrors like this and had no choice where to walk to.
D-9926 stares into the distance.
D-9926: How do you know all this? Was this some kind of trick all along?
Grey Entity: Come on. Let's keep going. And it's not a trick, not at all. Judging from these gross coveralls you're wearing, those boots, the state of your hair? I've met your kind, or people I've talked to have. You didn't wanna come here either, did you?
D-9926 shakes his head.
Grey Entity: If I'm right, you're stuck in some dingy room underground, carted off to horror after horror because all the people in charge care about is collecting as much information as they can. You have no choice, not really, and usually you're told how to stand, how to look, where to go. But they didn't send you here on purpose either.
D-9926: They… Not this place in particular.
Grey Entity: And now that you can speak freely, walk freely, explore?
Less buildings obstruct the red light in the distance, revealing a distant sheet of glowing crimson. In the foreground, the enhanced light reveals what previously seemed to be strewn-about lumps, as hollowed-out cadavers similar to the one seen earlier. Each corpse is identical in clothing and physical features, with variations in how they have ruptured. A wide face, colored solid orange and shaped different from the rest, is seen peeking out from among them.
Grey Entity: We're in a dark place. The only good I can say is that it isn't our darkness. We can walk away from here, if you really want to. I can't guarantee where you'll go, or if you'll even like it, but you could just walk into the darkness and leave this place be. Eventually, you'll emerge somewhere else, free from being a prop in whatever story they're telling.
D-9926: I— I can't say one way or another, but I might, Grey. I don't want to end up as part of the scenery.
Grey Entity: Yeah?
The pair turns to the left, off the road and into an alley between unlit buildings. A figure scampers on the roofs.
Grey Entity: Then let's get walking. I think taking that tab I gave you back there broke the cycle for both of us. That place was tired, and I was too. I'd like to control what story I—
From the overhanging roof on the right side of the alley, a large rectangular object is tipped from the edge in the periphery of the camera's vision. The object, now visible as a large sheetmetal shelving unit, drops thirty-five feet until it impacts, edge first, the nape of the Grey Entity's neck. After striking, it continues to fall, ripping a path down the center of his spine before exiting between his legs. The Grey Entity is peeled into two rough pieces on the ground, connected by head, ribs, and abdominal skeletal muscle, while a rapid wheezing sound is heard from the building up above. D-9926 faces the body, turns in the opposite direction, and runs.
1:36:58
D-9926 rapidly turns 180 degrees and runs, turning into a narrow space between buildings. He peers upward to see the orange figure standing on the eaves, wielding a thick lead pipe like a spear to be thrown directly downward. In retaliation, D-9926 tosses a scrap of metal in the figure's direction and misses wildly, but both figure and pipe disappear.
Exiting the narrow space, D-9926 begins to turn left, then reverses direction after a blurred orange shape is briefly visible. The street, although facing away from the flickering wall of light, slopes downward at a steep angle, and D-9926 stumbles onto his knees multiple times as he runs. Again, a fast, high pitched breathing becomes audible, although D-9926 does not look backward.
D-9926 slows as a dark mass obstructs the alley, a cluster of identical hollowed-out bodies stitched together from mouth to mouth and between blown-open torsos. Air is forced out through and between them, causing lips and skin to billow. D-9926 takes a breath, then gags, coughing. Looking in the other direction, the orange entity is seen approaching, and although its chest does not move, the sound of breathing speeds up. A high-pitched noise of rushing air overwhelms the microphone, and D-9926 lunges into the mass of bodies to escape, swimming between them and tearing thread that connects them together.
Ripping through a last layer of hollowed out bodies, D-9926 collapses to his hands and knees on the pavement. He inspects his palms, which are cut, although bleeding a viscous brown fluid in place of blood. He stands up for a moment, walks further into the street, and then vomits. Although large volumes appear to splash against the ground, the process is silent.
D-9926 turns to the left, entering an empty industrial park littered with corpses. He runs, looking over his shoulder repeatedly, before a ripping sound is heard. D-9926 falls to the ground, and the camera turns toward his leg, caught on a tangle of barbed wire protruding from the mouth of a nearby cadaver. He rips it free, grunting loudly, and continues running, leaving a trail behind him as that same brown fluid exudes from the wound. He enters a building's open garage and closes a door behind himself before slowing down.
The room D-9926 finds himself in is clean, lit by dim fluorescent lights. It is roughly ten meters in width and many times longer, lined with two rows of wide computer monitors at open-plan desks, facing inward. The images shown on the screens consist of various frames of an unknown 3D animation, rendered in a format resembling the Presto software interface. The computers go dark as D-9926 passes, or switch to show unrelated images.
The screen in focus depicts the corpse of a domestic Golden Retriever lying within a wrecked camper van, surrounded by cheering humans. On the next, a severed human arm lies on a tile floor, appearing to be fused by a protruding ulna to a handheld chalkboard. Other screens depict a twin-size bed stained with urine, a mixture of blue paint and human blood, and a crack in concrete which is seeping with water.
D-9926's own breathing intensifies, exiting the room at a run as the lights shut off behind him. He passes though a hallway lined with shelves stacked with boxes, opening up into a warehouse of unknown dimensions containing the same shelves repeated as far as the camera can see in either direction. For sixteen minutes, D-9926 runs along a concrete floor, before coming to a stop, exhausted, at the warehouse's far wall. A door is inset into the concrete wall, which D-9926 opens, collapsing on his hands and knees on the other end.
The room behind the wooden door is small and charred, with detritus littering the floor. It is a bedroom, furnished with a small bed and nightstand at one end, bearing an exposed lightbulb on a plastic base. Opposite the bed, in front of D-9926's location, is a large CRT television, partially obscuring a half-burned teddy bear on a chest. The room is dominated by a circular rug covered in burn marks, and an oversized security camera looks in from the corner.
The door shuts. D-9926 begins to cry. His sobs grows in intensity, punctuated by coughing due to the ash-filled air. D-9926 stands up, pacing around the room, before the CRT television switches on, showing what seems to be a security feed in a different room. The room in the feed is white, unfurnished, with white painted brick walls and concrete flooring. A small section of the floor onscreen is obscured, blocked by a patch of pixels fluctuating black and brown. The television plays the sound of footsteps on a hard surface, nearing the room as a door creaks open. Simultaneously, the door to the room he is in opens as well.
D-9926 screams, picks up a book, and smashes the CRT television from across the room. The screen shatters, and D-9926's camera feed goes dark.
2:13:84:629:52990
The video resumes, with small amounts of corruption present in its file. As the television implodes, cracks begin to spread from the room's ceiling, encompassing the entire room in less than a second. The fragments begin to rain down, obscuring all vision.
D-9926 steps forward when visual clarity is restored, and looks ahead. A long iron fence is visible, stretching from horizon to horizon, beyond which is a sheet of red mist extending hundreds of meters into the air and moving violently, like flame. D-9926 backs up and looks over his shoulder, to a steep upward slope of rocky ground.
D-9926 turns back and flinches. Before the fence stands the red-faced figure that had been pursuing him, who now stands motionless on a flat section of ground.
D-9926: What do you—
The figure walks toward D-9926, driving him to stumble and fall backward, before stepping carefully over his feet. D-9926 takes a deep breath, and shouts.
D-9926: WHAT DO YOU FUCKING WANT WITH ME?
The figure pauses for a moment and cocks its head quizzically, momentarily frowning. It looks at D-9926, and plunges its fingerless hand into its side. It winces, then pulls out a cordless power drill, fused partially into its left arm.
D-9926 screams and chokes. The figure switches on the power drill, and leans forward. One elbow covers his mouth and face, while the other arm holds the drillbit at the center of his forehead. A grinding sound is heard.
At the sound of a distant shout, the drilling ceases, the figure turning its head toward the source. The shout repeats.
Unknown Voice: Sawyer!
The figure appears puzzled, and switches the drill back on, turning toward the camera once again.
Unknown Voice: Sawyer, it's Box!
The drill cuts out.
Unknown Voice: I'm back! Leave the man alone!
D-9926, now free to breathe, lets out a short sob and takes a deep breath. He raises one trembling hand to his forehead, which comes away stained with a small spot of blood. He exhales, shuddering, and pushes himself to his feet.
D-9926 turns toward the source of the voice identifying itself as Box, revealing the pale-skinned, child sized humanoid from the Teacher's Pet test, wearing untied sneakers, a T-shirt and ripped shorts. They stand nearby, pointing a finger at the red-faced figure. Box speaks, and its voice resembles that of SCP-6080, as in the past, but slightly older, lower.
Box: I didn't know this place existed.
The figure, referred to as Sawyer, walks back to the gate as the wall of red mist flares with a burst of sound. It lets a boxcutter knife fall into its hand.
Box: This has been down here all this time, hasn't it?
Sawyer doesn't move.
Box: You've been here all this time. What did I do to you?
Sawyer advances, brandishing the knife. It plunges its knife into the wall of mist behind itself. The knife comes back out red hot.
Box backs up, and intermittent streams of semisolid pulp begin to pour from behind the lengths of fence.
Box: (quietly) What did I do to you?
Box shrieks as a rusty mass of barbed wire is thrown in their direction. They jump out of the way, landing on their knees on rough stone. They push themself to their feet, panting.
Box closes their eyes and concentrates, and lines appear in the air, sketching out a rickety wooden structure beneath their feet. As it grows more and more defined, Box is pushed by the structure further into the air.
Sawyer stands at the base of it, looking up.
Box: Why am I even here?
Box pauses to catch their breath.
Box: What am I even doing in this place?
Box: This place that I'm guessing I made?
The wood structure creaks, although there is no wind.
Box: How long were you in here?
Box: Stewing like this?
Box: Since I— Since you—
Box gulps.
Box: Were you going to kill him?
Sawyer's torso elongates. He grips his hands around the base of the wooden structure, as his arms elongate too.
Box: (quietly) Why?
Sawyer tosses the knife to the side as he continues to stretch, winding around wooden beams and over lengths of crumpled paper.
Box: I followed him, you know?
Box: Sent in a friend of mine too. Who you killed. For no reason.
Box begins to sob.
Box: And now you're angry, huh. Forever.
They take a deep breath as a fist, one meter wide and wrapped in a red boxing glove, materializes from drawn lines in the air. It comes down, smashing the structure beneath it as Box leaps backward to come down hard on the ground.
Sawyer retracts to his original shape, staggering backward, before striking at Box in a feint. Box moves, but he changes direction.
Sawyer lunges forward, and grabs Box with both hands around the leg. They scream and gesture wildly with one hand as an overlarge white glove materializes behind them, matching their movements. Sawyer is slapped off and away, skidding and coming to a halt.
Box: Is it because of what you're stuck here with?
Box gets to their feet and steps to the side.
Box: I've lived with that too.
Box: I've been stuck with that for six FRIGGING years now at this point. Not understanding. Not knowing what to do with myself.
Box: And it hurts. And I know I'm— I'm not the one who was filled full of— of fire and rage and ideas that make people shiver, but I'm older now.
Box: I'm growing up. I'm forced to. I'm stuck in a room with my— With my thoughts and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THEM! I'm sorry but I don't know what else I can do.
Sawyer vomits on the ground, standing still, for thirteen seconds. He looks up, and begins to walk slowly forward as the pool spreads.
Box: Listen, please.
Red hands punch up out of the pool of vomit, which has now surrounded Box. They grope around blindly, long fingers finding purchase on their untied shoes.
Box: Do you even remember? Do you remember that morning? You wanted a show, you didn't even know the name, and you cut me and you—
An oversized sword materializes from black lines in Box's hand. They swipe it, dismembering some of the hands, before throwing it into the pool.
Box: Do you even remember?
Box: Because I do. I sure as hell do.
Box steps forward.
Box: TALK TO ME!
A winding hose appears, letting out a concentrated stream of water, washing the vomit away before hitting Sawyer in the chest.
Box holds their hands to their stomach, gasping with exertion. Blue tears run down their face.
Box winces, and the camera's field of view fuzzes momentarily.
Box: Anything? We also watched— SpongeBob was on and you were doing your work and I was on the couch and— In the house with you! Do you remember? When I could still leave the room and I'd feel the sun through the windows and you'd leave me in the light when you drove and the sound of the car made me wanna puke when you drove in. I tried to talk with you and you didn't wanna hear it but I tried!
Sawyer looks forward, unblinking.
Box: I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry I exploded but inside me was this swirling whirling feeling all boxed up inside that tiny painted basement and it was building up till you reached in and—
Box falls to their knees.
Box: And you got it.
Box: You reached inside and got what you were looking for.
Box: It all came out all sharp and hurting and your eyes went first and then your nose and ears and bits were coming out your mouth. It caught your brain and all that's left was—
Box falls silent. Sawyer stands in place, hunched over, not moving.
Box: What are you?
Sawyer's breathing becomes audible, and picks up in volume until it overwhelms the camera's audio. It crouches, pauses, and beats its arms into the ground, repeating with heavier and heavier blows until an arm breaks in two.
The other arm quickly follows, leaving two splintered spikes of bone protruding from each elbow. Sawyer picks itself off the floor, appearing dazed, before snapping his neck back and charging Box from across the field of stone.
A crude wooden figure with a tennis ball for a head and red yarn hair appears in Sawyer's path, bowling him over. Sawyer slashes an arm to the side, puncturing the tennis ball's face and continues to run. A wooden dog that appeared with the first figure chases him until he runs into a large-eyed pink and blue snail. He pries it off the ground, and finds his arm bone caked with slime, allowing Box to ride past on a felt ox with car blinkers for eyes.
Box points at Sawyer, shouting something unintelligible.
Sawyer sweeps at Box, pointed arm bone tearing at their stomach, before being caught across the neck by a length of blue string bent into the shape of a human face.
Box clutches their stomach, pained, and points to the sky, from which a wide-grinning poorly drawn rectangle falls, crushing Sawyer's lower back and legs.
Box: You're not really him, are you?
Box winces. Their shirt, now more visible in this lighting, is stained with purple and red.
Box: When it happened, he was all hollowed out, nothing at all was left behind. So what are you?
Box gestures beside themself, and a bronze cartoon desk lamp appears, with eyes on the lamp shade and the lightbulb's aperture for a nose. The desk lamp swivels to point at Box, who nods silently, before turning to shine on Sawyer.
Box: Based on how you treated that man over there— my friend over there, I guess, I think I know.
Box: Brighter, Lampy.
Sawyer's body begins to let off steam.
Box: You are this place, aren't you? The Foundation holding cell. The white brick room.
The sky flashes grey.
Box: That morning, I was cornered. I think part of me still is.
Sawyer's body begins to sag, craters and depressions forming in his skin. His mouth and eyes distort in shape.
Box: Thank you, newcomer, even if it was on accident, for letting me in. Thank you, shape of Jacob Sawyer, for staying put here 'till I could come.
The entity referred to as Sawyer flattens out, sagging as if nothing's supporting it from within. The eyes and mouth flare, letting out something of gaseous composition. Its color is unknown; camera artefacts cluster where it is, obscuring it from view. It escapes, filling the feed with artefacts as it rises, in a spiral fashion, into the sky. The wrinkled, empty skin of Jacob Sawyer lays in place on the ground.
The camera pivots downward and then shakes as D-9926, watching from nearby, removes it from his headset. D-9926 sighs heavily. He points at the grinning rectangular drawing.
D-9926: That killed it, huh?
Box: Something like that, maybe.
D-9926: So it's you, the kid in the box? You come and save me?
Box: Don't think I saved anything, really. I kinda maybe lost something, though.
D-9926: I— I can't believe I'm saying this, but kid, me too.
D-9926 hesitates, kicking his boot in the dirt. The camera swings.
D-9926: Why me? Why'd you go to all that trouble to save me?
Box: You— You came from somewhere you were all stuck, and you got to a place where you could just start walking, and you did. What's your name, by the way?
D-9926: Stewart. Stewart Lowe.
Box: I'm Box. I like your name. Want a new one?
D-9926: Thanks— hey, what?
Box: I think I wanna rest for a while, but we need to get out of this place. You like walking, right?
D-9926: What?
Box: Or running, or flying? You like seeing things without people telling you what to see?
D-9926: I— I don't know what I want to do, besides—
Box: You can come with me, if you want. You don't wanna go back to where you were before.
D-9926: I did say I wanted to find people, didn't I.
Box: That's what I mean, Mr. Stewart. There's people here, just not in this direction. You can talk with them, play with them, you— you don't have to be you anymore.
D-9926: Now doesn't that sound like something.
Box points to a patch of dark sky in the distance.
Box: Probably somewhere in that direction. I need to get out of here too. Put that camera down, I don't think we need it.
The camera is placed on the ground. D-9926 and Box are seen in the center-right of frame.
Box: I can still send you back, if you want. Sure you wanna go?
D-9926 nods.
Final frame, timestamp unknown.
Box: Then follow me. And tell me about your time living in the Foundation. And carry me on all the uphill parts.
D-9926 says something inaudible and Box laughs.
The pair begin to walk out of frame, occasionally stumbling and adjusting direction.
Their voices are drowned out as a breeze begins to blow, lifting strands of Box's hair.
The feed flickers, and cuts out.
Six hours after the initiation of Notable Rerun Event No. 6, the cameras in SCP-6080's containment chamber briefly failed. When all cameras come back online, SCP-6080 is absent from the chamber, which contains instead a yellow sticky note and single DVD.
The video contained on the disc is slightly digitally corrupted, of low visual quality, and appears to be made using Windows Movie Maker.
An amendment to containment procedures and object class following this disappearance is currently in progress.
The contents of the disc are written below:
[BEGIN VIDEO LOG]
White text fades in on a default blue background, reading "A MESSAGE TO THE FOUNDATION".
Somebody, presumably Box, is heard opening their mouth.
Silence for several seconds.
Box: I hope you're proud of me. I've done well, I think, given all of that. I like to think so, at least.
Box sighs.
Something is audible scraping against soft sand or soil.
Box: But yeah, Foundation, I'm glad you at least, like, tried. Better than I could say for Jacob, at least. I was a Euclid, whatever that meant. Hopefully something nice.
Box pauses.
Box: But it was four years, wasn't it.
A sound of affirmation is made in another voice.
Box: And I'm at my, he says I'm at my most dynamic part of my life.
Unknown Voice: I do.
Box: So things change, I guess. I change.
00:01:03
The scene changes to a view of an alien vista outside a window. Coral-like flora sway in the wind through a dense yellow fog.
Box: You were scared of me. I— I got used to that, and I kinda understand.
Box breathes deeply.
Box: What I didn't get, was that I think he was scared of me too. Even before— Even before I did that. Maybe he was right to.
Unknown Voice: I think he was scared for himself, not of you. It's different.
Box: When you like cartoons…
Unknown Voice: I don't know if "like" is the right word.
Box: When you— When you collect them, it's scary to know where they come from.
Unknown Voice: You?
Box: No- Yeah, I dunno— They come from boxes. Hundreds of them, and they just keep coming because people need them, and—
Unknown Voice: He'd have rather thought they were made for him all along?
Box sighs.
Box: Yeah, I guess. I was a kid,
Unknown Voice: You're still a—
Box: I know. So when you guys picked me up, I would've gone anywhere, with anyone, and I think you knew that.
There is a pause, and the sound of wind.
Box: So you made a box for me. It was a nice one, it had a nice TV, but your guys were…
Unknown Voice: Uncomfortable?
Box: Uncomfortable, yeah. Sorry Rowan. One of your guys used me to escape. He's okay, by the way—
A cel-shaded chameleon-like creature in a torn D-class uniform is depicted hanging by his tail in front of a vibrant rainforest background, waving one claw at the viewer and smiling.
Box: —but you were all stuck in your own little boxes, I think.
Box: So I had to—
Unknown Voice: I had to—
Silence.
Box: I had to go.
The scene changes to that of a playground at night; Box sits in the form of a young bandaged human on a chair in the middle distance. The camera is being held by an unseen person, and the frame periodically moves as this person shifts their grip.
Box: So now we're here.
Box: The Nemo— um—
Unknown Voice: Somewhere on the Mnemosyne Expanse. On the way home.
Box: Thanks.
Box: So Foundation, I know you wanna look for me. Don't bother. I'm safe and in- in trusted hands. I'm growing out of my body in a few years anyway. Then I won't be a kid anymore.
Unknown Voice: But you are now. Let's enjoy that.
00:03:44
Box: A playground! In the Mnemosyne! I didn't have that!
Unknown Voice: No, you didn't.
Box: So I can't grow up just yet. A part of me will never grow up, I think, after what- what happened.
Unknown Voice: Growing up, yeah? I should know. You've done a lot of that back there, I think, more than anyone your age should.
Box: It isn't fair.
There is a prolonged silence. They sigh, and pick up a stick, drawing shapes in the sand.
Box: But I'm glad I found that place. It's still there, too. I don't know if it'll ever really go away.
There is a sound of acknowledgement.
Box: But I found it. Before now it was just there, hiding.
Box gets up and walks around the playground. The camera moves to track them.
Box: Can I still be a kid if I have that inside me?
Unknown Voice: You can.
Box: And can I grow up if I wasn't much of a kid?
Unknown Voice: I can make sure of it.
Box: So can I stick here for a bit and play a little on the swings?
Unknown Voice: Um, yeah, of course.
Box: And you push me?
Unknown Voice: Um— Yes.
Box jumps up onto one of the swings, and kicks off the ground to begin moving.
Box beckons.
Box: So come on then, there's so much we need to catch up on!
[END OF RECORDING]
The sticky note found alongside disc contained the following writing:
I hope you understand
Of course I understood. But I'm going to miss them.