SCP: Searching the Archives. Part 1c

The Faceless ones

I'm in a totally spoopy mood today fella-rinoes, and thus I'm back into the dark archives of The Foundation to uncover the mystery of what exactly the mythical SCP-001 could possibly be. If you've been keeping track these past few blogs you'll know that the potential options are getting ever more weird as we go forth, however I'm saving one of my personal favourites for this particular scoop. Before I dive into this I feel it's worth repeating, due to the various canons of SCP technically all of these entries are canonical as confusing as that sounds. (Refer to your copies of 'Warp in the West' for reference.) Also, again I recommend that anyone who is interested should take a look at the raw stories for themselves for free over on the SCP website, because that's literally half of the fun right there!

Kate McTririss's proposal for what exactly SCP-001 could be is what I will charitable describe as a rollercoaster, but it was one of my favourites. Essentially, this SCP is originally an inoffensive science-themed album that, upon being mentioned in any body of work, will immediately end up being referred to first. Yep, so that means if this album were to end up on a list of the Billboard top 100, it would be referred to as number one even if the author intended it to be number 98 like this album likely deserved. Of course, another funny little break away of this effect is that the moment it get's entered into the SCP database it's effects kick in once again, so this item immediately becomes SCP-001. (That's a nice touch, I will admit.) However, that is only the icing on the cake. For reasons unknown, the database entry for SCP-001 inherited a much more terrifying effect to it, wherein anything typed in it will immediately become true. (Now that's the sort of reality warping consequence that I expect from my SCPs!) Of course, once this is discovered, the lead researcher on this project does what any responsible foundation scientist with moral accountability would do; she grants herself immortal powers over the cosmos and disappears in her ascent to godhood. I love the twist that this little version of 001 had, to be both silly and fantastical in the same moment. I've also yet to see an SCP that makes the article itself the offending cryptid, so double points for ascending my expectations.

The next proposal that I decided to look at, S. D. Locke's, was very different in that it was composed entirely in the shape of a first person story that I would encourage the reader to see for themselves. The SCP itself, however, is what's of concern to me. Perhaps one of the most famous 001 iterations, this SCP 001 is the title given to the sun after an anomalous event which causes it's sunlight to turn any organic being it touches into a gelatinous pool of viscous liquid. These beings (dubbed SCP-001-A) are, crucially, not dead, but in fact seem to be semi sentient. SCP-001-A forms are known for melding into one another to from a monstrous cacophony of beings and seems to long to 'combine' itself with anyone lucky enough to avoid the melting light of SCP-001. The whole thing actually has shades of The Thing to it, or more so that story from a while back which shifted perspectives to one that favoured the monster itself. The only problem with this SCP in my eyes is due to it's nature, this isn't one of those stories that possibly could (in some twisted version of reality) be true, which is one my favourite draws about creepypastas. (Unless there's another reason we're all in quarantine right now) So this story loses some of it's immersive appeal, but then that's likely why the author chose this more traditionally constructed form of storytelling.

We step away from the explicitly science fiction and back into Abrahamic religion with spikebrennan's proposal for SCP-001 which I've taken to refer to as: God's Blindspot. (And so have a lot of other people now I think about it. I'm not special.) Essentially this started as the discovery of a Inn in the Sinai desert within which no traces of a force entitled Akiva Radiation is present or can exist. Somehow that revelation expanded to the realisation that human death will not occur on these grounds for as long as anyone is present here. Death can still occur from excessive trauma (as The Foundation discovered through their usual brand of unethical experimentation) but folk there will not age and disease will not fell. (Until they leave, of course.) The article in question goes to tie this into many religious connotation about a place untouched by God's omnipotence, but in a much more tactile sense this made the spot ideal as the headquarters of the O5 council. (Because term limits are for babies.) Of course, this couldn't be an 001 entry without one origin story, so through a failed attempt at recreating the blindspot, the researchers who discovered 001 ended up summoning the entities that The Foundation now seeks to contain to this day. (Great going, guys.) This story is fine enough to me, with it's classical 'you are the cause of your suffering' stance, but I'm getting a little sick of how many origin stories for The Foundation lie in these entries. Not explicitly a criticism of this story, I know, but still a nagging thought.

Lily's proposal for SCP-001 is actually quite straightforward although haunting and with some pretty interesting connotations to it. This SCP-001 isn't actually an entity but rather a procedure that the staff are set to undergo in the event of a cessation of all life on the planet; or rather, in the leadup to one. (Pretty sure that's a violation of the SCP naming conventions, but I'll let it slide.) Essentially it's an edict that permits the laying off of all staff and the release of all non-violent SCP subjects into the wild. (I'm not sure why they don't just release the violent one's too. What's the worst havok they can cause in 24 hours.) That's right, SCP-001 is activated only 24 hours before all life on the planet ends from some mysterious force that also cause flowers to bloom all over the planet. Apparently, this particular phenomena was discovered through information provided by extra-universal Foundation's. (And there lies my favourite part of this story.) Whilst this SCP itself is rather fittingly mysterious and scary, I like the introduction this tale does of other universes, as suddenly it makes this 'multiple SCP-001s' thing a whole lot more palatable. So ultimately a short entry, but effective.

Okay, so here's when things start to get... shall we say wacky? If there is one entity that can be considered an 'antagonist' within the wider mythos of the SCP it would likely be the Scarlet King, but I'd be damned if I can explain exactly why. Or what he even is. I'm not sure if Tufto's proposal is the first time we've seen his mention, but it most certainly is not the last as his mysterious influence defines a lot of what the SCP go up against in their day-to-day. SCP-001 is the Scarlet King. In the most real sense, the Scarlet King is a primordial deity who is classically depicted as a ruler figure built of red and adorned with a crown. His worship is almost singularly devoted to slavery, violation, and just about everything that one would call 'uncivilised' in our world today, and his depictions are very close to what is widely considered to be the devil. So that's it then, the Scarlet King is the devil? Yes and no.

At this point I really, truly, have to say that you take in the entirety of Tufto's proposal on this SCP as it truly is something that has to be interpreted for oneself. For my case, I felt like I was reading one side of a larger story, and I'm sure I'll need to dedicate an entire blog with weeks of research towards a proper Scarlet King definer down the line. Much of what is said in the article appears to be contradictory, the body of the story seems to imply that the King is a metaphysical construct, or even a critique upon the today by a critique from the past, (this is what I'm talking about, circular logic) but he is defined rather definitely by The Foundation as transdimensional being. Much ado is made out of his relevance as an idea but his presence is tangible, his powers are real. The most important question regarding the Scarlet King is obvious; what is the Scarlet King? And I honestly don't know, but I am incredibly engrossed in unravelling that mystery.

That will have to wait, however, as there are plenty more SCP-001 proposals that I want to pick through before I dedicate myself to the study of one in particular. If there's one thing that this little series has highlighted it's the way that SCP, at it's best, is an almost impossibly intricate narrative told in a manner that wouldn't be possible without the internet and that's what makes it all just so special. I'm pretty glad that I decided to go on this journey and I'm curious about what I might learn as we delve ever deeper into these weird and twisted archives. It's a rabbit hole in which I intend to fully jump into, whilst never once considering how in the world I intend to get out again. Won't you join me?