ATTENTION: THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS ARE CLASSIFIED LEVEL 5.
Consultation and modification of these documents is prohibited without specific level 5 accreditation for these documents. Said accreditations can only be delivered by the Administrator or O5-7.
Object #: SCP-5016
Threat level: White o
Class: Thaumiel
Special Containment Procedures: Under no circumstances should a staff member aware of the existence of SCP-5016 approach SCP-579, even after having been subjected to Lithopedion class amnesic. A "red" zone is to be defined around SCP-5016 and shall be constantly patrolled and monitored by both radar and thermal surveillance within a radius of 1 kilometer (km). Officially, the island hosting SCP-5016 contains a military base. Marine patrols must be conducted around the island at all times. Any attempt to trespass on the island must be punished by the capture and interrogation of undesirable individuals. Elimination possible after interrogation. Should they reach the red zone, any attempt to capture them must be abandoned in favor of the use of lethal force. Any unusual activity or discovery related to any of the following SCP must be reported immediately to the SCP-5016 Research Manager as well as to O5-7 and the Administrator:
SCP-579
SCP-343
SCP-004
SCP-038-FR
Access to the anomaly information is restricted to members of the SCP-5016 research team and their supervisor (currently Dr Mústês), as well as the two Level 5 members in charge of the subject, namely O5-7 and the Administrator. Any accreditation other than those provided by the Administrator or O5-7, even at level 5, cannot be used to access this data.
Description: SCP-5016 is a tower buried underground, the actual proportions of which are still unknown. Tests conducted using powerful transmitters from inside the building have estimated the depth of the structure at more than 123 kilometers (km) deep, and at only about ten meters once the same tests were conducted from outside. It therefore seems that the interior of the tower is located in another spatial plane than ours after a certain depth.
The building is divided into floors, each of varying size. The widest floor has an estimated area of more than 113 square kilometers (km²), while the least spacious floor consists of a circular room with a radius of 13 meters (m). Each floor has two staircases: one leading to the upper floor and another leading to the lower floor. The latter do not have a predetermined position in the floor, which can be anywhere in it. While the staircase leading to the upper floor is always accessible, the staircase leading to the lower floor only appears once the floor puzzle has been completed. Once the puzzle has been solved, the staircase leading to the lower floor will remain permanently accessible. To date, 739 floors have been explored, each with settings from different places and eras.
It made no sense at all. If floor 1 was clearly identified as dating from the Ramesside period1. Floor 2 was dating from the Sumerian period, at least two thousand years earlier. And floor 3 was a typical Italian Renaissance ballroom. The temporal inconsistency between each of these rooms and their placement has, at this time, not yet found an explanation.
-Dr. Mústês
Each floor has a puzzle to solve, or test to pass, in order to reveal the staircase leading to the lower floor. These riddles are always presented by simplistic diagrams or inscriptions summarizing the content of the riddle and the actions to be taken to solve it. These indications are always inscribed on a stone somewhere on the floor. Each of the inscriptions are made below a symbol specific to each floor. The origin of the symbols used is currently unknown.
While it was initially theorized that these symbols were used to indicate the numbering of floors, it became clear afterwards that they represented the thematic concepts of the corresponding puzzle, when the symbol of floor 1 was discovered on the inscription summarizing the puzzle of floor 57. The complexity of the puzzles and tests therefore increases with the number of floors traversed.
What we had initially considered as a title for each of these tests, and then for a simple numbering whose principles were beyond our comprehension, were in fact nothing more than the elements of a language specific to the tower itself. While the first floors were relatively simple to solve, thanks to the stones which were quite clear in terms of symbols, the more we progressed, the more the tower introduced us to concepts that we had already confronted in order to make its enigmas even more difficult. The whole thing formed a full-scale course on increasingly complex concepts. If the test on floor 1 was childishly simple, i.e. pushing a specific block on a pressure slab to reveal the staircase leading to the next floor, it showed us the symbol used to define the concept of gravity in a deeper way on floor 57. It was as if the tower served both as a guide and as a teacher, leading us to the solutions without giving them to us. We are now on floor 739, and the stone only uses symbols that appeared from floor 500… which themselves were already using other stone symbols, etc. We are now facing a complex language that is totally beyond our comprehension.
- Dr. Mústês
Notable examples of floors that have been crossed
Details of all floor descriptions have been transferred to the accompanying document 113-B for readability reasons.
Although the descent of a floor does not seem to have any effects other than those potentially related to the content of the puzzles and tests of each floor, any attempt to ascend seems to have negative impacts, depending on the depth and number of floors ascended. See Test Log 5016-01.
Test Log 5016-01
In order to overcome this anomaly, to avoid unnecessary casualties and to ensure the logistics of information, men and equipment, re-supply camps have been set up as detailed below:
From the 1st to the 200th floor, a camp every 100 floors
From the 201st to the 400th floor, a camp every 50 floors
From the 401st to the 600th floor, a camp every 10 floors
From the 601st to the 739th floor, a camp every floor
Addendum 5016-01: Origin of SCP-5016 discovery
Interview-343-01
Interview date: 18/07/2009
Background of the interview: Following its capture in Prague, SCP-343 was placed in a standard humanoid containment until suitable containment procedures could be implemented. The subject didn't oppose any form of resistance, and asked for multiple meetings with the Administrator. The very fact that the subject was aware of the Administrator's existence prompted the Foundation to adopt the utmost vigilance regarding the possibility of such a meeting, which was rejected. SCP-343 finally wrote a letter to the Administrator in an unknown language. The letter arrived directly to the Administrator on her secure personal Site, without anyone knowing how. Two hours later, SCP-343 was spotted in a humanoid containment room at the said site, stating that he was waiting for his interview with the Administrator. The Administrator granted him an audience fifteen minutes later.
The cell door opens, allowing two armed guards and the Administrator to enter the room. SCP-343 quickly conjured up a table and two chairs and invited the Administrator to sit down, which she did. The subject followed her lead. The Administrator dismissed the two armed guards who then left the room. The whole event was filmed by security cameras and was transcribed in writing.
The Administrator: I must confess that your letter really surprised me. Although I was expecting to find a familiar face.
SCP-343: Alas, please forgive me, but I am not one of Yours, S'Kora'Tel.
The Administrator: Prove it.
SCP-343: Oh, there's only one way to prove it, Madam. And this one is actually quite simple. Tell me, Laura, does the Black Moon howl?
The Administrator seems unsettled.
The Administrator: How do you know…?
SCP-343: For your daily anti-apocalyptic test? Just answer the question. Does the Black Moon howl?
The Administrator: No.
SCP-343: Well, lucky for you, by the way. Now it's your turn. Ask me the question. If I can answer "yes" to this question, I'll prove I'm not one of you. You are incapable of telling a lie, aren't you?
The Administrator: How did you get this information?
SCP-343: Just ask me the right question, Mrs. Graziella. You are running out of time more than you think, and we both have better things to do with it.
The Administrator: Good. Does the Black Moon howl?
SCP-343: Yes.
There's a moment of silence.
The Administrator: Who are you?
SCP-343: I have already brought this up with the good Dr. Beck in my first discussion with him. What you should be interested in is what I want.
The Administrator: I know exactly what you said to Dr. Beck. Just as I know perfectly well that what you said to him was untrue. I have met and know the being who created this, and she knows me as well. So you're lying about that.
SCP-343: You're relying a lot on what you know, for someone who knows so little. But again, that's not the point. You've asked the wrong question.
The Administrator: Fine. What do you want?
SCP-343: To no longer have to interact with this world. But to do this, I must fulfill the mission that has been assigned to me, and I must admit that I find it very difficult to accomplish it alone. To summarize, I have come to ask for your help, because it is now clear that we are fighting a common fight.
The Administrator: Who is?
SCP-343: For you? To prevent the return of the Enemy. Because, in spite of your experiences with Kespeth Montauk, or whatever his name is these days, on this poor girl, you will never have enough time to reforge chains that could confine him given the speed at which things are going. Especially since your monumental screw-up in 1882.
The Administrator facial expression suddenly changes.
SCP-343: Don't make that face, that was silly. Bringing the Daevites out of the Forgetting where they were stuck, only to use the Ritual of Solomon? In order to send her back to the Lands of Summer? Following the advice of the very one who brought down the Lands here below on the first place? A desperate attempt, certainly, but nonetheless a foolish one.
The Administrator: You know a lot. Some might even say too much.
SCP-343: There's no need to threaten me. You can't afford it, let alone use it. I have come to help you, just as much as I have come to seek your help.
The Administrator: That remains to be proved. But, even if we agreed to provide you such help, you haven't told me what your goal actually was.
SCP-343: My purpose? Catching a thief and his loot. It may seem simple, but it is far more complex than it sounds.
The Administrator: It's that simple?
SCP-343: As simple as a mother wanting to keep her children close. You know how quickly things can get messy.
The Administrator: How are your goal and our goal related?
SCP-343: For you, the thief is just another anomaly. His true nature is much more terrible than that, although you are not able to comprehend it. What you are able to understand, however, are the consequences of his actions, even though the causal link may not be visible yet to you.
The Administrator: What would these consequences be, then?
SCP-343: Among others? The total annihilation of the Creation by the Enemy. The thief in question is the engine of far greater forces at your eyes than you think.
The Administrator: How would he do it?
SCP-343: There are no weapons more powerful than words, Laura. Words can, in the form of painful memories, drive you mad. They can, in the form of orders, reduce entire populations to shreds. Beware of his words, if you ever happen to meet him. They will seem chaotic, disordered, illogical even sometimes, depending on whether they are addressed to one or another, but he is smarter than you could ever be, and each of these words follows a very precise plan. Some people are actually applying this plan step by step, most of the time without even being aware of it, at least at the moment. For example your… nemesis, so I dare say. I hope you're not unaware that they have been passed on to the Enemy for a long time?
The Administrator: We are aware of the causes of the Scission in 1948, yes. Now, tell me. If that thief is put out of business, will the coming of the Enemy be delayed?
SCP-343: I have every reason to believe so.
The Administrator: Enough for us to complete protocol 110-Montauk?
SCP-343: As long as your surgeons manage to keep extracting the Devourer's fetus bones from that poor girl's uterus without triggering an accidental delivery, yes.
The Administrator: Well. That could sounds like an interesting proposition to me, then. How do we stop your thief?
SCP-343: We have to find him first. He knows how to blend into chaos better than anyone else, where my eyes can barely distinguish him. I've spent eons looking for him all over the world, wherever my eyes could find him easily. But where chaos reigns, I have no chance of finding it alone, for my sight is reduced. And your buildings are full of that chaos he loves so much.
The Administrator: Are you saying that…?
SCP-343: That it's a safe to assume he's in one of your facilities, yes. Or in one of your opponents. Probably in plain sight, although no one can see him. Look for something that no one can perceive or remember. It will probably be there.
The Administrator: And once we find it?
SCP-343: Tell me to come and see. And I will neutralize him.
The Administrator: Good. We'll let you know as soon as we find something. But before I can put team together to look for your thief, I need to know I can trust you.
SCP-343: In other words, you need proof?
The Administrator: Sort of, I do.
SCP-343: Good. But you'll only get one, and only one. On December 13, 1981, you conducted an interrogation to extract some information about a specific object. You have since recovered that object. I strongly advise you to use it in order to see what is really going on right now with the O5 Council. You'd be surprised.
The Administrator: What do you mean?
SCP-343: Once you will be done with the problems of the O5 Council, and once you have found the thief's hideout, come and find me in my cell at Site-19.
The Administrator: Wait. How will we know whether or not we've found the thief?
SCP-343: Oh, you won't be able to recognize him. He's kinda a Nobody.
On those words, SCP-343 disappears. He was found a few minutes later in his cell at Site-19.
Interview-343-02
Date of interview: 12/03/2012
Background of the interview: A few days after the discovery (or rediscovery?) of SCP-055 in Site-19, the Administrator was notified. A meeting between her and SCP-343 is then arranged in his cell.
The Administrator enters the room alone. As in the previous interview, SCP-343 makes a table and two chairs appear. Everyone sits down.
SCP-343: It took you a while.
The Administrator: It's always complex to look for something you can easily forget about. However, first of all, I wanted to thank you for the information you provided at our last meeting. It has proven to be crucial. If in future we could cooperate more in this way, I would be the first to be delighted.
SCP-343: Sorry in advance. But giving you this information has already cost me a great deal, although you couldn't possibly understand how. The less I'm pushed to interact here, the better.
The Administrator: I could argue that we would be more… let's say, slower in our future partnership, in this case.
SCP-343: You're in no position to make such threats. You're as short on time as I am. The Enemy has taken advantage of the chaos in the O5 council to move ahead. To do so would cause you more harm than good.
Light silence.
SCP-343: However, I guess the reason you're here is because you found it. More than that, you found it right here!
The Administrator: Yes, we did. We've detected an anti-memetic anomaly in Site-19 labeled SCP-055. It looks similar to your description of what we needed to find.
SCP-343: It does. Did you get anyone in there?
The Administrator: No. We've been waiting for you.
SCP-343: Well, let's get started without further delay, then I'll explain on the way.
The Administrator: Fine. However, you'll have to wait until I'm off site before you can do anything about it.
SCP-343: That can be done. Let's go now.
Later that day, SCP-579 was discovered inside SCP-055. Due to SCP-055's anti-memetic properties, the course of events is still unclear. Nevertheless, it appears that SCP-579 was extracted from SCP-055, causing a minor containment breach. Following the breach, SCP-579 remained untraceable for several days before being relocated near ██████.
Interview-343-03
Date of the interview: 15/03/2012
Background of the interview: A few days after the discovery of SCP-579, after the end of the breach caused by it, a meeting between the Administrator and SCP-343 was organized in his cell.
The Administrator: What the hell was that? I thought you could neutralize him.
SCP-343: And I've done it many times before. But eons have passed. He's deeply changed. He's always been… unexpected. But this is beyond anything he's ever been able to show before.
The Administrator: So we're starting from scratch?
SCP-343: No. Now that he's out of hiding, my eyes are on him all the time, and they won't let him go. Now I need you on another front.
The Administrator: Which is?
SCP-343: What he stole wasn't in what you call SCP-055. It cost me a lot to force it out of its cache, as any attempt to exchange information was impossible back there, but I was able to see where it was hidden. I will give you the location. I have tried to get there, but it is impossible for me to enter the building where it is hidden. Another one of his tricks, I guess.
The Administrator: And what do you expect us to do?
SCP-343: Explore the premises, retrieve the loot and take it out of the building where it's buried. I'll come and get it personally.
The Administrator: How will we know what the loot looks like?
SCP-343: Oh, believe me, you'll know it when you' ll see it, I have no doubt about that.
The Administrator: If you say so. What about 579?
SCP-343: I'll also provide you with his position, and will escort your troops. We'll get him eventually.
Following the interview, SCP-343 gave the geographic coordinates of SCP-5016 to the Foundation. The object was discovered one day later and exploration began.
Interview-343-04
Date of the interview: 15/12/2012
Background of the interview: Following the multiple incidents and containment breaches related to SCP-579, a meeting between the Administrator and SCP-343 was once again organized.
The Administrator: You will notice that I have kept my promises on my side. I cannot say the same about you. The object keeps breaking its confinement and you don't seem to be able to stop it or help us in any way.
SCP-343: I acknowledge that my performance is not up to your expectations. Please understand that it is costing me as much, if not more, than it is costing you.
The Administrator: This is not the feeling I get from you.
SCP-343: I know. That's why I'm proposing a new method. So far we've been able, at most, to neutralize it long enough to move it. But once he's awake again, neither I nor the infrastructure at your Sites can keep him contained. That's why I'm proposing an alternative form of containment.
The Administrator: What kind of containment?
SCP-343: There's a prison he won't be able to escape from. We can lock him up in the world that you've opened with what you call SCP-004-07. If he breaks containment, we'll close the door. He won't be able to get through without a key.
The Administrator: A simple extra-dimensional lockdown? Couldn't you have suggested this earlier?
SCP-343: This is not a simple extra-dimensional lockdown. The door you open with these keys is not a simple door between dimensions, as the Wanderers's Library can be in its own way. It is much more than that. The reason I didn't suggest this earlier is because I was… forbidden to intervene on the other side of the door. It's already bad enough for me to come in here when I have nothing to do with it.
The Administrator: Forbidden? For what reason? What does that door mean to you?
SCP-343: There's no need to ask any more questions, Laura. You won't get any answers. Let's just focus on neutralizing it, shall we? Here's his current position. How long will it take Site-62 to be ready for him?
The Administrator: I'd say a little over a week.
SCP-343: Good. As soon as you're ready, let me know. I'll make my move then.
A week later, SCP-579 was confined to Site-62C. At this time, the object's containment is stable.
Incident 004/5016-01
On 11/03/2019, an alert was received on the surface of SCP-5016 from its deepest camp. This alert was then issued progressively by all the camps one by one from the deepest one. The content of the alert, although differing in form from one emission point to another, remained the same: a troop of unknown and unidentified individuals had visibly just come up from the unexplored floor n°740.
We were stationed on the edge of the Humes variation zone, when we saw a lightning bolt in the centre of the zone. We had a telescope that constantly scanned the center of the zone, mainly so that we could provide detailed information on all the phenomenon occurring there to facilitate future explorations. And the recordings are formal: after the lightning strike, some kind of entrance with a staircase had just appeared. Several entities came out of it, and then one of them seemed to remove the entrance that had just appeared. Then they moved quickly to the staircase leading to the upper floor. They were a handful of humanoids, with a strange deer. They went through the Tennenti Hole as if it was nothing. We tried to apprehend them, but we all fainted as they approached…
Agent Nazo, 128th Exploratory Battalion, stationed at the camp on floor #739
The entire unidentified troop kept moving up the floors, each time placing the staff members getting too close in a deep sleep. No member of the troop appeared to suffer from the anomaly associated with the ascent of the building.
A total of 7 entities were seen and described:
A young man, whose entire body was completely black.
A young girl, whose body seemed to emit a faint glow. The young man and the girl were walking hand in hand.
A deer of imposing size, with golden antlers.
An old man elegantly dressed in a coat and a borsalino.
Two other old men whose appearance changes depending on the staff members describing them
A mummified body, visibly alive, naked and covered with scars in the form of symbols that could be Daevite iconography according to the witnesses. The mummy seemed to be held in levitation by the two old men. Some staff members also indicated that the different members of the troop agreed to take turns maintaining eye contact with the mummy.
The entire troop was observed leaving the SCP-5016 structure before vanishing. At the same time, they emerged in front of SCP-004. Staff members attempting to stop them collapsed. One of the two men with a changing appearance had a quick discussion with one of the staff members who had not lost consciousness, Dr ████████████ ███████████ while the second man with a changing appearance was closing SCP-004-01. The discussion was recorded via the intercom of the staff member in question:
Man with a changing appearance: Excuse me, my good man, what day is it?
Dr ████████████ ███████████ (apparently grabbing a gun): Freeze or I'll shoot. Last warning.
Man with a changing appearance: It won't do any good. Just tell me what day it is and we'll leave. I promise.
Dr ████████████ ███████████: Well… uh… it's monday.
Man with a changing appearance: Monday,yes,but which one? What date?
Dr ████████████ ███████████: Ah! We're on… March 11th, 2019.
Man with a changing appearance (visibly happy): AH! So we have a whole year ahead of us. That's good. Thank you, young man.
The voice of the man with a changing appearance seems to be fading away.
Man with a changing appearance: I told you, brother! We have the time we need. Come on, let's go, lovebirds. You too, grumpy face. The deer, too! And keep an eye on the damn [Incomprehensible]
Dr ████████████ ███████████: Come back! No, wait! DON'T CLOSE THAT DOOR!
During the discussion, the second man with the changing appearance took a key out of his sleeve and reopened SCP-004-1 with it. The entire group of strangers walked through the door, and then the door closed again. To date, only the deer has been potentially identified as SCP-038-FR, although it did not escape its surveillance throughout the incident.
- Interview with Dr ████████████ ███████████ on Incident 004/5016-01
Date: 19/03/2019
Background of the interview: Following Incident 004/5016-01, Dr ████████████ ███████████, the only person who interacted with the unidentified group without losing consciousness, was summoned by the Administrator. At the request of the latter, SCP-343 is also present. As soon as Dr ████████████ ███████████ enters the interrogation room and sees him, he loses his temper.
Dr ████████████ ███████████: You! You were there! Madam Administrator, step away, quickly! Security! SECURITY!
The Administrator: Calm down, Doctor. SCP-343 is completely peaceful and has been cooperating with us for many years. You have nothing to fear.
Two armed guards, alerted by the screams of Dr ████████████ ███████████, enter the room.
The Administrator: It's all right, gentlemen. False alarm.
Dr ████████████ ███████████: With all due respect, Madam Administrator, but this… this thing was present at the incident site. It's the one that locked SCP-004-1 before reopening it with another key!
SCP-343: This is ridiculous. I was in my cell, and all my eyes were on SCP-579.
Dr ████████████ ███████████then tries to jump on SCP-343. He is caught and held up by the guards in the room.
The Administrator: Sorry for the show, probably post-traumatic stress disorder related to the event. Gentlemen, please take Dr ████████████ ███████████ to the infirmary for psychological treatment.
Guards escorted Dr ████████████ ███████████ out of the room.
SCP-343: Too bad, it could have been a good source of information.
Administrator: Indeed. Do you have any idea what these people might be?
SCP-343: I have to tell you, Laura, that for the first time in my life… It's a complete mystery. And I have to say that the feeling that comes out of it is…
The Administrator: Frustrating and exciting at the same time?
SCP-343: Sort of, yeah.
The Administrator: Welcome to my world.
SCP-343: Ah! Now that's funny. That's funny. Well. I'm going to do some research on this, let me know if you hear anything.
The Administrator: Good. I'll see you soon, then.
SCP-343: See you soon.
On those words, SCP-343 disappears.
- Dr. Mústês' final note on SCP-5016
If there is one particular concept that we all know at the SCP Foundation, it is the concept of mystery. We constantly live in a world full of unanswered questions. Or at least on the surface. For behind every question lies a path, a clue, somewhere. And whether it lies deep in a forgotten pyramid, in other worlds, or sometimes even in our own databases, it is always revealed to the ones who are looking for it hard enough. And it is thanks to them that many things become more understandable, even if one answer often brings two new questions. And in that, SCP-5016 is an enigma. What used to be for us just a tower has become a little more than just a building at every floor we passed. The more we learned about it, the greater the mysteries surrounding it. Why trying to teach us such language, floor after floor? Why let us sink into the depths, if it is to prevent us from getting out? What will happen in less than a year? Where did all those people who came up here go? Who are they? To what world does the key held by one of the two men with the changing appearance lead?
All these questions persist. Perhaps we'll have the chance to answer some of them one day. That has been my task for over forty years. Because I know that somewhere out there, those questions have an answer. Probably written in black on white. Or hidden from the eye of the neophyte. Our task is not to find the answers. That is only our reward. Our task is to search for them.
And, beyond the anomalies on each floor, that, I believe, is the true nature of SCP-5016: to have buried the truth somewhere, and to give a hard time to anyone who tries to get it.
And I couldn't have asked for a better challenge.
- Dr Mústês
