Earth42

Cryptid Sightings

A Security Video from a camera feed behind a Home Depot - Time Stamp: 11:23 pm

A small feathered creature appears to be running from a pack of feral dogs. Cornered by the fence, it turns towards it's attackers, laying flat against the asphalt. The dogs circle it for a moment, then rush in - the camera overloads from a blinding light. Seconds later the feed resets, with no sign of the creature or dogs, but a blasted section of asphalt & a smoking hole in the fence where they were.

A cell phone camera from a local Nightclub, recently shut down for further investigation

The cell video is shaky, & further hampered by the activation of fire suppression systems. Even so, there is a blurry image of what appears to be a feathered iguana or something romping in the puddles on the dance floor for a few seconds.

A Convenience Store where reporters are investigating odd phenomenon

"Thanks Chris. As you can see behind me, the rear security door has a roughly 20 inch hole burned all the way through. Police have told us that such an entry would require at least a cutting torch or plasma cutter, though cameras show no evidence of a vehicle approaching the scene. Internal cameras show the shelves being knocked over, but the culprit is never caught on video. Reports claim that only candy & beer was stolen, much of which was apparently given to local homeless camps. Hm? No, Chris - the Homeless Population is not currently suspect at this time. We did interview one potential witness however, play the reel."

(Camera cuts to an earlier interview with a ragged old man)

"Yeah, it was an alien! Lights & Fire, stuff floatin' through the air & [BLEEP]! It stayed with us for a bit, & drank some beer; cute lil' guy, didn't try an anal probe us or nothin'! Which is more than I can say for the Gawd-[BLEEP] Cops & the [BLEEEEEEP] Mayor! Why, I tell ya' next will be up to our necks with those Gawd-[BLEEP] Vamp-"

Interview Cuts Off

BRIEFING ROOM 2

Site 16

Debriefing SCP-5273 (Time Displaced Diplodocus carnegii)

(Conversation recorded from Observation room)

Intern: "If SCP-5273 has telikinetic properties, why are we using the button interface? Can't it just write down what happened?"

(A handler is asking questions of the small sauropod, which then runs to brightly colored buttons representing diffrent words & letters)

Dr. Conroy: "Due to the excesses of the last Site Administrator, SCP-5273 has developed a well deserved suspicion of authority, & has developed a rebellious streak. By making a game of the debriefing, we reduce the risk of deliberate misinformation. Besides, we'd be srubbing the debriefing room of Temporal Radiation for days after."

(A Handler asks Guido: "When you reached the nightclub, you found 4 instances of SCP-742-1?" Guido runs over to a green button, where a robot voice says: YES)

Dr. Conroy: "See? He likes the games. He also wants to help people, including us - be glad of that, since that little Sauropod can produce a psychokinetic shockwave capable of pulverising a sedan. All we have to do is make sure he stays stimulated, feels helpful."

("All instances were destroyed? Victims were rescued?" Again, Guido hits the YES button)

Intern: "I admit I am new to this Site Doctor...but I can't help but think: we have other SCP's that are both more dangerous & more difficult to control that are classified as EUCLID. Why is this one KETER? I imagine we could simply leave it in semi-permanent sedation for Containment, yes?"

Dr. Conroy: "...yes, it was that sort of thinking that caused SCP-5273 to escape in the first place. Every day, we learn something new about the anomalies in our care. I had hoped to see the last of this false machismo at my previous site - make no mistake, we will gain more from Positive Reinforcement where applicable than attempting to subjugate Anomalies. If there is anything you should take away from your time at the Foundation, it should be a humbling respect for these forces beyond our ability to fully understand.

Dear Diary,

Awhile back, I said we needed to have trained up some armor. I know it may look counterproductive to start that after saying we wanted me to get hurt, but I don’t wanna be stupid about it, like I said, and I don’t wanna get hurt in stupid ways. Plus, I’ll be more of a liability if I’m just hurt by small things.

It’s not really armor armor, my friend just trained up her reflexes. She’s a lot faster than I can be, and we kinda just spent time… safely? hurting ourselves to get it. Mister Cham has throws stuff at us, and we fall out of trees. She swats the stuff and puts her arms out to help me land better. It’s really helpful, she just gets tired quick. I think we’ll get better at it over time.

The fireflies started coming out. We won’t go train with them, they’re too pretty to hurt. We like watching them from on top of the hill. I think it’s the same as us liking shiny things, I mean, I do more than my friend or Sally does, but they like them, too. Horatio always wants to go bat at the fireflies to we have to keep him in our lap and pet him a bunch so he doesn’t move because he’s too distracted purring. And then we can watch the fireflies move. I don’t have anything else I need to be doing, I don’t even get hungry, so we can just… watch.

(-The bottom of the page and margins are filled with empty circles with wings and “glow” lines around them: fireflies.-)

Dear Diary,

I think that gold coin Mister Edgar got us to keep… the chance to keep? let us keep miiight have made me a little obsessed with shiny things. I had a rock collection back home, and bottlecaps and puffballs and googly eyes and some nuts, the little circle ones. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for awhile after I got back to Surrey. So I’ve been spending awhile exploring, looking for things to make another collection.

But then I realized I needed a place to PUT all the stuff cause I found more bottlecaps and some newspaper but I ran out of room in my pockets. And then I realized I need a place to put ME. So we kept exploring… there’s this old broken down stone building that looks like nobody’s been in it forever.  I made a circle out of rocks and put my other stuff in it, and my blanket, and took a bunch of leaves and moss and stuff and made a nest for Horatio. He said it looks like a bird nest but he likes it anyway, I can tell.

This place doesn’t really have much of a roof. When it rains I sit in this one corner- my friend says south east- and I wait it out unless I feel like I need a shower, but mostly I just use baby wipes I got from a lady at the park. She looked like she could afford more… I smell weird all the time now, but I’m clean. And I have my rocks. And people don’t bother me out here.

Also, I’ve been borrowing apples from the farmers market stuff to eat with the candy bars. (They’re protein bars, but I pretend they’re candy). I used to eat apples a lot after school- now they remind me of that when I eat them. But yesterday I thought about it too much I guess and got pretty… sad? I try not to think about it most of the time, but I feel secretly kinda bad about Horatio’s bed even though he sleeps with me most of the time if he’s out then and I used to have this fish named Harry and he didn’t have a bed but it still reminded me of him and I miss MY bed and Quest bars are really gross and definitely not Snickers and I feel so bad watching the bees be mad in the rain, I wanna make friends with them but they don't like me and (-The text here is too scratched out to read-)

   The apple started glowing and crackling on the inside when I got worked up. I ate it and it fixed the headache I gave myself crying, and I had some blood on my hands from squeezing with my nails too hard. When I scrubbed the blood off, there weren’t any cuts underneath. I’m tired of writing for now… I need to go to bed.

(- There’s a sketch of a building at the bottom of the page. Grace has added grass, flowers, rain, and an angry bee. -)

After the bit with the Squids I made my way back to Ohio. The "Foreman" on site made it clear I could go just about anywhere but it'd be a one way ticket. I have a lot riding on the place with Jules at the moment, so my Ghoul buddies back in Philly will have to wait.

Brings us back to the Portal question. The Higher Ups can just twinkle their toes at places, bring everyone there in a blink. I've never met a "Blue Collar" that can do anything like it, guess it's above our paygrade. Seem finicky about beaming up anyone whose not part of the official crew also. High Rollers only, no Red Shirts allowed.

Alright then, so me & Jules need our own. I ain't really to up on my Bippity-Boppity-Boo so I ain't really sure where to start on that...still, when you only sleep about an hour a day, you need to stay busy. Paper says 51 people were eaten alive in & around Columbus, Ohio: Jules backyard, even. Though of course Jules has no idea - bless his heart. Somethings would have to jump up & bite him in the ass before he noticed sometimes.

Looking into things, I can say this ain't no bears. Something was killing people, something that ain't from around here. Not sure exactly what it is besides mean & hungry. Then it all stopped. About the same time some folks robbed that old Indian Mound.

I seen enough movies that digging up an Indian Graveyard does'nt sound like something that needs doing. Still, may not have a choice in the matter. If'n these things are right cozy in Columbus, that's a near miss on my current set up. Gonna have to see whose the better monster I reckon.

Hope that's me.

   Finally returning to the fray. I'm trying to reconnect with some other contractors. I need to build contacts. I need to make sure I'm able to react appropriately. I'll spend this time working my body into proper shape, my eyes are impressive but they cannot see me through all situations. I'll make sure that I keep up with the others, I can't become dead weight on a mission. I came dangerously close this time to being unnecessary, and I cannot let that come to pass. I need to be able to overcome all obstacles, or else I'm as good as dead already. I've gotten a new apartment. It was time to relocate, I think it's something I'll need to do regularly to make sure that no one can lock me down. We'll see how things progress.

That's what Ol' Fox Moulder would always say right? Like, Aliens or some shit. Well, as it turns out, the real world is a lot stranger than fiction. A whole metric shit-ton stranger, in fact.

So, here's the deal: There are these people who want weird shit done, or just want to fuck with your head. They round up a gang of misfit mother fuckers like yours truly to go handle whatever it is that needs doing. These yahoos call themselves "Contractors" or sometimes "High Rollers" or "The Chosen" even, if they feel real pretentious.

I call all of 'em crazy as a shithouse rat, but hey, someone has to be, am I right?

Anyway, these sons o' bitches round up the usual suspects & set them loose like the God damned Light Brigade; it get's even weirder too - all of these nutjobs also have the dubious honor of being freak shows.

Just like me.

It's not always clear, the "how" & the "why" of what makes them a freak, mind. But it's always there. Some of them even seem bent on doing this kinda work...like doing it makes them more freaky or some bullshit.

Fuck all that. I just want some answers goddamnit! Maybe a...cure? Shit, look at me! How the fuck am I gonna cure this shit? I've seen some crazy shit, sure, but I ain't seen a plastic surgeon that's gonna help me out y'know?

I'd settle with answers & just getting out of this bullshit alive I think.

If the "Truth" is out there, it can mind it's own fucking business!