SCP-1444 Debriefing Log: Z-9 Towers

Debriefing Log Transcript

Date: June 21st, 2013

Subject: Events of SCP-1444 Rescue Attempt

Interviewer: Dr. Jarvinen

Interviewed: Z-9 Towers


[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Jarvinen: Hi, Graham.

Z-9 Towers: Hey, Kaisa.

Dr. Jarvinen: The purpose of this interview is to determine what actually occurred during Mobile Task Force Zeta-Nine's — the Mole Rats — exploration into SCP-1444.

Z-9 Towers: You don't need to-

Dr. Jarvinen: Sorry, it's just procedural. For the clarity on the transcript. You can begin now.

Z-9 Towers: What we experienced was identical to the video logs until the point where the comms failed - that's the first point of divergence, and everything is different after that.

Dr. Jarvinen: For the record, all of the cameras we used in these exploration logs were only streaming, and didn't save anything. They record too much to save locally.

Z-9 Towers: Right, so you have nothing after we went in?

Dr. Jarvinen: Nothing verifiable after the communication failure, no.

Z-9 Towers: Well, I guess I'll give my recap from that point onward, then. We waited for a little bit after the comms went down trying to reconnect, but they never came back on. Since we hadn't gone very far, I made the decision to head back to the Outpost and fix them.

Dr. Jarvinen: Standard operating procedure after the loss of contact with Command, correct?

Z-9 Towers: More or less. But we turned around and all of a sudden there was an ice wall in front of us, blocking the entrance. Don't know where it came from, probably the cave warping reality or whatever. Anyway, that means we need to get another way out.

Dr. Jarvinen: Your team had explosives on you at the time, correct? Couldn't you have used those at the time?

Z-9 Towers: Yes, but they were intended for last resort usage - we did get to that point later on, but I judged the situation too early at that point. We didn't have too much time to

Dr. Jarvinen: I see. Continue.

Z-9 Towers: We go down the cave for a little bit and then the floor gives out on us, dropping us into a pit filled with bodies. Most of the bodies are covered in ice, being sucked into the floor but there is one that's alive.

Dr. Jarvinen: How many bodies are there in the pit?

Z-9 Towers: Dozens — there were the two D-Class you sent in, the three members of Thorn-Two who died, a lot of hikers, more than the two that the one we talked to had gone in with. A couple animals too, now that I think about it. Those were mostly just bone.

Dr. Jarvinen: But there's one living individual, correct? Thorn-Two Crown?

Z-9 Towers: That's the one, the Coalition man. He wasn't who we went in for, we were supposed to find the Hammer Down boy. Moloch?

Dr. Jarvinen: We have strong reason to believe none of the events of the second exploration are factual. What is Crown doing when you find him?

Z-9 Towers: He's lying on the ice and glowing, eyes closed. All the other bodies were in the ice a little, but he was on top. I went over and tried to check him out, and he wakes up.

Dr. Jarvinen: He says he entered a simple meditative state of inviolability using his thaumaturgy to protect himself, in the hopes of extraction.

Z-9 Towers: He's a thaumaturge? That's what I thought. We talk to him, and verify that he's on Thorn-Two and who we were supposed to rescue. We never got too much detail on the specific member of Thorn-Two we were in for.

Dr. Jarvinen: Yes, we had assumed that every member of the team except for Moloch was dead. We made an error on that point.

Z-9 Towers: I'll bet. We get him up, and I decide we need to escape immediately. Good for us, we had explosives on us, shaped charges. The kind you can use to blast a tunnel in an ice wall without hassle. A little bit of Foundation future tech, I think. Used those to make our escape tunnel.

Dr. Jarvinen: And there was no anomalous resistance to this?

Z-9 Towers: Well, not quite. As soon as the wall started to blow away, the cave started screaming.

Dr. Jarvinen: The cave?

Z-9 Towers: It came from all around us, echoing through the entire thing. I suppose if I were to put it in clinical and skeptical tones, it was just loud and sourceless. It felt, at the time, like it was the cave itself.

Dr. Jarvinen: Noted. Any other anomalous phenomena you noticed?

Z-9 Towers: Well, as I was leaving, I looked at the bodies on the floor. I didn't get a good luck, but the backs of their skulls were cracked open, and the ice had gotten in. It wasn't too messy, but there were little frozen veins of blood going into the floor.

Dr. Jarvinen: I see.

Z-9 Towers: Another thing we saw was …

Dr. Jarvinen: But no anomalous entities? No SCP-1444-1 instances?

Z-9 Towers: None. Just the cave screaming in pain.

Dr. Jarvinen: And there weren't any artificial structures in the cave?

Z-9 Towers: Well, I've been in many caves myself. But there was something off about that cave. It was too neat, too clean. It seemed designed to me. No buildings, though.

YES YOU REALLY NEED TO MAKE STUFF CLEARER
also transition back

Z-9 Towers: We're not the kind to stick around in a creepy ice cave when it starts screaming at us.

Dr. Jarvinen: Of course not.

Z-9 Towers: So Monroe got his explosives out at that point, and started working on blasting a hole to the surface. Relatively easy, all things considered.

Dr. Jarvinen: It took you some time to reach the surface.

Z-9 Towers: About twenty minutes. And then we get out, hear Rosales on the radio, and then Hollis comes in at us. I've heard a little about what was happening on the surface, but…

Dr. Jarvinen: Go over that in more detail, please.

Z-9 Towers: Of course. We break onto the surface, and our comms connect back to base. I make contact - we have a wounded man, and he needs help. I start talking.

Dr. Jarvinen: And you hear the voice of Rosales.

Z-9 Towers: Who's standing right beside me, not speaking. And other Rosales says she's still in the cave. Then, Hollis comes charging at me with the rest of the Mole Rats, trying to verify our identities. Keep going?

Dr. Jarvinen: No, I think that's enough.

Z-9 Towers: Going to tell me what was going on, back there?

Dr. Jarvinen: We have our suspicions, but nothing firm. I imagine you'll be cleared eventually.

Z-9 Towers: Typical Foundation. Indefinite holding. Need anything else?

Dr. Jarvinen: Not at the moment. Any final comments?

Z-9 Towers: No, I don't think- Actually, one. Put in a recommendation that Crown get brought onto the Mole Rats. He'd work well on the team.

Dr. Jarvinen: Noted.

[END LOG]

Notes: As Head Researcher of SCP-1444, I am hereby issuing a moratorium on all future explorations of the anomaly. The official reason I shall be using when filing this request is that the attrition rate for the anomaly has been too high for the level of information about it we have learned.

However, it is clear to me that our prior understanding of SCP-1444 is likely inaccurate. Evidence suggests that some entity desires us to send more individuals into SCP-1444. We cannot give it what it wants.

— Doctor Kaisa Jarvinen

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