Mysterious_Columbo

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object class: Safe Keter

Special Containment Procedures: The International House of Pancakes restaurant, located at ██ Cherry St., ████ Indiana is to remain evacuated and condemned, under orders of Mayor ████. Mayor ████ has no knowledge of SCP-XXXX. The cover story is geological instability causing the basement to become structurally unsound and partly collapse, killing five people. A single Foundation security guard shall be posted outside the property at all times.

All Foundation personnel are to use Foundation Alias 34231 ("The Department of Geological Safety") when interacting with locals.

Note: Classic location-bound SCP. Containment was easy. I could secure sites like this in my sleep. - Agent Terrell

Addendum: These procedures are also to be applied to the house at ██ Orchid St.

Hey, Terry. You missed a spot. - Agent Ward

Addendum: These procedures are also to be applied to the buildings at ██ Concordia St., ██ Lexington Ave., ██ Main St., and ██ Oak Blvd.

Some residents are complaining of strange phenomena with their tap water. Class As given. Will update after investigation. - Agent Chang

Addendum: The previous report was in error. The anomaly has manifested in at least 10 locations.

The entire town of ████ Indiana is to remain evacuated. The cover story is geological instability. The borders of the town are to be automatically monitored with basic tripwire. Security team 649382-B is to be stationed nearby to detain anyone approaching the town.

Operation Cellar Door has been initiated to develop a permanent containment protocol.

Object class is now keter.

Addendum: These procedures are also to be applied to the gas station at Highway █ near █████ Indiana.

This second town is to be evacuated immediately.

Our cover story is wearing thin. How big is this area of "geological instability" supposed to be? We need a better cover and we need it fast. – Dr. Emmerts

Current projections predict the anomaly will reach the major city of ██████ in less than two years.

Addendum: All satellite footage of ████ is to be automatically replaced with footage of that site taken prior to October 2018, under similar time of day and weather conditions, using Prestidigitation Protocol.

Description: SCP-XXXX is an anomaly occurring in the basement of International House of Pancakes franchise located at ██ Cherry Street, ████, Indiana a zone of indeterminate size and shape centered at ██° █' ██" N / ██° █' ██" W.

All persons entering the basement vanish. Signals from recording devices cease approximately 6 to 11 seconds from entry into the basement. Aside from a reduction in the luminosity of light sources, no unusual activity is detected before signal stops.

See History and Experiment Log XXXX-x-1 for details.

+ History

SCP-XXXX was first brought to Foundation attention on 10/9/2016 when an agent stationed in █████, Indiana monitoring regional news found an article describing the disappearance of two police officers in ████ while investigating the disappearance of three employees of the resturant.

A reconstruction of the initial events follows:

No record of any anomalous activity prior to 10/7/2016.

10/7/2016 - Approximately 2pm: ███ ████, an employee of the restaurant, is ordered by the store manager, ██ ███, into the basement to retrieve additional tables and chairs in anticipation of a large crowd due to the Harvest Festival scheduled later that week.

The store basement is only used to store tables and chairs. No employee had set foot inside since last October.

An hour later, when the employee had not yet returned, the manager ordered ████ ██ into the basement to retrieve her. ███ █████ volunteered to go into the basement about ten minutes later.

The manager went to the basement steps and shouted for them, but there was no response. At that moment she noticed the lights for the basement were off and the light switch did not work.

When the employees still had not emerged by the end of their shift, the manager called the local police.

10/8/2016 6:33 pm: Officers ███ and ███ arrive at the site and proceed to the basement. The manager watched them descend the steps. A few seconds later their flashlights simultaneously went out. The manager asked them what happened but there is no response.
The manager hears a loud repetitive twanging noise, like high-tension strings snapping.
The manager immediately calls a local reporter.

+ Experiment log XXXX-x-1 LEVEL 2 SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED

Subject D-XXXX-1 is equipped with a type E self-contained suit with GPS tracking device, mounted video and audio recorders, and a flashlight. A rope harness is attached to the suit and the rope is attached to a high-power winch securely mounted on the restaurant's first floor.

Video and audio recording is turned on at 10/11/16 9:12:10 am. Data is unremarkable. Automatic audio transcription has been initiated.

D-XXXX-1 (internal microphone): I never did it, you know.

Agent Terrell: Did what?

D-XXXX-1: The murder. I wasn't even there. The cops framed me.

Agent Terrell: We will discuss this later.

D-XXXX-1: I never even met the guy they said I killed.

Agent Terrell: Further discussion of this topic will result in disciplinary action. Check air supply.

D-XXXX-1: Air supply check.

Agent Terrell: Check for breach.

D-XXXX-1: Pressure meter reads airtight.

Agent Terrell: Proceed to the basement.

Camera footage shows subject turning towards basement door, opening it. Interior is very dark but wooden steps and part of the smooth cement floor are visible due to lighting from outside the basement. Both appear normal. Subject turns on flashlight. Illumination seems reduced. Camera bobs as subject descends stairs. Flashlight has dimmed noticeably. Subject takes a few steps forward onto floor. Subject swings the flashlight around. It illuminates parts of the floor, which appear normal.

Camera footage abruptly ends. Audio and GPS signals simultaneously cease. Time is 9:13:06 am

Agent Terrell reports that at this time D-XXXX-1's flashlight suddenly switched off and only darkness could be seen from the basement.

Agent Terrell: D-XXXX-1, what's going on down there?

(no response)

Agent Terrell: D-XXXX-1, what's your status?

(no response)

According to Agent Terrell at this moment there was a gentle pull on the rope, consistent with the pulls D-XXXX-1 made as he walked into the basement. After a few seconds, the pull stops.

Agent Terrell retracts the winch. The rope comes up quickly with no resistance. The end of the rope is rough, as though it was torn.

End of experiment.

The whereabouts of D-XXXX-1 are unknown.

Addendum: Water passing through pipes in the affected area gains strange properties. See Incident Log XXXX-i-1.

+ Incident Log XXXX-i-1 LEVEL 2 SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED

Time of incident: 12/14/2016. Afternoon.

Agent Ward: Agents Terrell, Chang, and I were at the Oak Blvd. location. Chang had heard reports of strange water properties so he turned on the kitchen faucet and collected a sample in a glass from a nearby cabinet.
The water had a green tint, but it was perfectly normal. I just thought there was something in it, you know, like a chemical.

We were following protocol. Masks for airborne hazards, gloves, the works. I thought we were safe.

Chang started to pour it into a class-H containment bag, and suddenly there was this loud wooshing sound. It was deafening. Terry said I was screaming but I don't remember.

The faucet was sucking in air with so much force. It felt like I was in a wind tunnel.

After a minute it stopped but Chang had dropped the glass in all the confusion and there was a puddle of water on the floor. It started to slowly rise up in this bubble of liquid. I don't know how to describe it. Chang grabbed the bag and swooped it over the bubble and zipped it up.

Then he moved the bag and it was like physics had gone all wrong. Suddenly his hand looked like he put it in a blender and all the angles of the bones were wrong and the flesh was all chewed up and oozing blood.

And the bag, I couldn't even tell you what it was anymore. It was in an impossible shape, all shredded up, drifting sideways.

Terry said he'd do first aid and I ran outside to get the med team. Terry radioed me but he got cut off and the radio stopped working. I just heard a few words. I don't even remember what they were.
When we came back in I couldn't find Terry or Chang anywhere.
We never found them.

Addendum: U.S. satellite photography shows an enormous sinkhole 7 kilometers in diameter has formed. The center of the sinkhole is approximately 13 meters west of the restaurant where the anomaly was originally discovered.

The sinkhole is circular, though the edges are ragged. The interior is unnaturally dark. Tests confirm light is being absorbed at an increasing rate. Four smooth crystal spikes pointing straight upwards emerge from near the center. The crystals are a milky translucent blue-white, with irregular cracks between what are apparently sections of differing molecular orientation. The tips extend 8 meters above ground level. The bases are obscured by the darkness.

Spikes are brittle and easily broken.

Molecular analysis gives inconclusive, bizarre results. Substance does not appear to be ordinary matter.

Addendum: The crystal sample is missing from SCP custody.

Addendum: As of 4/2/2020 an additional section of the ground 8 square kilometers in size has collapsed, making the sinkhole asymmetric. There are now seventeen crystal spikes, reaching heights between 3 and 27 meters. The broken spike has not regenerated.

+ Operation Cellar Door LEVEL 2 SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED

This is a special operation to devise a method to stop the expansion of SCP-XXXX and contain it.

Research is ongoing.

Notes:

- Seismic analysis revealed an enormous underground cavity of irregular shape. Volume is 63,000 cubic kilometers. However, this cavity is much smaller than the known extent of the anomaly. It is unknown what unique properties this region of the anomaly has.

- Searches among historical records and religious groups show no record of any similar phenomena. No links to any other known SCP phenomena has been found so far.

- A high-speed camera equipped with a high-intensity light was dropped into the sinkhole at extreme velocity. Images confirmed that the crystal spikes gradually widen the further one goes down the hole, but transmission stopped before any kind of base could be observed. The camera was unable to form any image of the sinkhole walls, recording only darkness beyond the crystals.

The crystals and the sinkhole are at least 120 m deep. The intensity of light decreased linearly as the camera fell, reducing to total darkness after 120 m. The signal stopped at 140 m.

- The "darkness effect" seems to apply to all EM radiation, regardless of wavelength.

- There is no known method of determining the depth of the anomaly.

- The only method devised so far to measure the boundaries of the anomaly is "drill probing", in which a drill is sent into the earth until either the maximum range of the drill is met or a portion of the drill bit disappears.

In the event of a positive result, the remaining portion of the bit is pulled and twisted like taffy, rather than a clean break.

- Drill probing suggests an irregular shape of expansion centered at the sinkhole.

- There is no way to determine if the anomaly exists at a depth beyond the maximum range of our drills. Therefore, a negative "drill probing" result may only indicate that the anomaly has not yet surfaced in that place.

-Dr. Emmerts has suggested the anomaly may originate from deep within the Earth's crust, or even further below.

- The drill probing project to map the boundaries has been discontinued. The anomaly is expanding faster than the amount of time it would take to establish its boundaries using this method, given its unpredictable shape.

- Excavation of the ground around the ███ ███ gas station has resulted in extensive damage to the digging machinery. Large sections of the machinery are missing and nearby parts are badly warped. No soil has been successfully removed yet. The excavation is cancelled.

-It appears that, rather than having a clean boundary, the effect gradually diminishes, occurring more sporadically and requiring more time for a disappearance.

-Matter entering the anomaly vanishes but matter already present when the anomaly's area of effect expanded remains unaffected (congratulations to Dr. Ikari for this insight).

-Correction: As the anomaly progresses, eventually it reaches a stage where already-present matter begins to disappear, hence the sinkhole.

- An underground probe was inserted 400 m from the gas station, at a depth where drill probing revealed no anomalous activity. Monthly drill probing established the anomaly had reached the probe at some time between 7/2/2019 and 8/3/2019.

The probe has yet to record any abnormal data.

The probe cannot be retrieved. Any device used to dig it up would be destroyed by the anomaly.

Update 2/21/2020: Last night, at 2:16:43 am, the probe recorded a distant, deep, echoing boom and clatter. The probe ceased functioning three hours later.

Update 5/6/2020: Soft whooshing noises, like rushing wind, can now be heard coming from the sinkhole. The noise is loud enough for security team 649382-B to hear at a distance of 21 kilometers from the epicenter.

Loud, rhythmic snapping and twanging noises have started to occur as well.

It's been over three years and we're still no closer to figuring out what causes the expansion or how to stop it. God help us. - Dr. Figueroa