After eating dinner provided to them by the theater, the group of foundation scientists and SCPs took their seats and prepared for the next viewing.
"What will we be watching this time Mr. Theater?" Abby asked the disembodied voice of the theater.
"We will be watching an event that happens in an alternate timeline of your universe." The theater answered. "I believe the Foundation calls these events XK-Class end of the world scenarios."
The four foundation scientists in the room immediately felt themselves tense up upon hearing the term XK- Class. An XK-Class scenario is a term every Foundation agent dreads.
Clef lets out a tired sigh before speaking up. "Alright I think I'm gonna need some whisky for this."
"Same here." Kondraki, Bright, and Rights all said at the same time.
"Very well." The theater says before a table
with different types of whiskey and shot glasses on it appeared in front of them.
The screen flickered to life to reveal a man in a dark room sitting at a table with a recording device and a bottle of whiskey. The man's face couldn't be seen clearly due to the darkness of the room. The only thing that could be recognizable through the darkness were some of his clothing. The man wears blue pants and a grey shirt with a foundation lab coat over it.
"Ominous spooky room, what a great start." Iris says sarcastically.
"Addendum 1" the man speaks as the view suddenly changes to a flashback where two copies of SCP- 173 could be seen within the confines of SCP-173's containment cell. At the foot of the statues were two corpses of D-Class personnel.
"On ??/??/????, Scp-173 appeared to multiply, producing two identical copies. Two D-class personnel were killed. It is unknown how this process occurred. Each in of Scp-173, now labeled Scp-173-1 and Scp-173-2 are now being moved to individual cells each following the original's containment procedures. Shortly after this a second multiplication event occurred. Scp-173-1 through 4 are to each be contained as per original containment procedures. Scp- 173 reclassified as keter." The man narrates though when he spoke of the date his voice became disoriented due to it being redacted information.
The eyes of the Foundation researchers went wide at the sight of multiple copies of Scp-173. One was bad enough already, they didn't want to know how bad things could get if there were more of them.
"How did it even manage to pull that off unnoticed? We have it under constant surveillance." Dr. Rights says in disbelief.
Kondraki pulled out his notebook and got ready to write down as much information as possible. The theater said this was an alternate timeline but if by whatever chance their timelines version of Scp-173 could do the same then they need to be prepared.
"It seems old snappy boy has a few tricks up his non-existent sleeve." Scp-035 chuckles.
"Addendum 2" the man on screen spoke as the view showed an image of a destroyed Foundation facility.
"Security breach occurred on ??/??/????. Assuming a simple geometric progression, at least 61 copies of Scp-173 are as of now unaccounted for. It is unknown how they replicated so fast, or how they replicated at all. Video evidence of the containment breach shows multiple instances of Scp-173 working in unison across multiple cells to achieve the breach. Most of the instances still in captivity appear to have formed a rear guard blocking foundation agents from pursuing other instances. It is theorized that Scp-173 has a hive intelligence, where intelligence scales with the number of nearby copies." The man explains.
The faces of the foundation researchers and a few of the Scp's who have heard of or know about 173 paled.
"Dear god! Over 61 one of those damn things!" Lilith says in shock. "How would you even fight against that many of them?!"
"That thing can make itself an army at a rapid rate. We'd need to decimate any area where 173 has been sighted. Though even that may not work given how fast the damn thing moves." Dr. Clef says with a grim expression plastered on his face. "On top of that they have a hive mind."
"I recommend you destroy the one we have in our timeline to prevent an outcome like this from happening." 049 suggested.
The Foundation researchers did agree with the plague doctor to some degree but knew the O5 Council would likely never agree to that. Plus attempting to destroy it could make things worse.
"Revised special containment procedures." The man says as an image of a foundation facility on the moon is shown. "All copies of Scp-173 are to be contained in form-fitting metal containers and sent using Scp-[Redacted] to the now abandoned Foundation facility on the moon. They are to be fitted with tracking collars that will detect if any of them leave the moon."
"Honestly that base was so underutilized I forgot what purpose it even served." Dr. Bright comments.
"Addendum 3." The man says as an image of a now destroyed city appears on screen.
"Scp-173 has caused a breach of secrecy for the SCP Foundation. Estimates at this time are roughly 500,000 civilian deaths across North America in the last 48 hours due to Scp-173, and hundreds of thousands of sightings and pieces of video evidence. Major television news programs have obtained video of Scp-173, and are providing instructions for avoiding instant death." The man reports.
The Foundation researchers cringed at hearing the kill count and the breach of secrecy.
Forty paled at what she'd heard as her young mind tried to wrap her head around the possibility of statues killing so many within the span of two days.
Abby was more confused about the information being told to her. She couldn't properly understand the concept of death no matter how hard she tried to.
The view then switched the man in the dark room once again. "Dr. Phillips: Deceased, Dr. Mathews: Deceased, Dr. Clef: Deceased, Dr. Gears: Deceased, Dr. Kondraki: Deceased. Dr. Bright is in charge of containment." The man reports.
Dr. Clef and Dr. Kondraki cringed slightly after hearing their names on the list of the dearly departed, but quickly recovered. Death wasn't something they were afraid of.
Dr. Rights gained a sad expression, she was friends with everyone on the list even if they did annoy her at times.
Dr. Bright released a tired sigh. 'Fate just won't let me die will it.' He thinks sadly to himself. He'd seen so many friends die and yet he could never join them in the afterlife. Fate is a bitch.
"Addendum 4" the man says as the view switches to show yet another destroyed Foundation facility.
"Scp-173 has besieged and destroyed four Foundation facilities near simultaneously in the last 24 hours. Each instance shows the characteristic strength exhibited in the original, and thousands working in unison are capable of ripping open concrete bunkers and compromising foot-thick steel doors. Research is ongoing to find a way to combat this threat." The man explains.
"This just keeps getting worse." Dr. Rights groans. Forty notices the frustration of Dr. Rights and feels sorry for her so she get up from her seat and goes to sit next to Dr. Rights. She pats the clearly distressed woman on the back in an attempt to comfort her much to the older woman's suprise.
"It's ok. This isn't our world so it won't happen." Forty says though her tone of voice was unsure.
Dr. Rights stared at the SCP in suprise for a moment. She was shocked that an SCP was trying to comfort a researcher of all things. That shock quickly vanished and became gratitude. She could clearly hear the uneasiness in the girls voice but Dr. Rights could still feel a glimmer of hope come from Evolution's Child.
She smiled and patted the girl on the head. "Thanks Forty."
"Addendum 4: Alpha." The man says as the view changes to show a street full of soliders patrolling the area.
"Marshall law has been declared in North America. Ground forces are attempting to contain Scp-173 specimens with little success. Explosive munitions and air strikes are most effective at this time however Scp-173 specimens are resilient and continue to multiply. Gunships are currently destroying entire towns and cities in an attempt to slow down the Scp-173 advance." The man reports.
"Yeesh. assuming humanity somehow survives this, they're going to have a lot of cleaning up to do." Dr. Clef comments.
"Addendum 4: Bravo." The man says as the view switches to show what remains of a battlefield.
"Ground forces have been rendered completely ineffective at this time; Scp-173 specimens are working in large groups to overrun fortified positions. Scp-173 specimens will now group together to pull armoured vehicles apart and will use sewer systems and underground train lines to avoid bomb runs. Furthermore, Scp-173 sightings have been confirmed in South America. Civilian evacuations are being impeded by Scp-173 specimens."
"Damn. The bastards have already taken over the Americas in like what two weeks at most?" Dr. Clef says.
"Addendum 4: Charlie." The man says as the view then switches to an evacuation zone where what's left of any military force in the Americas are attempting to evacuate survivors.
"Number of survivors in North and South America is estimated at less than one thousand survivors in total. The military is running low on explosive munitions and all mainland based factories have been overrun. Furthermore all Foundation installations have also been overrun except for Site-12. Site-12 is currently being evacuated; following this all North and South America based facilities will have their on-site nuclear devices remotely detonated. An XK-Class-End-of-the-World Scenario has been declared by the O5 Council."
"That statue did all of that within the span of a few weeks?" The possessive mask questions before letting out a small chuckle. "You'd might as well abandon the New World and Fortify the Old World."
The view then switches back over to the man in the room as he pulls out another recording device from a black bag placed beside his chair.
"Personal Log of Dr. Bright." The man says before pressing play on the second recording device.
"I've been killed thirty-seven times in the last week. They can smell me, somehow, regardless of what body I'm in. The majority decision of the remaining O5's is that this is an XK, they're gonna deal with the problem, or the Russians are. They're evacuating this base, which means there won't be a single Foundation Scientists anywhere in the New World. They say they're gonna try to evacuate the surviving civilians, but I doubt it. There can't be more than a couple hundred people in all of North America left. The only good news is that about 150 of the bastards teamed up and ripped Scp-682 apart. That brought a smile to my face." Dr. Bright explains before the recording ends.
The mood of the Foundation researchers in the theater were immediately brought up when they learned of the fate of Scp-682. 'Finally, the bastard got what he deserved.' They all think in unison.
"Revised Special Containment Procedures." The man says before the view switches to show a now ruined North and South America.
"Containment Zone X-Ray 01, formerly North and South America, is to be denied access. Following saturation nuclear bombing on ??/??/????, number of Scp-173 instances has been reduced. All available Foundation resources are to be redirected to monitoring the ocean, to ensure the integrity of Containment Zone X-Ray 01. Foundation Adjuncts from national natives are to perform around the patrols and sonar sweeps. Detected instances are to be contained and removed to Scp-[Redacted] for transport to the lunar containment site." The man explains.
Dr. Rights let out an annoyed groan. "Sometimes I hate redactions."
"Addendum 5." The man says as the view switches to a now Ruined UK. "Verified sightings of Scp-173 in [Redacted], Wales, the United Kingdom. Nuclear bombardment authorized and executed. No survivors."
"The world is going to be a nuclear wasteland by the time those sculptures are gone." Iris says dryly.
Dr. Clef chuckled at that. "Didn't you know? When we humans have a problem we throw nukes at them. Works every time."
The screen cuts to black.