It was a dark and stormy night.
Author: Shaggydredlocks
The article opens with a bit of second-person narration. The main character of our story has been hiding in a broom closet, sustained by the water from the mop-sink. As they step outside, a couple things are immediately made clear:
- Something really bad happened here. There are bodies lying on the floor of the hallway, a scream is heard in the distance, and there's a guy in the security office who's been gutted from his throat to his crotch.
- The main character is being hunted by something. They don't know what it is, how it hunts, or where it is, but they know they're being hunted and, if the scene around them is any indication, it won't be pretty if they get caught.
Once the main character makes it to the terminal they're looking for, and brushes a corpse aside, they open the file for the anomaly.
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3280 is to remain in place at its point of origin in the defunct Johnston Labs and Pharmaceuticals Research Center, which has been seized by the Foundation. Containment Liaisons are in the process of devising long-term containment solutions for SCP-3280.
Whatever this thing is, it originates from a lab/pharmaceutical research center, and the Foundation currently has no way to contain it in the long-term. If this thing breached containment, it could explain the gruesome scene in the site the main character is in.
Should SCP-3280 reach the entrance to Sub-Level 2, the Site will enter a security lockdown, making entrance and egress impossible. Do note that this will also activate Blackout-Protocol: ensuring that no hazardous or sensitive information is broadcast from the Site. This will be necessary to prevent a full containment breach and failure of Third Mission (Protect) goals.
If this thing reaches a specific point while trying to breach containment, the site it's in will be completely locked down and Blackout-Protocol will be initiated. Apparently, to not do so is to violate the third mission of the Foundation, which is to protect. This gives us more of an idea of how dangerous this anomaly is; the Foundation isn't just containing it, they're protecting us from it.
The document ends here because our main character only has level 0 security clearance, so we're back to second-person narration. Apparently, the main character has seen the file we just got a glimpse at before, and the image of the storm in said file doesn't look right to them. Unfortunately, because of the main character's low security clearance, the image's caption is redacted, so we don't have any context. Luckily for us, the main character decides to remedy this problem by taking the access card from the corpse next to them and using it on the terminal. As it turns out, this card has level 2 access, meaning the main character has access to the security feed in addition to the article.
The security feed shows us more of the site, and pretty much all of it is filled with dead people. One guy hung himself, another collapses while clenching his gut at the sound of thunder outside, the first floor is flooded and there are a bunch of bodies dead face-down, there's a dead D-Class in the corner of sub-level 2, and there are countless dead people in the cafeteria. In addition to death, there's also a constant presence of water in the site. The guy who hung himself has a puddle underneath him, the guy who died clenching his gut did so following the noise of thunder, all the bodies at the entrance are face down in the water, there's a burst pipe next to the dead D-Class, and there's a pink slurry gathering at the cafeteria windows. This is important.
Right before the main character opens the new version of the SCP document, we're told that it's getting harder for them to think. This is foreshadowing what's about to happen. As we proceed through this new version of the SCP document, there's grey and white text in some places to indicate the main character's loss of focus.
The new section of the containment procedures tells us that the Foundation kept the anomaly away from the point mentioned earlier by sending a D-Class down to lure it to the bottom level. If the dead D-Class earlier and the burst pipe are any indication, things didn't quite go as planned.
The main character begins to lose focus.
We're told that the anomaly breaching containment could lead to an end-of-the-world scenario, before getting to the description. The anomaly is a sapient mass made up of a liquid identical to water that can absorb other liquid into its mass. When it is separated, the different parts behave identically to the whole. The entity is hostile to humans, and actively seeks them out. When it finds them, it enters through their orifices and pores. Affected subjects experience a variety of symptoms, one of which is abdominal pain, which explains why the guy earlier clutched his stomach before collapsing.
The main character's stomach begins to churn. That can't be good. Remember earlier when I said they drank from a mop-sink? Yeah, that was a bad idea.
We're then told that the entity displays claustrophobic behavior and attempts to violently expel itself from subjects at high speeds. This is about the point where we realize that the main character is completely fucked. The last thing we're told before the document abruptly cuts off is that, if the entity breaches containment, it could cause an end-of-the-world scenario once it integrates into the water cycle.
The entity begins to attack the main character, and in their last moments before death they see the raindrops heading towards them from outside. The entity, in the process of breaching containment, was split into multiple parts, and those parts are attempting to reunite, which explains the slurry gathered at the cafeteria windows, and why there's water everywhere alongside dead bodies. The entity is already in the rain. Once it reaches the ocean, it's over. The world may very well be doomed.
In conclusion, this is an article detailing what happens when everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Thank you for reading.
Link: SCP-3280 - After The Storm
Written By: UncannyClown276, u/UncannyClown276
Date Published: March 13, 2019