Who has never killed a second?
Series 0 » SCP-8741
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| Main Tunnel, approaching Access Duct from stage-two buffer, left-hand side. |
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Phenomenon #: SCP-8741
Object Class: Epictetus
Special Containment Procedures: Main Tunnel is outfitted with a two-stage buffer system:
Stage-one is a pressure boundary, set at 10 feet. Stage-one consists of an airlock chamber embedded within two reinforced bulkheads. Pressure gauges are installed at each bulkhead. Airlock is to maintain constant interior air pressure at 14.3 psi. Should pressure drop to 0.7 psi below normalized levels, personnel must pump compressed air into airlock and Access Duct–side of Main Tunnel until equalized. Stage-one is to be inspected quarterly for leakage.
Stage-two is a minimum safe distance, set at 210 feet. Stage-two is demarcated by gated chain-link fence bearing restricted access signage. Same measures extend to surface adit leading into former Copper Falls Lake Mine. Official legend cites a gas leak.
Two identical buffer systems are installed, one on each side of Access Duct junction.
Three synchronized atomic chronometers are maintained:
- At stage-one buffer, left-hand side.
- At stage-one buffer, right-hand side.
- At Terminus Duct, inside mouth.
Chronometers are to be compared monthly to measure drift in their rates of time passage.
Description: Known cause of the 1959 Copper Falls Lake Mine Disaster; mine shuttered. 265 casualties including 54 violent deaths. Phenomenon SCP-8741 is localized to ‘Terminus Duct’, a 150° switchback with a 36% grade, measuring 2.6 ft × 1.5 ft × 9 ft (W×H×D). Terminus Duct is visible only from inside ‘Access Duct’. Access Duct is a lava tube, measuring 3 ft × 4 ft × 41 ft, that extends into Terminus Duct. Access Duct is located in Copper Falls Lake Mine, Michigan, and accessible via ‘Main Tunnel’, a passage hewn from Precambrian volcanic rock.
SCP-8741 is a region of extreme time dilation, in which 1 second inside corresponds to ≈5.5 × 1012 years outside. The universe will be 400 times its current age after a single second passes inside Terminus Duct. SCP-8741 affects organic matter inside Terminus Duct: photons may enter, backscatter, and exit, but interact with affected bodies on a time-scale imperceptible by humans. Radiocarbon dating and basic chemical analysis of Terminus Duct are both impossible.
Appendix A. First successful expedition reached Access Duct on 16 Jun 1960. Expedition team encountered figure of unidentifiable person at furthest extent of Terminus Duct. Morphology consistent with a female human; local missing persons reports inconclusive. Conventional headlamp failed to resolve figure. Team rear returned with a floodlamp. Figure continued to occlude all incident light. Person had wedged themself head-first in a pass measuring no wider than 6 inches. Attempted tap-signaling failed to yield response after 20 minutes. Team also reported several unidentified objects floating inside Terminus Duct near the mouth.
Team lead ordered team scout into Terminus Duct to conduct rescue. Team scout entered without delay. Team scout voiced the words “living stars in [her] eyes”. Speech cut off.
Currently, torso of team scout wholly obscures view into Terminus Duct. Only the soles of their boots interact with visible light on observable time-scale. Recovery of either party impossible on time-scale of current physics.
Appendix B. Copper Falls Lake Mine superintendent R. Clements Jr. was informed of a catastrophic explosion on 29 Sep 1959 at 0500 hours. The explosion occurred at $d=-524 ft$. Air Police, stationed nearby at Calumet Air Force Station, arrived on-scene within minutes and arrested Clements Jr. at 0531 when he attempted to enter copper mine property, citing suspicion of trespassing. Clements Jr. ordered an immediate stop to all underground operations and demanded the forward mining company evacuate. Air Police overruled. Clements Jr. petitioned for his immediate release; Air Police transported him for detention at 0535.
Forward mining area collapsed at 0545, minutes after detainment, trapping more than 100 miners. Calumet AFS activated resources for CASEVAC.
Undercover SCP agent at Calumet AFS transmitted special code phrase “Bravo Mike” over encrypted channel. Chain of command escalated to SCP jurisdiction.
Appendix C. Copper Falls Lake Mine extraction operator H. Feldt emerged from a 15-month coma in early 1961.
According to Feldt, he and extraction technician T. Kiiskinen discovered Access Duct when conducting native copper extraction operations. Kiiskinen first discovered the phenomenon inside Terminus Duct three weeks before the disaster. When Kiiskinen had “caught hang of the drift” [sic], he adopted it for organic waste disposal. In the early morning of 29 Sep 1959, Kiiskinen approached Access Duct and walked through it backward, facing Main Tunnel. Feldt concluded that Kiiskinen continued backward into Terminus Duct. Feldt last recalled a thunderous roar; Main Tunnel abruptly depressurized. Feldt lost consciousness.
This event reportedly occurred during rotation from night duty to morning duty, when most night-shift mine operators were assembled in a central zone and awaiting return to surface. According to Bureau of Mines investigators, this fact was decisive in multiplying the severity of the mass casualty incident.
Feldt was the only survivor within 200 feet.
Kiiskinen presumed dead. Status inconclusive, absent human remains or trace residue.
Team scout remains inside Terminus Duct as of 12 Oct 2026 11:10 hours.
Team scout will reach their objective in ≈1.65 × 1016 years.