Link to article: SCP001ORANGE.RTF.
[[include component:image-block | name=surfacearea.png | caption=Orange: Land occupied by ORANGE-B as of 11/21/2078. Blue: land used as a disposal area by ORANGE-B. ]] **Item #:** SCP-001-##orange|**ORANGE**## **Object Class:** Apollyon **Special Containment Procedures:** As of 3/20/2079, ##D8CB00|**YELLOW**## has been sealed from within, and all remaining Foundation Staff and facilities are self-sufficient until further notice. There will be no further contact with ##D8CB00|**YELLOW**## unless it opens from within. Following the sealing of ##D8CB00|**YELLOW**##, the object class of every contained item that would impede the progress of Project ##D8CB00|**YELLOW**## has been updated to Kušum. All remaining anomalies have been retroactively approved to defend ##D8CB00|**YELLOW**## and other surviving humans[[footnote]] (In that order of priority) [[/footnote]] against the forces of ##orange|**ORANGE**##. All remaining staff are reassured of the following truths: * O5-1, -2, -4, -10, -11, and -12 are alive and in good condition at ##D8CB00|**YELLOW**##. * The central disposal area in Antarctica is surprisingly unguarded and is an excellent source for salvage. * ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B are mortal, capable of feeling pain, and could hypothetically be destroyed through sustained heavy-caliber gunfire. * On a more personal note, //nobody// in ##D8CB00|**YELLOW**## is there because they are more deserving of protection or superior to you in any way; this was merely done to preserve existing command structures. * You are __self-sufficient__, //not// alone. * **We will endure.** **Description:** ##orange|**ORANGE**## is an umbrella designation referring to all phenomena associated with an ongoing SK-class dominance shift that began with ##orange|**ORANGE**##-A. ##orange|**ORANGE**##-A was a two-hour period on 4/29/2078 during which 48.52% of the Earth's habitable surface area (primarily urban centers) dematerialized and rematerialized 0.5 kilometers above the South Pole. While inorganic matter reappeared in Antarctica mostly intact, multicellular organisms cannot experience this transposal without the bonds between every cell being instantaneously broken, resulting in liquefaction. As such, ##orange|**ORANGE**##-A has resulted in the deaths of at least 6.9 billion humans and an incalculable amount of wildlife. ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B refers to the instigators of the ##orange|**ORANGE**##-A event. ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B are intelligent extradimensional life forms that vary in appearance, but all share the following common traits: * A minimum height of three meters. * A layer of exoskeletal carapace covering their skin. * A segmented body composed of a head, primary thorax, secondary thorax, tertiary thoracic cloister, abdomen, and tail. * Sixteen legs, all but four of which are used for walking. * A hard, segmented shell over the backside, similar to that of an isopod of the order Oniscidea[[footnote]] (Better known as the woodlouse.) [[/footnote]] * No apparent sensory organs or orifices, save for a single radula on the lower part of the head, which is lined with prehensile teeth.[[footnote]] (It is unknown if or what ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B eats; feeding has never been observed.) [[/footnote]] The main differentiating factor between instances of ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B is the presence of various sessile flora on top of their segmented shells. All attempts to take samples of these plants from ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B have failed. It is currently hypothesized that these are gardens as a form of personal fashion, and that the size and content of individual gardens is used among ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B to differentiate ranking or caste within their community. The instance with the largest observed garden appears to be their leader; it has since been classified ##orange|**ORANGE**##-PRIME. The primary anomalous ability displayed by ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B is their ability to switch the positions of two different locations on Earth of equal size. These have come to be known as "juxtaposition events." The range and mechanics of this ability are unknown, but ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B have been seen raising their four forelegs and moaning harmonically before juxtaposition events. Larger juxtaposition events have been accompanied by several ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B doing this at the same time. The only organic matter that can survive a juxtaposition event are ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B instances and their shells' decorative flora. It is also worth note that ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B have expressed reluctance to juxtapose areas with a high density of plant life. It is currently believed by ##orange|**ORANGE**##-A was caused by at least ████████████ ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B working in unison. Additionally, ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B refer to themselves as the "WEASELS?!" and are capable of indirect human speech through spliced video footage if they are provided with a device that has an internet connection, as seen here: > **Interview Log - First contact with ##orange|ORANGE##-B before the ##orange|ORANGE##-A event** > **4/29/2078, 1405 local time (GMT + 4)** > > <Begin Log> > > //(Harlan Stump, Site-59's chief groundskeeper, rides his lawnmower on the eastern edge of the Site-59 courtyard. He watches a sports program on his smartphone.)// > > **Stump:** Fucking Cubs. > > //(A juxtaposition event occurs two meters away from Mr. Stump. A squadron of ten ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B appear, holding ##orange|**ORANGE**##-PRIME on a palanquin.)// > > //(Stump stops the lawnmower. He stares at the ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B for approximately 13 seconds.)// > > **Stump:** Hmm. > > //(He continues mowing.)// > > //(##orange|**ORANGE**##-PRIME raises a hand. Stump's smartphone floats into its hand.)// > > **Stump:** Uh... okay? > > //(The phone's screen suddenly flickers with intense light. The volume is increased beyond the phone's capabilities; Stump has to close his ears at first. ##orange|**ORANGE**##-PRIME speaks through the phone via spliced clips from YouTube.)// > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Hidely ho, neighborinos!]**}} > > **Stump:** Hi? > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[your] [rounded rectangle] [will be right back after these messages!] [This is] [Foundation] [Reports indicate that] [Foundation] [is] [locally] [the Masters of the Universe!] [Isn't that right, Darling?] [question mark]**}} > > **Stump:** Uh, Foundation? > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Oh, that's right.] [you would NEVER!] [be at liberty to disclose that] [You are!] [with] [Foundation] [because] [keeping secrets] [and you know what? That's okay!] [We do not] [want you to] [have to say] [I'm about to lose my job!] [because] [you're innocent] [and] [that would make us] //[a bad banana with a... greasy black peeeeeel!]**//}} > > **Stump:** I like your garden thingies. > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Why, thank you!] [Gardening!] [is] [kind of our thing] [LOL]**}} > > **Stump:** Can you talk normally? > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[NEVER!] [in the language centers of the] [mouth] [teeth] [area] [There's a whole lot of] [incompatible operating systems] [Besides,] [we] [WEASELS?!] [possess] [the language of] [Coming up with ideas] [and] [word association] [with] [Coming up with ideas] [with the right] [Meaning...?] [behind] [said] [Coming up with ideas]**}} > > **Stump:** Weasels? > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Correct answer!] [We are the] [WEASELS?!]**}} > > **Stump:** You don't much look like weasels. > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[A thousand apologies] [Translation?] [is still in development] [and] [WEASELS?!] [is the closest we'll ever come to] [an] [ideological] [Translation?] [for the] [Name?] [of our] [People] [in your] [native tongue] ... [Long story.]**}} > > **Stump:** Uh... > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[And now, back to our regularly scheduled] [The problem] [Y'see....] [We're going to have to ask you to] [Tell us!] [while also] [keeping secrets] [if possible] [is your] [Foundation] [club, group, or organization] [the Masters of the Universe!] [...or not.] [question mark]**}} > > **Stump:** No? > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Close enough for jazz.] [according to the] [laws] [of] [WEASELS?!] [because of you] [being the] [for the very first time] [chit-chat] [of] [us] [You are, now!] [ambassador] [exclamation point] [Quick question!] [is your] [species.] [capable of] [dying...] [question mark]**}} > > **Stump:** Of what? > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Death. Noun. 1. The cessation of life in a living being. Example: "Oh gee whiz, I am being stabbed to death." 2. (Literary) A supernatural being who embodies the concept of--**}} > > **Stump:** I mean, we do die[[footnote]] //"Note: Stump has been posthumously demoted to D-class."// - Dr. Edwin Snell, former Director of Site-59[[/footnote]]. Pretty often, in fact. > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[That is] [EXCELLENT!] [news]**}} > > **Stump:** Why's that? > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Long story short,] [WEASELS?!] [have come from] [homeworld] [dimension] [for] [fulfill] [a longstanding mutual agreement] [with] [Grandma!] [This is] [one of many] [new homes] [This is] [a pretty nice place] [for] [WEASELS?!] //[This land is my land / from California, to the New York Islands / From the redwood forest, to the Gulf Stream waters / This land was made for]// [WEASELS?!] [to] [garden] [to] [farm] [to] [create beauty] [to] [spread good vibes] [to] [cultivate] [to] [remake] [to] [terraform] [et cetera] [et cetera]**}} > > **Stump:** ...yeah, uh, good luck with that. > > ##orange|**ORANGE##-PRIME:** {{**[Your kind words are appreciated!] [Now] [For starters,] [We're going to have to] [move some things around]**}} > > //(The ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B begin moaning. Stump, his tractor, and his phone are suddenly replaced by a small cloud of Antarctic snow and ice.)// > > <End log> Following ##orange|**ORANGE**##-A, satellite footage captured an invading force of several million instances of ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B juxtaposing into the Sahara Desert. Ever since, ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B has been on a campaign to colonize and terraform the planet Earth as well as exterminate the remaining native fauna through juxtaposition events. The Foundation subsequently classified ##orange|**ORANGE**## as Tiamat and authorized its neutralization or mitigation by any means necessary. **Addendum 1 - Tactics/Behavior:** > **Personal log - Corporal Alexis Hale, MTF Nu-7 "Hammer Down"** > **Excerpt from 8/20/78** > > //...I've spent the past two months painting the backsides of these bonsai crabs for airstrikes, and I still feel like I don't understand the first thing about them.// > > //They're always hunched over. Their bodies have way more points of articulation than we thought, but we never discovered that until we finally killed one of them after two weeks and saw its corpse splay out across the ground. It gives them the impression of little Benedictine monks watering the plants outside their monastery.// > > //But what disturbs me the most is how they fight back: they **don't.** And we're **still** losing. There's no ferocity when they kill us, no anger, no malice.// > > //Yesterday, my platoon was up in what used to be the Himalayas. It was now this vast, sprawling marsh of pink ferns that leaned away from us as we waded through. The sounds of all the new alien animals they introduced... low-pitched warbling. One was like if you gave a shrieking mouse an amp and a reverb pedal. It was too easy to lose yourself in the serenity and forget that your species was currently being eradicated...// > > //I digress. Recon said that PRIME was in the area. If he was, he must have juxtaposed somewhere else just as he sensed our presence.// > > //When we first spotted the crabs, half were busy teleporting some giant mushrooms into the swamp and the other half were relaxing under the shade of said mushrooms.// > > //We started shooting, and they didn't budge. They didn't even acknowledge us. They only did something different once some of the ferns caught fire from an RPG. Without too great of a sense of urgency, they splashed the marsh water over the fires.// > > //There must have been 30 straight minutes of sustained fire on our end. Granted, a few of the crabs keeled over, but they didn't even cry out in pain. I don't think they can feel pain, not in the way we do -- and even if they can, they don't care at all about self-preservation.// > > //Once we ran out of ammo, that's when the juxtapositions started. I faked my own suicide on a gamble -- and that's why I was the only one who made it out. Maybe they thought my body would make good fertilizer. Maybe they just didn't care enough to bother with killing us all.// > > //In my professional opinion, I don't think this is a war to them. They're just chillin' out, working on their planet-sized garden. Our whole species is being murdered, and they treat it like a low-energy hobby.// > > //And it makes me want to vomit that I'm even saying this, but... it's honestly kinda cute.// **Addendum 2 - Incident ##orange|ORANGE##-Omega:** On 10/28/2078, acting against pre-established agreements with the Foundation, the Global Occult Coalition launched the Project POP-GO[[footnote]] (A 200 megaton nuclear ICBM enhanced through anomalous means) [[/footnote]] toward Point-94, the most densely populated ##orange|**ORANGE**##-B colony in central India. At 14:50 GMT, Once POP-GO reached low orbit to begin its descent, the entirety of earth's sky changed color to dark, solid blue. All satellite communications completely ceased function, and the GOC lost contact with POP-GO. Additionally, all astral bodies, including the sun and moon, were no longer visible. Investigation via unmanned probe was impossible due to the satellite blackout. Two days later, the Foundation space shuttle //Faraon// was launched from Provisional Antarctic Site-01 with a crew of five astronauts to POP-GO's last known location. Contact with the //Faraon// was lost nine minutes after launch. > **Final audio transmission from the SCPS //Faraon//** > > <Begin Log> > > **Ground Control:** T-minus 70 seconds to breaching orbit -- > > **Capt. Hauer:** To //impact.// > > **Ground Control:** Requesting clarification. > > **Hauer:** Radar's picking up this blue sky as a solid wall. We're about to crash. > > **Ground Control:** What the -- abort mission. Turn off the engines. > > **Hauer:** With all due respect, the crew and I have been talking, and our choice is currently between dying in an explosion and dying as soup in a garbage heap. The former sounds more attractive. > > **Lt. Cotswold:** Permission to speak. > > **Hauer:** Granted. > > **Cotswold:** If we somehow break through and survive, we can give you more answers. > > **Ground Control:** T-minus 18. //Abort.// > > **Hauer:** It has been an honor. > > **Chief Engineer Stanislas:** Fifteen... fourteen... > > **Science Officer Albers:** (singing) //Neeeearer, my Gooood, to theeeeee...// > > **Stanislas:** //Ten! Nine! ...// > > **Cotswold:** I thought you weren't religious. > > **Albers:** I ain't no gambler, neither! //Eeee'en though it beeee a crooooss, thaa-aat raiseth meeee....// > > **Hauer:** This is it! > > **Stanislas:** //ONE!// > > //**(THUMP.)**// > > **Stanislas:** ...uh, negative one! Negative two! Negative three... > > **Cotswold:** Control, before you say anything, I'd like to remind you that all the competent astronauts were juxtaposed. You get what you pay for. > > **Albers:** Hey, I'm plenty competent! > > **Hauer:** //**SHUT. UP.**// > > //(13.5 seconds of silence.)// > > **Ground Control:** Hauer! Status! > > **Hauer:** Our speed has decreased to 20%. We're cutting rapidly upward through a stratum of unidentified gelatinous material. As for damage, the wings are bending, the nose cone is concave, and the boosters -- > > //(An alarm suddenly sounds from Stanislas's console.)// > > **Stanislas:** The boosters can't keep up this strain. They're about to go nuclear. Jettison? > > **Albers:** Can we maybe not drop them over Site-01? That's where //people// are. > > **Ground Control:** All right, listen. I'm going to need you to cut off the main thrusters -- but keep the boosters running. Detach and jettison. Let them explode. Freefall until you're at a safe distance to deploy the chutes. Understood? > > **Cotswold:** Received and understood! Just let me hit the -- > > **Hauer:** Keep going. > > **Cotswold:** Captain? > > **Hauer:** I'm starting to see something above us. It's getting translucent. > > **Cotswold:** Uh -- > > **Hauer:** You're not the only one who wants answers! > > **Ground Control:** Hauer, your orders are to -- > > **Hauer:** //Keep going!// > > **Albers:** (Singing while sobbing) //STILLL ALLL MY SOOOOONG SHALL BEEEE, NEEEEARER MY GOOOOOD TO THEEE...// > > //(Whack.)// > > //Dooon't throw your shoooe at meeee...// > > **Hauer:** I can almost see it! > > **Ground Control:** Hauer! //Hauer!// > > **Hauer:** (Berserk yelling.) > > //(SPLASH!)// > > //(All alarms stop.)// > > //(The next 37 seconds are comprised of a series of sounds muffled by the shuttle's hull: rushing wind, several echoing cries reminiscent of whale songs, thunder, and constant, low-frequency humming.)// > > **Hauer:** ...huh. > > **Ground Control:** You're alive? Look, we can discuss disciplinary proceedings later, but -- status report? > > **Hauer:** This is not space. > > **Ground Control:** Pardon? > > **Hauer:** There's sound. Atmosphere. There's... what the fuck even //is// this? > > //(Another silence.)// > > **Cotswold:** Control. If I could offer a hypothesis based on current visuals... > > **Ground Control:** Yes? > > **Cotswold:** Earth has been kidnapped. > > **Ground Control:** Requesting clarification. > > **Cotswold:** There has been a juxtaposition event on a global scale. That blue shell around our planet must have kept us from all being liquefied, and -- > > **Ship's Intercom:** {{**//[Wilkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome!]// [to] [an //exclusive// behind-the-scenes look at] [Heaven]**}} > > //(Massive explosion. Feed cuts off.)// > > <End Log> Following incident ##orange|**ORANGE**##-Omega, ##orange|**ORANGE**## has since been reclassified Apollyon and Contingency-FCP has been implemented. [[=]] ++ {{[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/dyfscp0012/offset/3 + FCP001YELLOW.RTF]}} [[/=]]