Link to article: SCP-7390 Fragment 9.
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[[=image https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/scp-7390/Data.jpg]] … and gets tails. Grimsley nods. //Yeah, figured.// ‘Sir?’ George says, returning. ‘Nothing,’ Grimsley replies, putting the Coin away for the last time that day. ‘The file?’ George shakes his head. ‘Shockwaves, not explosions, and it seems to have been an accident caused by someone else.’ Grimsley casts a sidelong glare at Lance, who takes a puff from his pipe. ‘Who?’ ‘No idea, but probably us. Or a different us, off in some other… timeline, reality, storyline, whatever. One of the researchers heard an apology in their own voice, and that was the end of it.’ Grimsley’s brow furrows. ‘That’s it? One of them… oh, nevermind. The point is, the anomaly isn’t relevant, right?’ ‘No, it isn’t, --but… remember that incident I said I looked at last year?--’ ‘You think it’s relevant?’ ‘I had a hunch, so I looked up my report, on the database… --there was another report with it. This is the third crash like this in eight months; routine Foundation cargo run, port-side engine fire, aft fuselage explosion, both pilots dead.--’ Grimsley’s eyes widen. ‘This is the first I’m hearing of it.’ This is because he isn’t supposed to. Grimsley, being a mundane human, lacks the capacity to keep track of every isolated accident that occurs throughout the Foundation’s global operations; thus, investigations typically only find their way to him once a pattern is recognised. One is isolated; two is a coincidence ‘Three is a pattern. Get me those reports.’ George nods, returning to the laptop. //Three employees all bomb cargo runs. There has to be a connection between them, which means we’ve been infiltrated. I should tell Lance, even he will budge in light of this.// Or would he? Grimsley remembers Lance’s ongoing persistence to impede the investigation in functionally every non-overt capacity he can. He looks to Lance, hovering over the agent working on the blackbox – watching, waiting. An idea pops into his head. He scowls. //That’s what you’re doing, you obnoxious… you’re covering it up. Trying to get us to rule this as isolated, hide the pattern. You’re compromised. If they’ve got him, they’ve got the whole of Logistics. He’s got access to everything, they may as well have… the Director.// Grimsley pulls out his phone, stepping over to the valley’s edge for privacy – and making sure nobody, especially Lance, is following. He opens his phone contacts, scrolling through to the Director’s number – no name listed, just the title and department – and dialling it. //Come on, come on, answer…// A phone rings somewhere behind him. Grimsley pales, hearing it approach. It stops. Grimsley connects to Lance’s message bank. Redirected call. //Oh shit.// Grimsley hangs up and turns to face Lance. The two are the same height, yet Grimsley feels as though he is a full two or three feet shorter, shrivelling --like a herring-- in the sunlight. Lance stares, waiting. ‘I need to speak to the Director,’ Grimsley says. ‘Regarding?’ ‘… confidential.’ Lance doesn’t take it. ‘He is unavailable. I will inform him for you.’ Grimsley shakes his head. ‘Has to be direct.’ ‘He would inform me regardless.’ Grimsley says nothing. Lance raises an eyebrow. //Please, please for the love of everything, someone give me an excuse --// ‘Got it!’ the agent calls. ‘Needed,’ Grimsley blurts, jumping past Lance to get back to the group. Filling the laptop’s screen is a myriad of graphs, diagrams and values, reflecting every recorded aspect of the aircraft over the duration of its flight; altitude, speed, inclination, fuel consumption, GPS co-ordinates – every single signal sent from any part of the plane to anywhere else, a copy of everything that happened. Used together, the information can be used to perfectly replicate the flight in simulation, right up to the moment the data recorder disconnected from the aeroplane. ‘Everyone --’ Grimsley pauses to clear his throat. ‘Everyone free is on this. Search it all, find every single inconsistency.’ ‘Are you alright?’ the agent says. ‘Fine. Can you, uh…’ Grimsley shakes his head, trying to regain and organise his thoughts. //Bomb, uhh… fire, engine… extinguisher…// ‘Extinguisher. Signals?’ he says. The agent nods. They navigate through the program, pulling up the record of signals sent to and from the engines. ‘Huh,’ they say. ‘What?’ They point to a graph on the screen. ‘Engine fire started --at exactly 7000 RPM--. Few seconds later, signal for the fire retardant to go; that’s the last thing it received. Everything else just stopped a few milliseconds later.’ Grimsley frowns. ‘--//Exactly// 7000 RPM?--’ The agent searches the screen for the recorded engines’ RPM, which he has neither noticed nor mentioned yet. ‘--Huh, yeah, exactly 7000 RPM.--’ The agent mentions to Grimsley that this must be coincidental, though; both engines had reached double that speed earlier in the flight, and would have failed then if it was significant. This reminds Grimsley of George’s earlier moniker; one is isolated. He accepts this and moves on. Grimsley covers his mouth with a hand, thinking. ‘Last signal…’ His attention turns back to the aeroplane diagram on the whiteboard – and he tries his best to ignore Lance’s staring. Stepping over, Grimsley locates the blackboxes on the picture, tracing the wire connections with one finger. ‘George.’ ‘Yes, sir?’ ‘Come here a moment.’ George does. ‘Engine fire at exactly 7000 RPM,’ Grimsley says, knowing full well that it is irrelevant and cannot possibly be significant. ‘A few seconds later, the last signal is for the fire suppressor. Everything stops then. Bigger blast severed the connections.’ Grimsley points to the blackboxes, then repeats his tracing of the connecting wires, running through the port-side wall of the fuselage. He stops half-way along. ‘The wires run under the floor,’ he says, tapping on the diagram. ‘On the port side. Straight through the explosion. Less than half a second between the two.’ George nods, understanding. ‘The bomb was wired into the blackboxes’ connection, just behind the fuel tank.’ ‘Engine rigged to catch fire, when the pilots try to put it out…’ ‘Kaboom.’ Grimsley nods. --He notices the papers in George’s hands.-- --‘Those the reports?’ he says.-- George nods, handing over the insignificant reports – even knowing there is nothing of value in them, and no possible way the incidents could be linked together yet, he rudely decides to waste his superior’s time and whatever trees were ruthlessly shredded for the 200 pages of paper he has printed each on. For this, George feels guilty, and decides it would be best to preoccupy himself with something more productive for the rest of the day, like staying away from Grimsley except when actually needed. ‘Thanks. Can you call Area-137, find out what’s going on with those bodies? I haven’t heard anything from them yet.’ ‘On it.’ Glancing over his shoulder, Grimsley quickly steps around to the other side of the whiteboard, using it to hide from Lance. The reports comprehensively go over the investigations of two previous flights, neither of which are relevant to FM-2439 yet; FM-3924, overseen by George Trellis, destroyed en-route to Chicago, eight months ago; and FM-4239, spearheaded by Gregory Talloran… Grimsley stops, --reading over the names again.-- --//George Trellis, FM-3924. Gregory Talloran, FM-4239. Grimsley Trudge, FM-2439. What the hell?//-- He opens the first report, deciding to waste his time by skimming through it, knowing full well he doesn’t have enough time to read it properly and that there almost definitely isn’t anything significant about the pure coincidences he //didn’t// just pick up on. The more he reads, the more his heart sinks, filling with dread at the knowledge he is wasting valuable time on a stupidly fruitless endeavour, and should be off being productive by helping Lydia with her phone calls. It’s as if he’s reading the story of his day, in past-tense. A sheer coincidence, and nothing more. Early-morning crash. Time constraint due to external factors (crashed on a highway). Apprehension to investigate the crash directly (suspected anomalous contamination). Blackboxes recovered late. Data analysed. --Engine fire at exactly 7000 RPM. Bomb wired into the blackbox signals. Detonation when fire suppressant used; signal didn’t reach the canister.-- He swaps to Gregory’s investigation for no particular reason, other than to look like an idiot cowering behind a whiteboard, searching through several hundreds of pages instead of confronting the fact that his micromanaging superior is very obviously a traitorous spy, responsible for at least three destroyed Foundation aircraft, the loss of probably all cargo on all of them, and hiding an unknown amount more. Something he should be dealing with now, instead of letting the corruption fester, even if for a few minutes more. Early crash. Time constraint. Apprehension. Blackboxes. --7000 RPM. Signals rigged. Detonation.-- ‘George!’ Grimsley screams for no damn reason because he’s an idiot – grabbing everyone’s attention to his blatant stupidity, and making them all doubt if they should listen to him at all. ‘Is this your report? Accurate?’ George nods, knowing it is, and too nervous to approach his obviously insane boss in fear that he’ll get shanked or something. Grimsley shakes his head, resting a hand on his forehead and pacing. --‘I knew it. I knew there was an anomaly here. We’re in it.’-- ‘Sir?’ George says, concerned for his good friend’s rapidly-degrading mental instability. --‘George Trellis. Gregory Talloran. Grimsley Trudge. G.T., G.T., G.T., and the investigations pan out the same way. The flight numbers are anagrams. George, what exactly do you remember being the outcome of your search?’-- George feels an overwhelming feeling that he shouldn’t give the obvious madman an answer, and that if he did, the only outcome would be something inevitably terrible, like him going ballistic and killing everyone in sight before being gunned down. ‘George, the outcome.’ George pales. --‘Uh, maintenance technician, smuggled bomb, caught.’-- Grimsley flicks to the end of George’s report. ‘Adam Sellibis?’ ‘Yeah, him.’ ‘How did you catch him?’ Grimsley says, flicking through to the end of Gregory’s report. George doesn’t answer. Grimsley stops asking. Grimsley stops doing what he’s doing, and goes back to what he’s supposed to be doing. Because he’s supposed to be doing it. ‘How did you catch him.’ --‘Uh… shape. Found a shape carved into the back of the fuel tank, right at the end. Three spirals. He’d kept mentioning it to his friends, they mentioned it to us, we searched his house, found the place full of drawings, spirals in groups of three. And he’d written a story that generally matched the events – changed names and places, but the same beats. Took it as premeditated.’-- ‘Three spirals?’ George nods. Grimsley abruptly loses his last vestiges of sanity, and begins slamming his head into the whiteboard until he loses consciousness. He is in a coma for fifteen months because of it, and upon awakening, realises how stupid he was and that he should’ve gotten help sooner and stopped doing the blatantly incorrect things that he was doing leading up to his psychotic break. --Grimsley shows a page.-- An overwhelming sense of monolithic dread crushes Grimsley’s soul, yet somehow leaves a tiny vestige enough for him to know that he should stop now and get back on task. ‘Audrey Smith did the same, four months later. Symbol and story.’ ‘What the hell…’ ‘Get down to the wreck. Find the symbol.’ George sprints into the valley. ‘Lydia! Is there anyone on that crew with the initials A.S.?’ She takes a moment. --‘I got an Andrew Sloane, Victor’s speaking to him.’-- ‘No-one else?’ --She shakes her head.-- --‘It’s him. Search his house, find pictures of spirals and a story about this. Get him on the phone.’-- ‘Explain,’ Lance says. ‘No.’ --Grimsley starts pacing, shaking his head. //Can’t be a coincidence. Spirals? Why? How does Lance fit in? Does he?//-- Grimsley drops dead because he’s a useless idiot, and the universe abruptly realises it can’t stand the burden of his existence any longer, and everyone cheers at his departure because he’s actually a horrible human being, and everyone drinks mojitos at his funeral and has this huge Hawaiian themed party on his casket, and three days later nobody remembers who he was, or anything about this entire damn incident. --Grimsley opens the reports, skimming through them for names. //L.S., L.S., L.S.…//-- Grimsley doesn’t find anything, because he’s already dead from an explosive heart attack. Literally explosive. He ate too many bananas the previous day, and the potassium from them built up in his heart. Literal explosion. --The closest he finds is a Lector Kelvin. But no analogue for Lance.-- Lydia holds up her phone. Grimsley snatches it. ‘Andrew,’ he says. ‘You’re breaking the rules,’ I say. He pauses, actually and realising genuinely just how much trouble he’s in. ‘… Andrew Sloane?’ ‘Yes, that’s me. You’re breaking the damn rules, so stop it.’ His brow furrows. ‘What rules? What are you talking about?’ You’re breaking the pattern. You aren’t supposed to catch me yet. ‘You’re confessing to bombing FM-2439?’ Yes I’m bloody confessing you twit. I did it! I got onto the maintenance crew, I carved the spirals into the back of the fuel tank, I smuggled the bomb on and wired it into the recorder system. I’ve come home, I’m writing up the narrative, I’ve already got pictures littered around my place, because //that’s what I’m supposed to do.// You’re the idiot that’s breaking the rules, you aren’t supposed to find me yet! You can’t just cheat like this! ‘What the hell are you on about? You fit the pattern --’ BECAUSE I’M SUPPOSED TO. YOU ARE TOO. You show up to the crash, bumble around like an idiot for a few hours, get a //few// clues. You’re supposed to talk to my colleagues, hear them mention the spirals I keep mentioning – and sure, you get pretty suspicious of me, weird behaviour and all that – but you aren’t supposed to catch me until after you find the symbol, not before! The cleaners are supposed to break down the last bit of the plane, then one of them spots the carving, //then// you conclusively link it to me, //then// you catch me. You aren’t supposed to pick up on the pattern! A pause, because Grimsley is an idiot ‘Excuse me?’ Shut up, you don’t get to talk. I’m the narrator. I’M THE BLOODY NARRATOR, NOT YOU. You’re the character. The protagonist. You do as I say, because I tell you to do it. When I delete something, you forget it, because it NEVER HAPPENED. You don’t get to IGNORE ME. ‘…’ This ISNT SUPPOSED TO BE METAFICTION. YOU DON’T HAVE FREE WILL. ‘Alright, Andrew, I’m sorry --’ No you aren’t. But you will be. A loud, metallic groaning, followed by shouting. Grimsley turns to the valley, because I want him to see this. A worker jumps from the crane as it tilts forward, tumbling into the valley. Time slows down for Grimsley, but he doesn’t move any faster; everything proceeds in slow-motion so he can understand what’s about to happen. He lets out a shout, if he wants. Not like I can tell him not to anyway. But he can’t stop the vehicle from tumbling down the slope, over and over, down toward the last, remaining section of the fuselage. The lightweight metals of the fuselage easily, easily crumple under the heavy steel of the crane. It crushes like paper, Grimsley, and you see all of it. You see it in slow motion, and you can’t do anything to stop it. Everything inside is flattened like a pancake, and you know it. You know exactly who’s inside, don’t you? Yes you do, because it’s the //last// section. The one with the back of the fuel tank. There’s no survivors, Grimsley. No survivors. ----- ----- [[include :scp-wiki:component:s7-apcs scp-number = 7390 | scp-class = keter | non-standard-class = Any_value | lineFirst = Security Clearance Level 1 | lineSecond = Department of Pataphysics | lineThird = Department of Logistics | danger-select-1 = Memetic | danger-select-2 = Possibility Bending | danger-select-3 = Mind-affecting | danger-select-4 = Reality Bending | danger-select-5 = Mind Control | danger-select-6 = Anomamagnetic | activation = Unstable | threat-ind = 3 | contaiment-risk = KETER | k-class = none]] [!-- http://scpfoundation.net/sandbox:s7-apcs-guide --] ----- [[=]] ++ Special Containment Procedures [[/=]] All vehicles owned by the Foundation with identifying designations containing all of the number 2, 3, 4, and 9, are to be immediately decommissioned from use. Foundation vehicles must not be given any designations containing all of the number 2, 3, 4, and 9. The SCP-7390 file is compulsory reading for all Level 1 or higher Foundation personnel that __do not__ have the initials A. S. or G. T.. The SCP-7390 file is to be uniformly redacted to all Foundation personnel with the initials A. S. and G. T., with the exception of SCP-7390-B instances belonging to previous SCP-7390 occurrences. Foundation personnel are forbidden from discussing any aspect of SCP-7390 with individuals with the initials A. S. or G. T.. Potential SCP-7390-A instances, regardless of their name, must be immediately reported to security personnel and apprehended. All potential SCP-7390-A instances must be reassigned from all maintenance duties for a minimum period of six months, regardless of position and/or pending duties. Foundation maintenance personnel with the initials A. S. must undergo monthly psychological evaluations to monitor for escalation into an SCP-7390-A instance. Potential SCP-7390-B instances, regardless of their name, must be reported to supervising personnel. Under no circumstances should any investigation conducted by SCP-7390-B, especially into a SCP-7390-C vehicle, be interfered with or accelerated using knowledge of SCP-7390. Foundation personnel with the initials G. T. must be instructed to pre-emptively report intentions to conduct an investigation of any kind to their supervisors. In the event that an SCP-7390-B instance conducts an investigation that appears to align with an SCP-7390 event, Foundation security personnel must identify any potentially-related individuals with the initials A. S., and prepare to apprehend them. Foundation security personnel must not apprehend any SCP-7390-A instances until directed to do so by SCP-7390-B. All SCP-7390-D instances are to be surrendered to the Department of Pataphysics for archival and investigation. ----- [[=]] ++ Description [[/=]] SCP-7390 is a series of events which reoccur every four months, always consisting of and focusing on: * SCP-7390-A, a Foundation maintenance employee with the initials A.S.; * SCP-7390-B, an investigative Foundation employee with the initials G.T.; * SCP-7390-C, a Foundation vehicle with a numerical designation consisting of the number 2, 3, 4, and 9 in any order; * SCP-7390-D, a narrative written by SCP-7390-A, detailing an investigation conducted by SCP-7390-B into the loss of SCP-7390-C. [[include component:image-block name=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/scp-7390/Spirals.png |caption=Examples of spiral iconography commonly produced by SCP-7390-A. |width=301px |align=right]] The specific identities of SCP-7390-A and SCP-7390-B, the vehicle type and model of SCP-7390-C, and the contents, genre, and medium of SCP-7390-D vary between occurrences. Prior to SCP-7390-5, the fifth occurrence of the events, both SCP-7390-A and SCP-7390-B were always employed by the Department of Logistics, the latter being a member of the Investigations Division, and SCP-7390-C was always an aeroplane. Approximately two months after the previous SCP-7390 event has concluded, SCP-7390-A will be inspired to write SCP-7390-D. Interviewed acquaintances report that SCP-7390-A initially appears excited by the concept, devoting a significant amount of their spare time to the project; over the ensuing two weeks, however, SCP-7390-A becomes visibly and persistently anxious, refusing to discuss their condition, dismissing inquiries into SCP-7390-D, and progressively avoiding all commitments outside of their work. Analysis of recorded dialogue from developing SCP-7390-A instances revealed a propensity towards cryptic references of mind control, stalking, intimidation, and constriction, particularly when used in reference to themselves; furthermore, when deflecting inquiries into their condition, SCP-7390-A will almost universally change the topic of conversation toward spirals, vortexes, or coils. The perceived symptoms of anxiety reportedly diminish one month after the initial conception of -D, supplemented by an increased focus on their work assignments; recovered financial records indicate that -A begin researching and purchasing materials to construct an improvised explosive device, taking appropriate and successful precautious to avoid arousing suspicion. After another month – totalling four months since the conclusion of the previous SCP-7390 event – SCP-7390-A will be assigned to conduct maintenance on SCP-7390-C, during which they will both covertly install the explosive device, and intentionally leave some form of spiral-themed visual cue as evidence. Within the ensuing 24 hours, a coincidental event experienced by SCP-7390-C while in-use will cause the detonation of the explosive device, resulting in the destruction of the vehicle. SCP-7390-B will be assigned to the ensuing investigation, initiating the SCP-7390 event proper, which will transpire exactly as documented in SCP-7390-D: * SCP-7390-B is given a significant time constraint, but becomes aversive towards direct investigation of the SCP-7390-C wreckage; * During the course of the investigation, SCP-7390-B interviews the colleagues of SCP-7390-A, who highlight the individual’s abnormal behaviour over the preceding three months; * SCP-7390-B is unable to conclusively identify SCP-7390-A as the culprit until the final hour of the time constraint, at which time they discover the triskelion left within SCP-7390-C, linking it to SCP-7390-A’s obsession with spirals; * SCP-7390-A is apprehended at their residence, which is extensively decorated with illustrations of spirals, while attempting to finalise SCP-7390-D; * SCP-7390-A confesses to SCP-7390-B, reporting that the narrative of SCP-7390-D had been manipulating them over the preceding three months to both complete the narrative and instigate its events, with their earlier abnormal behaviour arising from threats issued by the narrative. Across all occurrences, the Foundation has uniformly failed to identify SCP-7390-A, SCP-7390-B, and SCP-7390-C until after the conclusion of SCP-7390-D’s events. To date, SCP-7390-A have never succeeded in finalising SCP-7390-D during the events; completing the narrative after the events have concluded causes no discernible effects. ----- [[=]] ++ Addenda +++ Discovery / Escalation [[/=]] SCP-7390 was first identified on 05/05/2025 following the conclusion of the fifth known SCP-7390 event, wherein Assistant Director Grimsley Trudge (SCP-7390-B-5) apprehended Andrew Sloane (SCP-7390-A-5) for the sabotage of FM-2439 (SCP-7390-C-5). This event is particularly significant, as it is the only occurrence to significantly deviate from the SCP-7390 archetype: * SCP-7390-5 is the only event where a previous SCP-7390-B, SCP-7390-B-3 (George Trellis), was present; * A.D. Trudge is the only SCP-7390-B to become aware of previous SCP-7390 during an event, as Trellis both recalled their own SCP-7390 event and discovered SCP-7390-4, notifying A.D. Trudge of both; * A.D. Trudge became aware of both the SCP-7390 anomaly and Sloane’s guilt significantly earlier than all other events, facilitated by the previous point; * A.D. Trudge is the only SCP-7390-B to have influenced the SCP-7390-D narrative against their SCP-7390-A instance; * Of note is that the recovered SCP-7390-D was metafictional; several lines in the final paragraphs are crossed out, with only A.D. Trudge retaining the deleted information, and the narration becomes increasingly insulting towards A.D. Trudge * Sloane is the only SCP-7390-A instance to confess out-of-order, doing so before A.D. Trudge discovers the triskelion clue; * SCP-7390-5 is the only occurrence where the SCP-7390-D ends before all the SCP-7390 events have concluded, terminating immediately after Sloane’s confession and omitting his subsequent apprehension, the discovery of SCP-7390-D, and his recount of the previous four months. Subsequent investigation later identified SCP-7390-1 and SCP-7390-2, two earlier aircraft incidents aligned with SCP-7390. SCP-7390-6 began on 18/09/2025. Unlike all previous occurrences SCP-7390-C-6 was a freight ship instead of an aircraft, and SCP-7390-B was a crewmember instead of a member of the Department of Logistics’ Investigations Division; all subsequent SCP-7390 events have similarly deviated, with the SCP-7390-C vehicle and position of SCP-7390-B being randomised each time. ----- [[div class="blockquote" style="padding: 30px"]] [[=]] ++ Dominion Ending (4/4) ----- ||||||||~ [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390 Start] || ||||||||~ [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/1 Heads] / [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/2 Tails] || ||||= [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/3 Heads] ||||~ [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/4 Tails] || || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/5 Heads (1/4)] || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/6 Tails (2/4)] || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/7 Heads (3/4)] ||~ [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7390/offset/8 Tails (4/4)] || [[/=]] [[/div]]