SCP-8288

Link to article: SCP-8288.

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[[/module]]

[[div class="email"]]
[[div class="tofrom"]]
**From:** Site-322 Director Spencer Hill <directorhill@site322.scip.net>
**To:** Researcher Eira Driver <edriver@site322.scip.net>
**Subject:** Project Lead Assignment
[[/div]]
------
Hey, Eira! 

I know you've been asking for a big project and I've finally got something for you to spearhead. Doesn't seem to be a world-ender or anything, but it's definitely weird. Right now, it's still under anomalous incident classification, so there's some room for you to define it. 

We got a report about an incident being flagged at the Union Station in Toronto, something about a missing passenger. There's footage but no ticket record, no ID match, and nobody remembers the person being there except a conductor who says he “might have dreamed it.” The weird thing is that when I had another guy go interview this conductor, he just started saying he knew nothing about it. Maybe if you go ask him, he'll flip the switch again.

I'll forward you what we've got. It's not much, but I know you've got a good head on your shoulders. If it's a nothing burger, you can just file it and move on. And if not, it looks like you'll have your first skip under your belt! (And maybe even a promotion, wink wink)

Best,
Spence

P.S. - Make sure to take it easy this time around. Don't want you to get all worked up like you did on your last project.
------
[[/div]]
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[[=]]
[[collapsible show="+ I'll review this incident log.." hide="- The radio is out of tune"]]
[[div class="blockquote"]]
[[<]]
//This footage was taken on 8/22/25 at Union Station in Toronto, Canada depicting a possible anomaly.//

[BEGIN FOOTAGE]

//A woman in a black tee and a red duffel bag is spotted boarding a train. She talks to the conductor and checks her phone. Her expression seems to be disappointed, but she puts it away and continues onto the train.//

[END FOOTAGE]
[[/<]]
[[/div]]
[[<]]
Is that.. it? 

No footage of her disembarking.. no one on the train remembers her either. No name, no nothing. I've been waiting all week for this to hit my desk! I interviewed the conductor and the guy couldn't even describe anything about her. Pretended like he had never heard of her. People disappear every day, why the hell are we even looking into this? Whatever, maybe I can check the manifest..
[[/<]]

[[include :scp-wiki:component:coltop show=+ Open Train Manifest |hide=- Close Train Manifest]]
[[div class="blockquote"]]
//The following manifest appears to have a memetic error. Error highlighted in red.//

|| Last Name || First Name || Car || Seat ||
[EXTRANEOUS DATA EXPUNGED]
|| Clark || Johnathan || SSW || 3B ||
|| [[span style="color:red"]] Cross [[/span]] || [[span style="color:red"]]Shauna[[/span]] || SSW || 1G ||
|| Davis || Jackson || RUT || 2F ||
|| Deer || Michael || RPX || 1A ||
[EXTRANEOUS DATA EXPUNGED]
[[/div]]
[[include :scp-wiki:component:colend]]

[[<]]
At least it's something.

..

I ran this name through five different census databases for Canada and the U.S. Even checked one for the U.K. Nothing. There's no ticket for her on the train system either, so why is this name in the manifest? I should check the footage again.

[[/<]]

[[div class="blockquote"]]
[[<]]
//This footage was taken on 8/22/25 at Union Station in Toronto, Canada depicting a possible anomaly.//

[BEGIN FOOTAGE]

//A conductor is standing at a terminal in the station.//

[END FOOTAGE]
[[/<]]
[[/div]]
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...What?
[[/collapsible]]
 _
 _
[[collapsible show="+ Look, this is concrete evidence!" hide="- The telephone's a fucking liar"]]
[[<]]
I circled back to the conductor today. Asked him flat-out: “Do you remember the name Shauna Cross?”  He paused. Brow furrowed like I just asked him a question about calculus. I stood around thinking something would click for him. But no. He just gave me this dull shrug and said it wasn’t ringing a bell.

I tracked down that Clark guy who should’ve been on the same car as her. Same question. Face deep in thought. Nothing. I asked him about the seat and whether he ever saw a woman with a black tee and a red duffel bag. Another stupid look. Then: “Oh yeah, 1G? Naw, it was empty.”

Of course it was. Of fucking course it was.

Empty. He said it like it was obvious. Like I was the crazy one. 

I could scream. 

I miss when I used to get excited about things like this. Before it felt like I was the only one still giving a fuck about anything. Am I the only one who actually cares when someone disappears?

But it's fine. When nobody has the answer, I'll just do what I always do. Go where no one bothers to check.

..

The lost and found at Union isn't very impressive. Just a storage closet with a metal shelf. Let's see here then.. umbrellas.. scarves.. broken Kindle.. there's a notebook here..
[[/<]]
[[=]]
[[include :scp-wiki:component:coltop show=+ Open Notebook |hide=- Close Notebook]]
[[<]]
Front cover's got "S.C." on it. Jackpot. Let's see here...

Some class notes.. grocery lists.. poems.. diary entries. Huh, this girl's family sucks. I shouldn't be snooping though.. wait, this entry's dated 8/22.

[[div class="blockquote"]]
//Going off to the station today for school. Mom couldn't drive me, has to take Charlie[[footnote]] I guess this is her brother or something? Got to follow up on this.[[/footnote]] to the store.//

//Nobody said goodbye before I went. I'm supposed to be over there for the whole year cause of the school trip over winter. But they don't care, I guess. I don't really care. It's fine.[[footnote]] The writing's smudged here... [[/footnote]]//

//I've been waiting for the day I could just disappear anyway. Everyone's always been placing their stupid expectations on me but of course it didn't matter what I did. I've been top 10 in my class since I was fucking born. Should've been top 5!//

//They'll miss me when I'm gone.//

//Maybe I'll come back. Maybe not. Never felt like I belonged here anyway. I'm sure they'd just be better off without me.//
[[/div]]

Hmm. The ink has this pressure on the paper, like she was pushing the words into the page. Her handwriting gets all messy later too. Poor Shauna. I know what it's like..

..

I ran the notebook through some forensic analysis myself. No fingerprints, no oils, no hair. Like it was just bought, other than the writing of course. I asked some of the staff at the office, and they said they weren't sure who turned it in. I couldn't find any footage of someone leaving this behind. For all intents and purposes, it just appeared there.

This isn't right. It's like she was erased. But it was precise. It’s like someone edited her out frame by frame. You’d only notice if you knew what used to be there. No school transcript, no medical record, no phone, no ticket, no sightings. This is ridiculous. I fucking swore up and down to the other researchers that I saw Shauna on the footage, but I couldn't prove it.. 

But I have this. I have her name. Should be proof enough.

..

God.. she just wanted to be noticed. //"They'll miss me when I'm gone."// But they didn't. Nobody did. No one even said goodbye. And now I'm the only one staring at this spiral-bound obituary. I want to ask the guys on the upper level for some tests for anomalous evidence, but I can't let this out of my sight. Everybody thinks I'm chasing ghosts again. They think they're so fucking funny.

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I'll go interview her family tomorrow.
[[include :scp-wiki:component:colend]]

[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
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[[collapsible show="+ I have to figure this out.." hide="- Or so I wish"]]
[[<]]
I visited a couple Cross residences today, but only one of them had a Charlie. It was a quiet little detached house out in the suburbs. A woman with a tired face answered the door. It was just her and her son, Charlie. Fifteen years old, plays soccer. When I got there, he was sitting in the living room playing something on the TV. Came off as a little stuck-up when I tried to talk to him.

There was a photo on the wall of the two of them. It looked so obvious that there was supposed to be a third person in the frame, but there wasn't.

I asked the woman about Shauna. She scrunched her face up and said that maybe it was her great-great-grandma's name or something. They keep doing that. Getting a weird look on their face like they have the faintest memory, then snarkily saying that they don't know what you're talking about.

I asked her again. 

[[div class="blockquote"]]
“Are you sure you’ve never had a daughter? Maybe from a different father?”

"What kind of question is that? I know how many kids I have."
[[/div]]

She looked really disgusted with my question so I just left. Sat in my car for a long time. Read the notebook again. Read that line about Charlie going to the store. Same name. Looked further back in the notebook. Same age. His birthday was in April. But no memory. No record.

I checked the nearby hospitals. No birth records for a Shauna Cross in the province. Not the next one over either. No childhood immunizations. No dental forms. I called her college board. Nothing. It's like I’m reverse engineering a ghost. But she’s not even supposed to be an unsolved case. She's supposed to be nothing.

I’ve been pulling long nights. Trying to backtrack her entire existence. Every person I talk to, every place I call is just another dead end. I talked to a bunch of hospitals multiple times, but once, one of them said I had never talked to them before when I mentioned it. Am I starting to lose track? I looked at my call log, and some of the calls I knew I took //I KNEW THAT I FUCKING TOOK I TALKED TO THESE PEOPLE//, they weren't there. I don't know what's going on.

..

Reality is editing itself faster than I can document it. Reorganizing itself to close the hole she left behind. But I still have the notebook.
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I haven’t slept in two days. I can't let this notebook out of my sight.
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I'm sorry, Shauna. I couldn't make them remember you.
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I've got a trip to Site-11 scheduled for next week. I don't know where else to go. All I know is that these guys should be good at tracking people.

I don't even have any evidence other than this notebook. I need someone to see. I'm not chasing ghosts. I'm not crazy. This person existed. Everybody's always been placing their stupid expectations on me. We'll see.
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Maybe I just want to see if anyone will wish me well.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/=]]
[[/=]]
 _
 _

[[=]]
[[collapsible show="+ It's time for the trip to Site-11." hide="- I drink myself slow and sick"]]
[[/=]]
[[<]]
Boarded the 9:30 northbound to Michigan. Nobody saw me off. I didn't really tell anybody. I forgot to leave a note. Just wanted.. I don't know. I guess I wanted someone to text or to wave to me. Maybe I thought someone would stop me.

..

When the train started to move, I checked my phone. Nothing. I sent a message to my lab chat anyway.
[[div class="blockquote"]]
(9:52 am) [[span style="color:red"]](edriver)[[/span]]: heading off to site-11. just thought i'd say something.
[[/div]]
I feel like someone should have said something to that. Maybe even someone telling me off for leaving without notifying anybody. But nothing.

[[div class="blockquote"]]
(10:05 am) [[span style="color:red"]](edriver)[[/span]]: any developments? guys?
(10:06 am) [[span style="color:red"]](edriver)[[/span]]: hey
(10:10 am) [[span style="color:red"]](edriver)[[/span]]: just say something. ping me. anything
(10:22 am) [[span style="color:red"]](edriver)[[/span]]: please
[[/div]]
It's fine. I don't care. It's on me for not saying anything earlier.

..

There was a kid in the seat a couple rows up, earbuds in. I tried to strike up a conversation. He looked through me like I wasn’t there. Same with the woman across the aisle. She was knitting something. A scarf maybe. I asked her how long she'd been working on it. No response. Not even a blink. I tried again. Louder. She flinched, but not at me. It was because someone had shut the bathroom door loudly.

..
 _
 _
 _
 _
I.. fell.. asleep? Outside the window is dark.. How long could this train have possibly been going? 

It looks like everyone has got off to their stop already. I checked my phone. It's been nine hours.. Still nothing. Maybe if I write to Spence...

[[div class="email"]]
[[div class="tofrom"]]
**From:** Researcher Eira Driver <edriver@site322.scip.net>
**To:** Site-322 Director Spencer Hill <directorhill@site322.scip.net>
**Subject:** URGENT
[[/div]]
------
hey spencer i'm off over to site-11 just wanted you to know. or say anything about it
that would be cool if you could like wish me well or anything that would be nice maybe
just something like even if you just say "ok" i would like that

thanks
eira
------
[[/div]]

I looked around again. Still nobody here. Obviously. I can barely see out the window. No moon in the sky.

I can hardly see my reflection. It looks.. smudged. 

..

I've been doing this all my life. No one cares. I've tried to please. Tried to be a cut above the rest. Being a valedictorian all those years. My dad never thought it was enough. My mom had too many other things to care about, clearly. I couldn't connect with any of my siblings. But.. I should text them..

I pull out my phone, but my arms feel farther away than they should be. Tried to text again, but my fingers hit nothing. Maybe my phone is dead.

..

I don't know what to do. I don't think I'm going to get off this train.

..

I stood in the aisle and screamed. Nobody came. No conductor, no anything.

I screamed every name I could remember.

I screamed until my throat hurt.
I screamed for my mother.
I screamed for my father.
I screamed for my older brother.
I screamed for my younger sisters.
I screamed for Spencer.
I screamed for Shauna.
I screamed for someone.

..
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The world kept rolling by outside the window. Unchanged. Uncaring.
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No one said goodbye. No one cared. Clearly, it'd be better if I were to just disappear.
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No...
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They'll say I left. I resigned. Abandoned post. That my shell cracked again. I got too invested. 

I won't stand for that.

I will not be forgotten.

[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-8288/offset/1 Someone will find this.. someone.. has.. to find this..]
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]

SCP-8288

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