Link to article: SCP-1444 Debriefing Log (Z-9 Towers).
text-align: right; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: -20px;
:scp-wiki:component:license-box
:scp-wiki:component:license-box-end
blockquote
[[>]] [[module Rate]] [[/>]] [[div style="text-align: right; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: -20px;"]] by [[[stormbreath]]] [[/div]] [[div class="blockquote"]] **Debriefing Log Transcript** **Date:** June 21st, 2013 **Subject:** Events of SCP-1444 Rescue Attempt **Interviewer:** Dr. Jarvinen **Interviewed:** Z-9 Towers ----- **[**BEGIN LOG**]** **Dr. Jarvinen:** Hi, Graham. **Z-9 Towers:** Hey, Kaisa. **Dr. Jarvinen:** The purpose of this interview is to determine what actually occurred during Mobile Task Force Zeta-Nine's -- the Mole Rats -- exploration into SCP-1444. **Z-9 Towers:** You don't need to- **Dr. Jarvinen:** Sorry, it's just procedural. For the clarity on the transcript. You can begin now. **Z-9 Towers:** What we experienced was identical to the video logs until the point where the comms failed - that's the first point of divergence, and everything is different after that. **Dr. Jarvinen:** For the record, all of the cameras we used in these exploration logs were only streaming, and didn't save anything to themselves. They record too much to save locally. **Z-9 Towers:** Right, so you have nothing after we went in? **Dr. Jarvinen:** Nothing verifiable after the communication failure, no. **Z-9 Towers:** Well, I guess I'll give my recap from that point onward, then. We waited for a little bit after the comms went down trying to reconnect, but they never came back on. Since we hadn't gone very far, I made the decision to head back to the Outpost and fix them. **Dr. Jarvinen:** Standard operating procedure after the loss of contact with Command, correct? **Z-9 Towers:** More or less. But we turned around and all of a sudden there was an ice wall in front of us, blocking the entrance. Don't know where it came from, since that was one of the only actual instances of reality warping we encountered. I told Monroe and Rosales to start working on drilling explosives into the wall, which they got ready for. **Dr. Jarvinen:** But the explosion didn't come for a while later -- right until you escaped? **Z-9 Towers:** Right. I told them to wait for us to get back, to lessen the chance of a hostile response, and so we wouldn't have to blow another hole when we were actually trying to get out of there. I took Raphael and Zhou and marched a little forward into the cave. About fifty feet down, there was a weak point in the cave floor. **Dr. Jarvinen:** The hiker who escaped mentioned a crevice. **Z-9 Towers:** Right. The ice was weak, so if you walked onto it, it'd give out from under you and send you falling into the ice. We shot it once and it crumbled. Radio'd back to Rosales and Monroe and told them what we found. Once that was established, it was time to set up our climbing equipment. That took a few minutes to make sure everything was secure, and then I descended into the pit. Raphael and Zhou waited at the top for me to give an all clear at the bottom. **Z-9 Towers:** We got to the bottom of the cave, it opens up into a huge cavern. There were a ton of bodies down there. Just covering the floor. A couple had been rolled away from the drop, so you wouldn't have fallen directly onto the bodies. Those bodies were all covered in ice, with the backs of their heads cracked open, and a web of blood stemming from the back. **Dr. Jarvinen:** What about the survivors? The Thorns, Crown and Citrus. **Z-9 Towers:** Right. The two of them were off to the side, and they were glowing gold, embracing each other. Breathing, although very slowly. I dropped down to the floor, and poked the ground with a stick. No reaction, so I lowered myself to walk onto the floor, but didn't disconnect from the harness. **Z-9 Towers:** I shook them, and the glow faded. Crown woke up, and kinda sat up. They explained that their task force had fallen into the same pit we had just descended, and crashed. Both of the two survivors had broken some bones, but Rose and Moloch weren't as lucky. Skulls cracked on impact. The ground had started shifting and moving, so Crown grabbed Citrus and put them into some kind of stasis. **Dr. Jarvinen:** It was an abjurative working. Crown is a mystic, although mostly untrained. They did know how to enter a minor state of inviolability, but had to sap the energy out of Citrus to survive. They got her permission, of course. **Z-9 Towers:** Good we got there before both of them bit it. Anyway, we figure out that the two aren't in any shape to climb back up the pit, so I call up to Zhou and Raphael. I tell them they need to drop another line down, this one with a rescue basket. They set that one up -- they had already been in the process of getting another pulley, so it doesn't take as long. First we get Citrus up, then Crown. Operation goes easy. **Dr. Jarvinen:** No anomalous reaction from the cave? It didn't try to stop you? There was no shifting on the ground? **Z-9 Towers:** As soon as we made the plan, Crown and Citrus went back into being invincible, while I pulled up a few feet, so I wasn't touching the ground. Whatever is controlling that cave, I don't think it's very smart. **Dr. Jarvinen:** And Raphael and Zhou didn't have any troubles with deploying the bed and pulling it back up again? **Z-9 Towers:** None. I helped get Citrus onto the basket, Crown went inviolable, and off we went. The cave started groaning at that point, but I didn't think too much of it. It wasn't an animal groan, it was an ice groan. Like ice cracking and the like. Basket went up, they got Citrus off, and then they dropped it down again for Crown. I got them onto the basket, and that's when things got a bit rougher. **Z-9 Towers:** The cave actually started to speak, at that point. The ice started rippling, so I belayed myself back up a few feet and gave the all clear to take Crown up. Raphael and Zhou lifted them, and then I started to get a good handle on the situation. **Z-9 Towers:** In front of me are dozens of corpses. Some are recognizable: two in D-Class outfits, two in Task Force gear. The rest are just hikers. There's sounds coming from all around me, some voices screaming, others demanding that I stop, others begging me to feed them. Now, Doctor, you might look down on me for this next bit, but I don't really care. **Dr. Jarvinen:** What did you do, Graham? **Z-9 Towers:** I've been in my share of hostile environments. Living caves and the like. What I was hearing? Nothing more than a manipulation tactic. There could have been something that needed help, but I doubt it. I didn't know what was in the cave, and I still don't. What I knew was that I had some gasoline, some explosives and some flares in my pack. **Dr. Jarvinen:** You set the cave on fire? **Z-9 Towers:** Scattered the explosives, poured out the gasoline. The voices abated for a little bit. I got farther up, lit a few flares, and dropped them. All the voices were screaming after that. I ignored them and scaled to the top of the pit, where my entire team was waiting for me. **Z-9 Towers:** As soon as I got to the top, Monroe activated the explosive charges and we booked it out of there to the surface. And then we get out, hear Rosales on the radio, and then Hollis comes in at us. I've heard a little about what was happening on the surface, but... **Dr. Jarvinen:** Go over that in more detail, please. **Z-9 Towers:** Of course. We break onto the surface, and our comms connect back to base. I make contact - we've got two wounded and they need our help. I start talking. **Dr. Jarvinen:** And you hear the voice of Rosales. **Z-9 Towers:** Who's standing right beside me, not speaking. And other Rosales says she's still in the cave. Then, Hollis comes charging at me with the rest of the Mole Rats, trying to verify our identities. Keep going? **Dr. Jarvinen:** No, I think that's enough. **Z-9 Towers:** Anything else you want to cover? **Dr. Jarvinen:** Some last questions. To note, you didn't experience any spatial distortions in the cave? **Z-9 Towers:** No. It was a quick, easy-in, easy-out. The ice wall that appeared behind us was just created within the tunnel, rather than a twist in space-time. **Dr. Jarvinen:** No artificial structures? **Z-9 Towers:** No. **Dr. Jarvinen:** No anomalous entities? **Z-9 Towers:** Didn't see anything. Just the things I heard. **Z-9 Towers:** Going to tell me what was going on, back there? **Dr. Jarvinen:** We have our suspicions, but nothing firm. I imagine you'll be cleared eventually. **Z-9 Towers:** Relating to that genius loci mob that 'we' had the pleasure of running into, I imagine? The fake us on the video. **Dr. Jarvinen:** Those entities play a major part of my theories, but I can't explicitly confirm anything just yet. **Z-9 Towers:** Typical Foundation. Indefinite holding. Need anything else? **Dr. Jarvinen:** Not at the moment. Any final comments? **Z-9 Towers:** No, I don't think-- Actually, one. Put in a recommendation that Crown and Citrus get brought onto the Mole Rats. I'd be more than happy to have them. **Dr. Jarvinen:** Noted. **[**END LOG**]** [[/div]] **Notes:** //As Head Researcher of SCP-1444, I am hereby issuing a moratorium on all future explorations of the anomaly. The official reason I shall be using when filing this request is that the attrition rate for the anomaly has been too high for the level of information about it we have learned.// //However, it is clear to me that our prior understanding of SCP-1444 is likely inaccurate. Evidence suggests that some entity desires us to send more individuals into SCP-1444. We cannot give it what it wants.// //-- Doctor Kaisa Jarvinen// [[>]] **[[[scp-1444|Return to SCP-1444 main file?]]]** [[/>]] [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box]] [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box-end]]