SCP-5957

Link to article: SCP-5957.


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[[include :scp-wiki:info:start]]
[[=]]
**[[[hecatoncheires-cycle-hub | Hecatoncheires Cycle Hub]]]**
@@ @@
**[[[grigori-karpin-s-author-page | More by this author]]]**

[[/=]]
[[include :scp-wiki:info:end]]

[[include component:cd-ver2
|lv=3
|item=SCP-5957
|class=Euclid
|site-responsible=Site-91
|director= Iona Varga, PhD/MD
|research-head=Jocasta Rossi, PhD
|assigned-task-force=MTF-Beta-777
]]

[[include component:image-block
| name=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/grigori-karpin-s-author-page/marker
| caption=Official marker for the Dyatlov Pass hikers that died in 1959.
| width=300px]]
@@ @@
++++ **__Special Containment Procedures**__:
@@ @@
The area of the Ural Mountains in which SCP-5957 occurred has been sealed by a security perimeter two kilometers in diameter, enforced by electric fencing and antimemetic countermeasures.  A forward operating base has been established to the south at the base of the mountains, where containment specialists and armed security are stationed.  Personnel are to patrol the area daily and any civilians are to be removed from the area under the cover story of seismic instability.  

Access to SCP-5957-A is limited to Level-4 Clearance personnel and must be authorized by specific approval from Director Varga.

@@ @@

++++ **__Description__**:
SCP-5957 is the collective designation for the anomalous events and phenomena concerning the deaths of nine hikers in the northern Ural Mountains. This incident occurred on or about 2 February 1959 and was colloquially described as the “Dyatlov Pass Incident.”  The incident is common knowledge in Russia and received national attention in the press, along with multiple subsequent official investigations into the events.  

The incident in question occurred when Igor Dyatlov and eight of his party voluntarily left their camp during the height of a harsh winter snowstorm, underdressed and without proper footwear.  They made a small fire hundreds of meters from their original camp, then split up and died.  The majority of the hikers died due to exposure, though a few died due to severe physical trauma.  

The initial government investigation concluded that the group had died due to a “compelling natural force.”  The inquest was closed, and the file was classified.  It is unclear how the documents ultimately ended up in the possession of Marshall, Carter and Dark.  

-----
**__Discovery__**:
Files from the GRU Division-P concerning SCP-5957 were discovered on 2 May, 1993 during a raid of a warehouse owned by Marshall, Carter and Dark.  Prior to this discovery, there was no indication that the Dyatlov Pass Incident involved anomalous activity. However, once the files were reviewed by Dr. Rossi of Site-91, an investigation by Foundation researchers was opened by into the events.

The GRU Division-P files themselves are non-anomalous and are reproduced below in their entirety.


[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▷ GRU Division-P File № 02857" hide="Close File"]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/grigori-karpin-s-author-page/filecoverB width="400px"]]
@@ @@
//The following files have been translated from Russian.//

[[tabview]]

[[tab Details]]
[[div class="c_content"]]
[[=]]
GRU Division-P
//From the Desk of Commander Kluei Andropov.//
[[/=]]

26 February 1959
**To**: Lieutenant Leonid Chernoff
**RE**: Dyatlov hikers

Get over to the Ural Mountains and meet up with local authorities.  If there is any evidence of the weirdness, then I want you to take command of the investigation.  I’ve received word from the local political party officers that they have found an abandoned tent/campsite and some bodies.  Several of the investigators have expressed concern that the evidence does not make sense.

Usual protocols apply.

- Commander Andropov
GRU-P Division Chief.

[[/div]]
@@ @@
@@ @@

[[=image https://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/grigori-karpin-s-author-page/Dyatlov width="400px"]]

@@ @@

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__Notes from the Official Inquest concerning the physical remains of the hikers__:
All the group’s belongings and shoes were left behind in the heavily damaged tent.  Nine sets of footprints, either barefoot or wearing only socks or a single shoe, led north-east to the edge of a nearby pine forest.  At the edge of the woods, initial investigators found the remains of small fire.
* //Doroshenko// and //Krivonischenko// found at the fire – shoeless and dressed only in underwear.
* //Dyatlov//, //Kolmogorova//, and //Slobodin// found between the pine forest and camp – believed to have been trying to return to the tent due to their corpses’ poses – each succumbed separately and was left behind on the way back to the camp.  None of the three reached the original camp.
* Four remaining corpses were found on 4 May 1959, once the snow had melted. – found in a ravine seventy-five meters into the woods from the remains of the fire at the forest’s edge.  Evidence suggests that clothes were taken from the dead and used by the living to combat the temperatures:  
 * //Dubinina// was wearing //Krivonischenko’s// fire damaged trousers; additionally, her left foot and shin were bound in a jacket that was torn, presumably from one of the other bodies.
* Notable evidence of postmortem physical trauma on the bodies found on 04/05/1959 included:
 * //Dubinina// was missing her tongue, part of her lips, facial tissues, fragments of her skull and her eyes.
 * //Kolevatov// was missing his eyebrows.
 * //Zolotaryov// was missing his eyes.

* Various other findings of note:
 * No signs of struggle at any of the corpse sites.
 * Tent was ripped open from within.
 * High levels of radiation were found on ONE victim’s clothing.
 * All nine left the tent of their own accord, on foot, poorly dressed for the frigid temperatures.

* Another group of hikers reported seeing strange orange lights in the sky to the north (they were roughly fifty kilometers to the south of the incident).

* One of the original ten hikers left the party on 28 January, 1959 and hiked out alone due to unexpected illness.[[footnote]]Yuri Yefimovich Yudin, currently living in Moscow, aged 58 – Dr. Rossi[[/footnote]]
[[/div]] 
@@ @@
> //The above represents the official records as released to the public.  Most of the information concerning the first five corpses had already been released to reporters by the local authorities by time of my arrival on site.  The rest of the information was carefully controlled concerning the remaining hikers of the group (those found on 4 May, 1959).//
> 
> - //Leonid Chernoff//

[[>]]
**//Report continued under Investigation tab.//**
[[/>]]
[[/tab]]

[[tab Investigation]]
++++ **__Investigation Report, Lieutenant Chernoff__**:
[[div style="background: #ECEAD1;" "float: center; border: solid 1px #444444; width: auto; padding: 1px 15px; margin: auto; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.2); font-family: 'Bahnschrift SemiBold';"]]

Upon arrival on site, a public inquest was being held with members of the state press.  Reporters were allowed to review the findings of the medical examiner.  Local party officials had not released the journal found in the camp’s wreckage. Lieutenant Chernoff instructed the officials to release a heavily edited summary to show that Dyatlov and his people were making progress through the mountains and got lost in some freak weather. The real journals are very different and are included in this report in their entirety. 

Four bodies were still unaccounted for but given the heavy snowfall since the deaths of the ones found, investigators presumed that they were probably buried in a snowbank somewhere in the forest.

Following up on information gleaned from Dyatlov’s actual journals, investigators contacted a Professor Lebedev at the Ural Polytechnical Institute.  After some enhanced interrogation, the Professor surrendered a letter sent by Dyatlov to investigators.  Lebedev was taken into custody on a charge of unpatriotic activities.

Review of Dyatlov’s journals revealed reference to a tower somewhere in the forest, which was discovered during Lieutenant Chernoff’s investigations.[[footnote]]Designated SCP-5957-A.[[/footnote]]  The structure appeared to be of significant age and had no discernible point of entry.  No memetic properties were observed, so investigators were at a loss as to how such a structure could have remained undiscovered in a well-mapped area such as the Ural Mountains.

[[=image https://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/grigori-karpin-s-author-page/towerbw width="400px"]]

Nearly two weeks into the investigation, Lieutenant Chernoff discovered the whereabouts of Yuri Yudin, a hiker that had left the party several days before the death of the others. Lieutenant Chernoff went to Moscow to discuss the situation with Yudin, who described his experiences in detail.  He was placed in protective custody, until such time as the investigation was completed.[[footnote]]Beyond this note, there is almost no further mention of Yudin.  Given that he is still alive, it would be prudent to interview him for the file. – Dr. Rossi[[/footnote]]

Because of significant storms in the area, the investigation was put on hold until the spring thaw.  Weather finally allowed the discovery of the remaining four hikers approximately two months into the investigation.  Their condition showed significant damage as outlined in the details section of this report.

In attempting to access the interior of the tower, Lieutenant Chernoff discovered that explosives had no effect on the exterior.  According to the journals of Dyatlov, entrance to the interior of the tower was effected through use of a ritual vaguely alluded to.  Accordingly, a second “interview” with Professor Lebedev was performed on 4 May, 1959 (see transcript included with this file).

[[/div]]
-----

**__Letter from Igor Dyatlov to Professor Mikhail Lebedev__**
[[div class="note"]]
12 January, 1959
Professor Mikhail Lebedev
Ural Polytechnical Institute

Dear Professor,

We’ve decided to go on an expedition into the area of the Ural Mountains.  In our discussion groups you’ve identified this area as a possible location for a thaumaturgical beacon of immeasurable power. 

We’re all qualified for the hike, so don’t worry.  We’ll make sure to take copious notes of everything, and you’ll be the first to hear of any discoveries!

Wish us luck,

Igor Dyatlov
[[/div]]
-----

++++ **__Dyatlov’s Journals__**
//Extraneous entries omitted.//
[[div style="background: #ECEAD1;" "float: center; border: solid 1px #444444; width: auto; padding: 1px 15px; margin: auto; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.2); font-family: 'Biome';"]]
//26 January 1959//

We’ve reached the area Prof. Lebedev has indicated in the past. We’ve made camp for the night and will start canvassing the area in the morning.  Spirits are up!

-----
//27 January 1959//

We’ve tried an old Daevic ritual for locating a ritual site but with no real success. The whole area of these mountains bleeds with ritual energy so the locator ritual just fizzles.  We’ll have to search the area by foot.
-----
//27 January 1959 [continued]//

We’ve found something very unexpected… a tower.  Out here in the mountains.  It reminds me of Ancient Greek or Roman in style.  No apparent entrance.  But there must be an entrance.

I am going to try something the Professor learned from the Hand members that visited last semester.  We’ve set up the ritual artifacts to allow for multiple points of thaumaturgical focus on the structure of the tower.  It will have to wait until morning though.

-----
//28 January 1959//
The ritual worked, we gained entrance to the tower but what is inside is almost indescribable.

Organic structures like polyps on the hull of a ship, coral shaped in ways that could only be intentional, and bodies everywhere.  Such horrible figures these dead pose, like creatures from a fairy tale. 

We only got as far as the “foyer” before Yudin started vomiting and Dubinina started feeling dizzy. A horrible sound began ringing from the structure, like a wailing. I couldn’t describe it if I had to, just horrendous pain. 

I was trying to help Yudin get outside into the fresh air when __something__ started speaking to us.  The voice was guttural.  I couldn’t understand. But it was clear that the voice was coming from the rafters and was very angry about something. 

The others ran from the chamber, but I stood staring into the shadows above Yudin and me... he tried to speak with it, but it didn’t respond.

I saw it shifting in the shadows, __like a man but with wings__, and flesh too rough to be human. That was it for me, we ran then too.

-----
//28 January, 1959// [continued]

Yudin’s rested and said he felt better, wanted to go back to the tower. Dubinina is too sick to move so she stayed at camp, resting. 

The thing wasn’t there when we came back, but the horrible wailing continued.  Also, I saw an opening on the tower near the top that wasn’t there earlier.

The bodies are diverse, some skeletal but still not human, others roughly human but naked and __lacking sex organs__.  Because the tower responded to ritual before I thought a calming cantrip from the Daevic tradition would sooth the structure (I’ve started to think of it as alive).   The wailing stopped but something else occurred. A terrible vibration rung out from the walls, and the coral/polyp structures started moving... gathering up the bodies, doing horrendous things to them.

They reached out for us too, and one did briefly grab Yudin, but we escaped without injury.  The sun was setting, and we needed to get back to camp anyway, as the temperatures are so harsh at night. We were surprised by a great glowing light shooting up from the tower, illuminating our path.  A brilliant orange sphere hovering half a kilometer into the twilight sky... I think the structure wanted us to feel safe, I certainly did. Warm almost.

Yudin is sick again, he has vomited so much it is only liquid now.  He says he will head back to town; he cannot continue. He begged me to come with, for us all to come with him.  He said it wasn’t safe, but I said he was being paranoid.  This was the discovery of a lifetime.

Despite the lateness, he says he is traveling out now.  The night is on us and I insisted he stay until morning but again he refused.  He would not stay one more night near the tower.

I hope he finds his way back under its light.

-----
//29 January 1959//

I’ve convinced the others to move the camp closer to the tower, to a mountain pass that should shield us from the cold but in the direct warmth of the tower’s light.

It shone all through the night, we all feel so much lighter.  It’s like the tower is welcoming us to its secrets.  Dubinina feels better too, she doesn’t know what happened, but she doesn’t want to leave.  Some of the others spent the day at the base of the tower, but I thought to keep searching the area.  I thought maybe something else would be here, something to explain the tower but no.

The figures on the top of the tower remind me of the western myth of Cupid or Hermes. Winged gods sent from the heavens.  Maybe that’s who built the tower?  

I went back into the tower and there are these bas reliefs carved into the exposed stone (where the coral or the polyps don’t cover).  They show these hands reaching out to the sky, but they have ten fingers and are holding a rock or crystal in their hands.  No idea what it means.  The bodies have been moved by the organic elements of the tower… to these smaller rooms that have tables and other organic structures set out with various appendages I don’t understand.  

-----
//31 January 1959//

The light has infused everything.  All of us.  It watches us.  I can feel the winged gods watching us.  They are here with us.  IN the tent.  

I saw it in the trees outside last night.  The one from the tower.  It was watching us.  Although it has no eyes, I could tell it was watching us prepare our dinner.  The warm orange light of the tower’s brilliance bathes the woods and the mountain pass all throughout the night, so I know it wants us here.

-----
//01 February 1959//

I was wrong.  It does not want us here… and it is so cold.

[[/div]]
[[>]]
**//Report continued under Interrogation tab.//**
[[/>]]
[[/tab]]

[[tab Interrogation]]

[[div class="note"]]
**__Interrogation of Mikhail Lebedev__** - Recorded on //04/05/59//

**Interviewing officer**: //Leonid Chernoff//

//Lebedev appears starved and weak in a badly fitting prison uniform.  The professor has fresh discoloration on the face and body.[[footnote]]Presumably from a beating he took off camera.[[/footnote]] He is bleeding from several shallow cuts on his face and chest.  He has not shaved in months.//

//Chernoff enters with a steaming cup of coffee.  He sets out his notes and makes himself comfortable before speaking.//

**Chernoff**: Hello again, Mikhail!  You don’t mind me calling you Mikhail, do you?  Professor doesn’t seem so accurate after the Institute cancelled your position.  Shouldn’t take up with unpatriotic types, Mikhail…

**Lebedev**: What do you want? I just want to see my wife and children! I’ll tell you whatever you want!

**Chernoff**: We found the rest of your students, Mikhail.  (//Chernoff puts several photos in front of the Lebedev on the table.//)  They are not looking so well.  You killed these children, as surely as if you pointed a gun at their heads.  The youth is the lifeblood of the revolution, didn’t you know that? And you killed nine smart, strong students!

//Lebedev begins weeping.//

**Lebedev**: What happened to them?

**Chernoff**: I don’t know, Mikhail.  I was hoping you could explain.

**Lebedev**: No! I don’t know what happened to them… please, you must believe me!

**Chernoff**: I think I do.  But I still have more questions, Mikhail.

**Chernoff**: Tell me how you knew Dyatlov and the others.

**Lebedev**: I held a discussion group with some of the students twice a month.  Most of them were attendees.  Igor never missed a meeting.

**Chernoff**: What did you discuss at these meetings, Professor? (//Chernoff shakes his head.//)  They don’t seem terribly patriotic, hidden meetings with young impressionable students.  What would the Party say?

**Lebedev**: We talked about rituals and thaumaturgy.  Things you wouldn’t believe.

**Chernoff**: And how did you know this?  About thaumaturgy?

**Lebedev**: I was stationed at Stalingrad during the war, I met some...  (//coughs//) …people that taught me some simple rituals.  After the war I went back to school and got my doctorates… (//intense coughing//)… eventually I ran into some more like those I met in the war and they showed me to the Library. 

**Chernoff**: What library?

**Lebedev**: Eternal Library, the Wandering Library! It holds all human knowledge.

**Chernoff**: (//laughing//) Oh really? Was Koschei the Deathless a librarian there?  

**Lebedev**: Why do you ask if you do not wish to hear?

//Chernoff takes a sip from his coffee.  He gathers the photos and slides them back into a folder.//

**Chernoff**: Who, or what, are the Hand?

//Lebedev gasps and looks at Chernoff without speaking.//

**Chernoff**: Do you really want to test me, Mikhail?

**Lebedev**: No! Please… but where did you hear about that?

**Chernoff**: Do I need to explain that you don’t get to ask questions? (//Chernoff slaps the table hard.//) Tell me!

**Lebedev**: Okay! Okay… The Serpent's Hand is more of an ideology, not an organization.  They do magic… thaumaturgy.  They want the world to be aware of the hidden things.

**Chernoff**: And where could I find some of these people?

**Lebedev**: Ah… you don’t really.  They come and go.  Sometimes they use the Library as a meeting place.

**Chernoff**:  This is what you mentioned before… You will show me this library.

**Lebedev**: I can’t!

**Chernoff**: Not a very patriotic answer, Mikh-

**Lebedev**: No, I mean I literally can’t! They never showed me the secret.  They brought me there but blindfolded.  I don’t know where it is!

**Chernoff**: Fine.  Then you will teach me what you taught Dyatlov, what the Hand’s visitors showed you, last semester.

//Lebedev nods//

**Chernoff**: Good!  Things are looking up, Mikhail.  
-----
**//Note//**: Lebedev showed me the ritual as he taught to his students and I will have him come along with us to the Tower, just to make sure it works.  
[[/div]]
[[>]]
**//Report continued under Conclusion tab.//**
[[/>]]
[[/tab]]

[[tab Conclusions]]
[[div class="c_content"]]
//13/05/1959//

**To**: Division Chief Andropov
**From**: Lieutenant Yuri Chernoff
**RE**: Final Report concerning the missing hikers

On 8 May 1959, we breached the tower using the ritual as guided by Lebedev.  Spetsnaz troops were issued radiation suits and explored the bottom level of the tower.  Inside they found many bodies of non-humans, some with skulls shaped like snakes, some with wings, even a human torso molded onto a gigantic lower half of serpentine nature.  Also found were roughly humanoid corpses, but without sex organs and with tissue reminiscent of sediment and plant matter.  Reminded me of old stories of “homunculi.”  Obvious signs of a battle: “dead” homunculi and winged things everywhere.  These were found near heavily-oxidized, bronze melee weapons such as spears and swords.  

The organic “machines” that make up the bottom floor of the tower seem most interested in grabbing bodies.  They gather up any human bodies (alive or dead, we lost three Spetsnaz to these things) and start modifying in ways I don’t understand.  There’s some sort of anesthetic effect, as the living do not scream.  The soldiers were terminated after the modification as they were immediately hostile to our presence.  They did not look remotely human anymore.

Currently, there’s no light from the tower as mentioned in Dyatlov’s journals, but as some hikers to the south confirm the lights, probably not hallucinations.  Clearly the hikers were forced out of their tent but under their own power, as they tore it open themselves from the inside.  The journals don’t explain what happened next, but I can assume the tower’s security features include the ability to cause small earthquakes.  Several have occurred in the last few days until we let the tower close again.  I think a landslide was caused by the tower’s vibrations and buried the hikers and they tried to get out but were affected by this light.  Beyond that, I have no answers.  We will seal off the tower and the area from future intrusion by a memetic filter as applied by our psionics. 

The official report will read that group died due to a compelling natural force.  And we will seal the records in the archives.

Sincerely,

//Leonid Chernoff//

P.S. Lebedev has been sent to the gulag.  Yudin has agreed to cooperate.  He has potential.

[[/div]]

[[/tab]]
[[/tabview]]
[[/collapsible]]
-----
[[=]]
+++ **__Foundation Investigation__**
[[/=]]
**__Interview with Yuri Yefimovich Yudin__ – //14/05/1993//**
[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▷ Interview File" hide="Close File"]]
[[div class="note"]]
**Subject**: //Yuri Yudin – Only survivor of Dyatlov party//
**Interviewer**: //Dr. Jocasta Rossi//

**Foreword**: //Mr. Yudin is a 56-year-old retired municipal engineer, living in Moscow, Russia.  Interview was performed under the guise of journalism in his home.  Yudin is relatively fluent in English and so no translation was necessary.//
-----
**Rossi**: Good afternoon, Mr. Yudin.

**Yudin**: Good afternoon.  What magazine did you say you worked for?

**Rossi**:  I didn’t, actually. I’m freelance, but I think I could sell the article to National Geographic maybe.  I was here in Moscow on another story.  I’m glad you had time to meet with me.

**Yudin**:  Da.  Is no problem.  What did you want to ask me about?

**Rossi**: Well, obviously like so many others I was hoping we could talk about that expedition in 1959.

**Yudin**: Da, da.  You and everybody else.  ‘What happened, Yuri?’ ‘How did you survive, Yuri?’  I tell you what I tell them, it was dumb luck that I got sick and left before whatever happened to my friends.

**Rossi**: Nothing to do with the tower you and your friends found in the mountains?

//Yudin freezes and almost drops his teacup.  He looks around wildly.//

**Yudin**: Did you… what? How do you know this?

**Rossi**: I found some documents from a KGB division lieutenant named Chernoff. 

**Yudin**:  He was not KGB.  He was something else.

**Rossi**: GRU-P, yes?

**Yudin**: That’s right.  And if you know about that, then you know I cannot speak to you anymore.  Please leave, Ms. Rossi.

**Rossi**: There are no GRU-P agents anymore.  The agency fell with the Soviet regime.  

**Yudin**: Ha! So, you think because they no longer have government backing, they are disappearing?  

//Yudin pauses and drinks some tea.//

**Yudin**: But then I am thinking, you are not reporter, yes? You are Ess Sea Pee, no?

//Rossi coughs, and drinks some of her own tea.//

**Rossi**: What is Ess Sea Pee, Mr. Yudin? Another agency here?

**Yudin**: Come now, I see it.  Do not play dumb with me.  You are not bad at the acting, but I think your title is not journalist but doctor, no?

**Rossi**:  How?

**Yudin**: Chernoff recruited me.  In exchange for not being locked up like the poor professor, I was able to live a life.  So long as I worked for the Division.  And I did.  For thirty-four years.  We knew about you people, although I did not think your influence extended into Russia.

**Rossi**:  Many things have changed as of late.

**Yudin**: (//shaking his head//) Yes, that is true.  My country falls apart under its own weight, Doctor.  But, I do not think I should talk to you.

**Rossi**: We can offer you amnesty and assist in your immigration to England.  

**Yudin**: For what?

**Rossi**: For your assistance with this project and your continued cooperation.

**Yudin**: What makes you think I want to leave Moscow?

**Rossi**: You said it yourself, your country is falling apart.  And if there are elements of the GRU-P around still, you probably don’t want to live your retirement under their thumb.  

**Yudin**: Bah, retirement.  Okay.  I help you.  But you do not want to open up that tower, Doctor.

**Rossi**: We’ll get to that, but what happened to you up there?  

**Yudin**: Don’t you have Chernoff’s notes? You should know.  

**Rossi**: From your perspective, please.  

//Yudin gets up and moves to his kitchen, retrieving the pot of tea and returning with it.  He begins pouring for himself and Dr. Rossi.//

**Yudin**: Do you believe in psionics, Doctor?

**Rossi**: Psychic powers? We have had some experience with anomalies that could fit under that definition, yes.

**Yudin**: Is no ‘anomaly.’ Always there have been some people who see more, who feel more.  I am such a person.  

**Rossi**:  What… abilities do you possess?

**Yudin**:  I could shake your hand and know what breakfast you have this morning. And I can feel your emotions from here, I know you are playing a role, you see? 

**Rossi**: What does this have to do with what you were telling me?

**Yudin**: You see, this is why Chernoff wants me on team. He could use me. 

**Rossi**: And the tower? Did you feel it?

//Yudin rubs his eyes.//

**Yudin**: You say that again. Even being near it, I could feel it. Wasn’t merely stone. Was alive. And it wanted us gone. 

**Rossi**: Are you referring to the entities you encountered inside the tower?

**Yudin**: I think there were more a long time ago... but when I was there, there were the winged things. 

**Rossi**: What did they look like?

**Yudin**: I only saw them twice, once in the tower but in shadows. Then again as I made my way down from mountain, following me. Their wings were like insect and their skin was strange.  

//Yudin sighs and shakes his head.//

**Yudin**: I tried to tell Igor and the others, this place is no good. It wants us gone. But they did not listen. They thought I was just ill.

**Rossi**:  You //were// ill, correct?

**Yudin**: Da, was very sick. Vomiting, exhausted, didn’t know if I would make it back to town. But I could not stay. Especially after the tower touched me. I could not stay.  Who knows what it did to Igor and the rest.

//Yudin pauses to drink more tea.//

**Yudin**: Doctor, you must understand. When I left, they were all fine. Except Dubinina, she seemed ill but not like me. I thought they would see sense and leave.

//Yudin falls silent and continues drinking his tea for a few moments.//

**Rossi**: The organic structures inside the tower, what did you think they were? 

**Yudin**: At first I thought was tower’s hands, trying to clean up.  It was gathering all the bodies when we woke it up. I think it was asleep for a long time.  But later, I saw those small rooms. They look like rooms Division would torture people in. Sharp things. Tables like medical place.  I don’t know.

**Rossi**: Yuri, I have some people with me. We’re going to go to the tower and look around. We will be careful, I promise. But can you show us how to get in the tower?

**Yudin**: I think so, but please... I will not go back in there.

**Rossi**: I won’t ask you to. Just get us inside, and we’ll do the rest.
-----
//**Note**//: Mr. Yudin agreed to accompany Dr. Rossi and members of MTF-Beta-777 (“Hecate’s Spear”) to SCP-5957-A. 

[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

**__MTF Exploration Log of SCP-5957-A__ – //15/05/1993//**
[[collapsible show="▷ Clearance Level-4 Required" hide="Clearance Verified"]]
[[div style="background: #F9F9F9;" "float: center; border: solid 1px #444444; width: auto; padding: 1px 15px; margin: auto; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.2); font-family: 'Times New Roman';"]] 

[[=image https://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/grigori-karpin-s-author-page/ProjectHeca width="100px" height="100px"]]

Members of MTF-Beta-777, with the assistance of Mr. Yudin, were able to breach SCP-5957-A.  Mr. Yudin utilized a Daevic ritual of welcome, a working believed to have been used to placate powerful, hostile beings.  All members of MTF-Beta-777 were outfitted with radiation protective gear as SCP-5957-A periodically emits bursts of alpha particles. 

> It is important to note that despite the efficacy of Daevic thaumaturgy, SCP-5957-A does not exhibit any other connections to Daeva culture.

Inside the tower, the ground floor was clean of any remains.  All bodies mentioned by previous witnesses had been moved to small rooms with organic machinery theorized to be thaumaturgically-powered, automated surgery centers. 

The biological structures noted to be active in previous reports were still and desiccated. In several of the surgical suites, laid out on what appear to be tables shaped from coral, were humanoid bodies devoid of reproductive organs and constructed of sediment and plant matter.  Most had been dissected at some point in the past.  These humanoid entities lacked any internal organs.  

__Surgical equipment__:
Segmented coral and chitinous appendages of several varieties: manipulation (ending in a tripart appendage with significant points of articulation, like three thumbs pointed inwards), cutting (scalpel-like endings to the appendage), and “forceps” (appendage resembles the mechanical structure of the surgical tool but constructed of muscle, coral and chitinous biological makeup).

Each appendage originates in a polyp and coral constructed box shape, attached to the wall of the surgical suite. Each mechanism has upwards of six to eight appendages, up to five meters in length. 

All are currently inactive, draped along the floor and tables of the surgical suites.

__Storage areas__:
Each surgical suite provided access to an underground storage area, in which translucent cases[[footnote]]The translucent storage containers are made up of organic material, similar in structure to insectile wings but heavily resistant to damage in comparison.[[/footnote]] displayed desiccated remains of numerous types of modified human cadavers. There are three predominate types noted: 
* __//naga-type//__ - consisting of human torso, upper extremities, and head, attached to an enlarged serpentine lower body.  The lumbar portions of the spine perfectly merge into the serpentine spine structure on a molecular level.  Entire length of body over 4 meters when fully extended.
* __//cyclopean//__ - consisting of large human skeletal structure, roughly 3 meters tall. Exhibiting significantly denser bones than a normal human specimen. The skull has been modified such that there is a solitary oracular cavity in the center of the face.  Dental structures include significantly elongated canines into “tusks” that would have extended beyond the capacity of the mouth.
* __//fawn-type//__ - consisting of normal human skeletal structure except for the lower extremities which exhibit a reverse knee joint and end in cloven hoofs. 

> Each variety of modified human remains exhibits extensive surgical and thaumaturgical grafting of nonhuman tissues and skeletal structures. There are over two hundred modified human remains in storage, with space for approximately another three hundred.
-----
On the second floor, eighteen bodies were found resembling humans but with an epidermis made up of material similar to sea sponges, four insectile wings sprouting from the back, and lacking facial features.[[footnote]]Matching descriptions of [[[scp-3743  | SCP-3743-C]]] instances.[[/footnote]]

Amongst these corpses were found dozens of the sexless humanoid remains matching those dissected in the surgery suites, several dozen melee weapons made of bronze (significantly oxidized), and substantial evidence of a struggle. 
-----
The third, and highest, floor of the tower contained a library/laboratory that had been ransacked. No documents were found within.  Laboratory equipment was constructed of biological material similar to the mechanisms on evidence on the first floor surgical suites. 
-----
Iconography present throughout SCP-5957-A show humanoid hands with ten digits and crystalline structures attached to the palm.

The entire structure is radiocarbon dated to 410 BCE +/- 20 years. 

> __**Conclusions**__: SCP-5957-A served as an experimental research lab in service of modifying human subjects.  At some point the facility was attacked by whatever force sent the plant/sediment humanoid entities and the facility was abandoned.  Security features of a thaumaturgical nature were most likely activated when Dyatlov’s party breached the tower, "waking up" any surprises left by the builders when they abandoned the facility.  
> 
> Whoever or whatever built this tower is long gone and had the foresight to retrieve any documentation that would’ve been stored in the uppermost chambers as it clearly contains shelves meant for books or scrolls.
> 
> Samples of all four types of modified human remains[[footnote]]Including cadavers resembling SCP-3743-C.[[/footnote]] are to be moved to Site-91, along with one of the humanoid entities referred to by Chernoff as “homunculi,” for research to be overseen by Director Varga.
> 
> //- Dr. Rossi//
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]
-----
@@ @@
Yuri Yefimovich Yudin was assisted with immigration paperwork to the UK claiming political asylum and was recruited to Site-91 staff.
@@ @@
-----
@@ @@
**__Containment Breach Incident 5957-1__ - //01/06/1993//**
[[# XS]]
[[collapsible show="▷ Clearance Level-4 Required" hide="Clearance Verified"]]
[[=]]
[[div style="background: url(https://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/the-great-hippo/scp_trans.png) center no-repeat; float: center; border: solid 2px #000; padding: 1px 15px; box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.2);"]]
+ WARNING: THE FOLLOWING FILE IS LEVEL 4/5957 CLASSIFIED
----
+++ ANY ATTEMPT TO ACCESS THIS FILE WITHOUT LEVEL 4/5957 AUTHORIZATION AND APPROVAL FROM THE DIRECTOR OF SITE-91 WILL BE LOGGED AND WILL LEAD TO IMMEDIATE DISCIPLINARY ACTION.
[[/div]]
[[/=]]



[[div class="note"]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/grigori-karpin-s-author-page/ProjectHeca width="100px" height="100px"]]

[[=]]
**__Containment Breach Report__ – //01/06/1993//**
[[/=]]

[[size 110%]]Two weeks after establishing containment of SCP-5957-A, the perimeter was breached by a group of hostiles dressed to resemble Soviet special forces.  Breaching the perimeter would have required an individual have prior personal knowledge of the area, with thaumaturgical or mnestic enhancement to overcome the countermeasures.  Six containment personnel were KIA in the initial hostilities.[[/size]]

[[size 110%]]After approximately twenty-six minutes, reinforcements arrived from the forward operating base at foot of the Ural Mountains, driving off the intruders. The intrusion force managed to collect all known specimens of the “homunculi” on site before being interrupted. In the resulting firefight, hostiles retreated and evacuated via unknown means, removing most casualties from the field.[[/size]]

[[size 110%]]A solitary corpse was forgotten in the confusion, discovered in a ravine just a few dozen meters from the tower.  Autopsy shows the assailant was not human but constructed of sediment and plant life, greatly resembling the “homunculi” cadavers dating from antiquity and found within SCP-5957-A surgical suites.[[/size]]

[[size 110%]]Surveillance footage from the incident showed [[[fox-hunt | an aging man commanding]]] the intrusion force dressed in expensive hiking gear, a long woolen gray coat with fur collar, and an ushanka hat. This individual’s body was not found, and he is to be considered at large.[[/size]]
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]
@@ @@
[[=]]
[[module Rate]]
[[/=]]
@@ @@

[[=]]
**[[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/hecatoncheires-cycle-hub | Hecatoncheires Cycle]]]**
[[size 80%]]**[[[repatriation | << Repatriation]]]** | **SCP-5957: A Baleful Light** | **[[[fox-hunt | Fox Hunt >>]]]** [[/size]]
[[/=]]
@@ @@
[[footnoteblock]]

[[div class="footer-wikiwalk-nav"]]
[[=]]
<< [[[SCP-5956]]] | SCP-5957 | [[[SCP-5958]]] >>
[[/=]]
[[/div]]

[[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box]]
=====
> **Filename**: filecover
> **Author**: [[*user Grigori Karpin]]
> **License**: CC BY-SA 3.0
> **Source**: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/grigori-karpin-s-author-page/filecoverA
> **Note**: Made by me with two base images: “Foundation Emblem” and “Still Life with Communist Hammer-and-Sickle” for references on the logos.  Also a derivative of “vintage paper teture.”

> **Filename**: Still Life with Communist Hammer-and-Sickle
> **Author**: Adam Jones
> **License**: CC BY-SA-2.0
> **Source**: [[[https://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_jones/13964547231/in/photolist-ngZXnH-Ne7P3W-2dszuhJ-7gb7SV-28AWgLx-4VnqU6-7bpVnB-2PVky4-grMn48-asTGv-jP55nB-8kxcEU-p2xbA-4qUdqL-9ibSVu-mqEwW2-efSpKw-EGWTMu-HyEgjX-AcNdma-pCjyxH-62Ktxy-phijqg-HzFDga-34Ydj3-jP6FPs-UNLfiH-6e5DDA-CarSx-ani76Z-Ne7P2o-aexTZ1-rW9Cn-4fnrxZ-77crBz-UgfXmZ-AGudWq-T7HQUN-e6XMGJ-9tLeF7-9tHgia-9tHd94-9tLbG5-4QwCGe-69mdXv-cz6ow9-ckLgfu-avphW1-puR58-jG9xuu | Link]]]

> **Filename**: Foundation Emblem
> **Author**: Aelanna
> **License**: CC BY-SA 3.0
> **Source**: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCP_Foundation#/media/File:SCP_Foundation_(emblem).svg

> **Filename**: vintage paper texture
> **Author**: pinkorchid_too (Sandra)
> **License**: CC BY 2.0
> **Source**: [[[https://ccsearch-dev.creativecommons.org/photos/6a5196e8-3810-4017-bd26-84f0d08b797c | link]]]


> **Filename**: marker
> **Author**: Дмитрий Никишин
> **License**: Public Domain
> **Source**: [[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident#/media/File:%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA_%D0%B4%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%86%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%89%D0%B5.jpg | link]]]

> **Filename**: tower 1
> **Author**: maerzbow
> **License**: CC BY-SA 2.0
> **Source**: [[[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maerzbow/1472439876/in/photolist-3f7D5q-7nNCH6-5RJopB-9onEeJ-czyts-cjZCJ9-72RTpE-bFCJeF-kcjtL-zH65QN-aJiiAx-bXvQDh-6Cq2Nh-2rVixS-zwN4hh-qQ5Hmb-fy2fWL-56TYJ4-tytWH-6vfmye-4B3kvK-azW5Hb-4yJKoS-JaReaG-cqACRA-72MUwi-cwBTDm-db1CUu-CNrLUv-27LNbaW-siPonY-vfckQM-bhQfnR-oE35us-Cr7ZuA-yfQyjB-Jb2VVZ-2RtGnP-y4gtWF-9AmC5-a7BK9v-8ce64X-8TyXtX-ppLmP-4Rc8cL-8vDmm2-5KbeQs-4VC9HS-H9rN3v-eb3krm | link]]]

> **Filename**: Dyatlov camp remains
> **Author**: anonymous
> **License**: Public Domain
> **Source**: [[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident#/media/File:Dyatlov_Pass_incident_02.jpg | link]]]


=====
[[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box-end]]

SCP-5957

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