SCP-8356

Link to article: SCP-8356.


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The tunnel extends infinitely in the other direction.
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by [[[Koths Korner| Kothardarastrix]]]

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**Item #:** SCP-8356

**Object Class:** Safe

**Special Containment Procedures:** Variable electronic speed limit signs have been installed on I-77 and its connected roads for several miles in either direction from the East River Mountain Tunnel. Five minutes before midnight each night, these signs activate and indicate a gradually decreasing speed limit as one approaches the tunnel; the exact speed limit reduction is governed by a program that factors in the initial speed and location of approaching vehicles, as detected by radar sensors mounted on the signs. Ideally, this measure should prevent any vehicles from being inside the tunnel between 11:59 PM and 12:00 AM. 

At the exits nearest to the tunnel (exit 66 in Virginia and exit 1 in West Virginia), containment specialists disguised as highway patrol officers have been stationed. These agents are to pull over any speeding vehicles that disregard the electronic signs and keep their drivers occupied until midnight has passed.

If these measures are unable to stop a vehicle from attempting to enter the tunnel between 11:55 and 12:00, the containment specialists in the tunnel office (disguised as VDOT and WVDOT agents) are to activate the concealed caltrops at the tunnel entrances and force the offending vehicle to stop by puncturing its tires.

If a civilian vehicle nonetheless proceeds into the tunnel during the described time frame despite these measures, containment specialists are not to pursue it. If the vehicle reemerges within one hour, it is to be pulled over and its occupants amnestized. If the vehicle does not reemerge within this time frame, specialists are then authorized to enter SCP-8356 the following night in the provided rescue vehicle and instructed to retrieve lost civilians if possible.

Signage and obstacles have been placed within SCP-8356 to encourage trapped individuals toward the exit. Personnel who accidentally enter SCP-8356 are to continue proceeding in the same direction until they escape.

**Description:** SCP-8356 is a Ray-type (unidirectionally infinite) repeating liminal space connected to the East River Mountain tunnel between exits 1 and 66 on Interstate 77, on the Virginia-West Virginia border. The space is accessed by crossing the state line between 11:59 PM and 12:00 AM in a motor vehicle.

SCP-8356's interior is visually identical to the tunnel's, save that it lacks any emergency exits; for this reason, subjects entering SCP-8356 typically only notice the transition from the disappearance of surrounding vehicles or by looking in the rearview mirrors, if at all. Subjects that enter SCP-8356 appear approximately 107.8 km (exactly 67 miles) from its single endpoint, and can exit the space by traveling to it. The endpoint resembles the normal exits of the tunnel, although only thick fog is visible beyond it; upon passing through it, the subject will reemerge from the end of the tunnel opposite that which they entered by.

The tunnel extends infinitely in the other direction.

[[include component:image-block
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**Discovery:** Missing Persons Case

SCP-8356 was initially reported by personnel [[[scp-6194 |embedded]]] in the West Virginia State Police during the search for single father Ronald "RC" Justus (24) and his son Andrew (8 months). They were reported missing by RC's mother, Rosie Justus, in the afternoon of Sunday, April 6th, 2025. She had last seen the family on the evening of Friday, April 4th, when they departed her home in Bluefield, WV at approximately 11:45 PM to return to their own in Rocky Gap, VA. Justus had not responded to any calls or text messages on the following Saturday, but his mother had (despite her worries to the contrary) dismissed the lack of contact as a product of exhaustion or business with the baby. When RC and his son failed to appear at church on Sunday morning, Mrs. Justus conferred with other friends and family members and discovered that no one else had heard from the missing family since Friday either. After confirming that they were absent from their home, she reported them missing to the police.

When attempts to track or contact Justus's cell phone failed, authorities began to search along his most likely route between Bluefield and Rocky Gap and consult the relevant traffic cameras. Cameras outside the East River Mountain Tunnel captured his vehicle entering the northern end of the tunnel at 11:58 PM on the 4th, but not emerging from the other side. Taking this as an anomalous occurrence, embedded officers activated and contacted the Foundation proper.

By 6:00 AM on April 7th, a field containment team had secured East River Mountain Tunnel under the pretense of construction work and sent for a unit of MTF Zeta-9 ("Mole Rats"). Activation criteria remained unclear, but the presence of a liminal space was soon hypothesized. To expedite the rescue of the trapped civilians, Zeta-9 overruled usual Class D testing protocols and attempted the initial entry themselves. The circumstances of Justus's entry were replicated as closely as possible, by three Mole Rats driving a standard all-terrain exploration vehicle into the tunnel at the same time of day and in the same direction that Justus had. The vehicle entered the anomaly as predicted.

Once inside SCP-8356, Zeta-9 used the heavy-duty laser rangefinder mounted on their vehicle to locate the liminal space's endpoint. They proceeded toward it at approximately 60 miles per hour. Upon reaching the endpoint roughly an hour later with no sign of the missing civilians, a single team member volunteered to pass through it. He was immediately retrieved by the containment team outside, though it was impossible to communicate this to the two members still inside. They proceeded more slowly in the other direction, now watching for evidence of the family's passage that might have escaped their initial trip.

Approximately twenty-five miles north of the endpoint (thirty-five miles south of the arrival point), paint scrapes matching the color of the missing car were discovered on both walls of the tunnel. Zeta-9 concluded that Justus must have turned the car around and gone the other way after driving southward for nearly half an hour failed to remove him from the tunnel. He may have thought that returning in the direction he had already entered from was safer or more likely to bring him out of the tunnel than continuing forward into the unknown.

Zeta-9 now proceeded quickly away from the endpoint, hoping to catch the family before they continued any further in the wrong direction. Justus's vehicle was discovered almost 300 miles north of the arrival point, abandoned and out of gas. Zeta-9 quickly moved it out of the way and continued down the tunnel, assuming that he had continued on foot, carrying the baby.

Fifteen miles north of the car, Zeta-9 discovered further signs of the family's passage, including a dirty diaper, the feces of an adult, the discarded wrapper of a chocolate bar, and an empty soda bottle. It is likely that Justus rested in this location after approximately eight hours of walking.

Thirteen miles further north, at RC's presumed second campsite, a second dirty diaper was found alongside RC's phone, the battery of which had died.

Ten miles beyond that, an empty baby bottle was discovered.

Finally, almost 350 miles from the arrival point, Zeta-9 found the missing persons. RC Justus was lying facedown on the road, unconscious and suffering from severe exhaustion and dehydration, and considerable pressure and friction injuries to his feet from overuse. Andrew, still in a sling strapped to his father's back, had already been dead of dehydration for several hours. Zeta-9 immediately rendered first aid to RC; he was administered intravenous fluids, his socks and shoes were cut away, and his foot injuries were cleaned and bandaged. The remains of Andrew were secured in a large sample return container. With both missing persons retrieved, Zeta-9 reversed direction and headed toward the endpoint.

RC awoke shortly after intravenous hydration began, but was unable to communicate anything beyond a desire for food and water, with which he was provided in amounts small enough to avoid an adverse reaction from his deprived stomach. He faded in and out of consciousness in this way for some time.

After about an hour, RC had regained some lucidity and began to question the agents about the whereabouts of his child. He became distraught when informed of Andrew's fate, insistently demanded access to the remains, and attempted to seize the sample return container when he was denied. To prevent RC from further injuring himself by removing his IV or attempting to walk, Andrew was returned to him, wrapped in sanitary bandages to minimize contact with the corpse. RC clung tightly to it and wept for several minutes.

Shortly thereafter, RC saw his abandoned car through the ATV's window as Zeta-9 passed it. He became highly agitated and attempted to challenge the agents, demanding to know why they were "going the wrong way". Agent ███████████ attempted to describe SCP-8356's layout to RC; this information greatly increased his distress. When pressed, Agent ███████████ clarified RC's questions: if, upon entering, he had continued straight instead of turning around, he would have escaped the tunnel in less than two hours.

Justus became unresponsive. Extraction was completed without further incident.

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[[div class="footer-wikiwalk-nav"]]
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<< [[[SCP-8355]]] | SCP-8356 | [[[SCP-8357]]] >>
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[[include :scp-wiki:component:earthworm
| previous-url = scp-8523
| previous-title = Thalassophobia
| next-url = scp-8490
| next-title = Necrophobia
| hub-url = scp-anthology-2024
| hub-title = Anthology 2024
]]

SCP-8356

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