Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grian loved flying. The substantial weight of the experimental “Wingpack” and it’s near-constant need of refueling was nothing compared to the pure exhilaration of soaring through the sky. He did a loop-de-loop, just taking in the thrill of flying. Yes, he was supposed to be listening to X’s briefing about the place MTF squad FX was meant to be exploring, but he knew he could just ask questions when they came up. Really, he had done this so many times now, he was sure whatever anomaly they found (if they even found one) would be fairly easy to figure out. 

“-And Grian, whatever you do, don’t just go barging in there without proper precautions”

Grian tuned back into the speech as he heard his name.

“Yes, sir X-I-suma Void” He didn’t bother keeping the sarcasm out of his voice.

X just stared up at Grian through the large, tinted plastic of his hazmat suit, which probably would look authoritative if not for the little antennae sticking off of his head. Grian had given him that headband after saying the hazmat suit looked like a bee, but he never understood why X kept wearing it.

“Alright, fine. You can go check it out now.” X said reluctantly. 

Grian landed in front of the large factory door. It was probably locked, but it couldn’t hurt to give it a try before doing something more fun. After a few unsuccessful shoves at the door, Grian flew up and onto the dormant smokestacks atop the building. Looking down into them, he could tell that they hadn’t been used for a while. Soot clung to the walls, and he was almost sure he could spot a spiderweb hung across the narrow tube. That wouldn’t be fun to fly through. But it did look like there was an opening at the bottom of the tube. As the best flier in site-7h, he knew he could do it. He jumped down the smokestack, activating his Wingpack and making a fast, sharp turn at the bottom. As he flew into the open space of the factory, he felt something catch in his throat, and he swallowed hard to prevent coughing. His radio was still on and he didn’t want to prove X right about his lack of caution. The moment he swallowed, he had a realization, a moment of clarity that showed him the way forward, the only way forward. A mischievous grin split his face as he planned his most ambitious prank yet.

And then it hit him. Or more accurately, he hit it. The wall. 

“Grian! Are you alright?!” X was shouting through the radio

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just flew into a wall.”

“I told you to be careful!”

“Yeah, yeah”

Grian brushed himself off and took stock of his surroundings. The factory was filled with half-burnt machines that seemed to have been turned off while still in use. In the more intact sections, he could still see the sliced mushrooms that the factory used to make Moo-pop. He wanted to plan his prank, to figure out how his gift can be spread, but X would worry if he took too long. He took a deep breath and set in to look for a way in for the others. 

It didn’t take long for Grian to find the other side of the big door he had tried to open earlier, and when he tried it from the inside it opened easily. 

“Ta-da! See?” Grian held the door as X and False entered. He was disappointed to see False pull her bandana up to cover her mouth and nose. His squadmates would be harder to get than he thought. X was out of the question, the hazmat suit he always wore was more than enough to stop the spores. 

As they explored the factory, Grian’s eye was drawn to small patches of dirt with a purple fungus growing on them. He felt a kinship with this fungus, like they were on the same side. Like he wanted to help it, not out of pity but out of a desire to win. He resisted the urge to take some with him. X was meticulous. He would notice if Grian brought back some strange fungus, and he would grow suspicious. No, Grian had to take his time. 

As they explored, Grian thought about how best to get his friends to join his side. It had to be subtle. He knew he had been infected by swallowing a spore, so it figured that this would also work for his friends, but he had no idea how to smuggle one out of the factory without X noticing. 

Grian looked up, and stopped in his tracks. Something felt wrong. This section of the factory was much more damaged by the fire, hardly anything but soot was recognizable. False and X didn’t seem to mind, but to him it felt like the first time he had seen a dead body; horrifying. Then he realized what was so off-putting. Most of what was burned here was his fungus. Through the ash he saw a mostly burnt crate labeled with the word “Mycelium”. That word felt nice. Correct. Mycelium, the fungus that would take over the world.

Chapter Text

Item #: SCP-444

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-444 is to be kept in a standard humanoid containment cell, reinforced with heat-resistant plating on the outside, and provided with video games on condition of good behavior

Any technology entering SCP-444’s cell must be approved by Dr. Impulse

Description: SCP-444 is a humanoid cyborg with the general appearance of a blonde middle aged man except for it’s bright red eyes. It’s skin is metallic to the touch and it gives off less heat than a normal human. It is unknown how much of it is biological as opposed to mechanical, but notes from it’s creator suggest that the only biological components are the brain and heart.

It has anomalously good eyesight, which has been proven to be able to detect: 

-The exact heat of what it is looking at

-Where an object it has seen before used to be

-The elements that make up an object and the quantities of each

It’s eyes also allow it to project powerful lasers through them

It has extremely high intelligence, especially with anything involving technology. It has demonstrated the ability to create almost any non-anomalous machine given enough materials and reasonable time. 

It has also demonstrated the ability to identify how any non-anomalous machine it comes across works.

Note:

SCP-444 was recovered in the year of 20__, along with its creator, SCP-77. They were found in _______, when the foundation got reports from those living nearby about a “Armored zombie and his pet demon”

According to SCP-77, SCP-444 was once human, but SCP-77 turned it into a cyborg during the process of “teaching” it. Neither SCP-444 nor SCP-77 have explained what goes into this process of “teaching”. For more information, see SCP-77.

Chapter Text

Item #: SCP-77

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-77 is to be kept in a standard humanoid containment cell, and not to be let out without approval of Dr. Zedaph and Site Director Scar. No complex technology is to be allowed into its cell outside of testing. At all. Any staff interaction with SCP-77 is to be done under armed guard.

All tests involving giving SCP-77 access to personnel must be approved by Site Director Scar

Updated Special Containment Procedures: SCP-77 is to be kept in a standard humanoid containment cell, and not to be let out without approval of Dr. Etho. No complex technology is to be allowed into its cell. Any staff interaction with SCP-77 is to be done under armed guard and only with the approval of Dr. Etho.

Description: SCP-77 is a green-skinned man with robotic parts replacing the left side of its face, including its left eye, some of its left shoulder, and its right arm. Scans reveal that its biological portions closely resemble that of a human, but are unable to reveal anything about its mechanical parts. It has on multiple occasions retrieved tools including a wrench, a skrewdriver, a knife, and scissors from it's mechanical parts.

SCP-77 is extremely intelligent, especially with anything involving machines. It has proven able to improvise a variety of mechanical devices when given only very simple materials.

It is unknown whether SCP-77 primarily builds weapons or if that is a reaction to it’s containment.

Note:

SCP-77 has escaped from the foundation multiple times, it was most recently recovered in the year of 20__, along with SCP-444, which had yet to be discovered. They were found in _______, when the foundation got reports from those living nearby about a “Armored zombie and his pet demon”

According to SCP-77, SCP-444 was once human, but SCP-77 turned it into a cyborg during the process of “teaching” it. Neither SCP-444 nor SCP-77 have explained what goes into this process of “teaching”. SCP-77 has offered to demonstrate this process, but only someone it “deems worthy to learn”. 

It is suspected that it will only agree to demonstrate on a member of staff, and this line of testing has been forbidden by Site Director Scar due to it’s dangerous nature.

Addendum 77-1: 

To: Dr. Zedaph

From: Site Director Scar

Subject: NO

You are very lucky that I saw Interview log 77-5 in time. No tests involving letting SCP-77 experiment on personnel are to be conducted. AT ALL. It is too dangerous and I don’t trust SCP-77 not to just kill you.

To: Dr. Zedaph

From: Site Director Scar

Subject: Re:Re:NO

I don’t care if you don’t have any respect for your own well-being. You are more useful to site-7h alive.

To: Dr. Zedaph

From: Site Director Scar

Subject: I won’t say I told you so

Given how your last experiment involving SCP-77 went, I am reassigning you. Dr. Etho has volunteered to take over research on SCP-77. 

You may begin work with SCP-212 once you have healed

Chapter Text

Item #: SCP-263

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: all instances of SCP-263-1 are to be kept in separate humanoid containment cells without exterior windows and are not to come into contact with live animals outside of testing. They are to be fed an exclusively carnivorous diet. 

SCP-263-2 is to be additionally provided with any sewing supplies it requests upon good behavior

All tests must be approved by doctors Joe Hills and Pixlriffs.

Description: SCP-263 is a virus that is spread through bite wounds. Those infected (designated SCP-263-1) technically die within one hour of contracting the disease, however, they retain all capabilities that they had before death save for the ability to age, the ability to heal without medical assistance, and the ability to prevent from rotting without medical assistance. All known instances of SCP-263-1 except for two (designated SCP-263-2 and SCP-263-3) lose all previous sentience or awareness and begin to attack and try to consume any living animal present. If no living animals are present, these instances will try to consume any meat available, and if no meat is available they will wander aimlessly. Instances of SCP-263-1 have not been observed to attack one another. It is suspected that they hunt using smell, as they have no reaction to animals behind glass.

Universal symptoms include: green or blue tinted skin, extreme hunger for the flesh of living animals, and spontaneous combustion on exposure to direct sunlight.

SCP-263-2 and SCP-263-3 are both unusual because they are infected humans that did not lose sentience upon infection. The reason for this is unknown. They both still exhibit extreme hunger for the flesh of living animals, and have trouble controlling themselves if exposed to living animals, however this reaction does not occur if there is glass separating them from the living animal. 

Addendum 263-1, interview logs: 

> Interviewed: SCP-263-2

> 

> Interviewer: Dr. Joe Hills

> 

> Foreword: This is the first interview conducted with SCP-263-2

> 

> <Begin Log>

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Howdy, SCP-263-2

> 

> SCP-263-2: I presume you are speaking to me? That’s not my name.

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Ah but your designation is SCP-263-2

> 

> SCP-263-2: My name is Cleo

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Might you perchance know what it is that differentiates you from the other instances of SCP-263-1?

> 

> SCP-263-2: Alright I’m just going to assume you meant the other zombies. And, um, I don’t know?

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Alright, that’s fine. Are you aware of the circumstances surrounding your zombification?

> 

> SCP-263-2: Well, I mean, you’ve seen zombie movies right?

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Indeed, I have had the opportunity to enjoy several such performances.  But the exact process frequently differs in important details in these fictional works and so, if you would be so kind, if you would describe precisely the manner of your commencing the zombification process that would be most, um, helpful.

> 

> SCP-263-2: You’re joking.

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: SCP-263-2! How dare you accuse me of such perfidy?

> 

> SCP-263-2: It’s Cleo.

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: SCP-263-2.

> 

> SCP-263-2: I will break your legs.

>

> <End Log>

> 

> Closing Statement: Despite the threat at the end of the interview, SCP-263-2 made no attempt to break through the glass separating it and Dr. Joe Hills, and Dr. Joe Hills has expressed a belief that this interview was a success. 

> Interviewed: SCP-263-3

> 

> Interviewer: Dr. Joe Hills

> 

> Foreword: This is the first interview conducted with SCP-263-3

> 

> <Begin Log>

> 

> SCP-263-3: You’ll never take me alive!

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Well I should hope not, given your current deceased state

> 

> SCP-263-3: Yes. You. I like you.

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Well I am certainly gratified to have earned your good opinion, SCP-263-3, I am currently here with the intent of performing an interview 

> 

> SCP-263-3: Yes, yes, here to see what the big bad zombie is up to. What is it?

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: By what means did you achieve your current undead state?

> 

> SCP-263-3: I got bit.

> 

> Dr. Joe Hills: Are you aware of the circumstances that have caused you to maintain sentience while infected by SCP-263?

> 

> SCP-263-3: I always knew I was special. But seriously, no,  I have no clue.

> 

> <End Log>

> Interviewed: SCP-263-3

> 

> Interviewer: Dr. Pixlriffs

> 

> Foreword: This is interview number 138 conducted with-Aw what do I care anymore, no one reads these files but me. 

> 

> <Begin Log>

> 

> SCP-263-3: Hey Pix

> 

> Dr. Pixlriffs: Hey Zloy

> 

> SCP-263-3: Here to complain about the filing again?

> 

> Dr. Pixlriffs: here to get your help on the filing again.

> 

> SCP-263-3: Alright, give em here [SCP-263-3 moves to the back of it’s cell, furthest away from Dr. Pixlriffs]

> 

> Dr. Pixlriffs: here you go. [Dr. Pixlriffs fills a box with files and opens the door to the slot used to put food into SCP-263-3’s cell. When the door is opened, SCP-263-3 squeezes it’s eyes shut and shivers in place, growling quietly. Dr. Pixlriffs slides the box through the slot, and closes the door. Once the door is closed, SCP-263-3 calms down and walks over to the box]

> 

> SCP-263-3: Is Joe still working on that?

> 

> Dr. Pixlriffs: Yeah. Though I don’t think he’s made much progress. He still hasn’t found a cure that won’t just kill you

> 

> SCP-263-3: tell him just to work on the hunger. Everything else is fine

> 

> Dr. Pixlriffs: Uh, but what about the sun thing?

>

> SCP-263-3: Do I look like someone who wants to go outside?

> 

> Dr. Pixlriffs: Fair enough I guess

> 

> <End Log>

> 

> Closing Statement: No one’s gonna ask for my interview logs with Zloy. Heck, I could just admit right here that he does almost all the filing and no one would know.

Chapter Text

Grian’s room was a mess. Even more of a mess than usual. The boxes that normally littered the floor were torn open, contents strewn about the room. The open door to the brightly lit bathroom revealed small droplets of blood painting the tile. In the center of the room, Grian was curled up in front of his computer, completely still. 

He didn’t know what to do. His grand plan, his crowning prank, seemed impossible. How could he spread the spores if he didn’t have any? And how could he not have any? He knew he was infected, that the Mycelium was somewhere in him. He thought it would be flowing through his veins, that was normally what people said about infections, right? That they were flowing through your veins. But he had checked there. He supposed that it could just be too small for him to see, but he wanted to be sure. If he tried to infect someone and failed, chances were he’d be caught. It would be so much easier if he could make sure it would work.

Wait! He could make sure it worked! The Mycelium he saw at the factory was growing on dirt! All he had to do was find a patch of dirt and make sure he could infect it. 

But first he had to clean up. He couldn’t have someone come in and worry about him. 

The sun had long set, and Grian was alone. He casually strolled down the path outside the site-7h building, smiling faintly under the watch of the security cameras. He had memorized their locations and what they were watching, so he knew where the camera blindspot was. The only problem was that if someone checked the logs, they would see that he had disappeared off of the feed without having gone back inside. Normally, the person checking the logs would be suspicious of this, but this was not Grian’s first time pranking. Grian made this walk often, and made a habit of stopping in the bindspots. If they saw that he stopped in the blindspot, the worst that would happen is they would be more wary of a prank. That wasn’t perfect, but it was the best he could do.

When Grian arrived at the blindspot, he knelt down in the grass. He wanted to take a moment to calm his nerves, but he still didn’t have much time here. He cleared the grass away from a patch of dirt, took a deep breath, and tested it. The blood seeped into the ground, but there was no reaction. It didn’t work. 

That… was fine. He just hadn’t figured out how it spread yet. It would surely work if he did it right. Grian picked himself up, brushed himself off, pulled down his sleeve, and kept walking, smile plastered back onto his face. 

He stopped again at the next blindspot, just to keep up the habit. Plus, it gave him time to think. If it couldn’t spread from his blood, how did it spread? Well, how can infections spread? By air? But Grian knew that he wasn’t just breathing out spores. He left the blindspot as he considered this. What if he just hadn’t been breathing hard enough? What if he had to sneeze or cough?

At the third blindspot, the last one on the path that he normally takes, he decided to test this theory. He once again cleared away a patch of grass. He coughed softly. Nothing. He mimicked a sneeze. Nothing.  He took a deep breath, and coughed as hard as he could. The air scratched against his throat, and he almost expected to see blood on the dirt he coughed at. 

But when he opened his eyes, he saw what he hadn’t dared hope for. He saw tiny Mycelium spores lying in the dirt, and he could almost feel them digging into the dirt, making it their own. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched, and he was so tempted to just stay there, watching, until they had taken over the entire patch. 

That would draw suspicion. Grian stood up suddenly, his vision blurring slightly. He walked out of the blindspot, plastering the same smile back on over his aching throat. As he went, the smile grew. He had done it. The infection was spreading. Mycelium could rule.

Chapter Text

Impulse awoke to a new day at site-7h. Today he had to follow up on a test with SCP-444 that he had started yesterday, a meeting with Dr. Pixlriffs about updating the style guide to include how an SCP was originally brought into containment, obviously the documentation on the test he was working on(which he hadn’t even documented yesterday’s part of), A meeting with Dr. Zedaph and Dr. Etho about the cross-test between SCP-444 and SCP-77 that Dr. Zedaph had planned before being reassigned, and Dr. Ren Dog had wanted him to oversee a test.

Basically, like any other day at site-7h, Impulse was busy. And any busy day started with a cup of coffee.

Once Impulse was ready for the day, he walked down to the breakroom to get some coffee and really start his day. The only other person there was Grian, nursing what was probably a cup of tea. The only thing surprising about that was that Grian was up so early, but maybe Xisuma had a mission for him. 

As was his habit, Impulse prepared himself a cup of coffee, sat down, and downed the whole thing in one gulp. But this one felt… different. It didn’t really taste different, but there was this feeling of exhilaration, of doing or planning something technically against the rules. It tasted like a prank. Impulse looked over to Grian, who was now openly staring at him

“Impulse. Room 817. Now.” Grian said emphatically as he left the room. 

The meaning here was clear. Grian was doing some kind of prank, and Impulse was going to be in on it. Grinning, Impulse followed. This was going to be fun. 

Room 817 was nothing more than a broom closet. It was messy, dusty, and right above SCP-444’s containment cell, which was currently very loud with the sounds of machinery. Luckily, it was rather big for a broom closet, and both Grian and Impulse could stand comfortably. 

“You may wonder, Impulse,-” Grian started speaking, but Impulse could barely hear him over SCP-444’s creation.

“WHAT?”

“YOU MAY WONDER WHY I BROUGHT YOU HERE”

“WHAT?”

Grian facepalmed and produced a small clump of dirt from his pocket. Growing on this dirt was… the most interesting fungus Impulse had ever seen. Something about it made him feel like he wanted to see it grow, to see it spread. He locked eyes with Grian, trying to figure him out. Was Grian, also, working to spread this fungus? Or was he an enemy? Or did he simply not know the power he held in his bare hand?

Grian put the dirt back into his pocket, and Impulse felt an irrational sense of loss as it disappeared from view, as if some part of him was worried that he’d never see it again. Refocusing on Grian, Impulse noticed that he was miming writing on his hand. Oh, he must have been signaling that they should write, so as to be able to understand each other over 444’s machinery. Impulse was loath to write down anything about the fungus, worried it would fall into the wrong hands, but it seemed he had little choice if he wanted to know if Grian was on his side. 

Impulse pulled a pen and pad of paper out of his pocket, and tore off a sheet of paper, sitting down and placing it on the tile floor beneath them. Grian followed his lead, sitting down across from him, the paper between them

“There are no cameras here, and that SCP will drown out anything we say.” Grian wrote, clearly aware of Impulse’s reluctance to let them be recorded. He pulled out the fungus again, placing it beside the paper. “This is Mycelium.”

Something about the way Grian called it by name, instead of an SCP number, made Impulse think they were on the same side, but he still couldn’t be sure.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Spread it.” Yes. “Sneakily. If anyone not infected notices, they’ll start trying to contain it.”

“We’re infected?” Impulse looked up to Grian from his place lent over the paper, irrationally hopeful.

“Yes.” After writing this, Grian took a deep breath, and coughed concerningly into his hand. Impulse reached toward him, worried he had hurt himself, and also slightly worried that the cough could be heard even over 444. 

Grian held out the hand he coughed into to Impulse, and his breath caught in his throat. Mycelium spores. Grian could spread it. Impulse went to try it himself, but Grian motioned to stop him. 

“It hurts. Just use these unless you’re in trouble,” Grian wrote, motioning to the spores in his hand. Impulse worried that Grian was doing it if it hurt so badly, but he decided it was better not to force the issue and instead wrote

“How did you get me?”

“The coffee. Just get someone to eat some and they’re on our side.” Oh. Well that explained a lot. Really, Impulse should have guessed that based on what he just learned. Though he was impressed by the fungus’s ability to survive in such a hot location.

Impulse nodded seriously, and Grian grinned. They both understood the mission. Just before standing up, Impulse wrote one, clear word on the paper.

“Ren”

As they left, Impulse noticed Grian burning the paper and smiled. This would be the start of a wonderful team.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Ren! Have you tried the coffee today? It’s very good” Dr. Impulse said, standing right behind Dr. Ren Dog with a huge smile spread across his face. Ren whipped around to face him.

“Dude! Ever heard of personal space?”

“Sorry, Ren” Impulse said, backing away to lean against one of the walls of the break room, “I couldn’t resist the opportunity to startle you.” Impulse couldn’t quite get the grin off his face, but he managed to calm it down to something less creepy. 

Ren gave him a suspicious look, “Something’s gotten into you today.” In the corner of the room, Grian choked on his tea. 

“I don’t know What you’re talking about!” Impulse said, bouncing a little on his heels before sitting down, and saying less sarcastically, “But I am being serious about the coffee. They must have changed the recipe.”

“Maybe added more caffeine?”

Impulse looked up for a moment, pretending to seriously consider it, “Maybe” 

By this point, Grian was hiding his face behind his cup, and Impulse was glad Ren didn’t seem to notice Grian’s barely-suppressed laughter. 

Impulse casually got out his notepad and began listing out the things he had to do for the day, all the while keeping track of Ren. 

After maybe a minute of tense silence, Ren caved, “Ok, I’ll see what you’ve done with the coffee.” Ren made a cup of coffee, and took a cautious sip. “My dude, I’m gonna have to admit I don’t taste the difference” 

“Oh, uh, sorry to bother you then.” Impulse glanced over to Grian for help, but Grian seemed just as confused as he was. “Well, I actually have an interview scheduled pretty soon, but feel free to meet me here again at lunch.”

“Sure thing, dude.”

Once they were fairly far down the hallway, Grian hissed at him.

“What do you think you’re doing? ”

Impulse opened his mouth to respond, but then shut it again, remembering the extensive surveillance system of the Foundation. His plan had worked, Ren had taken the Mycelium coffee, but Impulse didn’t understand why it hadn’t taken effect. He would just have to wait until lunch.

Impulse actually did have an interview scheduled soon. He was supposed to check on 444’s progress in making… whatever he was making. Impulse had asked him to make whatever he wanted, so long as it wasn’t dangerous and wouldn’t help him-it- escape. He had to remember, 444 was an SCP, a dangerous anomaly. It wasn’t a person. It couldn’t be. 

Interviews with 444 were always fun. 444 seemed to always have some new idea, and Impulse was happy that he had finally given him a chance to act on one of them. Though it did mean that he now had to request a lot of weird testing supplies. The paperwork for that was always really annoying, and he knew that some of the requests would probably be denied. 

Before he could get very far with the paperwork, he had the meeting with Pixlriffs, which went moderately well. Pixlriffs agreed to request that a ‘recovered’ section be added to each new SCP document with how that SCP was recovered, but refused to do the paperwork to add that section to all the older SCP documents ‘until I have time’, which at the foundation usually means never. Not to mention trying to find out how the older SCPs were recovered, which Impulse didn’t even manage to bring up.

When lunch rolled around, Impulse had just started to make real progress on the supply request paperwork, and for a moment he considered skipping lunch to keep working. Oh! How could he forget? He had more important things to do.

The break room was more highly-populated than Impulse had expected. Along with Dr. Ren Dog humming sea shanties to himself in the corner, there was Dr. Pearlescent Moon, who was sketching something and talking with Dr. Mumbo Jumbo. On the other side of the room, Dr. Zedaph was trying to hold a mug of coffee with a new prosthetic hand that he’d clearly made himself. 

“Hey, Impulse”, Ren said casually as he walked over to Impulse, “At first I didn’t like that coffee you made. But then it grew on me.” Ren brushed his hand through his hair, revealing roots that were tinted a Mycelium-purple. Impulse managed to hide his surprise and relief behind a soft chuckle

“Here, come with me” Impulse said, leading Ren to room 817

When they got there, 444 was quiet enough for them to talk, and Impulse explained everything he knew about the Mycelium. 

“You mean like this?” Ren coughed lightly into his hand, and opened it to reveal a few Mycelium spores

“Oh! Wow, it must be progressing faster for you or something; Grian had to try a lot harder to get spores”

“Interesting. I guess I’m just lucky”

“I wonder if that’s why your hair is changing.”

“That’s not happening for you and Grian?”

“Not as far as I know…” Impulse ran his fingers through his hair unconsciously. “But that’ll be very useful. Could you actually collect as many spores as you can without hurting yourself, and bring them to me tomorrow morning? I have big plans”

“Oh, sure. I’ll see you then?”

“See ya.”

Chapter Text

> Interviewed: SCP-444

> 

> Interviewer: Dr. Impulse

> 

> Foreword: This interview was conducted as a follow-up to test-444-20, in which Dr. Impulse told SCP-444 to build something of its choosing.

> 

> <Begin Log>

> 

> Dr. Impulse: So. What did you make?

> 

> SCP-444: A challenge-coaster-ificator!

>

> Dr. Impulse: [Dr. Impulse laughs softly] And what does it do?

> 

> SCP-444: It’s a rollercoaster where you have to complete challenges to get points- well, y’know, when it’s done. Speaking of which, I might need to steal a few more materials, I ran out of track at about here [SCP-444 indicates a middle piece of the structure] But since then I decided to expand the project so that each section of the track would have a theme

>

> Dr. Impulse: mhm. And when do you think you’ll be done by?

> 

> SCP-444: Maybie a month, if you get me the materials? Oh! And do you think these targets are big enough? I’d playtest it but I don’t have a bow.

>

> Dr. Impulse: Alright, I’ll see if I can get you more stuff. What do you need?

> 

> SCP-444: More iron-always more iron-, more wood and stone, a bow, some arrows, some string, more wire, a bigger power source, soldering or welding supplies, probably both, uhh… gears, pistons, maybie a wheel, oh! And decorations! I’m thinking the themes will be dungeon, snowy mountain, castle, and forest, so stuff that’ll fit that. Also I was thinking… some kind of token to count as points?

>

> Dr. Impulse: uh-huh… Well I’ll see what I can do. 

> 

> SCP-444: Thanks, buddy. Oh! Before you go, I was wondering what you thought of this part here. [SCP-444 gestures to part of the machine] I can’t tell if the turn is too sharp.

>

> Dr. Impulse: Well, how fast is the cart going there?

> 

> SCP-444: That depends on the weight of what’s in it

>

> [Redacted for length]

> 

> <End Log>

> 

> Closing Statement: Dr. Impulse later approved the majority of the material requests by SCP-444 in this interview, though the welding supplies were cut down significantly to prevent the possibility of escape

Chapter Text

Site Director Scar enjoyed spending his lunch break surveying his site, and today he had decided to go for a walk in the sparse forest near the edge of the site. A few paths ran through it to let his researchers have calming walks like this one between the stressful tasks in the foundation. As he was reaching the end of his walk, he did a double take. The ground near the path seemed to have been meddled with, the grass pulled out and thrown to the side. In the patch left, there seemed to be a strange purple subsistence coating the dirt. Thinking back, he felt like he had seen other dirt meddled with earlier on his walk, but he had not seen this strange purple growth. The most odd thing about this growth was that the clearing it was in seemed to be man made. 

As Site Director, Scar knew better than to let an odd occurrence pass as just happenstance, and called in site-7h’s MTF team. 

Soon, Xisuma and his squad had taken samples of the substance, and set up warning tape around the area. While they began the process of extricating all of the substance from the ground and into temporary containment, Scar began the process of its study himself. 

Scar had no evidence that the substance was anomalous, but he had a hunch that it was, and he’d been at the Foundation for long enough to know not to ignore that kind of hunch.

Basic materials analysis revealed that it was some type of fungus, though it didn’t match any on record. At first, it seemed to be made up of entirely unanomalous biological material, but as Scar studied further he discovered that there were anomalous aspects to how it spread when he presented it with more dirt. 

Once he had confirmed that this was, indeed, anomalous, he decided to move into the next phase of testing. D-class personnel.

“Bdubs?” Scar called, only barely looking up from his work.

“Yes, Scar?”

“Can you get me a D-class?”

“OK! What do you need it for?”

“I found something anomalous in the yard! I was just going for my daily walk and there was this anomalous fungus growing on the ground!”

“Oh goody!” Bdubs said, with sarcastic cheer, “Shall I also announce a containment breach?”

“Um, yes, but it hasn’t proven to be dangerous yet, so just level one.”

“Wonderful! That’s just great! Not even a year in and already random new SCPs showing up on our doorstep!”

As the sun set on site-7h, a containment breach level one was announced, for the newly discovered SCP-1325. Any uncontained instances were to be reported to Site Director Scar immediately, and the containment breach will only end once all instances of SCP-1325 are properly contained.

Chapter Text

Item # : SCP-1325

Object Class : Safe

Special Containment Procedures : SCP-1325 is to be kept in anomalous storage locker 1325 outside of testing

Description : SCP-1325 is a fungus that infects dirt and can spread anomalously quickly. It has not been observed to infect dirt that is already covered by grass.

Discovered : SCP-1325 was discovered in the outdoor area of site-7h. The method by which it entered the site is unknown

Chapter Text

Etho was up late doing paperwork. Again. While being the head researcher for SCP-212 wasn’t an easy task, preparing to hand the job off to someone else was even harder. Every single habit he had formed to make the research go smoothly had to be documented and taught, and while Zedaph would probably understand the instructions, he liked to do things unconventionally, and would most likely try to change the current protocol. This was actually something that Etho appreciated and often did as well, because it helped to make better protocol and make sure you weren’t stuck in your old habits, but it did mean that Etho also had to explain the reasons behind each action so that whatever Zedaph came up with would still achieve the intended effect. 

Plus, Etho hated to admit this, but he had a reputation at the Foundation. Most of the older SCPs knew him as a master of containment, and whether or not it was true, it did make them more likely to listen to him. He knew that part of 212’s respect for him was because of that reputation, and he hated to imagine what it would do if it thought it’s new captor was weak. 212 had mastered the art of war, and he had to make sure that Zedaph was prepared for the battle. 

“Hey Etho” Grian’s voice cut off his train of thought.

“Hey Grian,” Etho said with trepidation. He knew that Grian was still supposed to be clearing out the patch of SCP-1325 with the rest of his MTF squad. Plus, Grian was not the type to show up out of the blue without having some kind of shenanigans planned. Etho quietly brushed the paperwork off of his personal notebook. Scar had seemed to take a great interest in 1325, so if Grian had some kind of prank involving 1325 planned, Scar would greatly reward the researcher who told him. 

“Coffee?” Grian offered him a hot cup of coffee. A nice gesture, but also an easy set-up for a prank.

“Sure” Etho took it and casually inspected it. Nothing seemed extremely off at first glance, but that told him nothing. Grian knew better than to make it that obvious. “Whatcha up to?” 

“Oh, you know. On break, thought I’d see what you were up to.” This response almost checked out, as Grian did love to watch other people work while he should be doing his own, but Etho was doing the most boring job at the Foundation, paperwork. Though it could be that he was the only one still up.

“Ha. Well I’m not doing anything that interesting. Just paperwork.” 

“It’s still better than shoveling outside” Grian said as he took a seat in the spare chair nearby.

“Mhm. That’s the real reason you’re here”

“Ahaha. Possibly.”

Truely, Etho was only partly paying attention to his conversation with Grian. Mostly he was analyzing the coffee he’d been given. A truly cautious researcher would wait until Grian left and then do a materials analysis to discover the prank. But being cautious was tedious, and the pranks around the site were never made to cause harm. This of course did not mean that they never did, but Etho was usually good enough to avoid any accidental dangers. Plus, he was assigned to this site partially for his chaotic nature, it would do no good to go against it.

Etho swirled the coffee, and could tell that there was some kind of particulate suspended in it, though it started to settle back down to the bottom after he stopped moving the cup. He took a couple sips before reaching whatever Grian added and hid his amusement at Grian’s mediocre chemistry before swallowing it.

Oh.

Oh.

Interesting.

And of course Grian was just sitting there, watching, waiting. Etho gave him a small nod. 

“Follow me.” Grian said, standing up.

“Wait.” Etho stood up and walked over to the security camera that surveilled his office and grinned at Grian, “You think I haven’t done this before?”

Etho explained the contraption he had attached to the camera that would record a snippet of footage, turn it into a loop, and send that loop instead of whatever he’s actually doing. The only downside being that they had to record the bit to send. 

“It doesn’t matter what we say?”

“Nope, this one doesn’t record audio.”

“Why not?”

“Say enough memetic hazards out loud and apparently they decide they can trust you to monitor your own audio.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at Grian’s appalled expression before continuing, “Don’t worry, they weren’t the actually dangerous ones.”

After they both sat back down, Etho started the recording.

“Ok it’s recording, just start some random conversation”

“You start it.”

“What? No I’m no good at it.”

Grian just silently stared at him. Which meant he actually had to do it. Oh no.

“Ok. Knock knock?”

Grian laughed slightly as he responded, “Who’s there?”

“Orange?”

“Orange who?”
“Orange you glad I did the intro?”

“Honestly I just expected you to say ‘knock knock, who’s there, Etho.”

“Ok that should be good enough” Etho said as he went to end the recording, “Now what were you actually going to tell me?”

Grian explained everything about SCP-1325, or the Mycelium, as he called it, and Etho took meticulous notes. Grian was skeptical at first about creating a written record of it, but Etho reassured him that he was better at shenanigans than to let his notes be found. 

“So. What are we calling this group?”

“Uhh, the Mycelium Resistance!”

“And what are we resisting exactly?”

“Well, you know- you know what we’re doing,” Grian said awkwardly, trying to dodge the question.

“Of course”

“We’re- We’re here to send Scar a message.” It was clear Grian was making this up on the spot, but Etho wanted to see how far he could take this.

“Oh. uh, what message is it?”

“It- It’s about the principal!” Grian shouted, sounding mildly cornered.

“Oh right, the principal!” Etho wrote this down, “Is that three exclamation marks or five?”

“Definitely five.”

“Also I was thinking- We should have some slogans.” Grian looked mildly concerned, which prompted Etho to continue, “How about, ‘Spread the Spores, Mycelium the floors?”

“That’s. Actually not bad. But remember- we have to keep this secret! Non-members can’t find out.”

“Of course, of course.” Etho said absentmindedly, thinking about how he might use his new position in the Resistance for his own gain, while still helping. “How much does Scar know?”

“I’m not sure… I don’t think he knows it can infect humans, but he might suspect. We have to be more careful now that he knows it exists.

“Mhm…”

“Don’t stay up too late working on this. We can’t have you being too tired to support the Resistance”

“Eheheheh” 

“Seriously, though, get some sleep Etho.”

Chapter Text

Site-7h had just finished being constructed, and it’s first tenets were not in good shape. Furthermore, Mumbo had just been tasked with handling the most difficult one. Of course. He was pacing just outside SCP-161’s new cell, from which he could still hear it screaming. It’s restraints were tight, but he still couldn’t help but worry. Though he was told they gave the most dangerous one to Etho.

But none of this was helping with his assignment. He was told to be chaotic, to do something unexpected and save 161’s life. And he was on a time limit. No one knew quite when it would up and die from lack of chaos, but it was apparently soon. 

Oh, no big deal. Just do something unexpected. As close as possible to the screaming mess in the room that he hadn’t even dared to go in yet. Should be a piece of cake. 

“Hey, Mumbo. What are we working on again? I think I missed the briefing.”

“Ah, yes, please come in” Mumbo opened the door to the containment chamber with confidence he did not feel and ushered Iskall inside. 161 was… not what he had expected. It looked just like a normal blonde teenage boy, struggling against heavy chains and screaming through tattered lungs. He wanted to be sorry for it, but they didn’t have time. The way that he could help it right now was to be chaotic, so that’s what he was going to do. 

“Um. Is that the SCP?” Iskall said, clearly very worried.

“Oh no that’s just part of the containment. Very standard really. No… “ He looked around for anything else in the cell that could possibly be taken for the SCP. The room was filled with all sorts of strange items, which he could only assume were others’ attempts at creating chaos in the Foundation, but none of them looked quite right for his ruse.

“How is that part of containment?! And what’s all this about?”

“Oh this?” Mumbo picked up a few strangely cut gems and considered them for a moment before continuing, “Also part of containment. Very important.”

“What? How-”

Mumbo cut him off, continuing, “There’s these,” He picked up a few blinking red LEDs, “Also part of containment.”

“How is it this complex?”

His eyes fell on a pot with 12 stalks of bamboo growing in it. Good enough. He picked it up and presented it to Iskall “This is the SCP!”

“What? How is that anomalous? It’s just bamboo!”

“Oh can’t you tell?” He desperately tried to hide how little he had thought this through.

“I’m here to help you study an SCP! A difficult SCP!” By now Iskall was fuming.

“And here you go!” Mumbo pushed the large pot of bamboo into Iskall’s hands.

“What? But-” 

Mumbo just shooed him towards the door.

“You’re so annoying. Fine. fine.” Iskall left the room in a huff, the potted bamboo still in his hands.

Mumbo looked over to 161, to see if his plot had worked at all, and he noticed that it was no longer screaming, and while it was still struggling, it seemed less desperate. He could only hope that that was a good sign.

Chapter Text

   To: Site Director Scar

   From: ERROR: Invalid email address

   Subject: SCP-1325

   I have recently gained information regarding SCP-1325, and predict that I will continue to do so.

   I am willing to sell this information to you.

   If interested, leave 180$ cash in storage closet 415.

   More info will come later…

   -A concerned researcher.

Scar stared in disbelief. How in the world did they hide their email so thoroughly? He couldn’t even reply to it, forward it, or do seemingly anything with it because of how glitchy the email was. Every action would just cause an error message saying invalid email address. 

It would set a terrible precedent to give them what they wanted. As site director, he was not supposed to engage in underhanded dealings like this. But... this proved there was more to SCP-1325 than met the eye, and this might be the fastest route to find out. With an SCP, every moment it was left uncontained put his site in more danger

Chapter Text

Item #: SCP-522

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-522 is to be kept in a watertight humanoid containment cell with proper ventilation. It is to be provided with video games on condition of good behavior.

Description: SCP-522 is about 90,000 cubic centimeters of a sentient blue gelatinous substance. It has the ability to change shape at will, often takes a humanoid shape, and will wear provided clothes when in this form. It has two darker spheres with diameters of about 27millimetres suspended in itself that function as eyes and are unable to morph like the rest of its body. It consumes about the same amount and types of food as a human, and requires oxygen.
The gelatinous portion of its body has been observed to be able to pass through most spaces that allow water to pass through, though its ‘eyes’ limit its movement through spaces too small for them.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t exactly easy to leave the Foundation. Obviously the SCPs were trapped there, but even for a researcher leaving the site usually required explicit permission. Sure, some people actually managed to clock out and go to some kind of outside home, but that wasn’t the norm for Site-7h, and Impulse doing so would be doubly suspicious. His original plan was to call in sick, say he had eaten something bad or caught some minor cold… But with the Mycelium having been found, this would no longer work. Calling in sick during a containment breach didn’t get you out, it got you studied, especially in a situation like this. 

Plus, as the morning went on, Impulse started to worry about Ren. He had asked Ren to meet him that morning, but he hadn’t seen any sign of him and it was much after he normally woke up. 

Impulse absentmindedly worked on the supply request paperwork, trying to figure out how to leave the site without raising suspicion; an especially hard task since he had to bring some Mycelium. He tried not to worry about Ren. He was probably just sleeping in. 

There was a knock at the door of Impulse’s office. He went to open it, expecting to see Ren, so it was a bit of a shock to see Grian’s blonde hair in place of Ren’s face.

“Oh! Hey Grian.”

“Hey, Impulse. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second.” Grian seemed to gesture ever so slightly towards the door. This was probably about the Mycelium, but they couldn’t talk about it there, the room was too closely surveilled. Did Grian want to go back to where they met earlier?

“Uh, sure. What is it?”

“Walk with me” Grian said as he moved to leave. This was definitely about the Mycelium. 

As they walked down the hallways leading to room 817, Grian continued, “So, I was talking to Etho yesterday. We, uh, were thinking about getting fresh fruits for the break room.” 

“Uh-huh.” Etho… he couldn’t be trying to say… did Grian infect Etho? “And what did he think of the idea?”

“Oh he was pretty on board with it. Had some good ideas.”

As soon as they closed the door of room 817, Impulse dropped the act.

“Did you really get Etho?”

“Yup. He’s with the Mycelium Resistance now.” Grian didn’t even hide his self-satisfied grin

“The Mycelium Resistance?” 

“I thought our group needed a name.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Anyway- do you have any news?”

“Well Ren can make spores way more easily than us.”

“You got Ren?”

“Of course I did,” Impulse mocked offence, “you were there!”

“I thought that had failed utterly”

“Nah, just a delayed effect”

“Well that’s good news.” 

“I was actually gonna use that to go make a Mycelium farm,” Impulse looked in the general direction of the site’s main entrance, “if I could find a way outta here.”

“Ah. Breach makes that hard, huh.” 

“I also have to wait for Ren to get back to me with the spores. He said he’d have them this morning, but I haven’t seen him yet.” 

“Mm” Grian looked as concerned as Impulse felt. It wasn’t like Ren to sleep through something important. “Wasn’t Ren meant to have a meeting with Beef this morning? I could ask him if he made it.” 

“Yeah. I mean, it’s probably nothing right? Just can’t find an excuse to talk.”

“Probably. But it’s better to know.” Grian said as he went to leave.

“Well… good luck. I’ll start looking if you haven’t found him by the time I finish my paperwork.”

“So, never?”

Well, now Impulse had finished his paperwork, and still hadn’t heard from Grian or Ren. He texted Grian.

“Found him?”

“Beef didn’t know. Has me helping test instead.” 

If that wasn’t a sign to look for Ren he didn’t know what was.

Chapter Text

Ren woke up to a knocking on his door. Preparing to be annoyed at whoever woke him at this hour, he looked at the clock. And realized it was 10pm. He was meant to be awake hours ago. But why did he feel so tired? He didn’t normally have too much trouble waking up. Did he forget to set his alarm? He checked his phone. No, it had gone off, completely without his noticing. 

“You good in there, buddy?” Impulse’s voice came through the door

“Yeah, I’m fine, just slept through my alarm. What do you need, my dude?”

“The, uh, paperwork I asked for yesterday.”

“Oh. OH! Yeah I’ve got it. Just give me a second” Ren quickly got ready for the day and moved his stash of Mycelium spores into a spare cardboard box, putting some random papers on top to hide the Mycelium. “Here ya go, dude! Good luck.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it,” Impulse said as he left. 

Ren checked his phone for messages and sure enough, he had messages from Beef asking where he was and when he'd be at the meeting they had planned earlier that morning to see the effects of yesterday’s test on SCP-328. Apparently Beef had gotten Grian to go with him instead.

As planned out how to respond to Beef, his thoughts were interrupted.

“XB! How are you so fast?!” Keralis was chasing Dr. X. B. Crafted around the site’s yard, probably as part of one of the many contests the two always seem to be having. 

“I guess it’s just my long legs,” XB called in response, sprinting away with a stopwatch in his hand

“You’re not even that tall!”

“I’m still taller than you!”

Ren sent some vague text about having slept in and went over to talk with XB and Keralis.

“How’s it going my dudes?” Ren said as he stepped out into the yard.

“Oh! Ren! Wanna join us?” XB replied.

“Sure, why not?” Ren walked over to where XB and Keralis slowed to a stop, “What’re you dudes up to here?”

XB and Keralis explained that they were playing a very unusual variant of tag originally invented by Grian but edited by them to work for two players, and for about an hour the three of them played it, though by the end Ren was very out of breath. XB and Keralis played games like this all the time, so they weren’t nearly as winded. 

“You good there, Ren?” XB asked.

“Yeah,” Ren took a breath, “I’m all good!” 

“Uh-huh. Why don’t I go get us all some water?” XB said, sounding unconvinced. 

“Sounds good” Ren sat down on the grass, giving up on trying to convince XB not to worry about him. 

As Ren sat there catching his breath, Keralis sat down beside him to keep him company. Ren was rather glad that he had woken up late. Sure, he wasn’t getting much work done, but it was nice to just relax and hang out with his coworkers. 

That water XB is bringing would be a good chance to spread the Mycelium. At this thought, Ren sat up. It would be a good opportunity, and he knew Impulse and Grian were working hard, so he couldn’t let them down. He felt a bit bad ruining the wholesome moment with schemes, but it was worth it to advance the progress of the Mycelium and to bring XB and Keralis over to his side. 

“I have returned!” XB announced unnecessarily as he sauntered back holding three glasses of water. 

“Welcome back, my dude!” 

XB handed everyone their glasses, and sat down on the dirt with Ren and Keralis. 

They sat and talked there for a good while, taking the time to forget all about the dangerous anomalies they contained and just relax and talk as friends. It was only when the sky threatened rain that they got up to go back inside. 

XB had left his half-full glass of water on the ground. Thinking quickly, Ren quietly coughed up some Mycelium and sprinkled it into the water as he picked up the glass. 

“XB! You forgot your water!” He said, jogging slightly to catch up with XB and Keralis.

“Aw yeah, thanks for grabbin that for me” XB said as he took the glass.

Ren watched XB as they walked in. He wanted to be there when the Mycelium started to take effect, so that he could explain everything. 

It probably didn’t actually take that long for XB to take a sip of his water, but it felt longer to Ren, waiting with baited breath, noticing every movement of the glass. But this wasn’t his first prank. Ren knew how to wait and watch, to keep up the conversation with only a hint of laughter behind his words. 

When XB did take a sip though, Ren could see the change in his eyes. 

“What-”

“Oh hey! I just remembered”, Ren cut XB off, keenly aware of Keralis and the security cameras watching them, “XB, can you come look over some paperwork for me?”

“Uh… sure…”

Ren barely managed to keep himself from sprinting off and dragging XB along, instead limiting himself to a brisk walk and a glance behind them to make sure Keralis wasn’t following.

He led XB to room 817, and explained everything he knew. 

“Oh wow. Well I guess I know what’s up with 1325. Mycelium, huh. Has a nice ring to it.”

“I should probably be off, before Beef sends out a search party.” Ren left with a smile, leaving XB to contemplate his part in the Mycelium.