After reports of 37 unsolved missing persons cases in the city of Beloretsk, Russia within the last year, Foundation agents were dispatched to investigate for the presence of a possible anomaly. The agents found that all of the missing persons had been employees at Beloretsk Iron and Steel Works prior to their disappearance. Further investigation revealed that the foreman of the plant, Feliks Ermolai, had confiscated the personal effects of one of the missing persons, Iosef Vasilyev. Given the unusual circumstances, the agents called for MTF support for the recovery of these materials and further investigation into the disappearances.

MISSION REPORT Summary MTF Gamma-5 ("Red Herrings") was tasked with obtaining package DXV-180294-217 from Beloretsk Iron and Steel Works. Gamma-5 were to remain undetected at all times, as to not alert law enforcement. Gamma-5 were not briefed on the contents of the package. Results Package was successfully secured. No authority figures were alerted, and DXV-180294-217 is now in Foundation custody. Ongoing Containment Package DXV-180294 is to remain in a safe deposit box at Site-139. Access requires Level 4 clearance. Mission Status SUCCESS

Contents of PACKAGE DXV-180294-217

17 June 2034 A bit quieter than usual, today. Saw Mom outside folding the linens, and Dad was fixing the roof. Andrei got back from work, fatigued as always, and he collapsed on my bed. Really wish he would have just slept on the floor, but he's a lot bigger than me and I didn't want to ask him to move. When he woke up, he asked me to write a letter for him. I said yes, and we wrote a letter to Masha. Not sure why he still cares about her. She doesn't care about us. She was lucky, got out of here pretty easily. I hope she's enjoying her life outside of this hellhole. Been years since we've seen her. Dinner was the same as usual — moldy bread, bland soup, and a whole bunch of yelling from Dedushka. Sometimes, I wish I could just end his miserable ass life myself.

18 June 2034 I managed to steal a loaf of fresh bread from the bakery this morning. Barely made it out without the owner seeing me, though. When I got home, Dad was sleeping in his chair, covered in ash, as usual, and Mom was fixing lunch. I had just settled in when I heard a knock on the door. A man in a top hat, wearing white gloves and a black suit, was on the other side. He said that he was the foreman at the mill where Andrei worked, then removed his giant hat. He flatly told us that Andrei had fallen into one of the machines, and lost eight of his fingers, causing the loss of a whole day's worth of production. I comforted Mom, and told her that everything will be fine. Dad started shouting at the man to get his arse out of here. Andrei was the only one who could work, he got us our money, our food, everything. Now, we have nothing, and I'm not sure what will happen next.

19 June 2034 We went to see Andrei today at the infirmary. Christ almighty, his hands are mangled. His right hand only had a thumb, and his left hand only had a ring finger. His bulging forearm was capped off with what I guess was his palm, but it was so torn from the accident that he couldn't feel it. Mom gave him a hug, Dad patted him on the back, and I just stared off. I'd never seen him this broken before. He didn't say a single word during the whole visit. He just cried quietly to himself. After we got home, I asked Dad if Andrei will ever work again, as if I didn't already know the answer. He just shook his head. I sniffled, gave Dad a hug, ate dinner, and headed to bed. Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna get a job. I don't care what it is, I just need a job. I need to take care of my family.

20 June 2034 Not much happened today. I ran along the streets, trying to find a job. I first went to the bakery, hoping the man in charge wouldn't recognize my face. When I asked for a job, he told me I was a prick, and to get my arse out of his shop. Fat bastard, probably eats all his leftovers anyways. I went to a shoe shop next. The owner was old and grey, surprised he was still up and moving. I asked for a job and he said he didn't need the help. Figured there was no point in arguing with a stubborn old man, so I just left and headed to a textile factory. I was almost sold on the job, but then I asked about the pay and found out that it was next to nothing. No way was I keeping a roof over our heads on those starvation wages. I told them to shove it and headed home. Tomorrow, I'll keep looking.

21 June 2034 After walking the streets for a while, I stumbled upon a steel mill. Beloretsk Iron and Steel Works was massive, easily one of the biggest buildings in the city. I went in asking for a job, and the foreman brought me into his office. He said they had a few openings, but weren't desperate for workers at the moment. He started to push me out, until I told him that I knew how to write. He smiled, somewhat surprised I assume, and offered me a job. It's going to be hard work, but I've got no choice if I want a roof over my head and food on my table. He told me I start tomorrow at 6.

22 June 2034 When I showed up for my first day, the foreman gave me a tour. Everywhere I looked, all I could see were the pale faces of tired men. Not a single one had a smile. The foreman showed me what I had to do. I was in charge of making sure that the pot of molten iron was oiled and ready for use. Not too much responsibility for a kid my age, but the heat didn't do me any favors. I powered through ten hours of sweating my ass off, and it felt like I was gonna faint, but I gritted my teeth and got it done anyways. For the family, I kept telling myself, for Andrei. We didn't always get along, but he was my bother and I loved him. Before I left the mill, I was told my wages for the day would be 5000 rubles, twice what Andrei was paid. When I told Mom and Dad, they cheered and hugged me all over. Dinner tasted great that night, and my bed was even more comfortable than usual.

3 July 2034 Been a while since I've written anything. Not much has changed, Mom and Dad are still doing well, Andrei is still at the infirmary, and I still have a job. My eyes feel heavy, and I'm starting to wheeze. Probably from all the smoke and fumes from the mill. At least I'm getting paid though, right?

5 July 2034 I bought the paper today. I had the money, so might as well. The front page was talking about how expensive that new machinery has become nowadays, and many steel mills have been closing their doors after they couldn't afford to upgrade. Beloretsk is still open, though, and growing at that, even though it looks like we haven't updated our equipment in decades. But you know, as long as the mill is running, I still get paid, so it honestly doesn't make a difference to me.

6 July 2034 Dedushka couldn't get out of bed this morning. Can't even move a muscle, the poor bastard. He just lays there and shits his bed all day. I have to clean up after him, or else the whole house will smell like death. All in a day's work, I suppose.

7 July 2034 Met a nice guy at the mill today. His name's Saveli, and he works with me at the iron pot. We talked about how shitty our lives were, and how we only do this for the money. He asked me what I like to do in my free time. I told him I liked to write, and he was surprised that I even knew how. He said he never knew how to read or write, and all he knew was how to fix machinery. We talked all day long about our families, our favorite foods, all kinds of stuff. Its nice to have a friend in here to bust up the monotony of greasing the same four pots all day. Not too bad, all things considered.

10 July 2034 Noticed something today. Lots of workers have been disappearing recently. Foreman doesn't care, he just hires replacements. I asked Saveli about it at lunch break, and he said that he's noticed it too. He says that at least three people disappear a week, and he doesn't know what happens to them. We both shrugged it off and continued working. Talked some more about our lives, and I offered to help Saveli learn how to read. Figure we start with the simple stuff, like the labels on our machinery and the signs posted around the plant, and maybe work up to longer stuff like manuals for the equipment or something. We'd just spend a few minutes every day on our lunch break. When I came home, Mom and Dad were furious. They said that Andrei had recovered from his injuries, and he took off to find Masha. He didn't even bother to clean up after himself. He left me to take care of the whole family by myself. What a brother he was. Now it's all up to me. Someone's gotta be the man around here.

19 July 2034 I couldn't even eat today, I just headed straight to work. The day started off as usual. Monotonous greasing and pointing out things for Saveli to read when the mechanical whine died down in between loads. He's actually gotten quite good, and he can even read warning labels on some of the machinery now. He's also shown me how to maintain and fix the cranes that we use to hoist up the pots. He's a pretty handy guy and he knows more than he lets on at first for sure. After our shift was over, I went to walk out with Saveli, but the foreman called him away for a meeting. The foreman brought Saveli into a back room, and I just went home, went to bed, and tried to sleep. Wonder what the foreman wanted with Saveli? I hope he's not in trouble or something.

20 July 2034 The factory replaced one of the machines today. It was one of the giant rolling presses that flatten the steel sheets after they cool off. Our old one was beginning to show its age — didn't quite straighten out the sheets like it used to. Something feels off about this new one though. I'm not sure what it is, but the rollers don't look very new and its gears look… odd. Like they're a bit too old-fashioned to be a brand new piece of machinery. The strangest bit, though, is that the whole upper assembly is completely boxed in. There's only one small access panel for the mechanics up top, but that's it. Can't see most of the guts. I've not seen one blocked up like that, and to be honest, it doesn't make much sense to me, but what do I know? I'm just the guy who sprays some oil into a pot. Aside from that, not much happened today. I didn't see Saveli. I'm gonna wait another day, and if he's still not here, I'm gonna go look for him.

21 July 2034 Saveli missed another day of work. Today, the foreman replaced him with some asshole named Igor. All that meathead wanted to talk about was his muscles, women, and vodka. I asked the foreman if Saveli was okay, and he just smiled at me and asked, "Who?" He knows something, and he's not gonna give it up to me. Tomorrow night, I'm gonna find Saveli. He has to be in that room. I just hope he's okay.

22 July 2034 Today was… insane… indescribable… You know what? I'm just gonna start at the beginning. I got to work this morning, and it was business as usual, a typical laid-back Friday. When we got off work, I found a place to hide near the boilers, and waited for the sun to set. The lights went out, and I went to the back room that I last saw my friend disappear into. I made my way inside and saw a large flight of stairs. It was dark, so I grabbed a lantern to keep me warm. After a few minutes of walking, I finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. It was quiet, you could even hear the scratching of rats in the walls. As I kept going, though, I began to hear a faint ticking noise. I followed the noise into the darkness, and saw a cage. I got a bit closer, but still kept my distance. When I looked into the cage, I saw a boy who looked kind of like Saveli. He was curled up in a ball on the ground, so I was unsure. I whispered his name, and he shot up immediately. He told me to not look at him. I told him that everything was fine, and the foreman was nowhere to be seen. He turned around slowly to face me, and… oh Christ. Half of his face was completely metallic. He had gears popping out of his head, his eyes were replaced with empty sockets of metal, his body ticking and grinding like a clock. It was like he was turning into a machine. Saveli got up in the cage and asked for me to help him. He grabbed my hand for a second, but I pushed him back. I fell backwards, completely frozen by shock and horror. Hundreds of discordant screams filled the room, and I turned my head to see hundreds of similar cages. All of the workers who disappeared, they were all here. All of them had metal sticking out of their skin, like goddamn machines. I raced back up the stairs, skipping steps as I ran. I could barely make it to the door. I raced home, gave my Mom a hug, and ran to my bed. They couldn't be real, they couldn't be. Saveli… his face… I'm gonna try to sleep and think about it tomorrow. Christ, I can still hear them when I close my eyes. A cacophany of clockwork ticking.

23 July 2034 I couldn't stop picturing Saveli's face at work today. How does someone end up like that? There were so many of them in those cages. It makes no sense! What use does a steel mill have with a bunch of deformed employees? I'm going back down there tomorrow night. There has to be something that I'm missing. What else are they hiding? What are they going to do to Saveli?

24 July 2034 I went back to the cellar tonight, this time without a lantern. I didn't want to be spotted down there. I waited a few minutes in the corner of the room, and then saw a door open in the cellar. Three men, wearing masks, gloves, and labcoats came out of the room, and went to a cage. One of the men held a lantern, while the other two opened the cage, and took out the man from inside. The poor guy was mostly made out of metal, you could hardly tell that he was human. The three men then brought that sorry sack of gears into the room from which they came. I snuck around the cages, careful not to be seen, and made my way to the door. I peeked through the door and was horrified by what I saw. The three men were forcing the man onto some kind of wall, a steel wall, with other mechanical men attached. Some lights turned on, and I was able to see the bigger picture. The three masked men were building their own equipment. One of the masked men turned on the machine, and all of the gears screamed in agony. The machine began to produce metal ingots from liquid steel, and kept doing so for a while. The screams of the gear-men filled the room, and I could barely hear myself think. I had to get out of there. I made my way out of the room, back up the slippery stairway, through the door, out of the mill, and back to my bed. I'm going mad, aren't I? Maybe this is all just in my head, a dream. Yes, a dream. I need to get back to sleep. My mind needs rest. If only I could get that damn ticking noise out of my head.

28 July 2034 There was an accident today. One of the giant crucibles used to transport the molten slag from the smelter to the refinery became dislodged and fell right on top of one of the linemen. Crushed him like a cockroach. God, how he screamed. I can still hear them… The foreman tossed me a shovel and had me scrape him off of the floor for the rest of the day. He screamed the whole time. It took two hours to scrape every last bit of him off the factory floor. I swear I even found a few small cogs and rivets among his guts, but who really knows. Stuff like that is all over the floor, after all. What the hell have I gotten myself into?

30 July 2034 That ticking noise…I can't stop hearing it. I can't tell if I've gone mad, but it feels like my muscles are moving on their own under my skin. Work was a lot more rigorous today, and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep this up. My stomach is in so much pain, like something is eating me on the inside. Hopefully it goes away soon. I can't afford to miss work.

06 August 2034 The mill replaced another machine today. I took a look at it and almost vomited. It was the same one I had seen in the basement! I had to stay calm. When I got back to work, I had the feeling like I was being watched. Those cursed gears were staring into my eyes. Those poor workers… I swore I could hear them ticking underneath the mechanical whine of the plant when I strained to hear. What am I supposed to do? I need to clear my head. Go to bed, sleep, and get this damn ticking noise out of my head!

13 August 2034 Another new machine! God only knows how many workers have gone missing at this point. I kept hearing noises today, like faint gasps for air and groans of agony. The foreman gave us a talk this morning, and said that we're doing well. Soon, we're gonna spread our factory to all of Europe. They have a contract with the Germans, and we're gonna be rich. Christ. How many factory workers… never mind. I need sleep. The pain in my stomach has gotten much worse, and I just need rest.

26 August 2034 My chest… this morning I looked down at my stomach in my room, and a little piece of metal was sticking out of it! The ticking's getting louder, and I don't know how to stop it. I really have gone mad, haven't I? Mom and Dad are looking at me like I'm mental. I just have to rest… I need sleep. It'll be better once I'm well rested.

29 August 2034 When I woke up today, I felt like I just swallowed shards of glass. It feels like someone is peeling the muscle from the bone in my arm with a dull knife. Slowly ripping, tearing, creeping further and further down my arm ever so slowly. I can barely write. My arm is stiff and my fingers don't move as well as they used to. What the hell is happening to me?

14 September 2034 It's not stopping. There's metal coming out of my leg, and my stomach pains are worse. This isn't a dream, is it? I'm more machine than man at this point. Either way, this may be my last entry. I've given my last hug to Mom and Dad, said one last goodbye to Dedushka, and set off for the plant to see if they have a cure for this metal plague. If I do not return, somebody give this journal to the news. The people deserve to know what is going on here. Christ give me luck, because I'm gonna need it.

This was the last entry in PACKAGE DXV-180294-217. Recovery of the package and the subsequent dissemination of its contents amongst appropriate Foundation staff led to a total shutdown of the Beloretsk Iron and Steel Works plant under the guise of a government health and safety inspection. The company was purchased by Foundation assets and a Foundation front company assumed the operation of day to day steel production after all anomalous machinery was replaced and the refinery was thoroughly sterilized.

The population of Beloretsk has been taken into Foundation custody under the guise of a health screening for an antibiotic resistant outbreak of tuberculosis. Any individuals found to be infected by SCP-217 are to be sent to Site-139 for containment. All individuals who were removed from the confiscated anomalous machinery are similarly to be sent to Site-139 for containment.

Due to the strain on Site-139's medical team, as well as the serious risk posed to all personnel on site, all infected persons are to be smelted down and added to the current containment crucible for SCP-217 infection.