SCPs used as plot devices:

SCP-1552, SCP-1418—both written by the author

SCPs unambiguously mentioned but which do not appear:

SCP-1425 (with permission)

SCPs enumerated but not elaborated on:

SCP-538, SCP-1729

SCPs alluded to:

'A statue which has an orientation that cannot be altered.'—The former SCP-518, now an Anomalous Item

'a truly talented magician-aerialist appeared to fall apart in mid-flight'—SCP-568 via Tara Unknown's 'A Circus for MC&D Ltd'

'the roadworks were back, this time right outside his apartment. The workmen seemed to eye him suspiciously as he drove past and wrote things down in little notebooks.'—the author's SCP-1251

'a mist spread out over the whole ballroom, arching over the guests'—could be SCP-1660, but primarily inspired by a sandboxed SCP I saw on the IRC which was a free-standing arch of mist which irritated your eyes until you closed them, whereupon you were able to view somewhere else entirely. I advised the author that it didn't work unless the secondary location was somewhere sensitive like a Foundation facility—guess I was wrong. I don't think it ever made it up onto the site.

'throwing sugar into people's eyes'—SCP-989

'doors that opened into other places'—SCP-384

'a liquid that turned anything into food'—SCP-1600

'a chessboard that was not a chessboard'—SCP-177, in a darker shade

'a shattered Exidy Sorceror home computer'—an iteration of SCP-079; the things are mass-produced, you know

'a wind-up monkey'—a distant relative of SCP-050, perhaps?

'"Sunny in Mogadishu," said a voice close behind him.'—some iteration of SCP-652, by way of Tanhony's 'Fun'

'The dragon's new, though … thoroughly disgusted…'—seriously, do I have to explain this one?

'a man in an orange jumpsuit painted a door clamped horizontally to a pair of workbenches'—SCP-1199

'Examining a horse, hanging in a set of medical stirrups from the ceiling, as though it were some kind of alien creature'—open to this being SCP-042, SCP-1194 or even SCP-1156; all can be interpreted as being in Britain (see my compilation of skips associated with Sector-25)

'Pouring a popular brand of detergent on clothes within a fumigation tank via a robotic arm'—SCP-325

Tales alluded to:

Tara Unknown's 'A Circus for MC&D Ltd'

Blegg's 'Fortunate Son'

Tanhony's 'Fun'

Clef's 'Game Day'

Bookwizard's 'MC&D Agent Orientation', quoted near-verbatim during the orientation sequence

Arlecchio's 'Taking Stock'

DrMann's 'Thank You For Your Time'

Other:

MC&D's SCP-generated business cards taken from pooryoric's idea in this thread, endorsed by Gears

Carter's appearance largely drawn from Arlecchio's 'Taking Stock'. One slight difference; Arlecchio's Carter has rheumy eyes and a full set of teeth, albeit yellowed and hideous. When I was writing 'Acquisitions', I opted for a toothless Carter with clear eyes to set him apart from the grinning Marshall and make him seem sharp in the small glimpse we get of him. As far as I know, Carter-as-anthropometrist is a new quirk I've added.

The character of the Bagman is drawn from Clef's 'Game Day', though his appearance and modus operandi is rather different.

Credits:

First off, the big disclaimer. This is unambiguously and intentionally crossover fiction between the SCP universe, Harry Bingham's 'The Money Makers' and Lev Grossman's 'Codex' (those popular and beloved universes…). 'Crossover' is here meant in a very literal sense—Edward Gradley is a portmanteau of the names of two protagonists from the books and the revelation of his mother's maiden name furnishes the point of convergence between the two worlds. The following characters and scenes are inspired by plot elements that appear in one or the other work:

- Bernard Gradley in his entirety is a five-finger discount from 'The Money Makers'. The nature of his will is changed significantly and the competition that forms the basis of Harry Bingham's work removed altogether (though a simplified allusion to the plot of 'The Money Makers' is made in a dream sequence).

- Edward's encounter with Raymond MacIntyre in the car park and subsequent unexpected salary boost happened with Zack Gradley and minor character Dixon Banderman in 'The Money Makers'.

- The Cholmondeley deal is heavily inspired by the Hatherleigh Pacific takeover that formed the climax of Zack Gradley's plot arc. Some of the language regarding the salary review was also inspired by Matthew Gradley's subplot.

- It is never explained why or how Edward Wozny in 'Codex' lost his ability to play chess. I rectify this in the course of 'Acquisitions'.

- The (fictitious) Gervase of Langford and his codex are very intentionally taken from 'Codex' as an exercise in metafiction, though the circumstances surrounding it are obviously different. The paraphrased plot of the Viage has not been changed, though details have been added and an ending (not provided in the original) supplied—in the original work there is no explanation at all for the Viage's unusually sophisticated writing style nor its disintegration into insanity; I hope the solution I have provided here is both elegant within the context of the SCP Foundation world and that the ending I have written for the Viage also makes a narratively satisfying conclusion to 'Codex' as well. It's notable that I actually make reference to two CK-class events in the course of this story. It's left as an exercise to the reader to determine which SCP (not listed above) is the crux of this subplot. It does exist, and is popular.

- Bashir 'Slasher' Khan owes a debt to 'Black Nick' Draper, on whom Matthew Gradley gambles and loses in 'The Money Makers'. Both, however, are obvious expies of the real-life figure of Fred 'The Shred' Goodwin, one of the major figures in the 2008 crash.

- To a lesser extent, Edward's grilling by MacIntyre over suspicious use (or lack thereof) of his research card and his bailout by mentor David are inspired by a similar scene in 'The Money Makers'.

- The Carmichael & Sons deal is a nod to George Gradley's plotline and the dirty tricks campaign by Gissings against Aspertons.

David Went's surname is drawn from a key family in 'Codex' but his character is more closely inspired by Tip Skikne from Chip Kidd's excellent 'The Learners' (Read it. Now.). Edward's treatment of Peter Davis owes a debt to Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead', which I also allowed to furnish some of Edward's Gradley's own beliefs (not shared, you may be relieved to learn, by this author); the way they are expounded is heavily influenced by (the criminally forgotten Victorian society novel parts of) Lewis Carroll's 'Sylvie and Bruno'. He is, in fact, a portmanteau of Peter Keating and Tim Davis, the two figures in the corresponding Rand subplot. You may also detect in Davis shades of Hal Gillingham from 'The Money-Makers'. Having made this decision, I subsequently repurposed a scene from the end of 'Atlas Shrugged' for Edward's brief encounter with Matt Berkeley, which may go some way to explaining why it suddenly veers off into a philosophical rant.

The name Maria Beaumont and the Sardines game have been appropriated from Alfred Bester's 'The Demolished Man'; it's the last remnant (other than a deliberate nod back to it the dream sequence) of a very early sketch of the piece where Lady Penelope and Maria Beaumont were the same figure; the head of the London MC&D chapterhouse. The Demolished Man's Maria Beaumont, the plastic surgery-addicted 'Gilt Corpse', is a rather different character, with my Maria playing Barbara D'Courtney to Edward's Ben Reich.

A scene in Clive Barker's 'Weaveworld' was the inspiration for SCP-1418 and subsequently Edward's encounter in the dark, which became the seed for this Tale. The 'Four Horsemen' started life as expies of the 'Lone Gunmen' from X-Files but have subsequently taken on rather crazed life of their very own.

The ACTLE/Wincanton nationalisation was pulled straight from the headlines with Repsol and YPF.

Author's notes:

My portrayal of Marshall, Carter & Dark (I originally planned to keep the 'canon' formatting 'Marshall, Carter, and Dark' but was advised on IRC that it's probably a typo that's become engrained in the mythos) is possibly a little off the beaten path, especially at the start. This is partially because I wanted to portray the GoI from the perspective of someone outside the Veil, rationalising what they are seeing; if you look closely, the mindwiped servants and dubious back rooms where members indulge unconventional desires are still there, but simply aren't the focus of this Tale.

I wanted to attempt to harmonise different interpretations of MC&D I've seen on the site. Are they an exclusive auction house, a politically-influential secret society, entrepreneurs seeking world domination with a private army, a brothel, a shadow government? Personally, I dislike the notion that MC&D are a seedy sex club—whilst they certainly wouldn't balk at providing such services in 'Acquisitions', and in fact use them to increase their control over their members, they also have to be an organisation that the rich and powerful, both men and women, aren't ashamed to be part of. The idea of MC&D as a gentleman's club seems to tick all the boxes.

I wasn't sure about the idea that MC&D operate off the radar with clubhouses hidden using skips; when I started I had the idea that MC&D were going to be almost out in the open—they wouldn't have their name on the sign, but their buildings would be in plain sight and you could see the right and powerful going in and out; they would be protected by the status of their members and a certain measure of mutual respect by the Foundation. Blegg's 'Fortunate Son' changed my mind and I eventually went Harry Potter on their security arrangements for this Tale.

As to the military capabilities of MC&D, existing Tales as one might expect take different views. The MC&D in 'Taking Stock' who intimidate with armed thugs seem a world away from the world-menacing MC&D who unleash lethal and fully controlled skips in 'Fun'. Hopefully the middle ground I've taken here is appropriate.

As the story goes on, I allow Marshall to act out more and more until by the end he's hopefully back to his typical characterisation, reflecting the slow perspective shift as Edward moves through the Veil. “The body, Mr Carter!”, which I fully intend to use as the title of a shorter work as soon as I can find a good picture for that teapot, is the line that separates 'manipulative information dealer Marshall' and 'cartoon villain Marshall'. Before people leap down my throat I should point out that I am not actually establishing Marshall's first name as 'Jeremy'—if you notice, that's an assumption Edward makes based on the pseudonym Marshall uses to introduce himself (cf. DrMann's 'Thank You For Your Time').

In my headcanon, all three founding partners are the original ones. Dark is long dead, as per pooryoric's 'From The Desk of B. Dark', which doesn't stop him from showing up from time to time as well as running the club from beyond the grave, Hari Seldon-style (see my short 'Dark', written for Gears' birthday challenge, for just how far I envisage his control freakery extending). Marshall has some kind of skip that is keeping him young-ish, although as the one past appearance of Marshall in 'Acquisitions' is only thirteen years ago, this isn't really a necessity and isn't mentioned outright. Carter has to make do with sucking on the juices of the occasional young man (and that sounded wrong), which keeps him circling the drain; he refuses to die, if only because he actually can't stand Marshall and doesn't want the club in his sole hands.

I am aware that as a Tale with no fights, no explosions, and only one ambiguous death possibly due to a skip 'Acquisitions' is far from high-octane; with 5,600 words before the first element from the SCP universe is introduced it might even qualify as a medical anaesthetic. Hopefully enough people appreciate what I've tried to do with 'Acquisitions'—as someone (if it was you, please let me know so I can replace this damn placeholder!) bemoaned on IRC: 'No-one writes normal shit'. Well, I didn't quite succeed in writing a completely mundane Tale set in the SCP universe, but I think this may well be as close as it's possible to get while maintaining interest at this length. And hopefully it's not shit. We'll see.