Addendum # 2 - Interview 256-A

Foreword: This interview follows Incident 256-A, in which Agent Klein, Agent Meaulnes and SCP-001-FR no longer gave any sign of life, disaggregated by SCP-001-FR-Ω. The document alternates between two interviews; the first being conducted by Dr. Ohm, and the second reported by Agent Klein.

The exchange between Agent Klein and SCP-001-FR is entirely written from memory and in italics. The comments he made on this testimony while writing it during his interview with Dr. Ohm are in quotation marks or square brackets, in accordance with procedure.

[Beginning of the recording]

Dr. Ohm: Please introduce yourself for the purposes of this interview.

Agent Klein: I am Agent John Klein, a Level 4 Security Department member, specializing in the close protection of humanoid SCP and the escort of high-risk SCP transfer convoys.

Dr. Ohm: Thank you. You have been a victim of SCP-001-FR-Ω, and it would seem that, unlike all those who have experienced this state of… "non-existence", you kept memories of what happened there. Now please tell us what you remember, without omitting the slightest detail. Any information can be of critical importance to help us understand who SCP-001-FR really is.

Agent Klein: All right. I'll tell you everything.

Dr. Ohm: Perfect. Please begin your story. I may interject to ask you for more details, clarify some points or simply relaunch the discussion. It's your turn now.

Agent Klein: Well… I first remember being killed by Trist… Agent Meaulnes. I know he shot me after I tried to stop him. For a split second, I felt a pain in my face… Indescribable. Then I remember that a black veil covered my eyes. Blood, maybe? I don't know anymore. But I remember being cold. Very cold. An icy… cold. And then suddenly, I felt… No. I couldn't feel anything anymore, in fact. Not even my own body. I only felt an atmosphere of peace. And a presence.



Dr. Ohm: Did you see anything of interest?

Agent Klein: "Anything of interest"? Doctor, you don't understand. There was no moon or sun, and yet I was literally bathed in light. There was no top, bottom, back or underside, but for me, everything was… normal. Just the "sky". And around me, men and women. But they were… different from us. Their bodies floated in the air and glittered like stars. They all had their eyes closed, and… Actually, I think they were asleep. Deeply.

Dr. Ohm: Wait a minute. You were "in the sky"?

Agent Klein: It was a different world. But yes. I seem to remember a celestial expanse. I was really walking in a void. And also, this wave that was forming with every step I took. As if I were moving on the water. It was… extraordinary. As for this "sky", it's not possible to describe it, however… Wait a minute. Yes, it is. It's coming back to me. It was exactly a shade of…. the color of these breaches. You know, SCP-001-FR-Ω? That pierced the city and people as if they were on a painted canvas? Light in its raw state. In its purest form. It enveloped us all.

Dr. Ohm: "Raw"? You talk about it as if it were a primitive light. Interesting. Please continue. What else was there?

Agent Klein: SCP-001-FR. I saw it the way I see you right now. Right in front of me. She was perfectly awake. But she wasn't wearing any clothes. She was dressed in a multitude of golden silk threads. As if light and shadow… The space around her was woven to dress her. Well, that's the impression I had. She was pretty intimidating. Very beautiful, too. She looked so noble… I remember every word she said, every gesture she made…. As if she was still there, in front of me, while I'm talking to you. Do you have paper and a pen…? Thank you. I'm going to write to you about everything that happened. As long as I remember.

Beginning of the retranscription of the exchange between Agent Klein and SCP-001-FR

["First, I walked up to her. I was… Subjugated. Yeah. That's the word. Nothing to do with the sleeping kid I was used to. She was still the same age, but she looked much more mature. It was a woman facing me. Or an angel? I was completely lost. So I tried to make contact. Awkwardly, I'll give you that. If you had seen his reaction."]

Agent Klein: SCP… 001… FR…?

SCP-001-FR: Is that how you greet your brothers and sisters, Man? Curious custom. However, I agree to respect it. I am Wakanda, daughter of Tatanka Yotanka, of the Lakota people. And you, tell me, what's your name?

Agent Klein: I… That's not what I meant. My name is John. John Klein. "SCP-001-FR" is the name we gave you. My employers and I.

SCP-001-FR: By what right do you give me a name other than mine? I know that expression I've heard before in the mouths of men who look like you, but it will never be my name. I only have one: the one my father gave me. Also, allow yourself to talk to me as if I were your equal, you are no less human than me.

Agent Klein: I beg… I beg your pardon. I had no intention of offending you. Where are we? I don't remember anyth…

["That's when it all came back to me all of a sudden. Like a flashback. It was quite a shock. Reliving his death a second time, I don't wish it on anyone. Killed by the hand of a friend… It took me a long time to get back to talking. She remained silent. She looked at me with a look… Full of compassion? Almost maternal. I was sure she knew everything that had happened."]

Agent Klein: He killed me, didn't he? Tristan. I remember a pain in my face. It only lasted a moment, but I'll never forget it. As if my skull had burst. And I woke up, right there… And… who are all these people? Tell me the truth: Am I dead?

SCP-001-FR: Everyone you see around you is sleeping in a heavy sleep. Like you and I once did, they dream of a world on which they have built a life and hopes. And eventually, sooner or later, they wake up. Then they find the Father they have always sought. But your dream of yours wasn't supposed to end like this. I am the one who desired your awakening. I felt that tear in you when you decided to take the life of the last loved one you had left to protect me. But when your friend hit you with that blow that should have been fatal to you, and I realized that it was all my fault, I wished with all my might that you would not die, and… the impossible happened. Wakan Tanka granted me.

Agent Klein: Did you save me? How… Who is Wakan Tanka? I think I know that name. Is it the one you give to… God?

SCP-001-FR: Who is your "God"? Another one of your idols? I'm talking about Wakan Tanka. The creator mystery that breathes in each of us. Men, animals, trees, rocks, but also spirits, stars, and an infinite number of worlds. We called him "the Great Spirit", not because he is, but because he is everything, from the outset. Imagine and great and beautiful mystery. That is what he is to us. He loves all his creation, but there was a unique bond between him and my people.

Agent Klein: You talk about your people as if they were… As if they had disappeared.

SCP-001-FR: My people… lived in peace with nature. But more than that, in peace with themselves. We prayed for the souls of our fellow animals when we took their lives and, when we had to fight, we honored the remains of our enemies. Until one day… The white men appeared. They coveted the lands where we lived in, and our forefathers before us. The lands we've occupied for centuries. They tried to enslave my people by depriving them of their freedom with insidious promises and by dividing us by terror, seeking to generate in us the desire for a fratricidal struggle. Many of us resisted, rose up against them and despite an unequal fight, snatched victories from them. They paid for this act of courage with their lives. Like all those who refused to bend, they were murdered. My father was one of them too. And so…

["There, she made a stop. Like she's reliving it all… all of it. All her old life."]

SCP-001-FR: Then we heard it. Wakan Tanka. He was crying. His tears were not those of a man, but of a father horrified to see his children, the flesh of his flesh, being torn apart and killed, while he had made sure to give them plenty of everything they needed to flourish. Thunder, wind and rain spoke for him. The white men themselves became silent, and, turning their eyes to the clouds, listened.

["It was impressive. A real torrent of words. I've heard people talking about it. Big mouths, born manipulators, paragons of authority, but this one. Never before have I heard anyone express themselves so eloquently, and put so much conviction and emotion into their words. Between the two of us, I was the one who was most moved. But that was only the beginning."]

SCP-001-FR: Then everything stopped abruptly. The rumbling of the storm like the rumour of the forest. We innocently thought that everything was finally over, that his pain had stopped. Until this column of light rose from the earth and spread its ramifications in the sky. Man, if you asked me what is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, I would answer you that it is this light, whose sweetness you can feel here. It was noble, beautiful, pure… It was Wakan Tanka. But we did not contemplate it for long. Very quickly, it lost its radiance and warmth. It fainted and became the hideous wound you know. The wound that men inflicted on Wakan Tanka, and which scarred the very existence of the universe he had built. His dream of life and harmony was shattered.

Agent Klein: I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you. This father, whom I don't know, and whom you call Wakan-Tanka, must have felt a lot of pain. Did he at least survive his grief?

SCP-001-FR: My father was a shaman. A "medicine-man", as you call them. He knew that a ritual could save the creator from his creation. It was quite naturally on me, his own daughter, that his choice was made. This is how I join Wakan Tanka, offering my body as an envelope to his mind so that my sleep is also his. Thus, he could finally rest in peace and I would perpetuate his work, imbued with its essence, using my own conscience. But this ritual presented a major risk: if anyone managed to wake me up, his pain would come back to life and as a result, his wound would reopen and consume your world again. That's what happened, and that's what got your friend killed. The idea that everything could be just a dream of which you are just emanations without any existence has plunged him into a morbid terror. He tried to protect himself by refusing to accept reality, but… reality caught up with him.

Agent Klein: Where is he now? What did you do with him? Is he safe and sound?

SCP-001-FR: I'm sorry. When your friend tried to kill m… To kill my body, one of your kind came into the room where we were standing and fired in his direction with one of those deadly toys you love so much. When time resumes, the bullet will hit him and… kill him. I'm sorry. I never wanted that.

Agent Klein: No. No! NO! He wasn't always like that! He's not a bad person. Give him a second chance, save him like you did for me. I'm asking you on my knees. He is my childhood friend and has saved my life many times. He doesn't deserve that! You have to believe me…

SCP-001-FR: I believe you. Rise up, Man, and hear me. You don't know everything yet. Since I became one with Wakan Tanka, I have always been able to contemplate what was once my world without ever being able to intervene. I could only watch helplessly the death of those I love, and watch my people being decimated, without even having the right to die and be buried with him. All I had left to mourn them was my eyes, I who am so far from them now, up there in the sky. It was just as helpless that I saw my old body being torn from its native land to be touched and examined as an object by men who terrified me. But the worst was yet to come. Now that I could see everything, I dared to look at the whole world. And what did I see?

["I didn't know what to say. So I kept silent. What would you have done?"]

SCP-001-FR: My pain was nothing. Nothing compared to the feelings of thousands of people… Millions of other souls. I saw that your people were feeding on conflict and murder. That he gave life to take it back better. I heard in me the howls of whole nations, felt the suffering of men lying on the ground, in the mud, their faces mutilated by metal splinters and their flesh rotten by disease, one of them holding a letter against his silent heart to which he had clung even more than to his own life. Around him, frightened and dying silhouettes rushed to conquer only their own death, disappearing in the mist to soak the earth with their blood. And this is why? In the name of an ideology that made them promise prosperity and peace. Is this what war is all about? A senseless extermination orchestrated by men for their brothers? I looked away, but I saw the same thing everywhere around the Earth. And if violence was not apparent, men concealed it in their hearts, carried it within them like an open wound that corrupted them, without suspecting that it was imprinted in the flesh of their creator, in agony for thousands of years. I fell to my knees, and cried, because at that moment, the little girl in me who still believed in the beauty of her world died.

["I'm going to be honest with you. Morally speaking, she put me in a bad state. It's not that she made me feel guilty. No. It was that cry from the heart. If she wanted to make me cry, she couldn't have done better."]

SCP-001-FR: So I felt a presence at my side. She whispered something in my ear. It was him. The Great Spirit. I will never forget his words… I was at the end of my strength, and I got up. When I opened my eyes again, the world I saw was different from the one I had seen before.

["I don't know how to explain this. Her mood has softened. And little by little, she became… radiant. Yes. That's the word."]

SCP-001-FR: In the middle of the remains of a city, I saw a man whose only fault was to have his chest crowned with a star running his long thin fingers on the keys of a strange instrument, giving life to a melody that changed the heart of the one who should have been the architect of its end. I heard the candid laughter of a boy whose father still allowed him to be carefree by disguising death as innocent child's play. I knew a man who betrayed his own by hiding a hero's heart under the guise of an executioner, and took pity on a fallen people destined for a tragic fate. Finally, I witnessed enemies who waged a fierce war against each other, and who the next day, while the snow covered the earth and men, laid down their arms and fraternized, rediscovering their childhood soul and a lost friendship.

["My second dearest wish would be to never forget these words. I still see her pronouncing them, full of life and hope. But above all… her smile. Her smile, Doctor. Damn it. I would have given anything to keep her smiling like she did. To capture that glow on her face. She was radiant."]

SCP-001-FR: Wakan Tanka showed me the humanity in the inhuman. It is also this humanity that I recognized in you when you tried to protect me. This humanity that I have in turn vowed to preserve. This wish that was granted. I don't know exactly what happened, but as I saw the light abandon your body, something changed in me. I felt like… Capable. Lucid. Strong. For the first time, I realized that anything was possible. I understood that everything was a dream on which I could influence, that the fruit of imagination, the jewel of creation of what my people called "the Great Mystery", could be shaped by the sole force of my will.

Agent Klein: A… lucid dream? But then…

["And then I understood. The truth that no human being was ready to hear, I received it with full force. Right in the face."]

Agent Klein: I always hoped that our world was real. That's what gave me courage. That's what held me to life. To be sure that everything I have known, experienced, lived, am, and love is true: "What if everything was just a dream?". All humanity has already thought about it, but no one has ever accepted it. Maybe because deep down inside, this truth terrifies us. But I understand everything now. If SCPs exist, if we have never been able to understand them, if the supernatural is possible, it is because they are simply not real. Just like us. You went to the other side. From now on, our universe is your dream. What about us? We are literally nothing. Empty. Illusions trapped in a world that is itself a lie. Everything is fake. Everything. Everything! EVERYTHING!

SCP-001-FR: Man, do you believe in freedom and hope? Do you believe in life and death? Do you believe in love? Do you think they are real? Answer me!

Agent Klein: Yes.

SCP-001-FR: Yet can you touch them? Hug them, keep them close to you or lose them?

Agent Klein: I… No.

SCP-001-FR: And you dare to pretend that what doesn't exist is false? You have never held your happiness or destiny in your hands, and yet they are real. And your faith in their existence is unwavering. Invincible. As for me, I believe in my dream. And it doesn't matter if it doesn't believe in me.

Agent Klein: I apologize. I got carried away. But, I think you're wrong. Maybe you don't know it, but men have always believed in you, even if they never knew you.

SCP-001-FR: And so few believe in themselves. But… It's time for me to bring you to your world, John. This state of lucidity that I maintain and that allows me to exchange with you is ephemeral. It requires from me an effort of will that defies the imagination. Soon, I will become again the contemplating source of creation that I have always been. I know how you feel, and I've also made two decisions. The first is to vow that each of my words will remain engraved in you, and that all the men who listen to you will immediately have faith in your words. In this way, they too will know the truth. It is up to them to accept it… or to forget it. The second is a gift. There are people important to you who you've never had time to say goodbye to, have you? Turn around.

Interruption of the retranscription of the exchange between Agent Klein and SCP-001-FR

Dr. Ohm: Agent Klein? Why did you suddenly stop?

Agent Klein: I turned around. I looked in the direction she was pointing at me. There were two silhouettes. Who were getting closer to us. First of all, I didn't recognize them. And then…

Dr. Ohm : Continue. Who were these two people?

(Agent Klein does not respond and seems to be making a considerable effort to contain his emotion.)

Dr. Ohm: It was your late wife and daughter, Alyssa and Layla Klein. I'm right? I'm not asking you to answer me. You soldiers are too proud to burst into tears. But it's to your credit. Continue the transcript of the interview when you are ready.

Agent Klein: No, it's okay. And, yes. It was them. I had never seen them again since we were separated sixteen years ago, on November 19, 1944 in… Auschwitz.

Resumption of the retranscription of the exchange between Agent Klein and SCP-001-FR

["I couldn't believe it. It must have been a dream. It could only be a dream. They came running to me. So beautiful and happy…"]

SCP-001-FR: I have to go now. This moment belongs only to you. Goodbye, and be happy, John Klein. I hope you will understand why the dead must never be brought back to life.

Agent Klein: Wait! Don't leave. How can I thank you for… For everything… ?



SCP-001-FR: Delay my awakening. Or Wakan Tanka's work will be shattered, and this world and its wonders will be lost forever. The nightmare must still be experiencing the dream. And both will grow out of it.

Agent Klein: In the name of all humanity, I promise you that. We will do everything to make the dream last. We will honour the memory of the Great Spirit. For the first time in our history, he will be…. He can be proud of his creation.

SCP-001-FR: He never stopped.

End of the retranscription of the exchange between Agent Klein and SCP-001-FR

Agent Klein: She smiled. Closed her eyes. And became one with the light of the sky. But that didn't mean I was alone anymore. They were always there. A few moments later, I woke up in the room. Alive.

Dr. Ohm: Thank you very much. In my 34-year career, this is the most complete and detailed report I have ever heard. I believe that your testimony, Mr. Klein, which is exceptionally accurate and precise, cannot be the result of your imagination. Which implies, you will agree, that you have been affected by SCP-001-FR, who granted you this prodigious memory. You therefore understand that you will be, although temporarily, now considered as a member of the Class E personnel?

Agent Klein: Yes.

Dr. Ohm: Good. I now find myself forced to move on to the most unfortunate part of this interview because of the lack of competent subordinates. It is on behalf of the O5 Council that I am addressing you. John Klein, as you know, you seriously failed in your task by trying to convince Agent Meaulnes to surrender instead of killing him immediately, as your duty required, while SCP-001-FR was in danger of death. You knew, however, that personal feelings should not interfere with a mission under any circumstances. And especially not in a critical situation. As a result, you will never be reassigned to her protection again. In addition, you are also demoted from level four to level two, with no prospect of future promotion of your entire career. You escape dismissal only because of your past deeds of arms. However, at the end of this interview, you will be given an amnestic, which will erase all confidential data from your memory. Including the existence of SCP-001-FR. We also do this for your security.

Agent Klein: I understand. I take full responsibility for my actions.

Dr. Ohm: All right. How are you feeling?

Agent Klein: Well, I'm… divided. Glad to have been able to see them again one last time. Nostalgic for that time when we were together. Terrified, too. Doctor, what have I been through? Another dream in the dream? Were they flesh beings I hugged? Hallucinations? Angels? I can't believe SCP-001-FR is malicious. It was so beautiful. If only… If only I had never woken up.

Dr. Ohm: We are coming to the point that interests me. By giving you back your life, SCP-001-FR has proven that it is capable of a form… of omnipotence. Sometimes she is a victim of her dream, and suffers from it, powerless, sometimes she knows she is dreaming, and becomes lucid. She is then free to modify it according to her wishes. I would like to have your opinion on this. In his own words: "I hope you will understand why the dead must never be brought back to life". So why, in your opinion, if she is benevolent — which I believe she is — has she not resurrected your family and Agent Meaulnes?

Agent Klein: Perhaps death is too beautiful, too perfect, and our world so disappointing in comparison? Unworthy to welcome a second time those whose feet have walked on the ground of paradise? Doctor. I could answer you with bullshit that will make me look erudite, like "With great powers come great responsibilities", or "God works in mysterious ways", but honestly, I don't believe in them. The two people I love were victims of men. But up there, nothing can reach them anymore. And it's better that way.

Dr. Ohm: So you're convinced that SCP-001-FR is someone fundamentally good?

(Agent Klein suddenly gets up from his chair.)

Agent Klein: I beg your pardon? "A good being"? She stands alone, facing the whole of humanity who vomits her disbelief and hatred, and strives to take away the only life she has not yet taken from her: her own. "Good," you say? She bears on us, who see it as an aberration to be dissected or an enemy to be annihilated, a look without reproach, if not veiled by pity. "Good"? She rises in all humility, without weapons or prejudice, in the face of warlike immortals, hateful demigods, and spirits from beyond the grave who hold skeletal and cold fingers like death towards her, whispering promises of agony. What about her? She opens the golden cage at the bottom of which lies her mutilated heart and offers it to them with her eyes closed, whispering to them: "I love you". And you dare… You're telling me… "someone good"?

(Agent Klein keeps silent for a brief moment, then sits down.)

Agent Klein: You know, from me to you, no word can describe SCP-001-FR. I can tell you about infinity, of which I know nothing at all. I can tell you about death, which I hardly know better. But no adjective would be fair enough, noble enough, beautiful enough to describe the person I met.

(Dr. Ohm is silent for a moment.)

Dr. Ohm: Impressive. I would have liked to be in your position to know SCP-001-FR. One day, perhaps… And it is on this happier note that our meeting ends. One final question remains. An enigma, in my opinion. "The nightmare must still be experiencing the dream." How should we interpret this sentence? Like the upcoming announcement of Armageddon?

Agent Klein: Doctor. Do you want my opinion, no matter how pompous it may be?

Dr. Ohm: Go ahead. I'm all ears.

Agent Klein: With a guardian angel like SCP-001-FR, there is something that humanity will never lose.



Dr. Ohm: War?

Agent Klein: Hope.