Interviewed:C████ B█████, one of the civilians found outside SCP-1303.

Interviewer: Dr. █████, Foundation researcher.

Foreword: Purpose of interview was to acquire a first-hand account of SCP-1303 before its identification and containment by the Foundation, and for additional data regarding concurrent exposure to SCP-1303-1 and SCP-1303-2.

<Begin Log>

Dr. █████: Mr. B█████, please tell me again why you and your friends were in that cave?

Mr. B█████: Because, sir… it was supposed to be fun… we're cavers, all of us. Me, J███, F██████, K███, card-carrying Society members - we call…..called…our grotto the Mole Rats. There's nothing quite like going underground, somewhere humans haven't torn up and remodeled yet. J███ called everybody up last week, said he'd heard about a cave not far from here on the Society forums that we could go check out.

Dr. █████: And you decided to go spelunking there?

Mr. B█████: Caving, sir, if you don't mind. Spelunkers are the amateurs, the newbies. Cavers know what they're doing, bring the right stuff for the job.

Dr. █████: Caving, then.

Mr. B█████:…Yeah. We got all our stuff together - helmet lamps, backups, even had some of those chemical glow sticks. Padded pants, brought our wetsuits along just in case, ropes and food. The sleeping bags stayed in the car, with the wetsuits, in case we needed them. J███ drove us out there. It looked like a pretty ordinary cave to us, sir, set in the hillside. No one around for miles, no sign anyone had ever been there, not even hazard markings.

Dr. █████: Please continue, and describe what happened inside.

Mr. B█████:… Yes, sir. It was… just a cave, really. Some pretty rock formations, nothing extraordinary - no Mammoth, or Peppersauce, but a nice little place. K███ found a stream coming out of the wall that led down a tunnel, must have been a few hundred feet or so into another cavern, bigger one. Had a couple of ways to go, so we flipped a coin and went right. That third cave was the biggest yet, but halfway across… (subject stops speaking, begins to look ill)

Dr. █████: Continue, Mr. B█████.

Mr. B█████:… sir. We were right about in the middle, when I went deaf. At least, that's what I thought happened. J███ was talking to me, then stopped mid-sentence. I thought he'd seen something, so I stopped and looked at him - he was looking back at me, and neither of us could hear anything. His lips moved, but nothing came out, like one of those old-time movies. F██████ and K███ were the same way - none of us could hear anything, even each other - it was weird as [EXPLETIVE], pardon my French, sir. We were about to turn around and get out of there, when J███ started and spun around, looking at the wall like he'd seen a ghost or a bear or something. Whatever it was, though, it must have gotten behind me, because I saw… something.

Dr. █████: Can you describe it?

Mr. B█████: Never got a good look at it, sir. It was big, and moving, but only out of the corner of my eye, and there wasn't anything there when I turned to stare. I couldn't hear her, but F██████ looked like she was screaming, looking around all over the place on the edge of panic. K███ bolted back for the entrance, and it was like she was drunk - stumbling, staggering, slipping on bits of gravel. When I followed… you ever tried running when you can't hear your own footsteps, sir? It's freaky, and turns out it's really d—— hard. I was sober as a churchman and tripping over myself worse than she was, and that… whatever it was… was still there, always at the corner of my eye. We made it to the tunnel, and all of a sudden I could hear again, like nothing had ever been wrong - crunching of feet on rock, everyone gasping for breath, the works, and whatever that thing had been, it was gone. K███ had bruised her ankle a bit, but she could walk and we had a first aid kit in the car. We made it back to the second cavern, but then the lights went out.

Dr. █████: The lights went out? Please clarify.

Mr. B█████: Mean just what I said, sir. Like the first time, only this time I was blind. At first, I thought my headlamp had shorted out, but I couldn't see the others' helmets either, and the glass was still hot. Sure enough, the others were blinded too - we could talk now. Couldn't have been more than fifty feet to the other side, from what I remembered - dangerous to travel in the dark, but if we took it slow and careful… but then I heard it. Maybe it was that thing from before, but it was coming up the tunnel behind us. Noises, like claws on stone - not loud, but they were getting louder, and we couldn't see a thing. J███ started panting then - said he could hear someone with big, heavy boots coming up the tunnel… K███ just screamed 'SNAKE' and started scrambling across towards where she thought the other side of the cavern was. J███ was next, yelling and crawling after her in the dark, and I was right on his heels. That thing was in the cavern, I could hear it, and getting closer - all that was on my mind was getting away. F██████ was behind me, at first, but then I… we all heard her scream, and that…crunching. I knew it had gotten her, whatever it was, but - God, sir, all I could do was run for my life, I didn't even stop. Ran into the wall and started feeling my way along it - J███ made it out first and was shouting out where the exit was for us. I swear, that thing was right behind me when I ran into J███ and I could see again.

Dr. █████: And behind you?

Mr. B█████: Blackness. Just a solid sheet of black, like someone had hung a curtain from the roof of the tunnel. The helmet lights just stopped when they hit it, but I didn't stop to check it out - we ran like rabbits through that first cave and outside.

Dr. █████: Thank you, Mr. B█████. The medic outside would like to examine you again now.

<End Log>

Closing Statement: Mr. B█████, Mr. N████, and Ms. M████████ were given Class B amnestics and returned to their homes after a brief recovery period in a local hospital. Ms. L██████'s remains were recovered from Component 3 of SCP-1303 and autopsied; cause of death was determined to be cranial trauma caused when Ms. L██████ tripped and struck her head against a protruding stalagmite, despite her protective headgear. The body was returned to its family to maintain the cover story of a tragic cave-diving accident, and SCP-1303's current isolation and containment procedures were implemented. Investigation of the National Speleological Society's discussion forums revealed no trace of any post describing the location of SCP-1303.