Exploration Log Part 3 - SCP-4382

Date: 2019/05/18 | 5:56PM

Location: Hulwick.

MTF: Xi-5 "Newtons Bullies"

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Site, this is Xi-5 reporting in. Please tell me this is the first time this hour.

Site-9: We're receiving you Captain. Don’t worry, you aren’t looping.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Thank God. We’re approaching Point Alpha. It's getting harder to focus, and the loops are all short here.

Site-9: Copy, and please elaborate.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Yeah, Command? I’ve got eyes on one right now. Elderly woman; I can see her through the garden window. She's making soup I think. She’s just chopping the same carrot, over and over. Little, tight rows. Perfect straight cuts. The same carrot, over and over. Little tight rows. Perfect straight cuts. The same carrot, over and-

Xi-5-1|Adamson: 5-3, focus up! Hey! Listen to me.

Xi-5-3|Banks: -ittle rows. Perfect straight cuts. The same ca-

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Not again, damn it- Chile! Come on Banks, think! After this, you’re going on vacation, remember? Chile, the salt flats? The desert after the rain?



Xi-5-3|Banks: -ver and over… same… salt flats. The desert after the rain, like one big mirror so I'm standing in the stars… Captain?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: There you go. Good. Command, be advised. 5-3 is returning to base.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Salt… what? Hey, no!

A muffled clattering sound is heard as Xi-5-3 grabs Xi-5-1 by the shoulders and shakes them.



Xi-5-3|Banks: Cap, you cannot be here alone! Command, this is 5-3. I’m fine. Repeat, I’m fine, and I’m repeating because I choose to. Disregard that last advisory.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Damnit Banks- Command! This is Captain Adamson, and I am ordering 5-3 to return to base.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Captain, what’s going to happen if you’re the one who goes loopy? Who’s going to snap you out of it?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Damnit Banks… Damnit Banks-

Xi-5-3|Banks: Wes! Sna-

Xi-5-1|Adamson: I'm not looping, you idiot! I’m just pissed off at you! Jesus, you never listen to me! This is why we didn't-

Radio silence for 4 seconds.

Site-9: Uh, Xi-5, this is command. We’re making the call. You move forward. 5-3 is right, we need you in pairs.

Xi-5-1 exhales hard.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Roger.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Roger.

The sound of Xi-5-1 and Xi-5-3 walking through dry leaves is heard for 3 minutes.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Command, I think we’re here. The Kant Counter is in the red… hell, I think it’s gone past the red. It looks like an old farm house, except there’s no farm out here. It’s just an empty lot, and a big house. Address is 13 Chadwick.

Site-9: Checking the directory. Property belongs to… Dennis and Margret McArthur. Nothing on file for either of them. Is the source inside the house?

Sounds of walking is briefly heard.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Nnnnnegative command; Kant has a slight drop off at the house, actually. I’m looking into one of the windows a-… oh, Christ.

Site-9: 5-3?

Xi-5-3|Banks: Eugh. Uh, Command, we’ve got two corpses here. They’re just laid out on the living room. Lots of stab wounds. They-… oh god, Command, scratch that. One of them is still alive. Or… fuck, maybe he just can’t die? The man is trying to pull himself up towards a wall-mounted rotary phone. He keeps slipping back down the bloody wall, over and-… eugh.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Command, the source seems to be coming from the back yard- back field, I mean. We’re proceeding there now.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Uh, Captain, shouldn't we-?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Too risky, and anything we'd do would kill him anyway.

Xi-5-3|Banks: That might be for the best.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Point Alpha is our priority, Anna. Come on.

Xi-5-1 is heard walking. After a two second delay, Xi-5-3 moves as well.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: We’ve got a secondary structure here. Large, sheet metal; it's partially collapsed and covered in rust. It looks like a big garage of some kind.

Xi-5-3|Banks: It's a tractor garage. We had 'em back home. See the big ass tire treads worn into the dirt?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Huh. So the source is… a tractor?

Xi-5-3|Banks: Only one way to find out. Command, I’m going to open ‘er up.

Site-9: Confirmed. Be careful 5-3.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Roger.

The sound of rusted metal grinding on an axle is heard.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Whoa!

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Holy fucking shit.

Site-9: Squad, report. What is it? What’s inside the garage?

Xi-5-3|Banks: It’s, uh… a machine, Command. I think. It’s like one of those spider web colonies that cover whole trees, just with wires and pipes and stuff. It's all scraps and pieces wrapped around this big metal stalk… you know those globes they have at the Science Museum? Van-De-Whatevers; the ones that make your hair stand on end. Its like one of those, except it has a glass sphere at the center with five metal balls inside. They’re all rolling around each other, over and over. Damn this is huge, Command. It's nearly touching the ceiling!

Site-9: Confirmed. Do you see a power supply? Do the cables run anywhere?

Xi-5-3|Banks: Yeah, everywhere. Hold on.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Command, I’ve got something.

Site-9: A power supply?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Negative. There’s a small desk tucked into the corner. I see some diagrams, a few equations- it’s all scribes but- huh. Command? I think this might be a journal. It’s signed "Seth McArthur”.

Site-9: Checking… confirmed, the home owners did have a son named Seth.

Xi-5-3|Banks: That might explain who this is! I followed the cables around the back of the garage. There's a kid here, standing in front of a big… transformer, maybe? He doesn't look much older than 16. He keeps pressing buttons. Over and over. Red, orange, white. Over and over. Red, orange, white. Over a- gah! Damn it. The kid looks, I don’t know, panicked? He’s gritting his teeth, and his foreheads all sweaty… I can't be sure, but I think maybe he’s trying to shut it down.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Or he might just be keeping it running, Command.

Site-9: What do you mean, 5-1?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: I’ve been skimming the journal, and it’s pretty clear the kid made this mess. “January 5th, 2008. Nobody gets it. The world is wrong. Why can’t they see. Why doesn’t anyone listen to me. I’m the smartest kid in school. I skipped four grades. Even the teachers are stupid compared to me-“ Wow, seems like a nice kid.

Site-9: 5-1, does it say anything about the device?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Hold on, there’s a lot here. It’s mostly nonsense. “I’ve read all the books. Every physics textbook in the school library, and it’s all wrong. I know it. It’s like we’ve skipped a number . All our predictions and theories are based on a faulty premise. I just know it. I don’t know how, but when I look at these equations, I just know they’re wrong. They’re all wrong. It’s all wrong.” Jesus kid, repeat yourself much? … aha! Here. “I can build it. It's so simple, that's how I'll show them all! Perpetual motion is possible, you just need the right machine. They just don’t get it; it's not about creating motion, it about creating a place where you change the constant of the universe.” Wait, what?

Xi-5-3|Banks: Command, hang on. I think I might have something here. The kid keeps hitting the same three buttons, but for a split second before he goes back to ‘Red’, his finger moves just a fraction closer to this little switch here. I think that might be the sequence!

Site-9: Negative 5-3, do not attempt to operate the device.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: “October 15th, 2010” Oh shit, Command, I think this is it! “I worked through the night. It’s nearly finished. I had to take apart nearly everything in the house. Dad was furious. He and mom confronted me this morning. They said I’ve been acting ‘queer’. They told me I need to stop skipping school. Dad knocked the microwave out of my hands. It was that moment I realized he'd never understand. Some minds are too small. Thankfully, I had my multi-tool with me. One more problem solved.” Jesus Christ.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Red, orange, white, to the switch. Red, orange, white, to the switch. Red, orange, white, to the switch. Re- ghuh! Command! I really think this is the sequence! I can shut this thing down!

Site-9: Negative 5-3. You are not to touch anything. Do you copy? 5-3, do you copy?

Xi-5-1|Adamson: “October 15th, 2010, Part 2. It’s ready. The phone won't stop ringing in the house. I think my parents were supposed to help set up for that stupid festival. People must be wondering where they are. I need to hurry. None of it will matter soon. No one will care about two dead hicks when I've re-defined science. I've run through the first cycle, and it looks like the loop is stable. No energy in, no energy out, no energy lost. It's perfect. The diodes are rolling. Over and over. Over and Over. Over and over."

Site-9: 5-1? Damn it. Captain Adamson, do you copy? We’re scrubbing the mission. Return to the evac point now.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: Command, it’s fine. I’m just reading what he wrote. He just kept writing those words. “Over and over”. “Over and over. “Over and over.”

Xi-5-3|Banks: Red, orange, white, switch. Red, orange, white, switch. Red, orange, white, switch.

Site-9: Squad, get out of there! 5-1, 5-3, wake up!

Xi-5-1|Adamson: “Over and over”. “Over and over. “Over and over.”

Xi-5-3|Banks: Red, orange, white, switch. Red, orange, white, switch. Red, orange, white- God, fuck it!

All audio is suddenly overtaken by loud, disjointed static. Outpost 4382 reports decreased visual distortions around the town perimeter. Task force audio levels out, but a high-pitch whine is now heard in the background, steadily growing louder.

Xi-5-1|Adamson: “Over and over”. “Over and Over" "Something is wrong. The field is expanding. How can it be expanding?"

Xi-5-3|Banks: Red, orange… hey! Command, this is 5-3! It looks like- yep, the lights are starting to flicker off. I think it’s shutting down! Even the kid seems to be waking up. Hah! We did it! Hey, kid, how in the hell-

Seth McArthur: Wait! Wait oh fuck wait I need to-

Xi-5-3|Banks: Whoa- whoa kid! Back away from the panel!

The high-pitched noise grows extremely loud. The sound of Xi-5-3 chambering a round in her gun is heard.

Xi-5-3|Banks: Back away right now. Do not turn that fucking machine back on.

Seth McArthur: I’m not! You don't understand! I have to- oh, god, fuck, fuck!

The whine becomes overpowering. Garbled, panicked voices are barely audible.

Site-9: Squad? 5-1, do you copy? Adamson, Banks, do you copy!?

The noise suddenly stops. Full radio silence for 6 seconds.

Seth McArthur: Whew, okay… I think that got it. I just needed to re-balance the-… I just-… oh… ohhhh.

Xi-5-3|Banks: What? What is it?

Seth McArthur: I… just figured out where all the energy goes.



A large explosion is heard. The signal cuts out.