Addendum 4994-X: A transcript of the conversation between O5-█ and HC-██ (The ARCRA analog to an O5 position, or, High Commander) regarding the perceived inferiority of the Foundation relative to SCP-4994-3.

The following conversation takes place on the ride back to SCP-4994 from the main operations center of the ARCRA High Command, between O5-█ and HC-██. O5-█ managed to record it without raising the attention of the host, or the driver.

<Begin Log>

HC-██: Looks like we’re getting close to the lake. I’m sorry to see you leave. It’s been an absolute pleasure hosting you. Do come back sometime soon, alright?

O5-█: Yes, of course. And you should come visit us! I’m sure ARCRA could learn something from the Foundation. It’d be quite fun to have a visitor from the Union State.

HC-██: Hmm, yes, I’ll be sure to look into that possibility.

<Silence for approximately 15 seconds>

O5-█: I have to ask-

HC-██: Hm?

O5-█: It’s not exactly a secret that ARCRA sees us as inferior. And I understand why. I really do. Our containment efficiency is admittedly… less than optimal, and we do spend significant resources on concealment, which is something you guys don’t have to really worry about-

HC-██: Right.

O5-█: But I have to ask. Why hide so much of the technology from us? You’re more than happy to advise us in containment strategy and organizational efficiency, but when it comes to tech, there’s no willingness there at all. Why?

<HC-██ hesitates for a few seconds before replying>

HC-██: Look, you’re a nice person, with nice ideals. You deserve to know the truth. You really want to know why we don’t share that with you?

O5-█: Well, yes.

HC-██: It’s because your civilization is… unpredictable. We want to help, we really do, but we don’t know if you’ll do something stupid with the technology we give. I mean, Christ, your civilization, on multiple occasions, nearly wiped itself out over disagreements on economic systems.

O5-█: (Interrupting) That’s a bit reductionist-

HC-██: I’m not finished. That was just with standard, regular technology. Nothing anomalous about splitting an atom. But I’ve seen the weapons some of those competing groups of yours have developed. And honestly, they worry me. Weapons that make your entire planet’s nuclear arsenal seem like a flaccid spitball by comparison. Those? In the hands of your petty, tribalist nations? I can’t let that happen to us. I can’t let us become you.

O5-█: If you’re so insistent on decoupling our relations, why not just close the gateway? Be done with it? Hell, you could dry the lake and place a gigantic slab of concrete on it, and you wouldn’t have to worry about us ever again.

HC-██: Because it’s a moral obligation. Believe me, some of my associates want nothing to do with the Foundation. But believe it or not, I, and many of my colleagues, are your advocates. We want to help you. Make you better.

O5-█: I appreciate all the help you have given us, I really do. But we can do that just fine on our own.

HC-██: Can you really though? I know of your containment breaches. How many times you’ve had to reset your entire history. I won’t pretend we haven’t had to either, but I guarantee you, our count? It’s nowhere nearly as close as the Foundation’s.

O5-█: At least we protect the people of our world. We-

HC-██: (Interrupting) Yes, I know. You “die in the dark so that they can live in the light”. I’ve heard that phrase a lot ever since your people started coming here.

O5-█: At least we give our fellow man a chance to feel safe. We let them believe that reality makes sense and is comfortable. It keeps them happy. It keeps things normal.

HC-██: Normal? (Laughs) My friend, this is normal. Anomalous entities, locations, ideas… that is true reality. What you do is tantamount- no, it is lying. You lie to your people, like how a parent tells their child about Santa Claus to get them to behave better during the year. Face it. Let the people of your world face it.

O5-█: We can’t. Maybe there’s some innate psychological difference between the people of our worlds, but something tells me that revealing the thousands and thousands of eldritch entities that exist to everyone will lead to panic.

HC-██: It’s like a bandage. Rip it off. Get it over with. You’d be surprised how people react.

O5-█: It’s not that simple.

HC-██: It doesn’t have to be. I have faith in your Foundation.

<HC-██ pauses for a few moments>

HC-██: You could do so many things! You have resources outclassing every nation in your planet’s history. Use them. Establish control. Be the guiding hand of your civilization’s future. If you do that, we will be more than happy to cooperate and share our technology with you.

O5-█: You want us to… take control? Rule the world?

HC-██: If that’s what it takes, then yes.

O5-█: See, that’s where we’re better than you.

<At that moment, the vehicle stops to transfer O5-█ to the submersible for transport through SCP-4994. O5-█ steps out and turns back to HC-██>

O5-█: The Foundation doesn’t rule the world. The Foundation serves the world.

<End log>