Interview Log 1914-1

Interviewed: SCP-1914

Interviewer: Dr. S. Samesh

<Begin Log>

Dr. Samesh: Please state your name.

SCP-1914: Corporal George [REDACTED], 29th Division.

Dr. Samesh: You're in the army, then?

SCP-1914: Volunteered for the war, sir.

Dr. Samesh: Which war?

SCP-1914: The Great War, of course. The war to end all wars.

Dr. Samesh: How old were you when you signed up?

SCP-1914: Sixteen. I told the recruiter I was twenty-one. My folks were livid, but all my friends were joining up too and I thought I ought to do something.

Dr. Samesh: How did you end up the way you are now?

SCP-1914: We were advancing on an enemy position in the Somme and a German shell landed right in front of us. A few feet closer and I'd have been torn to pieces. As it was it nearly took my leg off and I couldn't get back up. It wasn't until nightfall they found me and took me to the medical tent.

Dr. Samesh: Did this happen to you there?

SCP-1914: No. The doctors said there wasn't anything they could do except give me some morphine to make me more comfortable. A priest came by and gave me the Last Rites and all.

Dr. Samesh: When did it happen?

SCP-1914: Some men showed up that day. Americans, in suits. I saw them talking to the doctors for awhile and then one of them pointed at me. They put me on a stretcher and loaded me in a lorry, and told me I was a lucky man.

Dr. Samesh: Who were they?

SCP-1914: They said they were part of some American company that was working with the government on a secret project.

Dr. Samesh: What sort of project?

SCP-1914: To take soldiers who couldn't fight anymore and put them back in the battle. They said they were going to watch me die. And then they were going to bring me back to life.

Dr. Samesh: Is that what happened?

SCP-1914: I'm not sure. I don't remember dying. I remember falling asleep. Then when I woke up… they'd already started working on me.

Dr. Samesh: Did they do all this at once?

SCP-1914: No. It was bit by bit over a few months. They put the engine and the battery in first, called it life support. They kept putting me under and every time I'd wake up something would be different. They started cutting things out because they were infected and putting in more machines to take their place.

Dr. Samesh: Is that why so much of your skin was replaced?

SCP-1914: Yes. I think it was gangrene. It hurt so much back then. It doesn't hurt anymore, at least.

Dr. Samesh: Was it easier to move at any point than it is now?

SCP-1914: Not really. The new legs and arms never really worked to begin with. They tried to teach me how to march and shoot again, but I couldn't even hold a gun. I don't think they knew what they were doing, really. One of the doctors said I was a prototype - they were testing things on me to see what would work.

Dr. Samesh: Were there others?

SCP-1914: I saw lots more now and then. Hundreds, I think. Mostly they had it worse.

Dr. Samesh: How so?

SCP-1914: Most of them didn't last long. The doctor said I was the first one they'd managed to get a working battery on so they could shut the engine off now and then. The other ones, it had to be running all the time or they'd die for good. Some of them looked like there was a lot less left of them than there was of me. I saw a man getting worked on who looked like he was just a head and a bit of chest.

Dr. Samesh: What happened when they were finished working on you?

SCP-1914: They told me one day the government cut funding for the project and they were abandoning the research. They said they hadn't been able to reduce the fuel demands so that the finished product wouldn't run our supply lines dry. Said they couldn't get the armoring heavy enough to withstand gunfire and artillery without making them immobile. Said we couldn't even aim or shoot. Said they wanted unstoppable warriors who felt no pain, and all they had were a bunch of cripples. They were shutting down the other prototypes and asked me if I wanted them to shut me off too.

Dr. Samesh: What did you say?

SCP-1914: I begged them not to.

Dr. Samesh: Why not?

SCP-1914: Because I was scared. I don't want to die.

Dr. Samesh: What happened after that?

SCP-1914: They started keeping me in a glass box in a big room. Couldn't see what was around me, but I think it was a lobby or something. People would walk by all the time when I was awake. Sometimes they'd stare at me, sometimes they'd just ignore me and keep walking. They shut me down every now and then to fix me up and then it was back in the box I went.

Dr. Samesh: Did you ever ask to be let out?

SCP-1914: Yes. They said they had to hold onto me because I'd outlasted the other prototypes. They wanted to see how long I'd keep running for.

Dr. Samesh: How long did that continue?

SCP-1914: Until you lot showed up and brought me here. Not sure how long that was.

Dr. Samesh: Very well. That's all the questions I have for today.

SCP-1914: Wait. Could you do something for me?

Dr. Samesh: What's that?

SCP-1914: Tell my mum and dad I'm alright? Mr. and Mrs. John [REDACTED], No. ██ [REDACTED] Street, Birmingham. They must think I'm dead by now.

Dr. Samesh: We'll look into it.

SCP-1914: And one more thing.

Dr. Samesh: Yes?

SCP-1914: How's the war going? Have we won yet?

<End Log>