Person of Interest File #432

Legal Name: Norman Taylor

Aliases used: "President Taylor"

Associated Groups of Interest: Polynesian Sarkic

Associated Persons of Interest: PoI-182 ("William Walker"), PoI-433 ("Ohashi Hachigoro"), PoI-431 ("John Taylor")

Reason for monitoring: PoI having violated (A) American neutrality acts and (B) having set up an illegal state called "The Adytite Republic of Polynesia" along with various other filibusters and mercenaries.

Current Course of Action: N/A

Former Course of Action: Neutralize PoI before PoI can attempt to either disrupt colonial interests in Polynesia or, under more severe circumstances, attempt to take over vast quantities of land.

Priority: High N/A

Status: "President" of an illegal republic, henceforth referred to as SCP-4036. Dead.

Background Information: Prior to PoI's relationship with SCP-4036 and other filibusters, PoI developed an impactful (if short) relationship with PoI-182 ("William Walker") in 1853, after PoI-182 was attempting to recruit mercenaries to create the independent federal republic, Republic of Sonora (October 1853 — May 1854) and the Republic of Lower California (October 1853 — January 1854) as slave colonies in the region. However, by 1854 the relationship had declined between PoI-432 and PoI-182, eventually leading in PoI-432 to split from PoI-182.

By 1855, PoI had heard various stories about a "virgin island" in the southern area of Polynesia, filled with resources such as sugar cane, tobacco, and gold. Notably, this region purportedly contained a population that had very little, if any, contact with European explorers and was — in the eyes of most American filibusters at the time — servile in nature.

In 1856, PoI wrote to his brother, PoI-431 ("John Taylor"), who operated a private shipbuilding and trading service at the time, asking for a variety of ships for the journey. PoI-431 delivered the ships at a reduced charge for PoI-432, but only under the condition that he never contact him again.

By 1857, PoI hired around 300 mercenaries and filibusters to come with him in the total of 10 ships, outfitted with cannons and one year's worth of food for the entire crew. PoI then left for the island. It should be noted that PoI had no direct evidence of SCP-4036's existence, as it only existed in rumor in the California and Nevada territories.

The following documents have been ordered sequentially in the order that they were written:

….Walker ruined Sonora and Baja, and is currently ruining Nicaragua. He is an amoral slaver, who believes himself better than all others…. I tried to force him in the right direction, but he would not listen to reason. This time, things will be sufficiently different. We have weaponry; we are away from normal civilization, and away from the Americas. Of course, other colonial powers are nearby, but as long as we do not anger them or gain their attention, all things will turn out well…. Walker was crude in his Presidential style, only ever focusing on slavery, that horrific, barbaric institution. It was a fantasy, as if they would be set atop the aristocracy, instead of a rich Tennessean. It is quite crude and amoral venture, in my view.

A yellow man, an anthropologist who has accompanied me on my voyage for the sake of easy communication with these tribesmen, came to me in private confidence, to warn me about his perceived fears over this project of mine….I told him that such fears were not justified. We were both Republicans; we both believed slavery was immoral. Did he not agree that it was the job of more civilized people — like us and the Japanese — to bring civilization to these poor, barbaric people? To provide them the tools and the resources to fight back against tyranny? Exploitation of the weak and powerless is inherent to the human condition — Cain slew Abel just for being more pleasing in the Eyes of Our Lord and Savior. 4 people on our planet and we have our first murder, the first time blood was spilled upon the ground in the pursuit of petty revenge. It is our job to give these peoples some sort of equal standing, to have people defend them against exploitation. The yellow man agreed and went back to work.

We reached The Island. I saw a woman in the treeline matching the descriptions of the natives. She wore flesh-like things on her body, covering her below the waist. I'd almost say she was the living image of beauty herself, if the abhorrent symbols didn't dot her face and body. Children destroying their bodies for the sake of barbaric culture….We made camp here, and plan on keeping camp here for as long as necessary. I believe these natives would make fine workers, if we gain the friendship of their cultural institutions. Loyalty to these institutions. brings sacrifice for the greater good. Great civilizations are built on the back of good workers.

To the east of this campsite, I found a small patch of dirt with queer protrusions jutting from it. It was hairy, but not like plant fuzz, almost animal-like in its physicality. I felt an instinctual urge to pull on it, to see what there was. I ordered the men to help me when I could not get it out myself, and together we managed to rip the 'plant' out of the ground. The protrusion was not a plant but a tail, the tail of a large swine. We had ripped its tail off. How such a swine came into existence on this geographically isolated island, I am unsure. As we got up, we stared at the creature. It squealed in pain trying to get itself up and walk, but it fell back on its side, and continued to bleed and whimper. As it laid dying, I drew my pistol and killed the poor thing. I looked over the corpse after killing it. It seemed fully grown.

A scout team has returned to our camp, 4 men dead and 3 more injured. They testified that, while searching for natives, a large, 15-foot tall beast has come from the greenery on the beachside of the island. Bullets did nothing against the bone shields. I ordered my ships to scout the beachside, searching for the beast. Considering the circumstances, I believed it prudent.

"The beast attacked our camp, slaughtering 21 of our men. It towered at least 19 feet, with the majority of its face surrounded by yellowy bone. This creature was foreign to me. It had the torso of a mammoth, the head of a horse, and the claws of bear. Its torso was covered in thick white bone, and its claws being made entirely of flesh. They morphed and changed, like liquid. Liquid metal. It tore through men, slashing them apart like factory equipment, with giant long tendrils popping out of nowhere, only to be reabsorbed back into its body. Its flesh almost looked like a spider's web, interconnecting into itself, layering on top of one another. But it almost seemed to be independent of the beast, trying to force itself into a thousand different directions, but being stamped down by the superior force. Some of our men gots stuck inside. Just touching it is enough to get stuck. An arm becomes your entire body. I can still hear the screams as those men were consumed inside the mass of flesh, as muffled as they were. I felt its eyes bore into me as our cannons tore through its flesh, leaving large holes in its body. It still twitches, sometimes. I need to lay down or else I'll rip this page out.

I plan on going to the middle of the island, and seeing if there are any natives there. I will take exactly 100 armed men there and see if we can come to some sort of agreement with the natives. I wish to make good on my promise to the anthropologist and avoid hurting as many as possible.

I killed a chieftain today. Or, what I presume was a chieftain. He ordered us to lay down our weapons, at least from what the anthropologist told us. I shoot him in the head and he falls to the ground without a single yelp or whimper of pain. Some ran in fear, others too fearful to run, of which we captured and took back to camp. The anthropologist and I hate seeing the poor creatures in pain, but this is their fate for the time being.



We talked to one of them, a boy no older than ten. He thanked us for killing the chieftain, for his rule was immoral and cruel. I received similar testimonies from the others of this chieftain's cruelty. We told him we were going to help them and make their lives better. I then asked him about the beast, and the boy sighed. He told us that it was made by the village.



The chieftain, in response to seeing that outsiders appeared on the island, ordered the entire tribe to group in the main village and help construct a guardian. This process took the majority of their energy, but not three days later, the chieftain ordered the young village men to come with him and to fight. The beast had been killed. He said the chieftain said we were going to kill the men and violate the women. The anthropologist took me aside. He said that these villagers were an anomaly. I concurred, as it was not normal for people to craft flesh, but he said even aside from that, this shouldn't be possible. When I asked why, he responded that this language was a combination of European and Polynesian languages. Along with that, these villagers didn't look like Polynesians, as their skin was light toned. Unless they traveled across the world to this island.

Some of the men brought us to the village. It couldn't have been more than 300 men and women. Their houses weren't made of wood or stone, but masses of flesh which bulged and moaned. These were made from the bodies of the dead, as a way to make sure their deaths were not worthless. They wore wet flesh on themselves, which, to me, seemed more disgusting than the houses themselves. Most of the village was terrified of the chieftain, not even attempting to go back for the body, fearful that it wouldn't be dead. Some were terrified of the new arrivals, while others asked The Elder, who graciously suggested they wait before jumping to conclusions about their new guests. The majority followed The Elders, the sacred group who had, until very recently, lead their tribe.



Homelessness was nonexistent. They seemed to have no outsiders or undesirables, whether it be in a caste system such as India, or economic status, such as in Europe and the rest of the Americas. Men and women are not separated based on sex, but based on their nature. Men and women hunt, men and women search for food. They mostly subsist on meat, but fruits exist on this island as well. I saw families rush from their houses to some of the men we captured and smothered them with kisses and hugs and cries that they were okay and safe. I saw a man cry in front of another, barely standing up. I asked Ohashi what was happening. He said that they were husbands. I wished to know nothing more. I asked some others if there was a village elder. They said there were once many, but all of them were slaughtered by the chieftain. Originally, the island had been run by wise old men who knew the religion, studied their practice since birth, and had their oral history since the beginning of their tribe, many thousands of years ago. The chieftain, originally an apprentice of one of them, rose up and killed them along with the other apprentices. He mastered the arts of crafting flesh at an early age, and could form entire beasts in an instant. I asked if there was anyone else who could give me the history of these people. There was one last remaining elder: the chieftain's father. When I questioned them on where they acquired the large mass of flesh, they told me that, in the quest to make the beast, they had used up all their reserves. Seeing an opportunity to make right with the community, I told them that we had a large supply of food on our ships, and that, if they needed to, we would provide them with as much food as possible. However, I needed an agreement from the leader of this tribe. They would agree to whatever proposal I had if the elder did so, who, according to them, would always put their own interests aside for the good of the village.

We told him our offer, which he accepted, and thanked us for being so generous. He hugged us, and went out of the tent and called for the entire village, saying that the men would be generous and give us food as they planted their own. Our men transported food to them. One complained to me that they were giving away their food. I agreed, but told him that this was necessary to gain the trust. Then, once this occurred, we would be able to civilize them."

We have established our Capital city around the village. We have been training some of the hunters to hunt with our rifles, and they teach us their homeland and their agriculture. They place a newborn creature into the ground and bury it. The soil accelerates their growth. The Elder says this is a sign from Ion that the island is one of his many holy lands. They planted newborn swines into the ground and will wait a couple months for them to develop. Until then, hunting other creatures, such as birds and fish will be enough to fill satisfy them. I must remember to get cows and chickens and normal pigs from my newfound supplier. Swine is an excellent dish, but not something civilized people should feed on.

I had a thought many nights ago. What if I am meant to bring these people an Empire? It is a strange thought, but, considering everything that has gone on in the past months, is it so strange to think this? Is there truth to this? Or, at the very least, elements of truth in it? I must think on this.

I went into the mines today, and these mines definitely have gold. It could probably go down many many miles, down below the crust of the earth. I come from a gold family; it's in my bones, even my first job was mining gold, so I know there's gold here. My men whisper of leaving with the gold. I cannot allow that to happen. I must create an economy here, to strengthen ourselves here. Assuming I have enough here to operate the mines, I must have others work on creating currency. Gold is humanity's oldest currency, but these people know nothing of money. They don't even have a barter economy, instead sharing with one another. I have heard of socialism amongst the Europeans, and this is the closest I can think to socialism. With few resources, it forces cooperation amongst them. It's beautiful in a way, but not conducive to a civilized society, at least in the economic sense. I need to solve the labor crisis before my men forsake me.

I asked the Elder a hypothetical question. Would it be possible for a human child to be planted in the ground, and for a full grown adult come in its place? He looked at me strangely, but he answered yes, it is, but is generally viewed as inhumane, as it destroys the lifespan of the child. While it is said in the past that in times of disaster children will be planted, this is only done when no other possibility is available. He then asked me why I was asking such odd questions, and I told him what I was planning. He seemed shocked at first, horrified even, but then I described to him our future plans. I told him I thought I was to be the bringer of the Empire and that, with our weaponry and resources, we bring it about in quick order. We brought him to the gold mine and the ships and showed him the maps of the world. I told him that together with these people's innate abilities, we could bring the entire world under our reign. I described how commerce worked. Leaving out references to competition, as I know it would offend his cultural sensibilities. When I described to him how every nation on this planet had this, and the necessity of democratic institutions, he seemed more amicable to my plans. He approved of our plan, but told us to make it swift and to make sure the parents do not witness this. I promised him this. He told the members of the community that it is a moral imperative to start producing offspring as soon as possible. Ohashi looked at me with disdain throughout the whole procedure."

It's been nearly three months since my last entry and I feel sick for what I've done. I feel unclean. Nearly every woman on the island is pregnant. I feel disgusting. I cannot go into the village without feeling disgusting. I feel immoral. I feel evil. I can see their faces. I know what I am. I beg for Christ's forgiveness and I know he reviles me as well. I threw my Bible out into the sea because I could feel it berating me. I could feel it berating me for what I've done. But I need to do this. I need to civilize these people. If I don't who will? The British? The Americans? Any other horrible, immoral power that slaughters its people? If I leave, will the same befall these children of nature? I pray to a God whose back is turned on me. A child waved to me today and I cried, because I know that child's brother will be the first one in the ground. I threw up. I have sinned I am sin.

It has been six months and I can't bring myself to reflect on my thoughts anymore. Occasionally I'm plagued by nightmares of children rising from the ground and gnawing on me. They're popping out of the ground and grabbing me and bringing me under. I see myself having dirt flung on me and they're still grabbing with their tiny little hands and crying for their mother and I know I'm bleeding and I'm crying out for God but God has turned his back on me.

It is done. The sin is done. I told some of the men to get their guns. Ohashi as well. He seemed disgusted at himself. He talked to himself in many languages I didn't recognize. I had never seen him this way before. The other men began to get nervous… The Elder of the village told me most of the children were already born, anywhere from a couple weeks to multiple months, all of sufficient age to be used. The Elder had performed his part. I then ordered my men to go into the tents and take the children and to not shoot. I had to look away for most of it. Most of the children were ripped from their mothers and fathers arms as they cried. Others tried to stab at us, but were beaten into submission. One of our men broke down. He went into the tent and saw a mother with her bone knife. She held onto her baby as tight as possible, tears running down her face. She cried to Ion, for Him to save her son from these monsters. The man began to cry himself. Jethro lost his son and daughter in the blood disputes of Appalachia. He couldn't bring himself to fight back, and broke down. We had to have one of our men bring him in and beat the mother into submission. She screamed for Ion, her Savior, for forgiveness of whatever sin she committed to deserve this punishment. She begged, she screamed, eventually taking one our guns and shooting our man. We lost the child in the scuffle. She was put down. The Elder was attempting to console the village, who had begged him for assistance. He wept, but told them it was for the greater good, for Ion told him that the empire would come in time due to this. Until then, do not resist, for it may anger Ion. By the end of the nightmare, we had over 300 children. We began the process of burying them. I still hear their cries, feeling the dirt enter their mouths and enter their bodies and lungs and stomach, and everywhere else. They will be birthed soon. According to legend, the arm will be what signifies the second birth.

Two weeks have passed and the men are still disturbed at the events. Many seek to go home. Others cry of nightmares. I feel something in my stomach weighing me down. I have this revolver next to me. I imagine myself putting the revolver in my mouth and cocking the hammer and shooting. May God take my from my mortal coil and rip me apart. I am a liar and disgusting fraud to all men. Ohashi never speaks to me anymore, only sleeping and occasionally eating.

"The nightmares only get worse. They're not screaming anymore, but whispering. They're whispering about what they will do to me. Hundreds of voices whispering in the black dirt around me holding onto me and describing my death. I will be ripped apart by Ion himself. I am no more civilized than the barbarians I am trying to save. God, please forgive me.

I ruined the island. God, I wish I could turn back. Turn back and pretend none of this happened. But if I leave now, the men will be angry for all their time and effort is ruined. Not only that, but the island now relies on my supplies. It won't be for many months if not years that their food stock will be brought back up to its previous circumstances. If I do they're all going to starve. If I leave I will ruin these people. Shown that the White man can't be trusted and forever snap the connection between us and them. No, I can't let that happen. I need to stay. I need to. I am a monster. I am unforgivable. I am sin itself. I'm so sorry.

It has been three months and there has been a second birth. I stepped foot onto the pastures in the middle of the island for the first time in three months. Limbs dotted the landscape. Full grown adult arms jotting out of the ground, covered in dirt and sunburnt. Some of my men have already started pulling them out of the ground. The Elder tells me it takes awhile before full humans wake up. The women were placed into the care of the village, as they are necessary for future reproduction, and the men dropped off at the shipyard for future mining. Barracks have been built for them, and they will be taught how to mine and fashion coinage for the island. We will repeat the process.

I have written my constitution. I lifted many aspects from the American one. Most of the men, despite many reservations with me, will vote for me in the election. If I let the villagers vote I will certainly lose. These men know that without me they'll certainly die without the (perceived) friendship with Ohashi. Ohashi did not respond to me when I said I wrote the constitution. Not that I blame him.

I told the Elder that I won the presidency and he congratulated me. He then asked how the second birthers were. I told them the mines were working at an increased efficiency and that we are creating the first batch of currency.

We opened the stores and gave each villagers enough coin to buy a couple of things. We told them that if they wished to continue this, they would need to accept the following: to have their tent destroyed and replaced with wooden houses. Many of them rejected this as an insult to their culture, and that it would make them selfish and self-destructive. We told them it was either the house or the stores. Many accepted, although many of the older members still refused. By the end of the day every tent was destroyed and construction began.

Many of these men and women are hard workers. Gold production is increasing, and even small farms are beginning. But yet I come across another problem: I need to rid these people of their collective farms. The collective farm makes it difficult to encourage enterprise, because one must always think the collective soil. However, I decided to give The Elder plans about this, and he told me, if it meant the empire be created faster, so be it.