001 tl

They probably told you that SCP-001 was the very first one. The biggest, toughest, most horrible thing that the Foundation has ever had to deal with. The origin of the organization as a whole, and the reason we do what must be done. Maybe they let slip some talk about gods and ancient times, to make you think about it. Then, they made you an offer you can't refuse, to direct containment for the greatest threat.

Maybe you thought we trusted you, or that something you'd done had proven to be great. But, that isn't it. You're just the one we thought could deal with it the longest. The truth is, SCP-001 isn't the worst thing we have to deal with by a long shot. It's not even the catalyst of what the organization is. SCP-001 is the Foundation's greatest mistake.

There have always been things we couldn't explain, things that had to be hidden away in locked boxes and barricaded rooms. When it was needed, there was a group that would hide them. We went by different names, and sometimes with a different agenda, but it was always the same goal: to secure, contain, and protect.

Before we found 001, there were only about a hundred anomalies that we knew of. About half of them were with us, and a good third were in the hands of some other groups. It wasn't a very big operation, or even all that impressive, but it didn't need to be. We had the tools to get the job done, and we did it well. That was all that mattered.

We first heard of 001 from Greece, after the Allies drove Hitler back to Berlin. We were reclaiming our old sites, when we found something that shouldn't have been there. Maps, and artifacts, dating to some temple in the mountains. Of course the overseers wanted us to go there right away. Whatever was up there might be dangerous, and all that garbage.

It wasn't an easy journey, which is probably why whoever was researching it never went all the way. Then again, maybe they did, since they had the sense never to go up. The structure itself was unimpressive, and didn't seem fitting the descriptions we'd found. Then we went inside.

What we saw there was staggering. All the things you might think of as common, or run-of-the-mill today was mind-blowing to us at the time. We'd never seen anything like it. I thought it was incredible.

The central chamber was not as wonderous. I don't want to blame anyone for what we did there, because we had no way of knowing what it would unleash. All I saw was these horrible… things, feeding off each other and cycling together, all around in balance, with atrocities being pushed out by unreal fluctuations to thinking. We tried to get rid of it. It didn't work.

A house of cards descended on us, breaking and obliterating everything that it could see. Some of us made it out, and others… didn't. The cycles were broken, and all the things that lurk in the night were free to break the bonds of reason. Things aren't as bad as they used to be. We've got color working again, and I heard that pretty soon they're going to start putting the feelings back in people.

Now, you're here. Maybe you'll be the one who can put it all back together again. There's always the possibility that we can set things right.

If you see the seventh bride, tell her I'm sorry she had to open the box. Maybe she'll remember it.