Author Note:
Oh hi there!If you're on this page, you've likely received this draft as part of the SCPD Draft Swap! This is an old draft of mine from my first stint on the site, in 2018. I spent ages on this draft, but just couldn't get it to work.
It started off as an attempt to write a mysterious, short article about some creepy elevator cars. It didn't quite work. I received a great deal of help from a critter called Meserach, and a back story to the skip started to emerge, involving anartists and ecoterrorists. It still didn't quite work.
I was never able to think of a satisfying ending, or of a way to add in an emotional core to the article. Hopefully you can find a way to give this draft some life and love that I wasn't able to!
Oil is Thicker Than Blood
Item #: ###
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: to-do
Description: SCP-XXX refers to four passenger elevator cabs, designated SCP-XXX-1 through -4, each measuring 2m x 2.5m x 2.2m. SCP-XXX were originally located in the elevator shafts at the Amsterdam office of Iapetus Energy plc, an Oil and Gas multinational company. SCP-XXX displayed no anomalous features between their installation, 04/11/1994, and when the anomaly first presented itself on 01/05/2012.
All SCP-XXX instances are entirely filled with water. With the exception of SCP-XXX-1, the interior walls, ceiling, and floor are not visible, and the interior dimensions anomalously extend beyond the confines of the cab. With the exception of SCP-XXX-3, the boundary between the cab interiors and exteriors are impermeable - all attempts to enter the cab, or extract samples from within, are hindered by an unknown force.
SCP-XXX appear non-anomalous from the exterior, and will function as normal if installed within an elevator system. Anomalous features become apparent when the interior cab door opens. Elevator doors will only open when the associated elevator call button is used, and will close after 60 seconds. All attempts to open the doors by force, or breach the exterior of the cab, have been unsuccessful. Each instance has text engraved on the cab doors. This was not present prior to anomalous properties presenting themselves.
It is currently believed that SCP-XXX is a man-made anomaly. Responsible parties are believed to be:
- PoI-34642: Christian Eschmann, a German Anartist operating under the pseudonym "Hans Hollowbein".
- GoI-976: "Fist of Gaia" (FoG), an environmental activist group with a history of employing anomalies in protest and ecotage activities. Whilst disruptive, FoG's activism is usually nonviolent and limited in scope due to the group's small size.
Details of each SCP-XXX instance are as follows:
SCP-XXX-1:
Engraved text: "Behold me fettered, fearful of night because of the roaring sea."Contents: Contains a Lion's mane jellyfish with an estimated bell diameter of 1.7m; tentacle length cannot be estimated due to being longer than the cab's height. Tentacles are wrapped around what is believed to be the corpse of Mary Andersen, Iapetus Energy's Head of Exploration. Entity floats in the centre of the cab for the duration doors are open for. Both the cab interior and corpse appear heavily water damaged.
SCP-XXX-2:
Engraved Text: "You would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature."Contents: Contains a solid block of ice. Approximately 1m from the cab doors Victor Branagh, Director of Sustainability in EMEA, is frozen within the ice. Despite The temperature of the ice being theorised to be below 0°C, minor eye movements have been observed.
SCP-XXX-3:
Engraved text: "Everyone grew weary of the meaningless affair."Contents: Contains a shoal of piranhas. SCP-XXX-3's boundary is permeable one-way, from the interior to exterior. When opened, SCP-XXX-3's contents will flow from the interior outwards, until the cab door shuts after 60 seconds. The door closure occurs despite the water pressure.
Analysis of water ejected has matched mineral content to freshwater rivers in South America. To date, the highest amount of piranhas to be ejected from SCP-XXX-3 is 52,751. Along with the piranhas and water, SCP-XXX-3 has ejected eviscerated human flesh in 64% of testing. Flesh has been identified as belong to Percy Cole, Head of Iapetus's Press Office. Over 250kg of flesh has been expelled during testing.
SCP-XXX-4:
Engraved Text: “Do not labor uselessly at what helps not at all.”Contents: Contains Dirck van den Berg, Iapetus Energy's CEO and Chairman, and a tiger shark. Upon the cab doors opening, van den Berg is conscious, aware of his situation, and in a state of distress. In all testing, the tiger shark has grabbed van den Berg by the mid-rift and proceeded to maul him. In 73% of testing, van den Berg has still been conscious when the doors have closed. When the call button is used again, the interior has reset, and van den Berg is uninjured, and will proceed to be mauled by the tiger shark again.
On ##/##/2014, the Foundation received information pertinent to the location of PoI-34642. An address in the Mariahilf district of Vienna, Austria, was searched by Foundation agents. The following correspondence between PoI-34642 and an individual claiming to be a member of FoG was found on an encrypted drive, saved from an online message board.
Message 1:
Hi Christian,
I've been directed to this site by a mutual friend of ours. Please allow me to introduce myself - I'm writing to you representing the Fist of Gaia. You may have heard of us, we're committed to defending Mother Nature and all her children past, present, future, and sideways.
We're looking to commission a participatory art piece that we've been led to believe you have the means to produce. Whilst our budget is limited, we've ear-marked a great deal of resource to be potentially available for this.
Would you be open to a collaboration? I've personally been very impressed by some of your past work, and think we could achieve great things together!
Please let me know your thoughts on the above, and please let me know if you have any questions.
Many thanks and kind regards.
Best wishes,
Cecily1
Message 2:
hi
please call me hans. I can consider this. what is your vision?
HH
Message 3:
Hi Hans,
Sorry about that, but it's fantastic to hear you're open to considering this!
Iapetus Energy, the perpetrators of last year's Gulf of Mexico tragedy and the subsequent speciecide, have yet to face any kind of justice2. They can no longer be allowed to pay lip-service whilst refusing to make actual amends. In 3 months time, their entire board will be in Amsterdam attending their AGM. We need to send them a message that they cannot continue along this path. We want to strike at the heart.
Our "vision" (fantastic word by the way!) is that when entering the office, employees calling the lifts3 are greeted not with safe passage to continue pillaging the Earth, but instead a roar of crude oil pouring from within. Spluttering, naked, and gasping for air like the creatures he massacred, Dirck van den Berg will be washed out too.
We know that you have the artistic skill needed to keep van den Berg alive whilst submerged in the oil. We're also aware that the abduction introduces a high element of risk to this work, and are therefore willing to contribute €450,000 to you for this.
Please let me know what you think of the above.
Best wishes,
Cecily
Message 4:
hi
sounds good. €600,000 though
HH
Messages 5 to 12 concern price negotiations4, payment methods, and confirmation of payment being received. Communications pause between ##/## and ##/##, the week prior to the discussed AGM.
Message 13:
Hi Hans,
I hope you are well.
Just looking for a quick confirmation that we're all good to go next week?
Best wishes,
Cecily
Message 14:
Hi Hans,
Can you confirm we're good to go?
Best,
Cecily
[ANOMALY OCCURS]
Message 15:
Hans,
Call me - [#########].
Message 16:
Hans - we need to talk, this was not what was agreed.
Cecily.
Message 17:
hi
you are welcome. inspiration took hold.
Iapetus - the father of Prometheus. And like Prometheus stole fire from the gods, they stole fire from the world, and now pay as he did. You spoke of their participation, of the justice you would wreak upon them, but the concept did not deliver. Those who would rob the world of its eternal lifespan and torture its creatures are now eternally trapped and tortured by those very creatures and elements. Forever screaming into an oceanic void and forever facing the consequences of their actions. THIS is justice. THIS is participation.
you are welcome.
HH
Message 18
Hans,
Putting aside the overwrought and, frankly, clunky parallels you're attempting to draw here (why on earth am I hearing of literary quotes on the carriage doors???), this is not what we agreed on. I clearly specified that van den Berg was the sole target and we did not want any fatalities. What you've delivered us is four essentially dead individuals, a complete dilution of the message we were trying to say, and worse, of all, the wrong kind of attention.
We've specifically avoided the type of shit you've pulled because of who it alerts. Our brothers and sisters in the States are considering going dark due to rumours of UIU investigations, and we both know they're the least concerning of groups who will pick up on this. Hans, my bosses are angry. Really, really angry.
We need to deal with this, and to do that, we need funds - and we need them from you.
You have 72 hours to wire us a full refund.
Cecily
Message 19
it is a shame you cannot appreciate my vision. art is non refundable.
HH