SCP-3200

Description

SCP-3200 is a region of space, currently 300 million light years in diameter, located at approximately right ascension 14h 50m and declination 46°, commonly referred to as the Boötes Void by civilian scientists.

At present, the exact properties of SCP-3200 are unknown, as most research into the anomaly was conducted by the now defunct Peregrine Expedition Program. As such, there is considerable debate into how exactly SCP-3200 functions, though the following principles are considered to be accurate by majority consensus:

• SCP-3200 represents an exceptionally thin (and potentially open) region of spacetime such that trans-universal contact is possible through SCP-3200.
• The anomaly is expanding at a rate of 1 million light years per year.
• The expansion of SCP-3200 poses a non-zero threat of a UK-Class Universal Collapse Scenario.

All other points concerning the exact properties of SCP-3200 are considered to be highly speculative. Researchers looking for more information concerning the anomaly may consult the following compiled reports on SCP-3200.

History of the Anomaly: The anomaly was first discovered by civilian scientists who noted that the region of space possessed significantly fewer galaxies than one would expect from any other region of space; notably, while a similar size region of space should contain 2000 galaxies, SCP-3200 only possesses 60.

Foundation researchers at Site 118 conducting research into extrasolar anomalies noted extremely high Hume levels arising from SCP-3200, but were unable to determine any reason for this. Continued research into SCP-3200 would not be seriously conducted until the launch of the Peregrine expeditions in 2008.

Original Peregrine Expedition Mission Statement

With the creation of ever-sophisticated technology by members of our applied sciences divisions, we often find uses for various advances that we had never before considered.

The creation of the first temporal sinks by Foundation researchers showed us that time can be manipulated, slowed down, or even held constant from the perspectives of different viewers. As such, we aim to use modified temporal sink devices in the launch of a new Foundation space initiative in order to better understand non-terrestrial anomalies.

By speeding up time relative to us on Earth for the crewmembers of our planned spacecraft, we can accomplish advanced space travel to many distant locations. Temporal sinks allow us to maintain the natural flow of time for both us observers on Earth and the crewmembers of the expedition, maintaining causality in all frames of reference. It is a simple matter of cryogenically freezing our crewmembers for however long they intend to travel, activating our modified temporal sinks, and then waking them up when they arrive at their destination, in a frame of time that is usable by our standards, all without violating causality.

Small scale tests indicate that we could use these temporal sinks aboard fuel-efficient ion thruster powered spacecraft to send researchers hundreds of million of light years away and back in the space of a few months, allowing us to vastly improve our knowledge of extrasolar anomalies.

-Dr. Aleksey Dimitrov

The approval of this experimental technology in order to study extrasolar anomalies led to the launch of the Peregrine expeditions in order to glean more data on several different extrasolar anomalies. SCP-3200 was selected as the target of the Peregrine-9 expedition, launched November 29th, 2010.

The crew of the Peregrine-9 expedition. From left to right: Alexander Moreau, Mikhail Kuznetsov, and Thomas Sewell.

Peregrine-9 Expedition Details

Objective: Conduct research into the nature of SCP-3200 and ascertain origins of abnormally high Hume levels.

Crewmembers: Mission Commander/Pilot Captain Mikhail Kuznetsov, mechanical engineer, Researcher Alexander Moreau, astrophysicist, and Researcher Thomas Sewell, extrasolar containment specialist.

Flight Details: Mission will take place from 11/29/10 to 11/29/16. Flight time using temporal sinks will occupy roughly 4 years of total mission time, during which crewmembers will be cryogenically frozen.

On 2/28/16, the Foundation recovered a capsule launched by Peregrine-9, consisting of modified segments of the original Peregrine-9 shuttle. The following is a collection of relevant logs and transcripts found inside the capsule. Full reports may be retrieved pending approval from the Project Director.

Recorded Date: 2/1/13

Camera feed begins.

Kuznetsov is seen adjusting the camera as the rest of the crew seems to have only just awoken from cryosleep.

Moreau: And just like that, we’re 700 million light years from home. Didn’t feel like anything to me.

Sewell: It’s a little scary, and a little amazing. So this means that we're firmly inside the anomaly then?

Kuznetsov: Correct. I don’t feel anything different though.

Moreau: Take a look outside.

Moreau takes the camera and shows the view outside the spacecraft. It is pitch black, with no signs of any stars or galaxies visible.

Moreau: Now that’s disturbing. Pure blackness.

All three men are silent.

Sewell: What do you suppose is out there?

Kuznetsov: Who knows? It's our job to figure it out.

Camera feed ends.

Recorded Date: 2/2/13

Camera feed begins. Kuznetsov is seen sitting in front of the camera.

Kuznetsov: This is Captain Mikhail Kuznetsov of the Peregrine-9 mission. Reporting in on Day 1 of the mission, which has already hit a snag. The first thing we tried to do was to verify the anomalous Hume levels that our more Earthbound satellites were able to pick up but our Kant counters don't seem to be functioning properly here. The Hume levels we're reading are fluctuating rapidly, anywhere from almost 0 to absurd numbers in the hundreds. If we came all the way here only to have faulty Kant counters…heh. What a tragedy that'd be.

Kuznetsov is seen pausing, and then looking out the viewport.

Kuznetsov: Still, there seems to be something…off about this place. We'll have to do more research later. That's all for today I suppose.

Camera feed ends.

Recorded Date: 3/13/13

Camera feed begins. All three crewmembers are seen surrounding what appears to be a box of some kind. Kuznetsov is seen directly facing the camera.

Kuznetsov: So, today we woke up and saw a box outside.

Moreau: Floating around in the middle of space nowhere. Just sitting pretty.

Kuznetsov: We just recovered the object and are about to open it. Nobody panic, alright?

Nervous chuckles from the group. Kuznetsov stands off to the side by the ejection port. Moreau lifts the hatch on the box carefully, and looks inside.

Moreau: It's a…CD. Should we run it?

Kuznetsov: Go ahead. Use the isolated computer, it's not connected to anything.

Moreau runs the CD, which opens up a film on the computer. Following a nod from Kuznetsov, he plays it.

The film shows a view of Captain Kuznetsov, sitting in front of a camera.

Kuznetsov: What the hell?

Film-Kuznetsov: This is Captain Mikhail Kuznetsov of the Peregrine-9 mission. Reporting in on Day 35. Still no signs of slowing down the anomaly's growth. We can't get any good data on it either because we still can't get any of our counters are working. Still, we will see what we can do…for the good of us all. Signing off.

The film ends by this point.

Camera feed ends.

Recorded Date: 3/21/13

Camera feed begins. Kuznetsov is seen in front of the camera again.

Kuznetsov: This is Captain Mikhail Kuznetsov of the Peregrine-9 mission. Reporting in on Day 47 of the mission. Over the past week or so, we've picked up about 12 more recordings of me speaking about the anomaly in question.

Kuznetsov sighs, and is seen rubbing his neck.

Kuznetsov: We're still not any closer to answers though. All of these other versions of myself seem to know more about what's going on than I do, since they all reference stopping SCP-3200. Wish this version of me could know half as much as they seem to…heh. Which reminds me: No, the Kant counters still don't work. Still not sure why.

Kuznetsov leans back, and rubs his face.

Kuznetsov: Moreau thinks that we're seeing something from other universes, which would explain where these things are coming from. Thomas believes that something is off about the reality surrounding this anomaly, which would explain the malfunctioning Kant counters, but we have no idea why that is either. In summary: We have a whole lot of nothing and a lot of questions. That's all for today.

Camera feed ends.

Recorded Date: 8/6/13

Camera feed begins. Kuznetsov is seen with his head in his hands. He looks up at the camera.

Kuznetsov: Today marked the 38th tape we've recovered of myself. We've gotten 38 different capsules containing tapes of myself speaking to a camera, just like I'm doing now. And none of them are exactly the same. In each video, I'm wearing different clothes, the date is off, I have different hair, all kinds of things. And I've got no damn idea why.

Kuznetsov leans into the camera.

Kuznetsov: What worries me the most is that we still haven't found out any details about what exactly SCP-3200 is doing. We're pretty sure that this is a region of some weird spacetime stuff; Moreau is adamant that this is a region where spacetime is pretty thin, allowing for contact between universes. But beyond that, we just don't know exactly what's happening. Worse, we've started finding more than capsules…things like bodies. Mine, Sewell's, Moreau's, and some of people that I've never seen. Parts of shuttles using technology that I haven't seen before, and other scraps of things that I don't understand at all.

Kuznetsov shudders.

Kuznetsov: There is something deeply wrong about this place. It feels fundamentally misplaced. That it doesn't belong. I don't know what else we can find here. Signing off for today.

Camera feed ends.

The following was written in Captain Kuznetsov's personal notes regarding the mission on 8/21/13.

How many times?

How many times have we been here?

This is the question that keeps me up at night, the question that has brought me no rest. We are certainly not the first, and every other Kuznetsov out there seems to have been brought low by this same question.

We recovered a log today. The man that I saw on that tape was old. Very old. He had been recording the anomaly for a long time. Years, perhaps even decades. Thousands of tapes recovered. No answers. He had studied it for years and years, and nowhere did he find an answer to why this was happening.

They say that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. If so, then just how mad are we?

On 9/7/13, Captain Kuznetsov apparently vanished while attempting to retrieve another tape. He reappeared two days later on 9/9/13, extremely dehydrated and weak. The other crewmembers report that Kuznetsov recorded this message shortly before lapsing into a coma:

We were fools. The void isn't a region where spacetime is ruined; it's the source of the tear itself. Spacetime itself is rending itself apart and we're seeing echoes of every timeline in the past and future.

Time is an ouroboros, devouring itself again and again, only to be reborn.

I saw all of it. All of the times we tried to stop it in the past. All the times that I tried to stop it in the past. And the future. This happens again and again, until we get it right.

Over and over again, we try and try to fix it. All times blend together until we reach singularity and all is lost. The tear opens more holes everywhere in reality, and the anomalies appear faster and faster, but containment is only delaying the inevitable. The inevitable cleansing of the slate.

I saw all the timelines. And we haven't stopped it in any of them.

Mater' Bozhya.¹ We have seen into the abyss, and by God, it hates us.

This was the last recorded event that was stored in the recovered capsule; given the passing of Peregrine-9's original end date, the expedition is considered to be lost.