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Anthropological Task Force Gamma-10 ("Legio X") has been established in order to evaluate and document any artifacts, art, administrative records, or disavowed individuals provided by SCP-8014.
Requests for reciprocity made by SCP-8014 are to be transmitted to the Site Director for Secure-Area-8014, as well as Overwatch Command, as Priority-0 communications.
DESCRIPTION: SCP-8014 refers to a multiversal point of commonality known as 'Rome'. Exploration into both adjacent and branching realities has confirmed evidence of SCP-8014 in 98.1% of all habitable timelines. Included within this sample, SCP-8014 has persisted into a modern equivalent and is the dominant, contemporary, geo-political force in 91.5% of all observations to date.
The observed cultural values, architectural conventions, legal and organizational structures, and other cultural thematic tones of SCP-8014 remain generally consistent between all observed branches. These qualities generally align with available anthropoligical and archeological records from the early Imperial Roman Empire within baseline Reality.
Although available resources vary highly between individual branches, SCP-8014 is capable of deploying advanced technological and thaumaturgical assets, as well as significant numbers of military and support personnel, across vast theaters of war spanning multiple realities. The degree to which such efficiency and coordination is maintained is the responsibility of a highly organized central authority within SCP-8014 which has been designated as 'Rome Prime'.
A treaty negotiated between the SCP Foundation and representatives of SCP-8014 has designated our reality as a "neutral" party for the purposes of SCP-8014's campaigns.
The terms of this agreement obligate the SCP Foundation to report on any activity it becomes aware of which relates to any entities considered to be 'of interest' by SCP-8014, and provide cooperation within the scope of the treaty. Full terms, conditions, obligations, and considerations are available for view only at the explicit approval of Overwatch Command.
UPDATE: SCP-8014 has provided an additional designation of 'Theta' for entities which it considers to be both hostile and dangerous. Terms and conditions of reimbursement and compensation for losses sustained in the apprehension of 'Theta' individuals has been ratified and appended to the original treaty.
A common city square as observed in Timeline Kappa-1 ADDENDUM 01: DISCOVERY On 2023-05-21, multiple seismic and radiological alarms in the vicinity of the Adriatic Sea were triggered suggesting nuclear activity, however, no political entities asserted involvement and there are no known nuclear assets within 250km of the epicenter.
Investigation teams from both the Foundation and GOC were able to triangulate the source of the activity and trace it to an area of countryside due East of Podstrana, Croatia. Investigative forces withdrew to a safe distance and established a perimeter.
The epicenter of the explosion was determined to be a matter-antimatter event which caused significant environmental damage. Aside from livestock there were no observed casualties. Residents of the countryside within 10km of the epicenter were evacuated using the "Hazard-12" cover story.
Once radiation levels were confirmed to be within acceptable thresholds, investigative and recovery teams observed a badly damaged, steel-frame transport vessel roughly cylindrical in shape, with an approximate diameter of 3-meters and a length of 4.5- meters. Due to structural damage sustained in the explosion, all access hatches had become fused and the object was extracted for further examination.
During recovery and decontamination, the object was found to contain two living individuals and a third who had succumbed to injuries. Of the two surviving individuals, one was incapable of speech due to mutilation sustained prior to this event; the other spoke an unintelligible dialect of Phoenician, as well as a broken dialect of Greek idenfiable as Hemriote1.
ADDENDUM 02: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: INTERROGATION Joint consultation between GOC and Foundation Linguistic Experts concluded that fidelity in communication was most likely while utilizing Greek. Temporary detainment facilities were authorized and constructed at the secure location in order to study the detainees, their craft, and make a determination on the precipitating anomaly.
PRELIMINARY REPORT 2023-05-23; Secure Area-8014 Superivising Agent Mylonis, Laurence J.
As per standard operating procedures, full audio recordings of Interrogations I through VI have been appended to this record in an unedited format as well as the full report.
This letter is an Expert Summary of my interactions with Detainee 8014-1, who self- identifies as 'Mago' and whom I interrogated on May the 23rd at significant length.
The subject reports to be an escaped prisoner who was being detained in an advanced prison facility after his strategic defeat in an ongoing military conflict. The subject described his fellow detainees using the word 'φιλότιμο', or 'philotimo', which when taken in context I believe to mean these were prisoners of war.
Subject further described the relentless pursuit of his company by the enemy forces and their campaign to evade capture. Linguistically, this was represented by describing his own cohort with the word 'πολύτροπος', or 'polytropos'. Taken in context, I believe this to mean they were some sort of special forces detachment, however, it is possible the subject was instead referring to the manner of their escape.
In summary, I do not believe the subject is an immediate threat to the safety or security of the Secure Site. They do not understand the mechanics of how they were able to arrive to where they were found, and they express relief to be free from their previous captivity. During my interrogations, at no point did the subject refer to their current situation as captivity. It is unclear if this is relief by comparison, or if they do not yet comprehend the situation.
It is my recommendation that Linguistic Experts continue teaching the subject Greek so as to further improve the fidelity and complexity of communication. Marking this subject for 30 day review.
ADDENDUM 03: INTRUSION DETECTED On 2023-06-15, approximately 25 days after initial radiological alarms, a significant spike of Gamma radiation was detected from ground-zero at Secure-Site-8014, accompanied by a broadband signal of significant complexity and encryption lasting 60 seconds in total.
Due to preventative measures accompanying the Secure Site's construction, the signal was blocked from broader interception. However, Secure-Site-8014 lacked the necessary communications equipment to receive, store, and decrypt the initial broadcast. Equipment and personnel were routed to the facility in anticipation of further opportunities for communication.
While waiting on the arrival of equipment, investigative teams were able to document a pattern of neutrino emissions at ground-zero as well as detect the presence of chronitons, and the implied presence of tachyons. Site security protocols were updated to account for the presence of an active dimensional anomaly and Overwatch Command was alerted to the development.
Approximately 12 hours later, another Gamma spike occurred as well as another 60 second broadcast of nearly identical amplitude, frequency, and phase as the first signal.
A third Gamma spike occurred another 12 hours later, however, resources and personnel had arrived and deployed equipment prior to this broadcast and were able to intercept the signal.
The carrier wave was determined to contain both radar and radio frequencies.
The radar frequency contains a short, repeating code which appears to be a challenge or interrogation code often referred to as an IFF (identify-friend-foe) or CID (Combat Identification), used to characterize objects in the field. In short, looking to identify known assets.
The radio frequency contained an audio message spoken by a humanoid voice using a dialect of Formal Latin. The portion of the signal which was recovered and translated has been included, although it is partial.
…Authority… …Cooperation is to be expected… …Immediate transfer of prisoner…Immediate surrender of vessel… …Lack capacity…Autonomy will be questioned… …8 [sic]… ADDENDUM 04: FIRST CONTACT Gamma spikes and additional broadcasts continued at 12-hour intervals. Due to insufficient bandwidth and decrypting power with the equipment on site, no further information was recoverable from broadcasts aside from the identification that the final character was changing — apparently counting down to an unidentified end.
Attempts were made to direct a carrier wave containing a greeting at the spatial anomaly, however it is unknown if these attempts at communication were successful or were received. A detachment of MTF Nu-7 ("Hammer Down") was mobilized to Secure- Area-8014 in anticipation of the countdown's conclusion.
On 2023-06-20, a signal was received appended with the word "Nulla"2. Concurrent with this broadcast, a massive spike in Gamma radiation and neutrino emissions precipitated a physical tear in the space-time of ground-zero which expanded in a controlled manner until it was approximately 5-meters in diameter.
Visible beyond the barrier of the spatial anomaly were numerous humanoid entities dressed in military attire with advanced firearms in a 'ready' position. Visual distortions caused by the anomaly rendered an accurate accounting of forces impossible. A single entity crossed the spatial threshold of the anomaly with their open hands raised in a generally accepted gesture of peace.
This entity presented as a human male, roughly 2 meters in height, approximately 50- years-old, and wearing lamellar plate body armor with a matte silver finish. The pauldrons of this armor displayed a raised Roman Aquila in gold.
They spoke a single word and halted their advance. Greek linguistic experts already on site identified the word as "στρατηγός", or 'Strategos'.
Acting Site Director, Dr. Laurence Mylonis, was assigned to Secure-Site-8014 as the head of the Linguistics team and as such is capable of speaking and identifying several dialects of Greek. He was briefed and escorted to meet the unidentified entity. A colloquial transcript of this encounter has been provided, however the unedited audio is also attachced to this document.
Mylonis: Strategos? Are you requesting one, or identifying yourself as one?
Sertorius: I will parlay with your commander, or whatever authority you empower with accountability.
Mylonis: Well, I am the highest ranking person here, and I can can also speak with you without the aid of a translator. If you demand a greater authority, that's going to take some time. Would you mind starting by telling me who you are, and who you represent?
Sertorius: You may call me Legatus Sertorius, and I have the glorious honor to represent Empire. <At the uttering of 'Empire', the personnel on the other site of the spatial anomaly strike their fists against their chests in unison.> Mylonis: Alright, Legatus Sertorius, I am Site Director Laurence Mylonis. I will try to be direct. What is your interest here? I am assuming you and your people were the source of the signals we received? If so, it is unfortunate I must report that we could only partially understand your transmission.
Sertorius: The message was a courtesy to warn you of my arrival; Feel no shame for I am here now, Site Director. I wish this meeting were under more auspicious circumstances, but I must demand the immediate surrender of the prisoners, as well as the vessel they escaped in.
Mylonis: If they are your prisoners we would be prepared to surrender them back into your custody, but we have a great many questions about what happened here. Their arrival was *very* destructive to this area. Understanding what took place and how, as well as who you are and who you represent, is of great importance to who I represent.
Sertorius: We have scanned your reality in the time since our first transmission and you appear to have already been purged of The Enemy. Although we did detect trace genetic remnants in your population, The Authority has designated you risk-null. It is not in your best interests to pursue a relationship with Empire unless you are prepared to cooperate with our war efforts. But if you insist, we will consider it.
Mylonis: I see. That carries heavy implications, indeed. Uh, well…may I have some time to consult my own governing body?
Sertorius: You may. In the mean time I suggest you direct your forces to prepare the prisoners for transport. I will give you one hour's time.
Mylonis: Then I had better get started.
ADDENDUM 05: DIRECTIVE OF O5 COMMAND A communications summary was transmitted to Overwatch Command and the O5- Council on emergency channels for priority response. These communications have been classified independently from this document and are not available as part of the record, however, the final response and updated orders have been attached.
Site Director Mylonis, While we acknowledge your eloquent plea for asylum, is it our final response that we will not offer it. Without time to properly evaluate the political situation which led to their imprisonment, and without proper time to consider any rebuttals by this 'Authority' or 'Empire' which detained them, an informed decision is impossible in the timeframe provided.
We will not risk an open conflict with an apparent interdimensional military force over the lives of two anomalous prisoners of war. The GOC concurs with our assessment.
You are instructed to request the ability to escort the POW's to their detainment, and use this opportunity to collect intelligence on SCP-8014, including insights into its capabilities, intentions, and priorities. We will handle the assignment of a new Site Director during your absence and your appointment will be available to you upon your return.
Best of Luck A response to these final orders was transmitted from Secure-Site-8014 however the priority communication channel had been closed. Several weeks after transmission, the response was found stored in a message buffer and has been recorded for posterity.
The repsonse is to be considered part of this record pending consideration for additional classification.
I was only imploring you to try.
Everything about these POWs suggests they have the same general sense of human morality, ethics, and sensibility that we do. The fact they speak a language we can identify and speak back, the way they look, the broadcasts, all of it suggests an alternate reality or a branching timeline based on our own. They are *us*, and they are at war.
There isn't a single nation on this Earth that would deny to even hear an escaped POW's request for asylum if they turned up in their borders. To refuse to consider this is a crime against Humanity. This isn't protecting the veil, this is murder. And to put a cherry on top you are sending me sight unseen into an anomaly for raising this protest?
Respectfully get bent, Former Site Director Mylonis After acknowledgment of orders, Site Director Mylonis was fitted with recording equipment and standard field research kits. Detainees 8014-1 & 8014-2 received preliminary medical treatment and were given 1.5 rations each, which were consumed prior to departure.
Administrative District, Timeline Tau-46 ADDENDUM 06: PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION After the departure of the SCP-8014 entities, their detainees, and Dr. Mylonis, the dimensional aperture through which they left reduced in size until it was approximately 20 centimeters in diameter. Since that time, the anomaly has remained both stable and consistent in size and allows for bi-directional communication between Secure-Site-8014 and a single communications station within SCP-8014 designated "Station Theta".
Approximately 5 months after initial departure, Station Theta broadcasted a message that the portal would be opening again in 60 seconds. Upon its expansion, Legatus Sertorius exited holding a bundle of documents and requested to speak with Command.
Within his possession were the personal effects of Dr. Laurence Mylonis which he was returning. The Legatus described that Mylonis was both missing in action and believed to be alive at this time. Among these possessions was a notebook containing detailed, hand-written accountings of experiences and travel throughout the attempted prisoner escort. The Legatus was clear that these documents had been reviewed by SCP-8014 and deemed 'safe' for return. They are transcribed below.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis I] DAY 1 Whatever radiation was put out by the spatial distortion, it was enough to fry my field equipment as soon as I crossed the threshold, as well as giving me some nasty burns.
The cohort I traveled with was able to give me some sort of medication to treat the damage both on the surface and to my DNA. Apparently they were used to dealing with this form of travel. Six hours later, I feel good.
We made a smart decision to teach Mago more Greek, but if we were wise rather than just smart we would have let him teach us Phoenician. It's becoming increasingly important that I can communicate with the prisoners without these wannabe-Romans knowing, and none of them appear to know or understand the strange Phoenician dialect. Learning will be slow but we have time each and every night. I am told we should expect about a month to get to where we need to go.
Wherever we are, it appears remarkably similar to our Earth other than it looks like the front lines just after the conclusion of a bloody war. The clouds are thick and heavy, and ash falls on us while we travel. Nuclear winter perhaps? The terrain here seems like it translates or conforms to the terrain around the Secure Site. I believe we're headed West but it's tough to tell with how thick the clouds are.
With the cameras and recorders fried, all of these will have to be written out. Sorry in advance for my handwriting.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis II] DAY 4 The other day we met up with another detachment and to my surprise they had several armored personnel transports. I can't be sure what powered them but they were not running on internal combustion. It was tough to see much of anything from inside the transport, but both Mago and his mute friend both became considerably more tense with each passing minute inside of those confines. Not to trivialize it, but perhaps PTSD.
The mute one, whom Mago simply calls 'My Friend', snapped after several hours and attempted to take the firearm of one of our guards. We are not fed well, his strength wasn't as robust as he probably thought it was. Poor guy took a nasty pistol whip to the right temple and that was lights out. Bleeding head wounds are a bad sign; he hasn't woken up yet and it's been several hours.
I tried to give medical attention but was refused. Demanded to speak with Sertorius but was also denied. I'm 'an observer', like that's supposed to erase my obligations. Mago calmed me down. I asked him why he wasn't more upset?
He said this was hardly the worst he'd seen, and it was a miracle both of them were still alive. The Romans have had him dead to rights a dozen times over, if his stories are to be believed. I feel as if I will be sick, but the steely grit Mago shows gives me some measure of additional strength.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis III] DAY 6 Whatever our destination was, it seemed to be a large complex. Massive, actually. We reached some sort of a gate checkpoint that marked our transition to the interior of a facility. I guess I can't be certain we were indoors, but I could no longer see the perpetual gray of the clouds anymore, and I could count the passing of artificial lights overhead through the narrow window of the APT. Like you can do with streetlights on the road.
Our 'Friend' with the head wound was taken to medical when we disembarked; Mago and I were ushered elsewhere. We sat in holding for a couple of hours before some sort of pill was shoved down our throats and we entered 'the panopticon'.
In the middle of this cylindrical chamber was a truly startling sight. A great automaton of gilded metals and some sort of loud, energetic humming floated, gently rotating, in the center. It looked like a massive, two-faced head. One face seemed to be male with a stately beard and eyes of a sterile, infernal red. The other face, feminine and strangely compassionate looking, with eyes of electric blue. Both mouths were slightly agape and I was struck by this pit of dread deep in my stomach; an indescribable fear that they were just about to speak. I don't know what they would say but I didn't want to hear it. They seemed to watch our every move.
All throughout the chamber were arched doorways outside of apparently empty coves.
Only about half a dozen out of what must have easily been hundreds of these doorways were 'active', and contained an aperture remarkably similar to the one we found in Croatia. Or maybe I should say, that found us. Perhaps these 'inactive' apertures were simple too small for me to see with the naked eye.
Mago, myself, the Legatus, and several fresh-faced members of the cohort were ushered through the portal where we found ourselves in a grassy field under warm, partly cloudy skies. The fact it had been more than a week since I'd seen the sun made me forget the strange horror only moments behind us. At least for a minute.
Mago puked when we arrived, but was quickly pulled back up to his feet.
I puked twenty seconds later. I do not like these portals.
We had some time to talk quietly amongst ourselves, Mago and I. He told me stories of his home, in his native tongue, which I was mostly able to follow. It sounds like a lovely place. It sounds as if he was someone important where he comes from; a general, or a high ranking administrator with access to some amount of classified information. State secrets are spooky in any language.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis IV] DAY 12 This reality appeared to be an active war zone and we were in danger almost immediately after we disembarked. Although I believed it to be sunny and tranquil, the area around our entry was consumed by some sort of guerrilla-style conflict utilizing a mismatched variety of technologies from ancient to advanced. We traveled on foot until we reached a city with a bridge over a wide river. The flags flying here bore an Aquila similar to the ones worn by the Legatus, and several of the troops we traveled with referred to it as friendly territory.
Just before we could cross the bridge, the Legatus waved his troops down, and myself and Mago were pushed down onto our stomachs presumably out of harm's way.
An enemy force was visible on the opposite bank. They approached from the opposite end of the bridge while escorting a 10-meter-tall elephant (I believe it was a very large L.
africana) clad in large segments of what appeared to be ceramic ballistic plate. The elephant supported three different enclosed platforms from which soldiers were able to fire from using long rifles. They opened fire on my escorts without preamble.
A number of hippopotami flanked the elephant, eight I believe, but I am not actually certain. These beasts were clad in what appeared to be similar ballistic plate and had two, large, shoulder-mounted guns, their design remarkably similar to Gatling-style rotary cannons. The hippopotami did not appear to have a handler or 'rider'. I'm not certain how they were able to fire their weapons.
There were a number of pieces of technology I could not identify on both the elephant as well as the scattered troops around it, including some sort of advanced occular arrays, and what were probably various prosthetics and cybernetics. I got as close a look as I felt I safely could in an attempt to see the technology in action, however, I was repeatedly thrown behind cover by the Romans throughout the skirmish. The troops attacking our position seemed intent on getting to Mago.
Forces belonging to SCP-8014 were unable to stop the invading force with small arms fire and elected to destroy the bridge using some sort of alchemical concoction kept in large clay jars beneath it. The attackers and their animals appeared to suffer total loss after falling into the river, but I can't say for certain.
The Legatus would not answer my questions telling me only that those were 'The Great Enemy', and assuring me we were blessed by Fortuna herself to have survived being so poorly armed. Seeing those guns in action, I believe him. Nearly 1/3 of our detachment is dead.
Mago and I spoke in his tongue when things calmed down, and he forgave me for not taking up arms with the enemy, although I admit I am not completely sure why. He said, if his home was at risk he would have done the same. I told him some stories of Nebraska, but I doubt they were as impressive as the tales he has told me.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis V] DAY 19 The last several days have been nothing but running from cover to cover and hiding. I have not been permitted a light with which to write by at night until now. We've been under near constant attack, or at least in the vicinity of near constant fighting, ever since the battle at the bridge.
This morning we reached what I can only describe as a rudimentary airport which had a great and grand 'control tower' that stretched many many stories up into the sky.
Whatever technology it possesses, it was grossly out of scope as compared to the small arms fire we've run into so far. I'm told our transport is on the way here. We have several more realities yet to cross.
Mago wanted to make a run during one of the more intense skirmishes yesterday, before we got to the airport, and tried to convince me to go with him. I was able to stop him by talking him down until our window had closed. It's not that I don't want to escape this 'escort', but we cannot afford to lose the safety. He assures me that we would be (safe), but I don't feel confident. Maybe it's just shellshock. This is twice I've rejected his offer to escape. I am not sure he'll ask again.
Something is going on here they're not telling me. Why is there all this trouble for a single man across so many realities? Why use a General to personally escort a single POW through a warzone? Perhaps he possesses some incredible intelligence they need to extract, but for the sake of my conscience, I hope not.
I have only seen a couple of 'airplanes' in the hours since we got to the airport.
Whatever designs and technology they have in play here, I am impressed. Their planes don't seem to need much runway and take off and land at much sharper angles than the ones I am used to. While modern aviation is certainly inspired by the way many animals fly (minus jet engines), whatever SCP-8014 is doing seems to have genuinely captured the idea of flight at scale. The designs curve somewhat, like how a falcon flaps their wings.
The engineering is breathtaking.
I feel as if my Phoenician has come along quite a bit, but Mago has told me it is called 'Punic' which makes all the sense in the world now that it's been said out loud. I am not sure how to feel about the revelation that a simple series of historical conflicts more than 2,000 years old is apparently consuming the multiverse?
I want to ask him questions, about Hannibal, Dido, Baal Hammon3, and his wife Tanit, but there is no disguising proper nouns between languages and if the Romans believe I am exchanging intelligence, well…that strikes me as a bad idea.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis VI] DAY 24 We have arrived to another desolate world although I am thankful for the calm that greets us here rather than the constant warfare.
Whatever is going on here, we've been in ground transports the entire time and passing nothing but open air mining operations. I see great machines with conveyor belts and teeth chewing up rock and metal as far as the eye can see, in all directions. If there is war in this world, it is nowhere near here.
Huge smokestacks belch black smoke in the distance, the air around them tinted a strange, caustic yellow. Foundaries, perhaps? I saw what looked like a bore hole that must have been 5km across with a massive complex built over the opening obviously intended to extract whatever they were mining from deep, deep within the Earth; a feat of engineering beyond the reckoning of any undertaking Humanity had ever attempted to date.
I asked the Legatus what I was looking at and he described it all simply as 'the war effort'. Production, I suppose. Raw materials becoming weapons, vehicles, armor, bullets, hull plates, and other things I can only guess at.
During our transit through this reality, Mago became exceptionally tense, white knuckling the hem of his own pants and shirt until I was certain he was going to rip them. When I asked him if he was alright, his words gripped a place in me that made my heart shudder.
"This is the future of all worlds with the temerity to thrive or survive without them. This is what they will have done to my home, my life, and my future. If they find my home, everything is lost. Everything." This does not seem like the sort of thing I can ask the Legatus about.
I tried to talk to Mago more about this for several hours but I'm being watched far closer than usual now. I do not the think our escort fooled me and they can actually speak Punic, but I believe they can assess we are growing close and communicate often. I'm sure the Legatus would put a stop to it if he wanted to.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis VII] DAY 28 I was told to prepare for my last day of travel with Mago.
The reality we are crossing now seems stable, healthy, 'normal'. We've been carried across many hundreds of miles of road in quiet, powerful vehicles through bustling cities full of commerce and traffic and people seemingly…living very normal lives. Certainly the occasional military checkpoint but otherwise very mundane.
I would describe the level of technology here as deceptively advanced. Most obvious in the cars and public transports that criss-cross the grids of the road, which move with virtually no noise and without tires, seemingly hovering but a few inches above the ground. Some sort of repulsor technology?
The apartments, homes, domiciles, whatever you'd like to call them, are built tall, sleak, and modern with little space used on greenery. But in between every cluster of homes is a gorgeous plaza with marbled statuary, sculpted topiary, and lucious gardens to walk through. Places for music to fill the square, artists to paint nature, avenues for children to frolick and play, and courts for athletes to compete. These people thrived. And all of this was taking place between great skycrapers of business and commerce which appeared to sprinkle in between ancient ruins. It was if they had exchanged all their shrubberies for historical sites.
How could these same people employ the barbarity I witnessed on the way here? Do these people, these common citizens, even know what's happening? Would they care if they did know?
Mago seemed especially touched by this leg of the journey. When I asked him if it was because he knew it was coming to an end, he shook his head no but would not clarify.
Perhaps he sees his own future that was taken from him in this peaceful landscape. I can only speculate.
Before I took to my bunk for the night, my new friend asked me if I had ever served (in the military). I had to answer no but I explained to him that the Foundation shares a considerable overlap with the principles of national service. To give your life quietly, gladly, to protect the freedom and safety of all. He said he respected that and was glad to know we were brothers in arms. I believe him.
[Journal Transcription: Mylonis VIII] DAY 32 The obvious question is why it would take me three days to update after the implications of my last entry, and I am sure the text will explain itself. We entered another of their Panopticons, guided by another of their two-faced automotons, and stepped through another of their apertures. But this time, we did not emerge on 'Earth' in any way I could describe it.
Before me was a rich, rolling landscape of vibrant greens and amber waves. Stretching out before us was the most tranquil open road I've ever laid my eyes upon. As if I were back in high school driving that beat up Corvette me and my father restored, top down, on a long stretch of open road on an equally long Nebraska summer night.
My eyes continued on down the road. At the horizon, a grand expanse of towers and skysrapers which, at this distance, must have easily been hundreds of stories tall.
Amidst their center were seven distinct towers all larger than the rest and oriented with the tallest in the middle. Everything else on the horizon seemed to slope down and away from this single tower as if it were the center of the universe. And that, my friends, is a literary device called foreshadowing.
As my eyes continued up, seeing the rosy, dusky sky above the distant ecumenopolis, the tranquility of the ground gave way to the brilliant silence of a starry sky. Several wedge shaped ships hung seemingly motionless at the border between the warm colors of the atmosphere and the gelid black of space. Parked here, above their Capitol, it was likely a single fleet but my mind could not help but question what sort of enemies they wrestle with that they would need such defenses.
My eyes continued upward. Then my joy and peace and delight were taken from me.
Up there, where there should have been stars as the sun set behind the horizon, was a figure of a size beyond my ability to describe. She was the sky.
The great and terrible visage of a woman stretched across the vault of the heavens, her torso covering what must have been millions of kilometers across.
Her skin, appearing fair and pure as ivory, perhaps slightly marbled, almost reminiscent of the surface of the moon…was bound with vicious-looking links of chain that would have terrified me for their sheer scale all on their own.
The woman's arms outstretched as if she were hung upon a cross, wrists wrapped many times over with these cosmic chains as her fingers grasped tightly, pulling against their restraint. Darkened spots of golden ichor flowed from the open wounds caused by the bite of those infernal chains into her flesh. And at the fringes of her skin, the substance evaporated away into a darkly beautiful haze.
Planets or planetoids seemed to hold as the anchor points for this grand binding. Their surfaces served to lock into place the other end of these chains, with huge fissures visible across their surface even from my distant vantage point. To imagine how far down those chains must be anchored… The figure's head lolled to the side, her eyes and upper face covered by some sort of great metal veil. It would have been beautiful for how ornate, how gothic, it was. The brass or bronze coloration of this veil appearing in darkly beautiful contrast to the rest of the ivory-white horror. I saw there, at her temples, where the veil was anchored into her flesh with spikes, were great streams of that same, golden, plasmotic blood having run down the sides of her face. Whether they were dried or still flowing, I could not say.
The titan's nose wrinkled up, her cheekbones tensed, jaw clenched. She was in pain?
Wincing. I thought I had seen agony before but this was truly the face of it. My fragile mind was fully prepared to rationalize this away as a monument. A tribute to the thousands of realities which must be at their beck and call. And yet this grand goddess in chains moved before my very eyes. She rolled her head, carefully, gingerly, to rest against the other shoulder. The wince upon her face sharpened and softened as the movement carried out and she struggled against what must have been a pain so sharp it refuses to be described.
Untold minutes passed as the Romans let us look upon their greatness. When I finally broke my trance, I noticed Mago had yet to break his. Tears streamed down his face in unblinking terror and I understood.
I would continue to describe my journey from this point but I feel you will be as bitterly disappointed in the details I can pour into it as I would be in writing them. What right have I speak of the splendors of their "Home World" now, after witnessing the testament of a chained titan? How can I describe beauty built by man witnessed so closely after the agony of god?
We were taken aboard a transport craft and brought to the very edge of their ecumenopolis where Mago and I were allowed to say our goodbye. We held each other in a final, brief hug. The type of embrace that only men who have survived gunfire could share. The type of embrace between brothers who understood they would never see each other again. And as we withdrew, he put a hand on my shoulder and spoke to me in the Punic he had taught me.
"Do as they say, brother. For if you do not, your world will share the same fate as the desolation we traveled through. They already know where you call home, and soon they will know of mine." And at that he looked up to the starry sky obscured by cosmic suffering. "Let me go. Let all of this go. Promise me this much, if you can." But in my heart I knew I could not. I looked him in the eyes and replied as best I could in my broken grasp of his language. "Why? What could you have done across all of time and space to suffer this?" He looked at me with a smile almost wistful as the guards pulled us apart. As if he knew there was either no answer to satisfy me, or as if he knew there was no way he'd be allowed to tell.
I wept.
ADDENDUM 07: FORMAL NEGOTIATIONS The following is a declassified transcript of a portion of the negotiations taking place at Secure-Site-8014 between O5-3 and Legatus Sertorius on 2024-01-14. This meeting took place at the invitation of the O5-Council after deliberation upon the contents of Addendum 06. Attention reader: this transcript begin in medias res.
O5-3: So in accepting those terms, I believe we can move on to less materials details.
Such as the status and location of Doctor Mylonis, and what we can do about that. Can you tell me how you lost him?
Sertorius: In some sense, yes, I can. The truth is that I do not formally know where he is, and should we ever find him, he has been designated Theta. Your Mylonis was returning to this reality under significantly reduced guard and their transport was ambushed. During the confusion, he elected to retreat with The Enemy, thereby foregoing all protection and tolerance. And frankly, also shirking any interest we may have had in attempting to work with you in the future.
O5-3: I understand a single, seemingly duplicitous point of first content is a bad foot to start on but you can surely acknowledge we've turned things around in these negotiations.
Sertorius: Yes, your pragmatism serves you well. It was bold of you to invite me here and I respect that.
O5-3: As we've outlined, I think you'll find we have several very unique resources we can lease or loan, which you are specially qualified to keep a handle on.
Sertorius: You've made the best of your available leverage. This is certain.
<The two stand up from their table and shake hands.> O5-3: Before you go and — totally off the record — can you tell me anything more about your Home World? It sounds fascinating. Wondrous, even.
Sertorius: You might like to see it one day? I'm sure that can be arranged. To look upon the sapphire spires of the triumph of Rome, towering above all…It's quite the sight. The foundations of our Empire run from the very core of the Earth all the way beyond the vault of the sky. Our power extends from the center of the universe and into the very fringes of what even the most simple barbarian could call civilization.
O5-3: It would be an honor to visit.
Sertorius: I'm sure. Countless trillions of souls within the Empire never have the opportunity to even set foot on Rome Prime's soil, let alone be invited within those walls.
O5-3: How many worlds like ours are there? That you have seen.
Sertorius: What? Worlds where Rome did not endure? Fret not, Overseer. Our ancestors did their job in salting the earth of Carthage. You have them to thank for your freedom. The number of realities like yours both swells and shrinks each day.
O5-3: So that's what this boils down to? 'Carthago Delenda Est'?
Sertorius: No, Overseer. We destroy it so that Rome may live. We obliterate their symbols so that all may know the price of defiance. We till their soil and sew salt into their earths so that everyone who might look to the flames of their rebellion knows that life flourishes only where we permit that it may. We took their queen, we took their goddess, we took their future. Everything. And we chained it to the vault of the sky so that all of Reality, all of Creation, may look upon our works and know that only Rome. Is.
Eternal.
O5-3: I…does that not sound like a tremendous burden to bear? To know that every day is a chase across various realities with an enemy that is equally as eternal as you are?
One that you'll never snuff out in totality so long as a single reality remains for Carthage to pop up… Sertorius: It is much less of a burden when you know that your victory is assured. There is no end to the number of triumphs I may yet win, wherever this war may take me.
O5-3: Well then. Pax Romana, Legatus.
Sertorius: One day, Overseer.
<The two shake hands one more time and part. Recording end.> Footnotes 1. A dialect commonly spoken by the ethnic Greek population of Albania 2. The Latin numbering system does not represent 'zero' but does represent 'nothing' or 'empty' with Nulla; a logical equivalent.
3. The principle deity in the Western Phoenician pantheon, he represents the sunlight which nourishes life, and governs fertility and other aspects of prosperity.
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