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BY SCROLLING DOWN, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CONSENT TO EXPOSURE TO A KNOWN COGNITOHAZARDOUS IMAGE. SCROLLING DOWN WITHOUT PROPER INOCULATION WILL RESULT IN SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES.
Attempting access beyond this point without clearance is grounds for termination of Foundation employment and cancellation of all educational, medical, retirement, and mortality benefits. In the event of incapacitation or worse by the cognitohazard below due to lack of inoculation, and thus an attempt at unauthorized access, this console will become inoperable, and automated viral agents will disable access to your Foundation account, bank accounts, social media, emails, and any other aspects of your online identity. In the unlikely event of survival, security personnel will be dispatched to detain you, and escort you to a secure site. You will be interrogated under truth-extracting memetic agents, then likely terminated.
CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED .
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COGNITOHAZARD LOADING… .
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COGNITOHAZARD ACTIVATED CONTINUED CONSCIOUSNESS CONFIRMED RETRIEVING FILE Welcome. Alexandria awaits.
Item #: SCP-4001 Object Class: Safe Special Containment Procedures: SCP-4001 is secured within a reinforced concrete bunker disguised as a warehouse, constructed for its concealment in the city of Alexandria, Egypt. The block surrounding the warehouse has been purchased by the Foundation, and the buildings upon them are currently rented out to a number of business and private individuals to help maintain the facade. All civilians and non- cleared staff attempting to enter the warehouse are to be turned away. All civilians and non-cleared staff found within the warehouse are to be detained, interrogated, and administered Class-C Amnestics. The use of lethal force if intruders prove non-compliant is authorised.
Multiple failsafes are built into the bunker, including automated guns, gas weaponry, collapsible floors, cognitohazard presenting screens, and a 'tombstone', a 300 tonne load of impure iron laced with thermite charges set directly over the tunnel to SCP-40011. In the event of a large hostile assault against SCP-4001, all available teams are to be deployed to defend SCP-4001. Additionally, the deployment of SCP-███, SCP-███, SCP-████, and SCP-████ to defend or recapture the premises is authorised.
Entry to SCP-4001 is restricted to Level 4 and above researchers with permission from the O5-Council. Open flames are strictly forbidden within SCP-4001, as are firearms or bladed weapons of any kind. Writing utensils of any kind may only be brought inside SCP-4001 with a majority vote by the O5-Council. Breach of these conditions could result in a CK-class restructuring scenario, or an XK-class end-of-the-world scenario.
Description: SCP-4001 consists of a tunnel, leading down to an antechamber, connecting to a staircase which descends 15 meters below ground2. The staircase emerges from a tower into a large room stacked with bookshelves3. The room does not conform to Euclidian geometry; it is possible to walk in any one direction and eventually return to the point of origin. The room is 312 meters in width, of indeterminate height4, and many hundreds of kilometers in length. Under appropriate lighting conditions or with the use of vision aids, it is possible to see oneself in the distance by looking in the appropriate direction.
The room is filled entirely by bookshelves. Each bookshelf is 2.8 meters in height and 100 meters in length, all neatly aligned with 2 meters of walkway space between shelves. An 8 meter wide main walkway originates from the staircase and runs in both directions the full length of SCP-4001, with identical modern-styled couches situated every 20 meters along the main walkway5. Every fifth bookshelf has an electric lamp installed, which are the only light sources within SCP-4001. As such, most of the space within SCP-4001 is poorly illuminated. No power source has yet been identified for the lights. The floor is covered entirely in a sturdy carpet.
Individuals standing within the room will hear steady ruffling noises, and on occasion loud thudding noises. The source of this sound is the origination of bookshelves and new books upon them, which occurs continuously without any obvious source of material6.
SCP-4001 represents the complete archive of every human life to date, and is continuously self-updating. Every human being that has ever lived has a single corresponding book within the archive, detailing all important events in their life7. As humans are born, new books corresponding to them are added to the archive. Each book is identical in size and thickness, approximately the size of a standard paperback novel, though the number of pages varies depending upon the individual's lifespan and breadth of accomplishments8. Each book is completely accurate in its contents, and thus SCP-4001 represents an unprecedented intelligence resource. Books are stored in order of individuals' births, and the spine and front cover of each book is inscribed with the name of those it refers to. Each book is written in a language which is unlike any existing language known to the Foundation, while simultaneously being completely comprehensible to any literate individual reading it. The total number of books is estimated at approximately 120 billion9.
Books can be taken from the shelves and read freely. Books can be scanned, copied and photographed without consequence. If returned to any of the shelves, the book will vanish and reappear in its original location within the archives. Any attempt to remove a book from the archives results in the book vanishing and returning to its shelf.
The contents of the books represent the absolute truth and history of the individuals contained within. Altering the contents of the books has a corresponding retrocausal effect upon reality, with memories, locations, physical structures, physical states, and even complete existences changing accordingly to alterations applied to the books.
Writing a decision, meeting, reward, change in personality, change in feeling towards individuals, change in health, method of death, or any other notable achievement or life event into a book will cause that event to transpire for the appropriate individual at the first possible opportunity.
Discovery: SCP-4001 was first encountered by Foundation staff in 18██ after it was uncovered during an archaeological dig under an old part of the city. The Foundation quickly isolated the location and administered amnestics to the archaeologists involved.
The Foundation continued to operate the dig site for a few more months, occasionally pretending to find some pottery or bones, in order to avoid drawing suspicion.
Initial forays into SCP-4001 were done cautiously, since the extent of the room was not fully understood. Once researchers realised the contents of the archive and the basic nature of the books, advance teams were sent with supplies to place flags at locations of interest, since the bookshelves are not marked nor distinguishable in any way.
Seventeen days after beginning their expedition, the first advance team encountered a living individual within SCP-4001, designated SCP-4001-110, who had survived within SCP-4001 for nearly two millenia (see Addendum 4001-1).
There are currently seven 'camps' within SCP-4001, each with its own generators, water filters, and beacons to aid in locating it, since it can take many days or even weeks to walk between camps11.
+ SCP-4001 camp locations Camp # Distance 'back' from Base Camp Persons of Interest Base Camp - New births and shelves, first humans Camp B 20 km12 First birth in year 2000 Camp C 130 km Albert Einstein Camp D 250 km Leonardo Da Vinci Camp E 430 km Charlemagne Camp F 600 km Marcus Aurelius Camp G 970 km13 Founders of Ur The oldest of books are estimated to correspond to human births dating back approximately 75,000 years14. Such books, if entitled at all, are entitled with positions within society rather than proper names, such as 'Firebringer', 'Hunter', 'Chief', 'Mother', or 'Friend-Killer'. Regardless of age, all books appear to be in the same condition as the newest of books. Analysis of the earliest of books seems to support the human population bottleneck theory15, with the vast majority of the earliest books representing individuals completely disconnected from those found in other books. As many as half of the books within the archive lack any names or titles, with many more books simply being titled 'The Baby' or 'The Infant', with the book detailing the short life of a baby who died before they could be named.
Researcher Note: Due to the exponential rate of human population growth, I am recommending we establish new camps every decade or so from this point. Otherwise, the degree of reliability in terms of delving the archives in person is liable to be compromised. Also, I'm recommending we install and maintain a small electric monorail within SCP-4001 to facilitate ease of access, or come up with some other practical method of assistance. There has to be a better way than having to ride with food and water for weeks to find one person's records.
-Dr. Lincoln Abrams, Archive Manager Addendum 4001.1: Interview Log + Access Interview Logs The following interview was conducted with SCP-4001-1, the man found living within SCP-4001. Initial processessing of SCP-4001-1 proved difficult, since he spoke no modern languages, and no Foundation staff on site could fluently speak Ancient Greek.
The interview was performed within SCP-4001, since the subject's extreme age had left him quite infirm. The interview has been translated from Ancient Greek.
Interviewer: Dr. Gabriel Koudopolis Interviewee: SCP-4001-1 [BEGIN LOG] Dr. Koudopolis: For the record, this is Dr. Gabriel Koudopolis, Foundation researcher and anthropologist, interviewing an unknown man found within SCP-4001. (switches to Ancient Greek) Greetings. My name is Philosopher Koudopolis. I'm an anthropologist. I study ancient civilisations.
SCP-4001-1: A philosophical scholar? Or a tomb robber? You know not the danger of this place, invader. If you disturb the shelves you will be cursed.
Dr. Koudopolis: A little of both, to be honest, though I am no invader, and I seemed to be fine reading the books so far. Do you have a name, SCP-4001-1?
SCP-4001-1: Why have you disturbed Alexandria? Who are you invaders with? The Romans? The Coptics? The Hebrews?
Dr. Koudopolis: I am with a group known as the Foundation. We preserve and protect unusual things. We keep them safe, and prevent them from being dangerous to mankind.
SCP-4001-1: You are not with the Roman Republic?
Dr. Koudopolis: No. The Roman Empire collapsed some fourteen hundred years ago.
SCP-4001-1: (Eyeing Dr. Koupodolis warily) Fourteen hundred years? Surely it has not been so long.
Dr. Koudopolis: How long have you been down here? Who was the last ruler?
SCP-4001-1: I do not know how long. I have not seen the Sun, or the stars since I entered. The last I remember, there was unrest about the new queen.
Cleopatra VII.
Dr. Koudopolis: Cleopatra VII? That's some nineteen hundred years.
SCP-4001-1: Nineteen hundred years? That is… unfathomable, invader.
Impossible. (SCP-4001-1 is silent for a few minutes) You say you have read from the shelves, and partaken of the sacred knowledge?
Dr. Koudopolis: Yes. I have skimmed over a few of the books. We've realised what this place is, and what it represents. The team that encountered you was searching for the book of someone famous, and planning to establish some bases in here.
SCP 4001-1: You have read the sacred texts and not been judged? Perhaps your incursion is not a violation. My name was Theopoles. I am the Watcher of Alexandria Eternal. She is the most important thing in the world.
Dr. Koudopolis: Alexandria Eternal? You mean this place?
SCP-4001-1: Yes. This is our greatest resource. A record of Eternity. All that has ever been, since the very dawn of man. A gift from the gods to us.
Dr. Koudopolis: Which gods?
SCP-4001-1: All of them. The gods of Olympus, the gods of the Nile, maybe even that god of the Hebrews.
Dr. Koudopolis: How long has it been here?
SCP-4001-1: I do not know. There were people here, watching over her when Alexander came and built his city over her. We kept ourselves hidden, and eventually had the Library built over her, an archive over an archive.
Only a few of us knew of the secret door that led down here, and we passed the knowledge on to the worthy. Not even the pharaohs knew of this place.
By the time I was born, she had taken on the name of the city she hid beneath. I do not know her true name, though I have searched long for it.
Dr. Koudopolis: How did you come to be down here?
SCP-4001-1: I took instruction under the previous Watcher after demonstrating my affinities in the library above, though I suspect that is not what you meant.
Dr. Koudopolis: No.
SCP-4001-1: The Romans came on their ships. They came and burned in their conquest, and the flames spread to the Library. I retreated within here… excuse me. I must attend to myself.
(SCP-4001-1 pauses, and pulls a scroll from within his robes, delicately unrolling the end of it. He draws a sliver of metal from within his robes, pierces the end of his right index finger, and proceeds to write a sentence in his own blood onto the scroll, before rolling it up and stowing it again.) SCP-4001-1: My apologies. Now, the flames.
Dr. Koudopolis: Sorry, but what was that you just did?
SCP-4001-1: Given myself yet another day.
Dr. Koudopolis: Another day? You can use the books to make yourself immortal?
SCP-4001-1: No. I am not immortal. When the Romans came, and the Library began to burn, I retreated within here for safety. I heard the sound of rumbling as the Library collapsed upon her, and I could not muster the strength to dig my way out. I was trapped.
Dr. Koudopolis: How did you survive? Is that scroll…?
SCP-4001-1: Mine? Yes. In the days that followed I did not lack for warmth, or for water, since we kept a few jugs down here, but I began to hunger.
Before a moon had passed, the water was drunk, and I was starving. In my desperation and delirium, I sought a way for Alexandria to save me.
Dr. Koudopolis: You used your own book.
SCP-4001-1: I travelled within, found my scroll, and wrote myself back into health. I quenched my thirst. I sated my hunger. I have used my scroll and my blood; cured every disease, every infirmity, and bought myself one day at a time ever since. Whenever I felt the void drawing me, I added another line to my compendium, to stave off the eternal rest for a little longer.
Dr. Koudopolis: How did you find the will to survive for so long?
SCP-4001-1: She needed me. She must have a Watcher. Someone who walks her aisles, who appreciates her texts, who lets her know she is loved.
She speaks to me sometimes, when I wander from the light.
Dr. Koudopolis: The Library speaks to you?
SCP-4001-1: She leaves me messages. In my scroll. Whispers to me in the dark and makes notes of her whisperings for my perusal.
Dr. Koudopolis: What does she say?
SCP-4001-1: She tells me to wait. So I have waited. I walked her, end to end, many times over. I have read accounts of lives, some simple, some glorious, some beautiful, some ugly. I have waited through the changes. All of her scrolls, bar mine, became bound tomes, then these little 'books' as you call them. Her torches and sconces turned to candles, and now to these strange oil burning 'lamps', as you call them, and her woven benches became these leather bound and pressed oddities. I waited for so long. Waiting for someone to show up and tell me my task had not been in vain. (SCP-4001-1 falls briefly silent again) Tell me, philosopher, who is the Pharaoh now?
Dr. Koudopolis: There is no pharaoh now. Cleopatra was the last before the Romans conquered Egypt. Egypt has not had a pharaoh since. The Roman Empire grew, collapsed, and out of her ashes multiple empires rose. The Spanish, the English, the Dutch, and so on.
SCP-4001-1: Are they great Empires?
Dr. Koudopolis: They are great. Though they are not good.
SCP-4001-1: I see. That is perhaps true of all empires. Even great Egypt was not a place of kindness, nor were we able to stay the advance of Rome. We were so proud in the city. Alexandria was a great city, and her Library was the envy of the world, but no-one but us understood the true greatness she hid beneath her. Perhaps if we had just… no. I have pondered that alternative many times, and it would never be what she wanted. Philosopher, what do you intend to do with this place?
Dr. Koudopolis: My task is to keep it safe. To discover its mysteries.
SCP-4001-1: To use it?
Dr. Koudopolis: Perhaps. Cautiously if we do, and only if necessary. I've already read some books, and I understand the potential.
SCP-4001-1: These empires you speak of… they must never find this place.
They would exploit her without thought.
Dr. Koudopolis: We are taking steps to ensure that it remains hidden.
SCP-4001-1: Good. Good. Philosopher, would you do me a kindness?
Dr. Koudopolis: I can make no promises.
SCP-4001-1: I would simply like to see the sky again. It has been nineteen hundred years since I have seen the stars. Nineteen hundred years since I have seen the Sun. It is eternally dark down here. There is no roof but the black void, and what light she gives us barely stretches the length of a shelf.
Dr. Koudopolis: I shall make a request to my superiors.
SCP-4001-1: Thank you… Watcher.
[END LOG] Notes: SCP-4001-1 was granted permission to leave SCP-4001. With the assistance of Dr. Koudopolis, he was taken up the stairs to the surface on a clear night. He spoke briefly with Dr. Koudopolis during his time on the surface, died shortly after sunrise, and was buried in a small grave outside the city. Dr. Koudopolis maintains that he spoke of nothing of consequence in his final hours, and has not been persuaded to divulge otherwise.
Addendum 4001.2: Testing Logs + Access Testing Logs All tests were authorised and overseen by Senior Researcher Dr. Waylon Henricks, with the assistance of Dr. Avon Travers.
Test Subject: D-0546, a healthy 35 year old male.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0546 was located. Pen was used to write the phrase "lost all hair" in the book on the last page.
Result: D-0546 started shedding their hair, becoming completely bald after 75 seconds.
Test Subject: D-0567, an incapacitated and bedridden 27 year old female, crippled 3 weeks prior to the test.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0567 was located. Pen was used to scribble out the line "back painfully broken while fleeing from SCP-████". (Line located on the last page of the book.) Result: D-0567 suffered a slight nosebleed and headache. After 150 seconds, D-0567 sat up and exited their bed. D-0567 does not remember their injury, and demonstrates ongoing symptoms of amnesia.
Test Subject: [REDACTED] Procedure: Book pertaining to [REDACTED] was located. Pen was used to write the phrase "suffered heart attack and died" in the book on the last page.
Result: [REDACTED] was reported dead in the newspapers the next day, having died of a sudden heart attack.16 Test Subject: D-0120, a healthy 22 year old male female.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0120 was located. Pen was used to amend the phrase "hearty and loud baby boy born, 8 lbs 6 oz" to "hearty and loud baby boy girl born, 8 lbs 6 oz" (Line located on the first page of the book.) Result: D-0120 suffered a severe nosebleed and headache, as did 26 Foundation staff, including all researchers involved in testing. D-0120 flickered in and out of existence briefly, their appearance shifting from that of a young man to a young woman, before stabilising and falling unconscious. D-0120 was administered first aid, and Class-A amnestics.
Notes from Dr. Henricks: D-0120 has since shown gender dysphoria, continues to identify as a male, and has requested genital reconstructive surgery.
Test Subject: D-0245, a 45 year old male with a history of sexual assault.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0245 was located. Book pertaining to one Maria Hermez (█ years of age at death) was located. Pen was used to scribble out the line "callously stalked, brutally [REDACTED] and slowly [REDACTED] Maria Hermez". (Line located on the second last page of the book.) Result: D-0245 suffered a severe nosebleed and headache, as did 7 Foundation staff, including all researchers involved in testing. D-0245 then disappeared, leaving no physical evidence behind. Both books also immediately disappeared, and returned to their places upon the shelves. Details of the books after the edit had changed. D-0245 was later tracked down and found to have died three years prior in a violent altercation.
Maria Hermez was found to have died in a car crash three days after the event originally happened.
Notes from Dr. Henricks: Her untimely death is unusual here. Possible Schmidt- Luhrmann effect17 in play?
Test Subject: Researcher Dr. Claire Williams, 32, suffering from third stage lymphoma.
Procedure: Book pertaining to Dr. Williams was located. Pen was used to write the phrase "was spontaneously cured of cancer" on the last page.
Result: Dr. Williams showed immediate signs of recovery and better health.
Notes from Dr. Henricks: Lymphoma symptoms returned 7 months later.
Test Subject: Henry Adams, a fictional man whose life story was written into a book matching the style of those found within SCP-4001.
Procedure: Book pertaining to Henry Adams was collated, then inserted onto a shelf inside SCP-4001 pertaining to the expected location for his chosen birth date. The book detailed an ordinary life, healthy constitution, complete lack of any connections to any historically, politically or culturally significant figures, and culminated in a line explaining his appearance within SCP-4001.
Result: A semi-opaque red haired man appeared in SCP-4001, showing signs of disorientation. After 3 minutes, he curled into a ball and began rocking back and forth, before vomiting blood. Meanwhile, the book placed into the shelf rapidly began adding lines, detailing multiple tumours, mass organ failure, and instances of necrosis all across his body. Henry Adams died 110 seconds later, confirmed by the line in the book "died horribly, agonisingly, and justly from his organs doing what they were always meant to".
24 hours after the book was added to the shelf, it disappeared, and has not been seen since.
Notes from Dr. Henricks: We are NOT trying that again. I am deeply wishing this place had its rules posted clearly, like every other damned library in the world. Also, are the books mocking us?
Test Subject: D-0900, a healthy 22 year old male.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0900 was located. D-0900 was given a lethal dose of morphine, and expired after 45 minutes. Immediately upon the line "died through cruel and unnecessary morphine poisoning" appearing in the book, the phrase "morphine disappeared from system, resulting in spontaneous resuscitation" was written after it.
Result: D-0900 coughed violently, and regained consciousness. D-0900 was administered Class-B amnestics. No behavioural or physiological consequences were noted, though D-0900 tested lower on cognitive tests after the experiment, possibly due to damage caused by anoxia to the brain.
Test Subject: D-0989, a 43 year old female killed in SCP-███ containment breach 3 days prior.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0989 was located. Pen was used to scribble out the line "fatally struck, torn in half, and crushed by rampaging monster". (Line located on the last page of the book.) Result: D-0989 reappeared immediately in D-class quarters. D-0989 did not respond to any questioning regarding their state of being or memories, nor did application of Class- A amnestics result in any change in demeanour. D-0989 suffered from severe headaches for 8 days afterwards, and showed moderate disorientation for a further 15 days before committing suicide. The only words spoken by D-0989 for the entirety of the time period were "send me back, let me go." Test Subject: Researcher Dr. Claire Williams, 33, suffering from second stage lymphoma.
Procedure: Book pertaining to Dr. Williams was located. Pen was used to write the phrase "was spontaneously and permanently cured of cancer and all other diseases" on the last page.
Result: Dr. Williams showed immediate signs of recovery and better health.
Notes from Dr. Travers: Dr. Williams has remained in remarkably good health for 2 years, before mild lymphoma symptoms returned. She's going to need to keep doing this, it seems.
Test Subject: D-0323, a 29 year old male killed in SCP-███ containment breach 28 days prior.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0323 was located. Pen was used to write the phrase "returned back to life" on the last page of the book.
Result: D-0323 reappeared immediately in D-class quarters, suffering from cerebral hemorrhaging. D-0323 died 13 minutes later, with such information being confirmed within their book.
Test Subject: D-0310, a 36 year old male killed in an accident during routine construction duties 2 days prior.
Procedure: Book pertaining to D-0310 was located. Pen was used to write the phrase "returned back to life in full and proper health, free from all infirmities physical, physiological and psychological" on the last page of the book.
Result: [REDACTED]18 Overseer Note: As of ██/██/████, all testing related to the resurrection of the dead through any means is strictly forbidden. For all its potential, SCP-4001 does not enable us to bring back the dead, though it can act potentially as a short term lifesaver, and a long term life extender if other options are voided. Never forget that there's limits to just how much we can mess with chronology.
- 05-9 Addendum 4001.3: Cataloging Assistance System + Access Cataloging Assistance System On ██/██/19██, a team of researchers and engineers led by Dr. Abrams completed the development of a simple AI and two corresponding robotic bodies, with the intention of compiling a complete record of the estimated 120 billion books within the archives, and making acquiring specific books from within the collection easier. Dubbed "Marvin" and "Molly" by Dr. Travers, they were originally set to the task of compiling a database by scanning every name on every book within the archives, a task they took a little over 12 years to complete19. Currently, "Molly" is permanently stationed adjacent to the Camp A boundary, adding new names to the database as they appear. "Marvin" acts as an aide to staff, and if requested for a specific book, will locate and collect the book for staff, usually within a few hours depending on the distance needing to be travelled. "Marvin" has had wings installed on his body and his programming updated to enable flight at speeds of up to 250 km/h within SCP-4001 by flying above the shelves.
Note: On ██/██/20██, staff discovered a book entitled "Marvin and Molly." After reading the book, the decision was made to temporarily remove the robots used in the Cataloging Assistance System, whereupon the book disappeared 24 hours later. The robots were returned to SCP-4001 the next week, and the book reappeared in its original position, containing the line "Marvin and Molly were returned to their true place of belonging, undoing the cruelty and callousness of their departure". The decision has been made to designate "Marvin" and "Molly" SCP-4001-2 collectively.
Researcher Note: We're a tight little group down here in the dusk. It's not hard to get lost down here, it can get pretty lonely, and we rely on those two more than we care to admit. They're very much considered a part of the team. My best guess is that Alexandria considers them honorary librarians of a sort. You feel like they almost have personalities some days.
-Dr. Avon Travers, Archivist Addendum 4001.4: Incident 4001-F + Access Incident Report On ██/██/████, [REDACTED] entered SCP-4001, and requested that "Marvin" collect a specific book for them. They had recieved appropriate clearance to enter the site, but not to perform any experimental procedures. 7 hours later, 43 other Foundation staff suffered from nosebleeds, and complained afterwards of severe headaches, prompting a response team to enter SCP-4001, whereupon [REDACTED] was found standing alone in the shelves, disoriented, with a nosebleed and a book at their feet. They were escorted from the premises and detained for questioning. The book in question referred to one "Dr. Junifer Peters", the contents detailing a number of successful missions within the Foundation and multiple promotions to the rank of [REDACTED], as well as a romance, falling out, and eventually a spiteful rivalry with [REDACTED]. The first page of the book had been torn out.
An immediate attempt to repair the book was made using materials on hand (a needle and spool of thread). The attempt was temporarily successful- an unidentified woman appeared spontaneously in Foundation headquarters, flickering in and out of visibility, and alternating between confusion and disorientation, and screaming in panic. She disappeared completely after ███ hours, and has not reappeared since.
After the event, Foundation records were searched. No documentation related to a Dr.
Junifer Peters was found, nor could any Foundation staff recall ever meeting her.
Researcher Note: A reminder that following incident SCP-4001-F, no non- archivist personnel, no matter how highly ranked, is permitted to be alone while in the archives. All it takes is one nutjob to tear out one early page and all of human history breaks.
-Dr. Lincoln Abrams, Archive Manager You have insufficient credentials to access further addenda.
Please enter Level 5 Security Credentials to proceed.
ENTER LEVEL 5 SECURITY CREDENTIALS HERE Addendum 4001.5: On ██/██/████, clearance was granted by a vote of the 05-Council for an attempt to explore below the floor of SCP-4001. Carpet knives, axes and a jackhammer were brought inside SCP-4001 under careful supervision of the archivists, and a patch of carpet measuring 1m x 1m was cut from the floor near Base Camp. The carpet was raised without difficulty, revealing a concrete floor covered in a layer of ash.
Under the advice of Archive Manager Lincoln Abrams, the ash was sampled, the carpet was replaced, and the exploration attempt was aborted.
Subsequent carbon dating of the ash suggests it to be between 70,000 and 80,000 years old, and spectrometric analysis of the ash suggests it resulted from the burning of wood and paper. Further testing performed at randomly selected locations within SCP-4001 suggest that the ash is located beneath most, if not all, of the flooring of SCP-4001. No records within Foundation archives or SCP-4001 itself describe a major combustion event within SCP-4001.
Researcher Note: I've spent more than half my life down here in these shelves and will likely spend the rest of it in here as well, as did my dozen-or- so predecessors. I've always been aware that within here lies both potentially the greatest tool for the Foundation's success, and the greatest weapon for the destruction of humanity, as has everyone else who has stepped into these hallowed halls.
Old libraries tend to develop personalities of a sort. Inviting and cozy, majestic and regal, aged and dusty; you must know of what I speak. This one, though, is unique. It has power, and it doesn't let you forget that. It permits us to fiddle with some of its rules, while harshly reminding us when we step out of line. Anyone who reads any of these magnificent volumes can't help but realise that the Library has a personality of its own, and passes its own judgments upon the actions of those whose lives are interred within.
Waylon, after you went and did all of those experiments, where you pulled those books from their shelves and wrote all over them to mess with the lives of those beneath you, I went and had a look at your book. I saw what the Library wrote about your actions. I saw how it expressed its disdain for your attempts to play God, to rewrite reality to our will. I saw its disgust for all of your sins. Yes Waylon, I now know every dirty little thing you've done, but more importantly, so does this place. It considers you arrogant, and it looks down upon you, with far more disdain than I could ever muster.
Yes, I've read my own book too. And Avon's. And the book of nearly everyone who has worked down here. On the whole, I consider the plentiful judgment levied upon myself and the rest of us fair. The Library judges not just actions, but intentions, and it knows intimately how much the rest of us care for it, and how much we've tried to ensure it isn't abused.
Never forget that this place is permitting us to be here, and never forget to respect it. Lest Alexandria could doom us all.
-Dr. Lincoln Abrams, Archive Manager, Watcher of Alexandria Eternal Footnotes 1. As a last resort, detonating the charges would flood and seal the tunnel with molten iron, severely delaying access to SCP-4001 and allowing response teams time to assault and recapture the location. In extreme cases, the load of iron would also serve to protect SCP-4001 from damage if a nuclear detonation over the location becomes a tactical necessity.
2. Titanium/tungsten security doors have since been constructed within the antechamber.
3. Attempts to dig into SCP-4001 from outside have resulted in digging past its expected location, indicating that SCP-4001 exists within an extra-dimensional space. The tower itself terminates 12 metres above the ground, rather than appearing to connect to any roof.
4. While SCP-4001 lacks a roof and has plentiful space above the shelves, the non- Euclidian geometry means that it is impossible to ascend to a height greater than 25 meters above the floor, with further attempts to increase in altitude resulting in remaining at the same height.
5. The repetitive nature of the geography means it can be easy to lose one's location within SCP-4001. The only otherwise distinct structure within SCP-4001 is the tower from which the stair descends.
6. New shelves appear at an approximate rate of one every 16 hours, with several new books appearing each second.
7. This includes human-born SCP instances, though no book pertaining to a non-human being has yet been located, with the exception of SCP-4001-2.
8. The exact dimensions of every book, regardless of number of pages, is 12 cm x 20 cm x 2 cm.
9. Each bookshelf is double sided, each side holding 8 rows of 5,000 books, for a total of 80,000 books per shelf. SCP-4001 stores three shelves in a line before returning to the same point, thus keeping some 240,000 books per walkway. At 2.5 meters from one walkway to the next, one thus passes almost one million books for every 10 meters one walks along SCP-4001, or 100 million per kilometer. At last estimate, SCP-4001 is well over 1000 kilometers in length.
10. The individual referred to himself as the 'Watcher of Alexandria Eternal'.
11. It is highly recommended that any attempts to foray within SCP-4001 are done by bicycle, with supplies of food, water, and backup sources of electricity, though the ambient temperature and lack of humidity means that heat sources are unnecessary.
12. Due to the continuous expansion of shelves into the intervening space, these values are steadily increasing 13. If walking 'forward' from Base Camp to G, the distance is approximately 200 km.
14. None of the books contain reference to dates, with very few referencing named locations, making identification of specific locations or time periods difficult.
15. Around 75,000 BC, the Toba Supervolcano in Indonesia erupted, with severe impacts on global climate. The theory states that this had a catastrophic impact on the burgeoning proto-human population. Genetic analyses suggest the human population fell as low as 5000 breeding individuals in the few millennia following the eruption, with modern humanity showing unusually low genetic diversity as a consequence. No other possible cause for the bottleneck has been identified.
16. Archive Manager Abrams explicitly forbade the use of SCP-4001 to terminate life after this test. Dr. Henricks was admonished and disciplined, and required to submit all experimentation methodology to approval before continuing experimentation.
17. The Schmidt-Luhrmann effect is the tendency of retrocausally altered timelines to replicate events from the original timeline far more closely than would otherwise be expected under the Butterfly effect, presumably to avoid catastrophic chronological paradoxes.
18. As a consequence of the damages sustained at Site-85 resulting from the experiment, Dr. Henricks was demoted and removed from duty at SCP-4001.
19. As well as collating data on every book, the Cataloging Assistance AI also located three skeletons (two human, one equine) deep within SCP-4001, some 38 kilometers past Camp C. Initial teams seem to have missed the skeletons, presumably since they were located in the dark areas of shelving. Based upon clothing and analysis of their supplies, they entered SCP-4001 some time in the fourth century BCE.
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