Afterschool Retention

Item #: SCP-026

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-026 is to remain securely locked and boarded up at all times when there is no research ongoing. Alarms are set to alert the Foundation in case of entry by civilians or other agencies.

Description: SCP-026 is a three (3) story public school building built in ████. It has two (2) wings connected to a central foyer. It was declared condemned in ████ after it was found the floor plan didn't match up to the building's blueprints (see Interview Log 026-01). It came to the Foundation's attention after several disappearances in the area were linked to visits to the abandoned building.

The building demonstrates spatial anomalies. Its internal space is much greater than the external surface of the building would allow. Hallways display variable length, while stairways have differing numbers of steps going up or down. The number of rooms off the hallways changes each time they are counted. Attempts to reach the far ends of the hallways have met with failure thus far. Entrance through the fire escapes located at the ends of the hallways leads to doors approximately midway down the length of the halls.

EDIT: See Note 026-A

There is considerable graffiti on the interior walls of the school. Most appears typical, including gang signs, names, and street art. However, the graffiti fades and reappears, changing location. Writing on chalkboards and bulletin boards changes in a similar fashion. Subjects typically found range from standard school subjects (mathematics, literature, biology), to more esoteric subjects, such as quantum entanglement, ████████, and eugenics. One researcher reported one board detailing information about SCP-████, but photographic evidence showed only a blank slate (See Note 026-B). The phrase "The children used to sing" has appeared multiple times in various places throughout the building, but there is currently no explanation for its significance.

A number of unconscious subjects have been found in the building, mostly of high school age, ranging from twelve to eighteen. They are dressed in accordance to the school's dress code, circa ████. Several have been identified as former students or faculty of the school who disappeared after the school shut down (in at least one case, more than ten years after the closure). It is currently unknown how they were transported back into SCP-026. (See Note 026-C)

All attempts to wake the subjects while inside the building have failed. On being removed from the grounds of SCP-026, the subjects wake abruptly. They experience a period of confusion, before dying from extremely rapid dehydration, followed by advanced decomposition. No useful intelligence has been recovered from the subjects to date.

The inability to wake subjects extends to those who fall asleep on the grounds of SCP-026, though the rapid dehydration only seems to affect those who have been found on the grounds of the school. See Incident Report 026-12.

Note 026-A: Robotic exploration and video feeds have shown that the apparent spatial anomalies are caused by changes in the perceptions of observers, rather than actual spatial phenomena. For this reason, SCP-026 does not require the expertise of Mobile Task Force Rho-8 "Roadside Picnickers" at this time.

UPDATE: Further exploration has shown that some spatial phenomena do occur. See the Exploration Logs for more details.

Note 026-B: The contents of notepads, books, and pieces of paper have been observed to disappear, only to reappear on surfaces within SCP-026. New writings have appeared, mostly drawn from graffiti or text-books. Caution should be exercised in bringing documents onto the grounds of SCP-026.

Note 026-C: Several class D personnel exposed to SCP-026 have disappeared from Foundation control, only to reappear inside the anomalous building. The subjects in question had previously complained of dreams identical to those experienced by Agent Malek.

UPDATE: See Interview Log 026-08.

Incident Report 026-12

During a routine security check of SCP-026, Agent Malek was found unconscious by his partner, Agent Jones, in the main foyer. Initial attempts at rousing Agent Malek were ineffective, so he was moved for transportation to Site ██. Upon leaving the grounds of SCP-026, he woke abruptly in a state of agitation. When questioned, he revealed that he had been dreaming of a classroom setting. This dream has been consistent throughout all subjects who have fallen asleep within the grounds of SCP-026.

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Exploration Logs:

Exploration Log 026-4

Exploration conducted by Agent ███████

"All right, I'm walking into the lobby. Walls are mostly bare concrete, a little paint here and there. Graffiti everywhere. A few beer bottles, some other trash. Looks like just another abandoned building.

"Okay, I'm making my way up the stairs. More graffiti on the walls. Okay, I'm going into the hallway. The peeling paint is kind of creepy. Looks like some sort of sheet fungus. Reminds me of [REDACTED]. The doors are kind of weird. Some are really close, others are far. Really irregular spacing. Doesn't match up with the blueprint you showed me. Okay, here's a classroom. Pretty empty. Some old desks. Real old, like they had in the thirties. The chalkboard's got a few math problems on it. Looks like trig. Okay, I'm going to check out another room.

"Back in the hallway. Heading to the next room. Desks look more modern in this room. Made from particle board. More posters here. Look to be from the eighties, I'd say. I recognize some of them from when I was a kid. Looks like Latin on the chalkboard. Yes, I'm taking pictures.

"Okay, back in the hallway. Heading to the next room.

[Several minutes of silence]

"There's something really screwy with this place. I could swear the room was just a few feet away, but it feels like I've been walking for hours. Anyway, I'm here.

"We've got sleepers. Three of them, two girls and a boy. They look to be around fourteen, fifteen. They're all wearing the same uniform. Yeah, just like you showed me. Hang on a minute while I take some pictures. At least we can figure out who they are.

"The furniture's pretty old looking, what's left of it. Lot of broken chairs and desks. Nothing on the walls. Chalkboard's… The hell?

"You're not going to believe this, ████. It's got Agent █████████'s notes up there. In her handwriting, even. We're going to have to be really careful what we bring in here.

"Yeah, I've got pictures, don't worry. Okay, I'm going to check one more room, and then I'm out.

"Back in the hallway now. Heading for the next room.

"Another anomaly. I've been going the same direction this entire time, but I'm back at the stairs. Yeah, I'm just going to head down. I've had enough of this place for one day. I'll meet you at the door."

The developed photos revealed [REDACTED]

Exploration Log 026-12

Carried out remotely using a robotic drone via video feed. Exploring the first floor hallway.

The hallway appeared in poor condition, with graffiti on the walls. Comparison with previous videos shows the graffiti has changed. Many of the same signs were present, but in different positions. Some seemed new.

Doors were uniformly spaced on the wall. Some were intact, while others were cracked or missing entirely.

First room in the hallway was the girl's bathroom. More graffiti on the walls. Several broken mirrors. A toilet had been removed from the wall entirely and placed in the center of the room. There was a great deal of porcelain and glass on the floor.

The next room over was the boy's bathroom. This was skipped in favor of exploring the classrooms.

The first classroom had no furniture. The chalkboard was broken in two. On one side of the board, there was a set of lines reading "I will not pass notes during cla (sic)." The other side had fragments of a lesson on [REDACTED]. There was one poster on the wall, depicting Helen Keller.

The second classroom was well furnished, with the largest number of intact desks to date, mostly made from wood and steel in a style used in the 1950's. There were two sleepers found that had not been reported in previous sweeps of the building. The first was a male teenager in a student's desk. Comparison with File 026-04 revealed him to be ██████ ███, a former student of the school. He was reported missing ten years after the school closed down, at age twenty-eight. The other was a woman in her mid-thirties sitting behind the teacher's desk. Her identity is still unknown. The chalkboard had a timeline of World War 2, overlaid with an intricate piece of graffiti.

The third classroom had fifteen particle-board desks in various states of disrepair. A map on the back wall was consistent with the sociopolitical conditions of 1974. A bookshelf had collapsed, and spilled a set of encyclopedias onto the floor.

The robot was then guided to the end of the hallway and back to the entrance. There was no sign of spatial anomalies at this time.

Exploration Log 026-15

Exploration conducted by Agent █████, accompanied by a robotic drone.

"Okay, I'm in. Lobby looks like it always does. Probably some graffiti drift. Here comes the robot."

The lobby was compared to previous videos. Some differences in the graffiti were noted. Otherwise, no significant changes.

"I'm heading upstairs now. Goddamn, the robot's heavy. How much crap did you load on it? You could've warned me. Gonna rest a second on the second landing. Video coming in all right? Cool, cool."

First set of stairs was navigated without trouble. The second floor hallway appeared similar to the first floor hallway, though with less debris.

"I've caught my breath. Heading up to the third floor. Wish there was a guard rail… Next time, it might be easier to carry the robot and the gear separately, and load it in once it's up. The gear's pretty idiot proof. I think I could probably figure it out. Damn thing must weigh over a hundred pounds. There, on the third floor now. I count… twelve doors. Weird spacing. That last door's got to be at least a hundred yards down. This place is pretty messed up."

Rangefinder showed the hallway was approximately forty-five meters long. Five doors on each side, evenly spaced, with one more door at the end of the hall. Eleven total.

"I'm heading in. There's not as much graffiti up here. A bit of debris. I'm opening one of the doors. Janitor's closet, and, hey, we've got a janitor. He's sleeping standing up. That's new. Male, seems to be in his mid-fifties. Nametag says '███████.' A couple old broomsticks, what's left of a mop… Looks like rats have been nesting in here. They've shredded one of his pantlegs, but looks like they didn't touch the sleeper himself. What? You want samples? Eh, sure. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've picked up for this job. Okay, I think that's it."

Comparison with File 026-4 revealed the sleeper to be ████ ████████, former janitor in SCP-026. Later analysis of the rat feces revealed [REDACTED]. Recommended future exploration teams wear biohazard gear.

"Here's a classroom. No, no sleepers. Couple of desks intact, the rest looks pretty bad. Looks like someone took a sledgehammer to the place. No, wait, I stand corrected. Baseball bat. It's leaning against the corner. There's about half a case of beer here, full cans. Looks like they left in a hurry. Hey, get the robot to face the board. There's something I want you to see. Looks like Latin to me. Could be significant. Get someone to translate it, it might be a clue to what's gone down here."

The Latin was found to be a series of sentences showing different conjugations of the verb Vendere, to sell. All were found in ███████'s Latin Primer, a textbook formerly used by the school. The baseball bat was aluminum, and analysis of the fingerprints was inconclusive.

"Okay, next classroom. Desks look fairly modern. Eighties, I'd guess. Chalkboard's got a quote from Nicholas Nickleby on it. Yes, I'm sure. It says right there on the board. 'The sun does not shine upon this fair earth to meet frowning eyes, depend upon it.' Nicholas Nickleby, by Charles Dickens. There's an apple on the desk. Looks fresh. I'm tossing it into the drone. Okay, I'm looking out the window. Hey, are you guys still out there? Because I see kids in the schoolyard. I don't see the van, or any of you. Yeah, second classroom on the right. You see me? Weird."

The apple appeared fresh on the video feed. However, when removed from the samples bin, it was in an advanced state of decomposition. The drone's feed through the window showed the Foundation van on the ground, and the research team looking up at the window. No children were seen in the schoolyard.

"Okay, you want me to head down the hallway? All right. Let's see if I actually make it this time. Not holding out any hopes. Walking forward. It looks ten feet to the next door, which would actually put it in the last room, but who's counting?

"I'm still here. It's just farther than it looks. Feels like I've been walking at least a couple of hours. I'm almost there. I'm just going to take a breather. I—Okay, this is wrong. I've stopped moving, but now I'm going backwards. The hallway's moving past me. Shit, I just saw the door move past me. I'm moving forward again. That's better.

"Okay, I'm almost there. One last dash and I should make it. And I'm back with the robot. I knew it wasn't going to work. There's no way to get there, I'm telling you."

The video feed showed the next door was thirty feet away. The total elapsed time from one door to the next was five minutes, in which time Agent █████ meandered toward the end of the hallway. No anomalous activity was observed while he was standing still. When he neared the end of the hallway, Agent █████ turned around and quickly returned to the beginning of the hallway.

"Okay, I hear you. I've got my eyes closed. I'm walking forward. Left, got it. Going straight. Correcting left again. Correcting right now. Okay, this is going a lot faster. Okay, correcting right. Yes, right, I heard you. Goddamnit, I am going right! Okay, left. No it is not the same direction! Look, if you think it's that easy, just send the robot in."

The robot was able to reach the end of the hallway with no problems. Agent █████ attempted to follow, but was unable to keep a straight line to the end of the hallway.

"Just go ahead and send the bot in. I'm not going to try again until we have a better idea what's in there. Something's keeping me out of there. We should figure out what it is before anything else. Look, if you want to know that badly, go yourself or request some Class Ds. I'm not going in. Deal with it."

At this point the robot opened the door and crossed the threshold into another hallway, running perpendicular to the first, thirty meters in length. No doors were visible. A single window was observed but was situated too high for the view outside to be visible. The walls were free of graffiti. The left was a dead-end, while the right terminated in a left-hand turn. The robot turned right into the new hallway. After ten meters, the unit's GPS showed it to be outside the building, though the video feed still showed the hallway. It continued to the end of the hallway, and turned left. Agent █████ was just ahead, at the beginning of the original hallway. Turning the camera behind the robot showed only the stairwell, with no sign of the second hallway. The unit's GPS showed it by Agent █████'s position at this time.

"I see another classroom. I don't see the robot, though. I lost track after it went through the door. What do you mean it's outside? Did it go out through the window? Look, maybe the GPS is screwy. Calm down. What do you mean turn around? What the hell am I—Oh, fuck! Okay, that's enough. I'm calling it off for the day. We can come back after we get some Class Ds in here."

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Interview Log 026-08:

Dr. █████: "Please have a seat."

Agent Walker: "Thank you."

Dr. █████: "Let's get down to business. I understand you're requesting a transfer out of fieldwork. Would you like to talk about that?"

Agent Walker: "I'd rather not."

Dr. █████: "It's your choice. However, I can't approve a transfer without reason."

Agent Walker: "Look, I…" The agent paused here. "You've seen my record. You know I worked on twenty-six, right?"

Dr. █████: "I've read the report."

Agent Walker: "I was there the first time we took one of the sleepers out. A lot of them were adults when they disappeared, but they're kids again when we find them. So, I see this sixteen-year-old boy just kind of shrivel away. I had nightmares that night."

Dr. █████: "You're supposed to report any unusual dreams after contacting a potentially mind-altering phenomenon."

Agent Walker: "It hadn't been declared a mindscrew yet. We just thought it was a weird space thing. We were just watching it until the Picnickers got there. And it was a shock, you know? We weren't expecting anything like that. Anyway, I got over it quick enough. I'd seen worse. I once had a guy melt while I was holding onto him."

Dr. █████: "I see. What happened next?"

Agent Walker: "Nothing, for a while. I went in a couple of times, but didn't see anything too weird. But… Look, I know I should have reported it. But one of my buddies had just been disappeared after getting touched by some weird scip, and I didn't want it to happen to me."

Dr. █████: "You've been affected by an SCP?"

Agent Walker: "I… Yeah. It was a week later. I was dozing in the back of the van, and I started dreaming."

Dr. █████: "Can you describe this dream?"

Agent Walker: "Just like the others. You've read the reports, right?"

Dr. █████: "Pretend that I haven't. For the record, Agent Walker."

Agent Walker: "All right. I'm in a classroom. It's just like one of the ones in 026, but new. Not falling apart. I knew the teacher's name. I knew who was sitting by me, even though I'd never seen most of them before. The bell started ringing, but no one moved. I raised my hand, but the teacher didn't notice. Finally, I tried to leave, but the door wouldn't open. Then I noticed something strange with my hand. It had color. Everything else was black and white. But I felt like I was the one who was… wrong? Out of place? That's when I woke up. The van was leaving. No one else noticed I'd been asleep."

Dr. █████: "And you didn't think to report this?"

Agent Walker: "Like I said, I was scared. And this was before they found Malek. I figured it was just another nightmare. Nothing weird. And after Malek had his dream, well, they didn't do anything with him, so I figured it wasn't a big deal."

Dr. █████: "He was put on observation. You should have been as well, for your own safety and for the safety of others."

Agent Walker: "You paper-pushers think it's all so easy, don't you? Sitting behind a desk all day, you don't know what it's like. Well, things aren't so clear out there. Not when you're the one hunting talking cats in a sewer, or waiting to see if you're the one who's not going to come back this time."

Agent Walker was visibly distressed. It was several minutes before she calmed down enough to continue the interview.

Agent Walker: "Anyway, it wasn't until later that we connected the dreams with the sleepers. Not until they found those Class Ds on the second floor. Still, I thought I might be okay. I wasn't actually inside of twenty-six when I dreamed. I wasn't sure until the dreams started."

Dr. █████: "You're having reoccurances?"

Agent Walker: "Yeah. They started six months ago. It's the same dream. But each time, it takes me a little longer to notice it isn't real. And when I look at my hands, they're a little more gray."

End interview 026-31

Note: Agent Walker has since been given a Class A Amnesiac and returned to field work.