Doctor D. Sat at his desk as he went over his reports. He sipped from a cup of coffee as his mind trailed on the things he had seen in just a day. A book that caused diseases, a statue that moved when you don't look at it, and a key that opens any door up, but whatever door it opens, opens up into a forest.
He was sure by now he had seen it all. For the guy who knows everything, he doesn't know about this, much less seen what he's seen.
That all changed on October fifth.
"ATTENTION. DOCTOR D. PLEASE REPORT TO: SHUTTLE 1-6-7-8 IMMEADIETLEY." The intercom said, Doctor D got up from his chair and walked over to the door where he punched in his passcode. He made his way down a hall. A man walked up next to him.
"Doctor D? Command wants you to know that the reform on the treatment of Class D's is being evaluated." He said.
"Good. Thank you, Franklin."
"Oh- Doctor Maynard wanted me to let you know- since you've been such a big help, Command is letting you have unrestricted Access to SCP-914. You'll also be allowed to perform tests on SCP-860." Doctor D. Looked extremely surprised at this.
"Really? Wow! I mean, I may have done a few things to help out and all, but, wow!"
"You still need to follow the safety protocols, though. We don't want a repeat of the Spider and Steel wire incident like last time..." The two shuddered.
"Don't remind me. The cleanup crew spent hours getting rid of that nightmarish mess..." Doctor D. Said.
"And- also, you'll need to take a weapon with you inside of 860-1." The man said.
"Okay. I'm surprised you've vouched for me this much. I would've never gotten all these cool privileges if it weren't for you Franklin. Thanks." Doctor D. Said.
"ATTENTION. SECURITY CHIEF FRANKLIN- PLEASE REPORT TO: CONTAINMENT CHAMBER 1-7-3." The loudspeaker boomed.
"Oh, shoot, I need to get going- see ya' D!" Franklin said, and he ran off.
Doctor D. scratched his head, and began to walk towards the shuttle area.
Doctor D. boarded the shuttle and it took off like a rocket. He watched as the mountains sped by. He looked over towards one of the researchers.
"Nice frickin' site, huh?" The researcher complained.
"Yeah, I know! I got lost no less then nine times just trying to find my office!" Another said. Doctor D. did a face-palm.
New researchers... jeeze. He thought.
The shuttle skidded to a stop.
"Well, we're here, London. Just follow your GPS and you'll find the door leading to the stairwell- it'll take you straight to 1678." Doctor D. got off of the shuttle, and the shuttle took off.
Alone in the streets of London. Felt appropriate somehow. He sat at the corner of the street, and looked down the cobblestone road. A train rolled by.
Strange... to think, I'm sitting on top of another city... He thought. He stood up and began to follow his GPS.
After what seemed like hours descending down the stairwell, he finally reached the bottom. He opened the large door with his key card, and it opened up into a huge city. An audio recording played.
"My fellow citizen. If you are hearing this tape, then the world as we knew it has finished. The sky has broken, the ground heaves with the tramp of terrible feet, and all the horror and madness from the dark corners of the world has broken free to exact its vengeance on the world of Man. Those who sought to contain them are killed or scattered, and we so on learnt that to attempt to fight these creatures is almost invariably to face one’s death. Countless billions have been slaughtered in their attempt to sate their endless appetite for death, and there is nothing-was nothing- we could do to stop them. Evil has raised its bloody flag upon all nations of the world and crowed its unholy victory to the broken sky. Yes, this is the end."
He stood there waiting for the other researchers to come and get him, listening intently to the audio recording.
"But there is a new hope. Welcome to UnLondon, a city of the survivors, a city of the free. Together, fellow citizen, we will wait and prepare for the new beginning, the grand new world that is soon to come. Let the world above burn. We will endure. Let the monsters have their world. We will prepare. And let the ground tremble with a new Armageddon, as evil consumes itself, for I tell you, citizen, upon the day of the ruination of Man, their insatiable appetites will turn them against one another in their endless lust for death. We will wait."
"And I tell you, citizen, that there will be a new morning. And you will emerge from UnLondon, and stand blinking in the sun, as our children play and laugh in the bones of horrors long dead. And you will walk, hand in hand, to the sea, our faces skywards, as the rising sun ushers in the new age of Man. And you will gather, citizen, at my feet as I summon UnLondon from its rest, and it shall burst, phoenix-like, from the ashes of the old. And on that day, citizen, there shall be a new order, as we raise the Union Flag over the entire world."
"I welcome you to UnLondon, the Last City. And the first."
How poetic. He thought.
"Yo, Doctor D!" A voice called, a researcher ran up to him.
"We were wondering when you'd show up! Come on! Their waiting for you!" The man said, Doctor D. Followed him.
"-and this is where you will be staying." The researcher said, he opened the door to reveal a small room. They were inside the SCP-1678 version of a popular hotel (who's name escaped Doctor D.'s memory), and, like all the others, it was Victorian styled in architecture.
"You removed all of the bunk beds." Doctor D. remarked.
"Well, we're not exactly having an end-of-the-world event right at the moment, so, there was really no point." the researcher said, Doctor D. nodded his head.
"Fair enough." He answered, the gas-lit lamp on the wall lit up.
"Tomorrow we start our work- you'll be exploring the areas furthest from the epicenter. Think you can handle it?" The researcher asked.
"Yeah. I'll be fine. I can outrun the Bobbies." He answered, the door shut behind him. Doctor D. then walked past his bed to where an oak desk stood. He sat down in the chair, and rested. He looked out the window, and realized he was staring at the 'UnLondon' version of the intersection he was sitting at earlier.
He leaned back in his chair, and opened up his laptop. He opened up Skype, and called his home.
"Daddy?" A girl's voice asked, then, he was greeted by his 9-year-old daughter's face.
"Salina?" Doctor D. asked.
"Where are you Daddy? You said we would go to the theme park today!" She said.
"I'm sorry, baby, but Daddy has to stay at work for a little while. I'll take you to the theme park when I get home, okay?" He asked, the girl looked disappointed.
"Okay..."
"How are you doing in school?" He asked.
"Those boys are still bullying me..." She said, Doctor D. raised his eyebrow.
"You need to tell the teacher." The girl nodded.
"Honey?" A women's voice called.
"Uh-oh! Gotta' go- aunt Maria's here!" She said.
"Okay. Call you in the morning." He answered, and the video cut out, he began to reminisce about his past... before tragedy struck the family.
Ever since his wife had died, things hadn't been the same. His daughter wasn't as peppy as she used to be- and things seemed to only to be getting worse. It seemed as if she was being bullied over her mother being dead- what was the point, really? Why would kids bully you over your mother dying? That's just sadistic. He didn't care if the other kids were only ten, that was still sadistic.
And that was the very reason he had been working harder at the foundation- his daughter's life was messed up enough, she didn't have to put up with being in a life threating situation from time to time- he did that for her. He worked at the foundation so he could help support the cause of letting society live in a sane, normal world.
He couldn't bare the thought of putting his child's life in danger- she was all he had left in the world. That's why he worked so hard- the rest of the world could burn for all he cared... but not his child. She meant the world to him. She was all he had left. He worked so hard to keep her safe. So his daughter could live in a sane world. Nothing else really mattered to him.
He was interrupted by the sound of an audio recording playing.
"It is eight o' clock. All is Well."
Someone knocked at the door.
"Lights out, Doctor D!" A voice called.
"Got it." He called back, he closed his laptop, got up, and walked over to his bed. He laid down, and laid his head on the pillow. He shut his eyes and began to drift to sleep.
He was shaken awake by a loud, booming sound.
"Police! Halt, Criminal!" Several gunfire sounds were sounded.
He shot up in his bed, and the researcher from earlier ran in.
"Doctor D...! The bobbies are here- you need to get out of here!"
"I thought they stopped attacking us!"
"Well, it turns out they didn't. Come on! Get to the ATV's!" He said, a Molotov cocktail could be heard shattering against the street.
"What are you waiting for!? Let's get out of here!" The researcher urged, the two researchers ran towards the parked ATV's and jumped on them, they turned the keys, and began to make a break for the nearby intersection.
"Police! Don't run!" The loudspeaker boomed, the two turned their heads to see four instances of 1678-a running towards them, and they were closing in.
"What do we do now?" Doctor D. asked.
"Split up- we'll give them multiple targets! Use one of the emergency flares to signal where you are- I'll get the Mobile task force to pick us up!" The researcher answered, he then sped off. Doctor D turned right and began to make his way down the road.
He had been going for a few miles before he stopped and got off. If he went any further, the MTF wouldn't be able to help him- he was at the furthest allowed distance from the foundation held area.
He took the key out of the ATV and walked up the stairs on the porch of one of the houses. He opened the door carefully, drawing a pocket knife and putting it in front of him, he was relieved to find that the 'Policemen' weren't there.
He closed the door behind him softly, and found that the interior of this house was different then the others he had seen- most had closely grouped steel bunk beds, this one on the other hand, had more furniture, much more like a traditional Victorian styled house. The one thing that struck him has odd was that, normally at this distance from what researchers call the 'epicenter', houses to this quality and flawlessness were practically non-existent.... much less have a door...
He turned around, yep. Right across the street, all the modular houses had neither windows nor doors. He was in one of the rare houses in 1678.
He walked into what seemed to be the living room of the house, and was pleased to find two fluffy couches, and many furnishings which reminded him of his home. The lights were shaped like flowers, and it brought a smile to his face.
He sat down in an armchair at the corner, and looked out the window.
"...Mmmrrgghh..." He shot up upon hearing the noise. It sounded like it was coming from down the hall. He drew his knife out, if it were anything less then one of the 'policemen' he would stand a chance...
He slowly tip-toed down the hall to where the noise was coming from. He slowly felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck, the noises sounded human... but that couldn't be- 1678 was supposed to be uninhabited... wasn't it?
Please don't be a Bobby... Please don't be a Bobby... he thought, he pushed the door open- their, sleeping on a large queen sized bed were six breathing... sleeping... alive... multicolored and...
...Outright adorable... equine-like creatures... Which looked eerily familiar.
"Jesus Christ..." Doctor D. whispered, one of them visibly flinched- the one with the rainbow-colored and blue coat jerked her head towards him, her big eyes confirmed the Doctor's suspicions... they were from the same cartoon his daughter and him watched.
He felt his jaw begin to slowly drop, but then, the one that had heard him, screamed.
"G-get away from me!" She shouted, obviously terrified. The other five promptly woke and had an even worse reaction.
"Woah! What the hay are you!?" The orange one shouted, they all quickly scurried over to the corner opposite to Doctor D.
At this point, he came to his senses- barely.
"What are you!?" The purple one quivered, Doctor D. thought rapidly as to what to do, but the very fact that six cartoon characters were in front of him made it hard for his brain to work properly, then, he knew what to do. He tried to put on as professional of a look as possible, and spoke.
"I... I mean you no harm." He said, the six's eyes went wide, then, each in turn, feinted.
He still couldn't rap his finger around how screwed up he felt. He walked over towards them and touched them just to make sure he wasn't going nuts... sure enough, they were real as he was.
Instinctively, he reached down to find his radio transmitter, he pressed the 'transmit' button.
"R-researcher Doctor D. t-to epsilon s-six... Anomalous species discovered inside SCP-1678, their sentient! I need a pickup crew A.S.A.P.!" He said.
"Epsilon 6-4 to Researcher Doctor D. Your request is acknowledged, use a signaling flare and we will be there as soon as possible!" A voice said.
He ran outside and set the flare on the ground, pulled the pin out, and a blue laser beam could be seen from miles away.
He stood back and ran back inside to check on the equines... he found they were just waking up. They flinched when they saw him.
"W-who... I-I mean... w-what are you!?" The purple one asked.
Despite the circumstances, inside, he was geeking out, he just didn't show it. Despite their show being for girls, he always liked the six. The one he was talking to, if it was the same one, was named Twilight Sparkle. An outgoing librarian recently given princess statues, and an intelligent one at that.
The others? Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and, unmistakably, Applejack.
"My name is Doctor D. I'm a... human." He answered, Twilight looked confused at this.
"Y-you can... talk?" She asked.
"Why yes, good miss." He answered, she approached him slowly.
"Do not be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you." He said, she walked up to him, and seemed to be looking him over.
"Uuuumm... what is the matter?" he asked.
"O-oh, I'm sorry that was rude of me... it's just... we've never seen something like you before." She remarked.
"The same with you, miss."
"I'm... Twilight." She said.
"I know who you are." He remarked.
"Huh?" She asked, she looked very nervous at this.
Ooops. He was about to explain himself when he heard the door bust open.
"MTF! Turn around slowly!" A man's voice said.
"Darian, it's me, you idiot." Doctor D. said.
"O-oh... sorry." Doctor D. turned around after he heard the distinctive click of a gun being disarmed.
Darian ran up to him.
"So, D, where's the new speci-" He stopped when he saw Twilight sitting on the bed.
"...Holy crap." He remarked.
"Get Doctor Maynard on the line, this is urgent." Doctor D. Said. Darian snapped out of his stupor and ran back towards the MTF vehicle as fast as he could.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked.
"You need to come with us." Doctor D. said, and he motioned towards the other five to follow him, cautiously, they followed.
He was still wrapping his head around what the hell was going on. They're... six cartoon characters... they're here.... they're... real?
This tops SCP-294 by a long shot... He thought.
