The screen brightened once more, revealing a group of agents gathered outside a standard containment chamber.
Leading them was Dr. Clef, his expression one of palpable disinterest. He glanced down at the two recruits—both barely waist-high—and spoke sternly:
"Your mission is to determine SCP-1762's anomalous properties and the nature of SCP-1762-2."
"You mean the paper dragons?" Jade blurted out excitedly.
Clef rolled his eyes. "Call them whatever. Just get in there."
Click.
The containment door slid open.
Inside, at the center of the room, sat a silver-painted cardboard box—roughly the size of a shoebox. The words "Here Be Dragons" were scrawled messily across its lid in black marker.
Jade and Conan approached eagerly while the other agents lingered behind.
"Since containment, it's only activated once," Clef explained, pulling out a note. "The dragons flew out, played around, then returned—leaving this."
Conan took the note. Its contents flashed on-screen:
[You found us. Thank you.]
[After so long, we meet again, friends.]
The audience was baffled.
"Paper dragons… can communicate?" Conan muttered.
Deadpool scoffed. "I bet the kid who made this was twelve."
"Why twelve?" Zhang Chulan asked.
"Because no adult would do something this childish!"
Jade shot him a glare before turning to Clef. "Who owned this box?"
Clef sighed. "An elderly man. Said he found it smoking in his attic. His grandson made it—but the boy died in an accident."
The chat group stilled.
A child's creation… became an SCP?
More notes appeared:
[Peace has endured.]
[Since your last visit brought order, the Giants and Beasts have been silent.]
[We miss your team.]
[How fares your kin? Do you still remember how to operate your Chamber? You are always welcome.]
Deadpool blinked. "You sure this isn't a prank?"
Jade's eyes sparkled. "What if the box leads to another world? A world with real dragons and giants?!"
Deadpool burst out laughing—until the box shuddered.
POOF!
Smoke billowed out.
Tiny, colorful paper dragons emerged, fluttering around Jade. One even perched on her finger, tilting its head curiously.
The audience gasped.
"They're… alive?!"
Zhang Chulan moved to intervene—but Clef stopped him. "Stand down."
Jade whispered, "Can you understand me?"
The dragon responded by retrieving a new note from under its wing:
[Strange—your world has changed so much. Stranger still, how we appear here now.]
[In the Reverie, we are far larger. Or have you grown smaller?]
"The Reverie!" Jade exclaimed. "I told you it's another world!"
Deadpool's smirk faltered. "Oh come on—"
Another note:
[The Reverie remains as ever. We wish you'd visit as before.]
[Though the Chamber is vast, you seem… diminished? We do not understand.]
[By our Pact, the Chambers should remain stable. Keep your promise.]
"Chamber?" Zhang Chulan mused. "This room?"
Jinx nodded. "Maybe it changed—from the old man's attic to this containment cell."
"Then what's the Pact?"
Before anyone could speculate, the dragons returned to the box.
Jade stared at her empty palm, heart aching.
The Chronicles of Narnia Universe
The Pevensie siblings watched, enthralled.
"If only we had a box like that," Peter sighed.
"I'd slay dragons!" Edmund declared.
"I'd rule them," Susan said dryly.
Lucy, meanwhile, tugged at a wardrobe door—
Back in containment, the box activated again.
This time, only a few dragons emerged—limping.
Jade rushed forward. "Why aren't you flying?"
The red dragon placed a grim note in her hand:
[Friends, we are fewer now.]
[We must remain in the Reverie. Other factions grow restless…]
[Maintain the peace. Fix your Chamber.]
[Your kin are the most imaginative of all.]
"Other factions?" Conan's eyes narrowed. "The Giants and Beasts?"
Jinx frowned. "The Reverie's in trouble."
Then—a new anomaly.
Three crumpled yellow paper balls tumbled out of the box, twitching violently before going still.
Jade gasped. "Giants!"
The dragons swiftly dragged the "Giants" back inside, leaving another note:
[The Giants are fools. Your Chamber cannot withstand them.]
[We are sorry, friends.]
[We hope to meet again—but time runs short.]
Deadpool stared. "How'd you know those were Giants?!"
Jade shrugged. "Paper dragons, paper giants. Duh."
Conan, however, pieced it together:
The Reverie was collapsing.
And its anchor?
"Imagination," he whispered.