The long-abandoned town hall meeting room of Pinewood had become Beta-7's temporary command center. The stale air reeked of mold and old paper, clashing with the cutting-edge tech they had brought. Zach spread his equipment across the long conference table like a many-armed octopus, cables snaking out into a network of devices. One by one, the screens lit up. Complex waveforms and data streams danced to life.
"Audio monitoring system online. Five-kilometer coverage radius."Zach tapped a final command and pushed his tactical goggles up the bridge of his nose."Let's hear what little secrets these woods are hiding."
Less than three minutes after activation, a faint audio signal crackled into their earpieces."Help… please… someone help me…"
It was a young girl's voice, tearful, shaking with terror and hopelessness.
"Source: northeast, approximately 3.2 kilometers, deep in the forest."Zach locked onto it instantly."Analysis… ninety percent probability this is a real human distress signal. No match in voiceprint database. Estimated age between eight and twelve."
David's frown deepened.SCP-939 was a master of mimicry.But ninety percent real? That made any decision much heavier.
"Irene, talk to the mayor. We need more on that mine and the missing people," David ordered.
Outside, Irene found the pale, visibly shaken mayor.Under questioning, he nervously confessed: the last reported sighting of the missing hikers had been near an old, long-abandoned mine on the northern outskirts. Locals had long avoided it, calling it cursed. Stories circulated of people hearing their dead loved ones calling them from the woods.
"They say… the mountain spirits are summoning souls…" the mayor whispered, eyes darting away.
Meanwhile, Thomas quietly deployed a network of micro-vibration and infrared sensors along the forest edge around Pinewood. Tiny and easily missed, they formed an invisible perimeter.
At an abandoned bus stop on the western side, he found a disheveled homeless man curled up and muttering nonsense. The man was unable to remember anything for more than a few seconds. Asked his name, he shook his head blankly. Asked where he came from, he pointed up at the sky, then at the ground.
"Captain," Thomas radioed, "I have a civilian showing classic signs of AMN-C227 exposure. Anterograde amnesia."
"Bring him in for medical quarantine," David responded grimly.Proof that SCP-939 had been active here for some time.
Back in command, Zach had found something new."I hacked into the Pinewood police department's barely functioning security feeds. Most show empty streets. But one old camera facing the mine… caught something."
A heavily enhanced infrared video played.Near the dark mine entrance, several faint, irregular heat signatures moved slowly.
"Based on heat strength and movement pattern: highly probable SCP-939 presence." Zach pointed."But the distribution is strange. It's too spread out for a single specimen or even a small pack. This suggests either multiple entities… or behavioral anomalies."
"Mutations…" David muttered, the director's warning echoing.
He turned to Irene."Irene, we're going to John Carter's last known location. Zach, Thomas—keep monitoring. Focus on the mine."
The ranger's last known location was near the dense forest by the mine.Pushing through wet ferns, a sharp iron tang and rotting odor filled the air. David's eyes swept the ground. Under an ancient pine, he spotted deep claw marks embedded into the dirt, alongside a dark, semi-dried stain.
"Fresh blood. Less than forty-eight hours old."Irene crouched down, carefully scraping samples from the dirt and a strange translucent jelly-like substance found nearby.
The portable analyzer beeped minutes later.Irene stared at the complex protein structure and hormonal data."David…" her voice was dry, disbelieving."The composition matches the pre-reproductive secretion profile of SCP-939. If this is accurate… it indicates possible reproductive behavior."
A Keter-class anomaly reproducing. Worst-case scenario.
Thomas's voice cut through comms."Captain. I've found a body. Forest east side, two kilometers out."
When David and Irene arrived, Thomas stood expressionless under a twisted tree.The victim, a middle-aged male hiker, lay in a grotesque heap, his face frozen in terror.A massive bite wound had torn into his neck.But what puzzled them was the burned black tissue around the wound.
"Fatal neck bite. Matches SCP-939 hunting patterns," Irene confirmed."But I've never seen this kind of burn. SCP-939 doesn't do this."
"Not a weapon burn… more like extreme internal heat, or biological acid," David speculated.
They regrouped in the command center.The target zone was now narrowed to the abandoned mine and its surrounding three-kilometer radius.SCP-939 was nocturnal. It likely sheltered deep inside the dark tunnels during daylight.
"We move tonight." David decided."Target: the abandoned mine."
"Understood."The team began prepping their night ops gear.
Suddenly, David's encrypted comm crackled—it was Site-81's director.
"Falcon. New orders." The voice was as grim and ironclad as ever."Multiple similar reports have just come in from other regions.If your analysis confirms reproductive behavior or uncontrollable mutation in Pinewood's SCP-939, the O5 Council has authorized an objective change.From 'capture alive' to full termination. No survivors. Adult or juvenile. Exterminate on sight."
David clenched the comm tightly.The Foundation's motto was Secure. Contain. Protect.Termination, especially of semi-sentient anomalies, had always been an ethical flashpoint.He had always held the line.
"…Understood."The words were calm. But inside, David was deeply unsettled.
As night swallowed Pinewood, the team sealed into airtight Level C suits and closed-helmet systems with integrated comms and night vision.Zach's audio monitors suddenly came alive.
"Warning! Multiple anomalous sound sources detected!"Zach's voice was tense."Everywhere near the mine perimeter! Male voices screaming, women crying, even babies crying… damn it! Too many! Algorithm's about to overload, I can't filter real from false!"
The tactical map filled with flickering red dots.A surreal, chaotic symphony.
David stared at the tactical display."Split up.Thomas and I will enter the mine directly.Irene, Zach—hold the perimeter, monitor external threats, provide backup. Stay online."
"Roger!"
As David and Thomas stepped into the black forest, a timid voice called from behind a corner."Mister… are you going to catch the red monster?"
They froze.A small girl clutching a ragged doll stared at them with wide eyes.
"I just saw a big red dog with no face… outside my window… listening to you talk…" she whispered.
Every alarm in David's mind blared.
Night devoured Pinewood.David and Thomas moved like ghosts along the rough mountain path.Branches cracked softly underfoot.
Ahead, the abandoned mine yawned like the mouth of a waiting beast.
Suddenly, Irene's scream tore through the earpieces."They're in the town! They're inside! It was a trap! They're not in the woods! AAH—!"
A burst of static.Then dead silence.
David and Thomas froze, exchanging horrified glances behind their visors.
At that exact moment, deep inside the mine, multiple pairs of glowing red eyes flicked open.Jagged teeth gleamed faintly in the darkness, like lanterns of hell.