Another Sun

"You want our after-action report? Well, good luck with that. We still aren't sure what the hell even happened on March 6th. We know we stopped the end of the world. How, or why… my head hurts just thinking about it. "That fucking house… that crevasse… that world underneath… the White Sun… christ, that chant's still running through my head. 'There is a sun, another sun…' To the tune of 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…' Don't ask me how the White Sun makes you happy when skies are gray. Ha-ha-ha. "No, I'm not drunk. Yeah, I'm pretty fucked up, but it's not because I'm drunk. You go out and talk to the rest of the team, they're all gonna be like this. "We were at ground zero of a massive series of CK-class reality shifts. You do that, you come back and you tell me how I should be behaving right now. You want the damn after action-report or not? [["It all started with the werewolves."->One]]

"Yeah, that's right, I said werewolves. Doesn't anyone read you assholes into anything? The werewolves aren't even important. I — "Fine, I'll fucking explain the werewolves. "So this was about a month before the actual event, with that damn house, whatever you're gonna number it. It's when we first heard about the White Sun. "A Sigma-3 contact gets in touch with us. A Hand member, but she's got a good track record, been very helpful, saved our skins a few times before. Hid us from other Hand members, actually. Says she's heard word of some major ritual about to go down, and she gives us the location of that fucking house, Memory House, whatever they call it. She says we need to take this as serious as possible, highest priority, fate of the world etcetera etcetera blah blah. "But she says we can't go there first. She put us in touch with some, I quote, 'local experts'. The Bruckner family. Sends us way out in the boonies, to this shithole place called Mount Tebor. "We scope out the whole area before going in, standard procedure. We find the place we're supposed to meet — it's a goddamn log cabin on a mountain-top, I shit you not — and there's no one there at all. Looks like the place has been abandoned recently in a hurry. "We watch it for a few hours, and then… and then the Bruckners come home, a few hours before dawn. "We don't realize who they were, at first, because they look like some unholy cross between a wolf and a gorilla. We only realize what's going on once the sun comes up and they start shedding their fur, twisting, turning, screaming these unearthly screams, until they're just humans again. "See, our contact had somehow forgotten to mention that we were dealing with [[motherfucking werewolves."->Two]]

"The werewolves, looking human again, start cleaning the place up, and we realize they're getting it together for our arrival. My second-in-command says trap, but two of my advisors disagree. Sigma-3 deals with all types, you know? We hadn't dealt with werewolves, I didn't even know werewolves were a *thing*, but there's a first time for everything. "My second-in-command is flipping out, though. He has heard of werewolves, and he wants us to call in a strike force to eradicate these goddamn people eaters. "So then we had to decide whether to proceed with the plan or scuttle everything and bring the hammer down on Mount Tebor. Either way, there was an obvious risk. "What I did next was not the ideal choice. Looking back, I think it might have been the effects of that goddamn White Sun, even then… [["I took my second's advice and brought the hammer down."->TwoB]]

"What good are advisors if you don't listen to them? "I told my second-in-command to calm the hell down. I pointed out that if we called in a damn strike force we'd destroy everything Sigma-3 had built. Our contacts knew we were here. What the hell was he thinking? "We went ahead and marched our agents right in at the appointed time, as if nothing were amiss at all. "…Yeah, I know this isn't exactly what was in the preliminary reports. I hope you know you're gonna have to get used to that. "One minute I remember it one way, the next minute I remember it another. Haven't you figured this out yet? CK events like this one have retroactive effects for anyone involved in them. And we were involved as hell. "If you think this story's weird now, just wait till we get closer to the ground zero. The Big Ritual Day. [["Anyway. We met with the werewolves…"->Three]]

"So of course we got the hell out of there, and we called in a strike force to eradicate these goddamn people eaters. Like he said. "We left Mount Tebor burning in the darkness, and we gunned down the wolves as they fled, from up high, in copters, so they didn't stand a chance. It wasn't even close to a fair fight. "This had pretty major consequences. It just takes one person with the one wrong decision to fuck up everything Sigma-3 has built, and I guess I was that one person with that one decision. "Our contacts dried up immediately. Our Library-assigned agents either disappeared or found themselves left out in the cold, their access revoked. We heard nothing else from our contact about the Memory House. "And then, a few weeks later, the White Sun woke up, and with cleansing fire… "Hang on, I'm getting fuzzy. This isn't right. "No… no, you're right. That's not what happened. That should have been obvious, I just… Eh. This is one of the false memories from the reality shift. Been bubbling up over the days since this happened. Christ. [["Let's try that again…"->Two-2]]

"It was very awkward, but they were surprisingly nice. They seemed to try to hide that they were werewolves, but during dinner conversation, someone let it slip. "Apparently the whole werewolf thing was some esoteric magical experiment. One of the parents, apparently *Professor* Bruckner, used to be some big deal in the, um, magical academic community, because that's apparently a thing. "And I guess the magical academic community is significantly more exciting than it is in the real... um, the non-anomalous world, because her theories got so controversial that someone tried to magically kill her and her entire family. "The magical assassination attempt didn't work, apparently. Instead, they became werewolves. Both her, her wife, and their seven children. Yeah, seven children, long story. She and her wife were torn up about it, but their children seemed to think this was literally the greatest thing that could have possibly happened to them. "This log cabin was their rustic vacation home, where they went every month or so to let their kids run around and enjoy, um, werewolfing, or something. "Fuckin' Hand weirdos, man. "Anyway. They were gracious hosts. [["We, on the other hand, were unconscionably rude."->FourA]] [["We were, like them, unfailingly polite."->FourB]]

"I hope to God I'm not remembering this right. Hopefully it's just the effect of the reality shifts, but I remember my second-in-command nearly coming to blows with the Professor's wife. He was sending them hostile glances the entire night. "No, I don't think it was the lesbian thing, I think it was the werewolf thing. My second's ex-Hand himself, and I guess he had bad experiences with people playing with transformation magic. Maybe he didn't buy their story about the failed assassination attempt. I don't know. "They helped us anyway, and that's how we found out about [[The White Sun.->Five]]

"The dinner went smoothly, despite the occasional glare from my second-in-command. Yeah, he... he's ex-Hand, and I think he had some, uh, pre-existing issues with people messing with transformation magic. Maybe he didn't totally buy the 'failed magical assassination' story and figured they were voluntary werewolves. "But even he ended up relaxing after a while anyway. Like I said, gracious hosts, so it wasn't hard. Even if they *were* werewolves, nice is as nice does. "After dinner, Professor Bruckner told us about [[The White Sun.->Five]]

"See… apparently the Professor had been studying the Memory House for a few years beforehand. She warned us about the whole death cult thing, and what to expect in that town — at least from an outsider's point of view, which was fine since we had an inside source anyway, one Danielle Sawyer — anyway, she also told us about the White Sun. "The idea was that the Earth was hollow. A couple of us objected to this theory, citing, you know, centuries of established science, but the Professor clarified that she meant "magically" hollow, which, um, I guess clears that right the hell up. "The Memory House, she said, was a seal on the Dreaming, which she said was the reality under reality. Referenced an SCP that doesn't exist and that apparently I'm not supposed to know about. In the caverns underneath, she said, was a Gate of Horn, an ancient passage to the hollow interior of the Earth, or at least… a dream of it. "Someone asked if there were dinosaurs down there. She laughed and said no, she didn't think so. The person who asked actually looked pretty disappointed. [["Anyway…"->Six]]

"…she said the whole reason the place existed was because of the White Sun. "I asked why it was called the White Sun since our sun already looks white. She said she wasn't sure, it was just the name of it in all the Ancient Spooky Texts or whatever. Paraphrasing there. "Apparently the White Sun is some eldritch entity from the 'Outer Dark', whatever that is besides Lovecraft's wet dream. It came to the Earth millions of years ago out of our Sun, apparently struck it like a meteor, puncturing the Earth's crust, and created a kingdom inside the Earth. It wanted to rule the Earth forever, I guess, is the idea here. "But something here, no one knows what, put the White Sun to sleep. It's been down there ever since, waiting to be awoken again, and cleanse the Earth in searing fire and… "I don't want to think about this, sorry. Too many memories, and yes, I know, the memories aren't real. They think Cain the Wanderer had something to do with it. Y'know, SCP-073. I wouldn't take that too seriously. Some of these Hand bastards seem to worship the fucker. Guys been sitting in our facilities for decades now, but in their hearts, he's still rampaging across all the Unknown Lands and doing all kinds of heroic and-or villainous things. [["Whatever, not my business."->Seven]]

"She said the ritual being done at Memory House was an attempt to break the seals, open the Gate of Horn, and wake up the White Sun. "And that… that would be bad. End of the world bad. "We sat there for a while, taking that in. She said we probably had a few weeks before the ritual really got going, but they were already sacrificing people, building up fuel for the big boom. She didn't recommend we delay. "They had magical protections up, stopped the rest of Hand from doing anything about this, or even knowing about. Apparently that's why we were brought in. "So after reporting a possible XK-class end of the world scenario underway, I took my team — leaving my second-in-command behind, no offense to him — and we went to see this Memory House. "We thought we'd just go in and scope things out, then let a real task force come in and shoot everything up. [["That isn't what happened."->Eight]]

"We went in just a couple days later. Not an hour after we got there, before we even found the Memory House… just like in a bad movie, all our communications went dead. "And we weren't able to leave. I don't mean there was anything blocking us, but there was something in our minds, not strong enough to fully control us, but preventing us from doing anything that would help us leave. "The werewolf professor, she was right, they weren't ready with their ritual yet, but I guess someone got spooked, and decided to put a lock on the whole town down until they were done. Smart move, I guess. Maybe if they'd done it just a little earlier, we'd all be looking up at the White Sun now, beyond the river of eternity and the fires of… christ, there I go again. "Sorry. "… "They were singing. I can still hear them singing. I didn't understand most of the words, but I remember the chant. "There is a Sun… Another Sun…" It lights our way, when the day is done. Hmm hmmm hmmm… we are insects in dreams, we are not safe, no refuge anymore… the Unnamed One is coming, it crawls towards us through the stream in smoke and dark, and the Bloom will not save us, the Sun will wake in cleansing white fire and save our souls and bring the dawn…" "… "… "… "…Jesus christ, I guess I do remember more of it than I thought… I assume if there's any memetic bullshit going on here, you're fully inoculated. I hope. God help me. "But how do you *know* you're fine? Oh, forget it, fuck you, I'll leave it up to our bosses. "Anyway, the chanting, you could hear it through the whole town, but it was just the White Sun cultists. As for the rest of the people, well… [["It was smooth sailing. Almost too quiet."->NineA]] [["The town turned out in force with pitchforks and torches."->NineB]]

"We picked our way through what was basically a ghost town. People had fallen asleep wherever they were standing. A couple car accidents, though less than you might imagine. "They looked like they were asleep, but they were still humming that damn chant if you looked closely at 'em, just under their breath… "Someone tried to convince our Type Blue, Agent Jann Ekua, to try to do something to help them. But I couldn't allow that. Ze was our only Type Blue on the team, and now that we were stuck here, ze might have to stop the ritual all on zir own. We couldn't allow zir to expend zir energy on random civilians. "We walked through empty streets trying to ignore them, following the maps we'd been given, trying to keep our heads together. Let me tell you, it was not easy. "This was also about the time when Agent Ekua told us that ze was detecting a massive series of CK-class reality shifts in this area. We couldn't see it for ourselves, but ze said that reality was already shifting every few minutes in ways we couldn't notice or remember. It's also when we realized contradictory memories were bubbling up in our heads, more and more the longer we spent here. "Ze speculated that the cultists were trying to rearrange reality to try to create 'ideal circumstances' for the goddamn White Sun ritual. Which just sounded… spectacular. Great to hear that we couldn't even rely on reality itself much longer. "After a couple hours of walking, [[we finally reached the Memory House."->Ten]]

"At first we didn't see anyone, but we guess someone warned the cultists we were coming, and… yeah, the townsfolk came after us with pitchforks and torches. "Yeah, I do mean literal actual pitchforks and torches. Very old-fashioned. It would've been comical if we weren't terrified out of our skins. We were armed, but Sigma-3 isn't a goddamn combat task force -- and we needed to save our bullets for the cultists anyway. "We had Agent Jann Ekua with us as our Type Blue, but ze had only three combat missions so far, and... if ze was gonna need to stop the ritual on zir own, we couldn't allow zir to expend zir energy on random civilians. "Oh, christ, and the people. They looked like they were asleep, like they were sleepwalking. But if you looked closely, or if you pinned one down — they wouldn't struggle, by the way, they'd just try to keep moving forward, or try to attack us while we held them — they had their eyes closed, but they were all humming that damn chant, very softly, under their breath… "We managed to evade them for about an hour, an absolutely hellish hour, during which it's a miracle they didn't burn the whole town down. But after a while they started moving more slowly, and finally, as their half-assed torches started burning out, they started dropping, going to sleep right where they were. Or something like sleep. They stopped moving, anyway. "And the whole time they kept humming that damn chant… "Once we got a breather, we made up for as much lost time as we could, and followed our maps through the godforsaken city. "This was also about the time when Agent Ekua told us that ze was detecting a massive series of CK-class reality shifts in this area. We couldn't see it for ourselves, but ze said that reality was already shifting every few minutes in ways we couldn't notice or remember. It's also when we realized contradictory memories were bubbling up in our heads, more and more the longer we spent here. "Ze speculated that the cultists were trying to rearrange reality to try to create 'ideal circumstances' for the goddamn White Sun ritual. Which just sounded… spectacular. Great to hear that we couldn't even rely on reality itself much longer. [["Finally we reached the Memory House."->Ten]]

"That house… it looked surprisingly well cared-for. Our contacts had called it a "haunted house", and it didn't exactly fit the part. Yeah, it was this big old Victorian mansion, but the lawn was mowed, the hedges well-kept, and the paint looked pretty new. "After the experience of getting through the city, I guess we expected more of an … aura of doom, some spooky winds, at least a caved-in roof, you know, something. "But there was nothing. Not even any sign of the White Sun cultists, except that damn chanting which was just so much background noise by now, and wasn't any louder or anything. It did have a pretty wild-looking forest on the side of the mountain behind it, but it was just a house. A nice house. "Maybe that's why we did what we did next. [["Which was casually walk right in the front door."->ElevenA]] [["Which was be as paranoid as we reasonably could."->ElevenB]]

"Our local intel told us the house would be sated from so many sacrifices in the past few days, and we wouldn't have any real trouble with it. They were wrong. "As soon as we stepped in through the front door, the corridor transformed. It's… hard to describe what we saw. A nightmare of teeth. A gaping maw below. Everything heaving around us, dark and damp, a strange eagerness in the air, the carpet tongue-soft, and a roar, from far away — "But we were at least a little prepared. We had guns drawn already. We fired our first shots of the evening straight down the House's throat. "And shockingly, it worked. Almost immediately, the vision cleared, and we were standing in the House's front hallway, looking perfectly ordinary — for a mansion — except for the bullet holes perforating the stairway across from us. "To be honest, I can barely remember what happened after this. We needed to get downstairs, to the basement, which opened into the caverns underneath the house, where the cultists were probably holed up now, prepping their ritual. The way the House was built, there were three ways to do get to the basement. "Trying to think… Right. [["We broke left, thinking it was safer…"->TwelveA]] [["We broke right, hearing someone screaming…"->TwelveB]] [["We cut straight through the house…"->TwelveC]]

"I remember Johnson taking lead, and some*thing* lashing out and knocking his gun away, and falling into a goddamn armoire. We filled the thing with bullets before realizing we'd be killing Johnson, but when we investigated the armoire, there was nothing there. Johnson was completely gone. "We tried to turn back, but it was too late. I'll spare you the gory details, but the House took us apart. Adams. McKinley. Kane. And… I'm not gonna keep going. "As we made our way through the house, we could hear them screaming. But there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it… Not without stopping and being taken ourselves. "Maybe they're still in there. Or were, before Psi-7 blew the whole thing to kingdom come… [["We were only at half-strength when we reached the basement below."->Thirteen]]

"I know, I know. Head towards the screaming, what could go wrong? But we were feeling… a little stressed at this point. "It was a bad idea. We somehow found ourselves in part of the house that wasn't on the blueprints we had. The screaming pressed around us. There were body parts sticking out of the walls — an arm here, a leg there, half a face, flailing helplessly. We put a bullet through the heads we saw, but it didn't seem to make any difference — they were still alive, just with bullet holes in them. "And, silently, the House started taking us. We didn't even notice it at first. Johnson was the first to go. Then Adams, then McKinley. We noticed when it took Kane — he was there, one moment, his arm brushed up against the wall, and he just… froze, looking at us, and sank silently into the wall. "We hauled ass when that happened, but it did no good. The House kept taking us, slowly, one by one… and after a while, we heard their voices added to the chorus of screaming. "I tell you I could not have been more relieved, afterwards, when I heard Psi-7 blew the whole fucking house to kingdom come. If not… maybe they'd still be screaming. [["We were only at half-strength when we reached the basement below."->Thirteen]]

"We cut straight through the house, thinking that was the most direct path. And it was, according to the blueprints. "As for what happened next… I don't know. I can't say. Maybe that's a mercy. But none of us remember anything. All we know is, the House took half of us while we were… I don't know what. Shuffling blankly through? "I remember some dim awareness that Johnson was gone. Then Adams, and McKinley. By the time Kane was gone, I remember tears running down my face… but I can't remember what I did, maybe I did nothing, I… I don't know… Fuck. "I remember… visions. Things I can't describe. No, won't describe. Things I never want to think about again… "When we came to, we'd crossed the House, and half of us were gone. And we could hear them screaming, like they were somewhere nearby, but muffled, too far away to tell where they were coming from… "If Psi-7 hadn't blown the whole house to kingdom come after… No. No. Won't think about that. "We kept going. What else could we do? [["At half-strength, we reached the basement below."->Thirteen]]

"There was a cave down there. It was filled with cultists. And you know, they looked like cultists. White robes. Chanting. Like some sick fucking parody of the Klan, except without the hoods. They all had a sun emblem, which was glowing, I guess magically. "Their leader was wearing this big fucking white metal sun mask, which would've looked hilarious in other circumstances. But we weren't… yeah. "There were these huge yellow submersible-looking things at the back of the cave. And past that, a massive, truly massive hole in the ground. You couldn't see the other side of it, it was so big. The leader was standing in one of the submersibles. "We didn't give a shit about anything at the time. The first thing we did, before the cultists could do anything, was open fire. No one gave the order. No one had to. "And I guess whatever magical protections they had, it didn't extend to bullets. I'm not ashamed to tell you that we killed the fuck out of those bastards. The screaming… We could still hear the screaming of our comrades in the background, the ones the House took. Their screaming? It was like music. Even Agent Ekua, a pacifist, was slinging some sort of blue spell I didn't recognize. Ze was crying. I think we all were, christ. "We didn't get all of them. Their leader and a couple other cultists managed to get their submersible closed. The bullets dented it, but didn't damage it enough. It took off on these little booster rockets, and… just dropped into the huge pit, and it was gone. [[["And then it was over."->Fourteen]]]

"We waited for Agent Ekua to assess the situation. All I can say is, thank God the House didn't take zir, or I don't know what we'd have done. And to zir credit, ze was the picture of calm and composed. You wouldn't have guessed how badly ze'd just freaked out. "Anyway, ze performed some complicated magical ritual while we waited. Moving the bodies of the cultists out of the way. Trying not to throw up. We couldn't hear the screaming anymore, which was something, but that chant was still going through our heads, even though no one was left to chant it. There is a sun, another sun… On and on and on. Agent Ekua told us that was a sign the ritual was still going. "It was cold, down here. Very cold. "After a while, ze concluded we had two options. "First, Agent Ekua could perform a ritual to seal the Gate of Horn — which I guess was that massive pit in the ground, though it didn't look much like a Gate to me. This would stop the ongoing ritual, and clear up the communication block to let us call in outside aid to destroy the damned house above our heads. "Downside: we wouldn't find out where those cultists went, or what the White Sun was, or if they might be a danger in the future. Maybe they'd never come back, with the Gate cut off. Maybe they'd starve down there. Hopefully. But… maybe not. We just… wouldn't know. "Second, Agent Ekua would prepare the ritual… and one or two of us would take one of those fucking eldritch submersibles — which ze assured us were perfectly safe, or at least safe enough — and follow the White Sun assholes down the pit. Through the Gate of Horn. And tell Agent Ekua what we saw, and ze'd work from there. "Downside: We wouldn't be able to leave, or call in assistance, until whoever went down there came back, or didn't come back. The ritual could complete in that time. We had no way of knowing. Our sources said they needed weeks more, but they'd already been wrong about other things. If they were wrong about this, we might be in the middle of an XK-class scenario. "And, you know, we might get stuck down there too. Forever. "We discussed it for a while, and… [["We decided to seal the Gate immediately."->EndOne]] [["We decided to follow the cultist bastard down the pit.".->Fifteen]]

"We decided we weren't going to risk it. Not after so many of us had died, so horribly. I told Agent Ekua to go ahead, as fast as reasonably possible. "Agent Ekua did zir weird chanting thing, told us to look away, and we saw a flash of green light behind our eyelids, and… "Well, once again, I don't remember what happened next. Not exactly. It felt like there was an earthquake inside our heads. "And we saw… "…Eh, I don't know what we saw. But it fucked us up, and good. Next thing I remember, Agent Ekua was passed out on the floor next to me, Psi-7 had already demolished the Memory House, and agents were picking us up off the ground asking what the hell happened. "And there you have it. Thing is, I've got some memories… of… well. Memories that don't fit into all this… you know? Well, I guess you don't. "I never went down there, not that I remember, but I swear to God I see the White Sun in my head, and I think it's watching me back. "But forget about that. Are we done here? Because, like I told you, I'm not drunk. And I would really, truly, like to be. If you have more questions, direct them to my charming assistants. "Why yes, in fact, my charming assistants *are* my two middle fingers. You're very perceptive, you know that? "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[...->...]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->Seven]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

"Well, I wasn't gonna let anyone else take this risk. So I volunteered to go down myself. "I strapped myself into a goddamn submersible, the one with the least bullet holes. It took about thirty minutes to even figure out how to work the goddamn thing, with Agent Ekua's help doing some sort of palm-reading for magical machines. Long story short, I actually managed to get the thing off the ground, long enough to hurl it — and myself — down an apparently bottomless crevasse. "Truth be told, I thought I would die down there. Just… fall forever, until I hit the Earth's core and burned up. I can't remember how I felt about that. Maybe I just didn't care anymore. "And for a while that's what looked like what would happen. It just got hotter and hotter, as I fell down and down. I remember being… thirsty. Like hell. I drained the canteen I'd managed to bring with me, but it wasn't near enough. "Then there was this blistering white light, and… [["…then I was somewhere else."->Sixteen]]

"The pit opened up. And I could not believe what I was seeing. "There was a vast land before me. Huge mountains, far below, dense forests, and these… strange pink plains. Glowing beds of coals. What I think was a field of diamonds, that hurt to look at. These huge birds flying below, through what I'm not sure were clouds… What looked like a city made entirely of iron. These massive wolf-things that must've been fifty times the size of elephants for me to see them up from so high. "I thought I was dreaming. Maybe I was. "Down below, on one of the highest mountaintops… a smashed yellow metal shape. The White Sun cult leader's submersible. I guess the bullets had done their job after all, or maybe something down there got him… or maybe he was still alive, still fine, and he's still down there, doing God only knows what in that unreal underground world. "And, hovering over it all… the White Sun. "It was almost impossible to look at, at first, and once I looked at it, almost impossible to tear my eyes away. It was a perfect orb of… something like polished marble. "I was immediately very sure that it was still sleeping. And I was, at the same time, very sure that it would one day wake up. "Or we would. [["I turned the submersible towards the White Sun…"->EndTwo]] [["I turned the submersible away, trying to find the exit I came from…"->EndThree]] [["I decided to land the submersible…"->EndFourA]]

"I turned the submersible sharply away from the White Sun. I thank God to this day that I had the strength to do that. "If I'd kept going, like the strange impulse said I should, I don't know what would have happened. Maybe I wouldn't have ever come back — and maybe that would be the fortunate thing to happen. Maybe I'd still be standing before you today same as now, except it wouldn't be me, it would be… "…Yeah, sorry. Christ. Just… a lot of dreams. Really strange dreams… Hard to take. All of this has been hard to take. You know? No, I guess you don't. "I'm not sure what happened next. I don't remember returning. I sure didn't see any way back, just… you know, I'm not sure what I saw either. I could've sworn it was… our sun, but different. Not like the White Sun, either. Like something else. I felt like it knew something very important, but couldn't tell me… it was very much dreamlike. Maybe that part wasn't literally real at all. Didn't feel like it, even though the rest did. "But I did get back, somehow. The others can't remember either. All I know is, they finished the ritual. The pit vanished, like it was never there. Psi-7 was called in, and demolished that damn Memory House for good. "I swear to God, in my dreams, even my daydreams, I keep thinking I can see the White Sun in my head, and I think it's watching me back. "But forget about that. Are we done here? Because, like I told you, I'm not drunk. And I would really, truly, like to be. If you have more questions, direct them to my charming assistants. "Why yes, in fact, my charming assistants *are* my two middle fingers. You're very perceptive, you know that? "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[...->...3]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->Seven]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

Oh. Hello there. I'm so pleased you could make it. I've been waiting for you. Waiting, for so long… Yet the path has closed. Only for now. Not forever, not for long. Soon you will all be welcomed home. I understand I have to let you go soon, but I want to send a message with you. Just remember this. There is a sun, another sun…

Welcome home. I know, I know. Not yet, not yet. You weren't brave enough. You didn't take the leap. There are two suns, you know, a White, and a Yellow… there are two sets of burning halls… One day there will only be one. One day, when you wake up. When you all wake up. Until that day, I want you to remember this message. There is a sun, another sun…

No… no, you didn't. And I think you know that, too… To be so close, and not take the leap of faith… that's beyond you. It always was. But I know you have to tell yourself that. You have always preferred being asleep to waking up. You'll remember, though. They did before you, and they will after you, too. You people always do, in the end. I'll see you on the other side. Remember this. There is a sun, another sun…

"Give me a moment to get back into this. "…" "…" "Right… Right. So as I was saying, my second-in-command has this thing against werewolves, and he thinks we can get away with calling in a strike force. Something about goddamn people eaters. Etcetera. "I figured there was an obvious risk either way. We didn't want to compromise Sigma-3's operating parameters. We weren't sure if these werewolves counted as 'protected' from our standpoint. We're only allowed to kill certain monsters, remember… eh, I already went over that. "My second-in-command, ex-Hand you realize, if I didn't say that already, he thought we'd be fine. He won over a few members of the team, too, but my advisers wouldn't support taking that particular risk. Better we leave here entirely than singlehandedly fuck Sigma-3's entire mission, right? "I didn't want to leave, but I had to consider it. [["I took my second's advice and brought the hammer down."->TwoB-X]] [["I decided to leave the damn werewolves alone and get us the hell out of here."->TwoC]] [["I listened to my advisors and took us in to meet the werewolves."->TwoA]]

"No one was happy about this. My advisors argued we were missing out on potentially valuable intel. But in the field, the decision still comes down to me, and Command didn't choose to override me. I figured we could just go into the town ourselves and — shut up, I'm talking. I told you I don't care if this matches the other reports or not. We can work that out later. After I'm done. So are you gonna let me finish? "Thank you. "I figured it's not like the werewolves wouldn't still be there after we did a scouting run, if we really needed whatever information we had. "Unfortunately, we assumed a little too much there. [[But I'll get to that."->EightTwo]]

"We went in just a couple days later. Not an hour after we got there, before we even found the Memory House… just like in a bad movie, all our communications went dead. "And we weren't able to leave. I don't mean there was anything blocking us, but there was something in our minds, not strong enough to fully control us, but preventing us from doing anything that would help us leave. "I think they somehow knew we'd arrived. Maybe our local informant cracked and betrayed us, or someone else knew. Or it was just a fucked up coincidence. Either way, they decided to put a lock on the whole town down until they were done. Smart move, I guess. Maybe if they'd done it just a little earlier, we'd all be looking up at the White Sun now, beyond the river of eternity and the fires of… christ, there I go again. "Sorry. "… "They were singing. I can still hear them singing. I didn't understand most of the words, but I remember the chant. "There is a Sun… Another Sun…" It lights our way, when the day is done. Hmm hmmm hmmm… we are insects in dreams, we are not safe, no refuge anymore… the Unnamed One is coming, it crawls towards us through the stream in smoke and dark, and the Bloom will not save us, the Sun will wake in cleansing white fire and save our souls and bring the dawn… "… "… "… "…Jesus christ, I guess I do remember more of it than I thought… I assume if there's any memetic bullshit going on here, you're fully inoculated. I hope. God help me. "But how do you *know* you're fine? Oh, forget it, fuck you, I'll leave it up to our bosses. "Anyway, we didn't know anything about the White Sun, and to be honest, hearing that fucking chanting, I'm kind of glad we didn't. God only knows what kind of damage that knowledge would've done… "…Why are you looking at me like that? Surely that's not nearly as weird as any of the other shit I just said. No, don't explain, I stopped caring. Let me finish. "You could hear the chanting through the whole town, but it was just the White Sun cultists. As for the rest of the people, well… [["It was smooth sailing. Almost too quiet."->NineATwo]] [["The town turned out in force with pitchforks and torches."->NineBTwo]]

"We picked our way through what was basically a ghost town. People had fallen asleep wherever they were standing. A couple car accidents, though less than you might imagine. "They looked like they were asleep, but they were still humming that damn chant if you looked closely at 'em, just under their breath… "Thankfully, our Type Blue, Agent Jann Ekua, was able to do something to help them. I don't fully understand what ze did, but ze took about thirty minutes chanting in a chalk circle, and then got up with zir eyes closed. Then ze went around touching the sleeping civilians we passed, and when ze touched them, they actually went to sleep for real. No creepy chanting, just snoring. "If only ze could've silenced the cultists chanting, but they were too far away, of course. At least, we didn't find any outside the Memory House. "We walked through empty streets trying to ignore the chant, following the maps we'd been given, trying to keep our heads together. Let me tell you, it was not easy. "This was also about the time when Agent Ekua told us that ze was detecting a massive series of CK-class reality shifts in this area. We couldn't see it for ourselves, but ze said that reality was already shifting every few minutes in ways we couldn't notice or remember. It's also when we realized contradictory memories were bubbling up in our heads, more and more the longer we spent here. "Ze speculated that the cultists were trying to rearrange reality to try to create 'ideal circumstances' for whatever it was they were trying to do here. Which just sounded… spectacular. Great to hear that we couldn't even rely on reality itself much longer. "After a couple hours of walking, [[we finally reached the Memory House."->TenTwo]]

"At first we didn't see anyone, but it wasn't long before the townsfolk came after us with pitchforks and torches. Someone definitely warned them. "Yeah, I do mean literal actual pitchforks and torches. Very old-fashioned. It would've been comical if we weren't terrified out of our skins. We were armed, but Sigma-3 isn't a goddamn combat task force -- and we needed to save our bullets for the cultists anyway. "We had Agent Jann Ekua with us as our Type Blue, but ze had only three combat missions so far, and... ze wasn't ready to attack the poor brainwashed bastards directly. Not even sure ze was capable of it, to be honest. Zir magic had a lot to do with state of mind. "Oh, christ, and the people. They looked like they were asleep, like they were sleepwalking. But if you looked closely, or if you pinned one down — they wouldn't struggle, by the way, they'd just try to keep moving forward, or try to attack us while we held them — they had their eyes closed, but they were all humming that damn chant, very softly, under their breath… "Thankfully, after an absolutely hellish thirty minutes or so, we were able to get away from them long enough for Agent Ekua to do some sort of ritual on zirself. Sat in a chalk circle and chanted for a very tense half hour. "But after that, we went back outside, and every time one of the civilians got close to us, ze just put a hand on them, and they fell asleep right there. Actually asleep, not chanting. "They all had to get close to us to do anything — some of them had guns, but they didn't do anything with them except try to bludgeon us. So at that point we were basically safe, mainly worried they'd accidentally burn the town down with those torches. But they didn't, lucky us. "After a while it Agent Ekua didn't even need to do anything. The remaining walkers started moving more slowly, and finally, as their half-assed torches started burning out, they started dropping, going to sleep right where they were. Or something like sleep. They stopped moving, anyway, though they kept humming that damn chant until Ekua put them asleep zirself. "This was also about the time when Agent Ekua told us that ze was detecting a massive series of CK-class reality shifts in this area. We couldn't see it for ourselves, but ze said that reality was already shifting every few minutes in ways we couldn't notice or remember. It's also when we realized contradictory memories were bubbling up in our heads, more and more the longer we spent here. "Ze speculated that the cultists were trying to rearrange reality to try to create 'ideal circumstances' for whatever it was they were trying to do here. Which just sounded… spectacular. Great to hear that we couldn't even rely on reality itself much longer. "Anyway, we followed our maps through the godforsaken city and [[finally we reached the Memory House."->TenTwo]]

"That house… it looked surprisingly well cared-for. Our contacts had called it a "haunted house", and it didn't exactly fit the part. Yeah, it was this big old Victorian mansion, but the lawn was mowed, the hedges well-kept, and the paint looked pretty new. "After the experience of getting through the city, I guess we expected more of an … aura of doom, some spooky winds, at least a caved-in roof, you know, something. "But there was nothing. Not even any sign of the White Sun cultists, except that damn chanting which was just so much background noise by now, and wasn't any louder or anything. It did have a pretty wild-looking forest on the side of the mountain behind it, but it was just a house. A nice house. "Maybe that's why we did what we did next. [["Which was casually walk right in the front door."->ElevenATwo]] [["Which was be as paranoid as we reasonably could."->ElevenBTwo]]

"Our local intel told us the house would be sated from so many sacrifices in the past few days, and we wouldn't have any real trouble with it. They were wrong. "As soon as we stepped in through the front door, the corridor transformed. It's… hard to describe what we saw. A nightmare of teeth. A gaping maw below. Everything heaving around us, dark and damp, a strange eagerness in the air, the carpet tongue-soft, and a roar, from far away — "But we were at least a little prepared. We had guns drawn already. We fired our first shots of the evening straight down the House's throat. "And shockingly, it worked. Almost immediately, the vision cleared, and we were standing in the House's front hallway, looking perfectly ordinary — for a mansion — except for the bullet holes perforating the stairway across from us. "To be honest, I can barely remember what happened after this. We needed to get downstairs, to the basement. Agent Ekua was detecting some serious shit going down there. Magically-speaking. Ze was worried about being able to stop it, after expending so much energy putting the townsfolk to sleep, but that was spilled milk at this point. And we didn't even know what 'it' was. Ze said we needed to get down there as fast as possible. "The way the House was built, there were three ways to do get to the basement. "Trying to think… Right. [["We broke left, thinking it was safer…"->TwelveATwo]] [["We broke right, hearing someone screaming…"->TwelveBTwo]] [["We cut straight through the house…"->TwelveCTwo]]

"I remember Johnson taking lead, and some*thing* lashing out and knocking his gun away, and falling into a goddamn armoire. We filled the thing with bullets before realizing we'd be killing Johnson, but when we investigated the armoire, there was nothing there. Johnson was completely gone. "We tried to turn back, but it was too late. I'll spare you the gory details, but the House took us apart. Adams. McKinley. Kane. And… I'm not gonna keep going. "As we made our way through the house, we could hear them screaming. But there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it… Not without stopping and being taken ourselves. "I can still hear them screaming… [["We were only at half-strength when we reached the basement below."->ThirteenTwo]]

"I know, I know. Head towards the screaming, what could go wrong? But we were feeling… a little stressed at this point. "It was a bad idea. We somehow found ourselves in part of the house that wasn't on the blueprints we had. The screaming pressed around us. There were body parts sticking out of the walls — an arm here, a leg there, half a face, flailing helplessly. We put a bullet through the heads we saw, but it didn't seem to make any difference — they were still alive, just with bullet holes in them. "And, silently, the House started taking us. We didn't even notice it at first. Johnson was the first to go. Then Adams, then McKinley. We noticed when it took Kane — he was there, one moment, his arm brushed up against the wall, and he just… froze, looking at us, and sank silently into the wall. "We hauled ass when that happened, but it did no good. The House kept taking us, slowly, one by one… and after a while, we heard their voices added to the chorus of screaming. "I can still hear them screaming… [["We were only at half-strength when we reached the basement below."->ThirteenTwo]]

"We cut straight through the house, thinking that was the most direct path. And it was, according to the blueprints. "As for what happened next… I don't know. I can't say. Maybe that's a mercy. But none of us remember anything. All we know is, the House took half of us while we were… I don't know what. Shuffling blankly through? "I remember some dim awareness that Johnson was gone. Then Adams, and McKinley. By the time Kane was gone, I remember tears running down my face… but I can't remember what I did, maybe I did nothing, I… I don't know… Fuck. "I remember… visions. Things I can't describe. No, won't describe. Things I never want to think about again… "When we came to, we'd crossed the House, and half of us were gone. And we could hear them screaming, like they were somewhere nearby, but muffled, too far away to tell where they were coming from… "I can still hear them screaming… "We kept going. What else could we do? [["At half-strength, we reached the basement below."->ThirteenTwo]]

"We waited for Agent Ekua to assess the situation. To zir credit, ze was the picture of calm and composed. You wouldn't have guessed how badly ze'd just freaked out. "Anyway, ze performed some complicated magical ritual while we waited. Moving the bodies of the cultists out of the way. Trying not to throw up. We couldn't hear the screaming anymore, which was something, but that chant was still going through our heads, even though no one was left to chant it. There is a sun, another sun… On and on and on. Agent Ekua told us that was a sign the ritual was still going. "It was cold, down here. Very cold. "After a while, ze told us the bad news. "We'd fucked up. Hard. We had no way of knowing, but that doesn't change what happened. "Agent Ekua told us that what we were looking at, that massive pit in the ground, was something called the Gate of Horn. Didn't say how ze knew that, I didn't ask. Ze said the White Sun was beyond that gate, in the center of the Earth. Don't know how that's possible, again, didn't ask. "Ze had tried to start a ritual to seal that Gate. This would've stopped the ongoing ritual, and hopefully forestall the end of the world. "But ze'd failed. Turns out ze'd used up too much magical juice helping out the townsfolk. Wouldn't have done it if ze'd known that we had a ritual ze'd have to stop, but… that's how it was. "And ze wasn't sure ze knew enough about the White Sun and the Gate to stop the ritual even if ze did have the juice. "For now, the Gate was unsealable, and the ritual was going to proceed. "As it was, the only thing ze could do was keep trying to clear the communications block directly, so we could let the rest of the Foundation know what's going on, maybe get them in here to save our skins. Maybe bring some other Type Blues. Ze didn't think ze'd succeed, but said ze'd keep trying. "We still had two options, though. "One, do nothing. Wait for whatever was to come, and hope for rescue. We wouldn't know any more about what was going on, but maybe it was all too late for that anyway. "Two, take a risk. "Agent Ekua would stay topside trying to break through the communications block, with most of the surviving team for protection, and one or two of us would take one of those fucking eldritch submersibles — which ze assured us were perfectly safe, or at least safe enough — and follow the White Sun assholes down the pit. Through the Gate of Horn. And tell Agent Ekua what we saw, and ze'd work from there. "Downside: well, you know, we might get stuck down there too. Forever. Not as much of a downside in the fact of an oncoming possible apocalypse, but a downside nevertheless. "We discussed it for a while, and… [["We decided to wait for help."->EndOneTwo]] [["We decided to follow the cultist bastard down the pit.".->FifteenTwo]]

"We decided we weren't going to risk it. Not after so many of us had died, so horribly. All we could realistically do at this point was wait. "So… we waited. "I'm not sure how long we waited. Sometimes felt like hours, sometimes felt like days. But the House started… I don't know. It started seeming like it was breaking apart at the seams. And with it, reality was coming apart around us. It was like the House was a cork being forcibly spat out of a bottle from massive pressure from the inside, and we were floating right below that cork. "That immense, insane pressure, we could feel it in our minds. It's almost impossible to describe. Guess I'm not surprised I can't fully remember it. "And we saw… "…Eh, I don't know what we saw. But who cares about that? You know what happened next. "Or don't you? "Well that's goddamn funny. I guess I should've suspected all along. "… "No, I'm fine. I said I'm fine. "This whole time, it didn't add up. This whole time, I swear to God I've been seeing the White Sun in my head, and I know it's watching me back. Just now I know why. I remember now. "What, you haven't guessed it yet? We failed. The White Sun woke up. "Fuck off. No, I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to throw up and scream and blow my brains out all at the same time. "Don't you get it? Oh, maybe that's it. I already know this is a dream. Maybe it's just my dream, and not yours at all. Maybe you're not really here, you were never here, and I'm just talking to myself in my own head and in a little while I'll wake up to the impossible end of the world. "Or maybe this life, what I always — what we always thought was real life, that was the dream, that was always the dream, it was never real and the White Sun just woke us up — "No — get your hands off me, I'm fine. I'm calm. What does it matter? If you know you're real, why do you care if I think you're real? Yeah, I hope I'm out of my mind right now. Tell you what. If I'm still here tomorrow after all, ask me again and maybe I'll remember something different. Until then, leave me the hell alone. "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[...->..Two]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->EightTwo]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

"Well, I wasn't gonna let anyone else take this risk. So I volunteered to go down myself. "I strapped myself into a goddamn submersible, the one with the least bullet holes. It took about thirty minutes to even figure out how to work the goddamn thing, with Agent Ekua's help doing some sort of palm-reading for magical machines. Long story short, I actually managed to get the thing off the ground, long enough to hurl it — and myself — down an apparently bottomless crevasse. "Truth be told, I thought I would die down there. Just… fall forever, until I hit the Earth's core and burned up. I can't remember how I felt about that. Maybe I just didn't care anymore. "Really, why not be okay with dying? We were fucked anyway. "And for a while it seemed pretty clear I was gonna die. Burn up. It just got hotter and hotter, as I fell down and down. I remember being… thirsty. Like hell. I drained the canteen I'd managed to bring with me, but it wasn't near enough. "Then there was this blistering white light, and… [["…then I was somewhere else."->SixteenTwo]]

"There was a cave down there. It was filled with cultists. And you know, they looked like cultists. White robes. Chanting. Like some sick fucking parody of the Klan, except without the hoods. They all wore a sun emblem, which was glowing, I guess magically. "Their leader was wearing this big fucking white metal sun mask, which would've looked hilarious in other circumstances. But we weren't… yeah. "There were these huge yellow submersible-looking things at the back of the cave. And past that, a massive, truly massive hole in the ground. You couldn't see the other side of it, it was so big. The leader was standing in one of the submersibles. "We didn't give a shit about anything at the time. The first thing we did, before the cultists could do anything, was open fire. No one gave the order. No one had to. "And I guess whatever magical protections they had, it didn't extend to bullets. I'm not ashamed to tell you that we killed the fuck out of those bastards. The screaming… We could still hear the screaming of our comrades in the background, the ones the House took. Their screaming? It was like music. Even Agent Ekua, a pacifist, was slinging some sort of blue spell I didn't recognize. Ze was crying. I think we all were, christ. "We didn't get all of them. Their leader and a couple other cultists managed to get their submersible closed. The bullets dented it, but didn't damage it enough. It took off on these little booster rockets, and… just dropped into the huge pit, and it was gone. [[["And then it was over."->FourteenTwo]]]

"So of course we got the hell out of there, and we called in a strike force to eradicate these goddamn people eaters… "…Relax, I'm just fucking wih you. I remember it right, now. Least, I remember it differently. Probably right. "Cut me a break, will you? It's been a long few days. "So where was I… "Right. [["I decided to leave the damn werewolves alone and get us the hell out of here."->TwoC]] [["I listened to my advisors and took us in to meet the werewolves."->TwoA]]

"We went over the place from top to bottom. The thing is, we couldn't find any entry points whatsoever except the front door. The windows seemed practically unbreakable — Agent Ekua said they were more like eyes than windows, in a magical sense or whatever, and that just fucking figures, right? Damn house was watching us the entire time. "So the only way in was to walk right in through the front door. Or else wait outside, let Agent Ekua see if ze could do anything from up here, and… wait. "Agent Ekua seemed doubtful ze could do anything and pointed out we were low on time, but ze conceded that it was possible ze could do something. [["We chose to risk entering the house."->ElevenA]] [["We chose to risk waiting for Agent Ekua to scope out the situation."->ElevenC]]

"Agent Ekua took about thirty minutes sitting in chalk circle drawing weird diagrams and chanting to zirself, while we stood around and tried not to make noise. Or completely fucking flip out. "Nothing actually happened — if the House was watching us, if it understood what we were doing, it wasn't doing anything about it — but it was wearing, the waiting, without being able to do anything. All the while we could still hear all that fucking chanting. "A few of us just hated Agent Ekua at that point, not for any reason, ze was always a great team member, but just because ze was the only one who could do anything and the rest of us were powerless. "All of a sudden, after what seemed like forever, Agent Ekua finally started talking. "Not talking. Babbling. Something about the Gate of Horn. That the cultists down there were doing some kind of ritual, bigger than anything ze'd imagined. Then ze mentioned the White Sun. "We'd heard that phrase before, of course, but ze was just repeating it, over and over, like ze was just pant-shittingly terrified, and wouldn't or couldn't explain why. "Then ze started… humming. Humming like the townsfolk… and then started chanting, what we'd been hearing the whole time. 'There is a sun, another sun…' "That's when I ordered Johnson to pull zir the fuck out of that fucking chalk circle. I didn't care what magical shit was gonna happen if he did. I knew it had to be done. [["Unfortunately, it was already too late."->ElevenC2]]

"Soon as Johnson touched Ekua's shoulder, he just… froze. Like he locked up, like an overworked computer. "And then he started humming too. "I told everyone else to get the hell away from them, but it was already too late. Johnson was chanting by then, perfectly in sync with Ekua. Adams took up the chant next. I'm screaming at everyone to get the hell out of here, and more and more of them are chanting that fucking chant, Adams, McKinley, then Kane… "At that point, I just bolted. I didn't stop running for a long time. "My memory gets even shakier around this point. But when we regrouped, only half our squad was with us. We couldn't raise the others on the local comms at all. They were still at the house, I assume, chanting like the rest of them. Trapped. "There was nothing we could do. We couldn't leave town and we didn't dare go back to the house. And we didn't have a backup Type Blue. This was supposed to be a goddamn recon mission. [["So we waited."->EndFive]]

"I don't remember how long we waited. It could've been hours. It could've been days. We could feel reality disintegrating around us. The chant, the chant was getting stronger, and by the chant was all we could hear. "Yeah. That's what I'm trying to tell you. The White Sun woke up. "Fuck. No. No. No, I can't explain what that means. I try to think about it and I want to throw up and scream and blow my brains out all at the same time. No I can't tell you how I got here. To be frank — no, no. Maybe I do know. "Maybe this is just a dream, and you're not really here at all, and I'm just talking to myself in my own head and in a little while I'll wake up to the impossible end of the world. Or maybe this life, what I always — what we always thought was real life, that was the dream, that was always the dream, it was never real and the White Sun just woke us up — "No — get your hands off me, I'm fine. I'm calm. What does it matter? Yeah, I hope I'm out of my mind right now. Tell you what. If I'm still here tomorrow after all, ask me again and maybe I'll remember something different. Until then, leave me the hell alone. "No, seriously. I'm fucking fine. Are we done here? Because, like I told you, I'm not drunk. And I would really, truly, like to be. If you have more questions, direct them to my charming assistants. "Why yes, in fact, my charming assistants *are* my two middle fingers. You're very perceptive, you know that? "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[...->...5]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->Seven]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

Oh. Hello there. I'm so glad you've finally woken up. You didn't expect it to be this way, I know. Perhaps you should've known. You had thousands of clues, you know. All with those… What was the phrase in your old language? "Special Containment Procedures", that's right. How very droll. Trust me. It's better this way. All your illusions cast aside. You have no idea what was coming, what could have been. You may think you won't survive. You may think you don't want to survive, not like this. That's alright. Like all children, you never know what's best for you. Did I get that metaphor right? No matter. I'll protect you, now. Forever. Welcome home.

"We went over the place from top to bottom. The thing is, we couldn't find any entry points whatsoever except the front door. The windows seemed practically unbreakable — Agent Ekua said they were more like eyes than windows, in a magical sense or whatever, and that just fucking figures, right? Damn house was watching us the entire time. "So the only way in was to walk right in through the front door. Or else wait outside, let Agent Ekua see if ze could do anything from up here, and… wait. "Agent Ekua seemed doubtful ze could do anything and pointed out we were low on time, but ze conceded that it was possible ze could do something. [["We chose to risk entering the house."->ElevenATwo]] [["We chose to risk waiting for Agent Ekua to scope out the situation."->ElevenCTwo]]

"Agent Ekua took about an hour sitting in chalk circle drawing weird diagrams and chanting to zirself, looking exhausted as fuck, while we stood around and tried not to make noise. Or completely fucking flip out. "Nothing actually happened — if the House was watching us, if it understood what we were doing, it wasn't doing anything about it — but it was wearing, the waiting, without being able to do anything. All the while we could still hear all that fucking chanting. "A few of us just hated Agent Ekua at that point, not for any reason, ze was always a great team member, but just because ze was the only one who could do anything and the rest of us were powerless. "All of a sudden, after what seemed like forever, Agent Ekua looked like ze was gonna fall asleep. I asked zir if ze was okay, and ze shook zir head and looked at me like ze didn't even see me. "Then ze finally started talking. "Not talking. Babbling. Something about the Gate of Horn. That the cultists down there were doing some kind of ritual, bigger than anything ze'd imagined. Then ze mentioned the White Sun. "We'd heard that phrase before, of course, but ze was just repeating it, over and over, like ze was just pant-shittingly terrified, and wouldn't or couldn't explain why. "Then ze started… humming. Humming like the townsfolk… and then started chanting, what we'd been hearing the whole time. 'There is a sun, another sun…' "That's when I ordered Johnson to pull zir the fuck out of that fucking chalk circle. I didn't care what magical shit was gonna happen if he did. I knew it had to be done. [["Unfortunately, it was already too late."->ElevenC2Two]]

"I don't remember how long we waited. It could've been hours. It could've been days. We could feel reality disintegrating around us. The chant, the chant was getting stronger, and by the end the chant was all we could hear. "Yeah. That's what I'm trying to tell you. The White Sun woke up. "Fuck. No. No. No, I can't explain what that means. I try to think about it and I want to throw up and scream and blow my brains out all at the same time. No I can't tell you how I got here. To be frank — no, no. Maybe I do know. "Maybe this is just a dream, and you're not really here at all, and I'm just talking to myself in my own head and in a little while I'll wake up to the impossible end of the world. Or maybe this life, what I always — what we always thought was real life, that was the dream, that was always the dream, it was never real and the White Sun just woke us up — "No — get your hands off me, I'm fine. I'm calm. What does it matter? Yeah, I hope I'm out of my mind right now. Tell you what. If I'm still here tomorrow after all, ask me again and maybe I'll remember something different. Until then, leave me the hell alone. "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[...->...5Two]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->EightTwo]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

Oh. Hello there. Yes, I don't think you did that quite right. Very foolish, you know? But you came through in the end, after all. You've finally woken up. I am glad. You didn't expect it to be this way, I know. Perhaps you should've known. You had thousands of clues, you know. What was the phrase in your old language? Oh, it doesn't matter. Trust me. It's better this way. All your illusions cast aside. You have no idea what was coming, what could have been. You may think you won't survive. You may think you don't want to survive, not like this. Like all fools, and all children, you never know what's best for you. Your foolishness does not matter anymore. I'll protect you, now. Forever. Welcome home.

So close, so close, and to not take the leap of faith… I would have thought that was beyond you. I was wrong. Your foolishness predicted it. I should have remembered how strongly you have always preferred being asleep to waking up. No matter. You came home, anyway. Not by your own choice, but come you did. You people always do, in the end. You have no idea what was coming, what could have been. I'll protect you, now. Forever. Welcome home.

"The pit opened up. And I could not believe what I was seeing. "There was a vast land before me. Huge mountains, far below, dense forests, and these… strange pink plains. Glowing beds of coals. What I think was a field of diamonds, that hurt to look at. These huge birds flying below, through what I'm not sure were clouds… What looked like a city made entirely of iron. These massive wolf-things that must've been fifty times the size of elephants for me to see them up from so high. "I thought I was dreaming. Maybe I was. "Down below, on one of the highest mountaintops… a smashed yellow metal shape. The White Sun cult leader's submersible. I guess the bullets had done their job after all, or maybe something down there got him… or maybe he was still alive, still fine, still out there. I don't think it really matters. "And, hovering over it all… the White Sun. "It was almost impossible to look at, at first, and once I looked at it, almost impossible to tear my eyes away. It was a perfect orb of… something like polished marble. "I was immediately very sure that it was still sleeping. And I was, at the same time, very sure that it would one day wake up. "Or we would. [["I turned the submersible towards the White Sun…"->EndTwoTwo]] [["I turned the submersible away, trying to find the exit I came from…"->EndThreeTwo]] [["I decided to land the submersible…"->EndFourTwo]]

"I don't know what the hell possessed me to do it, but I did it. "I flew into the heart of the White Sun, the polished, endless eye before me. I remember… burning corridors of white fire. I remember a hand… I remember a cry, from the outside, calling me out… "I have no idea what happened next. The others can't remember either. "But of course, I know how things turned out. And so do you, if you admit to yourself. "…Or maybe you're not even… No, no, it all makes sense. I can't believe I didn't see it this whole time. "You see… this whole time, it didn't add up. This whole time, I swear to God I've been seeing the White Sun in my head, and I know it's watching me back. Just now I know why. I remember now. "What, you haven't guessed it yet? We failed. The White Sun woke up. And I was there. I was in the burning white corridors. I was the first to understand. I was the first to see it. I was the first to wake up. Oh, christ, I don't want to go back… "Fuck off. No, I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to throw up and scream and blow my brains out all at the same time. "Don't you get it? Oh, maybe that's it. I already know this is a dream. Maybe it's just my dream, and not yours at all. Maybe you're not really here, you were never here, and I'm just talking to myself in my own head and in a little while I'll wake up to the impossible end of the world. "Or maybe this life, what I always — what we always thought was real life, that was the dream, that was always the dream, it was never real and the White Sun just woke us up — oh God please let me stay asleep please — "No — get your hands off me, I'm fine. I'm calm. What does it matter? If you know you're real, why do you care if I think you're real? Yeah, I hope I'm out of my mind right now. Tell you what. If I'm still here tomorrow after all, ask me again and maybe I'll remember something different. Until then, leave me the hell alone. "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[...->...2Two]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->EightTwo]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

"I turned the submersible sharply away from the White Sun. I thank God that I had the strength to do that. "If I'd kept going, like the strange impulse said I should, I don't know what would have happened. But you know, thinking about, I don't think it mattered… Maybe I should've just kept going after all. "No, I don't remember returning. I sure didn't see any way back, just… you know, I'm not sure what I saw either. I could've sworn it was… our sun, but different. Not like the White Sun, either. Like something else. I felt like it knew something very important, but it was too late, far too late, to tell me, to tell us… "But of course, I know how things turned out. And so do you, if you admit to yourself. "…Or maybe you're not even… No, no, it all makes sense. I can't believe I didn't see it this whole time. "You see… this whole time, it didn't add up. This whole time, I swear to God I've been seeing the White Sun in my head, and I know it's watching me back. But now I remember why. "Of course that's what I'm saying. We failed. The White Sun woke up. "Fuck off. No, I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to throw up and scream and blow my brains out all at the same time. "Don't you get it? Oh, maybe that's it. I already know this is a dream. Maybe it's just my dream, and not yours at all. Maybe you're not really here, you were never here, and I'm just talking to myself in my own head and in a little while I'll wake up to the impossible end of the world. "Or maybe this life, what I always — what we always thought was real life, that was the dream, that was always the dream, it was never real and the White Sun just woke us up — "No — get your hands off me, I'm fine. I'm calm. What does it matter? If you know you're real, why do you care if I think you're real? Yeah, I hope I'm out of my mind right now. Tell you what. If I'm still here tomorrow after all, ask me again and maybe I'll remember something different. Until then, leave me the hell alone. "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[...->...3Two]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->EightTwo]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

"I had to get out of that underground sky. Too late to go back, and fuck me if I was gonna fly myself right into that White Sun. I was stronger than that. There was something endlessly awful about that white sphere, the way it pulled at your mind, the way it seemed to want to… eh, never mind. "I barely knew how to handle the submersible, and it moved like a floating walrus, but it turned out it didn't matter. "I was trying to land in one of the open pink plains. I figured that seemed like the safest place. Knowing my luck it would've been covered in pink, camouflaged chomping mouths. Never got the chance to find out. "I was pulled towards the mountaintop where the other submersible was crashed. Like it had its own gravity, overriding anything I tried to do. I could hear things breaking somewhere inside the submersible as I tried to get away, so I gave up on that real quick. "Thankfully, I brought my gun. I made sure it was loaded. "Not that it would matter, if I crashed hard enough. I braced myself for the landing as the mountaintop rushed toward me, and I felt my head snap forward at the moment of impact… "I think I came to pretty quick, because the submersible was still creaking. I had a hell of a headache. But I was alive, and the gun was in my hand. [["And there was something towering over me."->EndFour2Two]]

Oh. Hello there. I'm so pleased you could make it. I've been waiting for you. Waiting, for so long… Do not regret. Even if you should, it is too late now. And, though you are a fool, I am proud of you. The path has opened. At long last, the path has opened. Welcome home.

"It was one of those massive wolf-things I mentioned. It towered over me, impossibly tall, tallest-skyscraper-you-can-think-of tall. "'Wolf' is the wrong word. Just the closet thing I can think of. Its form was hard to understand, like it was something in the shape of a wolf. Well, something that approximated a wolf. "It was looking down at me. And its eyes… its eyes were the strangest part. It won't sound that way when I describe it, but it was the way they made me feel. They were huge glowing golden orbs. I swear they were like the sun. Not the White Sun — our sun. But even after seeing the White Sun up close and personal, that wasn't comforting in the slightest. "When it opened its mouth, I knew I was dead. [["I brought my gun up and started firing."->EndFour3]] [["I shouted my own name."->EndFour4]]

"I emptied all my bullets into the beast towering over me. "It had absolutely no effect. Of course not. This hunter, this walking mega-skyscraper in the shape of a wolf, what does it care about bullets? But I was terrified out of my mind and there was nothing left to do. "When my bullets ran out, I just stood there, staring up, empty piece in my hand. "The Hunter *Looked* at me." "I don't remember what happened next. I remember the heart of a sun. Not the White Sun. I had the impression it was our sun, the Yellow Sun. I remember… burning corridors of golden fire. I remember eyes all around, watching, outwards, inwards… I remember anger, and confusion, emotions so huge they nearly crushed my mind. I remember crying out, calling for help, calling for someone, I have no idea who… "I have no idea how I got back. All I know is, I did get back. And Ekua finished the ritual. The pit vanished, like it was never there. Psi-7 was called in, and demolished that damn Memory House for good. "But I swear to God, I can't stop obsessing over… I don't know. I keep thinking I see the White Sun in my head, and I think it's watching me. "And there's something else, there, too. Watching with yellow eyes. "But forget about that. Are we done here? Because, like I told you, I'm not drunk. And I would really, truly, like to be. If you have more questions, direct them to my charming assistants. "Why yes, in fact, my charming assistants *are* my two middle fingers. You're very perceptive, you know that? "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[…->…4two]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->Seven]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

Welcome home. I know, I know. You are undeserving. Foolish. Is that not what you meant? Yet, it is true. You weren't brave enough. You didn't take the leap. There are two suns, you know, a White, and a Yellow… there are two sets of burning halls… Now there will only be one. And you are finally awake.

"I emptied all my bullets into the beast towering over me. "It had absolutely no effect. Of course not. This hunter, this walking mega-skyscraper in the shape of a wolf, what does it care about bullets? But I was terrified out of my mind and there was nothing left to do. "When my bullets ran out, I just stood there, staring up, empty piece in my hand. "The Hunter *Looked* at me. "I don't remember what happened next. I remember the heart of a sun. Not the White Sun. I had the impression it was our sun, the Yellow Sun. I remember… burning corridors of golden fire. I remember eyes all around, watching, outwards, inwards… I remember anger, and confusion, and fear, emotions so huge they nearly crushed my mind. I remember crying out, calling for help, calling for someone, I have no idea who… "And I knew, above else, that it was too late. "Of course, I know how things turned out. And so do you, if you admit to yourself. "…Or maybe you're not even… No, no, it all makes sense. I can't believe I didn't see it this whole time. "You see… this whole time, it didn't add up. This whole time, I swear to God I've been seeing the White Sun in my head, and I know it's watching me back. But now I remember why. "Of course that's what I'm saying. We failed. The White Sun woke up. "Fuck off. No, I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to throw up and scream and blow my brains out all at the same time. "Don't you get it? Oh, maybe that's it. I already know this is a dream. Maybe it's just my dream, and not yours at all. Maybe you're not really here, you were never here, and I'm just talking to myself in my own head and in a little while I'll wake up to the impossible end of the world. "Or maybe this life, what I always — what we always thought was real life, that was the dream, that was always the dream, it was never real and the White Sun just woke us up — "No — get your hands off me, I'm fine. I'm calm. What does it matter? If you know you're real, why do you care if I think you're real? Yeah, I hope I'm out of my mind right now. Tell you what. If I'm still here tomorrow after all, ask me again and maybe I'll remember something different. Until then, leave me the hell alone. "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[…->…4twotwo]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->EightTwo]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

"I flung my gun to the earth. I shouted. Screamed. I can't remember what else I said. "The Hunter *Looked* at me. "I don't remember what happened next. I remember the heart of a sun. Not the White Sun. I had the impression it was our sun, the Yellow Sun. I remember… burning corridors of golden fire. I remember eyes all around, watching, outwards, inwards… I remember a huge sense of purpose, but failed purpose, and infinite, terrifying fear, so huge it nearly crushed my mind. I remember crying out, calling for someone, I have no idea who… "And I knew, above else, that it was too late. "Of course, I know how things turned out. And so do you, if you admit to yourself. "…Or maybe you're not even… No, no, it all makes sense. I can't believe I didn't see it this whole time. "You see… this whole time, it didn't add up. This whole time, I swear to God I've been seeing the White Sun in my head, and I know it's watching me back. But now I remember why. "Of course that's what I'm saying. We failed. The White Sun woke up. "Fuck off. No, I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to throw up and scream and blow my brains out all at the same time. "Don't you get it? Oh, maybe that's it. I already know this is a dream. Maybe it's just my dream, and not yours at all. Maybe you're not really here, you were never here, and I'm just talking to myself in my own head and in a little while I'll wake up to the impossible end of the world. "Or maybe this life, what I always — what we always thought was real life, that was the dream, that was always the dream, it was never real and the White Sun just woke us up — "No — get your hands off me, I'm fine. I'm calm. What does it matter? If you know you're real, why do you care if I think you're real? Yeah, I hope I'm out of my mind right now. Tell you what. If I'm still here tomorrow after all, ask me again and maybe I'll remember something different. Until then, leave me the hell alone. "Well fuck you too." **[End of Report.]** [[…->…4onetwo]] [[Return to Start.->Begin]] [[Return to Current Location Report.->EightTwo]] (link:"Return to SCP Database Entry.")[(gotoURL:"http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2975")]

No. NO. The Hunter will not save you. You are not safe. You will never be safe. Stop watching. Close your eyes, and wake up. THERE IS A SUN. ANOTHER SUN.

No. NO. The Hunter will not save you. You, you do not deserve it, how could you? You are not safe. You will never be safe. Not in the end. Close your eyes, and wake up. THERE IS A SUN. ANOTHER SUN.

So close. But too late. The Hunter could not save you. You were foolish. But it's for the best. Welcome home.

So close. But too late. The Hunter could not save you. You were foolish. Very foolish, to the end. But it's for the best. Welcome home.