SCP: Find Us Alive - 04: Blackout

Episode Date: January 3, 2020

Strange things happen in the dark. Humans are dangerous creatures. This episode was written by Anna Maguire and features the voices of Ian "Zynd" Charles (Harley), Jackson McMurray (Lancaster), and Tabi Bardall (Agent Love). Original theme written by Jackson McMurray. Follow us on Twitter @Site107 for updates, info, art and more. CONTENT WARNINGS: violence, loud noises, discussions of death, torture mention, mental illness, unreality, gun handling. Word of mouth is the best advertising, so be sure to share with your friends if you like the show! This podcast and all content relating to the SCP Foundation are released under a Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0 license. Music is Suspense BG Music by Argsound. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hi, everybody. It's Anna. I just wanted to announce that beginning in January, we will be posting behind-the-scenes talks on our Patreon on the 15th of every month, with topics ranging from the show running process to our favorite parts of the SCP Wiki to future projects and more. So check us out on Patreon at Find Us Alive to come and join us, and thank you for all of your support. Enjoy the episode. A lot can happen in nine hours. I come to you on record from my portable kit. nine hours ago we lost power to the entire facility it's a dash one a big one has to be I can't think of any internal explanation there could possibly be the foundation is too thorough for any wiring or technical error

to be able to kill the power to the whole site I'm in my office it is extremely dark I'm keeping my flashlight off. I keep seeing people pass by in the hall outside. Sometimes I can hear them yelling. I don't think things are entirely safe out there. Yeah, also, site 107 has descended into a state of complete feudal chaos.

As soon as the lights went off, and everyone figured out that it was the entire site, not just an isolated incident, And that's when the panic set in. People running in every direction. I've never seen anything like it before. It was like the end of the world. Utter, absolute darkness, strobed by the beams of dozens of flashlights and cell phones.

It's intriguing to see how little it takes to reduce a hundred of the world's strongest and smartest people to a mindless stampede, or rather. how little it takes when you add it to being trapped in a pocket dimension. I ran to my dorm. I wanted to see if I could get access to the radio pack before things got too hairy, but I couldn't find the key to unlock it. So I grabbed my own personal TASCAM equipment and whatever leftover rations I had, and I went to see if I could catch Lancaster, but I couldn't find him. Things were getting crazy.

I saw somebody from research and someone I think was from records fighting, and I mean really fighting. I think one of them stabbed the other with a ballpoint pen. I admit I wasn't immune to the mass hysteria. I panicked just as much as anybody else did. I don't know if anyone has fired a gun yet. It was loud. Screaming, yelling, footsteps. Impacts. No alarms.

That was the weirdest part. Something goes wrong in a foundation facility, and the first thing you expect to hear is the breach alarm. But there wasn't one. There wasn't anything. Just people. People and weapons and white LED beams cutting through the thick black darkness. And then it was silent. About two hours after we lost power, I finally made it to the booth. and it was quiet, much, much too quiet. Every once in a while I can hear people outside, but other than that, dead silence. You just don't think about how much noise electronics make.

It just fades into the background after a while. But the humming and soft beeps of our equipment generate quite a bit of noise, As I have learned from the sheer oppressive absence of it, it's a killing sort of quiet. I hid in my office, curled up under my desk for hours. It does something to you, that kind of silent dark. It activates a dormant animal instinct, and you start listening to your own heartbeat just to escape the emptiness. The void. Your brain conjures sounds from the nothing just to make you feel better.

Because the other option is that there isn't anything at all. And that's much, much worse. Almost 100 people in this building and it was still as the grave. For a while, I actually worried I might be the only one left somehow. Like everyone else had cannibalized each other in the violence. And everyone was dead. Now it was just... Me?

Alone in this pitch-black, Librenthean research facility. I haven't left the office yet. I'm going to have to, though. I didn't bring any water in with me. And I guess... I'll eventually be finding out if the toilet's work in a blackout after all. I don't know what's going on out there. And I'm not overly enthused to find out.

Sometimes I still hear people fighting. Somebody even tried my door handle, but for once I've actually locked it. They probably didn't think the radio office is valuable enough. They'd be right, if it weren't for my crank generator. It's barely enough to keep a few walkie batteries charged in my... tiny little space heater working, but nobody can find out I have a generator. Security is always loud as hell, but I haven't heard any of them. I take that to mean they're separated, because if any of them were together, you'd be able to hear them talking from two halls away.

Botany and records are likely hold up like I am, doing God knows what. I don't know where psychology would be. scattered most likely none of them ever seem that close to one another which means I also have no idea where Lancaster is my biggest worry though is the field agents any of the people from outside who got trapped

there are a handful of outside agents in here and all of them are extremely unpredictable I wouldn't put it past them to abandon the sense of camaraderie we've been trying to build since the shift. And where the hell is Klein and all this? I doubt my tiny little generator could give us enough power to reach any comms beyond a few rooms anyway. We need to get everybody in the same place. We need to call a truce so we can figure this out.

But I doubt that's going to happen. Not in the state things are almost to my room. I think I'm in wing AD5. God, whose idea was it to build this place like this? It's very hard to tell where I am in the dark. I'm trying to use my flashlight as little as possible in case somebody sees me. I've managed to make it this far without running into any of the others. I'm going to sneak in, fill as many receptacles with water as I can,

and I'm going back to the comm office. Access to my equipment gives me the most strategic advantage I can hope for. It also gives me the best shot at calling somebody else to help me. Speaking of help, I have to find Lancaster. The fact that I haven't seen him yet is disconcerting. People in psychology aren't exactly known for their toughness or compatibility. For all I know, another department could have gotten him already. And waterboarded him or whatever it is they're doing.

You know, I don't think anyone has gotten killed, so it makes me wonder what the others are doing to people. Are they just plundering each other for resources? That can't be it, right? God, I think I'm spiraling. What a... This is Dr. Harley, coming to you live from the inside of a broom closet. I managed to get out of the open hallway before containment saw me.

They're sweeping the site. They're looking for batteries. From what I heard when I was listening under the door a second ago, Alvis isn't even with them. Apparently, she went off on her own mission. Doing what? It's a mystery. But one of the containment...

officers is carrying a literal torch, and I don't even know what to do with that. Okay, I'm listening. She's after Klein. That makes sense. They're looking for Elvis. Wait, they're looking for, what? They don't know where she is? She's their boss. I feel like, damn it, they don't know where Klein is either. I'll find Lancaster and maybe he can help me find. I'm sorry. I am so out of shape. I made it. I made it back to my room. I have a backpack full of water

and batteries and a few other things I might need. I'm about to head to the psych office. See if I can sniff out Lancaster. Also, toilets do work in blackouts, it turns out. Water is still running for now, but the recycling isn't on,

so eventually it'll run out. Also, temperature control isn't on. It's getting very cold in here. Out of Overwatch Command, wish me luck. Inside, inside. Oh, thank fuck, the door locks are on batteries. Fuck. Fuck you.

What? Why? That was a very long way to run. Like we had a choice not to. Did you see how close they were? You probably would have gone faster if you weren't carrying all that shit with you. These are important. Yeah. Also, what are those?

Dossiers. Why? I, uh... You're squinting again. Are you scheming? Stop, stop, pointing out my squinting. I'm, I'm not scheming. I'm on to something, maybe.

Then set it all down and show me. I can't tell you, Harley. I'm... There's... You just have to trust me. You know I've never trusted a theater, kid. I need... Shut up.

I need you to answer some questions for me. About this? pertaining to this, yeah. Go for it. Have you felt weird since we got trapped in here? Dude. No, no, no, no. I mean, like, really noticeably weird.

Like, weirder than you would expect. I don't know. I was really spacey for the first week or so, but other than that, not really. Hmm, okay. Scheming. I'm not scheming. Just give me your flashlight. Oh.

are they all only one page? These are just the cover sheets. Department heads? The ones on the top of the stack, yeah. Me? Buddy. I... Whatever.

Why do you have these? Just hold these. Write something. Write what? Anything. It doesn't matter. Just, I don't know. Write something.

Draw something. I don't care. Just trust me. Oh, okay. What about other people? What about other people? Have you noticed anything off? Anything strange?

No. Maybe? I don't know. Everybody seems weird. I've never spent this much time around it. any of them? Um, just, just compare them to me or, uh, to people on the outside. Is there anything off? People here are really into monsters. No, not stuff like that. They're, uh, they're lone wolves a lot of the time. A lot of people don't really interact with each other. Uh-huh. Sometimes

people don't hear me until like the third time I try to get their attention. Uh-huh. I keep seeing people completely zone out and stare at the wall for like 30 seconds. Ah, yes, yes. Okay, so, so, so people seem unfocused, right? I guess. Let me see your paper. What? Is this supposed to be a spider? You told me to draw something. Lank, please tell me what's going on.

I don't know if I can. If I try to be explicit, it's sort of... Wait until she leaves. Open the damn door. The scavengers are coming. I'm gone on. She'll kill us. I'm not leaving her out there.

It could be a trap. It's not going to be a trap. She's probably alone. She's probably hiding like us. Stop saying that. It's not a trap. How does she even? Scavengers.

She's going to suck out. A few agents don't eat bone marrow, Lancaster. Block the door! Hey, you're not supposed to... Don't kick me out, I swear to God. Okay, hey, hey, there's no need for that. Shut up! Get down! What?

Don't kick me out. We are not going to kick you out, all right? We just need everybody to be calm. So please put that away. What the fuck was that just now? That sounded like containment. No. No?

Engineering? Worse. Worse? Medical. Episode 4 was written and produced by Anna McGuire. The voice of Harley is Ian Charles. The voice of Lancaster is Jackson McMurray. The voice of Agent Love is Tabby Bardol.

If you like our show and want to support us, follow us on Twitter at Site 107 or email us at find us alive podcast at gmail.com. This podcast, along with all content, relating to the SCP Foundation is released under a Creative Commons share-a-like 3.0 license. Thank you for listening.