The SCP Experience - Insecticide | SCP-4067

Episode Date: November 25, 2024

SCP Foundation KETER class object, SCP-4067 This story was derived from https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-4067 and is released under Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Author: Matt Doggett * * * DISCLAIMER: This episode contains explicit content. Parental guidance is advised for children under the age of 18. Listen at your own discretion. #thescpexperience #scp #scpfoundation #scpencounters #securecontainprotect #scpstories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oblivion is quite relaxing when you think about it. Of course, you don't actually know you're in oblivion when you're in it. It's only when you begin to come out of it that you know you were ever there at all. Then comes the dread and the fear. This is exactly what happens to me. As consciousness claws itself back, and I slowly become aware of my surroundings, and of the fact that I've just been floating in a relaxing void,

All I want is to go back into that formless dark. I want to stay there, to continue sleeping that dreamless sleep, until all my problems go away. So, as the claws of consciousness dig into the cliff's edge of reality, I try my best to dislodge them. I hammer and stomp at those hands, those claws, trying to throw myself back into that void that waits just over the cliff. Ironically, it's this effort that actually brings me awake faster,

hastening what little time I would have otherwise had to bask in the knowledge of my little vacation from the world and my problems. Two words come from the depths of my newly recovered conscious mind, and they repeat like a broken record. Not again. Right on time comes the dread and the fear as my bleary eyes open to see blue polyester. As oblivion races away from me like a hidden run driver from the scene of an accident,

I shift my limbs, surprised to find that they move somewhat freely. My legs are a little restricted, but they're not fastened together, like last time. Most importantly, my arms are free, allowing me to scramble up into a sitting position and take in my surroundings. I'm in a camping tent made of blue and gray polyester. The reason my legs are slightly restricted is because I'm in a sleeping bag.

There's no one in the tent with me, but there are supplies I've never seen before. A canteen, some clothes, boots that are free of mud or debris, or any other sign that they've been used. Sunlight filters from the sky, obscured on its way by swaying tree branches that create a web of shadows on the tent. Birds chirp outside. Squirrels, chitter. A man yells,

What the fuck! Nearby. Ah, nature. As I kick my way out of the sleeping bag and yank, the tent flap open, some part of me wants to believe I'm free. But another part of me, the same part that keeps repeating not again, knows I'm pretty goddamn far from freedom. I only notice my clothes as I stand up outside the tent. I'm wearing jeans and an orange t-shirt. My bare feet pick up pine needles and little bits of gravel as I look around. I'm in a small clearing amid towering pine trees. There's a trail nearby running parallel to the campsite. As I spin around, I see nothing but trees in every direction, except for the two other tents and the little clearing along with mine. There are also three hiking backpacks strung up from ropes

nearby, probably because they have food in them. From one of the tents, a man is still grumbling groggly. "'The hell is this shit?' he says, while unzipping the tent flap. A gruff, beaten down by the world face, peers out at me with hostility. Ice-colored eyes jump around like fleas at a circus, but they always land back on me. Silent accusation flies from his broad face and misshapen head. I raised my hands. I just woke up here, too. What is this shit? He repeats.

The flap to the third tent comes open, and a third man pokes his head out. He's got dark hair, olive skin, and a wondrous expression on his face as he glances around. Wow, I've never been camping before. Both men get out of their tents, the gruff guy coming first and lurching toward me on unsteady legs. He grabs my shirt, pulls my face uncomfortably close to his and says, Where the hell are we? On a wave of fetid breath. I turn away and gulp in the sweet pine forest air.

Yeah, I'd like to know that too, the dark-haired guy says. I don't know, I say, still facing away from bad breath. I just woke up here. Last thing I remember I was going to the infirmary for an unscheduled checkup, the dark-haired guy says, finishing my sentence. Yeah, that's right. Bad Breath's grip loosens on my shirt, although the collar is probably stretched beyond repair now.

Great. You guys were doing time, too? I nod. Yeah. Where? Sing-Sing. Auburn, the dark-haired guy says. What about you?

Bad Breath releases me. Five points. Wait, where's Auburn? I ask. Auburn, New York? Yeah, the guy says. He doesn't seem too concerned about suddenly waking up here. Maybe he's been through something like this before, like me.

I breathe out, stepping back from bad breath. We're off from New York. No shit, that's weird. Why? Listen, what are your names? Bad breath answers first. Lusk. Moya, the dark-haired guy says.

You? Clancy, I say. I think I know what's happening. Well, not really. But I've got some idea. And I don't think we're going to like it. Lusk steps toward me. What the hell does that mean?

Moya steps over. It means that this is some kind of fucked up experiment. And we're probably going to have to fight for our lives. Lusk turns to Moya and shakes his head. I don't get it. Experiment? I thought experimenting on prisoners was illegal or something. Moia laughs.

Right. What country do you live in? I get to my knees beside my tent and start rolling up my sleeping bag. The longer we hang around here, the more likely it is will be screwed. See those backpacks? I point. There's one for each of us. I suggest you back your shit up and start walking.

That's clearly what they want us to do, Moia replies. So you've been through something like this before? Me too. I would rather take my chances on the run, and sit around here and wait for whatever is coming for us. Moya shrugs. Fair point. I'll go with you.

A buzzing sound erupts from somewhere in the trees. I whip my head up and look that way just as the buzzing stops. I see a tree in the distance wavering more than the others, more than the breeze would account for. I feel eyes on me. After studying the tree and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I ask Moja. Did you hear that? Yeah.

Let's get gone. Notting, I reach down and pull a metal tent stake out of the ground and slip it in my pocket. Lusk, who has been alternating between watching us and watching the trees, finally lets loose. What the fuck is going on? You got two choices, big man, Moya says, now packing his own sleeping bag up. Stay or go. Up to you. Lazzang sur-joled, puissance-moines for 15 minutes.

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What the hell was that? Lusk whispers, stopping on the trail to look around. I heard it too. That buzzing sound again, growing closer, getting loud. Too loud, like a hundred grasshoppers all flying in unison. Then, it ended, just a second ago, with a rustling sound and a tree off to our left. All three of us are now stopped.

Moya is up ahead, lusk in the middle, and me bringing up the rear. My mantra has gone from not again to what now, ever since I started hearing the buzzing noise. I scanned the tree tops, seeing nothing of interest. It could just be some group of insects. The thing is, it didn't sound like a group of insects. Not really. That's just the closest assumption I came to. In reality, it sounded like one big insect.

And that's something I really don't like the sound of. Maybe we should go back the other way? Moja asks. It was a coin flip that caused us to go this way. even though we didn't have a coin, so we flipped a piece of tree bark instead. Maybe, I say, hoping against hope that simply going the other way will lead to salvation. But of course, I know it won't. We're screwed no matter which way we go.

Lusk pushes past me. Yeah, screw this. Moya and I turn as well, following him. For a while, we don't hear anything strange. But just as we get to the spot where we woke up, the buzzing starts again. This time, it's coming from everywhere. For a moment, I think it's some kind of aircraft, like a prop plane or something, and that it will just fly over the trees and will all have a good laugh about it.

But as the buzzing gets louder and I feel my teeth vibrating, I glimpse the first figure out of the corner of my eye. It's little more than a distant shadow over the trees. I looked that way, seeing something large, as large as a man, settling in the high-up branches of a tree some 40 yards distant. Even from the split-second glimpse, I know it's not a man. The buzzing continues. Lusk shouts out what I've come to think of his catchphrase.

What the fuck is that? Following his stubby, pointing finger. I watch another man-sized creature settle in a distant tree. But this one is close enough. that I can see its large, segmented eyes as it pokes its vaguely humanoid head around the tree and peers at us. Its mandibles opening and closing, like oversized crab claws. There's a shout for moya. I turn and see another one, slightly different from the other two. This one buzzes down on huge wings and lands on the trail about 20 yards away. A full-body revulsion passes violently

through me as I look at the creature. It looks like a big cockroach with huge, human-like features. It stands upright on too thin but humanoid legs. It has four arms, two on top, where you would expect them on a human, and two lower on each side. Each of these ends in three segmented finger-like digits. The creature wears no clothes, and is burgundy in color, like that of your average cockroach. Its body is made of tough, organic armor, and its compound eyes seem to stare at everything and nothing all at once. The three of us gape at this giant insect before Lusk and Moya take action. They both turn and run away.

I do the same, but first I drop my backpack to the ground. Soon, I'm passing both of them, but I know it won't do any good. I can still hear the buzzing, and I'm peripherally aware of more of the huge insects landing in the woods all around. Still, I keep running. But they don't approach. The closest they get is about 50. 15 yards away, landing on the forest floor or in the trees or on the trail behind the three

of us. They scurry after us, propelling us onward. I realize too late that they're corraling us like sheep. My lungs burn and my legs are rubbery as I bring a clearing into view up ahead. There's some kind of giant insect in the middle of the clearing, almost as tall the trees. The sight of that massive insect freezes my blood. I stop running and turn in all directions, looking for an escape route. Lusk and Moja, both now without their backs, slow down as they approach me. We're completely surrounded and exhausted. Clicks and whistles sound all around us as the creatures communicate. They close in from three sides, forcing us toward the clearing. I'm too tired to do anything else, so I walk forward, realizing when I get a clearer view that the giant insect

is a statue of some kind, made mostly out of wood. I soon see several other people in the clearing with us, on the other side of the statue, mostly men and women, but also a few children. As more of the insects come forth from the woods, some of them hurting more people forward, I realize with growing panic that there are dozens of them, more than dozens, maybe 200. They don't all look like giant cockroaches, although a good portion do. Many of them resemble locusts or cicadas. When they're not flying, the sound of their chittinous segments rubbing together is enough to drive me to the edge of madness. I look around for any sort of weapon to use, but there's nothing. There had been nothing in our supplies either.

No pocket knives, no hatchets, no firearms. But I remember the makeshift weapon I slipped into a front pocket on a whim, a tent stake. Touching my pocket, I verified that the thin, lightweight piece of metal is still there. But I leave it there, knowing I would have to get close to use it. Close enough to touch. The thought of it makes my bowels constrict. They corral us humans into a circle around the legs of the upright insect effigy. facing inward, so our backs are to the insects.

Several people whisper, speaking what sounds like German, but that only aggravates the creatures. They chitter loudly and race up to the offenders, putting their strange hands un-gently on their shoulders and shutting the communication down immediately. Once we're all in a circle around the effigy, we eye each other, trying to communicate only through looks and body language. A few men suddenly scream and whip around in a semi-coordinated attack.

I tense, reaching for the metal tent stake in my pocket, deciding how best to make my move. But even before I can spin around to lunge at one of these strange creatures, I see the result of the attack. The insect creatures move swiftly, one of them snapping a man's arm in half as he tries for a haymaker. The man screams as bone punches through skin, a result of the deft movement and defense measures of the creature. Another of the attacking humans has his arms pinned to his sides by one creature, while another one comes up behind him and snaps its mandibles around the back of his neck. Blood spews out of the twin wounds as the tough mouth parts all but sever the man's head.

The third and final attacker is grabbed on either arm by two creatures, who then buzz up into the sky and attempt to fly away from each other with the man between them. The rest of us watch as the man screams, legs kicking feebly in the air as his arms are yanked out of their sockets. His left arm gives first, skin tearing with the sound I will never forget as long as I live. Blood rains down on several of us as the man's body sags down, hanging from his one remaining arm. Then the creature with the man's severed arm drops the limb and moves back in with a blurry

buzz of large wings. Once again holding the man between them, the two creatures fly. over the head of the wooden effigy. The man continues to scream as blood drains out of his wound, but his screams die down as each creature plunges one sharp limb into his stomach. Having positioned him over the effigy's head, they rip his flesh open and allow his organs to dump out onto the 40-foot wooden statue. Then they drop the man's body onto the thing.

The effigy looks so fragile that I expect it to collapse under the man's weight, but it doesn't even tremble as he hits it. I blink repeatedly, trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. The man seems to be melting over the insectile effigy head, the structure of his body morphing, skin color changing. In the middle of this, additional creatures bring the other attackers up into the air and drop them onto the effigy as well. The same thing happens.

These men melt as they hit the statue, their flesh spreading out, making an exoskeleton for the massive insect. Suddenly, I know with sickening certainty why we're here. And it seems that everyone else has come to the same conclusion as all hell breaks loose. Chaos erupts as the humans revolt. Everyone determined to go down fighting.

I yanked the tent stake out of my pocket and lunge at the nearest creature while it's in the middle of trying to catch my neighbor. I plunged the dull metal tip into the creature's many-segmented elements. It screams. A shrill series of whistles ring out that makes me want to jam the stake into my own eardrums. Greenish goop leaks out of the ruined eye

as I pull the steak out and then try to jam it into the creature's head. The exoskeleton is too hard. It's like trying to stab through a bike helmet. The creature shifts to me, forgetting about the woman it was busy with. As it grabs my left forearm, digging its sharp fingers into my skin,

I jammed the steak into its other arm. It screams again and takes off into the air, colliding with another flying creature and then careening off into the woods, smashing into a tree. Crouching and ready to defend myself, I peer around and immediately see that the humans are losing. There's a familiar yell, and I see lusk being lifted into the air, mangled legs kicking in face bloody. I follow his trajectory and am shocked to see that the effigy is nearly halfway complete now. In the time it took me to stab that one creature in both eyes, at least a half dozen more humans have been assimilated into the effigy. And Lusk is next.

The creature drops him onto the effigy's thorax. And I watch in shock as the man is quickly melted. Organs being sucked through the skeletal framework to create the interior of the effigy's body, while his flesh is stretched and then solidified on the exterior by some unseen force. Via-Rae, Embarked and Profite. Embarked and relaxes. Ciro-te.

Bookine. Oh, that also. And profite. Villaray, the voice that we love that we I'm too busy watching this horrific display to see the creature buzzing toward me until it's almost upon me. I turn at the last moment as the thing slams into me,

taking me to the ground. Its forearms gripped me, pinning my limbs to my body, making the steak useless. Its mandibles open up, the sharp ridges in the interior already dripping blood from some previous victim. Maybe it's the same one who nearly took off that man's head from behind. It's impossible to tell. Its head closes in on my face, mandibles stretching as wide as they'll go. I can see my tiny reflection multiplied in its segmented eyes that take up a good third of its head.

It's going for my throat. One pinch of those mandibles, and I'll bleed out in no time. I struggle. trying to free my arm. It's no use. The thing is too strong. The only move I can make rushes into my mind. One last, desperate move. I whip my head up, mouth open, and bite into the creature's right eye. I feel the tough segments pop against my teeth, filling my mouth with a gel-like substance that tastes of rotting vegetation. At the same time, the creature jerks back reflexively while simultaneously closing its mandibles. I feel the spikes rip into the skin of my neck, and I'm sure I'll be dead in moments.

But in its pained spasm, it has released my right arm. I bring the tent stake up and jam it between two segments of its armor, right where its neck meets its head. Even this doesn't kill the thing, but it screams and takes off into the air. Feeling the wounds on my neck, I'm relieved to realize their mere surface scratches. I get quickly to my feet, glancing up at the tower. effigy, seeing that it is almost completely covered. All that's left are its legs and a few bare spots on its abdomen and thorax. There are still several humans left, fighting for their lives or trying to run.

I spot a young girl lying on the ground about 10 yards away. She has her hands over her head, and she's crying. One of the creatures lands next to her and grabs her with its forearms. With an anger I've only felt one other time in my life, an anger that ultimately landed me prison, I lurch for the creature. As the insect lifts off, carrying the girl, I leap onto the thing's back, wrapping my left arm around the narrow space between its thorax and abdomen. My weight brings it back down near the ground, but it doesn't land. Its wings are beating me, but they're so light they don't hurt, although it's clear I'm not preventing the thing from flying.

It drops the little girl and buzzes higher into the air, bringing me up and toward an empty spot on the effigy. I jerk my right hand up and slash wildly with the stake, hoping I'll be able to do some damage to the wing. It works, and I poke a hole in the wing, but the creature doesn't seem to notice. We're closing in on the effigy now. It's almost done. A few more humans, and it will be finished. I have no idea what will happen then, but I know it won't be good. Grabbing around the creature's abdomen with both arms, I get enough leverage to pull myself farther up, scrambling up its vibrating body and positioning myself on its back between its wings, which still beat my lower body as it flies.

It reaches up with two of its four hands, fingers piercing the skin of my upper back, just behind my arms. The blank spots on the effigy is just below, some ten feet down. If I land on that blank spot, I'll be assimilated. But what if I land on a portion that already has exoskeleton? It's worth a shot. Working against the pain, I bring the stake up and stab it into one of the creature's eyes. The thing veers away from the effigy as it screams in pain. It yanks at me with its powerful arms, tearing chunks out of my flesh and causing me to unleash a scream of my own.

Suddenly, I'm below the creature, hanging onto an arm with my left hand, dangling high above the crowd. The effigy's head is to my right. An idea screams to mind as I see another insect creature filling a little. in the hole I was meant for. The effigy is done. It begins to move, to come to life. The insect creature is trying to drop me. It has no more use for me, so it's trying to kill me.

I hang on tight, whipping my legs around to try and influence its flight path. It works, getting me just close enough. I let go, dropping onto the effigy's head, grabbing onto an antenna to prevent myself from falling. I scramble onto its now moving head, Crouch behind it and throw my steak gripping fist over, stabbing the thing in the eye with the steak. It shakes its head slowly, as if coming out of a nap. I don't know how many of these things I've stabbed in the eyes, but it hasn't killed any of them. Then I notice a crack right down the middle of its head where two segments joined together.

Worth a try. I stabbed the steak at that crack. The tip barely punctures it, but it's a start. As dozens of creatures from below lift into the air to attack me, I do it once more. This time, it goes deeper. That strange whistling scream erupts from deep in the giant creature's abdomen, and I feel its strange flesh skeleton vibrate under me as I pull the steak out and slam it back in again. I stab with the stake in a crazed frenzy, punching a hole into the creature's head right at the weak point between segments. Brown goop oozes out.

The creature moves its tree trunk legs, stepping among the insects, still carpeting the clearing. Other creatures buzz at me, but I managed to kick a couple of them away. One of them slams into me, knocking the stake out of my hand, which tumbles down to the ground below. Now several of the creatures surround me. I feel their strange fingers puncturing my skin. It's now or never. I make a fist and punch down into the hole I've created in the huge creature's head. My fist powers through goop and into something strange that feels like a buzzing nest of smaller insects.

I open my fist and start rooting around inside the creature's head. As my attackers try to pull me away, I thrust my hand into what feels like a large electrical socket covered in tinfoil. A jolt of electricity rolls through me, and I feel the creatures around me fall away, as if they've been shocked as well. I'm still armpit deep in the giant creature's head, And as I slump over, sweet oblivion racing up to meet me, I see the remaining creatures on the ground all collapsing,

as if they've been sprayed with extra strength insecticide. But the last thing I glimpse before Oblivion takes me into its empty arms is the little girl from earlier. She's unharmed, standing amid the collapsing insects. Looking up at me with a confused expression on her face, I manage a smile, welcoming Oblivion. Oblivion is quite relaxing when you think about it. Of course, you don't actually know you're in oblivion when you're in it.

It's only when you begin to come out of it that you know you were ever there at all. I try to revel in it, but consciousness claws itself back. And I become aware of my surroundings. Familiar surroundings. No polyester this time. Just stone and metal. Prison. but not a regular prison cell.

I'm in solitary. Again. Sying, I lie back on the uncomfortable bunk. Thankful I'm not surrounded by sickening man-sized insects. The cell door opens, and a guard I recognize comes in with a tray of bland food, which he sets on the lidless toilet. Finally awake, asshole? When did I get back?

I ask, not bothering to get up. Back. Back from where? Oh, right, I say. It never happened, right? I've been here the whole time. I remember the drill from last time. The guard shakes his head disgustedly.

Man, you need to be in a nut house instead of here, you freak. I'm good either way. As long as there are no giant bugs, I'll be just fine. The guard hurls a few more insults and then leaves. When he's gone, I sit up and stick. a hand under my shirt, feeling the bandages along my shoulders and back where the creatures stuck their fingers into me. A cockroach suddenly scurries out from under my bunk.

I stomp on it, feeling it crunch under my foot. I can't help but smile. SCP 4067 refers to a yearly event in a random location throughout Western or Central Europe, where a massive gathering of insect humanoids occurs. These humanoids are designated as SCP 467-1 instances. These instances are sapient and are both bipedal and quadrupedal. Some specimens possess two or four limbs connected to their torsos that terminate in three fingers. At the yearly event, instances manifest from unknown sources in various numbers and create an effigy

from wood. The effigy is made to resemble an unknown deity worshipped by the instances, and is designated as SCP 4067-2. When it is built, these instances will gather any nearby humans, and then, in a ritualistic fashion, have the bodies of subjects expand and merge with the effigy. Once the effigy is completely covered in the flesh of subjects, it will begin to animate and slowly crawl its vicinity in search of further subjects to consume. During one event, a total of 123 humans were absorbed by the effigy.