0:00

Another day is here, and you're ready for

0:02

it. What to wear? Check. Breakfast, lunch, and

0:04

dinner? Check. Planning for what's next and how

0:06

to save for it? That's where Bank of

0:09

America can help. For your financial to-dos, Bank

0:11

of America has experts ready to help get

0:13

you closer to your goals. Get started at

0:15

one of our local financial centers or

0:18

24-7 in our mobile banking app. Find a

0:20

location near you at bankofamerica.com/talktosus. What would you

0:22

like the power to do? Mobile banking requires

0:24

downloading the app and is only available for

0:26

select devices. Message and data rates may apply.

0:28

Bank of America and a member FDIC. When

0:31

you need mealtime inspiration, it's worth

0:33

shopping Kroger, where you'll find over

0:35

30,000 mouth-watering choices that

0:37

excite your inner foodie. And no matter what

0:40

tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our everyday

0:42

low prices, plus extra ways to save, like

0:44

digital coupons worth over $600 each week. You

0:48

can also save up to $1 off per gallon at

0:50

the pump with FuelPoints. More savings

0:53

and more inspiring flavors make shopping

0:55

Kroger worth it every time. Kroger,

0:57

fresh for everyone. Fuel restrictions apply.

1:01

Hey everyone, it's Pacific, and

1:03

welcome back to SCP Archives.

1:07

This is K is for Keystone, part two.

1:09

If you haven't already listened to part one,

1:11

I strongly advise that you go back and

1:13

listen to it. I promise the story will

1:16

make a lot more sense that way. Though,

1:19

this is a story about time travel,

1:21

so hey, maybe this is exactly where

1:23

you're supposed to start. It's

1:26

not, I promise. Go back and listen to part one

1:28

if you haven't. But if

1:30

you have, strap in for a wild ride. Also,

1:33

if you're here, I just wanna

1:36

give everyone a quick reminder. We

1:38

recently launched a merch store, which

1:40

you can check out by visiting

1:42

scparchives.com/store. There's also a link to

1:44

our store in our show notes

1:46

below. We have a couple

1:48

of new designs launching soon, but if

1:50

you wanna get something right now, we

1:52

do have a Archivist t-shirt and Archivist

1:54

mug available, both designed by

1:56

our incredible artist, Valdivia Arts.

26:00

pointed down the corridor. But

26:02

there was nothing there. Shit.

26:06

They're starting to hallucinate. Handrahan,

26:09

you need to put your mask back on right now. Realizing

26:13

they didn't have much time, Pike

26:15

turned back to Blake and focused on his watch,

26:19

keying the recall sequence into the time

26:21

machine on his extended arm. You're

26:23

going to make it, Blake. Gun

26:26

speed. She entered

26:28

the final sequence into the device

26:31

and sat back as the watch pulled

26:33

Blake through the fourth dimension. His

26:37

body shuddered unnaturally for a moment,

26:40

his form glitching as the

26:42

watch struggled to navigate the

26:44

unfathomable temporal landscape of

26:47

their environment. Then,

26:50

suddenly, he was gone

26:53

and the hedge vines rush to fill up

26:55

the space. Soon,

27:00

there was no sign of where he

27:02

had lain. She

27:05

turned back to Handrahan, the

27:08

brilliant colors of the flora streaking

27:10

across her vision as she reoriented

27:12

herself. They

27:15

were looking at her now. Fear

27:17

etched on their face as they brandished

27:20

their knife. She

27:22

saw Blake's face instead

27:25

of Handrahan's. Shit.

27:31

Handrahan, I think we're in a

27:33

lot of trouble. Something

27:39

inside her hatched.

27:43

She could feel it unmistakably.

27:47

Thousands, millions,

27:50

billions of ants hatching within

27:52

her. Within her

27:54

chest, her arms, her

27:56

brain, all skittering forth

27:59

to conquer the world. new world around them.

28:02

Her internal world acting

28:05

on their intrinsic instinct to spread, to

28:09

invade, to

28:11

replace, converting

28:13

her into a nest. Their

28:16

new quarry, the

28:19

starting point of further

28:21

conquests. She

28:24

screamed and fervently scratched at

28:26

her skin, her arms,

28:28

her neck, all the

28:31

while trying to get at the insects within. The

28:34

very insects she could feel

28:36

skittering, scraping,

28:39

moving beneath the surface, through

28:43

her veins, her arteries,

28:46

her neck, her

28:48

eyes. She felt it,

28:50

clear as day, as truly as

28:53

the clothes she wore, the nails

28:56

in new wounds. It

29:08

all felt undeniably real.

29:19

The skinnering, the

29:21

consuming itching felt from

29:23

the inside. It's

29:25

not real. There's nothing, nothing

29:28

to... Not

29:31

my screen. Nearby, very

29:34

nearby. It's hand or a

29:36

hand. They're hallucinating

29:38

too. This

29:40

is bad, very bad. The

29:45

click. I've heard that

29:48

accursed noise before. The

29:50

hunting cry of that

29:52

thing. The

29:55

thing that took Kelly. Kelly!

30:00

It's not falling! I'm so

30:02

sorry! No,

30:11

not real. Not real. Not

30:13

Kelly. And Blake is taken somewhere

30:16

else by the squad. Hopefully home.

30:19

There's only a chance Kelly's gotten

30:21

taken by the shapeshifter. Not real.

30:23

This isn't real. Oh,

30:26

Zation. An illusion.

30:29

There are faces everywhere in the hedges

30:32

screaming, pleading, and playing. Kelly

30:36

and everything. Blake,

30:39

Cravin, Rattles, everyone, everyone,

30:41

everywhere. All there in

30:44

the hedges. No

30:46

watching me. Is

30:50

that me? Am

30:52

I trapped in the hedges? No. None

30:55

of this is real. Are

31:00

you real? What

31:03

is real here? Is

31:08

this real? Withershins,

31:17

Withershins, go Withershins!

31:21

Which way? Where are the hedges? Which

31:24

way is Withershins? Withershins to what? What?

31:31

Why do I smell blood? I'm...

31:47

I'm stranded by faceless,

31:49

deformed half-people pressing

31:51

in towards me with blackened

31:54

hooks, blackened shane, blackened hands.

31:58

They're in rubble. Now

34:01

or up, up.

34:07

Am I looking up? Falling

34:09

up, up into

34:12

the infinite? Am

34:15

I burning like a meteor? A

34:18

wick, a fuel

34:20

burning away the corruption, the

34:23

insects, the

34:25

insects on me, within me, throughout

34:28

my body, purifying

34:30

me by fire under charcoal,

34:33

to ash, the dawning

34:35

light at the core of the helix, rebuilding

34:37

me, making me

34:39

a new, a new way, perfect,

34:42

proper, golden. That

34:47

blinding light from above, behind my head,

34:49

speaking to me, calling

34:51

me my

34:54

name. Hi!

34:57

Hi! Bringing

34:59

me from chaos to order,

35:03

order, perfect,

35:05

true order, lifting

35:08

the darkness around me, behind me, sculpting

35:11

the void into earth, into

35:13

grass, the

35:16

comfort for shaping

35:18

the howling, hateful silence

35:20

into wrestling, place, peace,

35:24

growing the world around me, fixing

35:27

it, building it as it

35:29

should, to my will, its

35:33

will, the right will, to

35:37

guide, to control, to

35:41

perfect, never

35:43

failing, cannot fail, can

35:46

never afford to fail. The

35:48

light, the light, the light.

35:51

Hi! It

35:53

was too bright, too

35:56

great. She raised

35:58

a hand to block it out. But

36:01

it simply moved, insistent

36:03

on disturbing her, stabbing

36:05

into her eyes. Her

36:08

headache. Her head.

36:11

Ugh... Pike,

36:17

can you hear me? She

36:20

tried to answer. What? But

36:22

something was wrong with her face. Something

36:26

was on her face. Cold.

36:30

Plastic wrapped around.

36:34

A mask. A

36:36

respirator mask. Pike

36:39

reached up to take it off, grunting

36:42

at the piercing pain in her hand. Something

36:47

was wrong with it. She

36:50

blinked at the hand. Bandaged.

36:53

Now missing two fingers. What...

36:59

what happened? Where

37:01

are we? Hanrahan helped her

37:04

sit up. I'm

37:07

sorry. I thought...

37:10

you look like... The

37:12

knife, bloodied. Lay

37:15

in the grass behind them. Their

37:17

face was bloodied. Nose broken,

37:20

eye black and shining. Lips

37:23

cracked and bleeding. Napoleon...

37:27

Trugged us. I know, but

37:29

I... Where are we? They

37:32

found themselves in a huge, circular

37:35

clearing. The

37:37

uncircling hedge walls were evenly

37:39

interspersed by the narrow corridors, radiating

37:42

out in every direction. Sans

37:45

the one a distance ahead of Pike. By

37:49

its width and clockwise curve. Obviously,

37:53

the terminus of the main path.

37:59

Kelly. The

1:16:00

Foundation secures and contains such objects to

1:16:02

prevent their misuse, especially

1:16:04

important for objects like the Keystone, which

1:16:07

allow people to travel through time and

1:16:09

space. Fascinating.

1:16:14

So you imprisoned us out of

1:16:16

fear that one of

1:16:18

your people would use us to

1:16:20

interfere with your history. Were

1:16:23

you trying to destroy

1:16:25

us? Excuse

1:16:27

me? Agent

1:16:56

Pike was silent for

1:16:59

a long time, her

1:17:01

mind pouring over the things that she

1:17:04

knew. Trapped

1:17:06

in a circle. The

1:17:10

TL-7432 time loop.

1:17:14

Are you saying that being trapped in a time

1:17:16

loop caused the Keystone to break into pieces? The

1:17:20

loop broke us into pieces when we

1:17:22

tried to escape it. Yes. You

1:17:27

are the Keystone. How

1:17:29

did the Keystone work? You

1:17:33

said it was used to travel time

1:17:35

and space. We just

1:17:37

hold it against the Keystone of a doorway. Think

1:17:39

of a destination anywhere with ordinary space

1:17:42

at any time. Open the door

1:17:44

and it will lead there. It

1:17:47

was all we needed to know. With

1:17:50

our fragment in hand, we

1:17:52

stepped past Agent Pike to the

1:17:54

door of our cottage, closing it.

1:17:58

I held the chunk of space. Next

1:26:00

she removed her watch and tied it

1:26:02

to the surface of the combined keystone.

1:26:07

This would have been an opportune moment

1:26:09

to attack her and take

1:26:11

the watch and keystone for ourselves.

1:26:16

However, such an

1:26:18

action was now anathema to me. We

1:26:22

had learned something new from these

1:26:24

tiny creatures. Respect.

1:26:28

It would shape every interaction we

1:26:30

had with such beings

1:26:33

for eternity. Ike

1:26:37

was now in total control of

1:26:39

her destiny. There.

1:26:43

It's ready. One more thing.

1:26:46

Yes. If

1:26:49

this works and you folks get yourself all put

1:26:51

together again, it

1:26:54

would be super nice of you to let us all go home. I

1:26:58

don't know what happened to Blake, but if

1:27:00

he didn't make it and you find him out there, please

1:27:03

help him come back to us. We

1:27:06

promise. We

1:27:08

will. Item

1:27:18

number SCP-7432. Object

1:27:22

class. Neutralized. Classified

1:27:24

level three. Confidential.

1:27:28

Special containment procedures. None.

1:27:31

SCP-7432 is no longer

1:27:34

present in any known timeline. No

1:27:36

containment is necessary or possible. Please

1:27:39

see file revision history for details regarding

1:27:41

legacy containment procedures for this item. Description.

1:27:45

SCP-7432 is a highly intelligent

1:27:47

triune entity which manifested as

1:27:49

a small trapezoidal keystone approximately

1:27:51

15 centimeters in height, 16

1:27:54

centimeters in width, and 15 centimeters

1:27:56

in depth, weighing 7 kilograms.

1:28:00

The item appeared to be comprised entirely of granite.

1:28:03

SCP-7432 was contained in TL-7432 until Incident 7432-1 caused

1:28:05

TL-7432 to be spontaneously replaced

1:28:12

by a metastable branch timeline TL-7432-BANG.

1:28:17

Department of Chronology Task Force Aura 4 was

1:28:19

dispatched to recover SCP-7432 if able and

1:28:23

document the contents of TL-7432-BANG. Aura

1:28:28

4 discovered that TL-7432-BANG was

1:28:30

a recursive environment comprising SCP-7432

1:28:34

itself. The mission

1:28:36

was a partial success and concluded

1:28:38

with the return of Agents Blake, Kelly,

1:28:40

and Pike shortly after their departure. TL-7432

1:28:45

is restored and remains stable, but

1:28:47

SCP-7432 is never recovered. During

1:28:50

the mission debrief, Agent Pike asserted

1:28:53

that Agent Hanrahan had chosen to remain with

1:28:55

SCP-7432. They are

1:28:57

considered lost and unrecoverable.

1:29:19

This episode is possible thanks to our patrons.

1:29:22

Joining us this week was Thor

1:29:24

Bay, Terror Billy, Goobasaurus

1:29:27

Rex, Amber Celes,

1:29:30

Adi, and Jonathan

1:29:32

Leech. Thanks guys,

1:29:34

we couldn't do what we do without you. SCP

1:29:39

Archives was created by Pacific Esso Badaya

1:29:41

and Jon Grills. SCP-7432

1:29:44

was written by Jack Eich. Our

1:29:49

script was by Kevin Whitlock. Our

1:29:51

narrator was Jon Grills. The

1:29:54

King was Rissa Montaniez. The

1:29:57

End was Atticus Jackson. The

1:30:00

interloper was Kayla Tamshiv. Pike

1:30:04

was Alyssa Park. Hannah

1:30:06

Hahn was Melissa Lusk. And

1:30:09

Kelly was Janine Bauer. Our

1:30:12

art was by Eduardo Valdez-Hebbia. And

1:30:15

our video was produced by Dakota Miller. Our

1:30:18

theme song was by Matt Roy Berger. And

1:30:21

our original music was composed by Dana Creasman.

1:30:24

Our dialogue editor was Daisy McNamara.

1:30:26

And I'm your sound designer, Pacific

1:30:28

S. Obadiah. Our showrunner

1:30:30

is Daisy McNamara. And me, I'm

1:30:33

your creative director, Pacific S. Obadiah.

1:30:36

Our executive producers are Tom Owen and

1:30:38

Brad Miska. And this is

1:30:40

a Bloody FM show. For

1:30:43

more information, visit scparchives.com.