It's a document entitled //The Things Dr. Bright Is Not Allowed To Do At the Foundation//. You look it over. Some of it is funny. Some of it makes you roll your eyes. Some of it is disgusting.\n\n"It was created as as joke in your universe, as far as we can tell." Sinclair sighs. "But... well, when a Bright sees one of you, they're so aversely affected by it that it starts imposing itself upon them. We think that's part of the reason why our Bright used the engine-- to kill his corresponding 5500-Omega."\n\n//Sorry,// Your //Bright? Then who was that?//\n\n"There are more Dr. Brights across the multiverse than any other member of Foundation personnel," Reynolds explains. "We imported one from another universe." He clears his throat. "Katherine, the Way? We've wasted enough time."\n\nShe nods.\n\n[[It's then that Sinclair starts hurling obscenities at the television.]]

Route A: Bad ending. Not enough solid clues. (Majority clues A)\n\nRoute B: True ending. Bright is culprit, and is apprehended. (Majority Clues B)\n\nRoute C: Reader is evil ending. Reader is killed by kill agent. (Majority Clues C)\n\nRoute Bright: Secret ending, accessed by setting your name to "Bright". Easy way out.\n\nRoute M: It Is a Mystery Ending. Unlocked by getting the $lol value to 69 and clicking hidden links that appear.

/* Your story will use the CSS in this passage to style the page.\nGive this passage more tags, and it will only affect passages with those tags.\nExample selectors: */\n\nbody {\n\t/* This affects the entire page */\nbackground-image:url("http://wanderers-library.wdfiles.com/local--files/component-theme/wandererslibary_logobg.png");\nbackground-position:top -5%; \nbackground-size: 10%;\nbackground-repeat: no-repeat;\nbackground-color:#2D462D;\n\t\n}\n.passage {\n\t/* This only affects passages */\n\tcolor:#FFDB5A;\n\tfont-family: adelle-sans, sans-serif;\n}\n.passage a {\n\t/* This affects passage links */\n\t\n\t\n}\n.passage a:hover {\n\t/* This affects links while the cursor is over them */\n\t\n\t\n}

\n"...for //fun?//" Sinclair sounds appaled at the idea. "What kind of nilhilistic psychopath would you have to be to do this //for fun?//"\n\n//I don't know,"// You admit. //But worse things have happened in the Foundation for worse reasons.//\n\n"...Jesus." Sinclair rubs her face. "Okay. If this is for fun... Fuck. //Fuck.//" \n\nShe looks up just in time to see Monty coming in the door with some Lo Mein. She digs in, and this line if inquiry is concluded.\n\n[[Proceed to Ending]]

"What do you mean?" Sinclair asks.\n\n//I'm looking at the Joke tag on the Site. These are four of the top seven articles. There are some that are missing.// \n\n"Like what?"\n\n//006-J, Even Number-J, and The Things Dr. Bright is Not Allowed to Do at the Foundation.//\n\nShe blinks. "Come again?"\n\nYou explain the premise of the list, breifly. She raises an eyebrow as you explain how it's shaped Bright's characterization among the fanbase, and the apparent backlash its author had against it. She blanches as you tell her exactly //why// it's locked.\n\n"Christ. Bright could be a bit ornery at times but... Jesus." She frowns. "Does that mean... he's our culprit?"\n\n//I don't know.//\n\n"Something to consider." Her brow furrows. "I think we're done here."\n\n[[Proceed to Ending]]

\n\n"...A rock that makes you procrastinate is more popular than //087?//" Sinclair is incredulous. "Christ, there is no justice in the world, is there?"\n\n//It's short, and memeable.// \n\n"So, the more popular something is,the more likely it is to survive an 5500-Omega dying." She nods. "Makes sense, to a degree. But //why// does popularity mean survival?"\n\n//I wish I knew.//\n\nMonty arrives in the room just them, bearing Lo Mein. He and Sinclair eat and go over the case some.\n\n[[Proceed to Ending]]

<<set $insight += 1>>The pair of them look oddly at you, then at the four walls in the room, their gaze eventually staying fixed on one of them.\n\n//What?//\n\nSinclair skims the pages. "...this is... [[our lives|http://www.scp-wiki.net/the-s-c-plastics-hub]]. Monty, look, here's where I first met you, and that's when I caught fire, and then--" She slams the book shut. "//Nope.//"\n\n//Nope?//\n\n"It's probably a bad idea to read about our own lives." Monty shivers. "Just... open it at random."\n\nSinclair opens the book to somewhere towards the front, eventually landing on a page entitled 'The Cool War'.\n\n"Okay, let's see, what do we have--" The page opens to the words: \n\n"[[wowee go read it ursefl|http://www.scp-wiki.net/the-cool-war-hub]]"\n\n"...nevermind then."\n\n<<display TaleChoices>>

Your husband of the last twelve years. Fat, grey hair, older than you, can cast a spell as well as you can fix a car. Speaks like he's got thistle in his throat, and reads far too much fantasy for someone who works for the Foundation.\n\nYou would die for him. And you have.\n\n[[Back to your quarters.]]

''Incident Report:'' In June of 2029, Dr. C. Bold, known for re-introducing the Decommissioned class into the popular Foundation conscience, persuaded Dr. Sinclair to allow them to use the C.O.R.M.O.R.A.N.T. Device in an attempt to decommission an entity they believed was responsible for the murders. The request was granted, and Dr. Bold entered the device. The SCP-5500-Omega entity was sucked into the Metaphysical Funnel, and subsequently destroyed, the psychic backlash of which killed Dr. Bold. A gold and ruby medallion was found fused to their torso; Dr. Bold was not known for wearing jewelry. \n\n<<set $read += 1>>\n\n<<display "File Actions">> \n

<<display garbagetext>>\n\nIf you didn't know any better, you'd think that this sounds like a memetic kill agent. But that's absurd-- memetics don't work in hyperreality like they do in here.\n\n[[Look around the lab.]]

"Thanks for sticking with it until the end, at least. Sorry for putting you through all this trouble just to get you a crap ending." He chews his lip. "I can try to make it up to you, I suppose. Want to see a section that got cut early in development?"\n\n[[Sure!|EndingA3]]\n[[No thanks.]]

<<set $insight += 1>>\n\n<<if visited("Clue2B")>>"These author avatars..." Monty frowns. "People insert themselves into works?"\n\n//Yeah. Hmm.// You look over the list of Foundation personnel who have died in connection to the 5500-Omega deaths. //A lot of them have names that look like members of the site out here.//\n\n"None of whom are deceased, as far as you can tell?" Monty raises an eyebrow.\n\n//None.//\n<<else>>"Author Avatar?" Reynolds frowns.\n\n//Basically, self-insert characters people use. It's normally for jokes, but there was a time (and there still is) where people like Clef and Bright were big names.//\n\n"Bright and Clef are self-insert characters?" Reynolds shake his head. "That explains a lot."\n\n//It looks like the majority of the Foundation personnel that died were author avatars of some form. Makes sense-- creator dies, creation dies with them.//\n\n<<endif>>\n<<display AuthorChoices>>

<<set $answered to "1">><<if $lol is 69>>"I don't know how, but I feel like you have egg on your pataphysical face."\n\nDon't want to talk about it.\n\n<<endif>>Got something.\n\n"What?"\n\nThere's hidden text. It's talking about a list?\n\n"What list?"\n\nGood question. \n\n"One more clue. You're a regular gumshoe, <<$name>>."\n\n<<display questionactions>>

"My guess is that they somehow missed you... but on the other hand, you got pulled into the funnel and down into me. And yet you're not killing me?"\n\n[[I read what happened to you when someone got pulled in last time.]]\n\n

"It's intense," Sinclair agrees. "But it kills you more often than it kills us. That's part of the reason they don't want us using it anymore."\n\n//And yet you summoned me down from the high heavens why?//\n\n"Accident." She sounds so sheepish you almost believe her.\n\n<<display questionactions>>

<<if $name is "RockTeethMothEyes">>"Kind of an offbeat handle. I like it."<<endif>><<if $name is "Balthazaar" or $name is "Balth">>(Holy SHIT thank you for helping me test this.)<<endif>><<if $name is "Ihp">>"Fuck me sideways, you wrote my entire hometown. It's... honestly, I'm surprised we didn't meet sooner."<<endif>><<if $name is "ProcyonLotor">>\n"Seriously? You're in charge of an entire miniature legal system, and you name yourself after a trash panda? I'm an ex-furry, but I don't get that."<<endif>><<if $name is "TroyL">>"Well, hell. Long time no see, Lament."<<endif>><<if $name is "Moto42">>PRAISE BE HIM, FOR HE RETURNS (aahhh I'm so happy you're reading this if this is actually you)<<endif>><<if $name is "AbsentmindedNihlist">>"Priase Tubby!"<<endif>><<if $name is "PeppersGhost">>\n"...wait //HOW?!?//"\n//Sorry?//\n"You died! You're dead and you took the whole circus with you!" \n//Well I don't think I'm dead. Probably.//\n//Wait-- does that mean that was ME who died watching fucking// CATS?!\n"Afraid so."<<endif>><<if $name is "weryllium">>\n"...wait //HOW?!?//"\n//Sorry?//\n"You died and took out every fossil in existence along with you!"\n//Weird.//\n<<endif>><<if $name is "Nicolini" or $name is "Uncle Nicolini" or $name is "Nico">>\n"...wait //HOW?!?//"\n//Sorry?//\n"You're dead! You died and took out Wilons's Wildlife! And most of Oregon!"\n//Weird, I don't think I'm dead but okay.//\n<<endif>><<if $name is "Bright">>\n"You're dead."\n//Am I though?//\n"I saw Dr. Bright use the engine to kill you. Don't know why."\n//Got me there, too.//<<endif>><<if $name is "woednaz">>\n(Despite everything, you inspired me to do this.<<endif>><<if $name is "roget">>"Glad to see you're still alive out there! Congratulations!<<endif>><<if $name is "Clef">>"Wait, are you the real Clef? I kind of find that hard to believe, is all, sorry."<<endif>><<if $name is "Cimmerian">>"You're going to tell me I'm wrong about something, I can just feel it."<<endif>><<if $name is "Djoric">>\n"...wait, //HOW?!?//"\n//Sorry?//\n"You died back in June! The Horizon Initative is gone because you died!"\n//Nani the// fuck?\n"Oh, god, people actually say that?"<<endif>><<if $name is "Ellie3">>\n"...wait, //HOW?!?//"\n//Sorry?//\n"You died in 2028! You took the entirey of Sloth's Pit with you!"\n//I'm sorry. ._.//<<endif>><<if $name is "IronDruid">>\n"...wait, //HOW?!?//"\n//Sorry?//\n"You died in 2028! You took the entirey of Eventide with you!"\n//I... don't think I'm dead?//<<endif>><<if $name is "Cerastes">>"...wait, //HOW?!//\n\n//Sorry?//\n\n"I--- you're Dr. Lycus, right?"\n\n//Used to be.//\n\n"...you... huh. I'm fairly sure the Dr. Lycus in our universe died and took us with you."\n\n//Weird.//\n\n<<endif>><<if $name is "ARD" or $names is "A Random Day">>"Monday, Tuesday, what?"\n\n//Sorry?//\n\n"Well, you're a //Random// day. So pick one."\n\n//Uh. I dunno. <<print either("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")>>?//\n\n"Interesting."\n\n<<endif>>\n//How do you know who I am?//\n\n"The S.W.A.N.N. Engine showed us a lot."\n\n//Oh. Even...?//\n\n"Yes, even that. Don't worry, everyone does it."\n\n"I imagine you have questions, <<$name>>?"\n\n<<display "questionactions">>\n\n\n//Checkpoint//

<<set $insight += 1>>"What the hell is [[this|http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/gamedayindex]]?" Sinclair wrinkles her nose.\n\n//From what I can tell? One of the first attempts at making a canon on the site.//\n\n"It looks ancient." Sinclair turns the page carefully, as if afraid it's going to fall apart in her hands. "And... kind of chaotic. Did they even know what the ending was when they started it?"\n\n//Probably not.//\n\n"Ancient, but intact." Monty looks it over. "A lot of mentions of Clef, Bright, god knows who else."\n\n//Lot of the oldies,// you agree. \n\n<<display TaleChoices>>

The Reading Room.\n\nWords can't do it justice.\n\nThe Reading Room of the [[Library]] has fallen into disrepair among the deaths of the authors. Miles worth of shelves have collapsed. The Librarians are barely mobile husks. Some of them attempt to dust an empty shelf or two. One of them has resorted to trying to find entertainment in Harry Potter.\n\nAnd then, they all spring to life, to stare at you, Sinclair, and Reynolds. They scurry into the selves, and are gone.\n\n"So much for getting assistance."\n\nYou back away a little from Sinclair. Somehow, she seems perfectly calm despite the fact that, not five seconds ago, she was telling Jesus's mother to do unsavory things with a Word-of-the-Day calendar.\n\n//[[W-what are we looking for, exactly?]]//

<<remember $endingm to true>>\n\nEnding M Obtained. Who did it? It is a mystery.

<<if $clues gte 1>>[[Show Evidence Log|Evidence Log]]<<endif>>\n<<actions "The SCP List" "The Tale List" "The Author List">>

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An equivalent to the S.W.A.N.N. Engine made by the Shark Punching Center. Annoyingly enough, they have an acronym for it when you don't— Crushing Other Realities Masters Or:wReaking Absolutely Ridiculous Tublar-punchatude". The version of the Center you got it from is not the smartest, but they're better than the weirdos who somehow made pandas produce caviar.\n\nThe Metaphysical Funnel on this is trashed. It may never work again. Which is honestly not the worst thing in the world, all things considered.\n\n[[And where am I?]]

Incident Report: In twelve different universes, all fossils and data relating to fossils are destroyed. During this time, multiple individuals in museums report seeing hundreds of identically-dressed men with dark skin and a flannel shirt chopping at fossil exhibits with axes. The fossils bleed and scream. All living creatures of the Clade Dinosauria (not to be confused with birds) are also killed during this time.\n\n<<set $read += 1>><<display "File Actions">>

<<if $name is "Roget">>//I've written one-hundred and fifty SCPs. Holy.//\n\n"That is... quite a lot." Monty swallows. "Jesus, //you're// behind the Class of '76?"\n\n//Not all of it.//\n\n"Huh."\n<<endif>><<if $name is "rounderhouse">>"JESUS CHIRST MY EYES!"\n\n//What?//\n\n"I just found your author page, <<$name>>. It... god, I think I'm going to be sick."\n\n//It used to be a lot worse.//\n\n<<endif>> Monty looks over the list of people who have written the most SCPs. "...unbelieveable. These people are a large part of the reason we exist. It's like looking at God's own manuscript."\n\n//Want to see what's behind a few of the blackboxes?//\n\nMonty shakes his head. "Wouldn't matter to me." He scrolls thorugh the list and compares them. "Why does them dying kill us?"\n\n//I wish I knew.//\n<<set $insight += 1>>\n<<display AuthorChoices>>

Dr. Sinclair sighs. "...I hate this. I hate that this is a thing. I hate that people think that getting their dicks stuck in bottles is funny. It's //vulgar// and //childish//."\n\nMonty turns away, a guilty expression on his face<<if $name is "Clef">>, and a slightly apologetic one too<<endif>>.\n\n//Seems mostly intact. Looks popular out here.<<if visited("Clue1B")>>Lends my idea about readers influenceing the universe some credence.<<endif>>//\n\n"<<if visited("Clue1B")>>That it does.<<endif>>Tell me, <<$name>>, anything jumping out at you here?"\n\n//I'll have to think some.//\n\n<<set $insight += 1>><<display TaleChoices>>

Despite being not entirely corporeal (if you're corporeal at all), you're able to look around the reading room some. The shelves are largely empty-- a series of reality failures will do that to the center of all knowledge in the multiverse. Some of the books seem to have interesting titles. Which do you look at?\n\n<<display BookActions>>

"No monologue?" Sinclair offers, holding her hands up.\n\n"We're not //that// cliche." Bright rolls her eyes, before shooting Sinclair in the leg. She screams. "You know how many times I've had to do this?" Bright shakes her head. "Thousands of universes, and someone always figures us out. It's the damnedest thing."\n\n"So, you're going to kill me to keep up the masquerade?" Sinclair laughs, putting pressure on the wound.\n\n"No." Bright clutches her medallion. "I'm going to kill you, and then overwrite your body."\n\nShe goes to throw the medallion.\n\n[[Deflect it onto something else nearby surface.|EndingB3]]\n[[Wrench it from her grasp.|EndingB4]]\n[[You're a living cognitohazard, act like it!|EndingB5]]

//I suppose you're wondering why I called you all in here today.//\n\nReynolds and Sinclair raise their eyebrows in unison. "What?"\n\n//You know, the parlor room scene? Have neither of you read Christie?//\n\n"Seems a bit off-tone for you trying to stop the end of the world, but all right." Sinclair chews her lip. "What do you have?"\n\n[[Here are the facts as we have them.]]

/% Place your story's setup code in this passage.\nAny macros in this passage will be run before the Start passage (or any passage you wish to Test Play) is run. %/\n

"And there's freakin' nothing here!" Sinclair throws up her arms.\n\n//I mean, the SCP-5000 contest just wrapped up, what do you expect? Early days, still.//\n\n"I don't know." She sighs."I'm fifty-five years old. Too damn old for this shit."\n\n<<display SeriesChoice>>

<<set $insight += 1>>Reynolds looks over the list. "Five-thousand of them, Christ. Most of the 4000s are gone over here. Don't you ever run out of ideas?"\n\n//Quite frequently. Some people are seeing metafiction and pataphysics as a crutch.//\n\n"I have to agree with Murphy Law on this." Sinclair sighed. "I never metafictional character I liked. No offense meant."\n\n//None taken. We're sick of it, too. As the commments on this are clear to point out.//\n\n"Comments?"\n\n//Nevermind.//\n\n<<display SeriesChoice>>

<<set $insight += 1>>Sinclair wrinkles her nose as she looks over your version of the list. "Why... //why// are so many of them so //long?//"\n\n//Addendums, testing logs, exploration logs, that kind of thing.//\n\n"So just a bunch of contextual documentation? Why not just-- I don't know, have links to other pages on the file? It's fucking overwhelming, the dozens of addenda some of these have. And what purpose do they serve?"\n\n//Some people like it long.//\n\nMonty sputters on the soda he'd been drinking. Sinclair rolls her eyes and looks over a few choice SCPs.\n\n[[SCP-3043|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-3043]]Murphy Law in... Type 3043-- FOR MURDER!\n[[SCP-3118|http://scp-wiki.net/SCP-3118]]: Lunch Gun\n[[SCP-3250|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-3250]]: Jesus Fried Chicken\n[[SCP-3355|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-3355]]: St. Nick\n[[SCP-3689|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-3689]]: Legendary Sandwich of the Deep\n[[SCP-3753|http://scp-wiki.net/SCP-3753]]: TEA-K.O.\n[[SCP-3950|http://scp-wiki.net/SCP-3950]]: FULL THROTTLE AXOLOTL\n<<display SeriesChoice>>\n

<<set $insight += 1>>"As near as we can tell, [[SCP-2000|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2000]] is when the Foundation-- your version of it-- started growing exponentially. Something clicked during this milestone and just made everything blow up."\n\n"Thought that would have been 1000." Monty stretches slightly.\n\n//I have a feeling Youtube may have helped with that.//\n\n"Youtube." Sinclair rolls her eyes. "If there was ever a cancer upon society greater than Youtube, I've not heard of it."\n\n//It's not all bad.//\n\n"Ever look in the comments section?"\n\n//That's a cliche response and you know it.//\n\n"It's only cliche if it's untrue."\n\nMonty focuses on some SCPs.\n\n[[SCP-2085|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2085]]: The Black Rabbit Company\n[[SCP-2166|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2166]]: Foot Pope\n[[SCP-2219|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2219]]: PORRIDGE\n[[SCP-2424|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2424]]: Hostile Walrus Cyborg\n[[SCP-2547|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2547]]: Dog Days of Summer\n[[SCP-2821|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2821]]: A Lnuar True Vacuum\n[[SCP-2939|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-2939]]: BIG NARF\n\n\n<<display SeriesChoice>>

<<set $insight += 1>>//1000 to //\n\nKatherine grimaces. "This looks mostly intact. But there are plenty of holes in it. And some of them that stay behind are just random.<<if $lol is 69>>Why is 1471 saved but almost nothing else in the 1400s?<<endif>>"\n\n"The higher they get, the less-studied they are, unless it's a number that's a palindrome, ending with an 000, or something like that." Reynolds chews his cheek. "It might be your fault."\n\nMy //Fault?!//\n\n"You as in the 5500-Omegas." Sinclair clears her throat. \n\n//Huh.// \n\nThere's some ones that Sinclair seems to be focusing on.\n\n[[SCP-1111|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1111]]: A White Dog\n[[SCP-1124|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1124]]: Xenoplague\n[[SCP-1247|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1247]]: LaBeouf Viewer \n[[SCP-1284|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1295]]: Meg's Diner\n[[SCP-1483|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1483]]: The Third Antarctic Empire\n[[SCP-1659|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1659]]: Directorate K\n[[SCP-1728|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1728]]: Buttery Decapitated Highwayman\n[[SCP-1800|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1800]]: The Minotaur\n[[SCP-1913|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1913]]: The Furies\n<<display SeriesChoice>>

<<set $insight += 1>>It looks pretty much the same.\n\n"Yeah." Sinclair furrows her brow. "A lot of them are simple, but they get way more study than they need."\n\n"Could be the fact that their numbers are so small?" Reynolds frowns. "I mean, honestly, anyone can tell you what 173 is without looking, but tell me, off the top of your head, what SCP-3249 is without looking and I will eat my hat."\n\n"You'll have to tear it away from Joan first."\n\n[[Joan?]]

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<<set $culprit to prompt("Who did it? Please, help us.","")>><<if $culprit>><<set $culprit to $culprit.toLowerCase()>><<else>><<set $culprit to "noguess">><<endif>><<if $culprit.includes('bright')>><<display Ending B>><<else>><<if $culprit.includes('noguess')>>You can't even guess?\n\n<<else>>That's not it. <<endif>>You're stumped.\n\n<<display EndingA1>>\n<<endif>>\n

What's this?\n\n"Pataphysical construct resembling an evidence log. Figured you'd need it to collect your thoughts."\n\nHow... how did you make it?\n\n"Metafictional magic."\n\n...sure.\n\n<<if visited("Clue1A")>>\n* SCP Foundation is getting less popular, killer may be attempting to drum up support.<<elseif visited("Clue1B")>>\n* Readers shape the Foundation universe as much as the authors do, murderer may go after them next.<<elseif visited("Clue1C")>>\n* Increased amounts of metafictional articles may have led to a weakening boundry between the Foundation and the real world.<<endif>><<if visited("Clue2A")>>\n* The strength of the malefactor may depend on their popularity.<<elseif visited("Clue2B")>>Author avatars, such as Bright and Clef, are more resilent to the death of an SCP-5500-Omega instance.\n* <<elseif visited("Clue2C")>>\n* Lesser-known works are disappearing before works of greater notoriety-- something else is sustaining them.<<endif>>\n<<if visited("Clue 4A")>>\n* The Author List is possibly being used as a hit list-- possible that the killer has an agent in the real world.<<elseif visited("Clu 4B")>>\n* The amount of influence you have dictates how severe the damage done to the narrative is based on one's death.<<elseif visited("Clue 4C")>>SCP-5500-Omega instances are dying. Actual authors are not.<<endif>>\n<<return>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n\n[[Make Your Case]]

THOUSHANDS DEAD IN CONNECTION WTTH WRITHING WEBSIT\n\nIMAGE CAUSED SEIZUERS IN HUNDRES OF USER SV IVSINT SUBREDDIT R/SCP\n\nIMAGE SHOWED SCLUPTURE, HEAVILY DISTORETD\n\nSITE SHTU DOWN\n\nSTIL DYING\nIM NEXT\n\nONE OF YOU\n\nONE OFMANY\n\nNOCANON\n\nBUTTHE L T\n\n

"You're not the only one who gets to be screwy with pataphysics."\n\nYou find yourself on the inside of the C.O.R.M.O.R.A.N.T. Device.\n\n"We figured out how to exploit the narrative over a decade ago." Sinclair beams at you from outside of the compartment. The only reason you can understand her is because of this text. "We can't keep having you meddle with our world, but we can't kill you."\n\n//What are you going to do?//\n\n"Cut off the 4th wall. Forever. No more stories. No more of you being able to write us, to read us, to affect us."\n\nThe C.O.R.M.O.R.A.N.T. Device powers on.\n\n"I'm sorry, <<$name>>. But if I had to choose between the work of a few people and the lives of an infinite amount of beings..."\n\nYou honestly can't say you'd do differently.\n\nThe device fires, and suddenly, [[you're somewhere else|http://scp-wiki.net/scp-5500/offset/4]].\n\n''Ending C Achieved''

You wake up a while later, in a dark room. The only light in here is the screen of a computer, and there's a man hunched in front of it. They're slightly obese, wearing a teal sweatshirt, their hair uncut, their right hand in a cast.\n\nit doesn't take much for you to riddle out that this is the author. Somehow. You're wondering if this is real, or else some kind of metaphorical construct. Judging by the fact that this guy lives in the boondocks of the Midwestern United States, you're leaning towards the latter.\n\nHe hits the keyboard. "Fuck!"\n\n[[What's wrong?]]

<<if $highlight is "1">> [[Gotcha.]]\n\n<<endif>><<actions "Look at the Page Source" "Highlight Everything" "Try to PM the author" "Check the comments">>

CaptainKirby (for telling me to reign it in some)\nJakxDragon (for having me re-examine stuff)\nDrFullham (For giving me this horrid idea)\nBalthazaar (For helping me when my hand was fucked)\nAll the critters

It's then that you feel your body being pulled back from where you were reading.\n\nYou turn and find yourself staring into the face of a tiger, somehow, behind your computer chair. It's already upon you, and you can't help but notice, as it devours you, the medallion it's wearing-- golden, with a massive ruby in the center.\n<<remember $endingA to true>>\n''Ending A Achieved''\n[[Return to Start|Start]]

''Incident Report:'' In June of 2030, all Foundation visual records were destroyed. In their place, over five-thousand images of what appears to be former American President Dwight D. Eisenhower being assaulted and killed with a book of copyright law were found, in various states of age, quality, and authenticity. Quality of images ranged from crayon drawings to professional photographs. Images were not in sequence, and three appeared to show Eisenhower, wearing glasses, looking at his attacker. The reflection in the glasses appears to show a woman in her twenties, with blonde hair. The only other distinguishing feature is a red brooch on her shirt.\n\n<<set $read += 1>>\n\n\n<<display "File Actions">> \n\n\n

It's a list of deaths among Foundation personnel.\n\n* ''Dr. Balthazaar.'' Deceased: 2033. COD: Tripping into a field of razor-sharp pinwheel toys.\n* ''Dr. Niles Hesssen.'' Presumed Deceased: 2033. COD: Vanished in the middle of a prank war meant to increase morale, after writing vulgar messages on the face of a fellow member of personnel.\n* ''Dr. N.A.E. Fael.'' Presumed Deceased: 2033. COD: Found crushed beneath equipment in a toothpaste factory in their home town.\n\nSome of them have names similar to the handles of authors for the site. That's a grim thought, to think that the authors dying could result in their deaths, or vice-versa. You try not to think about the vice-versa too hard.\n\nYou turn back to the list.\n\n<<display SeriesChoice>>

Strange question, but I'll humor you. Your name is Director Katherine Sinclair. Pataphysicist, mage, mother. \n\n[[And where am I?]]

Flaky bastard never checks his PMs. People have been waiting on crit requests from him since 2018. And he's on the [[Butterfly Squad]]? Seriously?\n\n<<display investigateactions>>

\n\n\n\n\n\n[[Report a Bug via Wikidot PM|https://www.wikidot.com/account/messages#/new/1267048]]\n<<if $clues gte 1>> [[Evidence Log]]<<endif>>

"What is it?" Monty blinks at you.\n\n"I just had a thought."\n\n[[The series are getting less popular as time goes on.|Clue1A]]\n\n[[Not everyone that reads the Foundation writes for it.|Clue1B]]\n\n[[There's been more metafiction as the series go on.|Clue1C]]

As the medallion sails through the air, Sinclair reflexively reaches up to catch it. You smack it out of the air with enough pataphysical force that it cracks the wall it impacts on. Bright's former body slouches, but remains standing, as their soul exits it.\n\nYou help Sinclair to her feet. Her leg's bleeding, but she probably won't die from it. She looks at her husband, concern on her face, and rushes over to him. "Monty!" She presses his neck. "There's a pulse, but it's weak. Oh god, Monty..."\n\nIt's then you realize something-- Bright's had this body for almost a month. And in thirty days of continuous contact, Bright's brain waves overtake the host body. So...\n\nYour pataphysical mass barely blocks the next volley of bullets intended for Sinclair and Reynolds.\n\n<<if $name is "Bright">>You look at your author avatar-- a version of it, at least. And she looks back. Her eyes start bleeding, then her skin. It seems that this version of your avatar can't stand to be looked upon by its creator.<<else>>Bright looks at you, stunned. \n\nFear enters her voice as she speaks. "No. I am not turning back into that damn thing."\n\n//What damn thing?//\n\n"A perverted psychotic monkey!" She snaps. "I-- every time one of us comes into contact with one of you, we're changed, for the worse." She twitches. "I. I don't want to do this. But this is the only way we're going to be able to be normal. Killing you. I'm sorry."\n\n//It's not the only way, though.//\n\n"Well, it's the easiest! The alternative would be costly, and even more dangerous!" \n\n//You're willing to sacrifice the entire multiverse so you can be normal?//\n\n"...after a certain point, it's not about being normal," She admits. "It's about not existing."\n\nIt's at this point that a bolt of fire is loosed from Sinclair's fingertips. It strikes Bright in the heart, and you can almost smell her cooking from within.\n\n<<endif>>\n\nMonty stands with a grunt, helping Sinclair to her feet. It looks like the bullet grazed him without doing any real damage.\n\n"Thousands. Jesus." Sinclair swallowed. "What do we do?"\n\n//...can you do magic to... I dunno, maybe locate them? Clones, medallions, the whole nine?//\n\n"I can try," Sinclair swallows. "No promises."\n\n[[She sets to work.|EndingB6]]

"Our daughter. She's in Europe, with her grandmother-- Katherine's mother."\n\n"We... got married after we had her." Sinclair coughs. "Was a bit of a kerfuffle in the Foundation."\n\n//...you're battling the end of the world and they can't stand you having a child without being married?//\n\n"There's this whole bureaucratic system. It's how I met Jack-- that is, Dr. Bright. He helped us get all of our paperwork in order."\n\n//Really?//\n\n"Yeah."\n\n<<display SeriesChoice>>\n\n

''Some Time Later...''\n\n//Where are they going?// \n\n"That's not meant for you to know." Sinclair looks down at the precession of Brights going through a Multi-Universal Transit Array. "Suffice to say, it's a universe that isn't exposed to pataphysics. You can't see it, and we can't see you."\n\n//A universe without a book in the Library.//\n\n"Indeed." Reynolds chews his lip. "But... there's a possibility that one could be made. If it gets discovered by you, and written about. And this will all be for nothing."\n\n//So... just don't think too hard about it?//\n\n"Yeah." Sinclair nods. "Your... personal canon. The way you view us. It affects us in ways we can't begin to understand. And... I think it's because of that that Bright went this way." She shakes her head. "The list made him a monster. Hopefully isolation from it will make him... not."\n\n"It's... also a proof of concept." Reynolds admits. "There are multiple universes without books in the Library, but that the Library can still touch. We'll be safe there."\n\n//You're going to evacuate to one of them?//\n\n"The Foundation must survive. Even if it means abandoning pataphysics entirely." She looks at you, nodding. "So, yes. We're going."\n\n//When?//\n\n"Now."\n\nShe presses a button on the Multi-Universal Transit Array's Console. The portal grows to engulf the room, and quite possibly, the world.\n\nYou're left sitting in a void. You can't see Sinclair, or anyone else. You have no power here, no way to affect your surroundings. You are a reader, looking at what amounts to a blank page.\n\nEventually, you pull yourself away. No sense in looking at white space.\n\n''Ending B+ Achieved''.\n\n\n

''Some time later...''\n\nThe last instance of SCP-963 is chucked in a vault with little ceremony, before the door is slammed and they begin welding it shut.\n\n//You're sure that's all of them?//\n\n"Positive." Sinclair leans on her newly-acquired cane. "We're going to jettison it out into a place where it will never be found."\n\n"I still can't fathom this." Monty shakes his head. "Bright was an amazing researcher, at one point. All of them were." Monty looks at you. "This is... your fault, I feel."\n\n//How so?//\n\n"...the way we're percieved is entirely reliant upon you." She touches her hair. "Tell me, what color is this?"\n\n//...//\n\n"And this?" She points to her cane. "What wood is this made out of?"\n\n//...//\n\n"By simply observing us, you're affecting what we do, how we look." Sinclair shakes her head. "You affected Bright in the wrong way."\n\n//I'm sorry.//\n\n"At the same time, though?" Sinclair chews her lip. "That's why we're dying. When you die, your conception of us dies with you. Your..." She almost gags upon using the term, "Headcanon."\n\n//That's... frightening.//\n\n"Even with Bright contained... you can't last forever." Reynolds rubs his face. "We're just... going to have to prepare for when that happens. And you'll have to do your best to make sure we're remembered."\n\n//I can't make any promises.//\n\n"I know. But just... keep us alive, if you can."\n\nYou, Sinclair, and Reynolds stand in silence as the vault is welded shut, and placed in front of a Mult-Universal Transit Array. The portal is fired up, and the vault is pushed through, never to be seen again. \n\nYou hope.\n\n''Ending B Achieved.''\n<<remember $endingb to "true">>

<<if $insight gte 3>>[[Hold on a second.]]<<endif>><<actions "Series 1" "Series 2" "Series 3" "Series 4" "Series 5" "Series 6">>

You yank the medallion out of her hand and fling it at the wall with enough pataphysical force that the impact cracks it. She stares at you. "Hell. Same one as before?"\n\n"Bright, this is my friend, <<$name>>.<<if $name is "Bright">> I think you're already acquainted.<<endif>>"\n\n"<<if $name is "Bright">>How the fuck?" She looks at you, uncomprehending. "Y-youre-- you're not-- you--\n\n//I am.//\n\nShe looks at the gun, then at the dislocated amulet. Her nose is bleeding. \n\n"There's more of us," She says.\n\n//I know.//\n\nThe sheer pataphysical strain of looking upon her creator is causing her brain to hemorrhage. Within minutes, she's on the floor, dead.\n<<else>>Well, <<$name>>. I guess I know who my next target is. Tell me, how do you feel about being mauled to death by a tiger?"\n\nYour gaze lands upon the medallion in the far wall. All of the mentions of jewelry and red spots make sense now.\n\n//You're using the S.W.A.N.N. Engine to enter the real world and kill us.//\n\n"Yeah. Because the alternative is being a fucking monkey for the rest of our lives, flinging shit everywhere because that's what your damn headcanons are!" Even as she says this, she's growing fur on her right arm. "Look at that. Heisenberg principle in action-- observing changes the outcome.”\n\n//So… you just want to be… not affected by the list.//\n\n“Yes, but it’s not just me.” She rubs her eyes. “That’s all we want. All nine-thousand-odd of us, using the Engine to kill you. I don’t care about being immortal, I can stand that as long as the list doesn’t hurt us anymore. Do you have any idea what it’s like to have your life--”\n\nThen, Bright's head is replaced by a massive glob of red liquid, and she falls to the ground. Behind her, you see Monty holding his revolver.\n\n"What was that about not monologuing, you son of a bitch?" He holds his side-- the bullet looks like it grazed him, and he was playing possum.\n\n<<endif>>\n\n//That's one Bright taken care of.// You stare. //We have to get the rest of them.//\n\n“...if \n\nYour gaze turns to the amulet in the corner. //Sinclair, didn't I read that you were a mage?//\n\n"It's... been a while." She admits. "But [[I'll see what I can do.|EndingB6]]\n\n

"Honestly? I'm wondering if you have any idea what to do with this."\n\n<<display garbagetext>>\n\nIt looks kind of different than it did back in the article.\n\n"Article?"\n\nWe see these things as articles as opposed to classified documents.\n\n"I know. But how does it look different?"\n\n[[I'd have to go back and check.]]

<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $clueb +=2>>\n<<else>>\n\n<<set $clueb += 2>>\n<<set $cluea += 1>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<endif>>\nSinclair flips through the book again. "What do you mean?"\n\n//How many instances of Clef have died?//\n\n"...quite a few."\n\n//Bright? Rights? Kondraki?//\n\n"A lot, but there are... a disproportionately large amount of them." Sinclair squints. "What are you saying?"\n\n//These are all based off of the people who created them. They're author avatars.//\n\n"What, like Mary-Sue type characters?" Sinclair frowns. "If there are a lot of them, that... means they're popular?"\n\n//Very.//\n\n"<<if visited("Clue1B")>>And if the readers influence the universe as much as you think they do... <<endif>>I'm wondering if one of these author avatars is the killer."\n\n//They're popular enough. If there are enough of them, they could carry out these attacks in droves.// You pause. //But who? And why?//\n\n"Good question." Monty takes the book from Sinclair's hands, and places it back on the shelf. "I think we're done here. Back to our quarters."\n\n//Clue Obtained//\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $cluea += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $cluea += 2>>\n<<set $cluec += 1>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n"Not sure I follow," Sinclair frowns.\n\n//Well, it's the whole [[Clap your hands if you believe|https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve]] thing, right? Belief in something, or else the popularity of it, makes it stronger?//\n\n"That'd have to mean the killer is someone prominent." Sinclair chews her lip. "Maybe an SCP?"\n\n//Maybe.//\n\nSinclair sighs and replaces the book. "I think we're done here. Back to my quarters."\n\n//Clue Obtained//\n\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

"Thanks for humoring me." He shrugs. "I'm just glad you stuck it out this long. Maybe you enjoyed that, maybe you didn't. Just glad I got that out there in some form-- it was one of my favorite sections to write, and I'm sad I had to cut it."\n\n"So... now what?"\n\nHe shrugs, and hits save on his computer. "Now, we see what happens."\n\n//Ending A Achieved.//

"Honestly, I don't know. If I did, I wouldn't have... done whatever the hell I did to get you in here."\n\n//You don't know how you got me in?//\n\n"I'm not even sure you //are// in. Crossing beyond the 4th wall should be impossible. And yet..." Dr. Sinclair shakes her head. "Well, you're here now. So let's figure it out."\n\n<<display questionactions>>

<<if $clues lte 2>>You don't think you have enough evidence to make your case. (Collect at least four clues to proceed.)<<else>>You think you have a solid case. Do you want to proceed?<<endif>>\n\n<<if $clues lte 2>>[[Collect More Evidence|listchoice]]\n<<elseif $clues gte 3>>[[Find the Culprit]]<<endif>>

"It is both a shell of its former self and the strongest group after the Foundation." Reynolds shakes his head as you pull up the author page list, and then look at the list of Foundation personnel.\n\n//That is... bigger than I thought.//\n\n"You have maybe nine-thousand authors? That corresponds to the number of known points in the multiverse."\n\n//Yeah, but not all of them have author pages. Some of them have only written one or two works and then skipped. Like the guy who wrote 173.//\n\n"Hmm." Reynolds looks over the screen. "Well, where do we start?"\n\n<<display AuthorChoices>>

Hello hello. What's this? Some suspicious gaps at the strange note before you got booted here.\n\n<<display garbagetext>>\n\nThe gap at the end at "BUTTHE L T". It's two transparent letters. It says:\n\nTHOUSHANDS DEAD IN CONNECTION WTTH WRITHING WEBSIT\n\nIMAGE CAUSED SEIZUERS IN HUNDRES OF USER SV IVSINT SUBREDDIT R/SCP\n\nIMAGE SHOWED SCLUPTURE, HEAVILY DISTORETD\n\nSITE SHTU DOWN\n\nSTIL DYING\nIM NEXT\n\nONE OF YOU\n\nONE OFMANY\n\nNOCANON\n\nBUTTHE L''IS''T\n\nThis thing reads like it was written by someone with their hand in a cast. Which, it was.\n\n<<set $highlight to "1">>\n<<display investigateactions>>

<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $clueb += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<set $clueb += 2>>\n<<set $cluea += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n"Not sure I follow." Monty wrinkles his brow.\n\n//So... Tolkein wrote a total of, what, seven books in Lord of the Rings? Counting the Hobbit, Simarillion and all that. But he's been incredibly influential in fantasy ever since.//\n\n"So, what does that mean?" \n\n//I think it means the killer is part of the old guard. They know how the Foundation works, both in-universe and out. They know site politics, who's popular, who isn't.//\n\n"Old guard?" Reynolds frowns. "Like... senior staff?"\n\n//Possibly.//\n\n"...god, I hope you're wrong."\n\n//Clue Obtained//\n\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $cluec += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<set $cluec += 2>>\n<<set $clueb += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n"...what?"\n\n//Yeah, hold on a moment.//\n\nYou go into Site-19, and ask a rather inane question.\n\n''<<$name>>:'' Who here is still alive?\n''[AbsentmindedNihilist]'' how dare you ask that <<$name>>, you KNOW i wish i was dead<<if $name is "Niles" or $name is "AbsentmindedNihilist">>...HOLD UP WHAT<<endif>>\n''[MalyceGraves]'' <<$name>>: Thanks for the reminder, asshole.\n''[AFrivolousPursuit]'' Thy mother.\n''[DrFullham]'' My body lives on, butmy mind exists in a wuantum state of both existing and not.\n''[Oboebandgeek99]'' <<$name>> bold of you to assume anyone here isnt dead inside\n''[riyangendut]'' not your damn ass, not after I'm done with you.\n\nYou show the results to them.\n\n"...all of those roughly correspond to a 5500-Omega instance that's... what the fuck?" She scratches her head. "What the //fuck?//"\n\n"...my brain hurts." Monty stands up to get a beer from the fridge. You're half-tempted to join him, then remember that metafictional beer doesn't taste that great.\n\n//Clue Obtained//\n\n\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $cluea += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<set $cluea += 2>>\n<<set $cluec += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n"How do you figure?" Reynolds asks.\n\n//Well, if we were going to kill authors, we'd start small, yeah? Make little glitches in the universe, before moving our way up to the top.//\n\n"How would they get access to this list?" Monty tilts his head.\n\n//Maybe they're cooperating with someone in the real world.//\n\n"I hope not." Reynolds shudders. "Let's move on."\n\n//Clue Obtained//\n\n\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

//''STOP''//\n\nBright clutches her head in pain. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, //no//." She turns and snarls at you. "You are //not// going to change me into a sick parody of myself because you read that damn list."\n\nSinclair sighs. "I hate that we were right about that. Jack, the list isn't you. It doesn't have to be."\n\n"I don't have a choice!" She yells. "Every time I'm near one of them, I revert, because that's all they know about me! They don't care about my family! My life! Anything! I..." She waves the gun around. "I don't want to be like this anymore. Please."\n\n"How are you doing it?"\n\n"The-- it's not just me." She grits her teeth. "The Engine, it's... being used by a lot of us. But we can't get back once we're over there. We-- we're stuck. So, we..." She puts up her free hand and aims it at her face in a gun shape, miming pulling the trigger. "Because if we're still alive when we're done, we affect ourselves still."\n\nShe looks up at Sinclair. "We don't want this. We just want to be normal. This is the only way we know how."\n\nSinclair's eyes twinkle. "Maybe... not the only way."\n\nBright blinks. "What do you mean?"\n\n"[[I have an idea.|EndingB7]]"

<<set $checkpoint = 1>>You soon find yourself back in your quarters. \n\n[[Montgomery Reynolds]] is sitting on the couch in the living area. He gives you a concerned look, which turns into a double-take of shock as he sees you bleeding from the mouth.\n\n"You didn't," he sighs, more disappointed than anything.\n\n"I got them to talk to me," is what you try to say, but all that comes out is wet, gurgling sounds.\n\nHe puts his hand around your neck, gently. A warmth comes through your throat, like you'd just had honey and tea, and you can speak again.\n\n"I got them to talk to me," you say again.\n\n"Anything useful?"\n\n"Not really," you admit. "But maybe it's just because I'm looking at it in a vacuum. I need to see [[the bigger picture]]."\n\n\n//Checkpoint//

<<if $read is 2>>Jesus, these are really out of order. You need to re-organize some.\n\n<<endif>><<if $read is 3>>Nothing too helpful so far. You've read it all before.\n\n<<endif>><<if $read is 4>>You really thought you had something here. Dammit.\n\n<<endif>><<if $read gte 5>>[[That's Enough.]]\n\n<<endif>><<actions "The Eisenhower Photographs" "SCP-5500-Omega-074" "Dr. Bold's Decommissioning" "SCP-5500-Omega-092" "SCP-5500-Omega-036 and 037">>

It is October 20th, 2033. You need to catch a murderer. <<set $insight to 0>>\n\n[[Who am I?]]

"I don't have the original section verbatim, but this is a rough recreation of some of the highlights of what would have happened in a line of investigation that would have taken you to the Joke SCPs node. For context, this was originally going to be just you and Sinclair, while you were waiting for Reynolds to come back with food."\n\n<<display JokeChoices>>

"...what if it's not someone on our side?" Sinclair's eyes widen. "What if it never was?"\n\n//What do you mean?//\n\n"What if they're actually... out there? And the Engine, the clues, it's all just a massive red herring?"\n\n//I don't follow--//\n\n[[And then, everything goes black.]]

Whatever appendage you have trembles as you pick up the book. You hear a slimy voice in your mind.\n\n''COME YOU TO SEEK KNOWLEDGE?'' it asks.\n\n//I... suppose?//\n\n''YOU ARE WITH THE FOUL-MOUTHED ONE?''\n\n//Yes?//\n\n''COME BACK WHEN SHE PAYS HER FINE IN THE SWEAR JAR.'' The covers jostle and it nudges itself at a jar of coins on a nearby desk. ''I DON'T GIVE MY KNOWLEDGE TO THOSE WITH A DIRTY MOUTH.''\n\nThe book slides out of your appendage and back onto the shelf. You gag a little.\n\n<<display BookActions>>

Standing at the door is a woman who seems to be in her twenties. She carries herself oddly, like she's incredibly tired. In one arm is an over-stuffed folder. They seem familiar, but it's not until you see the large gold medallion with a ruby in its center on their chest that you put two and two together.\n\n"Jack." Katherine nods. "New body?"\n\nShe shakes her head. "Had it for about a month now."\n\nKatherine looks at the folder. "Those the files I asked for?"\n\n"Yep." The woman-- Dr. Bright, you now realize-- hands over the folder. "Casualty reports from the last six weeks."\n\n"CODs?" Sinclair asks.\n\n"As far as we can tell? Killed by a flying ham, pecked to death by a pack of birds that were definitely not seagulls (but we can't figure out what they were), [[decapitated by someone wearing a pig mask|http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-12865810/i-ask-you-to-die#post-4451885]], [[seizure while playing Minecraft|http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-12865810/i-ask-you-to-die#post-4451721]]... and that's just the Omegas." Bright shakes her head. "Some of the doctors haven't been taking it well."\n\nSinclair nods. "Right. I'll look this over. Want to come in for some tea?"\n\n"Can't. They're still doing some maintenance on the engine--"\n They pause, and look into the room, right at you, eyes wide at first, then narrowing into a deadly glare.\n\n[[Um...]]\n\n\n\n

<<set $insight to "0">>\n''Soon...''\n\nMontgomery Reynolds is alone here with you. Katherine's on the phone in the other room, talking to <<if visited ("Joan?")>>her daughter Joan, who is apparently helping relief efforts in Paris.<<else>>someone named Joan, who she appears to be on good terms with.<<endif>>\n\n//You're... not a doctor.// You observe.\n\n"My official term for a very long time was 'alchemical consultant'," he confirms. "I was once part of the Global Occult Coalition's Sunspotting program. Found people who they thought had promising magical talent and recruited them."\n\n[[What's the GOC like now?]]

<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $cluec += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $cluec += 2>>\n<<set $cluea += 1>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n"Tales are lesser-known?" Sinclair frowns.\n\n//Outside of a few, yeah. Like you said, which would you rather read: a twenty-thousand word series, or maybe two thousand in an SCP report?//\n\n"<<if visited("Clue1A")>>Could tie into your theory about the site becoming less popular over time.<<endif>><<if visited("Clue1C")>>And this is despite all the metafiction? Strange.<<endif>>It's worth considering." Sinclair replaces the book on the shelf. "Not sure we'll get anything more useful here."\n\n"Back to our quarters?" Monty asks, helping his wife to her feet.\n\n"Please."\n\n//Clue Obtained//\n\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

"What's so odd about that?"\n\nWell, last I checked, this isn't 2033.\n\n"What year is it?"\n\nIf I said, I have a feeling I'd date this.\n\n"Well, what if it is 2033? What then?"\n\nI don't know.\n\n<<display questionactions>>

It appears to be a sequel to //The Man Who Was Thursday// by G.K. Chesterton, only there's one problem with that: it's written by Thomas Pynchon. Huh.<<if $name is "ProcyonLotor">>You take it off the shelf and spend some time flipping thorugh it. It's not half-bad.<<endif>>\n<<display BookActions>>

<<if visited("Look Around")>> You pull yourself away from the books and make your way towards Kat and Monty.<<endif>> After a bit of travel, the three of you come up to a section of the Library that looks mostly intact. There are tomes on the shelf that are big enough to crush an elephant-- but Sinclair manages to pull one off as if it were simply a slightly heavy dictionary. And in a few seconds, that's exactly what it looks like.\n\n"Trippy." Sinclair chews her lip, looking up at you. "Well, you're the pataphysical entity. Where do we start?" \n\n<<display TaleChoices>>\n\n

<<set $insight to 0>>\n//What do you mean you don't have a tale list in your universe?//\n\n"I mean that cataloging incidents like that in the form of written prose would be... inefficient, at best?"\n\n//So, what, we have a dead end here?//\n\n"Maybe not." Monty chews his lip. "But... it does involve going somewhere you may not be welcome."\n\n<<if $lol is 69>>Weenie Hut Junior?<<else>>Where?<<endif>>\n\n<<if $lol is 69>> "What? No. No, what on earth even is that? No, we're going to the Library.<<else>>"The Wanderer's Library."<<endif>> Monty coughs. "We... have a Way in here."\n\n//In your personal quarters? Are you nuts?//\n\n"It's been approved." Sinclair stands, and makes her way over to the television set. "Not sure how well you'll cross universal boundaries as a pataphysical being, but..."\n\nShe switches the television to Channel 3. Something's playing about the possibility of life in the United Kingdom. That's grim. Before anything else can happen, there's a knock on the door.\n\n[[Sinclair gets up to answer it.]]

//What the fuck?// You stare at the book with this title. //Secret ending? What?//\n\nYou remove it from the shelf, and open it. Within is everything-- the name of the killer, how they're doing it, why they're doing it, and when they'er going to strike next. \n\n//Well that was easy!//\n\nYou run off to find Kat and Monty.\n\n[[And Run Off To Catch The Culprit|Ending M]]

//I'll finish this later- ihp (That's the Joke.)//\n\n\n\n<<display JokeChoices>>

"I mean bad like 'unsatisfying'. I'm trying to make it work-- the original ending had you just getting eaten by a tiger that Bright was possessing."\n\n"How'd that work?"\n\n"I don't fucking know." He sighs. "I had a cool idea, and I just ran with it. How it was going to end well was a mystery, especially considering..." He waves his hand. "I'm sorry."\n\n"Why?"\n\n"Because if you've made it here, I've made a mistake. I legitimately don't know how this ending works, and now I'm..." He laughs. "Fuck, I don't even know why I'm talking. Everyone is sick of metafiction. This was going to have me going around killing people, but I realized how bad that would look."\n\nHis laugh is bitter. "I'm no fucking Tallorian. I'm sorry for wasting your time."\n\n[[You didn't though.]]\n[[It's all right.]]

<<if visited("ClueX")>>"Are you all right?" Reynolds asks.\n\n//Fine. Just had to brainstorm some.//\n\n"Who's doing this, then?"\n\n<<else>>\n//Firstly, <<if visited("Clue1A")>>the SCP series are getting less popular as time goes on, leading me to conclude that the malefactor is attempting to draw attention to the website for some reason.<<elseif visited("Clue1B")>>Not all who read the Foundation write for it, meaning that the malefactor could target the readers after they're done with the author base.<<elseif visited("Clue1C")>>there has been a greater occurrence of metafictional articles as the SCP Foundation has grown.<<endif>>.\n\nSecondly, <<if visited("Clue2A")>>there is a possibility that attention and popularity makes the killer stronger.<<elseif visited("Clue2B")>>the author avatars, such as Dr. Bright and Dr. Clef, are not dying, for some unknown reason, possibly connected to their popularity.<<elseif visited("Clue2C")>>lesser-known works, such as tales, are vanishing before SCPs are.<<endif>>\n\nFinally, <<if visited("Clue 4A")>>the author list is being used as a hit list.<<elseif visited("Clue 4B")>>the damage done to the universe is proportional to the amount of influence the writer had, suggesting the killer is well-acquainted with site politics.<<elseif visited ("Clue 4C")>>the authors that appear to have been killed, that have caused SCP-5500, are not actually dying.<<endif>>\n\n//\n\n"What does it all mean?" Sinclair frowns. "Who's doing this?"\n<<endif>>\n<<if $cluea gt $clueb and $cluea gt $cluec>>[[...|Ending A]]<<elseif $clueb gt $cluea and $clueb gt $cluec>>[[It means I might know who the killer is.|Ending B]] <<elseif $cluec gt $cluea and $cluec gt $clueb>>[[It means I know who the killer is, and it's not good.|Ending C]]<<else>>[[This feels too disjointed. I need to focus on one element.|ClueX]]<<endif>>

<<set $insight += 1>>//[[One of the classics, apparently.|http://www.scp-wiki.net/incident-239-b-clef-kondraki]]//\n\n"Also incredibly unprofessional." Sinclair chews her lip. <<if $name is "Clef">>"No offense meant.<<endif>>"\n\n"It's entirely intact." Monty turns the pages containing it over. "Strange."\n\n//People like it. That's probably why.//\n\n"So, if people like it, it survives. Makes sense, with the apparant voting system you have." She frowns. "But... the characters within can die. Clef's dead, so's Kondraki, several times over."\n\n//And so's your Bright.//\n\n"Yeah." Sinclair lets out a thoughtful //huff//.\n<<display TaleChoices>>

<<actions "How am I here?" "What do I need to do?" "2033?" "Who is killing us?" "How am I still alive?">>\n\n<<if $answered gte 1>> [[Let's move on.]]<<endif>>

Are you feeling okay? You're in the lab with the [[C.O.R.M.O.R.A.N.T. Device]], which looks... freshly fried. You can taste blood in your mouth, and you have a massive headache. \n\n[[Look around the lab.]]

''Incident Report:'' The deaths of SCP-036-Omega and SCP-037-Omega occurred within two days of each other in May of 2029. These deaths resulted in the depopulation of Sloth's Pit, Wisconsin and Eventide, Oregon, among other anomalous nexus zones. Cause of death is speculated to correspond to the causes of death of individuals within these zones-- in the case of O36-Omega, this was due to being crushed under a large bookshelf. In the case of O37-Omega, this was due to being drowned in vegetable oil.\n\n<<set $read += 1>>\n\n<<display File Actions>>

"You got sucked down into the Upwards Metaphysical Funnel with the S.W.A.N.N. Engine broke. It happened before, damn near killed me and Monty."\n\n//So... what, I'm just stuck in your head?//\n\n"Looks that way. Sorry about that. But maybe not entirely stuck? Like, I imagine you have a little mobility. Maybe enough to reach across the room."\n\n<<display questionactions>>\n\n

It is. Incredibly vulgar. Probably illegal. At the very least, it'd get her banned from #site19. Not only that, but it's in five different languages. George Carlin laughs from within his grave. Mother Teresa spins in hers. Monty looks like he's seen this a dozen times.\n\n"...WITH A SPATULA!" is how she ends it, before picking up what you realize is a genuine N64 controller. She spins it by its cord a few times, before hurling it at the television.\n\nThe television engulfs the room.\n\n[[And You're In...|The Reading Room]]

The page stands before you. What do you do?\n\n<<display investigateactions>>

The squad of critters led by one Zyn. The patron saint of patience on the wiki. They're the people you should go to if you need crit.\n\nExcept for the author of this piece. Like I said: Flaky. Bastard.\n\n<<display investigateactions>>

''Some Time Later...''\n<<set $insight to 0>>\nYou pull up the SCP Series-- all six of them now-- and bring them up alongside Katherine and Montgomery. How it works without breaking their minds is beyond them.\n\n"Okay." Monty cracks his knuckles. "Let's take a look."\n\nThe SCP series within their universe are largely crossed out-- the ones that have been eliminated by the death of the 5500-Omegas, you'd guess. It's sobering, to think so many people have died.\n\nSinclair looks over a folder. [[You manage to peek over her shoulder to read it.]]

<<set $insight += 1>>\n<<if visited("Go with Monty and Kat")>>"You weren't kidding. Tales are less popular. Average of 80-something and over 100 tales written..." Reynolds frowns.\n\n//To be fair, a lot of them aren't very good.//\n\n"I imagine the people behind the Fourth Wall won't take kindly to your insult."\n\n//I mean, the article that dragged me in here was written by Ihp, and if I'm going to be stuck here forever, I think I've got a right to insult him.//<<else>>"Not very popular, these things." Monty scratches his head. "I wonder why. A lot of them look very well-written."\n\n//Well, which would you rather read: a full-length novel, or 2000 words formatted in a specific way that's easy to skim but understand it all?//\n<<endif>>\n\n"Fair point." Reynolds squints his eyes at the list. "...it seems that, despite this, their deaths have had a greater impact. It's almost as if their popularity is inversely proportional to the amount of damage they cause..."\n\n<<display AuthorChoices>>

<<set $name to prompt("What's your name?","")>>"Holy shit." Dr. Sinclair swallows. "I know you."\n\nHow?\n\n"You're one of //[[them]]//."\n\n<<set $checkpoint += 1>>

You read the back of the book first.\n\n//A Sequel to the acclaimed [[The Real Adventures in Capitalism|http://www.scp-wiki.net/the-real-adventures-in-capitalism]] has Isabel Wondertainment and her Exceedingly Competent Assistant Emma take on the greatest threat Dr. Wondertainment Yet: The Dreaded Dance known as the Bourgeois Boogaloo!//\n\n<<if $name is "Djoric">>Why, though? It's a complete story. You even wrote it with Isabel saving the world. Some people...<<endif>> It... doesn't look great. Like someone wrote it without the original author's permission. It portrays Isabel as married to the Scarlet King, which is just... //wrong//.\n\nYou surreptitiously place the book in a nearby unlit brazier, and hope that nobody notices it when they light it.\n\n<<display BookActions>>

The Wanderer's Library. It's a vast, extradimensional space, bigger than some universes. It's full of knowledge, with books on everything from repairing Borgwards to summoning Lucifer themselves. The latter is not advised, due to the fact that they are a very large <<if $lol is 69>>Danger noodle<<else>>serpent<<endif>> that will probably crush your whole planet if they're summoned.\n\n[[Well then.|The Reading Room]]

<<if $insight gte 3>>[[I just had an idea.]]<<endif>>\n\n<<actions "S & C Plastics" "Project Crossover" "239-B Clef-Kondraki" "Et Tam Deum Petivi" "Bottle Dicks">>

"What, you mean you liked it?" He sighs. "Well, at least there's that, I guess. Sorry for putting you through all this trouble just to get you a crap ending." He chews his lip. "I can try to make it up to you, I suppose. Want to see a section that got cut early in development?"\n[[Sure!|EndingA3]]\n[[No thanks.]]

"...how many people read it?" Sinclair swallows.\n\n//Between the people from Youtube, Discord, Reddit? ...over a million.//\n\n<<if $lol lte 68>>"Jesus H. Christ."<<elseif $lol is 69>>"Happy H. Christmas."<<endif>> Monty turns around and shakes his head. "Millions?"\n\n//In the US Alone.//\n\n"...that's why the older ones aren't going away!" Sincalir exclaims. "They-- they're being kept alive in the perception of the readers, not just the authors!"\n\n//So... what, after our gunman runs out of authors, he's going to kill the readers?<<if visited ("Clue2B")>> If it's an author avatar like we think, it may be the only thing keeping them alive.<<endif>>//\n\n"...they may have already started." Sinclair blanches. "Three-thousand universes died a while before I summoned you."\n\n//I know. I read it.//\n\n"Shit." Reynolds rubs his brow. "//Shit//."\n\n"I think we have all we can get from here." \n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $clueb += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $clueb += 2>>\n<<set $cluea += 1>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

Shit. Fuck.\n\nShiiiiiit.\n\nThe entire place is a mess. Your workspace is trashed, and some of it looks like it was on fire a few seconds ago. Your computer looks like digital oil was spilled all over it. The keyboard is ruined, and there's [[some garbage text on the screen]].\n\nFire alarms are ringing. You're not supposed to be down here. You probably just killed someone in hyperreality, and that's probably another universe dead.\n\nBang-up job so far, Kat.\n\n[[Back to your quarters.]]

<<set $insight += 1>>\n\nKatherine takes a look through [[the book|http://www.scp-wiki.net/crossoverprojectindex]], her eyes widening with each word. "...is this... no. Nope. No."\n\n"What?" Monty asks.\n\nShe hands the book to him with a sigh. His eyes widen. "...well, this is... mostly intact, but..." He sighs. "My god."\n\n//What?//\n\n"God isn't a horror writer. They're a //nerd!//"\n\n//That's a bad thing?//\n\n"...no," Monty admits with a sigh. "But... crossover tales with other works, Jesus. Why?"\n\n//Maybe they thought it was fun?//\n\n"Maybe." Reynolds sighs.\n\n<<display TaleChoices>>

/* Your story will use the CSS in this passage to style the page.\nGive this passage more tags, and it will only affect passages with those tags.\nExample selectors: */\n\nbody {\n\t/* This affects the entire page */\nbackground-image:url(http://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/458009355615207424/540197776886333463/patalogo.gif);\nbackground-repeat:no-repeat;\nbackground-color:#FFFFFF;\nbackground-position: top 9% left 7%;\nbackground-size: 10%;\n\t\n}\n.passage {\n\t/* This only affects passages */\n\t\n\t\n}\n.passage a {\n\t/* This affects passage links */\n\t\n\t\n}\n.passage a:hover {\n\t/* This affects links while the cursor is over them */\n\t\n\t\n}

[[An Account of the Second War of the Flesh]]\n[[The Man Who Was October]]\n[[The Book that Screams in an Eldritch Tongue When You Look At It]]\n[[Adventures in Capitalism 2: Bourgeois Boogaloo]]\n<<if $lol is 69>>[[Read This To Get The Secret Ending!]]<<endif>>\n[[Find Kat and Monty|Go with Monty and Kat]]

"A version of them died-- our universe's version. But for some reason, there are more Brights in the multiverse than almost any other member of Foundation personnel. It's the damnedest thing. So, we pulled one in from another universe to this one." Sinclair shakes her head. "Anyway. The Way."\n\n[[It's then that Sinclair starts hurling obscenities at the television.]]\n\n

<<set $checkpoint is 3>><<set $cluea is 0>><<set $clueb is 0>> <<set $cluec is 0>>Dr. Sinclair moves out into the living area. Her husband turns from the book he's reading, looks at her, and yelps. "What the hell?!"\n\n"Oh, so you can see them? Monty, this is <<$name>>. They're going to help me crack this once and for all."\n\n"...it's looking at me and I'm not dying." Monty stands to look at you. "Curious."\n\n"Don't think too hard about it." Katherine holds up the printout of the garbage text. "We. Have. A. Breakthrough! Something about a list!"\n\n"...which one, though?" Reynolds frowns, looking pointedly up at you. "Any ideas?"\n\n<<display listchoice>>\n\n//Checkpoint//

//Is there an issue?//\n\nBright shakes their head. "I mean, there's a hyperreal entity in Sinclair's living room. Why would there be an issue?" They laugh. "Sorry, but... could you... not look at me? Please?" Their eye twitches. "I... feel like I might be ill."\n\n"It's okay, Jack. Go work on the engine." Sinclair quickly closes the door and sighs. \n\n//What was that about?//\n\n"Bright... well, I should say, //Brights//, plural, there are a lot of them, react oddly to... your kind. Your hyperreality imposes itself upon them in a way that may be connected to... one moment."\n\n[[Sinclair pulls up a list.]]

<<forget $checkpoint>>\n<<forget $name>>\n<<set $cluea is 0>> <<set $clueb is 0>><<set $cluea is 0>>\n<<set $insight to 0>>\nProgress Reset.\n\n[[Start]]

"And?" Katherine frowns.\n\n//And I think that might be part of the reason why the killer's been able to do this. We've been weakening the wall between our reality and yours by writing meta articles like crazy.//\n\n"They have a point." Monty frowns. "Not a bad idea-- there's the means. Now we just need the motive and opportunity."\n\nSinclair nods and pours herself a coffee. "I think we're done with the SCP list. What next?"\n\n//Clue Obtained//\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $cluec += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<set $cluec += 2>>\n<<set $clueb += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

"So?" Monty asks.\n\n//So, less popular series means that someone may be wanting to draw attention to the website.// \n\n"By... killing the authors." Sinclair frowns. "That doesn't track with me."\n\n"It could be that they're wanting to draw more attention to it to get more people to kill." Monty shakes his head. "But people would just be scared away by all the deaths."\n\n"It's flimsy, but it may be the best we get." Sinclair cracks her knuckles-- they're surprisingly spry for someone in her fifties. "Let's move on."\n//Clue Obtained//\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n<<set $cluea += 2>>\n<<else>>\n<<set $clues += 1>>\n<<set $cluea += 2>>\n<<set $cluec += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited("ClueX")>>\n[[You think you have it now.|Here are the facts as we have them.]]\n<<else>>\n<<display listchoice>>\n<<endif>>

//I... I just don't know.//\n\n"What do you mean //you don't know?//" Sinclair gapes at you, horrified. "<<$name>>, we were relying on you! We trusted you!"\n\n//I-- I don't think I got the right evidence. The clues don't make sense with one another. I-- I don't know. I just don't.//\n\n"Fuck, can't you guess?"\n\n[[Attempt to Guess]]\n[[I can't.|Bad Ending]]

Sinclair looks up from the book. "Well? Spit it out."\n\n[[A certain type of character isn't dying.|Clue2B]]\n\n[[Popularity makes the killer stronger.|Clue2A]]\n\n[[Lesser-Known Works are going away first.|Clue2C]]

//It's... me.//\n\nSinclair blinks. "What do you mean, 'it's you'?"\n\n//I... by reading this. I'm... I think I'm killing worlds just by reading this.//\n\n"Horseshit." Reynolds protests.\n\n//I mean it.// A sigh escapes your lips. //I mean, I'm sitting out here and it's just. As far as I can tell, whoever is doing this in your universe isn't affecting the universe out here.//\n\nSinclair looks down at her hands. "...I don't understand. Entire //worlds// died just because... because someone thought it would //make a good story?//"\n\n//Yeah. The whole thing with... I think worlds are dying because they equate to the death of an author's viewpoint. That's the justification I'd use.//\n\n"But... you're not actually dying?" Reynolds swallows.\n\n//We will. Eventually. I don't know what's going to happen then.//\n\nSinclair looks up at you. "If that's the case, then... I don't think we can alllow you to observe us any longer."\n\n//What do you mean?//\n\n[[Suddenly, the narration jumps.|EndingC1]]

//I think the killer is Dr. Bright.//\n\nSinclair stands, as if to protest this. "Bright worked on the S.W.A.N.N. Engine with me for over six years. Why would he use it as a murder weapon?"\n\n\n//I think it's the list.//\n\nSinclair blinks at you. "The... joke list? Things Bright isn't allowed to do? Why?"\n\n//One of the entries is "[[SCP-137|http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-137]] is not to be used on sex toys", and you mentioned that Bright interacting with things like me makes them revert to that list's characterization of them. Would you enjoy living like that? As a hypersexed psychopath?//\n\n"You think he wants that characterization of him gone." Realization dawns on Sinclair. "And he's willing to kill the authors."\n\n//If the Foundation's readers are wiped from existence, so too is Bright.//\n\nSinclair frowns. "But... it would take more than one Bright to pull it off."\n\n//You said it yourself: there are more Brights in the multiverse than any other member of the Foundation. I think he appears in more works than any other member of Foundation personnel.//\n\n"Well." Sinclair frowns. "There are three of us who... may know the truth, against an army of Brights. What do we do?"\n\nMonty stands up to say something. There's a horrendous sound, before he slams against the wall, bleeding from the chest.\n\nDr. Bright, still in the form of the young woman you saw earlier, stands in the doorway with a gun. It's aimed straight at Dr. Sinclair.\n\n[[Stop them.|Ending B2]]

You think back to the various clues you've recovered. Which one do you want to focus on?\n\n<<if visited("Clue1A")>>[[The series are getting less popular as time goes on.|Clue1A]]<<elseif visited("Clue1B")>>[[Not everyone that reads the Foundation writes for it.|Clue1B]]<<elseif visited ("Clue1C")>>[[There's been more metafiction as the series go on.|Clue1C]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("Clue2A")>>[[Popularity makes the killer stronger.|Clue2A]]<<elseif visited("Clue2B")>>[[The Author Avatars aren't dying.|Clue2B]]<<elseif visited("Clue2C")>>[[Lesser-Known Works are going away first.|Clue2C]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("Clue 4A")>>[[The killer must be using the author list as a hit list.|Clue 4A]]<<elseif visited("Clue 4B")>>[[It's not about the number of articles, it's about the influence you have.|Clue 4B]]<<elseif visited("Clue 4C")>>[[As far as I can tell? Most of the people here are still alive.|Clue 4C]]<<endif>>\n\n\n\n

"...I can hear you."\n\nYou can?\n\n"Yes, I can! Y-- it's like you're cohabiting my thoughts, holy shit!"\n\nI--\n\n"Don't talk. It's going to make my head fucking explode. Just... I don't know, think in my general direction? [[What's your name?]]"\n\n\n

<<actions "SCP-420-J" "SCP-___-J""The List of Things Dr. Bright Is Not Allowed To Do At The Foundation" "I might have something" "Proceed to Ending">>\n

Your head is killing you. Like your skull's trying to squeeze through a drinking straw. Why did you expect anything to change? You just got some garbage text from an author, and you expect that to help? Idiot.\n\nYou can't even drink anything becuase my throat is so raw. And it sucks because I'm so thirsty.\n\nYour throat.\n\nMy throat?\n\nI'm thirsty?\n\nWho's thirsty here?\n\n[[What is this?]]

//This was originally where you were going to figure out that the Bright list might be a motive for the killer, before Sinclair flat-out tells you about it in the current version.-= Ihp//\n\n"What the fuck is this?" Sinclair frowns.\n\n//It's a list made by Bright, about Bright.//\n\n"Why, though?" Sinclair furrows her brow. "Some of it is... so juvinile, so vulgar. Not a lot of it is funny, either."\n\n//I'm fairly sure Bright doesn't like the list, either. But he went from TheDuckman to AdminBright not too long ago, so there's that.//\n\n"If he's still alive."\n\n<<display JokeChoices>>

A conspiracy theorist's wet dream takes up most of what was once a closet.\n\nAll over the board is documentation of hundreds of SCP-5500-Omega instances dying, and the fallout of their deaths. There was something about the message that got you thinking. Maybe you should start looking for clues here.\n\nThe stack of files sits before you.\n\n<<display "File Actions">>

He shrugs. "C'est la vie. Part of the reason I did this was to try to get people more interested in lesser-known aspects of the Foundation. It's why I had an entire part of the investigation set in the Wanderer's Library." He chews his lip. "Hopefully I did that for you. Thanks for reading, all the same."\n\nEnding A Achieved.

Sinclair looks at you. "<<if $name is "Ihp">>You're already familiar with this, I'm sure.<<endif>> Every universe has a book in the library. If we're lucky, ours hasn't been checked out yet."\n\n//Every universe... has a book?//\n\n"Not every universe." She walks on."Some universes don't have pataphysics apply to them. They're the lucky ones, and they've largely been spared. The ones that //are// affected by Pataphysics usually have a Foundation in them." \n\nMonty looks at the ceiling of the library, where a grand clock chimes two fifths past twenty-seven. "Blast it, what's Lemurian time convert to in Copernican?" Montgomery checks under his coat retrieving a pocket watch, and it's then that you see he has an old-style revolver under there-- a Colt, by the look of it. \n\n"Think you can detach yourself for a bit?" Sinclair asks. "I imagine you'll want to look around, get acquainted some."\n\n[[Look Around]]\n[[Go with Monty and Kat]]\n\n

He looks over at you. "Oh, hey, you must be <<$name>>. Uh, sorry. Just. Bit of frustration."\n\n"Over what?" You blink. You're talking normally, now.\n\n"Can't get this damn thing to work. Too many spelling errors, not enough time." He rubs his face with his casted hand. "I tried so hard with this. And it's not working."\n\n"...are you killing us?" You ask.\n\n"Don't be absurd." He snorts. "I mean, I get kind of frustrated at the readers and authors sometimes, but I'm not killing you." He turns around in his seat. "This is... a bad ending."\n\n[["What do you mean?"]]

<<if $name is "Djoric" or $name is "Dmatix">>//Hey, my old stomping grounds. Neat. But...//<<endif>>//It looks like it's been eaten up almost entirely.//\n\n"It, and the [[Horizon Initiative|http://www.scp-wiki.net/etdp-hub-page]] along with it." Sinclair sighs. "It's a pity. The majority of them were good people."\n\n<<if $name is "Djoric" or $name is "Dmatix">>//Well, I'm still alive, so I don't know how these got wiped off the map.//<<endif>>//But... the HI is kind of one of the big three, right? With the GOC and the Foundation?//\n\n"And yet, they're gone, but the GOC isn't." Monty sighs. "More's the pity."\n\n//Not a fan?//\n\nHe snorts. "When a shadowy organization abducts you in the middle of the night to recruit you for a magic army, only to have their brainwashing techniques fail, you tell me if you have any allegiance to them."\n\n//...fair enough.//\n\n<<set $insight += 1>>\n<<display TaleChoices>>

<<if $insight gte 3>>//I[[ think I have an idea.]]//<<endif>>\n\n<<actions "Go by number of SCPs" "Go by number of tales" "Go by least prolific" "Go by who has author avatars">>

''Incident Report:'' March, 2029. It is discovered that an iteration of the Shark Punching Center has created their own version of a S.W.A.N.N. Engine, dubbed the C.O.R.M.O.R.A.N.T. Device. They use this device to attempt to save SCP-5500-Omega-74 from death by shark attack through unknown means. The operation is not successful, due to the Center overestimating the strength of Omega-74. This results in the destruction of several anomalies related to a BE-Class End-Of-Consciousness Scenario, including a large portion of the Avian Division. The C.O.R.M.O.R.A.N.T. Device is acquired by the Foundation in an attempt to combat the malefactor.\n\n<<set $read += 1>>\n\n<<display "File Actions">> \n

"The floor is yours."\n\n[[The only four Jokes left are some of the most popular.|Clue3C]]\n\n[[There's some jokes missing.|Clue3B]]\n\n[[What if the killer's doing this for fun?|Clue3A]]

Holy shit that's a lot of Javascript that you have not a lot of time to go through. This thing looks like it was written, broken down, re-written, and re-assembled a dozen times. It's chaos. Nothing useful you can see.\n\n<<display investigateactions>>

And ruin the fun?\n<<set $lol += 1>>\n\n<<if $lol is 1>>[[No, seriously, check the comments.|Check the comments]]<<endif>><<if $lol is 2>>[[Come on, let me check the comments.|Check the comments]]\n<<endif>><<if $lol is 3>>\n[[Really? A joke loop, in a murder mystery?|Check the comments]]<<endif>>\n<<if $lol gte 4 and $lol lte 10>>[[I'm going to keep at this.|Check the comments]]<<endif>><<if $lol gte 11 and $lol lte 25>>[[There has to be something here|Check the comments]]<<endif>><<if $lol gte 26 and $lol lte 50>>[[Persistence will pay off.|Check the comments]]<<endif>><<if $lol gte 51 and $lol lte 68>>[[Getting Closer...|Check the comments]]<<endif>>\n\n\n<<if $lol is 69>>[[Okay Fine You Win.|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj7Vklv5nDk]] \n\n(Mystery mode unlocked!)\n\n<<endif>>\n<<display investigateactions>>

It's either unfinished or the last 9/10ths of the book have been ripped out. From what you can tell, it appears to be about a conflict between the Church of the Broken God, the Sarkic Cults, and an entity known as The Flesh. You can't tell how it ends.\n<<display BookActions>>

//This was just basically a long weed joke, with your character getting high off of 420-J. It wasn't funny. I axed it.- Ihp//\n\n//I'm hungry. Got any Cheese Balls?//\n\n"You're joking." Sinclair looks at you oddly. "Are... you feeling all right? Just reading the file shouldn't affect you."\n\n//I dunno, man, this feels all... funky and psychodelic and stuff.//\n\n"Psychadelic."\n\n//Potato, tomato.//\n\nShe rubs her face. \n\n//And this is what would happen if you clicked on a link that would have been here.//\n\n//Whoah... boadacious. Just had a thought.//\n\n"What?"\n\n//What if, like... I'm the killer? And me reading this is affecting your universe?//\n\n"Don't be absurd."\n\n<<display JokeChoices>>

<<set $insight += 1>>\n\n"Wait..." Reynolds frowns. "The person who wrote SCP-173...//only// wrote SCP-173?"\n\n//As far as we know.//\n\n"...and... his status is unknown?"\n\n//I mean, staff has his contact info.//\n\n"...but you're saying he could be dead?"\n\n//Maybe.//\n\n"Then why hasn't 173 disappeared?"\n\n//<<if $lol is 69>>Because honestly the Foundation is a glorified fanfic site for that one stupid statue.//<<else>>//Probably because it's iconic enough that it factors in with everyone's view of the universe?//<<endif>>\n\n"Icons, icons, icons." Monty shakes his head. "Hmm."\n\n<<display AuthorChoices>>

"Go on."\n\n\n[[As far as I can tell? Most of the people here are still alive.|Clue 4C]]\n[[The killer must be using the author list as a hit list.|Clue 4A]]\n[[It's not about the number of articles, it's about the influence you have.|Clue 4B]]