T/N:
Sorry for the late chap, was rewatching Drifters, that shit's peak.
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Regarding the anomaly: Kisaragi Station, the SCP Foundation has implemented special containment measures.
The affected station area has been temporarily locked down and sealed off, with entry by civilians strictly prohibited.
Following this, high-intensity spatial detection was carried out in the anomalous zone.
This operation continued for several hours, until a train pulled into the station.
The station, already completely taken over and monitored by the Foundation, showed no signs indicating the origin of this train.
In any case, it appeared before Foundation personnel accompanied by intense spatial fluctuations.
According to the Kisaragi Station containment protocol, a team of D-Class personnel equipped with interdimensional signal devices and drones was sent aboard the train.
As the train began moving, it accelerated briefly, then vanished from everyone's sight.
Like a flickering light, it disappeared without a trace if one looked away even for a second.
Only the afterimage remained imprinted on their retinas.
Later, through the interdimensional signal device, the Foundation gradually received some video footage.
At first, the D-Class personnel in orange uniforms were seen dutifully carrying out their tasks inside the train. The scene matched the contact report previously submitted by Investigator Ai Hayasaka.
Inside the train were several exhausted-looking office workers, frozen in place, maintaining specific postures.
The D-Class personnel attempted to interact with these passengers.
Upon examination, it was found that they were all deceased, and even advanced medical equipment could not determine the cause of death.
Soon, all the D-Class personnel fell into a deep sleep.
The train car fell into absolute silence.
The video footage's timestamp became erratic after 357 minutes, and the internal clock was no longer a reliable reference.
No one knew how much time passed before the D-Class personnel began waking up one after another.
The train arrived at a station.
The station sign hanging high above read "Kisaragi Station."
In the footage, the D-Class team attempted to contact the Foundation site for further instructions.
The request was received at the site, but the signal vanished almost instantly, and due to the vast time difference, effective communication was impossible.
The video showed that the D-Class personnel received no new orders.
Some began showing signs of agitation, peering nervously into Kisaragi Station.
However, their original instruction was to remain aboard the train until it reached its final stop.
Moreover, each D-Class member wore an explosive collar around their necks—any disobedience would result in execution.
Ultimately, the D-Class team did not disembark at Kisaragi Station and remained on the train.
The doors slowly closed, and the train resumed its journey, leaving the station behind.
There was a stark contrast between what could be seen through the windows and what should have been visible outside Kisaragi Station.
The station was supposed to be in a remote, deserted countryside.
Following the tracks should have led only to endless rails with no identifiable landmarks nearby.
Yet the footage showed primitive mountains visible through the train windows.
The tracks passed through the mountains and led into a dark limestone cave ahead.
This mountain range, based on geological comparisons, matched the primitive mountains near Joppa, Indiana, in the main world.
That region is known for its naturally occurring limestone caves.
The train entered the limestone cave as if going through a tunnel and was engulfed in total darkness.
Within the darkness, no sounds could be heard.
Silence—true, absolute silence.
Even the sound of the train running over the tracks was completely absent.
Because time itself could no longer be used as a reference point.
At some unknown moment, the train emerged from the cave into a new location.
The train came to a stop. There was no station here, and no tracks ahead.
In the footage, the D-Class personnel disembarked one by one, confused by what they saw.
It was a world strangely familiar to them all.
Even though these D-Class individuals had been away from the outside world for years, imprisoned or held at Foundation sites…
This outside world still felt familiar.
The video showed the scene: Tokyo, Akihabara, in Japan.
Yes—crossing through Kisaragi Station, the train's destination was a parallel reality.
The D-Class team once again tried sending a request to the Foundation. The signal did reach the site, but the site still couldn't issue precise commands remotely.
The D-Class personnel grew restless, and some began talking about desertion.
As the discussion became more blatant, they realized there were no warnings or executions from the Foundation.
Eventually, the entire team deserted.
The video recording devices were destroyed, but all footage was successfully transmitted.
The drones carried by the D-Class team reached designated positions and entered automatic patrol mode.
They continued operating in the parallel reality, transmitting data back to the Foundation and remained undamaged by the deserters. By the time the Foundation received this footage and information, the desertion was no longer a possibility—it had already happened.
The site director overseeing the mission swiftly issued the termination order.
After 7 hours, 31 minutes, and 52 seconds in main world time, the execution signal was received, and all D-Class personnel involved in the mission were terminated.
Only the remaining drones continued to send aerial footage.
From the drone images, this parallel world looked almost identical to the main world.
Additionally, a certain signal was being transmitted from this parallel reality.
The signal's source was estimated to be an underground facility in Chiba City, Japan.
This location corresponded with... the SCP Foundation's Site-17 in Chiba, in the main world.
Drones were sent to investigate.
However, for unknown reasons, all drones crashed mid-flight.
The returned data indicated they weren't attacked…
Nor were there any unusual signal interferences.
At a certain moment, all drones simply lost functionality and were completely destroyed.
The first mission to explore the anomalous region had to be terminated.
Haruto sat at the SCP Foundation's Site-17 in Chiba, reading these anomaly exploration records.
He furrowed his brow and rhythmically tapped his fingers on the desk.
As Haruto had suspected from the beginning—
The anomaly causing the Kisaragi Station incident was extremely dangerous. One wrong move could bring an apocalyptic Black Death scenario upon the main world.
And current exploration of the anomaly had reached a total standstill.
Machines couldn't be remotely controlled in real time and were destroyed for unknown reasons.
Human intervention?
D-Class personnel were expendable—throwing more of them into the anomaly wouldn't be an issue.
But like the drones, they couldn't be remotely managed once inside.
And all D-Class individuals were hardened criminals—selfish, with nearly a third diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
Once the threat of execution was removed…
Even knowing they might eventually be terminated, they'd likely still try to escape or use the anomaly's tools to remove their collars.
This also failed to meet exploration objectives.
Haruto had briefly considered using Blacklight Virus brainwashing on D-Class personnel. But he quickly dismissed that idea.
After devouring the grotesque bugs, all Blacklight Virus entities infected by Haruto became subtly interconnected.
Even though Haruto, as the host, possessed multiple Supreme Divinities and was highly resistant to backlash…
There were still massive numbers of infected Blacklight entities in the main world.
In the face of uncertain anomalous properties, if any link between the infected caused irreversible consequences to the main world...
That was a risk Haruto could not accept.
Perhaps severing spatial connections was a better solution.
But if the Foundation simply ran from every unknown, its existence would lose all meaning.
Eventually, the O5 Council voted.
With three votes in favor and one abstention, the formation of a special exploration task force was approved.
Selected members from various sites' Nine-Tailed Fox task forces were assembled into a new Mobile Task Force.
This new MTF was named "Manifest Destiny".
Mobile Task Force – Manifest Destiny was assigned to explore the anomalous region.
The parallel reality beyond Kisaragi Station was designated as: O, Death (SCP-2935).
Manifest Destiny consisted of seven members, equipped with the Foundation's most advanced combat and medical gear, to carry out exploration within "O, Death."
Their mission: enter O, Death and locate the suspected signal source at Site-17.
And if possible, uncover historical data about O, Death, and investigate the origin of the anomaly.
The mission was issued.
Manifest Destiny entered the quarantine zone.
The train pulled into the station.
Manifest Destiny boarded the train, beginning their exploration into the O, Death.