The journey from La Coloma to Viñales Valley took longer than Luo Shu expected.
Due to the decades-long blockade, Cuba suffered from severe fuel shortages, resulting in limited motor vehicles and underdeveloped road infrastructure. Both La Coloma and Viñales were essentially rural townships connected by narrow village paths.
The roads were nearly devoid of cars, mostly occupied by horse-drawn carts transporting goods. Under these conditions, Pikachu could only crawl along slowly behind the carts.
Though these Cuban locals were clones created by SCP-2000, they now lived peaceful, stable lives. Luo Shu had no intention of disrupting their tranquility for his own purposes.
Having come this far, a little delay didn't matter.
In fact, Luo Shu had already sensed SCP-3125's presence before even docking at La Coloma's small fishing port.
This formidable anti-meme had an influence radius of 100 kilometers!
As long as SCP-3125 wasn't fleeing, Luo Shu wasn't in a hurry.
The friendly Cubans made way for his pickup wherever the road widened enough.
The meandering route took him through Pinar del Río, the provincial capital—though by Chinese standards, it resembled nothing more than a fourth-tier town, with low-rise buildings and a distinctly rural atmosphere.
Beyond the city, the northern roads became even narrower, winding through hilly terrain far more treacherous than the southern plains.
As he navigated these paths, a thought struck him:
SCP-3125 was a destroyer, but first and foremost, a secret-keeper.
If its goal was global annihilation, it wouldn't hide in Cuba's backwaters.
To the east lay Guantánamo's densely populated plains.
To the north, Florida was less than 300 kilometers away.
Yet SCP-3125 had chosen to remain in Viñales' secluded hills—clearly prioritizing concealment.
Only when the Anti-Memetics Division, led by Marion Wheeler, accidentally discovered it 60 years ago did it lash out, slaughtering millions across Cuba.
"I hid here for a reason, and you still came after me… Did you think I wouldn't fight back?"
Arrival at Viñales
After over two hours of arduous travel, Viñales Valley finally came into view.
The picturesque valley was lush and serene, with a small town nestled in its southeastern corner and a tranquil lake to the east.
At the heart of the valley stood a forested hill, its slopes covered in the famed tobacco fields that formed the backbone of the local economy.
And on one face of that hill—the "prehistoric" mural that had made Viñales famous.
A riot of colors depicted:
Aquatic sauropods and spiral-shelled ammonites on the left.
Two tyrannosaurs, one yellow, one red, locked in mid-chase at the center.
Three human figures—man, woman, child—on the right.
Luo Shu had no eye for art, but he didn't need one.
His focus was SCP-3125's location.
It was inside that hill.
Circling the mound revealed no obvious entrance.
Viñales was a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attracting tourists year-round. A brute-force excavation was out of the question.
There was one way to draw SCP-3125 out immediately:
Shout "Defender" at the top of his lungs.
Surely, sensing both anti-memetic traces and the Anomaly Encyclopedia, it would respond.
But the consequences?
Another Cuban extinction event.
To preserve the valley's peace, the Defender could not be summoned publicly.
Suppressing his urgency, Luo Shu retreated to Viñales town, booking a room at a local guesthouse.
He would wait for nightfall.
The Search
Under a sky ablaze with stars, the valley plunged into darkness.
No artificial lighting marred the UNESCO site—just the occasional flicker of household lamps in the distance.
Perfect.
Returning to the mural hill, Luo Shu cupped his hands and called:
"Defender! I'm here! Holder of the Anomaly Encyclopedia!"
A powerful presence brushed against his mind—SCP-3125's attention.
But nothing emerged.
No movement. No response.
Can it not move?
But if it were immobile, how had it hunted the Anti-Memetics Division all the way to Guantánamo?
Was this a test for a "Truth-Bringer"?
Fine. If it wouldn't come to him, he'd go to it.
Earlier, his host had mentioned Viñales' karst topography—labyrinthine caves riddling the hills.
The largest stretched 45 kilometers, longer than the valley's circumference.
SCP-3125 had to be inside.
But caves were deceptive. What seemed a straight path could twist unpredictably.
Even with his Anomaly Discoverer (Level 2) pinging SCP-3125's location, progress was agonizingly slow.
For hours, Luo Shu navigated the caverns, shouting "Defender!" at intervals.
No reply.
"Is this the same Defender that made the Anti-Memetics Division tremble in 1962? Too scared to even show yourself?"
Taunts failed just as badly as pleas.
The caves writhed like living things—veering left, right, up, down.
One moment, he advanced toward SCP-3125; the next, the path curved away.
Branches multiplied. Without his sharp memory, he'd have been hopelessly lost.
By the time he reached the fifth cave, dawn tinged the sky.
Finally, his milestone registered:
<5 meters.
It was right behind this wall.
Patience exhausted, Luo Shu summoned Pikachu.
Time for demolition.
As the last rocks fell, he saw—