SCP-201: The Empty World

SCP-201: The Empty World SCP-201 looks like a piece of medical equipment somebody left in storage decades ago. It stands about six feet tall, with steel, brass, glass, and rubber tubing attached to something resembling an IV stand. Its two containers are open-topped porcelain. The Foundation found it in a hospital's long-unused storage area, but the hospital had no record of ever owning it. Getting within thirty meters can send you into another reality. The effect seems random. Some people approach it and nothing happens. Others disappear between one and forty-eight hours after exposure, meaning they can leave the area long before anything visibly goes wrong. The place they arrive in looks like our world after every living thing has vanished. Buildings and cities are still there, but there are no people, animals, or plants. Everything sits in constant twilight, without a visible sun or moon. Most electrical systems are either broken or have no power. Dense gray fog moves close to the ground and ignores the wind. Walking through it leaves exposed skin feeling sticky and dirty. Sometimes the air itself turns gray-brown, accompanied by strong winds. There is no explanation in the file for what causes any of this, or for what happened to the life that should be there. People initially describe surprise and curiosity. Loneliness and fear follow. Disappearances can last a few hours or more than eight years, and time experienced there does not reliably match time passing here. Most people who remain displaced for more than three months suffer lasting psychological harm resembling the effects of prolonged solitary confinement. Returning can also be a shock, especially when an empty urban environment suddenly becomes crowded again. Containment depends on distance. Nobody is allowed within forty meters, and work on the object is handled by remotely controlled drones. Personnel entering the containment area need two security escorts and a wall-anchored safety harness. The Foundation records each exposure, disappearance, and return, then retrieves and interviews anyone who comes back. There is one detail hidden behind a higher-clearance section. Some stranded people say they restored enough power to televisions or radios to hear fragments of broadcasts. Their reports resemble automated Foundation messages prepared for end-of-the-world emergencies. Researchers have not confirmed whether those broadcasts actually exist or reflect the psychological damage of prolonged isolation. The file says testing will begin if usable samples can be recovered. Original Entry: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-201