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Echoes in the Ice
Chapter 3: Harbinger of Fractured Realities

Chapter 3: Harbinger of Fractured Realities

Personnel File: Dr. Alistair Finch

Clearance: Level 4

Specialization: Occult Mathematics, Non-Euclidean Thaumatology

Status: Under Review

Note: Subject shows concerning levels of enthusiasm regarding SCP-XXXX. Previous incidents at Sites 17 and 81 noted.

Research Proposal Status: DENIED

Project: "Harmonic Resonance Testing of SCP-XXXX"

Reason: Unacceptable risk level. Potential reality restructuring event.

- O5-7

---

Dr. Alistair Finch stood before the Ethics Committee's viewing screen, his tall frame rigid with barely contained excitement. The dark circles under his eyes spoke of sleepless nights spent poring over translations of the ziggurat's symbols.

"The mathematics are clear," he insisted, gesturing to the holographic projections behind him. "These aren't just astronomical calculations – they're a form of cosmic programming language. The ziggurat isn't just recording stellar positions; it's creating a computational bridge between our reality and wherever the Weaver exists."

Director Marshall's voice crackled through the speakers. "Your previous work with anomalous mathematics at Site-17 resulted in a localized reality failure, Dr. Finch. Why should we risk—"

"Because we're already failing!" Finch's composure cracked. He pulled up new data streams. "Look at the consciousness retention scores. Look at the temporal bleeding. We're trying to contain something that operates on principles our universe wasn't designed to process. But these symbols..." He highlighted a sequence of rotating glyphs. "They're not just writing. They're instructions. A user manual for reality itself."

In the observation room, Dr. Vance watched the proceedings with growing unease. She'd worked with Finch at Site-17. His brilliance was undeniable, but so was his obsession with pushing boundaries. The incident that had cost him his previous position had also opened a temporary window into a dimension of pure mathematics – a glimpse that had left him forever changed.

"Dr. Vance," Marshall addressed her directly. "Your assessment?"

She stepped forward, choosing her words carefully. "Finch's basic theory is sound. The ziggurat's symbols do appear to be some form of reality-affecting program. But attempting to execute that program, even partially..."

"Could give us the key to actual containment," Finch interrupted. "Eleanor, you've seen the pattern progression. The temporal echoes are getting stronger. That thing in Sector 12 last week – the one in the robes – it stayed solid for almost three minutes. We're not containing this; we're just watching it gradually break free."

The lights flickered. In the corner of the room, a shadow briefly formed into a perfect mathematical fractal before dissolving.

"Proposal denied," Marshall announced. "Maintain current containment protocols. Meeting adjourned."

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

---

2300 hours. Security Alert.

Location: Sector 14-C, Auxiliary Research Lab

Status: Multiple monitoring anomalies detected.

Response team en route.

---

Mikhail Volkov sprinted through the corridors of Site-██, alarms blaring in his wake. Behind him, a containment team lugged reality anchors and psychic dampening equipment. The readings from Sector 14-C had gone from concerning to catastrophic in minutes.

He found Anya already at the sealed doors, neural scanner in hand. "Life signs?"

"One. Finch." Her face was grim. "But the psychic readings... Misha, I've never seen patterns like this. It's like his consciousness is being redistributed across multiple dimensional planes."

Through the reinforced window, they could see Finch in the center of a hastily constructed ritual space. Salvaged astronomical equipment formed a circle around him, each piece modified with symbols carved directly into the metal. The air within the circle seemed to bend, light refracting through angles that shouldn't exist.

Dr. Vance arrived, out of breath. "He's using the fragments we recovered last week – the ones with the eye spiral pattern. Combined with modified versions of the ziggurat's calculations..." She checked readings on her tablet. "He's trying to create a controlled version of what happened at Site-17. A window into the mathematical dimension, but focused through the ziggurat's own symbolic language."

"We breach now," Volkov decided, drawing his sidearm. "Before he—"

The lights died. In the darkness, Finch's voice echoed, speaking words that made reality shiver. The emergency lights kicked in, revealing the air itself seeming to crystallize around him, forming geometric patterns that extended into impossible spaces.

"I see it," Finch whispered, his voice carrying unnaturally. "The cartography... it's so beautiful. The Weaver – it's not malevolent. It's just... operating on a scale we couldn't comprehend. Until now."

The patterns around him pulsed, each beat sending ripples through nearby reality anchors. Through the window, they watched as his eyes began to glow with an inner light that cast shadows in more than three dimensions.

"Finch," Vance called through the intercom. "Whatever you're seeing, whatever it's showing you – you have to shut it down. The human mind isn't meant to process this level of—"

"But that's just it," he interrupted, his voice taking on harmonics that made their teeth ache. "We've been thinking too small. The ziggurat isn't a prison or a message. It's an invitation. A key to understanding the universe as the Weaver sees it. Let me show you."

He raised his hands, and the geometric patterns exploded outward. Reality anchors screamed in protest as space itself began to fold along mathematical axes that shouldn't exist. Through the fracturing air, they caught glimpses of impossible cities, of stars arranged in patterns that denied astronomy, of beings that seemed to be made of pure geometric theorem.

"Breach! Breach now!" Volkov commanded.

The containment team surged forward, but they were too late. Finch's consciousness was already spreading across dimensions, his mind becoming a conduit for something vast and incomprehensible. The last thing they heard before reality itself tore open was his laughter – not maniacal, but filled with the pure joy of a mathematician who had finally solved an impossible equation.

And through the breach stepped something that had waited millennia to be understood.

---

Incident Report: XK-Class Reality Restructuring Event (Localized)

Date: September 7, 2023

Status: Partially Contained

Casualties: 0 (Physical), 3 (Psychological)

Note: Dr. Finch's consciousness currently distributed across an estimated 7-11 dimensions. Full containment procedures in development.

Primary Effect: Temporary breakdown of standard physics within 50m radius

Secondary Effect: Increased psychic bleed from SCP-XXXX

Tertiary Effect: Manifestation of non-standard geometric entities

Priority Alert: Ziggurat activity increased 300% following incident. New containment protocols required immediately.

END REPORT