The shuttle's engines whined as it pierced the upper layers of PS063X's thin, violet atmosphere. Below, the Akashic Foundation's outpost hunched against the barren plain—a fortress of angular obsidian, surrounded by electromagnetic fences and shimmering hazard fields.
Inside, I1C Agent Elias Korr checked his sidearm for the third time. Beside him, Dr. Mira Han peered through the armored viewport, her breath fogging the glass.
"You ever seen a Keter up close?" Mira asked, voice thin.
Elias grunted. "Not one that comes back from the dead. Not one like this."
The shuttle touched down with a hiss. The doors opened, revealing a N1S units waiting—faceless, humanoid, black and sharp as blades, neon sigils pulsing across their bodies. The lead unit's code flickered across its chest: N1S-17.
N1S-17: "Welcome to Outpost Black Orbit. Clearance confirmed. Follow."
The squad moved in silent formation, boots echoing on metal. The outpost interior was a maze of blast doors, kill corridors, and surveillance nodes. Foundation personnel in gray and blue moved with grim purpose.
A massive blast door loomed ahead—stenciled with warning glyphs and the designation: SCP-076.
"That's it,"Mira whispered. "The cube."
Elias nodded, sweat beading on his brow.
A senior containment officer approached: Commander Jax Sorell, tall, built like a wall, cybernetic eye aglow.
"Briefing room, now," Jax barked. "We don't have much time. Containment integrity is priority one."
They filed inside a stark chamber. The holographic display spun up, projecting a 3D schematic of a three-meter black stone cube—SCP-076-1—buried deep beneath the facility.
Commander Jax:"You all know the rumors. Here's the truth. That thing down there isn't just old—it's predatory. Inside is SCP-076-2. When it wakes, it kills. Doesn't matter who, how, or why. It has breached more times than any anomaly on this planet"
"We've lost teams. We've lost entire sites. Our job is not to die. Our job is to keep it contained—no matter what."
Elias looked at the data scrolling past: incidents, casualties, containment failures. He felt his stomach knot.
Mira: "What's the protocol if it wakes?"
Commander Jax: "We lock down. N1S units engage first. If they fail, the whole site floods. No survivors, no breach. That's the order."
The lights flickered as the containment alarms pulsed, a low, bone-deep thrum that seemed to echo from the black cube itself.
Commander Jax: "You're all here because you're the best. Don't give it a reason to prove otherwise."
Outside, the cube waited in its frozen tomb.
And somewhere, in the dark, something began to stir