A team of researchers study a degrading ecosystem, but not everything is as it seems.
NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
The following document has had several files removed outside of normal protocol. These files have been reinstated as they have been deemed to contain important information.
— Maria Jones, Director, RAISA
Item#: 8154
Level2
Containment Class:
safe
Secondary Class:
none
Disruption Class:
vlam
Risk Class:
caution
Special Containment Procedures:
ROV control room at Outpost 815.
Outpost 815 has been established for the containment and study of SCP-8154 under the cover of a privately-operated mine. To prevent the spread of pathogens into or out of SCP-8154, there is to be minimal contact between the air inside and outside of SCP-8154. Under no circumstances may any living biological material pass through the airlock, and anything that passes through it is to undergo sterilization.
Furthermore, any member of staff entering the site must have been medically cleared to do so, and anyone leaving is to be quarantined for 1 week. If symptoms of disease are exhibited, quarantine is to be prolonged until 1 week has passed without symptoms.
Due to its scale, and its as of yet unknown extent beneath the internal water surface, exploration of SCP-8154 is currently underway to determine where mining and deep drilling by private actors must be prevented to maintain containment. To allow for exploration of the interior with minimal biological contamination, an ROV dubbed 'Pikaia' has been developed for use within SCP-8154.
Description:
SCP-8154 is a vast cave located beneath British Columbia, Canada, at a depth of approximately 1000 meters below sea level. Laser measurements indicate that it spans approximately 4% of the province in a roughly rectangular shape, with a natural entrance previously blocked by slate located in the south-western corner. SCP-8154 is approximately 90% flooded with saltwater, and has internal radiative and atmospheric conditions similar to those thought to have been present during the Cambrian period. This allows photosynthetic life to thrive inside the cave despite the complete lack of actual sunlight. The walls of SCP-8154 consist of a currently unidentified mineral with immense durability, and its morphology is inconsistent with all known cave-formation processes.
The radiative conditions cycle between light and dark over a constant 20.7 hour cycle, which is consistent with the length of diurnal cycles during the Cambrian period. Similarly to the Pacific coast of British Columbia, SCP-8154 has a mixed, semidiurnal tidal cycle, which is connected to its internal diurnal cycle rather than the actual position of the moon.
The most distinctive feature of SCP-8154 is its biota, which based on its species composition, is thought to have diverged from the rest of the world at some point during the middle to late Cambrian period. Currently, approximately 780 species have been catalogued within SCP-8154, as well as approximately 240 taxa previously unknown to science. A further 7000 species have been identified, but have not yet been catalogued. These species are spread across four distinct zones, classified as SCP-8154-A, SCP-8154-B, SCP-8154-C, and SCP-8154-D.
Discovery:
SCP-8154 was incidentally discovered on 2023-04-12 during the seizure of a private copper mine following the discovery of a namtarium deposit. During the process of securing the site, the outer walls of SCP-8154 were discovered.
SCP-8154-A:
Located closest to the entrance, between 5 and 60 meters below internal water level, SCP-8154-A is a reef dominated by archaeocyaths. Other organisms documented within SCP-8154-A include members of the clades Actinaria, Pentacorallia, Eocrinoidea, Brachiopoda, Annelida, Priapulida, Lobopodia, Mollusca, and Chordata.
Addendum 8154.1 - Exploration of SCP-8154-A
Foreword: A total of 93 explorations of SCP-8154-A have been carried out using Pikaia. Attached are excerpts that have been deemed to be of scientific interest.
Personnel: Doctor Raine, marine biologist, head of the research team at outpost 815. Doctor Sun, paleontologist, Doctor Irvine, ecologist.
VID-A-230711-1
BEGIN VIDEO
<The camera view slowly pans from left to right, showcasing a vast reef approximately 50 meters away from the ROV. As Pikaia begins to approach the reef, it is surrounded by a shoal of small, blue, organisms with twisted shapes that appear to be investigating it.>
Sun: Wow, I think those are some kind of vetulicolian.
Irvine: What's that?
Sun: They're thought to be stem-chordates, they lived around the early- to middle-Cambrian. I think these would have to be, uh, Banffia of some kind.
<Pikaia continues towards the reef, with the shoal of Banffia in tow. Pikaia enters the reef through something akin to an alley, with sponge-, coral-, anemone-, and eocrinoid-laden rocks lining the sides. Shoals of vermiform and cuneiform organisms and jawless fish swim throughout the "alley". Trilobites, worms, and rotund, spiny creatures are seen crawling across the bottom sediment.>
Raine: Amazing.
<Suddenly, Pikaia is halted as two coiling, segmented appendages envelop its camera. Pikaia is lightly shaken for a few seconds before being released, and what appears to be an Anomalocaris swims up in front of the camera, which is met with sounds of excitement from the researchers. The Anomalocaris is facing the camera directly.>
Sun: Remarkable. Is it, studying us?
Raine: Definitely seems bewildered.
<The Anomalocaris looks into the camera for nearly a minute before turning and swimming away.>
END VIDEO
VID-A-231103-2
BEGIN VIDEO
<Pikaia is looking at a group of trilobites crawling across the sediment between the rocks.>
Raine: Top left, is that one alright?
<The camera focuses on a trilobite that is trailing behind the rest of the group. Upon zooming in, there are visible lesions all over its body. A blue-green substance is slowly oozing from one of the lesions and dispersing into the water.>
Irvine: Poor thing. Could be a fungal infection.
Raine: Probably something native, nothing should be able to slip past decontamination, but I'll notify Woods to be safe.
<The trilobite begins to lag further and further behind the rest of the group, taking shakier and shakier steps, until eventually collapsing.>
END VIDEO
SCP-8154-B:
SCP-8154-B is located directly north of SCP-8154-A at a depth of 30 to 200 meters. SCP-8154-B bears similarity to a seagrass meadow, but is dominated by rhodophytes instead of seagrass. Charnia and Thaumaptilon can also be found growing interspersed amidst the algae.
Addendum 8154.2 - Exploration of SCP-8154-B
Foreword: A total of 87 explorations of SCP-8154-A have been carried out using Pikaia. Attached are excerpts that have been deemed to be of scientific interest.
Personnel: Doctor Raine, Doctor Sun, Doctor Irvine.
VID-B-240707-1
Note: The following excerpt has been reinstated following illicit deletion.
BEGIN VIDEO
<The camera is focused on a group of organisms resembling feathers growing in a circle approximately half a meter in diameter. There is an almost perfectly conical depression in the sediment between the frondose organisms. A large school of tiny, shrimp-like organisms possessing what looks like thin claws can be seen taking small bites out of them>
Raine: Curious, I wonder what would make them grow in such a symmetric pattern?
Irvine: Could be a coincidence. Or they're part of the same organism, I guess.
<A large proboscis suddenly extends from the center of the conical depression. It appears to be pulling the shrimp-like organisms towards it through suction.>
Sun: The proboscis reminds me of a priapulid worm. Maybe the fronds are growths used to, uh, lure prey? It would explain the growth pattern.
Raine: Could be, similar adaptation to anglerfish. Fascinating.
<Several moderately small, dark grey rocks are suddenly seen rapidly sinking a couple of meters in front of Pikaia, followed by Pikaia accelerating away from the falling debris.>
Raine: Must be related to the tremors earlier.
Sun: This cave has lasted for five hundred million years without even a pillar; I don't think there's much to worry about, though it's probably best we move away from this spot just to be safe.
Irvine: Yeah.
<Pikaia moves away from where the rocks fell for about 5 minutes. Eventually, a large, algae-covered rock with what appears to be a patch of spines comes into view. As Pikaia approaches and the image becomes clearer, it can be seen that the spines are not only moving, but are attached to worm-like organisms with long and slender legs.>
Sun: Ooh, I think those are Hallucigenia, they must be gathering for protection.
<As Pikaia approaches the rock, several of the organisms turn their heads towards it and begin to flail towards it with the thin appendages underneath their heads.>
<Raine and Sun laugh>
Raine: I think they want to be left alone.
<Suddenly, more rocks can be seen rapidly sinking to the bottom a couple of meters behind the algae- and Hallucigenia-covered rock.>
Sun: Something is going on here.
END VIDEO
Re:SUBJECT
To: Dir. Stephen Woods
From: Dr. Madison Raine
Subject: Biodiversity loss in SCP-8154
Hi Woods,
The team and I have been noticing some pretty concerning changes in SCP-8154 lately. I presume you remember the sickly trilobite we saw back in November last year; whatever it is has started affecting other organisms as well. In the past couple of months, we have observed similar symptoms in other arthropods, as well as molluscs and chordates.
Even more concerning is the fact that the data from our latest inventories is showing biodiversity loss, 13 and 9% in SCP-8154-A and SCP-8154-B respectively measured in the Shannon index. I have attached a file with all the data below.
I can not help but worry that we did this. This ecosystem has been thriving for hundreds of millions of years, and as soon as we crack it open, it starts to degrade.
Kind regards,
Dr. Madison Raine
To: Dr. Madison Raine
From: Dir. Stephen Woods
Subject: Re:Biodiversity loss in SCP-8154
Hey Raine,
I have reviewed the data you sent me, and I have to agree that this is very concerning. Assuming that this is caused by a pathogen, which from the data you have gathered so far seems to be the most likely case, I am afraid there is nothing we can do about it. I suggest you keep exploring SCP-8154 for now, and please let me know as soon as you can if you discover anything new about the infection.
Best wishes,
Dir. Stephen Woods
Glass sponges observed within SCP-8154-C. Two monoplacophores can be seen on the left side of the image.
SCP-8154-C:
Located further north of SCP-8154-A and SCP-8154-B at a depth of 200 to 2900 meters, SCP-8154-C is similar to a continental slope, and its ecosystem is characterized by sparse communities of hexactinellids. Several organisms thought to have gone extinct prior to the Cambrian period are also found here, including Charnia and trilobozoans. SCP-8154-C is also home to monoplacophores, as well as various arthropods, echinoderms, and chordates.
Addendum 8154.3 - Excerpts from Explorations of SCP-8154-C
Foreword: A total of 41 explorations of SCP-8154-C have been carried out using Pikaia. Attached are excerpts that have been deemed to be of scientific interest.
Personnel: Doctor Raine, Doctor Sun, Doctor Irvine.
VID-C-241201-2
BEGIN VIDEO
<The camera is facing a small, stalked glass-sponge.>
Sun: Let's see, that would be the, uh, tenth new species of glass sponge today.
<Sun sighs.>
Raine: You okay?
Sun: I don't know. It's just, I haven’t been away from civilization for nearly this long before.
<Pikaia starts moving away from the stalked glass sponge, it is moving over a sparse community of glass sponges and monoplacophores.>
Raine: You want to talk about it?
<Something is suddenly seen moving within a pore of one of the sponges.>
Sun: Did you see that? In the sponge?
Raine: Yeah, I'm zooming in.
<As the camera zooms in, a small, pale, ovoid head with two large eyes carefully peeks out of another pore from the same sponge.>
Raine: There it is again, I think it's a jawless fish.
Irvine: Aww.
<The creature suddenly retreats back into the sponge, as a large, segmented worm with bristles growing densely along its sides swims into view in an undulating motion. It appears to be heading for the sponge.>
Raine: Big polychaete worm. That's gotta be at least two meters long.
<The worm lunges at the pores of the pale sponge, but it's too thick to be able to reach inside.>
Sun: I don't think you're getting in my friend.
<The worm keeps trying to enter the sponge, but gives up after its fifth attempt.>
END VIDEO
Addendum 8154.4 Video Call Log
Personnel Involved: Director Stephen Woods, director of Outpost 815, Doctor Raine.
<BEGIN VIDEO>
<Raine and Woods wave at their respective cameras.>
Raine: Hi.
Woods: Hey, please forgive me for the delay.
Raine: It's alright, I do have something rather urgent to tell you though. We just had to have the water monitoring system recalibrated after some sort of electrical discharge hit one of the sensors. The exterior camera spotted a vetulicolian we think may have caused it.
<Raine laughs.>
Raine: Lovely creatures. Anywa…
Woods: Did anything break?
Raine: No, but immediately after recalibration, there was a large spike in the namtarium concentration. If this isn't a fluke, it would explain everything, the lesions, the biodiversity loss, even some of the deformities we've seen lately.
Woods: That is indeed very concerning, but given that the monitoring system wasn't detecting it before, despite being designed specifically to pick it up, there's a high chance it's just a false positive. I'll send Modrić to check it out. If it keeps showing namtarium in the water, I'll, uh, request a decontamination specialist immediately.
<Woods pauses.>
Woods: Was there anything else?
Raine: No, just wanted to inform you of what we found.
Woods: Alright, I'll see you later then.
Raine: Bye.
<Raine and Woods wave at their respective cameras.>
<END VIDEO>
SCP-8154-D:
Located beneath SCP-8154-C at depths below 3000 meters below internal water level, SCP-8154-D is characterized by mostly flat sediment with scarce rocky outcrops. With the exception of a few hotspots centered around cold seeps and hydrothermal vents, life within SCP-8154-D is sparse, and dependent on marine snow for nutrients.
Addendum 8154.5 - Excerpts from Explorations of SCP-8154-D
Foreword: A total of 43 explorations of SCP-8154-D have been carried out using Pikaia. Attached are excerpts that have been deemed to be of scientific interest.
Personnel: Doctor Raine, Doctor Sun, Doctor Irvine.
VID-D-250611-2
BEGIN VIDEO
<A large organism resembling a centipede with lateral flaps above its legs is seen slowly crawling across the ocean floor, slightly disturbing the sediment with its steps. On its front are two large, appendages resembling insect mandibles with long,slender spines protruding from them, some about as long as the appendages themselves. A small, oozing lesion is seen near its posterior.>
Irvine: Ninth lesion today…
<Irvine sighs.>
Irvine: Anyway, any of you know what that is?
Sun: Looks like a gilled lobopodian. Raine, could you get the, uh, laser pointers on it?
Raine: Yeah, sure.
<Two bright green dots appear on the ocean floor as Pikaia's measuring lasers are activated, Pikaia then moves to a position where the lasers point at the organism, as it begins to dig into the sediment with its frontal appendages, forcing a large worm to emerge. Before it has a chance to escape, the worm is sucked into the circular mouth of the gilled lobopodian and swallowed whole.>
Raine: Ooh, nearly 2 meters.
Sun: Based on size and morphology, I'm guessing, uh, Omnidens, though it could also be a large Pambdelurion. Seems to have a big appetite too.
END VIDEO
VID-D-250612-5
Note: The following excerpt has been reinstated following illicit deletion.
BEGIN VIDEO
<Pikaia is moving steadily above a large, flat, rocky outcrop, upon which sparse sponges, echinoderms, and xenophyophores can be seen. After a few seconds, something at the edge of the visible range appears to shimmer in Pikaia's light. As Pikaia moves closer, what looks like a massive, spherical glass sponge comes into view, shimmering in and refracting the incoming light.>
Sun: Woah, how big is that thing?
Raine: It's beautiful.
Irvine: It's… wait, what is that?
<A large, rapidly sinking, rectangular shadow is seen near the top of the view. As Pikaia pans upwards, illuminating the shadow, it turns into what appears to be a mining truck, along with several rocks and boulders sinking alongside it. The front windshield has broken under the pressure, flooding the interior, and the lifeless driver appears to be wearing a hazmat suit.>
Irvine: What the hell?
Raine: Wait, that hazmat suit is Foundation issue!
<The truck crashes into the giant sponge, destroying nearly half of it.>
Raine: No…
Unidentified (muffled): You three, there has been a leak, you must be quarantined immediately.
END VIDEO
Addendum 8154.6 - Investigation into false containment breach alarm at Outpost 815
On 2025-06-12, a containment breach alarm was called and immediately cancelled at Outpost 815. Despite his insistence that the breach was a false alarm, Director Stephen Woods behaved in a highly erratic way when contact was established, prompting MTF Sigma-5 "Wellness Checkers" to be deployed to Outpost 815.
During entry, a gunshot was heard inside. Director Stephen Woods was later found deceased in his office, cause of death was determined to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, his hard drive was also found to have been wiped.
After descending to the underground section of Outpost 815, MTF Sigma-5 encountered 3 individuals wearing standard-issue hazmat suits, in spite of the containment breach alarm having been cancelled. The individuals, who were identified as outpost security, were uncooperative, and were subsequently arrested. Researchers Raine, Sun, and Irvine were found in on-site quarantine, with Raine displaying signs of injury.
VID-CCTV-250612-1
Note: The following file was deleted, and could only be partially restored, audio is missing.
BEGIN VIDEO
<Three individuals wearing hazmat suits are seen entering hurriedly through the door to the ROV control room. Each individual is equipped with weapons consistent with Foundation site security.>
<Raine, Sun, and Irvine turn towards the three individuals in hazmat suits, they are visibly in distress.>
<The three individuals aggressively motion for researchers to follow, to which they comply, and follow them out into the corridor.>
<The researchers are aggressively pushed through the corridor towards the quarantine chambers. As they pass by the staff kitchen, Raine is seen charging towards the containment breach alarm before activating it.>
<One of the unidentified individuals tackles Raine to the floor while another enters something into the adjacent console.>
<The researchers are placed in handcuffs, before being pushed outside the field of view of the camera.>
<One of the individuals scans a card next to the quarantine entry point, after which the three researchers are shoved in.>
END VIDEO
File recovery carried out on Stephen Woods' computer yielded numerous files pertaining to SCP-8154, including multiple illicitly deleted files which have now been reinstated. The investigation also uncovered communications between Woods and a representative of an as of yet unidentified GoI regarding the sale of namtarium for the purpose of thaumaturgic gene editing.
Addendum 8154.7 - Decontamination Report
Following the contamination of SCP-8154 with namtarium, decontamination specialists were consulted to devise a plan for the decontamination effort. Due to the extent of SCP-8154, filtering out all namtarium from the water was deemed infeasible. Decontamination instead consisted primarily of sealing all known entry points for the namtarium residue from the adjacent mine, and activated carbon filters were placed in locations particularly affected by the pollution. Dispersion, along with chemical reactions with the water, are estimated to reduce the concentration of namtarium to safe levels within 3-4 weeks.
Despite these efforts, much damage has already been done, and more is expected. As a result of the pollution inflicted by the namtarium mining, SCP-8154 has been subject to a mass-extinction event estimated to have exterminated approximately 60% of its endemic species. The final toll and future ramifications remain unknown.