With a compliant thaumaturge in tow, Luo Shu wasted no time.
"Show me the other anomalies."
They headed to the Humanoid Containment Unit north of the Thaumaturgy Lab. Inside: Anomalous Item-4712-A, a shapeshifter.
The thaumaturge disarmed the wards while explaining:
*"Anomalous Item-4712 was a failed experiment. The main component is a teleportation gate (Item-4712-B) in a London basement, linking to Site-07."*
Luo Shu knew Site-07—a Romanian facility destroyed in 1957 during the Alpha Event. Most salvaged anomalies had gone to Site-19, but this one ended up here.
The Unit's occupant was a man chained to the wall, his red-gray skin evoking infernal depictions.
"Marius Albescu. 52 years old. 2 meters tall. 136 kg. From the Sarkic cult. Shapeshifting abilities. Paralyzed legs."
The Sarkics—a notorious thaumaturgic sect obsessed with apotheosis. Luo Shu had encountered them during the Achilles' Heel mission against Priest-King John.
*"He was contained at Site-07 since age 5. Disappeared during the Alpha Event. Recovered in 1991."*
"Wait." Luo Shu frowned. "If he's 52 now, he'd be 80 by your timeline."
The thaumaturge shrugged. "His claimed age. Maybe the Sarkics count years differently."
But Luo Shu had another theory:
The Alpha Event had flung Marius into another world—one with altered timeflow.
After all, Site-07's ruins had breached dimensional barriers.
This reality's full of holes.
Luo Shu's own Charlatan's World was a lower narrative layer. Priest-King John resided in another. Then there were SCP-682's higher-dimensional origins, the Adytite entities from Site-CN-06...
And now Marius, a dimensional hitchhiker.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
A Useless Thrall
Luo Shu enslaved Marius without hesitation.
Normal humans rotted under Mental Domination, but anomalies endured—why?
No time to ponder. The Anomaly Archive updated:
[Page 171]
Item #: Anomalous Item-4712-A
Name: Marius Albescu
Class: Euclid
Image: […]
Description: […]
Containment Procedures: […]
Abilities: Thaumaturgic Shapeshifting. "It'll make you look monstrous. But no side effects! (Wink.)"
Status: Subjugated
Interaction Log: [Click to Play]
[O]
No side effects? Bullshit.
Marius' demon-touched skin and withered legs screamed otherwise.
What Luo Shu really wanted was his memories of the other world—but the man's mind was a wasteland of delusions.
Decades of containment had broken him. He babbled about Sarkic grandmasters, convinced he was chosen.
Pathetic.
If Mental Domination could kill him, it'd be a mercy.
Rushing the Roster
With two anomalies logged, Luo Shu pushed for three more.
Next: Anomalous Item-5512—corpses and blood samples from the "Second Tactile Congress", a fringe cult.
MTF Beta-777 ("Hecate's Spear") had raided their compound, recovering:
Three corpses (Items-5512-A/B/C) with foreign lymph nodes (likely from cult leader POI-8832).
One comatose survivor (Item-5512-D).
Luo Shu didn't bother with details. Standard containment protocols sufficed.
The Archive registered them as one entry:
[Page 172]
Item #: Anomalous Item-5512-A/B/C/D
Name: Social Contract
Class: Keter
Image: […]
Description: […]
Containment Procedures: […]
Abilities: *Biological Puppetry. "Thaumaturgy's version of mental enslavement. They're POI-8832's meat puppets. Don't overthink it."*
Status: Contained
Interaction Log: [Click to Play]
[O]
That's it?