Connection: (Connected to SCP-015 and SCP-001-A-1)
They gave us feeds. Grainy drones circling a fortress of bone and obsidian. Cameras weren't supposed to last — half of them went dark the moment they crossed the perimeter. But some survived, flickering, enough for us to see her.
SCP-001-A-1. The Crimson Guardian.
We weren't meant to speak. Just observe, calculate, report. That's what they wanted from us: the numbers behind the monster.
The first session, she was feeding. Not on food, not like humans. Rows of bodies, pale as wax, drained and arranged like offerings at a banquet. She didn't eat. She drank. And every drop vanished into her without trace. Shiro counted silently. Twelve seconds per body. Two hundred and seven total before she rose.
"Pattern," Shiro whispered. "Not hunger. Ritual."
I nodded. Already writing the conclusion. It wasn't consumption. It was maintenance.
The second session, she walked the halls. Guards at her side — creatures in armor that didn't breathe. They weren't alive. They weren't dead either. Shiro tilted her head, pupils tracking every motion.
"Command latency: zero," she murmured. "Autonomy: none. They move when she thinks it."
I smiled thinly. "So they're just extensions. Hands of the same body."
That note made the Foundation handlers pale.
The third session, she stopped. In the middle of the hall, in front of the drone's lens. Her head turned. Not toward the guards. Not toward the empty corridors. Toward us.
Shiro flinched, just slightly. "She sees the feed."
The handlers panicked, scrambling to shut down the channel. But before the signal cut, her lips moved. One word. Silent, but clear.
"Checkmate."
The fourth session never happened. Drones failed before launch. Every system scrambled, corrupted, like her gaze still lingered in the circuits.
The Foundation asked us what it meant. If it was a threat. If it was proof of awareness.
We didn't answer.
Because we already knew.
It wasn't a threat.
It was an acknowledgment.
The Crimson Guardian had noticed the players behind the screen. And for the first time, she'd decided to let us know we were on the board.
Extracted from SCP-015 observation transcript. Log classified under SCP-001-A chain.Access restricted to O5 command and authorized Thaumiel operatives.