O5 Command Memorandum
Priority: OMEGA BLACK
The first contact with SCP-7007 had answered almost nothing.
The entity had demonstrated no hostility.
No attempt to escape.
No obvious aggression.
Yet every interaction left the Foundation with more questions than before.
The O5 Council reached a unanimous conclusion.
Another expedition would be authorized.
Its objectives were simple.
1. Determine SCP-7007's origin.
2. Ascertain the limits of its anomalous abilities.
3. Evaluate whether voluntary containment was possible.
Site-7007-Ω
Dr. Helena Strauss stood before a briefing room packed with researchers and MTF operators.
"This mission differs from the last."
A holographic image of SCP-7007 appeared.
"No weapons are to be drawn."
"No sudden movements."
"No attempts to deceive the entity."
Captain Elias Warren frowned.
"You think he'll know?"
Strauss answered without hesitation.
"I don't think."
"I know."
She pressed another button.
Surveillance footage filled the screen.
Every previous attempt to conceal information from SCP-7007 had failed.
The Prince had answered questions before they were asked.
Referenced classified information no one had mentioned aloud.
Smiled before jokes were spoken.
"He either predicts us..."
Strauss paused.
"...or understands intention itself."
This time the Foundation brought something different.
Not soldiers.
A diplomat.
Dr. Emilia Laurent.
Former United Nations negotiator.
Fluent in seventeen languages.
Specialist in first-contact scenarios.
If anyone could converse with something beyond humanity...
It would be her.
The palace greeted them before they reached it.
The enormous gates slowly opened.
No commands.
No mechanisms.
Simply...
Welcome.
Snow drifted lazily through halls of impossible crystal.
Sunlight entered through windows despite the overcast sky.
The palace felt ancient.
Yet untouched by time.
SCP-7007 waited within a vast throne room.
The throne itself remained empty.
Instead...
The Prince stood beside it.
Hands folded behind his back.
"Welcome again."
His calm voice echoed through the chamber.
"I had hoped you would return."
Captain Warren remained alert.
"You expected us."
"I expected curiosity."
The Prince smiled.
"Your species has always possessed it."
Dr. Laurent stepped forward.
"I am Dr. Emilia Laurent."
"I seek understanding."
The Prince inclined his head politely.
"A noble occupation."
She opened her notebook.
"May I ask questions?"
"You already are."
The Foundation team exchanged nervous glances.
"What are you?"
The Prince looked toward the crystal ceiling.
"I have been called many things."
"Guardian."
"Sovereign."
"Saint."
"Monster."
He smiled faintly.
"Today..."
"I am SCP-7007."
"Where did you come from?"
"I remember snow before stars."
"I remember silence before language."
"I remember a kingdom that no longer remembers itself."
The answer generated no measurable falsehood.
Yet it explained nothing.
Dr. Laurent changed strategy.
"Do you consider humanity your enemy?"
The Prince looked genuinely surprised.
"No."
"Then your ally?"
Another pause.
"No."
"What are we?"
SCP-7007 looked directly into her eyes.
"You are... young."
For several minutes the questioning continued.
Every answer felt truthful.
Every answer remained incomplete.
As though the Prince were describing reality from a perspective humans lacked.
Director Reed's voice crackled through Captain Warren's earpiece.
"Proceed with Phase Two."
Warren nodded.
"There is something we'd like to ask."
"You built a chamber."
The Prince finished the sentence for him.
Captain Warren blinked.
"...Yes."
"You wish me to reside there."
The throne room fell silent.
No one had mentioned containment.
Dr. Laurent took a careful breath.
"The Foundation exists to protect humanity."
"If you remain beyond our observation..."
"...fear will grow."
The Prince studied each member of the expedition.
Not judging.
Simply observing.
"I understand."
Captain Warren spoke honestly.
"It isn't a prison."
"It is a place where we can ensure everyone remains safe."
The Prince looked toward the empty throne.
"I have lived within palaces."
"I have lived within worlds."
"A chamber changes little."
He slowly approached the Foundation delegation.
"But tell me."
"If I enter your house willingly..."
"Will you mistake courtesy..."
"...for captivity?"
No one answered.
Because no one could.
Minutes passed.
Finally...
Dr. Laurent stepped forward.
"We will not chain you."
"We cannot."
"We ask only that you remain where we can study you peacefully."
The Prince smiled.
"The first honest proposal."
Without warning...
The palace trembled.
Not violently.
Almost...
Sadly.
Ancient crystal cracked somewhere deep beneath the structure.
A distant voice echoed through unseen corridors.
"Do not leave."
The Foundation personnel immediately raised their heads.
"Did everyone hear that?"
Captain Warren asked.
Every operative nodded.
The Prince alone remained expressionless.
"You heard it."
Dr. Strauss whispered.
"Who spoke?"
The Prince closed his eyes.
"A promise."
Silence settled over the throne room.
Then SCP-7007 made his decision.
"I will accompany you."
Every Foundation member froze.
Director Reed nearly dropped his headset.
"What?"
The Prince continued calmly.
"I have watched your people from afar."
"Perhaps..."
"It is time I walked among them."
Emergency protocols activated immediately.
The Foundation had never expected voluntary containment.
A specialized transport convoy arrived within hours.
Reality stabilization fields surrounded the vehicle.
Temperature control systems maintained exactly -21°C.
Every reflective surface had been removed.
The route to Site-7007-Ω was cleared by MTF Alpha-1 and Tau-5.
No civilians witnessed the transfer.
As SCP-7007 stepped beyond the palace gates for the first time...
The Arctic changed.
The endless snowfall stopped.
The frozen winds fell silent.
The towering crystal palace slowly faded like mist beneath morning sunlight.
Within minutes...
Only empty snowfields remained.
Foundation satellites scanned the region repeatedly.
The palace no longer existed.
Inside the transport vehicle, no restraints were used.
The Prince quietly observed the passing landscape through a specially filtered window.
Captain Warren finally asked,
"Why did you agree?"
The Prince answered without turning.
"You wished to know whether I trusted you."
He glanced toward the captain.
"I wished to know whether humanity could be trusted."
Neither spoke again for the remainder of the journey.
Containment Log 7007-01
Date: ██/██/20██
Time: 19:42 UTC
Status: SCP-7007 entered Containment Suite 7007-Ω voluntarily.
No force required.
No anomalous resistance observed.
Entity inspected the chamber for approximately four minutes before sitting beside the chamber's window rather than on the furnished seat prepared for it.
Its final statement before the containment doors sealed was recorded by every monitoring device.
«"A cage built from fear may yet become a sanctuary, if those who guard it remember compassion."»
The containment doors closed.
No alarms sounded.
For the first time in Foundation history, a Keter-class entity had walked willingly into containment.
Yet in the deepest level of Site-7007-Ω, several Scranton Reality Anchors briefly fluctuated.
Security cameras captured a single frame of an immense shadow standing behind SCP-7007.
When technicians reviewed the footage seconds later...
The shadow was gone.
Only one line of corrupted data remained on the screen.
«THE PRINCE HAS LEFT THE THRONE. WHO NOW KEEPS THE KINGDOM?»