SCP-ES-115 was identified by agents of the Spanish Special Security Commission in 19██ (█) while searching the subway works of the Zaragoza Metro, suspecting that it housed Republican agents and/or caches of weapons and material resources. Following are transcripts of the reports subsequent to the first contact and through which the anomaly was handled, archived in the File n°89: The Cave Runner.
The original document is preserved at Site-179, but there are identical reproductions in other Archive Sectors. Note from the Analysis Team: These sources are known to be incomplete, but there were no other documents in the records of the Central or Aragonese headquarters. - Dr. Sáez-Roc
Zaragoza, Aragon Regional Temporary Regional Command
To ██ from ███████ on the year 19██ (█)
PRIORITY
Hereby and to whom it may concern
of the discovery of an unnatural being that hides in the open galleries under the center of the august Zaragoza, going through those that cross the neighborhoods of Delicias, Ciudad Jardín, Universidad, and Parque José Antonio.
The creature rampages through the tunnels like an exhalation, running over people and objects and howling like the devil. The little that has been seen seems to be a monster. It has too many arms and legs covered in rags and twenty or thirty faces, the size of a trolleybus. Chaplain Ferraz says it is not an angel of the Lord, so only the hand of the Evil One remains; he has excommunicated the being and is trying to exorcise it, but it seems it is the Will of the Lord that we expel it in blood and it will be done without excuses..
By the regulations of this house, I request from Command that I am assigned ten veteran men with weapons, detonating cord explosives, and fuel, by means of which we plan to set fire to the spawn.
With respect, on the date ██ of █████, Tuesday, 19██, in Zaragoza.
LONG LIVE SPAIN!
Zaragoza, Aragon Regional Temporary Regional Command
To ██ from ███████ on the year 19██ (█)
PRIORITY
Hereby and to whom it may concern
that the being, called "Cave Runner" by the men who have struck it down, has been annihilated today.
But we did not feel entitled to call ourselves victorious because three of my men lay dead for carrying out my orders. Those orders consisted of preparing a large puddle of kerosene more than eighty meters long, which we lit at the signal of my second at the moment he suspected of his arrival. We set fire to the Cave Runner, who stopped running and howling, and we saw it for the first time. I hoped that would be enough because fools have hope and I was that foolish.
I ask not to be doubted, as befits reports on beings such as this, and I pledge my honor and my word.
We fired in all eight hundred and thirty cartridges on the being, even when we saw that they were dozens of bodies of men and women of all conditions placed like lice in sewing, so close together that one doubted that they were nothing more than the same body of a monster who did not understand the nature of the human form. But they burned without a complaint and were therefore inhuman.
Many of the wounds gushed rather than bled, and some of the bodies fell off as olive leaves fall off when they are plucked, but the beast itself kicked the ground. It was not advancing, but extinguishing the flames. I swear I saw it lose charred limbs, made charcoal and dust on the ground, but all it had to do was lean on new ones. I also swear that we did not hear a single wail, even though we killed as many as we could. One boy of a few years took two bullets in the face, but he did not let go until a peon sank his jaw with a buckshot.
There came a moment when the being became agitated. I guess it was running out of legs and had to move towards the barricade we had prepared to escape. It charged at it like a fighting bull charges, with as much run as he could muster, putting all the weight it had into his run to carry it off… but the barricade didn't stop it. What's more, it didn't even seem to hit it.
We could not count how many arms were raised at one to dismantle the wooden panels, but the men behind the parapet, veterans of the Crusade, were run over unceremoniously. Two of them jumped in time and they say they thought they saw the arms of the beast tearing the other unfortunates to pieces as if they were part of the wood. Perhaps they saw no difference between the two. We did hear them scream.
But the beast kept taking fire from those of us who remained, and at the end, it screamed for the last time; it was a fierce scream, a challenge. Many arms reached for our flesh; I think what they wanted was more pieces for their body, or for their herd of bodies, or for themselves if they were some kind of thief… God help me, one of the Civil Guards had an arm ripped off trying to keep them from taking it. But they took it away; what can a man do against something like that? What can a man do, whether his arms are strong or not?
But in the end, all the bodies were dead. The few that remained alive fell as if they were, but we made sure to give them the last shot in the back of the head. They all wore uniforms, although it took me a while to realize that they were the tattered uniforms of the Reds: CNT and POUM armbands, Soviet insignia, badly kept beards, and the occasional medal of the Virgin. There were uniformed women, nurses, some deviants dressed as men, and some poor children. Few, but I can attest: there they were.
Although spirits were flagging, I encouraged those of us who remained to burn the bodies, as is the custom of the House. The Chaplain anointed the fallen and blessed the fire. It was more for the men than anything concrete, but they were grateful. Afterward, I gathered them together and we went through what was left of the tunnel.
I don't know where it nested or where it ate. I don't know what it wanted. I don't know where it came from unless someone dug it up by digging tunnels or reanimated it with the black arts I'm getting used to. Oh, Lord, how can anyone get used to it? But nothing we found of him or that told us of him, and I think it is for the best. As far as I am concerned, no sacrifice is too great to ensure the end of such dark spawn. I hope not to find any more.
I also enclose the testimonies of my men, including the wounded (among whom I count myself), and those of the cowards who did not even dare to fight the monstrosity. The latter will be reprobated.
If my opinion counts, my opinion is that the tunnel should be flooded with water from the Ebro. They say that the Basilica blesses the river as it passes along the riverbank; I would like to believe that that would be enough.
With respect, on the day ██ of █████, Thursday, 19██, in Zaragoza.
LONG LIVE SPAIN!
Zaragoza, Aragon Regional Temporary Regional Command
Destined for the Government of Zaragoza
To ██ from ███████ the year 19██ (█)
TOP SECRET
THE GOVERNANCE OF ZARAGOZA DECLARES
ON TODAY'S DATE, ██ OF █████, FRIDAY, 19██, INSTITUTED
THE PUBLIC CORPORATION OF METROPOLITAN TRAINS OF ZARAGOZA
which will employ honorable graduates of the noblest Crusade waged by the Caudillo and his army under the name of
ZARAGOZA METRO
and to which material and powers of attorney will be granted in the amount of ███.███ pesetas, trusting that a measured and wise use will serve to complete and equip the works of the popular subway transport already undertaken in the years of the Crusade, to decorate its rooms with inspiring, decent, and adequate moral motives and to use them to grant the happy public subject of the City a practical way to go to their offices in factories, stores and all kinds of jobs..
This is the Will that the Caudillo has given me. Thus I ratify and sign it this day..
LONG LIVE SPAIN!
This is the draft, Mr. Governor. We hope it will be published in the Bulletin as planned with as few changes as possible. As few as possible, but of course, the right ones to make it sound convincing. You know that the heroes of Spain must be given due tribute.
God rest his soul. - Chaplain Diego de León, of the Order of the Holy Pillar
Zaragoza, Basilica del Pilar Regional Headquarters of Aragón, Intelligence Office
To Lieutenant Commissioner [REDACTED] Management Department
To ██ from ███████ on the year 19██ (█)
TOP SECRET
Correspondence intercepted by the Political-Social Brigade during his inquiries on the character of the Mayor of Zaragoza [REDACTED].
Esteemed Mister [REDACTED],
I don't pretend to know your intentions for the Zaragoza Metro, but you should know that the President of the company manages it like a colonel managing a battalion. The conductors are like members of the Brigade, the drivers think they are carrying tanks and the station chiefs look like they came out of the NCO Academy. They all carry holsters and truncheons and they all look at the track with hatred, or fear, I don't know.
I believe that in your position as Governor you carry far more weight than you are demonstrating in this matter. It is important for you to understand that this company is going to fail. The work on the lines that are due to open this summer will be the most expensive and difficult, and people use them only when they are well ahead of schedule.
They do not use it because nobody wants the subway in Zaragoza. No one wants that noise, or that burden, or the suffocation of the tunnel. Nobody wants to cram into a box with wheels to go to work. Nobody wants or needs a subway that can not even cross to the other side of the Ebro. Nobody wants to ride on tracks laid by red captives, no matter how red they may be, and nobody wants to travel with the cruel men who watch over them.
I trust you understand what I am asking. I ask you to invest in buses and streetcars, like any other provincial city. I ask you to make it possible to buy cars in Zaragoza. I ask you, in short, not to ask for patriotism from your citizens, but to make this city a city they can be proud of.
I hope this letter finds you in good health. Best regards.
DON [REDACTED], MAYOR OF ZARAGOZA
The Honorable Mr. Martín Sobreviela Muniel, of the firm, offers to execute the intervener in the manner provided for.
Long Live Spain.
Zaragoza, Basílica del Pilar Regional Headquarters of Aragón, Office of the Deputy Commissary
Destined for the Security Center
To ██ from ███████ on the year 19██ (█)
PRIORITY
For the attention of Commissioner-General Emilio Pescador (Internal Operations Subdepartment; Headquarters of the Special Security Commission, First Headquarters)
Another one of those [Cave Runners] has appeared on Line C. The conductor and all the people got on without realizing what was going on and they have all disappeared. The PEON patrols that dare to get off find nothing.
We have [ILLEGIBLE] the rush hour, but it seems that the missing people never made it to the next platform. The new train has already been spotted several times and has been seen at least five times. Except for myself and three veteran conductors from the station, everyone gets on without thinking about what they are doing, saying they are late for home. Almost all of them get off afterward and say that everything is fine, that it was [ILLEGIBLE] that were part of the fuselage, or of the legs wheels the floor of the wagon.
I have already lost several men to this beast and it must be prevented from continuing to take more people. I suspect we have been feeding it without realizing it. I don't know how, I don't know how much, but it has been preying on us.
I request support and instructions.
HIDALGO [REDACTED]
A handwritten note, transcribed on onion paper. Found among the accumulated garbage of the Communications Officer in charge of encrypting and transmitting reports to the Headquarters of the Police Station in Madrid.
The scandal was enormous. No one believed they were criminals. I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry.
HIDALGO [REDACTED]
The HIDALGO involved was [REDACTED]. His relatives were contacted months later, who preferred not to receive any further information on the matter and limited themselves to receiving and burying the body of the subject.
Attached, several clippings of newspaper headlines of the time with images (poor quality due to inadequate conservation, under restoration) of an alleged mass execution, leaked to subversive media that were echoed by more respected newspapers. By that time (the 1970s), the Commission had already lost its influence and many internal elements, such as [REDACTED], the HIDALGO in command of Zaragoza Metro operations, were dissatisfied with the central management of the organization. It has been confirmed that the images are visual records of the initial contact event with SCP-ES-115, not of more recent events. Included are relevant headlines:
THE DEEPEST SUBWAY
DEATH TOLL GROWS: ZARAGOZA SUBWAY DIGS ITS OWN GRAVE
THE MASS GRAVE UNDER THE TRACKS
RESPONSIBILITY? MADRID DOES NOT SAY
UNDERGROUND DITCHES
Note that many of the documents pertaining to SCP-ES-115 have been lost or were intentionally destroyed by the staff of the Special Security Commission just prior to its absorption by the Foundation. Similarly, Foundation agents removed much of the public bibliographic holdings during the years following the takeover. The information purge carried out was extensive and reliable with respect to this and other anomalies, framed in the so-called Operation Spirits of the Transition.
There are records, for example, of the departure of at least eight humanoid subjects (naked but in good shape) from several SCP-ES-115 instances during the last few years of the Commission, but no written reports remain.
The first three were summarily executed; the next four were identified as missing subway users but declared "deviants" (possibly suffering from serious cognitohazards or psychiatric problems) and imprisoned until they committed suicide or died in captivity.
The last subject was released from his SCP-ES-115 instance in 1972 and, after being briefly interviewed, re-entered SCP-ES-115 on his own feet.
No records of this interview are preserved.
