SCP 001, A Portrait of Hell, Part 1

The SCP universe isn't shy about discussing various possibilities for the afterlife, the great unknown of human existence.

Some SCPs feature it as an endless period of waiting or decaying.

Others feature alternate dimensions or realities.

And of course, there's always the classic state of non-existence.

Hell is also certainly a concept, sometimes taken humorously, others times not so much.

But the idea of a place of eternal fire and

pain could definitely be a reality in this universe. A portrait of hell is certainly an odd

SCP, being largely more of a tale than a scientific document, focused around one man and his

ultimate fate. Let's take a look.

It begins with some text written by the Foundation's administrator, which reads,

When I was a child, my father once told me that hell is other people.

I didn't know what he meant, but some of the sense, the weight of it, settled its way upon me.

He wasn't looking at me when he said it.

He was drinking whiskey, blinds half drawn against the sun, staring at the wall amidst the

whining of flies. He enjoyed saying things like that to me.

He prided himself on not being the kind of man who'd beat a child. When we lowered him into

the earth, I remembered something else, sitting in his hideout, watching him do the work.

The gleam in his eye and in his teeth, a bony white tombstone smile as he convinced himself

that he was doing the right thing, that it was all necessary. The sun, a black orange on the horizon, taking with it certainty as it melted into the mountains

and brought with it the death of the night.

His gaze so sharply pressed, his mouth so opened wide, I could have reached out and watched that sunset melt inside my arms. "'I could have reached out and watched that sunset melt inside my arms.

...