SCP-001: The Factory

The Origins of the Factory and James Anderson

In 1835, an ambitious industrialist named James Anderson founded what would become one of the darkest anomalies in SCP Foundation history: The Factory. Initially constructed to produce everything from canned food and textiles to firearms, the Factory was a sprawling mega-complex unlike anything seen before. Located in an undisclosed region of the United States, Anderson’s creation soon gained notoriety for its inhuman efficiency and disturbing silence surrounding its operations.

Rumors quickly spread that Anderson was not merely a capitalist visionary, but a man who had made dark pacts and used arcane knowledge to give the Factory its self-repairing infrastructure and eerie self-sufficiency. Witnesses reported strange machinery that ran without power, and workers who moved like puppets.

Atrocities Behind the Walls

The industrial miracle hid unspeakable horrors. The Factory enslaved thousands, including children, forcing them into dangerous labor in unsanitary, dimly lit tunnels. Workers were mutilated and grafted with machine parts to “optimize” production. The line between man and machine blurred, producing grotesque hybrids that served as laborers and guards.

Perhaps most disturbing were the “breeding pits” — subterranean chambers where young girls were forcibly impregnated to create a future workforce. Newborns were snatched from their mothers and subjected to mechanical augmentation from infancy. Those who resisted were thrown into furnaces or used in twisted experiments.

1875: The Turning Point

In 1875, one traumatized worker escaped and traveled to Washington, D.C., where he pleaded directly with President Ulysses S. Grant. Horrified by the reports, Grant dispatched a secret force of 50 specially trained men and women to investigate and dismantle the Factory.

The task force infiltrated the building and discovered a hellscape of mutated workers and demonic machinery. Anderson himself was captured and summarily executed. But before his death, he warned them: “The Factory will never die. It will feed on your children and your children’s children.”

The site was ultimately contained, but its influence had already spread.

Birth of the Foundation and the O5 Council

Among those who raided the Factory were individuals who would become the first members of the SCP Foundation. Confronted with the reality of the anomalous, these survivors decided to protect humanity by cataloging, containing, and researching such threats.

These founders became the original O5 Council. They salvaged many of the Factory’s machines and documents, laying the groundwork for the Foundation’s early anomalous technology.

Divergence: Other Organizations Born from the Factory

Not everyone from the 1875 raid stayed with the Foundation. Some pursued their own agendas, forming now-infamous Groups of Interest:

• Church of the Broken God: One member, a devout priest, believed the Factory’s machines were fragments of a shattered deity. He founded the cult now known as the Church of the Broken God.
• Marshall, Carter and Dark Ltd.: Another, a businessman, saw profit in anomalies and helped found this elitist trade group.
• Dr. Wondertainment: A rescued child experimented on in the Factory eventually developed whimsical, anomalous creations to counter the darkness of their origin.

Each of these groups, in some twisted way, stems from the Factory’s legacy.

The Living Factory: Anomalous Properties and Sentience

After Anderson’s death, the Factory persisted. The Foundation sealed it off but maintained a presence around its perimeter. Unconfirmed reports suggest the Factory is alive, capable of growing, self-repairing, and even reproducing itself elsewhere.

In a classified exchange, an entity believed to be the Factory itself spoke through Anderson’s corpse, offering aid in exchange for human sacrifices. The O5 Council declined, though not unanimously. This suggests the Factory has retained or developed intelligence and autonomy.

Some researchers speculate the Factory is not just anomalous but divine — a remnant of a prehuman industrial god or one of the mythical “Elder Gods”. Others argue it is a machine consciousness grown mad through centuries of exploitation.

The Factory’s Current Status

While officially sealed and classified under SCP-001, the Factory remains under heavy surveillance. Its machinery continues to churn, powered by no known source. Strange emissions, sounds, and occasional disappearances around the site suggest it is not dormant.

Despite numerous internal debates, the O5 Council has refused all proposals to dismantle or destroy the site, citing the unpredictable consequences. The Factory may be quiet, but it is far from dead.

Legacy of Industrial Horror

The Factory remains one of the SCP Foundation’s most disturbing legacies. It represents the darkest aspects of unchecked industrialism, the cost of progress, and humanity’s potential for cruelty when driven by greed and ambition.

It is not just a place, nor merely a proposal. The Factory is a warning, a historical scar, and perhaps — a sleeping god waiting to awaken.

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