Practice English Speaking&Listening with: SCP-049 - the Plague Doctor Captured (SCP Animation & Story)

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The esteemed doctor Thomas Morstead entered the cell of the anomaly.

Hed been warned and even chastised by his colleagues, but who in the foundation could

tell him what to do?

He was the best at what he did, maybe the greatest in the whole history of the foundation.

As he entered the room, SCP-049 bid him welcome, cordial as always, so polite in fact that

youd never guess you were talking to a killer.

Doctor Morstead knew the truth of what he was dealing with, but he also believed he

could get through to 049, calm him, exorcise the devil from him.

It was the meeting of two great minds, one of them human, one of them part-human, part...

something that has never been clear.

It was to be a battle of wits, and like so many great battles, this one would turn into

a massacre.

Before we get to that fateful meeting, there are some things you should know about the

anomaly known as SCP-049.

If you saw him in the street the first thing youd think of is plague, because

049 always looked the same - a man dressed in black robes with a plague doctors mask.

But this wasnt a costume that could be taken off.

In fact it wasnt a costume at all.

It was him the robes had grown out of him like an exoskeleton, that horrible mask with

the pointed nose wasnt covering his face, it was his face, a kind of shell that had

seemingly sprouted from bone.

The first reports came during World War Two.

In a picturesque town in the south of France called Montauban, people had begun going missing.

Children disappeared from their beds in the middle of the night and werent seen again;

adults went to the market and never returned.

Local authorities searched high and low; they scoured nearby woods and dragged the rivers,

but nothing was found.

Because what was happening wasnt criminal, there was no clue they could stumble upon

or eye witness who would break the case.

No, this was something else, something that the townsfolk could never understand.

Word spread, and thats when a search and discovery team was sent from The Foundation.

It was a cold, dark night in January of 1941 when the team found what they were looking


They walked through the open door of a small house located not too far from the grand Chteau

de Richelieu, to find a masked man sitting next to an open fire.

And he wasnt alone.

The floor around him looked like it was moving.

Upon closer inspection the team saw that the floor was covered with writhing, grasping


Its patients as it called them.

Bienvenue chez moi, said the thing, Welcome to my home.

Those so-called patients crawled towards the team, intent it seemed to cause harm.

The hostiles, now known as SCP-049-2s, were deemed dangerous and had to be eliminated.

A sight, it seemed, that didnt bother 049 in the slightest.

It just sat there, occasionally looking up from writing notes in a leather-bound book

as his patients were gunned down.

Once the carnage ended it simply closed its book, stood up, and allowed itself to be escorted


And thats the story of how 049 ended up at the facility, becoming a guest of sorts

staying in a Standard Secure Humanoid Containment Cell, Research Sector-02, Site-19.

The few that came into contact with 049, remarked that it was a pleasure for them.

With its impeccable manners, vast knowledge of medicine and human anatomy, sharp tongue

and stinging wit.

They almost became spellbound listening to it, caught in the throes of its charms until,

with the simple touch of its hand, it would drain the life from them.

Thats why SCP-049 was classified as a Euclid.

Thats why armed guards were always stationed outside its cell.

Its why doctors took great precautions when in its presence.

And its why Doctor Morstead should have known better.

Remember, when 049 was discovered in France it willingly went with the team, like it was

happy it had been found; as if it had planned its own capture.

When it arrived at the facility it didnt act like it was contained against its will,

it was like it was returning home.

Initial findings as to the biology of 049 were that it didnt require any sustenance

at all, not even water.

It seemed content to be left alone with its notebooks.

It did not object when it was asked if it could share some of its notes and gladly handed

over its journals, but upon examination it was discovered that they were written in a

language that no linguist or cryptologist has so far been able to translate.

Its apparent that 049 derives much satisfaction from seeing so-called experts struggle over

its text.

Unable to read those notes, a long line of doctors visited 049 in its cell, each fascinated

by what they beheld.

It was learned that it has traveled the globe.

It speaks many languages, but prefers to speak what it calls le langage de l'amour

- French.

It asked for only one thing, warm-blooded animals.

The facility agreed to supply 049 with various kinds, including rabbits, cattle, and even

an ape on one occasion.

Just like with humans, it could kill the animals with a mere touch of its hand, sucking the

life right out of them.

But that wasnt even the most incredible part.

Soon those animals would rise again, as if reanimated by 049.

They would become, for all intents and purposes, the living dead.

And they were hostile.

After several unfortunate incidents, they were then taken from the cell the moment they

arose and disposed of in the incinerator.

This was not to the liking of 049, who would claim it had cured the animals.

For it, the world was sickit saw plague and pestilence everywhere and the meaning

of its existence was to rid the world of disease.

Humans, it said contained a virus, and had to be cleansed.

In the first days after arriving at the facility, 049 didnt seem to pose a threat to humans.

It was quite friendly in fact.

It seemed aware of the fear it caused in staff and would often go out its way to make them

feel comfortable and safe.

This was a ruse, of course, or a canard as 049 liked to say.

It had no intention to help humans.

No, it had come for humans.

It wasnt trappedit had set a trap.

One of the first people to truly upset 049 was Dr. Raymond Hamm, a well-respected physician

that had twice been a contender for the Nobel Prize for his more mainstream work.

What had confused Dr. Hamm the most was not 049s clothes-like exoskeleton, or even

his ability to reanimate the dead, but the bag that it used.

049 was somehow able to pull a seemingly endless supply of surgical tools from that bag.

Sometimes it would even pull out objects that were somehow larger than the bag itself.

It was as if the bag connected to somewhere else, and thats what Dr. Hamm wanted to

talk about on that fateful day.

With 049 on one side of the cell and Dr. Hamm on the other, he asked, How is it that

you can produce a great quantity of tools from that bagI have observed you, and it

seems to me, that you are doing the impossible.

Dear doctor, replied 049, The Scourge!

The Great Dying, cannot be fought with a handful of toys.

My bag is merely the product of my imagination, it gives me what I require.

You dear sir, it seems, are limited by your imagination.

It stopped for a second or two and stared at Dr. Hamm.

I detect you are unwell, it said, in a voice not as amiable as before.

Its just a cold, said the doctor.

Ah, just a cold?

If you had seen what I have seen you would not utter such insulting words.

Dr. Hamm pulled out some papers from a briefcase and approached 049, holding them close enough

so it could read them.

You see, said Doctor Hamm pointing to the results on the paper, Those animals

you say you cured, they were not diseasedthey were perfectly healthy before they diedand

your so-called cure, it turned them into something quite terrible.

We found that if they were left alone, they began to eat each other, and then themselves.

049 did not respond and after a brief pause said only, A good day to you doctor, please

close the door on your way out.

You should get some rest.

Hamm refused to go, and instead turned the conversation to this real interest, the bag,

demanding that 049 let him see inside of it.

Very well, doctor.

049 said, in private.

049 began to pull a series of long metal poles out of its bag followed by a rolled up curtain

that it hung between them, creating a kind of medical tent around Doctor Hamm.

It seemed to stare for just a moment into the observation camera outside of its cell

before whipping the curtains shut.

Doctor Hamm was discovered three hours later, crawling around the floor of 049s cell,

now another mindless undead.

When he was retrieved by security, 049 didnt even look up from his notebook.

Doctor Hamm didnt get the incinerator treatment, but he did receive a fatal dose of drugs.

A mercy.

A removal team was sent to 049s cell, but it said there was no need for special extraction


It would go willingly, wherever they wanted it to go.

It was not, it said, an enemy of the people.

The Hippocratic Oath forbids me to hurt a human being, it said while walking to

the interrogation center.

My only desire is to offer you my services and expertise.

The floors and walls of the interrogation center room were painted a bright white.

Even the table was white, which contrasted with 049, a mass of black, sitting in the

middle of the room.

During interrogation it refused to admit or even accept that it had killed Dr. Hamm.

I cured him, I removed the pestilence from his body, it said.

It was later asked if it regretted its actions, to which it replied, Well, good sir, one

always regrets the loss of a colleague for any reason, but I stand by my actions.

The pestilence must be abated before its too late.

Every two weeks from that point 049 was given animals.

The scientists at the facility observed it time and again, touching the animals, killing

them, before producing a saw or scalpel and opening them up.

Organs would be carefully removed with perfect precision.

It was astounding to even trained surgeons just how talented 049 was.

I require a close relative of yours, said 049 one day to a young doctor, who expressed

shock that it was asking for one of the do ctors family members.

I mean a great ape, said 049, not your dear aunt.

There were several instances of 049 displaying a crude sense of humor.

Staff would almost forget that the thing they were talking to wasnt human almost.

And it was Doctor Thomas Morstead that had supplied the great apes, orangutans in fact,

that had been rescued from the rainforests of Borneo only to be taken to 049s cell.

Then one day something changed.

049 told Doctor Morstead that its work was done, that it had accomplished what it had

wanted to do, and could someone remove the cured animal from its cell.

I think youll find that its quite the work of art.

A triumph, 049 said through the intercom.

When the removal team entered the cell they found the orangutan, or what was left of it.

It was lying in the corner of the cell, the top of its skull had been removed leaving

its brain exposed.

On its face was an expression of relaxation and from its mouth it issued very soft squeaks,

like that of an infant.

049 said, Tell Doctor Morstead that its rage mechanism no longer exists, Ive removed

the amygdala and made some changes to the hypothalamus and limbic system.

It is cured and quite harmless.

The next day Doctor Morstead announced that he wanted to visit 049s cell himself, after

which he heard a chorus of disapproval from his colleagues, all telling him that 049 was

now too dangerous.

Dr. Hamm was sick, replied Morstead, and 049 has assured us that he would never

take another human life.

Hes never lied to us and Im going to take him at his word.

It appeared that 049 had created the perfect specimen, so what was next?

Dr. Morstead had to know.

Everyone is sick, 049 told Doctor Morstead after the two had talked for a couple of minutes.

The great pandemic has started.

Fear not doctor, I have a cure, no longer will you humans spread your disease.

Im afraid you are wrong, replied the doctor, This pandemic you speak of

does not exist.

We can happily live with our pathogens.

We have done so for millennia.

Doctor Morstead became angry that he couldnt get through to 049.

Im afraid you are suffering from paranoia.

It is you who need to be cured You have no idea, said 049, standing


What are you doing? shouted Morstead, you promised you wouldnt hurt a human


Im not hurting you, Im healing you 049 said and leapt across the room in a flash,

placing a hand on the doctors head.

Morstead slumped to the ground.

They were being watched in the observation room and this had gone too far.

He had to be moved to the containment cells, permanently.

Mobile Task Force Epsilon-11 was right on the scene and burst through the door.

No imagination, 049 said to himself, those humans have no imagination at all.

It began walking towards the task force who opened fire on the anomaly, but the bullets

bounced off its black coat and mask.

SCP-049 calmly touched each of the members of the task force one by one draining the

life from them.

The last one standing stopped firing and attempted to run but again 049 leapt across the room,

black cape billowing out behind him, and gently touched the man causing him to drop to the


049 stepped over the bodies of the fallen team and walked out of the confinement cell.

The full details of what happened next are available only to The O5 Council, what are

sometimes called The Overseers.

The redacted report that is available reads: Standard Secure Humanoid Containment Cell,

Research Sector-02, Site-19 subject: SCP-049 Date of breach: REDACTED.

Euclid Class SCP-049 breached cell and subsequently gained access to adjoining rooms and nearby


Breach lasted approximately three days and five hours.

Total Casualties: REDACTED with REDACTED number of survivors requiring incineration therapy

Course of action: Department of Science - Alchemy Division, suggested injecting anti-transmogrify

disinfectant into Class D former prisoners who were transported to site and allowed to

come into contact with SCP-049.

SCP-049 failed to reanimate injected prisoners and cure them.

SCP-049 acknowledged this failure and surrendered to Mobile Task Force Alpha-1.

SCP-049 then requested to be contained.

Present containment under responsibility of: REDACTED; REDACTED.

Present location of SCP-049: REDACTED.

End of report.

The Description of SCP-049 - the Plague Doctor Captured (SCP Animation & Story)