Another full year passed before the next SCP arrived—one so impossibly valuable that the moment its nature became clear, every single one of us felt the shock in our bones.
SCP-038.
An ordinary-looking tree at first glance… yet impossibly extraordinary in truth. Anything that touched its bark—literally anything—was cloned instantly. The clones matured within minutes, perfectly identical to the original. Not just fruit. Not just plants. Objects. Tools. Materials. Resources. If something existed physically, the tree could replicate it without limit.
The moment word reached us, The Watcher didn't hesitate. He dispatched his agents—spies, scouts, mystics—to scour every possible location where the tree might have manifested. A tree like that wasn't just valuable. It was era-defining. Civilization-shifting. A resource that could push the Foundation's power into absurd territory.
I felt relief, honestly. Genuine relief.
Because for now—at least for now—the god watching over our "summoning cycle" seemed merciful. He wasn't hurling nightmare entities at us yet. No world-ending horrors or reality-breaking monstrosities. No unknowable abominations that would turn our lives into hell.
Instead, he was giving us tools. Useful objects. Safe anomalies. Things that would help us grow stronger, prepare, build.
Because if my instincts were right… someday he would start sending the monsters.
And when that day came, SCP-038—an infinite resource generator—would be one of the reasons we'd even stand a chance.