Critter Profile: {NULL_FIELD_EXCEPTION}

IMPORTANT

This profile's currently the target for some anomalous technical difficulties that we haven't quite managed to circumvent. If you're on our permanent staff, please feel free to read it, but bear in mind that it's not actually true, so to speak.

We're currently talking to the folks at the Foundation about getting it all sorted, but in the meantime this one's going to have to go undocumented. Please come talk to me if you need anything straightened out!

—Tim Wilson

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Critter Profile: { Ø_ }

Overview

Designation: C-10A3 (Currently unnamed)

Species: Cervus canadensis roosevelti

Primary Caretakers: Cryptozoological Team #3

Diet: None that we know of, but presumably feeds on local plants

Housed: Area Bravo, Portland Ridge

Creature Features

C-10A3's a pretty normal elk, mostly. They (we haven't gotten close enough to work out their gender yet) tend to shy away from humans, but are reasonably docile if they've seen you before — they won't let you touch them, but you can get close enough to take a decent photo. Thanks to Steve and Josh for snapping the one above!

If you do try to touch C-10A3, they'll… leave. Just disappear, into thin air. We usually find them again soon enough, but they seem to have some kind of automatic teleportation response that's not helped by the fact that even normal elks are usually fairly skittish. It happens even when they're drugged or asleep, though, so we can't work out how much of it's under their control. If you spot them around, take note of anything they do — the closer we can get to a friendly relationship, the better.

As a side note: we're still trying to come up with a good name, so email Rachel with your suggestions!

History

We first found C-10A3 on 05/29/2019 when scavenging team Procyon Locomotor spotted a group of hunters in Area Charlie, about a kilometer from the Ripplebrook Ranger Station. No-one who's aware of the nexus hunts that close to Portland, so we figured they'd either come from down south to somewhere less barren, or from the north to seek somewhere warmer for the winter. Either way, Procyon Locomotor scrambled when they heard the gunshot, and made it just in time to see the elk disappear and the hunters run off.

Luckily C-10A3 doesn't seem to be in pain anymore, which might mean they have a sort of "healing factor" that comes along with the teleportation. Again, we haven't really had a chance to study them, so this is all pretty much conjecture and educated guesses. If you see the hunters again, bear in mind that we all have to do things to survive, and that a lot of us still eat meat — don't lash out. Be as welcoming as you would be with any other new arrivals.

"Ripplebrook's lovely in the summertime!"

Special Needs and Accommodations

None at the moment, except for the standard hunting ban around base camp. As a wild animal, C-10A3's almost entirely self-sufficient, which is good news for our food stores :)

EDIT: Sorry guys! Stop writing about this one for the time being. Call Lydia ([e-mail]) with any questions. It's a hassle, I know, but we don't have anywhere to shift our problems any more!

FROM: [e-mail]
TO: *@wws.intranet
SUBJECT: Database issues

Hey all,

Don't know if anyone's noticed, but 10A3's gone from our database. The slot's still there, but all the information's been replaced with a page full of null characters. I've re-written what I can remember (they were an elk, right? Or a deer?) but I'd appreciate other people chipping in with what they can remember. I know you're all busy, but until we get the departmental addresses set up, this is the best way to find out what's going on.

I've talked to the people we brought in from the Debuggers, and they've said they'll look into it; they're going over to 64 in a few days to comb the remaining archives, so give it a week and we should be able to properly cross-reference with any still-breached scips. Mike (the guy at the Lodge with the red shirt) says it's not anti-memetic, so don't worry too much about your brain melting :P

Sorry for the trouble,
Lydia Darnes, Head database manager

to do

FROM: [e-mail]
TO: [e-mail]
SUBJECT: Strangeness

Hi,

I know you're busy, but I've found something here you should probably look at. We took the C-10A3 file down after the replacement file and my emails started disappearing, but it seems they got… replaced? I guess would be the best way to put it? I've included one of the replacements below; honestly, they're all mostly the same.

FROM: [e-mail]
TO: [e-mail]
SUBJECT: new database entry?

Hi Lydia,

Just wanted to know if you'd been doing some reordering of the database? There's a file here just called C-10A3 that describes some kind of teleporting elk and since none of us know about it I thought it would be best to check with you to make sure it's not a mind-affecting anomaly. There's good reasons the SCP won't let us handle them anymore!

Oh, also, you seem to have added some different formatting. It looks nice but I'd appreciate it if you contacted me before making any style changes. You'll remember how long it took us to settle on the current theme!

Best,
Tim Wilson

---

Head of Wilson's Wildlife Solutions. Work contact: 541-555-0163.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - / I took the one less traveled by / And that has made all the difference."

Thoughts? I know you'd probably rather do anything other than deal with this, but it's a big problem. They all appeared in the C-10A3 slot — the one we deleted — and basically crashed the system for two hours until me and Jamie got it up and running again. It's been 28 days since the C-10A3 file disappeared, and if something's happening, we need to know about it.

Also, Tim was your dad. I reckoned you should be the first to know, in case something really weird is going on.

TO DO

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elk_Wintering_Near_Camas_Creek_Oregon,.jpg
https://pixabay.com/en/mountains-ridge-winter-snow-frost-2313582/
https://nara.getarchive.net/media/photograph-of-virgin-lake-ranger-station-04ffe2