Nexus #: Nx-XX
Civilian Designation: Other London
Population: [Approximate number of people living in the Nexus]
Area Class: Free Port
Nexus Interaction Protocol: [Paragraphs explaining special requirements for personnel working in the Nexus]
Containment Facility: [Optional Site/Area dedicated to containment and monitoring]
Description: [Paragraphs describing the Nexus]
Addendum: [Optional additional paragraphs]
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/secure-facility-dossier-site-246
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/on-guard-43-hub
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/dead-dogs-magic-mounties
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=8837&view=OPDA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_planets:_8001%E2%80%939000#837
Many thanks to ch00bakka, ARD, Clysm31201, Anorrack, Dr0Shadow and GW for talking this over with me.
Background
London's Blackfriars Bridge is constructed from wrought iron, and serves road/foot traffic over the Thames River. This is true in both Canada and England.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfriars_Street_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfriars_Bridge
Both bridges completed in the 19th century.
This overlap/confusion is one of the key conceptual foundations of "Other London", because to get there, you take the bridge. No, not that one. The Other London Bridge.
People can access the pocket universe over or under those physical bridges, so long as they're focusing on crossing "the other one".
The ambiguity that makes the Way function also results in a lot of confusion for travelers. Not only is it difficult to navigate the tunnels of a "beehive" habitat, but many landmarks have names that bely their purpose or country of origin. Think "taking the tube" means a subway? Think again. It's just a microgravity tunnel with guardrails, which people use to traverse inner rings of the habitat.
Neighborhood divisions are similarly confusing. Think that "York" is the British side, and "Middlesex" is Canadian? Turns out, it's the other way round! Those areas are named for the chief thaumaturges who settled the place!
York and Middlesex are divided by an artificial body of fresh water. They call it the Thames, despite the fact that it's not actually a river; it's only connected to itself. Over the Thames stands the (physical) Other London Bridge, which permits single-lane vehicles, bicycles, and foot traffic; passage beneath is limited to appropriately-sized watercraft.
History
Unknown
- 8837 London colonized by unknown parties, who eventually abandon it.
- 1783 — In the wake of the American Revolution, settlers loyal to the British Crown evacuate to Crown territory, resulting in the formation of Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and southern Quebec).
- 1812 — United States President James Madison declares war against the United Kingdom. American troops invading Upper Canada meet stiff resistance from Loyalist settlers.
- 1814 — Troops commanded by Major-General Robert Ross march on Washington City and burn the White House.
- 1828 — George Biddell Airy encounters Llywelyn y Bychan at Doalcoath mine, in Cornwall.
- 1840s — "The Church of the Broken God" experiences a major schism based on the prospect of attaining a "post-Nibbanic" state based on industrial technologies. Most of these splinter groups are unified by the Patriarchs of the "Cogwork Orthodox Church".
- 1841 — The Loyalist enclave of Kingston is named first capital of the United Province of Canada.
- 1856 — 8837 London is identified by Sir George Biddell Airy, Royal Astronomer at Greenwich Observatory, with the assistance of Llywelyn y Bychan.
- 1859 — Parliamentary officials in London, England politely decline a proposal that all of British North America be unified as a single nation.
- 1860 — Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII) tours British North America. Loyalists take this opportunity to strengthen their relationship with the British Occult Services, MI666.
- 1862 — In a letter to the Crown, Loyalist thaumaturges express a lack of confidence in their developing nation's ability to defend itself, citing the ongoing role of the American Secure Containment Initiative (ASCI) in colonizing the western territories. The Royal Observatory agrees to provide a secure redoubt by bonding the Blackfriars Bridge of London, England (reopened 1869) to the Blackfriars Bridge of London, Ontario (opened 1875) and an ancient bridge (constructed by the Fae) on 8837 London.
- 1864 — The Charlottetown Conference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlottetown_Conference
- 1867 — The Confederation of Canada.
- 1871 — polymath Charles Babbage dies before completing an analytical engine capable of calculating a thaumaturgical working for Other London Bridge. Undeterred, the Royal Astronomer puts Babbage's soul to work instead.
- 1872 — SCP-1917 conducts final sermon for GoI-004F ("The New Ferrous Brotherhood").
- 1875 — With help from Llywelyn y Bychan, the working is finally completed, at the cost of many human lives. Known victims include prisoners, unhoused people, and children below the poverty line.
- 1875 — Colonists begin exploring, mapping the habitable zone, and importing materials essential for life. Fertile soil, seeds and lumber are imported in vast quantities. Members of "an advanced techno-religious sect" called the "Clockwork Communion Church" (GoI-004E) contribute to the colony's coal, steam and hydroelectric power plants, HVAC and lighting systems for "electro-horticulture" (carbon arc and mercury vapor lamps).
- 1875 — The Sixth Occult War breaks out. Families loyal to the Crown establish permanent residences on either side of the Other Thames River.
- 1876 — Colonists begin making use of the newly-invented "telephone" to communicate throughout the colony.
- 1878 — The "Factory and Workshop Act" establishes new protections and accommodations for child labor.
- 1882 — The Sixth Occult War ends.
- 1890 — GoI-004F ("The New Ferrous Brotherhood") is dissolved after a coup by GoI-004B ("Cogwork Orthodox Church"). The process of "Standardization" becomes increasingly common.
- 1905 — The British Occult Service begins evacuating Avalon. Relatively few Sidhe refugees elect to relocate to Other London, as the Blackfriars Bridges in England and Canada are both constructed of wrought iron. Two years later, Avalon deconceptualizes completely.
- 1907 — Local authorities discover that civilian laborers are trading seditious literature, including work by Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin, Vladimir Lenin and Emma Goldman. Based on printer's marks, most of these documents were imported through the British side of the Other London Bridge.
- Sought by Tsarist spies, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Vladimir Lenin) goes to ground in London, England. According to oral histories, Lenin crosses Other London Bridge without being detected by MI666 and delivers a stirring speech before returning to Earth. No physical evidence exists to confirm this story, but it is nonetheless stated as fact by most Other Londoners.
- 1909 — The British Occult Service (BOS, or MI666) is founded.
- 1914 — The Great War begins. The civilian population of Other London dwindles; many responsibilities aboard the station are taken over by women and young persons.
- 1915 — Facing a supply chain crisis, mundane Parliament imposes restrictions on industrial sectors key to the war effort. Short on laborers, the Occult Service erects prison barracks in the secure tunnels and begins using Other London as a work camp.
- 1917 — Deacon Watson Bell dies in a futile attempt to defuse a boiler explosion. He is subsequently declared a "folk saint" by the Communion Church — Saint Watts-Bell, Patron of Noble Causes, Clear Communication, and Exploration. He is never officially canonized by the Cogwork Orthodoxy.
- 1918 — Allied powers pivot towards large-scale mobile offensives. With static warfare winding down, surplus members of Royal Engineer tunneling companies are recruited to expand Other London.
- 1919 — Inspired by reports of labor action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canadian workers approach colony management with a list of demands, including shorter shifts, increased rations, educational resources for young persons, and a moratorium on new excavations until a full survey can be completed by the Royal Engineers. Colony administrators reject this ultimatum, prompting a month-long strike that is ultimately broken by Occult Service thaumaturges.
- 1921 — Eleven members of a mining crew are blown into hard vacuum while expanding Shaft Seven. Faced with the possibility of a retaliatory uprising, the Occult Services suspends all new tunneling projects and retasks those work crews with maintenance until a survey can be completed.
- 1928-1931 — The Royal Commission on Extranormal Phenomena (also known as the Watts Commission).
- 1931 — The RCMP creates their Occult and Supernatural Activities Taskforce (OSAT).
- 1933 — The civilian British Interplanetary Society (BIS) is founded.
- 1937 — Volunteers with the XV International Brigade muster at Albacete, Spain, to fight for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War.
- 1939 — With the outbreak of the 7th Occult War, the Allied Occult Initiative (AOI) decides to use Other London as a training camp and staging area for wartime assets moving into Europe. This comes as quite a surprise to OSAT, which had no idea there was an Allied Way in Ontario.
- 1939 — Canadian volunteers with the XV International Brigade are finally allowed to return home, though the RCMP continues to monitor them as possible Communist spies. At least three partisans are arrested by OSAT, handed over to the AOI, and imprisoned on 8837 London.
- 1943 — Nazi commandos launch the Battle of Portlands. Afterwards, AOI command decides that Other London is too isolated to defend against a rapid assault force. Against Llywelyn y Bychan's protests, Allied forces swiftly evacuate key personnel and destroy sensitive information; they pull out of Other London so fast, many enlisted men, prisoners, and child laborers are left behind.
The Seven Years' War
1946/MAR/04 — DA Llywelyn y Bychan and AT-744 "Black Devils" establish contact.
1946/MAR/15 — Riot control operations.
1946/APR/07 — Stealth operation.
| Notable Encounters and Engagements, 1946-1952 |
| Date |
Description |
| 1946/APR/21 |
ST-0004 begins house-to-house sweeps of York and Middlesex. Numerous belligerents evade capture, as all structures have multiple exits (including windows, coal chutes, ventilation ducts and maintenance hatches). |
| 1946/APR/22 |
ST-0004 barricades points of egress to funnel hostiles through chokepoints. Left unmonitored, these barriers are consistently broken down by hostile Otherners within 24 hours. |
| 1946/APR/29 |
PSYCHE Special Observers confirm the Clockwork Communion Church is indifferent towards the GOC. They possess simple weapons, but no militant wings. Instead, they are primarily concerned with habitat maintenance. |
| 1946/MAY/31 |
No meaningful results in the search for the People's Council. Questioned by PSYCHE and PHYSICS operatives, 83% of Otherners falsely claim to represent the Council in some way. |
| 1946/SEP/13 |
Special Observers find glass bottles on the banks of the Thames Rivers in England and Canada. These contain coded requests for assistance, addressed to other anomalous communities. |
| 1946/OCT/11 |
Young messenger spotted climbing underneath the wrought-iron arches of the bridge and dropping packages through the Way. Three bottles recovered from the Thames Rivers contain pellets of pure gold. |
| 1946/DEC/24 |
Otherners mark Christmas Eve by throwing coal at GOC checkpoints. This is perceived as a non-threat until hostiles throw Molotov cocktails, scattering coal embers throughout FOB Middlesex. One KIA, five severe injuries; two arrests. |
| 1947/APR/17 |
Three PSYCHE Special Observers hallucinate after drinking "mushroom tea" during a civilian debrief in South York. Witnesses claim the poisoning was without malice, as liberty caps (Psilocybe semilanceata) are a popular herbal remedy in Other London. Two operatives recover in a matter of hours; SO Robert Lennox speaks in "strange tongues" for the rest of the day. |
| 1947/JUL/07 |
During a sweep of the Tate Library, SO Lennox breaks contact with ST-0004 to search for a "red star". He is reported AWOL, then MIA. |
| 1947/MAY/01 |
At 06:19 hours (local "sunrise"), Otherners bombard FOB York with jars of high-proof alcohol. On impact, these jars release deafening screams and greasy clouds of white smoke, which resolve into humanoid shapes and assault GOC peacekeepers. During the scuffle, at least eight humanoid combatants emerge from the Way and disperse into Other London, evading capture. |
| 1947/AUG/11 |
Twelve handguns, three shotguns, and two SMGs reported missing from inventory. When questioned, Assistant Quartermaster shows symptoms of memory alteration by UTEs. |
| 1947/SEP/06 |
Otherners sabotage a pump station in North York, causing a sewer overflow in the GOC barracks. During the confusion, armed militants enter the compound, subdue twelve personnel, and issue demands to "free our Angels". After a prolonged standoff, eight imprisoned Otherners are released, the hostages are returned, and two militants surrender themselves into custody, each claiming sole responsibility for the attack. Four suspects remain unidentified. |
| 1948/JUL/28 |
Seven thieves are arrested at England's Heathrow Airport after trying to rob a state airline. When authorities leave the scene, paracriminals access the undefended vault, steal a diplomatic bag and escape via the River Thames. They abandon their boat under Blackfriars Bridge, leaving behind a bottle of clear rum. |
| 1949/APR/25 |
During patrols in Middlesex, GOC peacekeepers sustain fire from one or more pyrokinetic casters on the rooftops, camouflaged by illusions. After ten minutes of suppressing fire, reinforcements arrive and enemy combatants break contact, loudly declaring victory for the "Interplanetary Community Defense Brigades" (ICDB). |
| 1949/MAY/01 |
ICDB partisans try to seize control of Other London Bridge using hydrokinetic thaumaturgy, intending to raise the water level of the Other Thames and wash out GOC checkpoints. When this fails, partisans turn to ranged weapons and offensive magic, exhausting their resources. Twelve partisans arrested, including two Type Blues. Low-intensity conflict continues indefinitely. |
| 1951/APR/01 |
Two versions of Assistant Quartermaster Anderson are spotted on opposite sides of FOB Middlesex. Instructed to surrender, both Andersons try to prove they are "the real one" by disclosing sensitive personal information. Becoming distressed, the real AQ Anderson reaches for his wallet and is shot once in the leg. The doppelgänger says, "April Fool" and promptly dematerializes. |
| 1951/APR/14 |
Surveillance via COLLICULUS imaging reveals that Sidhe families did not abandon the colony as previously believed, but have instead been using glamors to hide their identities, conceal their numbers and interfere with GOC operations. |
| 1952/AUG/16 |
UIU confirms that at least five ICDB members in GOC custody are legal residents of other anomalous communities. Two Type Blues and one Type Green are registered citizens of Three Portlands, while one Weilstedten (Jewish-Sarkic) fleshcrafter and one self-described "warrior-poet" (anomalous traits unclear) are from Backdoor SoHo. |
- 1949 — BIS engineer Harry Ross presents a paper on lunar exploration, including a novel design for a space suit. Normalcy protection agencies seize on this design as a bargaining chip with the Other Londoners, who are struggling to maintain their aging station.
- 1953 — The Kitchener Accords are signed.
- GOC member agencies (such as BOS, OSAT and the UIU) are allowed to maintain local offices on the station, and selected paratech contractors are allowed to apply for research and development space.
- In exchange, the GOC relaxes its interdiction policy and provides Other London with habitat maintenance technology and humanitarian aid.
- GOC takes custody of Charles Babbage's analytical engine. They designate it NTE-2858-Cyan-Blaecca, the "Village Jeweler".
- Shut out of negotiations, the SCP Foundation limits itself to intercepting anomalous materials trafficked in and out of the Nexus. Most objects from Other London end up in Site-43, Site-201 and Site-246.
- Equipped with proper protective gear, the Engineering Corps begins its first major excavations since 1942.
- Other London begins transitioning away from coal-fired boilers and towards cleaner anomalous sources of energy. Ghostpower is found ineffective unless ectoplasm is imported in secure volumes, which proves prohibitively expensive.
- Early 1960s — PENTAGRAM begins using the UIU as a proxy to fund anti-Communist art and cultural programs on 8837 London in the guise of "humanitarian aid".
- Late 1960s — "Skinhead" subculture crosses Other London Bridge.
- 1967 — The Serpent's Hand regains access to the Wanderer's Library.
- 1967 — Sought by Tsarist spies, John Lennon goes to ground in London, England. According to oral histories, Lennon crosses Other London Bridge without being detected by the GOC and performs an influential one-man-show before returning to Earth. No physical evidence exists to confirm this story, but it is nonetheless stated as fact by most Other Londoners.
- 1970s — The Maxwellist movement splinters from the Broken Church. Several members of the resulting diaspora offer their services on 8837 London, refitting obsolete telephone networks and speeding the development of habitat technology.
- 1977 — Viceroy International launches their first microcomputer in North America and Europe. Their strategy of designing for "the masses, not the classes" appeals to Maxwellist hackers, who eagerly adopt the device.
- 1980s — The Cable Crisis — Prometheus Bioengineering's "Project CABLE" breaches containment. Extremophilic moss begins growing throughout the asteroid, and once it reaches a certain mass, it begins manifesting signs of consciousness. Self-identifying as "Oswald", the moss attempts to subvert control of the station by publicly engaging in petty politics while covertly dominating the local biosphere. Otherners respond by seizing Prometheus' local assets and engineering a competing species of moss. In the ensuing conflict, both hiveminds are forced out onto the exterior of the asteroid, where they remain to this day — still an active voting bloc on the station.
- UIU Agent Charles Daniel Fenster is "declared missing" (ejected from an airlock) after trying too hard to enforce his terrestrial authority on Otherners during the Cable Crisis. As a result, PENTAGRAM's anti-Communist propaganda program is exposed, and Otherners start demanding changes to the diplomatic agreement with GOC.
- 1980s — A pulverized body wearing Roman legionnaire armor is discovered in a disused passage, adjacent to carved graffiti reading "LONDINIUM". Though this is dismissed as a prank, some French and French-Canadian residents of 8837 London begin describing themselves as "Gauls".
- 1982 — Italian banker Roberto Calvi is found dead, hanging from the scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge, London, England. GOC necromancers try and fail to interrogate his soul, deeming it "lost". The circumstances of his death remain unclear.
- 198X — 8837's "Skinhead Wars" culminate in a brutal brawl between left- and right-wing militants. In the ensuing scrum, several people fall off Other London Bridge and materialize on the "wrong side" of the Way. One British skinhead washes up on the shores of Ontario's Thames and is taken into Foundation custody.
- 1989 — The Foundation and GOC are finally forced to work together. The existence of asteroid "8837 London" is announced to the mundane world. Shortly afterwards, the name "Larry" is found carved on the exterior of the habitat in huge cursive letters.
- 1994 — Viceroy International goes bankrupt. The company's few remaining engineers relocate to 8837 London and integrate with the Maxwellist community.
- 2001 — Weary of the physical stresses of life in space, more and more young Maxwellists transfer their minds to the asteroid's Intranet. Reports of spectral "background noise" are downplayed.
Topology, Geography, and Climate
Other London's primary habitable zone is divided into two neighborhoods: York, the Canadian neighborhood on the arbitrary "east" side of the Other Thames River, and Middlesex, the English neighborhood on the "west".
The Other Thames flows from "north" ("upspin") to south ("downspin"), but it doesn't actually go anywhere; it just circles back on itself forever.
York
- Oxford Street (N-S)
- Downing Street (E-W)
- Central
- Tate Library — built out of an ancient Fae library.
- Victoria Street (E-W)
Middlesex
- Dundas Street (N-S)
- Simcoe Street (W-E)
- Carnegie Building — formerly an officer's club.
- Central
- Clockwork Communion Church
- Bloor Street (W-E)
- Hydroelectric Plant — or simply "Hydro".
Government, Law and Civil Affairs
8837 London is organized on an anarcho-syndicalist basis. Each duty shift is represented by direct democratic working councils, who collaborate based on shared goals and political points of unity.
- People's Council — direct-democratic body comprised of representatives from all the below groups.
- Civil Engineering Corps
- Digger's Union, or "Pit Boys" — mining, tunneling, structural work. Strongly influenced by veteran miners and soldiers with the Royal Engineers. Formed after the "Oxford Eleven" disaster of 1921.
- Hydro Three — hydroelectricity, hydroponics and aquaculture.
- Maintenance Lodge No. 1 — Defunct denomination of the Clockwork Communion Church.
- Maintenance Lodge No. 2 — Formed after the Station Nine disaster to fix and refit the station. Primarily concerned with heavy machinery, boilers and HVAC. Orthodoxy.
- Maintenance Lodge No. 3 — Formed in the 1970s. Focuses on telecoms. Maxwellists.
- Arts and Culture Group —
- Education and Childcare Workers — teachers, research assistants, students, community daycare, and parents.
- Heaven's Lending Library (HeLL) — multimedia archive based out of the former Tate Library in York, which is itself based in a former Coblynau stronghold with a "back entrance" to the Wanderer's Library.
- People's History Museum — a collection of physical artifacts related to the development of 8837 London. Based out of the former Carnegie Building in Middlesex.
- Interplanetary Community Defense Brigades (ICDB) —
- First Battalion — honorary designation for militants active in World War Two, or the Seventh Occult War. Most of these men were volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, arrested after returning to their home countries. When they realized they were being abandoned in 1943, these prisoners started the first wave of resistance against authority.
- Second Battalion — "Angels" born on the station.
- Third Battalion — volunteers from other anomalous communities.
- Fourth Battalion — newest subgroup. Recruited from combat sports.
- Post-National Health Service (PNHS) — Medical. Organization buttressed by an extremely intelligent and cultured hemovore doctor, Jack Shepherd.
- Residential Bloc — the broadest category, including any semi-permanent resident who is not assigned to a duty shift. Includes youth outside of school, retirees, et cetera.
- Children's Crusade — activist subgroup focused on children's rights and safety.
- Other London Credit Union — co-operative social and financial institution. Backed by gold, platinum, and other valuable minerals, which are either extracted from the asteroid or produced via fey magic.
- Terrestrial Consultants' Union — broadly representing everyone who works directly for terrestrial organizations. Paratech companies do not acknowledge this group.
Minor Factions
- Mosses — product of Prometheus Bioengineering terraforming projects intended to produce a "compliant, habitable" biosphere.
- Oswald, derisively known as "Hugo" — leader of the station's only organized fascist bloc. Primarily composed of an experimental hivemind forced onto the asteroid's surface during the Cable Crisis. Oswald nonetheless remains active in station politics through his humanoid supporters, who enforce strategies of guile, coercion and ruthless violence.
- Steele — A rival hivemind engineered by hard-left Otherner biohackers during the Cable Crisis. In the interests of tactical expediency, Steele's neural matrix was modeled on Josef Stalin, resulting in a biological brawl between fascist and tankie moss. Like Oswald, Steele remains on the exterior surface of the asteroid, and occasionally issues orders to supporters on the station.
- Reports of a red/brown moss alliance remain unsubstantiated.
Demographics and Culture
- The people who actually LIVE on 8837 London do so out of a mix of desperation, grit and spite. Many of them can trace their family trees back to the 1943 evacuation or beyond.
- Average age skews young. Life expectancy is poor.
- Deep warrens and lack of natural light on the "lower" levels of the asteroid make 8837 London a desirable home and vacation destination for some lycanthropes and hemovores.
Unique Culture
Narrow Ways, lack of connectivity and wireless signal latency makes it way harder to import and export data from Other London. Moreover, glossy touchscreens aren't ideal for use in space! Instead, Other Londoners make extensive use of retrocomputers, physical networks, and magnetic media, compensating for high latency with large storage devices.
- ch00 points out that 8837 London is 12-16 light-minutes further out than earth, so worst case, it would still take less than an hour for a signal to get to Other London. Still not great for following live events on Earth.
Arts
In space habitats spun for gravity, gravitational force decreases the closer you are to the center. The "center" of Other London is basically a hollow sphere, which is used for audience-facing performances like theater, dance and music. The first colonists called it "the Globe", after Shakespeare's playhouse, and developed a new form of "theater in the round" adapted for microgravity. These productions continue to this day, though historical settings are generally substituted with something more fantastical.
The local arts scene really bloomed after the war, as the destitute children of that generation came to age and began experimenting with form and style.
- Rock and roll, pop, prog rock, punk, ska, folk, bluegrass, country. Synth and techno.
- Performance artists.
Sports
- Combat sports are very popular on 8837 London. That said, traditional boxing and mixed martial arts pale in comparison to mech combat on the exterior of the asteroid. It's a little like sumo wrestling, except instead of pushing your opponent out of the ring, you're trying to sever their safety line and force them out of the perimeter. Participants are generally armed with short blades or bolt cutters. Fatalities are rare, as each suit remains bound to the asteroid via gravity tether.
- Team sports:
- "Asteroid Rules Basketball" — Canadians tried starting a lacrosse league, but the game doesn't lend itself to microgravity play. Same goes for hockey. In contrast, basketball is a lot of fun in zero-G, particularly if the hoops are moving. Interference is frowned upon, but every so often, someone catches an elbow or a foot in a sensitive spot.
- "Asteroid Rules Football" — Commonwealth countries take their footie very, very seriously.
Slang
Other London Vernacular English (OLVE), more commonly known as Ockney. Some Otherners make a distinction between OLVE and "true Ockney", which is spoken in iambic pentameter, but regardless of tendency, everyone agrees that it should be as tortured and convoluted as possible, to putt off outsiders.
- Angel — See "Otherner".
- Berries, from "bushberries" — the interior of the Wanderer's Library. See "Jake".
- Cabbage, from "Charles Babbage" — 1) an obstinate or disagreeable person. 2) low-quality marijuana; "dirt weed".
- Coal — food; rations.
- Cuckoo, from "cuckoo clock" — 1) airlock. 2) the act of blowing someone out an airlock. 3) a person who does not contribute to the community.
- Diamonds — Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD.
- Donnie, from "Donald Duck" — "Canuck"; Canadian.
- Footie, from "football" — 1) Asteroid Rules Football. 2) mundane European football.
- Gauls — a subculture of French and French-Canadian performance artists who style themselves on historical and fictional Gaulic tribes.
- Goofy, Goofies — English people.
- Heaven — 8837 London; Other London.
- Honey, from "honeycomb" — gnome. Generally considered a slur against residents who grew up in microgravity.
- Hugo, from "Hugo Boss" — exonym for an anomalous hivemind of extremophilic moss growing on certain portions of the asteroid.
- Hydro — 1) water. 2) electricity. 3) hydroelectricity. 4) Richard Cole Tenenbaum (rhymes with "hydrogen bomb").
- Jackson, from "Jackson Pollock" — 1) a hydraulic gun. 2) murder involving a hydraulic gun. 3) bollocks (testicles).
- Jake, Jakes, from "snake" — member(s) of the Serpent's Hand.
- Jerry — German.
- Mary — monarchist. Possibly derived from "Mary, Mary, quite contrary", an English nursery rhyme that may have been inspired by Queen Mary I.
- Mick, Mickey — Irish people.
- Moondust — Methamphetamine.
- No Angel — an outsider. See "Virgin".
- Otherner — a committed resident of Other London.
- Oxy, from "oxygen tank" — Yank. American.
- Pete — Scots people.
- Shirts, from "blackshirts" — 1) fascists, more specifically 2) "white power" skinheads.
- Smokies — SCP Foundation personnel. Commonly thought to be descended from North American CB radio slang; actually derived from "smoked kipper" (or "skipper").
- Spitters, from "slitters" — members of the Chicago Screech. Named for their low-tech intimidation tactics.
- Soccer, from "sucker" — 1) one-on-one sparring. 2) sucker punch. Commonly and deliberately confused with European football, as a means of distinguishing locals from outsiders.
- Skins, from "skinhead" — anti-racist skinheads. Contrast with "shirts".
- Summer, summer child — euphemism for a naive or unintelligent individual.
- Virgin, from "virgin birth" — Earthling, terran, wanderer. A slur for someone who is not local.
- Waldo, from "Walden Pond" — "James Bond". Agents of the British Occult Service, or MI666.
- Yorkie — residents of York, the Canadian neighborhood on the "west" side of the Other Thames.
Industry and Economy
Cultural Exports
- Music. Generally distributed on vinyl and cassette.
- Independent film. Often staged in microgravity, or otherwise making use of the asteroid setting. Most are horror films, but shot-on-location documentaries, recordings of live performance pieces, and comedies are also popular.
- Visual arts. Sculpture, engraving, graffiti.
Mining and Salvage
- Digging out valuable ore from the asteroid.
- Selling junk from derelict tunnels. Either to outsiders, or to the PHP.
Paratech
Ectomorphs cannot persist on 8837 London without a containment vessel. They just gets caught up in the spiritual gravity well and burned off. A few damaged souls cling on to the asteroid's network, but they are little more than shadows. (Good news! Demonics work just fine!)
- Paracomputing. Working within the constraints of Viceroy technology, Otherner Maxwellists have specialized in adapting old hardware, creating new plug-in modules, and writing lean, lightweight code. Today's Viceroy computers aren't particularly powerful, and they are not produced in great numbers, but they are a rare commodity among retrocomputer enthusiasts and their software can be loaded easily into modern virtual machines.
- Astronomy. Prime territory for observing Main Belt objects.
Paracrime
- Chicago Screech — pretenders to the throne, buoyed by the collapse of Prometheus Labs in 1998. Known to conduct smash-and-grab attacks in one territory, then exfiltrate to the opposite side of Other London Bridge to confound authorities. Likely creators of SCP-3792.
- Five-Eyes — a psychedelic commune specializing in paradrugs. Naturally, they have a version of AUM (a cocktail of LSD, THC, hallucinogens, entheogens, stimulants and dissociatives) and conduct rituals to produce demonarcotics.
- Two-Player Mode, or 2PM — A bare-bones smuggling operation active in Ontario between 1984 and 2015. SCP-4137 is in Foundation containment; Alphonse O.P. Pierrick (PoI-9090) and Yann English (PoI-9091) are missing, presumed deceased.
