Let's go save Iran feat. Naram-Sin and the IRGC (7k words)
[RECEIVING TRANSMISSION…]
[An Mi-17 helicopter descends cautiously into the valley, ready to pull pitch and gain height should the mountain winds worsen. Its nose tips ten degrees up, then back down, but the pilot maintains control and settles his skids upon a field of scorched grass being used as an improvised landing zone.]
[The Scientist clambers out, protecting her head from the downdraft as best she can using her briefcase and coat. The Colonel is there to greet her. He is a tall man, well-groomed, with the first hints of white starting to show on his beard and the hair around his ears.]
[The Scientist tries to greet him, but they are still too close to the whirring blades to hear each other. The Colonel smiles and beckons for her to follow him.]
Colonel Rohham: Dr. Shirin?
Dr. Kazemi: Yes, that's right. Dr. Shirin Kazemi. From METU.
Colonel Rohham: Glad to have you with us. I'm Colonel Rohham, and I'm in charge of this site. I'm sure you've noticed that my men keep an eye on everything around here. If you have any issues regarding security or the villagers, you come straight to me. Understand?
Dr. Kazemi: I understand, colonel.
Colonel Rohham: Another thing. I'm going to need you to hand over your phone for the duration of your stay. It's a matter of operational security, you see.
Dr. Kazemi: Very well.
Colonel Rohham: Excellent. We have high hopes that your expertise will be of use to us. Come along, doctor. You'll be staying with Dr. Golshani.
3/9719 LEVEL 3/9719
CLASSIFIED
Item #: SCP-9719
Uncontained
Special Containment Procedures: Foundation access to SCP-9719 is currently prohibited by the ORIA. Field operatives have been embedded in the Saberin brigade garrisoned at the site, and Foundation researchers with cover stories as civilian scientists with expertise related to the archeology and linguistics of the Akkadian, Hurrian, and Ancient Iranian cultures have been assigned to collaborate with the ORIA for the purpose of intelligence gathering. A report on the history of information-sharing between the ORIA and the Foundation regarding SCP-9719 is available to Level 4 personnel.
Log 9719-03
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
Dr. Kazemi: Salam, Dr. Golshani. It's good to meet you. I suppose I'm your new housemate.
Dr. Golshani: Salam. Yes, I've heard about you from the colonel. I studied at Shiraz before coming here. To be honest, I don't understand how you could have heard about this site. It's very obscure.
Dr. Kazemi: Well, I've been studying the archaeology of Subartu and the Urartians for years. One of my professors once came here to study the stele and he told me it would be a useful capstone for my research.
Dr. Golshani: Is that so? The government doesn't allow anyone to publish about the stele. You're from METU, are you? In Turkey?
Dr. Kazemi: Yes, there were better relations in the 70s. I think he must have visited back then.
Dr. Golshani: Uh-huh. But you're Iranian, aren't you? Your name certainly is, and you speak Farsi as well as I do.
Dr. Kazemi: Yeah. My parents left when things here started to go mad.
[5 seconds of silence.]
Dr. Kazemi: I've heard the stele has some strange effects on your mind.
Dr. Golshani: Yes. You'll see, when you get close.
Dr. Kazemi: Have you experienced them?
Dr. Golshani: I have. May I ask your first name?
Dr. Kazemi: Shirin. How about you?
Dr. Golshani: Kasra. Do you want to join me for some interviews with the villagers?
Dr. Kazemi: Um—
Dr. Golshani: You're not interested?
Dr. Kazemi: It's not that, I was just surprised by the sudden question. Yes, of course, I'd be happy to come along.
Interview Log
Interviewers: Dr. Kasra Golshani, Dr. Shirin Kazemi
Interviewed: Chinar Ehmed ("Šaušganu the Farmer")
Dr. Golshani: Mr. Ehmed has lived in Çemî Reş all his life, and he's been very cooperative. If you wouldn't mind, Mr. Ehmed, Dr. Kazemi is my colleague from Turkey. She'd like to know more about your experiences with the Djinn's Stone.
Mr. Ehmed: Did you bring me anything?
[Dr. Golshani passes him a bottle of clear liquid. He inspects it.]
Mr. Ehmed: Yes, I'm feeling very cooperative.
Dr. Kazemi: What's it like?
Mr. Ehmed: It's not as strange as it might sound. You're still you. Your mother and father are still the same. Your wife, your children, your friends—you're all the same people. Nothing changes there.
Dr. Kazemi: Do you notice that you're doing it?
Mr. Ehmed: I suppose so. But it feels just as natural as using their other names. Someone will call to you from across the fields and you'll just think, oh, yeah, they're calling me. You turn around. Recognition feels just the same.
Dr. Kazemi: Imagine I wrote down your current name before you went close and asked you to read it. Would you know? I'm sure this has happened before.
Mr. Ehmed: Yeah, you see it on paperwork and stuff. You notice it. Yeah, you recognise it. But it's not relevant right now. You look away and there's no reason to think about it any more.
Dr. Kazemi: What do you think causes it?
Mr. Ehmed: How should I know? Maybe there really is a djinn living inside the stone and playing tricks on us. Some of the boys say that it's because there's radiation underground, and that's why the soldiers want to study it. So they can make the bomb, you know.
Interview Log
Interviewers: Dr. Kasra Golshani, Dr. Shirin Kazemi
Interviewed: Avzan Şêxan ("Pišaišapḫi the Shepherd")
Dr. Kazemi: Do you always have the same name when it happens?
Mr. Şêxan: Not always. I had a different name until I was 14, but I've had this one ever since.
Dr. Kazemi: I'd like to know how you feel about it.
Mr. Şêxan: How I feel about it? It's just part of life here. It reminds you who your people are. Have you had a name yet?
Dr. Kazemi: Not yet.
Mr. Şêxan: Well, you'll get a foreign name, unless you stay here a while. People will know immediately. They might look at you a bit funny. Even the soldiers keep their distance. It's best not to get too close, I think.
Dr. Kazemi: I need to get close to study it properly. I've asked the colonel and the elders, and they say it's okay.
Mr. Şêxan: Oh, now I know where they got the rakı from. Well, I'd advise against it. It's like… do you watch football?
Dr. Kazemi: Sometimes, yes.
Mr. Şêxan: It'd be like wearing a Persepolis kit on match day and walking into a room full of Esteghlal fans.
Description: SCP-9719 is a valley with an area of approximately 160 km2 located in Kermanshah Province, Iran. As of December 2025, it has a population of 11,942, who reside in three main villages and numerous smaller settlements. 62.5% of the population speak Southern Kurdish (Xwarin) as their first language, with the remainder speaking a dialect of Persian. The vast majority of the population are bilingual. Locals report that Assyrian and Jewish communities were present during the 20th century, but had fully emigrated by the 1980s.
SCP-9719-1 is a sandstone stele located on a hill at the centre of SCP-9719. The stele is embedded into the soil, but moves vertically at a rate of approximately 1.8 cm per day, rising to a height of 2.55 m above the ground and then receding again. At no point has the stele been observed to be fully submerged or fully exposed. Due to the similarity of the stone used with that of the surrounding mountains, it is believed to have been carved near to its current location.
The area of effect of SCP-9719-1 expands and contracts in proportion to the height of the stele above ground: at maximum height, its effects are experienced through the entire valley, and at minimum, it affects an area around 100 m in diameter. While within its area of influence, all affected individuals will refer to themselves and other individuals within SCP-9719 exclusively by substitute names.
The names of individuals born within SCP-9719, or who have resided in SCP-9719 for more than 5 years, will be substituted by names from an unknown Hurro-Urartian language. The names of individuals who were not born within SCP-9719 and have resided there for less than 5 years will be substituted by names in Akkadian. Subjects are unable to recall their original names or the original names of other affected individuals unless shown physical evidence of their original name; this will be forgotten shortly after exposure.
Following departure from SCP-9719-1's area of influence, all names return to their normal state.
Audio Log 9719-013
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
[Drs. Kazemi and Golshani stand looking at SCP-9719-1 together. A fierce wind whips past them and tugs at their headscarves. There are no other people nearby.]
Dr. Golshani: What do you think so far?
Dr. Kazemi: About the stele? Or the place? Or Iran in general?
Dr. Golshani: All of them, I suppose.
Dr. Kazemi: Iran's not what I expected. Well, maybe it's because we're up here in the mountains. It's a big country.
Dr. Golshani: You should come to Shiraz someday. And you have to see Isfahan. Maybe even Tehran, if you like big cities and can stand the air.
Dr. Kazemi: I'd love to, but…
Dr. Golshani: You feel nervous being here, right?
Dr. Kazemi: Yeah.
Dr. Golshani: I know that you're from the Foundation.
Dr. Kazemi: Which foundation?
Dr. Golshani: I think the colonel knows, too.
Dr. Kazemi: Hm. Are you from ORIA?
Dr. Golshani: Yes, but it's not like I had any choice if I wanted permission to work here. This place is my passion, Shirin. I think there's something incredible about it. We know a lot about the Elamites, but the further north you go, the later the earliest historical records. Our only window into the life of the people who lived in this part of Iran four thousand years ago is right here, in a collection of names. I analyse them as best as I can. Would the Foundation be interested in my work?
Dr. Kazemi: I would, certainly.
Dr. Golshani: Well, the ORIA doesn't care much about ancient onomastics, so I think I can share a little with you. Things of purely academic interest.
Dr. Kazemi: What have you learned?
Dr. Golshani: Here's one thing. When Naram-Sin attacked, there were no soldiers here to face him.
Dr. Kazemi: How do you know?
Dr. Golshani: Many of the names here are professional names. Ewri-Šarruma the innkeeper, Urhi-Tešob the butcher, Puẖiya the weaver. But even men here who served in the war against Saddam never receive the name 'soldier'.
Dr. Kazemi: Surely that's because the Lullubi were a decentralised society, without a standing army. They must have relied on some sort of levy when war broke out.
Dr. Golshani: Elam had professional soldiers, and the Hurrians and Urartians had warrior aristocracies. There's no sign of either here. Maybe they did levy the farmers and the potters, but no-one would have stood a chance against the might of the Akkadian army. If there was a fight--which, knowing the boasts of the Sargonic kings, there probably was--it must have been a massacre.
Dr. Kazemi: Is that bitterness I hear in your voice?
Dr. Golshani: I don't deny it. In my heart, I feel for these people, even though they died so long ago. In a small way, the stele brings them back to life. Shirin, do you want to know? Do you want to find out your name?
The inscription on SCP-9719-1 depicts the Akkadian king Naram-Sin (c. 2255-2218 BCE), who is followed by a line of armoured spearmen, standing victorious over a mixture of naked and half-naked figures. Many of these figures are worshipping the king or throwing themselves at his feet. Symbols of the solar deity Shamash, the lunar deity Sin, and the imperial patron goddess Ishtar are carved above his head. Naram-Sin wields a club in one hand and in the other holds a pair of large eyeballs by their optic nerves, having apparently plucked them from a serpentine creature whose head lies below his right foot. The remainder of its body coils around the lower portion of the stele.
A text written in Akkadian cuneiform beside Naram-Sin's head reads as follows:
1. Naram-Sin, the mighty king of Agade, king of the four corners, on a mission from Ishtar his goddess,
2. when Enlil gave his verdict and placed the lead-rope of the peoples into his hand:
3. The land of Lullubum: its lords did not bow at his feet. They sent messages to the lords of neighbouring lands, plotting evil against him.
4. They fed the serpent of the mountain as if it were a god to prepare for war against the king. It turned its tender eye upon the valley and its flaming eye upon the plains.
5. Naram-Sin, the mighty king, called his army for battle. The soldiers drew up in lines as straight as measuring-rods for the campaign.
6. By the verdict of Ishtar Annunitum, in the mountains, they crushed the warriors of Lullubum.
7. The lords of that place were defeated and the fighting men were slain.
8. Their [protector god] fled into the deep rocks and its eyes were seized for the glory of Ishtar.
9. Enlil spoke and Naram-Sin ordered his scribes to write the [destiny]:
10. Until the people of this land tear down their princes and hand over the burning serpent: the names of the rebels are the names of slaughtered men.
11. The king will destroy their dwelling-places and flood the fields with the blood of their fighting men.
12. Ishtar will drink her fill from the rivers of blood, and dance and laugh upon the corpse-piles.
13. If anyone should efface this inscription: may Ishtar, Anu, Enlil, Ilaba, Sin, Shamash, Nergal, Umšu, Ninkarrak, and the totality of the great gods seize upon him.
14. May he hold no sceptre for Enlil. May Ishtar cut off his manhood and strangle him with his bow-string.
15. May Ninhursag and Nintu take away his seed and permit him no descent. May Adad and Shamash dry out the furrows of his fields and wither the fruits of his orchards.
16. May his [personal god] devour him.
Log 9719-015
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
Dr. Kazemi: My name is Shirin Kazemi.
[Drs. Kazemi and Golshani take a step closer to SCP-9719-1.]
Dr. Kazemi: My name is… Shirin Kazemi.
[They take another step closer to SCP-9719-1.]
Innasḫira: My name is Innasḫira of Agade. My name is Innasḫira of Agade.
[Puzur-Ishtar glances at Innasḫira, who does not seem to have realised that she is experiencing the effects of SCP-9719-1.]
Innasḫira: My name is Inna— oh, wait!
Puzur-Ishtar: Innasḫira. One of the king's wives.
Innasḫira: I don't know if I like that.
Puzur-Ishtar: Perhaps she didn't, either. She must have been fairly minor. The most important royal wives would have stayed at the palace in Agade.
Innasḫira: I'll try not to take it personally. Your name is Puzur-Ishtar. Puzur-Ishtar, the priestess.
Puzur-Ishtar: I wonder if she looked like me. She was probably educated. A nobleman's daughter, maybe.
Innasḫira: Your research suggests that the names we get are assigned based on things you had in common, right? Similarities in your life or your work?
Puzur-Ishtar: I think so. Shepherds in the village are shepherds during the events. Farmers are farmers. The gender of your name corresponds to your gender identity.
[They move up to the stele. Innasḫira reaches out towards the inscription with her hand, almost touching it, but draws back.]
Innasḫira: I read your draft translation of the inscription. I think it's good, but I noticed that you translate Akkadian statives into the Persian past tense. Take amēlū dīkū, for example. The stative tells us of the condition of the slaughtered men. It's not about a completed action.
Puzur-Ishtar: Oh?
Innasḫira: It's like your translation is narrating the past, but the Akkadian is defining the present. Does that make sense?
Puzur-Ishtar: I don't think any of my past teachers ever got that point through to me. Your write-up will include everything like that, right?
Innasḫira: Yeah, it'll all be in my report. But this is so weird! Let's try something. My name is Inna— my mother named me Inna—
[She struggles to remember something for a few seconds.]
Innasḫira: That's insane. I can't even remember my old name.
Puzur-Ishtar: It's funny to hear you try and say it. Listen, Innasḫira.
Innasḫira: Yes?
Puzur-Ishtar: You should leave. They're building something here, using what they've learned from the stele.
Innasḫira: A weapon?
Puzur-Ishtar: I can't say. But you must ask the colonel to let you leave before he takes you down to see it.
Innasḫira: I'll go and see him as soon as I've finished my report.
Log 9719-017
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
Dr. Kazemi: Colonel.
Colonel Rohham: Ah, Dr. Kazemi. I heard you visited the stele. What did you think?
Dr. Kazemi: It's remarkable. I'm very lucky to have received this privilege. But I wanted to make a request—
Colonel Rohham: You have done a great service for the country. Your revision of Dr. Golshani's translation was the last piece we needed for our interface project. Based on your proven expertise here, and in your experience with anomalous phenomena, I am conscripting you for the sake of our national security. Welcome to the ORIA, doctor. You will be allowed two supervised landline calls before we sequester you in our research facility: one to your institution, and one to your family.
Dr. Kazemi: You can't be serious.
Colonel Rohham: I am deadly serious. I looked up your parents, only to find to my disgust that they were enemies of the revolution who fled rather than be part of the revival of the nation. Perhaps you will be able to repay their debt in service of your homeland.
Log 9719-019
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
Dr. Golshani: I'm sorry. I thought you'd have more time.
Dr. Kazemi: This is ridiculous. I'm not even an Iranian citizen.
Dr. Golshani: Well, it doesn't really matter down in the labs. All we can do is follow the orders we're given.
[Armed guards escort them into a jeep and drive them down a tunnel cut into the mountainside. Vehicles, freight containers, and heaps of quarried local stone lie at the sides of the road. Thick power cables are fixed to the roof of the tunnel.]
Guard: Welcome to Base Shahid Shiroudi, Dr. Kazemi. We will take you to the workshop.
Dr. Kazemi: I need to use the bathroom.
Guard: I'm afraid you will have to wait.
[They continue moving deeper into the facility. After arriving at a large bulkhead door, the guards stop their vehicle and proceed on foot, using a biometric card to enter the inner facility. Dr. Golshani puts her hand on Dr. Kazemi's shoulder to reassure her, but Dr. Kazemi shrugs it away.]
[They enter another room with a higher level of security. This room is circular, approximately 30 metres in diameter, with a plateglass viewing gallery cut into the rock above the doorway. Heavy cables along the walls lead to the centre of the ceiling and then drop down to connect to a sandstone object standing in the middle of the room. Colonel Rohham is looking down at the object, but turns to face them as they arrive.]
Dr. Golshani: Well, here it is.
Colonel Rohham: Salam, Dr. Kazemi, Dr. Golshani.
Dr. Golshani: Salam, colonel.
[Dr. Kazemi does not reply.]
Colonel Rohham: Still being awkward, are we?
Dr. Kazemi: I would like to leave.
Colonel Rohham: Doctor, I imagine that you have already formed some opinions about the work we're doing here. I suspect that they are affected by 'westoxification'. A fog has built up in your mind and muddles your thinking.
Dr. Kazemi: Thank you for your honest diagnosis.
Colonel Rohham: I am not trying to be clever with you. I'm just trying to be honest. Let me explain the situation that we find ourselves in: four thousand years ago, the king of Agade marched into this valley, slaughtered its people, and left behind a device to mark them forever as the humiliated victims of his empire.
Colonel Rohham: He was not the last. Let's recall the twentieth century, when foreign diplomats carved up the Middle East with new borders and new names to keep us divided. They set up puppet kings, armed them to the teeth, and let them indulge their most evil desires, directing them both at their neighbours and their own populations. Divided and oppressed, we could do nothing to fight back against them. The British and the Russians split our country in two to suit their own interests. After the Second World War, when we tried to stand up for ourselves and take control of our own oil, the West… well, you already know that story.
Colonel Rohham: The Islamic Republic is the only government that has been able to stand up their influence. That's why they hate and fear us. They will keep attacking us on every front until we have the means to guarantee our own sovereignty. This project can bring an end to our oppression.
Dr. Kazemi: Do you honestly think you can weaponise the anomaly?
Colonel Rohham: 'Weaponise' is the wrong word. This is our deterrent. It's a shield against imperialism.
Dr. Kazemi: I don't see how changing peoples' names is going to save Iran from imperialism, colonel.
Colonel Rohham: Names are the anchor for the self. I cannot tell you more unless I am sure that you're on our side.
Dr. Kazemi: How am I supposed to feel enthusiasm for any of this when I'm being treated like a hostage?
Colonel Rohham: We are sequestering you for security reasons, but the way you choose to live here is entirely up to you. Look at Dr. Golshani, for example. She understands the privilege of this work. If you are not co-operative, life will be harder for you. If you help us, however, all sorts of doors will open up to you.
[ENCRYPTED TEXT BURST RECEIVED]
[SENDER VERIFIED: KAZEMI, S.]
[DECRYPTING…]
SCP-9719-2, provisional description. Trying to write these notes on my personal communicator while guards are observing. Can't get a moment alone. Hope you are receiving this. SCP-9719-2 is a sandstone casing, cylindrical, hollow, about 3m tall. It is inscribed with the seal of the Pasdaran and the following text has been carved into it in square Kufic script:
1. In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
2. By the command of the Velayat-e Faqih and by the will of the martyrs whose blood watered the soil of the homeland:
3. The arrogant powers: their leaders did not bow before divine justice. They planted the seed of corruption in the earth and said: "this is the law".
4. They carved apart the nations of the world and called it peace, building their fortress at its heart and calling this armed camp a nation.
5. They set their idols in the high places and demanded worship, and the people groaned under them.
6. They snatched our resources out from our hands, and starved and bled the oppressed peoples of the world for money.
7. These arrogant powers are the enemies of God and the enemies of the people. As the martyrs dedicated their names to God, so may God return their names to the people.
8. Their high towers and crimson weapons will be cast down. The blood of the martyrs will not be forgotten.
9. Until the arrogant powers are expelled from the lands of oppression, the resistance will never lay down its arms.
10. The nations of the world will be able to draw their own borders and stand firm in their own sovereignty.
11. If anyone should efface this inscription or deny its truth: may God turn His face from them. May their shields break and their weapons fail them.
12. May the martyrs not recognise them on the Day of Judgement. May their fortresses be scoured from the Earth like the city of Iram.
13. May their deeds be written among the deeds of the arrogant. May their children never know their name.
Dr. Golshani and I helped to write it. We are under duress. Escape impossible. Assistance is urgently needed. Repeat, assistance is urgently needed…
Log 9719-031
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
[The Colonel, Dr. Kazemi, and Dr. Golshani are in the viewing gallery overlooking SCP-9719-2. A team of technicians, led by Lieutenant Marzbani, are performing their final checks.]
Colonel Rohham: Do you know what the essence of the western way of war is, Dr. Kazemi?
Dr. Kazemi: I don't, colonel.
Colonel Rohham: Psychological terror. 'Shock and awe', they call it. They strike at the people's minds, not just their bodies, with irresistible force. They try to break our resistance by overwhelming our senses and breaking our hope. But what if we could render that powerless?
[Dr. Kazemi looks searchingly at Dr. Golshani, who smiles nervously back.]
Colonel Rohham: Marzbani, report.
Lt. Marzbani: Telemetry looks good, sir. We're ready to receive the payload.
Colonel Rohham: Good. It's entering the workshop now. Prepare for anomalous effect.
[SCP-9719-1 arrives on a wheeled pallet, floating a few centimetres above the wood. It is being led by four IRGC guards and followed by four blindfolded prisoners with their hands tied behind them. Once the pallet is in front of SCP-9719-2, the guards withdraw, leaving the prisoners standing in the centre of the room. The entrance closes behind them.]
Colonel Rohham: When you're ready, soldier, confirm your name.
Lt. Marzbani: Yes, sir. My name is Nur-ili.
Colonel Rohham: Received, Nur-ili. Proceed.
[Red warning lights and low-pitched alarms announce the sealing of the chamber. The prisoners flinch but do not try to step away. Two hoses begin to spray the surface of SCP-9719-1 with mineral lubricant.]
Colonel Rohham: Get the prisoners' names.
Lt. Marzbani: Prisoners, on my touch, give me your names. Loud and clear.
[He taps each of the prisoners on the back in turn.]
Prisoner #1: Sin-iddinam!
Prisoner #2: Enlil-Bani. Please, I shouldn't be here…
Prisoner #3: (Whispering.) Warassuni.
Prisoner #4: Ena-Sin…
Colonel Rohham: Very good.
[A construction robot moves SCP-9719-A the last few metres towards the open casing; the two halves are splayed outwards like wings. Once the stele is in position, they begin to close, completing their skin-tight embrace. SCP-9719-1 and its inscription disappear inch by inch from view. When it is fully enclosed, there is a quiet 'clunk' as bolts fall into place.]
[The technicians and all the prisoners stumble simultaneously.]
Colonel Rohham: Nur-ili, status report.
[There is no reply.]
Colonel Rohham: Marzbani, status report.
[Marzbani does not reply.]
Colonel Rohham: Soldier, status report.
Lt. Marzbani: Enclosure successfully locked in, sir. Ready to establish the interface.
Colonel Rohham: Soldier, what is your name?
Lt. Marzbani: Captain Ebrahim Hamadani, sir.
Dr. Golshani: (Gasps.) That's a martyr's name. Colonel, it's already active. The interface is working.
Colonel Rohham: God is great! Captain Hamadani, what is your personal status?
Lt. Marzbani: I'm well, sir. Ready to serve.
Colonel Rohham: Do you feel or notice anything unusual?
Lt. Marzbani: No, sir.
Colonel Rohham: Check the prisoners again.
[The prisoners are made to speak their names in turn. They stand straighter and speak more clearly than before.]
Prisoner #1: Yazdan Masjedi, sir.
Prisoner #2: Saman Bakeri.
Prisoner #3: (Clearing her throat.) Zohreh Fatehi.
Prisoner #4: Nahid Farhanian.
Colonel Rohham: Dr. Kazemi, watch closely. Brother Hamadani, remove the prisoners' blindfolds.
[Lt. Marzbani removes their blindfolds one by one. They blink initially upon exposure to the light but their expressions stay neutral.]
Colonel Rohham: Draw your sidearm and aim at prisoner number one's head.
[Lt. Marzbani does as ordered. Prisoner #1 remains still and does not break eye contact with him.]
Colonel Rohham: [Over PA:] You are an enemy of the state, prisoner. You are about to die. Beg for your life.
Prisoner #1: Do what you like. My life does not belong to me.
Dr. Golshani: (Whispering.) That's the second-order effect, Shirin. It's working. Astaghfirullah.
Dr. Kazemi: What do you mean?
Colonel Rohham: Tase him.
[Lt. Marzbani tases Prisoner #1. The prisoner grits his teeth and slides down to his knees. Prisoners #2, #3, and #4 glance at him and then return to facing forwards.]
Colonel Rohham: (Turning to Dr. Kazemi.) You cannot terrorise a man who has already accepted death, doctor. To conquer a nation of such men and women would be impossible.
Log 9719-032
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
[Dr. Golshani is sitting on her bed, fiddling with her nails. Dr. Kazemi paces from the bathroom to the bedroom and back.]
Dr. Kazemi: There's something I haven't been told, isn't there?
Dr. Golshani: Well, yes. Lots of things. What in particular are you thinking about?
Dr. Kazemi: I thought that this anomaly had been well-characterised. We know what it does, how its area of influence works, all of that. It just changes names. It shouldn't make any changes to our personalities. Earlier, it was like a switch was flipped when the casing came online.
Dr. Golshani: Okay, Shirin. I suppose you should know this. Some times ago, we wanted to check if there was any sort of technology inside the stele that might explain its effects. Metal, electronics, you know. So we did a CT scan and used ultrasonics to try and look inside, too. It's almost all solid sandstone, as you might expect from a stele, but there are two spherical voids of lower density within it.
Dr. Kazemi: Voids? What do you mean?
Dr. Golshani: They contain something that might be organic material. But the weird thing is that in the ultrasonics test, we could see that the two spheres were moving. They rotated around and tracked the movement of people nearby. We haven't been able to prove this, but I think these are the two eyes that Naram-Sin mentioned in the inscription.
Dr. Kazemi: (Sitting down hard on her bed.) God. So the protector is still alive?
Dr. Golshani: Its eyes are, at least. One of them must be the 'tender eye', which made the people of the valley obedient and docile. The other one would be the 'flaming eye', which took away the fear of those Lullubi and made them determined to protect their home. They ran right onto the spears of the veteran Akkadian army.
Dr. Kazemi: I don't like the sound of this. The casing is blocking the signal of the first eye and broadcasting the second, right? You literally just reminded us that this didn't save the Lullubi at all. How many would have died if they had just negotiated with Naram-Sin or if they had fled and hidden in the mountains? It's the same story across history! Fighting to the death doesn't win you wars. Thermopylae didn't stop Xerxes, Ariobarzanes didn't save Persepolis, and the US drove the Japanese out of the Pacific one island at a time.
Dr. Golshani: It forces the enemy to invest much more to destroy you. The calculus changes.
Dr. Kazemi: Because you're demanding they destroy you utterly. What kind of future would our country have after that?
Dr. Golshani: (Sighing.) I'm scared you might be right, but we've already made the plans to deploy relays that will allow this device to affect cities across Iran.
Dr. Kazemi: Please help me, Kasra. We have to convince them not to do this. It would be mass suicide.
Dr. Golshani: I'm sorry, Shirin, but it's too late. We just have to hope that the Colonel is right.
DARYA-01: YANSHUF-02, comms check.
YANSHUF-02: DARYA-01, YANSHUF-02 is five by five.
DARYA-01: Copy. Report status.
YANSHUF-02: DARYA-01, thirty klicks to LZ. Radar clear. Our boys did good.
DARYA-01: Copy that. SARAF flight, report status.
SARAF-01: SARAF-01, weapons hot. We are on the deck. LZ looks cold.
SARAF-02: SARAF-02 copies. No movement on thermals.
DARYA-01: All elements, DARYA-01. You are green for insertion. Rules of engagement as briefed. Execute, execute.
YANSHUF-02: YANSHUF-02 copies. Dropping pitch.
SARAF-01: SARAF copies. YANSHUF, we have your six.
Log 9719-035
Personal Recording Device of Dr. Shirin Kazemi
[Colonel Rohham stands in the viewing gallery, finishing a speech. Dr. Golshani, Dr. Kazemi, and many of the facility's senior staff sit in metal chairs facing the window. The colonel raises his cup of tea in salute to his colleagues, who cheer.]
Colonel Rohham: As the relays come online, the effects of our work will propagate out in stages. Kermanshah will be first, then Tehran, and then every other city in our nation. Our enemies' attacks will become utterly futile.
[There are cries of 'Ya Hossein' from the audience.]
Colonel Rohham: Every one of you has contributed to this project. You are the heroes of our country. You are keeping the child and his mother safe, the cleric and the youth, the grandparent and—
[The emergency klaxon begins to blare. The facility staff stand and mutter amongst themselves. A soldier bursts in through the rear door.]
Soldier: Colonel!
Colonel Rohham: What's our status?
Soldier: We're under attack, sir. The barracks have been hit by heavy ordnance. There's a hostile unit approaching the facility on foot.
Colonel Rohham: The Zionists are here. Everyone to defensive positions! I will take charge at once.
[The rest of the officers hurry out the door. Before exiting the room, the colonel looks back towards Drs. Golshani and Kazemi.]
Colonel Rohham: You will remain here. Protect the device with your lives if it comes to it. Understood?
Dr. Golshani: Yes, sir.
[He turns to the four guards remaining in the room.]
Colonel Rohham: Nobody enters the room with the artifact. You are our last line of defence.
Guard: We won't let you down, sir.
Colonel Rohham: I know you won't, brother.
[Moments after he departs, a tremor passes through the facility. Dr. Golshani grabs Dr. Kazemi's wrist.]
Dr. Golshani: We could hide.
Dr. Kazemi: Kasra… can you tell me exactly where eyes are located inside the stele?
Dr. Golshani: The eyes? Oh. Yes. They're behind the symbols of Sin and Ishtar, above Naram-Sin's head. But—
Dr. Kazemi: Would you agree with me that the flaming eye is probably behind Ishtar's symbol?
Dr. Golshani: Well, it seems more probable than the other way around…
Dr. Kazemi: I need to get into the workroom.
Dr. Golshani: Okay. Okay. I just need a moment.
[She breathes out slowly.]
Dr. Golshani: Okay.
[They take the steel stairs down from the viewing gallery to the workroom door. Two of the guards are stationed in front of it.]
Dr. Golshani: Excuse me.
Guard: Yes, doctor?
Dr. Golshani: We've noticed some calibration errors coming from the artifact. We think that the tremors might have dislodged the interface. One of us needs to go in to manually realign it.
[The guard taps on his radio.]
Guard: Colonel, come in.
[He listens to the static for a few seconds.]
Guard: Colonel, we have a query at the laboratory.
[There is only static.]
Guard: Damn things barely work down here. Okay, but do it quickly. The enemy could be here any second.
[Dr. Golshani nods. The guard opens the door and allows Dr. Kazemi to enter while Dr. Golshani returns to the viewing gallery.]
[Dr. Kazemi steps into the workroom. The door is sealed behind her. She stands staring at the stele for a moment, balling her hands into fists. Dr. Golshani has reached the viewing gallery and begins communicating via the PA.]
Dr. Golshani: I'm here.
Dr. Kazemi: Good. I'm glad.
Dr. Golshani: Is the anomaly affecting you?
Dr. Ahmadi: You'll have to tell me. I feel a bit strange. I'm Leyla Ahmadi, right? Is that my name?
Dr. Golshani: For now, yes.
Dr. Ahmadi: So I'm a martyr now. I don't feel like much of a hero.
Dr. Golshani: There's a rotary hammer drill on the trolley to your left. They used it to create the sockets in the casing for the steel bolts.
[Dr. Ahmadi retrieves the drill and steps towards the casing.]
Dr. Golshani: Shirin… Leyla?
Dr. Ahmadi: Yes?
Dr. Golshani: I'm glad to be serving my country with you.
Dr. Ahmadi: Likewise.
Dr. Golshani: The symbol of Ishtar is below the word 'وطن' on the casing.
[Dr. Ahmadi reaches up to touch the word; she cannot reach it comfortably. She goes to the side of the room and comes back with a crate. Standing upon it, she begins to drill into the casing. The force of the drill's motion almost knocks her off the crate, but she is able to recover.]
Dr. Golshani: I was just looking up your namesake, Leyla. She was a nuclear physicist at Imam Hussein University. They got her with an airstrike last year.
Dr. Ahmadi: (Shouting over the sound of the drill.) I'll try not to let them kill me again.
Dr. Golshani: I'll keep an eye out for you.
[As Dr. Ahmadi drills, her body suddenly seizes and she falls backwards off the crate.]
Dr. Golshani: Shirin! What happened?
[Dr. Ahmadi gets slowly back up onto her feet, grimacing with pain.]
Dr. Ahmadi: I'm alright. I think I'm through the casing.
Dr. Golshani: What's your name?
Innasḫira: Innasḫira of Agade.
Dr. Golshani: Okay, yes, you must be at Naram-Sin's stele. Let's make a hole in this irreplaceable piece of our national heritage.
Innasḫira: On it.
[The drill bit is still embedded deep into the stone. Innasḫira climbs back up onto the crate to resume her drilling.]
Dr. Golshani: Wait! The colonel is coming back!
[The door slides open. Colonel Rohham, bleeding from his face and ear and with his uniform covered in patches of dust and ash, enters the room. He is flanked by two guards.]
Colonel Rohham: What are you doing, doctor?
[Innasḫira does not turn around or reply.]
Colonel Rohham: Dr. Golshani. Talk to her. Stop her!
Dr. Golshani: Sorry, sir. I couldn't stop her even if I wanted to.
[The colonel draws his pistol and aims at the back of Innasḫira's head.]
Colonel Rohham: I don't want to do this, but you are a traitor to your country.
[The door explodes inwards. An IDF Special Forces team rushes in, neutralising the two IRGC guards and apprehending the stunned Colonel.]
Operator #1: Target three secured!
Operator #2: (Sweeping his weapon towards the stele.) Targets one and two located!
[The Liaison, a man wearing a full-face visor and a long coat with a Foundation logo enters the room from the smoke-filled hallway. He regards the scene intently. Two more operators break into the viewing gallery and apprehend Dr. Golshani. The Liaison addresses Innasḫira.]
Liaison: Doctor. It's good to see you well. I'm Foundation, too. We're here. You're safe. You can stop now.
[Innasḫira continues drilling.]
Liaison: We have a containment team on its way down into the facility. Don't worry. We'll take it from here.
[Innasḫira does not reply.]
Liaison: Doctor, I understand what you're trying to do, but if you damage the anomaly, we lose everything we could learn from it. It has incredible research value. You are a capable scientist. You could lead the team assigned to it!
[Innasḫira turns to face the Liaison.]
Innasḫira: I am a scientist, yes. I'm a Doctor of the Foundation. But I'm other things too.
[The drill lurches forward. A trickle of blood emerges from the stele where the drill bit entered, and drips down the handle of the drill, and along Innasḫira's arm, constantly increasing in flow. The trickle becomes a stream, and it begins saturating Innasḫira's clothes and boots and pooling on the crate and floor around her.]
Innasḫira?: [UNINTELLIGIBLE MIXTURE OF LANGUAGES]
[Every person in the room slumps down, unconscious.]
Interview Log
Interviewer: Dr. Yael Sommer, senior psychiatrist
Interviewed: Subject 9719-1
Dr. Sommer: You can sit down, Dr. Kazemi.
[Subject continues to stare into the mirror.]
Dr. Sommer: Shirin?
Subject: You keep calling me that.
Dr. Sommer: It's your name, dear.
Subject: There are thousands of names pent up inside me. I feel like a pressure cooker.
Dr. Sommer: Are you fighting the names?
Subject: Not really. Can I see Dr. Golshani?
Dr. Sommer: I'm afraid not. She's still in custody. She asked after you, but of course, we can't tell her anything.
Subject: Is she being co-operative?
Dr. Sommer: As I understand it, yes. Perhaps we'll be able to find a place for her.
Subject: She deserves better.
Dr. Sommer: We've made a note of your recommendation.
Subject: Good. Did you see my request?
Dr. Sommer: Yes, I did. Unfortunately, we can't approve the use of amnestics until we have a clearer idea of what's happened to you. This doesn't seem to be a purely memetic, or even memory-related, phenomenon.
Subject: And they want to learn what I know about the entity.
Dr. Sommer: You should co-operate with them. It would make them more likely to grant your requests.
Subject: Of course you'd say that.
[Subject turns back to the mirror.]
Dr. Sommer: Can I ask you something, off the record?
Subject: Nothing here is off the record.
Dr. Sommer: Very well, for the record. Why did you disobey your superior and damage the anomaly? What was it that you put ahead of your service to the Foundation?
Subject: I had the means and opportunity to neutralise a threat.
Dr. Sommer: Don't make this situation more difficult than it needs to be.
Subject: Your liaison came in with the same speech that Colonel Rohham had given us. We need to use this anomaly to defend our country, or to study the anomalous, or whatever. Join us and doors will open to you. You can be important if you help us achieve our goals. It wasn't right. Something was missing.
Dr. Sommer: Oh?
Subject: I kept thinking about the way that the people of that valley have lived under dozens of empires, being stripped of their names and languages and culture over and over again. Their god gave them a little protection, but the empire of Naram-Sin was too much for it. Its protection was turned into their humiliation.
Dr. Sommer: And you wanted to protect them?
Subject: It's more than that. That story has played out all over the world. We've been the empire in that story, and we've been the victims of empire, too. We were knocked down many times, and we always managed to get back up and resume where we left off. The humiliation of being beaten seems to make us crueler when it's our turn to do the same.
Dr. Sommer: Well, doctor, I am afraid that your actions have not ended the cycles of history.
Subject: I just wanted to take away a way to be cruel. That artifact itself is cruel. The entity watched over the valley for thousands of years until a prideful man decided he wanted to dismember its body to make a point. That meant four millennia of being stuck inside the stone, under constant torture, seeing its home suffer and change without it. I thought that if I killed it, I could give it peace.
Dr. Sommer: And did you kill it?
[Subject touches her reflection in the mirror with two fingers.]
Subject: I don't think it was the kind of thing that dies.
هر کسی کو دور ماند از اصل خویش
باز جوید روزگار وصل خویش
"Everyone who is kept far from their origin / seeks again the time of their union."
— Jalal al-Din Rumi, Masnavi-ye Ma'navi