WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.269 --> 00:00:04.730 The lasting ringing is ear-splitting, almost as much as the sound of the explosion that 00:00:04.730 --> 00:00:07.029 rang out only seconds before. 00:00:07.029 --> 00:00:11.299 The Detective looks around, trying to squint through the dust cloud obscuring his vision. 00:00:11.299 --> 00:00:16.730 A few other figures are stumbling around in confusion; others are paralyzed with terror 00:00:16.730 --> 00:00:20.440 or worriedly trying to regain their hearing out of fear they’ve been permanently deafened 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:21.640 by the blast. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.700 One or two stagger to their feet, climbing out of the debris, and run away as fast as 00:00:25.700 --> 00:00:27.720 their sprained ankles would allow them to. 00:00:27.720 --> 00:00:32.000 And the rest aren’t lucky enough to still be able to move without help. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.050 In minutes, the fire and ambulance crews arrive, clearing rubble and helping the injured to 00:00:36.050 --> 00:00:37.050 safety. 00:00:37.050 --> 00:00:41.110 The Detective sits on a cinder block and waits for everyone else to be tended to first. 00:00:41.110 --> 00:00:45.110 He’s still got his health, which is more than can be said for some. 00:00:45.110 --> 00:00:48.670 He scans the area, looking at the mess of debris and destruction. 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:53.440 He feels his brain doing the thing already, looking for patterns in the rubble. 00:00:53.440 --> 00:00:58.430 His eyes fall over the dusty, dumbstruck faces of the people being helped by the paramedics, 00:00:58.430 --> 00:01:01.160 ticking off those he saw moments before the explosion. 00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:05.500 He’s reconstructing a list from a few seconds’ of glances, trying to figure out which of 00:01:05.500 --> 00:01:07.430 them caused the explosion. 00:01:07.430 --> 00:01:10.671 Whichever face was missing from the ones he’d seen when he walked into the barista’s that 00:01:10.671 --> 00:01:13.860 morning was probably the one who did this. 00:01:13.860 --> 00:01:18.610 The Detective mutters something to himself about never getting his morning coffee. 00:01:18.610 --> 00:01:21.680 Barely a few days pass before the next explosion is reported. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:26.570 Someone’s apartment this time around; luckily, there had only been one person at home, and 00:01:26.570 --> 00:01:28.820 nobody in the adjacent homes was harmed. 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:32.950 The Detective is one of the first on the scene, rushing across town to get a look at the blast 00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:33.960 site. 00:01:33.960 --> 00:01:38.310 The previous time, his ears were ringing too much, the shock of being so close when it 00:01:38.310 --> 00:01:42.149 had happened, scrambling all the senses that had been honed over decades on the job. 00:01:42.149 --> 00:01:45.290 Today, he wants a clearer look. 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:48.420 His heart sinks to see the bomb squad have beaten him there. 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:51.899 The Detective scoffs; they couldn’t have been all that good of a bomb squad if they 00:01:51.899 --> 00:01:54.500 were showing up after an explosion had already happened. 00:01:54.500 --> 00:01:56.840 Still, it doesn’t deter him. 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.729 He marches up to the hazard tape hanging in a cross in a doorway, with the bottom half 00:02:00.729 --> 00:02:04.159 of what used to be a door barely clinging to the hinges. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:08.070 Cordoning off the area to the public is hardly going to stop a man of the law. 00:02:08.070 --> 00:02:12.840 The Detective flashes his badge to the fresh-faced beat cop standing guard when he protests, 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:15.489 telling the younger officer to let him pass. 00:02:15.489 --> 00:02:19.069 The Officer tells him he’s under strict orders not to let anyone in until the bomb 00:02:19.069 --> 00:02:22.030 squad has gathered all the evidence they need. 00:02:22.030 --> 00:02:26.080 Peering through the vacant doorway, the Detective finds himself barking another question at 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:27.500 the officer. 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:30.660 Just who is the man who’s been allowed inside already? 00:02:30.660 --> 00:02:34.590 A figure is standing in the wreckage of the apartment, his plain clothes making it clear 00:02:34.590 --> 00:02:36.170 he’s not part of the bomb squad. 00:02:36.170 --> 00:02:40.530 He’s just looking around the ruined room, a forlorn expression on his face while the 00:02:40.530 --> 00:02:43.110 bomb squad gathers up forensic evidence. 00:02:43.110 --> 00:02:46.900 The Officer explains, as best as he can with the limited information he’s been given, 00:02:46.900 --> 00:02:50.730 that the mystery man is some kind of specialized Consultant. 00:02:50.730 --> 00:02:54.379 He arrived with clearance much higher than the city beat cop had ever seen in his brief 00:02:54.379 --> 00:02:55.700 tenure on the street. 00:02:55.700 --> 00:03:00.170 He’d been warned that interfering with this man would constitute a crime worse than committing 00:03:00.170 --> 00:03:01.170 a felony. 00:03:01.170 --> 00:03:05.200 So, the Officer had let him through, no questions asked; it was above his pay grade. 00:03:05.200 --> 00:03:09.260 The Detective storms past, the Officer’s hand blocking him from stepping the threshold 00:03:09.260 --> 00:03:11.129 into the destroyed apartment. 00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:15.000 Stopping in his tracks without crossing the cordon, he calls out to the Consultant. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:20.800 He asks what’s going on; two explosions in the same week is hardly a normal occurrence. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.159 The Consultant doesn’t even look over to the Detective; just lets his questions hang 00:03:25.159 --> 00:03:29.000 in the air like the few particles of dust catching the sunlight as they drift through 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:30.000 the apartment. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.879 The Detective is met with a warning from the Chief the moment he returns to the precinct. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:38.670 He mentions getting a call from someone important but fails to divulge who. 00:03:38.670 --> 00:03:42.950 Noticing his former partner is nervous, even trembling, the Detective pushes him for more 00:03:42.950 --> 00:03:47.140 information on who’s swept in and taken the reins of the investigation. 00:03:47.140 --> 00:03:50.930 How does an outside consultant have the kind of clearance that this one does? 00:03:50.930 --> 00:03:52.129 Was he a Fed? 00:03:52.129 --> 00:03:55.290 Something even higher up in the law enforcement food chain than that? 00:03:55.290 --> 00:03:56.290 CIA? 00:03:56.290 --> 00:03:57.290 NSA? 00:03:57.290 --> 00:03:58.290 Pentagon? 00:03:58.290 --> 00:04:02.140 Every question yields no further answer; just agitates the Chief almost to the point of 00:04:02.140 --> 00:04:04.030 exploding himself. 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:08.150 The Detective drops the subject but doesn’t intend to let it go. 00:04:08.150 --> 00:04:12.340 No less than a day later, yet another explosion rocks the city. 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:16.410 This one is on the bottom floor of an office block, causing a window to get shattered, 00:04:16.410 --> 00:04:19.120 but mercifully, not much more damage than that. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.690 And the Detective is ready this time. 00:04:21.690 --> 00:04:25.300 Sitting in his car waiting, he races over to the scene, getting there before even the 00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:26.979 first responders. 00:04:26.979 --> 00:04:29.150 But he doesn’t get out to be the first to look. 00:04:29.150 --> 00:04:34.970 Instead, he waits, watching the scene as cops, paramedics and firefighters arrive. 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:40.750 The bomb squad follows not long after, and sure enough, with them is the Consultant. 00:04:40.750 --> 00:04:43.100 From a distance, the Detective watches. 00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:45.400 Something is off about the man. 00:04:45.400 --> 00:04:49.140 He’s too calm, like all of this is ordinary for him. 00:04:49.140 --> 00:04:50.380 But it’s more than that. 00:04:50.380 --> 00:04:53.560 The Consultant looks almost sad. 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:58.160 As if he’s not only seen this happen before, but that he’s crestfallen to know it’s 00:04:58.160 --> 00:04:59.360 happened again. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.039 The Detective waits. 00:05:01.039 --> 00:05:04.979 Clearing the scene takes hours, and a few more beat cops are left on guard to keep civilians 00:05:04.979 --> 00:05:06.889 away from the blast site. 00:05:06.889 --> 00:05:11.580 The entire time, the Detective’s eyes are fixated on the Consultant. 00:05:11.580 --> 00:05:15.590 He wants to know where he’s going next… so he can follow. 00:05:15.590 --> 00:05:19.979 He tails the Consultant as he leaves the scene, keeping at a distance that won’t make him 00:05:19.979 --> 00:05:20.979 too obvious. 00:05:20.979 --> 00:05:24.580 All he has to do is wait for the crowd to thin out, or for the Consultant to walk down 00:05:24.580 --> 00:05:25.600 somewhere quieter. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.190 An alleyway would be perfect. 00:05:28.190 --> 00:05:32.120 Seeing his target cutting through the crowd towards a quiet, narrow backstreet, the Detective 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:35.360 seizes the opportunity and weaves between oncoming pedestrians. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:36.860 He turns the corner… 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:39.330 And walks right into the Consultant. 00:05:39.330 --> 00:05:45.190 The other man stops, recognizing the Detective’s face after a split second, then turns to run. 00:05:45.190 --> 00:05:48.910 The Detective races after him as fast as his legs will take him, fingertips reaching for 00:05:48.910 --> 00:05:50.330 the Consultant’s coat. 00:05:50.330 --> 00:05:52.930 He grabs him and causes the Consultant to stumble. 00:05:52.930 --> 00:05:56.680 He threatens the Detective that he’ll never see the outside of a prison cell for even 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:58.000 daring to interfere. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:02.830 So, the Detective snipes back; if that’s the case, then the Consultant might as well 00:06:02.830 --> 00:06:09.080 explain himself; after all, if he’s sent to prison, the Detective can hardly tell anyone. 00:06:09.080 --> 00:06:12.720 For a moment, the Consultant actually seems to be entertaining the idea. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.470 Then, he introduces himself under the name Tarrant. 00:06:16.470 --> 00:06:20.400 When the Detective asks him what’s been causing all the explosions around the city, 00:06:20.400 --> 00:06:25.100 Tarrant gives him a straight answer: Hot chocolate. 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:29.310 Not many detectives would ever consider hot chocolate to be a cause of death. 00:06:29.310 --> 00:06:33.040 Maybe if it had been poisoned or was more than scalding hot. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:37.960 But even the world’s top forensic analysts would, in all likelihood, laugh at the possibility. 00:06:37.960 --> 00:06:42.900 But then again, in their line of work, they never have to contend with the anomalous. 00:06:42.900 --> 00:06:46.220 There are experts for cases like those. 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:51.870 SCP-5073 is not, as it turns out, a highly poisonous substance or an existential glitch 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:54.410 caused by some mad reality warper. 00:06:54.410 --> 00:06:57.030 It is, however, hot chocolate. 00:06:57.030 --> 00:07:01.970 As far as anyone can tell, there is absolutely nothing differentiating it from an otherwise 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:04.470 ordinary cocoa powder-based drink… 00:07:04.470 --> 00:07:06.770 other than the effect it has on people. 00:07:06.770 --> 00:07:12.270 Nothing differentiating SCP-5073 from normal hot chocolate actually couldn’t be more 00:07:12.270 --> 00:07:17.180 accurate, as even the packaging containing this extremely hot drink seems to resemble 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:19.060 that of legitimate brands. 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:22.930 The packets that the anomalous powdered hot chocolate mixture is found in seem to have 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:28.340 almost been intentionally circulated among popular brands, possibly in an effort to fatally 00:07:28.340 --> 00:07:30.169 trick consumers. 00:07:30.169 --> 00:07:34.150 Some packets have even been found sold within boxes containing other packets from legitimate 00:07:34.150 --> 00:07:35.569 hot chocolate brands. 00:07:35.569 --> 00:07:40.979 Normally, one packet will be sold alongside those that are otherwise safe for human consumption. 00:07:40.979 --> 00:07:44.909 Foundation efforts to trace this back along the distribution chain are still ongoing. 00:07:44.909 --> 00:07:49.389 There are still numerous agents who are currently embedded within various companies responsible 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:53.530 for the manufacture of hot chocolate powers and the shipping of these products to retail 00:07:53.530 --> 00:07:54.590 outlets. 00:07:54.590 --> 00:08:00.129 At present, shipments containing SCP-5073 have only been uncovered in the Western Hemisphere, 00:08:00.129 --> 00:08:06.300 in a distribution pattern of one packet of SCP-5073 per one million units of normal hot 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:08.160 chocolate mix manufactured. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:12.590 The powder itself bears no obvious difference to look at either, although it can be slightly 00:08:12.590 --> 00:08:16.680 stickier and often even generate a slightly warm sensation. 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:21.270 These minor differences, however, have seemingly been able to remain undetected to those who 00:08:21.270 --> 00:08:26.990 have unknowingly consumed SCP-5073 – after all, you have to be some kind of maniac to 00:08:26.990 --> 00:08:29.650 touch your hot chocolate powder with your hands. 00:08:29.650 --> 00:08:31.520 Use a spoon, you heathen. 00:08:31.520 --> 00:08:37.630 The powder within SCP-5073 is, as far as anyone can tell just by looking at it, identical 00:08:37.630 --> 00:08:40.289 to the cocoa powder in other chocolate beverages. 00:08:40.289 --> 00:08:46.010 However, when examined far closer on a microscopic level, there are a few irregularities that 00:08:46.010 --> 00:08:51.200 the average consumer might not notice – but a researcher of the SCP Foundation might. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:57.620 In particular, the granules of SCP-5073 are surprisingly durable, implying they may not 00:08:57.620 --> 00:09:02.010 actually be cocoa but some other substance that has yet to be identified. 00:09:02.010 --> 00:09:07.459 And, yet again, they seem to also generate a low level of warmth. 00:09:07.459 --> 00:09:12.200 SCP-5073 powder doesn’t react the same way that other cocoa-based powders do when added 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:13.720 to liquids. 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:18.380 While usually, hot chocolate is designed to dissolve in milk – or water if you still 00:09:18.380 --> 00:09:23.790 haven’t learned your lesson from before – SCP-5073 does not. 00:09:23.790 --> 00:09:28.040 Instead of the granules breaking up in the way you’d expect, they instead remain together. 00:09:28.040 --> 00:09:32.360 They will stay suspended below the surface of the milk, keeping the undissolved anomalous 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:34.820 powder hidden from view. 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:40.830 While submerged, SCP-5073 will then exude a liquid that seems to resemble chocolate 00:09:40.830 --> 00:09:46.170 in smell, taste and color, flavoring the milk and changing it from white to brown. 00:09:46.170 --> 00:09:52.730 This leaves a beverage containing SCP-5073 completely identical to a typical cup of hot 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:56.600 chocolate, even down to tasting indistinguishable from the real thing. 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:02.860 Those who consume SCP-5073 do not suffer instantaneous death the second they take a sip. 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:08.350 In fact, those who do drink a nice warm mug of the anomalous chocolatey drink often enjoy… 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:10.740 perhaps even a little too much. 00:10:10.740 --> 00:10:16.690 Individuals who have drunk SCP-5073 have been recorded as finding it to be unusually appealing, 00:10:16.690 --> 00:10:20.120 and often all describe it in an uncannily similar way. 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:24.360 Choices of adjectives seem to always revolve around phrases such as the drink having an 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:30.060 “explosive burst of sweetness,” an “explosion of taste,” or similarly worded variations 00:10:30.060 --> 00:10:31.430 on this sentiment. 00:10:31.430 --> 00:10:37.130 This is also always considered a positive factor too, and those who consumed SCP-5073 00:10:37.130 --> 00:10:42.410 will never describe the flavor of the anomalous beverage as being too overwhelming or overpowering, 00:10:42.410 --> 00:10:45.839 regardless of whether or not they typically enjoy hot chocolate. 00:10:45.839 --> 00:10:51.290 They also express another unusual side effect, and that is the sudden compulsive need to 00:10:51.290 --> 00:10:55.840 drink more of SCP-5073 after their initial tasting. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:00.420 Analysis by Foundation researchers has indicated that there are no inherent addictive properties 00:11:00.420 --> 00:11:01.510 to the powder. 00:11:01.510 --> 00:11:05.579 But this doesn’t deter those who have consumed it to drink enough of it to use up an entire 00:11:05.579 --> 00:11:11.360 packet of the powder, even if the amount within is enough to mix into several cups’ worth. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.959 Then there are the more fatal side effects. 00:11:13.959 --> 00:11:17.860 Normally occurring within a window of two to three hours after consumption, a person 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:21.700 who has drank SCP-5073 will inevitably explode. 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:28.740 No, this isn’t a euphemism or any attempt at hyperbole – they will, very literally, 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:29.740 detonate. 00:11:29.740 --> 00:11:33.880 This isn’t just hot chocolate – it’s Explosively Hot Chocolate. 00:11:33.880 --> 00:11:37.850 As far as Foundation experts have been able to determine during testing, this explosion 00:11:37.850 --> 00:11:41.220 occurs within the digestive system of an affected subject. 00:11:41.220 --> 00:11:47.160 The cocoa granules that remain intact when a person drinks the SCP-5073 infused hot chocolate 00:11:47.160 --> 00:11:50.139 will suspend themselves inside the subject. 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:54.889 These granules will remain at a concentration above the LEL for cocoa dust – short for 00:11:54.889 --> 00:11:59.850 the lower explosive limit, the lowest possible concentration of a gas or vapor to explode 00:11:59.850 --> 00:12:00.980 if ignited. 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:04.779 This leaves a person in an understandably volatile state, of course. 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:09.970 Any introduction of heat or open flame could ignite the cocoa dust and trigger an explosion. 00:12:09.970 --> 00:12:14.420 Surely, though, this isn’t too much of an issue unless someone happens to be a professional 00:12:14.420 --> 00:12:19.020 circus fire eater and are about to perform their highly flammable act after a warm mug 00:12:19.020 --> 00:12:21.880 of SCP-5073. 00:12:21.880 --> 00:12:25.279 Or rather, it wouldn’t be too much of an issue if there was any way to prevent the 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:27.779 granules from igniting on their own. 00:12:27.779 --> 00:12:33.570 Staying above their LEL concentration, the SCP-5073 particles will rub together while 00:12:33.570 --> 00:12:35.920 inside a subject’s stomach. 00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:41.519 These granules are able to generate sufficient intense friction between them enough to ignite. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:45.940 Once this occurs, a dust explosion will erupt from within the unfortunate subject, with 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:48.940 enough force to blow their body apart. 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:52.480 The result is often… messy. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:58.040 Given the sheer magnitude of the explosion caused by SCP-5073, detonation can also pose 00:12:58.040 --> 00:13:02.550 a potential danger to any nearby buildings or other infrastructure, as well as threaten 00:13:02.550 --> 00:13:05.610 the safety of bystanders surrounding the affected subject. 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:08.709 So, best to stand at a safe distance. 00:13:08.709 --> 00:13:13.420 Upon examination of the aftermaths of these explosions, SCP Foundation forensic teams 00:13:13.420 --> 00:13:19.240 have determined that the sweet liquid produced by adding SCP-5073 to milk is left behind 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:23.550 among the remains of the deceased subject, given that detonation typically occurs before 00:13:23.550 --> 00:13:25.910 full digestion is possible. 00:13:25.910 --> 00:13:30.530 And well, you try digesting something after your stomach, and the rest of your body, has 00:13:30.530 --> 00:13:31.530 blown up. 00:13:31.530 --> 00:13:37.649 However, it seems that after someone who had consumed SCP-5073 has expired in an explosive 00:13:37.649 --> 00:13:42.889 fashion, any of the remaining powder will disappear through anomalous means, as well 00:13:42.889 --> 00:13:45.240 as the packet it was contained in. 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:49.500 In addition, and perhaps most unsettlingly, a considerable amount of the subject’s body 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:52.370 mass normally is missing from their remains. 00:13:52.370 --> 00:13:55.589 More than would typically be missing after a dust explosion… 00:13:55.589 --> 00:14:01.850 A few things of note in order to protect yourself from the risk of accidentally drinking SCP-5073. 00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:07.430 For one, instances of this anomalous hot chocolate will never – repeat NEVER – be found with 00:14:07.430 --> 00:14:09.410 additional toppings. 00:14:09.410 --> 00:14:13.790 That means anything with marshmallows, whipped cream, either chocolate or rainbow sprinkles, 00:14:13.790 --> 00:14:17.980 graham crackers (or a combination of all of the above if you’re really decadent) are 00:14:17.980 --> 00:14:21.100 considered safe and advisable to drink. 00:14:21.100 --> 00:14:27.020 Secondly, SCP-5073 will remain inert and nonexplosive unless it is mixed with milk. 00:14:27.020 --> 00:14:30.790 Combining it with any other liquids will not render it dangerous, and if you happen to 00:14:30.790 --> 00:14:35.560 be lactose intolerant, then you’re likely safe from sudden hot chocolate-related combustion. 00:14:35.560 --> 00:14:42.519 Similarly, if the SCP-5073 powder is left as it is, or if – for some deranged reason 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:47.160 – someone ingests it as it is, it will continue to remain inert. 00:14:47.160 --> 00:14:52.490 Adding it to milk and then ingesting the resultant mixture is the only certain way to ensure 00:14:52.490 --> 00:14:53.490 detonation. 00:14:53.490 --> 00:14:58.890 Since first discovering the disastrous effects of SCP-5073, Foundation analysts have carefully 00:14:58.890 --> 00:15:03.839 monitored any and all reports of spontaneous human explosions or anyone thought to have 00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:06.149 died due to an internal detonation. 00:15:06.149 --> 00:15:10.400 The Foundation will then dispatch agents to conduct covert investigations in order to 00:15:10.400 --> 00:15:16.540 determine whether or not these deaths have any connection to the consumption of SCP-5073. 00:15:16.540 --> 00:15:20.230 If Explosively Hot Chocolate is confirmed to have been the cause of death in any of 00:15:20.230 --> 00:15:24.509 these cases, the Foundation will issue an appropriate cover story to keep this information 00:15:24.509 --> 00:15:25.660 from the public. 00:15:25.660 --> 00:15:29.720 The number of deaths that took place during a redacted timeframe was what initially drew 00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:33.500 the Foundation’s attention to SCP-5073. 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:37.569 Their assets embedded within law enforcement and emergency services take notice of a number 00:15:37.569 --> 00:15:41.990 of reports involving human beings exploding, and begin investigating. 00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:47.100 The cause was soon determined to be anomalous hot chocolate; however, within a week, the 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:52.130 deaths associated with SCP-5073 appeared to stop. 00:15:52.130 --> 00:15:57.670 Without any of the cocoa powder recovered intact, the Foundation considers SCP-5073 00:15:57.670 --> 00:16:03.050 to be neutralized after six months without incidents… but Researcher Tarrant isn’t 00:16:03.050 --> 00:16:04.050 convinced. 00:16:04.050 --> 00:16:08.709 In an informal research log, Tarrant expresses his overwhelming concern that this situation 00:16:08.709 --> 00:16:09.770 isn’t over. 00:16:09.770 --> 00:16:15.540 At this point, there is no physical evidence of SCP-5073 other than the trace amounts of 00:16:15.540 --> 00:16:20.000 extremely sweet hot chocolate recovered among the corpses that the ballistic beverage left 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.259 in its wake. 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:24.259 Or rather, the scattered smithereens of corpses. 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:28.250 Despite his fellow researchers seeming convinced that they had already solved the mystery of 00:16:28.250 --> 00:16:32.440 the Explosively Hot Chocolate, Tarrant remains unconvinced. 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:36.720 Based on the forensic evidence pointing to a dust explosion and eyewitness accounts that 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:42.160 SCP-5073 had been contained within packets identical to existing brands, there was a 00:16:42.160 --> 00:16:47.269 working theory about exactly how people were unknowingly consuming the deadly drink. 00:16:47.269 --> 00:16:51.529 According to the theory, an unknown anomalous prankster was responsible for slipping the 00:16:51.529 --> 00:16:55.709 self-igniting cocoa powder into the hot chocolate being sold in stores. 00:16:55.709 --> 00:16:59.500 It was seemingly designed to be sweet enough that a victim would be sure to drink enough 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:04.240 in order to explode, and the only reason these incidents had stopped was that this murderous 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.589 prankster had gotten bored. 00:17:06.589 --> 00:17:10.880 However, Researcher Tarrant was adamant that this theory was wrong. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:15.400 He thought it seemed like far too elaborate of a method to eliminate people via explosion. 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:19.470 And the idea that these were the actions of a deranged prankster just didn’t seem to 00:17:19.470 --> 00:17:20.880 add up. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:25.850 Although aware that not all anomalies abide by a sense of logic, if someone had engineered 00:17:25.850 --> 00:17:30.360 SCP-5073, then it would need to make more sense. 00:17:30.360 --> 00:17:34.500 As far as the researcher can see, there is no sense in making people explode through 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:35.530 this method. 00:17:35.530 --> 00:17:39.550 With that in mind, Tarrant starts to draw his own conclusions about the Explosively 00:17:39.550 --> 00:17:41.190 Hot Chocolate. 00:17:41.190 --> 00:17:44.640 He saw discrepancies in the Foundation’s prankster theory. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:49.470 The idea that this person got bored and gave up so easily didn’t make sense to the researcher. 00:17:49.470 --> 00:17:54.070 If this supposed prankster had been worried about a Foundation investigation, they probably 00:17:54.070 --> 00:17:57.460 wouldn’t have started exploding people at random to begin with. 00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:01.559 Tarrant wondered if another external factor was the reason the explosive deaths abruptly 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:02.559 stopped. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:07.890 The month that had followed the initial week of SCP-5073 incidents had been unusually warm 00:18:07.890 --> 00:18:09.669 for so early in the year. 00:18:09.669 --> 00:18:13.760 Warmer weather means fewer people drinking hot chocolate, and Researcher Tarrant thought 00:18:13.760 --> 00:18:18.860 that, if whoever had engineered SCP-5073 had been attempting to meet some kind of quota 00:18:18.860 --> 00:18:22.559 for the number of victims, then there’d be less opportunity to with the weather being 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:23.559 hotter. 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:26.320 The packets disappearing also bothers Researcher Tarrant. 00:18:26.320 --> 00:18:30.809 If someone had the ability to make physical evidence vanish at will, then why would they 00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:34.570 use such an elaborate method to blow people up in the first place? 00:18:34.570 --> 00:18:38.830 Speaking of physical evidence, why not also remove the victim’s remains too? 00:18:38.830 --> 00:18:42.840 That’s where Tarrant makes his alarming discovery, something that had previously been 00:18:42.840 --> 00:18:48.020 concealed by how much the corpses had been blown apart by their internal explosions. 00:18:48.020 --> 00:18:51.270 He notices there’s more meat and bone missing than should be. 00:18:51.270 --> 00:18:54.679 And what’s left has tiny bite marks on it. 00:18:54.679 --> 00:19:00.910 A year passed before incidents involving SCP-5073 explosions began again. 00:19:00.910 --> 00:19:04.840 Although several more lives are lost as a result, the Foundation is at least able to 00:19:04.840 --> 00:19:09.101 recover intact samples of the anomalous hot chocolate powder that they can analyze, with 00:19:09.101 --> 00:19:14.580 Researcher Tarrant heading up the effort to learn more about SCP-5073. 00:19:14.580 --> 00:19:19.630 Foundation analysts notice a sudden surge in similar social media posts from areas where 00:19:19.630 --> 00:19:21.960 the latest explosions take place. 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:26.740 All of the posts seem to revolve around sightings of tiny brown spiders… 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:30.679 Check out the Dr. Bob Patreon and become a junior researcher today! 00:19:30.679 --> 00:19:35.750 Now go and watch another entry from the files of Dr. Bob, like SCP-294 - The Coffee Machine!