"Greetings, Initiate. I trust the travel has been smooth," the Chapter Master said to the young man before him.

"I can't complain, my lord," the man replied respectfully. "I'm eager to prove myself, my lord. I've only heard... rumours about the nature of our work here, but I can assure you that I will do my utmost-"

"There'll be time for that, yes," the Chapter Master rushed to say. "Now - let's get the introductory tour going, shall we?"

The young man nodded enthusiastically and the two walked into the grand, ornate halls of the Imperium Anomaliae.

"Here in the Imperium Anomaliae," the Chapter Master started reciting effortlessly, having given the introductory speech, "you will work alongside others to protect the Imperium and the Galaxy from hostile forces that are of... alien nature."

"Xenos, my lord?" the man asked.

"No, Initiate," the Chapter Master laughed. "We're older than that. And no, not the forces of Chaos either. What we do is... more important than that. We are talking about things that break the rules of the universe itself; that even the Warp would fail to understand. We are all that's between the Galaxy and utter bedlam."

"I'm... not sure I follow, my lord."

"You must understand that our organization predates The Imperium itself. We've kept humanity safe throughout its ancient history, throughout the Dark Age of Technology, throughout the Horus Heresy, and we shall continue to do so before."

"But if this is older than The Imperium itself... what was this called before?"

The Chapter Master turned to him with a subtle smile on his face.

"The SCP Foundation," he said. "Now - let's meet your supervisor."

He opened the door and the two saw a horrific sight - a tall, metal figure stood in the dark room, clutching a staff buried halfway into a human corpse. The figure turned to face them, the green light emanating from their face showing what resembled a blank expression. The Initiate immediately drew his weapon but the Chapter Master grabbed his hand with a vice-like grip, preventing him from taking aim.

"Chapter Master," the figure said in a cold, emotionless voice.

"Namaerekh," the Chapter Master responded politely. "This is the Initiate we have talked about."

"Ah. Very good," Namaerekh replied and turned back to the corpse, the green crystal atop his staff glowing lightly.

"My lord, this- this is a Necron!"

"Correct, Initiate," the Chapter Master replied, still holding his hand.

"The Xenos must be here to destr-"

"Initiate," the Chapter Master interrupted, "you must leave behind your old hate and prejudices. What we do here transcends these petty squabbles. We are here to protect life itself," he said and cast a quick look at the Necron Lord, "in all its forms."

Finally, the Initiate eased his grip on his bolter and slowly holstered it.

"Good," the Chapter Master commended. "You said you wished to prove yourself. A good way to start is not to fire at your superior. Lord Namaerekh is our chief Xenobiologist. You will answer directly to him."

The Necron pulled the staff out of the human body and turned to the two humans.

"Initiate Pelagius. I have seen your records. You have shown excellent aptitude and I trust you will perform your duties to the best of your ability."

Pelagius nervously looked at the Chapter Master who gave him a reassuring nod.

"Thank you... my... lord," Pelagius answered with audible uncertainty.

"News, Namaerekh?" the Chapter Master asked.

"As we feared. The body shows clear signs of Theta-Alpha-07 corruption. Another instance of it must've been created. It must be apprehended at once."

Pelagius, feeling a bit more in his element, spoke up.

"Just tell me the target and I will see it destroyed," he said.

"Destroyed? No, Initiate," the Necron explained. "We do not destroy things we do not understand; the repercussions of that could be a hundredfold worse than their existence."

"Then... what do we do?"

"We Secure. We Contain. And," the Necron said and looked at the Chapter Master, "we Protect."