"Death of a culture
The death of a culture
Somewhere the vulture
Somewhere the vulture
Is waiting for us in an erected sun
A sun with an ion gun
Evil comes in round shapes."
— Bad Lip Reading, "It's Not a Moon"
Yet beyond the geometrically perfect shape of the thing, there was little to see. Nowhere was there any marks or any abatement of its ultimate, ebon blackness. It was the very crystallization of night, and for one moment, Floyd wondered if it could indeed be some extraordinary natural formation, born of the fires and pressures attending the creation of the Moon. But that remote possibility, he knew, had already been dismissed.
"Personally, I felt adding anything to the cube that gave it personality was a mistake. I happened to love the idea that the design said absolutely nothing about them, while at the same time, everything."
— Doug Drexler, on the design of Star Trek: Voyager's Borg tactical cube
To merely call the monolith dark would not be accurate. Its blackness is not merely the lack of reflected light, but emptiness in every way. Its space is not vacant or filled with dark substance, but rather it feels as though there is not even any space there. It is more like a tear in space-time or perhaps a tear in reality itself, revealing the nothingness beyond. At the same time, the monolith does appear as if it has some sort of existence itself; and its existence seems clearer and more fundamental than that of everything else around it.
—Description of the Shadowlith, Underrail
Dr. Ngo: Tell me about the dream.
Dr. Blank: I'm standing in a flat, empty expanse. I can't see the details. I can't see anything but this gigantic… I think it's a cube? A gigantic black cube, too big to see, too big to even think about. It's so vast, it takes your breath away just to imagine that it exists.
Dr. Ngo: And what's the cube doing?
Dr. Blank: The cube's not doing anything. No… that's not true. The cube is bearing down on me. Because I'm holding it up.
Dr. Ngo: You're holding it up? I thought you said it was immeasurably vast.
Dr. Blank: It is. I'm holding it up by one corner, and all the weight is concentrated on that single point. On me. I don't even see all this from my own perspective; it's like I'm floating behind myself, watching myself bear the load of this ungodly huge weight. If I shift my grip, it'll start to fall, and I won't be able to stop it. It'll come crashing down. I can't so much as twitch. And I know I can't hold it forever, but I know I have to hold it, forever. I can't drop it. I can't even put it down.
Dr. Ngo: Why not?
Dr. Blank: I don't know. Because… I'll get in trouble? Because if it starts to fall, it'll fall forever. Because I'm the pressure point, the fulcrum, and nothing else can keep it steady. Because if I do put it down, the sheer weight of it will break the goddamn Earth. Because it's too big not to carry. Because it's everything.
Dr. Blank: I'm standing in a flat, empty expanse. I can't see the details. I can't see anything but this gigantic… I think it's a cube? A gigantic black cube, too big to see, too big to even think about. It's so vast, it takes your breath away just to imagine that it exists.
Dr. Ngo: And what's the cube doing?
Dr. Blank: The cube's not doing anything. No… that's not true. The cube is bearing down on me. Because I'm holding it up.
Dr. Ngo: You're holding it up? I thought you said it was immeasurably vast.
Dr. Blank: It is. I'm holding it up by one corner, and all the weight is concentrated on that single point. On me. I don't even see all this from my own perspective; it's like I'm floating behind myself, watching myself bear the load of this ungodly huge weight. If I shift my grip, it'll start to fall, and I won't be able to stop it. It'll come crashing down. I can't so much as twitch. And I know I can't hold it forever, but I know I have to hold it, forever. I can't drop it. I can't even put it down.
Dr. Ngo: Why not?
Dr. Blank: I don't know. Because… I'll get in trouble? Because if it starts to fall, it'll fall forever. Because I'm the pressure point, the fulcrum, and nothing else can keep it steady. Because if I do put it down, the sheer weight of it will break the goddamn Earth. Because it's too big not to carry. Because it's everything.
—Description of a nightmare caused by SCP-5162
, SCP Foundation
, SCP Foundation