Per 
Seeking Greenlights: Yes
Page Type: SCP Article
Genre: Thriller, sorta hard sci-fi
Elevator Pitch: A nearly undetectable and extremely widespread memetic "disease" that spreads via subliminal messages. Its effects mimic non-anomalous abnormal psychology. Most hosts experience violent intrusive thoughts, a small percentage experience personality shifts, and rare cases show signs of schizophrenia. In only a few known cases, the host becomes a “prophet” with the ability to turn any infected person into a fanatical worshipper. Do you sometimes feel a sudden, inexplicable impulse to harm yourself or others? That’s perfectly normal. It is also indistinguishable from the memetophage.
Central Narrative: A researcher is assigned to investigate whether anything anomalous was at work in an incident where a fellow researcher started spouting psychotic flat earth nonsense on the PA system. Progress is slow, and incident reports that were added retroactively to the article due to being overlooked at the time foreshadow the fact that he's on the wrong track and the virus is repeatedly passing right under his nose.
The Foundation eventually identifies the threat and develops a countermeasure, but the false sense of security is shattered by a massive incident affecting thousands of personnel who were thought to have been properly inoculated.
The article ends with instructions to circulate a new inoculation agent in the form of a training video on the difference between potential sightings/leaks, and typical conspiracy theorist garbage. The original researcher is reassigned, and his successor is left to address the fact that there are surely millions of hosts in every civilized nation in the world.
Hook/Attention-Grabber: This will be much more engaging if I can find the writing chops to make the virus’ victims feel both true-to-life and dangerously unhinged. Depicting insane conspiracy theorists as disease vectors and ticking time bombs is definitely not a statement of any kind, but if it was, it would add an interesting element of political allegory.
Additional Notes: If I knew what the hell I was talking about, this would work as actual hard scifi. A literal virus made of information does sort of make sense. I could re-read Snow Crash and see if I hate it less do some research regarding how it would work. It might also be cool to make the epidemiology and psychology more “real.”
Outline and roughing-out follows.
The Boomer Memetophage (working title)
Clearance level: Restricted
Containment rating: Oh Fuck
Disruption class: High Updated X/X/X: OH FUCK
Risk class: Caution
Containment procedures:
IMPORTANT: as of X/X/X, all other preventative procedures are rescinded, only do what’s still in this document
IMPORTANT: as of X/X/X, agent A is to be removed from circulation. Inoculation agent B is effective against all known strains as of X/X/X [experimental reports available from Dr.Whoever] and has no side effects.
Inoculation agent B is to be inserted into PA messages, printed material, and training videos. Foundation personnel who spend more than 3 days without exposure to inoculation-loaded communications are to be given a device that monitors their facial expressions, words, and biometrics and assigned to something where they will rarely talk to anyone for longer than 30 seconds. If they raise no red flags for 5 days, they’re cleared.
Initiatives are being launched to investigate the possibility of SCP-X-1 requiring its own number and/or being connected to a known anomaly or group.
Initiatives are being launched to distribute inoculation agent B via internet and corporate media, see mission reports from Cdr. Whoever. An estimated 20% of the at-risk population is inoculated at any given time.
Researcher note: The problem is that unlike antibodies in your blood, the memetic countermeasures only last until your memory of them deteriorates too far, same reason the contagious period for the virus is so short. We’re only safe because we can be bombarded with it 24/7. It's possible that core personnel are completely immune due to having it baked hard into us via constant repetition, but we've already learned the hard way not to let that give us a false sense of security.
Description:
A self-replicating meme-virus that its hosts spread via subliminal messages in their written, spoken, and digital communications. It is nearly undetectable because its effects mimic non-anomalous abnormal psychology. It may or may not be partially responsible for the resurgence of fringe groups such as (_).
Addendum: Oh yeah, and that whole prophet/activation thing. The wrong Type X host could cause (foundation jargon for world war 3).
Technical stuff
As of present day, there are an estimated [comically long redacted number] of cases worldwide. Watching and listening in person carries the greatest risk, while only listening has a reduced risk and only watching has a minor risk. Hosts unknowingly add the “virus” to all forms of communication, but it needs to be a significant chunk of text, a longish speech, or two minutes of face to face verbal interaction. Transmission via Youtube is possible but amount of exposure needed varies greatly. Unlike a real disease, carriers of SCP-X never develop immunity and remain contagious if continually exposed and repeatedly re-infected. If not re-infected for 24 hours, "pathogen" load begins to decrease. After three days without re-infection, most hosts are no longer contagious. However, hosts that are repeatedly exposed and re-infected can remain contagious for more than two weeks.
97.7% Type A (mild): All hosts experience new or increased intrusive thoughts of violence, and mild personality changes such as reduced energy. 97% of patients fully recover from the symptoms if not re-infected. An estimated 5% of type A hosts are at risk of escalating to type B if continuously exposed over a long period of time.
2.1% Type B (serious): Hosts experience any or all of the following symptoms: New or increased intrusive thoughts, decreased cognitive ability, depression, panic attacks, narcolepsy, and sexual dysfunction. All type B hosts experience significant personality changes and antisocial behavior, usually narcissism and self-isolation. 55% of patients fully recover from the symptoms if not re-infected. An estimated 25% of type B hosts are at risk of escalating to type C if continuously exposed over a long period of time
0.2% Type C: All hosts experience radical personality changes, paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions consistent with non-anomalous schiziophrenia. During the contagious period, Less than 1% of patients fully recover from the symptoms.
Type X: There are three known cases of hosts who exhibit periods of lucidity, surges of social confidence, and highly specific delusions that are not consistent with any medical or psychological diagnosis. All known cases of contact between type X hosts and other infected persons causes the following anomalous effects (see reports):
Host activation: Any type A, B, or C host that comes into contact with a type X will experience feelings of euphoria, increased capacity for violence, and fanatical loyalty to the type X host. There are no confirmed cases of hosts displaying activation symptoms except after coming into contact with a Type X host. Activation increases the time needed for a host to recover and return to normal by a minimum of 30 days.
It has been observed to mutate in much the same way as a virus, so it’s possible that it arose naturally. Based on current information, the first human infection probably occurred between 1998 and 2004, either that or it was born an indeterminate amount of time ago and conditions in the early to mid 00s allowed for its pandemic explosion. The internet and 9/11 could have created the conditions for its creation as well as its explosion. The fact that it can be replicated whole days later without being distorted by memory sounds like anomalous behavior rather than strictly memetic, which raises the possibility that it was created by the beings that hosts claim to be able to see (SCP-X-1).
REPORTS OUTLINE:
2007 (retroactively identified): Crazy doomsayer investigated as possible SCP sighting. Conclusion: Waste of time.
2009 (retroactively identified): Crazy doomsayer investigated as possible leak. Retroactive: May have been activated. Conclusion: Waste of time.
2011 (retroactively identified): SCP employee becomes crazy doomsayer, apprehended due to being a potential leak. Conclusion: Non-anomalous but caused by exposure to an anomaly with known psychoactive effects.
Early 2014: SCP employee becomes crazy doomsayer. Researcher-kun assigned to investigate possible causes just in case it was caused by an SCP.
Late 2014: Civilian employee connected to the same facility starts saying suspiciously similar-sounding things. Retroactive: May have been caused by a type X that he came into contact with in his civilian life. Researcher-kun comes up with a bogus theory re: common factor causing an SCP (an actual one, preferably) to affect the minds of the people in the 2011 and 2014 incidents.
Early 2015 (retroactively identified): SCP employee at a location on the other side of the planet goes postal. Conclusion: Happens all the time.
Late 2015: Another host is detained (this makes two) and proper tests can be done for the first time. Researcher-kun identifies markers for the infection, and realizes that it’s something transmitted from person to person like a disease. A new SCP is registered and preventative measures against spread via face to face talking are hastily put into place.
Early 2016: A small, localized Jonestown event that will be retroactively recognized as being caused by an X-class. Researcher-kun is notified, causing him to change his assumptions. He realizes the existence of mild cases, and sees that everyone is in danger. “Okay, so here’s where we went wrong: All of our so-called control group had a mild form. The severe case markers are a lot more pronounced. Some insane number of personnel were affected. Who knows how many times this thing passed right under our noses, how many incidences of personnel going postal or becoming madmen were caused by this?” Most of this article is written. Additional countermeasures and precautions against the spread are developed and deployed. It is completely effective. A sign of relief is breathed. Researcher-kun is promoted.
20XX (retroactively added): Crazy doomsayer investigated as possible SCP sighting. Conclusion: Waste of time.
20XX (retroactively added): D-class at a faraway location becomes crazy doomsayer. Honestly it’s a miracle that anyone bothered recording the incident.
20XX: Researcher-kun returns home from an assignment on the other side of the planet, and upon entering his home facility he tests positive for the virus. He is quarantined and inoculated without incident. “How fucking long has it been since I had to do anything except sign off on access to my work on this damn thing? Four years? Five?”
New entry: Someone from Researcher-kun’s site massively distributes an audio recording that causes an awakening effect on thousands of employees across sites XX, XX, XX, XX, XX, and XX. All of the affected personnel were infected, including Researcher-kun himself. 20% of contagious Type A hosts, 3% of inert Type A hosts, and 99% of both contagious and inert Type B hosts were affected.
Researcher-kun is relieved of his post, demoted, and reassigned. His successor starts investigating the possibility of a new strain, and he finds one, but that’s not what caused the incident. The inoculation agent had been a failure all along.
[attached: distribute this to all personnel at all sites. It’s the new inoculation agent, embedded in a training video about how to tell the difference between sightings and crazy conspiracy theorists.]
