Annabelle Dillard

Figure 1. Section of human hippocampus, with SCP-5000 neurons labeled with blue fluorescent DAPI stain.

Item #: SCP-5000

Object Class: Explained

Special Containment Procedures: Foundation agents embedded within institutions of higher learning, especially those working in the departments of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Science, are to suppress or disavow research into SCP-5000 and its interactions with cognitohazardous sensory input. Foundation employees in corporate R&D, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health are to deny grant proposals for such research. Database crawler AS7739 has been assigned to delete or hide publications and scholarly references to SCP-5000.
SCP-5000 containment procedures are synonymous with standard cognitohazard containment protocol. No additional resources are required.

Description: SCP-5000 consists of ganglia 00344R-15364X, 40583A-65290M, and 91500F-91535H (See: Foundation Internal Anomalous Connectome Register ver. 1.0.14), found within the human lateral geniculate nucleus, primary auditory cortex, and medial temporal lobe, which are responsible for the detrimental cognitive effects of at least 80% of known cognitohazardous images and audio.

Although the regions of the brain activated by these cognitohazards are readily observable via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans, their mechanism of action is not yet clear.

Addendum 5000-1: Following the success of both mundane (See: Van Bogaert et al. "Epileptic encephalopathy with continuous spike-waves during slow-wave sleep" and the Human Connectome Project) and GOI/Foundation (See: Alpha-Gru-Kappa Report on ████-Induced Cerebrovascular Stroke) neuroscience research, SCP-5000 has been classified as Explained.
Further details are restricted to Level 5/5000 and above.
All is well. There is no need to inquire further.

[INPUT LEVEL 5/5000 SECURITY CREDENTIALS]

Item #: SCP-5000

Object Class: Thaumiel

Special Containment Procedures: Proposed modifications to SCP-5000 may be submitted to the O5 council biannually by Dr. Alyssa Ibaraki and the current Memetics Division Head. The O5 council is no longer accepting additional proposals at this time.
Testing of potential modifications to SCP-5000 is restricted to the item's HMCL supervisor and Level 5/5000 or higher at Site-17.
Humans with neural archetype scans that do not match current SCP-5000 specifications, with the exception of [REDACTED], are to be apprehended, questioned, and terminated.

Description: SCP-5000 consists of ganglia 00042R-25994X, 32301J-24089P, 41580A-72981M, 81500F-81535H, and 92490U-99299Y (See: Foundation Internal Anomalous Connectome Register ver. 1.2.16), found within the human lateral geniculate nucleus, striate complex, primary and secondary auditory cortex, medial temporal lobe, medial lemniscus, olfactory bulb, and solitary nucleus, which have been designed to trigger the detrimental cognitive effects of at least 80% of known cognitohazardous images and audio.
For a more complete description of SCP-5000 biochemistry, see Document 5000-c.

History:
The initial proposal for SCP-5000 was made 1/17/████.

Proposal: As the size and scope of the SCP Foundation expands and more anomalies are discovered daily, RAISA is having a harder and harder time maintaining information security. Symmetric key encryption (e.g. AES, N = 256) is no longer viable due to the difficulty of sharing keys securely¹, and public-key cryptography (e.g. RSA, ECC) is now vulnerable to both mundane and anomalous quantum computers - RSA-2048 can be cracked by Site-15's SCP-███ in polynomial time, ~10 seconds, for example. The danger of hostile GOIs, enterprising whistleblowers, or even Foundation employees with too much curiosity and too little clearance getting their hands on inter-site communications, interview logs, containment procedures … it's a risk that cannot be understated. Could you imagine if some soft-hearted Junior Researcher read Procedure 110-Montauk and took it upon himself to smuggle her away, or god forbid put her out of her misery? Or the number of SCPs the Serpent's Hand could intercept in transit if they had transport ledgers? And who would be responsible for the kind of misery despotic governments would cause if they got their hands on the formulae for proper amnestics?
In any case, information is taken in through the senses: we read text, or listen to recordings, or feel out Braille. What if we could protect it with some kind of mental deterrent, against unauthorized consumers? It's not so far-fetched an idea! There already exist chemical agents that confuse or harm the mind, or induce physiological changes - LSD for instance. Certainly these agents have a cellular receptor to bind to, but even nonspecific inputs like looking at blue light sources right before bed can, say, affect circadian rhythms. If effective cognitohazards truly exist, our records would protect themselves: inducing an eye-aversion response in low-clearance documents, all the way up to killsprites in the top-secret stuff to melt uninoculated brains. We have the tech to explore the possibility, and an entire department already dedicated to studying mind-affecting anomalies to lend their expertise. I just need the go-head to start trying things out.²
- Dr. Alyssa Ibaraki, Memetics Division Researcher

On 06/14/████, proposal, titled At-First-Glance, was approved for preliminary testing by Site Director ████████.

Below is an abridged selection of SCP-5000 preliminary testing. For full testing logs, see Document 5000-1.
Testing Log 5000-1

Subject: D-0992
Input: Series of flickering white lights at 10Hz, displayed on a CRT monitor for 15 minutes.
Result: Mild discomfort. Within expected Bucha effect bounds.

Subject: D-0992
Input: Series of flickering white lights at 10Hz, displayed on a CRT monitor for 1 hour.
Result: Mild discomfort. Lingering perception that lights were flickering even after monitor was turned off for approximately 5 minutes. Within expected Bucha effect bounds.

Subject: D-2390
Input: 25kHz pitch played at 5dB next to subject's ear for 48 hours.
Result: No effect.

Subject: D-2390
Input: 17Hz pitch played at 5dB next to subject's ear for 48 hours.
Result: No effect.

Subject: D-2390
Input: 7Hz pitch played at 220dB next to subject's ear for 30 seconds.
Result: Rupturing of tympanum and semicircular canals, subject rendered unconscious. Researcher Ibaraki reprimanded.
"I don't know why I expected anything different." - Dr. Ibaraki.

Subject: D-1887
Input: Clean audio transcription of select passages from SCP-███.
Result: No effect. Subject amnesticized to avoid information breach.

Subject: D-2385
Input: A series of alternating images of horizontal bars on a red background, and vertical bars on a green background, displayed on a phosphor screen for three minutes to subject.
Result: Subject reported seeing black-and-white horizontal grating patterns with a greenish tinge, and black-and-white vertical grating patterns with a pinkish tinge. This alteration of color perception seemed initially promising, but follow-up suggested that it was simply a case of classical conditioning, induction, and visual desensitization.

Subject: D-2958
Input: 2:1 sodium amythal and phenobarbitol mixture, delivered as a vapor to subject's nasal passage.
Result: Expected sedative and hypnotic symptoms.

Subject: D-3221
Input: A mixture of crushed rose petals, peat, and [REDACTED], held under subject's nose for 3 minutes.
Result: Subject stated that the scent reminded him of his childhood. When pressed, he explained that it was likely due to the fact that his mother used to tend to a local flower garden with him. Subject-specific result, not noteworthy. Desensitization occurred in 2 minutes, within expected bounds.

Subject: D-4545
Input: 2mM allyl isothiocyanate³, applied to subject's tongue.
Result: Subject reported a loss in the high sodium aversion response.⁴ Follow-up discovered that this was attributed to a local biochemical effect. Results handed off to a mundane research group.⁵

Researcher Note: It's simply no use. We simply can't find mundane sensory inputs that induce the symptoms we want. The eyes and ears simply take in too narrow a field of information, and the brain filters through too much of it. I mean, you can stun people with bright flashes of light from their computer screens and low-frequency pulses from their speakers, but that's not a real cognitohazard, that's called knocking them the fuck out with a flashbang grenade. It's heavy-handed and impractical. What are we going to do next, call cyanide a gustatory cognitohazard? Certainly the olfactory, taste, and tactile receptors are more varied, but if we can't trigger novel biochemical changes with everyday stimuli, and we have to resort to esoteric molecules, it's useless. At that point you might as well call up a chemical engineering lab rather than a memetics division. I don't know why I thought this was some kind of untapped well - if it were that simple, people would have discovered them by accident already. I guess all those mind-affecting SCPs really are called "anomalous" for a reason. I'm declaring At-First-Glance a bust.
- Dr. Alyssa Ibaraki, Memetics Division Researcher

We should have stopped here.
Follow-Up: Researcher Ibaraki has been given authorization to experiment with D-class subjects in order to determine whether human neurological makeup can be altered, within an acceptable degree of deviation, to be susceptible to "cognitohazardous" stimuli.

Figure 2. Cross-section of human brain at early iteration ███. Look at how monstrous we've become.

Below is an experimental log of notable genomic/proteomic modifications proposed and tested by Researcher Ibaraki. The goal was not only to confirm that modified D-class were now susceptible to desired cognitohazardous inputs, but also that there were no long-term side-effects or undesired aberrations in their behavior.

For full testing logs, see Document 5000-2.
Testing Log 5000-2

Taste

Addendum: Taste is the most straightforward of the chemoreceptive senses. The sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami receptor nerves route through the gustatory nucleus, followed by the ventral posterior medial (VPM) nucleus, followed by the primary gustatory nucleus (in Brodmann's area 36), the latter of which is the most promising target.

Subjects: D-3250 through D-3798
Procedure 1.1: Additional neuroblasts were cultured along the special visceral afferent column of the medulla oblongata, with insertion of ████ receptors along gustatory nucleus-linked dendrites confirmed by TIRF microscopy.
Intended susceptibilities: Taste-induced excitation and inhibition of swallowing, salivation, gagging, vomiting; basic physiological functions such as digestion and respiration; and other functions of the medulla.
Confirmed susceptibilities: The following cognitohazards were discovered as notable proof-of-concept vulnerabilities.

• Recipe for corned beef brisket, page 37 of "The New Basics of Cooking" by ████████, with 37 milligrams of Demerara sugar substituted for [REDACTED]: Turned off the swallowing reflex. Prior to asphyxiation, D-3277, who was a native Northern Kurdish speaker, also warped epiglottal consonants in her speech.
• Smoothie containing mango, raspberries, [REDACTED], 2 grams of rabbit liver, and 50 mM D-alanine⁶: Turned off the automatic breathing reflex. D-3493 complained that he "felt like [he] started choking as soon as [he] stopping paying attention to breathing in and out" and asphyxiated upon falling asleep. An autopsy confirmed that this response was triggered by gustatory sensation of the smoothie and not by an unexpected chemical reaction. Research into how to suppress conscious notice of the loss of automatic breathing is ongoing.
• Nabeyaki udon soup from Site-██ cafeteria cookbook, "Never SCP a Meal with ████████!", with the egg slow poached, [REDACTED] mushrooms substituted for Enokitake mushrooms, and ginger pickled to pH 4.66: Blocked carotid and aortic body signals to the pre-Bötzinger complex, rendering the D-3712's medulla unable to control for blood acidity. D-3712 later perished during normal aerobic exercise due to complications from metabolic acidosis. Later testing with D-3713 through D-3722 discovered that the cognitohazard only triggers when the proteins (the chicken thigh, fish cake, and tempura shrimp) are consumed prior to the other components of the soup, in that order.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. No known cognitohazards were triggered by accident. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered.
Follow-up: Not approved for implementation, as deadly gustatory cognitohazards are not a significant improvement over conventional orally-consumed toxins. Moreover, modern medicinal treatments capable of fine-tuned control over autonomic bodily functions are by-and-large already available in oral form, no neural tampering required.

Subjects: D-8135 through D-9215
Procedure 1.2: MKZ3 protein expression was upregulated by ganglia 3208F-J with miRNA, reinforcing transient CaMKII and PKC activation for early-form long-term potentiation in the hypothalamus and basal telencephalon.
Intended susceptibilities: Taste-induced palatability suggestion and aversion learning. Possible influence over emotions surrounding motivation and excitability.
Confirmed susceptibilities:

• Krispy Kreme donut with 73% aeration by mass and ███ milligrams of SCP-999 secretion added to glaze: Promoted oxytocin and dopamine release when recalling ideas processed during consumption of the donut. D-8199, who was ordered examine a set of common air plants (Tillandsia) while eating, hereafter developed a love of Tillandsia cultivation, which persisted even following application of Class-A amnestics. This result was replicated with multiple other targets, including concepts the subject had little to no comprehension of (i.e. D-8398 became gleefully obsessed with trying to read Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow following cognitohazard exposure, despite being illiterate). Effect was confirmed to be outside reasonable bounds of mundane associative memory, and could not be triggered with any other dosage or combination of SCP-999 secretion.
• Blini (buckwheat flour pancake) garnished with butter and infused with partially denatured Conidae venom and [REDACTED]: Triggered a strong aversion response against the person primarily responsible for cooking the pancake, even when subject was left unawares of the chef's identity. (Researcher Note: How could the D-class possibly know who made the pancake, just by eating the damn thing? We're trying to make cognitohazards grounded in scientific basis and ended up stumbling upon an honest-to-god anomaly. - Dr. Ibaraki)

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. No known cognitohazards were triggered by accident. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered.
Follow-up: Approved for implementation. Further investigation recommended.
We're just fools playing at God.

HMCL Note: Taste seems to be a promising pathway because we can hard-wire very specific combinations of flavors to trigger cognitohazardous effects. No civilian is likely to stumble upon that 5:11:37 mixture of aspartame, cyclamate, and quinine (plus a hint of barbecue sauce) we got to induce a fugue state, for example. Unfortunately, when it comes to information security, it's impractical. Humans don't usually take in information by eating things, and we're not going to get people to ingest dubious mixtures of food alongside their weekly MTF reports. I've approved the more subtle of your proposed modifications for the next step, because O5 thinks it will be useful to use cafeteria food for site-wide behavioral modification, and MTF Lambda-14 ("One Star Reviewers") is looking to introduce memetic agents and counters in restaurant settings.
- Dr. Matthew Chen, HMCL Supervisor

Smell

Addendum: Human olfaction is poor by animal standards, but it is still capable of distinguishing some couple hundred thousand odors. More importantly, the olfactory bulb is part of the limbic system, which controls emotions and memories. (Researcher Note: I'm actually surprised more memetic SCPs don't target our sense of smell, actually - it's a fast track to things like formative memories and traumatic experiences. - Dr. Ibaraki)

Subjects: D-2135 through D-3215
Procedure 2.1: Rodent transgenes for an olfactory tubercle were inserted into olfactory tract neurons via retrovirus, resulting in the successful growth of a callus of tissue in the forebrain through which olfactory bulb axons could pass in order to reach the medial dorsal nucleus.
Intended susceptibilities: Smell-induced control of emotional pain processing and saccadic efference copy⁷ Possible influence over attention, planning, organization, abstract thinking, multi-tasking, and active memory.
Confirmed susceptibilities: The following cognitohazards were discovered as notable proof-of-concept vulnerabilities.

• Lanolin wax dissolved in acetone and propylene glycol: Temporary moderate aphantasia.⁸ D-2231 noticed this effect when he attempted to fall asleep in the evening following exposure and failed to visualize sheep jumping over a fence. He also had trouble visualizing more abstract concepts, including the act of jumping and the idea of one object being positioned above another.
• 0.05M vanillin and 0.1M geosmin⁹ solution: Sensation of sharp, stinging chest pain. D-3042 described it as "someone pulling up [his] stomach and heart through his throat with a string." Sensation faded after 24 hours.
• Freshly sliced tangerine peels, mixed with 100g iron powder and [REDACTED]: Triggered eye aversion reflex. D-3051's left and right eyes rolled consistently to the 65-95 degree peripheries of his vision, despite being told to consciously point them forward.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. Cognitohazard #2 (vanillin and geosmin) was accidentally activated on two separate occasions. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered.
Follow-up: Not approved for implementation. See HMCL note below.

Subjects: D-5135 through D-8215
Procedure 2.2: Developmental hypnotherapy was used to manually encode select narrative motifs¹⁰ to certain odors.
Intended susceptibilities: Smell-induced recall of narrative motifs and formation of false trope-based memories on suggestion.
Confirmed susceptibilities:

• Wood pulp and decayed Ascomycete fungus chitin brought to 5 degrees C: Recall of "the dead cannot speak unless spoken to" and "dead holy man begs grave-digger not to bury sinner on top of him" motifs.
• Mixture of crushed rose petals, peat, and [REDACTED]: Recall of false memory concerning a deadly childhood car crash into a rose garden. 35% of exposed subjects vividly recalled climbing out of the vehicle and seeing blood on the surrounding flowers.
• [REDACTED]: Recall of false memory concerning a chance meeting with a childhood friend. Friend often appeared as a blonde Eastern European female.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. Known cognitohazards were triggered by accident an unknown number of times. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered. [REDACTED] currently under investigation as potential SCP.
Follow-up: Approved for implementation. Do you ever wonder wAll is well. There is no need to inquire further.?

HMCL Note: Smell is unfortunately less specific than taste - we saw the cognitohazards trigger with farily wide range of error on the documented recipes. I'm afraid it's just as impractical as taste, too. Not only is it difficult to expose subjects to odors, but aerosols and vapors tend to diffuse quickly, and clean-up is messy. And that attempt at human pheromone communication was not secure at all. Procedures 2.2 and ██ have been approved because they partially overlap with some more vital auditory and visual pathways, and are necessary for limbic system access.
- Dr. Matthew Chen, HMCL Supervisor

Touch

Addendum: With touch, we're not only considering input from the mechanoreceptors for physical contact, but also for pain, temperature, and proprioception - every aspect of somatic sensation. The primary targets for modification will be the medial lemniscal-dorsal column nuclei-primary somatosensory cortex pathway, the trigeminal nerve pathway, and the spinothalamic tract.

Subjects: D-1844 through D-2005
Procedure 3.1: VEGF-dependent cellular migration of pyramidal neuron axons from trigeminal nerves¹¹ towards hippocampus and medial dorsal nucleus were promoted by downregulation of siRNA interference.
Intended susceptibilities: Touch-based manipulation of emotional memory.
Confirmed susceptibilities: The following cognitohazards were discovered as notable proof-of-concept vulnerabilities.

• Pulling back left canthus¹² for 45 seconds with metal forceps: Triggered parasite aversion response. Subject D-1991, for example, shuddered and felt that "there was a pulsating, dark worm wriggling underneath [her] iris." Sensation abated after 3 minutes.
• Kissing ██████████████: Activated anomalously strong and consistent oxytocin release. 20% of exposed subjects considered the applicant of the kiss a strong platonic friend, 25% as a maternal/paternal figure, and 50% as a non-platonic romantic target. Proportions approach 98% being in the "non-platonic attraction" stage after 3-5 exposures to the cognitohazard.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. At the 5-year checkpoint, D-████ was discovered deceased in his home; SCP-632 was discovered and contained at this location.
Follow-up: Not approved for implementation. Further investigation is needed as to whether SCP-632 was a pre-existing parasite, or evolved to take advantage of Procedure 3.1.

Subjects: D-2059 through D-2115
Procedure 3.2: The A-alpha and A-beta non-nociceptive mechanoreceptor gates were surgically aligned with [REDACTED] on the somatosensory homunculus. Substance P receptors were upregulated with CRISPR-Cas9 along the spinothalamic tract, with insertion confirmed by Western Blot.
Intended susceptibilities: Touch- and pattern-based activation or inhibition of pain sensation.
Confirmed susceptibilities:

• Drawing a [REDACTED] on the left inner forearm, with 1.5 second pauses at each vertex, a rate of movement of 3cm/s along each of the outer sides and 1cm/s along each of the inner sides: extreme sensation of body-wide pain. D-2066 described it as "having glass driven under [his] fingernails and [his] intestines pulled out." (Researcher Note: I have concerns about this being used for torture. It also has a high chance of being discovered accidentally. - Dr. Ibaraki)
• Drawing a [REDACTED] on the right knee with an applied pressure of (3t^2-2t) N/cm^2: All pain perception turned off for 72 hours. D-2111 noticed this effect when she cut herself with a razor and did not register the injury until falling unconscious from blood loss.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. Cognitohazard #1 was accidentally activated on 19 separate occasions; cognitohazard #2 on 5 separate occasions. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered.
Follow-up: Approved for implementation.

Researcher Note: I don't recommend implementing any of these procedures until we can figure out how SCP-632 arose. That spider must have developed some very specific triggers, to be able to reproduce by forcing the D-class's brain to gestate its offspring. Evolutionarily, that's a very fast acquisition, especially for a mode of reproduction. We need to keep an eye out for anomalies like these; if the cost of At-First-Sight is a sudden upswing in memetic SCPs, the costs may outweight the marginal benefit.
- Dr. Alyssa Ibaraki

Hearing

Addendum: Sound intensity and frequency are encoded in a relatively straightforward manner, but if auditory cognitohazards can be realistically implemented, they have a wide range of potential applications. The primary auditory cortex (Brodmann's area 41) is promising - the medial geniculate axons terminate in its layer IV.

Subjects: D-0038 through D-1103
Procedure 4.1: Unilateral cortical lesions were surgically made along the striate cortex and replaced with phase-locked neurons leading to the hypothalamus.
Intended susceptibilities: Sound-based inhibition of cardiac and respiratory function, and disruption of neural oscillation.
Confirmed susceptibilities: The following cognitohazards were discovered as notable proof-of-concept vulnerabilities.

• Alley-Shwartz audiohazard 3: Immediate cardiac arrest and cessation of respiration.
• Pantagruel AH 7: Immediate brain hemorrhage.¹³
• McPhee AH 9: Auditory command hallucination to "shut the door and walk away." Most subjects, in the absence of a door, also opted to close books, computer terminals, etc. Notably, D-0090 lost the ability to lucid dream following exposure, when before he could do so at will.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. No known cognitohazards were triggered by accident. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered.
Follow-up: Approved for implementation.

Subjects: D-1138 through D-2250
Procedure 4.2: SCP-███ and electroencephalotherapy were used to induce growth of pyramidal cells extending from primary auditory cortex to frontal lobe and Wernicke's area.
Intended susceptibilities: Sound-based disruption of higher cognition and language processing.
Confirmed susceptibilities:

• Triam audiohazard: Caused loss of all spoken language comprehension, as well as anomalous understanding of the [REDACTED] language.
• SCREECH: Subjects reported hearing incessant and dehabilitating tinnitus in their minds, which did not abate after any length of time or following Class-A amnestic application. Single exposure to the cognitohazard was sufficient to render all higher-order thought impossible, multiple exposures resulted in insanity.
• Naray AH 11: Caused slow and subliminal restructuring of personality. Subjects tended to become irritable, irrational, narcissistic, depressive, and suicidal over the course of several years. 30% of subjects also became misanthropes and experienced dissociation from the concept of friendship.
• Quixote AH 4: Caused inability to distinguish spoken from written word.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. No known cognitohazards were triggered by accident. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered. See reports for SCP-███ and SCP-███.
Follow-up: Approved for implementation. Note the potential for dissident and general population control.

HMCL Note: Sound-based cognitohazards are finally something we can easily embed in our records and data to protect against unauthorized access. We can easily turn them on or off, amplify or quiet them … the ease of use is unbelievable. I imagine they can be used offensively or defensively against large crowds of people, too, something none of our previous cognitohazards are capable of doing well. Excellent job.
- Dr. Matthew Chen, HMCL Supervisor

Sight

Addendum: Visual cognitohazards are the big one. Fortunately, we now have the expertise to target the lateral geniculate nucleus and striate complex efficiently.

Subjects: D-3248 through D-7200
Procedure 5.1: NGF was used to induced growth of a retinofugal projection to the hypothalamus. For each of the below agents, a set of grandmother cells were cultivated in the LGN corresponding to the visual cognitohazard cue.
Intended susceptibilities: Sight-based inhibition of cardiac and respiratory function, and disruption of neural oscillation.
Confirmed susceptibilities: The following cognitohazards were discovered as notable proof-of-concept vulnerabilities.

• Berryman-Langford kill agent: Visual and auditory hallucinations, followed by fatal brain hemorrhage within 5-10 minutes.
• DAMMERUNG visual agent: Disorientation and loss of consciousness. Permanent disruption of gamma waves.
• PBK visualhazard: Loss of sight arising from regeneration of parvocellular LGN layers.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. No signification aberrations in behavior or health were noted at 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year checkpoints. No known cognitohazards were triggered by accident. No de-novo cognitohazards were discovered.
Follow-up: Approved for implementation.

Subjects: D-4020 through D-5123
Procedure 5.2: Injection of cytrochrome oxidase blobs into striate cortex layers II through VI, extended through to the pons, cerebellum, and frontal lobe.
Intended susceptibilities: Sight-based control of autonomic and somatic nervous systems and motor control.
Confirmed susceptibilities:

• Shikibu visualhazard: Immediate paralysis of skeletal muscles.
• Adamec VH 4: Induced subjects to ride a bicycle to the nearest home-improvement store and purchase the five smoke alarms and the components for an improvised explosive.
• Green VH 8: Spatially reversed subjects' muscle memory for how to throw a baseball, i.e. affected subjects attempted to throw the ball forward by drawing it back to their shoulders.

Observed results: The remaining subjects were amnesticized and released to civilian life under observation. One notable incident of a subject's gamma wave pattern being disrupted by an oscillating flash of sunlight as he drove along a tree-lined road; subject experienced a "seizure" and was killed in the crash. No known cognitohazards were triggered by accident. ██ de-novo cognitohazards were discovered.
Follow-up: Approved for implementation.

HMCL Note: The capabilities of these visual cognitohazards are everything we could've hoped for. And more.
I'm sure they'll be moved along to large-scale implementation in no time. Congratulations.
- Dr. Matthew Chen, HMCL Supervisor

Approved modifications are to be introduced to SCP-2000 neural archetypes and implemented in batches following K-class scenarios which necessitate the activation of Yellowstone. Below is a log of notable activations, as well as the observed results and HMCL supervisor follow-up recommendations.

For full testing logs, see Document 5000-3.
Testing Log 5000-3

Activation 1

Implemented Modifications: Vital modifications allowing for function of lethal cognitohazards approved. Use of Foundation-approved cognitohazards restricted to infohazardous and high-security Keter, Thaumiel, and esoteric class anomalies only.

• Procedures used: 4.1, 5.1

Results: Projected likelihood of Broken Masquerade scenario decreased by 60%. Negligible increase in rate of memetic SCP discovery.
Follow-Up: Seems like those fears I had were unfounded. The number of mind-affecting anomalies is remaining stable, and the Foundation is stronger than ever. - Dr. Ibaraki

Activation █

Implemented Modifications: Further modifications allowing for function of nonlethal cognitohazards approved. Expansion of lethal cognitohazard libraries. Use of Foundation-approved cognitohazards available for general use database and communications security. Use of Foundation-approved cognitohazards available for employee behavioral modification and infoprotection as well as O5-approved MTF missions.

• Procedures used: 1.2, 2.1, 4.2, 5.2, 5.3, ██

Results: Projected likelihood of Broken Masquerade Scenario decreased by 20%. 25% increase in rate of memetic SCP discovery. Negligible increase in projected chance of AK-Class Madness and EK-Class End-of-Human-Consciousness scenarios. MTF Eta-10 ("See No Evil") and MTF Eta-11 ("Savage Beasts") established.
Follow-Up: I recommend a reduction in the next batch size of 35% - we need to keep an eye on this jump in memetic anomaly evolution. - Dr. Ibaraki.

Activation █

Implemented Modifications: [DATA LOST]

• Procedures used: 2.2, ███████████

Results: Emergence of Class X contagious memetic hazard Lily Veselka [DATA MISSING OR CORRUPTED. PLEASE SEE YOUR RAISA SUPERVISOR.]
Follow-Up: Very little data remains of this iteration. I highly recommend we roll back SCP-5000 modifications by a couple batches - not only are we getting decreasing returns on infomation security and memetic warfare capabilities, but the kind of vulnerabilities that are now present in the human noosphere are getting worrying. We may not be able to handle many more of these kinds of cognitohazadous SCPs which are popping up all over the place. - Dr. Ibaraki

O5 Response: Activation █ batch rolled back only. We do not feel that the Foundation will be capable of handling its vastly greater responsibilities should more of SCP-5000 be rescinded. - O5-7

Activation ██

Implemented Modifications: Further modifications allowing for function of nonlethal cognitohazards approved. Expansion of lethal cognitohazard library. Use of Foundation-approved cognitohazards available for general population behavioral modification and infoprotection.

• Procedures used: ███, ███, ███, ███, ███

Results: Projected likelihood of Broken Masquerade Scenario decreased by 5%. 48% increase in rate of memetic SCP discovery. █% increase in projected chance of all K-class scenarios.
Follow-Up: There are now ███ and counting mind-affecting anomalies in containment, and that's only the ones I have clearance for. I estimate at least ██% are piggybacking off of SCP-5000. This is no longer sustainable. - Dr. Ibaraki

O5 Response: Average human CRV¹⁴ is projected to rise in response soon. Additionally, the evolution of more mind-affecting anomalies should soon mean that a "microbiome" of innocuous memes should soon suppress the more dangerous SCPs by outcompetition. We have no reason to believe that the current rate of high-risk SCP discovery will continue. - O5-12

Document 5000-4 is SCP-5000 Exempt only. Do not attempt access beyond this point without necessary clearance and inoculation.

[[| [SCP-5000 EXEMPT PERSONNEL EYES ONLY, LETHAL COGNITOHAZARD IN EFFECT]]]

Do you like how we've made them, Administrator?

Footnotes

1. This was originally practical because only small handful of anomalies were truly information-sensitive, and an equally small handful of site directors and research heads needed to be in-the-know. Unfortunately research teams are too large and spread out now for simple handoffs to remain safe. We also have reason to suspect that low-complexity records like sticky notes are easy to scry for, even by weak Type Blues.

2. At the time of this proposal, the term "memetic" referred to all mind-affecting anomalous phenomena, and was not a qualification of transmissibility.

3. A mustard oil extract.

4. In which extremely salty flavors, >500mM NaCl, taste bitter.

5. Oka, Y., Butnaru, M., von Buchholtz, L. et al. High salt recruits aversive taste pathways. Nature 494, 472–475 (2013), https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11905

6. A bacterial amino acid.

7. Information about how the eye will be moved, relayed from the superior colliculus to the frontal eye fields (FEF).

8. Inability to voluntarily visualize imagery.

9. Molecule responsible for the earthy taste of beetroots and the strong scent (petrichor) when rain falls after a dry spell of weather or when soil is disturbed.

10. See Document 5000-2a; Stith Thompson, "Motif-Index of Folk Literature", (Bloomington, Indiana, 2016), https://archive.org/details/Thompson2016MotifIndex/

11. Nerves concerning somatosensation on the face.

12. Corner where upper and lower eyelids meet.

13. Interestingly, D-0492 stated that the cognitohazard sounded like the song Genesis by Justice before expiring.

14. Cognitohazard Resistance Value