CyborgOctopus Sandbox

Still image from SCP-XXXX-A-9, "Ghosts Do Not Exist." Note the SCP-XXXX-B instance in the background.

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: All platforms for the dissemination of video content are to be monitored by the Artificially Intelligent Conscript Panoptes.aic for media containing SCP-XXXX. Upon alert, Foundation "Scalpel" software is to remove any media and user accounts created by SCP-XXXX. In the event that the removal procedure is difficult, the affected platform must be disabled until this process is complete.

Staff involved with containment and research of SCP-XXXX are to receive daily memetic screenings. If these reveal any missing memories, all research efforts must be immediately suspended.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a memetic and reality-altering phenomenon which produces video media. Its only documented appearance is on the popular global video-sharing website ███████ under the account name "This Channel Does Not Exist." Videos posted by SCP-XXXX have been collectively designated SCP-XXXX-A. They are numbered SCP-XXXX-A-1, SCP-XXXX-A-2, and so forth, in order of publication date. All instances of SCP-XXXX-A have the following characteristics:

• A title of the form "X Does Not Exist" or "X Do Not Exist," where X is the subject.
• Appearance of low production quality, such as simplistic computer graphics, unrealistic props and costumes, and poor acting.
• Highly unusual image artifacts and visual effects apparent only through detailed analysis.
• A performer relevant to the video's subject. This may be the subject itself (if it is a single individual), a representative member of the subject (if a group of individuals), or have some otherwise significant relation. The performer always states that the subject does not exist.
• Presence of humanoid figures (SCP-XXXX-B) wearing skintight black clothing visually similar to a spandex greenscreen suit. Instances usually stay in the background and never vocalize, but perform tasks typical of a production crew such as holding microphones and moving props. They have been occasionally observed to interact with the performer.

The most notable properties of an SCP-XXXX-A instance are the erasure of its subject from existence and memory alterations affecting everyone aware of the subject. These alterations cause the affected to forget most details about the subject and disbelieve in its reality. Attempts to study or interfere with SCP-XXXX may lead to erasure of involved persons. Research should be conducted with extreme caution.

+ Addendum 1: Discovery

During a scheduled run of Memetics Division Protocol 373 ("Swiss Cheese")¹, gaps in memory of staff at Site ██ were found. A sweep of the site database was performed to identify any potential clues regarding this missing information.

The investigation yielded records of a "Junior Researcher Ralph Hollister." No site employees recalled a researcher by that name. A team deployed to the listed home address found a residence unoccupied for approximately 2 weeks. Neighbors, when questioned, could give no specifics about its owner or did not remember anyone living there at all. Friends and family members were also contacted. Many displayed discomfort or confusion when asked about Hollister. The researcher's mother is currently receiving therapy for her self-described delusion of having a missing third child.

Initial information on SCP-XXXX was found in a Foundation-issued laptop recovered from the missing researcher's home. It held investigations of SCP-XXXX as a potential anomaly. The laptop's browser history also contained many instances of SCP-XXXX-A.

+ Addendum 2: Items of Interest Recovered from Laptop

The items have been arranged in chronological order to provide a clearer picture of events.

E-mail from Site ██ Director to Hollister, dated ██/02/████. The Director has no recollection of sending this message.

Hollister,

I have reviewed your request to classify "This Channel Does Not Exist" as a potential anomaly. It is important for the Foundation to take all possibilities into consideration and leave no stone unturned in the execution of our mission. The points you raised are also rather intriguing. However, no conclusive evidence exists that the channel is anomalous.

I will not take immediate action, but am willing to give you a month to prepare a report on the channel, which will be used to decide its eventual designation.

Sincerely,
Site Director Jackson

NOTICE: This email may contain privileged and confidential information and is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the specific addressee(s) identified herein. Unauthorized reading, copying, or distribution is a breach of Foundation protocols and international law.

Document titled "Journal Entry ██/03/████"

Today I've started a sort of side project investigating a ███████ channel of all things. I don't really want to do this kind of research from home, but the workload lately has just been so damn big. Don't know how I'm supposed to find time for this report on site if every moment is spent answering correspondence e-mails.

Anyway, initial thoughts. I honestly just ran across the channel by accident while browsing late one night. It seemed pretty strange, but of course people make plenty of weird stuff. What really got me was that Atlantis video with the guy in a cheesy costume talking in some language ██████ Translate couldn't identify. Now I'm certainly not a linguist, but it sounded kind of…authentic…I guess, which clashed with the whole campy aesthetics of the rest. It just seemed like, they make crappy videos, but take the time to create some realistic sounding 'lost language' speech and give it English subtitles rather than just have the actor talking in English?

I decided to play around with the videos in Photoshop a bit. There were some very odd things that weren't image compression artifacts or anything else I've ever seen. They reminded me of those deep dream pictures where a neural network was trained to generate images of scenery, but didn't get it quite right. Beneath the immediately visible image on every single frame, there were layers of imperfect copies, each one fainter and more distorted than the last. None could be seen without filtering and enhancement. The visual effects were also weird, to say the least. What appeared to be basic 3-D models were actually a complex patchwork of smooth shapes. They had different textures, creating the overall appearance of a quilt.

I really wracked my brains, but there was just no easy explanation for this stuff. The videos looked like what you'd get if some alien was trying to imitate human video production techniques with completely different building blocks. It took me a while, but eventually I started thinking seriously about the channel being anomalous. When you work for the Foundation, you learn to expect the unexpected after all.

I asked some colleagues the next day at work who mostly either laughed it off or were too busy to care. A few took notice though and said they'd back me on an official proposal. My Division Manager wouldn't hear anything of it, so I decided to contact the Site Director directly. She was a bit more willing to listen, so here I am making a report.

Most Important Points:
- Extremely weird patterns and VFX signatures
- Unknown language (send to linguist for analysis, Dr. ████ might be willing to take a look).
- Those creepy guys lurking in the background

Document titled "TCDNE Report" last edited ██/10/████. It is presumed to be unfinished.

Anomalous Phenomenon Report
Submitted by: Junior Researcher Hollister
Submitted to: Site ██ Command

Summary:
Convergence of evidence obtained through linguistic and photographic analysis demonstrates the anomalous nature of an account hosted on ███████.com identified as "This Channel Does Not Exist," hereafter referred to as "the channel." Consequently, immediate classification of the channel as a Level C Anomalous Phenomenon is strongly recommended, as well as (Sounds bad, should fix) allocation of appropriate staff and resources for further research.

Section I. Introduction

The channel has posted ██ videos at the time of this writing, all of which follow the format "[Subject] Do/Does Not Exist." Examples include "Atlantis Does Not Exist," "Ghosts Do Not Exist," and "The Singers of Silence Do Not Exist." Immediately before termination of the video, the performer always states that the subject does not exist. Viewing these videos does not cause any overt anomalous effects. However, they have several unexplained aspects.

Dr. ████, an on-site linguistics expert, has found parallels between the language spoken in "Atlantis Does Not Exist" and ancient Greek. He deems it unlikely the speech was used or invented by modern non-anomalous individuals. [END OF DOCUMENT]

Document titled "Journal Entry ██/11/████"

I tried to relax and get some rest over the weekend, but I just couldn't. I've been staring at the videos for so long, trying to pick them apart, that I swear I'm seeing those freaky faceless things in my dreams. I'm sure it's just stress and imagination. That sounds plausible. On the other hand, when is ANYTHING the most sane option? I should probably tell somebody about it.

I managed to get ████ to analyze the language for me. He doesn't know what it is, but it's certainly not normal. My report really should get finished and submitted before the end of the month, so the channel can be taken down sooner. "Viewing causes no overt anomalous effects." Is that what I wrote? Something like that. Really though, who knows what it's doing. The view count on their most popular video was ██,███ yesterday. I wouldn't like to see it reach six figures.

Well, I'm fried and done thinking about it for now. Maybe I'll watch a movie or something. Not anything disturbing though, I don't need any more of that at the moment.

Document titled "Journal Entry "██/15/████"

Just woke up, apparently fell asleep at my desk with my laptop open. A video is playing on the screen called "I Do Not Exist." It's a mirror image of my surroundings, like a webcam feed. I want to run right now and go I don't know where. I'm surprised that I have the self control to sit here and write this. The only reason i'm doing it is it might help the foundation figure out what's going on. Well, that and running probably won't do any good. Its the worst case scenario isn't it? Atlantis, bigfoot, all the other stuff nobody's ever heard of, that was all real? Not anymore. This one will be keter for sure. I'm trying to make obersvations of the room but I can't think. Stopping this now

No further additions or modifications of material on the laptop are recorded after ██/15/████, █:██ AM Eastern Standard Time.

+ Addendum 3: Transcripts of Selected SCP-XXXX-A Instances

The following instances are primary research targets at this point due to their notable properties. Transcripts with non-English speech have been rendered using the English subtitles provided in the instance.

Designation: SCP-XXXX-A-2

Title: Atlantis Does Not Exist

A middle-aged Caucasian male (referred to as "Atlas") wearing a cardboard crown, plastic breastplate with sculpted musculature, and a glitter-covered green cloth cape with a fish-scale pattern stands facing the camera. He holds a trident wrapped in gold foil in one hand. Behind him is a painted backdrop showing a stylized underwater scene of fish, seaweed, and coral.

Atlas: Greetings. I am Atlas, son of Poseidon and king of the drowned city of Atlantis. I have been summoned hence from the Underworld to [There is a long pause as Atlas looks down at something in front of him. He swallows and briefly displays a distressed facial expression.] bear a message. Let all the peoples of the world know that Atlantis is merely a figment of the imagination.

Atlas begins to sink down towards the bottom of the screen. Two SCP-XXXX-B instances appear, one at either side, and raise a large piece of blue fabric, obscuring him.

END

Notes: The language spoken by Atlas is still being studied. Investigation is underway into the possibility of translating several documents pertaining to [DATA EXPUNGED] based on this information.

Designation: SCP-XXXX-A-9

Title: Ghosts Do Not Exist

The scene opens on a dimly lit room in a state of significant disrepair. A lightbulb in the ceiling flickers at irregular intervals. An instance of SCP-XXXX-B enters the room and turns off the bulb, at which time a translucent, low-resolution grey scale image of a female figure ("Ghost") appears in the center of the screen.

Ghost: [Speech is theatrical in tone, punctuated by sighs and wails] I, restless spirit cast from body long departed, was once doomed to wander the Earth 'til the End of Days. Now at last I and all my kind are set free to find a purpose anew. We vanish from this world as if we never were.

The figure raises her arms and emits a high-pitched yell. She begins to rotate at an accelerating rate as she rises through the ceiling.

END

Notes: Visual and auditory noise in this instance was found to contain patterns similar to ones found in atmospheric noise and microwave background data prior to its publication. These patterns are now absent. Their disappearance seems to coincide precisely with the release of SCP-XXXX-A-9, representing the current best evidence of a large-scale erasure conducted by SCP-XXXX.

Designation: SCP-XXXX-A-17

Title: The Old Ones Do Not Exist

Two SCP-XXXX-B instances draw back black curtains with silver dots to reveal a stool, on which sits a globe representation of the Earth. A third humanoid figure ("Old One") is standing directly behind the stool, wearing octopus hand puppets and clothing covered in string lights commonly used for holiday ornamentation. Its head is obscured by what appears to be a cardboard box painted red, with numerous eyes drawn onto its surface.

Old One: [Various coloration changes and image warping effects occur as it speaks] We left this world aeons ago, waiting for life to bear fruit. Now we return only to be taken off the stage.

The Old One begins to flail its arms, knocking over the stool. Several SCP-XXXX-B instances enter the frame and attempt to restrain it. In the process the cardboard box is dislodged from its head. However, censorship by a blurring effect makes the face impossible to discern. After a jump cut, the Old One is seated in a chair with two instances standing behind. One holds a piece of paper up to the cardboard box and points insistently.

Old One: The performance as it currently stands shall not be interrupted. We are no more.

END

Notes: The possibility that SCP-XXXX has prevented an end-of-the-world scenario is currently being researched.

[CLEARANCE LEVEL INSUFFICIENT TO VIEW]

Designation: SCP-XXXX-A-██

Title: Ralph Hollister Does Not Exist

A young male matching the physical description of Hollister is sitting at a desk, typing rapidly on a computer. He appears to be in an agitated state. Abruptly looking up towards the camera, he cries out, exits his chair and moves rapidly towards a door visible in the background. The camera footage follows his movements, shaking slightly. Opening the door, he runs through it and collides with a wall painted to resemble the view in front of Hollister's home. The camera pans down towards his prone form. Fade to black.

Footage resumes. Hollister is now dressed in a lab coat bearing Foundation insignia and greatly oversized goggles. He also carries a clipboard. Flasks and beakers containing a variety of brightly colored liquids are situated on the desk in front of him. Froth or mist issues from many of them. He glances at his clipboard before beginning to speak.

Ralph Hollister: Hello. I am here because the producers would like to thank me for appreciating their work. They are great admirers of our performance, and wish to collaborate more in the future. I hope there will be no misunderstandings over borrowing a few materials and cutting some scenes that are better left out. [He pauses, his breathing elevated.] I, Ralph Hollister, do not exist.

END

Notes: This instance was posted approximately 5 minutes after the last file modification on Hollister's laptop. It provides the best available insight into SCP-XXXX, suggesting the anomaly is created by multiple entities which may have non-hostile intentions. However, no attempts at communication have been authorized at this time, considering the potential consequences.

Footnotes

1. In simplified terms, Protocol 373 searches for an above-average volume of 'holes' in recollection. It unfortunately does not reveal large-scale memory erasures due to the lack of a suitable baseline. As a result, the activity of SCP-XXXX was undetected by this protocol until recently.