Doctor Miles Lenard

First Draft

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Due to SCP-XXXX's immobile nature, a 4 x 6 m containment chamber has been constructed around it. No personell are to be allowed access to SCP-XXXX without undergoing a psychological evaluation and exhibiting no signs of suicidal thoughts, except under the explicit supervision of authorized Foundation staff. Anyone attempting to enter SCP-XXXX is to be detained and put under psychological evaluation. Any non-personell attempting to gain access to SCP-XXXX are to be transported off-site and put into contact with the Irish suicide hotline.

Description: SCP-XXXX is an upright 8 x 2 m Ash wood door attached to a doorframe of the same material located on the cliffs of Gravel Beach, Ireland. Any attempts at removing the door from the frame or changing its position have been met with failure. Similarly, any attempts at opening SCP-XXXX by force have also been unsuccessful. A metal garden bench was found facing SCP-XXXX during initial discovery, but does not appear to have any anomalous properties. While it can be moved freely, removal has been deemed unnecessary and it was placed inside the containment chamber.

Humans with suicidal intent within ~3 miles from SCP-XXXX experience a subconscious need to travel to its location, though this effect seems to lessen while SCP-XXXX is already active, likely to ensure that no more than one person is present at the door at any time. Once a person fitting the criteria is within 15 meters of SCP-XXXX, an instance of SCP-XXXX-1 will open the door and sit down on the bench in front of it¹. Within SCP-XXXX seems to be an entirely empty, black space. Attempts at exploring the inside of SCP-XXXX via camera-mounted UAVs² have yielded no further results and the floor, ceiling or walls have yet to be discovered if they exist.

SCP-XXXX-1 has the general appearance of a human male between the ages 70-90, though its skin color and facial features as well as its clothing change depending on who interacts with it, adjusted to induce the most comfort in the subject³. It exhibits a supportive and optimistic personality and will initiate a conversation with the subject in an attempt to talk the subject out of their suicidal intentions.

If successful, the subject loses all interest in and memory of SCP-XXXX except for their conversation with SCP-XXXX-1. All cases of an unsuccessful attempt have ended in the subject entering the door. Regardless of outcome, the instance of SCP-XXXX-1 always enters the door itself after a few minutes of sitting on the bench, followed by SCP-XXXX closing and locking itself.

Addendum XXXX-A: As of Incident XXXX-A⁴, SCP-XXXX is confirmed to be sapient and established direct contact with the Foundation. In accordance with the agreement made with SCP-XXXX shortly afterwards, it will now generate an instance of SCP-XXXX-1 after knocking on the door five times. SCP-XXXX-1 has confirmed that it is a direct extension of SCP-XXXX created for communicative purposes, rather than a seperate entity. It has proven very cooperative with foundation staff so far, though it has expressed dissatisfaction with the loss of Gravel Beach's scenery.

According to SCP-XXXX, it keeps the subjects that walk into it in a constant state of euphoria and sustains them until they die of natural causes⁵.

+ Interview XXXX-A

Interviewed: SCP-XXXX-1

Interviewer: Dr. Albert Davis, Site 12

Foreword: At 12:30 on the 14/05/2015, 25 days after construction of the containment chamber was completed, an instance of SCP-XXXX-1 appeared without any attempts to open the door having been made. It sat down on the bench as is normal, but proceeded to wave its hand while looking directly at the camera within the containment chamber. Dr. Davis volunteered to investigate.

<Begin Log, [15:04, 14/05/2015]>

(Dr. Davis enters the containment chamber. SCP-XXXX-1 smiles and looks at him)

SCP-XXXX-1: Ah. Good morning, Doctor. A lovely day today, isn't it?

Dr. Davis: It is. You know i am a doctor?

SCP-XXXX-1: Then again, how would i know what the weather is like outside of this room? It's impressive how quickly you managed to build it. I suppose practice makes perfect, eh?

Dr. Davis: I'm sorry?

SCP-XXXX-1: Considering the Foundation's purpose is building containment facilities for beings like me, i can hardly imagine just how many of these rooms you build every day.

(Dr. Davis pauses for a moment, then sits down next to SCP-XXXX-1 after it pats on the empty space on the bench.)

Dr. Davis: It is… very unusal for an anomaly to be aware of the Foundation as a whole.

SCP-XXXX-1: One of my visitors was a former employee of yours. She told me of her work at one of your facilities. (Pauses) I wasn't able to convince her. I'm very, very sorry.

Dr. Davis: I, uh… i see. Would you mind answering some questions for us, then?

SCP-XXXX-1: Of course not, go right ahead. I called you in here to talk, after all.

Dr. Davis: What was her name?

SCP-XXXX-1: Emily Harper, one of your agents. Poor girl couldn't cope with what she had seen at work, a containment breach. It's hard to believe that surviving such a close encounter with death could make you yearn for it.

Dr. Davis: And she jumped into the black space inside that door willingly?

SCP-XXXX-1: (Hesitates for a moment) No. Very few of them do.

Dr. Davis: Did you force her inside to hide yourself from us?

SCP-XXXX-1: Heavens no! My only concern is the safety of those i call to me. Besides, it was only a matter of time until you found me. In fact, her disappearance was probably what set you on my trail to begin with. But i simply couldn't just watch and have the sacrifices of her colleagues amount to nothing.

Dr. Davis: Then i assume she's still alive. What happens to the people that go through that door?

SCP-XXXX-1: She is, just like the others. The entire point of this is to prevent people from killing themselves. I'm certainly not going to do it for them.

Dr. Davis: So, uh, what did you do to them?

SCP-XXXX-1: The same thing you did to me. I'm keeping them safe. This way they cannot hurt themselves or anyone else. Though their stay is a lot more comfortable and healthy than mine, i assure you.

Dr. Davis: Could you release them?

SCP-XXXX-1: I could, but can't in good conscience do that. It's too risky. I guess that's the downside of keeping them in blissful ignorance of what is going on. I'm afraid that if i do let them out, they'll just look for the closest and quickest way to off themselves because everything else is just dull in comparison to what i give them. Though there's just as much of a chance that they'll just walk right back inside, which isn't ideal but better than the alternative.

Dr. Davis: Right. But aren't you also keeping them from living a proper life this way? Or are you telling me that living your life high on drugs, if you don't mind the comparison, is preferrable to death?

SCP-XXXX-1 looks into the ceiling, seemingly thinking about Dr. Davis' words. After a moment, it releases a chuckle and shakes its head slightly.

SCP-XXXX-1: Oh, I don't mind. It's an apt description. I see your point and i agree with you, but i think you are missing the point. It's not the death itself that i'm afraid of. All things end eventually. Even immortals die with the universe. No, it's the why that matters and what comes after.

Dr. Davis: Why? What happens after death?

SCP-XXXX-1: After death by suicide. (SCP-XXXX-1 leans forward and makes an emphasis gesture with its hand.)

Dr. Davis: Alright, what happens after suicide then?

SCP-XXXX-1 sits up, clears its throat and turns to look directly at Dr. Davis.

SCP-XXXX-1: Some things are best left to the imagination, Doctor Davis.

SCP-XXXX-1 stands up from the bench and walks over to SCP-XXXX while ignoring Dr. Davis as it does so, entering the door and closing it.
<End Log, [15:31, 14/05/2015]>

Closing Statement: [Well, now we know XXXX is self-aware. It seems friendly enough and pleasant to talk to in casual conversation, just like its interactions with attracted subjects would suggest. Perhaps we can convince it to cooperate, given that it claims to have similar interests. Maybe we can even get it to release the people it captured, though i highly doubt it'll change its mind.

Still, we should remain cautious. We don't yet know the extent of the psychological influence it can exert over us, but it's clearly powerful enough to force people to obey its will. Whatever it knows or believes to come after suicide, it's terrified of it. Hopefully we can eventually get it to elaborate. - Dr. Davis]

Footnotes

1. When the bench was temporarily removed for research purposes, SCP-XXXX-1 simply sat down on the floor instead.

2. As SCP-XXXX is only open while an instance of SCP-XXXX-1 is active, SCP-XXXX-1 has always taken notice of exploration attempts. However, it has never interfered with the attempts so far, always returning its attention to the conversation after taking a quick glance at Foundation staff.

3. This effect also extends towards photographs and surveillance footage when viewed within SCP-XXXX's effective range. Outside of it, SCP-XXXX-1 appears to lack clothes and features entirely.

4. See Interview XXXX-A.

5. This includes old age, any disease they may have been carrying, cardiac arrest and any genetic illnesses. SCP-XXXX will make no effort to prevent any these from occuring or save the subjects when they do.

Second Draft

Seeking Greenlights: Yes

Page Type: SCP Article

Elevator Pitch: A sapient door whose insides resemble a psychiatrist's office that actively seeks the Foundation's help to counteract the mental threat of a more malicious entity. However, since its help requires contact with the entity's civilian victims, this may put it at odds with the Foundation's regular protocols.

Central Narrative:

+ show block

The article places a heavy emphasis on the importance of interpersonal relationships and how dangerous emotional self-isolation can be. The story details the relationship between the door and its assigned researcher Dr. Samantha Davis. Initially discovered and locked up to be studied and contained like all other SCPs, the door has to prove its intentions and earn the Foundation's trust while the malicious entity grows stronger.

There are three important supernatural forces at play in this narrative: The door itself, the malicious entity it's trying to stop and something the former calls the "Cognitive Network". It is a web connecting the subconscious of all living creatures to each other. For example, a mother knowing that her child is in danger despite no visual or audible warnings being available to her is thanks to this network. Her strong emotional bond to her child enables it.
A few people and creatures are capable of accessing it (and with it the minds of others) directly. These are what we know as psychics. Both entities have direct access to the Cognitive Network, the door trying to protect it and the malicious one trying to break it apart so it can feed on its victims, stunting their emotions until none are left.

Eventually the door and Dr. Davis devise a plan to isolate and sever the entity's connection to its victims as well as its primary host. Unfortunately neither the door nor the Foundation possess the means to kill the entity, so as soon as the primary host is released, the entity attaches itself to Dr. Davis instead. She volunteers to stay within the door's pocket dimension to keep it from escaping, the door promising to keep her company.

Hook/Attention Grabber: Unlike many other intelligent anomalies, which are either indifferent or outright hostile to humanity, this SCP object possesses a strong sense of empathy and tries hard to defend it from an unseen danger lurking in the human subconscious.

---

The basic gist of it is that when the door was initially created, its creator left it before they could give it a purpose for reasons unknown to the door. Figuring it needs to discover its purpose by itself, it decided to investigate the humans around it.

Unfortunately, in trying to remove her sadness it accidentally ended up severly damaging her mind. In its hurry to fix its mistake it only ended up making things worse, creating the malicious entity. It is a broken mind loosed from its body, trying to repair itself by draining the emotions from other people. It doesn't work, but the entity doesn't understand that or comprehend much of anything, driven only by its instinctual desire to become whole once more.