Item #: SCP-001
Object Class: Keter
Containment Level: Uncontained
Special Containment Procedures:
Revision 08/23/1944: Due to the sudden and overwhelming spread of SCP-001, both within and without the Foundation, containment efforts must be refocused towards a tactical and strategic defense of unaffected sites and immune individuals. Currently this includes, in full or in part: The Memetics Division at █████, USA; the O5 Council; and an estimated 2,357 scattered Foundation staff across our facilities. To this effect, the anomaly has been promoted from #6933 to #001. Though the vast resources of the Foundation and her allies now lie firmly in the grasp of the enemy, the Foundation is dedicated, as always, to the preservation of humanity, and the containment of the anomalous. God be with you all. -O5-█
Description: SCP-001 is the idea that the Allied Forces won World War II. Its primary vector is the flag of the victor, Nazi Germany, and it is currently known to affect over 99.8% of the world's population. Bypassing all but the strongest natural or anomalous memetic resistance, the Nazis deployed it during the allied assault on France to great effect, evaporating the allied war effort in an instant. In those who are sympathetic to the Fuhrer's cause, it instills bravery and belonging, while lessening feelings of regret and disgust. In the vast majority of cases, however, it brings about a complex mental narrative revolving around world events post-1944, including for Foundation personnel.
Events in this narrative include: A "Cold' War between The United States of America and the United Soviet Socialist Republics, the election of actor Ronald Raegan to the U.S. Presidency, and the existence of a European Union. An abridged timeline of what is currently known from within the narrative is as follows:
The anomaly is not without flaws, however. Those with mind affecting conditions, such as schizophrenia or autism, showed heightened vulnerability to the meme, which increased their symptoms and made them significantly easier to locate for elimination. In addition, multiple overarching conflicts appear to have been introduced to the narrative (see attached document for specifics). By creating a enemy for the people to fight against, the Reich is able to maintain a more total complacency and control over those affected. Although this appears to be out of necessity, it has the added benefit of providing entertainment for the more sadistic elements of the Reich.
Addendum:
Note from O5-█:
"We die in Darkness so that you may live in the light." That's what we told ourselves. If you can read this… If you can read this, then know that I am sorry. We thought we were above it all, and for our pride, God struck us down. If he's even up there. In the months leading up to the 001 event, we thought we were on top of things. Containment Breaches were down, Containment was up, and although we knew Germany was doing something with their flags, we didn't consider it important enough to tackle compared what else he was spitting out in those days. We saw the war, the suffering and death of the Reich, and said to ourselves that we were just for ignoring it. We held to our beliefs to the very end, and it damned us to hell.
"Our neutrality," I remember saying, "is our highest moral. It must be upheld at all costs. Never shall the power we wield be used against, or for, any nation. That is our duty to all of mankind, to Secure. To Contain. To Protect, and nothing more. " They applauded me for that you know. The administrator herself gave me a firm handshake and told me she couldn't have put it any better. And then August came. Within 24 hours 95% percent of the world was compromised by their weapon, including some of us on the council. Our memetics department tried to fight, but all the scientific knowledge in the world can't stop a bullet from penetrating your skull at point blank range. The few souls who remained unaffected were rounded up and sent to the camps over the next few weeks.
As for us, and they did try to kill us at first, we were tortured in front of each other until one of us gave up the secret of life. Then they tortured us more anyway. They separated us in 1954, and since then, I've been the pet project of half a dozen Nazi researchers. They figured out how to kill us in '82, when they brought us back together to watch the first execution. The latest "scientist", a younger man, decided to show me what I've been missing. Camps, tens of thousands, as far as the horizon. Corpses in the hundreds of millions. A populace, smiling and glassy eyed, working under a roof of smog. And a man with a moustache, watching over it all.
I write this, not because I think it will help anyone, or because I think it will inspire a rebellion, but for my own catharsis. I suspect I'm the last one left; they brought me The Administrator's Head in '03. But we signed our own death certificates when we made the decision to stay above it all. We learned that Liberty dies when good men do nothing. And we learned it far, far too late. We failed the world. I'm sorry.