Dysadron & Stormbreath's Sandbox!

Thoughts:
24/11, D: I'm wondering how accessible the piece will be for those without a knowledge of Greek Mythology? I don't think this will be an issue: you're still have the plot of Demeter being revealed even if you don't get the allegory, plus this is a pretty standard Greek myth. I'd wager most on the site know it.

Rough plot:

Retelling of the abduction of Persephone. Foundation notes similarities between child(teenage?) abductions around the world. Dispatch an agent to investigate. Each abduction has three key players:
- The abductee (Persephone)
- The grieving mother (Demeter)
- The suspect (Hades)

Agent visits former abduction site(s?) to conduct investigation, review past interview logs (mainly with the Hades character?), and media (coverage of Demeter's grieving, attention-seeking antics), maybe with investigating cops (first doubts on Demeter's character?).

Then come across an active case? Interacts direct with Demeter / Hades / does primary investigatory work.

Conclusion? Demeter is staging/carrying out the abductions for attention. Munchausen by proxy esque.

Reveals:
- It's a recurring event as opposed to a singular "big bad"(?)
- Demeter is the villain
- It's the story of Persephone's abduction

Rough Structure from chat:
— Con Procs
— Description
- Basic summary of some of the disappearances, some info but not much
- Intro the three roles: Persephone, Demeter and Hades
— Investigation of a crime scene or an interview with a Demeter; first intro to the Foundation
— Further investigation
— Third investigation
— Collapsible with reveal, most likely an interview with Persephone

Special Containment Procedures:

Description: SCP-XXXX is a series¹ of child abductions occurring worldwide. Whilst there is no overt link connecting the abductions, there is a significant similarity between cases, indicating the possibility of an anomalous cause. The following is a non-exhaustive list of common traits across identified cases:

Victim Profile:

The victim is female, between the ages of ## and ## years old.
The victim comes from a single parent family, living only with their mother at the time of disappearance. With the exception of each other, the victim and mother have no other familial connections.
The victim has recently moved to the area, with the longest time resident before the abduction takes place being 14 months.

The Abduction:

The victim is abducted whilst outside, in the vicinity of an area known to them, such as their residence, school, or place of work. In ##% of cases the last known siting of the victim is them in, or heading towards, a rural habit, such as a meadow, forest, or heath.
Neither the mother nor friends and acquaintances report the victim as acting differently in the days leading up to the disappearance.
There is a distinct lack of both physical and testimonial evidence relating to the crime scene. In ##% of cases, witnesses reported the presence of a black automobile in the area, but no connection of these vehicles to the crime has been established.²
Investigatory efforts by law enforcement are fruitless. Suspicion falls on local men, who are often ostracised from the community and were regarded with distrust prior to the abduction. Any evidence linking these individuals to the crime is circumstantial, and as of case #, no arrests nor convictions have been made.
Due to the nature of the crime and victim, the case often attracts significant media attention, which decreases as the time from the initial crime increases.³

Reappearance:

Several months after the abduction, ranging from 3 to 15,⁴ the victim is found close to the site of their initial disappearance.
They will be suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition, but show no other signs of physical trauma.
- Once recovered and able to speak, the victim has no memory of the period in which they were unaccounted for, other than claiming that they were abducted against their will.

[D: Is the above too "tell", as opposed to "show"?]

Addendum X: News report

[foreword: local newspaper article + commentary from the agent?]
Cops continue search for missing girl

Police in [LOCATION] looking for #-year old Penelope Taylor today continued to search the woodland near where she was last sighted. At a press conference held yesterday, a spokesperson encouraged anyone with information about the disappearance to contact them. They conceded it is possible she "met someone with ill intentions".

The last confirmed sighting of the girl, known as Penny to her family and friends, was between 8:00am and 8:15am last Wednesday, as she walked to school. Alarm was raised when she did not attend.

"It's shocking, we can't believe something like this would happen here," said Rochelle Davis, a neighbour of the family. "We all just hope that poor girl comes home safe."

We spoke to Rochelle as she distributed leaflets around the local area. The awareness drive was co-ordinated by Demi Taylor, the girl's mother. Rochelle had high praise for her, "I don't know how she's done it, the strength it must be taking her. Some people would sit in their dark house and wait but no, not her. She's out here talking to people, knocking on doors. She ain't giving up."

Police have, as yet, made no arrests, but stated they have a number of leads they are investigating.

The search continues.

Midwest US setting? Part of a pile of evidence our agent reviews to get up to date with the case. I'm thinking they go to a past site of this and review a combo of the following: video of news report on the reappearance (below), a press news report on initial abduction, an interview with the Hades stand-in, interview with neighbours / schoolmates, our agent conducts an interview with neighbours, our agent conducts an interview with investigating officers.

"I'm here at Pine Hill Ridge, where we've just received some extraordinary news. 8 months ago, young Penelope Taylor went missing on her walk to school, a story that shocked and enthralled this small town. Despite the efforts of law enforcement and the community, Penny has been unaccounted for since that day - until now. Police have supposedly located the girl, and are administering aid whilst we wait for paramedics to arrive. We don't yet know quite how -

A shout can be heard off-camera, the reporter stops midsentence.

"PENNY!"

The reporter glances sideways, then turns to her cameraman, "is that who I think it is?" They start moving towards the source of the sound.

The camera captures a middle aged woman pushing her way through the crowd of reporters who have gathered on the boundary of the police cordon, she continues to shout, "Let me through! Let me see my daughter!" The woman reaches the boundary and ducks under the tape - the journalists need no encourage to follow her through. A police officer stationed nearby is too slow to react, as the woman rushes through. All recording equipment is focused solely on her, as the journalists shout questions:

[D: is the above too unclinical]
"Miss Taylor, how are you feeling?" "Miss Taylor, do you believe the police have found your daughter?" "Do you think that Penny is alive?"

The woman, Demi Taylor [D: too on the nose?] continues to run into the forest, shouting as she goes, "Mom's coming honey, hold on! Just hold on I'm here!"

Whilst still moving in the same direction, the cameraman breaks away from the group, and zooms in on a prone figure in the distance. A nude [D: too icky and doesn't add anything?], gaunt body, Penelope Taylor, lies in underbrush, attended to by two policeman.

Demi Taylor stumbles, and falls down on the ground next to her daughter "Oh you poor angel, what have they done to you? It's okay, I'm here." She crawls to her daughter and, against the objections of the law enforcement officers, embracing her. As dusk falls, mother and daughter are illuminated by the flash of the journalists' cameras. The reporter situates herself between the camera and the reunited family,

"Well as you can see at home, a truly incredible event unfolding before us here, you can see the pure elation Miss Taylor, without her daughter for nearly a year, feels in this moment. You can only imagine the pain, the torture she's been going through, now come to an end."

A police officer approaches Demi Taylor, followed by paramedics, "Miss Taylor, we need you to step away; the ambulance is here, we need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible".

By this point, tears stream down the mother's face. She turns to the paramedics and asks, "Can I come with her? I need to come in the Ambulance. I can't leave my baby. I can't leave her ever again."

[D: how to distinguish between mother and daughter when both Miss + Taylor? (in this instance, I'm thinking each time they pop up different, localised name)]

[@stormbreath: What do you make of the above?
1) Is it too…hammy?
2) Does the logic of the scene make sense? Would it be better to relocate outside of a hospital where Persephone has been taken?
3) I'm trying to build the idea of Demeter being attention seeking, loving the media spotlight, without making it too obvious what's going on. Am I on the right lines?

[Is the combo of newspaper AND tv too much? Gives the game away etc, why are we focusing on her?]

Demeter characterisation:

https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/60/4/385.full.pdf
On being Confronted:
" It is very rare for the mothers to become angry; usually their response is 'what a strange suggestion', or 'why should I be doing that', or 'you can never prove that'. It is useful to be able to present clearly the evidence for part of the deception. Usually they will not deny it but try to lead the interview on to another happening (which perhaps one cannot explain). "
After confrontation:
"At this stage there is sometimes tacit admission by the mother of what has been going on; in other cases that only emerges later. For another group there is never direct admission, though a few years later they may come out with a comment"

SCP Sandbox III

Sandbox III: Revenge of the Sandbox