SCP-3954

Item #: SCP-3954

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3954's containment facility is to be comprised of an array of 96 adjacent rooms arranged in a twelve by eight grid pattern. Each room is to have no physical connection to those around it, and should be separated from its neighbours by no less than 50 centimetres of empty space. Each room is to remain completely devoid of light at all times, and is to be occupied by one human child between the ages of three and ten, and one armed security guard equipped with night-vision goggles. Each room is to contain:

• An empty closet built into one wall. The closet door is to remain closed, and its interior is to contain a volume of empty air measuring a minimum of 50 x 50 x 200 cm¹.
• A child sized bed with at least 24 centimetres of empty vertical space between the base of the frame and the floor of the room.
• Any other volume of empty space measuring a minimum of 50 x 50 x 200 cm which is not in direct line of site of the child when seated on the bed.
• A climate control system, set to keep the room at an ambient temperature of exactly 18 degrees Celsius.
• A digital thermometer connected to a central monitoring system.
• A central ceiling mounted lightbulb capable of outputting a minimum of 1000 Lumens of light.

The child is to remain seated on the bed at all times while inside the room, and is not to lie down or attempt to sleep on the bed under any circumstances. SCP-3954's presence in a room is accompanied by a drop in the room's ambient temperature to between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius. If no room in the containment area is below 12 degrees Celsius, SCP-3954 is to be considered missing, and each child is to be [DATA EXPUNGED] until one is chosen by SCP-3954 as a suitable victim. If SCP-3954 continues to be absent from the containment area for more than 40 minutes, it is to be considered a breach of containment and the site director is to be notified immediately.

BY RULING OF THE ETHICS COMMITTEE: The safety of the children involved in the containment of SCP-3954 is to be considered a priority. If any child attempts to lie down or sleep, appears tired, or shows any signs of being harmed by SCP-3954, the room which they inhabit is to be immediately flooded with bright light. A reminder to staff involved in the containment of SCP-3954: These children are necessary bait; they are not prey. Do not treat them as such.

Description: SCP-3954 is a vaguely humanoid bipedal entity which stands at approximately 2 metres and 18 centimetres tall. SCP-3954's body is either comprised of, or covered entirely in, an unidentified matte black substance which has proven to be entirely impervious to various forms of physical damage (see experiment log 3954-B for details).

SCP-3XXX's outward appearance shares similarities with humans, but it is considerably disproportionate. It's limbs and torso are substantially longer and thinner, while its head appears swollen and almost perfectly spherical. No orifices or distinguishing bodily appendages beyond basic limb structures have been observed, other than two claw-like appendages at the ends of each of its arms measuring roughly 9 centimetres in length. In addition, its only facial features appear to be purely aesthetic- two vertical white lines for "eyes" and a curved red line for a "mouth". Despite this, it should be noted that SCP-3954 has a degree of control over its "mouth"; while it has only ever been observed to be smiling (and is believed to be incapable of alternate expressions) the entity will seemingly widen its smile in the moments before assaulting its prey.

SCP-3954 is a nocturnal predator which preys exclusively on young human children (though it has been known to attack adults during the [REDACTED] event). It will generally remain in a docile state for varying periods of time between choosing its victims. While in this docile state, its existence appears to cease altogether. Since SCP-3954 is not believed to be a reality-bender, the mechanism by which it achieves this is currently unknown². While only a single instance of SCP-3954 has ever been observed at any given time, and no sightings have ever been reported while the entity is in containment, the possibility of more than one SCP-3954 instance existing has not yet been ruled out.

Much is still unknown with regards to the process through which SCP-3954 chooses its next victim, but it appears to be triggered by a child between the ages of three and ten making a complaint of some nature about a fear of the dark. If SCP-3954 chooses said child as its victim, it will then manifest in one of a number of possible locations in the room. These potential materialisation locations appear to have an order of preference, as follows:

• The interior of a closet, providing that one is present and contains a volume of empty space measuring a minimum of 50 x 50 x 200 cm. The closet interior must be in darkness and out of direct line of sight of the victim.
• Underneath the bed, providing that there is at least 24 centimetres of empty vertical space between the base of the frame and the floor of the room. The space underneath the bed must be in darkness and out of direct line of sight of the victim.
• Any other volume of empty space measuring a minimum of 50 x 50 x 200 cm which is not in direct line of site of the victim. This space must be in darkness .

If none of these locations exist in the room inhabited by the child, SCP-3954 will not choose said child as its victim. The only known exception to this rule was during the [REDACTED] event.

The sole method by which any being other than the chosen victim can perceive SCP-3954's presence is that the ambient temperature in the immediate vicinity of the entity will quickly decrease by between 8 and 12 degrees Celsius. All humans and nonhuman animals appears to experience this change in temperature, and any thermometer placed nearby will similarly react to the anomaly. However, all other aspects of SCP-3954's existence are restricted to the perceptions of its victim. Other humans and nonhuman animals will be unable to see, hear, touch, or otherwise sense SCP-3954, and current observations suggest that, from their point of view, SCP-3954 does not exist. The entity will also be absent from any recorded photographic or video evidence. Our understanding of this phenomenon is still considerably lacking, but testing is ongoing. To date, SCP-3954 has never been directly seen, heard or sensed by more than one human at a time other than during the [REDACTED] event.

The victim's sensory awareness of SCP-3954 is variable, seemingly at the entity's will. Observations to date have suggested that this behaviour is most likely intended to induce a sense of fear and paranoia in the victim, though how this is beneficial to SCP-3954 is currently unknown. The victim is usually aware of SCP-3954's presence at some level, though the entity will frequently be partially or wholly invisible, or will be unnaturally quiet in its movement.

After SCP-3954 manifests, it will begin to hunt its victim. The entity’s behaviour during this phase is largely unpredictable. In some cases, it will remain hidden in the dark for long periods of time, while in others it will immediately reveal itself to its victim and aggressively terrorize them. During this time, victims have reported feeling a seemingly irrational need to cover themselves thoroughly with a blanket or thick clothing.

Other than by instilling fear, SCP-3954 will not attempt to cause any physical harm to its victim until such a time as they begin to fall asleep. Once the victim enters a drowsy and semi-conscious state typical of regular sleep patterns, SCP-3954 will move rapidly towards them and severely lacerate any bare skin left exposed by the victim- most commonly comprising primarily of the face and upper back- using the claw-like appendages on the ends of its arms. Laceration will continue until no remaining flesh is exposed to the air. This will generally lead to either severe loss of blood, disfigurement, dismemberment and/or death of the victim, though the victim can prevent further laceration by covering their entire body and preventing any skin or flesh from being exposed to the air. Additionally, if SCP-3954 is exposed to bright light at any point during its manifestation, it will demanifest and re-enter the “docile” state before inevitably choosing another victim³. If the chosen victim simply refrains from attempting to sleep while SCP-3954 is present, eventually the entity will demanifest and seek out another victim.

All attempts to destroy/damage/incapacitate SCP-3954 other than through the use of bright light have proved ineffective. Its body appears to be immune to various forms of physical damage, and most attempts made by the victim to harm the entity cause it to become aggressive and attack the victim despite their alertness. Non-victims are incapable of interacting with SCP-3954 other than by forcing demanifestion via the use of bright light. The only exception to this rule was the test conducted on ██ / ██ / ████ which resulted in the [REDACTED] event, causing [DATA EXPUNGED]. As such, further attempts by non-victims to make any kind of physical contact with SCP-3954 have been forbidden by the O5 council.

Additional notes:

SCP-3954 has proven to be very difficult to contain due to its unpredictable behaviour and movement. Initial attempts to utilise Scranton Reality Anchors to assist in the containment of SCP-3954 proved completely ineffective, even when as many as seven (7) anchors with overlapping spheres of influence were deployed simultaneously. As such, it is now theorized that the entity is some form of memetic hazard or cognitohazard and is entirely subjective to its victims. Attempts to verify this theory are ongoing.

Footnotes and references:

¹ Though SCP-3954 stands slightly taller than two hundred centimetres, it has been observed to materialise in volumes of this height regardless. Its torso is highly flexible, and it will frequently twist its body into a shape capable of fitting smaller spaces if required.
² As of ██ / ██ / ████, it is cautiously believed that SCP-3954 may in fact be the physical manifestation or puppet of another anomalous entity, which is capable of projecting SCP-3954 into our reality while being itself removed from it. Investigations are ongoing, but no conclusive evidence has been found as of yet.
³ When SCP-3954 dematerialises due to sudden exposure to bright light, it releases a very mild and unidentified amnestic which will cause its victim to erroneously remember its apparent sighting being explained by non-anomalous occurrences, such as the viewing of a shadow or item of clothing in low-light conditions which the victim mistook for something more sinister. The method of production and storage of this amnestic is unknown.