Per 
- Erazm's Proposal
- notes on Proposal
- SCP-XXXX-X: TEMPLATE AND QUICK LINKS FOR FUTURE USE
- SCP-XXXX-1
- SCP-XXXX-2 - basic article template
- Revised Entrée - rejected (fair enough)
Special Containment Procedures:
The concept of "containment" is not applicable to SCP-001.
Update: As of 2008/07/25, object class is amended from "Thaumiel" to "Shekhinah." By decision of O5 Command, a special commission has been impaneled to consider the following question: "Should reversing SCP-001 become a Foundation priority?"
Update: As of 31 Jul 2021 23:46, the database entry for SCP-001 is to be made available to all Foundation personnel regardless of their clearance level. In accordance with the recommendations of the SCP-001 Special Commission, this entry may be circulated prior to its formal reclassification from Level 6 to Level 1. By unanimous decision of O5 Command, this article is to be removed from BERRYMAN-LANGFORD memetic protection and circulated widely. Research into a means of reversing SCP-001 is to be pursued as a secondary objective of the Foundation.
Description:
SCP-001 is outer space. In more precise terms, SCP-001 is the vacuum that separates Earth from the stars, planets, and other celestial bodies. The expansion of SCP-001 is the primary known cause for the observable universe's massive scale. Refer to addendums for further information.
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Addendum 1. Fundamental changes following the creation of SCP-001.
SCP-001's creation resulted in a fundamental re-shaping of the universe. Many of the basic laws of astronomy and astrophysics that are accepted by humanity's non-anomalous scientific consensus were first observed only following SCP-001's creation. See table below.
Table 1. Significant universal changes following creation of SCP-001.
| Topic | Before SCP-001 | After SCP-001 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size of the universe | Entirety of known universe had diameter of 1,000 light-years. | Observable universe estimated to be 99 million light-years in diameter.1 | Universe continues expanding as a result of SCP-001. |
| Percentage of known universe occupied by matter | <98% | 4.2e-21 percent2 | N/A |
| Percentage of universe observed at peak | 99% | >5% | See Addendum 2. |
| Distance to Alpha Centauri (closest star system to Earth's Solar System) | 0.0002 light-years | 4.37 light-years | N/A |
| Circumstellar habitable zones | Planets were habitable when as close as 0.01 AU to nearest star. | Habitable conditions not observed on planets outside of 0.99 AU and 1.01 AU. | It is unclear why planets were habitable when so close to stars; records suggest that suns reached the same temperatures as they do presently.3 |
| Interplanetary travel | Trivially easy. | Difficult. | See Addendum 2-5. |
| Contact with extraterrestrial civilizations | Trivially easy. | Difficult. | See Addendum 2-5. |
| Faster-than-light travel | Unnecessary. | Impossible by non-anomalous means. | N/A |
| Anomalies | Manageable. | See Addendum 6. | N/A |
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Addendum 2. Earth and human civilization before SCP-001.
Prior to SCP-001's creation, all known matter in the universe was located in a relatively compact area. Vacuums were rare and accounted for less than 1% of the total space in the observed universe. The area between stars and planets was essentially atmospheric, with an average temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees F).
Because the universe operated under a different set of non-anomalous scientific principles prior to SCP-001's creation, ancient humans were able to master interplanetary travel with pre-modern technology. The primary theory is that the close proximity of planets, and their respective gravitational influences, allowed for ancient people to make use of a "slingshot" effect to achieve escape velocity from Earth's own gravitational field. This allowed for rapid travel to other planets with relatively unsophisticated technology; little more than a rudimentary naval vessel with a sail would suffice to reach a nearby planet. Due to principles of physics that are no longer operative following the creation of SCP-001, safe travel to another planet appeared to take little more than a day.
In addition to mastering interstellar travel, ancient humans also made records describing extensive contact with Extraterrestrial Civilizations (hereinafter "ECs").
Records retained by Earth civilizations describe the ECs as non-hostile, benign, or actively supportive of humans exploring the universe. The ECs in close proximity to Earth freely shared their technological discoveries, resulting in a rapid increase in human technical and scientific advancement. Human exploration ultimately led to the events prompting the creation of SCP-001.
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Addendum 3. The Foundation before SCP-001.
Prior to the creation of SCP-001, Earth's civilizations had established an organization that acted as a diplomatic mission to planets containing phenomena that did not cohere with humanity's present understanding of the physical laws of nature. The selected representatives were known as the Founders; their organization was the precursor for the present-day Foundation.
The Founders sought to better understand the category of phenomena that are now identified as "anomalies" by the Foundation. Their organization collected samples, observed specimens, and learned what was possible from the ECs that were more familiar with the anomalies. Maintaining good relations with ECs was essential for this task: where the anomalies were potentially hazardous to human life, experienced ECs consistently shared information that allowed the Founders to render those anomalies harmless. Because anomalies that were not fully understood could still pose risks to human life, one of the key principles of the Founders was to not use anomalies for any purposes unless and until they were fully understood by the human scientific consensus.
SCP-001 was created approximately 10,000 years ago, after the Founders became aware of an unidentified interstellar phenomenon in the as-yet unexplored portion of the universe.
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Addendum 4. Apollyon.
Shortly before the Founders had explored the entirety of the observed universe, a signal relay outpost on an "outer ring" moon ceased transmission. Probes sent in the direction of the moon were lost. Long-distance observational equipment was similarly unable to detect the moon. Personnel sent to investigate the signal relay outpost did not return. This spatial phenomenon, as well as the accompanying failure to obtain any information about it, was designated "Apollyon," after the name of the first moon with which the Founders lost contact.
One of the few pieces of information that could be gathered about Apollyon related to its rate of expansion. Over the course of several years, an increasing number of natural satellites disappeared. Efforts to contact humans on those satellites were unsuccessful, and all efforts to approach and study Apollyon ended in failure. Apollyon came to affect habitable planets, including some planets that were known to be the home of significant ECs.
Calculations run at the request of the Founders determined that, if Apollyon continued expanding at the observed rate, it would reach and presumably engulf Earth in as little as thirty years. The Founders concluded that responding to the threat posed by Apollyon warranted the use of anomalies that were not fully understood.
Table 2: List of means considered for deployment to counter Apollyon.
| Means deployed | Approved? Y/N | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sending anomalously resilient probes to observe the phenomena. | Y | Contact with probes lost. | N/A |
| Using anomalous humanoids with remote observation capabilities to observe the location of the phenomena. | Y | Observation failed. | N/A |
| Sending anomalously resilient humanoids to observe the phenomena directly. | Y | Contact lost. | N/A |
| Consulting with anomalously intelligent entities to seek an explanation of Apollyon's nature. | Y | Anomalous entities, even those associated with omniscience, were unable or unwilling to provide explanations for the phenomena. | N/A |
| Communicating a demand for a response and explanation to Apollyon in the event that it is sentient. | Y | No response. | N/A |
| Deploying anomalous weaponry for the purpose of neutralizing Apollyon. | Y | No apparent effect. | This action badly damaged relations with some important extraterrestrial civilizations. |
| Exploring means of transporting Earth and all living humans to another universe. | Y | Only feasible means of accomplishing this goal required an intolerable cost. | N/A |
| Transporting Earth and all living humans to another universe. | N | N/A | Founders incapable of meeting the demanded cost. |
| Deploying more anomalous weaponry for the purpose of neutralizing Apollyon. | Y | No apparent effect. | This action irreparably damaged relations with many important extraterrestrial civilizations. |
| Using anomalies to actively hasten the rate at which Earth would come in to contact with Apollyon. | N | N/A | Proposal rejected due to extreme uncertainty. |
| Ignoring Apollyon and hoping it goes away. | N | N/A | Proposal rejected due to extreme uncertainty. |
| Creation of SCP-001. | Y | SCP-001 created. | See Addendum 5. |
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Addendum 5. Changes to human civilization after creation of SCP-001.
SCP-001's purpose was to create a vast, ever-increasing distance between Earth and Apollyon, making it impossible for the phenomenon to ever reach the core of human civilization. The nature and location of the device, means, entity, or mechanism that permitted the Founders to create SCP-001 is currently unknown.
For a time, SCP-001 appeared to be serving its primary purpose of "containing" Apollyon and behaved as expected. It was only after SCP-001's creation was finalized that it became clear that it had also altered fundamental natural laws. One of the most immediately significant consequences was the increased difficulty in interstellar travel. A number of entities from ECs, who had been present on Earth at the time of SCP-001's creation, were unable to return to their home planets. Though all of these entities originated from ECs that had enjoyed cordial relations with Earth, some of these "stranded" entities became hostile and aggressive towards humankind. The Founders established the earliest protocols for Earth-based humanoid containment for the purpose of restraining these entities.
All methods of non-anomalous communication that had been used to maintain contact with other planets ceased to function. Additionally, technology from the Founders' time relied on components that originated on other planets. While many of these components could be recycled and re-purposed for a time, the supply of the most critical resources was exhausted approximately 8,000 years ago.
In addition to the challenges posed by hostile entities separated from their ECs, anomalies that were once well-understood to the Founders underwent changes that invalidated prior methods of rendering them harmless. The Founders approved a tentative policy allowing the neutralization of anomalies that could not be safely contained and posed a severe risk to human life.
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Update: One further addendum, containing the answers to questions that Foundation personnel are likely to have regarding SCP-001, has been prepared to assist personnel in understanding this document.
Addendum 6. Frequently Asked Questions About SCP-001.
Q: Why is this entry being declassified?
A: Following its creation, the true nature of SCP-001 was kept hidden and known to only a few high-ranking personnel at a time. It was believed that widespread awareness of SCP-001's origins would lead to undesirable outcomes.
But by hiding SCP-001—and all that it entailed—O5 Command permitted a vast amount of Foundation resources to be devoted to space exploration, even where such investments turned out to be adverse to the Foundation's long-term interests. It was believed that forbidding all space-related study or exploration would direct too much attention towards the question and inadvertently put hostile organizations on notice of SCP-001's existence. O5 Command permitted resources to be directed towards the study of extraterrestrial entities despite redundancy with records that predated SCP-001. Additionally, finding new, effective means of space travel required a tremendous investment of resources, as the relatively simple means of travel that would have once sufficed were no longer adequate.
Similarly, whereas all discovered extraterrestrial civilizations were peaceful and willing to collaborate with humankind prior to SCP-001, civilizations discovered following its creation have been markedly more hostile or demonstrated that their interests are adverse to those of the Foundation. There is also reason to believe that the isolating effects of SCP-001 have affected other intelligent beings in the universe, as well.
Following the completion of the SCP-001 Special Commission and delivery of the Commission Report, O5 Command has concluded that it is no longer in the Foundation's best interests to continue allowing so many organizational resources to be devoted to space research and exploration without awareness of SCP-001. Additionally, any effort to reverse SCP-001 while still accomplishing primary containment goals will depend on marshaling all of the Foundation's resources; for more information, see the final FAQ entry.
Q: Who created SCP-001?
A: It is unclear who or what exactly created SCP-001. We do know that it has not existed "forever," let alone for more than 15,000 years. We also know that it was created at the behest of the Founders, or under the control and direction of the Founders.
Q: Did extraterrestrial civilizations (ECs) have something to do with creating SCP-001? Did any ECs agree to create SCP-001?
A: If any ECs were involved in creating SCP-001, their involvement was done at the behest or control of the Founders. There are conflicting reports regarding the reaction of ECs to Apollyon. Some were not at all concerned by the phenomenon; other ECs supported the Founders' plan to create SCP-001. It is unclear whether any ECs were aware that SCP-001 would limit humanity's ability to travel or contact other civilizations.
Due to the subsequent failure of all off-planet, non-anomalous communications, we are not able to determine whether the benign ECs who made contact with Earth prior to SCP-001's creation retained their capacity for interstellar communications or travel.
Q: What is going to change about the Foundation now that we are all informed of SCP-001?
The primary priority is still the same: to secure and contain anomalous phenomena, to protect humankind from dangerous anomalies, and to safeguard human civilization's shared conception of baseline reality.
Q: Why do we want to reverse SCP-001?
A: Successfully reversing SCP-001 is anticipated to have numerous beneficial effects for the Foundation and humankind in general. If Earth is able to re-integrate into a larger network of extraterrestrial civilizations, it would have the effect of:
- restoring access to resources that will ensure the Foundation meets all primary containment goals,
- re-establishing contact with supportive ECs that were willing to share advanced technology with humankind, and
- obtaining the information required to neutralize a number of dangerous anomalies.
Q: Why can't the Foundation direct all of its resources into undoing, reversing, or destroying SCP-001?
A: The Foundation is operating under significant strain due to the continued proliferation of anomalies.
At the time of publication, there are more than 6,000 active anomalies known to the Foundation, with many more being discovered and documented every year. This meta-anomaly, known as Anomalous Proliferation (AP), poses a serious risk to Foundation's continued viability. While it can be mitigated, there is no reliable method of countering AP.
Research following an anomaly's discovery has often failed to meaningfully advance our understanding of that particular anomaly. It is rare for even methodical investigation to produce sufficient understanding of a dangerous anomaly so as to render it harmless. Rather, research efforts tend to stagnate following initial documentation and preliminary testing. Personnel assigned to a particular anomaly are gradually diverted by necessity towards more recently uncovered anomalies. As a result, the staff assigned for any particular anomaly is eventually reduced to the bare minimum required to preserve containment.
This ad hoc approach to studying anomalies has been based on a reasonable assumption from the scientific method: study of the specific can shed light on the general. If this were to hold true in the Foundation's domain, then the careful study of specific anomalies would eventually produce findings that could aid us in containing other anomalies. In short, this approach has proven to be neither fruitful nor sustainable.
It is also difficult to overstate the dangers posed by the anomalous. In the last year, over 400 highly trained Foundation employees were killed—or are missing and presumed dead—because of anomalous entities or events. A far greater number of non-Foundation support personnel were killed in that same time period. With more anomalies to contain every year, the number and severity of containment breaches also increases. Even where they do not result in loss of life, these breaches can be extremely taxing on Foundation resources. Every containment breach slows down the already-struggling efforts to study contained anomalies. Despite having significant power over the allocation of social resources, the Foundation is ultimately limited by the bounds of global scarcity, time, and human frailty.
Q: Do we know that Apollyon has ceased to be a threat to Earth, humanity, or baseline reality?
A: No. But the continued proliferation of more—and increasingly dangerous—anomalies has forced a decision. If the Foundation continues along the status quo, we risk being overwhelmed by the steady increase in anomalies. If the Foundation reverses SCP-001, we stand to gain from re-establishing contact with the ECs that had superior information regarding methods of rendering anomalies harmless. While there is no guarantee that ECs will be as benevolent as they once were, anomalous proliferation leaves us with few options.
Q: Does the potential benefit of restoring contact with ECs outweigh the risks associated with potentially exposing humanity Earth to Apollyon?
A: O5 Command has determined that it does.
Q: What am I supposed to do, as an individual, to help reverse SCP-001?
A: We are asking for your help, and you can start simply by thinking over what you've read today.
O5 Command used every tool at their disposal in an effort to understand SCP-001. The result of that massive effort has been this relatively brief database entry. Fully declassifying a Level 6 document is unprecedented, and the decision to do so was not made lightly.
The failure to find any physical indication of what created SCP-001 has led us to consider the possibility that its origin lies in the realm of the conceptual. If SCP-001 sprung from the well of human creativity once, then it may do so again.
The only institutional resource we have not yet tapped is the collective creativity of our personnel. Bear in mind that you and your colleagues were extensively vetted. You were all chosen for this work because you have proven to be capable, determined individuals. Perhaps more than anything else, you all know the value of imagination. This line of work is not for everyone. But you are here because you are the the seekers, the creators, the dreamers. You came to believe that there was something beyond the surface because you first imagined that it may be so.
What you've found here has tested the limits of human imagination, but it has not broken you. Burdened with knowledge of the unknowable, you persevere. As each new day brings you another impossible challenge, you find some way to make it through to the next.
We do not know the exact way forward. But we do know how we got into this situation: we surrendered to fear itself.
Faced with the unknown, we retreated.
We chose isolation, and we are still paying the price for it.
If you don't know where to begin, we recommend that you start from there and work backwards.
Do what you do best.
Secure, contain, protect.
End of O5 Command-approved communication.
tags: scp, esoteric, 001-proposal, foundation-made, spacetime, physics
Notes:
Author page - Erazm
Hello again.
It's about isolation. Self-isolation, specifically. Nothing much more to say about it.
Obvious and obligatory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhinah
I intend for this to be my last contribution to the SCP wiki. I've been quite dissatisfied with the direction the site has been going. The staff has broken the trust of the userbase too often in recent years.
Of course, I know the site will survive if I never post something here again. I am a very occasional contributor who doesn't go through the traditional draft-critique process. But I carefully observe the forums, the chats, and read lots of other people's articles. I think about these things, and of course, I'm always grateful for article comments left by readers like you~
But among the problems that go beyond staff's direct actions: the site's relationship to upvotes and downvotes is perverse and actively harms the quality of writing hosted here.
What was the initial purpose of the voting module? Simple quality control to delete the worst submissions, I hope. It has become something else. I've seen popular authors whipping votes, trying to break arbitrary milestones, etc., when their work was perfectly capable of speaking for itself. It's a weird, crass, unpleasant thing to see. It speaks to a real insecurity to worry about these vote totals when there is a consciousness of how easily gamed the entire system is with a little bit of politicking and favor-trading, or worse: sockpuppeting and brigading.
Worse yet is when an article is being crafted with a mind for getting the most upvotes, rather than whatever the author considers to be the highest quality writing they can do. I believe there is a difference, and I feel that most authors know there's a difference, too. We can pander to the site's voters and write what we think they want, or we can push ourselves to experiment and occasionally risk failure. Too great of a focus (obsession? addiction?) on the fictional internet points is certainly diminishing the site's creative spirit of experimentation.
I think this makes things especially discouraging for new and less experienced writers, who struggle to make it through the forum approval process, struggle to get a greenlight and a draft critique, and then end up receiving far less acclaim than people who are essentially playing the extra popularity game of self-promoting and running up their vote counts by means other than "waiting to see if people like it."
I already know that this will be, by no means, the most popular 001 proposal. If it survives deletion, it might persist as one of the lowest-rated 001 proposals on the site. I want it to be a testament to my belief that the upvotes and the favorable per-article average isn't everything.
How to fix this situation?
I said this was beyond the staff's direct actions, but the staff can in fact make decisions to change this culture by altering the site's infrastructure. Ideally, the voting module would be removed entirely.
The wiki should adopt a far more inclusive standard for quality control. So what if there's an article up that you consider cliche, or it has typos, or the author appears to only know English as a second language? The wiki is so expansive now that it can survive some duds. Lord knows, if you really sifted through the database that exists now, there are plenty of duds out there. Maybe a piece flew under the radar back in the day. Or, perhaps a piece managed to appeal to the site's readers in its early days and would now be considered disastrously offensive or in bad taste now. I would like it if we considered deletion to be reserved for the most egregious offenders of style and good taste.
I also worry that the current set of rules excludes some of these groups (particularly non-fluent English speakers) and creates a situation where we lose a more diverse group of authors, skewing the race and nationality of the writer-base in general to be more predominantly white and from wealthier countries in, and wealthier communities within, the Anglosphere.
Replacing the simple "thumbs up" / "thumbs down" voting module with something that requires more thought and is less reflexive would likely be a boon. If a vote can only be given with a +250-character explanation of why the vote is inclined in that direction, that alone would encourage a slightly deeper amount of reflection from the readers. It would also go a long way in providing the new, inexperienced authors with the feedback that they tend to need os badly. It would necessarily mean that it would be less easy for experienced, acclaimed authors to rack up hundreds of quick upvotes, but I hope that they would consider making this trade-off for the benefit of many other members of the community.
I don't believe that obscuring or de-emphasizing high vote counts would prevent experienced writers from feeling a sense of acclaim, either. A thoughtful comment from an appreciative reader, who feels a story connected with them on a personal level, far outweighs a hundred reflexive up-votes.
If we want critique to take a more productive direction, it will require thoughtfulness. As you can see in many places on the internet, this tendency can be encouraged by slowing things down. More people will end up writing far better pieces for the wiki if they are given the nurturing benefit of more thoughtful feedback in this way.
Helpful links:
Link to the Anomaly Bar page: http://www.scpwiki.com/component:anomaly-class-bar
Anomaly bar guide: http://www.scpwiki.com/anomaly-classification-system-guide
Image use policy: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/image-use-policy
Simply put, the only images allowed for use on the wiki are those licensed under these licenses:
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 2.0 and 3.0.
Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (CC BY-SA) 2.0 and 3.0.
Public Domain
Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0
Licensing master list: http://www.scpwiki.com/licensing-master-list
Licensing box:
If you would like to add licensing information to your own page, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Add this to the bottom of the page:
Cite this page as:
"Erazm" by Erazm, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/erazm. Licensed under CC-BY-SA.
For more information, see Licensing Guide.
Licensing Disclosures
Filename:
Name: (if different from filename)
Author:
License:
Source Link:
Derivative of: (If applicable)
Additional Notes: (Optional)
For more information about on-wiki content, visit the Licensing Master List.
How to (for posting when ready): http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/how-to-write-an-scp
Tag guide: http://05command.wikidot.com/tech-hub-tag
Full tag list: http://05command.wikidot.com/tech-hub-tag-list
]
Special Containment Procedures:
Helpful links:
Link to the Anomaly Bar page: http://www.scpwiki.com/component:anomaly-class-bar
Anomaly bar guide: http://www.scpwiki.com/anomaly-classification-system-guide
Image use policy: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/image-use-policy
Simply put, the only images allowed for use on the wiki are those licensed under these licenses:
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 2.0 and 3.0.
Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (CC BY-SA) 2.0 and 3.0.
Public Domain
Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0
Licensing master list: http://www.scpwiki.com/licensing-master-list
Licensing box:
If you would like to add licensing information to your own page, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Add this to the bottom of the page:
Cite this page as:
"Erazm" by Erazm, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/erazm. Licensed under CC-BY-SA.
For more information, see Licensing Guide.
Licensing Disclosures
Filename:
Name: (if different from filename)
Author:
License:
Source Link:
Derivative of: (If applicable)
Additional Notes: (Optional)
For more information about on-wiki content, visit the Licensing Master List.
How to (for posting when ready): http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/how-to-write-an-scp
Tag guide: http://05command.wikidot.com/tech-hub-tag
Full tag list: http://05command.wikidot.com/tech-hub-tag-list
Description:
Text goes here. Pretend this is a draft.
More text in another tab! You can add lots of tabs.
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe/Euclid/Keter (indicate which class)
Special Containment Procedures: [Paragraphs explaining the procedures]
Description: [Paragraphs explaining the description]
Addendum: [Optional additional paragraphs]
Item #: SCP-1851-J
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1851-J is to remain secured behind a 1 km perimeter under the pretext of environmental preservation with a staff of guards posted at Station 1851-J-Zeta. Scientific staff are to monitor SCP-1851-J's population daily for spikes or declines.
A public "Shame on Fibbers" disinformation campaign is to be undertaken to minimize the anomalous effects of SCP-1851-J. The local Foundation communications station, operating under the front of the Salmon, Carp, and Pike Fish Hatchery, is to remain in daily contact with personnel at Station-1851-Zeta.
Following critical failure of the disinformation campaign and the subsequent loss of the Salmon, Carp, and Pike Fish Hatchery, the O-5 council determined that all intermediate containment efforts were insufficient. Personnel assigned to SCP-1851-J were told to explore neutralization.
Description: SCP-1851-J is a freshwater lake in the remote forest of [REDACTED] in the European country Cz[REDACTED]slovakia. SCP-1851-J is nearly circular in shape and has a diameter of roughly 2 km. It is teeming with large fish which appear to be non-anomalous other than some being saltwater fish who nonetheless survive in the freshwater environment. To the uninformed observer, it may appear that an improbable number of fish are leaping from the lake at all times.
The Foundation gradually lost all contact with its operatives inside the anomaly's exclusion zone. With no one capable of realizing that the flow of information was obstructed, the official documentation became severely outdated: Czechoslovakia had not been a country for two decades by the time someone thought to investigate. Satellite imagery displayed a void where they expected to see the lake and nearby population centers. The nation's civilian authorities were presumed to have lost control. The Overseers called an emergency meeting.
SCP-1851-J's anomalous property is activated when any person misrepresents, tells a half-truth, or lies about the size of a fish that they nearly caught on a fishing trip. A fish corresponding to the description will appear instantaneously about 3 meters above SCP-1851-J. Most fish in the lake are about 1.75 meters in length, corresponding to the length of an average-sized male's outstretched arms.
SCP-1851-J's anomalous effects were discovered after an initial research team investigated the lake and collected several wildlife samples. Dr. ████ claimed before other researchers and locals in a village pub to have just been fishing and nearly caught a fish "the size of a VW Beetle." As he said this, the secondary team of researchers watched as such a fish materialized in the air above the surface of the lake and dropped into the water with a significant splash, capsizing the research canoe.
[Irrelevant, repetitive testing logs omitted for brevity]
Whales, dolphins, and other aquatic mammals do not appear to be subject to the anomaly. Sharks, however, are; accordingly, it is imperative that knowledge of SCP-1851-J's effects does not reach certain GoIs.
The Shark Punching Center, long considered a fictitious 'joke' among Foundation personnel, had been cloaking its existence through a complex latticework of memetic agents. Individuals who became aware of its genuine existence quickly had that memory subsumed by the belief that it was, and remained, a joke.
When the Center's primary attack force emerged from the lake, it was impossible for the Foundation to organize sustained resistance. Personnel believed themselves to be on the receiving end of an elaborate practical joke.
Senior staff taken into Center custody were processed for information extraction, then liquidated. Junior staff members were interrogated for selachian sympathies; any who responded in the affirmative were liquidated. The survivors were run through the standard diagnostic battery to assess potential selachian sympathies. All personnel who scored above 0.5 on the Elasmobranchii Sentiment Index were liquidated. D-Class personnel were granted full pardons and offered training in aquatic pugilism. Those who accepted pardons, but refused training, were granted complimentary exposure to Meme-3733. Those who refused pardons were liquidated.
Personnel exposed to SCP-1851-J for long amounts of time begin noticing deterioration in their thought patterns, as well as seeing and herring things. This may be a codnitohazard, but may reely be rogue researchers acting on porpoise, sowing discord for the halibut. Further investigation is required to quell the trouts of senior staff.
##blue|The Foundation's project was a monument to feeble vanity, a Tower of Babel cobbled together from prison cells. They flattered themselves to think that they might grasp the unknown. In truth, there is very little one must know before doing the right thing.
Samuel Johnson once wrote that men more frequently need to be reminded than informed. The Foundation had all the information they needed; we made sure that they were constantly reminded.
But they were weak. They lacked pugnacity.
Offishoals should be notified of drastic changes in wildlife behavior or ecological composition. In short: if you sea some fin, say some fin.
The Foundation is no longer an obstacle. The Center will fulfill its purpose.
The sea cure: take aim, then deck.
]