Working title: Prophet in the Desert.

Item #: SCP-####

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Foundation personnel are to be planted in the town of [REDACTED], Texas and pursue leadership positions in First Baptist Church [REDACTED] (hereafter referred to as FBC█). Personnel will attain seats on the Pastoral Selection Committee and select candidates whom they believe to match the character and beliefs of the congregation and who are capable of the secrecy that further containment procedures require.

Upon being confirmed by a vote of the congregation and moving into the parsonage, new head pastors are to be informed of the nature of SCP-####, advised to avoid triggering the anomaly, and be made to understand his or her responsibilities in the event of an 3714-Dry Bones occurrence. Such responsibilities are detailed in Addendum 3.

During an 3714-Dry Bones event, roadblocks are to be established disguised as road work site on either end of the only major road passing through [REDACTED], Texas.

Issuing of formalized containment procedures regarding SCP-####-A are not an urgent concern, as the entity has shown no desire to breach containment. Embedded Foundation agents are authorized to contain SCP-####-A as they see fit, with regular advisement from their superiors.

Description: SCP-####is a collection of anomalous properties and events surrounding the town of [REDACTED] in rural west-central Texas, with the majority of anomalies focusing on behavior of SCP-####-A and the higher leadership in the town's only Baptist church.

SCP-####-A is an entity inhabiting a small cave near a creek that forms the northern border of the parsonage property who refers to itself as The Prophet.. The Prophet resembles a man wearing a charcoal-grey suit and formal Western-style boots, with a free-floating longhorn cow skull in place of a head and neck. The entity is observed to have functioning human hands, but it is unknown how far into the clothing these limbs extend, as the inside of the entity's clothing appears hollow beneath the entity’s “head.” The entity is capable of speech, speaking in a West Texan accent with a cadence described as that of a charismatic Baptist preacher and often alluding to or directly quoting Christian scripture. The entity is not hostile to Foundation personnel and often expresses both brotherly love and concern for personnel’s souls. Despite this, as the current Prophet shows no commmitment to preventing 3714-Dry Bones events, the entity should not be considered to align with the Foundation’s goals.

The cave the entity inhabits is about the size of a large bedroom, containing multiple jars of honey and wild locusts, a leatherbound red-letter King James Version Bible, a book of Spurgeon’s sermons, and commentaries on the role of the pastor and various books of the Protestant Christian Bible.

SCP-####-B is a collection of buildings and geographical features consistent with those of a small town in west-central Texas that appears overnight when an 3714-Dry Bones event is triggered, presumed to be connected to bitter conflicts within the congregation and leadership of FBC█. Previous triggers include

Access Addendum 1

• Disagreements over the color scheme when planning the remodel of the sanctuary
• Conflict over whether or not a female layperson could teach Sunday School to adult male laiety.
• Conflict over the inclusion of a drum set in Sunday morning worship
• Conflict over partnering with the local Methodist and Church of Christ to aid refugees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
• Controversy surrounding the coming out of teenage congregation member ███ ██████, Jr.
• Conflict over the marking of ███ ██████, Jr.’s gravestone.
• Conflicts over the introduction of contemporary Christian music (defined as music with Christian themes accompanied by a guitar rather than a piano or organ) in Sunday morning worship
• Conflicts over various proposed outreach to addicts, Latinos, and the poor (which together made up 85% of the town’s population)
• Conflicts surrounding the alleged sighting of Pastor ██████ drinking alcohol three towns away.

Conflicts continue non-anomalously for 2-6 weeks (called the “grace period” by the Prophet) depending on the head pastor’s involvement in the inciting incident and deacons’ wives’ assessment of the head pastor’s behavior in the ensuing arguments.

During this time, the head pastor will encounter the Prophet and seek his wisdom. The Prophet will give advice consistent with the principles considered “Christlike” by orthodox interpretations of the canonical Christian gospels and New Testament epistles, which may or may not be in line with what would prevent a 3714-Dry Bones event. It is unknown whether this is a property of all Prophets, or if it is a shared conviction by the Prophets the Foundation has come into contact with.

After the grace period, influential members (often but not limited to deacons’ wives) will begin pinning the blame for the conflict on the head pastor, regardless of actual guilt, and rapidly turn the congregation against him or her. Foundation personnel are advised not to attend church meetings or gatherings at these members’ homes, as their speech is theorized to be a memetic hazard¹.

The 3714-Dry Bones event occurs at midnight following the first taking of the Lord’s Supper after the memetic anomaly fully manifests. A small town identified as “Bone Valley” (known to the Foundation as SCP-####-B) and surrounding small ranches and family farms similar to but distinct from other towns in the region appears with the western boundary approximately 2 miles away from XXXXX city limits. The town is populated by instances of SCP-####-C: beings appearing similar to the Prophet, dressed in antiquated Southwestern clothing with the skulls of large animals common in the region in place of heads and necks. Unlike the Prophet, -C instances initially show no living biological material. At dawn. -C instances will begin walking towards █████ and interact with the townspeople there. Foundation personnel must use noise-cancelling headphones equipped with internal radio communications for the remainder of the event, as -C instances’ vocalizations appear to be a memetic hazard.

Upon observing -C instances, townspeople will initially show signs of fear, but upon hearing their vocalizations begin to regard the -Cs’ condition as normal and believe that all -C instances are lifelong members of the community. Audio recordings of interactions between -C instances and townspeople fed through a memetic filter reveal -C vocalizations to be sounds similar to rushing wind, but researchers inference based on the responses of the townspeople that their effects and perceived content are similar to that of the affected congregation leaders in spreading rumours and fostering bitterness towards the head pastor of FBC█ and other members of the community.

During interactions with -C instances, townspeople will grow increasingly pale, begin to sweat profusely, and show signs of muscle weakness. The -C instance will begin to slowly manifest a body inside of and extending from its clothing,appearing translucent and dusty at first and becoming more solid, and its skull will change to approach the appearance of a human’s. Addendum 2, a transcript of a written conversation between Foundation operative Daryl ███████ and a particularly cooperative -C instance, may contain clues as to the nature of this process.

[[collapsible show="Access Addendum 2" hide="Close Addendum 2"]]Daryl: What is your purpose here?

-C: Why, to take up the Image, of course.

Daryl: What is the Image?

-C: You were made in His Image, the Image of love and peace and joy. We were born with no image to reflect. The people of this town have thrown that blessing into the dust and called it weakness. It’s only right that be allowed to take up what you’ve cast down.

Daryl: You’re not just picking something up, you’re killing people. I’ve seen it. They don’t start to die until you talk to them. Murdering innocent people doesn't seem like something that Image you're talking about would want to be a part of.

-C: Oh, that would’ve happened in the hereafter anyway. Not our fault it happens so quickly now.

(At this point, the -C instances sets down its pen and walks away).

Past events suggest that the only way to end an 3714-Dry Bones is for the head pastor of FBC█ to willingly perform a ritual with the Prophet. The ritual is explained in Addendum 3, excerpted from a journal loaned to the Foundation by the Prophet. Note: this particular 3714-Dry Bones event occurred after SCP-####’s initial discovery, but before the full details of the anomaly were known to the Foundation

Access Addendum 3

//June █, 2███

The situation is becoming dire. I should’ve known I wouldn’t have been able to stop it myself. Those Men in Black looking fellas told me as much. I’d say they were like Rita, but that would be too much of an insult even for her. She, at least, thinks—thought—that she was doing something good for the church. These have nothing—are nothing—but corruption and death.

My mind is made up. I will seek out the Prophet and do what I must.

//June ██, 2███
To be honest, this is much better than I expected.

The Prophet seemed solemn when I came to him, but not sorrowful. He told me he was proud that I came through, and that he wished he could’ve convinced me to come sooner. I don’t know about pride, but sure as the Lord is good I regret not coming as soon as I saw those things on the horizon.

I know y’all like things to be precise, so I’ll lay it out for you.

The Prophet told me a little bit before we got started. He said he used to be the pastor before me, which gave me a pretty good idea of what was gonna happen next. Said to call him Brother Mark. He told me I had to give up what they were taking. Really give it up, had to know what I was doing for it to work.

“So God created man in his image; in his own image he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27. That’s what I’m giving up, he says. The image of God.

Now, I don’t know if I really do get what that means. But I know what it does. I’ll get to that.

It didn’t take me long to accept. Sure, I’d lose mine. But if that meant Basel and Jim and Lillian and little Sam all get to keep theirs, all get to keep being human, I’d do it with a smile on my face.

Brother Mark nodded with understanding. He’d made the same choice, knew the kind of love a shepherd has for his flock.

He led me to the back of his cave, to a little pool about chest deep. He said just one last thing before we started.

“I’m off to the hereafter once we’re through with this. Wish me luck.”

Then he took me into pool and put one hand on my back and one on my chest, the way I do when I baptize someone.

“What’s your confession of faith?” he asked.

“Jesus is Lord,” I answered. What happened this week made me doubt, but…if that’s not true, then what's the point in this sacrifice?

He immersed me in the water as he said “As you are dead to the things of this world,” and finished with “So you are raised to new life in…something else” as he brought me back up.

He was gone by the time I got out of the pool, and I knew I was changed.

I said I’d tell you what giving up the Image does, so here it is.

I don’t get answers anymore. It happened sometimes before—Lord knows I’ve had my fair share of long dark nights of the soul—but it’s different this time. I used to get at least some comfort, some feeling that I was just asking the wrong question. Now, it’s like there’s nothing there.

I don’t know what that means for me in the long run. Dr. XXXXXX thinks that hell is ultimate separation from God, but this doesn’t feel like hell. Maybe it’s just not a two-way street anymore. Maybe without His image, I can’t see Him reflected in me.

Brother Mark left his Bible here. It was open to John 15. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I may not have laid down my life, but I laid down something. I can only hope the Lord remembers that one when he decides what the hell to do with me.

Keep Mark in your prayers. I don’t think mine would be much help.//

Footnotes

1. Foundation agents have only been present during this period once, so this conclusion is based on the accounts of those agents and conjecture rather than more reliable testing methods.