Hatcheye
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NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

The following document pertains to a viral infohazardous anomaly. It was compiled by the Foundation neural network ANNULAD1 to avoid human exposure, as any tangential information regarding the anomaly is sufficient to spread its effect. For the same reason, all documentation beyond SCP-XXXX's special containment procedures is level 4/XXXX classified.

— RAISA Automated Warning System

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: All available information regarding SCP-XXXX should be handled by ANNULAD. This AI is the sole holder of the clearance required to edit SCP-XXXX's documentation. RAISA technical staff are to perform regular maintenance checkups of ANNULAD's mainframe to ensure it remains in full working order.

All known attempts to develop anomalous mnestic regimens2 should be covertly monitored by ANNULAD to prevent rediscovery of SCP-XXXX. Any individuals deemed to have knowledge of SCP-XXXX should be apprehended and quarantined indefinitely in standard humanoid living quarters. Due to the contagious nature of the anomaly, affected individuals should not be allowed to interact, directly or indirectly, with other humans.3

Foundation personnel that become aware of SCP-XXXX should be redesignated E-class.4 Only these personnel may be granted the level 4/XXXX clearance required to access the remainder of this file. Level 4/XXXX personnel should be encouraged to document their symptoms and to perform further research into the nature of SCP-XXXX.

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    ▷ Access description — LEVEL 4/XXXX CLEARANCE REQUIRED▽ Showing description — LEVEL 4/XXXX CLEARANCE VERIFIED

    Description: SCP-XXXX is the abstract concept of a "Retroactive Mnestic Treatment", first proposed by Dr. Felicia Moore, senior researcher and head of the Foundation's research group for anomalous mnestic treatments. The goal of this project was to recover erased memories by undoing the effects of CK-class restructuring events and other forms of induced memory loss. At some point following its conception, SCP-XXXX became synonymous with a potent infohazard.5

    Felicia-Moore.jpg

    Dr. Felicia Moore, ex-supervisor of the Retroactive Mnestic Treatment Project.

    SCP-XXXX's anomalous effect continually removes random episodic memories. The only known selection criterion is recency; There is a strong bias towards new memories being targeted first. While difficult to quantify, this process seems to take place in discrete steps, at a fixed rate. Notably, the erasure of all memories involving SCP-XXXX does not cancel its effect. While in theory this would render the subject non-infectious, they may still become aware of their own symptoms, which in turn serves as a vector for contagion.

    The initial manifestation of SCP-XXXX's infohazard went unnoticed until a routine RAISA investigation revealed that Dr. Moore and her team had been steadily losing progress.6 As a result, it is not entirely clear how close they came to success or what methods they employed that may have resulted in SCP-XXXX's infohazardous nature. Pertinent files recovered from the Retroactive Mnestic Treatment lab are available to level 4/XXXX personnel on request.

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      ▷ Access recovered files pending inspection by level 4/XXXX staff▽ Loading recovered files pending inspection by level 4/XXXX staff

      Discovery: The files below were recovered from Site-39 in a thorough, unmanned sweep of the premises, after initial containment of SCP-XXXX had been established.

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      File XXXX.1 — Contaminated Email Correspondence

      From: Sr. Researcher Felicia C. Moore, Department of Memetics and Cognitohazards
      To: Director Richard T.K. Drummond, Department of Memetics and Cognitohazards
      Sent: 10:33 AM, 2017/09/22
      Subject: RE: RE: Quarterly progress report - Research group for anomalous mnestic treatments

      Dear Richard,

      Since you asked me to keep you posted, here's an update on our work.

      My team's been brainstorming ways to make this new mnestic project work, and we've come up with something plausible. What I said before still stands, though: With the level of anomalous technology we have right now, we just can't reliably access memories as they were before a CK-class event. Sure, some people have shown a level of resistance to them, but that's still a gamble at best. Not to mention it's even more of a pipe dream for other sources of anomalous memory loss.

      So, what other options do we have? Well, our idea is the following: We grab memories from alternate universes. Before you say anything: Yes, I'm deadly serious. I've talked it through with people from Multi-U, and they assure me it can be done. If we want to recover an erased memory, we just have to look for one of the branching universes where it was never erased. I'm told Multi-U has a way of scanning for universes that satisfy a given set of input parameters, and if you give us the go-ahead, my team can get working on a way to remotely lift memories from the selected universe. That way we won't have to abduct anyone, it'll be a remote and automated process. Let me know what you think.

      Kind regards,

      Felicia

      PS: If you do greenlight this, we should run it by the Ethics Committee as well. With the current tech, we'd effectively be stealing memories from people in alternate timelines, which is more than a little iffy.

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      File XXXX.2 — Recovered Test Log Entries

      PRELIMINARY TEST LOG

      Supervisor: Dr. Moore
      Target subject: D-10589
      Target memories: The color of ripe Musa acuminata7 fruit peels
      Source universe: U-372952
      Alteration event: Minor restructuring event CK-7943
      Test outcome: Unaltered memory succesfully recovered. Altered version fully overwritten during transfer. As expected, subject expresses confusion at the mismatch between their memories and reality.
      Supervisor: Dr. Moore
      Target subject: D-7412
      Target memories: Containment breach of SCP-████
      Source universe: U-409154
      Erasure event: Routine amnestization on 2017/06/01
      Test outcome: Memories succesfully recovered and implanted. Subject reports intense anxiety, attributed to the traumatic nature of the recovered memories, as well as a general lack of context for them. Memories were later removed via Class-C amnestics.
      Supervisor: Dr. Moore
      Target subject: Field Agent Waters
      Target memories: Latest fieldwork assignment
      Source universe: U-303790
      Erasure event: Extranormal event EE-61392
      Test outcome: Target memory successfully recovered. However, subject reports a lack of completeness: There is a gap between where the recovered memories end and where their unerased memories begin. It is possible an unforeseen erasure event occurred in the source universe.
      Supervisor: N/A
      Target subject: Researcher Holloway
      Target memories: Design and functionality of retroactive mnestic equipment
      Source universe: U-498836
      Erasure event: Unknown
      Test outcome: Operator error, memory probe damaged in process. Further attempts at equipment operation blocked by safety systems.

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      File XXXX.3 — Post-Containment Personnel Journal

      Excerpt from the journal of Felicia Moore

      2019/06/19: By now, I've consigned myself to the idea that no-one's reading these entries. Still, part of me feels like I should write down a summary of the things I've learned, just in case it can be of help to anyone. To pass on the torch, so to speak. Not that I have any idea how you'd get a hold of this file in the first place.

      So, let's assume you're reading this, whoever you are. The most likely explanation is that you were infected along with the rest of us when our lab got compromised. I don't know how much you remember, so I'm going to assume the absolute worst case scenario, which is that you've forgotten all about the anomaly, and you're very confused right about now. Chances are you're in a room identical to mine, in which case your first course of action should be to boot up the computer and read the database file. You can't miss it, it's the only thing you have the clearance to access anymore.

      Most likely, there's a list of instructions somewhere in your room, telling you to keep a journal. You really ought to do that, but not for the reasons RAISA gives you. If you did as I said, you now know that the anomaly is eating your memories, from newest to oldest. Which means that, soon enough, you'll forget about that fact, along with everything else I've just told you. That is why you need to keep a journal: so you can reread your previous entries to stay on top of things. Also consider leaving notes for yourself, in case you forget about the journal altogether. Please, learn from my mistakes on this one. Who knows how much stuff I've forgotten that isn't written down.

      Next, the instructions probably mention that you can fix this, or at least stop it from happening again, by figuring out how and why it happened to us in the first place.

      That's where I have to disappoint you.

      When the MTF busted down the doors to put us all in containment cells, they didn't exactly treat our research with care. I can't blame them, all of it was infohazardous. One stray look, one spark of comprehension, and they'd be in the same boat as us. As a consequence, though, there isn't much left intact. I don't really know how I should feel about all that work gone to waste. Maybe it's for the best, if it caused all of this.

      In any case, you can go ahead and request access to what little files they were able to salvage. It'll give you an idea of the paratech we were using, at the very least. But other than that, all I've been able to find is just more questions. How did our anomalous technology mess up this badly? Was there some sort of malfunction? Was it our fault? I really don't envy your task of continuing the search for answers.

      So, what next? If you want, you can cling to the hope that RAISA will find something new in the rubble, something important. That you'll be able to solve this yet. But, after reading all this, you might have gotten the impression that I don't share your optimism. You'd be absolutely right. I've had enough of waiting alone in here, trying to find answers that might not even be there. I'm done slowly wasting away while RAISA treats me like I'm nothing more than a source of raw data, trying over and over to solve an unsolvable riddle.

      No, I've decided it's time for a change of plans. So here's the deal. The AI will only approve requests for medicine up to a certain dosage. But it can't check if you've taken them. It took a long time to stockpile this much amnestics, but at least it gave me plenty of opportunities to double-check my math.

      I just want to get out of this damn room.

      Note: On 2019/06/20, Felicia Moore was found unconcious in her living quarters at Site-88. Medical analysis revealed that she had self-administered a dangerously large dosage of Class-D amnestics. Upon awaking, it became clear that Dr. Moore had lost all explicit memory, as could be expected based on the dosage of amnestics. Following this, Dr. Moore displayed no traces of infection by SCP-XXXX, leading to the discovery that a total removal of memories for the anomaly to rewind results in the cessation of SCP-XXXX's effect. This method of removing the infection is not believed to inoculate the subject against re-exposure.

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      File XXXX.4 — Testing Lab Archival Photograph
      1280px-Olkiluoto_spent_nuclear_fuel_repository_01.jpg

      Photograph of the underground testing lab at Site-39, before its allocation to hold the Retroactive Mnestic Treatment Project's extensive paratechology setup.

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      File XXXX.5 — Recovered Post-It Note

      NOTE TO SELF #146 - IMPORTANT

      Today is the fifteenth of March, 2018. Still can't find out how to repair the probe we made. I think the machinery we got from Multi-U is still functional, if only I could figure out how it works. Can't exactly ask for help, especially now that I've holed myself up in here with the equipment.

      Weird thought I had: If an infohazard affects a certain idea in our universe, does it also do so in a parallel universe? Or does each universe have its own noosphere? I guess they must do, what with the whole thing about infinite universes and infinite possibilities. Otherwise all concepts would be infohazardous, right? If that's the case, did we bring something through? I really have no clue, to be honest. I might not even be making any sense. Sorry, future me.

      — Amy Holloway (Yes, you wrote this, even if you don't remember. Make sure to read the rest of the notes, too.)

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        ▷ Access restricted material — LEVEL 5/XXXX CLEARANCE REQUIRED▽ Showing restricted material — LEVEL 5/XXXX CLEARANCE VERIFIED

        Dicovery: The following materials were obtained from a standard-issue Foundation lockbox, hidden under the floor panels of the Site-39 testing lab. They should not be released to level 4/XXXX personnel.

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        File XXXX.6 — Damaged Paper Scrap

        Information obtained from U-303790 regarding noospheric predators:

        Conceptual parasitoid — An anomalous, nonphysical and infovorous entity whose evolutionary strategy superficially resembles that of biological parasitoids. Through unknown means, it attaches itself to an abstract concept or idea in the noosphere, which then serves as the entity's host. Subsequently, the host concept develops a slow-acting infohazard, which automatically infects all sapient lifeforms that are aware of it. The victims of this infohazard experience a gradual loss of information, sustaining the infovorous parasitoid.

        It is suspected that these parasitoids can attach to a different host concept at will, though they only resort to this option in two specific scenarios:

        • To fend off competitors. When they detect a competing infovorous parasite targeting their victims, they may latch onto said competitor's host in retaliation, to cut it off from its source of information.
        • To survive the demise of its previous host, once this concept has been completely erased from the noosphere by the parasitoid's influence.

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        File XXXX.7 — Audio Files Recovered From Handheld Dictaphone

        Transcript of Audio File 1: Alright, personal log of Amy Holloway, tape number 43. It's… hard to describe how relieved I am to not be carrying this burden by myself anymore. I was reluctant to involve anyone else at first — didn't want to raise outside suspicion. But just as the situation started to look hopeless, I managed to bump into our team's Multi-U contact, scouring the basement level for "misallocated assets". She must've thought I was crazy at first, but that changed pretty quickly once I showed her all the equipment we have installed down here.

        So, yeah. Emily's been a real godsend so far — With how well she can work these machines, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a hand in setting them up in the first place. It's taken some time, but together we've reconfigured the entire tech setup. It should now be capable of creating and maintaining a person-sized wormhole. We both agree that in order to have any hope of fixing this, we first need to know why it's happening. So, we're going to retrace the project's steps to where it all seems to have gone wrong. It's risky for sure, especially since we're basically operating on a hunch, but I really don't see any other way forward.

        Transcript of Audio File 2: Uhm. Holloway again. We made a foray into U-303790. As expected, we ended up in a near-identical version of Site-39. Had a 30-minute window before the portal's power drain on the site back home would get flagged as suspicious. Spent most of our time being paranoid about getting detected. Turns out we didn't need to — The entire place was empty. At first, we made our way up to the surface and out of the site, but… Something was obviously wrong. Sky — the sky, it was like… instead of what it should be, it was pastel orange everywhere. It wasn't — wasn't too bright or anything, but it still hurt my eyes somehow. We saw some people out there, just… standing still? Looking at the sky. Some of them were wearing Foundation-issue apparel. After a moment, some of them turned around, towards us. They looked… confused? Apprehensive? I don't think they saw us, but they were definitely moving towards where we were hiding. So we hurried back inside.

        As it turns out, our security clearances still work. Guess it's an advantage of closely-aligned alternate universes. The, uh, database wasn't right though. It was in massive disarray. I mean stuff like incomprehensible notes left on unrelated pages, edits that would never have made it past RAISA, massive redaction and expungement of both pre-existing and new files, tons and tons of warning messages indicating that containment was being neglected… And, uh, no recent changes at all, not since a few months ago.

        Since that seemed to be going nowhere, we spent some time looking through the on-site research labs of the Department of Memetics and Cognitohazards. Apparently, all researchers were abruptly pulled from whatever projects they were working on, to tackle some kind of "ongoing incursion event" of anomalous entities. Is that the point where our timelines diverged? In any case, we were running low on time, so I grabbed whatever files I could and hurried back. We'll get to sorting through them when we aren't quite as, uh, out of it.

        So, yeah. That's everything I have to say. Sorry, it's uh — it's a lot to take in. Like it's only just sinking in how badly we're in over our heads.

        Note: The last file was created approximately 36 hours before the mobilization of MTF Eta-10 ("See No Evil") to contain SCP-XXXX. Currently, neither Amy Holloway nor Emily McCarthy are accounted for. Analysis of Site-39's power usage reveals two unexplained half-hour long spikes, one shortly before the timestamp of the second audio file, and the other just prior to Eta-10's arrival on-site.

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        Contextual Analysis of Recovered Data

        ANNULAD Report ID: 3329F

        Timestamp: 2018/06/30 15:35

        Prompt: In light of the recent discontinuation of data recovery efforts from Site-39, a full contextual analysis of the available information regarding SCP-XXXX was queried by RAISA. The results of this procedure are included below.

        Conclusion: The following relevant statements have been ascertained:

        • SCP-XXXX did not possess any anomalous properties prior to an exchange of information between our timeline and the alternate timeline U-303790.
        • A number of early, uncoordinated attempts were made to study and ultimately contain SCP-XXXX. One such attempt involved at least one physical exploration into U-303790.
        • Despite its initial classification as a closely-aligned universe, U-303790 displayed notable incongruities, with evidence pointing towards the recent occurance of a K-class scenario.

        The following statements of varying relevance have been noted to display a large degree of correlation:

        • SCP-XXXX, or the "Retroactive Mnestic Treatment", is a distinct noospheric concept.
        • Foundation research from U-303790 describes a type of infovore whose information-erasing behavior is congruent with that of SCP-XXXX. Such an infovore propagates its influence by affixing to a distinct noospheric concept.
        • The aforementioned entities are internally highly competetive and capable of re-affixing to a different concept, even doing so agressively to deter competitors.
        • The Retroactive Mnestic Treatment project was intended to operate via the siphoning of lost memories from alternate universes.

        Proposal: In light of the above findings, the following course of action is suggested:

        Status:

        • APPROVED by RAISA vote on 2018/07/02
        • APPROVED by Ethics Committee vote on 2018/07/10
        • Procedure implemented on 2018/07/14

        Note: An investigation into the K-class scenario that took place within U-303790, and the precautions necessary to avoid it, is currently under way.

Footnotes