Howard Phillips

The Telltale Heart

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be contained within an opaque locked container and placed under heavy restraint when not in active study. When in active study, testing labs are to contain no windows, instead SCP-XXXX is to be observed via a monitor with audio communication achieved with an intercom of 0.8ms delay minimum. Under no circumstances is testing to be done on SCP-XXXX without at least two level 2 research staff with appropriate memetic resistance training present. In the event of emergency staff allocated to containing SCP-XXXX are reminded that noise cancelling headsets work electronically, and thus will NOT shield the wearer from the effects of SCP-XXXX, which are caused by a visual line of sight. No more than 3 hours is to pass while SCP-XXXX is within line of sight unless during the safe testing environment currently housed within site-76.No video footage is to be taken of SCP-XXXX without the consent of the site director, as the effects of these have not been extensively researched.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a solid white carving of a human heart purchased from ████████ Curiosity shop in ██████, Baltimore by off-duty SCP field agent ████ █████████ who was embedded in the local police force. SCP-XXXX was discovered by foundation assets 14 hours later when ████ █████████ began raving about classified foundation information over police radio, particularly pertaining to SCP-███ and SCP-████, both of which the agent had assisted in containing. much of this audio has been expunged from all police and foundation databases, but reports indicate much of the broadcast centred around the agent proclaiming a perceived guilt he had for keeping such potential dangers to the public a secret. Communications were intercepted 6 minutes after they began. Investigations into individuals who had potentially heard the broadcast resulted in more individuals than on-site foundation assets could handle in sufficient time, so a cover story framing the agent as a rogue officer who suffered a mental breakdown was created.

SCP-XXXX measures 13 x 9 x 6 cm and consists of a white bone-like material. Line-of-sight exposure to SCP-XXXX results in the manifestation of 'pumping' noises, appearing to originate from within SCP-XXXX, consistent with those made by a human heart beating at an inconsistent BPM. The noise cannot be measured electronically and is thought to be a memetically generated effect. For the effect of SCP-XXXX to activate, there must exist a live video feed or direct line of sight to the object. It is for this reason a delay is required when testing.

X-ray analysis shows the object is partially hollow. Further testing revealed the precise craftsmanship and anatomical accuracy highly unusual for the time period of SCP-XXXX's creation, which has been dated to around 3000 B.C.E. Chemical analysis also confirms SCP-XXXX was once coated in a thin layer of electrum, that would have given it a golden appearance.

Paranoia and unrest have been observed to grow steadily in any test subject within direct line of sight as SCP-XXXX, with several reports of empathic feelings of judgement, guilt, and dread among personnel who spend more than 3 hours with SCP-XXXX. After a minimum threshold of ██ hours in this state, all class D personal have been observed to confess any and all crimes they have committed, according to their own moral compass as consistent with their psychological evaluations. For further information see test log.

Anaesthetics used on Class D personal while affected by SCP-XXXX will enter a dream-like state. during which they will enter into what is theorised to be a class 3 instanced reality. For more information on this, please see the attached excerpts from Doctor Amari's paper on class 3 instanced realities.

Update:██/██/20██
The origin of SCP-XXXX has since been ascertained to be somewhere in the vicinity of the Nile delta, Egypt. This has been corroborated by the excavation of new historical sites in the area. One of the sites contained a set of worn hieroglyphic slabs hence referred to as SCP-XXXXa, containing descriptions of SCP-XXXX, and describe a ritual wherein the old and dying look upon the heart for a single day to be judged and allowed into 'paradise'. Due to the similarity between the object described in SCP-XXXXa, it is thought the likelihood of it being the same as (or an identical instance of) SCP-XXXX is probable. The apparent age, sophistication and the electrum coating of SCP-XXXXa indicate it is unlikely that these people actually constructed SCP-XXXX. SCP-XXXXa, though non-anomalous, is currently kept in SCP-XXXX's storage cell in site-17.

---

+ Show Test Log

Test A - █/█/19██

Subject: D-953
Procedure: D-953 locked in with SCP-XXXX. Left alone for 1 hour.
Results: D-953 notes a general sense of unease, but whether this is an effect of SCP-XXXX or just a natural reaction to being locked in a room alone with an anomalous object.
Analysis:D-953 sent for psychological evaluation. No differences to previous psychological examination were revealed. Recommend frequent monitoring to ensure no late manifestations.

Test B - █/█/19██

Subject: D-989
Procedure: D-989 locked in with SCP-XXXX. Left alone for 3 hours.
Results:* No signs of mental deterioration, minor headache. SCP-XXXX appears to have changed shape slightly during the 3 hours.
Analysis:**D-989 sent for phycological evaluation revealing a markable decrease in inhibition factors by 15%. Recommend frequent appointments with assigned psychologist. Further Analysis shows the internals of SCP-XXXX have reconfigured to align more closely with D-989's heart as observed via ultrasound.

Test C - █/█/19██

Subject: D-911
Procedure: Full mental and vital monitoring in an interview room. Left with Level 2 research staff for 3 hours.
Results: One member of staff was found explaining the function of the test to D-911 while one member was staring blankly at the one-way mirror.
Analysis:D-911 and staff sent for prompt psychological evaluation. All determined to be within normal parameters. Recommend isolated testing and construction of specialised testing unit at Site-76.

Test D - █/█/20██

Subject:[REDACTED]
Procedure: [REDACTED] trained in resisting interrogation placed in the specialised unit, all monitoring on, for 13 hours.
Results: Despite being instructed to give nothing away, after 10 hours, [REDACTED] began biting his fingers and writing on the walls of the cell. After 12 hours [REDACTED] began to calm. 13 hours later [REDACTED] began staring into the one way soundproofed mirror and could be heard reciting details related to the containment of SCP-██, SCP -███, and SCP-██ along with miscellaneous minor offences they had committed prior to joining the foundation, consistent with [REDACTED]'s background check.
Analysis:[REDACTED] had to be forcefully removed from the chamber and sedated. Psychological assessment yielded unusual results. The subjects psychological assessment is completely different to last evaluation. subject not cleared to return to service and was located in holding cell #4 for one day, before [REDACTED] discovered to have expired during the night.

Test E - █/█/20██

Subject: D-963
Procedure: D-963 exposed to direct line-of-sight to SCP-XXXX for 13 hours.
Results: D-963 was sedated but maintained consciousness. Upon waking from anaesthesia D-963 insists that their series of vivid dreams were real. A personal log made by the subject shortly before expiration is attached for reason of further psychological evaluation.
Analysis: D-963 expired after 12 hours, however, a brief psychological evaluation was conducted. Results of evaluation were inconclusive. While it is generally recognised that D-963 has read works by ████ ██████, their dream and interviews indicate similarities beyond reasonable coincidence. As such it cannot be discounted that D-963's dreams come from subconscious memory and are entirely natural. A Theory by research Dr. Catherine Amari suggests an anomalous property of SCP-XXXX is the manifestation of D-963's subconscious as a class 3 instanced reality, perceivable only by D-963. If the latter is correct, it is hypothetically possible for buried memetic entities to manifest in the time between exiting the dream and expiration, entirely new memetic entities to be created within the dream. Recommend to filter out future Class-D test applicants found to have an imaginative nature, have had any prior experience with harmful memetic agents.

---

+ Show D-963 Dream log

D-963 Personal Log #307
I have dreamed before of course, I have even dreamed the kinds of strange dreams you can incur after anaesthetics and such, and this was not like that at all. This was beyond vivid. Even now I still remember the smell of the grasslands, taste the dry air of the desert, the touch of the congealing slime of the black stone…

It started I know not when. Suddenly I was standing in a field of tall grasses, the faint beating of the heart permeated the air, but was otherwise silent. I wandered aimlessly for what couldn't have been more than an hour and learned little of my surroundings except that the beating of the heart grew louder as I headed east.

Days came and went as I walked. First across the grassy plateau, then across a sweltering desert. I knew not where I was going, only following the guidance of the heart. It spoke to me now. It whispered of freedom, absolution, and awakening, but also of the judgement, the feather, and the scale.

I understood then. I understood what my purpose here was. I was to face what I had done, for I knew then that I was already dead. The heart will become mine, and the weight of my crimes will be tested. Only then will I ever be free.

I knew the place immediately when I saw it. half-remembered from some strange dream. But this was no dream. Amidst a series of half-buried sandstone columns sat a large chunk of black-green stone. Its surface was wet, even in the heat of midday, with some form of oozing algae that seemed to secrete from the rock itself. The slab was full of holes, some as large as twice a human arm, some as small as a finger. I remember noting how bad a time it would be to develop trypophobia. It was then that I saw it. Or them. Or whatever it was. A writhing mass of tendrils worming free of the stone. I heard a whisper one last time. "judgement". And I awoke. I will not last long now, I know. The reaper is coming soon. But to take me where?

---

+ Excerpts from 'Informational Realities: An exploration of the concept of class 3 instanced realities'

Refresher on the concepts of instanced reality.
It is no great secret within the foundation that the empirical laws of our reality do not always apply to SCP's. It is not unusual for an entity to fully exist, but is only perceivable by a certain individual, or group of individuals. Nor is it a stretch to say that there are entities, places even, only visible or interactable by certain means, often referred to by confiscated anomalous texts as the practices of 'attuning' or 'binding'. It is in an attempt to understand these anomalies that the theory of instantiated reality was first formed. It is not the purpose of this paper to explain, prove or disprove the theory itself, only to explore the possibility of a third classification within the bounds of the theory. However, in brief, the result of the theory proposes that there can exist a multitude of instances of a given reality, the interactions between them resulting in anomalous phenomena.

Description of a class 3 Instanced Reality
Unlike classifications 1 & 2, a class 3 instanced reality (if proven) would manifest itself from the interaction of information in a living organism. It is my hypothesis that eventually, a memetic construct could manifest in such a complex structure as to effectively be an instanced reality that exists in the mind. As this reality is a memetic construct, it could be transmitted, via either anomalous or natural memetic transmission. It is also possible that many memetic entities originate from class 3 realities and are transferred into our world using the host as a transmission vector. The effective 'realness' of these places is completely subjective of course, but imagine if our reality had sentience, would we not be considered just as subjectively real?

It should be noted that 'Informational Realities: an exploration of the concept of class 3 instanced realities' was rejected by foundation peer review for containing too much focus on philosophical ambiguity and little to no supporting evidence or proposed tests.

---

Addendum: Termination of further testing.
As of 10/08/2018 all further testing on SCP-XXXX is to cease due to a potential data breach. Should our understanding of memetics reach a sufficient level that the effects of SCP-XXXX might be nullified, requests for appeal can be made to the current site director of site-76.

Potential Other Drafts

More text in another tab! You can add lots of tabs.