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Item #: SCP 4563
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: due to the dispersed, ubiquitous, well known and overall essential nature of SCP 4563, any attempt at containment would be impossible, not to mention completely inadvisable. Instead a broad misinformation campaign is to be maintained and all scientific investigation into SCP 4563 is to be disrupted, confused and, if necessary, destroyed. Foundation research into SCP 4563 is to continue in order to determine what other procedures may be necessary.
Description: SCP 4563 is a state of inhibited sensory and muscular activity, altered consciousness, non-responsiveness and homeostatic-regulation experienced by every living thing possessing a brain[1], colloquially known as sleep. The biological function of SCP 4563 is currently unknown to the general public and still somewhat unclear to the foundation. The long-term effects of deprivation of SCP 4563 in lower lifeforms is death. The long-term effects of deprivation of SCP 4563 in higher lifeforms such as humans comes in three distinct stages. Due to ethical scruples no non-foundation scientific studies have managed to maintain deprivation beyond the first stage[2].
The first stage, known as the withdrawal stage, is characterised by lethargy, reduced motor and brain function, and a pervasive, uninterrupted longing for SCP 4563. This desire is described as being more intense and painful than any hunger or thirst, and can drive subjects to attempt suicide in order to escape it. In the general scientific community this drive to sleep is known as Process S and, thanks to foundation efforts, remains a mystery. Among foundation scientists it has been nicknamed The Pull to the Blue.
If the subject survives the first stage without heart attack, stroke or suicide, then after anywhere between four and ten months, they will enter the second stage. In this stage of deprivation, known as the adjustment stage, subjects seemingly return to normal functionality. If given permission to resume SCP 4563 at this point, subjects will claim that they do not feel tired, and that they could not imagine ever feeling tired again. This stage is characterised by an increase in energy and drive, a massive reduction in stress and irrational fear, and a complete disavowing of all previously held religious beliefs, ideals and morals[3].
The behaviour of individuals in the adjustment stage is varied. Some will attempt to ‘free’ others from the effects of SCP 4563, although their methods are often less than subtle and frequently result in the death of those they are attempting to free. Some become fixated on completing a specific, seemingly random task[4]. Some simply survive, making sure they are well fed and exercised but otherwise doing nothing, appearing to be waiting for something.
The only common factor across all subjects during the adjustment stage is that when interviewed they all report sudden flashes of memory that do not seem to relate to their previous life. These memories involve being suspended in an endless, featureless void, completely alone. When asked about their own condition in this place, are they old, young, naked, clothed, they tend to respond that they do not have a physical body at all, that they are merely a consciousness able to observe their surroundings. Although there is some variation in descriptions of the void, three things remain constant across all reports. That, in the memory, it is a completely normal place to be, that it is perfectly safe, and that it is blue.
The exact shade of blue varies, and, vitally, is the reported colour even among subjects with total colour blindness or who have been blind from birth. This has caused some foundation scientists to speculate that blue is simply the mind’s way of describing a property it cannot comprehend. The memories of the void are almost always associated with a feeling of acute nostalgia.
The third stage[5] begins between a few days and six months after the second stage. During the third stage subjects become the centre of a spatio-temporal anomaly. To an outside observer it appears that the subject is slowly shrinking. However, if the subject is approached it will become clear that the space occupied by the subject has become distended, in such a way that the eye is tricked into thinking that nothing has changed. The subject is in fact moving further and further away and the actual distance between the subject and the lip of the anomaly increases exponentially, in apparent violation of the laws of relativity and geometry.
At the same time the subject’s passage through time rapidly slows in relation to the universe and they quickly appear to be standing perfectly still. This process last about five hours from an external perspective and about three minutes from the perspective of the subject. After this time the subject is so distant that not even the most precise measurements can detect them, and the spatial anomaly around them disappears[6].
Given their extreme time displacement it is not easy to communicate with the subjects during the third phase. By recording and slowing down their actions, however, it can be seen that another marked metal shift affects the subjects during this stage. Those who have committed violent or otherwise immoral actions during the adjustment phase are often overtaken by outpourings of guilt and unworthiness, but in general subjects eventually enter a state of euphoria. Some example transcriptions of stage three subjects are provided below.
It should be noted that learning about the blue void often prompts individuals to experience similar feelings of nostalgia to those seen in the adjustment phase. This article has been flagged as a potential mimetic hazard but this classification has been rejected as there are few ill effects to these nostalgic feelings themselves, and all that is usually needed to cure them is a good night’s sleep.
Transcripts:
“Oh god, I’m sorry- can you hear me? What are you doing? Can you tell them I’m sorry? [sobbing] I didn’t know what I was doing. I was lost. You don’t understand. Please, please… [unintelligible] I can feel it- I can feel the blue the blue I can I can feel it the blue. I don’t understand. Don’t you know what I did? Oh, oh, oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank blue thank you blue blue thank thank oh blue oh oh thank you…”
“Wait I- I can feel it again. It’s back. I’m going- hello can you hear me? I’m going back! Come! Come with me! I’m going back! Back forever! The big blue! Come with me! Dr ██████, come! I forgive you for everything, come, it will forgive you too! The big blue will forgive you! [laughter]”
“What? No- no you can’t. It’s too bright, too blue. I don’t deserve- no. I can’t go back- won’t it hurt? Won’t the blue hurt after what I did? No- no. It doesn’t hurt. It's so kind. So very kind. So very blue.”
Addendum: Further experiments have shown that during the third stage of deprivation a large amount of ██████████████ radiation is released from the subject. Careful study has also shown that a minute level of this radiation is released during instances of SCP 4563 in a wide range of organisms, and is presumed to be universal to all instances[7]. Research continues.
