involuntarybookclub

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be stored in a standard large-object containment cell. Due to SCP-XXXX’s unique benefits to security, access to SCP-XXXX is restricted to personnel with roles in the Veritas Procedure. Further testing on SCP-XXXX requires authorization from the Site Director.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a Catholic confessional, constructed in a style popular in the mid eighteenth century. Unlike a standard confessional, SCP-XXXX has a single door on the left-hand side. The right hand side consists of a nearly identical looking door, which is in fact carved into the wood. The left and right chambers of the confessional are separated by a screen; a scope inserted into the right hand side of the booth revealed that it is nearly identical to the left, with the addition of a crucifix mounted on the wall opposite the screen. No attempts to physically enter the right hand side of the booth have been made due to concerns about damage to the object.

SCP-XXXX came to the Foundation’s attention when a local news article reported its anomalous properties; the effects of the booth were first noted when a team of conservators began restoring a church in ██████, England. While restoring the inside of the booth, one of the workers triggered SCP-XXXX’s anomalous behavior and confessed to a number of minor criminal offenses and was subsequently arrested. Rumors of the event spread across the town, and several others deliberately exposed themselves to SCP-XXXX’s anomalous properties out of curiosity before the Foundation acquired the object.

The anomalous effects of SCP-XXXX can be observed when a human remains in the accessible booth with the door closed for longer than one minute and 32 seconds. Subsequently, subjects will begin speaking, confessing and describing past actions out loud. These experiences have universally consisted of events where the subject acted in a way that would widely be construed as morally objectionable. Subjects exhibit signs of extreme distress over what they have done, even in cases where the subject reports no remorse before or after entry to the booth. Initial testing with D-class personnel elicited confessions consistent with their sentence, though in a number of cases new, undisclosed information about their crimes came to light. In 4 out of 5 of these cases, the Foundation was able to verify this information as correct; verification in the fifth case proved impractical. Only in one case did the D-Class not confess to their alleged crimes; further investigation revealed they were likely innocent. After their confession, test subjects have claimed to feel as if they had been forgiven, and evaluations showed an improvement in mood and well being for some weeks following.

Test Summaries:

Test 0001: D-14454, convicted of murdering a 7 year old child. During the pre-test interview D-14454 was extremely reluctant to discuss the reason for their incarceration. During the test, they gave a full account while audibly sobbing. Afterwards they reported feeling at peace with what they had done.
Test 0002: D-12348, convicted of beating his wife to death. During the pre-test interview, D-12348 was quite open about what he had done, believing it to have been his right. During the test, subject described the details of the murder in between apologies. After the test the subject’s attitudes on what they had done were unchanged, but still expressed a general feeling of well being.
Test 0003: D-12398, convicted of pushing her husband down the stairs. During the pre-test interview, D-12398 maintained their innocence of their charges. During the test, they described nearly a dozen incidents of academic dishonesty, while apologizing to god and begging forgiveness. Afterwards they too reported a sense of forgiveness, claiming they knew god had forgiven them. Investigation revealed several discrepancies in D-12398’s trial, pointing to their likely innocence.

To: Head of Research, Dr. G█████
From: Dr. M███████
Due to the nature of SCP-XXXX, further testing on D-Class is unlikely to prove fruitful, since the nature of the object interacts specifically with others perception of crime. Due to the low risk associated with interacting with the object, and the positive effects of doing so, I’d like to request permission to test on consenting research staff.

To: Dr. M██████
From: Dr. G█████
Proceed. No more than one personnel every two months is permitted to volunteer for testing, and should be monitored for the following six months for physical or behavioral changes.

Test Summaries:

Test 0016, Foundation research staff member Jennifer Wade: Test typical for SCP-XXXX. Details withheld for privacy reasons.
Test 0017, Foundation research staff Isaac Willams: Test typical for SCP-XXXX. Details withheld for privacy reasons.
Test 0018, Foundation research staff Dr. ███ K████: Dr. K████ was given a general overview of the associated risks of testing, but was not briefed on the nature of the anomaly before entry. During testing, she confessed to being an agent of the Chaos Insurgency, providing an extremely detailed confession, complete with her objectives and the names of several other accomplices within the Foundation. Researcher M█████ notified Head Researcher G██████ at once. Dr. K███ and her accomplices were detained by security. Despite Dr. K████’s denials, Foundation security were able to amass an overwhelming amount of evidence against her based on the information provided in her confession. Dr. K███ and her associates were interrogated and terminated.

To: Dr. M██████
From: Dr. G██████
Holy Shit, this thing really works. I’m not saying anything it makes people say should be admissible, as it were, but this could be a fantastic site resource. I’m asking higher ups for permission to make exposure to it routine.

Procedure Veritas:

Each staff member is expected to undergo procedure Veritas once a year, though the exact date is chosen at random. On each staff member’s allotted day they are to be escorted to SCP-XXXX by two members of security and placed inside. A member of the site staff as well as a witness from Foundation security is required to be present during the confession, along with standard recording equipment. Once a confession has been obtained, the staff member is to be detained until any relevant leads have been investigated.

To: Dr. M███████
From: Dr. G██████
███, you need to talk to the Site Director. They aren’t just using this thing for leads now, they’re using the confessions as evidence. I’ve tried talking to them about it, but they insist that I “don’t have adequate familiarity with the object in question to make judgements.” Maybe they’ll listen to you.

To: Dr. G██████
From: Dr. M██████
Look, ████, in something like 90% of the cases security’s been able to find a smoking gun, and in the other 10% there’s been at least circumstantial verification. We’ve been able to root out everything from corruption to sexual misconduct to treason, and if I start questioning the properties of this SCP now, some of those people might get away with what they’ve done. Think about Dr. H█████. If we didn’t have the Veritas procedure, that sick fuck would still be ███████████████████, and if I call it into question now, he could get reinstated. Even if it is somehow wrong sometimes, it’s still got a better track record than the US judicial system.
Plus, questioning the process before you’ve gone through it isn’t a great look.

To: Site Director Asher
From: Dr. M██████
With all due respect, I would like to object most strenuously to Dr. G█████’s upcoming termination. I have known the man practically since childhood; there is no way he is capable of the things he confessed to. I admit, the story lines up, but we may have gotten carried away with this object. Who knows what this thing is doing; it could be restructuring reality for all we know. We can’t be executing people based on testimony produced by an anomalous object.

To: Dr. M███████
From: Site Director Asher
I have reviewed your quite numerous emails, as well as your research notes and previous correspondence with Dr. G██████. Given your stance previous to Dr. G██████’s confession of ██████████████████████, we are inclined to believe your reaction is an entirely emotional one. Your protests have been heard, and if you continue on in this fashion I will be forced to formally discipline you. You have a ton of potential; don’t throw your career away over someone you thought was your friend.

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be stored in a standard containment cell as far as possible from populated areas. Entry in and out of the cell is to be strictly monitored, and no testing on site personnel is permitted. Personnel working in proximity to SCP-XXXX are to be routinely evaluated for signs of elevated paranoia and authoritarian tendencies.

SCP-XXXX came to the Foundation’s attention when a local news article reported its anomalous properties; the effects of the booth were first noted when a team of conservators began restoring a church in Sheffield, England. While restoring the inside of the booth, one of the workers triggered SCP-XXXX’s anomalous behavior and confessed to a number of minor criminal offenses, and was subsequently arrested. The event became a legend in the town, and several others deliberately exposed themselves to SCP-XXXX’s anomalous properties out of curiosity before the Foundation acquired the object.

The anomalous effects of SCP-XXXX can be observed when a human remains in the accessible booth with the door closed for longer than one minute and 32 seconds. After that time, subjects will begin speaking, confessing describing past actions out loud. These experiences have universally consisted of events where the subject acted in a way that would widely be construed as morally objectionable. Subjects exhibit signs of extreme distress over what they have done, even in cases where the subject reports no remorse before or after entry to the booth. Initial testing with the D-Class elicited confessions consistent with their sentence, though in a number of cases new, undisclosed information about their crimes came to light. In 4 out of 5 of these cases, the Foundation was able to verify this information as correct; verification in the fifth case proved impractical. Only in one case did the D-Class not confess to their alleged crimes; further investigation revealed they were likely innocent. After their confession, test subjects have claimed to feel as if they had been forgiven, and evaluations showed an improvement in mood and well being for some weeks following.

Several unfortunate incidents with Foundation staff lead to an increased understanding of the object’s properties. Following the termination of head researcher G█████ based on confessions of █████████████████████ produced by exposure to SCP-XXXX the object, Dr. M███████ devised and executed a novel test on the object, designed to verify the confessions it produced. Without the knowledge of any of the on-site personnel, he exposed more than three quarters of the site to SCP-2140. The resulting reality restructuring event guaranteed that anyone exposed was entirely loyal to the Foundation; however, a subsequent test of SCP-XXXX resulted in one of the affected personnel confessing membership with the GOI. Testing of SCP-XXXX on site personnel was immediately banned, and all testing protocols involving SCP-XXXX were reviewed. In total, ██ Foundation personnel were terminated based on information obtained from SCP-XXXX without direct evidence. Under intense review, it became clear that in at least two of these cases investigators were able to find evidence of the employees innocence, though in both cases the employees were unaware of the existence of said evidence. It is theorized that SCP-XXXX’s effect draws on the knowledge of its test subjects, as well as those around it. In addition, all personnel disciplined or terminated in cases where independent evidence was not obtained were actively Catholic, though the significance of this remains unknown. Psychological review of site staff also revealed moderately increased levels of paranoia, possibly explaining staff’s willingness to expose Foundation personnel to the object, as well as increasing the severity of disciplinary action to unusual levels.

Unfortunately, due to Dr. M███████’s unauthorized access to the Foundation’s memetic database and his subsequent SCP-XXXX induced confession, he was terminated before the scope of his experiment was fully understood. He has received a posthumous commendation from the Site Director for his initiative.

SCP Sandbox III

Sandbox III: Revenge of the Sandbox

Procedure Veritas: