SCP-5000: Junior Researcher Bolivar, deceased during a Containment Breach on 21/12/18

Sample document produced by an Alpha-5000 subject. It has been determined that this fragment does not possess anomalous properties, making it safe to read.

Item #: SCP-5000

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Security personnel at the Site-34 have been instructed to report any mention of SCP-5000. Those responsible for these referrals should be interviewed by staff members participating in the project, and either inoculated with a specific countermeasure or treated with Class C or G amnestics depending on their level of proximity to the initial vector and severity of the infection. Those affected by the treatment should be observed for for a minimum of 60 days.

Surveillance bot ORWELL-4 will search continuously the internal informatics network of the Foundation for mentions and references about SCP-5000, eliminating them once they've been automatically registered for further analysis. Adding, those responsible for these references should be treated as described in the previous paragraph.

As a preventive measure against the effects associated with SCP-5000, the staff members at Site-34 are to be inoculated with the memetic agent ES-5000-M ("Urban Legend"). It is estimated that by the end of July 2019 over 97% of the staff members will be inoculated with this agent, which could lead to total prevention of the effects associated with the anomaly.

Description: SCP-5000 corresponds to a memetic phenomenon that has been described as affecting only employees of the Foundation. This phenomenon is characterized both by the induction of anomalous memories in those affected and by retroactive alteration of the local registration systems, making them consistent with what was indicated by those affected, regardless of whether this alteration contradicts data in the public domain or information described in other registration systems.

Subjects affected by SCP-5000 refer to Junior Researcher Andrés Bolívar and his actions during a Containment Breach event on 21/12/2018 at Site-34. Even if there is a certain level of divergence in the details, the accounts tend to agree in their general aspects, even among subjects who have not had direct communication or contact with each other.

Inspections of the registry systems of sectors of Site-34 not affected by the phenomenon, as well as of external registry systems and ARCA (Anomalous Contingency Rescue Archive), have made it possible to conclude that Junior Researcher Bolívar is not a current or historic staff member and no events described by SCP-5000 affected personnel occurred at any Foundation Site during December 2018.

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+ Stages of SCP-5000 infection

In the first stage of the infection, the affected people refer to ourageous attitude of Junior Researcher Bolívar during the incident, highlighting how his heroism and selfless led him to his death, seeking to communicate this to as many subjects as possible. To this end, they will mention the story in places of common access, such as cafeterias or restrooms, or if they are unable to transmit it orally, they will write it down and send it via e-mail and memorandum to other members of the Foundation. Additionally, at this stage, the content of the documentation in direct contact with the subjects affected by the phenomenon will change to be consistent with those described by these subjects.

In the second stage of the infection, even though the mechanisms of transmission are maintained, there is a noticeable change both in the details of the story told and in the attitude of those affected towards it. In this phase, the story is characterized mainly by mentions of the cowardly and treacherous attitude of Junior Researcher Bolívar during the Containment Breach on December 21, 2018, with special emphasis on the material cost and human lives as a consequence of his actions and his escape. The infected subjects will actively seek to refute what was described in Stage I, reacting violently against those who refer altruism of Junior Researcher Bolivar or actions described in Stage I. As in the previous stage, an anomalous alteration of the documentation of the site occurs to achieve agreement with the story, an alteration that, however, is not capable of affecting second or third generation documents (such as photocopies of handwritten documents or encrypted computer records)

Have been described two classes of infected, Alpha and Beta. An Alpha subject is the one who initiates the story and its diffusion, either orally or in writing. When asked about the source of this story, they limit themselves to saying that "it is something I know, it is my obligation to tell it so that people do not forget what this guy did", not being able to clarify the origin of the story or to argue against the present inconsistencies. A Beta subject corresponds to an individual in the audience who heard or read the story described by an Alpha subject, thus obtaining memories associated with it and seeking to transmit that story to more non-infected subjects. With the passage of each generation from the storyteller to the witness, the details of the story become more and more diffuse and minor, is described that in the fourth generation its effect is annulled, ending its diffusion.

About 40% of the identified Alpha subjects have died within 3-5 weeks after the end of Stage II. Regardless of their previous medical history, these subjects died due to cardio respiratory arrest during the REM sleep stage. Attempts at resuscitation in these cases have not been successful.

After the end of Stage II of the phenomenon, about 80% of the Beta subjects developed isolated retrograde amnesia, from the period corresponding to two weeks to several months before and after December 21, 2018, the severity of the disorder being directly proportional to their proximity to the Alpha vector subject.¹

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+ Addendum 1: Examples of Interviews with an Alpha-5000 Subject

Interview 1

Interviewed: Dr. Muñoz, Junior Researcher, Anomalous Materials Lab, Site-34

Interviewer: Dr. Antonov, Head Researcher from Project ES-5000.

Foreword: Researcher Muñoz corresponds to one of the first Alpha subjects discovered inside Site-34. At the time of this interview, it is estimated that he spread the anomaly among 82 members of the staff, of which 23 would correspond to Beta-1 (first generation) subjects. Before the interviews, Dr. Antonov and other participants of the ES-5000 project were inoculated with the antimemetic agent SAGAN-1, to prevent the effects associated with contact with SCP-5000 carriers.

< Begin Log, [January 15, 2019, 10:00 hrs.]>

Dr. Antonov: I thank you for your willingness for to attend this interview, Dr. Muñoz.

Dr. Muñoz: You're welcome, I just ask you to be quick, I have to do a whole series of tests on the batch of material that arrived a few days ago from Antarctica and I don't want to go out again after 10 pm. Before the interview, can I tell you about Dr. Bolívar…?

Dr. Antonov : I'm afraid I've received several complaints on your behalf, for behaviors that could almost be described as harassment. I'll get to the point, these complaints have been about your insistence on telling the story of this Researcher Bolívar. According to Human Resources, not only you have devoted hours of rest to this activity, but also hours that he should have used in your project, not to mention that you have sent 238 emails with that story. Why did you do this?

Dr. Muñoz: You don't know Andrés' story? I know that the Foundation can be ungrateful and that secrecy is in the contract but are you going to hide this too? Don't you have any shame at all?

Dr. Antonov: Explain yourself.

Dr. Muñoz (disbelievingly): Excuse me but how long have you been working on this site? You don't know anything about what happened to Dr. Bolivar?

Dr. Muñoz: The morning of December 21st I was working with a bio-armor material, it was a simple test of recovery time after receiving penetration damage, when I felt an explosion and the lights on the roof flashed, after which the emergency alarm began to sound. I turned off the equipment and left the lab to go to the emergency area. Outside it was chaos, everyone was running, a security officer almost knocked me down as he fled. From the bottom of Corridor E, there were noises of things breaking, metal being crushed and explosions. I started running, only to find the door closed when I reached the end of the corridor. Then this thing appeared. I have no idea why the hell they thought to restrain something like that in Site-34. Are you a man of faith? Well, neither am I, but at that moment I couldn't stop praying. I had closed my eyes when I felt a door open near me and someone pulled me in. It was Andrés Bolívar. He looked me in the eye telling me to run away, that he should take care of these things. He had in his possession a an [REDACTED], no idea how he got that thing. I begged him to run away, to let Security take care of it, but he just told me there was no time. He asked me to block the door after he left, after which I heard roars and noises like sparks. Rescue crews found me about an hour later, still locked in that maintenance closet…

Dr. Antonov: And what happened to Dr. Bolivar?

Dr. Muñoz (shaking his head): He didn't survive, even though he killed every last one of those things with the [REDACTED], those beasts practically gutted him. Have you considered giving him the Foundation's posthumous merit medal? It's the least he deserves.

Dr. Antonov: I'll inform my superiors, and thank you for your time, you can go.

< [End Log, January 15, 2019, 10:45 hrs.]>

Conclusion: No security incidents were reported inside the Site-34 during December 2018. Also, on that day Dr. Muñoz was at [REDACTED] collecting samples of a new ontovariable material, and therefore could not be present at Site-34.

Interview 2

Interviewed: Dr. Muñoz.

Interviewer: Dr. Antonov.

Forewords: This is the second interview conducted with Dr. Muñoz to characterize the effects associated with SCP-5000.

< Begin Log, [February 21, 2019, 09:00 hrs.]>

Dr. Antonov: Hi Mario, I apologize for having to call you again but there are certain details I need to clarify about Dr. Bolivar's story. Now, I'd like you to start from the beginn…

Dr. Muñoz (standing up abruptly from the table): Don't mention that name again.

Dr. Antonov (looking on strangely): What happens with Bolívar?

Dr. Muñoz (raising his voice): Stop pretending you don't know anything. Or are you making fun of me?

Dr. Antonov: No, I don't know what you mean.

Dr. Muñoz (breathing deeply while trying to calm down): Because of that bastard I was almost killed. And what's worse, because of his cowardice, Martínez died. The poor kid was barely 22 years old and had only been at the Foundation for a few months. That son of a bitch threw us into danger to save himself.

Dr. Muñoz: That day I was supposed to test a bio-armor material, it was a simple post-penetration recovery test. I had made good progress that morning, I thought I'd be done before lunch. A while earlier I had sent my assistant, Martínez, to request a equipment from the Instrumentation Lab. I was writing down the last records when I felt an explosion and saw the lights flash. The emergency alarm began to sound so I decided to go out and look. I found him a few meters from the lab, the poor guy was scared, when I was going to tell him to lock us in the lab someone pushed him, making him hit his head against the wall and be unconscious. That was Bolivar.

Dr. Muñoz: Do you think he stopped to check on him? No, the son of a bitch continued his racing by breaking into my lab and closing the door. That's when that thing appeared, some kind of beast with big claws. I dragged Martínez to the door of the lab and begged Bolivar to open it for me but he did nothing. That thing hit me, throwing me away and along with another of its kind devoured Martinez. I would have ended up dead too if a Tactical Response Team had not arrived and neutralized those things. Bolivar took advantage of the confusion of the moment to flee. I hope one day they find that bastard…

Dr. Antonov: Thank you for your testimony.

< End Log, [February 21, 2019, 09:38 hrs.]>

Conclusion: Although the subject continues to believe in the veracity of the incident described, there is a notable variation in the details described, new characters appearing and radically changing the role played by Bolivar in it.

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+ Addendum 2: Example of Interviews with a Beta-5000 Subject

Interview 1

Interviewed: Agent Federico Robles, Security staff member of Site-34.

Interviewer: Dr. Antonov, Head Researcher from Project ES-5000.

Foreword: Federico Robles corresponds to one of the subjects directly infected by Dr. Muñoz. His testimony was obtained to help elucidate the effects of the anomaly in Beta-5000 subjects.

< Log Begin, [January 20, 2019, 11:15 hrs.]>

Dr. Antonov: Good morning Agent Robles, thank you for your willingness to be interviewed.

Agent Robles: You're welcome, at least this is less boring than having to watch the warehouses in Sector Five for 12 hours straight. Doctor, have you heard about what happened to Andrés Bolivar?

Dr. Antonov (shaking his head): I think not, if you want you can tell me.

Agent Robles: It was December 21, it was about noon. That day I was going to the cafeteria in Sector 6 to have lunch, I don't really like the Friday menu in the cafeteria in Sector 5… Anyway, I was going through a corridor near some laboratories when I heard a loud noise, the lights flashed and an emergency alarm started to sound…

Dr. Antonov: Do you remember what lab it was near?

Agent Robles: No, I don't remember.

Dr. Antonov: Continue.

Agent Robles: I was heading to the nearest security station when several doors opened and some guys ran out, one knocked me down. That's when this thing appeared, it looked like a big dog with gray skin and big claws. I had left my gun in the locker before I left the warehouse, this thing started screeching threateningly, I got up and it jumped on me. It was crushing me with its weight when I felt a shot and the thing collapsed. It was Bolívar, who was armed with a rifle I didn't recognise. He helped me get up and we fled the scene.

Dr. Antonov: And Security Staff?

Agent Robles: I don't know, they probably didn't have time to get here.

Dr. Antonov: Thank you for your cooperation.

< End Log, January 15, 2019, 10:45 hrs.]>

Conclusion: The statements made by Federico Robles in this Interview couldn't be confirmed. On December 21, 2019 Agent Roble was assigned to Sector 8, being assigned to Sector 5 as of January 1, 2019.

Interview 2

Interviewed: Agent Federico Robles.

Interviewer: Dr. Antonov.

Foreword: This corresponds to the second interview conducted with the subject Beta-5000-1.

< Begin Log, [February 25, 2019, 11:25 hrs.]>

Dr. Antonov: Good morning Federico, I thank you again for your good disposition.

Agent Robles: Okay Doctor, I'll ask you to be brief, my superior is not too happy about this. Is this about Bolivar again?

Dr. Antonov: That's right.

Agent Robles: I think I've told you everything I remember, there was an emergency, I don't remember if it was a containment breach, a fire or a chemical emergency, everybody got nervous and that idiot came up with the idea of closing the door at the end of the corridor, leaving us locked in. If it wasn't for the fact that a security agent I didn't know arrived and opened the door from the other side I don't know what would have happened to us.

Dr. Antonov: Don't you remember anything else?

Agent Robles: I'm sorry but no. Anyway, I hope they discipline that coward, he put us all in danger with what he did.

Dr. Antonov: That's all, thank you for your time.

< End Log, [February 25, 2019, 11:40 hrs.]>

Conclusion: Although when this version of Agent Robles' story shares certain aspects with the original story, its level of ambiguity and lack of detail is notorious.

Actualization: On the morning of March 13, 2019, Mario Martinez failed to report to work at the Site-34 Anomalous Materials Laboratory, and he was found dead at home a few hours later. According to the forensic examination it was not possible to find injuries attributable to third parties or the presence of foreign substances or [REDACTED], establishing that the cause of death would have corresponded to a cardio respiratory arrest that occurred in the previous hours.

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+ LEVEL 3 OR HIGHER CLEARANCE REQUIRED. PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD. 

During a routine registration process of the Class D personnel recruited for Site-42 during May 2019, a subject (temporarily called D-5000) was identified through the automatic analysis systems, whose physical and age characteristics coincided with those described for Dr. Andres Bolivar by the subjects affected by SCP-5000. After being notified by Site-42 staff, Joseph Antonov, a researcher participating in the ES-5000 project, went to this Site to interview D-5000, seeking to establish his relationship with the phenomenon that affected multiple Site-34 staff members during the first semester of 2019.

D-5000

Interview: D-5000.

Interviewer: Dr. Antonov.

Foreword: This interview was conducted in Interrogation Room No. 5 at Site-42. D-5000, a 35-year-old subject, was recruited by the Foundation in 2018 and assigned to Site-42 in February 2019 to participate in the reconstruction and reinforcement of the SCP-████ containment unit, after [REDACTED].

Dr. Antonov: Hello D-5000, I'm Dr. Antonov, I've come to ask you some questions.

D-5000 (yawns, then starts talking fast): Do I have any choice not to collaborate? What they did was totally irregular, I was in [REDACTED] and they practically kidnapped me in the middle of the night to throw me into this rat's nest. The cell is cramped and the food is awful, and they have me working as an unpaid bricklayer. No respect for my fundamental rights, I thought we were in a civilized country. I've been asking to see a lawyer for months and the idiots in this place just keep quiet. And what about the prisoners who have disappeared, according to the guards they were transferred but I don't believe those bitches. I thought only the Chinese did that…

Dr. Antonov (instructing him to stop talking and taking a folder): D-5000, please shut up. I traveled for 20 hours to interview you and the last thing I want to hear is your complaints about how uncomfortable you are in this place.

Dr. Antonov (opening the folder): Andrew Bolivien, 35, multiple convictions since age 15 for robbery and drug trafficking, plus one conviction for the murder of a rival drug dealer. Incomplete high school education, somehow avoided military recruitment at age 18…

D-5000: Hey, are you a doctor? I've had severe headaches for a few months now, although the pigs here don't do anything. They sent me to the infirmary once and the useless guy there said I was fine…

Dr. Antonov: No, I have a PhD in Biology although I'm currently working in another area…

D-5000: You are a scientist then? A white coat? Great, I like those better than the gorillas of security, in fact when I was a kid I wanted to be a scientist.

Dr. Antonov: And what happened?

D-5000: I was poor, I studied in a shitty school and what can I say, I was never a good student, they didn't expect anything from me and I didn't give them anything (smiles) Also I always had problems with reading and numbers, I was having problems focusing on. Once a teacher said I had ADHD or something, no idea what it meant. Anyway, having trouble concentrating wasn't a problem for being successful on the streets.

Dr. Antonov (stopping to check papers and looking D-5000 in the eye): And have you ever regretted how things went?

D-5000 (smiling bitterly): Of course, especially now that I'm in this hole. Days don't go by without me thinking how different things could have been, there are even nights when I dream of starting a new life, in a faraway place, far from the streets and the violence. But then I come to my senses and realize that I will never leave this place.

< [Log End, June 5, 2019, 8:48 hrs.]>

Footnotes

1. I.e. if they correspond to first, second or third generation listeners.