SCP-XXXX "The Nightmare Machine"
rating: 0+x

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be stored in a standard mid-sized Safe containment cell. No interaction with SCP-XXXX is to be permitted outside of approved testing.

Due to the possibility of harmful side effects, testing is limited to voluntary individuals of Level 2 Clearance or lower with permission from at least two Level 4 or higher personnel, and is highly recommended to be limited to exclusively D-Class personnel. All individuals that emerge from SCP-XXXX are to be quarantined for (at a minimum) two weeks, and screened for mental and physical wellness, memetic influence, novel anomalous effects, and █████████. Non-D-Class personnel are to be given time off on request following testing. No individual is to enter SCP-XXXX more than once. (See Incident Log SCP-XXXX-1)

Description: SCP-XXXX is a standard humanoid storage Foundation Cryopod1 with the words “The Nightmare Machine” etched into the glass lid. Operation of SCP-XXXX is carried out identically to operation of typical Foundation Cryopods, with the notable exception that mechanisms that typically release the stored subject from the Cryopod are present, but nonfunctional.

Despite all brain function ceasing when a subject is frozen within SCP-XXXX, subjects invariably report experiencing an immense and vivid dreamscape, henceforth described as SCP-XXXX-1. Memory of SCP-XXXX-1 is subject to the same process as typical dreams, and may be forgotten. Individuals with a history of lucid dreaming or experience recalling dreams are more likely to recall their experiences within SCP-XXXX-1, and mnestics have proven to boost recall. For collected information on SCP-XXXX-1, see Addendum-XXXX-1. After a variable amount of time (between 2 hours and 4 months, with a mean of roughly 40 days) the subject is automatically released from SCP-XXXX. In spite of this, subjects report experiencing anywhere from several years to several decades passing while they are inside SCP-XXXX-1.

Subjects are much more prone to the typical side effects of prolonged anomalous cryosleep2 than if they had spent the same time in a normal Foundation Cryopod. Subjects are also often disturbed by the experience, occasionally requesting to be amnesticized or terminated after being interviewed. An amnestic regiment has been laid out in Document-XXXX-A and is to be made available to non-D-Class test subjects on request.


Addendum-XXXX-1: Reports from subjects that have emerged from SCP-XXXX-1 are mixed, and sometimes inconsistent. In spite of this, due to the relative safety of testing, several things are generally understood about SCP-XXXX-1.

SCP-XXXX-1 is inhabited by a great number of dream characters, henceforth referred to as SCP-XXXX-2. SCP-XXXX-2 instances vary wildly, and often show a great degree of individuality, ranging from individuals that the subject knew in their real life, to individuals that (to Foundation knowledge) do not have real world analogues, including several SCP-XXXX-2 instances which correspond to characters in popular media. On one occasion, a subject reported meeting an instance of SCP-XXXX-2 whose description as given by the subject was identical to a character in a short story that Researcher Xen, assigned to SCP-XXXX, had been privately writing in her free time, and had spoken to no one about. For more information about SCP-XXXX-2, see Addendum-XXXX-2.

Like a typical dream, SCP-XXXX-1 has a number of nonsensical elements or objects throughout it. Events seem to operate on backwards logic, which is often described by subjects as "making sense in the moment." Alongside these, however, are a number of dream versions of real-world anomalies, including anomalies within Foundation containment. On at least three occasions, a strange object or event reported by a subject during their time inside of SCP-XXXX-1 was later found by the Foundation in the real world and taken into containment. While the use of SCP-XXXX to discover anomalies in the real world has been suggested, the sheer number of events and objects experienced within SCP-XXXX-1 that could be considered anomalous has kept this from being feasible.

As with SCP-XXXX-2 instances, SCP-XXXX-1 contains replications of real world locations that the subject is familiar with, those that the subject was unaware of, and a great number that (to Foundation knowledge) do not exist outside of SCP-XXXX-1.


Addendum-XXXX-2: SCP-XXXX-2 instances make up a complex society inside of SCP-XXXX-1. Knowledge of the existence and nature of SCP-XXXX and SCP-XXXX-1 is widespread, though not ubiquitous. SCP-XXXX-2 instances seem to be divided as to the nature of SCP-XXXX. Many believe themselves to be the subject within SCP-XXXX, the dreamer. In direct contrast to this, many instances believe that whichever instance of SCP-XXXX-2 succeeds in escaping from SCP-XXXX-1 will take the place of the dreamer in the real world. Further, leaving SCP-XXXX would cause SCP-XXXX-1 to stop existing, which would in turn cause all other instances of SCP-XXXX-2 to stop existing, functionally killing them.

In spite of this, a great many SCP-XXXX-2 instances actively attempt to wake up, believing that they could take the place of the dreamer in the real world. The subject experiencing SCP-XXXX-1 is treated by instances of SCP-XXXX-2 as another instance of SCP-XXXX-2, and claims by the subject that they are the real dreamer are met with skepticism, if not outright mockery. This has, on several occasions, led to subjects no longer believing that they are the dreamer. In spite of this, subjects invariably report eventually trying to leave SCP-XXXX-1 and to wake up, a task they alone succeed at. As mentioned above, this kills all other instances of SCP-XXXX-2, including friends and family members made over the many years spent within SCP-XXXX-1.

Notably, the dreamscape experienced within SCP-XXXX is not the same one inhabited by the Oneiroi. Despite this, the existence of Oneiroi and the Oneiroi Collective is known within SCP-XXXX-1 and several instances of SCP-XXXX-2 have been known to theorize about a possible link between the two noospheres. Some instances of SCP-XXXX-2 have also claimed to be members of Oneiroi West, although this is unconfirmed.


Incident Log XXXX-1: On the 13th of May, 2011, as part of routine testing, D-XXXX-32 entered SCP-XXXX. D-XXXX-32 had been used for testing previously as D-XXXX-15, and was reassigned to SCP-████ after being debriefed. However, SCP-████ requires few D-class, which are usually needed only for a short time before being reassigned, so the same individual who had tested as D-XXXX-15 was randomly reassigned back to SCP-XXXX and was reclassified as D-XXXX-32. This oversight went totally unnoticed. When D-XXXX-32 entered SCP-XXXX, SCP-XXXX at first experienced a number of errors, but eventually closed as normal with D-XXXX-32 inside. With D-XXXX-32 inside, SCP-XXXX experienced a number of additional errors, showing readings that indicated the absence of anyone inside of SCP-XXXX. After a few moments of standing inside the closed cryopod, D-XXXX-32 began to sweat profusely, and complain of "feeling sick." After almost two hours, D-XXXX-32 began to [Section Redacted], which killed him over the course of the next five days. SCP-XXXX remained shut for an additional thirty days before opening as normal. SCP-XXXX has been cleaned out, and seemingly functions as usual. A warning not to allow the same person to enter SCP-XXXX more than once has been added to the Containment Procedures.

I understand the possibility that SCP-XXXX is retroactively rewriting all of reality every time a subject emerges. That would explain why D-XXXX-32 would be rejected by SCP-XXXX. But if that's true, we'd unfortunately have no way to detect it. However, that is a possibility worth accounting for, so I suggest adding a line to the containment procedures about screening for novel anomalous effects in subjects during debriefing. The request to upgrade SCP-XXXX to Euclid is denied.

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