kybard - SCP Sandbox III

kybard

Item #: SCP-BBBB

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-BBBB is kept in an unlabeled storage locker within Site-28. Personnel are not to open the locker. No personnel are to hold or observe SCP-BBBB. As long as SCP-BBBB has not come under anyone's possession, it requires no further containment.

If SCP-BBBB does come under anyone's possession, the owner must place SCP-BBBB back inside the storage locker and enter the Site-28 medical ward for amnestic treatment, further assessment, and quarantine as needed.

Description: SCP-BBBB is a red, leather-bound notebook measuring 100 millimeters by 170 millimeters. When it has no owner, SCP-BBBB contains 25 blank pages. SCP-BBBB's cover is severely weathered, but it is otherwise unmarked and unlabeled.

SCP-BBBB.

Words are generated continuously within SCP-BBBB as long as it has an owner. Ownership is not tied solely to physical contact; SCP-BBBB maintains awareness of and connection to its owner regardless of geographical distance or attempts to reject it. A subject remains SCP-BBBB's owner until death, unless they receive amnestics and are kept unaware of SCP-BBBB for at least two weeks.

As words are generated in SCP-BBBB, its owner experiences a progressive loss of communication skills across any medium. This may manifest an increase in mumbling or slurred speech, an increase in "auto-correct" mistakes or similar errors in text typing, or a worsening of handwriting legibility. Ultimately, such errors worsen to the point of total communication failure across all mediums.

Even after total communication loss, those interacting with SCP-BBBB's owner will interpret continuing failures as a choice or as an aspect of the owner's personality (rather than a medical or anomalous condition). SCP-BBBB owners are unaware of this effect and will continue to attempt normal communication. The effect ends when ownership ends. SCP-BBBB has no other cognitohazardous effect.

SCP-BBBB's text resembles thick-inked type from a mechanical typewriter, including occasional ink blotches and other typesetting defects. Handwriting implements do not leave any markings on SCP-BBBB. Pages torn from SCP-BBBB reappear after SCP-BBBB is closed and reopened.

When SCP-BBBB loses an owner, all words contained within SCP-BBBB disappear within 48 hours. In addition, any pages beyond the 25th will self-immolate. Once a new subject becomes SCP-BBBB's owner, new writing begins to generate immediately starting on the first blank page.

Test Log: Several D-class personnel have been granted temporary ownership of SCP-BBBB without being made aware of its anomalous properties. Summaries of test results follow.

Test BBBB-7610. Janitor D-7610 is granted ownership of SCP-BBBB. After two weeks, D-7610 is found in his room attempting to scream at his reflection in the mirror. SCP-BBBB contents suggest an immediate fear response to misunderstandings with others, increased imposter syndrome, and (following total communication loss) a rapid loss of sanity.

Test BBBB-8452. Inmate D-8452 is granted ownership of SCP-BBBB. D-8452, typically boisterous and aggressive, becomes markedly withdrawn and unwilling to attempt communication even before SCP-BBBB causes total failure.

Addendum: PoI-BBBB. PoI-BBBB, a 17-year-old male named Alex Forstein, was the owner of SCP-BBBB before containment. Samples of SCP-BBBB text during PoI-BBBB's ownership, captured via digital photography just before erasure, follows. Approximately 300 additional pages of content, including 250 written after the final sample included here, disappeared before recording could be completed.

+ PoI-BBBB

- PoI-BBBB

billy¹ kicked me into his locker again. dani tried to get mr. sims to help, but billy ran off before anyone could do anything to him. punk. mom wants to talk about it but i don't want to. not with her, or anybody. mom says i'm withholding. she always says that now. like i stole twenty bucks from her and won't give it back. i hate her.

at least when billy kicked me in there and i had to smell the sweat on the front of his backpack, i saw you in the corner. thought you were his journal or something that might be embarrassing. so i told dani to distract him, and i grabbed you.

but, no. you're not his journal. you're a book that writes what i'm thinking, i guess. a diary that writes itself. i wish i were an author so i could have you write down all my great novel ideas instead of this crap.

actually had pretty killer ideas for stories at lunch today but i guess you don't care about those? s'cool, i don't care either. dani didn't seem impressed when i told her about them, but then she hated killer clowns from outer space so like, maybe her taste isn't everything?

mom kept telling me to speak up when i asked her to back off about the billy stuff. like it's my fault she's half-deaf. she's insufferable, man. that's a good word i learned in SAT prep: insufferable. gotta say it while you're sniffing like a snobby British, uh, judge or something. innnsufferable

heck yeah man. you got it.

my first d on an english paper. mr. klein told me my handwriting was getting worse or something. i tried to argue with him, said i can read my writing as well as i ever could so why's it a problem now, but after a few seconds he cut me off and said i wish you'd talk to me, alex, in that dad-voice he does now. then he just waved me away.

dani asked if i wanted her to come over to play mario kart and i said sure but only if you don't pick toad. but then she didn't show up. maybe she got grounded for something. she can be a smartass, it's why i love her

why do you write without capital letters and stuff? do i think in lowercase?

billy got detention for punching my eye. three days. big woop. mom said i should be grateful the school looks out for me even when i don't speak up. still says i'm withholding. and the nurse kept asking me, does it hurt when i press here? what about there? like, does the word no mean nothing to you?

we're doing a raid tonight. franktheape got us all to agree, we'll start at 730 pm. haven't done a group raid in years, i'm stoked.

raid didn't go well. my mic crapped out a few times and i got one-shotted trying to keep up the heals. everyone yelled so much i muted the computer.

dani keeps responding to my texts with a bunch of ???s. way to make me feel like the idiot here, girl

i think about stars a lot. i'll be playing a game, like two hours into some mob farming, and then suddenly my mind's all oooh stars at night. all those patterns, stuck in my head.

that's the whole deal with constellations, isn't it? humans looked up before they knew about outer space, got obsessed, and said oh look a dude's belt, oh look a cup, stuff like that. patterns. one christmas dad took me up to his old lab's observatory and showed me mars, and i told him it looked like another star to me. he said, well, it's like people: you gotta see past the shape, look for the details.

i should've asked him: how do you know which details matter?

dang. that's the first time i've thought about dad in a while. you're really getting me to open up, weird book in my butt pocket

i asked mom if we could go to the observatory this weekend and she just asked "where?" like three times before she walked away without answering. didn't say anything, looked like she was about to cry.

you get it, don't you? you know what i'm saying. hah, literally. here's a proverb, by me:

you'll survive anything if you understand one thing: yourself.

damn i'm a poet now. failing english my entire ass.

franktheape kicked me from the clan. said i'd been acting like i had a stroke lately, so i went off on him in chat, and then he banned me for spamming. fuck him.

fuck everyone, you know?

sorry for all the swearing in the last one. in my mind, you hate swearing and only write it if i make you, so uh, sorry about that.

billy's stopped messing with me. you know how teachers and adults always say to ignore bullies? well the subreddit i joined, they said do the opposite: get in his face. be the alpha in the room. i like that: alpha. like a codename.

i cornered him after geometry. he didn't say a word, just got bug-eyed and watched my lips as i yelled about how i hate him, how he'd hurt me, but how he was never gonna hurt me again and i was stronger than he thought i was. kinda thought it'd come out lame and my voice'd crack and he'd laugh at me, but instead he totally freaked and ran away.

i've never felt so strong.

teachers don't call on me anymore. they respect alpha energy. they understand that i bring galaxy-brain chemistry to the room and do not need to explain my ways. the ways of dank memes and the big upvote.

some really cool guys on youtube explained it: society tucks you in a corner and tells you who you are, expects you to respond yessir, but you don't have to do that. buck up. avoid the wuss within. speak without speaking their language.

you can upvote without having to say a damn thing, you know? no one asks what you mean, and if they do, you can ignore those idiots. do you. do what you are.

the best part about these youtubers? they don't ask questions. they don't seek permission. they got it figured out. every question i ask, i get blank stares and rolled eyes. well maybe screw people who don't have the answers, right?

they're not like you and me. we got this.

dani doesn't get it. i tried to show her, she shook her head when i tried to explain so i brought her to my computer in c++ class and pulled up a video. didn't get twenty seconds in before she walked away.

you know i first met dani right out of the crib? that's what mom told me. we met the day before preschool started. i don't remember that. i do remember playing her big brother's sega genesis and how cool she thought knuckles was, and chocolate stomachaches at her 12th birthday party, and how one day she came to school with silk-straight hair and i told her it looked like a waterfall and she went red and smiled.

she doesn't smile at me anymore. told me to lose her number if i was gonna keep trolling her with nothing texts. the hell is a nothing text? i keep trying to tell her everything. whatever. screw her, too.

the school counselor said i need to open up more if i want help. he doesn't get it. i don't need help.

and i open up plenty, don't i? to the only person who matters. that's you, buddy.

but also i have plenty of friends. a whole subreddit, a few dozen subscriptions, a community. i just lurk, but without a single post they know me better than anyone. i'm stronger than i've ever been. i know myself. i am completely inside myself, you know? of course you know. it's because of you.

you help me find me.

thanks, man.

i figured it out today. what you've been doing for me.

dani called. it was the weirdest conversation until i had an idea and hung up and walked over to her house. power move. the sort of thing i would've never done before.

she saw me from her window and came outside and after i talked for a minute she started screaming at me. how i needed help. how something had happened, how it was like i lost my voice.

and i tried to tell her, i have a new voice now, sorry you don't like it. but then i realized when it all started, the weird misunderstandings and shuffling away. when i started gaining my power.

you, buddy. you've given me a shield. you led me out of the cave.

i'll never be able to thank you enough for how you've changed me.

i think i'm happier than i've ever been.

mom's sending me to some military prep school, but who cares. i'll own them like i owned everyone at shawnee. like i owned mr. klein with that puppy-dog idiot look on his face while i cursed him out.

if they can't hear me, they'll always underestimate me.

if they can't understand me, they'll never hurt me.

i don't even think about the stars anymore.

i'm invincible.²

Item #: SCP-HHHH

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Subjects experiencing SCP-HHHH-X must be sedated, amnesticized, and prepped for emergency surgery as soon as possible. Witnesses to an HHHH-Ejection Event must be interviewed and assessed for psychological trauma before receiving amnestics.

UPDATE, 2019/11/09. Surgically removed instances of SCP-HHHH-X, or any instances recovered following an HHHH-Ejection Event, are to be incinerated as soon as possible.

SCP-HHHH as depicted in Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, 1858.

Description: SCP-HHHH is the human hyoid bone.³

SCP-HHHH can develop a substructure of additional bone. Affected subjects complain of symptoms similar to lymph node inflammation (e.g., sore throat, tension headaches). In most instances, SCP-HHHH's substructure does not progress beyond this point and remains undetectable during normal medical examination.

In rare cases, designated SCP-HHHH-X, the substructure grows large enough to be visible along the exterior of the subject's neck. SCP-HHHH-X may cause severe pain, choking, and oxygen deprivation. If SCP-HHHH-X remains intact for longer than 72 hours and the subject attempts to speak, an HHHH-Ejection Event may occur.

During an HHHH-Ejection Event, SCP-HHHH-X forcibly ejects through the subject's larynx. The victim may continue to speak, with malformed speech patterns and vocalizations due to SCP-HHHH-X's presence under the jaw, before death from physical trauma and blood loss.

Warning signs of SCP-HHHH-X are inconsistent; investigations based on known cases are ongoing. Current estimates suggest a minimal probability of substructure development for any individual, and a cumulative likelihood for SCP-HHHH-X of less than 1 in 51,000,000.

UPDATE, 2019/09/20. D-826, stationed at Site-11, experienced an HHHH-Ejection Event on September 19. According to staff logs from the hours preceding the event, D-826 complained of jaw pain, a sore throat, and a strange echoing noise beneath his temples. During the event, D-826 died of a traumatic hemorrhage after twenty seconds of guttural attempts at speech.

D826's ejected SCP-HHHH-X, designated SCP-HHHH-X-826, remains with Site-11 medical staff for initial analysis.

UPDATE, 2019/09/23. D-826's autopsy revealed a significant loss of blood and muscle tissue at some point prior to the HHHH-Ejection Event.

Investigators also uncovered relevant audio recordings from Site-11's D-class residential halls. Excerpt included below.

AUDIO LOG: D-826, SITE-11 PENITENTIARY, 2019/09/19 21:32

A quiet chattering noise can be heard underneath D-826's heavy breathing.

D-826: Stop stop stop. Ringing, ringing in my ears but it ain't words, y-you don't make sense, please just stop it hurts so bad, so bad man, can't make you stop talking, please stop. (quietly) I can hear you, I said, you don't have to shout, you don't —

A door opens.

D-835: Hey Doug, how's it — whoa, man, are you OK?

D-842: Looks like you been strangling yourself, buddy.

D-826: No, I'm — I'm fine, man. Just sick. Sick is all. Fuckin' strep or s-something.

D-835: Man, I should make out with you. Get me some of that so I can't do fuckin' toilet duty again tomorrow.

Laughter. D-826 experiences a coughing fit.

D-842 and D-835 have been reprimanded for failure to report abnormal conditions to Site-11 security staff. The HHHH-Ejection Event occurred twelve hours after this recording.

+ UPDATE, 2019/10/15. Level 4 access required.

- Access granted.

UPDATE, 2019/10/15. Initial SCP-HHHH-X-826 specimen analysis revealed an anomalous, blood-engorged sac of muscle and viscous tissue beneath the outer layer of bone. Blood testing is a match for D-826. Additional blood and tissue samples have been sent to Site-103 for analysis.

UPDATE, 2019/10/18. SCP-HHHH-X-826 has unexpectedly continued skeletal growth. The specimen has been moved to a large storage locker pending further examination.

SCP-HHHH-X-826, 2019/10/22. Intact skull fragment from D-826 included for scale.

UPDATE, 2019/10/21. SCP-HHHH-X-826 has grown far beyond the capacity of its previous containment cell and is now housed inside a humanoid containment facility, pending firmer estimates of its final size. Research teams conducting specimen analysis are to be escorted inside by Site-11 security staff.

UPDATE, 2019/10/25. ALERT. SCP-HHHH-X-826 is missing. Three Site-11 personnel were found dead in SCP-HHHH-X-826's containment cell, having suffered multiple puncture wounds and lacerations to the throat.

MTF Alpha-1 "Red Right Hand" personnel have been dispatched to ensure containment without excessive loss of life. Site residents have been notified that a rabid dog has escaped the on-site veterinarian hospital, as a means to pacify those who may witness SCP-HHHH-X-826 or hear its constant wailing.

UPDATE, 2019/11/04. Alert cleared. Alpha-1 discovered SCP-HHHH-X-826 motionless and broken into three pieces at the Site-11 perimeter. Scratch marks were observed on the perimeter wall. Portions of the dessicated corpses of three Site-11 D-class personnel were also found 20 meters from the perimeter, presumed killed by SCP-HHHH-X-826.

Reaction and behavior testing confirmed that SCP-HHHH-X-826 is now non-anomalous bone. The SCP-HHHH-X-826 fragments have been sent to Site-19, Site-66, and Site-88 for stress testing, biomedical analysis, and musculoskeletal comparative analysis, respectively.

UPDATE, 2019/11/09. All three fragments of SCP-HHHH-X-826 resumed bone growth after approximately 72 hours. Site researchers reported low vocalizations reverberating from the new tissue formations. All fragments of SCP-HHHH-X-826, as well as the blood and tissue samples under containment at Site-103, are to be incinerated. The incineration of all future SCP-HHHH-X instances is to be appended to SCP-HHHH containment procedures.

Item #: SCP-WWWW

Object Class: Keter

SCP-WWWW. Photograph obtained via aerial drone.

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-WWWW is monitored and studied by unmanned aerial drones. Humans attempting to enter zone Z-SCP-WWWW, a 1-kilometer perimeter surrounding SCP-WWWW, are to be rerouted.

If any human breaches Z-SCP-WWWW, no retrieval attempt is to be made. Humans or animals attempting to exit Z-SCP-WWWW are to be neutralized. An unmanned drone is to then place the body back inside of Z-SCP-WWWW.

If an instance of SCP-WWWW-A is found outside Z-SCP-WWWW, a secondary perimeter (designated Z-1-SCP-WWWW) is to be established around the new instance. All living animals within Z-1-SCP-WWWW, including humans, should be neutralized immediately.

At the beginning of each month, one D-class personnel is to be brought to the edge of Z-SCP-WWWW and monitored for signs of contamination. If the D-class is symptomatic, the perimeter is to be re-established 5 meters outward from its current radius, and D-class testing is to be repeated until an uncontaminated border is established.

Description: SCP-WWWW is a Ceiba pentandra tree, approximately 25 meters in height and with a trunk circumference of 4 meters, located in northeastern Puerto Rico. In place of leaf growth, SCP-WWWW's branches are covered by red and pink strands of indeterminate material, measuring 6 to 7 meters each.

Living cellular tissue that approaches SCP-WWWW, starting at the perimeter of Z-SCP-WWWW, will experience advanced decay and phagocytosis.⁴ This process begins with interior organs and skeletal structure before progressing outward to muscle and skin. In humans, the process is accompanied by delirium and various flu-like symptoms, followed by rapid organ failure and death.

The corpse of a human affected by SCP-WWWW will undergo a process of rapid regrowth and blooming of foliage along its outer appendages. This process may generate an instance of SCP-WWWW-A.⁵

SCP-WWWW-A is a seedling of SCP-WWWW. Its composition and effects match those of SCP-WWWW, limited only by its relative age. SCP-WWWW-A matures far faster than normal trees of its species, growing to the height of an average 20-year-old baobab within 2 weeks. At this pace, an instance of SCP-WWWW-A would match the size of SCP-WWWW-A if allowed to grow for 3 months.

Despite the rapid growth of SCP-WWWW-A instances, SCP-WWWW itself has not changed in size or area of effect since containment. So far, SCP-WWWW-A instances growing within Z-SCP-WWWW have not altered or expanded the perimeter of effect. According to local legends and observation to date, only human corpses produce SCP-WWWW-A instances.

History and Discovery: SCP-WWWW was the site of six failed containment attempts of a potential anomaly outside San Juan, Puerto Rico, referred to by locals as "el bosque de estómago."⁶ The first of these attempts occurred in 1983. The seventh occurred in 2014, after which containment protocols were finalized. Seventy-two Class-C or higher Foundation and MTF personnel have died to date as a result of attempted containment of or interaction with SCP-WWWW.

Local populations claim that prior instances of SCP-WWWW (possibly instances of SCP-WWWW-A) have been successfully neutralized using fire or explosive devices. Use of fire or explosives to experiment on or neutralize SCP-WWWW is forbidden before a clearer risk assessment is completed. To date, no evidence or instance of intact SCP-WWWW-A instances has surfaced outside of Z-SCP-WWWW.

Addendum, Excursion Log, 04/16/2014: D-16062 volunteered for post-containment examination of SCP-WWWW and signed a waiver acknowledging known anomalous effects. D-16062 was escorted into Z-SCP-WWWW by unmanned drone URV-1003.

AUDIO LOG: SCP-WWWW.e-2014.a

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Jeong: This is Dr. Kevin Jeong. D-16062, can you —

D-16062: Hey, man, come on, call me Frank.

Dr. Jeong: — apologies. Frank, I assume you can hear me. Please confirm that you and URV-1003 have crossed the zone perimeter.

D-16062: Yeah. Irv's giving me the VIP tour, but we're on track. Right past the yellow stripes and the fence, just like you said.

Dr. Jeong: Good. Starting with your entry into the perimeter, please describe your surroundings and physical state. As much detail as you can, please.

D-16062: Got it, doc. It's… hey, Irv, you got any Gatorade or something in that big head of yours? I'm wilting out here.

Dr. Jeong: Dehydration noted.

D-16062: Oh, uh — nah, doc. I'm just thirsty. Been thirsty since the van dropped me off. Ain't no effect of the whatever, OK?

Dr. Jeong: Alright, I'll just… OK. Noted. Please describe your surroundings.

D-16062: Beautiful, man. Trees to the sky. Quiet as hell, can't even hear the wind, but beautiful. Shelly always wanted to come down here — not Puerto Rico specifically, maybe, but somewhere tropical. This is part of the Caribbean, right?

Dr. Jeong: That's correct, Frank. Now, you said you can't hear the wind — can you hear any living creatures or other activity other than yourself and URV-1003?

D-16062: Nah. (Pause.) Shelly was always talkin' about the Caribbean. Everything 'cept the food. I told her I wanted to get me some of that jerk chicken, like what we used to get from this food truck in Palo Alto, and she said no, pal, all I want's to lay across the beaches and close my eyes. She never talked about food, really. She wanted to talk 'bout how we were gonna have three kids, and how two of 'em would be chemists — you'd have liked her, doc, and she woulda loved talkin' your ear off —

Dr. Jeong: I… Frank, please describe your surroundings, if you could.

D-16062: Oh sure, sure, sorry about that. Lots of trees. The trees, man, the way they tilt and curve, it's like they're watching you, checkin' you out. Curve. Shelly hated that word. Irv, seriously, you got even like a Diet Coke in there or somethin'?

Dr. Jeong: Your dehydration is worsening?

D-16062: Well it ain't like I got anything to deal with it, is it? Anyway. Lots of green, man, plus I'm up to my knees in flowers the colors of… of all the sundresses I've ever seen. Maybe they're sunflowers? I don't know shit about flowers.

Dr. Jeong: That's all right. Don't worry about specific words. Just describe everything as best you can. Are your knees all right, Frank? You've been walking a little ways now.

D-16062: Yeah, they're… sore, actually, but they're alright. Elbows hurt too, but it's cool. It's my eyes messing with me right now. Right behind 'em, pulsing, like my skull's trying a prison break. Or like I took ten shots of vodka last night on a dare, and now I'm reaping it. Know what I mean?

Dr. Jeong: Yes, very good. URV-1003 indicates you're 100 meters away, Frank. Please continue describing as much as you can.

D-16062: All these beautiful… god, man, I could pick her a whole bouquet out of these. (D-16062's speech begins to slur.) All the rainbows… all the colors, I mean… could get 'em all in my hand. Turquoise, lavender, emerald, sapphire… wait, are those colors, or just what you call the stones? No stones out here, it's all life and soil —

Dr. Jeong: Life? What do you see that's alive, Frank? I thought you —

D-16062: (indecipherable) I don't… but yeah, she would've loved that. Even the dead ones, the dead ones are pretty, too. Flowers.

Dr. Jeong: You see dead flowers, Frank?

D-16062: Nah, man, dead… there's flowers on the… dead things. Ripe. (coughs) Dunno why I said that, heh. Lookin' at a… what's it, a capybara? …right now, half its face melted in the soil, all I can think is… "ripe." Fresh. Split a watermelon in its prime and you'd… that's what you'd get. He's not really… ripe, though. Way past that. Ain't even got half his skull. Beautiful, though. Right, Irv? Like we're growing grapes on the vines of the entrails. And… there's this… black cherry smell, it's like… and it's mesmerizing, the black spot, there, where the eye would've been.

D-16062 laughs, followed by a minute of choking and coughing.

Dr. Jeong: Frank? You're 75 meters away, Frank. Please keep walking, and continue describing what you see.

D-16062: hrk Sorry doc, I… just a bit of blood in the… yeah, OK. Feeds the soil, anyway, when I do that, right?

Dr. Jeong: I'm not sure what you mean.

D-16062: Shelly loved the earth, man. Had a garden, loved to… pat down on the… when she planted new flowers, I mean. Hands to the chest of God, she said. It's good she's nestled up in it now. She loved being beautiful. Hated the thought of being anything else, and now… now she's in… like this. Blooming. You ever smelled a corpse in the sun, doc?

Dr. Jeong: I — no. Is that what you smell? Could you please describe it for me?

D-16062: Found her, she'd been… about a day. Like the bones just stopped workin' and she figured, hell, might as well stay… down. Stay here. Easier that way. Her doc — not you, the brain guy she was talkin' to, before it happened. He said she needed to… but she wouldn't. That wasn't her, you know? Born free.

Dr. Jeong: Frank, there's static on the line, I think — oh, wait. Frank, are you —

Thick, splashing sounds.

D-16062: It's just she… I think she hated herself? So I got all fat to tell her it was OK, I didn't care, but she did because she couldn't… tolerate… any of it. Wanted it all to go. Maybe she was just selfless like that, maybe it was… anyway, now I know, babe, I'm giving it all away, too. Look at me, babe, it's all coming off me. In sheets. I can see my… all the inside out of…

Dr. Jeong: Frank. You're 15 meters away from the target. Can you look forward and please describe the tree in the center of the clearing?

D-16062: Wow. Wow. High as the sun, man. Drooping… dripping… the branches are… and I can see on them, they're… it's… I'm there, too, and the capybara and the… there's so much life here, doc. Pain, rot, but life, too, all of it strung up to meet the stars. Never was a poet 'til today, doc, promise. hkk Irv, you see it too, man, right? But you're not lucky, like… I am. You're not…

Crackling and crashing noises. Silence.

Dr. Jeong: Frank?

Dr. Jeong: Frank.

Dr. Jeong: URV-1003, please retrieve the recording device from D-16062 and return to the perimeter. I think we're —

D-16062: (gasping) my insides… up there… Shelly, I… you know, Irv… heard back in school… anatomy… the small one's… twenty feet, something like that.

Dr. Jeong: Oh.

D-16062: (laughing, gurgling) Strung up like Christmas lights! The insides of us out — it's showing us, all we are is food and the feeding. Shelly! You knew, that's why you… food and the… feeding. All of us, we're…

Dr. Jeong: Frank, stay calm. I'm sure this is… it'll be over soon, Frank.

Dr. Jeong: Frank?

D-16062: …mulch…

Dr. Jeong: Frank. Frank. D-16062, please confirm you're still alive.

A minute passes.

D-16062: (choking, gurgling)

Dr. Jeong: Well, that's… URV-1003. Stay there to determine whether we get an instance of -A, then retrieve the audio log and… come back to the perimeter for decontamination. I… that's all. Thank you.

Bubbling and churning noises.

[END LOG]

Item #: SCP-ZZZZ

Object Class: Euclid

SCP-ZZZZ.

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-ZZZZ is kept in a glass chamber roughly matching the size and description of its equivalent in St. Mary's Cathedral. A window, door, or similar access point into the room containing the glass chamber should be kept open whenever possible.

Description: SCP-ZZZZ is a bronze reliquary resembling a golden reliquary of St. Ansgar kept in St. Mary's Cathedral in Hamburg, Germany. In addition to its bronze construction, SCP-ZZZZ lacks the embossed lettering featured on the original reliquary, and the tip of its molded arrow is carved from graphite instead of emerald.

SCP-ZZZZ-1, housed inside the reliquary, is a desiccated human finger. Carbon dating indicates that the finger's owner died between 1842 and 1850.

Approximately 4 times per day, an entity designated SCP-ZZZZ-2 appears within 3 meters of SCP-ZZZZ. SCP-ZZZZ-2 resembles an Asian male of average build, aged approximately 50 years, with a pronounced limp in its left leg and a "hunchback" indicating severe kyphosis. SCP-ZZZZ-2 always appears wearing a large, black overcoat and brown rain boots.

Upon its appearance, SCP-ZZZZ-2 walks towards SCP-ZZZZ in the straightest possible unobstructed route. SCP-ZZZZ-2 is noncorporeal, but if prevented from approaching by walls or other obstructions, it will become hostile to, and attempt to attack, any nearby living things (including humans, animals, plants, etc). Upon reaching SCP-ZZZZ, SCP-ZZZZ-2 may perform a variety of observed behaviors, including reaching to touch the reliquary, whispering in a slurred combination of German and Mandarin, and shaking as if suffering from hypothermia.

Attempts to "force" interaction by blocking SCP-ZZZZ-2's path to the reliquary triggers hostile behavior, but no other notable awareness of or response to interaction or communication attempts. Five to ten minutes after appearing, SCP-ZZZZ-2 spontaneously de-materalizes.

Addendum, SCP-ZZZZ-2 Audio Log: A microphone placed within SCP-ZZZZ's glass chamber records speech and other audio produced by SCP-ZZZZ-2. A sample of the recording logs follows. (NOTE: Speech has been translated into English.)

+ Audio Log (Sample), SCP-ZZZZ-2

Addendum, Hans Zhao: Investigation into SCP-ZZZZ and the details of SCP-ZZZZ-2's speech indicates that SCP-ZZZZ-2 assumes the visage of Hans Zhao, a blacksmith whose mother, Chanying Zhao, died of consumption in Bremen on January 7, 1852.⁹ According to available records, Hans Zhao did not marry or have children. Zhao lived with his mother until her death and died of dehydration and starvation in his childhood home on January 24, 1852.

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is contained in a converted open-air warehouse in Hartford County, Connecticut, by a remote Parazoology Division team. Anti-air and anti-satellite support staff are to ensure that the contents of this warehouse are not tracked by non-Foundation parties.

To minimize or prevent instances of SCP-XXXX-B, staff should ensure that SCP-XXXX is located no more than 1 meter from the shoulder of the paved imitation roadway and that, after sunset, dual halogen lamps cast beams of light parallel to the paved road at baseline intervals of 10 minutes. These lamps should brighten fully within 10 seconds and then remain lit no more than 1 second.

Original resting site of SCP-XXXX.

Description: SCP-XXXX is the corpse of an adult, female Virginia deer (Odocoileus virginianus). SCP-XXXX is 1 meter tall and weighs 42 kilograms.

SCP-XXXX emits a low-pitched whine that in a living animal would indicate pain, fear, or alarm. However, SCP-XXXX emits this noise at all times regardless of external conditions. SCP-XXXX is otherwise inanimate except for the behaviors designated SCP-XXXX-A and SCP-XXXX-B.

There are signs of blunt force trauma to the front of SCP-XXXX's skull and a spiral fracture in its front left ankle. Aside from this, SCP-XXXX has no bodily injury or damage other than posthumous rot. This rot is anomalous, with short-term decomposition that has not progressed since containment more than three years ago.

SCP-XXXX-A occurs at nighttime, when SCP-XXXX is near a paved road and lying at the edge of a treeline. Under these conditions, if lights approach in a manner resembling automobile headlights, SCP-XXXX rotates along its belly and spine and moves approximately 1 meter into the roadway. SCP-XXXX finishes moving forward when this illumination is highest, returning to its original position after 5 to 7 seconds.

When certain conditions for SCP-XXXX-A are absent for too long,¹⁰ SCP-XXXX's vocalizations distort and increase steadily in volume. This is known as SCP-XXXX-B; it is an active danger to on-site personnel and is to be treated as a containment breach.

SCP-XXXX has shown no fine motor function, high- or low-level brain activity, parasitic infestation, or any other explanation for its behavior.

Discovery: Foundation personnel responded to police reports of a loud, animalistic noise on an unlit country road in West Granby, Connecticut. MTF Eta-11 "Savage Beasts" operatives discovered a crashed public works vehicle containing SCP-XXXX and three deceased state employees. At time of discovery, SCP-XXXX-B's volume exceeded 210 decibels.

An audio recording of SCP-XXXX-B, captured by Eta-11 operatives during retrieval, is included in this file. This recording has been modified to play at safe decibel limits.

Eta-11 determined that the public works crew had moved SCP-XXXX from a location 500 meters northbound of their vehicle. Returning SCP-XXXX to this initial location ended SCP-XXXX-B immediately, minimizing risk until containment procedures were finalized. (SCP-XXXX-1, a male Odocoileus virginianus corpse, was identified across the roadway from SCP-XXXX's original resting place, but examination revealed no anomalous qualities.)

Addendum, XXXX-XC-87-01: Former site lead Dr. Casi Glenn submitted decommission recommendation XC-87-01 on October 17, 2016. Log entry and abstract follow for archival purposes.

Observation Log: Site Lead Dr. Glenn, 2016/10/17

This is my last entry as XXXX lead. XC-87-01's ready, so that's it. I know my empathetic inclinations aren't appreciated by many of the non-parazoologists here, so perhaps they'll rest easier having this all over with. Maybe I'll sleep better at night now, too.

I won't editorialize in the recommendation, so to whomever it may concern: Feel how you like, but we are serving no greater purpose here.

We've all heard that Behavior B recording, but have any of you thought about what it means? I'll tell you: SCP-XXXX has one purpose, which may as well be the (anthropomorphism be damned) dying wish of its former self. Its constant whimper is a plea. Behavior B isn't a "containment breach"; it's a cry of agony, from a creature trapped in sorrow.

I've said this before through official channels, but I think it's simple: SCP-XXXX was running free with its partner, tripped, and fell to a stupid death before it reached the road. It wants to keep running, and we're keeping it pressed to the earth. For what?

And if you're no lover of animals, I'll tell you this: It'd be a damn sight cheaper to end this cycle of suffering. If it doesn't work? Fine; put it back in your little circus.

I say mercy is warranted. I hope the Ethics Committee, or someone up at O5, can see that.

XXXX-XC-87-01 ABSTRACT

Decommission recommendations:

Remove SCP-XXXX from all containment protocols

Relocate SCP-XXXX to its original site at West Granby, Connecticut, or within equivalent proximity to SCP-XXXX-1

Utilize drone-operated automotive vehicle to terminate SCP-XXXX via vehicular collision

ETHICS COMMITTEE DECISION: XC-87-01 would create unnecessary risk of exposure both to SCP-XXXX-B and to other, potentially more dangerous behavior. Current containment procedures are consistent and reliable.

RECOMMENDATIONS REJECTED 2016/10/19.

dyslexion crit on deer

– hide block

I've seen this piece a few times, mostly tabbing over to other works by this author. Now that I get a look at the final product, here are my thoughts.

It's okay. Not great, not terrible. It suffers in its execution and by having narrative threads that don't connect.

less thoughts
So what we have overall is a dead deer that wants to keep running. It died before it actually could cross the street and now it will scream if it doesn't see cars. This is confusing to me. It feels like I'm missing a huge chunk of the story, or a part was removed.

The Conprocs are an issue for me. They seem like vast overkill for what is a very simple anomaly. Anti satellite surveillance? What? Surely they could just leave a net across the building?

The description also has some weird bits too. I think a good 20% of the material here could be slimmed down or cut entirely.

This is a one time reference. We don't really get a lot of definition as to why this is a danger or a containment breach. We get our explanation, to a degree, in the Discovery, but this should really be defined here.

The most obvious example of where the execution failed is, in my opinion, the two additional letters. I get that a site doctor isn't mincing his words here, but you sum up everything in one short paragraph. It contextualizes the entire article, in a bad way. I realize that there may be clues that would lead a reader to understand this prior to getting here, but it didn't for me. At no point did I really understand the core of this article until it was thrown at me with this exposition.

If this is the climax, the rest of the falling action is lackluster and leaves the article on a "meh" note. The article tends to overstay its welcome in places, so having the EthCom note just feels like extra.

To salvage this:

Cut down the material. This piece is gonna read best as short and sweet
Give us more subtextual story.
Decide whether you want us to sympathize with the deer and make the changes so we can get to that. Right now, I don't feel *anything* about it, and the only thing telling me to is from the doctor's note.
Recheck it. This feels like an article where you removed a part and then never smoothed back over it.
With some slight rewriting, this could be good. But as is, I'm not a huge fan.

Photo Credits

Jaws III
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray186.png
https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/3dbde718-f57f-4fd7-a56f-9187ab97b752
https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/1aa23736-9d0d-4ae3-81d3-ab7c733ec351

Deerly Departed
https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/1395ab99-07fa-4193-8adb-701483159cfd
https://freesound.org/people/Hyperionn/sounds/250188/

The Stomach Forest
https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/8378fc1d-3e0e-48ef-aa3b-5e615078af4f

A Quiver of Feathers
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71158110

Critters

Jaws III: More Jaws
Dyslexion
DrAkimoto
Lord_of_Laugh