Linosek

Item #: XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX-A and -B are to be contained within a standard humanoid containment cell within Site 17. No attempts to remove SCP-XXXX-A from SCP-XXXX-B’s presence are to be made. SCP-XXXX-A is not to be introduced to any other sentient SCPs under any circumstances.

Description: SCP-XXXX-A is a middle-aged Caucasian male in an advanced state of malnutrition. While no attempts by the foundation to remedy this have proven effective, SCP-XXXX-A appears to be unaffected by his condition. Any clothing worn by SCP-XXXX-A suffers from advanced degradation, often being reduced to rags within 4-6 hours. SCP-XXXX has not suffered from any visible ageing since his containment by the foundation in 19██. SCP-XXXX-A has been described as amicable, with a tendency for self deprecating humour. SCP-XXXX-A always attempts to keep SCP-XXXX-B in as close proximity as possible.

SCP-XXXX-B is a traditional iron ball and chain, connected to SCP-XXXX-A by an ankle lock. SCP-XXXX-B can only be moved by being voluntary carried by SCP-XXXX-A, albeit with some difficulty. Of note is the fact that while there is a break in the chain, the two halves will always point towards each other, as if there is an invisible link between them. This effect stays constant, regardless of SCP-XXXX-B’s distance to SCP-XXXX-A.

SCP-XXXX-A has an anomalous effect on any prisoner aware of his existence, causing them to treat SCP-XXXX-A as a figure of authority. The strength of the effect increases with length of exposure and proximity to SCP-XXXX-A. This effect has an approximate range of 25m, increasing exponentially with SCP-XXXX-A’s distance from SCP-XXXX-B.

Experiment Log XXXX:

Experiment XXXX-1: D-9562 is introduced to SCP-XXXX-A’s containment cell and told to remain there for 3 hours. D-9562 is provided with food and drink for herself and SCP-XXXX-A.

Outcome: Upon entering SCP-XXXX-A’s containment cell, D-9562 begins to display nervous behaviour. D-9562 is very muted for the first hour of the experiment, typically responding to SCP-XXXX-A’s attempts at conversation with single word answers while avoiding eye contact. D-9562 becomes progressively more vocal as the experiment continues, starting to refer to SCP-XXXX-A as “sir” by the 1.5 hour mark. From 2 hours D-9562 begins to prostrate herself, and refuses to partake in any action without SCP-XXXX-A’s permission. By the 3 hour mark, D-9562 is spending almost all of her time frantically searching for ways to assist SCP-XXXX-A. D-9562 resists heavily when it is time to terminate the experiment, and has to be sedated. SCP-XXXX-A treats all of D-9562’s reactions as natural.

Experiment XXXX-2: D-9742 is introduced to SCP-XXXX-A’s cell. Experiment is conducted similarly to experiment XXXX-1.

Outcome: D-9742 shows no signs of SCP-XXXX exposure, engaging SCP-XXXX-A in typical conversation. Experiment is terminated after no effects manifest after 1.5 hours. Psychological analysis discovered that D-9742 shows signs of advanced Stockholm syndrome.

Note: Now we know that the term “prisoner” is subjective here, and depends entirely on the subject’s own definition. -Dr. Peters

Experiment XXXX-3: D-9021 is introduced to SCP-XXXX-A’s containment cell. D-9021 was chosen due to his anarchist philosophy and general refusal to accept authority. Experiment conducted similarly to previous experiments.

Outcome: D-9021 experiences the same effects as D-9562 in Experiment XXXX-1, and also has to be sedated upon termination of test.

Note: The subject’s personal religious or political beliefs seem to have no effect of SCP-XXXX’s properties. -Dr. Peters

Interview Log XXXX-3:

The following is a transcript of the third official interview between SCP-XXXX-A and Dr. Peters

<Begin Log>

Peters: Good morning, XXXX.

SCP-XXXX-A: Ah, good morning doctor. How’re the kids?

Peters: I don’t have any kids.

SCP-XXXX-A: Well that’s unfortunate. Really brighten up your life.

Peters: Wait, do you have kids?

SCP-XXXX-A: Well, they’ve probably been dead for a few hundred years now, but technically…

Peters: Oh, I’m sorry.

SCP-XXXX-A: Ah, don’t be. Knowing them I’ve probably got more descendants than I can count. Bloody incorrigible, the lot of them.

Peters: Either way, we’re getting off track here. Do you at all remember what event caused your current state?

SCP-XXXX-A: Marriage.

Peters: Excuse me?

SCP-XXXX-A: You probably want a little more detail. I’m not even going to try to remember how long ago it was. It was my home, a distant place, a land long lost with an even longer forgotten tongue.

Peters: What was it called?

SCP-XXXX-A: Wouldn’t be a forgotten tongue if I could remember would it?

Peters: Fair enough, continue.

SCP-XXXX-A: I had a job. Can’t remember what it was. Got arrested for something. Can’t remember what that was either. I do remember prison though. While it was much less advanced than what you’ve got now, the atmosphere was nicer. Less about keeping you off the streets, more about getting you ready to go back to them. Probably why there weren’t any hard sentences either. You stayed until you weren’t a threat to people anymore. And that’s where I met her…

SCP-XXXX-A is silent for 7 seconds

Peters: Your wife?

SCP-XXXX-A: Hmm? Oh yeah. Fascinating woman. Loud, charming, right pain in the ass, damn good Ritualist, lousy carpenter, amazing at-

Peters: Excuse me, did you say ritualist?

SCP-XXXX-A: Yeah, now as I was saying-

Peters: As in magic?

SCP-XXXX-A: Oh right, magic’s not really a thing anymore is it?

Peters: It is. Most people just don’t know about it.

SCP-XXXX-A: Well, back in my home we treated magic like being able to run fast or being a good builder. It was a talent, and if you could use it, you used it.

Peters: You remember a lot about a place that you can’t recall the name of.

SCP-XXXX-A: (chuckling) I’ll get to that in a moment. Anyway, so we met, fell in love somehow, and got married as soon as we got out of prison. That’s when the problems started. See, she was a lousy carpenter, as I said, and I’m bad at pretty much everything, so we were flat broke. So she had this idea of cooking up a ritual. And not just any ritual. This was some serious hoohah. She’d been even poorer than me before prison and she was sick of it, so she started wondering “What if we just ruled the country?”

Peters: Uh…

SCP-XXXX-A: Now I don’t know how much you know about magic, but one person convincing an entire country that they own it through a single ritual, is literally impossible. So she had to improvise. Ritualism, Runics, Cursecraft, Familiarism, and a few more disciplines that I never even heard of, she just crammed in surface level techniques from all of them.

Peters: So none of this was illegal?

SCP-XXXX-A: It didn’t have to be. Nobody was stupid enough to try it. Besides us. We did the ritual, and after 12 days, it was finished. The change was gradual, took about a week to kick in. But after that, we could barely walk anywhere without being hounded by adoring "subjects". While we still didn't know anything about statecraft, we could just appoint governors and advisers, and only really had to overlook the major ethical decisions.

SCP-XXXX-A: Then I started to notice it. I began forgetting things. Very small things, like the name for a particular insect or what time it was. People began to look at us strangely, like they didn’t remember us. A building’s only as strong as its foundations, see, and the same goes for rituals. The problem was that this particular ritual was so deeply rooted and so unfathomably twisted that when it came crashing down, it brought the whole country down with it.

SCP-XXXX-A: So here's the thing about Familiarism, there are three things you really don't want to make contracts with. First is elder gods. Second is daemons. Third is the fae. This ritual made deals with two of them, and I can only remember one. In the fallout from the collapse, the fae claimed ownership over most of our memories, and the other got most of our souls. To be honest, I don't know which is worse. At least with the daemons you might be able to comprehend what's happening to you, even if it is eternal torment and suffering in whatever damned afterlife you believe in.

SCP-XXXX-A: Hold on, I need a minute.

Peters: Don't worry, take your time.

SCP-XXXX-A takes 45 seconds to resume speaking.

SCP-XXXX-A: Phew, okay. So the few people who were still alive, or still knew where they were began to see through our facade. We got thrown in jail again, and there were even talks of execution. The country didn't even have a death penalty. But that's when the figurative rubble started to settle. Now, it may have had an unholy number of disciplines mixed in, but this well, thing, was still a ritual at heart, and rituals are all about context.

SCP-XXXX-A: It sees me there, a prisoner, longing for freedom, hoping against hope to not be executed. It does what it can, but it's far from perfect. Maybe because of the curses, maybe because the Familiars were no longer giving it power. Either way. it ends up like this. I don't want to be a prisoner there anymore, so it gets me out, but I'm now perpetually a prisoner elsewhere. I don't want to die, so now I don't age, but nothing I eat ever satisfies me. I hate the clothes they gave me, so now everything I wear falls apart. The metal ball they chain me to is my greatest comfort, so now I can't leave it behind. And through all this, it still manages to complete its original objective.

SCP-XXXX-A: It makes me a king.

There is a 10 second period of silence.

Peters: Well, I think that's all we need for this interview. Thank you for your co-operation, XXXX.

SCP-XXXX-A: Oh, is that it? I hoped we'd get to talk some more… Maybe about something more… relaxed.

Peters: Maybe later.

SCP-XXXX-A: Okay…

Peters: Goodbye, XXXX.

SCP-XXXX-A: Goodbye, doctor.

<End Log>

Following Interview XXXX-3, efforts have been taken to investigate anomalies potentially relating to SCP-XXXX-A and his wife, who has been designated POI-3452.

Investigations into SCP-XXXX-A's claims of being a "perpetual prisoner" are ongoing.