1. Omens of mass death, specifically huge out-of-season swarms of black butterflies, scientifically impossible solar eclipses, or three knocks on doors or on places where knocks were/are used to announce someone's desire to enter a space without anyone there to do the knocking, coinciding throughout the centuries with mass extinctions of cultures or destruction of important cities of the time. Imperilled trade routes becoming impossible to traverse, ancient polities annihilated literally overnight, stable societies vanishing with few traces of materiel and no corpses, these sorts of things.
Documents surrounding these events collected and archived from investigations undertaken by the multiple groups that existed before the start of coalition that would become the SCP Foundation. These apparently unrelated phenomena were initially categorized as many anomalies in the SCP Foundation databases in hard copy/physical forms. As the Foundation had to cope with almost countless issues from its beginnings and usually needed to deal with far more imminent threats, it took many years for the disparate files to be correlated and recognized as one anomaly.
There were a few individuals in the Foundation who suspected this, generally individuals assigned to Safe-rated Sites and scattered Foundation personnel in Records, as well as a large percentage of personnel in the nascent RAISA.
It took the creation of digital computing to definitively realize the extent of the anomaly.
The difficulty with this anomaly is that, up until the late 18th century at the earliest, the anomaly was considered part of standard consensus reality. As science and religion gradually diverged, this anomaly metamorphosed into a threat to consensus reality.
The article will discuss the implication of having to contain these omens. Is the Foundation right to do this? Is this part of consensus reality, anomalous, both?
2. REM sleep only occurs in mammals and birds. Dreams probably started with therapsids in the later Permian era. The SCP Foundation discovered this when one of their Researchers, a palaeontologist specializing in late Paleozoic land vertebrates, experienced unusually vivid dreams that included some identifiable elements associated with the later Permian. The Foundation will learn that the dreams can be triggered by any member of the orders Mammalia or Aves (actual trigger to be determined by the author [me]). The dreams are all set on Earth between the late Permian and Quaternary (paleontological current times) periods. Numerous impossible elements have been observed and described in great detail by Foundation personnel, but no member of the species Homo sapiens sapiens has proven capable of recreating anything observed or experienced in the dreams.
The initially affected Researcher was promoted to Head Researcher for this SCP object, and has been instrumental in uncovering the origins and triggers for the anomaly.
A specialist Task Force, MTF Xi-11 "Thoth's Thoughts", has been assembled from experts in lucid dreaming and trained in Foundation-specific dream combat, designated "Oneiragon". The MTF's goal is disruption of.information passing to dreaming entities by any means necessary - destruction of sentient dream-constructs, fully immersing dreamers in a self-contained MTF constructed alternate dreamscape (akin to waking world submersibles or enclosed environment habitats) for the entirety of the dream, interjecting misinformation about the events the subjects are experiencing, and similar actions.
The dreams are a threat to due to the inclusion of anomalous content, none of which is Info- or Cogitohazardous, but that is remembered in such vivid detail that it's possible even more primitive birds or mammals to advance and/or evolve rapidly. If unchecked, this will result in a SK-Class Dominance Shift scenario within several years (5? 10?). While it's impossible to tell if the anomalous events in the dreams actually happened due to most of the anomalies being impossible to preserve through such a vast stretch of time. Many artifacts were based on soft tissue. Others, such as vehicles and buildings, were made of materials very similar to what's available in the Quaternary - and that itself makes the dreams with those materials anomalous in themselves.
Incidents (general notes) - birds using simple tools similar to Homo habilis. Rabbit setting traps and killing predators - entire packs of coyotes. Crows and ravens squatting in empty houses. Ducks creating small water-side settlements of mud and plant matter, with the ducks organizing things similar to Abbasid caliphate society (less the religion). Only drakes (male ducks) are allowed outside of the houses unescorted, and the drakes are known to ferociously attack any being believed to have observed hens (female ducks). Ever-increasing complexity of mammal and bird behavior. Tech that's physically and materially impossible to build in bird or mammal settlements.
Humans rarely experience any advancements from the dreams.
I plan to include a hypothesis by a researcher associated with this object. The hypothesis will be that Homo sapiens sapiens is an evolutionary dead-end, and that the originating phenomenon is therefore focusing on improving those beings with the greatest potential for progress.
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Interviewed: [The person, persons, or SCP being interviewed]
Interviewer: [Interviewer, can be blocked out using █]
Foreword: [Small passage describing the interview]
<Begin Log, [optional time info]>
Interviewer: [speech]
Person: [speech]
[Repeat as necessary]
<End Log, [optional time info]>
Closing Statement: [Small summary and passage on what transpired afterward]
Test A - Date
Subject:
Procedure:
Results:
Analysis:
Test B - Date
Subject:
Procedure:
Results:
Analysis:
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe - Pending Reclassification (see Addendum B)
Special Containment Procedures:
SCP-XXXX is currently contained in the Medium Security Storage Wing of Site-64 in a fire-resistant box affixed with a digital lock. Pursuant to the events of Incident SCP-XXXX A, the lock's code must be changed every 7 days at minimum. Failure to do so will result in a message being sent to the local Foundation Memetics branch and Site Administrator.
Incorrect or incomplete containment procedures will be treated as an information breach, and a potential containment breach. Individuals who have not changed the lock's code within the required time will be subject to disciplinary action, up to putative demotion to Class-E for six months to a year from the date of the infraction. The specific location of the box in which SCP-XXXX is located is known only to Foundation personnel with clearance SCP-XXXX/4 or above. As of 15/07/2023, there are 4 Junior Researchers, 2 Senior Researchers, and 5 Security personnel assigned directly to SCP-XXXX.
Containment Specialist Note: Foundation assets are authorized to use any means necessary to capture and detain "Jake Miller" (hereafter referred to as POI-22583) following the events of Incident SCP-XXXX A for more information about the origins and nature of SCP-XXXX.
Description:
SCP-XXXX is an ovoid bloodstone wrapped in anomalously strong leather cording. The stone measures 7.62 cm by 3.81 cm, and the leather cording has remained undamaged since its recovery and subsequent tests (See Test Logs for further information). When an individual physically contacts SCP-XXXX, either the cording or the stone, and speaks a phrase they believe to be false, SCP-XXXX will rise in temperature from ambient room temperature to 30 degrees Celsius to an estimated 1750 degrees Celsius within five minutes of the statement for 15 minutes before returning to its original temperature.
This property was discovered during the post-event interview with the previous possessor of SCP-XXXX, POI-22583, when Field Agent Elizabeth Ross attempted to verify that all anomalous objects had been surrendered to the Foundation team on-site.
POI-22583 was amnestized and released into the general population after it was ascertained that he had no further relevant information regarding SCP-XXXX. He additionally did not have any information regarding any other anomalous items, nor regional groups of interest.
Addendum XXXX-A: Recovery
SCP-XXXX was contained after the SCP Foundation received intelligence regarding an upcoming anart exhibit in Indianapolis, IN, billed as "Truth And Lies". Initial reports from Foundation assets indicated the exhibit would be a sizeable gathering of regional anartists, with considerable involvement from Group Of Interest Are We Cool Yet? for talent recruitment.
The involvement of Are We Cool Yet? was attested by the discovery of 6 Project Proposals, in various states of completion, which Foundation agents in art communities in the Midwest were privy to through their direct hand in several galleries which were scouted by the independent anartists involved in the creation of the "Truth and Lies" installation. All 6 Proposals were shown to be false by the time of the opening of the installation on 05/02/2020 at 19:00 local time.
The exhibit was shut down within 2 hours of opening by Indianapolis Police Department officers as a public nuisance after several attendees called 911. The attendees spoke of several unusual effects while present at the installation. Foundation agents embedded with the Indianapolis Police Department were alerted and arrived on the scene, eventually recovering several previously anomalous items and interviewing all individuals involved with "Truth and Lies".
All persons involved in the creation and setup of the installation provided no pertinent information regarding the mismatch between details of the exhibit before its opening, during the events that transpired, and after. Nor were the individuals forthcoming with any explanation of why 2 of the 3 anomalous items ceased to show anomalous qualities after the exhibit had ended.
The following is a comprehensive list of objects confiscated from the installation:
- SCP-XXXX
- A paper bowler hat; according to 3 of the Project Proposals, this item would force the wearer and any persons within 3 meters of the wearer to speak only untrue statements for as long as the hat was placed securely on any human being's head. During the installation, the hat was worn by POI-7225, "Mrs. Rags" (location and name unknown). Non-anomalous.
- One oil-on-canvas painting of a primarily green and yellow spiral pattern with two small holes gouged near the canvas frame, parallel to each other. Rough twine is tied around the frame through the holes. The twine holds a rectangular piece of wood, hanging from the painting, reading "We Are All The Unity We Need" lettered in green paint. During "Truth and Lies," the painting would morph when a human would step within 1.5 meters of the canvas, changing from oil-on-canvas media to heavily piled cattle feces-on-canvas. Smell and texture were identical to non-anomalous cattle feces, and due to the thickness of the manifested dung, the fecal matter would commonly slide off the canvas and fall in a pile on the floor underneath the canvas. The sign and twine would remain anomalously clean. Item lost all anomalous qualities during Foundation raid of "Truth and Lies", although the painting does still have a faint smell of cattle feces.
- One oil-on-canvas painting consisting of the colors phthalo blue and vermilion, with the painting split into quadrants of two opposite vermilion, and two opposite phthalo blue, sections. Separating the quadrants are thickly painted lines of approximately 5 cm in width thick on the halfway vertical and horizontal positions on the canvas, the color of which is the result of 50/50 mixture of the phthalo blue and vermilion. There is an even thicker section in the shape of an "X" from the midpoint of the painting extending for approximately 3.8 cm resulting from additional application of Cobalt blue paint. The painting's title is unknown. During the "Truth and Lies" exhibit, the painting was observed to cause extreme derealization in subjects who viewed the painting directly for more than approximately 3 minutes. 17 individuals were affected by the painting. All individuals were administered Class C Amnestics, interviewed for potential lingering affects from the painting, and released once it was clear that all anomalous affects had been removed successfully. Item lost all anomalous qualities during Foundation raid of "Truth and Lies".
Addendum: Incident SCP-XXXX A
On 05/06/2023, the fire alarms in the Safe Item Storage wing of Site-64 were triggered. An area approximately 1.5 m x 1.5 m x 5 m suffered damage consistent with plasma burns. The storage area burned for 6 hours before Foundation personnel were able to access the affected section and determine the cause of the blaze.
At the base of the cylindrical burned area, Foundation personnel saw SCP-XXXX. The surrounding region had no detritus due to the estimated 4000 degree Celsius core burning temperature near SCP-XXXX; the remaining sector in which the object was located suffered severe damage, with many portions of the metal cases and fences in the wing needing to be replaced. 4 Safe-class items were destroyed.
Investigations into the cause of the damage are ongoing. SCP-XXXX has been provisionally moved to the Medium Security Storage Wing of Site-64 pending reclassification.
When Site-41 went into lock down, Junior Researcher Julia Herrera hadn't even heard the first blast. Alarms blared, she jumped just a bit, and she remembered the drills. Carefully, she put the SCP object she was experimenting on back into the plastic box in which it was stored, stepped out of the lab, and walked quickly but carefully, [i]Just like in the videos we watched[/i], she thought, to Safe object storage. Most of her colleagues had already made their way to the emergency rally point, so the way to storage was clear. Back in went the box, storage area locked, and Herrera was off to the rally point.
Junior Researcher Herrera had stopped in her tracks. The ceiling had shaken. Probably. This had to be a drill.
"Ummm," she cogently queried nothing but the ceiling tiles.
The next few moments left no doubt that somewhere, something was exploding. The entire site shook.
"Huh," the Junior Researcher prolixly exclaimed.
Herrera's body and mind reached an agreement then to get [i]away[/i] from whatever was detonating and join everyone else at the rally point. She jogged quickly to the end of the hall and tried swiping her keycard. The door didn't unlock.
"That shouldn't happen," she said out loud. Herrera knew that the only non-functional reader was at surface level at the entrance. Security personnel could make sure only authorized individuals made their way in. All right, so she couldn't get to the rally point. Maybe she could go back to the lab and wait for this all to be over.
Right at that moment, almost a dozen explosions tore through the 60 meters of rock and metal between Site-41's surface entrance in a St. Paul, MN business park office building, and Safe object storage and laboratories. Herrera panicked and rushed into one of the offices of the Level 3 Researchers. She briefly heard some Doppler bent voices and gunfire before scrambling to the office, shutting the door with her foot and hiding beneath the desk.
***
In a jeep in a St. Paul parking lot, binoculars were trained on seven rag-tag armed people heading toward the single entrance of the Foundation Site. In moments, the front glass shattered and the Security personnel behind another plate of glass were crushed by the pressure from an explosion created from nothing.
The eyes behind the binoculars watched approvingly. Underneath the eyes, a mouth laughed as the Foundation's security forces for Site-41 died. Commander W. P. Jones, the person holding the binoculars, didn't flinch when the blast wave hit the jeep.
"My boys got it," he said. Further explosions followed the first, tearing into the dirt beneath the site, and either vaporizing or casting into another dimension (the Commander could never remember which) whatever it touched. Not much dirt left to worry about.
The walkie to his right squawked and a light voice came through.
"Sir, we've got about 5 more meters to go. Maybe three more shots and we'll be in. Over." Odjebe, the Commander's eyes and ears. The best of the boys. Jones replied into his device,
"Well done lads. Tell me when you make it through. Be there in ten. Over and out."
As usually happened with his squad, a positive word from their Commander worked to incite them to an almost frenzy, like the bush-dwelling savages they were.
Another explosion, and another, then a third. Jones smiled, snapped his walkie to his side, and pulled the small oak box from under his seat. Checked it - the hawthorn sprig was still there, six flowers. Snapping the box closed and placing it into his jacket's top right pocket, the Commander walked to his squad's location.
Near the wrecked front of the building, a hole of about 8 meters diameter and glass-smooth led into the Safe-class storage and experimentation area of Site-41. Around the hole were 8 pitons with nylon cord and rappelling gear.
Odjebe saw his commander, and double-checked the hardware around the hole.
"All set, sir. We're all heading down now," said the squad leader.
"I'll be down in a moment." Jones patted the jacket where the box was.
"Another success for the Insurgency."
His squad went over the edge of the aperture, disappearing with just some fading sound to mark their passage downward.
Jones hooked himself up to the gear and followed them.
***
Herrera could hear faint footsteps and several individuals speaking, but not much else. She heard four… no, five voices. She couldn't place the accents. The interlopers came closer. [i]Someone's got to be comingthought the Junior Researcher. To keep her fear from rising, she did some quick arithmetic: Locking down the Site meant that on-site security would have to climb up 60 meters from the Euclid sector on the emergency access ladders to reach the Safe sector. Then they'd have to fight a group of people who had blown a massive hole straight down into a location run by one of the most secretive organizations in the world. [iWait, seriously, who are these people[/i]?
Junior Researcher Herrera started to feel the rising panic as she started to think about the implications of this. She started to shake, and breathe raggedly. Her right side leaned up hard against the desk. She shifted her weight off the metal plate behind which some Senior Researcher or other rested their legs while working, causing the metal plate to buckle and make a noise.
The voices and footsteps stopped then. Herrera knew this wasn't good.
***
Jones looked down the hallway in one direction, then another. Forward from his original visual range were about 50 meters of doors on each side. His boys were checking them, dark skin sharp against the brightly lit corridor. The doors appeared to be locked, but the squad still had another six rooms to go. Turning around to face his original rear, the Commander saw one door directly in front of him. He walked over to the door, noticed a card reader, and spoke into his walkie,
"Ndebele, come here. Break this door down."
In a moment, the squad's resident thaumaturge had written several symbols around the hinges of the door and the card reader and activated them. Jones and Ndebele stepped back and the door exploded backward, exposing a room with three doors. All of the doors had signs above them which said [b]Rally Point[/b].
Jones had another idea. He ordered Ndebele to set proximity-triggered cognitohazardous glyphs in order to compulsively drive some of the Foundation's lackeys to the Insurgency. Private Ndebele set the trap up around the signs, in the room, and just outside the room in the hallway. The cause could expect more recruits in the future.
The other soldiers had finished their check of the hallway and were coming back to Jones when two of the group heard Herrera shake the metal plate on the desk. They broke down the door and dragged the Junior Researcher shrieking toward their commander.
"Sir look, we found one," said Makebe.
"What should we do with her?"
***
[i]Oh no, oh shit, oh no. Insurgency.[/i] Herrera knew them only from training videos, but here they were. They would have been less scary if they hadn't ripped open Site-41. Really they just looked like a stuffy old white guy and some skinny black guys. But rip a hole they did.
She couldn't think of anything to say. What could she? What would save her life? Probably nothing.
The old man spoke imperiously, a vicious gleam in his eyes,
"Take her with us. I know the cause can make use of her. Head back up. We'll be out in just a bit."
Saying that, the white man left her. One of the men tied her up from shoulder to feet and hefted her like a bag over his shoulder. There was a long ride up, and she eventually found herself in the back of a jeep.
[i]Well,she thought, [iat least I'm alive.[/i]
***
Jones found the object Delta Command needed just where the mission documents said it would be. The spring. He slowly opened the box where it was held, took the oak box, placed the spring next to the hawthorn sprig, shut it, and went back to the jeep.
Commander W. P. Jones couldn't have imagined a better outcome. This op equaled, no, exceeded, his time in the Bush War. Just a few villages and cattle, that. This was the cause of the Insurgency, one step closer to ultimate triumph.