A "desire path" walkway affected by SCP-5961.
Item #: SCP-5961
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: Foundation web crawlers are to monitor the internet for news reports, personal blog posts, and forum discussions involving manifestations of SCP-5961. Should a location associated with SCP-5961 occurrences be identified and confirmed by Foundation personnel, deterrents are to be gradually introduced to the area to dissuade passersby from traveling the nearby pathways on foot at high speed.
Disinformation responses are to be released following any reports from individuals who have encountered an SCP-5961 location; the claims are to be dismissed as part of a popular urban hoax. Any mentions of a "Professor Faymaren" (tentatively designated PoI-5961, along with associated alternate spellings) are to be investigated, to facilitate the identification and detainment of the presumably anomalous individual using the name(s).
Experimentation involving an SCP-5961 location requires permission from the Site Director or a Level-4 personnel member present at the nearest Foundation facility.
Description: SCP-5961 is a phenomenon that manifests on unpaved walkways made over time by human foot traffic. Based on gathered reports, it is currently believed that SCP-5961 manifestations are primarily localized to England and France.
When a human travels over such a walkway on foot at a relatively quick pace (taking into account physique and potential encumbrance due to items being carried), SCP-5961 will cause the following to occur:
- White down feathers will manifest at the soles of the individual’s feet or footwear, and trail behind them until they reach the end of the pathway. (If not soon picked up, the feathers will disappear.)
- Standing or slower-moving individuals on the pathway will move aside to let the individual pass.
- If the individual drops something they are carrying, the item will briefly remain hovering in place.
- The individual’s clothing will take on a luminescent sheen. This effect persists for a few minutes, and causes clothing to repel water in the event of rain or snow.
- Upon reaching the halfway point of the pathway, the individual will hear an unidentified crowd chanting motivational lines to them, including phrases "We believe in you!" and "You can do it!"
- (Pending confirmation) after leaving the pathway, the individual will reach their intended destination without any interruptions, including those caused by traffic, illness (e.g., needing to blow one’s nose), and need to use restrooms.
It has been observed that SCP-5961 will not manifest for all individuals. Foundation-monitored experiments have indicated that the following personal history factors tend to be associated with a failure to activate SCP-5961:
- Individual’s family was financially secure and provided for them for the majority of their juvenile and adolescent life.
- Individual has a strong emotional support system.
- Individual has not experienced many major life-changing negative events (e.g., loss of a parent, eviction).
- Individual’s stress levels are low (compared to those of other test subjects).
- Individual scores high on neuroticism scales and/or possesses a fairly negative worldview.
SCP-5961’s first noted manifestation occurred at the University of Cambridge, following a hit-and-run incident that left undergraduate student ██████ ████ unable to attend classes and her part-time job. The student was later interviewed by campus staff about her experience, and stated that she received counseling from an elderly benefactress named "Professor Faymaren" (PoI-5961) who encouraged Miss ████ to continue with her dreams despite the hardships she currently faced, and introduced her to the pathway later confirmed to be affected by SCP-5961.
Foundation records indicate that the student later successfully applied for and received financial aid from a philanthropic society, completed her education, secured employment as a well-respected teacher, and married the headmaster of a neighboring school. Foundation surveillance was eventually withdrawn six months following the individual’s wedding, which was held on the university grounds near the SCP-5961-affected pathway (as the couple stated that was the location where they first met).
Before Foundation intervention, Miss ████ had also encouraged coworkers and students to traverse the pathway that had "brought her good luck". Investigations are ongoing; gathered data thus far indicates that approximately 80% of interviewed individuals who went out of their way to travel over the SCP 5961-affected pathway found their lives changed in sudden events that they were "surprised by, but eternally grateful for". Professor Faymaren was cited frequently as the recurring benefactress; other name variations mentioned by interviewees included "Faemeren", and "F. Marraine". Thus far, all Foundation attempts to locate the alleged benefactress(es) have failed.
Addendum SCP-5961-1: On ██/██/████, the SCP-5961 research team conducted an experiment involving former MTF agent █████ ████████ (of Esoteric MTF Team █████-█), who due to myotonic muscular dystrophy is unable to walk unassisted and as such entered an early retirement. Agent ████████ was asked to travel the length of an SCP-5961-affected pathway using his mechanized wheelchair.
The agent's service dog was allowed to follow; SCP-5961’s “feathers effect” was noted to manifest for both the individual and his dog (who had been a shelter rescue, prior to adoption by the MTF agent as a therapy animal). Both individuals later received a package in the mail with no return address, containing a first-edition illustrated book of fairy tales and a tin of homemade dog treats. The items were determined to be non-anomalous, though the book was identified by Agent ████████ as being identical to a copy he had lost as a child, during a cross-country move necessitated by his father's change in employment. Both items were released to the custody of Agent ████████ and his service dog.
At this time, the SCP-5961 research team is accepting volunteers for further test subjects.
Reviewers in chat: asaucedev, Kilonova, Jak (x2), RockTeethMothEyes, LuciusIII, MalyceGraves, Calibri_Bold, TheMightyMcB
Particular thanks to asaucedev and TheMightyMcB for line-by-line specifics, and Jak for reading this twice!
Reviewers in PM: Cerastes
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diagonal_path,_Recreation_Ground,_Burley_-_geograph.org.uk_-_263086.jpg
“Let me tell you a story about a game played between mortals and gods.”
Do you remember who spoke those words to you before you first spoke them to yourself?
Hush now. It doesn’t matter, because now that you have the key to the dream-place where everything began, you will never forget those words.
You’re not quite asleep now, but not quite awake. You are in the in-between, a place where you cannot be harmed by those on either side of the mortal or immortal realms. This sanctuary of a strategy room is the one place in existence where an eternal truce has been called.
Yes, we’re all technically asleep now. No, this doesn’t happen often. Yes, nearly all of us can wake up on the other side at a moment’s notice. No, it’s not disorienting at all. Some of us are here almost all the time. We’ve been bereft of conventional dreaming for so long, we don’t feel like anything is missing.
Look around. What do you see?
Hello! I’m number two. I believe we spoke in your office at some point?
Yeah, “a lake” is a pretty standard answer. It’s the one we hear the most often from new Level-Fours when they first see this place. Eventually we’ll tell you what you’re expected to do now that you can walk through the dream doors, but how ‘bout a quick tour?
Come on, follow me. You can walk on the lake. Things work a little differently here. And all there is to this place is the lake pretty much, almost like a giant bowl of soup. If you hit the edge, there’s just a wall. Can’t move past it, even though there’s a ton of foggy stuff that makes it seem like there’s more. There’s not. That’s the end of it. Sort of like living in a cloud. But focus on the lake now. Look down.
Shiny, isn’t it? Kind of like a mirror, but there are ripples you can see going through it. If you look carefully at the ripples, you’ll notice that they never really fade out. They bounce around, interact with each other, make others stronger, weaker. That’s important.
Now, get this—it’s not a lake you’re looking at. It’s more of a chessboard.
A chessboard for what? It is a good question. Rest assured, with greater numbers of visits, comes greater understanding of how to read this board.
You have played chess before? Chess moves invite other moves. Strategy invites counteraction. These are the ripples you see. A game that has lasted a century can be monitored by reading the history of these moves and counter-moves. You are new, and it will be confusing. Do not worry. In every iteration of this game, only thirteen humans at a time have ever been allowed to read the board in a perfect manner.
Why is the board here at all?
Let me be excessively simple for you. A long, long time ago, humans and gods both desired the earth for their own.
…And he’s gone. How dramatic—he never really stays long for these meetings, see. You learn to get used to his spot being empty.
I suppose I’ll continue where he left off. But first, a preface: you know what humans are, so I will not explain. Gods… they are a trickier topic. For you see, “god” is simply a word that we have given to these beings. We know a few things of them, but we cannot understand them. The gods I will speak of are simply a variant of being that occupies our same earth, who live longer, live differently, and are much fewer than humans. Our opponents. They are as much out of our comprehension as we are out of theirs.
Are there greater deities out there? Possibly. We cannot know, human as we all are.
A few more things to ponder. Humans can mold objects around them with their own hands. Gods prefer to act by proxy and few get their hands dirty. Some don’t have hands. Humans generally possess the same features as other humans, while gods have no common form. Humans will share ideas and band together, while gods are more solitary. Humans have strange ideas. Gods are often pretty uncreative.
But returning to what the third one has stated. A long time ago, when this game was first envisioned, humans were challenged by the gods for ownership of the earth. It was meant to be a foregone conclusion—the gods saw it as the means to ensure cooperation, by disingenuously setting the humans a task they could not comprehend in the form of a challenge to prove their worth. The gods were annoyed with humans attempting to wrest control from them, were annoyed we attempted to make our own fate and take power from them. Humanity’s defeat would prove how only the gods could be expected to hold dominion over the planet.
The game was thus: humanity and divinity were the two factions at play. Thirteen human players and seven divine players were chosen to be granted access to this place. At the end of the century, the chessboard would show which faction exerted more control over the planet, and the winner would be given the earth to rule until the end of the millennium. The loser would be expected to quietly withdraw until the next game was to be played. No aggression, no sabotage.
No one questioned what would happen should that agreement be broken. No one is sure why. The fact that the first rules accounted for multiple games is something the gods would have never agreed to, but it is possible it was the will of a power higher than all of those first players.
The first players were chosen based on their standing within the world itself. After all, someone with no authority would make for a fairly inconsequential player, and there were only twenty faction members allowed to observe the chessboard at the advent of the first game.
The first gods to play thought themselves shining beacons of wisdom, who would bring order to the meandering, unintelligent beings who were our ancestors. That first victory went to the gods. It was as expected. Most of the world at the time was beholden to the ethereal and the otherworldly, and humans feared and avoided what they did not understand. At the time, none of us ever believed that we could change the fate of the planet.
I'll make it simple. Humanity turned the tide. We had help.
Something to remember: blood does not preempt choice. We've seen plenty of betrayals: humans enticed to play alongside the gods, gods who were sympathetic to humanity.
Something else to remember: our creativity, our ingenuity, our strength in numbers and propensity for seeking to understand each other and the world around us. We dreamt, we built, and most of all, we learned—something that the first divine players felt was beneath them.
It took some time, and several losses, but we learned. This above all: remember to think of the endgame. We have established a form of order that puts control in the hands of humans. But nevertheless, there are still the environmental disasters, the poverty, the wars, these events that tear apart communities and leave humanity disoriented and despairing.
Even if we are to inherit the earth, the next game will put humanity at a significant disadvantage. People drift apart, and that weakens us all.
Been a long discussion, huh? Let’s look back at the lake. You’ve been here for awhile, so it should seem clearer now. Can you see where you’re stepping? Yes, incredible, isn’t it? That’s your house. Seems like there was a low-level anomaly discovered there a few weeks ago, and that’s why the ripples are so faint. Concentrate now. You can pull the view closer or further as you like. We suggest you practice that in the coming weeks.
Why do the ripples track anomalous events? I was getting to that!
First, understand that anomalies have always been a natural thing, at least in the eyes of the gods. Nearly every anomaly you see tracked on this chessboard is the work of some otherworldly being. Some are human-friendly, so we leave them be. Human players in the past tried to track the ripples of religion and cult activity, but humanity has grown to understand and study those things, making them less of an immediate concern when it comes to playing the game. The current configuration was agreed upon at the start of the game. I wasn't on the Council then, so…
You can see Site-19 from here? Good job! You’ll get the hang of reading the board in no time. Maybe soon you’ll be sending out containment teams when new anomalies of interest crop up. The board is our best form of surveillance, after all.
You see lots of activity around Site-19? Excellent. It looks different from the other ripples? Perfect.
You may have noticed right now that some of these ripples here feel different. I say feel, because reading the chessboard is not done with traditional human senses.
The ripples that do not feel like the rest are echoes from former games. Humanity won the last game, as it is, and the thirteen that came before us left us some failsafes. The Foundation is the result of our inheritance.
You now know this place to be the first anomaly. The Foundation exists in part because this board does. You can see that most of the major sites have echoes clustered around them. Just as there are places humanity holds sacred, there are areas gods hold respect for, due to what transpired there.
No games are truly free of the ones that came before.
So now you’re starting to question the Foundation itself? Fine by us. Decide as you will, but we wouldn’t have invited you here if you didn’t have something to contribute. We pay you a wage so you can have a place to live and food on the table, sure, but we also keep an eye out for candidates for… well, shall we say…
We’ve needed to play the game differently this century. Manipulating anomalies is not something only the aged magicians can do. We have children building magical doohickeys in their backyards, summoning elder demons, causing people to question themselves. We need more eyes in the shadows, more whispers in our ears.
This is the first time factions have invited allies to the board. I have no clue why the faction players never thought of it before, or maybe this was the first time whatever macrocosmic popcorn-muncher runs the game allowed it. Anyway. We’ve started bringing more people to watch the board for us, because the world is rapidly tipping in the favor of our opponents. And when our time is up, we’ll need others to fill in our seats.
You may be wondering why it looks like the Foundation occupies all the chessboard seats, when someone from, say the Serpent’s Hand would be better at comprehending this magical crap. Well, surprise! At least one of us is a well-respected Hand member. Who? That’s classified. You’re not on the Council yet, kid.
And before you ask—yes, there are other high-ranking GoI members who have been to the chessboard. Some of them pop in every once in awhile to talk strategy. We may have different views, but we’re generally all human, human-like, or friendly with humans. And sometimes that means allowing the existence of the different views to further a common goal. It’s messy, it’s ugly, but it won us last millennium’s game, so we might as well let it stay a little longer.
What? Have we ever needed to kick anyone out? Nah. The good thing about this place and the truce that governs it is that no individual bearing ill will or intentions to cheat in the game can enter. If you don’t believe me, you can try it.
We don’t know what will happen to you if you do get kicked out though, since we don’t have any power over this place. All we can do is watch the board, and make decisions in the real world to reflect what we know we’re up against.
So, you are now asking, why does the Foundation exist? The simple answer: because it was convenient. The thirteen of us are here because we were handpicked, in some manner or another, by those who sat in our seats before us. Metaphorical chairs. You can see that none of us have anything to sit in. Yes, Two, I know, you’re sitting down anyway. Still no chairs.
There are archives for this that will be made accessible to you. But I encourage you to stay here awhile and see if you can follow the threads of the echoes from the past. Follow the trail from the first time a human locked away the work of the gods, to the discovery that order wasn’t something solely reserved for the divine, to the realization that there were many things the rest of the world was better off not knowing about. Some of us can follow the ripples into the future. Most of us cannot.
See if you can pinpoint the events that caused the faction of humanity to conceive this shadow organization that keeps the work of the gods away from the eyes of the innocent, the naïve, the ones who would be burdened by being dragged into the game. The echoes are still there.
At least, in this universe. The last person who attempted to follow the echoes beyond the fabric of our current dimension may well be paralyzed for life. Too much time spent here is ill-advised. Be cautious.
Why does the game itself exist at all? Fuck if I know. Probably something bigger and badder than the gods out there was sick of us duking it out and setting the planet on fire. Or maybe someone wised up and realized it’s more fun to play than to fight. Then the winner actually gets something worthwhile, not a bunch of broken shit and angry feelings. At least I think so. I also think the game needs a rules revision.
What matters is we’re invited to the board. And until whoever’s pulling the strings up top gets tired, we’ll keep at it because that’s what we do. And that’s what we know.
The last game was kind of messy. There was a lot of meddling on the part of the gods, plenty of disasters both man-made and “natural”, but humanity bounced back most of the time. I say most, because with every game that’s happened so far, the lines between the factions have gotten more and more blurred. Even if a faction occupies a certain area of land, if the claim is disputed by members of that faction, if there is violence over the claim, it is considered neutral ground on the chessboard. Lately, there’s been a lot of neutral ground cropping up.
Peaceful places are the only undisputed ownership areas of the board. I can’t help but wonder if that was the purpose of the game, myself… if the Powers That Be were hoping one faction would eventually bring peace to the planet. Maybe then the game will be over.
Moving on. You have been given a week’s worth of time off, so take your time to absorb all of this. Be ready to resume your work in seven days’ time.
You will be expected to use your newfound knowledge to make lasting decisions. You will be expected to use the chessboard to identify deceit from our agents. You will be expected to remember the current records in the game. You will be expected to influence the world in ways that will tip the board in our favor.
Remember, the tide can always turn at any time before the hundred years end. Nevertheless, we strive to play the best game we can. We strive to honor those who played before us, and to those who will play after us in millennia to come. At the end of this century, you may find yourself taking one of our seats. And then when your time comes, you will choose your successor, and you will teach them how you played the game, hoping that what you pass on in this age will mean a victory in the next.
What will the world inherit from you?
Make us proud.
Per 
