Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Euclid
Due to the events of Incident XXXX-YY-YY, SCP-XXXX is currently uncontained, and containment procedures have been updated. A copy of the previous containment procedures is archived below.
Special Containment Procedures: All SCP-XXXX instances are to be housed in humanoid containment units outfitted with Scranton reality anchors (SRAs), and two or more instances may only be brought within 100 meters of each other during testing. All tests must include an SRA rigged to a Kant counter, set to automatically activate if the Kant counter detects dangerous levels of reality-warping.
[END ARCHIVED PROCEDURES]
Special Containment Procedures: Because of SCP-XXXX's somewhat self-containing nature, active recontainment is not considered a priority; Nonetheless, Lead Researcher YYYYYY is authorized to send a retrieval team to recontain the anomaly should the opportunity arise. A disinformation campaign is tasked with sowing doubt about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and the existence of the Dené-Yeniseian language family among linguists.
Description: SCP-XXXX is a group of human reality benders belonging to a secretive nomadic culture endemic to the Canadian Yukon. Although individual SCP-XXXX instances are weak reality-benders, the group has shown a remarkable ability to coordinate their reality-bending, notably using this to create optical camouflage and extend their lives well past the lifespan enjoyed by baseline humans. Other deviations from typical baseline humans are concentrated in the mouth and throat, including forked tongues and elongated vocal cords. Whether these features are intentional body modifications or an involuntary result of SCP-XXXX's anomalous effects is unknown.
Interviews with SCP-XXXX instances, along with investigation of the campsite SCP-XXXX was originally tracked to, have revealed some information on their culture. They practice ancestor worship, typical for the region, including the anomalous preservation and animation of the bodies of ancestors.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of SCP-XXXX instances has shown patterns of brain activity consistent with that of most other reality benders, as well as extremely high levels of activity in portions of the brain associated with language, even when no language-related task was being performed.
Addendum XXXX-A: Acquisition
Foundation informant ████ ██████ embedded within the City of ██████'s municipal government passed reports of "First-Nations wizards" in Keno City to the Foundation on ██/██/200█. █ days later, on ██/██/200█, RTF Beorc-2 ("Sleight of Hand") was deployed to Keno City to conduct interviews with eyewitnesses and track the item.
SCP-XXXX was found in an encampment near McQuesten Lake, 28 km north of Keno City. This encampment was not visible from the outside, and was instead found by triangulating Hume levels. Upon entry to the campsite, it became visible to RTF members. SCP-XXXX instances' responses to Beorc-2's arrival were varied, with some attempting to assault Beorc-2, and others attempting to restrain those instances. In response, Beorc-2 activated several portable SRAs. Many SCP-XXXX instances appeared to die immediately upon SRA activation, with others dying within the next 5 minutes. 72 dead instances were recorded during post-acquisition analysis, with 51 instances surviving acquisition. All surviving instances were brought to Site-84 for containment.
Following acquisition, Beorc-2 amnesticized the residents of Keno City, as per standard procedure.
Addendum XXXX-B: Possible Connection to SCP-140
Researcher Alex Caird has discovered possible mentions of SCP-XXXX within one of the texts recovered during the acquisition of SCP-140 (see Addendum 140-A). Although the text claims to describe a culture existing during the eighth millennium BCE, its descriptions align extremely closely with the culture of present-day SCP-XXXX; given the approx. 9500-year gap, the culture would be expected to evolve to such an extent as to become nearly unrecognizable.
A summary of the events detailed in the text follows.
- Early in its history, the Daevite civilization encounters a neighboring nomadic culture (referred to as "Easterners" in the text). This culture consists entirely of reality benders matching SCP-XXXX's description. They span much of Eastern Siberia. Contact between the two cultures is limited.
- During an early period of expansion c. 7200 BCE, the Daevites conquer almost all of the territory occupied by the Easterners. Captured Easterners are killed or taken as slaves. Remaining Easterners migrate further east across the Bering land bridge.
- The enslaved Easterners survive as a minority ethnic group within the Daevite Empire until its final collapse.
Researcher Caird is investigating the possibility of using descriptions of the Easterners' language to aid in the ongoing translation of the language that SCP-XXXX speaks.
Interview Log XXXX-119:
Interviewed: SCP-XXXX-20, SCP-XXXX-36
Interviewer: Researcher Alex Caird
This interview was originally conducted in SCP-XXXX's language, and this log has been translated into English. For the original recording and an untranslated transcription, see Document XXXX-119.
Caird: State your names.
SCP-XXXX-36: BBBB.
SCP-XXXX-20: Pause. AAAA.
Caird: Why did you contact the residents of Keno City?
SCP-XXXX-36: We did not, CCCC and DDDD did. Always curious, those ones. Never understood the importance of secrecy.
Caird: What is the importance of secrecy?
SCP-XXXX-20: Disdainfully You took us when you found us, did you not? You killed us and you stole us when the secrecy failed. SCP-XXXX-20 stands up.
Caird: Please sit down.
SCP-XXXX-36: Please, AAAA.
Pause. SCP-XXXX-20 continues to stand.
SCP-XXXX-36: The mothers used to tell stories of the old days, in the old land, when we had to leave. The ones who were found were killed, so we had to be secret. When we found the new land, there was no one else there. We grew in number to fill the land, and the tribes spread out. They forgot the language and the [UNTRANSLATED]. For a long time we were happy.
Caird: Continue.
SCP-XXXX-36: The white-faces came, and they stole the children from the tribes, and they told us the children were learning. So we became secret again, so that they would not take our children and we could keep living.
Incident Report XXXX-YY-YY:
On ██/██/200█, level 4-XXXX researcher Alex Caird breached containment of SCP-XXXX. Site-84 security footage shows Researcher Caird and all SCP-XXXX instances exiting the site; Caird and instances are only visible when nearby the camera, consistent with descriptions of SCP-XXXX's optical camouflage. During the subsequent investigation, a note was found among Researcher Caird's belongings. The note is transcribed below.
Analysis of security footage has shown that at the time of the breach Researcher Caird's tongue was forked, and their voice was several octaves lower than their typical speaking voice. Researcher Caird's and SCP-XXXX's current whereabouts are unknown.
RTF Beorc-2 could be replaced by MTF Rho-6 ("Deifecators") if SRegan is okay with it; see the list of MTFs. I named Beorc-2 after the Anglo-Saxon rune, following RTF Sigel-9's example.
The SRA link could go to http://www.scpwiki.com/grant-request-for-the-manufacture-of-devices-to-regulate instead?
Underlined sections are there to mark areas I want to be sure to revise.
Alex Caird's last name means "wanderer"/"vagrant"
Turns out what Beorc-2 did was actually trilateration, not triangulation. Unsure if I should change the wording, since "triangulation" is a much better-known word than "trilateration"
I should make a more-or-less complete con-culture for the group, and figure out how the culture and the anomaly go together (i.e. how did the anomaly influence the culture?). Also, set defined limits on what they can and can't do, and don't make them too powerful.
History:
- They originated somewhere in Eastern Siberia or Central Asia.
- In their heyday, they spanned much of Mongolia and pretty much all of Siberia east of Irkutsk.
- Because the were nomadic, the area they spanned was sparsely populated, and their grouping was one of culture, language, and anomalous properties rather than any form of unified government.
- As the Daevites expanded, they came into contact with the D-Ys, and more-or-less annihilated the western half of D-Y territory. The Daevas enslaved some of the D-Ys whose land they took and committed genocide against the rest.
- When the Daevite civilization finally fell, the few remaining descendants of the captured D-Ys (now speaking a language divergent enough that they didn't get reality-bending abilities) formed the Yeniseian langs and cultures. The Yeniseian langs were very strongly influenced by the Daevite langs, which is one reason they're so different from the Na-Dené langs.
- One reason we know so much about the D-Ys is because they're covered in one of the extra books mentioned in 140. The Foundation used this to help them translate the D-Y language.
- As the Daevites expanded, the D-Ys retreated across the Bering land bridge.
- This might be a little too much, but the flooding of the Bering land bridge could've been caused by a bunch of D-Ys all focusing their reality-bending power as a way to stop the Daevites from advancing into Alaska.
- The D-Y langs spawned the Na-Dené langs via natural (non-anomalous) linguistic evolution, but due to the pressure posed by the anomalous effects of the language and culture a fair number of D-Y tribes live on pretty much unchanged.
- Canadian settlers, and especially the residential schools, cause the D-Ys to go into hiding again, not reappearing until the Foundation finds them.
Culture:
- They practice ancestor worship (very common in east/southeast asia, a). This involves using reality-bending abilities to make the ancestors' remains (either skeletons or corpses preserved through reality-bending) move as if they were alive. This doesn't actually reanimate the person (i.e. it's not necromancy), it just makes them move around. This has to be intentionally done by the benders the whole time the object is moving; if they stop moving it it stops moving, though moving it doesn't appear to take up much brain power, since they can do plenty of other things while also moving the bodies.
- Animating the ancestors is done near-constantly during the daytime?
- Emphasis on the collective rather than the individual
- Secretive; two other civilizations have attempted to eradicate the culture (Daevites and the residential schools), so the D-Ys avoid contact
- Nomadic
Reality-bending:
- Probably they have mild telekinetic powers in general, not just for dead people. The foundation wouldn't test the limits of their powers because it considers such tests too dangerous.
- Camouflage isn't a passive effect, people have to actively maintain it like with the bodies. Because of this people take night watches where they'll stay awake camouflaging wherever the group is at the moment.
- Possibly: many benders in the same place generate a low Hume count, which any individual bender can utilize without the need for the others to actively do anything. Therefore only one person needs to animate each body, and only one person needs to do the camouflage.
Your mind is erasing
The sky took hold
Of all my little daily fears
They never seem to go
— Grizzly Bear, Sky Took Hold
What was that up in the sky? An enormous human figure hung miles above him, all jagged edges and distorted lines. Or—no—it was just a couple feet in the air, and— His eyes had trouble focusing on it, as if it was both near and far at the same time. No matter the distance, looking at it filled him with a great sense of calm. It told him without words that all was right in the world.
He looked down. He was sitting on the grass in the park. It was almost deserted, save for a few joggers at the other end. The noonday sun felt warm on his skin. To his left, a little portable radio was playing the top 40 hits.
That was odd. Since when did he listen to the radio? Or own a radio, for that matter? A vague sense of unease began to grow in this stomach, so he gazed back up at the figure, and again the calmness came to him. It washed over all other emotions, burying them under a placid sea. The figure felt familiar, in a way he couldn't quite describe.
He looked down. A little radio sat to his left, blasting upbeat pop music. He was in a park. He didn't recognize the scenery. How did he get here? He couldn't remember. Why couldn't he remember? a queasy dread weighed in his stomach.
The setting sun told him that his husband would be home from work. And probably worried sick about him too; he should call home to say where he was. But where was he, exactly? He didn't recognize the park he was in, or the radio on his left. God, the radio. It was blaring some inane song about looking up and letting go of your mind and something about holes, typical pop song stuff. Was that really what passed for music these days? He felt nauseous and he didn't know why.
Glancing upwards he noticed a huge black-ringed figure smeared across the sky. He'd never seen it before, but somehow he knew it intimately. It comforted him, the way a parent comforts an injured child. Without making a sound, it cooed and shushed and reassured him that he would be okay, as long as he let it—
No. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. In some deep and ancient recess of his mind an ancient defense mechanism activated. It told him to fight, to remember. He would not go gently. As long as he knew his name, he still had hope. His name was…
It was…
He couldn't remember. It probably wasn't important. Looking up into the night sky, he felt tired. Maybe he'd just take a nap… Maybe he'd just…
Per 
