PlayNice9001
banjo.jpg

SCP-XXXX prior to containment.

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be kept within a heavily-soundproofed containment unit at Site-64. The containment unit should be outfitted with a single door capable of being sealed from the outside, and concealed cameras transmitting a live visual feed of the unit's interior.

No personnel should be allowed within SCP-XXXX's containment unit, save for test subjects and single-staff maintenance crews. SCP-XXXX should not be played while the unit's entrance is unsealed or if the unit's soundproofing is compromised. Under no circumstances should any audio-recording equipment be allowed within SCP-XXXX's containment unit. Any personnel exposed to music made by SCP-XXXX must immediately undergo a Class-B Psychological Examination and should be quarantined for a period of 48 hours until cleared by the Foundation's Psychiatric Division.

Description: Digital scans of SCP-XXXX's exterior have revealed it to be large and angular in shape, roughly 1.3 meters long , 0.75 meters wide, and 0.9 meters tall. SCP-XXXX weighs 42 kilograms and is completely solid. The object is composed of nodular cast iron and coated with an unknown substance similar in composition to acrylic paint.

SCP-XXXX carries an anomalous memetic phenomenon which causes it to appear to humans as an ordinary, five-stringed banjo of typical size and in good overall condition. SCP-XXXX is not perceived as bearing any marks or logos belonging to a particular manufacturer. When an individual attempts to play SCP-XXXX, listeners perceive the object to produce musical noises a banjo would normally produce.

SCP-XXXX's memetic effect acts upon all human senses and persists through photographs, videos, and audio recordings of SCP-XXXX. Samples taken from SCP-XXXX retain their memetic effect after being detached from the main object. The memetic phenomenon has no effect on computers and other electronic devices, allowing for SCP-XXXX's true attributes to be measured and recorded.
However, these attributes appear to have no impact on how individuals perceive SCP-XXXX. Despite its weight, individuals who attempt to lift SCP-XXXX have little difficulty doing so and claim the object weighs as much as a banjo would.

When an individual hears music produced by SCP-XXXX, the object's memetic effect becomes implanted in the listener's subconscious. Within the next 48 hours, the listener will begin to experience increasingly vivid visual and auditory hallucinations pertaining to SCP-XXXX. A typical progression of these effects is transcribed as follows:

  • 0-12 Hours: Affected individuals experience brief glimpses of SCP-XXXX within one's peripheral vision; faint sounds of banjo music are occasionally heard.
  • 12-20 Hours: Visual hallucinations of SCP-XXXX occur more often and persist for longer; short spurts of audible banjo music are frequently heard.
  • 20-30 Hours: Small, stationary objects will appear, to all senses, as banjos of various sizes; episodes of banjo music become louder, longer, and faster in tempo.
  • 30-48 Hours: Larger objects will appear as banjos of proportional size; mobile objects will appear as banjos capable of autonomous motion; high-volume, high-tempo banjo music is heard perpetually.
  • 48+ Hours: Huge objects, as well as structures, will appear as gargantuan banjos; banjo music is deafening and feverish; living creatures, including humans, will appear as animate banjos.

After 48 hours, affected individuals may suffer psychological breakdowns as a result of their near-universal perception of objects and beings as banjos. Those who do not succumb to madness are often left incapable of caring for themselves due to their inability to distinguish food or communicate with other humans. Without outside assistance, individuals typically die from dehydration or starvation soon afterwards.

Currently, there are no known ways to reverse, delay, or otherwise prevent the effects of SCP-XXXX once an individual has been affected.

Recovery: SCP-XXXX was recovered during a Foundation raid upon an underground art exhibition being held in ███████, Washington by individuals attributed to the anartist group Are We Cool Yet? The object was recovered alongside other anomalous art pieces, including SCP-████ and SCP-████.

While interviews were conducted with the various individuals apprehended during the raid, no person took credit for the creation of SCP-XXXX, and the interviewees claimed no knowledge as to the identity of the object's creator.1 Interviewees also stated that SCP-XXXX was not played during the exhibition. Following their interviews, the individuals were administered Class-B Amnestics and released from Foundation custody.

Footnotes