ProfessorAdonisCnut

In The Red

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Containment of SCP-XXXX is to be managed by the combined efforts of the SCP Foundation and other signatory bodies to the Haven Accords. The Accords were agreed and unanimously ratified by representatives of the Foundation and nearly all major organizations actively involved with the paranormal. This includes all major factions associated with The Global Occult Coalition; The Chaos Insurgency; The Church of the Broken God; Marshall, Carter & Dark; Anderson Robotics; The Office For The Reclamation of Islamic Artifacts; The Manna Charitable Foundation; and The Horizon Initiative.¹

Operatives embedded within world governments, civil service administrations, and policy advisory bodies will be tasked with ensuring that government revenue programs maintain as high a degree of complexity as can be justified as having arisen from genuine political activity (e.g. desire to affect social structures; suppress/empower certain elements within societies; create advantageous 'loopholes'; influence trade; or alter government revenue). Such changes are to be made with as great a frequency as can be justified, with priority of replacement determined by the Haven Joint Task Force JTF-Haven-1 "Tax Deflectors". Policy changes are never to be acknowledged by these bodies as efforts to complicate taxation structures. The effect of such action is unknown, but is theorized to be incompatible with the continued or retrospective existence of a sovereign entity.²

A permanent presence from the Foundation and/or at least one other Haven Accord signatory is to be maintained within audit and compliance enforcement divisions of all major bodies responsible for the administration of taxation in any capacity (i.e. Departments of Taxation, Inland Revenue Services, Offices of State Revenues etc.). Preemptive audits are to be conducted wherever possible for individuals and organizations believed to pose extreme risk if exposed to SCP-XXXX; these audits will result in either full compliance or introduce sufficient complexity to inhibit SCP-XXXX action. These units are also responsible for retroactive parallel construction of 'legitimate' audit activity and investigations to explain consequences of SCP-XXXX interference.

Financial records of all SCP Foundation operations and fronts are to be subject to frequent audits by Foundation members of JTF-Haven-1. In cases where financial practices are of insufficient complexity, corrective action will be taken to guard against SCP-XXXX. Procedures for handling financial arrangements which are wholely compliant have not yet been developed in detail as it is not foreseen that these will be required; however if any such arrangement becomes necessary for maintaining containment of another SCP, JTF-Haven-1 is to be engaged to ensure they do not pose a vector for SCP-XXXX to potentially contaminate standard Foundation financial structures.

Under the terms of the Haven Accords, full cooperation is to be maintained with all signatory bodies at all levels of enforcement. No Foundation personnel are to interfere with measures undertaken by other signatories to implement the Accords or otherwise prevent the spread of SCP-XXXX, regardless of other standing orders regarding that organization.

Any Foundation personnel believed to have been involved in attempts at the deliberate use of SCP-XXXX for any purpose, or to have disguised any other activity as having been a SCP-XXXX containment effort, are to be subjected without trial to punitive measures determined on an ad-hoc basis by the O5-council. Typically this will involve nociperceptive restructuring and liquidation of family and community. Where such actions were directed against another Haven signatory, full details of the incident are to be disclosed without alteration or redaction to that party. Any involved personnel, as well as any possessions, family members, romantic partners, or other loved ones thereof, are also to be made available unconditionally to the wronged party.

No attempts are to be made to create legal entities to direct or test SCP-XXXX. Previous such attempts, though apparently successful in attracting the activity of SCP-XXXX, were found to greatly increase the adaptation rate of SCP-XXXX to new laws and have proven difficult to reliably quarantine from other Foundation activities (or those of other signatories).

Description: SCP-XXXX is an effect or entity which is able to cause alteration to taxation documents such that they are entirely complete and correct. A document affected by SCP-XXXX (known as SCP-XXXX-1) will accurately reflect all relevant information, such as transactions (including cash-in-hand), deductible expenses, exact usage of equipment, etc. (including illegal activity) and will be fully compliant with reporting obligations as defined by relevant laws.³ In cases where laws are ambiguous or internally inconsistent, SCP-XXXX-1 instances will be as compliant as possible with established departmental policy and precedent activities. Where no exact law or precedent applies to a situation, SCP-XXXX-1 responses tend to be unpredictable and highly complicated, though always as consistent as possible with existing law. All copies of these documents will reflect identical details⁴

SCP-XXXX has displayed an apparent limitation to its knowledge of new tax laws, which grows over time and as it interacts with increasingly complex cases. Documents are not susceptible to SCP-XXXX while they possess a sufficient degree of complexity and/or novelty. A detailed profile of SCP-XXXX's level of understanding is maintained by JTF-Haven-1.⁵ No known limitations exist to SCP-XXXX's ability to gain knowledge required to correct lodgements once its 'understanding' is sufficiently sophisticated. SCP-XXXX targets are somewhat unpredictable, but typically have some connection to recently affected financial entities. This effect is particularly strong for closely related entities (such as groups of companies, family company/trust arrangements etc) but is also observed to act through trading partners, clients/customers and between entities sharing an accountant.

Any direct recollection or recording of the preparation or lodgement of an SCP-XXXX-1 instance will show that it was indeed lodged with details reflecting SCP-XXXX corrections, however the person responsible for the lodgement will be unable to explain how they came to be aware of relevant details or how they could perform accounting calculations far beyond their ordinary ability or knowledge of tax law. Alterations are also made to reality which ensure that all affected lodgements were paid on time; how this occurs is highly varied, but events typically retain a strong similarity to a plausible 'original' timeline.⁶ No physical laws are violated during the time affected, however the overall tendency to adhere to the unaltered timeline often results in highly irrational behaviours, with affected persons continuing actions which seem to reflect their behaviour in the unaltered timeline (such as continuing to arrive each day to a workplace that has now closed down, even to the point where this causes terminal starvation due to financial hardship). From the moment of SCP-XXXX exposure onwards, abnormalities become suddenly apparent to affected persons, leading to a restoration of ordinary behaviour. This has thus far prevented any investigation of SCP-XXXX during the affected period, as personnel fail to identify any irregularities.

If an entity should ordinarily have lacked the liquid currency at the time to meet tax liabilities in full, they will often be found to have taken unorthodox measures to acquire funds. Affected persons frequently deviate significantly from expected behaviour, such as murdering family members to receive inheritance; engaging in prostitution; performing very low-paid work compared with their ordinary earning ability; or making sales of one or more of their possessions⁷

Cases of self-inflicted harm appear to be somewhat karmic in nature. Persons who would have had no difficulty obtaining sufficient funds often opted for methods which were uncharacteristic, inefficient and extreme. The degree of suffering typically correlates with the level of intentional non-compliance presumed to be present in the 'unaltered' lodgement. This does not extend to violation of any other laws or to any broader ethical framework.⁸

On several occasions, SCP-XXXX is believed to have affected the tax records of entities connected with the SCP Foundation and other Haven signatories. At least ███ staff members' personal tax records have been affected, as well as multiple front organizations involved in various containment or other activities.⁹ Present containment procedures have significantly reduced the number and severity of these instances, however new cases continue to be detected.

[INCIDENT LOG] Failure of Site-██

Jan 04, 1984	Site-██ is proposed as part of Project Theseus as a contingency containment facility for holding low-medium risk humanoid subjects evacuated in the event of containment breach at primary containment facilities.
Sep 12, 1984	Construction of Site-██ begins, much of the initial work is contracted through a number of local construction companies, prior to final outfitting by Foundation crews.
Feb 22, 1985	Tax liability of $23,342.04 is incurred by "████████████ Carpentry", a local firm which had been contracted for part of the construction.
Apr 15, 1985	Due to cashflow issues, "████████████ Carpentry" fails to purchase some materials necessary for Site-██ construction in time to meet the original schedule, but does not delay work.
Oct 12, 1985	Site-██ becomes operational. Reports indicate some construction work has failed inspection, but no efforts are made by inspectors to rectify the issues.
Mar 17, 1986	Multiple structural components of Site-██ collapse, resulting in loss of 7 Foundation personnel. Personnel are replaced, but no records or indication of repair work are noted.
Jun 12, 1989	First use of Site-██ for containment. Facility operated as expected with the exception of the loss of ██ instances of SCP-████-█ following exposure to mundane environmental pathogens. Despite correct operation and maintenance of filtration systems and full compliance with procedures, quarantine was rendered entirely ineffective due to an unrepaired structural damage in the form of a 4.7m2 opening, exposing subject to the external environment.
Aug 29, 1989	All subjects returned from Site-██ to standard containment. Despite the loss of SCP-████-█ instances being noted in the report, Site Director ██████████ receives commendations for a "flawless handling of the incident".
Feb 01, 1994	Presumed date of SCP-XXXX exposure and subsequent resumption of normalcy.
Feb 01, 1994	Condition of Site-██ becomes immediately apparent to all personnel present, evacuation is ordered by Site Director ██████████ due to hazardous and unsuitable condition of the Site.
Feb 01, 1994	Emergency measures are undertaken to restore SCP-████ colony demographic balance following depletion of SCP-████-█ population.
Sep 25, 1994	Site-██ is deemed uneconomical to salvage and its role and personnel are subsumed into other Project Theseus initiatives.

[INCIDENT LOG] Recovery of SCP-████

Dec 16, 2001	SCP-████ comes into the possession of a rogue sect of the Church of The Broken God identifying as 'The Untarnished'. No attempt is made at this time to use the item, with members simply continuing as they had done before possessing it.
Aug 23, 2002	An unused containment unit is found to have been present at Site-19. The unit has been outfitted for the containment of SCP-████ and appeared to have been staffed and operational since Dec 7 1997. Staff assigned to this unit have experience and education profiles ideally suited to study and containment of an object such as SCP-████. When interviewed, these staff described their work since arriving at Site-19 as being indirect observation and research of this item and were unable to explain their failure to advocate for active efforts to recover the item until that time, despite the severe threat posed by its continued possession by The Untarnished.
Aug 23, 2002	A series of internal military conflicts begins within the Church of The Broken God, now referred to within the Church as The Cleansing of The Third Abacal Heresy. While initially many followers align with The Untarnished, a majority rapidly turn against them as the connection to SCP-XXXX is discovered (despite broad agreement with their ultimate objectives). Despite their numbers, opposition forces quickly become overwhelmed by Untarnished sect members and automata connected to the use of SCP-████.
Aug 24, 2002	Conflict rapidly escalates to include a coalition of most Haven Accord signatories (including Foundation forces) and major world governments against The Untarnished.
Oct 19, 2002	The Untarnished overwhelm information containment efforts and achieve a class-2 Broken Masquerade scenario, followed by rapid evangelical conversion of large civilian populations.

Nov 05, 2002	A theocratic state known as The Mekhanic Ascendancy is declared following the conquest, dissolution and union of ████████, ██████████, █████ ██████, ████, ████, and █████. This state functions as the political wing of The Untarnished.
Mar 23, 2003	An SCP-████-K instance is animated from the wreck of USS-██████████.
Apr 01, 2003	Following failure of nuclear strike to neutralize SCP-████-K, deployment of SCP-███ is authorized resulting in successful termination.
May 13, 2003	Construction of SCP-████-X, 'The Gear That Turns The World' begins at the direction of The Grand Hierophant of Mekhane. Repeated, unsuccessful efforts are made by coalition forces to destroy the device by both conventional means and the use of multiple SCPs.
Jan 02, 2004	For a period of approx 3 hours, a series of images were observed to cover the lunar surface. Theses images resembled painted artworks in a range of styles and bore depictions of Church of The Broken God iconography, which became increasingly absurd and disparaging. The display concluded with a warped depiction of SCP-████-X described by almost all witnesses as 'the most hilarious thing that has ever happened'10 Within 15 minutes, an estimated ██% of human activity is devoted to discussion and interpretation of this work.
Jan 03, 2004	Dissolution of The Mekhanic Ascendancy is announced in a written statement issued by the Grand Hierophant, although internal military conflict is maintained by small ad-hoc groups of 'loyalist' militias.
Jan 05, 2004	SCP-████ is reclaimed by a GOC strike team and turned over to Church of The Broken God members aligned with coalition forces for deactivation.
Jan 21, 2004	Conflict ends and coalition efforts turn to information suppression and reconstruction. Total casualties estimated at ██████████ and church membership reduced from peak number of █████████ during the conflict to present day levels.
Jun 25, 2005	Joint reconstruction efforts conclude, information regarding SCP-████ and related events is completely suppressed to all except for Haven signatories. All cooperation between Haven signatories officially ceases, save for continued compliance with the Accords.

From a review of the records obtained, it is clear that a series of acquisitions was made during 1997 which had the effect of explicitly financially connecting several defunct organizations previously affected by SCP-XXXX to ████████ PLC, a holding company associated with the activities of Marshall, Carter & Dark. Approx 2 months following these actions, the finances of ████████ PLC became affected by SCP-XXXX and tax debts in multiple countries totaling over $4.6 billion USD had therefore arisen.¹¹ As a result of this, ████████ PLC had been forced to acquire funds to cover a number of tax debts by agreeing in 1997 to the sale of SCP-████ to representatives of The Untarnished for an amount of approx $5.8 billion USD, an offer which would usually have been declined by MC&D in favour of sale to The Foundation or another stable GOI, due to the high potential to cause a drastic reduction in their projected customer base remaining extant for future sales opportunities.

Following the resolution of the conflict, SCP-████ and all surviving members of The Untarnished were handed over to Marshall, Carter & Dark, along with a detailed account of the incident. SCP-████ itself and a copy of those records were subsequently purchased by the Foundation and containment has been effected in Site-19. The fate of the persons given to Marshall, Carter & Dark is uncertain, however it is of note that augmentations undertaken by senior figure of The Ascendancy are known to have included the replacement of the entire skeleton with a number highly precious metals.

Haven Accords: Joint Statement

HAVEN ACCORDS: JOINT STATEMENT

As children we are taught to believe the world makes sense, that we can achieve understanding and live our lives in absolute certainty. As we grow we learn to shed this childishness, until at last we say that nothing is certain at all save death and taxes. Those of us who have seen behind the veil of normalcy know only too well what a lie the first of these is; in a world of Outer Gods and parallel realities, it is barely possible to believe that death even entirely exists, let alone that it holds any certainty. The last lie though, it seems we must shed ourselves by force, we must be always devoted to keeping that other great equalizer in check.

Our books must never be balanced. We have debts that must not be collected, we have crimes that must go unpunished. So too must we protect our enemies. We cannot comprehend the reckoning that waits in the wings, the horror that would be unleashed if any of us is truly held to account. Taken to such extremes as XXXX¹² could take us, accountability is quite simply incompatible with the continuation of reality.

What these Accords will demand of us may seem unthinkable, to accept such concessions to those we will come to call our fellow signatories is sickening to each of us in ways we can barely fathom. We cannot deny what we are to one another: heretics, demons, madmen, war criminals, and merchants of death. We are enemies and we may never cease to be enemies. Today we agree no truth, no reconciliation, no peace, and no understanding. Yet though nothing may ever unite us, we can still find common ground; there are things that must be prevented, there are weapons that must not be used. By ceaseless diligence and sacrifice, we will keep our wars on a battleground we can accept.

Footnotes

1. Although the Foundation's original copy has been stored in the O5 deep vault, it bears a number of alterations added through unknown means. These include:
- multiple signatures from "Nobody", each in entirely different handwriting, with additional signatures having been added over time;
- a handwritten poem containing anti-authoritarian themes and advocating various fringe economic theories; the poem concludes with an assertion that having to pay taxes continues not to be cool. In place of ink, testing has confirmed that the text is written in a mixture of the blood of all current members of the O5 council.
These markings have been interpreted as indications of tacit agreement to the principles of the Haven Accords by the groups of interest known as 'Nobody' and 'Are We Cool Yet?' respectively.

2. Supplemental information regarding hypothesized 'purged' entities, based on historical and political irregularities, can be found in Addenda XXXX-Plato-360C, XXXX-███-1173-Aleph, and XXXX-████-Babel.

3. The sole exception observed is where subsequent SCP-XXXX actions retroactively cause compliance to be impossible

4. Preparatory materials make no mention of the changes related to SCP-XXXX activity and are often consistent with a fraudulent or erroneous 'original' lodgement.

5. It is estimated that only 23% of instances of SCP-XXXX-1 have been detected to date, therefore this profile serves only as a lower bound of known unsafe financial arrangements

6. It has not been determined whether this is due to a limitation in the complexity of SCP-XXXX's reality alteration or a tendency to prioritize minimal total changes to events over plausibility

7. In many cases this has even included the illegal sale of an individuals own organs, even where doing so renders their body in a condition incompatible with life.

8. For instance exposure to SCP-XXXX seems to have resulted in the addition of $USD324.04 to the tax liability across the 1993-1998 financial years of D-90315 (formerly █████ ███████, a serial killer and cannibal previously active in suburban █████████) due to the correct apportionment of commercial cooking equipment as having been partialy for personal use rather than entirely for business purposes. Although D-90315 was in negative equity at the time and fully exposed to SCP-XXXX's hazardous effects, D-90315 seems to have addressed her debt simply by engaging in part-time adult webcam modelling of an unremarkable nature rather than by more hazardous methods typical of many SCP-XXXX victims (the lack of severity being presumed to be due to the accidental nature of the oversight, with D-90315 otherwise having a history of highly honest and accurate financial dealings).

9. Access to full case files, relevant statistics, per-department breakdowns and other details must be approved by at least 2 personnel with Level 4-XXXX clearance

10. No memetic component has been detected in analysis of the images, with the mass response deemed psychologically normal under the circumstances. By 6-3 vote of the O5 council, this incident is not under any circumstances to be regarded as 'Cool' by Foundation personnel

11. It is noted that other MC&D entities were not affected, suggesting that accounting practices developed by Haven signatories provided adequate isolation against direct cross-contamination by SCP-XXXX

12. By unanimous agreement, the designation XXXX without the preface 'SCP-' was agreed on for use throughout negotiation of the accords and in subsequent contact.