Per 
SCP-XXXX with SCP-XXXX-A inside.
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Thaumiel
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to remain active at Site-2718. Personnel are to inspect SCP-XXXX daily for additional messages from SCP-XXXX-A. Project Dammerung is to research any method of escape proposed or indicated by SCP-XXXX-A
Description: SCP-XXXX refers to the communication devised developed for and used by Project Dammerung. Utilizing technology used in MRIs, particle accelerators, and anomalous rituals, SCP-XXXX is capable of allowing an individual to die while remaining in contact with the world of the living. SCP-XXXX resembles an MRI machine; however, its additional anomalous components are connected externally through the use of jumper cables and custom circuit boards.
SCP-XXXX is the primary tool used by Project Dammerung to complete its objective: to contain the Dammerung Class Cognitohazard known as death.
Subjects are introduced to SCP-XXXX through its main opening. Once the subject has fully entered the cavity, the anomalous components in SCP-XXXX transfer the subject into a half-death1 state, in which all bodily functions cease. Any subject occupying this conceptual state is referred to as SCP-XXXX-A. This allows the consciousness to roam free from the body after it has entered the state of death (henceforth referred to as SCP-XXXX-1). Unfortunately, most documentation about the nature of SCP-XXXX-1 has been lost (see Addendum XXXXX.1).
When the consciousness leaves the brain in this manner, anomalous electrical activity continues, despite any source of energy. This activity is referred to as residual signals, which replicate how the brain would react should it be introduced to SCP-XXXX-1 while it was alive.2 By interacting with these electrical signals, the Foundation is able to establish two-way communication with SCP-XXXX-A.
In order to better understand the residual signals, they are interpreted by an additional anomalous component of SCP-XXXX. This component will generally produce an image, although individual words have been observed.
Agent Anthony Michaels, the only successful subject to have utilized SCP-XXXX outside of preliminary testing, is the current SCP-XXXX-A. As of this writing, SCP-XXXX-A still exhibits standard residual signal activity.
Addendum XXXX.1: Below is a series of records from the usage of SCP-XXXX. Due to the destruction of formal testing documentation as per the instructions of O5-4, the majority of recovered documents take the form of lab notes, or residual signal communication reports.
SCP-XXXX Preliminary Subject Interview
Young: Please state your name for the record.
Michaels: Agent Anthony Michaels.
Young: How long have you served the Foundation?
Michaels: Fourteen years.
Young: What is your next assignment?
Michaels: The one that'll make sure I don't serve for fifteen years.
Young: … You know this is for the formal record, right?
Michaels: Yeah, but you know how it is. I gotta get a joke in some time. And we both know I only have so many jokes left.
Young: I know, I know. But, let's just get back to the interview for now. Why did you volunteer for this assignment?
Michaels: I did it for my family.
Young: Can you elaborate?
Michaels: Well, my dad's been on his deathbed for a while now. I've spoken to him though, and once he comes around he talks about the things he was going to do when he gets out of the hospital. He told me he was going to hike the Appalachian trail. That thing goes all the way from Georgia to Maine. This man brought up three kids by himself, and all he wanted at the end was to go on a nice hike.
Young: That doesn't quite answer the question.
Michaels: Yeah, I guess it's not a super explicit answer isn't it? [laughs softly]
Young: Please, we need to do this for the report. It has to be more professional than this.
Michaels: Sorry, sorry. I meant to say that, well… I want to give my dad another chance. Sure, he might not make it all the way through the trail, or up the mountains, or wherever, but I don't want him to die. He deserves more than what he's got, and I'm willing to sacrifice myself in his stead. He's practically done the same for me.
Young: And you do recognize that the Foundation is not required to adhere to your wish. This meaning that, in the case that your mission succeeds, we are allowed to choose your father for selective termination.
Michaels: I'll take the chance. If we're containing the Reaper, I trust the Foundation will make sure he's only let off his new leash when its really necessary. Furthermore, I don't believe my dad is one of those cases.
Young: Do you have anything else to add?
Michaels: I guess I'd like to thank you for giving me this opportunity.
Young: Well, um… It's been my pleasure, Agent Michaels.
Michaels: As working with Project Dammerung was mine.
Young: Okay. That will conclude our interview.
SCP-XXXX Preliminary Testing Lab Notes
Alright, breaking in the first page of the lab notebook. Just a bunch of scribbles of my thoughts during the official test for later. So, to future reader person (yes, that means you future Emily), you should probably take a look at the formal report instead.
We've confirmed that this thing works as well as it's ever going to. I mean, the animal tests of the individual parts worked. That's the best confirmation we're going to get without throwing someone in there 100%.
So, the current plan is this - send in Michaels and have him look around. Get him to investigate and learn what this place is like, who else is there, etc. Then, we will then use our newfound understanding of the Reaper to figure out how to contain him. Finally we'll… we'll do our job I guess. It's our Dammerung-Class Moby Dick after all. Except without the killing it part.
Michaels finished training to use SCP-XXXX a few days ago. Not sure how quickly he'll be able to adjust to being dead, which means that we don't know how long it'll be until he can actually talk to us right. But now's as good a time as any. Worst comes to worst, I love the guy, but he's already going to be dead. We just let the man rest in peace.
Too bad we couldn't use a Class-D, but the higher-ups don't trust that they'll listen to orders. It's not like we could threaten termination.
I caught Tony clearing out his quarters today. When I asked him how he was feeling he made some joke like “it’s not like it’s going to kill me twice”. And then he threw out a box of personal mementos, including that teddy bear I gave him at the Foundation Christmas gift exchange. He can’t be doing too well. But, then again, he’s probably as ready as he’ll ever be.
That teddy bear is now in my office.
SCP-XXXX Day 1 Imaging Results
<08:30 — 09:00> Intense flashing and flickering.
<09:00 — 09:05> Image to resembled rough seas.<09:05 — 12:05> Intense flashing and flickering.
<12:05 — 12:48> Formed three hours after the previous image. Appears to be a humanoid figure surrounded by hundreds of insects. This continues for 43 minutes before the insects disperse; the now considerably swollen humanoid falls to the ground.
<12:48 — 18:48> A shade of grey.
<18:48 — 23:52> Appears to resemble the rough seas from the 08:30—09:00 image, however, the water is replaced with the insects from the 12:05—12:48 image.
SCP-XXXX Day 1 Lab Notes
It's working. It's not going well, but it's working. God, what the hell was Tony thinking when he signed up for this shit?
We knew that death was supposed to get worse and worse as it went. At least, that's how the recording described it. We thought that preserving the body would reduce some of the perception issues, but I don't think it’s working as well as we wanted. But it's just the first day. Our plan gives us ten days before we jump ship and move on to another subject.
Also, we need to move Jared to a different station. He vomited all over the floor during his monitoring shift. I don't totally blame him, but he could've done the rest of us a favor by hobbling off to the bathroom faster. Hopefully Tony won't send back too many more visuals like that.
SCP-XXXX Day 2 Imaging Results
<02:00 — 02:03> An emaciated man lying in a desert. There appears to be an oasis far in the background.
<02:03 — 10:03> Static.
<06:00 — 12:00> A man in the fetal position, laying in the corner of a room made of compacted dirt. Various bones and roots can be seen protruding from the walls.<12:00 — 18:00> Insect wings emerge from the walls and begin fluttering.
SCP-XXXX Day 2 Lab Notes
Ok, looks like he's calmed down. Not entirely coherent, but it's something. We're going to see if we can talk to him tomorrow. I say talk but I really mean mess with his brain waves in a meaningful way. We know it works, but we have no clue what it actually feels like. Hard to get that sort of feedback from lab rats.
But if these tests work we're onto something. We'll get him to start exploring I guess? I don't think that's the right word. Or maybe it is. We don't know if this is a place or a state of mind or what. The recording that O5-4 showed us makes it sound like he's still here, on earth. Just experiencing things in the most terrible way possible. I'm more picturing a hellscape aesthetic.
SCP-XXXX Day 3 Imaging Results
<06:00 — 06:03> A caterpillar crawling up the trunk of a tree.
<08:03 — 08:13> Leaves blowing in the wind. The direction of the breeze alternates rapidly, so the leaves appear to be waving.
<09:13 — 09:15> The caterpillar from the 06:00—06:03 image eats some of the leaves from the 08:03—08:13 image.
<09:15 — 13:15> Various shades of red.
<13:15 — 13:15> An emaciated man punches a wall.
<15:15 — 15:29> Same scene from the 09:13—09:15 image, except the caterpillar has stopped eating, and the leaves have all been replaced by hands of the same size, which continue to wave in the wind. This continues for ten minutes until the wind stops. All hands except for one hang limply. The remaining hand makes an "ok" sign. The caterpillar begins to wrap itself in a cocoon.
<19:29 — 21:03> The hands from the previous image move frantically to swat away insects. Insects do not resemble a single known species. They have stingers resembling those of bees, and legs resembling those of spiders. The caterpillar has fully formed its cocoon, and is undisturbed for the duration of the visual.
SCP-XXXX Day 3 Lab Notes
He's finally becoming coherent, so thank god for that. I mean, I use coherent lightly. He's as together as a consciousness floating through space could ever be. He waved to say "Hi" (I think). So this is fine.
In other news, I talked to Tony's sister, Joyce. Apparently she works in the biology department at Site-23. I didn't tell her about what's up with Tony, of course. But, I did manage to bring up insects. Apparently Tony has some sort of insectophobia, but it's not too bad that you'd call it a phobia. Like, they just freak him out.
Either way, it makes for some interesting interpretations of Tony's visuals. I can't tell if SCP-XXXX-1 is full of bugs, or if it's full of whatever you're afraid of, or if that's just Tony's interpretation of it. I'm leaning toward the last option though. If anything because of an idealogical standpoint. Death being what you make of it sounds kind of poetic. Not that any of my "poetry" will show up in the formal report.
I wonder what I'd see.
Still from the Day 4, 10:00-14:22 image. Neither the man, nor the hedges are visible at this point.
SCP-XXXX Day 4 Imaging Results
<10:00 — 14:22> A man searches through a garden. It is unclear what he is looking for. The garden extends indefinitely in all directions, and exploration takes the man through large groves of daisies. For the majority of the trek, the man stays on a path outlined by two hedges that run alongside him. At one point the man stops, looks at a patch of daisies, and steps over the hedges toward the flowers. Image changes after his foot hits the ground.
<14:22 — 17:22> Various shades of green and purple.
<17:22 — 17:27> The man from the 10:00—14:22 image has uncovered some of the dirt, and stares into the ground with a look of awe and terror on his face. What the man is staring at is obscured by daisies. After three minutes, a thin, wrinkled hand is seen reaching into frame, and taps the man on the shoulder.
<17:27 — 18:27> Static.
<18:27 — 18:39> The man is standing behind behind the hedges now. A small girl is covering the patch of land with dirt using her hands. A large quantity of insects swarm around the girl. She appears content. It is unknown if the girl acknowledges the insects or not. The man's left hand appears to be swollen from stinging.
<23:39 — 01:02> The man walks back through the garden the way he came in Image 1. Left hand remains swollen. He is carrying a tulip in his right hand, which he looks at during the walk. No other individuals can be seen. After an hour and eight minutes, the man suddenly looks back over his shoulder, shrugs and continues walking.
SCP-XXXX Day 4 Lab Notes:
Exploration started today. And by exploration I mean Tony actively figuring out how to convey this place to us. I don’t think it’s actually all flowers and sunshine. Luckily, he seems to be mostly coherent at this point. Although, I think his communication is still more cryptic than we’d like. I’ll take it over how he acted a few days ago.
We don’t know who the girl is. Can’t tell what she’s supposed to represent. Most of us think that she’s another person caught in this “half-dead” state, but we don’t have any confirmation. Although, on the off chance we’re right, the higher ups started an operation to infiltrate the usual suspects (CI, SH, GOC, etc.) to make sure none of them have beaten us to the punch.
Assuming Tony understands us well enough, we’re going to give him the go ahead to interact more with the girl and report back.
SCP-XXXX Day 5 Imaging Results:
<05:00 — 05:20> A sky covered in gray clouds. No precipitation observed.
<05:20 — 10:20> Static.
<10:20 — 10:30> A teddy bear, a stuffed animal crow, and a girl all sit around a table. The girl offers tea to both the teddy bear and the crow. Neither party reacts. She proceeds to pour tea for the two regardless.
<10:30 — 13:30> A warm shade of yellow.
<13:30 — 14:16> Same as the 10:20—10:30 image except the teddy bear somehow has a grip on the tea cup, and the crow is facing the teddy bear. The girl appears to be conversing with the stuffed animals, despite their lack of responses.
<14:16 — 15:16> A light shade of red.
<15:16 — 15:38> Same as the 13:30—14:16 image, except the crow has started to fall apart at the seams. Insects crawl out from between the stitching. Neither the teddy bear nor the girl appear to notice.
<15:38 — 16:38> Flickering between dark red, and black.
<16:38 — 16:44> Formed at 1600. Same as Image 4, except the insects have eaten parts of the teddy bear. The girl appears surprised and upset. After five minutes she glares at the stuffed crow, which is now mostly covered with insects. She then sets down her tea, and leaves.
<19:44 — 20:04> A man in the corner of a room, curled into the fetal position. He rocks back and forth. His body appears to be swollen and covered from small insect bites.
SCP-XXXX Day 5 Lab Notes:
I think half of our group is starting to get more and more uncomfortable with the creepy crawlies. I can only imagine what it’s like for Tony. We’re giving him a day to recuperate from whatever the hell today was. No exploration or interviews or whatever.
In other news, we made some progress on the girl today. She looks almost identical to Tony’s younger sister Joyce from when she was eight. Key word – "almost". I can’t tell if it’s Tony not quite getting the image back right, or if this thing actually just looks like Tony’s sister but with slightly elevated cheek bones and a slightly darker shade of brown in her hair. Or maybe that’s how Tony remembers his sister? Or maybe there’s just some kid out there who looks almost like her?
Honestly, those details probably aren't super important. I bet tomorrow our "talk" with Tony will clear things up.
Day 6 Imaging Results:
<10:00 — 10:05> A man sitting with his back against a dirt wall. Plant roots and bones protrude from the wall and ceiling. The appears to be tired, and sweating.
<12:05 — 12:08> A single question mark.
<13:08 — 13:14> The man from the 10:00—10:05 image is holding a doll of a small girl, and a doll of a crow. He positions them next to each other, with the girl’s arm around the crow, and the crow’s wing around the girl.
<14:14 — 14:14> The man shrugs.
<23:00 — 23:13> The man is sitting with his back against the wall of the room again. After five minutes, his head jerks to look off screen. He quickly gets up and rushes out of the room through the opposite direction. After three minutes a swarm of insects enters the screen.
<23:13 — 24:00> White.
Day 6 Lab Notes:
Shit. Shit shit shit. He’s fucked Damn it tony
Fuck.
Ok, ok. Breather. Sorry future me, I shouldn’t use these notes for venting. Luckily it won’t show up in the formal report.
Anyways. Tony was… well he didn’t learn much about the girl. At least not much that he told us. I think she’s friends with the bugs? Or with the crow thing at least. Or maybe they’re the same entity? They’re definitely connected.
Now we’re all waiting for Tony to get back to us. Luckily, we’ve got coffee.
SCP-XXXX Day 7 Imaging Results:
<16:00 — 16:43> A man running through the garden of daisies. He appears to be limping slightly, and checks over his shoulder at regular intervals.
<16:43 — 19:07> Flashing between bright red and black.
SCP-XXXX Day 7 Lab notes:
That was it. He’s just… he’s just still running.
We’ve been trying to think of something to help him. Jared floated the idea of sending him some bug spray. I know he was joking, because Jared can't help himself from bring a wise-ass when he's stressed out, but maybe he's onto something. Going to look into how to send Tony a care package tomorrow.
SCP-XXXX Day 8 Imaging Results:
<02:00 — 02:43> A man is running through a garden. After thirty minutes, he passes by a girl, who appears to be planting something. He calls out to her. The girl turns around. She is planting another daisy. The man rushes to the girl, and takes her by the hand. The girl begins to say something, but is cut short as the man pulls her back to the path and resumes running. The newly planted daisy remains the focus of the image for another two minutes before it is overrun with insects.
<02:43 — 10:56> White.
SCP-XXXX Day 8 Lab Notes:
Ok, we've got something. It's a little out there. But it's all we've come up with.
So, Tony’s in a half-death state, right? But it’s not like this is a conventional afterlife deal. It was built around a more abstract, conceptual representation of death. So that means that, all “half-dead” things could end up there, right? Well, ok the dead things end up there too but we’re less sure what exactly that looks like.
But, I can't believe I'm even writing this, what if we half kill a thing. Ok, yes that is as dumb as it sounds, but, we want to send something in there to help Tony. We don't have another agent who was as willing as him to take up this assignment, and I'll be damned if we lose our best shot at exploring this place. I don’t know if Tony has things, or how inanimate objects really work on the other side. But we're grasping at straws anyways.
Jared figured if we’re going to send him something, we should send him some form of self-defense. Unfortunately, we're a little short handed in terms of weaponry. So we're going to send him the next best thing - a lighter. Bugs don't like fire, right? I mean, maybe they're not literally bugs, but fire is generally effective against things. Either way it'll work fine to test it.
Procedures:
1. Partially disassemble the lighter.
2. Place lighter in SCP-XXXX.
3. Activate SCP-XXXX, and at the same time try to finish disassembling the lighter? (maybe use like a firecracker for this? Or like a mousetrap? I don't know, we'll figure it out)
God, killing a lighter sounds so dumb. But fuck it we’re gonna try.
Still from the Day 9, 17:31 - 17:54 image.
SCP-XXXX Day 9 Imaging Results:
<04:00 — 04:04> Formed at 0400. A man running through a garden carrying a lighter in one hand, and pulling a girl behind him with the other. As the man runs, he looks confusedly at the device. After four minutes, he pockets the lighter.
<10:04 — 10:29> A teddy bear the size of an average human sits against a door to a room. The walls consist of mud and dirt, with bones and roots sticking out. The girl from the 04:00—04:04 sits at the opposite end of the room with her legs pulled against her chest. She rocks back in forth slowly for three minutes before walking to the teddy bear. She begins to speak as she tugs on the teddy bear's legs. The girl appears to age rapidly the more she begs. The teddy bear does not move.
<16:29 — 16:31> A man is standing in a garden. He is constantly stung/bitten by a thick swarm of insects. A girl screams at him from nearby, ignored by the insects. The man looks at the girl, screams something back, and then reaches into his pocket.
<16:31 — 17:31> Red static.
<17:31 — 17:54> A bonfire.
<17:54 — 20:54> Grey.
<20:54 — 23:54> A girl repeatedly stabs a man lying on the ground with a sharpened femur. They are surrounded by burnt insect corpses.
SCP-XXXX Day 9 Lab Notes
Holy fuck.
It worked.
And then he… fuck I don't know what really happened. This entire past week has felt like I've been watching someone's acid trip.
Ok, we still don't know what that girl is, but stabbing Tony means she's hostile, which means we need to do something. I called in a favor and got a handgun delivered here. Same procedure as with the lighter.
SCP-XXXX Day 10 Imaging Results
<01:54 — 03:01> An old woman beats a man lying on the ground with a femur. They are surrounded by burnt insect corpses, some of which are moving.
<03:01 — 04:01> A little girl is straddling a man with her arms in the air. The man aims a handgun at her. They are surrounded by teddy bears, all of which are looking at the girl.
<04:01 — 04:03> A cocoon sits on a tree branch where all of the leaves are replaced with hands. The cocoon breaks open, and a moth exits.
<05:00 — 05:02> Same as the 03:01 — 04:01 image, except the teddy bears are all grasping lighters with the flames exposed, and all of the garden is on fire. A bullet can be seen halfway between the handgun, and the girl's head.
<05:02 — 06:00> Bright red.
<06:00 — 06:00> Same as previous image, except the flowers are replaced with chains, which are still burning. The girl has been replaced with a skeleton, but her hair remains. The man has become further emaciated and also resembles a skeleton. A chain wraps itself around both the man and the skeleton of the girl. Teddy bears look on from the darkness.
<06:00 — 07:00> Dark red.
<07:00 — 07:02> The bullet penetrates the girl's head.
<07:02 — 13:02> Static.
<13:02 — 13:16> A man stands in the middle of a garden. All of the flowers that can be seen are blooming. Insect corpses rain from the sky. The girl is no longer present. A stuffed animal crow lies next to Tony with a bullet-sized hole in its head. After thirteen minutes the following words appear at the bottom of the screen: "I hope you enjoy your hike, dad."
SCP-XXXX Day 10 Lab Notes
Oh fuck.
What even just.
Shit.
I don't think I've ever been so torn over one of my experiments working twice in a row.
But still he— he shot her. I mean of course he would, we gave him the gun but I can't believe it. Like, I didn't actually think that was going to happen. Again, what else was going to happen? But just… FUCK
Then like, five minutes later the calls started. First it was from Joyce talking about how her father wasn't dying. I'd told her to contact me if anything strange started happening with her family which might be related to Tony but this wasn't a calm informative call. She was just so excited panicked ecstatic terrified I don't fucking know.
After that was the call from O5-4. Only council member that knew about our little project. Signed off on the funding and everything. He congratulated me on our success, and then told me to burn it all. That's probably when it sunk in. It really should've been apparent from the start. It was in our contracts, it's what we told people on their first day: "This project has a single objective - contain the Dammerung Class cognitohazard known as death".
We did it? No, we really didn't do it. All those years of theorizing and studying the data, scouring anomalous burial sites and hauls from MTF raids. And finally, we come face to face with the reaper. And what do we do? We fucking shoot him her. Now all we have is a tombstone reading Rest In Peace: Resting in Peace.
We fucked up.
We didn't contain death.
We neutralized it.
