Sigurd Strangland

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be kept within a standard clamshell containment unit for anomalous VHS media and stored in a secure locker at Site-██. D-class personnel selected to view SCP-XXXX for experimentation purposes must be drawn from a pool of candidates pre-approved by the Site Director.

Notice

Level 4 clearance is required to directly interact with SCP-XXXX. Failure to comply is a terminable offense.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a VHS copy of the 1997 animated film “Anastasia.” Upon visual contact observers experience intense feelings of nostalgia as well as a desire to watch the movie, regardless of the individual's experience with the film or lack thereof. Over the 94 minute running time, viewers vividly recall the events of their lives. If viewed in full, viewers gain total recall of their life up to that point and fully recover from the effects of both naturally occurring and induced memory loss. While in most¹ cases the further natural deterioration of memory over time is unaffected by SCP-XXXX, all viewers have been observed to possess permanently heightened resistance - and in many cases immunity - to known methods of artificially inducing memory loss.

+ Addendum 1: Experiment Log XXXX-███

+ Addendum 2: Interview Log XXXX-███

Interview XXXX-████

Interviewer: Dr. Mitchell

Interviewed: D-6044

Foreword: Per procedure, research lead Dr. Elijah Mitchell debriefs D-6044 following an experiment wherein D-6044 showed physiological symptoms of extreme stress while viewing SCP-XXXX.

<Begin Log>

Dr. Mitchell:

D-6044:

Dr. Mitchell:

D-6044:

D-6044: I don't know - is the foundation really capable of a mistake like that? Or did the powers that be decide that I'd be more useful as a test subject? All I know is that if you hadn't made me watch that movie, nobody would ever have known about any of this - not even me.

Dr. Mitchell:

<End Log>

Closing Statement: Citing the preceding interview, Dr. Mitchell has brought ethical concerns about D-6044's continued service to Site Director Brotherman. The issue has since been elevated to the 05 Council and remanded to the Ethics Committee.

+ Addendum 3: Ethics Committee Opinion

Ethics Committee of the SCP Foundation:

On the Application for Reinstatement of D-6044

Docket No. ████
July ██, 20██

Per Curiam:

It is the opinion of the Committee that the application presented to the 05 Council by Site-██ Director Brotherman and remanded to the Committee should be denied.

While D-6044's situation is tragic and upsetting on a personal level, this issue is not as clear-cut as it may seem. By design, the Foundation is not equipped to make judgments as to whether individual D-class personnel "deserve" their fate. Considering the present state of human legal systems it would not be surprising if many individuals that pass through the D-class program are innocent of whatever transgressions against society led them to the Foundation. Yet, the vital work must go on.

The Foundation relies on a steady supply of D-class personnel to function, but it does not select individuals for service, nor does it review the eligibility of those currently in the program. The Foundation merely sets the qualifications for D-class personnel and third parties provide qualified individuals. This detachment from the selection process allows the Foundation to ethically remain impartial to the eventual fates of these individuals.

This organization has a responsibility to reject moral judgments of the conscience and to remain objective in pursuit of the greater good. In keeping with that responsibility, the application for D-6044's reinstatement should be denied and D-6044 himself should be amnesticized and returned to service or - if doing so proves impossible - terminated.

It is so advised.

Dissenting:

I fear that in its latest consensus the Committee has overlooked the Foundation's duty to safeguard its members. Dr. Romanov has not merely been a victim of one of the many horrors in our charge - this man's life has been destroyed by an error in protocol. The consensus of the Committee has failed to hold the Foundation accountable for this mistake and sets a poor precedent that sets the Committee at odds with Foundation personnel. I must respectfully dissent.

+ Addendum 4: ACCESS RESTRICTED CONTENT

Interview Log 05-██-████-███

Interviewer: 05-██

Interviewed: D-6044 A.K.A Dr. Walter Romanov

Foreword: Wherein Dr. Romanov, who has been escorted to Protected Site-██, is activated by 05-██ in accordance with Firebreak Protocol ████.

<Begin Log>

//Site Security

05-██: Dr. Romanov! Welcome to the Villa. I think you'll find our accommodations are without peer. Please, have a seat.

05-██ gestures to a chair, and D-6044 cautiously sits down.

05-██: Would you care for a cigarette?

While moving for the liquor cabinet, 05-██ retrieves a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and presents it to D-6044.

D-6044: No.

05-██: I suppose I can't blame you, it's an awful habit - especially with everything that's going on. But then you wouldn't know anything about all that. We'll have to get you caught up on current events once we've concluded the business at hand. Drink?

05-██ tilts a bottle of amber alcohol in his hand. D-6044 declines with a wave. 05-██ proceeds to add several ice cubes to a tumbler and pour.

05-██: More for me. Tell me Doctor, why do you think we continue to inflict that Disney knockoff upon our friends in D-class?

D-6044 pauses a moment before responding.

D-6044: Is it because you're looking for something?

05-██: That's right - a specific memory. A needle in a haystack, if you'll excuse the cliché. What do you remember about your latest research assignment, Dr. Romanov? about ████████?

D-6044: Everything. Are you saying that has something to do with why I lost 8 months of my life?

05-██: ████████ breached containment ██ weeks ago, though I've been told that it's been on the verge of figuring out the trick to its cage for some time. Given its nature, we were able to anticipate what it would do when it did eventually break free.

D-6044: Dr. ██? The team?

05-██: Vegetables, I'm afraid. Since it escaped, everyone with memories about the specifics of its containment procedure has suffered extensive brain damage under mysterious circumstances. Each case resulted in the victim entering a permanent unresponsive state. You know the symptoms.

D-6044: Yeah. I guess I do.

05-██: I am sorry, you know. You and Dr. ██ were close, weren't you?

D-6044: All due respect, sir. Can we get to the point?

05-██: Of course… In addition to the loss of the research team, all records pertaining to ████████ have been rendered useless by ███ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████ █████████████. We are now completely in the dark as to how to contain it. But we knew this was coming eventually, and we made a sort of data backup in a place it would never find.

D-6044: You're telling me that I'm a containment procedure?

05-██: Indeed. Losing you in D-class was actually the surest way keep you safe, along with the knowledge necessary to put you-know-what back you-know-where.

D-6044: If you knew this was coming, why didn't you save the whole team?

05-██: Sadly, losses were unavoidable. The immediate research team were the only ones that knew how to perform the containment procedure, and it was kept that way as a sort of firebreak to minimize the damage in the event of a breach. Once it destroyed all knowledge of how to contain it, ████████ went dormant and gave us the opportunity to act.

05-██ excitedly takes a sip from his tumbler.

D-6044: And now you just need me to what? Refresh your memory?

05-██: Not my memory! No one's scrambling this egghead! No, I need you to step into Dr. ██'s position and take charge on the containment of ████████. She selected you for this assignment, after all.

D-6044 leans back in his chair, holds his hands to his head and slowly drags them down his face.

D-6044: So Dr. ██ knew about all of this. She saw it all coming and just went down with the ship. This is the most fucked up way to get a promotion.

05-██: C'est la vie, mon frère. That slogan about dying in the dark isn't idle talk. You and I both may be called on to follow Dr. ██'s example before long.

D-6044 silently rubs his temples.

D-6044: I think I'll take that drink after all.

05-██ smiles and begins to prepare another drink.

05-██: Certainly! Let's discuss what comes next…

[DATA EXPUNGED]

<End Log>

Closing Statement: Firebreak Protocol ████ initiated; Dr. Romanov is back in play.

Open Letter from the 05 Council to Research Personnel

Fellows,

The rumors surrounding Dr. Romanov (formerly D-6044) represent an unacceptable threat to trust in Foundation leadership, and I would like to correct any misunderstandings of the situation directly.

A thorough investigation has confirmed Dr. Romanov's claim that he was improperly administered Class F amnestics and reassigned to D-class. However, it cannot be stressed enough that this appalling accident was the result of human error, not Foundation protocol. Those responsible for the mistake have been terminated, and there is no evidence to support the rumors that similar incidents have occurred or occur with regularity across the organization. Rest assured that we are not cannibalizing our research teams for lack of D-class personnel.

Additionally, I can confirm that Dr. Romanov has been reinstated and reassigned, despite the Ethics Committee's findings. The fact that the nature and location of his reassignment has not been disclosed does not mean that he has been "disappeared" and I encourage any conspiracy theorists to recall that such discretion is a matter of course in our line of work.

I'll conclude by pointing out that while the nature of the Foundation's work often necessitates amorality of action, there is a difference between the utilitarian ethics that characterize the spirit of the foundation and the abuses of power that these rumors would implicate us in.

It just isn't who we are.

Regards,

05-██