Sissyphus

Revised

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment procedures: A copy of each known instance of SCP-XXXX-2 is to be maintained in a containment locker in Room 22 of the Passive Containment Wing of Site-73.

Researchers with clearance level 2 or higher may request a SCP-XXXX-2 copy for experimentation; any piece of written media compatible with the SCP-XXXX-2 instance is to be placed directly over it for a period of five days, making sure to maximize the contact area between both documents. Other than these copies, researchers are not allowed to take any material derived from paper-pulp, into or from Room 22, regardless of whether they access a SCP-XXXX-2 copy or not.

Instances of SCP-XXXX-2 found outside of Foundation custody are to be brought to Site-73, analyzed and classified; if they belong to a previously-unknown SCP-XXXX-2 ecosystem, it is to be kept per the procedures described above; otherwise they are to be incinerated.

Description: SCP-XXXX are a collection of two-dimensional automata¹ found in text written on paper². Most of these closely resemble characters such as punctuation marks or letters. SCP-XXXX instances rely on characters present in the text, as well as on each other, to survive, using preexisting characters as a food source or as shelter. Studies on the effect of SCP-XXXX on ink have been inconclusive; ink seems to still be present in the areas that have been "eaten away" by SCP-XXXX, but the wavelenghts they absorb and reflect are modified through a poorly-understood process. The anomalous behavior of ink compounds present in documents infested with SCP-XXXX is useful to identify previously-contaminated materials, even if they appear to be non-anomalous under normal circumstances.

SCP-XXXX may transfer to a document or page that is in direct contact with one currently infested. SCP-XXXX instances prefer to move into documents with similar written and chemical composition: books affected by the phenomenon have an average of 93% of their pages contaminated after a period of 5 days; in comparison, contamination of blank paper has a success rate of under 10%, and contamination of cardboard, under 1%. SCP-XXXX is unable to transfer to digital media, materials not derived from paper-pulp, or if prevented by continuous ink barriers. SCP-XXXX instances are present in only one side of the sheet they're in, but can easily move to the other side. Infested documents that have been lit on fire, dampened to the point of ink dissolution, or otherwise destroyed in a manner incompatible with writing lose all anomalous properties and are considered neutralized.

SCP-XXXX-1 designates a specific "species" of SCP-XXXX. Species differ in size, shape, behavior, prefered SCP-XXXX-2 habitat and/or ███████. So far, over 100 different SCP-XXXX-1 have been identified; ██ of these have been discovered "in the wild", with the rest forming naturally while on Foundation custody. SCP-XXXX-1 have shown surprising behavioral divergence and complexity; species have been shown to engage in nesting, play, courting rituals, [DATA EXPUNGED]. Note: Any other undocumented behavior is to be immediately reported to a Level 3 researcher.

+ Addendum 1: Notable SCP-XXXX-1 instances

Designation	Alternative names3	Description
SCP-XXXX-1-1	Mite, dot, tick, flea, pillbug.	Circle-shaped automata with very simple behavior. Native to almost all SCP-XXXX-2 ecosystems. Usually solitary, they gather in large herds of 15-50 individuals for reproducing, forming a G-shaped formation. The members in the inner end of the line will mate, then move to the opposite end, cycling until all members have done so. The rest of the herd will attempt to fend of any intruders unless clearly outnumbered.
SCP-XXXX-1-3	Blob, amoeba, gravedigger, c-dweller	Highly amorphous and flexible scavengers, SCP-XXXX-1-3 scout for dead SCP-XXXX instances or certain non-anomalous punctuation marks. When not feeding, they will often rest inside of non-anomalous characters like C's. One of the few SCP-XXXX-1 species that bear no resemblance to any known character. They are more often found in text written in romance languages.
SCP-XXXX-1-7	Serif snake, s-snake, bull-horn snake	Elongated predators with a pair of maxilla in their anterior end. They hunt by coiling their bodies in the shape of an S's, then quickly striking passerby prey. They usually kill small automata like SCP-XXXX-1-1 and SCP-XXXX-1-4 with a crushing bite, but they have been observed to go for larger prey, knocking them into serifs or other sharp-point characters instead.
SCP-XXXX-1-16	Omega, itsy-bitsy-spider, shredder, A-H	Anatomy consists of two constantly-rotating "cores" with five movable appendages each. At all times one or more pairs of appendages will be fused together, which allows them to mimic the shape of A's, B's, H's and other symmetrical characters,. They can trap prey in a process similar to phagocytosis. Upon reaching a certain size, the central bodies will divide, creating two SCP-XXXX-1-16 larval instances. They are exclusively found in dictionaries, thriving on the "A" and "H" sections where they can hide with ease.
SCP-XXXX-1-147	Two, duck, swan, headbanger	SCP-XXXX-1-147 instances move with energetic and rhythmic motions of their upper half. They prey exclusively on SCP-XXXX-1-1 instances by impaling them with their "beaks". They are highly territorial and will often attack even if unprovoked. They are found in large numbers in math textbooks and notebooks.
SCP-XXXX-1-167	Jiàn, mi, jellyfish, beholder, bellfish	First known instance to mimic a logogram4. Intelligent and versatile, they are overly aggressive pack hunters, using complex strategies such as [DATA EXPUNGED].
SCP-XXXX-1-203	Asterisk, little people, builders	[DATA EXPUNGED]. Currently extinct. Upgrade to Euclid-class denied.

SCP-XXXX-2 designates an SCP-XXXX "ecosystem". Such ecosystems have complex but well-defined food webs⁵, and are usually self-sustainable. SCP-XXXX-2 instances are crucial in the formation of new SCP-XXXX-1 instances via mechanisms analogous to evolution and natural selection. They are most commonly found in books, including fiction and non-fiction books, college textbooks (usually about mathematics or topics with wide use of mathematical characters, like physics), notebooks, and [REDACTED].

+ Addendum 2. Notable SCP-XXXX-2 instances.

Designation	Found in	Description	Common species
SCP-XXXX-2-1	Dictionaries, usually of western-european languages with limited use of diacritics; other books or high-density texts in these languages.	Dictionaries provide a high density of ink as nourishment and a regularity which allows for highly specialized organisms to thrive in sections rich in specific characters. Text in languages with high use of diacritics generate closely related ecosystems, like SCP-XXXX-2-5 in Romance languages and SCP-4267-2-7 in Vietnamese.	1-Mite 2-Pincer 3-Moss 7-Serif snake
SCP-XXXX-2-4	Notebooks, sketchbooks, rarely on printed documents with low-text density (college tests or similar).	Characterized by many endemic species, most of them autotrophes adapted to the lower character density. Scribbles and drawings allow more flexible and amorphous species to thrive. Similar to SCP-XXXX-2-1, many closely related ecosystems exist depending on language, subject, and presence of drawings or "doodles".	1-Mite 6-Hook 12-Giant caterpillar
SCP-XXXX-2-7	Sheet music, rarely seen on tablatures	A very simple and fragile ecosystem consisting mostly of small individuals mimicking letters used on musical notation. Notably, no SCP-XXXX-1 instance has developed shapes of notes or other music-specific symbols, as the closed nature of staves makes them inaccessible under most circumstances. The low variability of available characters seems to hinder complex SCP-XXXX development, but it does not impede infection.	1-Mite 2-Pacman 16-Omega
SCP-XXXX-2-9	Endemic to a series of ad posters in a wall of a shopping centre in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.	Little is known of this ecosystem, as it was destroyed in a fire before it could be retrieved. It has been proposed as a subset or a parented ecosystem of SCP-XXXX-2-3 (Based on Guaraní text). First recorded instance of color-changing SCP-XXXX-1 instances; currently believed to be SCP-XXXX-1-8	1-Mite 3-Serif snake (suspected) 8-Chameleon (suspected)
SCP-XXXX-2-13	Various sheets of paper in possession of Researcher S██████	[DATA EXPUNGED]	1-Mite 8-Chameleon 167-Jiàn 203-Little people

Original

NOTE: THIS VERSION ONLY ADDS A LINE ON THE CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES AND A THIRD ADDENDUM, EVERYTHING ELSE SHOULD BE IDENTICAL

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment procedures: A copy of each known instance of SCP-XXXX-2 is to be maintained in a containment locker in Room 22 of the Passive Containment Wing of Site-73.

Researchers with clearance level 2 or higher may request a SCP-XXXX-2 copy for experimentation; any piece of written media compatible with the SCP-XXXX-2 instance is to be placed directly over it for a period of five days, making sure to maximize the contact area between both documents. Other than these copies, researchers are not allowed to take any material derived from paper-pulp, into or from Room 22, regardless of whether they access a SCP-XXXX-2 copy or not.

Update: As of December 1st 2017, testing is suspended indefinitely. See Addendum 3 for further details.

Instances of SCP-XXXX-2 found outside of Foundation custody are to be brought to Site-73, analyzed and classified; if they belong to a previously-unknown SCP-XXXX-2 ecosystem, it is to be kept per the procedures described above; otherwise they are to be incinerated.

Description: SCP-XXXX are a collection of two-dimensional automata⁶ found in text written on paper⁷. Most of these closely resemble characters such as punctuation marks or letters. SCP-XXXX instances rely on characters present in the text, as well as on each other, to survive, using preexisting characters as a food source or as shelter. Studies on the effect of SCP-XXXX on ink have been inconclusive; ink seems to still be present in the areas that have been "eaten away" by SCP-XXXX, but the wavelenghts they absorb and reflect are modified through a poorly-understood process. The anomalous behavior of ink compounds present in documents infested with SCP-XXXX is useful to identify previously-contaminated materials, even if they appear to be non-anomalous under normal circumstances.

SCP-XXXX may transfer to a document or page that is in direct contact with one currently infested. SCP-XXXX instances prefer to move into documents with similar written and chemical composition: books affected by the phenomenon have an average of 93% of their pages contaminated after a period of 5 days; in comparison, contamination of blank paper has a success rate of under 10%, and contamination of cardboard, under 1%. SCP-XXXX is unable to transfer to digital media, materials not derived from paper-pulp, or if prevented by continuous ink barriers. SCP-XXXX instances are present in only one side of the sheet they're in, but can easily move to the other side. Infested documents that have been lit on fire, dampened to the point of ink dissolution, or otherwise destroyed in a manner incompatible with writing lose all anomalous properties and are considered neutralized.

SCP-XXXX-1 designates a specific "species" of SCP-XXXX. Species differ in size, shape, behavior, prefered SCP-XXXX-2 habitat and/or ███████. So far, over 100 different SCP-XXXX-1 have been identified; ██ of these have been discovered "in the wild", with the rest forming naturally while on Foundation custody. SCP-XXXX-1 have shown surprising behavioral divergence and complexity; species have been shown to engage in nesting, play, courting rituals, [DATA EXPUNGED]. Note: Any other undocumented behavior is to be immediately reported to a Level 3 researcher.

+ Addendum 1: Notable SCP-XXXX-1 instances

Designation	Alternative names8	Description
SCP-XXXX-1-1	Mite, dot, tick, flea, pillbug.	Circle-shaped automata with very simple behavior. Native to almost all SCP-XXXX-2 ecosystems. Usually solitary, they gather in large herds of 15-50 individuals for reproducing, forming a G-shaped formation. The members in the inner end of the line will mate, then move to the opposite end, cycling until all members have done so. The rest of the herd will attempt to fend of any intruders unless clearly outnumbered.
SCP-XXXX-1-3	Blob, amoeba, gravedigger, c-dweller	Highly amorphous and flexible scavengers, SCP-XXXX-1-3 scout for dead SCP-XXXX instances or certain non-anomalous punctuation marks. When not feeding, they will often rest inside of non-anomalous characters like C's. One of the few SCP-XXXX-1 species that bear no resemblance to any known character. They are more often found in text written in romance languages.
SCP-XXXX-1-7	Serif snake, s-snake, bull-horn snake	Elongated predators with a pair of maxilla in their anterior end. They hunt by coiling their bodies in the shape of an S's, then quickly striking passerby prey. They usually kill small automata like SCP-XXXX-1-1 and SCP-XXXX-1-4 with a crushing bite, but they have been observed to go for larger prey, knocking them into serifs or other sharp-point characters instead.
SCP-XXXX-1-16	Omega, itsy-bitsy-spider, shredder, A-H	Anatomy consists of two constantly-rotating "cores" with five movable appendages each. At all times one or more pairs of appendages will be fused together, which allows them to mimic the shape of A's, B's, H's and other symmetrical characters,. They can trap prey in a process similar to phagocytosis. Upon reaching a certain size, the central bodies will divide, creating two SCP-XXXX-1-16 larval instances. They are exclusively found in dictionaries, thriving on the "A" and "H" sections where they can hide with ease.
SCP-XXXX-1-147	Two, duck, swan, headbanger	SCP-XXXX-1-147 instances move with energetic and rhythmic motions of their upper half. They prey exclusively on SCP-XXXX-1-1 instances by impaling them with their "beaks". They are highly territorial and will often attack even if unprovoked. They are found in large numbers in math textbooks and notebooks.
SCP-XXXX-1-167	Jiàn, mi, jellyfish, beholder, bellfish	First known instance to mimic a logogram9. Intelligent and versatile, they are overly aggressive pack hunters, using complex strategies such as [DATA EXPUNGED].
SCP-XXXX-1-203	Asterisk, little people, builders	[DATA EXPUNGED]. Currently extinct. Upgrade to Euclid-class denied.

SCP-XXXX-2 designates an SCP-XXXX "ecosystem". Such ecosystems have complex but well-defined food webs¹⁰, and are usually self-sustainable. SCP-XXXX-2 instances are crucial in the formation of new SCP-XXXX-1 instances via mechanisms analogous to evolution and natural selection. They are most commonly found in books, including fiction and non-fiction books, college textbooks (usually about mathematics or topics with wide use of mathematical characters, like physics), notebooks, and [REDACTED].

+ Addendum 2. Notable SCP-XXXX-2 instances.

Designation	Found in	Description	Common species
SCP-XXXX-2-1	Dictionaries, usually of western-european languages with limited use of diacritics; other books or high-density texts in these languages.	Dictionaries provide a high density of ink as nourishment and a regularity which allows for highly specialized organisms to thrive in sections rich in specific characters. Text in languages with high use of diacritics generate closely related ecosystems, like SCP-XXXX-2-5 in Romance languages and SCP-4267-2-7 in Vietnamese.	1-Mite 2-Pincer 3-Moss 7-Serif snake
SCP-XXXX-2-4	Notebooks, sketchbooks, rarely on printed documents with low-text density (college tests or similar).	Characterized by many endemic species, most of them autotrophes adapted to the lower character density. Scribbles and drawings allow more flexible and amorphous species to thrive. Similar to SCP-XXXX-2-1, many closely related ecosystems exist depending on language, subject, and presence of drawings or "doodles".	1-Mite 6-Hook 12-Giant caterpillar
SCP-XXXX-2-7	Sheet music, rarely seen on tablatures	A very simple and fragile ecosystem consisting mostly of small individuals mimicking letters used on musical notation. Notably, no SCP-XXXX-1 instance has developed shapes of notes or other music-specific symbols, as the closed nature of staves makes them inaccessible under most circumstances. The low variability of available characters seems to hinder complex SCP-XXXX development, but it does not impede infection.	1-Mite 2-Pacman 16-Omega
SCP-XXXX-2-9	Endemic to a series of ad posters in a wall of a shopping centre in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.	Little is known of this ecosystem, as it was destroyed in a fire before it could be retrieved. It has been proposed as a subset or a parented ecosystem of SCP-XXXX-2-3 (Based on Guaraní text). First recorded instance of color-changing SCP-XXXX-1 instances; currently believed to be SCP-XXXX-1-8	1-Mite 3-Serif snake (suspected) 8-Chameleon (suspected)
SCP-XXXX-2-13	Various sheets of paper in possession of Researcher S██████	[DATA EXPUNGED]	1-Mite 8-Chameleon 167-Jiàn 203-Little people

+ Addendum 3. Incident XXXX-21.07.2017.

On June 21st of 2017, Researcher S██████ presented her superiors with a draft of a joint research paper titled On The Reproduction And Inherited Intelligence of SCP-XXXX, in which she described extensive unauthorized testing with SCP-XXXX instances. An internal investigation was immediately requested, and all of Researcher S██████'s testing material was confiscated. The probe found Researchers S██████, B██ and A███ had violated a plethora of Foundation protocols and guidelines; Researcher S██████ in particular had experimented extensively on SCP-XXXX-167 Jiàn's reproduction, selectively breeding for [DATA EXPUNGED], resulting on the creation of SCP-XXXX-1-203 Little People. Researcher S██████ has repeatedly pleaded to recover SCP-XXXX-1-203, arguing that the specimens grew under her care and that separation from their "mother figure (sic)" is detrimental to them. It must be noted that no evidence exists of SCP-XXXX noticing human presence.

Excerpt from Internal Investigation AFY204.253-XXXX-2017

Conclusions

Considering the declarations described in Annex 7-B (p.21-25), the confiscated materials enumerated in Annex 7-C (p.27-30); the medical assessment detailed in Annex 9 (p.34-35), and the anomalous assessment detailed in Annex 10 (p.36), WE CONCLUDE:

A.) SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ has breached, by direct action, indirect action, omission, direct orders or indirect orders to a subordinate:

• Code of Conduct of SCP Personnel: Articles 5, 8, 12 (Breach of secrecy, Breach of command chain, Reckless handling of anomalous objects)
• General procedures for experimentation with anomalous materials: Articles 1, 2, 7 (Unauthorized extraction of SCP objects from containment, unauthorized extraction of SCP objects from Foundation installations, purposeful creation of new SCP variants)
• Manipulation Of Sentient Or Possibly-Sentient SCPs: Articles 3, 10, 17(Unauthorized breeding, unnecessary mistreatment, unnecessary attachment)

B.) SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ has NOT breached, by direct action, indirect action, omission, direct orders or indirect orders to a subordinate:

• Code of Conduct of SCP Personnel: Articles 3, 6, 7 (Exposure of civilians to anomalous objects, Espionage, Affiliation to anomalous groups or groups otherwise opposed to Foundation goals)
• File SCP-XXXX: Article 1 (Special containment procedures)

C.) SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ has been diagnosed with [REDACTED], of AZU type (Non-anomalous origin).

D.) SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ is otherwise in good physical and mental health.

E.) SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ is not under the influence of any anomalous effects.

[EXTRANEOUS DATA REMOVED]

O.) It is the conclusion of this committee that SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ is directly responsible for every and all the offences hereby individualized, and is sanctioned with ████████████████████████████████████████████
█████████████████████████████, for a period of six months.

P.) It is the conclusion of this committee that SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ is eligible for Psychiatric Medical Assistance, to be provided via Foundation certified personnel.

Q.) The assistance described in article P.) of the present document DOES NOT exonerate SCP Foundation Researcher (Lv. 2) S██████ ████████ from any misconducts either described in article A.) , or any further misconducts yet to be discovered and-or investigated.

Memo from Passive Containment Wing Supervisor Dr. Salvador Bracht

As you probably know already, it was recently discovered that a researcher took anomalous documents outside of containment, even possibly outside of Foundation facilities and into her home. I don't need to spell out how grave this incident is. I will not deny my personal responsibility as a Supervisor; nonetheless, these violations of the Code of Conduct would not have occurred if not for the extremely lax containment procedures devised for the object in question. In the interest of taking personal responsibility for this incident, and in order to immediately intensify containment procedures, I'm taking direct control over containment duties of this object.

All researchers that requested SCP-XXXX-2 copies must report to Researcher Mäempää for immediate destruction of all infested documents. All experimentation on this object is forbidden until further notice. Containment procedures, and psychiatric requirements for researchers assigned to this SCP, are to be updated accordingly.

Let me take this opportunity to remind you that "Safe" is the greatest misnomer on Foundation nomenclature. "Safe" does not mean you can simply shove it in a box and nothing bad will happen; every SCP poses a substantial risk to the veil of secrecy by definition. There is a reason why all documentation regarding SCP objects begins with Containment Procedures. They are not only meant to prevent physical harm, but to prevent dissemination of their knowledge. A safe classification is no excuse for lax control of access to anomalies, whether due to failure to follow containment procedures, or failure to devise effective containment.

Expect further procedural revisions for similar Safe-class SCPs.

Dr. S. Bracht

Document XXXX-138.

Items confiscated from Researcher S██████'s office included 17 sheets of A4 paper, 3 of which were inscribed with miscellaneous non-anomalous text, with the rest completely blank. Prior to incineration, it was discovered that one of the sheets registered as blank paper had the following inscription in what seemed to be crude ink handwriting.

mom o
mom mom mo m
mom mom momomomomomomomomomomomomomomoomomomomomomomom
momomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomoomomomomomomomommom
momomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomoomomomomomomomommom
MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM
MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM
MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM
MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM
MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM
MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM






w h

Further testing determined that the text was written with mundane fountain-pen ink and failed to find evidence of SCP-XXXX contamination. The sheet was incinerated with the rest of the confiscated material.

(High fives to MaliceAforethought and AthosNetwork for greenlighting, flagsam for helping me ground and shape the concept, an Flawed for proofreading for me catching some inconsistencies and general advice)

Footnotes

1. While the consensus is that SCP-XXXX does not fit the conditions required to be considered a life-form, biological nomenclature is used in this article for the sake of clarity.

2. Defined as any material based on paper-pulp, including among others paper, card stock and cardboard.

3. These terms, once unofficial, have proven useful to reduce ambiguity in test logs. A taxonomic system has been proposed but not yet implemented.

4. A character that represents a word, as opposed to a single phoneme; namely "見", chinese character or kanji meaning "to see".

5. A collection of related food chains.

6. While the consensus is that SCP-XXXX does not fit the conditions required to be considered a life-form, biological nomenclature is used in this article for the sake of clarity.

7. Defined as any material based on paper-pulp, including among others paper, card stock and cardboard.

8. These terms, once unofficial, have proven useful to reduce ambiguity in test logs. A taxonomic system has been proposed but not yet implemented.

9. A character that represents a word, as opposed to a single phoneme; namely "見", chinese character or kanji meaning "to see".

10. A collection of related food chains.