Per 
NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
In accordance with standard RAISA declassification protocols, as of today, 2073/01/14, the collection of RAISA materials pertaining to the investigation of former Site Director William Wakefield, which was formally concluded on 2023/01/14, are hereby declassified, and are to be made available to all Foundation personnel possessing Level 1 security clearance or higher. Dissemination of this declassified content to non-Foundation personnel is strictly prohibited.
(N.B.: These materials contain the full documentation of SCP-XXXX, which may contain information which remains classified to Level 1 personnel. Level 1 personnel interested in accessing such classified information may submit a request to the Internal Communications Department of Site 226.)
Secure. Contain. Protect.
— Chrysanthemum.aic, Database Clerk, RAISA Bureau of Records Management
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures:
SCP-XXXX is to be kept in a standard inanimate containment locker in the Safe wing of Site 226. Special care is to be taken that SCP-XXXX does not come into contact with the exposed skin of any personnel, excluding test subjects and those Foundation personnel who have previously undergone XXXX-Alpha events. To minimize the risk of accidental contact, SCP-XXXX is to be stored in a cloth sack. Any testing involving SCP-XXXX should take place in a room containing a bed. Chamber 226-14 has been set aside for this purpose.
UPDATE 2022/11/20: As a result of Incident XXXX-01, testing involving SCP-XXXX has been halted indefinitely by order of Interim Site Director Otavka. All D-class personnel who have previously undergone XXXX-Alpha events are to be terminated with all possible haste, and any subsequent personnel who undergo XXXX-Alpha events are to be referred directly to the Site Director. Removing SCP-XXXX from its locker without the express permission of the Site Director and the Ethics Committee is to be considered grounds for termination.
Description:
A scan of the image printed on SCP-XXXX
SCP-XXXX is a photograph printed on a piece of slate, depicting a figure resembling a human female, designated as SCP-XXXX-1, standing alone on a beach. Geological analysis suggests that the slate originates from the Scottish Highlands near Loch Assynt, but further analysis has yielded no information about where or when the photograph was taken or how it came to be associated with SCP-XXXX.
SCP-XXXX's anomalous effect occurs when it comes into contact with a human subject's bare skin. Immediately after the moment of contact, the subject will experience extreme drowsiness and seek out a place to safely lay down, whereupon they will immediately fall into a deep sleep equivalent to that produced by the administration of general anesthesia. After exactly 38 minutes and 21 seconds of sleep, the subject will awaken with eidetic recollection of a dream, the general arc of which is entirely identical across subjects. Other than the deepness of their sleep and their dream recall, the subject exhibits no anomalous properties throughout this sequence of events.
Due to the highly consistent nature of these occurrences in trial after trial, the experience of a subject upon contact with SCP-XXXX has been termed a XXXX-Alpha event. After an individual undergoes a XXXX-Alpha event, they are immune to the anomalous properties of SCP-XXXX, and thus may handle it as if it were a nonanomalous object. Additionally, no more than one XXXX-Alpha event may occur at one time; thus, if a subject is currently undergoing a XXXX-Alpha event, all other persons may handle SCP-XXXX as if it were nonanomalous. Further research into SCP-XXXX and XXXX-Alpha events is ongoing under the auspices of Dr. Schrag.
No further testing will be conducted. This thing got us into this mess, and it can't even move. Lock it up and throw away the key. —Otavka
Addenda:
SCP-XXXX was recovered on 2022/02/17 during a raid on a warehouse in Poole, UK owned by a front company for Marshall, Carter and Dark. Much of the space was devoted to the "Garden of Unearthly Delights," a brothel staffed by anomalous humanoids held in sexual slavery. SCP-XXXX was described on a recovered brothel "menu" as "a kiss of summertime." A Foundation deep cover agent embedded in the brothel's operations management in anticipation of the raid was told that SCP-XXXX was the establishment's highest earner, and was warned never to handle SCP-XXXX without wearing gloves. This intelligence allowed for the transfer of SCP-XXXX to Site 226 without incident.
Interview time: 2022/02/19, 14:00
Interviewed: D-1294
Interviewer: Dr. Reinhard Werckman, Site 226 Vice Director for Safe SCP Objects and Principal Investigator, Lab Zeta, Site 226 Safe Wing
Foreword: When recalling the dream experienced during a XXXX-Alpha event, most subjects use nearly identical language with only minor variation (median variance: two words per sentence). The following, recorded immediately after D-1294's XXXX-Alpha event, is a representative example. —Dr. Werckman
<Begin Log>
Werckman: Talk me through what happened in your dream.
D-1294: She… she was there.
Werckman: To whom are you referring?
D-1294: That lady in the photograph, you know. Her.
D-1294: But she was so much more than I could ever have dreamed. Her smile, her hair, her fuckin'… the fuckin' arch of her heel was so perfect…1
D-1294: And she knew just what to say, too. Like the lifelong companion we all wish we had… And she sounded like home. Do you know how long it's been since I heard proper Sinhalese?2
Werckman: SCP-XXXX-1 spoke Sinhalese?
D-1294: I would say… I would say she spoke me, really spoke the language of me.
D-1294: And not just with her tongue too, but her whole body…
[Silence for 8 seconds.]
Werckman: Please, continue.
D-1294: Have you— have you ever really been known by someone? Like every inch of you, inside and out? Because if you haven't, you need to go see her. I don't think anyone else could have known me that way, and now… and now…
[D-1294 begins to sob.]
D-1294: And now she's gone! After but a moment of undiluted bliss, gone, melted into the waves with nothing but a "look for me!" What will I do? How can I go on?
[Over the next few seconds, D-1294 regains her composure.]
D-1294: No, no I will go on. I will go on and find her everywhere and let light into the world in her name. This is my solemn promise.
[D-1294 became uncooperative at this point, and began making suggestive comments towards Guard Hernandez, who was standing watch outside the cell. At her request, the interview was concluded.]
Afterword: Subjects undergoing XXXX-Alpha events seem to meet SCP-XXXX-1 in an unspecified location, where the subjects engage (of their own free will?) in some variety of ritual which involves the formation of an intense emotional connection, and, apparently, physical intimacy, between the subject and SCP-XXXX-1, concluding with SCP-XXXX-1 "vanishing into the waves." Until a subject provides further information beyond the script they seem compelled to follow, no further information can be ascertained. —Dr. Arya Schrag
NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
The following narrative is an objective reconstruction of the events which led to Incident XXXX-01, with specific emphasis placed on the role of former Site Director Wakefield, prepared by Electrum.aic, a RAISA AI construct, from analysis of Site 226 communications, personnel logs, and security camera footage. The narrative is supplemented with documentation retrieved from standard RAISA backups of internal Site 226 communications. This narrative is intended to provide only the facts of events as they actually occurred, and the opinions of Electrum.aic, RAISA, or any other Foundation personnel or agency as to the innocence, guilt, culpability, or lack thereof of former Site Director Wakefield are not herein expressed.
—Electrum.aic, Analyst, RAISA Bureau of Internal Investigations
2022/02/17: SCP-XXXX is transported to Site 226 and given the initial designation of Safe. Dr. Reinhard Werckman, former Vice Director for Safe SCP Objects at Site 226, is assigned as primary investigator, with Dr. Arya Schrag assisting.
2022/02/17-2022/02/28: Testing with D-class subjects determines the basic structure of XXXX-Alpha events, but research stalls after all authorized coercive options fail to induce D-Class subjects to further explicate the dream experienced during XXXX-Alpha events beyond those details present in Exhibit A, Addendum 2.
Test Authorization Request Form, Site 226
Secure. Contain. Protect.
| Issuer of request: | Dr. Arya Schrag |
| SCP object(s) requested: | SCP-XXXX |
| Resources required: | Exposure of researcher |
| Potential risk level: | 2: Caution |
| Summary of proposed experiment: Dr. Schrag will undergo a XXXX-Alpha event, with the goal of establishing contact with, and learning the nature and intent of, SCP-XXXX-1. |
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Reason for proposed experiment: Approved; no significant risks, significant potential rewards, and all that newfangled identity stuff everyone keeps going on about can actually be a help for a change. —Site Director Wakefield |
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2022/03/03: The experiment described in Exhibit B is carried out; Dr. Schrag undergoes a XXXX-Alpha event under the supervision of former Vice Director Werckman.
Interview time: 2022/03/03, 10:06
Interviewed: Dr. Arya Schrag, Associate Researcher, Site 226 Safe Wing
Interviewer: Dr. Reinhard Werckman, Site 226 Vice Director for Safe SCP Objects and Principal Investigator, Lab Zeta, Site 226 Safe Wing
Foreword: Recorded immediately after Dr. Schrag awoke from her XXXX-Alpha event
<Begin Log>
Werckman: Dr. Schrag? Are you alright?
Schrag: Alright? Am I alright? I… I'm not sure how the word could even apply, after something like that… They were right, Dr. Werckman, they were right, you should really go see her. Even that bit about the arch of her heel…
Werckman: Dr. Schrag?
Schrag: Professional. Right, yes, I'm a professional.
Werckman: I—
[Dr. Schrag holds up a finger to ask for a moment, then collects herself.]
Schrag: SCP-XXXX-1 revealed very little about herself during our conversation—
Werckman: Herself?
Schrag: Excuse me, itself. The entire dream took place on the beach depicted in the photograph, which appeared to be totally deserted and possessed no notable landmarks. She referred to the beach as her realm—
[Former Vice Director Werckman attempts to correct Dr. Schrag but she cuts him off.]
Schrag: Her realm, and she said she would never leave, because it was where she could best "help troubles flow away…"
[Dr. Schrag trails off and stares into the middle distance for 6 seconds.]
Werckman: What did it mean, help troubles flow away?
Schrag: It, it feels wrong to say… I made a solemn promise… No, no I can do this. SCP-XXXX-1 possessed intimate knowledge of my psyche and sense of self, and used this knowledge to help me, like a, like a therapist and a girlfriend rolled into one. Oh, and we certainly rolled…
Werckman: Excuse me?
Schrag: [sigh]
Schrag: Dr. Werckman, this experiment was a failure. I am not and never have been asexual or aromantic. SCP-XXXX-1 showed me that, she showed me… so many things…
Werckman: Are you suggesting that—
Schrag: She called me Arya, Dr. Werckman! Do you know how long it's been since anyone called me Arya? And then…
[Dr. Schrag's voice quavers.]
Schrag: And then just like that she was gone. Slipping through my arms into the waves, like trying to hold on to starlight… How can I go on without her?
Werckman: Dr. Schrag, I'm fairly certain that you're not alright…
Schrag: No, I'll go on. I'll look for her, find her everywhere, and let light into my world in her memor—
Werckman: Dr. Schrag is to be confined in a non-anomalous humanoid containment cell and subjected to a full psychological evaluation immediately. This interview is concluded.
<End log>
2022/03/03-2022/03/05: All testing with SCP-XXXX is temporarily halted. Dr. Schrag complies with confinement and participates fully in the psychological evaluation. Aside from an inexplicable shift in her self-reported sexual and romantic orientations and a 0.3% decrease in score on the Loeffler-Perdue depression scale, Dr. Schrag demonstrates no significant psychological changes as a result of the XXXX-Alpha event relative to her last psychological examination of 2021/08/12.
To: Site Director William Wakefield <pcs.622S|dleifekaWw#pcs.622S|dleifekaWw>
From: Vice Director Reinhard Werckman <pcs.622S|namkcreWr#pcs.622S|namkcreWr>
Subject: What are you THINKING?
Sent: 2022/03/05, 17:22
Will why on Earth are you releasing Dr. Schrag from confinement? In my experience it is not the policy of this Foundation to allow researchers to return to work with full security clearance less than three days after a personality-shifting intelligent anomaly of unknown origin was mucking around with their brain! I tell you as a colleague and a friend that you are making a mistake, and I insist you cancel the order to release Dr. Schrag tomorrow morning.
Reinhard
To: Vice Director Reinhard Werckman <pcs.622S|namkcreWr#pcs.622S|namkcreWr>
From: Site Director William Wakefield <pcs.622S|dleifekaWw#pcs.622S|dleifekaWw>
Subject: Re:What are you THINKING?
Sent: 2022/03/05, 19:38
Reinhard, Reinhard, Reinhard, relax! We've only known each other for 35 years, now's not exactly the time to go nuts on me!
Dr. Schrag has been deemed perfectly healthy by our site psychologists, aside from that little mixup with her, whaddotheycallit, orientations? And if you think that's something to worry about, you've spent too long in the Safe wing. Come back to me, my friend, when Dr. Schrag starts threatening to cause a CK-class. If you're not careful, I'll transfer you to Keter duty for a few weeks so you can get your priorities straight.
Yours,
Will
To: Site Director William Wakefield <pcs.622S|dleifekaWw#pcs.622S|dleifekaWw>
From: Vice Director Reinhard Werckman <pcs.622S|namkcreWr#pcs.622S|namkcreWr>
Subject: Re:What are you THINKING?
Sent: 2022/03/05, 17:22
Will I'm telling you, you don't know Dr. Schrag like I do. Her asexuality isn't just a thing she scribbled down on an experiment request form it's a huge part of her personality! For Christsake she's the head of the site LGBTQ+ reading group! She has a webinar planned in a few weeks about the importance of accounting for aromantic individuals in experimental designs regarding sexuality-manipulating reality benders, and now she meets a noncorporeal anomaly for 45 minutes and is saying she was never aromantic at all? And I've heard she's asking for Professor Hadley. You know, the woman on site who looks most like XXXX-1?
And through it all you think it's fine for her to walk around with level 3 clearance? I don't know what's gotten into you, but it's clearly you of the two of us who needs Keter duty to get his priorities straight, old friend.
To: Vice Director Reinhard Werckman <pcs.622S|namkcreWr#pcs.622S|namkcreWr>
From: Site Director William Wakefield <pcs.622S|dleifekaWw#pcs.622S|dleifekaWw>
Subject: Re:What are you THINKING?
Sent: 2022/03/05, 22:19
My friend, clearly you've been working too long, and too hard. If that magic 40 year mark weren't just around the corner I'd suggest you take a long vacation. You've already said more to me about this anomaly than every other Safe on the site combined; don't you think it's time to give this a rest?
As for Dr. Arya Schrag, I'm sure she'll continue to fit right in with her reading group, and spend a lot of quality time with her friends before too long. Tell you what, I'll cancel that talk so she doesn't have to, and I guarantee she'll never think about it again. After all, what's a two-hour webinar compared to some sweet sweet lesbian lovemaking?3
I've heard enough about this, and that's final. Once you get this stick out of your ass and start behaving sensibly, we should catch up one of these evenings. Have a drink, pretend it's still '93 for a little while. Ever since that mess with the [REDACTED] over in Humanoid Euclid, it feels like I've been doing nothing but putting out fires…
Will
2022/03/06: Former Vice Director Werckman resigns from the Foundation and enters retirement, citing nonspecific irreconcilable differences with colleagues. The sudden retirement is much discussed among Site 226 personnel, as former Vice Director Werckman is a mere 3 months from 40 years of service to the Foundation, which would have entitled him to the maximum possible pension. In accordance with standard procedures, former Vice Director Werckman is administered Class F amnestics and provided with stock identity #2297-F (retired theoretical physics lab technician), and retires with his wife to a small cottage in [REDACTED].4
2022/03/07: Dr. Schrag is released from confinement and resumes her duties. Due to personnel rearrangements as a result of former Vice Director Werckman's retirement, Dr. Schrag is assigned as principal investigator for six Safe SCP objects, including SCP-XXXX.
2022/03/09: Dr. Schrag begins a romantic relationship with Professor Emily Hadley, an expert in Renaissance painters of the Low Countries at the Site 226 School of Anart History. The partnership is much discussed among Site 226 personnel, as it had long been rumored that Prof. Hadley held unrequited feelings for Dr. Schrag.
2022/04/06: Dr. Schrag conducts three D-class tests with SCP-XXXX. Archived lab notes indicate that no useful data was gathered, and testing with SCP-XXXX is discontinued indefinitely.
2022/08/13: Dr. Schrag undergoes the annual full psychological examination standard to all Level 3 Foundation personnel. The only major variances demonstrated relative to Dr. Schrag's last psychological examination of 2021/03/05 are a 37.2% increase in score on the Haberman-Rakich Happiness Self-Exam and a 19.2% increase in score on the bin Saied Self-Confidence Index.
2022/10/31: Dr. Schrag is checked into the Site 226 infirmary by Prof. Hadley after suffering a severe panic attack and becoming nonresponsive during a staff Halloween party. Alprazolam is administered, and Dr. Schrag checks herself out of the infirmary the next morning, ascribing the episode to an upcoming deadline for submission to the Site 333 Conference on Anomalous Light-Producing Events of Interest.5
2022/11/1-2022/11/11: Dr. Schrag begins a battery of D-Class testing with SCP-XXXX. Despite the intense pace of testing, with an average of 7.4 trials conducted per day, Dr. Schrag refuses all assistance from lab technicians, and seemingly fails to record trial results or update the documentation of SCP-XXXX.
Test Authorization Request Form, Site 226
Secure. Contain. Protect.
| Issuer of request: | Dr. Arya Schrag |
| SCP object(s) requested: | SCP-XXXX |
| Resources required: | Access to Keter-reserved D-class |
| Potential risk level: | 2: Caution |
| Summary of proposed experiment: Subjects will be exposed to SCP-XXXX, and undergo XXXX-Alpha events. |
|
|
Reason for proposed experiment: Approved; the Keter researchers won't miss them for an hour. —Site Director Wakefield |
|
2022/11/11-2022/11/17: Dr. Schrag increases the pace of testing even further, to an average of 17.4 tests per day. Analysis of cafeteria records indicates that Dr. Schrag consumes only one meal in the week of 2022/11/13.
Test Authorization Request Form, Site 226
Secure. Contain. Protect.
| Issuer of request: | Dr. Arya Schrag |
| SCP object(s) requested: | SCP-XXXX |
| Resources required: | Access to janitorial D-class |
| Potential risk level: | 0: No risk |
| Summary of proposed experiment: Subjects will be exposed to her, and undergo XXXX-Alpha events. |
|
|
Reason for proposed experiment: Denied; wasn't it last week I gave you access to the Keter D-classes? I'm fairly certain we can afford to sit on testing this anomaly, which, I will remind you, is classified as Safe, until after the new shipment of testing D-class at Christmas. —Site Director Wakefield |
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2022/11/18: After submitting the request displayed as Exhibit F, Dr. Schrag proceeds to wander aimlessly through the hallways of Site 226, stopping neither to sleep nor eat. After its rejection, security camera footage depicts Dr. Schrag sprinting to her office in order to submit the request displayed as Exhibit G.
Test Authorization Request Form, Site 226
Secure. Contain. Protect.
| Issuer of request: | Arya |
| SCP object(s) requested: | SCP-XXXX |
| Resources required: | Exposure of Foundation personnel |
| Potential risk level: | 0: No risk |
| Summary of proposed experiment: Subjects will be exposed to her, and meet her in her realm. |
|
|
Reason for proposed experiment: Denied; Dr. Schrag, while I appreciate your commitment to the project, and to demonstrating SCP-XXXX's effectiveness, there is such a thing as too much enthusiasm. I'm placing a moratorium for testing on SCP-XXXX and ordering you to take a break.6 You know, this site needs more people like you. A fiery young woman who loves the science, is gonna get her work done, and won't take no for an answer. And with a smoking hot girlfriend to boot… —Site Director Wakefield |
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Test Authorization Request Form, Site 226
Secure. Contain. Protect.
| Issuer of request: | Me |
| SCP object(s) requested: | Her |
| Resources required: | People with newfangled identities |
| Potential risk level: | Beneficial |
| Summary of proposed experiment: Subjects will be exposed to her, and their newfangled identities will go away, like mine did. No more worrying about orientations. That would be a good thing that you would like and approve, right? RIGHT? |
|
| Reason for proposed experiment: | |
|
Tha barrachd a dhìth oirre NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN FLAGGED FOR MEMETIC CORRUPTION BY RAISA INTRANET MONITOR SILLUSTANI.AIC, INTERCEPTED IN TRANSIT, AND LOCALIZED TO ANTIMEMETIC STORAGE SERVER 1926-B2.7 |
|
Interview time: 2022/11/18, 09:28
Interviewed: Dr. Arya Schrag, Principal Investigator, Lab Zeta, Site 226 Safe Wing
Interviewer: Dr. Su-An Park, Staff Psychologist for Memetic Corruption, Site 226 Infirmary
Foreword: Dr. Schrag was automatically referred to MemCo ward after a RAISA AI flagged one of her messages for memetic influence. An initial battery of tests detected no transmissible memetic effects related to Dr. Schrag, so it was deemed safe to perform this interview in person. —Dr. Park
<Begin Log>
Park: Dr. Schrag, are you aware of why you're here?
[Dr. Schrag is visibly agitated.]
Schrag: Some hackneyed attempt to keep me from seeing her, I'll bet. It's been so long…
Park: When you say "her," are you referring to your partner? Would you prefer it if she were in the room for this interview?
Schrag: [visibly relieved] You want to meet her? You, you really do? Bring her here, bring her here right now!
[Dr. Park pages Prof. Hadley. While Prof. Hadley is in transit, Dr. Schrag paces erratically around the interview chamber. Prof. Hadley arrives 13 minutes and 22 seconds after being paged.]
Hadley: Ari? What—
Schrag: [to Park] NO, not this one! I said I wanted her, you said you wanted to meet her! You said—
[Dr. Schrag notices Prof. Hadley's shocked expression.]
Schrag: Em? Why are you here? What's going on, what's—
[Silence for 6 seconds.]
Schrag: Oh god, this is a MemCo ward isn't it? Oh god Em help me, it's in my brain it's in my brain it's in my braaaaaaaain…
[Dr. Schrag begins to sob uncontrollably and curls into the fetal position.]
Hadley: Excuse me, Dr.—
Park: Park.
Hadley: Dr. Park, could we have a moment alone? Ari's been under a lot of stress because of this conference at Site 333, and I've found when she's like this it's best if—
Park: Very well. I've seen enough. This interview is concluded.
<End Log>
Afterword: Analysis of interview: Dr. Schrag is clearly under the influence of a non-communicable memetic agent of unknown origin. Once I get access to her research notes I should be able to make a more complete diagnosis. In the meantime, it is critical she remain under confinement for her own safety. —Dr. Park
To: Site Director William Wakefield <pcs.622S|dleifekaWw#pcs.622S|dleifekaWw>
From: Staff Psychologist Su-An Park <pcs.622S|kraPas#pcs.622S|kraPas>
Subject: Psychologist's orders regarding Dr. Arya Schrag
Sent: 2022/11/18, 10:06
Director Wakefield,
Dr. Arya Schrag, Principal Investigator of Lab Zeta in the Safe Wing, was automatically referred to the Memetic Corruption ward this morning by a RAISA AI correspondence analyst. After completing my examination of Dr. Schrag, it is clear to me that she is under the influence of a non-contagious non-replicating memetic influence. Dr. Schrag demonstrated extreme emotional distress, a lack of awareness of her surroundings, and potential failure of non-working memory, as she requested her partner be summoned to the interview room only to express outrage and disbelief upon her arrival.
In light of my diagnosis, I request that Dr. Schrag be classified as suffering from Orange-level psychological imbalance and confined to quarters indefinitely until more diagnostic tests can be undertaken. I also request that I be granted unrestricted access to Dr. Schrag's research notes so that I can make a more specific diagnosis and develop a treatment plan.
Yours,
Dr. Su-An Park
SCP Foundation Site 226 Staff Psychologist
BA/MA '13, Psychology, [REDACTED] University
PhD '19, Memetotherapy, SCP Foundation Site 41
To: Staff Psychologist Su-An Park <pcs.622S|kraPas#pcs.622S|kraPas>
From: Site Director William Wakefield <pcs.622S|dleifekaWw#pcs.622S|dleifekaWw>
Subject: Re:Psychologist's orders regarding Dr. Arya Schrag
Sent: 2022/11/18, 10:39
Dr. Park, I don't believe we've ever had the chance to converse before! Please forgive me for this unpardonable offense, and allow me to be the first (or, perhaps more realistically, the last) to say welcome to Site 226! I have many fond memories of serving in Korea back in '02. Best barbecue I ever tasted…
But back to business. As regards your report, seems as though our lovebirds are having some trouble in paradise, eh? I hope your first impression of me won't be a negative one, but I've decided to deny your request. Pardon my mangling of idiom, but when you've got a hammer from 41, everything starts to look like a memetic nail. Even a cursory examination of Dr. Schrag's recent medical history reveals that she's been under a great deal of work-related stress due to an upcoming conference, and just a few hours ago she was asking me for authorization to conduct even more research!
Now, Dr. Park, which is more likely: A, there's an evil intelligence lurking in the Safe wing waiting to sink its claws into the first lesbian that comes along, or B, the droid at RAISA has an itchy trigger finger?8 It is my conclusion that Dr. Schrag has been working herself to the bone and needs a few days off, not that there is any memetic influence at work.
I agree that Dr. Schrag clearly needs to step back from research for a little while, but confinement to quarters and memetic analysis would add significantly to her stress rather than reducing it, wouldn't you say? Tell you what, I'll call Site 333 and tell them Dr. Schrag won't be able to speak at their conference,9 and give Dr. Schrag and her girlfriend four days of mandatory off-site vacation. Some time away from all of this should shake those peculiarities right out of her head.
I look forward to getting to know you over the course of your assignment here! Please, feel free to stop by my office anytime for a face-to-face introduction.
Sincerely,
Willam Wakefield, Director Site 226
To: Site Director William Wakefield <pcs.622S|dleifekaWw#pcs.622S|dleifekaWw>
From: Staff Psychologist Su-An Park <pcs.622S|kraPas#pcs.622S|kraPas>
Subject: Re:Psychologist's orders regarding Dr. Arya Schrag
Sent: 2022/11/18, 10:51
Director Wakefield,
I am shocked and appalled at your cavalier attitude regarding this matter, and find many of your comments objectionable at best and downright offensive at worst. In addition, I believe that you are directly putting the health of those under your authority at serious risk for no conceivable reason, and are therefore unfit to be Site Director at this time. In light of this, I have filed a formal complaint requesting your removal from office pending an investigation under Continuity Protocol Psi-62. Internal Communications at Site-01 informed me that I may expect a ruling by 1400 hours tomorrow.
If such gross negligence is currently the norm here at Site 226, I'm thankful I managed to observe and report it so early in my tenure. It is my sincere hope that we will meet face to face, in a hearing room, where competent individuals will hold you accountable for the inevitable consequences of the decisions you have just made.
2022/11/18, cont: Dr. Park intercepts Dr. Schrag and Prof. Hadley as they leave the facility for their off-site vacation, provides them with a dose of prescription-grade antimemetics, and advises them to prepare to return as early as 14:00 the next day. Dr. Schrag and Prof. Hadley depart for the nearby resort town of [REDACTED] at 11:22.
The following narrative of the events of Incident XXXX-01, labeled Exhibit K, is an unedited transcript of an account provided to Electrum.aic by Emily Hadley, Associate Professor of Renaissance Anart at the Site 226 School of Anart History, for the purpose of this investigation. As Prof. Hadley was the only Foundation personnel present during Incident XXXX-01, her testimony is the only source of information on these events, and the version of events herein described must therefore, unlike the remainder of this RAISA narrative, be regarded as potentially biased.
—Electrum.aic, Analyst, RAISA Bureau of Internal Investigations
My name is Emily Hadley, and I am currently an employee of the SCP Foundation, security clearance Level 2-226. I swear upon my honor as a Foundation employee that the following is a true accounting of the events in question, and that I have attempted to remove personal bias as much as possible from my narrative.
I suppose I should begin in that interview room. That's when I first learned that she— that Ari—
Can I call her Ari? This'll be easier if I can—
that Ari had been suffering. She'd been so busy feeding D-class to that— that thing—
I'm sorry. I'll begin again.
I was summoned to the Memetic Corruption ward, and I found Ari there having a mental breakdown. She'd had another one a few weeks prior, she claimed as a result of an upcoming deadline. At the time I assumed that this one was much the same, and she was in MemCo because of some clerical error. I mean, the memetic influences I'm used to force you to slice out your own liver with a carving knife, they don't just make you curl up in a ball and cry. Obviously I now recognize that this assessment was— was incorrect.
I managed to calm Ari down after the supervising psychologist left. Ari was telling me something, I hardly remember what, I've tried so hard to block this all out, something about how some woman was breathing down her neck about testing and how she needed me to go see this woman and make her see reason, when the guard came in and told us we were assigned effective immediately to a mandatory off-site vacation. Well my first thought was getting Ari out of the loony bin, so I promised her something to the effect of talking to this woman after we finished the vacation, in the hope she'd agree to go, and… I'll never forget it… Like someone flipped a lightswitch she was totally fine. Tears dried, sobs receding, excited to have a break from work by the seaside. I was so relieved I practically skipped to my quarters to pack our things.
That psychologist caught up to us and gave us anti-memetics on our way out to the parking lot, which makes her a saint in my book in hindsight. But at the time I barely noticed; tucked them in the glove compartment when I pulled out the GPS and didn't spare them another thought.
The rest of that day was like a romance novel. I wish I could tell you about all the things we did and said, I wish I were telling this story to our grandkids instead of some emotionless factfinder, I wish—
I wish the world had ended that night, that some monstrosity the O5 keep locked up in a thousand unbreakable boxes had torn a hole in reality and pulled us all through it, or an ancient evil from beyond the stars had gotten bored and reduced the planet to ashes with a single word, or hell even that all these useless politicians had actually properly started that nuclear apocalypse they're always so excited about. I wish I had never woken up the next morning, never walked out of that hotel room, never had to see—
After breakfast the next day, I suggested we go to the beach. She seemed excited about the idea, but also nervous in a way I couldn't quite place. I'd brought two swimsuits of mine but neither fit her, so we went to a shop nearby. We were walking in the door when she stopped dead, looking at a mannequin in the window wearing this little red thing. She started breathing heavy, and then started laughing and laughing and laughing, the kind of laugh my little sister did when she broke her leg falling out of her treehouse and couldn't think of anything else to do.
She walked right in and bought it. Had them pull it off the mannequin without even checking if it fit or if she could afford it. After that she was all in a tizzy; we had to rush back to the room so she could get changed, then hurry to the beach like hellhounds were snapping at our ankles. I barely had time to grab a towel, much less ask what was going on.
The beach was almost deserted; maybe two or three pensioners down at one end and a dog walker at the other, and no lifeguard on duty until July. She stood there looking out at the ocean and then she turned and looked at me and I knew something was wrong. She looked right through me and started talking about how much she'd missed me, how she'd finally found me, how nothing had been the same since I first called her and she was sorry she hadn't done enough and she loved me and wanted to be with me forever and it just went on and on and on until I tackled her to the ground and started screaming for help.
I knew you couldn't leave someone under memetic influence alone, but I also knew she needed those drugs in the car back at the hotel, and I also knew she had about four inches on me and there was no way I was gonna carry her there on my back. I don't even know how to administer antimemetics, for Christsake, I'm an art historian! That's all that was going through my head, as she tried to shove me off and get back on her feet, "I'm an art historian and I don't know what to do and my girlfriend is going to die and it's my fault."
No matter how much I screamed no one seemed to hear me. It was like it was the two of us totally alone, with nowhere to go except into the ocean. I can't describe it any other way; the buildings, the people, everything vanished until it was a ribbon of sand with the ocean behind it. I— I was so disoriented that Ari— she kissed me on the lips, and in the same motion kicked me square in the sternum and managed to stand up. Just like that, the buildings returned, maybe they were never even gone, but it didn't matter because it was too late. She took off running towards the water, and I was dazed and already half-knew what was happening, and I've never been a sprinter even under the best of circumstances, and—
Have you ever watched someone drown themselves, what'syourname, Electro? I'm sure your training data included all sorts of horrible things. The way their body tries to stay at the surface, as if every fibre of their being knows this is wrong, this is wrong, this is not supposed to happen but they keep stroking downwards, filling their lungs with water and pulling themselves into the riptide… and the smile on their face. Even after you've pulled them out and laid them on their side and squeezed all the water out of their lungs in the vague hope they'll wake up, that they can't be gone, that you're so sorry and it's your fault and their empty eyes just stare at you and the smile on their face… I can't— I can't go on I'm sorry— what's the thing, what's the—
The- the preceding narrative is as true to f- f- fact as possible. I submit myself to que-
[Professor Hadley breaks down sobbing. Her microphone is disabled automatically, and thus no content is recorded. After seven minutes and twenty-two seconds, Professor Hadley writes the following phrases on a scrap of paper and holds the scrap to Electrum.aic's primary visual sensor port.]
I submit myself to questioning at any time by the investigatory committee on the subject of this narrative and its events. This narrative is concluded.
2022/11/19:
At 11:16, Site 226 Internal Communications receives a message from Prof. Hadley regarding Dr. Schrag's death. Site 226 Internal Security are dispatched, and manage to recover Prof. Hadley and Dr. Schrag's body before local law enforcement become involved, with recovery taking place at 11:47. One potential witness who had approached Prof. Hadley upon witnessing her crying in the hotel parking lot while communicating with Site 226 is amnesticized and released.
BY ORDER OF THE OVERSEER COUNCIL
In response to Complaint 2022/11-13, William Wakefield, former Site Director of Site 226, is hereby demoted to B-class personnel and scheduled for immediate transfer to Site-01.
Dr. James Otavka, Medical Director of Site 226, is hereby promoted to Level 4 security clearance and named Interim Site Director of Site 226.
All non-essential activities, including but not limited to academic classes, experimentation, D-class termination, and off-site leaves, are to be temporarily cancelled pending review by Interim Site Director Otavka.
O5-11
Subsequent events in the aftermath of Incident XXXX-01 do not pertain to former Site Director Wakefield, and are thus omitted from this narrative. This narrative is concluded.
—Electrum.aic, Analyst, RAISA Bureau of Internal Investigations
THIS OFFICIAL VERDICT IS LEVEL 4 CLASSIFIED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH SITE-01 DECLASSIFICATION PROTOCOLS, THIS OFFICIAL VERDICT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO Level 2 PERSONNEL ON 2223/01/14.
SECURE. CONTAIN. PROTECT.
The documentation for SCP-XXXX is currently under edit-lock, with an indefinite expiration date. As a result, the following report has been appended to this collection, which contains the documentation of SCP-XXXX, so that the two may remain linked in internal filing systems.
— Chrysanthemum.aic, Assistant Database Clerk, RAISA Bureau of Records Management
Interview time: 2036/08/31, 13:00
Interviewed: David Mhlanga, PoI-2039210
Interviewer: Dr. Emily Hadley, Investigator, Independent Taskforce for the Investigation of the Origins of Safe SCP Objects
Foreword: Due to a clerical error, Foundation AI construct Electrum.aic was never ordered to stop gathering information pertaining to Incident XXXX-01, even after he was reassigned as a general-purpose Foundation web-crawler. On 2036/08/30, Electrum.aic reported that the artistic style of David Mhlanga, official wildlife photographer at the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary in Lobamba, Eswatini, was a 96.2% match for the aesthetic choices made in the shot composition of the photograph printed on SCP-XXXX. Based on this analysis, Mhlanga was given the designation PoI-20392. -Hadley
<Begin Log>
PoI-20392: I must say, I'm very flattered to have someone so interested in my work! I always assumed no one but the government commissioner was even reading the press releases—
Hadley: Actually, it's some of your earlier work that I'm interested in.
[Dr. Hadley places a high-fidelity scan of SCP-XXXX on the table. PoI-20392 visibly blanches.]
PoI-20392: Who are you, and what do you want?
Hadley: We're the ones who have this— thing locked up in a box, and we want information, and a lot of it, right now.
PoI-20392: Listen, listen, I'll tell you everything you want to know, as long as you get that thing out of my sight.
[After an eight second pause, Dr. Hadley moves the scan to her lap.]
Hadley: Start talking.
PoI-20392: I had hoped never to see that damn thing again… It just had to come back, didn't it?
PoI-20392: It all started when I got out of uni. I was sick of city living, sick of concrete backdrops, so I packed up everything and rented an apartment for dirt cheap in Lochinver. Contracted with a local slate quarry, bought a boatload of transfer gel, and started trekking up to the lochs every day with a wide-angle lens. The novelty of printing on stone meant I sold enough prints to eat and pay the water bill, and life was good.
PoI-20392: I remember meeting her like it was yesterday. She had that way, everything about her sticks in your brain, even if you wanna claw it out. She was just standing there by the lake edge, singing a song I didn't know in Scots, which I don't speak. Blond hair, about as tall as you. I said hello, and she said hello, and we got to talking, and next thing I knew we were the best of friends. And it seemed like she wanted us to be even more. Hell, if I hadn't just gotten over a breakup I probably would have jumped her bones right there on the lakeshore that very first day. We talked for hours, and then every day after that, same place, same time.
PoI-20392: She never said where she came from, and she had a few oddities, like thinking my cell phone was a radio, but I knew better than to ask questions and risk driving her away. People who live in the highlands are generally a bit mad, and she was no exception. She kept insisting I go for a swim, even started showing up in that red swimsuit. When I asked about it she pointed out that I kept suggesting she come off the highlands into town, and so I left it at that.
PoI-20392: Course, only reason I hadn't swandived in the loch the very first time she asked is cause I'm deathly afraid of drowning. Always have been, long as I can remember. Still can't swim. I remember the look on her face when I told her, maybe two weeks after we first met. Such— such fury, and then gone in an instant. Started talking fast, switched to Scots, then jumped to her feet and asked me to take her photo as consolation. Well, I wasn't exactly going to say no, that's what I do, so I got out the tripod, set it all up, gave her my sunglasses, had her pose, and then— clicked the shutter.
PoI-20392: I don't know how to describe what happened then. Because what ended up on the film was most certainly not what was in front of the camera's lens. The sand was too black, the sky was too gray, and she— well she wasn't in the photo at all. That thing you have on your printout was.
PoI-20392: And my head… I barely noticed that she had disappeared because there was a voice in my head screaming at me to print the photo. I hardly stopped for breath until I made it to my apartment, as if— whatever that monstrosity is was chasing me down. I've never printed a photo so quickly, threw it on the first scrap I could get my hands on, and then as soon as the transfer set the voice was gone.
PoI-20392: I didn't even stop to peel off the transfer paper. As soon as the screaming was out of my brain I threw some clothes and my Swazi passport in my camera bag and walked to the bus station. All I could think to do was get away, get away, get away… I thought the other side of the globe would be enough but now here you are, carrying that, that—
PoI-20392: How can you have it just sitting there in your lap, anyway? Are you like her? Are— are you like her, are you going to—
Hadley: We're not like her, we're as human as you.
[PoI-20392 relaxes slightly, but is visibly on edge.]
Hadley: I appreciate your testimony, it's answered a lot of my questions. But I don't understand what you mean about this photograph. I only see the woman you were describing.
[Dr. Hadley places the scan back on the table. PoI-20392 recoils.]
PoI-20392: You mean, you mean you can't see it? Well consider yourself lucky. Now, I've told you everything I know. Keep your end of the bargain and get that paper away from me.
Hadley: One moment. I have an idea. You're clearly the quite the photographer. Do you draw too?
PoI-20392: I… I dabble…
Hadley: Since you seem to be the only one who can see— whatever it is, why not make a sketch of it for the rest of us?
PoI-20392: No, no, absolutely not. I gave up my whole life to get away from this thing, why would I stare at it for hours for your benefit? I don't even know who you are!
Hadley: I told you, we're the ones who have this thing locked up! For all I know, it's trying to escape at this very moment! Please, Mr. Mhlanga, we need all the help we can get. You may have unleashed this thing, but we're the only ones who have a chance of stopping it.
[Silence for 9 seconds.]
Hadley: Mr. Mhlanga, this thing killed my girlfriend. She drowned herself in front of me because it told her to. If you think I'm going to walk out of this room without every scrap of information I can wring out of the man who created it you are sorely mistaken.
PoI-20392: Fine, I'll do it. But only if you take it out of my hands, walk out the door, and Never. Make me think about it. Again.
Hadley: Agreed.
<End Log>
Afterword: I'm not sure what I expected, really; a cackling mastermind, a mumbling madman with too many teeth, a big magic button with "bring her back" in red lettering. But now all I've got to show for 12 years of looking is 8 years of paychecks and no leads. I'm tempted to throw him in confinement in case he's lying, but I know that look he had in his eyes: it's the same one Ari did, right before…
Enough of this. He doesn't know anything else, and I know more than I did before. I'm removing his PoI status and starting lessons in Scots Gaelic. I can't bring her back, but I can sure as hell nail this goddamn horse to the ceiling in her memory. How's that for a solemn promise? —Hadley
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