SCP-XXXX instances in rural ██████ prior to containment.
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Mobile Task Force-Sigma 9, "The Grave Diggers" are to search for and investigate manifestations of SCP-XXXX as they appear. Instances are generally non-hostile, and will cooperate with MTF Operatives if approached diplomatically. If SCP-XXXX instances respond to MTF Operatives with hostility, non-lethal weaponry is to be used to disarm and subdue instances for retrieval. Bystanders who witness SCP-XXXX are to be administered Class A amnestics if no plausible cover story can be presented in order to prevent military organizations from confronting instances.
After retrieval, SCP-XXXX instances are to be contained in standard humanoid containment cell for one person. All military equipment and armament are to be surrendered, and fatigues replaced with standard humanoid jumpsuits. Ensure that the same biological needs as a non-anomalous human are fulfilled.
Instances of SCP-XXXX are to be contained without line-of-sight to another SCP-XXXX entity to prevent communication. Communication between entities is only permitted when translation is necessary. Cells are to be equipped with a touch pad on a closed operating system fastened into a wall of the cell to facilitate communication.
MTF-XXXX is currently conducting ongoing historical research and archaeological excavations to recover remains belonging to individuals corresponding to SCP-XXXX instances. Operatives are also tasked with obtaining remains that are held in private collections and museums. A Foundation published forensic archaeology journal, "Shovels, Cadavers, and Pickaxes", has been created to limit the need for amnestics, and place operatives in contact with academics outside the Foundation.
Information regarding an individual corresponding to a manifestation of SCP-XXXX is not to be provided unless approved by a Level 3 researcher.
Description: SCP-XXXX individuals correspond directly to an unknown soldier that was killed-in-action without having their remains recovered nor properly buried. SCP-XXXX will persist indefinitely until their remains are self-identified by the entity and receive the funeral rites typical of the culture of the "deceased". After the funeral is complete with the remains laid to rest, SCP-XXXX will [REDACTED] rapidly until all traces of SCP-XXXX and anything on their person disappear. Despite the physical intensity of the so-called "Redire"-event, SCP-XXXX express no indication of physical pain. Instead, this event appears to be emotionally euphoric or cathartic for the entity. The cause of this event is poorly understood. Wireless cameras have been attached to SCP-XXXX to transmit a remote video feed during the event, yet no signal can be received after crossing the event horizon.
SCP-XXXX individuals all search for their deceased's remains out of a desire to complete the funeral. Their psychological state can vary greatly, which influences their search and retrieval efforts. SCP-XXXX instances manifest through unknown means at ongoing battlefields and conflict sites around the world. However, it is speculated that their manifestation could be inversely related to the aforementioned Redire event. Entities often travel in small groups of ten instances or less. However, some have emerged in groups of ██ or more. They can emerge long after the deceased's death. Cases where SCP-XXXX appear up to [REDACTED] after the deceased have been identified.
Skeletal remains presented to SCP-XXXX-25 for confirmation.
DNA testing confirms that instances are biologically identical to the deceased individual they represent. SCP-XXXX do not age, and remain at the age their person was at the moment of death. Entities are found wearing military equipment dating from the late 1940s to mid 1950s, regardless of the era the deceased was originally from. Serial numbers found on equipment do not correspond to available manufacturer records. No SCP-XXXX instances have been observed operating vehicles, machinery, or their own military installations.
SCP-XXXX do not speak. It is unknown if they are capable of speaking or choose not to. They can communicate with each other through a yet to be deciphered sign language that is exclusively used by them. SCP-XXXX, however, can understand the languages known by their deceased's, and have communicated with Foundation personnel through writing. Attempts to have the sign language translated through writing have been refused by the entities. SCP-XXXX that are not familiar with any known language have been allowed access to another SCP-XXXX instance to translate any messages to personnel into a known language.
The entities possess no memory or knowledge of their deceased's life other than the ability to immediately identify the deceased's remains with 100% accuracy. SCP-XXXX instances react with extreme variation to information about their deceased's life which has been observed to obstruct special containment procedures. Because of this inconsistency, all information obtained about any SCP-XXXX deceased are to be withheld from the entity unless it is deemed essential to the recovery of their remains by a Level 3 researcher.
Foreward: Second Lieutenant Davis and Junior Researcher Westmeyer are interrogating SCP-XXXX-21 over its involvement in a mass-containment breach attempt orchestrated by itself and several other SCP-XXXX instances. Security Officer ██████ received minor injuries when three instances of SCP-XXXX assaulted him as he tried to break up a faux-fight between two instances in their cell. Four entities were injured in the ensuing struggle, two of them by taser gun. Security reinforcements arrived in less than twenty seconds and reestablished containment without incident. SCP-XXXX-21 was later identified through security footage as one of the nine suspected conspirators. It was provided a small whiteboard and dry-erase marker to write its responses.
<Begin Log>
Second Lieutenant Davis: I have to say, hearing the news was pretty surprising. Usually something has to be more scary than your lot to get the jump on us. Admittedly, we didn't consider the risk of SCP-XXXX objects using sign language to organize something like this.
Junior Researcher Westmeyer: We did, Lieutenant. You assured us that security would not be affected.
Davis: And it wasn't. Your friends did technically didn't breach containment, 21. The Officer made sure none of you ever left the cell.
SCP-XXXX-1-21: So why am I here?
Davis: We realized there was more going on here after reviewing the CCTV footage. We don't know your sign language, but we've been studying its patterns and noticed a flurry of conversation between cells within line-of-sight. The use of glass reflections to achieve more visible angles was quite clever; military training indeed.
Junior Researcher Westmeyer: Technically they haven't undergone any training.
Davis: Right. Anyway, business time. Two of your co-conspirators already talked. At this point we just want to hear multiple stories to make sure our facts line up.
21: Prisoners Dilemma?
Davis: Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. We're only here to contain you. We can't punish you more than we already have just by having you in here.
21: You already have.
Davis: Sure. I guess moving all of you to solitary cells would qualify.
21: I don't mean that.
Davis: What then?
21: We don't want freedom. We want it to end.
Westmeyer: Elaborate, please.
21: It would be easier for both of us if you let me go.
Davis: Come on. You know we can't do that.
21: I don't mean leaving this facility.
Westmeyer: Termination is unreliable against SCP-XXXX. There is a high probability we would have to re-contain you. Even if we fulfilled euthanasia requests, it simply is not a possibility.
21: I know that.
Davis: Then what the hell do you want?
21: Finish our mission, and send us home.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Following the conclusion of the investigation, special containment procedures were modified accordingly, which included the creation of MTF-XXXX. Since the revised procedures, no SCP-XXXX in containment have taken hostile action against Foundation staff.
Interviewed: [SPC-XXXX-43]
Interviewer: [Junior Researcher Anderson]
Foreword: Interview conducted to obtain information from the object to aid MTF-XXXX in fulfilling special containment procedures. Junior Researcher Anderson has a container full of skeletal remains, as well as artifacts, and is presenting them to the instance for identification. SCP-XXXX-43 does not understand a known language. SCP-XXXX-13 has been approved to serve as an interpreter due to consistently cooperative behavior.
<Begin Log>
Junior Researcher Anderson: SCP-XXXX-43, please raise a thumb up if you recognize these remains.
SCP-XXXX-43: Understood
Junior Researcher Anderson presents various remains recovered from an excavation site in █████████████ to the object. SCP-XXXX-43 fails to recognize the twelve samples presented.
Anderson: Alright, well it appears that we might need to look somewhere else.
43: Fret not, I can wait.
Anderson: If only the rest shared your patience.
43: With all due respect, I know your people often mistake that we all hold the same beliefs, but I'm in no rush to leave this world, even though you've stopped me from seeing it.
Anderson: If you're that's the case, then why did you petition us to be moved to the top of the search list? You made it sound like you were about to become unstable. We could have had our teams work on those of you that don't hail from a dead civilization.
43: Oh I will certainly need to go eventually, however I too am searching for answers.
Anderson: Explain yourself.
43: Nobody here looks like me. I am the sole speaker of my tongue. You say that the place I came from-
Anderson: You're not from there.
43: Apologies; where my original came from. You say it no longer exists. You imprison us simply for living. All I want is an explanation.
Anderson: And you think something like the crap I just showed you would explain everything?
43: It will tell me enough.
Closing Statement: To preserve Foundation resources and expedite the archaeological surveys of other SCP-XXXX, SCP-XXXX-43 was reclassified as a lower priority search. He remains in containment as of current date.
New Evidence for Rushed Burials on the Battlefield during the Hundred Years War
…Because of the intensity of the defensive barrage of arrows from the keep, Edward III ordered that no attempts be made to retrieve the bodies of the slain members of the assault until after the siege. This resulted in many bodies left to decompose in the open. Although most were eventually recovered, fragments were often left behind and eventually buried through natural processes.
This historical account is further reinforced by our own archaeological findings at Bastille St. Leon. Bone fragments belonging to the Clavicle of an unknown individual were found in situ at a significantly higher level of strata (Level 2) than that of the official burial site located approximately three hundred and fifty meters away (Level 5). Through use-wear-analysis, we were able to determine that these fragments were created when the individual suffered blunt force trauma (such as from a large stone dropped from the battlements by the defenders). We were able to match these fragments with an individual at the mass-grave excavation site and reunited the remains after collecting our data.
As per the request of a local priest, funeral rites were administered over the mass-grave sites upon the conclusion of our excavation before back-filling.
Addendum: When the rights were complete, MTF-XXXX received confirmation that the corresponding instance of SCP-XXXX successfully underwent a Redire-event in its cell.
Doctor Matsuda,
Our excavation at the Garwolin site, along with historical records we have uncovered, and the interview with ████████ have confirmed that the remains we found do indeed belong to the entity's deceased. However, I would like to hear your opinion on the following before we proceed with the burial.
Throughout our investigation, we discovered that the remains are of SS-Hauptscharführer Niklas Herbst. Herbst participated in multiple massacres of civilians, and helped deport many more to concentration camps. Eventually, Polish Partisans executed him along with the rest of his unit, and scattered the remains across multiple unmarked graves.
Members of my team have discussed this thoroughly with me, and we feel uncomfortable with giving Herbst an honor he does not deserve. We certainly do not want to conduct a damn SS burial either. Giving that thing in cell █ the satisfaction of the Redire-event has absolutely zero appeal to us.
My team and I would like to request that we simply drop this case. You can take the Foundation expenses out of our paychecks if you have to. Yes, this would violate current containment procedures, but come on, it's not like we can't just tell it the usual "we're working on it" and move on. There's another ███ or so that we've been stringing along for years because their remains are simply impossible to locate for some reason or another. Let's just do the same with this one.
Sincerely,
Doctor Drake
MTF-XXXX
Doctor Drake,
I appreciate your honesty. However, I have no choice but to deny your request. The procedure is a necessary component of containment. As you know all too well, instances of SCP-XXXX have been emerging at a rapidly increasing rate. We are going to see more forgotten Nazis, along with an endless stream of other war criminals and butchers of men throughout history. There are already so many deceased we will never find. We simply can not afford it. As of now, this is the only way to control their numbers.
If morality is still a concern, remember who we are. Remember our organization isn't so innocent either. Remember that SCP-XXXX-█ was dropped into the world with nothing but a desire to have someone that he knows nothing about, other than their shared appearance, laid to rest.
Out of my respect for you and your team, I can arrange to have someone else handle the burial. You're welcome to forward this to the Ethics Committee if you have any concerns.
Sincerely,
Doctor Matsuda,
Senior Researcher
Per 
