Item #: SCP-3423
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3423 is currently uncontained. 15 150 separate Foundation web crawlers have been deployed throughout the internet, which mark all confirmed cases of SCP-3423. Once an SCP-3423 instance has been confirmed, MTF Kappa-10 ("Skynet") are to remove the image from the site via Class-C Administrator Override String.
All casualties caused by SCP-3423 are to be explained under Cover Story Delta-Ask ("Unrelated Heart Attack"). All references and/or rumors regarding SCP-3423 that have been flagged are also to be removed by MTF Kappa-10.
A single SCP-3423 instance is to be stored within Site-551's Information Wing, on a computer terminal within Room-81. Access to this SCP-3423 instance is only accessible to level 4 personnel, and is to only be viewed by D-Class Personnel.
Description: SCP-3423 is a memetic kill agent, accidentally created by the internet user █████████ on 29/3/2016. SCP-3423 was created during a live recording on the website Twitch, dedicated to the user drawing artwork, and answering questions from the audience. █████████ was attempting to draw a piece of abstract artwork, and accidentally created a memetic kill agent while creating the piece. It was determined that any pixel deviations exceeding █ pixels would have nullified SCP-3423's effects. █████████ expired shortly after, and approximately 1400 deaths were linked by SCP-3423's initial creation.
SCP-3423 is a Rosetta-37 Type Memetic Kill Agent. Its effects are instant, and cause cardiac arrest in viewers. SCP-3423 has been observed to also affect other primates, but the effects are dampened and/or altered. For example, chimpanzees exposed to SCP-3423 expire after 12 hours, while several species of monkey suffer from brain hemorrhage, and expire after 2 hours.
SCP-3423 has since been planted throughout the internet by other users, under the guise of links to relevant news articles, images, or other pieces of media. Users use websites such as Tinyurl in order to hide the source of the image, so that users will access the link, and be exposed to SCP-3423. The current number of links that contain SCP-3423 is unknown (See addendum-2.)
Interview Log: 3423-KAPPA
INTERVIEW LOG
Interviewed: Jayson Asuncion, █████████'s brother.
Interviewer: Doctor Westrin.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Westrin: Greetings Mr. Asuncion. How are you feeling today?
Jayson: I'm doing alright.
Dr. Westrin: That's good. Now, do you mind if I ask you some questions?
Jayson: That's fine by me.
Dr. Westrin: Okay. Do you remember when ███ created the image?
Jayson: Yeah. She was doing one of her art streams, getting requests for stuff, you know, the norm, and she got a request for a piece of abstract art, and they asked to "surprise them." So she was drawing it, and halfway through its creation, I heard a loud thump upstairs. I rushed upstairs, and I saw her dead on the floor. I, uh, didn't look at the computer screen. I was too scared and freaked out about my sister dying than anything else.
Dr. Westrin: I see. How were you not exposed to the kill agent?
Jayson: Well, I don't really remember, but I think when I was rushing around trying to get to a phone to call 911, I tripped over the computers power cord, shutting it off.
Dr. Westrin: Hm. So you didn't know what killed her at the time?
Jayson: No.
Dr. Westrin: What did you do after you called emergency services?
Jayson: I tried to turn the computer back on, not knowing that I unplugged it. To be honest with you, I'm really lucky I did, because ███'s art program starts up whenever you turn on the computer with the last saved piece you do, and I would have looked at the… image if I did turn it on, if that makes any sense.
Dr. Westrin: I see. Well, the interview is almost over, do you have anything else to say before we wrap up?
Jayson: Yeah. Can you find a way to not have that image on the internet. Like, can you destroy it? I don't want anyone else to have their life taken away from them with a blink of an eye.
Dr. Westrin: I will see what I can do.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Jayson Asuncion was administered Class B Amnestics, and memories regarding █████████ suffering from cardiac arrest non-anomalously was implanted.
Addendum-1: SCP-3423 Timeline
Day 0: SCP-3423 is created. 1400 deaths are caused by its inception.
Day 1: Twitch turns off the live recording that held SCP-3423. 300 more deaths are caused before this occurs.
Day 2: A small group of internet users obtain SCP-3423 through unknown means. 15 more deaths occur because of this.
Day 3: News outlets notice these spontaneous deaths, and a rumor regarding an image that kills anyone who looks at it is spread.
Day 4: A corpse is found within a household in ██████, Kansas near a computer, with SCP-3423 on the screen. 3 police officers are killed by SCP-3423 before the computer is destroyed by gunfire. The Foundation is alerted to this, and containment protocols for SCP-3423 are established.
Day 5: 250 separate instances of SCP-3423 are flagged by Foundation webcrawlers, and removed.
Day 6: Extremely popular YouTube user █████████ puts SCP-3423 on one of their videos, causing approximately 400,000 deaths worldwide before the video was removed by MTF Kappa-10. SCP-3423's object class upgraded to Keter.
[EXTRANEOUS INFORMATION REDACTED]
Day 13: Containment protocols updated. SCP-3423 uncontained instances reduced by 65%.
Day 14: Sub-Project Unnei is launched, for the purpose of removing/amnesticizing all references of SCP-3423 from the internet, and all internet memes surrounding it. It is preformed at 70% efficiency.
[EXTRANEOUS INFORMATION REDACTED]
Day 28: SCP-3423 image discovered within a board on 4chan. 30 deaths are reported. It is currently theorized that numerous copies of the image still remain on the internet.
Addendum-2:
To: Containment Director Jessica Shirly, SCP-3423 containment specalist.
From: Site Director Noah Madden, Site-551
To Jessica,
I have new data regarding SCP-3423 and its presence on the internet. MTF Kappa-10 ran a battery of tests and observations using special webcrawlers, and have made this hypothesis:
It is theorized that there are a total of 2,500,000 links on the internet that lead to SCP-3423. Yes, 2.5 million, not a typo. The data says:
- 1,350,000 on the entirety of Reddit
- 650,000 on the entirety of Facebook
- 100,000 on the entirety of Twitter
- 15,000 from the comments on Youtube videos
- 380,000 spread across other sites.
Granted, this is better than the 10 million when SCP-3423 was most popular before the mass wipe, but it's still ridiculous. By my current calculations, SCP-3423 will reach 50 million in 5 years if we don't do something. If it does, it might "leak" outside of the internet, and into the general public.
This is my formal order for a mass operation of the total neutralization of SCP-3423 by any means possible. The veil is expendable in this situation. Do what you need to do.
Noah
Addendum-3: SCP-3423
WARNING
The following file contains a memetic kill agent that hasn't been altered for safe viewing. This file should only be viewed by D-Class Personnel, or personnel that are deemed lost.
You have been warned
Instructions for D-Class Personnel:
1: Make sure there aren't any other people around you.
2: Make sure you aren't thinking of any other thoughts
3: Look to the right of the screen.
Note from Dr. Albert: I was sending a D-Class over here to look at 3423 for testing, but the image appears to be broken. When I looked, it appears the file was removed from the page entirely. What's going on?
Note from Dr. Westrin: Strange. Apparently the file was removed from the page, and a new file was replaced in its stead. It's titled "SCP_3423_updated.jpg" and it's found in the "files" section of the page. I'm not taking any chances and opening it, of course. I'm going to have Kappa-10 look into it as soon as possible. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.