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Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Personnel affected by SCP-XXXX are to be given partial reprieve from their duties and required to attend private lessons in French, mathematics, or other subjects as necessary. Interactions with SCP-XXXX-1 are to be reported and transcribed immediately after they occur.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a perceptual anomaly causing affected subjects to experience repeated audio-visual hallucinations. Each hallucination is accompanied by slightly elevated Humean levels (1.3-5.1 mH), suggesting a small but material level of reality modification. The Foundation currently has no available means to observe these hallucinations directly and relies on self-reports. As of January 1st, 2019, 1,042 persons are affected by SCP-XXXX, with an additional 643 cases where the anomaly has been deemed contained.

Reports indicate that the hallucinations take on the form of a former high school teacher of the subject, thereafter SCP-XXXX-1. Upon manifestation, SCP-XXXX-1 proceeds to confront the subject, citing loss of of ability in the relevant field since high school days as a cause of concern, and insisting on a resumption of study.

The following interaction was reported by Dr. Anton Gonzales on 5/2/2016.

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Shameful! Disgrace! My hard work has turned to nothing. How many years were you in my class, Antoine? Three? Four?

Dr. Gonzales: I take it you believe you are Jacques Moreau, my 9th grade French teacher?

SCP-XXXX-1: En Francais, s’il vous plait, en francais.

Dr. Gonzales: I’m having a hard time taking your request seriously.

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] You will find me the most cooperative man in the world, if only you ask the questions properly.

Dr. Gonzales: Jesus Christ. Fine. [French] You thinking Jacques Moreau really are?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] But of course. Who else would I be?

Dr. Gonzales: [French] OK. What grade I get class yours?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] A solid B each semester, if I do recall. Well — except for that one time, remember? You had giant crush on Ms. Reed all freshman year, which I'm almost certain you did nothing about, and when she moved away you were inconsolable. I had to give you a C- to get your parents to knock some sense into you.

Dr. Gonzales: Hmph. Whether you are Mr. Moreau or not, you sure know a lot about my high school life.

(Pause)

Dr. Gonzales: Oh, all right. [French] Maybe Moreau are you.

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Perhaps I'm not literally him. Eh, I know Jacques is long dead. But I am a spark of him.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] Spark? What mean?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Hmm. A lot of him is preserved in me.

(Pause)

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] He was born in the States, you know. That was a secret he kept from you boys, he wanted you to think of him as French through and through. He never spent more than a summer there. He loved France in the way only a foreigner could, loved everything about it, from the way the words roll of the tongue, to the imposing boulevards and the narrow alleyways, to foie gras and cassoulet and what have you.

(Pause)

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] As do I. As do I. And you’ve forgotten your conjugations, monsieur. One says X, not Y. Mon dieu, there is much work ahead of us.

All personnel affected by SCP-XXXX were present at Site 23 on 2/2/2016. On that day, testing of a new design for a reality anchor commenced on-site, resulting in ██████████████████████
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███████████████████████████████████████████████. While this unexpected outcome gave rise to the anomaly, it improved the Foundation's understanding of Humean dynamics and led to new experimental guidelines designed to rule out similar "side effects" in the future.

The following interaction was reported by Dr. Anton Gonzales on 6/9/2016.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] You decide haunt me how?

SCP-XXXX-1: Pardon?

Dr. Gonzales: Ugh. I just don’t…[French] How you appear front me?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] I don’t decide when to appear, if that is what you are asking. One moment, we sit here comfortably, chattering pleasantly away — and then it all swirls away in a maze of colors and I am somewhere else.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] Am I only one you haunt?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Yes. Do you think it might be because no one else had forgotten quite as much French as you have?

Dr. Gonzales: [French] Demanding job here Foundation.

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Bah! Excuses! I do not wish to hear them. Practice, monsieur, practice!

Over 90% of manifestations take on the form of mathematics and French teachers, with geography coming third with a 3% frequency. Self-reports suggest that French teachers tend to exhibit the most aggressive behavior in terms of confronting and cajoling the subjects. The median manifestation frequency is 1.7 times per week; however, this number decreases as the subject’s competency in the relevant field grows.

The following interaction was reported by Dr. Anton Gonzales on 11/29/2016.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] What happens as my French keeps improving?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] X, not Y. I imagine our tete-a-tetes will stop.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] And what will happen to you?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] How shall I put this? The universe that has willed me into existence will take me back into its bosom.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] I see. Do you find the prospect of that a little scary?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Not really. I suppose I should.

(Pause)

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Jacques Moreau might have. But I find the thought of it all rather peaceful.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] Really?

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] My life has a purpose, you know. I feel rather fortunate, at least compared to the poor sods who spend most of their time in this world trying to work out why they’re here. And as long as you pronounce “really” so atrociously, that purpose remains.

(Pause)

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] But when the purpose is complete? When there is nothing left for me to do? I think I would enjoy a state of non-being. It sounds restful.

Dr. Gonzales: [French] Well — you know, I ask because my French is getting better.

SCP-XXXX-1: [French] Yes, I can see that. Bravo, Antoine, bravo!

Dr. Gonzales’ final interaction with SCP-XXXX-1 occurred on 4/5/2017. Dr. Gonzales began attending a regular French conversation group several weeks thereafter, which is likely the reason he has not experienced any further manifestations of SCP-XXXX-1. His anomaly was deemed contained on 4/6/2018.