Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: I/O INDIGO ILLOGIC is to monitor police records and online sources for possible SCP-XXXX manifestations. Occurrences of SCP-XXXX are to be documented, and victims, if alive, are to be amnesticized and released, following mnestic therapy and debriefing. Expired victims of SCP-XXXX are to be held in Site-196's morgue. Locations affected by SCP-XXXX are to be contained on an individual basis.
Description: SCP-XXXX is a poorly-understood self-hostile psychokinetic phenomenon affecting members of the species Homo sapiens. SCP-XXXX is propagated by a perversion in logical reasoning associated with the fight-or-flight response, generally triggered through a specific activation of the amygdala, resulting in fear. Manifestations of SCP-XXXX vary; approximately 85% of victims of SCP-XXXX generally experience total brain death within ~15-30 minutes after exposure, while 100% of individuals experience various deleterious ontokinetic effects on themselves and their immediate surroundings.
SCP-XXXX occurrences are sporadic and extremely rare; to date, a total of 32 confirmed cases have been reported. Conditions for manifestation are specific and vary from victim to victim, however, a few common circumstances have been noted across all documented cases:
- The victim is in a relatively dark environment (<2 lumens per m2);
- The victim is or believes they are alone (~30m away from any other human person);
- The victim and their immediate surroundings are concealed from the view of any other human person;
- The victim is scared.1
As of writing, no documented manifestation of SCP-XXXX has been observed while occurring.
Addendum XXXX-1: Instance Logs
Instance #: XXXX-1
Victim: Ms. Anabelle Travitz, 62, resident of Brooktown, North Carolina. Single woman, with no surviving family. Medical records indicate a clinical diagnosis of both depression and STSP2 autophobia.
Description: Victim found deceased in their place of residence, within the lower floor bathroom in a fetal position. Within the victim's right hand is a burnt-out candle, still smoking at the time of discovery. The victim's grip on the candle is vice-like and nearly impossible to loosen. A thick, black liquid leaks out of the toilet and sink, pooling in a large, round puddle on the floor. Bile pools out from the victim’s mouth. An expression of terror was found permanently etched across the victim's face.
The interior of the home is entirely silent.
Pictures framed on the walls of the bathroom are scorched and burnt, obscuring the faces of their inhabitants. The thermostat in the room is nonfunctional, rendering the interior extremely cold. Frost builds on the side of the sink, and an icicle of frozen saliva drips off the corner of the victim's mouth. A large crack runs down the length of the bathroom mirror, splitting unevenly in two. Individuals who look at themselves in the mirror will find that their reflection does not meet their eyes, while some report an absence of a face altogether.
Furthermore, agents noted structural dissimilarities between the house and its original floorplan; namely, there exists a ~3m by ~3m by ~3m crawlspace extending around the bathroom, terminating at the door. There exists no method of access to the crawlspace, save for the removal of a side bathroom wall. The crawlspace is entirely empty. The original window leading into the bathroom also appears to have been sealed over with drywall. All the lightbulbs in the house are burnt out.
Victim found deceased; likely 3-4 days after time of death, based on decomposition patterns. Stored in Site-196 MU-117.
Instance #: XXXX-8
Victim: Mr. Frederick Haney, 37, resident of South Fork, Wyoming. Shares residence with his wife (Ms. Charlotte Haney) and two children (Carson and Jason Haney). Medical records indicate a diagnosis of type II diabetes, otherwise, no medical abnormalities were noted.
Description: Victim found deceased in their place of residence, lying face down within the basement stairwell. The victim's face was found embedded within the bottom step. Autopsy results indicate multiple fragments of wood and carpet embedded with the victim's forehead and cerebrum, replacing gray matter. Autopsy performed in situ, as removal of the victim from the location of discovery proved difficult, due to the fragments of wood in the victim’s head still being connected with the lower step. A knife wound was found in the victim’s back, extending through their heart and down their spine. The cause of expiration was found to be sudden brain death.
The victim was found holding a mobile phone in their left hand, with an extremely strong grip. The phone’s screen is partially shattered, however, it continues to ring with a call from an unknown number. The call has been traced to the phone of the victim’s significant other, however, call records reveal that Ms. Haney never called the victim at that time. The call cannot be dismissed, and the phone continues to vibrate even when powered off.
Interrogation of Ms. Haney and the victim’s two children reveals that they had left after a brief but violent confrontation with the victim; Ms. Haney had packed clothes and belongings for herself and their children and stayed at a motel for the night. SCP-XXXX apparently occurred late that evening, after Ms. Haney and the children had departed.
Exploration of the house reveals that the children’s shared bedroom was almost entirely stripped of its contents; this is believed to have occurred during the SCP-XXXX manifestation. The contents of the room have not been located. All that remains in the room is a small, burnt-out candle, and a faint smell of cigarette smoke. The victim’s bed was found charred and burned, however, none of the carpet nor any of its surroundings were affected.
All the glass objects and silverware were found shattered. All the windows and exits in the home were locked. Chairs and furniture were placed over the doors, likely by the victim. The upstairs bathroom of the house was found missing.
Victim found deceased; likely less than 24 hours after death. Stored in Site-196 MU-362.
Instance #: XXXX-17
Victim: Mr. Jacob Chavez, 45, resident of St. Adrian, Wales. Single male, no surviving family. No medical abnormalities, however, family records show a high incidence of Alzheimer's disease, particularly at a young age.
Description: Victim found deceased in an upper floor bedroom, lying face down on the bed. A large amount of thick, black fluid leaks through the hallway, pooling at the foot of the victim’s bed. Cigarette burns litter the sheets, as darkness shrouds the room. A shattered bottle of whiskey lies on the floor by the bed, soaking the carpet in amber liquid.
Analysis of the body reveals the lack of both hands and feet, each severed off cleanly at the bone. Lost appendages were found days later, abandoned in a stream ~2km from the victim's place of residence. The victim's face is mangled beyond recognition, with both eyes and teeth removed. The eyes were found embedded within the south-facing wall of the house. The teeth were not located. A melted candle was found inside the victim's mouth, pooling wax down the victim's throat. The victim was identified via DNA records.
The doors and windows of the house were not found. The brick facade surrounding where the door once stood was found cleanly extended across the doorframe. The windows and air vents were found to be covered in a similar fashion. Carbon monoxide levels within the home were found to be dangerously high. At the time of discovery, the smoke alarms filled the house with the sound of incessant beeping. They have since been deactivated.
Victim found deceased; likely 2-3 weeks after death, based on decomposition patterns. Stored in Site-196 MU-269.
Instance #: XXXX-24
Victim: Dr. Gordon Woodward, 52, Foundation employee at Site-39. Wife (Mary Woodward) does not share a residence with the victim, as per Foundation guidelines. Diagnosed with PTSD3 following a containment breach in 2012.
Description: Victim found deceased in their private dormitory suite, seated at a desk. Interior of the room is completely dark, as the space appears to absorb all light entering it. Tactile analysis of the space reveals the presence of hundreds of small sheets of office paper littering the room and the victim’s body. Each page is covered in unintelligible scribbles, produced in ballpoint pen.
Autopsy of the victim reveals the presence of a number of burns, both on the inside and the outside of the body. Scribbles, similar to those of the paper, cover the dermis. The victim's face is stretched in a look of pain.
Investigation of the dormitory suite uncovered a number of inconsistencies with the Site-39 dormitory floor plan. The bed in the master bedroom was found converted into a large, ornate marble coffin. The interior of the coffin was empty, however, a single rose was found placed upon the pall.
Etched across the walls of the room are a number of figures and inscriptions. Due to the lack of light in the environment, analysis of the inscriptions proves inconclusive. However, subjects who spend more than 10-15 minutes viewing the inscriptions report experiencing brief but vivid visions of a hooded figure being hung at a gallows.
The suite was located approximately two meters underground, embedded in the dirt. In place of the suite’s previous location is a bare, empty wall. Analysis shows no inconsistencies with that of a standard Site-39 wall.
Victim found deceased; ~3 hours after time of death (as noted by vital sign records). Stored in Site-196 MU-221.
Instance #: XXXX-31
Victim: Ms. Chelsea Saunders, 39, resident of Camrose, Alberta, Canada. Single woman, single surviving relative (uncle). No medical abnormalities.
Description: Victim found alive, deposited in a pit ~2km away from the victim's place of residence. Analysis of the victim shows severe signs of hypothermia and dehydration, alongside symptoms of extended light deprivation to the retinas. Victim otherwise unharmed.
Windows and entrances to the victim’s place of residence are completely boarded up, and furniture was found stacked up against the doors. The light switches and lightbulbs within the house were found removed, with the drywall cleanly extended over the light switches’ previous locations. The stairs in the home were found altered so that they formed a smooth wooden slide directly from the first floor to the second. A nondescript wooden door also appeared on the northern wall of the kitchen, found locked. The door does not appear on any of the house’s floor plans. Foundation agents were able to open the door, however, what was found beyond is irrelevant.4 Door has since been closed.
The victim was found surrounded by a large circle of white ash. No other discrepancies were noted. Victim found ~2 days post-event and brought to Site-196 for processing.
Addendum XXXX-2: Testimony
The following is a testimony extracted from Ms. Chelsea Saunders, instance XXXX-31 victim, during mnestic therapy.
Mnestic Profile: Victim (Type-β)
Dosage: Dose-ABI; 330cc
Target: 2b8cff72e2fa
Passage: [h5 a3 Kxe4 a2 hxg6 hxg6 Rg5]
[BEGIN LOG]
[REDACTED]: Synchedoche. Seven. Kappa. A violet hand suffocates the writhing spiral.
[A pump beeps. SAUNDERS vomits nothing.]
[REDACTED]: What is the last thing you saw?
[Silence.]
[REDACTED]: Speak.
SAUNDERS: The lights went out. The world went blank. That's all I remember.
[A pump beeps.]
[REDACTED]: Alpha. Transcendental. Red needle.
[SAUNDERS coughs blood.]
[REDACTED]: What did you see between the two gallows?
SAUNDERS: There was a monster behind me. The one with a body the length of two Manhattans, and a mouth on each end. The one you see behind yourself when it breathes.
[Silence.]
SAUNDERS: It ate me. It didn't hurt. I fell through its throat and got lost in its stomach. And there was a worm in its belly. Long enough to speak, so it did.
[[REDACTED] chokes. A pump beeps.]
SAUNDERS: It told me about a labyrinth. One laid out under a mile of concrete and ruin.
[REDACTED]: Gamma. Un– unseelie. Spectral. Calamities.
SAUNDERS: It was hidden in there, and it dreamed of fractals of numbers and flesh and of upside-down cathedrals and of bladders pumped full of chemicals, and a descending, descending, falling, falling, pit, where you chase yourself through a million mirrors and hallways, down, down, down until you wake up– someone else.
[The beeping grows louder.]
SAUNDERS: I am the monster.
[REDACTED]: You–
SAUNDERS: I am a mouth, stretched through a tube. I am a recursive staircase, extending downwards towards the center of the Earth, then crossing it.
[REDACTED]: Be– beta.
SAUNDERS: I am the white light.
[The beeping grows louder.]
[REDACTED]: Rome– Romeo. Lethe.
SAUNDERS: I am the thing behind the door.
[REDACTED]: –Queen to kn– knight… se…
[SAUNDERS looks upwards.]
SAUNDERS: There's nothing to be afraid of.
[A flat tone.]
[REDACTED]: What are—
[The lights go out.]
[END LOG]