Item #: SCP-3597
Object Class: Euclid
Author: aismallard
Disclaimer: I am the author in question.
Alright, let's jump right in. The containment procedures aren't too lengthy, basically keep it in a box in a site made especially for it, which suggests it is immovable or difficult to relocate. The other notable point is that we assign D-class personnel to the chamber, but once they go inside, they're not allowed to leave. They remain and maintain containment for the anomaly.
Resident D-class may request supplies or additional personnel, provided no justification is given. Other than such requests, no people or coherent information may enter or leave the chamber.
No justification? And no information is allowed in or out. Maybe there's potential for an informational or memetic breach here.
Two slats have been built into the structure which are used for delivery of food and waste. Any additional D-class must first be administered Grade-Z (permanent) dosages of Class-H and Class-I amnestics.
There's a link to the Updated Amnestics Guide, which describes Class-H and Class-I amnestics as preventing the formation of new memories and preventing the retrieval of old memories.
Description: [DATA EXPUNGED]
This would definitely support the infohazard/meme hypothesis, but this also means we have no idea what the anomaly is! Instead we'll have to piece it together the same way the Foundation did.
We launch right into the recovery log: we note some weird activity, yadda yadda. It's New York, so we send in Pi-1. Sounds good.
They then attempt to enter the building. | Members report intense migraines. Operation aborted.
MTF Pi-1 attempts to enter the building through the second story window. | Members report intense migraines and nosebleeds. Operation aborted.
MTF Pi-1 attempts to enter the building, equipped with gas masks. | Members report intense migraines and blood loss. Two members expire. Operation aborted.
Already we've hit a bit of a snag as they can't even enter the building. They try several reasonable variants without success, and are also plagued with increasingly lethal maladies. The footnote mentions that the autospy attempts resulted in the coroners dying, so it looks like we can't get any information that way either. Seems like some kind of contagious cognitohazard is affecting the interior of the building.
MTF Pi-1 attempts to enter the building while blindfolded. | Members successfully gain access. Three members report tinnitus, one member hospitalized.
MTF Pi-1 attempts to explore the building, still blindfolded. | Members report intense migraines, severe tinnitus, and blood loss. Two members expire, one self-terminates. Operation aborted.
The blindfolds help! ...for a bit. Given the rate we're losing people to this visual cognitohazard, it seems reasonable to bring in the experts.
MTF Eta-10 is briefed on previous recovery attempts. | Task force devises several plans for locating the anomaly. Members report minor head pain.
So that's uh, curious. Before they've even entered the building they're already reporting typical SCP-3597 symptoms. They head inside the building and sure enough, they start bleeding and lose a member. This thing might be carried visually, but it's definitely not limited to that vector.
MTF Eta-10 consumes Class-A amnestics and attempts to enter the building. | Members successfully gain access. Four members report minor head pain.
They erase their briefing on the anomaly, and the symptoms seem to "reset". This suggests the anomaly is more of an infohazardous threat, and knowing less about what's going on is important to staying safe.
Eta-10 explores the building a bit and finds an unattended toddler. The child is perfectly healthy and is seemingly unaffected by the anomaly. When they try to question them about what happened, both the interviewer and the toddler start bleeding and need to be administered amnestics. Note the child was safe until they started thinking about the anomaly: more evidence that there's an infohazard present.
Afterwords, Eta-10 re-enters the building, explores around a bit with mild symptoms, and then enters the kitchen:
Three members expire, remaining members are in critical condition. Operation aborted.
Well, that's unfortunate. At least we know exactly where the anomaly is now.
Ok, enough killing our best and brightest, lets send in some D-class. As discovered by Eta-10, they shouldn't be informed about the anomaly but instead sent in blind. Literally too, note that they have sensory deprivation helmets with oxygen, preventing any sensory information from sight, sound, taste or smell.
D-87624 enters the building. | D-87624 reports entering the kitchen. They have only minor tinnitus.
And this seems to work! We've figured out a way to shut out the anomaly, now let's try and contain it. Command sends in another D-class with a bunch of building supplies. Just getting a basic crate around this thing will limit its effects, and allow us to send in more capable people to construct an actual containment chamber.
Unfortunately, construction efforts hit a wall: even after sending in a guy with building experience they can't seem to get anything done. While trying to figure out how to get around this, they send in a guy to do some corpse cleanup. Here we note something peculiar:
D-09714 enters the building. Due to interaction with SCP-████ they have minimal sensitivity in their limbs and frequently lose awareness of them. D-09714 is equipped with a flamethrower and instructed to incinerate any cadavers. | D-09714 reports success and noted an intuitive understanding of their surroundings despite the helmet.
Even though D-09714 can't feel anything from the traditional five senses, they seem to get around just fine and are effective at their job.
D-22809 enters the building. Their file notes they were previously an entertainer, and are generally regarded as affable. | Personnel report that D-22809 is hurting morale. However, personnel also report D-22809 has been successful in constructing two container walls.
This is the puzzle piece we needed. The D-class is charismatic, but they hurt morale. They have no construction experience, but are able to build two walls. Consider the previous hints: D-09714 gets around just fine without any sense info, a bumbling toddler survives where intelligent adults cannot. This anomaly inverts "competent" and "incompetent" whenever your brain handles information about it. This explains why not one, but two Mobile Task Forces, loaded up with equipment and know-how, ended up perishing. They were so innately good at picking up information and context about SCP-3597 that they basically killed themselves.
Now that we know what the trick is, the rest follows pretty logically. They sent in a D-class with drugs to prevent recall of skills/past experience, stilt shoes to make it hard to walk, and mittens to dull tactile feedback. They get in, and start working like a pro, request more materials and ultimately achieve containment in less than two hours. The Foundation acquires the building, creates a proper cell, and writes up an SCP file that instructs on containment without being infohazardous itself.
Speaking of which:
maladroit:
adjective
1. lacking in adroitness; unskillful; awkward; bungling; tactless:
Thanks for reading.