Single Contained Phenomenon - SCP Foundation

Subjective Containment Procedure: SCP is the only phenomenon to be contained by the SCP Foundation. All documentation is to be updated and purged accordingly.

Description: SCP refers to the phenomenon responsible for the proliferation of anomalous objects, entities and locations through this reality. The severity of SCP's anomalous influence directly correlates with the active number of SCP Foundation employees; as such, 99.5% of the Foundation's workforce was laid off.

SCP also refers to an ontological ritual, consisting of nomenclative designations, categorical signifiers, perception and observation via biased individuals, and containment procedures reinforcing 'normalcy'. Participating in this ritual results in the creation of and amplification of anomalous entities and their effects. This ritual was performed consistently by SCP Foundation staff before identification of SCP, consisting of the following practices:

Increasing sequential identifiers, with relevant and arbitrary assignment, implying a superiority as based on a proximity to null;

Categorical signifiers, conveying information cognitohazardously, through a collective understanding of a pre-defined list of ambiguous definitions and origins. These categories were applied arbitrarily on an individual basis, and had no objective definition. These signifiers include:

Categorical signifiers denoting perceived difficulty or ease in 'containment';

Categorical signifiers denoting potential impact or influence on the non-anomalous world;

The continued study, analysis and definition of said entity, and the generation of related media, documentation and addenda;

The invocation of common repetitive patterns or mantras into the containment parameters, in a manner akin to superstition. This also includes the use of common phrases or consistent 'tropes' within documentation;

The containment of a given object or entity. By extension, the restricted access of, and artificially limited freedoms of anomalous objects or entities caused further conceptual significance;

The sharing of documentation, and a perceived competitive environment regarding 'popularity' of any given anomaly.

It is believed that all anomalies that were formerly contained by the SCP Foundation were directly influenced by SCP; upon the discovery of SCP, and the realization regarding the nature of containment, all research efforts were paused, and documentation was deleted and ontologically erased. For historical records, see Addendum 2.

Addendum 1: Discovery

SCP was discovered during the SCP Foundation Contain-con, a yearly internal conference focused on the nuances, culture and norms regarding containment, anomalous negation, acroamatic waste management and more. SCP was first theorized to exist during the keynote address, entitled "Abolish the Object Class: Ontological Significance in a Pseudo-Scientific Environment", as presented by Dr. Heather Garrison, Director of the Extant Ontology Department. During the address, Dr. Garrison said the following, which is widely considered to be the inciting incident leading to the discovery of SCP:

Dr. Garrison: What if we're the bad guys?

Following this presentation, and additional research, SCP was identified following testing for a proof of concept. The records are included for posterity:

Step 1: Identification of Subject

Purpose:
To identify if the anomalous effects of an object are caused by SCP, a non-anomalous object will be selected.

Results:
Dr. Garrison selected a sedimentary stone, gathered from an insignificant location.

Step 2: Initial Designation

Purpose:
To understand the minimal threshold for SCP's effect, the object will be given a designation indicating minor anomalous properties.

Results:
Subject was designated AO-47292. Following said verbal designation by Dr. Garrison, AO-47292 was noted to anomalously radiate thermal energy, such that it was described as feeling 'warm'.

Step 3: Secondary Designation

Purpose:
To understand how different designations impact objects, the subject will be given an official designation.

Results:
Subject was re-designated as SCP-47292. Following said verbal re-designation, SCP-47292 was observed undergoing spontaneous anomalous combustion. No fuel source or initial cause was noted, other than the re-designation.

Step 4: Initial Documentation

Purpose:
To understand how the documentation process affects SCP, SCP-47292's official document was drafted by Dr. Garrison, and submitted to the centralized database.

Results:
SCP-47292's file was partially written with minimal information, no containment class, object class or alternative descriptors included. This was commonly referred to throughout the SCP Foundation as a 'first draft, to save the slot.' Following this, no significant changes were noted, excluding Dr. Garrison reporting that SCP-47292 felt more 'significant'.

Step 5: Initial Object Class

Purpose:
To identify how categorical signifiers impact anomalies through SCP, the subject will be designated as a minimally disruptive anomaly.

Results:
SCP-47292 was designated as 'Safe'. Following this categorization, SCP-47292 was noted as still anomalously producing flames — however, said flames were intangible, and did not affect surfaces or individuals when touched.

Step 6: Revised Object Class

Purpose:
To identify how different categorical signifiers impacted anomalies through SCP, the subject will be re-designated as significantly disruptive.

Results:
SCP-47292 was re-designated as 'Keter'. Following this, SCP-47292 was noted to increase thermal energy output such that remote temperature readings returned 1100 Kelvin.

Step 7: Initial Containment

Purpose:
To establish how the designation of a chamber as specifically for a given subject impacts anomalies though SCP, the subject was moved to a specialized containment chamber.

Results:
SCP-47292 was moved to Containment Chamber 47292. Containment Chamber 47292 was designed as a "5'x5'x5' cube, constructed from an inflammable alloy", created for containment of this object specifically. SCP-47292 was noted as attempting a containment breach within an hour, through previously unrecorded behavior of manipulating heat to generate pressure discrepancies and generate force, allowing SCP-47292 to become self-propelling. Prior to this, SCP-47292 was not believed to be sentient.

Step 8: Proximal Significance

Purpose:
To determine how proximity to null index in a given subject's numeric identification impacts anomalies through SCP, the subject's signifier was adjusted.

Results:
SCP-10366 was recorded as having a marked increase in stored potential energy, and more frequently attempted to breach containment. SCP-10366's sapience and sentience was confirmed when it began to manipulate temperatures in D-17392's coffee, resulting in 2nd degree burns. Just prior to this incident, D-17392 was recorded as saying "What? It's just some stupid rock." A larger safety perimeter has been established surrounding Containment Chamber 10366.

Step 9: Additional Proximal Significance

Purpose:
To better determine the degree of influence imparted by SCP, the subject's numeric designation was adjusted to a more proximal index once more.

Results:
SCP-001 WAS THE SUN. [[DATA EXPUNGED]]

Step 10: Neutralization

Purpose:
To undo the resultant XK-Class event, the subject's documentation must be purged, in addition to the obviation of all Noospheric memories or derived concepts.

Results:
The documentation was deleted. All involved staff were amnesticized via ontological erasure, including Dr. Garrison, through an experimental ontokinetic surgery. The insignificant rock is inert.

Following this test, SCP documentation was created, and the SCP Foundation began the process of purging all documentation from all extant timelines, and the termination of the majority of staff, and the consequential reduction in staffed departments. As of present day, the Extant Ontology Department is the only remaining SCP Foundation, as all others have been deemed counterproductive and therefore were phased out.

Addendum 2: Historical Records

Following the creation of SCP, all other records were purged, and all previously contained objects were released and neutralized. The following list contains a random selection of insignificant objects and entities noted near SCP Foundation sites, following the informational purge:

A lizard

An apartment

An ungulate with antlers

A gumball machine

Las Vegas

An SCP Foundation Researcher

A human baby

All other insignificant information is kept in the collective memories of the Extant Ontology Department, and to never exist in any official recorded media.

NOTICE

The following is a letter from a given administrator.

— Director Heather Garrison, Extant Ontology Department

Sorry.

We really got caught up in the rush of things. We were doing a good thing, helping people, saving things. We were the fucking heroes — and it just kept getting faster and faster. More and more. Each new anomaly was worse and worse, every new para-anomalous scientific discovery pushing the boundaries, redefining the universe as we knew it; and then suddenly, we were struggling to stay on top of everything. We were losing — and so we started to play dirty. We became the problem, quite literally.

Mankind must not go back to hiding in fear. The only answer was to undo all of the fear that we had created.

Our bad. Sorry about that. But now we're a new organization, with a new goal.

We're subjective. We curate. We persist.

— An Administrator

Another Memory, Perhaps?