Black Lotus - SCP Foundation

Millions of humans exist only in their dreams. They are known as the Oneiroi, and live in the subconscious of other waking individuals. They float freely from person to person, forming sprawling collectives that span the Earth.

The Foundation has discovered the method of becoming Oneiroi, and now with this power are more capable of containing them. For decades they teach their agents the technique that allows one consciousness to join another’s.

Few can withstand the brutal trials that the long training provides them.

Many lose their identities, or enter into permanent comas.

The few mentally hardened individuals that succeed are organized

into a task force. The first of these was MTF-OP “The Dream Team”

Codename: Dream Eater

Objective:

Undermine the integrity of subconscious neural networks.

Base of Operations:

Site-18, Dr. Glass

Active Operations:

Black Lotus: Information gathering and assessment of threats related to hidden neural networks.

Blooming Rose: Information gathering on known threat entities and groups of interest who utilize neural networks.

Mobile Task Force:

OP “The Dream Team”

Active Programmes:

Lotus Eater: Recruitment and training.

Hollow’s Room (Site-19, dual use): Alumnus Rehabilitation

Budget ███: █████████

Cicada Protocol: [EYES ONLY]

Operation Black Lotus

Name: Sherry Wilson

Acquisition: 2002, US Marines, Site-18, Lotus Eater programme

Medical: Hypertension, Schizoaffective Spectrum disorder

Background: No felony record.

Marital Status: Unmarried

Father: Deceased age 27, suicide

Mother: Deceased age 32, medication

Smoker

Incidents: None

Shadow: Sci Fi Apple Pie

Name: Urooj Demopoulos

Acquisition: 1997, Greek HA, Site-19, Security, 1998 Transfer to Lotus Eater programme

Medical: Oneirophrenia (upon waking, multiple incidents), minor Psychotic spectrum

Background: Public intoxication (multiple), Assault and Battery

Marital Status: Unmarried

Father: Deceased age 63, heart attack

Mother: Living age 74

Smoker

Drinker

History of Drug Use

Incidents: Assaulted guard during stupor: Appeared to have passed sock puppet test, later subdued a researcher. Was later seen on video surveillance conspiring with puppet.

Shadow: Shaper Deathbell Urooj

Name: Johann Michaël Kästner

Acquisition: 2003, Revolutionäre Zellen, Heidering Prison, Lotus Eater programme

Medical: Paranoid Personality Disorder

Background: Convicted of an attempted bombing of Federal property in former East Germany

Marital Status: Unmarried

Father: Dead, shot by border guards attempting to flee the East German state at age 34

Mother: Dead, heart attack at age 64

Incidents: After waking, stabbed lab tech with pen left near his body (see security memo d.d. 09/24/2006), Broke out of lab after waking in an apparent psychosis, found naked and covered in unknown viscous fluid six miles from Site-18.

Shadow: Concrete Tomb

MEMORANDUM Site-18: Inaugural subconscious security screening.

I entered the mind of the volunteer, Virgil Mayreder. From this point my Shadow was able to “jump” from mind to mind, all across Site-18. For the purpose of this experiment we were able to surmise that a neural relay (a person) can connect from a distance of roughly one meter. Any further would be impossible, at least for me. Many of the minds I entered were hazardous, incomprehensible, even if their psychological profiles are crystal clear. There was a strong risk of losing my identity in each one, so I had to move quickly.

I could gather information from hospitable minds, but with great difficulty. To do so requires that I “open” to another person's consciousness to such an extent that I risk losing myself to it. Upon waking from this venture it took me several days to recover from the dissociative episode I experienced upon waking.

The area is safe for carrying out operations.

Sherry Wilson

FROM: Rebecca Sanders | Senior Secretary Site-18

TO: Dr. Glass | Site-18

SUBJECT: Compiled Logs, “Black Lotus”

Mobile Task Force OP

Codename Dream Eater

Operation Black Lotus

Initial Date: ██-██-████

Urooj Demopoulos: MIA

Johann Michaël Kästner: Recovered

Sherry Wilson: Recovered

Recovery: According to information gathered during Blooming Rose, the entity known as Qi Shao was located in a man named Jason Graham. This individual was staying at an extended care facility in Seattle. One of our reconnaissance sleepers checked in and confirmed that the facility contained a number of hosts; upwards of fifty Xiupanian states. Many live-in care personnel on the site were also hosts. Their behavior was no different than an uninhabited person’s.

Jason Graham lives alone, but he checked into the hospice five times last year. The last known relations Graham enjoyed were with a woman named Qi Shao, who one decade ago succumbed to brain cancer, and is now confirmed to have descended to a pure Oneiroi.

Graham was relocated to a secure facility without incident. The Xiupanian hosts located in the hospice have been catalogued and preserved for future use. There is currently an acceptance criteria set on the hospice in accordance with [REDACTED] to ensure targets unrelated to Black Lotus are not compromised. I personally still consider Xiupanian rewrites under [REDACTED] as an acceptable risk.

Profile: Jason Graham suffers from a set of emotional and affective disorders. There is also evidence of mild schizotypal issues, comorbid depression and anxiety. In addition to the hostile environment his psychology elicits, there are over 50,000 Xiupanian Oneiroi located in his subconscious - a collective of Qi Shao re-writes. Extreme caution is to be taken when merging with Graham. It should also be noted that Graham is aware of Oneiroi, and actively participates in his own subconscious. This behavior seems to be mostly self destructive.

Addendum A: Exploration Log of Jason Graham: Sherry Wilson’s Transcript

The entity that attacked us was airborne, having many sets of wings. Qi Shao might be described as a cross between a lamprey and a dragonfly. It is very large, and fast. I would estimate that it is roughly 50 meters long. It also holds some Lucid capacity… It summoned many smaller entities much like itself during the incident.

My palm phasers, and Urooj’s poison powder were ineffective against the entity. I’m not sure what Tomb was doing at the time, he appeared to have just frozen in place and shifted into a block of bare concrete.

Urooj was taken away on the third year [247 waking days] of our exploration into Xiupanian territory by this entity. I do not clearly recall the entirety of those three years, but I can tell OP’s experience was strengthened. The area is fraught with Terrors, those which mostly appear as abstract fears and developmental traumas. I believe the training in [DATA EXPUNGED] or at least a “necessary evil”. We were able to bear these on a daily basis with little psychological recoil.

Once Shao discovered us, it descended upon us from the sky and impaled Urooj with its tongue. Urooj’s poisonous coating did not deter Qi Shao or cause it any duress. It seemed to completely ignore Tomb. I was able to escape by leaping over the side of a cliff and engaging my rocket boots. I was not able to immediately pursue Qi Shao after Urooj was taken, as I had to scale the cliffside underneath the island manually. My boots were underpowered as was expected due to our blunted Lucidity.

We required my boots and many hours of mental preparation to ensure that they were capable of crossing over to other islands. I had to abandon Tomb. He was a boulder, unresponsive. He later managed to decouple from Jason Graham’s mind alone.

I was not able to learn the location of Urooj until two days later, with the discovery of Shao’s temple. The temple was very large, as it had to be in order to accommodate the entity. I discovered Urooj being interrogated by Qi Shao. I overheard Shao questioning Urooj about Jason Graham. I listened for the day while the interrogation took place using my hearing augments, and it seemed that our mission was a failure, as Oneiroi West was not suspected to be in collusion with us at all. I considered that the entity may have been aware of the SCP Foundation and the containment of its host body.

I camped in a small crack near the steps of the temple. I checked again the next morning and found that Urooj was still alive, although divided into many small parts, each being tortured in a unique way. Somehow Urooj was capable of withstanding this torture, up until he was eaten by the entity.

I think it is possible that Qi Shao suspects Oneiroi West. I cannot say whether or not it is safe to simply terminate Qi Shao’s host or unleash Qi Shao on the Oneiroi at large.

I would recommend Urooj be removed, as his Shadow has surely been compromised, and his subconscious contains a new Xiupanian state. This makes him useless as a member of OP. As of this day his body is still in a coma.

Becoming a Xiupanian host has little effect on a person’s day to day, their psychology, or their dreams. Whether or not they are truly alive is only a philosophical question. Shaper Urooj is dead, but Urooj Demopoulos might wake up sooner or later, zombie or not, looking and acting just like he always did. In my mind it is not a factor to consider. Most people ███ ████████ ██ ████-██ ██ ███████████ ██ ███████, ███ ██ ████████ ████ ████, but if the personnel ████ ████ █ ████████ ████ ███ they would react. It doesn’t matter to me. There is no discernible difference between autopilot and “Oneiroi pilot”.

Other than the origin state Qi Shao is living in, Xiupanians can’t speak to their hosts. There is no information transfer, no security issue. It can’t be recovered. [REDACTED] is definitely the best move.

Addendum B: Urooj Demopoulos Status

Subject is unresponsive to stimulus. As of this date the subject has been in a comatose state for six months.

Attempts to enter the subject was successful. Sherry Wilson reports that Urooj’s mind is an empty copy of Xiupania, as expected. Urooj’s Shadow could not be located; Urooj is likely a “zombie”, so to speak. I am recommending we follow through to the end of the year… If the subject does not wake we can take him off of life support. If he does wake, we can reassign him to security detail, or retire him. I recommend some surveillance regardless of our decision. Of course it would be cheaper to utilize Budget ███.

Addendum C: Concrete Tomb status

Subject recalls nothing about the attack by Qi Shao, but has allowed operative Sherry Wilson to enter its mind. According to Wilson, the scene of the attack, as seen through Kästner’s eyes, is replayed over and over on a drive-in theater screen, with Qi Shao replaced by a replica of Roddy Piper’s character from the 1988 movie “Hell comes to Frogtown”. An unresponsive rendering of Kästner overlaid with a concrete texture can be seen watching. Wilson recommends EMDR therapy in order to break the cycle.