Item #: SCP-2488

Object Class: Neutralized Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Any recovered instances of SCP-2488-1 are to be stored in Site-23's Refrigerated Containment Unit 23-4. Individuals in possession of SCP-2488 instances, or possessing knowledge of SCP-2488 are to be amnesticized on a case-by-case basis.

Description: SCP-2488 refers to a series of anomalous phenomena that occurred between April 21, 1933 and 1939.1 During this period, an organization known as the Safety Harbor Milk Bottle Delivery Service operated within Safety Harbor, Florida. The parameters of its tasks were to intake empty milk bottles and deliver full bottles of milk bearing the brand label "Safety Harbor Milk" (hereafter known as SCP-2488-1).

No deliverymen or vehicles were sighted during delivery hours, and SCP-2488-1 materialized where no human observers could observe the event. On April 21, 1933, a full bottle of milk manifested on the threshold of every populated household within the city limits of Safety Harbor. Safety Harbor did not previously own a milk bottle service, due to economic hardship during the 1930s. The population of Safety Harbor is recorded to have shown misgivings towards SCP-2488 events upon initial manifestation. However, over time, SCP-2488 became an integral portion of Safety Harbor.

SCP-2488 events occurred every night, at 00:03.2 Any empty milk bottle labelled as a Safety Harbor Milk bottle demanifested, if placed upon any portion of its linked household that could be defined as a "threshold", "patio", or "porch". At 00:05, an instance of SCP-2488-1 manifested for every received milk bottle.

When consumed, SCP-2488 was known to give the consumer increased physical capability.3 Although this improvement did not significantly impact Safety Harbor, it allowed for an increased level of productivity that led Safety Harbor into a marginally improved economic and societal standing.

If, at any time, an active citizen of Safety Harbor consumed SCP-2488-1, they were subject to the effects of SCP-2488. Following death, citizens of Safety Harbor would become reanimated, with drastically increased physical strength and stamina and progressive but usually minor cognitive decay. It became a major source of manual labor, which allowed for the development of more diverse professions for living citizens. Subjects who consumed SCP-2488-1 did not report its effects to be distressing. According to witnesses affected by SCP-2488, there was some concern related to SCP-2488 when reanimated corpses were first encountered, but most subjects declared the reanimation events to be "a boon".

Reanimated subjects had an additional lifespan of 3-5 weeks, and only reanimated if the body was fully intact following death. Subjects were known to dig their own graves as they neared the end of their second lifespan, which became the subject of formal ceremonies similar to burials. However, these events were documented as more lively and upbeat. Reanimated subjects, although initially documented as startling, became a normal occurrence for citizens of Safety Harbor.

Addendum 2488-Alpha: Original Containment Procedures

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CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES, 1933 TO 1939

At least ten Foundation personnel are to be planted within Safety Harbor, Florida, while SCP-2488 persists. Investigations into the Safety Harbor Milk Delivery Service are considered top priority during SCP-2488 containment. However, the Second Life Labor Service is also to be implemented, in order to attempt to normalize life in Safety Harbor, while accounting for SCP-2488's effects.

Census information from Safety Harbor is to be supplied remotely by Foundation personnel during containment development. Anyone attempting to enter Safety Harbor or approach it will be deterred by Foundation personnel posing as National Guard. The official cover story during containment is to establish that the area is currently undergoing sensitive relations with Native American peoples. Similarly, those who attempt to leave Safety Harbor are to be deterred with the news that nearby areas are undergoing conflict with Native American peoples.

If interest in the cover story is generated in public media outside of Safety Harbor, Foundation personnel are to immediately repress emphasis on the town. Interests are instead to be directed towards northern regions of Florida as much as possible.

DISCOVERY: SCP-2488 was first noted by a local publication claiming an uprising of the undead in west central Florida. The article, once investigated, was covered a second time in the same publication, and explained as a hoax. Peoples attempting to investigate Safety Harbor for themselves were deterred as the Foundation initiated investigation.

The initial questioning of the mayor of Safety Harbor, Jackson Burk, led to the knowledge of a recent act of vandalism. The town's local Native American burial mound had been disturbed and laced with various litter as a rebellious act, in consequence of a newly established curfew. All the litter from the surface and first ten centimeters of the mound was removed, but it was otherwise left undisturbed during the investigation.

Addendum 2488-Beta: Miscellaneous Recovered Documents

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DOCUMENT 2488 15-C

Source of Documentation: Summary of Town Hall Meeting, circa mid 1933

The meeting transcript implies that this was the first encounter with the anomaly related to SCP-2488. Several moments of hysteria among attendees broke out during the course of the meeting, calling for the mayor to sequester the newly reanimated subjects. It was, however, the sentiment of a small group of attendees that this was a newly raised opportunity from God. This group was later identified as members of the Safety Harbor Christian Chapel.

Citizens of Safety Harbor agreed to isolate recently dead persons in a location that supposedly no longer exists. At the time, it was used as a general storage area for the town, near the western limit. Reanimated persons were to be held here until their second expiration. A rotating one-month cleanout process was established.

DOCUMENT 2488 17-C

Source of Documentation: Summary of Safety Harbor Chapel board meeting, circa mid 1933

The meeting's transcript implies some disagreement over the board's stance on the reanimated subjects. The discussed religious implications mostly resulted in dissent and disagreement among members, some of which opposed the confinement of reanimated persons. By the end of the meeting, no official verdict was established.

DOCUMENT 2488 23-C

Source of Documentation: Summary of Town Hall meeting, circa early 1934

This is the third documented meeting solely on the topic of SCP-2488 events. Citizens show less aversion to reanimated subjects than before, after discussion of recent events. According to the transcript, a group of citizens (mostly from two of the town's larger families) broke into the warehouse and freed their reanimated relatives. After most reanimated persons had left the premise, a large procession was held for the proper burial of those who had experienced their second expiration.

A mob of other citizens gathered to re-contain reanimated persons. It was at this time that Foundation personnel stepped in, suggesting that reanimated persons may not be inherently violent or ill-willed, like many held as a preconceived notion. During this night, after a Foundation-facilitated agreement was made between a significant portion of the town, the first "grave parties" were held. Although the original intent was a small town gathering the following day, the expiration of several reanimated persons led to their burial during the festivities, which initiated a newly found notion of "grave parties".

DOCUMENT 2488 34-C

Source of Documentation: Summary of Mayor Burk's self-presented eulogy, circa late 1935

The eulogy delivered by Mayor Burk, apparently while standing on a podium over his self-dug grave, summarizes events since the beginning of SCP-2488 manifestation events. (This also marked the beginning of the tradition for reanimated subjects to dig their own graves, which was integrated as a part of "grave parties".) The presence of reanimated subjects at this time is considered a normal occurrence in Safety Harbor, and the original misgivings of citizens are restated. Despite the fear, and the destruction of the original town hall during the first reanimation event, Safety Harbor is summarized as showing immense growth, especially with the construction of a new town hall in early 1934, by reanimated subjects and living subjects alike. After delivering this eulogy, the "grave party" ensued until Mayor Burk stated a slowly approaching weakness coming over him, at which point he was lowered into his grave, and the celebration continued with a ceremonial filling of the grave and a second dessert course.

Notes from Investigation Member Taylor: This recovered documentation was discovered as investigation into SCP-2488 was initiated. An abandoned office space found near the center of Safety Harbor, roped off as "Heritage Restoration In Progress", was one of the first subjects for investigation. No one had ever heard of the place before, and it didn't show up on the town map. It was, as the mayor said, a storage space full of heritage documents that they didn't dare to go through, lest they damage or lose any of them. Prior to amnesticization, we inquired a little into the SCP-2488 events, to see if he knew anything. The mayor couldn't tell us much, other than that it was some old folklore rolling around the town.

Addendum 2488-Gamma: Investigative Documentation

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INVESTIGATION RECORD 12-A

Date of Investigation: March 11, 1994 to March 13, 1994

Subject of Investigation Subset 12-A: Philippe Park, Safety Harbor, FL

Investigator: Ron Taylor

Investigative Log: So, the first things on our list of locations to hit up were those of historical and community value. Of course, we combed through every "heritage" location in the town, and it turned up with a lot of written evidence, but nothing solid. Nothing directly implied that this was anything but a huge hoax put on by a generation of practical jokers.

That was, until we went into Philippe Park.

It wasn't high on the list of priorities, but as a National Historical Landmark site, we had to check it out. With the initial readings, the metal detectors, the sonic detection membranes, radiation counters, we weren't getting anything more than old coins and a few rusty nails. There was only one thing left to go through, and that was the burial mound.

The Tocobaga people supposedly resided here, some long time ago. Way before the town was officially established. We had to set up this blinded pavilion around it, to make sure no one was suspicious of it, and we roped off the area. After the local government was ensured we wouldn't meddle with things, and we established a cover story for the removal of invasive plant species, we were going through it. It wasn't potentially destructive root systems that we found down there, though.

Along with the decomposed remains of a supposed Tocobaga native, we found a milk bottle.

We can't make heads or tails of it. There's some further investigation going into it now. The brains over at 147 think they've found some sort of radiation coming off of it that's interfering with most of our investigation into it, but we're trying to see if we can glean much else. So far, everything has been negligible.

We did a bit of research into the Tocobaga people. Records indicate that they were driven from the area by the Spanish around 1528, and left behind this burial mound. It was once a place of ceremony, where the native people could celebrate various events - among them was death, which, according to recovered artifacts, was seen as a passing on rather than a final ending for life. They had this belief of ancestral spirits - once their elders died, the elders' spirits would remain to assist the living in intangible ways, and watch over them.

The Tocobaga people, those that survived, dispersed among the population. We couldn't find much on what the few survivors did as they moved on, but we did find one document. In one of the smaller heritage sites near the edge of town, there were some documents, journals, that implied that the resident had some native heritage in them. There were many indications that not only was this individual important in the preservation of this site, but also that they visited it, on a daily basis, early in the morning, following the vandalism. The individual's documents end abruptly in November of 1939, which correlates to some of the approximate ending dates for SCP-2488 events. We've initiated some more investigation into the individual, but, I don't think much will turn up.

Addendum 2488-Delta: On September 29, 2001, the discovery of an intact SCP-2488-1 instance occurred in Safety Harbor. The instance was confiscated by Foundation personnel, following the report in a local publication of a new heritage artifact, and subjected to chemical testing. No anomalous properties were discovered in the milk, and the instance was stored in Site 23's Refrigerated Storage Unit 23-4. Despite attempts to preserve the milk, it spoiled and curdled after one week of recovery.

Further investigation into SCP-2488 has been reopened, and instances have begun to manifest randomly in adjacent cities as well. Testing has shown that these instances of SCP-2488-1 show similar properties to documented events. Full investigation has been initiated, per request from Site 23 research personnel.

Summary of Second Major Investigation into SCP-2488

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Investigator: Grant Kavarian

Investigation Notes: Investigations started at the burial mound, where the first investigations had taken place. It was monitored for a period of three weeks with various audio/visual equipment. No one entered or left the premises during this time that was not Foundation personnel. Therefore, a scenario similar to the original visiting Native individual is not plausible. At the end of the three weeks, a further investigation was initiated.

The anomaly only took a few hours to discover. There was a side effect that hadn't been projected back in 1994, or so the current hypothesis goes. Foundation personnel detected a cloud of electromagnetic energy that was hovering around the burial mound. The researchers managed to translate the conglomerated signals into a more translatable product.

Our hypothesis is that their consciousnesses are all still here. It correlates, somewhat, to the native belief of ancestral spirits. We don't know how many there are, we're still checking the census and burial records, but it doesn't seem like it will be a small number.

Footnotes

1. Official documentation from Safety Harbor contains multiple termination dates for SCP-2488 activity; this is a rough estimate.

2. This is an estimation based on Safety Harbor documentation. Exact timekeeping during this period was still approximate.

3. No major increases in capability were documented. It is impossible to determine if this sensation was a placebo effect.