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SCP-4870: Something’s Wrong With Site-17

Author: ItsDenali and thanks to Reverend Fox and Crow-Cat for their helpful insight and critique!

Image Credit: Image produced by me, see comments page for details.

NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFOHAZARD SAFETY DEPARTMENTS

The following document regards a Level 2 Non-threatening Infohazard currently affecting written and typed information at one or more Foundation Sites. To prevent unintentional alteration of this document, do not proceed unless accessing this page from an approved Site.

— Dr. Jaskes, Senior Researcher

You are currently accessing this document from: Site-01.

Access approved, retrieving document…

Item#: 4870

Containment Class: euclid

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: vlam

Risk Class: notice

Special Containment Procedures: No iteration of this file is allowed on Site-17 servers at this time. All documentation pertaining to SCP-4870 may only be accessed on different Sites' servers until further notice. Moreover, data servers at Site-17 are to be modified with a unique digital signature that will prohibit access to documents that could potentially be modified by SCP-4870.

All SCP-4870-1 instances discovered are to be destroyed or reverted to unaffected iterations if possible. Research into the cause of SCP-4870 is still underway and any discoveries on the subject are to be brought to Dr. Jaskes' attention at once. All potential research inquiries regarding the Neutralization of SCP-4870 are to be considered, as no current means to do so has yet been found.

If found, SCP-4870-2 is to be contained at once. Due to the unknown and potentially hazardous nature of SCP-4870-2, extreme caution is to be exercised during this process.

Description: SCP-4870 is a phenomenon affecting Site-17 by which the content of certain documents physically present or digitally accessed at the Site, thereafter designated SCP-4870-1, have a chance of being anomalously altered to include text suggesting the existence of a specimen of Gopherus Polyphemus1, designated SCP-4870-2, at or near Site-17.

Documents susceptible to SCP-4870 commonly share one or more of the following attributes:

Cover topics of or relating to herpetology2 or chelonian entities

Directly name or refer to Site-17

Are written or compiled before 1998

Contain the words 'substantially,' 'densest,' or 'subterranean'

The contents of SCP-4870-1 “write-ins” are minor, consisting of brief mentions of SCP-4870-2, phrased in a way that makes the writer appear fond of SCP-4870-2 and refer to it in a positive manner.

Beyond the text added by SCP-4870, the original content of SCP-4870-1 instances remains unaltered. Digital records, printed text, and even handwriting is subject to SCP-4870's effects if they should meet the above conditions. (See Addendum 4870-A) Susceptible documents are affected at a rate of an average of three documents per week, though the changes appear to be made instantaneously.

To date SCP-4870-2 has not been discovered, if it indeed exists.

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Footnotes

1. Gopher Tortoise.

2. The scientific study of turtles and tortoises.