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SCP-4241 — Researcher's Nightmare

Author: AlanDaris

First skip after big time off. Also, first skip that I and others liked enough for it to stay on the mainlist.

~~ More Alan Stuff ~~

NOTICE FROM THE FOUNDATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

The following document is considered outdated and is set to be updated in accordance with the newly acquired information regarding SCP-4241. Note that the current revision of the document contains a number of redactions (presented in blue) the credibility of which has not been verified yet.

Item #: SCP-4241

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the scarcity of information regarding the nature and capabilities of SCP-4241, effective containment procedures have not yet been developed. Research is ongoing.

Currently, the most efficient method of detecting SCP-4241 lies in conducting a psychological test aimed at the detection of clinical depression in a passing subject. This test is to be passed by all subjects who have been in close proximity or verbally in contact with the infected individuals and by all Site-224 personnel (including Class-D employees and PoIs currently residing in the Site). А positive result is to be considered a sign of SCP-4241 contamination, provided that the subject did not exhibit similar symptoms prior to the SCP-4241's discovery. All affected subjects are to be isolated supervised and provided psychological assistance if required.

Site-224 is to be placed under a full lockdown until the nature of SCP-4241 is understood and more efficient containment procedures are developed.

Description: SCP-4241 is a designation for an anomalous virus phenomenon affecting the human psyche. Currently, twelve; nearly half; all of the Site-224 employees are considered to be affected by SCP-4241. The exact mechanism of SCP-4241's effect is still poorly understood as it does not affect the subject's physical state and cannot be detected through medical examination. SCP-4241 is capable of transmitting from one subject to another, similar to nonanomalous viruses over long distances with no apparent pattern. Recent SCP-4241 activity has shown that it is able to spread while all affected subjects are isolated.

Through testing and interviews with affected subjects, it was established that virtually all of the affected individuals exhibit a number of similar symptoms related to their psychological health, some of which are usually associated with clinical depression. SCP-4241's effect is primarily characterized by malaise, irritability, and persistent fatigue in the early stages and subject's inability to enter an affective state characterized by the positive emotions1 with the onset of later stages (typically after 4-5 days after initial contamination). Most of the subjects are also exhibiting such symptoms as loss of appetite and palate, as well as insomnia irrational fear of falling asleep.

Affected individuals had also reported experiencing dreams during REM sleep2, the content of which cannot be remembered by the subject after awakening but causes recurring psychological distress. It is currently unclear if the dreams are caused by the anomalous effect or by a natural stress reaction.

The initial discovery of SCP-4241 took place on 12\08\2019; it is believed that the phenomenon has started spreading somewhere around that time and is related to the outcome of the mission performed by MTF Omega-31 ("Sticky Fingers") a week prior.

► OPEN ADDENDUM: Head researcher's notes

▼ CLOSE ADDENDUM: Head researcher's notes

The following is a transcript of audio logs made by Dr. Bishop during his investigation regarding SCP-4241, which were accessed through his personal recording device shortly after Incident 4241-Δ (for more information, see the Incident 4241-Δ report).

DATE: 16/08/19

Today I was assigned to SCP-4241 as a head researcher since the preceding assigned researcher has been affected by it. I was granted the permission to edit SCP-4241's description directly if I find new information regarding this phenomenon.

As suggested by the instructions, I will be recording the information regarding SCP-4241 and the situation in the Site in general over the course of my research in order to preserve the collected data in case of something bad happening to me or SCP-4241's document. Currently, twelve Site-224 employees are infected by SCP-4241. It is believed that the main pocket of infection is the Site's medical department, although SCP-4241 may be present in other departments as well. The goal of the research is to acquire more information regarding SCP-4241's nature and develop efficient containment measures for it.

The medical examination and body fluid analysis of the affected subjects have already been conducted. I'm hoping that this time we'll be able to get results.

DATE: 17/08/19

The situation here isn't as smooth as desired: although there were no orders regarding Site's lockdown, security personnel doesn't let anyone outside. Currently, the directive from the security department is to stay inside the facility until "the situation is better understood". Something tells me that they don't want to alarm the employees and in reality, the lockdown is just a matter of time.

The medical examination of the affected subjects has shown that absolutely nothing is wrong with them. At least physically. It doesn't make them feel better though, as psychological tests are still showing the same results. Additionally, we had to move all subjects considered to be affected to quarantine. It's very surreal to lock your friends and colleagues into chambers and treat them like anomalies, but we have no other choice. Site's medical department has been unofficially labeled a restricted area, no one is willing to go there anymore and I can't blame them. I'm sure it will be better to shut it down completely as we can't risk the health of not affected employees.

DATE: 18/08/19

Quarantine didn't work. More people started to exhibit similar symptoms, the signs of SCP-4241 are all across the Site now. If this is truly a virus, then it's one of the most contagious I've ever seen. My attempts to find some kind of pattern in SCP-4241's spreading or it's victims have failed miserably. The research isn't completely hopeless though. I still have some theories that are worth testing.

I've interviewed one of the affected subjects today. To be more precise, it was an agent whose name is T███████. She has colorfully described what it feels like to be affected. Most of the information was practically identical to what we were able to acquire through testing, but there was that one detail that I can't get out of my head: T███████ has mentioned that sometimes she gets a sudden feeling of anxiety when going to sleep, like the idea of falling asleep is worrying to her. She said that this feeling was with her since she was affected by SCP-4241, but couldn't find any reason for it.

Looks like SCP-4241 is able to affect subject's psyche on multiple levels even though there are no traces of it within the subject's body. This gave me an idea: SCP-4241 doesn't necessarily have to be a virus or exist in physical reality at all to affect its victims. Tomorrow I'll get a response from the memetic department and try to reach out to the antimemetic team as well. Maybe the answer is closer than we think.

DATE: 19/08/19

Looks like I'm not bad at predicting; from now on we're under lockdown. The order came in this morning, followed by a report regarding an increasing number of the subjects affected by SCP-4241. And given that we don't know the nature of this "disease", they had to not only lock us inside the facility but also stop the information from going in and out in case of SCP-4241 being an infohazard. No communication with other sites, no possibility to use cell phones or leave the facility. It's just us and those white walls now.

I'm considering giving those employees that were moved to quarantine a possibility to spend some time outside of it while remaining under supervision. Constantly residing in the chambers affects their mental state negatively and SCP-4241 seems to be spreading anyway. If we'll keep one part of the infected inside the chambers, all the while letting others roam the Site freely it may cause some concerns.

I've got the response from the memetic department: unfortunately, they couldn't find anything. The antimemetic team also conducted a thorough analysis, no antimemetic agents of any sort were detected. So, we'll just have to keep searching.

DATE: 20/08/19

Today I've conducted two more interviews with affected subjects, former junior researchers. They both reported feeling persistent anxiety when going to sleep or even thinking about doing so. It seems like they all have dreams that leave them very distressed, but no one can remember what exactly they were dreaming about after awakening.

And if that wasn't enough, today we found out that a researcher who was one of the first SCP-4241 victims took his own life. We all agreed on the fact that right now it's important to not let this one-off case become a tendency. It's not so easy to do though, especially considering that all medication we tried has shown no effect on any of the affected subjects. Looks like the deadline of this research is far closer than I thought.

DATE: 22/08/19

I'm infected. To be fair it is hard to find someone in this facility who isn't. The research team says that it could be a mistake and we should run some additional tests, but I don't think it's necessary. I'm sure I had a nightmare last night because I woke up screaming so loudly you'd think I saw the most terrifying thing in my life. But… Of course, I can't remember anything.

The research has reached a dead end and I have no idea what the source of SCP-4241 could be. I didn't record anything yesterday because there was virtually nothing to report. Everything is getting worse but at the same time, this whole situation seems so… Stable. No monster outbreaks, no horrific events happening to people. Nobody is dying, either. The Site's AIC is fine and containment protocols are still functioning. The site looks almost normal if you look at it from the outside.

DATE: 2?/08/19

So, couple (two or three?) days ago I decided that if we can't understand SCP-4241's nature we can approach it from a different direction: maybe finding out how and when it started spreading will help us in some way. So I've been in the archive for all this time trying to pinpoint an exact time stamp when it happened and draw some kind of connection.

Didn't have any sleep for the past two (three? four?) nights. I just couldn't bring myself to close my eyes. Even the thought about having to experience those nightmares again gives me the creeps. When I was a kid, I'd often be afraid to go back to sleep after having a bad dream, because I feared that it might happen again. This feeling is similar, but in this case, you don't think that the bad dream might repeat, you just know it will. My coffee is running out, so It's going to become a problem soon.

DATE: ??/08/19

I've found something. When I was looking through the missions of MTFs which took place over the course of this month, one of them caught my eye. It's the last mission of Omega-31, during which they raided some apartment at the neighboring town. It was reported that its residents were storing and using various anomalous items, but the reports were a little exaggerated. The operation resulted in MTF capturing one person and discovering eight tapes with minor anomalous properties.

It wasn't so long before SCP-4241 started spreading, and the members of Omega-31 were the first people to exhibit those symptoms. We couldn't find any anomalous influence though, but maybe we just weren't searching close enough. There is very little data regarding the captured PoI himself, during the last interview he really didn't want to share any information with us.

But maybe now, when we are all spiraling into anomalous depression, he'll react differently. At least I hope so. The interview will be conducted tomorrow.

► OPEN ADDENDUM: Interview log

▼ CLOSE ADDENDUM: Interview log

INTERVIEWER: Doctor B. Bishop

INTERVIEWEE: Mr. ███ ██████ (designated as PoI-3749)

BEGIN LOG

Dr. Bishop: Greetings, Mr. ██████, do you know why this interview was conducted?

PoI-3749: Honestly? No idea.

Dr. Bishop: Alright, I'll share some information with you. As you're probably aware, right now this place is going through a very tough time. Usually, the door would be guarded by at least two armed personnel whose goal would be to instantly react if you attacked me or decided to leave this room. Currently, it's not the case as they're needed elsewhere. But I'd like to clarify that since the whole facility is under lockdown, it would be even harder for you to escape if you tried.

PoI-3749: Oh, save your bragging for someone who cares. Even if I wanted to escape, I don't have enough energy to do so. I don't think there is even a point now. What's the use of leaving this place, if those awful feelings will haunt you anyway? Listen, I feel like a pile of shit right now, can we please postpone this interview?

Dr. Bishop: Unfortunately we can't do that, there is very little time left. I know how you feel right now, trust me. I'm infected too, but I can't let this temporary difficulty distract me from my work.

PoI-3749: Well, since I have no choice whatsoever… Go ahead I guess.

Dr. Bishop: Let's start with the most important one: do you know what exactly is happening to the facility personnel?

PoI-3749: No… What makes you assume that?

Dr. Bishop: Well, there were some strange coincidences regarding the current situation and the last mission of the Mobile Task Force which brought you here. Firstly, SCP-4241 started spreading shortly after your arrival at the facility.

(Sound of paper rustling)

Dr. Bishop: Secondly, the first people to exhibit symptoms associated with SCP-4241 were the MTF members, the Site's medical expert, and her assistant who examined you.

PoI-3749: And?

Dr. Bishop: Also, some of the items we found at your location are exhibiting minor anomalous properties. I find it more than believable that those facts are more than just mere coincidences, Mr. ██████. If you truly can't answer my previous question, then let's start from the very beginning: what exactly were you doing prior to the arrival of the Mobile Task Force?

PoI-3749: I don't know what you're… Oh, fuck it. I don't think it really matters anymore. First of all, I'd like to say that nothing that happens right now is my… Our fault. I mean, what kind of person in their right mind would bring this "infection" upon themselves?

Dr. Bishop: I'm not accusing you of anything. Now, please answer the question.

PoI-3749: Well, most of the time we slept. And I mean it. You see, somewhere around three months ago we really got into all this dream stuff. Lucid dreaming, what dreams can say about your mental state, OOBE and things like that. After finding some material on this topic, we decided that we're ready to try ourselves. Rented a quiet small apartment so no one from the outside world would bother us and the rest is history. It was just lucid dreaming and some fun experiences at first, but then… We wanted something more. So we started our tries to enter the dream plane.

Dr. Bishop: Dream plane? Could you please elaborate?

PoI-3749: Oh God, do I really have to explain it all? I mean… You know what "Astral" is, right? There is a huge number of newbies who'll read a bunch of useless books about it and believe that they understood every aspect of it and became "enlightened" or something. Especially on the internet. You should've heard this term before.

Dr. Bishop: You're right, I did. Now, please continue.

PoI-3749: Okay, I'll keep it simple. So, the Astral is considered to be accessible through dreaming. Lucid dreaming, I mean. The idea is that your consciousness leaves your physical body and travels in that other realm, but returns when you wake up. There is even a huge collective whose members are fully aware of how Astral functions. It doesn't matter much how you call this place. The thing is, to even reach it you'll have to practice for weeks.

Dr. Bishop: So, you were practicing before the MTF raided your den, is that it? And for how long?

PoI-3749: Yeah, obviously we were. For long enough to reach the Dream plane and to one-up all those normies from the Astral-related websites.

Dr. Bishop: So, I imagine you do have at least some knowledge regarding this phenomenon.

PoI-3749: I mean, if I had to guess… Probably predators.

Dr. Bishop: Excuse me?

PoI-3749: You know how almost every species has at least one predator to keep things balanced? The physical world isn't the only place where this concept works.

Dr. Bishop: Are you trying to say that Dream plane has predators too?

PoI-3749: Yeah, a whole bunch of them actually, different shapes and sizes. And you probably figured it out already…

Dr. Bishop: We are their prey?

PoI-3749: Yes, at least to an extent. They can't attack our physical bodies though. They can do something to us only when we're trying to enter their world or just having lucid dreams. I mean, the chances that you'll come in contact with one of those creepy shits while having fun in your own little "universe" are pretty slim, but it's possible. Those worlds are a single whole after all.

Dr. Bishop: Any additional information about what we're facing?

PoI-3749: Not much. I really have no clue who or, rather, what exactly is responsible for all this shit. I've entered Dream plane for about a dozen times myself but didn't observe those creatures long enough. But from what I heard of… The nightmares, the malaise, and this fucking feeling that I can't get rid of…

(PoI-3749 raises his voice)

PoI-3749:I'm sure it's related! Fuck. Now when I'm thinking about it… Charging into Dream plane like that was such a retarded decision.

Dr. Bishop: Please stay calm. We will resolve it… I hope. Why would you even try to access this "plane" if it's so dangerous?

PoI-3749: Why would anyone do anything? Curiosity. You know, I'm something of a scientist myself… Or something, I don't remember how this saying goes. By the way, those tapes you stole from us were supposed to improve our results.

Dr. Bishop: I don't think "stole" is the right… Oh, doesn't matter. Could you please specify in which way those tapes helped you in your practice?

PoI-3749: As you say, Mr. Doctor. There isn't something super-special about those tapes, but they are helpful. In fact, they just make you remember your dreams.

Dr. Bishop: This effect seems very interesting.

PoI-3749: Yeah. When one of us would drop off while listening to the tape, they'd remember all their dreams after awakening. I'm sure you have no idea what I'm talking about, but for someone practicing lucid dreaming, it's very important to remember or to write down the dreams. Those things really helped a lot, and I was asked to protect them. But well… Looks like I'm just fucking awful at my job. At least I'm glad others managed to escape before your goons came in. Even though… Right now they're probably affected too.

(Pause)

PoI-3749: Now that I think about, it's a possibility. And some of them might be already in the same condition as I… Or even worse. That's all because of this stupid idea to enter this plane without good preparation. All because I told them to do it. I told them. That was my idea!

(PoI-3749 is visibly hyperventilating)

PoI-3749: Why did I insist on doing it?! None of this would've happened!

Dr. Bishop: Calm down. I understand how you feel right now. And I can assure you that even if your friends are affected, we will find a way to save them. Right now we have to understand how to oppose this… Phenomenon.

PoI-3749: No, it's just… Sorry, it happens. (Sigh) Anything else you wanted to know?

Dr. Bishop: I have to ask one final question: you told me that the tapes will make you remember your dreams. So, does it work with every dream?

PoI-3749: As far as I can tell. I've yet to face a situation where they wouldn't leave you with a crisp and clear image of what you saw while napping.

Dr. Bishop: Thanks, that's all I needed to know.

PoI-3749: Glad to help. Now could you just leave me alone?

Dr. Bishop: Yes, I'm gonna leave you now. This interview is concluded. I thank you for the information you provided, it will be helpful.

PoI-3749: I fucking hope so.

ENG LOG

► OPEN ADDENDUM: Incident report 4241-Δ

▼ CLOSE ADDENDUM: Incident report 4241-Δ

Summary: At 10 AM, 28/08/2019, Dr. Bishop was found unconscious in his dwelling unit at Site-224. Reportedly, he had the headphones on and was holding his personal recording device in his left hand. An audio player with an anomalous item designated AO-3966-2G inside was found next to him. Subsequent medical examination and analysis of the brain activity have shown that Dr. Bishop is in a state similar to comatose, the cause of which is unknown. He is currently residing in Site-224's security department and is inspected for anomalous properties.

The following is a transcript of the last recording by Dr. Bishop, presumably made no earlier than several hours prior to his discovery.

DATE: ??/??/??

It worked. I saw them. Now they won't be able to hide in the back of our minds anymore. Judging by the fact that I can barely talk right now, I probably don't have a lot of time to record this, so I'll try to keep it brief.

Yesterday I retrieved one of the tapes from its locker, turned on the audio player and tried to fall asleep. It was a long struggle due to the anxiety and the fact that I'm not used to sleeping with headphones on, but at roughly 4 A.M. I was finally able to start dreaming. And what a dream it was…

At first, I had a weird itchy feeling, as if some bug was trying to crawl up my leg. Apparently, I tried to smash it by reflex. It didn't help and the itch only got worse, I started feeling it on the different body parts. I finally opened my eyes and tossed down the blanket, and the next thing I saw was a bunch of those creatures running around with their little sticky legs. They were roughly 4 cm large, I couldn't make any details because those shits were pretty scared by me trying to slam them and quickly ran off. I jumped out of bed and managed to kill one, stained my hand in some disgusting purple goo.

It was then I realized that my body was still lying on the bed and I wasn't controlling it. In fact, I was observing it from the distance. Could also pick up the sound of crashing ocean waves from the audio player since it was pretty loud. I then heard a gross popping sound from under my desk and saw a black stain moving out of there. Presumably, it was one of those things. The image was very blurry, so I couldn't tell for sure. I looked under the desk and there was… A cluster of purple, glowing eggs. A fucking cluster of spider eggs in my room. There were at least fifty and judging by the looks of them, some had already hatched.

I can't recall what exactly I was doing after that. In the next part of the dream, I was already walking down one of the Site's hall. The floor was covered in some kind of black slime which made a gross sound every time I stepped on it, and those insects… They were all over the place. Some of them were two-three times larger than the ones I saw in my bed. The other employees also were there, and interestingly enough no one cared about those things roaming around, I guess you could call that dream logic. After all, it was my dream. (Deep sigh)

Then I met T███████. She was walking down the hall and greeted me when I approached her. It was something like a deja vu because I clearly remember already seeing those events in my previous dreams. Seeing and then forgetting. Just looking at T███████ I could tell that she was very ill. And then she turned her back to me. And on her back… A giant thing, it was half the size of T███████. At that moment I understood that the insects in my bed were just younglings. This one looked like a bizarre mixture of cockroach, spider, and mosquito. It wrapped its thin legs around her torso and shoved its long proboscis into her neck. It was sucking something out of there, I swear. At that point, I nearly pushed myself out of the dream because of the panic, but something didn't let me.

After a couple of seconds, this monster, if everything else wasn't enough, weakened its grab on T███████ and switched its attention to me. I fled. I have no idea why, but at the time I thought the best place to run to was the cafeteria. I don't remember how I got here, the only thing I remember is stepping on a couple of those creatures in the process.

I opened the door and saw a lot of employees. Some were having a meal, others were chatting with each other, but all of them looked very unhappy. It was just like the times I visited cafeteria in real life. But… This time there were a whole bunch of those insects too. It seemed like nobody noticed them, but they were… Just everywhere! The big ones were feeding on the employees, and smaller ones just moved around on the floor, the walls and the tables.

Then I screamed as loud as I possibly could. Probably it was my biggest mistake. The creatures immediately noticed me and this time they were way too fast for me to run away. They started crawling up and… (Stuttering) There were so many… Their legs were everywhere… I couldn't see… I couldn't… (Heavy breathing)

I woke up right after feeling a sharp pain in my neck. And, strangely enough, this pain didn't go away. My vision gets all blurry and colorless… (Cough) Just like in that dream. Must be their defense mechanism. Unfortunately, I have no idea what will it do to me.

But at least now I know what SCP-4241 really is. We've made a huge mistake. All this time, while we were chasing a non-existent virus or a deadly memetic agent, those creatures were sucking our will to live out with a straw.

Afterword: Upon discovering the recording, further testing with the usage of AO-3966-2G was approved by Site-224 director in order to determine the credibility of Dr. Bishop's observations. Research is currently ongoing.

Footnotes

1. І.E. the state of amusement or happiness.

2. A unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, distinguishable by a random/rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied with low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the subject to dream vividly.