A home infected by SCP-1684.

Item #: SCP-1684

Containment Class: Edifice Organizational

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: A Foundation-controlled convoluted neural network is to analyze internet real estate forums for mentions of Hearth Home Realty Corporation, as well as associated entities. Any matching material is to be deleted and forwarded to MTF-ψ-7 "Home Improvement" for further investigation.

Homes affected by SCP-1684 must be occupied by Foundation agents. So far, the only reliable method of removing SCP-1684 is the complete destruction of the affected home. See Supplementary Document ψ-7-RUDOPLH for Foundation-sanctioned covert demolition methods. Under no circumstances is any civilian to enter an SCP-1684-affected home.

Description: SCP-1684 is a phenomenon affecting homes being sold by Hearth Home Realty Corporation. Hearth Home Realty is a real estate firm based in San Francisco, California and founded in 1995, with no known ties to the anomalous.

Once a civilian successfully purchases a home affected by SCP-1684, anomalous properties will manifest within 30 days. At this point, the subject, along with their personal possessions and furniture, will spontaneously vanish from the home. Monitoring systems observing this process reveal that it is instantaneous. The home will then revert to its pre-sale condition.

At this point, the home will be returned to sale on the open market, under Hearth Home Realty. In addition, if the house previously occupied by the subject has yet to be sold, its sale will be transferred to Hearth Home Realty as well. Legal paperwork automatically adjusts for these conditions to occur. Homes sold by Hearth Home Realty are sold for a much lower commissions than competing real estate firms. Although these prices are not paranormally low, they are often the deciding factor for potential subjects to buy SCP-1684-affected houses.

Discovery: On April 21st, 1999, Mr. Randall Duntemann of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Real Estate Division identified that a house in lower Elko, Nevada had been sold 9 times between 1996 and 1997, with all residents staying in the house for less than a month before "selling" back to Hearth Home Realty. During his investigation, Mr. Duntemann cross-referenced the buyers of the house with a series of ongoing missing-person cases. Mr. Duntemann also identified a similar pattern in seven other houses being sold in Elko County, all sold by Hearth Home Realty. He passed this investigation onto the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who passed it onto the Foundation after it was confirmed that anomalous forces were at play.

INTERVIEW LOG

Interviewer: Junior Researcher Craig Calvin

Interviewee: Douglas King

Foreword: Douglas King is the current CEO of Hearth Home Realty Corporation. An interview was scheduled shortly after control over the SCP-1684 case was transferred to the Foundation, in order to further ascertain Hearth Home Realty's involvement in SCP-1684.

<Begin Log>

<Rsr. Calvin walks into the room. Mr. King is sitting straight up at a mahogany desk opposite to the double doors. He is wearing a black blazer over a plaid collared shirt with a yellow tie. He is wearing his hair in a combover, despite the fact that he does not appear to be balding. He stares at Rsr. Calvin as he sits down across from him.>

Rsr. Calvin: Good morning, Mr. King.

Mr. King: Same to you, Agent. Would you like my assistant to fetch you a drink?

<It is of note that, at this point, Mr. King is under the impression that the Foundation personnel investigating him are FBI agents.>

Rsr. Calvin: No, thank you. I'd like to get into the questioning now, if you're ready.

Mr. King: Of course.

Rsr. Calvin: Are you aware that every person who's bought a house from your company has disappeared within a month after purchase?

Mr. King: No, not until now. Every one?

Rsr. Calvin: Yes, all of them: at least twelve hundred people. So you're saying you had nothing to do with these disappearances?

Mr. King: Are you accusing me of, somehow, kidnapping over a thousand people? First you accuse me of money laundering, then you accuse me of this?

<Mr. King then forced a laugh, as if he was disregarding the proposition as ludicrous.>

Rsr. Calvin: All twelve hundred bought real estate from you, and then transferred said real estate back to you, along with any other property they owned. All twelve hundred.

Mr. King: Are you saying that my organization is somehow capable of taking a thousand living souls– some of them children– and making them disappear without a trace? I employ a total of fifty people in this corporation. Do you think fifty people are capable of that?

Rsr. Calvin: No, but we believe you may be affiliated with an organization that is?

<3 seconds of silence.>

Mr. King: Are you accusing us of being associated with the mafia again? I grew up poor in this very town, and fought for the position I hold now. I take offence to you implying that we're an undercover mafia operation.

Rsr. Calvin: I–

Mr. King: If we're going to continue this conversation, it's going to be with a lawyer present.

Rsr. Calvin: Thank you for your time, Mr. King.

<End Log>

Researcher Note: If it isn't obvious, I don't believe Mr. King for a second. I have no doubt it's him, either; everyone else in the organization just denied the existence of SCP-1684 without getting as heated as he did. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. King unknowingly give off a real, genuine smile as I walked out of the room. To contrast, while we were talking he was grimacing the whole time, to mask whatever he was really feeling.

I didn't want to accuse him of paranormal activity yet. We were still operating under the pretense of a government authority, and I didn't want him to try to cover his tracks. Yes, I could've slammed my fist on the table, had the two agents behind me lock the door, and revealed that I was acting on the orders of a paragovernment authority that wasn't bound by silly things like the Sixth Amendment, and really started grilling into him. But that was a card I could get fired for playing, especially if it turned out, by some grand coincidence, that Hearth Home Realty wasn't involved in SCP-1684. So I had to acquiesce.

I'd recommend a more complete investigation into Hearth Home Realty's business partners. I'm sure there's a connection somewhere.

- Jr. Rsr. Calvin

Addendum: On May 4th, 1999, a phone call was placed from Mr. Carlton Pearl's phone to his employer, Mr. Jack Heston. The contents of the call were as follows:

<Begin Log>

Carlton Pearl: Hi, boss. Just wanted to let you know I have a cold, so I'm going to be late today.

Jack Heston: What the hell? I fired you a year ago. Is this some kind of joke?

Carlton Pearl: No– I– I can't, actually, uh–

<Call is cut off on the caller's end.>

<End Log>

Mr. Pearl was a subject of SCP-1684, having disappeared on July 30th, 1996 after buying a house in Carson City, Nevada. This call was traced to a warehouse in San Francisco, owned by Absolute Storage Solutions, which Douglas King was also the CEO of. A preliminary investigation into the warehouse revealed a trapdoor hidden underneath several crates. This trapdoor led to a previously unknown subterranean structure, containing all 1271 known subjects of SCP-1684.

EXPLORATION LOG

<Begin Log>

<Agents David Laster and Chad Armstrong are descending the staircase found underneath the trapdoor. Agent Laster is carrying a flashlight that illuminates the way ahead; aside from this, the stairwell is completely dark.>

Agent Laster: Ugh, it stinks down here, doesn't it?

Agent Armstrong: Amen to that. I'm going to radio back to Command.

Agent Laster: Ten-four.

Agent Armstrong: Command, we've got an update for you. Underneath that trapdoor is a staircase. Goes at least… I don't know, a hundred and fifty feet down. I'd recommend doing a subterranean scan of the area. Over.

Dr. Gregory: Message received. I'll relay that to Director Moose. Over.

Agent Laster: There's a locked door here. I can pick it open.

Agent Armstrong: They already know we're here, Laster. Allow me.

<Agent Armstrong kicks the door down. It leads to a panopticon1 surveying a massive bunker. Scattered through the bunker are consumer furniture, metal platforms, armaments, and several people, both dead and alive.>

Agent Armstrong: Command, another update. It's some kind of massive underground cave. I see several hundred people down here. They seem… kind of dazed. Requesting–

One of the subjects: Hey, them hoodlums are back in the neighborhood!

Another one of the subjects: Make 'em bleed!

<The living subjects pick up armaments and begin firing on the Agents, who panic and retreat through the door.>

<End Log>

MTF Omega-3 ("I Hate Pacifism") was deployed to the site to pacify the subjects via non-lethal tranquilizer darts. After pacifism, subjects were transported to Site-21. They appeared to be under the delusion that they were living in the homes they had purchased from Hearth Home Realty. The subjects appear to have subsisted off of the prepared remains of other subjects who perished within the warehouse. In addition, they believed that their neighborhood was under frequent siege by a gang of vandals. Several expressed a desire to "move", but could not for a variety of reasons, such as a lack of socioeconomic mobility or needing to stay near an elderly relative.

These delusions appear to be caused by a post-hypnotic suggestion. All 309 surviving subjects are currently undergoing therapy to reverse this suggestion, and will eventually be reintegrated into society.

INTERVIEW LOG

Interviewer: Junior Researcher Craig Calvin

Interviewee: Douglas King

<Begin Log>

<Rsr. Calvin marches into Mr. King's office, alongside two Agents. This was an unannounced visit, occurring almost immediately after Armstrong and Laster found the subterranean complex. He is on a phone, which he quickly puts on hold.>

Mr. King: Hello, Agent. My attorney isn't present, so I'm afraid I can't talk to you.

Rsr. Calvin: We found what's under the warehouse.

<Mr. King appears to suppress a brief moment of shock before forcing the facade of confusion.>

Mr. King: I beg your pardon?

Rsr. Calvin: There's a complex under the warehouse, with the half-cannibalized corpses of your customers. I want to know why you did it.

Mr. King: I know nothing about that, this is just ridiculous.

Rsr. Calvin: I've already talked to a few of your employees. You paid them a lot of money to keep them silent. Not paid by their boss. You, their CEO.

<2 seconds of silence.>

Rsr. Calvin: I want to know why you did it. Why did you let children die in your underground lab?

Mr. King: This is just silly at this point. What are you trying to prove?

Rsr. Calvin: There were metal platforms in the bunker, too. Why were they there? Why did you do it?

Mr. King: I need a lawyer.

Rsr. Calvin: You know what I'll do, if you say nothing? I'll assume you did it for the money. I'll assume you set up this whole convoluted, paranormal teleportation scheme to try to make a quick buck killing people. You broke the laws of nature and committed murder, just so you could get their houses and their money. You sick fucking waste of amino acids. I won't blink an eye when it comes time to put you in a hole so deep no one will ever hear your voice again.

Rsr. Calvin: We'll finish this at Site-21. Get him in the van.

<The two Agents handcuffed him and took him away. Mr. King was noted to stare at the floor until he was brought into the van.>

<End Log>

After the arrest of Douglas King, Hearth Home Realty Corporation was dismantled under the pretense of real estate fraud. SCP-1684 is reclassified as Neutralized.

VIDEO LOG

Source: Security camera installed in the covert operations vehicle escorting Douglas King. Time is stamped from the ignition of the engine and the beginning of the drive.

<Begin Log>

00:11:34 - "Yeah, yeah."

00:25:44 - "You probably can't."

00:26:13 - "No, I don't think so."

00:26:45 - "It's the Jailers, not the Carvers. I got lucky."

00:27:11 - "I always thought real estate wasn't the best vector for sacrifice. People don't spend as much time in the home nowadays."

00:27:48 - "Right, right, I'm sorry."

00:28:20 - "I know how to keep my mouth shut. At least I'm not an idiot."

00:29:54 - "Wait, no, no, no–"

00:30:04 - <Mr. King's eyes bulge as he goes completely silent.>

00:30:17 - <Mr. King's head explodes, splashing gore over the inside of the van.>

<End Log>

SPECIAL ADDENDUM 1684-01: As of 2020/05/16, SCP-1684 has returned to activity, associated with the following legal entities:

Bluewater Realty (Probability: Likely)

Smith & McCullough Property Management (Probability: Likely)

John R. Cristo (Probability: Very Likely)

Mill and Marty Realty (Probability: Certain)

Special Containment Procedures are being updated accordingly. Attempts to freeze the assets of the above entities are ongoing.

Footnotes

1. An observation tower built in such a way that it can simultaneously view the entire area.