4/4196 LEVEL 4/4196

CLASSIFIED

Item #: SCP-4196

Object Class: Euclid Keter

Earliest known photo of SCP-4196 (right) dated July 1915

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-4196 is presently uncontained following its object reclassification and breach of initial containment (see Addendum 4196-4). A list of candidate remanifestation locations has been assembled. These locations are to be continuously observed as the Foundation conducts an ongoing search for historically analogous candidate sites bordering roadways across the following US states:

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Louisiana

Mississippi

New Mexico

North Carolina

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

West Virginia

Should containment of SCP-4196 be reestablished, the surrounding area is to be surveyed using ground-penetrating radar for the presence of human remains. If discovered, the bodies are to be uncovered and continuously observed by visual and radar imaging.

Description: SCP-4196 is an entity appearing as an elderly human woman. Witnesses universally describe SCP-4196 as resembling their grandmother. Subjects who have no recollection of their grandmother state that SCP-4196 matches their grandmother's appearance as seen in photos or as stated by family members familiar with her. SCP-4196 manifests in dilapidated structures meeting the following criteria:

Borders a highway constructed after 1894 in any of the aforementioned US states

Adjacent to a pond

Built over or in the vicinity of a mass grave containing the corpses of incarcerated highway laborers

Corpses are dated from the late 1800s to the late 1900s and range from 10 to 70 years of age upon death. Unless the cadavers are continuously observed, SCP-4196 shifts to another candidate site.

SCP-4196 readily engages in conversation with anyone who enters its structure but invariably leads the topic towards aspects of the subject's family history that the subject considers shameful. Interviews with test subjects indicate that these claims are factual and no evidence of SCP-4196 telling a lie has been encountered to date. If the subject vocally refuses to accept a claim made by SCP-4196 concerning a family shame, they are teleported between 1 and 10 meters beneath the pond's bottom. Unless immediately excavated, subjects will expire from asphyxiation.

Last known location of SCP-4196

Addendum 4196-1: Discovery

SCP-4196 was discovered outside Gordon, Georgia on 1989/07/17 following a federal investigation into a string of arson felonies against historically black churches. The perpetrators were identified as a locally operating group of the Ku Klux Klan who regularly congregated at a pond with an old hay barn containing SCP-4196. Interrogations of the Klan chapter indicated that SCP-4196 was used as an initiation ritual as early as 1894. Autopsies and historical research on the corpses under SCP-4196 suggested that they were forced prison laborers estimated to have died between 1880 and 1979.

Addendum 4196-2: Initial Containment Log

A preliminary list of SCP-4196's containment procedures and activation requirements were drafted following extensive interviews of incarcerated members of the Georgia chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Site was purchased by a Foundation shell corporation and disguised as a natural gas drilling operation.

+ Initial Interview Log

- Close log

Date: 1989/07/20

Interviewed: SCP-4196

Interviewer: Dr. Paul Hayward

Preliminary Note: Research lead Dr. Paul Hayward volunteered for the initial interview with SCP-4196. Dr. Hayward was outfitted with a radio transponder and an emergency respirator with an air supply of 30 minutes. Interview recorded via video cassette tape.

<Begin Log>

Hayward: Hello, my name is -

4196: Oh I know my strappin' young Paul when I see him! Is that Foundation of yours feedin' you well? I can get you a 'possum ready, good bastin' fat there. Come, sit.

SCP-4196 motions Dr. Hayward to take a seat on a barrel in the corner of the shack.

4196: Now tell Grammy all about how college went. She never got to see you get that PhD, you know? The cancer being what it was.

Hayward: I'm… actually here to talk about you. How are -

4196: Oh, how ole' grandma Calver is? Well it has been a bit lonely out here since Fred died but I've managed well. I have bridge club with the ladies in the parish over next week.

Hayward: You are not my grandmother.

4196: Of course not, Paul! Clever boy, you were. Got you into trouble then. I see it still does now.

Hayward: Can you explain why you only appear when the corpses are observed?

4196: It's what got them here. They saw Grammy. Talked with her. They called it their birthright, but at least they saw. So I remained. Now it's got you here. Grammy always liked company, Paul.

Hayward: So our continued observation will make you remain here?

4196: Well, you're here now, visitin' and askin' about me while we sit above it. You're lookin' at it, thinkin' at it.

Hayward: What is your connection to the bodies beneath us?

4196: Do you remember the last big family Thanksgivin' we had back in '64, when your Pappy George was still with us? Oh remember the stories of the war he would tell, what was that phrase he said about the Nazis?

Hayward: The only proper way to deal with a fascist is using naval ordnance.

4196: Oh you do remember your family! Why you couldn't have been more than-

Hayward: 15. What does this have to do with 22 missing highway workers beneath us?

4196: You mean the coloreds on the chain-gang1?

Hayward: The black highway workers, yes.

4196: It's easier to talk about Thanksgivin' in '64 than what's below. You would rather talk about it.

Hayward: It is and I would, but that is not why I am here today.

4196: Honest. George liked that in you, shame he never spoke to you after '64.

SCP-4196 looks out the opening of the shack at the pond outside.

4196: For them? I can't tell you their story any more than the road over there can.

Hayward: Then why are you here?

4196: Thanksgivin's after '64 weren't so nice, were they? What with your Uncle John being hauled off by the state and that trouble you got into with that other boy behind the high school.

Hayward: What does my past have to do with the bodies?

4196: Nothin', you only have me and the Thanksgivin' of '64.

Hayward: Then what are you? How do you have this information?

4196: I do remember that last holiday we got together, before Grammy passed in that chair in the livin' room while you were chased out. I wonder if the last thing she heard was your father callin' you a -

Hayward: I know what he called me.

4196: Yet you think about it so little. Careful of what you pave over, Paul.

Hayward: I think we have enough.

4196: Oh, do visit again sometime. Grammy always enjoys your company.

<End Log>

Addendum 4196-3: Testing logs

+ Testing Logs - D-114522 - 1

- Close log

Date: 1989/08/19

Subject: D-114522

Preliminary Note: Subject was not informed of any anomaly before entering SCP-4196's shack. Test designed to verify statements made by PoIs associated with the anomaly's discovery regarding the conditions under which SCP-4196 will bury an interlocutor.

<Begin Log>

D-114522: N-Nonna?

4196: Sit down, Vinny. It has been awhile since Nonna has last seen you. How has prison been?

D-114522: But… you're dead.

4196: Well someone has to be here. It would be just the road and the pond otherwise.

D-114522: They want me to ask about what your first memory is.

4196: Back in the old country, Nonna couldn't have been more than 15-

D-114522: I mean you. The lady I see here in this creepy-ass shack. Not the woman I know I buried four years ago. Not my Nonna.

4196: I'm just what you filled in, little Vinny. You haven't buried me yet.

D-114522: Why do you look like my Nonna?

4196: Such good times we had together in the kitchen. So many memories. Almost makes you forget about the stories Great-Aunt Maria told you. The ones about Nonna made it so hard to look at her.

D-114522: What about Aunt Maria?

4196: Oh, the stories! The ones about Nonna's time nursing on the African front. Couldn't have been a day past 1941. Nonna still smells it, like ammonia slipped into the the donor blood, the scent of fresh war and rotting Muslims lingering on the Libyan breeze.

D-114522: I - My Nonna didn't…

4196: Look at Nonna, Vin. Would she lie to you like she did about those killing those musulmani?

D-114522: You are not my Nonna! She wasn't some fascist!

4196: You're not looking at Nonna, Vincent.

<End Log>

End Note: D-114522 was transported 2.7 meters beneath the surface of the adjacent pond and was successfully rescued by attending personnel. Interviews with D-114522's family indicates his grandmother served as a nurse in a colonial hospital in Italian controlled Libya between 1941 and 1943.

+ Testing Logs - D-144623

- Close log

Date: 1989/08/22

Subject: D-144623

Preliminary Note: Subject was read SCP-4196's full documentation and instructed to terminate the conversation should it broach a shameful fact about their family history. Test is to determine if rejection of SCP-4196's claims needs to be vocalized.

<Begin Log>

D-144623: You really do look like her…

4196: Well of course! Nanna's been waitin' for you to stop by all winter.

D-144623: Can you estimate how long ago the previous group started visiting you?

4196: Well, had to be before those days at the lake.

D-144623: Please put the time in terms of years.

4196: There is no meanin' in the year besides what you bring down the road to it, Heather. Like how half the fun was walkin' down that old highway until it ran into the lake. You called it exploring Atlantis. You can't have the lake without the walk, though.

D-144623: I've read the reports about you. Whatever you have to say about my Nanna, I believe it.

4196: Gawkin' on the side of the road ain't the same as lookin', Heather.

D-144623: I'm looking! I'm looking! Whatever you want, just don't bury me!

4196: People only bury family here, like how you buried ole Nanna. Sometimes they end up buryin' themselves while they are at it. So hard to see where Nanna ends and you begin. Gets harder beneath the pond.

D-144623: I believe you! I believe you! Can- can I be done? I don't think she is going to give me a straight answer.

4196: Such eventful walks back up the old highway.

D-144623: I know! I know!

<End Log>

End Note: D-144623 successfully exited the shack without activating SCP-4196. D-144623 refused to specify what event SCP-4196 referenced but did confirm it was both true and shameful to her.

+ Testing Logs - D-114522 - 2

- Close log

Date: 1989/08/27

Subject: D-114522

Preliminary Note: D-114522 was placed into solitary confinement following a string of racially-motivated violent incidents resulting in the hospitalization of another D-Class. Subject was brought out of confinement for continued testing with Ethics Committee approval. Test was performed to establish whether SCP-4196 possesses memories of previous encounters.

<Begin Log>

D-114522: Good morning, Nonna.

4196: Why so good of you to visit again, Vin! I see your good behavior is paying off well in prison to get two visits in one month.

D-114522: They - they want me to see if you remember our last talk.

4196: Of course! How could I not remember talking to my little Vinny? Big strapping lad in the prison gang now! If only Marco could see you take such pride in smashing that spic's skull.

D-114522: You've… seen my Marco?

4196: Of course! He still wonders where his papa went. Just like you did. Remember those days in Jersey when we would all get together to boil tomatoes?

D-114522: I… of course I do! Tell me about them anyway, Nonna, so I can tell Marco. He should know his heritage!

4196: I will tell him when he makes his way down the road, Vinny. He just has to give Nonna a visit.

D-114522: Please tell me about the tomatoes, Nonna! I need those stories, for me, for Marco!

4196: You don't have days like that anymore. They're buried out there in the pond now.

D-114522: I need them, Nonna!

4196: How will Marco ever look at Nonna if you don't remember?

D-114522: I'll tell him all about you! All about the old country!

4196: You've buried the old country, Vincent. Buried like Momma buries the stories about you. About the work you did. About the spic's skull.

D-114522: Momma wouldn't…

4196: Momma looks at Nonna, but you always had your papa's eyes, Vincent.

<End Log>

End Note: D-114522 was transported 4.9 meters beneath the surface of the pond. Waiting researchers were unable to extract D-114522 before he expired. Multiple tests using the same D-class put on indefinite hold per review from the Ethics Committee.

Addendum 4196-4: Containment Breach Log

+ Testing Logs - D-123320 - Level 4 Clearance required

- Close log

Date: 1998/09/22

Subject: D-123320

Preliminary Note: D-123320, age 82, was transferred out of custody from the Georgia Department of Corrections following an investigation into locally operating members of the Georgia Ku Klux Klan suspected to have a connection to SCP-4196. Test designed to estimate length of SCP-4196's activity. Site communications upgraded to a dedicated shortwave radio system prior to date of log so test subject could be actively monitored and instructed by live audio.

<Begin Log>

4196: Why, you have aged well, Teddy. Tell me, what part of prison has kept your skin so… taut?

D-123320: Scars do that, Matron. How have you been? I see the feds are keepin' you good company.

Hayward: Ask 4196 the provided question, please.

4196: Oh they keep an eye on your Matron quite well. A few more visits in person would be nice, though. I do love thinking about all the festivities held here.

D-123320: [laughing] My, how the pond grew those summers.

4196: [laughing] And you worried the tree would snap if we hung another from it!

Hayward: The more you cooperate, the longer you get to stay out of solitary. Ask her the question.

D-123320: Oh, Matron. I miss those late nights ridin' with the knights. Wind in my hair as I clung to the tailgate of Bill's truck. Draggin' some coon behind us as the deputy howled out the window. I felt… invincible.

4196: The road buries it all, Teddy.

D-123320: It does. It buried Bill last year.

4196: It buried your great-grandson this mornin'. Poor little thing.

Hayward: You have 30 seconds to comply before we terminate this test and return you to state custody.

D-123320: What happened? The state isn't as honest as you are.

4196: You'll be seein' your grandson soon.

D-123320: Oh… Why yes, Matron. I think I will be.

Hayward: Final warning. Either ask the question or get thrown back in solitary. There are other people in state custody we can use.

4196: I think Matron's nurses are calling you, Teddy.

D-123320: Well, I think they would be better served chattin' with you. You always had such an honesty to you, Matron. It can carry somethin' mighty on the radio, the TV. Why, some of those young members of the family talk about using that internet!

4196: Oh, you know Matron is a bit behind the times, Teddy.

D-123320: Well let your Teddy help, Matron. These days the road can come to you. I don't think these feds fully appreciate your potential in this newfangled world.

audio rustles as D-123320 removes the microphone taped to his chest

Hayward: What's happening in there? This test is over. Guards!

D-123320: Why, just give them a chat, Matron. You would be surprised how many people you can meet out there these days. We have so many new roads just waiting for you.

[COGNITOHAZARD EXPUNGED]: Why! I am beside myself here, Teddy!

Hayward: Oh god…

[14 MINUTES OF DATA EXPUNGED BY DR. HAYWARD]

<End Log>

End Note: SCP-4196 broke containment following the sudden entombment of six of the 14 personnel on site, resulting in the deaths of three. Dr. Hayward was reprimand for tampering with logs after his subsequent excavation from the pond. D-123320 made no attempts to escape and was returned to Georgia Department of Corrections custody where he resides in solitary confinement in Wilcox State Prison.

Footnotes

1. Prison-labor groups commonly used on infrastructure construction throughout the United States during the late 1800s and early-to-mid 1900s, named for the laborers being chained together when working.