SCP-4598 - The Spiral Gestalt by DrCaroll

Sometimes, we just look way too deep into song lyrics.

A photo of my SCP-4598-1.

Item #: SCP-4598

Anomaly Class: Pending

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the nature of SCP-4598, physical containment is infeasible. Primary containment of SCP-4598 involves the complete restriction of research into the anomaly and the restriction of knowledge of SCP-4598 to personnel of level-5/4598 clearance only.

Description: SCP-4598 is a psychological thought process which, when inquired upon, ultimately transports the subject into an extradimensional location similar in appearance to their own. Due to the nature of SCP-4598's anomalous properties, further detail will not be given.

This location, hereon dubbed SCP-4598-1, will almost perfectly replicate the subject's perception of baseline reality with the exception of multiple small changes. These changes vary and appear to become more and more drastic as time spent in SCP-4598-1 by the subject increases.

Further description is pending.

Log 4598-discovery.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

Alright, I'll just keep my logs here on this audio-recorder, I guess. Doesn't make sense to put them anywhere else in case this whole thing is recovered.

My name is Dr. Fred Hammond of the SCP Foundation, security clearance level-2. I've been employed at the Foundation for five years now and my birthday is coming up. Happy birthday to me, I guess.

I'm somewhere else all of a sudden. I don't know how else to say it, but I just know for a fact that this isn't the same place I was when I accidentally fell asleep. God, why did I have to do that?

This fucking coin wasn't on my desk before, and last time I checked, the site didn't consist entirely of males. I know, the coin thing could just be some sort of prank or gift to me or whatever, but it wasn't left with a note at all, and both sides have the Foundation shield on them.

On top of that, everything just seems.. off. I can't describe it right now, I'm sorry. But people are acting weird and apparently all of the anomalies that were contained at this site have been transferred somewhere else? All while I accidentally dozed off for a few hours at my cubicle? I, uh, attached a photo to the file I created that's of the section of the research offices that my office is in.

Oh, yeah. I wrote this file. Probably should've opened up with that.

I fell asleep listening to some damn song. God knows what the name of it was, I took a video of it while it was being sung by some guy at a karaoke bar. It was really fucking deep, man. I mean, really deep. It got me thinking and it would seem that thinking is what got me here. It doesn't seem like I was somehow comatose since the date is still the same and the time is only.. er, roughly two hours after I began to doze off.

I'm basing the fact that this whole "trip" of sorts is an anomaly because, when I was talking to people.. who recognized me, by the way; I don't know, I think I should mention that.. they, uh, told me that the anomalies had been scheduled for relocation for weeks now. Even SCP-4655, which doesn't make any sense. I'm the damned head researcher for that thing, why wouldn't I be informed as to its relocation?

And, of course, when I asked them why all the females were gone, they said the site's always been like this; no females. Because of some anomaly held here or something. I don't know, they said it was some fucking doll or whatever. Never heard of a doll being held here, either. Might just be out of my clearance level, but still.. I can promise you this site hasn't always been male. I was literally flirt— er, uh, talking to Dr. Allen today, and she's a chick. So, I don't know.

Aside from the coin, the transfer of the anomalies, and the complete lack of women, everything else seems to be the same. I'll keep you updated.

[END LOG]

Log 4598-day4.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

It's been a few days since the last recording, and that's because nothing else had changed for three days. But then I went back to sleep, listening to the same damn song, thinking about the same damn things, all in the same damn cubicle. And look where I am now.

The whole room's been shifted around! I don't mean the people working in the cubicles or something, but I mean the entire location of where the room is. Before, it was right next to the cafeteria— now it's next to the botany wing. Y'know, the botany wing located on the other fucking side of the site. As far as I've noticed, the people that work in this office area are still the same. Of course, still no females.

Oh, and that's not all.

The anomalies which were "transferred" a few days ago, they're now back exactly where they were. And guess what?

The personnel here said it had always been like this, just like they did before.

I went into my terminal and, yep, I'm still head researcher for SCP-4655. I'll keep testing it every once in a while to check for additional anomalous properties.

I've got nothing else right now. This whole thing is just so weird. Maybe the anomaly is the cubicle? I don't know, I'll try not drifting off here again.

Wish me luck.

[END LOG]

Log-4598-day7.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

It's been a week and I can confirm that it's not the cubicle, and it's definitely the process of thought that I've been sucked into. It's like a fucking spiral— I can't escape it.

I fell asleep in the personnel rooms this time, while listening to the song again. It's gotta be the song. That seems to be the only constant here— it's when I fall asleep listening to the song. That's when things change.

SCP-4655's properties changed today. Dash one doesn't fucking comfort people, it slaughters them, rips them in half without even trying. Once they're dead, it just goes back into the shadows and disappears. That's not how it was before, and I'm sure you, whoever's reading this, knows that. Or, at least, you know now.

It used to comfort people. Are things just changing to the opposite? The offices from one side of the site to the entire other part, and the properties of 4655 to the complete opposite.

I don't know what's going on, but the only thing left at this point is that it's whenever I think about it. But I can't stop thinking about it. It's burrowed its way into the deepest crevices in my mind and refuses to move, it won't even budge. I keep trying to listen to other songs but the thoughts won't leave. Did the song really put me into this state, or was it me? Just me? My curiosity, truly killing more than just the cat?

I want to know. I need to know.

What's happening to me?

[END LOG]

Log 4598-day13.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

It's not the song. It's the thoughts, the damn thoughts. They refuse to go away. I want to bash my fucking head into this goddamned device, but I know that I need it. I need it to keep me going, to keep me sane.

I tried to do more tests to see if SCP-4655's properties changed again, but they didn't. One thing did change, though; just one thing.

The faces on the coin.

Now, one of the faces is the shield, but it's on fire— lit aflame by some random fucking insect, creeping around with no intent other than to destroy every single thing that we've worked so hard to— wait, what? I.. I don't know where that came from. Excuse that.

Like I said, one of the faces is the shield, but it's on fire. The other face is fine, the same shield as it always has been. I was going to ask the still all-male personnel if this has also "always been like that," but I'm the only person who even knows that the coin exists.

Wait, the coin. Is the anomaly the damn coin? Is the coin what's doing this to me?

[There is an extended pause.]

No, no it's not. I'm trusting my gut. The coin is just some side effect of this whole thing, a small change like the mixed to entirely male, the transfer and return of the skips, and the, um.. oh yeah, there's something new.

The lights are dimmer. I don't know why, but I certainly have noticed they're dimmer, and they've been getting progressively dimmer these last few days. And, you guessed it— everyone else says that nothing's changed, that it's always been liked that.

I don't want to fight with them that it hasn't all been like that, because the last time I tried that, everyone just looked at me like I was crazy, and one of them even sent a referral to the on-site psychologist saying that something was really fucking wrong with me. But there's nothing wrong with me. Something's going on.

[The sound of a slap is heard.]

Er, stupid fucking mosquito.

[END LOG]

Log-4598-day20.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

Something's changed. Something big this time.

There's mosquitos everywhere. Fucking.. everywhere.

Nobody else notices them. But they're fucking flying everywhere, biting the shit out of me! One of my, uh, "colleagues," if you want to call them that, got me some bug spray and it seems to be working, so it doesn't seem like the damned bugs have any anomalous properties to them. Thank God.

They're literally appearing out of midair. I'm watching them appear right in front of me, landing on my arm and extracting my thick, refreshing maroon-hued sustenance through the pinnacle of— stop it! [Pause] Stop it. I don't know why that keeps happening, I'm rambling on now, and it always has to do with bugs. The rest of the personnel caught me doing it while conversing with them, too.

I just want to know what's happening. God, return me to where I was; to what reality should be. Not this perception. I don't want to be stuck in this spiral anymore. I can't be.

[There is a pause lasting exactly thirty minutes.]

Please. The thoughts haven't gone away.

[END LOG]

Log 4598-day29.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

The director just plopped a shit ton of papers onto my— [Slap.] ..desk, and they're weird man. Fucking weird.

First, there's a report on SCP-4655. Someone said they watched the bed levitate to the other side of the room, almost like they were being carried by something. When they opened the containment door, SCP-4655 dropped to the ground with a "rough thump" and a bunch of mosquitoes flew out the door in a giant swarm.

Yeah, they sure noticed 'em this time. Fucking bizarre.

Next, we've got a report on— what. Wait, what?

[There is an extended pause alongside heavy breathing.]

This isn't what it said before. Now it's all just.. what?

"Grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey, grey…"

[This continued for two minutes before finishing with the word "white."]

What the fuck?

I.. I'll report later. I need to finish this.

[Pause of eleven seconds.]

And the lights are still dimming as the days go on. The thoughts haven't gone away.

[END LOG]

Log 4598-day35.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

I need to get out of here. It's been a month and I need to get out of here.

Rashes are breaking out on everybody from the bug bites. People are just falling asleep mid-conversation, and I swear, I'm seeing pockets of space in windows. Just.. outer space.

The lights are unbearably dim now. I can hardly even see what's going on, and it's making it easier for these damn mosquitoes to fill up their— stop. [Pause] I stopped myself that time. I could feel it coming, like it was a burp. That was.. really weird.

Woah, I.. okay, woah. Everything's.. everything's starting to turn, starting to spiral. It's like a fucking teacup right, but really.. really, slow.

The thoughts haven't gone away.

[END LOG]

Log-4598-day42.mp3:

[BEGIN LOG]

The spiraling has gotten worse. Everything's spinning, getting further and further away…

Is this what life is supposed to be? Am I now just waking up?

[There is an extended pause.]

I see a light. I see.. my office! My office, yes! That's where I'm supposed to be, the lights are on! But.. wait.

What?

That's.. that's me. Everyone's around me and I'm.. sleeping?

Wait. Wait, dear God. That's Dr. Allen. There's a girl there, she's.. shaking me. She's fucking shaking me and I can feel it and—

It stopped.

They're still shaking me. It stopped. Dr. Allen is crying. She's crying, why is she crying?

Wait.. why do I look so—

[END LOG]

[ACCESS SCP-4598?]

[ACCESS GRANTED.]

Item #: SCP-4598

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-4598 is to be kept in a containment chamber reinforced installed with two Scranton Reality Anchors. Investigation into the cause of Dr. Hammond's death is ongoing.

Description: SCP-4598 refers to the corpse of Dr. Fred Hammond. SCP-4598's singular anomalous property is being one standard deviation off of stable as described in the Q-ORn scale of reality distortion.

SCP-4598 was discovered in Dr. Hammond's cubicle. On the Foundation terminal which Dr. Hammond was operating, the file written by Dr. Hammond describing what he self-designated "SCP-4598" (attached above) alongside two heavily distorted audio files were found. The contents of the first file contains pure static aside from the following lines starting at the 1:56 mark:

"My thoughts have taken me so, so far away…"

"I only hope I will return to what is really real one day…"

The second file consists of a four-second audio clip during which only one sentence is said.

"I offer this song in my own voice."