The Most Important Meal Of The Day

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SCP-4144: The Most Important Meal Of The Day

Author: Mortos

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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING FILE IS CLASSIFIED UNDER DIRECTIVE BLACKLOCK

ANY ATTEMPT TO ACCESS THIS FILE WITHOUT EXPLICIT O5 AUTHORIZATION WILL BE LOGGED AND WILL LEAD TO IMMEDIATE DISCIPLINARY ACTION.

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Item #: SCP-4144

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: The development of neural networks by public and governmental agencies is to be monitored and altered as necessary to prevent the detection of SCP-4144.

The development of mnestic compounds by agencies outside of Foundation control is to be prevented using any means necessary by MTF Epsilon-7 ("Forget Me Nots") as part of their standard operations.

Description: SCP-4144 is the concept of breakfast. The anomalous properties of SCP-4144 are wide and varied, but primarily manifest as an alteration to the memories and experiences of all partaking humans, causing them to believe they have eaten a meal between the time they wake up and noon local time.

This effect extends to perceptions of images or videos of people supposedly eating SCP-4144, and to the memories of those who believe themselves to be preparing or purchasing food specifically for SCP-4144, causing them to believe that these activities are actually occurring. Despite centuries of historical and cultural evidence, recent investigations suggest that no one in human history has ever eaten a meal that could be described as "breakfast".

When ideating an instance of SCP-4144, a person will spontaneously disappear from their current location along with the food they were intending to eat, and are temporarily replaced by a mannequin made of extruded polystyrene foam1 superficially bearing their appearance. These mannequins are designated SCP-4144-1.2 Observers will see SCP-4144-1 instances as the person they have replaced. Following a period of time typical of the consumption of the intended food items, the mannequin will disappear and the person will reappear in their place, along with the appropriately placed remains of a meal.

Instances of SCP-4144-1 will perform any actions typically expected of the translocated person; upon their return, they will remember all actions undertaken by SCP-4144-1 as though they themselves performed the actions. It is unknown whether this is some form of memory transfer between the two, or if they are remotely controlling the SCP-4144-1 instances.

The location of affected people during this period is unknown at this time.

SCP-4144 was discovered when discrepancies in a neural network trained to identify images were noticed; images tagged as "person eating breakfast" or similar mismatched the determination of the neural network with enough frequency to cause an investigation. An anomaly was confirmed when individuals under the effect of mnestics were able to perceive SCP-4144-1 instances bearing their features in test photos.

SCP-4144 Investigation Logs

Test 1

Process
D-Class personnel D-545-578 heavily dosed with Class-X mnestics and instructed to eat a bowl of cereal.

Results
Upon remanifesting, D-545-578 immediately collapsed and began gasping for breath. They recounted falling some distance in darkness into a bag or sac filled with thick fluid, which then closed above them. They then felt a sharp stabbing pain in their left thigh, after which they were unable to hold their breath, losing consciousness as the fluid entered their lungs. D-545-578 claimed to be able to see patterned markings surrounding a puncture wound leaking a thick brown fluid on their thigh, though researchers were unable to perceive the wound. The fluid supposedly dried and evaporated within minutes, leaving no evidence of the wound behind. No trace of fluid was found in their lungs.

Test 2

Process
D-Class personnel D-954-112 heavily dosed with Class-X mnestics and instructed to eat a bowl of cereal.

Results
D-954-112 recounts similar experiences to those recorded in Test 1. Broad-spectrum imaging was taken of the supposed wound location (this time on the left pectoral), and D-954-112 was given sample kits to take samples of the fluid. The wound was again sealed by the fluid, which dried and evaporated in under three minutes leaving no trace of the wound or surrounding markings.

Analysis of the images revealed a deep puncture wound surrounded by a pattern of cuts and abrasions that formed an antimemetic symbol preventing normal perception of the wound or the fluid. Analysis of the fluid failed; nothing of the samples remained by the time testing was performed.

Note: Tests 3-5 were repeats of the same test in order to establish a baseline. All reported similar experiences, with the only significant variation being the location of the wound. Examinations of all subjects revealed the meal they were intending to eat was present within their stomach upon their return. All D-Class personnel involved reportedly found the experience very traumatic, and have since all shown a reluctance to eat anything they would consider to be "breakfast".

Test 6

Process
D-748-664 is heavily mnesticised and provided with an environmental suit with a one hour supply of oxygen, a standard field survival kit, recording equipment and numerous sample collection containers. He is then instructed to eat a large breakfast of cooked meats, potato products, baked beans and fruits.

Results
D-748-664 demanifested from his current location as he was sitting to eat, before removing the sealed helmet from his environmental suit, confirming intention to eat rather than the actual process of eating is sufficient to trigger SCP-4144's effects.

See Exploration Transcript 4144-001 for full details on the results of this test.

Exploration Transcript 4144-001

Exploration of unknown extra-dimensional space accessed through activities relating to SCP-4144

Notes: GPS tracking of D-748-664 (henceforth referred to as D-748) continued to return his original location within the Site-89 testing chamber. Attempts at radio communication caused an audible response from the SCP-4144-1 instance, though no evidence of this contact was present on the recording.

Video recordings taken from within the space do not appear to be subject to the antimemetic properties surrounding the rest of SCP-4144, and can be viewed without the use of mnestics.

D-748's speech during this log has been removed, as it largely consists of long strings of expletives interspersed with imprecise narrations of what he is seeing.

[LOG BEGINS]

[00:00] D-748 immediately begins falling. Helmet-attached lighting reveals viscous fluid coating the inside of a possibly organic tube.

[00:03] D-748 exclaims in shock as he impacts a fluid surface, sinking into a pool of the same milky fluid coating the tube. A thick sac appearing to be made of a deep red skin-like organic material closes around him, completely sealing them within and obscuring the visual feed of the camera.

Note: D-748 exclaims in pain and later reported several sharp impacts on his lower back at this point, though they failed to puncture his environmental suit.

[00:16] D-748 curses repeatedly, retrieves the knife attached to his belt and proceeds to cut his way through the sac.

[00:34] D-748 successfully cuts his way through the sac, and falls an estimated 1.5m as it ruptures. He begins breathing heavily and cursing repeatedly. The atmosphere has a noticeable orange colouration to it.

[00:50] D-748 begins taking samples of the atmosphere, fluid and sac material remaining on his knife, as previously instructed. Using a scraping tool, he also takes samples of the ground, which appears to be a dark stone-like material.

[1:45] D-748 looks around the space. Light is limited to what his helmet light is producing; it is otherwise completely dark. Hanging in rows, separated by approximately 2m in each direction, are hundreds of organic sacs matching the one from which D-748 emerged. Approximately 40% of them appear to have movement inside of them, though no details can be seen within. No walls can be seen.

[1:59] D-748 begins walking in a direction that directional sensors in his suit identify as north.

[2:03] A feminine scream is heard briefly, followed by the sound of something impacting a fluid surface. D-748 looks towards the sound, and sees one of the sacs closing from the top and moving vigorously before becoming still. D-748 continues walking.

[2:48] Another brief scream is heard in the distance. D-748 has passed by hundreds of the sacs, with no other notable landmarks or changes in terrain or scenery.

[3:13] D-748 notes that the environment looks like a warehouse. He looks directly upwards, revealing a dense network of both metallic and organic pipes or tubes from which the sacs are hanging, approximately 10m up.

[3:24] The camera picks up a brief flash of movement in the distance as D-748 looks forwards again and continues walking. He does not appear to notice the movement. Screams and other cries of alarm are periodically heard varying distances away.

[4:48] D-748 reaches an approximately circular area in which none of the sacs are hanging. In the centre of the area is a circular pit, approximately 5m in diameter, filled with a thick brown liquid visually matching the description of that seen leaking from the wounds of the D-Class personnel in earlier tests. A constant flow of the fluid is pouring from a number of organic tubes above the pit.

[5:02] D-748 looks around the area briefly, before kneeling to collect samples from the pit. A wider gap in the sacs can be seen travelling east and west3 from the clearing, forming a pathway.

[5:35] D-748 finishes collecting samples from the pit and heads towards the pathway heading east. The camera picks up sounds of footsteps, which D-748 hears. He turns in alarm, revealing an instance of SCP-4144-1 with no observable features. It walks to the edge of the pit and appears to look into it briefly, before turning and walking away. It does not acknowledge D-748.

[6:13] D-748 calls out to the SCP-4144-1 instance. It stops and turns to look at him4 and then turns away and runs. D-748 curses, then travels down the path in the opposite direction.

[7:02] D-748 continues walking; there is no other differentiation in scenery. The periodic sounds of screams followed by fluid impacts continue.

[8:39] The camera picks up multiple moving shapes in between the rows of sacs. Multiple sets of footsteps can be heard approaching. D-748 turns to find three instances of SCP-4144-1 directly behind him. He turns to run, but finds himself now surrounded by SCP-4144-1 instances. They grab him and drag him further down the path. He attempts to resist, but fails.

[9:59] The group of SCP-4144-1 instances have dragged D-748 to another clearing. He continues to thrash in attempted resistance, to no avail. In the centre of the clearing, suspended from thick tubing in the ceiling, is a large structure superficially resembling a heart, made of a white organic material. It beats silently. Further tubing can be seen running from the bottom of the structure into a large hole in the ground beneath it.

[10:23] A large tear spontaneously forms in the side of the heart structure, and an instance of SCP-4144-1 steps out from within. The tear seals up seamlessly. Two other instances approach the newly emerged one and begin applying something to its face area.

[11:00] The newly emerged SCP-4144-1 instance is handed a long, pointed rod connected by a tube that runs into the hole beneath the heart, and moves away from the other two. D-748 is dragged to his feet by his captors, and the new instance approaches him. Its face has been painted with features that superficially resemble those of D-748. It stares at D-748 briefly.

[11:30] The SCP-4144-1 instance thrusts the rod into D-748's abdomen. A brief scream can be heard, before the video feed is lost.

[LOG ENDS]

Incident 4144-001 Report

12 minutes into Test 6, before finishing his "breakfast", D-748 suddenly stood up and attacked the two guards present in the room with his eating utensils. Attempts to restrain him failed as he displayed a level of strength far beyond human norms, leaving both guards with a number of deep puncture wounds and ultimately resulting in the use of deadly force, terminating D-748.

An autopsy revealed that D-748's entire body was made from extruded polystyrene foam, though all the clothing and equipment worn was confirmed to be that originally supplied to D-748, along with the recovered samples and recordings.

Analysis of the white fluid and sample taken from the sacs was inconclusive, revealing only that they were some form of unknown organic material. The atmosphere was made primarily of ammonia and the floor samples consisted primarily of iron and calcium, and had a structure similar to that of bone. Analysis of the brown fluid revealed it to be made up of lactose, soy products, processed wheat and rice products, proteins from various types of animal and fibre from various types of fruit.

Footnotes

1. Commonly known by its brand name Styrofoam.

2. It is unknown what form instances of SCP-4144-1 took prior to the invention of Styrofoam in 1947.

3. Relative to the presumed northward direction D-748 was previously travelling.

4. Presumably, as there are no visible eyes present.