Item#: 6439

Containment Class: keter

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: ekhi

Risk Class: danger

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6439 is to be handled in accordance with security measures typical for infohazards. Evidence of its existence should be sought out and quarantined, and amnestics administered as necessary.

In addition, to continue the effective containment of SCP-6439-1, Foundation assets should work to encourage the traditions associated with Halloween and counter attempts to eliminate or substantially change them.

Description: SCP-6439 is a temporal anomaly taking the form of an extra 24-hour period per calendar year. The anomaly is accompanied by an amnestic effect; it can only be perceived under specific circumstances and through specific methods. Researchers assigned to SCP-6439 believe this amnestic effect is caused by SCP-6439-1 (consult the Addenda Materials for further information). As such, its existence has been rendered unknown to all but a very small number of people who have encountered evidence of it. This evidence is extremely rare and all of it is believed to be in Foundation hands, though other instances of SCP-6439 being perceptible are being actively sought out.

Primary evidence for SCP-6439 comes from three sources. The first is the recording of a radio broadcast received by a high-orbit American spy satellite to which the Foundation has covert access. It is a commercial broadcast from WAEK ‘The Wake’, a local radio station in Kentucky, specifically the show ‘Midnight To Morning With DJ Abby’. The show was evidently broadcast during a non-existent period between October 31st and November 1st.

The second is the evidence given by a CIA technical analyst, Gavin McCrae, to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, concerning a Chinese satellite and its anomalous data.

The third is marginalia in a medieval Irish manuscript, The Book of the Days of Leinster, describing events supposedly having taken place in the 9th century CE.

Addendum 6439.1: Radio Broadcast of ‘Midnight To Morning With DJ Abby’

[BEGIN LOG]

DJ Abby: That was George Michael with ‘Careless Whisper’, bringing us into this October 32nd with the sexiest sax in music. I’m Abby, here to keep my shift workers and midnight lurkers company from the turn of the calendar up to the early hours. Call in to request a song, anything you like as long as it’s classic and cool, or just tell me what’s on your mind. As those costume parties are winding down and the trick or treaters finally come down off their sugar buzz, we’ll be keeping it calm and copacetic here on WAEK, The Wake.

Producer Wendell has just handed me a note from our weather desk. There’s an extreme weather warning for all parts of the state. Don’t know whether that’s tornadoes or raining frogs, it just says ‘extreme weather’. So it’s looking like a weird night, and not just because yesterday was Halloween.

And speaking of my loyal colleague Wendell, he’s telling me we have a caller on the line. Hi there, you’re speaking with DJ Abby. What’s happening?

Calvin: Hi Abby, Calvin here, uh, long time listener, first time caller. Listen, it’s kinda crazy out here, I was wondering if your listeners have ever seen anything like what’s going down here.

DJ Abby: Sure thing, Calvin, speak to me.

Calvin: I’m down at the Primo Pins Bowling Alley, near West Creek? Just, you know, hanging out. There are a bunch of people here. Well, I say people, but they’re more like… shadows.

DJ Abby: Shadows?

Calvin: Yeah. I thought maybe it was a bunch of goof-offs wearing all black bodysuits for Halloween, but they got closer and I could, like, kinda see through them. They were coming out of the darkness past the parking lot lights. I was with my buddy, we were smoking, you know, and he said, ‘look at these goobers, I’m gonna go mess with them.’ But now I can’t see him and these shadow people are all around the car.

DJ Abby: Sounds far out. Maybe you oughta drive out of there?

Calvin: My buddy’s got the keys. Hey, hey, he’s here. Hey, Kyle! Kyle, my dude, let’s split! Uh, he’s not hearing me. Looks like they’re carrying him.

[A scream rings out, distant.]

Calvin: Whoa, Kyle, get out of there! Aww, geez, now he’s going see-through, too. The shadow people have these glowing eyes and there are way more of them. They’re getting close. Hey, Kyle, you still got that piece in the glove compartment? Sorry, Abby, I gotta go.

DJ Abby: Sounds like Calvin has his hands full there. Maybe all you out there in radioland should steer clear of Primo Pins for a while. Time for a track to keep our minds off these interesting times. Stick around, I’ll be right here with you till the small hours start getting big.

[END LOG]

[BEGIN LOG]

DJ Abby: That was Dexys Midnight Runners with ‘Come On Eileen’, and she’d better get moving because it is weird out there tonight. The network is sending warnings of blackouts across the state, extreme winds, hail the size of grapefruits, and a whole bunch of gosh-darned forest fires out of control. Plus there are riots in Louisville and Lexington. It’s the perfect night to stay inside with me and wait out the crazy with some classic tunes.

I'm getting word from Producer Wendell that there's a caller on the line. Tina, what’s on your mind?

Tina: Hi Abby! I’m calling from Owensboro. I work at the hospital here. We’ve all had to evacuate and we’re hiding out in the local high school, in the gymnasium.

DJ Abby: Sounds like something heavy is going down there, Tina.

Tina: Oh boy, you have no idea. Just after midnight the security guys said there was a disturbance in the basement. The next thing I know, there are naked people walking around! Naked people from the morgue! Dead folks that just got up off the autopsy table and out of the cold lockers. It was the darndest thing I ever saw. They had those autopsy incisions, some of them were from car wrecks or whatever and had bits missing. They were moaning and running about the place.

Of course we all high-tailed it out of there. The stragglers told me some of the dead folks were conducting operations on those who couldn't run for it fast enough. All kinds of crazy things you hear, some people saying it’s judgement day, or it’s a weird virus from space, or aliens. I gotta say, Abby, I don’t know what to think.

DJ Abby: As a man once said, Tina, when you’re going through hell, keep going. Hunker down and ride it out.

Tina: Well, I don’t know if we’re even safe in here. One man, he started screaming there were monsters eating his brain, and suddenly he’s crawling up the walls and along the ceiling like a big old spider! And I saw some sasquatch-looking thing in the parking lot outside, and a whole lot more kinda shambling down main street. I know it’s Halloween but this just beats all.

DJ Abby: Stay strong, Tina, baby. Remember you’re not alone. Whatever happens, we’ll all see it through together.

Tina: A gotta say, you’re real calm about all this craziness going on.

DJ Abby: The way I figure it, what happens, happens, and fretting about it all isn’t going to make it go away. The only thing I care about is that I don’t face it alone. And I don’t have to. I’m here with our callers, all our listeners, Producer Wendell, all the good folks following us from Midnight to Morn. As long as I got that, there’s no better place to ride out the storm than right here with some good tunes and good company.

Tina: That’s a fine philosophy, Abby, but it’s kinda difficult to chill out when there’s people crawling on the ceiling and giant bats flying around. Did I mention the bats? I think they’re bats, anyway, they look the size of airliners from down here. Hold on… [Pause.] I gotta go, I think the cops just said we all gotta barricade the doors.

DJ Abby: Stay safe, Tina. Same to all of you out there.

Meanwhile, it’s raining blood. And in case you think I’m about to spin some Slayer, I mean actual blood. It’s coming down in sheets outside the studio window. We got glowing symbols in the sky, looking like some kind of Latin writing. I can see the power going out in some parts of town, so we’ll broadcast just as long as we can.

Right now we have a request on the phones. Talk to me, Kevin.

Kevin: Glad I got through, Abby, the phones are real messed up. So, uh, I always wanted to request a song and it looks like I might not get another chance. See, the problem is — my mom, she died maybe three years ago?

DJ Abby: Sorry to hear that, Kevin.

Kevin: She’s outside my kitchen window right now. She’s all blotchy and has these long claws but it’s definitely her. She’s howling and trying to bust in. Got some players from the bridge club with her. I’m… I’m not gonna make it through the night. I said to myself, it’s pick up the phone now or never.

DJ Abby: Glad to be here for you, Kevin. And I hope your mom just wants to catch up. What song do you want to request?

Kevin: Well, given what’s going on, there’s only really one song that would be appropriate.

DJ Abby: I’m way ahead of you, buddy. For Kevin and his late mom, here’s REM.

[END LOG]

[BEGIN LOG]

DJ Abby: Seeing us through to the small hours, this is DJ Abby. And this might really be the end, my beautiful friends. We’ve had calls from folks seeing the dead walk, monsters among us, the seas boiling and the earth aflame. Through the rain of blood outside the studio I can see the ground heaving up and rivers of lava flowing across our bluegrass state. Most of the phone lines are down, but… [Pause.] Producer Wendell says someone’s got through.

Caller, you’re on the air.

Don: Abby! Oh thank God you’re there, Abby. My name’s Don, long time listener, I’m down in Louisville and half of West End just fell into this big pit.

DJ Abby: I know plenty of folks who would call that an improvement.

Don: I didn’t much love it neither but now there’s just this big fiery hole, like a lake of flame with all these things leaping around in it. People are lining up to jump in! Plus half everyone I can see are covered in these red boils and there are bugs like big fat grasshoppers everywhere. Swarms of them.

DJ Abby: Locusts, maybe?

Don: Well, they ain’t ladybugs. We were having our office Halloween party when it all started and now I’m stuck in Accounting dressed like Chewbacca watching the damned world end. Excuse my language but it’s just been crazy. Oh boy, the Omni Hotel just fell down.

DJ Abby: Thanks for calling in, Don. I gotta cut you off because something’s coming down out of the sky. It’s like… a mountain upside-down, made of bodies. Arms and legs, all tangled up, all writhing like worms. The sky around it’s opening up like a sinkhole. The ground is warping around it. I can… I can feel its thoughts, battering against my skull.

I think this is it, people. The last trumpet is sounding. The last disc is spun. Whoever’s still listening, I’m glad I could spend the last moments on the air with you.

It’s turning towards me. Its face… a void. Emptiness. [Pause.] Producer Wendell says it’s got the same face as his father, but I just see an endless nothing.

We’re getting some interference here. I’ll stay on the air as long as I can. Stay strong out there, people. Do not… Go… Quietly…

[Static takes over.]

[A new voice breaks through.]

Unknown: I have seen your offering for this year. I have heard the songs of your celebration. I have tasted your delighting in fear. And it is good.

Unknown: The bargain that was struck is fulfilled. Once more you are spared. The devastation of my wake and the majesty of my horror shall be erased.

Unknown: Let your devotion to fear be given voice again when next this day comes to pass. I shall cleave close to the terms of our bargain. I hunger, and unlike you, I shall not forget.

[END LOG]

Addendum 6439.2: Transcription of a Hearing of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

The following is the partial transcript of an evidentiary session of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, held in secret to receive the testimony of CIA technical analyst Gavin McCrae. Senator Darlene Sanchez conducted the session. Though the proceedings are classified, the Foundation acquired a transcript through its assets in the legislative branch.

[BEGIN LOG]

Senator Darlene Sanchez: Analyst McCrae, please explain the context for why you brought us here today.

CIA Analyst Gavin McCrae: It’s all kind of, off-the-record. None of this is official CIA policy or anything.

Sanchez: You won’t get into trouble for colouring outside the lines, Analyst McCrae. We don’t go squealing to the teacher. All we care about is the truth.

McCrae: Sometimes an issue comes up which could lead to both sides spending a lot of money or even kicking off an international incident, which could be resolved if we just talked to each other. So that’s what happened here. My opposite number in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Chinese Ministry of State Security is a guy named Liu Kenong. He found out we were talking a lot about the communications satellite one of their shell companies launched three years ago.

Sanchez: How did this Kenong find out what the CIA was talking about?

McCrae: They spy on us as much as we spy on them. They’re monitoring chatter, maybe they have agents inside. The same thing we do. It’s not really my department.

Sanchez: I see. Continue.

McCrae: Kenong asked to meet me at the airport in Kuala Lumpur. He had my travel itinerary too, by the way. But it was a public place, so it was probably safe. Just an unofficial chat over coffee, you know. So I met him there. Nice guy, I guess. His English wasn’t great but it was better than my Mandarin. Together we got by. We had to look up some of the technical stuff.

The CIA was worried one of the Chinese satellites was for spying. It wasn’t in Earth’s orbit, at least nowhere we could see, but we knew they were getting data from it. So we wondered what it was. We were getting jumpy that the Chinese had stolen a march on us. Getting ahead in the new secret space race. Kenong said we’d got it all wrong.

Sanchez: Do you have reason to trust this Kenong?

McCrae: No more or less than he had to trust me. It’s a reciprocal thing, Senator. We can’t function without at least some communication with the other side. We’re trying to put one over on each other, sure, but neither of us has an interest in starting a conflict over nothing that ends up costing money and lives. Simple answer, I don’t have much reason, to be honest, only his word. I’m just telling you what he told me.

Sanchez: Something of a gentlemen’s agreement, then. Please continue.

McCrae: Kenong said there was a satellite but it wasn’t spying on anything. It was a test. They wanted to know if they could hide something, like a space station, on the far side of the sun, orbiting opposite to the Earth. They figured it would be impossible to see from Earth so they could hide whatever they wanted there.

The satellite they sent up was designed to prove if that was true. They flew it to the other side of the sun and it was supposed to sit there broadcasting test signals. If the Chinese could pick them up, or if anyone else on Earth did, they’d know the idea was a no-go.

The thing is, after about six months, the Chinese were able to detect this satellite. And we were, too. So the test failed. Or worked, depending on your point of view.

Sanchez: What did the CIA believe they had detected?

McCrae: Like I said, we thought it was a spy satellite. We didn’t know what it was supposed to be spying on from way out there but we didn’t like it. The tension started rising, we were trying to crack codes and get people inside the Chinese operation to find out.

Then the Chinese reacted and started hunting down moles and tightening security. Everyone’s getting more paranoid, convinced something big’s about to happen. It’s only so long before someone does something stupid. That’s what Kenong was trying to defuse.

Sanchez: I see. And this idea the Chinese had, of hiding something behind the sun. It didn’t work because it could be detected from Earth?

McCrae: That was inconclusive. The satellite kept going off course. Kenong didn’t understand it, he told me. He assumed it was just a malfunction, but then they noticed the satellite’s atomic clock was exactly one day off compared to the one they’d synched it to on Earth. And yes, they checked if it was a leap year. They went through the programming, didn’t find any bugs, recoded the whole thing and tried again.

A year passes, and the same thing happened. The satellite went off course, the Chinese saw it, we saw it, suddenly the CIA Director is being briefed on this new secret Chinese weapon again. The Chinese try to fix it, can’t find what’s wrong, and try a third time. One year later? Same thing. Exactly twenty-four hours out of whack. So eventually they gave up and recalled the satellite. Kenong said it burned up on re-entry, like they’d planned.

Sanchez: Did Kenong believe it was a malfunction?

McCrae: Of course. So did I. It’s the only explanation. Either there’s a bug in the programming or there’s an extra day in the year no one knows about. [He laughs.]

Sanchez: And how would this extra day get there?

McCrae: Excuse me?

Sanchez: If there were an extra day we don’t experience on Earth, but the rest of the universe does, that means this satellite was programmed for 365 days instead of 366. How might that occur?

McCrae: I’m not sure I follow you. Time is time, you can’t change it.

Sanchez: You’ll forgive my high school physics, but time can change, can it not? With a large enough gravity source? A black hole, that kind of thing?

McCrae: Sure, but the biggest thing nearby is the sun and it doesn’t distort spacetime that much. If there were a black hole anywhere near us, we’d know about it. Or rather we wouldn’t know anything because we’d be sucked in pretty fast.

Sanchez: So what could the explanation be?

McCrae: Senator, please excuse me, but are you genuinely suggesting our perception of the length of a year is wrong?

Sanchez: I am privy to information that even a CIA analyst is not. What seems ridiculous to you is very pertinent to us. Humour me. What could make that happen?

McCrae: I don’t know. Aliens? Magic?

Sanchez: I see. Thank you, Analyst McCrae. Your evidence has been very enlightening.

[END LOG]

Addendum 6439.3: Analysis of The Book of the Days of Leinster

The following is a translation and commentary of writing found in the margins of The Book of the Days of Leinster, a manuscript held in the Trinity College Library in Dublin. The book dates from the 10th century and is a chronicle of Irish kings and significant events from the mid-9th century. The translation and notes are by Professor Sean Dullan. This document came to the Foundation’s attention as potential evidence of a historical anomaly and was retrieved following a data search regarding temporal anomalies and eschatological scenarios.

The text consists of three passages of marginalia across two pages of the manuscript, in a notably less sophisticated hand than the main text. The Middle Irish used is highly colloquial and includes abbreviations and elisions, rendering many challenges in translation. Apart from this there are no significant lacunas in the text.

The passage begins with a statement by the unnamed writer, explaining the original copies of the tale had been lost. The writer wrote it down from memory to ensure it would not pass from memory and be forgotten. The Book of the Days of Leinster was used as a matter of convenience and because the writer expected such a large and expensive book to be preserved.

The story itself dates from the early 9th century and concerns a king of Leinster named Bran mac Donnchada. This individual is not mentioned in other sources, though he may be any one of several contemporary kings in the region who used various names and honorifics. Bran was journeying north out of Leinster with a force of Irishmen and Vikings to defend his borders. The writer neglects to describe his opposition, or the numbers of his army.

The writer here gives a date which, according to the modern calendar, equates to October 32nd, and is presumably an error. On this day, as Bran led his army across the border, it was confronted by what the text describes as a ‘demon’. It was of great size, and had the bodies of many men, though the exact meaning of this is not clear. It is described as ‘descending’, perhaps literally from the sky, or metaphorically as a predator descends on its prey.

Bran’s army scattered at the sight. Some men were ‘struck down’, though again the text is ambiguous on whether this meant ‘killed’ or ‘rendered unconscious’. Others went mad, or fled. The writer states the demon’s face was perceived by some men as that of a hideous monster, and by others as that of a family member, animal, or religious figure.

King Bran was not among those who fled or were incapacitated. In the demon’s face he saw an image of himself, weak and bound in ropes. But Bran was not afraid. The writer alludes to Bran’s widely acknowledged valour and his many deeds in war, though does not name them.

Bran and the demon then engaged in a discussion. The writer describes them speaking of the state of the world and whether the demon should destroy it or not. Bran maintained the world was a fine place and full of brave men and fair women, and all the glories of nature. The demon, however, was not convinced, and determined to destroy it and everyone in it.

Bran, however, was cunning and wise as well as very brave, and proposed a deal to the demon. If he saw to it that a festival was held in the demon’s honour, he asked that the demon spare the world and undo the terror it had already wrought. The demon thought upon this, and decided it would return in exactly one year. If the festival was to its liking, the demon would hold off destroying the world and cause all that happened on that day to be undone, so the horror of its appearance would not scar the minds of all who witnessed it.

Thus the deal was struck, and King Bran returned home. He bade all the people of his own kingdom, and called upon all his allies elsewhere, to have a festival to please the demon. As the demon was a thing of fear, the festival was to celebrate fear. All things grotesque and terrifying would be sung of and paraded, and for a day, it would be as if the beautiful and the ugly had changed places.

That next year, when the demon arose with much madness and destruction. It was pleased by the festival and did as it had bargained, turning back the day and sparing the world. King Bran lamented he would never see the result of his cunning, nor would any other witness it, for the memory itself of that day was undone. The only solace he had was when the next day dawned. For if the festival of fear did not happen, or if it was found wanting, the sun would never have risen again.

Bran had his scholars write of the day he encountered the demon and the deal the two had made. However, copies of these writings were lost, prompting the unnamed writer of the marginalia to note down all they remembered of the tale. This perhaps explains the lack of any mention of the tale elsewhere in the extant literature. Similarly, a creature of myth resembling the demon is not recorded anywhere, suggesting the tale is either one peculiar to the Leinster region, or was an invention of the unnamed writer.

The entity King Bran encountered, and that may still manifest on Earth on the 32nd of October every year, is designated SCP-6439-1. Its containment is likely beyond the capacity of the Foundation, and so containment efforts should instead be aimed at ensuring the tradition of Halloween continues.

The story of King Bran is roughly contemporary with the first mentions of Samhain, the pagan festival that took place from October 31st to November 1st. Samhain is believed to have been later combined with Christian traditions to become All Hallows’ Eve, and then the modern Halloween.

Research into SCP-6439, and the means of perceiving missing time, continues. The Foundation is to liaise with friendly space agencies to generate reliable ways of achieving this. It is evident the reality-erasing effect does not extend to the whole universe, but only contains Earth, and that the 24 hours of missing time can be detected at a sufficient distance from Earth.

The exact nature of SCP-6439-1 is not known. Studying it can likely only be achieved on the 32nd of October, with the data generated being archived in a form that can survive the cognitive omission of the day. Foundation Applied Metaphysics staff are working on a means of doing this. Until this is achieved, knowledge of the existence of SCP-6439 shall remain classified as an infohazard, and placating SCP-6439-1 is to remain the primary means of containment.

Addendum 6439.4: Radio Broadcast of ‘Midnight To Morning With DJ Abby’

[BEGIN LOG]

DJ Abby: That was George Michael with ‘Careless Whisper’, bringing us into this November 1st with the sexiest sax in music. The Halloween parties are at the ‘hanging out in the kitchen’ stage and the costumes have all fallen apart. This is DJ Abby keeping you company until it’s time to throw out the pumpkins and bring in those plastic skeletons from the yard.

As always, we’re playing anything you want so long as it’s old and good. You know, Halloween got me thinking about what it is that scares me. Not gonna say I wouldn’t run if a skeleton or mummy or vampire jumped out of the shadows at me, but you know what really frightens me? It’s being without you guys. Or without Producer Wendell, or anyone. It’s being on my own, facing the world with no one by my side. That’s why I love keeping you nighthawks and music dorks company every night. It means none of us are alone out there. We have each other. Even if I’m just a voice coming from your car radio, that’s a connection, and it’s connections that keep us safe.

Don’t worry, folks, I’m not going to get too philosophical on you. Abby’s gonna keep the tunes spinning just like always. This one’s a track that felt appropriate, for some reason. For everyone in this strange family of late-night listeners, here’s REM with ‘It's the End of the World as We Know It.’

[END LOG]