Item #: SCP-2096

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-2096 is to be held in an MSHA1 containment cell at Area 26. Following Event 08/29/2001-2, the subject has remained in a comatose state. A minimum of one Medical Department personnel and one Research Department personnel are to monitor SCP-2096 at all times. In the event of SCP-2096 regaining consciousness, Containment Subterfuge Protocol 002 ("Conventional Medical Facility") is to be initiated until current containment protocols are reestablished.

To maximize the probability and speed of re-containment in the case of an SCP-2096 event, autonomous redundancy systems have been implemented. Personnel monitoring the subject are required to send messages to personnel at Site 19 no less frequently than three times an hour. If no messages are received for thirty minutes, automated lockdown of Area 26 will initiate. Because of the potential variance in duration for an SCP-2096 event, this lockdown will be maintained until reestablishment of containment protocols has been verified.

Description: SCP-2096 is a Caucasian female, eighty-one years of age. The subject, given name █████ ███████, is within average parameters of physical health for an individual of their age. SCP-2096 has been designated a Class 3U reality bender.2 SCP-2096 events are triggered by the subject's level of emotional distress and increase in intensity in proportion to the same vector.

Recorded SCP-2096 events have to date always been preceded by the subject experiencing cognitive or physical impairment attributable to their dementia. When the subject is faced with a situation where any of their functions are noticeably diminished, the ensuing temporary reality restructuring event alters the cognitive functions of individuals within the effect vicinity to replicate the impairments being experienced by SCP-2096. Most often this results in those affected involuntarily undergoing analogues to SCP-2096's current memory loss; common examples have included confusion regarding their current location, the inability to identify others on sight, and the inability to remember the procedures for fine motor skill activities. While the effect occurs very rapidly following the onset of distress it is not instantaneous, with delay durations reaching as high as sixty-seven seconds in recorded events. Cessation of effect is similar in delay.

According to medical records acquired from the family of SCP-2096 upon containment, the subject began to present symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in August of 1998. These symptoms were first documented following hospitalization for injuries suffered after a fall in the home; the accident has since been theorized to be an acute representation of the onset of truncal ataxia. Formal diagnosis of Alzheimer's was made in December of 1998 following continued symptomatic behaviors. Prior to the onset of Alzheimer's in SCP-2096, no anomalous events had been recorded by the family or any medical institution. It is as of yet unclear whether the subject's facets as a reality bender had been latent prior to neurological degeneration or if all SCP-2096 events prior to the condition were comprehensive enough in their reality restructuring as to leave no evidence of previous consensus realities.

Discovery: SCP-2096 was voluntarily remanded into Foundation custody by family members on 5/27/2001 following a temporary reality restructuring event which resulted in a multi-vehicle accident and the hospitalization of the subject and several others. Foundation liaisons in place at the medical facility were alerted to the potentially anomalous nature of the subject by familial testimony of prior events during the hospital's intake process.

Event 08/29/2001-1 Report:

Duration: 00:00:49

Maximum Recorded Area of Effect: ≈ 7m

Notes: The subject's facets activated following a sudden and asymptomatic onset of emotional distress, manifested physically in the form of excessive weeping. Administration of sedation was in progress when SCP-2096's anomalous effect manifested. Personnel within the area of effect were functionally incapacitated by racking sobs and an emotional state consistently characterized after the event as "hopeless" by those affected. Enough sedative had been administered to permit rapid termination of the event in spite of the protocol's interruption by personnel incapacitation.

Following Event 08/29/2001-1, review of on-site and off-site mental health accessibility for personnel who have experienced an SCP-2096 event has been proposed.

Event 08/29/2001-2 Report:

Duration: 00:24:17

Maximum Recorded Area of Effect: ≈ 1.2km

Notes: SCP-2096 began to laugh with rapidly increasing intensity. Onset was minimal enough in delay and severe enough in intensity to preclude normal sedation protocols. Uncontrollable fits of laughter were experienced by all personnel at Area 26 and anecdotal evidence implies that the area of effect reached as far the outskirts of ██████, ██ at its peak. The subject experienced laughter-induced syncope and lost consciousness at 00:11:25 before awakening at 00:17:51 with no lingering emotional incontinence. The approximately thirteen minute delay between the end of SCP-2096's emotional distress via unconsciousness and the termination of its effect on individuals within the effect vicinity was unprecedented.

Following Event 08/29/2001-2, the Palmer Protocol3 has been invoked by approval of SCP-2096 Lead Researcher Emsworth. SCP-2096 has been chemically induced into a comatose state as of 08/30/2001. The duration of this containment protocol is currently unspecified; weekly evaluations of the subject's state of physical health and potential revisions to the primary containment procedures are scheduled.

Addendum 10/17/2001: SCP-2096 was diagnosed on 10/15/2001 with a moderate chest infection; this type of condition often occurs in comatose subjects due to the general absence of the cough reflex. Treatment thus far has prevented the worsening of the condition but has been ineffective as a cure. As part of the weekly evaluation procedure on 10/17/2001, a proposal to wake SCP-2096 in the hopes of mitigating continued growth of the infection and to improve quality of life has been suggested. A counter-proposal of euthanization, citing the known and presumed risks of SCP-2096 in a conscious state following Event 08/29/2001-2, was made. Both proposals will be presented to an Ethics Committee tribunal during the next weekly evaluation on 10/24/2001.

Ethics Committee Report 10/29/2001:

The tribunal responsible for this casefile's review has determined that the risks garnered by waking SCP-2096 outweigh the potential quality of life benefits. Were it the case that a return to both full physical health and manageable mental health states were probable, this decision would have been more complex; unfortunately, this is not so. Nor is it practical to continue to keep SCP-2096 in its comatose state, given no current projections suggesting significant enough medical advances that would permit an acceptable level of quality of life.

Euthanization of SCP-2096 has been scheduled for 10/30/2001. Reclassification to Neutralized will take place following confirmation of the procedure's success.

- Jennifer Rumsey, Ethics Committee Regional Director

Footnotes

1. Medical, Standard, Humanoid, Active

2. Subtype designation 'U' is the classification for reality benders whose facets are considered to be Uncontrolled or Unintentional; see Reality Benders: Classifications and Presumed Threat Levels for a complete definition of this classification.

3. The Palmer Protocol permits the incapacitation of humanoid subjects by one of several unconventional, non-fatal methods as a temporary containment procedure.