Item #: SCP-4042

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Four D-class instances of SCP-4042-1 are kept housed within a Group Secure Humanoid Containment Cell, separate from other D-class personnel. Such individuals are to be exempted from the monthly management of D-class personnel. Any instances of SCP-4042-2 are to be contained with their corresponding instance of SCP-4042-1.

SCP-4042 is currently uncontained1. Cases of SCP-4042-1 encountered in the field are to be noted and added to the database F-4042, and should not be approached or questioned about SCP-4042 without permission from at least Level 3 personnel. If granted clearance, staff may attempt to identify any corresponding SCP-4042-2 instances through casual interviewing processes. Likewise, cases of SCP-4042-2 encountered in the field may, with permission, be interviewed in order to identify their corresponding SCP-4042-1 case. In the event of the death of an instance of SCP-4042-2, their corresponding SCP-4042-1 case should be monitored for newly manifested instances.

Additionally, all personnel at all sites are to be scanned monthly for distinctive thaumatic signatures2 characteristic of SCP-4042-1 or -2. All personnel cases of SCP-4042-1 and D-class instances of SCP-4042-2 are to be exposed to a powerful thaumatic dampening field3 for a period of time no less than 12 minutes. Non-D-class SCP-4042-2 personnel instances are to be added to the database F-4042.

With the exception of [REDACTED], individuals noted in database F-4042 are not permitted to move freely from one research site to another, to minimise spread of SCP-4042.

Description: SCP-4042 is a contagious thaumaturgical4 condition which results in the manifestation of human beings. Individuals infected with SCP-4042 are designated as cases of SCP-4042-1. Cases of SCP-4042-1 are capable of subconsciously generating living human beings, which are designated as instances of SCP-4042-2.

Instances of SCP-4042-2 are created as a result of lengthy periods of loneliness, apathy, or inadequacy felt by cases of SCP-4042-1. Instances manifest after 3 to 9 months of such an emotional state, and typically meet their SCP-4042-1 creator within 24 hours of creation.

Instances of SCP-4042-2 are physiologically, psychologically, anatomically, and genetically indistinguishable from regular members of the human population. Instances are unaware of their true nature, and possess appropriate documentation, finances, skills, and memories for their life up to their origin. They grow, age and die as normal humans, and are able to breed with humans, producing children which are invariably cases of SCP-4042-1. SCP-4042-2 instances enter into romantic relationships with their SCP-4042-1 creators in 47% of cases, and into platonic relationships in a further 38% of cases. Since instances of SCP-4042-2 have no compulsions to bond with their creator beyond a natural level of compatibility, it is not uncommon for instances of SCP-4042-2 to go on to lead lives completely separately to their creator.

Cases of SCP-4042-1 and instances of SCP-4042-2 each possess distinctive thaumatic signatures, which can be identified through normal techniques and equipment used to detect magic.

Instances of SCP-4042-2 will demanifest if their thaumatic signature is badly damaged or erased outright. Consequently, instances exposed to areas of extremely high background magic or areas under heavy thaumatic dampening for more than 10 minutes5 will cease to exist. If given a partially damaging exposure, instances will typically restabilise over a period of several weeks, provided that their corresponding SCP-4042-1 case is alive and has an undamaged thaumatic signature. If their SCP-4042-1 case has a damaged thaumatic signature, the SCP-4042-2 instance will instead typically demanifest.

Unaffected humans who form emotional bonds6 with an instance of SCP-4042-2 will become cases of SCP-4042-1.

Addendum SCP-4042.1: Report Submission Interview

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Interviewer: Dr. John Marks, Level 4 Researcher, Site-11

Interviewee: Dr. Horatio Gifts, Level 3 Researcher, Site-11

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Marks: Dr. Gifts. This interview is being conducted in order to clarify certain details in the research paper and Special Containment Protocols you submitted for review last week. Additionally, we need further clarification on the event concerning Doctor Gable, which has received inadequate documentation. Numerical designation for SCP-4042 has been set aside for confirmation, but your containment protocols are yet to be formally adopted.

Dr. Gifts: Understood. (Dr. Gifts pauses.) Where should I begin, sir?

Dr. Marks: At the start. Tell me how you originally detected SCP-4042.

Dr. Gifts: It all started two years and four months ago. Doctor Fiona Gable and myself were investigating a new anomaly, an abandoned house with unusual thaumatic properties.

Dr. Marks: Unusual thaumatic properties? Was it the source of SCP-4042?

Dr. Gifts: I don't believe so. We went into the field with two D-class personnel to map the site and determine any anomalous effects.

Dr. Marks: Which were?

Dr. Gifts: Nothing notable to begin with. We sent one of the D's in first with a camera and radio. They mapped out the house, took notes on the floating furniture and weird lights, and took some photographs. Pretty standard spooky house, right down to the creepy dolls, the creaking walls and… and the locking doors.

Dr. Marks: Any thaumatic entities? Thaumaturgical texts?

Dr. Gifts: Nothing that we detected, at least. The high levels of thaumatic energy had a few side effects; namely, the D-classes could control the unusual effects if they focussed on it, which is something that has been recorded before with unmanaged thaumatic fields. Then Gabes went in herself, and everything went wrong.

Dr. Marks: What happened?

Dr. Gifts: She started to feel uncomfortable. After ninety seconds, she started panicking and crying. A little later, she started to become transparent and flicker in and out of existence, like a grainy old film. We went to drag her outside immediately, but the house kept locking the damn door. I had to have the D's force the door open. I don't think my heart's ever beat harder.

Dr. Marks: What happened to her immediately after you brought her outside?

Dr. Gifts: She calmed down a bit, but she was still really unstable. I scanned her with the thaumometer, and got some weird thaumatic patterns on her reading. She had an active aura, and it was going haywire. All up, she'd been in there almost eight minutes.

Dr. Marks: Did you scan everyone?

Dr. Gifts: No. In hindsight I should have, but I wasn't thinking too clearly at the time; I was just worried about Gabes. I had the house sealed off for the day, and flew us back to Site-11. I did check her after we got back, and noted that the thaumatic patterns were becoming slightly clearer, if not fainter, and they were still all over the place.

Dr. Marks: Was this concerning?

Dr. Gifts: (Gives Dr. Marks a look of incredulity.) Of course it was concerning. My partner was blinking in and out of existence! By the time we'd returned, she was still flickering quite a bit, but at least it seemed to be getting better. I had the medbay run some checks, and nothing came up. She insisted she was fine, and told me to head back into the field to figure it out. I slept on the floor by her bed, then went back the next day, and well…. you know what happened.

Dr. Marks: Have you seen the tapes?

Dr. Gifts: Twice. Only the first few minutes the first time. (Dr. Gifts covers his face with his hands.) I… I couldn't bring myself to watch her disappear, or to listen any further.

Dr. Marks: It left quite an impression on the nurses. And everyone else in the medbay breakroom.

(Dr. Gifts refuses to give a response, and appears noticeably pained.)

Dr. Marks: And you had no idea as to what was happening at the time? No… special connection telling you the pain she was going though?

Dr. Gifts: (Dr Gifts continues to fail to make eye contact with Dr. Marks.) No.

Dr. Marks: Did you think to scan yourself?

Dr. Gifts: I did before entering the house again. I had similar readings to Gabes. The same thaumatic patterns, and I suspected I might start disassociating myself, but I went in anyway. I…I figured it was worth the risk if I could figure out what went wrong with her. (Dr. Gifts pauses and clenches his hands into fists.) Great fucking irony, isn't it? The thing I did to help her is what killed her, and I didn't even know. I found nothing and noted nothing in the hours I was there, except for my thaumatic signature being wiped clean. I didn't make the connection at the time.

Dr. Marks: When did you figure it all out?

Dr. Gifts: I heard what had happened when I got back to Site-11. After I was debriefed, I realised I couldn't remember things properly. About Gabes, I mean. Where we were the first time we met, the colour of her eyes, the sound of her laugh. And lots of other little things. (Dr. Gifts gives a sarcastic grimace at this point, and wipes his eyes.) At least I'll always remember the sound of her crying.

Dr. Marks: (Dr. Marks pauses, and looks uncomfortable.) Please continue, Doctor Gifts.

Dr. Gifts: Somehow I ended up being the one to organise her funeral. I asked around to collect stories for my eulogy, but they were harder to come by than they should have been. Things I remembered clearly couldn't be remembered by others. It was like she was barely in anyone's mind, despite being the talk of the site. I took a few days off and went to her hometown to try and find pieces, and get in contact with her family.

Dr. Marks: That is when you realised?

Dr. Gifts: Only to some degree. Everywhere I went, no-one could remember her. No-one could remember her family living where they supposedly did. Her teachers couldn't remember her. Her teammates from her theatre group couldn't remember her. Her lecturers and her thesis advisor couldn't remember her. I did more digging, managed to dredge up files on her, and I could find everything. Birth certificate, licenses, her thesis, her bank account, including dates of in person deposits, all easily accessible. But no-one had met her. I came back to the Foundation, and managed to acquire permission to poke through her files here.

Dr. Marks: What did you find?

Dr. Gifts: According to the records, she started working with us sometime around late 2010. But no-one remembers her orientation, or providing her with her security passes, or even her coming onto site. I dug up the security footage, and she was never on camera, despite the documentation declaring her to have been there. No-one could remember ever seeing her until early 2011, when she was assigned as my research partner. I was literally the first person to see her exist.

Dr. Marks: What was your state of mind before you met her?

Dr. Gifts: Is that relevant to my Containment Proposal, sir?

Dr. Marks: Just answer the question.

Dr. Gifts: I had been going through a rough patch. I wasn't feeling like I was achieving anything here; I was lonely. Hell, I was considering just taking the standard amnestics and leaving. Then I started working with her, and all those problems seemed to just go away. I enjoyed working here again.

Dr. Marks: What did you do after you tracked down her history?

Dr. Gifts: The first seeds of the idea were floating around. I needed data, and to test my hypothesis. I went and did scans of all the D-class personnel we had on site at the time, and recorded their thaumatic signatures.

Dr. Marks: That's when you discovered the outbreak?

Dr. Gifts: I found fifteen personnel with thaumatic signatures matching those I'd seen on Gabes, and six with similar signatures to what I'd had. I took nine more personnel as a control, and went back to the house. I… started testing on them. You've seen the testing records, yes?

Dr Marks: Of course. I personally authorised half of them.

Dr. Gifts: Then you know how many D's I ripped from reality. You know how long I had to keep them alone to generate creation, to figure out how it all works. You know that I was almost shut down by Ethics. Twice. I've spent two years testing the phenomenon. In hindsight, I'm not proud of it.

Dr. Marks: What next?

Dr. Gifts: With my submission of the protocols, we're at the point of moving into long term containment. I've gained as much understanding as is practical through testing; now we clean up the mess and make sure the cage is comfortable.

Dr. Marks: Yes. About your proposed containment… (Dr. Marks reads from a document before him.) You wish to keep four D-class personnel carriers in containment, and have them forgo the monthy management procedures?

Dr. Gifts: That's the basis of it. What of it?

Dr. Marks: Exemption from the monthly management is concerning. Having D-class personnel unmanaged for long periods of time is liable to make them difficult to contain.

Dr. Gifts: I'll be overseeing them myself. Besides, if we mess with their psychology by repeatedly resetting them, the effects of SCP-4042 are liable to be much worse. So far as I can tell, manifestation time isn't affected by amnestics.

Dr. Marks: Understood. And the keeping of the new instances with their creators?

Dr. Gifts: This should prevent further manifestations beyond the first. Having a close platonic partner should also help keep them content, which makes up for them not undergoing the usual management. I assure you, sir, that this is the most efficient way to keep cases of SCP-4042 in containment.

Dr. Marks: Very well. Your Special Containment Protocols shall be undertaken. Expect us to be in touch shortly. You've done well here, Gifts.

- hide Report Submission Interview

Addendum SCP-4042.2: Incident 4042-A15

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On ██/██/████, a heavily armed unidentified member of staff entered the D-class containment facilities and initiated a mass breakout. In the ensuing firefight, five security and six D-class personnel were killed, as well as the unidentified staff member. The staff member was later determined to be an instance of SCP-4042-2 created by a D-class personnel (who was killed in the breakout).

Overseer's Note: As of ██/██/████, tests performed relating to the creation and stability of instances of SCP-4042-2 are to be ceased immediately. All D-class cases of SCP-4042-1 are to be terminated immediately. All D-class instances of SCP-4042-2 are to be terminated immediately. The containment of SCP-4042 using D-class personnel is to be suspended indefinitely.

[REDACTED], Site-11 Overseer

Addendum SCP-4042.3: Reassignment Request Interview

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Interviewer: Dr. John Marks, Level 4 Researcher, Site-11

Interviewee: Dr. Horatio Gifts, Level 3 Researcher, Site-11

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Marks: Gifts, you're formally in here because of the failure of your containment protocols, as well as your requested reassignment away from the SCP-4042 project. You are also in here to shed whatever light you can on the catastrophic events of ██/██/20██. There is a lot of conflicting records being thrown around about that day. Since you're the supposed expert on this damned SCP, I figure you can explain.

Dr. Gifts: Understood, sir.

Dr. Marks: Start with Incident 4042-A15. Explain exactly what went wrong with the Special Containment Protocols you submitted.

Dr. Gifts: We had the four D-class cases kept separately, as planned. We could monitor them easily enough, and since we knew what we were looking for, if another D-class showed up unexpectedly, we'd be able to check them, and compare the conditions leading to their origin. I've been working closely with them, digging into their personalities, figuring out exactly what it is they needed from their manifestations. In a five month span, we had two new instances appear, both in line with previous results. The manifestation for Incident 4042-A15 was unprecedented, though.

Dr. Marks: Explain to me why it was so unprecedented, beyond the obvious fact that it was highly hostile.

Dr. Gifts: Up to that point, all SCP-4042-2 instances had been created in response to certain emotional needs, usually sadness and loneliness, and the individual was generally an equal in social standing to their originator. We… I never realised nor tested that freedom itself would be an emotional need.

Dr. Marks: Nor that a D-class could manifest a member of staff, apparently. Ten people died in the break out attempt, not including the particular D-class personnel and the infiltrator themselves. You messed up.

Dr. Gifts: I know sir.

Dr. Marks: Then why should I approve this reassignment request?

Dr. Gifts: I…

Dr. Marks: Never mind. Explain to me how the events of ██/██/20██ came to happen.

Dr. Gifts: Sir, the events are classified. I can't speak openly about them.

Dr. Marks: Not quite. The outcome of the events, the identity of cases and instances, and subsequent new protocols are currently classified. I'm authorising you to provide your insight into the events as they transpired, up to the point where you cannot. That's an order, Gifts.

Dr. Gifts: Understood, sir. (Dr. Gifts pauses to collect his thoughts.) After the containment breach, the D-class instances were terminated, and testing of SCP-4042 was suspended. I had an idea though, so I took some scanners and went out into the field. We'd been working under the assumption that the outbreak was an isolated incident, but we'd never actually searched for other cases. I was off site for a few months before it happened, doing scans of the general population.

Dr. Marks: What did you find out there?

Dr. Gifts: SCP-4042 cases and instances in the general population. (Dr. Gifts pauses.) A lot of SCP-4042 cases and instances in the general population.

Dr. Marks: Thousands of cases?

(Dr. Gifts shakes his head)

Dr Marks: Millions? Tens of millions?

Dr. Gifts: (Dr. Gifts nods slowly.) Hundreds of millions. As a low estimate.

Dr. Marks: (Dr. Marks mutters an expletive under his breath.) Was that why the Council initiated the dampers?

Dr. Gifts: I don't actually think it was connected to what I was finding out there. If it was deliberately targeted, I figure they would have at least scanned everyone first. I heard rumours that they were bringing something else into containment, something they'd been chasing for a long time. It was a dangerous thaumaturgical entity, Keter class, compulsive powers; you know the sort. So, they set up the big dampers across the site while they were bringing it in. You've seen them around, the old M5s7. They're a brilliant fusion of science and magic, and very powerful, but they take time to power up… and to power down. They set them up all across the site, and powered them up. By the time they realised what was happenening to everyone…

Dr. Marks: No need. I was there. I remember it all too well.

Dr. Gifts: (under his breath) Waste of good people.

Dr. Marks: On that, Gifts… I think we can agree.

Dr. Gifts: (Dr. Gifts watches Dr. Marks closely.) Sir, if it is not too personal to ask… were you…?

Dr. Marks: (Defensively) That is definitely too personal, Gifts.

Dr. Gifts: My apologies, sir. I… I was out of line. I thought… I mean, I heard that… I know what it's like, sir.

(Dr. Marks covers his face for a few seconds and mutters something under his breath. Dr Gifts nods slowly, and reaches out to put his hand over Dr. Marks'.)

Dr. Gifts: I'm sorry, sir. I know you miss him.

Dr. Marks: (After a moment, Dr. Marks straightens in his chair, and wipes his eyes.) For the record, I am merely content that the dampers were shut down before we lost any more researchers. And I am aware of the fact that the incident was not your fault.

Dr. Gifts: After the incident, I debriefed them on exactly why so many people had disappeared. They also consulted with me on the new containment protocols. The current method will prevent further spread among research staff. Provided staff have their monthly dampenings, even if they are infected, they shouldn't remain infected for long enough to start generating new instances.

Dr. Marks: Noted. Is this incident the reason for you requesting reassignment from the project?

Dr. Gifts: Partially… more that it was the final straw. I've spent almost three years on this now, and I feel like I've nothing to show for it but a bunch of innocent people being deleted from existence. I need a fresh start, a new project.

Dr. Marks: Yes. (Dr. Marks looks through his datapad.) Your requested new project starts tomorrow, and involves a new research partner. One Doctor Eleanor Gentle?

Dr. Gifts: That is correct, sir.

Dr. Marks: Interesting. (Dr. Marks leans back in his chair.) I don't recall meeting her.

Dr. Gifts: She's new. She only arrived last month, and hasn't met many people.

Dr. Marks: Doctor Gifts, if I might ask, are you currently presenting an unusual thaumatic signature?

Dr. Gifts: As per Overseer instructions… I do not believe I have the clearance to discuss that, sir.

Dr. Marks: (Dr. Marks pauses, then leans back forward in his chair.) Tell me, Gifts. What is your impression of Doctor Gentle?

Dr. Gifts: I have no doubts in the slightest that she shall prove an excellent field agent and asset to the Foundation. And I believe she has an interest in theatre and classical music.

Dr. Marks: (Dr. Marks smiles slightly.) That will be all, Doctor Gifts. Your request for reassignment is approved.

Dr. Gifts: Thank you, sir.

[END LOG]

- hide Reassignment Request Interview

Footnotes

1. Due to logistical and ethical concerns, future containment is unlikely.

2. A thaumatic signature is a pattern of arcane magic upon an object or individual which results in a distinct magical effect. The signature both codes for and powers the magical effect.

3. Otherwise colloquially known as an anti-magic field.

4. Thaumaturgy, or arcane spellcraft, is defined as the study and use of magic from non-religious, non-shamanistic origins.

5. Exact demanifestation times vary from individual to individual.

6. Such as a friendship, close mentorship, or romantic relationship.

7. The M-Series Thaumatic Dampers were among the first tools developed by the Foundation to generate anti-magic fields, replacing the need for countermagic when dealing with arcanists and thaumaturges. While outdated and awkward to use, they remain effective as suppressors.