by fabuIa

Item #: SCP-7508

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the nature of SCP-7508, containment is focused on reducing knowledge and effects for the global population. Sporadic funding of programs, initiatives, media etc. which support alternate explanations for SCP-7508's effects is to continue indefinitely. Past and current examples include research into Paranoid Personality Disorder, commercial surveillance technology and advertisements for The Lord of the Rings series. All instances of SCP-7508 being identified (within or outside the Foundation) are to be suppressed by whichever means are deemed appropriate.

Testing is indefinitely halted.

Description: SCP-7508 is the eye that watches you. SCP-7508 is an ontological constant which affects all objects the category "you" is capable of including. Affected subjects are universally aware of SCP-7508, but regularly give explanations for its existence other than ontological necessity.

Initially, effects consist of an undefined feeling of being watched. In almost all cases, this feeling is attributed to everyday instances of being seen. In some cases, more elaborate explanations such as social anxiety are employed by affected subjects. When left unexplained or given an explanation similar to ontological necessity1, SCP-7508 becomes increasingly reified. Paranoid feelings grow in intensity and occurrence, but without or without connection to hallucination. At a variable point, SCP-7508 becomes visible to an affected subject. A disembodied eye. Manifestations begin in peripheral vision, but become more central as increased mental attention is given. Effects of SCP-7508 are irreversible; treatments such as amnestics or therapy can slow or stop spread in early stages, but become pointless once SCP-7508 is visible to a subject. In almost all cases, SCP-7508 induces rapid mental decline, which is believed to be non-anomalous.

SCP-7508 was discovered through the Foundation's investigation of research on paranoiacs. While psychiatrists interviewed remained psychologically normal, a large number of Foundation staff reported paranoid ideas and behaviours. Under intense observation, paranoia was found to either cease entirely2, or transform into hallucinations of a flying eye. It was described as "the eye that watches you." At first, SCP-7508 was understood as the result of an anomalous germ responsible for paranoia, but this was disproven through the rapid development of SCP-7508 symptoms in all personnel that read the SCP-7508 file. By 1911, the current consensus around SCP-7508 was formed.

SCP-7508 is the eye that watches you. SCP-7508 is abnormally large, measuring approximately one foot in diameter. It is stable despite the lack of pressure non-anomalous eyes require to keep their shape. The iris is a deep brown. SCP-7508 has too many veins. SCP-7508 can be touched. It feels icy, but it feels like nothing when pushed into. It has no substance.

SCP-7508 moves closer and farther, bobbing. However, it is always in sight. SCP-7508 must be seen. SCP-7508 is never contingent. It must be there. When you close your eyes, SCP-7508 is still in view. No sleep is dreamless anymore. It is the eye that watches you, unendingly.

Footnotes

1. I.e. the belief that "everyone is watching me."

2. Now believed to be the result of paranoid beliefs getting validated.