PlaguePJP: XXVII

by PlaguePJP

SCP-7595 — Telepathic Frogs

Item#: 7595

Containment Class: safe

Secondary Class: {$secondary-class}

Disruption Class: {$disruption-class}

Risk Class: {$risk-class}

SCP-7595-6.

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-7595 are housed in Site-322's small animal sanctuary under the purview of Researcher Julian Hoover. They are kept in a standard amphibious animal enclosure and are fed a standard diet comparable to baseline tree frogs. Personnel who, by accident or otherwise, consume SCP-7595's secretions should see their Site's toxicology expert.

Cole Thereven.

Description: SCP-7595 is the collective designation for a group of six Australian tree frogs capable of telepathic communication. While sentient, SCP-7595 are not believed to be sapient, as they only communicate via the use of telepathic croaks, clicks, whistles, grunts, and trills. While humans can perceive SCP-7595's telepathy, there has been no sign of any intelligent conversation between SCP-7595 instances and humans and vice versa.

Excluding their telepathic abilities, SCP-7595 do not differ behaviorally or biologically from non-anomalous tree frogs.

Addendum 7595.1: Discovery

On April 14th, 2020, Doctor Cole Thereven approached Director Paul Lague regarding a discovery he had made while transferring to Site-322 from Site-43.

TRANSCRIPT

«BEGIN LOG»

(Thereven enters Lague's office. He does not knock. Lague is clearly startled.)

Lague: Jesus, Cole. When did you get here? Why are you here?

Thereven: Oh, uh, I was at 43 for a little bit but then Mr. McInnis said that Mr. Asheworth wanted me to work at 120, and then like three days after I got there Mr. Asheworth said you were asking for me so I left last night.

(Thereven sits, carefully placing his black duffel bag down beside him.)

Lague: Great.

Thereven: Wanna see what I found?

Lague: Yes, Cole.

(Thereven unzips his bag and pulls out a cardboard shoebox. The box's lid had been penetrated with a sharp object multiple times. Thereven lifts the lid, revealing six Tree Frogs, SCP-7595.)

Lague: Frogs?

Thereven: Telepathic frogs.

(Thereven moves the frogs out of the box and onto the table. SCP-7595-2 jumps on SCP-7595-4's back.)

Lague: […] Why can't I hear them? Should they be talking to me right now?

Thereven: Wait.

(Thereven stares intently at the frogs, and points at each in quick succession.)

Lague: What's up?

Thereven: Oh, nothing, Mr. Lague.

Lague: Why are you counting them?

Thereven: No, I'm not. Just making sure they're all accounted for!

Lague: Cole, are you missing a frog?

Thereven: No, Mr. Lague. Everything's all good here. What were you saying? Them talking right? I have some food. Watch.

(Thereven reveals a small tin of mealworms. He pulls a worm out, spilling oats in the process, and places it in front of the group of frogs.)

Thereven: Here just watch. This is really cool.

(The mealworm writhes. SCP-7595-1 lunges at the bug, missing and colliding with the table. Possibly believing SCP-7595-1 had the mealworm, SCP-7595-6 lunges at SCP-7595-1, and attempts to bite its face. In the ensuing struggle, SCP-7595-3 successfully eats the mealworm and SCP-7595-1 telepathically screeches.)

Lague: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Let's rewind. Do these things talk?

Thereven: No… they're frogs. They ribbit but telepathically! Why would they talk?

Lague: So they're literally just frogs. There's nothing else going on other than telepathy they use to 'ribbit' to each other?

Thereven: Yes. Wanna see something else really cool? I call it frog-in-the-hole. It's normally toad-in-the-hole but—

Lague: Cole. I'm an incredibly—

(Lague sighs, then pauses for a moment.)

Lague: Sure.

(Thereven opens his mouth, sticks his tongue out, and places a mealworm on his tongue before lowering his head down to the table. SCP-7595-5 notices and bounds toward's Thereven's gaping maw and hops onto his tongue, retrieving the insect.)

(Thereven vocalizes twice. The frog responds with two telepathic croaks and exits Thereven's mouth.)

Thereven: I don't like the taste of those worms.

Lague: That's very cool, Cole. You can go ahead and bring your findings to Researcher Hoover on the fourth floor. I'm sure he'd be very happy to help you.

Thereven: Sweet! Thank you so much, Mr. Lague. I'll see you soon!

«END LOG»

SCP-7595 were placed in a large amphibian enclosure under the purview of Researcher Julian Hoover. Lague also encouraged staff to observe SCP-7595 and watch Thereven perform tricks with the frogs. The following day, Director Lague attempted to transfer Dr. Thereven to Area-179, but due to a recently reported mental health stressor (see Addendum 7595.2), O4 Command voted 15-1 against transferring Thereven to another site.

Addendum 7595.2: Doctor Cole Thereven

On April 16th, 2020, Thereven once again approached Director Lague regarding an ongoing issue relating to his mental health. Below is the transcript of this interaction.

TRANSCRIPT

«BEGIN LOG»

(Thereven enters Lague's office without knocking. Lague is speaking to Dr. Anthony Coix regarding an unrelated incident. They are both clearly startled.)

Coix: Look, Paul, I'm putting my foot down here— Christ on a cracker!

Lague: Cole! What did we say about knocking?

Thereven: Sorry, Mr. Lague and Mr. Coix. I just need to talk to someone really fast.

Coix: Good luck.

(Coix quickly exits the room.)

Lague: It's alright, Cole, just remember for next time. What's the problem?

Thereven: I don't really know. I just feel like those frogs.. they're in my head. I keep hearing them. Like when I was brushing my teeth last night. I was trying to sing the happy birthday song to keep track of how long I was going for, but — but, I just kept being interrupted by the ribbiting! It's getting really, and I don't like to use this word too much, annoying!

Lague: Where is your housing assignment?

Thereven: I'm in one of the sub-basements. Pretty nice if I do say so myself — I have my own office! But, it's just like… we both know that these guys don't talk too much and I'm not sure what the range of their abilities is but it seems small and like… I don't know! What if they imprinted on me or something? Like they see me as their mother?

Lague: Pretty sure that's only a thing with ducks. Can you hear the frogs right now?

Thereven: No, thankfully. But what if it starts up again? What do I do then!?

Lague: What we're going to do is first, take a deep breath. Can you tell me when this started?

Thereven: Last night. I took the frogs to Mr. Hoover and I helped him set up the enclosure to make sure they were comfortable, and then I took all my stuff and moved into my room which is like six floors from here. I've been hearing them almost everywhere I go since then!

Lague: Alright, with something like this I'm going to refer you to Doctor Clark. She's gonna talk to you and help get this sorted.

Thereven: Alright, thank you Mr. Lague. I appreciate it a lot.

«END LOG»

Following this meeting, Thereven met with Doctor Christine Clark. Clark diagnosed these "phantom ribbits" as a psychosomatic reaction to stress from the recent traveling he has been a part of. Thereven was prescribed a low dosage of anti-anxiety medication and was ordered to catalog every instance of hearing an SCP-7595 instance while not in their presence.

Addendum 7595.3: Abridged List of Reported Incidents

Date
Event Description

04/17
Thereven is seen attempting to secretly pour out his 10 AM snack of white cheddar popcorn onto a cafeteria table and utilize only his tongue to place kernels in his mouth.

04/18
Multiple reports from Site staff of hearing Thereven making random, guttural noises, believed to be attempts at mimicking frog calls. When questioned, Thereven plead ignorance or quoted the 2012 hit song 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons, specifically the lyrics "I'm waking up" and "I feel it in my bones" or the combination of both.

Also on April 18th, Thereven entered Dr. Anthony Coix's office unannounced. The following discussion occurred.

Coix: Oh, for christ's sake.

Thereven: The frogs said you were hungry.

Coix: The hell are you talking about?

Thereven: The frogs are our communion. I am a herald.

(Thereven pulls a glass capsule of mealworms from his pocket and slings it at a wall, barely missing Coix's head. The capsule shatters, sending mealworms and oat flakes in all directions.)

Coix: What the fuck, Cole!

Thereven: I feel it in my bones. Be thankful.

Coix: Clean this shit up! Now!

Thereven: Are you happy with this present?

Coix: No! I don't want mealworms all over my room!

Thereven: The frogs were right. You are a wicked soul.

Coix: What the fuck are you talking about, Cole?

Thereven: Go find frogs. Come back after you found frogs.

Date
Event Description

04/19
Multiple times throughout the work day, Thereven is discovered to be missing from his post. Only to be discovered in a recreational center, wearing minimal clothing, squatting, and leaping around the perimeter of the room. The final time this occurred, Thereven doused himself in green paint before conducting this activity.

04/20
See Addendum 7595.4

Addendum 7595.4: Incident Log

On April 20th, 2020, Thereven suffered an apparent mental breakdown and barricaded himself in the fourth-floor small animal sanctuary, taking further steps to lock himself in the enclosure holding SCP-7595. As personnel attempted to calm Thereven, security teams swept his housing assignment and office, ultimately locating a journal. The most recent entry reads as follows:

Sometimes it gets quiet but the croaking always comes back

First I thought there was a frog I misplaced but there wasn't. I looked everywhere! Much like Darth Vader, my confusion turned to anger, and anger turned to hate, and now I am suffering. The universe is cold and hateful. My friends know I never use the h word but here I have no other choice.

I know the truth now.

This isn't all in my head. I'm becoming one of them.

I can't understand anything Ms. Clark or Mr. Lague tell me. I don't belong in this world, at least not as a human. I am meant to jump and fling my tongue at small insects and swallow using my eyes. I should be green and smooth and cold-blooded. I should be ribbiting and chirping to my heart's content.

This croaking in my head is not a curse. It's calling me to my true purpose.

I, Cole Thereven, am a frog.

This entry was delivered to Director Lague, who was handling a dialogue with Thereven through the Site's telephone system.

TRANSCRIPT

«BEGIN LOG»

Lague: Cole, can you tell me why you think you're a frog?

Thereven: I DON'T THINK! I KNOW!

Lague: Okay, buddy. Take—

(Threven interrupts Lague with a long, guttural noise, assumed to be an attempt at mimicking a frog's croak.)

Lague: Oh, wow. Alright.

[…]

Lague: When did you realize you were a frog?

Thereven: It's the only thing that makes sense! I should be in this cage eating many mealworms and flies!

Lague: Cole, that's an unsustainable diet.

Thereven: No it's not!

Lague: Cole, buddy, can you come out of the cage?

Thereven: No!

Lague: Why do you want to stay in there?

Thereven: I am a frog!

Lague: Cole, you need to listen—

Thereven: I'm gonna eat a mealworm.

Lague: Don't eat a mealworm.

(There are sounds of crunching and chewing, followed quickly by retching. There is silence on the line which is suddenly interrupted by Thereven vomiting.)

«END LOG»

Eventually, all conversations between Thereven and Site staff became untenable, as it appeared Thereven's attention was drawn elsewhere. The security cameras monitoring the room displayed Thereven staring intently at SCP-7595. The following interaction was recorded:

TRANSCRIPT

Note: Staff outside of the sanctuary were able to partially hear SCP-7595's telepathic vocalizations. As expected, SCP-7595 were unable to communicate via speech, and only made noises consistent with frogs.

«BEGIN LOG»

Thereven: No! No! No! I should be in here! I'm one of you.

SCP-7595-2: Three croaks in slow succession.

Thereven: I have nothing but you guys!

SCP-7595-3: A loud whistle.

Thereven: I'm not going to croak. That's a bad joke.

SCP-7595-3: Two long, deep croaks.

Thereven: I— I could learn to like them. Mr. Lague doesn't know what he's talking about.

SCP-7595-6: Two clicks and three grunts.

Thereven: I don't belong out there. I—

SCP-7595-5: Loud grunt.

Thereven: A lot, I guess. A lot of people wanted to see the trick with you guys. That's my point! We're supposed to be—

SCP-7595-4: Slow whistle and two croaks.

Thereven: No one likes me out there. They send me around because I'm a burden. I'm the head of anomalous communications and relations I can't communicate with you or the people around me.

SCP-7595-2: Seven low, guttural grunts in quick succession.

Thereven: I can see them, it's like twenty people. And you guys are right here.

SCP-7595-2: Short grunt.

Thereven: Maybe you're right. They really did like the tricks we did.

SCP-7595-1: Four slow chirps.

Thereven: You're still gonna be my friends right?

(All SCP-7595 instances make random noises.)

«END LOG»

Following this interaction, Thereven exited the room and was immediately placed in Site-322's medical bay. A variety of tests were performed to determine what influence, anomalous or not, caused this sudden outburst. Found in Thereven's bloodwork were high concentrations of bufotenine, a hallucinogenic toxin secreted from the skin of some amphibians. In follow-up interviews, Thereven admitted to performing the "frog-in-the-hole" trick upwards of two hundred times over the last week.

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