Item #: SCP-2906

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: The Foundation currently works alongside Unusual Incidents Unit operatives under Collaborative Task Force Psi-12 ("Madvillainy") to isolate and destroy instances of SCP-2906. All documentation affected by SCP-2906 is to be replaced by clean copies. If this is not possible, the documentation must be destroyed. Companies or businesses affected by SCP-2906 (specifically Foundation fronts and United States government facilities) must be monitored for possible spreading of the vector, and any outgoing documentation intercepted and replaced. Any other agents of SCP-2906 are to be scrubbed clean, destroyed, or replaced on a case-by-case basis.

The identity of SCP-2906-1, or its creator, are to be identified as soon as possible and monitored for future anomalous activity. After the events of Incident PoI-1115-C, CTF Psi-12 is to work in conjunction with Mobile Task Force Gamma-13 ("Asimov's Lawbringers") to contain SCP-2906 and coordinate efforts in apprehending PoI-1115 ("Anderson").

Description: SCP-2906 is a modified version of a cognitohazard utilized by the Foundation and its various business fronts. SCP-2906 uses an ampersand design embedded in its agents as opposed to the Foundation equivalent, which uses the acronym SCP.

SCP-2906 prevents observers from mentally connecting its agents1 to SCP-2906-1. Trained personnel are able to identify if a cognitohazard is present; however, they are not immune to its effects and are unable to successfully identify SCP-2906-1 or associate objects affected by SCP-2906 with each other.

Those affected by SCP-2906 can spread the effect through written and verbal communication concerning the vector. Though extensive testing has not been done, some knowledge about the reach of its effects can be ascertained. If a paper document has been marked with SCP-2906, discussing the document and its contents will spread its effects. However, discussing the business or persons receiving the document will not spread its effects.

SCP-2906-1 is the target concept blocked by SCP-2906. An incomplete list of target concepts utilizing SCP-2906 at some point have been recorded in Addendum 2906-D. It can safely be assumed they are familiar with the creation of cognitohazards, as well as the Foundation.

Addendum 2906-A: SCP-2906 was initially discovered during a raid on a suspected cache of items manufactured by PoI-1115 ("Anderson") in San Francisco, California on 04/12/14. Although no items manufactured by PoI-1115 were discovered, several crates containing biomechanical prosthetics and other body augmentations were recovered.

While inspecting the cache, Agent Donovan alerted his squadmates that he was being affected by an unknown cognitohazard. While Agent Donovan was unable to determine what the exact source or effect of the cognitohazard was, he claimed it likely involved the cache. A team of cognitohazard specialists were called in to investigate, and confirmed one was present. The cache was transported to Site-90 to investigate the anomaly (later designated SCP-2906) and both task forces were administered Class B amnestics.

Addendum 2906-C:

Interviewed: Agents Lily Rondeau (Foundation) and Bernard Zell (Unusual Incidents Unit) of CTF Psi-12, Agent Sasha Merlo of MTF Gamma-13

Interviewer: Researcher Alex Factor (Cognitohazard Specialist)

Foreword: Shortly after Incident PoI-1115-C, database searches pertaining to PoI-1115 were conducted. Following the association of PoI-1115 with SCP-2906, an interview was set-up between CTF Psi-12 and MTF Gamma-13, as well as a third party specializing in cognitohazards.

<Begin Log, 11:14>

Researcher Alex Factor: Right, let's begin. I was informed that this was taking place to determine the exact nature of the cognitohazard, as well as the nature of, uh, PoI-1115, AKA Anderson. If you could all state your names for the record. Alex Factor.

Agent Sasha Merlo: Sasha Merlo, Gamma-13.

Agent Lily Rondeau: Lily Rondeau, Psi-12.

Agent Bernard Zell: Bernard Zell, Unusual Incidents Unit, Psi-12.

Rondeau: Should mention that we haven't really had the time to test things out, due to this thing spreading incredibly easily. Hard to even tell how many of these are out there just by its nature. What's in the document is all that we have to go off of.

Factor: I see. Have you had any time to figure out its rules?

Zell: The what now?

Factor: Well, all cognitohazards have rules. They operate in some consistent way to make it work.

Zell: We're not exactly playing kickball. I don't need to reiterate what the document says, so unless you're asking something different, then…

Merlo: What about the Anderson connection?

Rondeau: Dunno. Never heard of the guy until we recovered agents raiding one of his warehouses. Apparently they—

Zell: Don't just talk about it. You'd still be spreading the skip doing it.

Merlo: Look, that's not my point. Anderson's a person, or… I guess the name of a group too, which the person belongs to. Either way, they make anomalous robotics and augmentations. Did the agents find anything there relating to Anderson?

Rondeau: Claimed not to.

Merlo: Just… parts exactly like the kind he makes?

Zell: Yeah.

Merlo: Then how come some people are able to figure out the connection?

Factor: I read over the documentation and tested something.

[At this point, Factor hands over copies of SCP-1360's documentation to all parties.]

Factor: I had the agents review this after interviewing and running some tests on them, and I found—

Zell: But they were given amnestics.

Factor: Cognitohazards… well, infohazards really, stick around. Anyway, they remember Anderson and can identify him and 1360 as belonging to him, but they can't identify the… er, what they found. I tested with other instances of 2906. You can't connect the vector or the agent to whoever made it, but you can identify anything else belonging to them.

Merlo: But if you receive a letter with the skip on it and it mentioned a product, you don't associate the product with the person who sent it. You just don't know who the letter was sent by.

Factor: That's not true. Take a box with a toy inside of it. If you show someone a picture of the box with the vector on it, they're only gonna associate it with the box. But if you tell them that they're gonna look at a picture of a box with a toy inside it, then show them the picture with the vector, they'll associate it with both the box and the toy.

Rondeau: Gonna have to retrain our taskforce on how to approach this, then. Really hope this doesn't get more widespread than it already is.

Merlo: You guys found this raiding an Anderson cache, right? That probably means Anderson made it, and it's likely he let other people or companies use it, the bastard.

Zell: UIU resources would probably be spread thinner than we'd like it to be. I dunno how much more we can dedicate to tracking everything Anderson does.

Merlo: Well, that's why I'm here, isn't it? We're already specialized for dealing with his robotics, it wouldn't be a problem to handle containing this.

Rondeau: Do we go after Anderson and try to stop him from producing items, then? You stop the source, you stop the anomaly.

Merlo: That's probably not plausible. A number of others have the vector by this point, which certainly makes it a lost cause. Trust me, we've been going after him for a while now; it's a pain in the ass.

<End Log, 11:19>

Addendum 2906-E: A letter was received by Site-64 on 06/27/2014. No markings were found on the envelope it was delivered in beyond a postage stamp.

Hey there, guys!

I made a bet with Robert (you know how he is with his gambling) about our little project. As a display of confidence on my part, I'll be regularly mailing you updates on how we're doing, as well as our address, in return for a much broader venue than we originally agreed. I'll continue next week, since we're in the middle of a move at the moment. So stop by if you guys ever figure it out! I'm sure I'll have some pretty cool stuff to show you.

In the meantime, enjoy the mystery, and keep up the good work on containing!

Your friend,

&erson

P.S.: Let me know if my new friends managed to get back to that drive-in theater in Indiana before you!

Footnotes

1. Discovered examples include buildings, various paper documents, and their associated businesses. Other examples include packaging and anomalous art.