THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN CLEARED FOR GENERAL READING BY THE OVERSEER COUNCIL

The Letter þ (thorn)

Item #: SCP-6933

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6933 and its effects are to be used as a case study for Memetics Division Training, as well as as a way to identify and track general and individual memetic weakness. Internally, Memetic Vaccine 27 is to be added to the standard inoculation package for all Foundation employees. SCP-6933 is to be monitored for any changes in its behavior, however unlikely. Beyond this, no containment procedures are required.

Description: SCP-6933 is a relatively weak meme that causes those affected to believe that the letter "þ"1 (thorn) was once a standard letter of the English Alphabet. Individuals with stronger memetic resistance are able to reject or believe this as with any other idea, while individuals with weak memetic resistance are compelled to additionally "bring it back", by replacing all written examples of the digraph "th" with the letter "þ".2 This is facilitated by þ's non-anomalous inclusion in modern Icelandic, and thus, in all modern Unicode standards, allowing it to be displayed on the majority of modern devices. However, due to SCP-6933's weak nature, the inaccessibility of finding an Icelandic keyboard and simple peer pressure are often enough to cause the memetic effects to become inert. Propagators of the meme claim that the character was dropped primarily due to its lack of inclusion in German and French printing presses, as well as due to lackadaisical inscription resulting in its shape slowly becoming similar to the letter "y". The anomaly transmits primarily through writing and inscription, as well as through digital text, and is not known to affect Artificial Intelligence Constructs or machine learning algorithms.

History:3 "SCP-6933 was discovered early on in the Foundation's life by renowned father of memetics, ██████ █████4. In a letter to the then newly formed 05 Council, he writes, 'Being a weak, yet identifiable affectation, we could use (the anomaly) to mark them5 like cattle. (The) value of being able to model the spread of the transgressive idea cannot be overstated.' A young 05-3 responded with his approval, and the rest is history. Shortly after, the existing documentation was classified as general reading, and has been disseminated to field researchers and memetics hopefuls ever since. Later, in the sixties, one of the first acts of the burgeoning Ethics Committee was to call the lack of containment for SCP-6933 into question. After several months of heated debate, the committee came to a majority opinion that the benefits far outweighed the consequences, and that SCP-6933's spread among the populace could remain uninhibited. More recently, the rise of the internet has given way to an uptick in SCP-6933 infections, highlighting the need for more advanced memetic security measures for the public. To date, models based off of SCP-6933's spread on the internet have prevented an estimated 3 billion memetic infections, and have predicted approximately 60 anomalies in the past decade alone, defining it as one of the most successful and integral decisions in Foundation history." (For more detailed information, see "A Thorn in the Side of History," by Memetics Instructor Dr. Thomas Futhark, or email him directly at tenpics.noitadnuoF|samohTkrahtuF#tenpics.noitadnuoF|samohTkrahtuF.)

Update 03-26-2021:

+ THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN FLAGGED AS MEMETICALLY CHARGED INFORMATION. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

- ACKNOWLEDGED. YOU HAVE BEEN FLAGGED AS A POSSIBLE VECTOR. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION SHOULD BE SHARED WITH NO ONE.

=Transmitted from [LOCATION REDACTED], England

While completing what would normally be considered routine research for his field memetics exam, one of my Junior Researchers appears to have uncovered physical evidence from █e year 1458 of a poem inscribed on a rock, comprised entirely of words which contain █e letter █orn. Despite █e fact █at he and I are bo█ inoculated against █e meme, I could not only see █e writing, but feel █e inscription under my fingers. I quickly downloaded an AIC in order to confirm our findings; but it could identify no writing on █e object itself or █rough photographs. I have come to █e conclusion █at █is meme may be more powerful █an we previously realized. Unfortunately, however, █e aforementioned junior researcher has not, and continues to insist █at we have been wrong about █e anomaly since █e beginning. As per standard protocol I have quarantined myself and █e training team, and have instructed █e AIC to censor all letters and digraphs █at match þorn phonetically. I heavily recommend █at SCP-6933 be taken out of █e general rotation, and █at anyone who receives █is message be flagged for memetic contamination, if not anyone who has accessed █e general file in the last 6 mon█s. Good luck. -Memetics Instructor Thomas Fuþark.

Footnotes

1. Phonetically, þ is identical to all sounds produced by the digraph "th".

2. E.G. þe, þem, wiþ, þought, etc.

3. Excerpt taken from "A Thorn in the Side of History" by Dr. Thomas Futhark.

4. [NAME REDACTED DUE TO MEMETIC INFECTION.]

5. Referring to memetic weakpoints in the general population.