Item #: SCP-3435

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3435 is to be contained in an opaque, airtight case equipped with a desiccator to preserve it. The image of SCP-3435 is not to be distributed outside of approved personnel and test subjects. Personnel must be screened before assignment to SCP-3435; those with backgrounds in politics or art criticism are automatically prohibited from viewing SCP-3435 or images of SCP-3435. MTF Upsilon-23 ("Art Critics") is to monitor art galleries in Clark County for sightings of PoI-0171 (Guillermo Gutierrez) or his works.

Under no circumstances are any personnel to be assigned to both SCP-3435 and SCP-2078 at the same time.

Description: SCP-3435 is an oil painting by known anartist Guillermo Gutierrez, titled "Dream a Better Dream", measuring 110 cm by 68 cm. SCP-3435 depicts two entities: a blue theropod dinosaur with cybernetic attachments and various laser weapons reminiscent of those in science fiction; and a red European-style wyvern dressed in a pointed hat and colorful robe, holding a staff and what appears to be a spellbook. Repeated viewings of SCP-3435 often show changes in the relative positions of the entities, although the majority of viewings appear to show the two entities physically fighting. The background of the painting also varies widely between different viewings, even when viewed multiple times by the same person.

SCP-3435 exerts a primary anomalous effect on the dreams of any individual who views it or a photograph of it. In 87% of cases, the viewer's dreams will sporadically involve the entities depicted in the painting. Reports indicate that the dream entities, designated SCP-3435-1, will attempt to communicate with the dreamer. SCP-3435-1 will cease to appear in dreams after a varying period of time from viewing of SCP-3435; the length of this period has been between one and eight nights. Use of amnestics to remove the memory of viewing SCP-3435 successfully ends the presence of SCP-3435-1 in dreams. A common theme in dreams involving SCP-3435 is elements from the dreamer's childhood.

If the viewer perceives SCP-3435 as being representative of a sociopolitical issue or conflict, the viewer will experience migraines of various severity. If the viewer writes down or speaks about their interpretation of SCP-3435, they will experience further side effects, including stomach cramps, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, or constipation.

Chemical analysis of SCP-3435 has revealed several previously uncharacterized compounds in the paint, thought to be responsible for the colors. Testing is ongoing, but so far analysis has not shown them to possess any perception-altering properties.

Interview Log 3435-01

– hide block

Interviewer: Dr. Maravilla

Interviewee: D-11424, a 29-year-old Hispanic man.

Length of SCP-3435-1 Presence: 2 nights

Dr. Maravilla: Tell me what the painting represents.

D-11424: It's sorta complicated, I guess..

Dr. Maravilla: You don't need to go into detail. Just a general summary.

D-11424: Yeah, okay. Let's see. I think the red wizard one represents conservatives, and the blue dinosaur represents liberals. And the red spellbook probably represents the- (D-11424 retches several times into the provided bucket.) (weakly) God, my stomach.

Dr. Maravilla: Can you continue?

D-11424: Uh, I don't know. (D-11424 wipes his mouth with a towel.) I just need to lie down.

Dr. Maravilla: Very well, we'll move on. Can you recall any details of the dreams?

D-11424: Uh, a little bit. It's hazy. Let's see… the dinosaur took me on a walk on the beach. At least I think it was a beach. Wait, yeah, it was the one we went to one summer when I was eight. She asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said I always wanted to be a deep sea diver. I always loved the ocean, you know? (D-11424 takes a sip of water.) I forget what happened next.

Dr. Maravilla: Anything else?

D-11424: Oh, right. The red dragon made a magic bubble and gave me a little crown, and we went to the bottom of the ocean. I saw a submarine, and my mom waved at me from the window. I- (D-11424 begins to cry.) And then I woke up. I'm sorry, it's just-

Dr. Maravilla: It's alright. Would you like to stop here for now?

D-11424: Yes, thank you.

Interviewer: Dr. Maravilla

Interviewee: D-71799, a 25-year-old Asian-American woman.

Length of SCP-3435-1 Presence: 1 night

Dr. Maravilla: Tell me what the painting represents, if you feel able to.

D-71799: (D-71799 groans.) Do I have to? Just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

Dr. Maravilla: Sure, we can move on. Do you remember any details of the dreams you had last night?

D-71799: Yeah, a little.

Dr. Maravilla: Alright. Tell me what you can remember.

D-71799: Uh, it's blurry. I think it was snowing? And the dinosaur and dragon from the painting were there. I think I heard my dad's voice? I’m sorry, it’s really hard to remember.

Dr. Maravilla: That’s fine. Any other details that stand out?

D-71799: I- oh, right. I saw the dinosaur and the dragon walking through the snow, and there was (pause) my little sister chasing them while playing the trumpet. I don’t know why but that’s the only part I can remember clearly.

Dr. Maravilla: Interesting. Does that hold any significance to you?

D-71799: (takes a deep breath) I wanted to be a musician when I was young. Always messing around and playing instruments with Kumiko. I just, after she passed away… (D-71799 begins to cry.) I couldn’t bring myself to make music anymore. I miss it. I miss her.

Interviewer: Dr. Maravilla

Interviewee: D-19060, a 22-year-old African-American man.

Length of SCP-3435-1 Presence: 8 nights

Dr. Maravilla: First, you experienced no medical side effects from viewing SCP-3435? No nausea, diarrhea, constipation, any of those?

D-19060: Yeah, nothing.

Dr. Maravilla: No migraines either?

D-19060: Nope.

Dr. Maravilla: Interesting. Please state, for the record, how you physically saw SCP-3435 and how you interpreted its meaning.

D-19060: It looked like the dinosaur and the dragon were smiling, in a way, and holding hands. They were flying through the sky. As to the meaning, hmmm. I'd say that they represent the artist's childhood, with the blue one being the so-called left-brain and the red one being the artist's creativity? I'm not entirely sure.

Dr. Maravilla: Hmm. Alright, can you tell me about the dreams involving the entities in the painting?

D-19060: Sure. You know how it usually goes with dreams, but for some reason I remember this one clearer. I was in my old house, back when we lived in [REDACTED]. It was nighttime, and it was really windy. Then I remember I walked out the backdoor and suddenly I was in a forest. I don't remember how I got there, but I remember it started raining and the blue dinosaur appeared. (D-19060 sighs.) I don't know how she did it, but she led me to a clearing and there was a spaceship there. My God, it was the one I would always draw with my crayons. Had the little antennae and rocket boosters and lasers and everything. I got in and the red dragon was there, sitting behind the controls. He let me drive. He said he saw something in me, something rare. The blue dinosaur pointed to the planets and stars we passed by. I recognized them. I drew them. I wrote them. Then the dragon took over the controls and we sped towards a beautiful, glowing white star. That's when I woke up.

Dr. Maravilla: Thank you, that will be all.

Addendum 3435-01: SCP-3435 was first unveiled at the Contemporary Arts Center in Las Vegas, NV. MTF Upsilon-23 first flagged it when they noticed the perception-based anomaly surrounding SCP-3435. SCP-3435 was confirmed anomalous when its effects manifested, causing several prominent art critics discussing the painting to simultaneously vomit and experience severe migraines. SCP-3435 was contained successfully, and amnestics and a cover story involving undercooked hors d'oeuvre were distributed.

Addendum 3435-02: PoI-0171 was apprehended during Incident-████-9F92, involving AWCY?, SCP-████, and SCP-████. Mr. Gutierrez denied responsibility for the incident, and insisted that he was not a member of AWCY.

Interview Log 3435-02

– hide block

Interviewed: PoI-0171

Interviewer: Dr. Maravilla

Foreword: Mr. Gutierrez had previously been uncooperative. Dr. Maravilla, having known him in the past, requested to speak with him before further interrogation attempts. Request was approved.

<Begin Log>

Dr. Maravilla: Good afternoon, Guillermo.

PoI-0171: Will! Man, I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?

Dr. Maravilla: I'm good, thank you.

PoI-0171: So… figures you'd be working here, I guess.

Dr. Maravilla: What's that supposed to mean?

PoI-0171: Come on. Of all of us, you were always the science-y one. Remember when you helped Matt with his volcano in seventh grade?

Dr. Maravilla: Oh yeah, that was a good one. Then Mrs. Salinas made us clean the classroom.

PoI-0171: At least me and Armando helped you guys out, we didn't just strand you.

Dr. Maravilla: Ah, good times.

PoI-0171: Yeah, man.

Dr. Maravilla: So, tell me. What really happened at the gallery?

PoI-0171: (agitated) It wasn't me, you already know that. Those uncool bastards stole one of my unfinished canvases and were gonna use it as part of some stupid exhibition. Course they didn't really understand what I was doing with it, so that's probably what caused the whole mess in the first place.

Dr. Maravilla: Why were you at the location, then?

PoI-0171: To get the canvas back, duh. Me and Miguel were all set to sneak into the exhibition, had it all planned, then we see a guy running and screaming with a flaming turtle shell on his head like a helmet, and that's when everything went to hell.

Dr. Maravilla: The explosion?

PoI-0171: Yep. Hey, I dunno if you're allowed to tell me or if you know, but did you guys get ahold of Miguel too?

Dr. Maravilla: We only apprehended you and two AWCY members, but in the chaos a lot of people escaped. Let's talk about something else.

PoI-0171: Fine.

Dr. Maravilla: Tell me about "Dream a Better Dream".

PoI-0171: Oh, you've got that one in here too?

Dr. Maravilla: Yes.

PoI-0171: Oh man, that's one of my favorites. Want me to tell you the secret, hidden meaning?

Dr. Maravilla: Actually, yeah, please do. I'm really curious now. What do the dinosaur and dragon symbolize?

PoI-0171: First, I wanna know what you think.

Dr. Maravilla: Me, personally? I'm not really an art crit person. I don't see all that deep stuff.

PoI-0171: Precisely. Just tell me what you saw.

Dr. Maravilla: It's just really cool shit.

PoI-0171: Exactly! You… you're the kind of person who gets it!

Dr. Maravilla: You didn't mean for there to be any deeper meaning?

PoI-0171: No no, there is meaning. Here, let me explain.

Dr. Maravilla: I'm all ears.

PoI-0171: In art class, they said that the key to good art was "what emotion do you want the audience to experience?" (PoI-0171 makes quote signs with his fingers.)

Dr. Maravilla: Yeah, I've heard that before.

PoI-0171: Well, for this one, it's really simple. The emotion I wanted to inspire with this painting is exactly what you said: "Cool!" Nothing more, nothing less.

Dr. Maravilla: (chuckles) Well, you definitely succeeded. But please, explain the anomalous properties.

PoI-0171: Oh, yeah, those. That was fun. Heard a bunch of those stuffy critics at the gallery were, ah, affected. Must've been hilarious.

Dr. Maravilla: I don't think they saw it that way.

PoI-0171: Come on, they all probably grabbed some Tums or Pepto or something on the limo ride home, God knows there's so many pharmacies up and down the Strip. They're all fine now, I promise.

Dr. Maravilla: So tell me why you put the effect in.

PoI-0171: I mean, yeah, there's issues in the world. Bad stuff happening everywhere you look. But the world isn't all bad. The sky isn't falling, no matter what the news might say.

Dr. Maravilla: (takes a sip of water)

PoI-0171: But that negativity shit doesn't need to be in your art! Me? I see art as an escape. A way to look at better worlds, at brighter days. Art is infinite. Why chain it down?

Dr. Maravilla: Is this why you paint?

PoI-0171: This is why I paint. I want to inspire a sense of wonder. A breath of fresh air.

Dr. Maravilla: Hence the dinosaur and dragon?

PoI-0171: I thought, "what would ten-year-old me think was the coolest thing ever?" and then painted exactly that.

Dr. Maravilla: I mean, I agree. If it weren't anomalous, I'd hang it on my office wall.

PoI-0171: Aw, thanks man.

Dr. Maravilla: But please, go on.

PoI-0171: People who get affected, it's cause they've lost their inner child. They can't see just the top layer of things, they gotta inject their views into everything. Sucks the fun out of it.

Dr. Maravilla: I agree, actually.

PoI-0171: Yeah? You're one of the few I've seen. It's why they wouldn't let me into Are We Cool Yet years back. Too obsessed with 'sending a message'. Like they're the Joker or something. But not everything has to send a message, right? Sometimes we just need something simple, something cool for the sake of cool.

Dr. Maravilla: Explain the part where it goes in your dreams.

PoI-0171: You saw them, right?

Dr. Maravilla: What?

PoI-0171: You saw the painting and dreamt of them, didn't you?

Dr. Maravilla: I did, yes.

PoI-0171: And? What did they tell you?

Dr. Maravilla: (sighs) The dinosaur told me she was proud of me, told me to keep following my dreams. She told me what I was doing was worth it. She told me that yeah, I'm making a difference, and don't ever forget that.

PoI-0171: And the dragon?

Dr. Maravilla: He told me not to worry. He said that what happened to my dad wasn't my fault. He said…

PoI-0171: It's OK, Will. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Don't be afraid to look at the painting again, if they let you.

Dr. Maravilla: Thanks, man. Tell me why the dreams happen in the first place.

PoI-0171: You'd have to ask the beings themselves. I don't know where these two came from, but they've got minds of their own.

Dr. Maravilla: You didn't create the entities?

PoI-0171: Sort of. I put them there, but I don't control what they say. Everyone hears what they need to hear, they tell me.

Dr. Maravilla: Then how do-

PoI-0171: It's more of a, how do I put this. As I made the painting, they were already there, I just helped to give them a form.

Dr. Maravilla: When did they appear in your dreams?

PoI-0171: They only showed up in my dreams once, the night before I finished the painting. I can't remember any details, but there's one line they said together that's burned into my brain. (PoI-0171 takes a deep breath.) "Our eyes and yours look upon the same stars. We could take your hand, and others', if you would just reach up once more, like you used to."

Dr. Maravilla: Wow.

PoI-0171: I know, right?

Dr. Maravilla: But what does it mean?

PoI-0171: Hell if I know. (PoI-0171 laughs.)

Dr. Maravilla: It's nice, though.

PoI-0171: Yeah. It was nice catching up, Will. Take care of the painting for me.

Dr. Maravilla: Will do. We'll be sending you back to interrogation shortly. I'll vouch for you, of course, do you agree to cooperate?

PoI-0171: Whatever. I don't suppose you'd give me back the charred canvas if you ever found it, right?

Dr. Maravilla: You know how it is here.

PoI-0171: I'm messing with you, dude.

Dr. Maravilla: It was good to see you again, Guillermo.

PoI-0171: You too, Will. Any last questions?

Dr. Maravilla: One last thing.

PoI-0171: Shoot.

Dr. Maravilla: The composition of the painting. Those specific dyes have never been synthesized or described before. How the hell did you do that?

PoI-0171: I'd think you of all people would realize that chemistry is as much art as it is science. Stay cool, Will.

<End Log>

Closing Statement: Further investigation of the scene and interrogation of the captured AWCY members proved PoI-0171 innocent in the aforementioned incident. However, PoI-0171 managed to escape Foundation custody through unknown means shortly after interrogations were concluded. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Requesting permission to conduct extended testing on SCP-3435. -Dr. Maravilla

Denied. There is nothing more to be learned from it. In fact, your excessive involvement with this anomaly and the POI responsible already borders on the unprofessional, and if he hadn't provided valuable intel on AWCY activity before vanishing you'd be on the disciplinary watchlist already. Remember what's really important here. -Personnel Director Acosta.