Item #: The Chosen One

Object Class: Adventure

Special Containment Procedures: Jack Jones is an average teenage boy. He does not have many friends outside of Dennis (the class clown) and Mary (the shy girl). However, when a mysterious organization transports him to an isolated facility, he will learn just how important he is.

Description: I always thought I was a little weird. I've never been able to pin down why. Other students at school don't see me as anything special. Only Dennis and Mary stay close to me. They must see something great about me. But when the Foundation came to pick me up from my house, I knew for certain that it was because I'm not like the other boys.

They drove me to a large industrial-looking building deep in the forest. The guards gave me a friendly smile as we entered. The halls we walked through were bustling with activity, people in lab coats or heavy armor. I think I saw one person shoot a little fire from their hand, when no one else was looking. They caught my eye, and winked.

Eventually we reached an empty room with a table, where another woman wearing a lab coat was sitting. She smiled, her glasses so clear it was like there weren't lenses in them.

"Welcome," she said "to the Foundation."

There was a pause, and I asked "The foundation of what?"

She laughed, and replied "The Foundation of Humanity."

She explained that this organization specialized in finding individuals who weren't quite "normal," taking them under their wing, and helping them control their "weirdness."

"…Am I one of those "weird" individuals?" I asked.

"Well, that's what we suspect. We'll certainly find out, won't we? Oh by the way, my name is Holly Berg."

We shook hands.

A guard led me to my room. We passed by many others, presumably holding other strange people behind them. Once we reached my place, I was surprised to see Dennis and Mary waiting for me.

"Hey Jack," quipped Dennis. "We told the guards that we were wizards or something, and they let us in so we could stay with you."

"Yeah," said Mary. "I would've missed you otherwise." She blushed.

I hugged my friends. Together we would make the most of my stay here.

Containment Report

Item: Subject-6791-53

Containment: Success

Equipment Malfunctions: 0

Containment Breaches: 1

Affected Personnel: 108

Additional Notes: The recorder appears to be working as intended. The effect it has on containment will be continually observed.

Chapter 1: I woke up this morning refreshed, ready for whatever this place could teach me.

Sometime later in the day a guard brought us some lunch. Dennis and Mary and I ate together. They seemed groggy, presumably from sleeping in. I don't blame them; yesterday was exhausting.

Dennis joked while we ate. Mary surprised me by holding my hand. She smiled like I should have expected this. I felt something blossom in my chest.

We went to bed a while later. What a day!

Chapter 2: I woke up refreshed again, wondering when they would get back to me.

We ate lunch, Mary holding my hand softly. Dennis wasn't as talkative today. I wonder if something is bothering him. Is he jealous of Mary and me?

We went to bed.

Chapter 3: For the first time I noticed a humming noise in the wall. If I put my fingers on it I could feel the smallest vibration. I wondered what kind of technology they had in this place.

Mary's fingertips brushed the back of my hand during lunch. I looked towards her, but she wasn't even paying attention to me.

"Mary?"

She jolted, just a little. Her eyes flicked towards me, and she closed her hand around mine again. It looked like she was trying to smile. Actually, I realized that she hadn't stopped smiling until now.

Interview Log: 6791-53-1

Interviewed: Subject-6791-53

Interviewer: Professor Hollë Berg

Foreword: The effects of SCP-6791 have become negligible after 67 hours. As per standard procedure, at this stage Foundation researchers determined to perform an introductory interview with Subject-6791-53.

<Begin Log>

Berg: Hello Jack.

Subject-6791-53: …Hi.

Berg: …You don't seem as confident as you did our first meeting. Is something wrong?

Subject-6791-53: Something… you seem different. No lab coat or glasses.

Berg: I don't need glasses.

Subject-6791-53: Also the halls… they aren't that busy. Not like that first day.

Berg: I understand why that would disturb you.

Silence for four seconds.

Berg: To the point; I would like to explain how things will continue from here on out. As part of standard procedure, I will be interviewing you every few days or so for the purposes of research and ethics. You can ask me any questions you'd like, although the information I can give to you is limited. With time I will be permitted to give you more complete answers. Please be patient.

Subject-6791-53: Alright… yeah I can do that.

Berg: With that said, do you currently have any questions for me?

Subject-6791-53: Yeah, um… when do we start?

Berg: Start what?

Subject-6791-53: Start, um… whatever you brought me here to do.

Silence for three seconds.

Berg: We have been setting up testing procedures. I can't tell you anything else right now.

Subject-6791-53: Okay.

Berg: Do you have any more questions?

Subject-6791-53: …No.

Berg: Okay. Now I have some questions for you. Would you like something in your containment chamber to keep you occupied?

Subject-6791-53: No.

Berg: Okay, next question…

[Extraneous Material Removed]

[End Log]

Afterword: Subject-6791-53 has shown symptoms of prolonged connection to SCP-6791. Although it is unknown how long Subject-6791-53 will remain at the Foundation, attempts at recovery will be made in future interviews.

Chapter 4: "I wanna go home."

This was the first thing I heard from Dennis as I woke up. As well as that humming. It felt irritating.

I sat up and turned to Dennis, but he wasn't speaking to me. At first I thought he was trying to speak through the door. But no, he was standing in his corner, rubbing his temples, like he had a headache.

I couldn't believe it. This was it? He was abandoning me? Shrinking into a corner like a rat? His jealousy has gotten completely out of hand.

During lunch we didn't speak. I didn't even look him in the eye. I could tell it was affecting him. I could hear him trying to repress his sobbing. No, it must have been laughing. He must have had a joke he wanted to share.

Chapter 5: I realized shortly after waking up that I'd spent so much time feeling angry at Dennis yesterday that I hadn't payed attention to Mary. I realized, then, that I truly loved her, and now would be the best chance to confess. I could feel our connection, see us together for the rest of our lives. That's what Dennis couldn't understand.

I hopped out of bed and approached Mary. She was still lying on the floor, but when I got close I could see she was awake. "Mary," I said. "I have something to tell you."

Mary took a deep breath, and let it out with a whoosh. She stood up, rubbed her lower back, then turned to face me. I could see bags under her eyes. Was she awake all night thinking about me?

And then she said:

"No Jack, there's something you need to hear. I mean a lot you need to hear but… okay, I remember coming here. I remember talking to you. I remember lying on the floor for most of the time we've been here. But I don't remember ever… agreeing to any of it. I've no idea what was going through my head for the past few days. Except you. Things you were thinking. Just barely I could catch it. But otherwise it feels like I've been staring at a blank TV screen. This isn't fun Jack. I wanna be outside again. There's nothing for us here. Do whatever the fuck you did five days ago and make them let us go!

She was out of breath now. It was only now I saw how horrible it must've been for her, when I was taken out of the test chamber for that interview. In here without me.

I put my hand on her shoulder and said "Don't worry about me, I'll be-"

She hit me on the cheek, and I stumbled back into the wall. The punch didn't hurt. The wall did.

Things grew hazy, and began to tilt. I could hear Mary screaming at me, and Dennis completely breaking down in the corner. No, it must've been the other way around. And that humming. The humming was the last thing to follow me as I fell un-

Interview Log: 6791-53-2

Interviewed: Subject-6791-53

Interviewer: Professor Hollë Berg

Foreword: As this interview took place, subjects Dennis and Mary were removed from Subject-6791's containment chamber, amnesticized, and transported back to their families. A cover story surrounding a kidnapping was disseminated to their parents and the media.

<Begin Log>

[Extraneous Material Removed]

Berg: How are your friends doing?

Subject-6791-53: I don't think they're my friends anymore.

Berg: Our guards thought they heard fighting yesterday. Can you describe your version of events for us?

Subject-6791-53: They betrayed me.

Berg: …Hm. That's all there is to it?

Subject-6791-53: What else would there be? They just.. stopped acting like friends should.

Berg: And what should friends do?

Subject-6791-53: They should… smile to make you feel better, even when they're not happy. Hold your hand to support you. Make room for you in their life, be there for every step. And when you're gone… they miss you.

Berg: Hm.

Berg makes a note.

[Extraneous Material Removed]

Berg: Do you have any questions left for me before we wrap up?

Subject-6791-53: …Yeah. This place is still very inactive. It's just so quiet outside the door to my room. Sometimes people pass by, but like… what was happening that first day?

Berg checks something within her notebook.

Berg: I'm forbidden from sharing information regarding your arrival.

Subject-6791-53: Liar.

Berg: Can you elaborate?

Subject-6791-53: This place isn't friendly. No one here is, least of all you. You guys pretended this was a nice place to, to lock me away!

Berg: I've never pretended to be your friend.

Subject-6791-53: But you-

Berg: Let me clarify as best I can: We could not have told you a lie you haven't already told yourself.

<End Log>

Chapter 6: What does yesterday's meeting mean? Are they gonna teach me how to use my powers soon? I have mind control powers. That's what she's suggesting. No it's not. They won't teach me. I'll have to learn how to use them by myself. I have to. But how will I-

Chapter 7: There are other things here right? Others almost as super weird as me. They have to be. That's what this whole place is for. Containment. That's the word Holley used. They can't do that. I shouldn't be held back. No one should. Everyone else holds back. Mary and Dennis held back their real feelings for me. And Holley has others here locked up. That's not… democratic. It's un-American. I need to be the liberator. A liberator from what? It's not just Holley, it's not just this place, there's something bigger, a-

Chapter 8: It's a simulation. All of it. That's what Holley was trying to say. A lie. A simulation. Created to keep me in check. I'll break it. There's a glitch somewhere. It's in this building. It's in this room. It's in me. It's all me. It's…

…Something wrong with me.

An aside: Protagonists are sometimes expected to be the most interesting characters in the universes they inhabit. Given this, they often grapple prominently with what are considered "universal experiences" (i.e love, death, family, etc.). It is side characters who are more passionate about average interests. Consider the amount of eccentric scientists, quirky artists, and wise old professors who tag along with the main character.

But isn't there a paradox here that is easy to fall into? Aren't universal experiences (freedom, lies, abandonment, etc.) what should be considered as average interests, being most likely what the average person would be interested in? If the protagonist only comes to grips with these universal experiences, do they not neglect everything else that life can offer them (and by extension, what they can offer the reader)? How many cases are there where side characters become more beloved than the main character?

In attempting to make the protagonist more interesting, can this only lead to the protagonist becoming as uninteresting as possible?

Chapter 10: I lay in bed. The guard brings lunch. Nothing happens. No one comes to get me. That sound in the wall. Some footsteps passing by.

Interview Log: 6791-53-3

Interviewed: Subject-6791-53

Interviewer: Professor Hollë Berg

<Begin Log>

[Extraneous Material Removed]

Berg: Did you know you were a fan of model trains?

Subject-6791-53: …Why would I be?

Berg notes something down.

Subject-6791-53: Model trains are boring. Who still has a model train?

Berg: There's a large model train set we observed in your basement.

Subject-6791-53: That must be someone else's.

Berg: Who else's would it be?

Subject-6791-53: I don't know.

Berg: Jack, we know you don't live alone. It's not even possible, you're 14.

Silence for four seconds.

Berg: Jack, do you remember your parents?

Silence for seven seconds.

Berg: I'm trying to establish what you think you know, Jack. What about Mary and Dennis?

Subject-6791-53: What about them?

Berg: How long do you think you've known them?

Subject-6791-53: My whole life. Friends forever, until they… until I did something. I guess.

Berg: Dennis only joined your school a year ago. There's no evidence that you ever spent time with Mary until recently.

Subject-6791-53: No that's, I remember we-

Subject-6791-53 swallows hard.

Subject-6791-53 is quiet for 14 seconds.

Subject-6791-53 rests its head on the table.

Subject-6791-53 sobs.

Subject-6791-53: What's important about me?

Silence for six seconds.

Berg: …Tell you what: I'll talk to the rest of the research team. If it goes well, you'll receive a document tomorrow evening that will give you some answers.

Subject-6791-53 raises its head and looks at Berg.

<End Log>

Afterword: When Berg was asked why she would make such an offer to Subject-6791-53, her only response was "I think it would be beneficial for us to see whether or not SCP-6791 responds to this information." Berg's proposal has yet to be approved or rejected.

Chapter 11: Nothing arrived in the evening. At least I think it's been evening. Lunch was a while ago.

Model trains? It has to be a lie. It's not the fifties anymore. No one's buying model trains anymore, let alone selling them. Even imagining it makes me cringe. The landscape is a mossy green. The houses are empty. All those little model people. None of them do anything. None of them are important. No one's even driving the train. It moves on its own. That's all that happens.

Chapter 12: When I woke up I saw a piece of paper lying by the door. It must have arrived late last night. Or maybe I went to bed early.

Item #: 6791

Containment Class: Keter Pending

Special Containment Procedures: The current subject of SCP-6791 is to be contained in a standard humanoid containment chamber. A Scranton reality anchor is to be active adjacent to SCP-6791's containment chamber, as well as Dr. Hollë Berg's specialized receiver.

If SCP-6791 moves to a new subject, Foundation agents are to continuously sweep nearby populated areas for abnormal Hume levels. Once the new host of SCP-6791 is located, personnel within the nearest Foundation facility are to make preparations to ensure that no incidents take place while SCP-6791 is being escorted to the premises. When preparations are complete, agents are authorized to act. Individuals who arrive as a result of SCP-6791 are to be kept until they are confirmed to no longer be under SCP-6791's influence.

Description: SCP-6791 is a non-corporeal and parasitic entity. SCP-6791 pairs itself with individuals for various lengths of time, primarily within the cranial area of the current host (known hereafter as Subject-6791).

SCP-6791's foremost effect is slightly lowering the Hume levels within and around Subject-6791. While reality cannot be significantly altered within these conditions, SCP-6791 is capable of making incremental alterations to the neurology of both Subject-6791 and nearby individuals Subject-6791 is aware of. This manifests as behavioral changes within all subjects involved. These changes can become evident almost immediately, but will take an increasingly longer time to wear off in proportion to how long a subject is exposed.

While it is not Subject-6791 who is consciously manipulating reality, the behavioral changes to other individuals often reflect the desires or beliefs of Subject-6791. However, Subject-6791 is also the most affected by SCP-6791, with extreme cases leaving evidence of trace neurological degradation. The results are primarily a loss of interest, personality, and empathy. If exposed for long enough, alterations to Subject-6791's neurology can be permanent.

SCP-6791 appears instinctive rather than intelligent. While SCP-6791 is assumed to be capable of understanding spoken language, it does not respond to any attempts at communication. SCP-6791, given time, will always begin searching for a new host; however, testing has revealed that SCP-6791 often leaves the current host quicker if they are in Foundation custody. It is yet unknown if this is required for SCP-6791's survival, or what resource SCP-6791 gains from its hosts. Under Foundation surveillance, SCP-6791 has had 53 known hosts.

Dr. Berg's recording device is able to pick up micro-fluctuations stemming from SCP-6791, which have consistently been translated into comprehensible messages. These often take the form of descriptions of daily events. However, given how difficult it can be to communicate with Subject-6791, it is unclear if this inner monologue is that of SCP-6791 or of Subject-6791.

Chapter 12: 53 isn't even an interesting number.

Chapter 13: The door to my cell was hanging open. I left, wandering through the halls to see if I could find anyone. I'd thought they had been unpopulated before; now I couldn't find a single person. Not at the desk. Not in the lounges. Nobody in the other cells (though they were all in different shapes and sizes, and held all kinds of shocking objects). Not even the security cameras appeared to be watching me, though I guess I have no way of knowing.

As I walked, wallpaper appeared on the wall. It was ugly, striped a muddy green and yellow. I saw a few photos framed on the walls, of skies and starry nights. I wondered when the people here had finally decided to decorate.

Finally, I came to a room outside of which sat a massive pile of assorted things. Magazines. Photo albums of people I didn't know. Small train tracks. A box of matches. I would've walked around it if I hadn't heard movement from inside. Squeezing past and peeking through, I could see someone pacing back and forth on the opposite end of a table with a chair. The room was otherwise empty, though two of the walls had gaping holes that opened up to flat cement faces. I entered.

Interview Log:

Interviewed: Jack Jones

Interviewer: SCP-6791

<Begin Log>

Jack: Hello?

SCP-6791: And I entered, but no one was there.

Jack: Hello? Can you hear me?

SCP-6791: That is when it truly set in.

Jack: I need you to listen. Please.

SCP-6791: It was only me. I am alone forever. An individual only has themselves at the end of the day. I think, therefore I am, therefore no one else is.

Jack: I don't, I just…

SCP-6791: Perhaps it is for the best, to be wandering these corridors forever, finally alone with this constant state of wondering, of claustrophobia.

Jack is silent, collapsing into the chair at the table.

SCP-6791: This is for the best. What have I to learn from others? What have I to learn from myself?

Jack: I wish I knew who you were. I wish I knew who I was.

SCP-6791: All one can know is what they don't know.

Jack: I treated Dennis and Mary differently than I treated Hollë. I feel like two different people in front of them. Which one am I? Are Dennis and Mary different people when they're away from me? Are they happier?

SCP-6791: And what they don't know, what I don't know, must be accepted, and pretending to know is a crime everyone is guilty of…

Jack: …You know all of a sudden I've realized that Hollë was right. I'd never spoken to Mary. I wanted to date her, but I know nothing about her. I think someone told me I should start searching for a girlfriend, so I picked her. That was it.

SCP-6791: … And yet…

Jack: And Dennis might've been new to school, but he really was hilarious. He made a lot of friends quick. After the first month many people just laughed instinctively after he spoke. I laughed too, but I was always at a distance.

SCP-6791: A brief time ago I was confronted with the question of keeping a protagonist interesting.

Jack: The school janitor. I don't know why I remember him, but I do. I liked watching him mop. He obviously didn't enjoy it though.

SCP-6791: I've never read a book. I've interest in what's real, not what's fictional. And yet, this question I wondered out loud. I shouted it through the corridors, but my passion only echoed back at me. Why did this catch my attention?

Jack: Train conductors. Construction workers at the intersection down the road. They're only out at night. Joggers. That one art teacher who's always at the workshop. Random people through the windows of their cars.

SCP-6791: I've tried so many rooms. I've torn down walls, cleared out junk, tried connecting as many quarters in these endlessly confusing halls as possible. I spend all hours trying to create the one truly universal room. No hallways, no doorways, none of these pointless trivialities or artifacts. One floor, four walls, one ceiling. And to add to the difficulty, these barriers suddenly start appearing.

Jack: Not my parents, though. All these memories coming back, and I can't remember them. "Permanent," I think is what the document said. "Behavioral changes." Maybe at that time I'd wanted to forget them. And so they forgot me. And we spent so much time in the same house, yet in completely different rooms, that we can no longer go back. Or maybe it's only me.

SCP-6791: But then, for the first time, I hear someone screaming from the other side. Screaming Bloody Mary about the outdoors and TV screens. And just like that, it stopped. And even though I've been alone for all of my existence, for the first time ever, I feel lonely.

SCP-6791 places a hand on the cement face.

Jack: That damn humming.

SCP-6791: That damn humming.

Jack sobs.

Jack: Is this my fault?

SCP-6791: I think I've made a grave mistake.

Jack: I can't say I didn't want any of this. Because at some point I did.

SCP-6791: For all I've torn down and burned, I've found no answers, come no closer, haven't even found a clear direction.

Jack: I let it in. It didn't have to go this far, but I let it.

SCP-6791: For all the walls that divide, there are a thousand small things that can allow two separate rooms to connect.

SCP-6791 approaches the pile at the door and picks up a miniature train track with one hand and the box of matches in the other.

Jack stands up.

SCP-6791 considers throwing the matches down the hall as far as they can. But, knowing that they won't go far, SCP-6791 does the practical thing and swallows the entire box.

Jack approaches the door to leave.

SCP-6791 turns around.

Jack stops directly in front of SCP-6791, noticing again their presence.

The two of them are chest to chest, and for the first time they are looking each other in the eyes.

It would be nice for Jack to awake within his chamber, or for Berg to enter and provide an analysis of events, so that Jack could be reminded that fortunately everything in the real world makes more sense than this.