Law Of The Land

Item #: SCP-3088

Object Class: Keter Neutralised

Special Containment Procedures: Following its neutralisation, containment of SCP-3088 is to focus purely on the removal of its existence from public knowledge. All public roads leading to the former location of SCP-3088 have been rerouted, and maps and public information listings are being edited following standard Lost City protocols.

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A perimeter extending 100m beyond the outer limits of SCP-3088 is to be established; civilians attempting to cross this perimeter are to be turned away, or detained and amnesticised if necessary. In the unlikely event that an individual leaves SCP-3088, they are to be thoroughly debriefed and then detained indefinitely.

Any public news releases or internet content mentioning the anomaly, the town itself, or missing people in the area are to be censored.

Description: SCP-3088 is the town of Cullen, Nebraska, and the area contained within the town limits. SCP-3088 is subject to an alteration of reality in which any law, bylaw or town ordinance passed by a legally empowered individual becomes an immutable law of reality itself.

Individuals crossing the town boundary are immediately subject to its effects, and are unable to break any existing laws within the town, either intentionally or accidentally. The most immediately noticeable effects, especially for Foundation personnel, are the total inability to leave the town and the removal of all firearms.

SCP-3088-1 is the tentative classification for Thomas Ronson, the Mayor of Cullen and the only person currently known to be within the town limits legally empowered to pass laws. Whether he himself possesses any anomalous properties is currently unknown.

SCP-3088 first came to Foundation attention following an intercepted call from a civilian trapped within to the Sheriff's Office of a nearby town. The call was terminated mid-conversation, at the same time that all wired and cellular traffic into or out of the town ceased.

History: Following the initial discovery of SCP-3088, but before the specifics of the anomaly were understood, MTF Sigma-9 ("Kansas City Hotsteppers") were dispatched to investigate. Following are the recovered logs of their investigation.

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Transcript of the first audio message from MTF Sigma-9 following their entry into SCP-3088, received approximately 19 hours after entry. Message from team leader Agent Denlen Sorsby ("Stepper-1").

[TRANSCRIPT BEGINS]

All right, let's hope this works. Command, this is Agent Denlen Sorsby, Team Leader, MTF Sigma Niner. If you're receiving this, you better give Agent Peters a raise. OK, from the top.

Immediately after our entry into Cullen, we quickly found that an anomaly is present, and encompasses the entire area around the town. All of our firearms were immediately removed from our persons, as if they just vanished into thin air, and all our of phones stopped working, cellular and satellite. We also discovered we couldn't leave. Whenever one of us made a move to leave the area, we'd freeze up and become unable to take so much as a step. As soon as we tried to do anything else, though, we could move just fine. We tried weighting down the gas pedal on one of our vehicles, but it stopped as if it hit an invisible wall.

The town itself seems normal enough at first glance, but everyone here is on edge. They definitely know something is wrong here, though it was hard to get anyone to talk with us. I mentioned our phones not working to a waitress in a diner we stopped at, and she said they were out all over town. Had been for days, apparently. Internet too. Basically there's no way to talk to anyone outside of town. Our walkies still work, but they are pretty short range.

Didn't take long to work out that the Mayor of this place is behind whatever is going on, or at least knows something about it. The way people talk about him, they're either terrified or in awe, or both. From what little we could glean, any laws he makes become fact. Apparently a few days ago he passed a law banning phones and the internet, and a couple weeks ago he wrote a law banning guns. Now all our guns are gone and our phones don't work. Obvious enough.

I don't think we are in any immediate danger. The people are spooked but not wild, so we're going to try and get to the bottom of this. Anyway the law said no phones or internet, but it didn't say anything about… Peters, what did you call it? High-frequency radio data-pulses? Man, you made that shit up. Anyway yeah Peters has gutted half our radios and a bunch of parts from the supply kits in the trucks and whipped up something that will apparently get this message out to you. And if not, well I guess I've just been talking to myself for the last three minutes.

We'll send another message when we have more to report. Sorsby out.

Alright, Peters, hit i-

[TRANSCRIPT ENDS]

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Transcript of second log received from MTF Sigma-9, received approximately three days after initial entry.

[BEGIN TRANSCRIPT]

OK, this is Stepper-1 reporting in. First up, we're making a number of assumptions here, the first of which is that you received our previous transmission. With that, we're also assuming that at least some form of containment would have started, which almost certainly would have been focused on public roads. So, the fact that we can't see anything on the roads past the boundary of the anomaly means it's doing more than just stopping us from leaving.

Watkins and Pace tracked the outer edge of the anomaly over the last couple of days. It surrounds the entire town out a fair ways, and seems to stop at the roads right by the "Welcome to Cullen" signs, so our best guess is that it fills the entire town limits. Apparently if you aren't actively trying to leave you can walk the edge of it no problem; Pace said it felt like a wall made of glass.

Let's see… it looks likes our initial assumption about what's going on here was mostly accurate; anyone inside the town is completely unable to break any of the laws here. Even low level crap that any local council passes on a whim counts - there's no litter anywhere in town because the Mayor passed an ordinance prohibiting littering. We haven't been able to get close to this guy yet, Ronson, he's called. Goddamn bureaucrats have laws for everything, so apparently we can't just bust into his office and have a friendly chat. We have no idea what his goal here is, whether he's doing it intentionally or just wrapped up in something he can't control. We have an appointment to see him in four days. Fucking paper-pushers.

What else, what else… Oh! Peters says get whoever you've got running containment out there to set their radio to frequency 457.9MHz. We'll go down there in the morning and see if our walkies work. We can't see you out there, but we might still be able to talk, especially if these data-pulse things are working.

I think that's it. Sorsby out.

[END TRANSCRIPT]

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Audio transcript of a conversation between members of MTF Sigma-9 and the containment team situated at the containment perimeter of SCP-3088. Conversation took place via standard-issue two-way radio.

Sorsby: This is Sigma-Niner, come back. Repeat, this is Stepper-One, MTF Sigma-Niner.

Vasquez: We read you, Stepper-One. This is Agent Vasquez, 3088-Control.

Sorsby: Shit, Silvia, that you?! What's going on out there?

Vasquez: Yeah, it's me, Sorsby. Glad to hear you're still alive in there. Where are you?

Sorsby: We're right at the edge of the barrier. I've got your drone right here.1

Vasquez: We don't see you. We're about 20 meters down the road. Guess this thing blocks vision both ways.

Sorsby: Yeah… wait, 3088? Classified already? That was fast.

Vasquez: I guess losing an MTF team inside a town-wide skip gets the ball rolling pretty quickly. Alright, report.

Sorsby: Right. All team members currently uninjured and accounted for. Situation in the town seems stable for now, though the town folks still seem reluctant to talk too much to us. There's a bunch of weird laws in this town, we can all sort of feel them now. Like, if I even think about trying to walk out there to you now, I can feel in the back of my head that it's against the law. Apparently it's illegal to be unemployed too. Not sure on the specifics of that one, but there are a few big textile mills in town that employ a whole lot of people.

Vasquez: Records show the mills shut down years ago. The town was actually in real trouble because of it.

Sorsby: Well it seems fine now. You know, besides the reality-altering anomaly covering the entire town and trapping everyone inside.

Vasquez: Speaking of which. Step back from the edge, we're sending something in.

Approximately 40 seconds of silence as the containment team pilots a remote vehicle across the barrier carrying a transmitter package.

Vasquez: Our tech boys out here say this should do the job of that thing Stepper-3 whipped up, but a bit more cleanly. The signal we were receiving from you was a mess.

Sorsby: Peters, get over here and look at this thing.

Peters: Right.

Vasquez: Has a confirmation so you'll know it's working, and it should be bespoke enough to get around any uh… legal issues. Still only one-way, mind you. Saves you walking all the way out here for minor shit, though.

Peters: It'll do.

Sorsby: Alright, thanks Vasquez.

Vasquez: One more thing, Sorsby. Mancha2 wants some progress on getting this under wraps. You know how twitchy the higher-ups get with skips this big. I'm not sure what else we can do from out here, and they are reluctant to send in any more "Human Assets", so this is all on you jokers.

Sorsby: Hah, don't you worry about us. We've got the meeting with this Mayor in a couple of days, we'll get this whole thing straightened out and we'll all be back for poker on Fr-

Pace: Sorsby! We've got a Peeper! He's running!

Sounds of Agent Sorsby running can be heard on the line.

Sorsby: Shit! We've been made by a civvy. Gonna go track 'em down and keep 'em quiet. Sorsby out!

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Transmission received approximately four days after last contact, using the supplied data transmitter.

Sorsby: Alright, sixth time's a charm, right Peters?

Peters: Right.

Sorsby: Right, so. We didn't catch that civilian who was watching us, lost them in the fucking trees. I guess there's a pretty big chunk of forest within the town limits. Anyway our best guess is he was some toady for the Mayor, because about an hour later a new law was passed. We could feel it happening, like a song you haven't heard for years suddenly popping into your head.

Peters: Yeah, fucking weird stuff.

Sorsby: Seriously. Anyway this new law apparently prohibits talking to anyone outside of the town at all. Which is why I'm just having a nice friendly chat with my compatriot, Agent Peters here. And why we've tried to have the same conversation six fucking times now! Anyway. What were we talking about?

Peters: The meeting with Ronson.

Sorsby: Right! The Mayor! Yeah that didn't go well. He seems… unhinged. I think meeting with him might have been the wrong play, and since it's illegal to punch people in the face or smash up public property there wasn't much I could do. He started rambling on about fixing the town or something, and since then we've all noticed people following us around. Tracking our movements, who we talk to.

Peters: There's one outside right now. Not very subtle.

Sorsby: Yeah. Amateurs. Anyway I got Ronson to agree to another meeting tomorrow, so hopefully that one will go better, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who is going to let this shit go. And unless we can find some loophole that's going to let us take him out, or break into his house or his office or something to find some answers, we're going to run out of options here pretty quickly.

Peters: Too bad you ain't a lawyer.

Sorsby: Mamma always did say I should go to law school. Maybe we can just wait him out, run for Mayor during the next election? When's that happening?

Peters: Nearly four years.

Sorsby: Shit, I doubt we have that long. Well, we'll think of something. I guess that's about it. Nice talking to you, Peters.

Peters: You too, boss.

Incident 3088-1

Approximately three days after the last received transmission from MTF Sigma-9, a localised C-Class restructuring event occurred within the confines of SCP-3088. Following the event, all anomalous activity associated with SCP-3088 ceased and all people, man-made structures, and objects within its bounds disappeared, with the exception of one house at the approximate centre of the area. Two documents of significance were recovered from the structure; official documentation regarding newly passed laws in the town of Cullen, Nebraska, and the personal diary of Mayor Thomas Ronson.

The journal is transcribed below, verbatim.

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I did it! I won! I've been elected the Mayor of Cullen! Well, I say *I* won but I didn't do it alone, I had a great team of people to help me out. I've lived in this town for over 40 years and seen it steadily get worse and worse through a combination of corruption and ineptitude, but now that I'm Mayor, things are going to change! I can get the town back on its feet, help the people here improve their lives!

We had our first open hall today, where I laid out my plans for the future to the people of this good town. They generally seemed receptive, which was heartening. A few people were skeptical that I'd be able to re-open the mills, which is fair, but I think it will be doable. They didn't go out of business, after all, they were sold out by that bastard Haystings to line his pockets before he left town. Anyway, it looks like I have the support of the people. I'm going to start small though. I've guaranteed some extra funding for the high school so they can make some vital repairs, and I passed an ordinance banning littering in the town, since its starting to look a real mess. May not sound like much, but if people are going to believe things can change, they need to see tangible proof, and quickly. I think small improvements like this will go a long way to changing peoples attitudes.

Had some good news today; Omaha Textiles are interested in getting the mills running again! I like to think it was my incredible sales pitch that did the job, but the reality is it was probably just good timing - they've apparently been looking to expand for a while now. Still, not going to question such a good opportunity. The people of Cullen are honest, hard-working folk, but unemployment has been a real problem here. Getting the mills reopened may restore the hope people have lost over the years.

Oh, looks like litter ordinance is already paying dividends! Only two days and the town is almost looking spotless! Must have inspired the people to pitch in and clean the place up.

Was talking to Clayton3 this morning, and apparently there hasn't been a single reported crime in the week since I became Mayor. It would probably be a little egotistical to think that's due to my influence, but it's a nice thought.

We've begun work on a plan that will ensure every unemployed person in town will get a job in the mills once they reopen, which should be in a few weeks. There should be more than enough jobs available for everyone, and once everyone is back at work we can start looking at the local economy. Maybe people will start opening new business on the high street again!

Something… strange happened today. A couple of days ago we passed a bill mandating the repair of the flood banks on the river. Since they broke and flooded half the town a couple of years ago, it's been a huge worry every rain season, and it seemed like a trivial task to relieve the constant stress people living near the river were suffering. I went down with a couple of construction contractors this morning to assess the work requirement, and the bank was as good as new. No sign it was ever damaged at all. It would have been weeks of work, no way it could have been done quietly… and yet there it is. Sturdy as the day it was made.

Clayton says there still haven't been any crimes, either. Nearly 3 weeks. I'm not complaining, most Mayors would kill to get zero crime, but it is weird… not so much as a parking ticket or speeding penalty. Apparently his officers are just sitting on their hands all day.

Damien4 came back to town today. I guess he tracked me down because I almost walked right into him in the middle of town. I thought he was going to do something stupid… he looked like he was reaching into his coat for something, had an angry look on his face, but then he just froze. Started looking real confused. Stood there like that for nearly a minute, me and him staring at each other. Then he just turned around and left.

I had Clayton pay him a visit at his motel room, and he apparently had a gun right there on the table, door wide open. Didn't even make a move for it when Clayton drew his own gun and arrested him. Violation of parole and all that - I suspect he's on his way back to Nebraska State even as I write this. There is definitely something strange going on here.

I tested something yesterday. Passed a law mandating that all road damage should be immediately repaired, something simple that no one would object to. Easy enough to justify, what with the increased traffic the mills will bring in.

There has been a pothole in the road outside my house for 15 years. I watched it all night until after midnight. Woke up before dawn, and the pothole was gone. Just gone, like it was never there. I checked the logs just in case, but there's no record of any maintenance crews even getting started yet. All of the roads seem in better shape too, not just the one outside my house. Tiny cracks, potholes, even tire marks. All gone.

The laws in Cullen cannot be broken. I feel like I'm going nuts just writing it but I'm sure of it now. I tried speeding on the way to the town hall today, put my foot down as hard as I could. It stopped right at the point where the car hits 30, and didn't go even a fraction over. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get my foot to press down any harder. It was… unnerving. Like some force was preventing me from moving, like I couldn't control my own body. I've never felt such an awful sensation in my life.

The more I think about it, the more I think the… situation here could be incredibly beneficial for Cullen. Something clearly unnatural is happening, and I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me a little nervous, but the possibilities! A town with no crime. A town where issues can be fixed instantly. The good we could do with such a gift!

Oh, the mill deal went through. The mills are already beginning to re-open and the paperwork to make sure everyone has a job has gone through. This will be a great new start for Cullen!

It's been a hectic few weeks. Other people have started noticing the… weirdness here, which is partially my fault. There were some logistical issues with the mills, none of the supplies or materials were delivered and have been held up for weeks. Stuck on a boat in the middle of the pacific or something. But every single person who would have been working at the mills turned up anyway. The story was the same from all of them, they felt like they had to be at the mill, even though there was nothing to do, and couldn't leave until the end of their shifts, no matter how hard they tried.

It came up in a town meeting. Kate Massey brought it up, seemed hesitant at first, like everyone would think she was nuts. But as soon as she started talking, others starting chiming in. The same mill story, or about how they've been unable to speed in their cars or even swear in public. People started to panic, but I managed to reassure them that there was nothing to worry about and that we were looking into it. Truth is though, even if we were, I wouldn't know where to start.

There was an… incident. Simon Sackwell came at me in the street while I was talking with Clayton about the situation. Started hurling abuse at me, said this weirdness was all my fault and that I'd damn us all in the eyes of god or some such nonsense. Reached into his pocket, clearly about to pull a gun, I could see the handle. Clayton obviously could too; he shot Sackwell where he stood, right in the chest. He just reacted, even though Sackwell could never have actually used his gun. I guess the same isn't true of police officers. What a waste.

I've declared a State of Emergency. It might panic people more, but it gives me some interesting legislative power, which I've used to ban firearms within the town. That'll probably rile up the gun-nuts, but they'll see its for the best eventually. We won't have a repeat of this.

People started leaving. I wish I could say I didn't blame them, but whatever happened to civic pride, loyalty to your home? Do they not realise the things we could do with this… whatever it is!? Over 500 people left in a week. I had to pass a law stopping anyone else from going, so now no one is allowed to leave the town. Cullen will be restored, dammit, and I won't let any narrow-minded fear get in the way of that.

Mallings5 came to me today and told me people had been whispering about going to the press, or the feds or whoever else. At least I still have some friends left in town.

I should have thought about it sooner, it's unlikely that someone hasn't blabbed about what's going on here to someone outside. Don't they realise what would happen if the government or the press got involved here? They'd turn Cullen into a circus! I've temporarily banned the use of phones and the internet until I can get a handle on things here. I'll find a way to set things right, reverse all these emergency laws and then Cullen will be better than ever.

A group of military looking people in black trucks came into town today. Started asking a bunch of questions. They're going to try and cause trouble, I can sense it. Can't imagine there's much they can do though. The law is the law after all, and all men must follow it. I've asked John to keep an eye on them for me.

Since the phones were shut down, I stopped receiving updates on the mill deliveries. Should have thought about that. I passed a law yesterday that simply read "the mills shall have the materials they need." Today, every one of them was fully stocked, as if out of nowhere. The people have been turning up to work there for weeks now, so at least they will have something to do. Hopefully this will begin to turn things around.

John said those military folks were at the edge of town today, talking to someone on their radios! Goddamn interfering sons of bitches! I've passed a law banning anyone from talking to people on the outside at all, so hopefully that will solve that issue.

The mills seem to be working. It might be my imagination, but people seem happier. Apparently everything they make is getting shipped somewhere, though no one knows where or how. But there's always plenty of raw material for them to work with. Few more weeks of this and things might be able to get back to normal around here.

Had a meeting with that military lot today. I'll have to have a word with Sandra about why she booked that in. Anyway they came in here and started demanding information about all sorts of things, like they had any kind of authority in this town. I told them they should have just left well enough alone and minded their own business. They looked at me like I was nuts!

The conversation was a bit more cordial after that, though nothing really came of it. They are going to keep interfering, I can feel it. I told them I'll think about what they've said - and I will, I'm not an unreasonable man! But I've been given a unique chance to make something of this town, and I won't have it wasted by small-minded military men.

I agreed to a short meeting with them again tomorrow. Give everyone time to process the others views and all that. Maybe I'll be able to bring them around, but I doubt it.

As I expected, the second meeting with that Sorsby fellow went nowhere. He demanded that I reverse all these laws and let the people abandon the town, I told him I would do no such thing. I won't be pushed around by meat-headed military fools. He flat out said he's going to be a problem. Judging by the look on his face, I think he would have shot me right there and then if he was able.

I'll have to think of a solution. Obviously I can't just leave them running around town doing whatever they want, who knows what trouble they could cause. Why can't they just mind their own business!

That bastard Sorsby and his friends nearly started a riot today! Riling people up, some nonsense about human rights and votes of no confidence! Don't these people realise I'm trying to do what's best for them! How can they all be so blind!

Well, I'm going to put an end to this once and for all. First I'll get rid of these interlopers. and then I'll see what I can do about this talk of rebellion. Cullen is a good town, dammit, and I won't have it ruined by the ungrateful attitude of people afraid of a hard day's work!

Analysis shows that, almost immediately following the final entry in the journal, a new entry was added to the recovered documentation regarding newly passed laws. The final law mandated that all military personnel leave the town immediately.

The prevailing theory is that due to this final law directly contradicting the previous law regarding the ability for people to leave town, the end result was a reality failure or restructuring event, resulting in the loss of the town and its inhabitants, and the neutralisation of SCP-3088. Why Mayor Ronson's house and its contents remained is unknown. MTF Sigma-9 has officially been declared lost.

Footnotes

1. Containment area was determined through the use of remote drones to prevent accidental crossing of the perimeter.

2. Elizabeth Mancha, Site Director of Site-189, the closest Foundation facility to Cullen.

3. Presumably Clayton Woodrow, the sheriff of Cullen.

4. The only existing record of anyone in Cullen by the name of Damien is Damien Waltz, arrested four times for violent assault, including one count against Mayor Thomas Ronson, for which he was imprisoned two years prior.

5. Presumably John Mallings, who records show managed Ronson's mayoral campaign.