by stormbreath

Item#: 6455

Containment Class: keter

Secondary Class: {$secondary-class}

Disruption Class: dark

Risk Class: danger

Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles. Primary locus for SCP-6455 murders.

Special Containment Procedures: The Foundation is, at present, unaware of a viable long-term containment strategy for SCP-6455. Containment teams are currently working on devising potential means to permanently contain SCP-6455, or contain SCP-6455 for an extended period of time.

The cremains of SCP-6455-N are interred at the Site-19 Morgue, in the reality-anchored sector.

Description: SCP-6455 is a recurring series of anomalous murders, perpetrated in the same style and manner as SCP-6455-N. SCP-6455-N was an anomalous serial killer active in Los Angeles County between 1965 and 1976, prior to his capture by the Foundation. SCP-6455-N was previously designated as SCP-6455 and was reclassified as SCP-6455-N following his suicide in 1984.

On average, SCP-6455 events occur once every three months. Since their initial manifestation, the occurrence rate of events has been gradually increasing. Generally, SCP-6455 events are localized to the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, but events linked to SCP-6455 have been discovered as far north as Seattle, Washington and as far east as Denver, Colorado. All confirmed SCP-6455 events have occurred in the United States of America.

Murders that occur as part of SCP-6455 frequently leave behind non-identifying evidence, and materially change and disturb the scenes of the crime, as if a killer had been present. However, no cases that occur as part of SCP-6455 have an actual perpetrator, and all associated evidence is instead generated spontaneously by SCP-6455. In no instances has identifying evidence been left behind: no fingerprints, biological evidence, or personal effects.

SCP-6455-N was a white American male (1941-1984), known to the public as the "Eagle Rock Doppelganger" and the "Los Angeles Mimic" (ERD/LAM). SCP-6455-N killed for the first time in 1960 while living in Yuma, Arizona, but did not commit any further murders until moving to Los Angeles in 1965, following which he began to commit a series of murders and assaults. SCP-6455-N possessed a minor antimemetic property which caused crucial evidence linking him to his crimes to be ignored, misremembered, or misinterpreted. This antimemetic effect was significantly stronger on police officers and detectives.

Testimony from Youssef Sayed

Chief Investigator of SCP-6455

Formerly SCP Antimemetics Division

Before we got involved in the case, everybody thought that ERD/LAM was one of the most genius killers the country had ever seen. But here's the thing: SCP-6455-N was never that fucking bright. Yes, he was able to commit fifty-three verified murders and sixteen verified attempts over the course of nine years — a decent showing for a serial killer — but the man was a fucking idiot. Everything he got away with he got away with because the cops couldn't put the clues together.

I remember the first time I investigated one of his crime scenes, just after we linked the case to antimemetics. I flew into Los Angeles, hopped up on mnestics and at full awareness. Mnestics sharpen your senses like a whetstone, and I spent my days hyperfixating on grains of sand. There were four of us on the team, and we were like a pack of dogs, ready to find the slightest, smallest hint of a clue that ERD/LAM had left behind. If there was anything, we were going to find it and pick it apart.

I walked into the house and took a look at the little table next to the door. There was library card that I didn't think anything of it. But one of my colleagues happened to take a peek — it didn't belong to the owner of the house. A quick check of the library card's owner and we found ERD/LAM the next day. Folded as soon as we came to talk.

He'd left his damn library card at the scene of the crime. Out in the open. The cops just didn't notice. He only got away with it as long as he did because he had a blessing keeping him around. The fact it worked better on cops, well. That only helped him more. Everything he got away with was luck, just luck.

The modus operandi of SCP-6455-N was to stalk victims and their houses long-term, in order to establish when they would be leaving and entering the house. Victims were normally unmarried without any other cohabitating individuals. When they left the house, SCP-6455-N would enter, wait for them to return, and then execute them with a handgun upon their return. While occupying a residence, SCP-6455-N would normally pretend to be the victim, mimicking their life and performing household tasks for them, such as feeding pets, watering plants and doing loads of laundry. These actions led to public media initially referring to SCP-6455-N as the Eagle Rock Doppelganger, and later as the Los Angeles Mimic (after he had begun to attack a broader area in the city).

You have to understand: SCP-6455-N was sloppy. Unimaginably. He spent hours in people's houses. He was spotted by neighbors, but his anomaly convinced them he was somebody else. His fingerprints absolutely covered every inch of a house - he never once wore gloves inside. I managed to find a few times that the dogs, knowing he was a intruder, bit him and drew blood that got into the carpet. The police just ignored it. Not hidden in the slightest, but they couldn't notice it.

He didn't get away with all of the murders, it's worth noting, but that didn't help us. When we finally caught SCP-6455-N, I went to one of the few survivors to confirm what happened. She was shaken up by it, but willing to talk to us. But she couldn't remember his face, or his voice. He wasn't wearing a mask. He had stood there looking at her before he shot her and ran — she got a good look at his face, but couldn't remember it.

She was shaken up by that. She had seen him — rather well, in fact. But that didn't help her. She didn't understand why she didn't remember his face. Just wanted to know what he looked like.

Can you imagine not wearing a mask while on a serial killing spree? And then letting a victim see you, and not even confirm you killed her? It's baffling to me, but I suppose you don't need to cover your tracks when you're able to get away with it.

SCP-6455-N was one of the first antimemetic anomalies found by the newly formed Antimemetics Division in 1976. While reviewing potential anomalies, the ERD/LAM case was flagged as being likely to have some measure of antimemetic involvement. Despite the mannerisms of the killer being likely to leave identifying evidence (and as later determined, did indeed leave such evidence), no leads had been generated in the case. Antimemetics Division Agents, including Youssef Sayed, were embedded into the Los Angeles Police Department to investigate the murder. These agents were able to quickly determine the identity of SCP-6455-N and led to his capture by the Foundation.

The general public was left unaware of the discovery of SCP-6455-N's identity, or that he had been captured.

Addendum A: Manifestation of SCP-6455

For the first three years following the capture of SCP-6455-N, no further incidents occurred. However, in 1979, a murder case with identical modus operandi took place. The Antimemetics Division was deployed to investigate, but was unable to find any evidence, even when under the influence of strong mnestic drugs.

It was baffling. What was left at the scene was basically what you would have seen at the scene of the crime if you weren't on mnestics. It looked like we were in the shoes that the cops had been in; a staggering lack of anything resembling evidence.

So we tore the place to shreds, pouring over every last fragment of evidence we could. We kept insisting to each other that there had to be actual evidence somewhere at the scene, but we couldn't find it. We were haunted by the idea that we were on the wrong side of the punch this time, that something had managed to surpass our strongest mnestics. Haunted by ERD/LAM, even though we knew he was rotting away in a prison cell, never again to see the light of day.

Z-Class mnestics. The strongest there is, universally lethal. But you will remember everything. Put some D-Class on them, and set them to work in the houses. Is there anything here that puts a buzzing behind your eyes? Anything that isn't in that unforgettable ultra high definition in your sight? But it was never there, not a single thread we hadn't noticed. Should we count them as victims of SCP-6455? Or is that just an attempt to deflect the blame from ourselves?

But there were no antimemes: the evidence was genuinely missing and you couldn't make it come back. No matter what you did, no matter how many lives you ruined in the process.

Due to the apparent lack of antimemetic influence, Agent Sayed left the Antimemetics Division to lead a joint task force comprised of members of a variety of Foundation Divisions, with the sole mission of investigating SCP-6455. Several possible explanations for the continued crime scheme were initially developed by the this task force, but each had serious issues that resulted in them discarded. Explanations of several of the strongest initial theories, developed in the first decade of SCP-6455 occurrences (1979-1989), follow below.

The initial theory developed by the Foundation was that SCP-6455-N had spontaneously developed a new ability to anomalously project his influence beyond his physical reach. This theory was initially unpopular, as it did not follow from the known anomaly of SCP-6455-N (a weak antimemetic effect) and SCP-6455-N did not have any knowledge of anomalous workings or thaumaturgy. Further, changing SCP-6455-N's containment cell to a reality-anchored chamber did not abate SCP-6455. Finally, SCP-6455-N displayed no knowledge of any of the new cases.

This theory was formally rejected in 1984, when SCP-6455-N committed suicide in his containment chamber. When SCP-6455 events continued to occur, it was surmised that the above theory was insufficient. The idea of SCP-6455-N having become a spectral entity was briefly suspected, but rejected when the crime scenes had no evidence of ectoplasm or any spectral interference.

The next theory was that of a copy-cat killer, with similar but stronger abilities to SCP-6455-N. Given the need for such a killer to have abilities stronger than any currently developed mnestic drugs, this theory was not taken as particularly likely. This theory was rejected after a triple occurrence of three murders on the same day in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas. The Antimemetics Division concluded it was near-impossible that there were multiple individuals with the relevant antimemetic abilities.

We couldn't figure it out. We couldn't figure it out for over a decade. I had started on the Antimemetics Division, but my experience with this case led to me working on a special task that only investigated this case, as a joint task force. We were the best of the best, from every field in the Foundation and allied with the UIU and Coalition. Trying to come to the bottom of this.

There was just … nothing to go on, forever. No evidence. Just continued pain and suffering. The victims kept piling up, but the killer was nowhere to be found. And of course, the general public knew about him. Still knows about him. He wasn't a secret back in the day, and we didn't think it was worth it to cover it up back in the day.

Whenever a new victim is found — I go to the funerals and the vigils. Every few months, except when it enters one of those rare and feared lull phases. One of the more public members of the task force goes up to make empty promises to everyone that they'll catch ERD/LAM this time, that his decades long reign of terror is over. That this time we're going to fix it. I look straight into the eyes of parents from the most recent killing, and then go and repeat myself to parents from the oldest killings. It never gets easier.

Addendum B: Operational Theory of SCP-6455

It was not until 1991, twelve years after the initial manifestation of SCP-6455 events, that a workable theory as to the occurrence of SCP-6455 was developed. During a Foundation conference, Youssef Sayed met with Doctor Solomon Keller, an experienced noospherics researcher. Dr. Keller had recently been performing investigation into noospheric to material crossover — thoughtforms from the noosphere powerful or developed enough to have impact in the material world.

Agent Sayed invited Dr. Keller to join the SCP-6455 Task Force, in order to see if there was any possible link between Dr. Keller's theories and the murders. While investigating the first SCP-6455 event to occur following Dr. Keller joining the team, significant evidence was found to confirm this possibility. Residual evidence at the scene of the crime was consistent with Dr. Keller's hypothesized residuals of noospheric interference.

With evidence found supporting Dr. Keller's theory, the SCP-6455 Task Force began investigation into the responsible thoughtform. This led to the discovery of a metastasized complex in the noosphere, which was deemed responsible for SCP-6455.

The year is 1991. I'm always looking for new people to join the task force — new branches of study, new angles we didn't consider. We weren't getting anywhere with how we were handling it, despite all of our efforts. That took me to one of those conferences, one of the big ones that everyone attends. I'm at a bar one night, having a drink and explaining the problems of the field, talking to one Doctor Solomon Keller. I didn't expect to get anything from the conversation — just a chance to vent at my frustrations.

He pauses for a moment and tells me he has an idea. My background is in antimemetics. I dealt with forgetting things. I wasn't an expert in remembering them. He thinks that our problem is in the infamy, the presence that ERD/LAM has in the collective unconsciousness. He asks if he can come onto the team and do a little investigation. He has some theories that might just be applicable to the case.

One week. He was on the team for one week before we solved it. And it was worse than we could have pictured.

The thought complex is a collection of fear and dread, balled around ERD/LAM. It has no active connection to SCP-6455-N — in fact, everything we know about him is entirely absent. It is only based on his killings, and then the killings that happened after we caught him. It all builds into this shape, this unknown entity that remains in people's imaginations long after the case happened.

This whole time, I was looking for a culprit. And then I finally found one, but it wasn't exactly alive. But Dr. Keller told me this thoughtform was being actively maintained, and I thought "Great!". So we just had to catch the people thinking this thing up, and we've got it.

But that's the thing: it's not intentional. It's the relatives of victims. The people who nearly got away. The dozen or so survivors. It's me, and my task force. The focus we had on catching him, the eternal hunt that never went anywhere. We're scared. And our fear built up, and became this thing.

The research of Dr. Keller led to the conclusion that SCP-6455 was occurring due to unresolved trauma from SCP-6455-N's lack of public capture. Given that the Foundation, upon initially apprehending SCP-6455-N, did not release information surrounding his capture or publicly announce they had done so, SCP-6455-N was still believed to be at large. The initial SCP-6455 murders only served to reinforce this belief, and perpetuated the idea that SCP-6455-N was still active.

The thoughtform complex that causes SCP-6455 events has since become largely detached from SCP-6455-N himself. The lack of any publicly available information surrounding SCP-6455-N has led to popular conception of ERD/LAM working entirely from the murders he perpetrated, rather than his actual traits. Further, it has become recursive: as of 2022, the complex is more influenced by itself than it ever was by SCP-6455-N.

Additionally, the thoughtform complex has been exacerbated by the prevalence of true crime media speculation regarding ERD/LAM. Such media inflates the myth of SCP-6455-N and allows the thoughtform complex to grow in size and reach. The reach, size and modus operandi of SCP-6455 events have become broader than the original pattern of events perpetrated by SCP-6455-N.

Addendum C: Today's Situation

Testimony from Solomon Keller

Assistant Investigator of SCP-6455

SCP Noospherics Division

So where does this leave us, we might ask? We have found our killer, but what are we to do? How are we to help the victims, both past and present and future? Forget the question of containment, for a minute — although it is not entirely out of place — and let us briefly discuss the idea of aid, and assistance. How can we help? It is the first step we must take.

This is, after all, our own fault. We are responsible for this mess.

There is, in truth, little we can do.

We cannot go back in time and solve the problem that led to this mess, as much as we wish we could. When the Foundation caught ERD/LAM in 1976, we didn't tell anyone. We didn't inform the public that they could stop cowering under their beds. Nobody realized they were safe. The fear remained. The pain didn't go away.

And so now, we find ourselves forty years after the fact with the wounds he left still raw. And worse, he is still making scars, he is still lashing out beyond the grave. Yes, it is not him — but it is his legacy, and it was forged in his shape, in his image.

I must be honest: I don't think we can fix this. We cannot release the fact that we caught ERD/LAM all those years ago. It's been decades, and we just swept it under the rug the first time. That's the one single silver bullet we have that could feasibly kill the thoughtform, but it's not an option for us — we're so tied up in our Masquerade that we can't even consider it.

We tried it — at least partially, back in the day. We pulled a D-Class off death row, dosed him up with drugs to ruin his memory, and then framed him for some of the most recent murders. We couldn't frame him for all of them — some of SCP-6455's murders conflict, and no human could be responsible for both. It worked, at first. Murders slowed down, and we went two years without an event. But people realized: "Hey. The suspect they got couldn't have killed two people in LA and Vegas on the same day. There has to be another culprit." And the thoughtform came roaring back to life.

There are options to winnow down the thoughtform and hurt it, but where do we begin with that? Are we to remove memory of one of the worst serial killers in American history from the public consciousness? To stomp out a popular true crime subject? The last I checked there were no less than a dozen popular podcasts just about this one case. Half a dozen documentaries about him, and a new one coming out on HBO next year. Each one of those hurts.

Are we to remove the memories from the victims themselves? To leave them with the trauma and without any idea of why? There are more victims now than there were back then, and there were enough in 1979 to start this whole mess. What are we to do?

What can we do when we did all we could to prevent wounds from healing, and then act shocked when those wounds bleed?