by stormbreath

Fig 1.1. Current Location of SCP-4901.

Item #: SCP-4901

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-4901 is currently uncontained, and is located in Bubbly Creek, Chicago. Until the time when SCP-4901 can be successfully and fully contained, Special Containment Procedures are to focus on the minimization of sporadic sightings and the concealment of SCP-4901's existence.

Any witnesses to SCP-4901 are to be administered a Class-C amnestic to remove all memory of SCP-4901, and any recorded evidence is to be confiscated or destroyed. News media in Chicago is to be monitored for mentions of SCP-4901 or Rudy Benson for information. Mentions of Rudy Benson should be recorded.

Containment of SCP-4901 has been hampered by the need for a Mobile Containment Unit capable of both entrapping and holding SCP-4901. However, no easily transportable and concealable MCU exists, meaning that SCP-4901 at present cannot be contained. Research into the development of an appropriate containment unit is ongoing.

Description: SCP-4901 is an amorphous entity composed of sewage, bovine/porcine remains, and human blood, currently located in Bubbly Creek,1 Chicago. The blood comprising SCP-4901 is fibrous and semisolid, with the sewage and bovine/porcine remains mixed into the mass of this fibrous blood matter. SCP-4901 is able to manipulate the viscosity of this fibrous blood matter to temporarily become fluid.

SCP-4901 is known to have been created from a human being and it is currently theorized that the initial mental state of SCP-4901 was inherited from this human. It is suspected that shortly after creation, SCP-4901 was at least partially cognizant and able to communicate, but its mental state has deteriorated as a result of its physical condition. SCP-4901 is generally reclusive and tends to primarily spend time on the riverbed or otherwise obscured.

Fig 2.1. Photograph recovered from Chicago Spirit. Depicts Bubbly Creek around time of SCP-4901's creation and mentions SCP-4901.

SCP-4901 has an amorphous body shape but is capable of altering its form. It tends to take the form of an amorphous quadruped but occasionally takes on a more humanoid body shape during moments of lucidity.

SCP-4901 was unintentionally created in 1882 by SCP-046-ARC2 during the anomalous murder of a rival paperboy. SCP-046-ARC has claimed the death of this rival was accidental, but no evidence exists to support these allegations. For more information, consult Interview Log-046-4901.

Currently, preliminary and unspecific knowledge of SCP-4901 is circulated throughout Chicago, as part of the legacy rumors surrounding the Chicago Spirit. While several details of SCP-4901 cannot be confirmed as true or false, others have been determined to be entirely false. As such, it has been decided that these rumors do not represent a threat to normalcy.

Addendum 4901.1 — SCP-046-ARC Interview

Interview Log Transcript

Interviewer: Dr. Thatcher

Interviewee: SCP-046-ARC

Date: March 12th, 1946

Dr. Thatcher: Hello, Mr. Chappell. How are you doing today?

SCP-046-ARC: What kind of question is that?

Dr. Thatcher: Fair enough. I was hoping -

SCP-046-ARC: Listen, I'm not telling you shit. The Spirit is still out there in some form, and I'm not hurting my boys for when they come to bust me out.

Dr. Thatcher: Mr. Chappell, the Chicago Spirit has not existed for ten years and was not capable of breaking you out of a Foundation facility even before your containment.

SCP-046-ARC: I don't believe you.

Dr. Thatcher: Very well. I'd like to talk to you about one of the earliest anomalies of your career-

SCP-046-ARC: It was Night. I keep telling you, it was Night. Always Night.

Dr. Thatcher: We have found no witnesses to corroborate the existence of this alleged "Mr. Night". In any case, we would like to talk about Rudy Benson.

SCP-046-ARC: Shit. That was me, for the most part.

Dr. Thatcher: So you admit that you do have anomalous capabilities in some capacity?

SCP-046-ARC: No! I can't pull tricks, only Night could. That was with a little gift Night gave to me.

Dr. Thatcher: As always.

SCP-046-ARC: Why don't I take it from the top, okay? I was a newsie in my youth, before all of the crime and everything. I had this little corner on Lake Shore Drive, and I was the best newsie in the city. Sold the most papers, everything. Even got some of the adults to acknowledge. I was going to go far in that business, become a journalist.

Course, I never did become a journalist. I think that ended up being better for me in the end, but I sure as hell wouldn't be sitting here today if I was a muckraker.

Anyway, I'm working as a newsie. All the others are getting jealous of me - remember, in that business, everybody knew who everybody else was. And well, we both know I'm not the quiet and reserved type, am I? So everybody knows me, knows I'm the best there is. Start to get a little jealous of ol' Dickie Chappell, want to knock him down a few pegs.

Enter Rudy fuckin' Benson. He comes along and decides he wants my corner, but I'm not going to give it up, am I? Can't do that, I'm Richard Chappell, this is my turf. He and his boys come along and grab me. I'm fighting and screaming like hell, and they drag me all the way down to Bubbly Creek and throw me in.

Back then, I ain't got any idea on how to swim. Do now, because of this story. But back then? I'm drowning.

I would have died if this man hadn't jumped into the river and pulled me out. There was something off about him, I could tell just from a single glance. If I had been a coward as a kid, I would've been scared. That was Mr. Night, the first time I ever met him.

Dr. Thatcher: No evidence to verify the existence of this "Mr. Night" has been found. None.

SCP-046-ARC: Fuck you want me to do about that?

Anyway, Night gives me this little whistle, tells me to go up to Rudy and blow it. Do it by Bubbly, and everything would go just swimmingly for me. Not so swimmingly for Rudy Benson was the implication, right?

So I do it. I confront Rudy on the banks, I blow the whistle and it's … different. It's shrill, it hurts to hear, but that's not all that's happening. Rudy's bleeding from everywhere: eyes, mouth, nose, skin's breaking up and blood is just coming out of this kid. His gang scatters, they're afraid of me now.

I'm Richard Davis Chappell. Nobody fucks with me.

Dr. Thatcher: Is that the end of the story?

SCP-046-ARC: Sure is. Nowadays, the only thing people remember about Rudy Benson is that I killed him. And we made sure that everybody knows about him in the Spirit. Gotta keep the memory of little Rudy alive, don't we?

Dr. Thatcher: I see.

SCP-046-ARC: So, what is this about?

Dr. Thatcher: You aren't cleared for that information.

SCP-046-ARC: What? You tell me right now that the hell this is about! Why the fuck do you care about this! What happened to Rudy Benson!?

Dr. Thatcher: We're done here.

Addendum 4901.2 — Parawatch Post

In 2009, the following post was made to the forum of minor GoI-1109 ("Parawatch"), detailing SCP-4901. Due to the conflation of both true and false information in the post, as well as general infosec policy regarding Parawatch, this was not considered a containment breach.

spicyghost 01/15/09 (Thu) 18:50:04 #83648190

Deep in the heart of Chicago, there lives a terrible swamp thing, closely linked to the chicanerous bixby gangsters, the Chicago Spirit! It is formed from the detritus of every lost soul the Spirit ever killed and dumped into Bubbly Creek!

As you are all likely aware, the Chicago Spirit was one the largest criminal outfits in Chicago during the Prohibition Era and shortly before. What sets them apart from the others is their close association with the occult - Richard Chappell, the founder, was rumored to constantly be on the hunt for new grimoires. Sawteeth, a lieutenant, was said to have come back to life at least a dozen times. Wheels was often placed in two different places at the same time. Derringer was a legitimate wizard. Leggy is said to be nothing more than a pair of legs, capable of outrunning a car.

First, some crucial background is necessary, first on Bubbly Creek and then on Richard Chappell's personal connection to it. Bubbly Creek was brought to national infamy in Upton Sinclair in his magnum opus, The Jungle, who described it as:

"Bubbly Creek" is an arm of the Chicago River, … all the drainage of the square mile of packing-houses empties into it so that it is really a great open sewer a hundred or two feet wide. … The grease and chemicals that are poured into it undergo all sorts of strange transformations, which are the cause of its name; it is constantly in motion as if huge fish were feeding in it.

A very charming image (it's worth noting Bubbly Creek still occasionally bubbles). Of course, the problems that Upton Sinclair is describing here had been the case for several decades before he described them in The Jungle. Indeed, they existed around the time that Richard Chappell was getting his start in the industry, even when he was just a child.

When a fellow paperboy - by the name of Rudy Benson - tried to take Richard's street corner, Richard was quick to take disproportionate revenge. He led Rudy Benson to the Bubbly Creek and used his magic powers to suck all the blood right out of his rival. The blood slopped right down the side of the riverbank, and joined with all the other pig and cow bones, blood, fat, and hair in the river.

As Chappell grew up, he decided he wanted everyone to remember his past. To remember what he did to Benson, and make an example for anyone else who wanted to challenge him. The Spirit would regularly lead their enemies to the creek, bleed them dry, and then dump the corpses into the river. It was a good place to dispose of bodies: all the remains in the river meant nobody thought twice about the smell of rot.

The first sighting of the Swamp Thing of Bubbly Creek was in late 1920, soon after the start of Prohibition, when the Chicago Spirit was at the height of its power. The Swamp Thing of Bubbly Creek was almost humanoid at this point and was spotted by a butcher dumping some remains into the Creek. He was terrified by the thing, and even quit the business as a result.

The Spirit responded to this incident by playing up the tale of Rudy Benson and the Swamp Thing, making it clear what would happen to anyone who dared to stand against them. The Spirit never forgot about either, and neither did Chicago.

At least, while the Chicago Spirit lasted. When they toppled in 1933, done in by the death of Richard Chappell in a FBI raid of the Chicago Spirit bar, the Spirit stopped talking about anything they had done in Bubbly Creek. The Swamp Thing of Bubbly Creek stopped appearing as frequently, and when it did, it was normally four-legged, or even totally amorphous.

Sightings have continued to the current day (normally around the early morning, when Rudy Benson was killed), most typically close to mentions of the Chicago Spirit in newspapers, history books, or the like. Especially those that mention either Rudy Benson or the Swamp Thing. Most likely, these are just cases of pareidolia, but …

What if it's still out there?

This post was widely commented and viewed on Parawatch, becoming the "Hottest" thread of the Parawatch Forums, January 2009. This had the side effect of exposing the largest number of civilians to information concerning SCP-4901 in the history of containment.

Following this post, sightings of SCP-4901 significantly increased in frequency. Additionally, SCP-4901 took on its most humanoid appearance to date during this period. Further analysis of historical media mentions of SCP-4901, cross-referenced to confirmed sightings of SCP-4901, indicated a statistically significant link.

It was hypothesized that there existed a strong connection between knowledge of SCP-4901 and its ability to regain humanoid shape, as per the aforementioned correlation.

Addendum 4901.3 — Bubbly Creek Exploration

To test the hypothesis developed following the 2009 Parawatch post describing SCP-4901, a Clearance Level 1 (Unrestricted) file for SCP-4901 was written and used as a demonstrative article of the SCP format for new recruits. By the end of 2009, this meant that an additional ██,███ individuals were aware of SCP-4901.

Sightings of SCP-4901 began to increase during the early months of the year, along with a more humanoid body. However, in late August, sightings abruptly ceased. Agent Rosales of MTF Zeta-2 was deployed alone to Bubbly Creek in order to find SCP-4901 and determine a reason for the lack of SCP-4901 spottings.

The following is a transcript of Agent Rosales' exploration. The actual footage is currently under a RAISA lock.

Exploration Video Log Transcript

Date: 07.10.2009

Location: Bubbly Creek, Chicago

Mobile Task Force: Zeta-2

Team Members: Agent A. Rosales

Agent Rosales: Small operation, huh? Operating out of a van?

Command: We're trying to keep it covert. In the middle of a major city.

Agent Rosales: Fair enough. I'll head out now.

Agent Rosales opens the back door of the van. It is currently early morning, approximately twenty-minutes before sunrise. Agent Rosales walks to the banks of Bubbly Creek.

Agent Rosales: I think I can smell 4901 already.

Command: Actually, that's just Bubbly Creek.

Agent Rosales: It still smells, a hundred years later? No wonder they dumped bodies here.

Command: That's probably an invention of Parawatch. No record of that happening other than the original Rudy Benson incident.

Agent Rosales: So 4901 is just Rudy Benson, then?

Command: Rudy Benson and decades of pig and cow slop.

Agent Rosales: No wonder he went insane.

Agent Rosales walks around the riverbank of Bubbly Creek, shining a flashlight at various elements. He passes by locations of several recent sightings of SCP-4901 without any results.

Agent Rosales: No sign of our swamp beast.

Command: Noted. Try calling for it?

Agent Rosales: Rudy! Hey Rudy! Rudy Benson!

No discernable audio is recorded on the video log.

Agent Rosales: I think I heard something, real faint. I'll have to hop down into the brush and walk along the side of the bank itself.

Agent Rosales descends into Bubbly Creek.

Agent Rosales: Rudy! Come out, Rudy!

A quiet but high-pitched groan is recorded on the audio equipment.

Command: We're picking that up, now. Good work, Agent.

As Agent Rosales illuminates his path with the flashlight, video camera picks up a small clump of biological matter resting in the dirt. He squats next to it, and puts on a latex glove to pick it up.

Agent Rosales: Looks like we've got a piece of 4901 here. Bone fragment of some kind, possibly a pork rib, if I had to guess. Small bits of fat attached, a little hair. Could be from the Bubbly Creek riverbed, but more likely from 4901.

Command: Bag it anyway.

Agent Rosales places the clump of biological material into a biohazard evidence bag, and places the bag into his backpack.

Agent Rosales: Proceeding after the groan, now. It sounds like it's coming from a grove over here… Hey Rudy!

Immediately after vocalization of "Hey Rudy!", the groan increases in volume.

Agent Rosales: Yep, it's right over there.

Agent Rosales crawls over to a portion of the brush and pushes the branches aside, revealing a small hollow. The body camera does not capture the inside of the hollow, due to the angle of Agent Rosales' body.

Agent Rosales: Rudy?

SCP-4901: Pl-pl-e-e-ease s-s-s-top-p-…

SCP-4901's voice matches vocal analysis of a young, prepubescent male child. It is heard violently wretching and gagging. Agent Rosales grabs the video camera from his shirt and reangles it towards SCP-4901. It is on its hands and knees while ejecting constituent matter from its mouth.

Agent Rosales: Rudy Benson? Is that you? Former paperboy? I don't want to hurt you.

SCP-4901: Hu-ur-rt!

Agent Rosales: I'm sorry, Rudy Benson. Do you know who you are?

SCP-4901: For-r-r-rge-e-e-t. W-w-want. For-rget.

Agent Rosales: Forget about you? About who you were?

SCP-4901 violently coughs out a large chunk of pig fat and bone. It then rises from the ground, and grabs a pile of paper trash from the ground by it.

SCP-4901: EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

SCP-4901 throws the trash at Agent Rosales and begins to shift in physical makeup. Sharp bones emerge from the ends of its hands. Agent Rosales quickly withdraws from the hollow and draws a gun.

Agent Rosales: Anomaly confirmed hostile, permission to engage?

Command: Granted. Bullets won't be lethal.

SCP-4901 emerges from the hollow, screaming incoherently. It begins to rapidly and repeatedly stab itself in the head with the sharp bones at the ends of its arms, ripping off large chunks of sewage and animal matter.

Agent Rosales: Huh. Not hostile to me, it seems.

SCP-4901 continues to repeatedly stab itself until it no longer possesses a head. It then proceeds to stab itself elsewhere, tearing matter out of fibrous blood.

Command: Get out of there.

Agent Rosales: Won't protest that order.

Mild amnestics were distributed to all staff who had been exposed to information regarding SCP-4901 during the course of 2009. Since then, prior behavior patterns have resumed. SCP-4901 has not yet been observed speaking or taking on humanoid form since October 7th, 2009, and typically lurks beneath the water of Bubbly Creek.

Footnotes

1. The South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River, noted for being the location where butcher shops would dispose of animal remains. Accumulated methane from such remains led to the formation of bubbles, causing the name.

2. A Type-C reality bender commonly known as Richard Chappell, the founder of GOI-001 ("Chicago Spirit").