And now we come to the main subject matter - Object 
0401-42 itself, recovered from a small village in South 
Vietnam in the early 1970s, when the American 
Imperialists were discovering that their gambit to halt the 
spread of revolution in Indochina was failing drastically. 
Only weeks before the final push into Saigon, our 
operatives discovered a most interesting being, she 
being, of course, Object 0401-42. 


Hername was~ - , though we didn't learn that 
until much, much later. In the early days of the conflict in 
Vietnam, she had been a Viet Cong guerilla. Psych-eval 
tests, cross-referenced with physical trauma 
examinations, suggested that she had been repeatedly 
beaten, mentally and physically tortured, and sexually 
assaulted. When PAVN forces discovered her, she was 
naked, bone-thin, and chained to the wall in her 
containment cell. Her tormentor's corpse was on the 
floor, covered in [DATA EXCISED]. The Politburo of the 
Democratic Republic didn't know what to do with her, 
and that's how Division P was informed of her existence. 
Within the month, she was in containment, and 
designated Object 0401-42. 


She didn't talk much, that one. She wouldn't even tell us 
her name, at first. All she would talk about was a man 
who she called Ban - 'friend' - who we designated 
0401-42-1. Despite the initial reluctance to communicate 
with us, she did not act out while in containment. She 
was told that she was safe now; evidently, she had no 
quarrels with that. She was safe. 


In the following weeks, the war came to an end. The 
Revolution had displaced the Capitalist usurper in the 
South, the people of Vietnam cheered the name of Ho 
Chi Minh, and the Psychotronics Division was back in 
Vietnam. We worked with PAVN officers and personnel 


to determine the history of Subject 0401-42, Comrade- 
Private - . A simple background check, cross- 
referenced with current citizens of Warsaw Pact and 
Comintern countries revealed that the man she called 
Ban was a North Vietnamese immigrant to the 
Motherland, and had recently taken up residence in the 
Ukraine, working in a nuclear plant. We relocated her 
containment to the area, and immediately contacted 
0401-42-1. Once he discovered that 0401-42 was in the 
area, he immediately made a request to visit her, which 
was granted. From that point on, she was much more 
willing to cooperate with Division researchers and 
scientists, so long as Ban was with her. Vasily filed the 
Containment Report that same day. 


CONTAINMENT REPORT 

DATE: 0 /2 /197 

OBJECT ####-##: 0401-42 

ITEM LEVEL: C 

DESCRIPTION: Object 0401-42 is a 2 -year- 
old Vietnamese female, standing 
approximately 1 centimeters in height, and 
weighing kilograms. Object suffers from 
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to 
suffered traumatic experiences of combat and 
[DATA EXCISED] in the Vietnam War. 


Object 0401-42 is, at present, an anomalous 
item. Object claims to possess powers 
matching the description and characterization 
of moderate psionics. Request immediate 
authorization for testing and experimentation 
on Object to begin. 


Humbly, 
Vasily G , Chairman, Psychotronics 
Division, GRU 


The reply soon came. 


on a desk or some other elevated surface, remove SCP-878-2 from 
an unknown location, then plunge the knife fully into the other 
character's heart. SCP-878-1 will turn towards the camera; at the 
moment his eyes meet the camera, the show will go to commercial 
or the film will change scenes. Alternately, during theatrical 
performances, SCP-878-1 will simply disappear, with no audience 
member able to recall where the character went. SCP-878-1 will not 
be seen again, and no explanation will be given for his absence. 


From this point on, the actor who was "killed" may be identified as 
SCP-878-3. After the event SCP-878-3 will begin to display 
behavioral abnormalities uncharacteristic of their previous 
personality. This will begin with minor sex scandals and drug 
addictions, degenerating within a matter of weeks into paranoia and 
homicidal tendencies. If SCP-878 is observed at work, SCP-878-3 
can be contained by Foundation personnel, though the symptoms 
will never abate and the actor will typically find a way to kill either 
others or themselves. Since most instances of SCP-878-3 simply 
"disappear" from the public eye, a fate not uncommon for less well- 
known actors, the correlation between SCP-878-1 and his effects 
has gone unnoticed by the general public, and a stress-related cover 
story is given to the actor's families. 


To the extent that they are a single entity, SCP-878's motives are 
unknown. No records of SCP-878-1 appearing in any media without 
SCP-878-2 exist, and his real identity is unknown. Proposals for 
controlled use of SCP-878 as a means of containing broadcast 
based anomalies, such as SCP-1241, are currently under review. 


« SCP-877 | SCP-878 | SCP-879 » 


Sender: P. lvashutin, Executive Director of the 
GRU 

Recipient: V. G , Chairman, 
Psychotronics Division, GRU 

Date: 0 /0 /197 

Official log: 

Comrade G ; 


Authorization for testing on Object 0401-42 
denied. Defense Ministry does not deem the 
matter important enough to press at this time. 
Experimentation request, however, approved. 
Send me something more promising than 
simple claims and suppositions, Vasily. If your 
work shows the same as what the girl claims, 
then authorization for testing may be 
approved. 


Humbly, 
Pyotr Ilvashutin, Executive Director of the GRU 


It wasn't what we had hoped for, but it was something, 
and that's what mattered. We had been given an 
opportunity, and now it was time to seize it and to act. If 
only we had known the results, if only we had known 
what kind of pressure we were putting on that poor girl, 
then maybe we wouldn't have gone as far as we did. For 
all of her silence and stillness, we thought she was 
willingly cooperating with us. 


We extracted DNA samples, performed test after test 
after test, drew theoretical conclusions, compared notes, 
and then disproved each-other's theories. It was a mess. 
We had tried to test her powers against steel, wood, 
plastic, paper, even water. She was unable to 
manipulate any of them. Her claims weren't living up to 
be true, and the Division was, seemingly, throwing 
money into the drain in order to see what she could do. 


She wasn't sure what she was doing wrong, and became 


increasingly hostile towards us, and that was when her 
anomalous properties began to show. She would throw 
up forcefields spanning the hallways, blocking us from 
coming closer to her than three meters. She would cause 
temporary paralysis in any researcher or scientist who 
spoke to her. She would demonstrate all of these powers 
to us, and she threatened to cause greater damage 
should we attempt to test on her further. 


It took an intervention by 0401-42-1 in order to bring her 
down from her high of anger and mistrust, and that 
intervention, of course, only happened because of a 
midnight visit by GRU-P personnel to 0401-42-1's 
apartment just outside of the nuclear plant. He was 
informed, from what | understand, that it was his ‘duty as 
a revolutionary’ to perform this action for his new home, 
and should he not comply, that he would face 
consequences of 'a [DATA EXCISED] degree’. 


This, of course, resulted in what was called 'The Miracle’, 
in which 0401-42 agreed to stay on site under official 
Division supervision and study, so long as she was 
subjected to no testing and experimentation. 
Furthermore, 0401-42-1 was to be given an official 
position in the Division which would place him closer to 
her. By this time, it was known that he had proposed 
marriage to 0401-42, and she had accepted. They were 
married later that year, the arrangement a settled matter, 
and like the fools we were, we were already planning on 
how to betray her. 


We just had to know, you see. It wasn't just our job, it 
was our curiosity! She was an anomaly, something that 
couldn't be explained in the realm of human 
understanding. We were scientists, not philosophers. We 
had read about the experiments that the Fascist 
scientists had performed on Jews, the elderly, twins, 
homosexuals, and the mentally ill. We had read about 
them for study and examination, not because we were 
learning what we, as scientists, shouldn't do. We wanted 


to see Object 0401-42's limits, test her boundaries, bring 
her to as powerful a state as we could, and...then what? 


Observe? 


Yes, observe. We were genuinely that extent of 
misinformed. And yet, still, we planned for the day when 
we could finally carry out the tests that would produce 
information that the Soviet Union could use in its defeat 
of the Capitalist west. Vasily was convinced that it would 
work, as were many of the personnel and staff within the 
Division. Though | agreed tentatively to the arrangement, 
in private | would wonder to myself: /s this really what a 
good Communist would do? 


That planning came to fruition in the early summer of 
198 . It was, really, quite a simple plan, in both its 
execution and its cruelty; exposing the subject to the 
same traumatic experiences that originally brought her 
psionic powers to their full extent. It was ingenious, and, 
of course, it was thought up by Vasily. As | said before, 
Vasily was too smart for his own good. The experiments 
would be simple. A locally-stationed motor rifle regiment 
-the th - would work with our team on the project, 
under the guise of executing live-fire drills. They weren't 
told about Object 0401-42, for fear of a KGB discovery; 
not of our project, but, remember, of our Division's 
existence. Object 0401-42 would, meanwhile, simply be 
blindfolded and cuffed in a nearby mobile containment 
unit, hooked to a number of pieces of equipment that 
would measure heart rate, brain activity, anxiety level, 
and [DATA EXCISED], among other things. Guard 
personnel would be posted, and, if necessary, an IV with 
tranquilizer would be fed into the Object's arm. 


The plan was approved by Director lvashutin, with a 
material assembly deadline of the th of August, and the 
plan was riddled with problems almost from the 
beginning. The Five-Year Plans were simply not working 
as effectively as they needed to be [CENSOR NOTE: 
POTENTIAL EXCISION. REVIEW FROM GLAVLIT IS 


PENDING.], and our resources took a longer time in 
arriving, some of them not arriving whatsoever. The 
mobile containment unit was lost to a roadway accident 
en route to the testing site, the IV was equipped with less 
tranquilizer than was needed, and the number of guard 
personnel requested was five times higher than the 
number we received. Vasily was becoming disconcerted 
with Director lvashutin's perceived lack of interest for the 
project, writing to the Comrade Director to state his 
grievances and worries as the deadline drew nearer and 
nearer. 


Sender: V.G , Chairman, Psychotronics 
Division, GRU 

Recipient: P. lvashutin, Executive Director of 
the GRU 

Date: 0 /08/198 

Official log: 

Comrade Ivashutin, 

Request for an extension of the deadline for 
material preparation purposes; what time we 
have remaining simply isn't enough. We need 
more materials, more manpower. We need 
resources, Comrade Director. Object 0401-42 
is dangerous, we can't afford unnecessary 
losses in case something goes wrong. | 
reiterate: we request more time to assemble 
resources, Comrade. Otherwise, the project's 
safety may be in jeopardy. 


Humbly, 
Vasily G , Chairman, Psychotronics 
Division, GRU 


Vasily's complaints were legitimate ones. | think the 
entire Division realized that. The Directorate, however, 
wasn't as understanding, as evidenced by their reply 
which came just over a week later. 


Sender: P. Ivashutin, Executive Director of the 
GRU 

Recipient: V. G , Chairman, 
Psychotronics Division, GRU 

Date: 1 /08/198 

Official log: 

Comrade G ; 

Requests for deadline increase denied. The 
GRU, and to an extent the entire Defense 
Ministry, has grown tired of your repeated 
demands, Comrade G . You have been 
petitioning for more resources, more support, 
more immediate action in regards to Object 
0401-42, for nearly a decade. You have been 
given your opportunity, Comrade, and it is 
highly recommended that you do not waste it. 
You have two weeks to acquire what more you 
need. Use it well, Chairman. 


Humbly, 
Pyotr Ilvashutin, Executive Director of the GRU 


Vasily was furious. He would ramble on and off for hours 
about how the Directorate 'had its head shoved so far up 
its ass', how the advances in science would be worth the 


cost to the Motherland. | managed to calm him down, 


and though he acknowledged my points and opinions, he 
treated me coldly in the days preceding and following his 
reply to the Directorate's declaration, which was sent ina 


tart, to-the-point, almost passive-aggressive manner. 


Sender: V. G , Chairman of the GRU, 
Psychotronics Division 

Recipient: P. lvashutin, Executive Director of 
the GRU 

Date: 2 /08/198 

Official log: 

Comrade Ivashutin, 


Verdict is acknowledged. Testing is to proceed 
as scheduled by the Directorate's 
authorization, no matter any material 
shortages that may occur. Directorate 
personnel and staff are, furthermore, 
encouraged to supervise the experiments. 
Cover story of live-fire maneuvers to be 
published in the local newspapers three (3) 
days before the testing is to begin. 


Humbly, 
Vasily G , Chairman, Psychotronics 
Division, GRU 


And so, the cards had been dealt. Disaster loomed under 
our noses. 


The day to begin testing came the next spring, and of 
course, we were unprepared. The winter was harsh, and 
transportation of the materials we needed was 
overlooked in favor of what we were told were 'more 
important matters'. Due to G/asnost, nothing could be 
transported on a top-secret basis, everyone had to know 
what three truckfulls of scientific materials were for. 
Vasily was anxious, | was nervous, and the other staff 
and personnel were uncertain...at the very least, though, 
we were able to deal with 0401-42 easily enough. A 
detachment of the th Motor Rifles arrived to escort us 
to the testing grounds, and we packed 0401-42 into the 
column's rear vehicle, having slipped Level-C soporifics 
in her breakfast earlier that morning. 


The ride was a joyful experience by all means, with the 
only one who stayed quiet being Vasily, who had been in 
a spell of cynicism ever since the response from the 
Directorate. | felt sorry for him, though | admit that on 
that day | was caught up in the happiness of the others. 
We were excited again, it was like the beginning months 
of the Object's containment were happening all over 
again. We didn't regard her as a person, but as a thing in 


a person's body. It was a mistake, a lapse in judgment, 
and | only wish that we had realized it at the time. When 
we finally arrived, we quickly began setting up; the th 
was already deploying, and we had a very limited 
amount of equipment to set up. | was already preparing 
to take notes, myself. 


Project: Test 0401-42-III 


Date: 
‘What day is it, Vasily?’ | recall asking. 


He thought for a moment. 'Saturday,' he finally replied, 
nodding, 'the 26th.' 


Date: Saturday, 26/04/1986 
< END DOCUMENT 0401-42-1 > 
SHOW DOCUMENT 0401-42-2 


< BEGIN DOCUMENT 0401-42-2> 
< DOCUMENT CLASS: INFORMATIONAL/ 
INTERROGATORY >