stopped it for now, but to reverse the spread, | must destroy the 
parasites, and | must do it soon. These things are no threat to me, 
but they are a threat to that which our father held most dear. 


David Fu: Do you know the identity of these parasites? Are they 
lingering minions of the traitorous brothers? 


SCP-3965-A changes color again, this time to an intense reddish 
hue. 


SCP-3965: No. They are a different variety of traitor. They are 
machinations of the serpent. 


Emily Fu: The snakes?! The children of Xia?! But how could they 
possibly... 


SCP-3965: | do not know. "How" is no longer important; this is the 
result of their actions long ago, and | suspect they no longer even 
have any control of what they made. 


Dr. Albert: So these parasites have become too powerful for their 
creator to control? 


SCP-3965: Yes. These things have grown strong from feeding upon 
our father. Just the very sentiment... 


(SCP-3965-A becomes momentarily violent, producing at least one 
hundred lightning strikes over a 50km area (pictured above), though 
none are within 10km of where the interview is taking place. These 
strikes all occur within a period spanning 2.5 seconds.) 


Emily Fu: (She shrieks and falls to the ground in supplication.) 
David Fu: ...We understand your fury. 

SCP-3965-A returns in color to the previous bluish hue. 
SCP-3965: | apologize for frightening you, Emily. Please, stand up. 
Emily Fu: (She stands up slowly, shaking.) 


SCP-3965: ...Do you know the ancient purpose of this place? 


Emily Fu: M-Me? 


SCP-3965: Yes. Ease your fears, Emily. | will never harm you, and 
in this place, | will permit no other force to harm you. We are both 
children of the torch, you see, children of the father. 


Emily Fu: (She becomes noticeably more relaxed.) | do not know 
about this place, great Zhulong. Would you...would you teach me? 


The color of SCP-3965-A returns to a greenish hue, but is more 
saturated then before. 


SCP-3965: (It laughs.) Of course! This was a place of pilgrimage for 
our people, they would bring gifts, items of tribute, and dance upon 
the stone sun, singing praise to our father. And when the festivities 
came to a close, | would descend from my nest and fill the heavens 
with light of every color. | would bring down lightning and lead our 
people in the final song...in truth, | would give anything to see those 
days once again. Loyal followers bringing their children for the first 
time...the old and wise still gazing upon the lights as they had when 
they were children...flames, old and young, united in a bonfire, and 
our father overhead, listening to the songs. | was once for greater 
things. 


The color of SCP-3965-A returns to a bluish hue. 


David Fu: ...In my heart, | know that you will always be for great 
things, mighty Zhulong. 


SCP-3965: | see them in you. | see our followers of old. Your eyes 
glisten with the wonder of a child. You must never forget the 
importance of that wonder. Emily, one day this task will fall to you; 
look in your grandfather's eyes and never forget what you see there. 


Emily Fu: Yes, | will not fail you, and | will not fail our father! 


SCP-3965: Such tenacity and hope. David, do you know the ancient 
tongue? 


David Fu: | cannot speak it. 


SCP-3965: Listen well. When your mind is clear and your heart is 


pure, the song will rise from your flame and through your lips. 


SCP-3965 begins to vocalize in an unknown language. 
Characterization of linguistic properties is impossible. After listening 
to SCP-3965 for approximately two minutes, David Fu joins him in 
vocalizing, producing what is presumed to be the closest human 
analogue for the language produced by SCP-3965. After several 
more seconds, Emily Fu joins in vocalizing, as well. SCP-3965-A 
changes in color to a previously unseen gold hue. During this period, 
the security personnel consult with Dr. Albert about possible 
intervention, but Dr. Albert decides to take no action. Vocalizations 
continue for eight minutes, until the end of the interview. 


<End Log> 


Footnotes 
1. The Xia Anomalous Culture Group, known to have been in conflict 
with the YDEG. 


every known type of weapon useless and often destroys affected 
weapons after prolonged exposure. For instance, firearms will 
immediately jam or misfire, explosives will be rendered inert, and 
melee weapons will decay into dust. Also, the items SCP-514's aura 
destroys appears to be selective. For further details, see Experiment 
Log 514a. 


In addition to its weapon nullification ability, SCP-514 can also 
somehow suppress violent emotions and intent in sentient beings 
within the aura. Interviews with staff and civilians who had been 
exposed to the aura said that they felt very calm and content, even 
when they felt stressed and angry just moments before. For further 
details, see Experiment Log 514b. Currently, there appears to be no 
harmful or lasting effects of being exposed to SCP-514's aura. 
Rigorous physical and psychological screening of individuals 
exposed to the aura showed nothing out of the ordinary. 


Experiment Log 514a 


Various tests were performed by continually using the to have 
SCP-514 circle around a Foundation weapons testing range in 


Firearms: Items used: Glock 9mm handgun, Colt .45 1911 
handgun, MP5 submachine gun, Thompson submachine gun, M16 
assault rifle, AK-47 assault rifle, SAW, M24 sniper rifle, [DATA 
EXPUNGED)]. All weapons confirmed to be in working order. 


Result: All weapons, when tested, failed to fire. Later inspection 
showed that all weapons suffered from various mechanical failures 
that rendered the weapons useless. Ammunition exposed to the 
aura also failed to fire when loaded into weapons not affected by the 
aura. Chemical propellant was found to be rendered completely 
inert. 


Explosives: Items used: One standard hand grenade, 28.35g (102) 
of dynamite, 28.35g (10z) of C-4 high explosive, 28.35g (10z) of 
thermite, one 81mm high explosive mortar round, one 120mm tank 
shell, [DATA EXPUNGED]. 


Result: All explosives were immediately rendered inert when 


SCP-3966: Falling Out 


Item #: SCP-3966 
Object Class: Keter 


Special Containment Procedures: A vial of SCP-3966-A is kept in 
frozen laboratory storage at Site-66. It is to be tested monthly for 
contamination. Any new compounds found to contaminate the vial 
sample must be spectrographically analyzed for its chemical 
composition and any open molecular bonds must be noted. 


Additionally, medical literature submitted for publication must be 
examined for descriptions of SCP-3966, and any such papers are to 
be denied publication. In the case of an outbreak of Sudden 
Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS), Mobile Task 
Force Rho-7 ("Doctors Without Mortars") is to be deployed to 
establish SCP-3966 levels in both victims and living civilians in the 
outbreak area. Harvesting of SCP-3966 from cadavers under cover 
of autopsies has been approved. 


Under Procedure Morpheus-4, all correspondence relating to 
SCP-3966 is to be saved for review by the Cognitohazard 
Department, but SCP-3966 is not to be subject to cognitohazard 
handling protocols at this time. Researchers assigned to SCP-3966 
may request reassignment if they begin to suffer from periodic limb 
movement disorder (PLMD). 


Description: SCP-3966 is a neuroactive polypeptide found in 
humans. It is found in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of over % of 
autopsy cadavers when death occurred during sleep. In the form 
recovered from cadavers, it is termed SCP-3966-A and has the 
anomalous property of having no C-terminus.! The final amino acid 
in SCP-3966-A has a free binding site on the carbon chain that does 
not show any chemical reactivity. 


Testing Log: 


Experiment 3966-1 
Subject: D-51174 


Protocol: Subject is administered via spinal tap under 
local anesthesia a dose of 2 ml of a sterile 10% isotonic 
solution of SCP-3966-A. Subject's vitals and EEG are 
monitored for biological response. 2 ml of fluid is taken 
after 30 seconds to rebalance cerebrospinal fluid levels. 


Result: Subject undergoes a sudden withdrawal reflex 
behavior 11.5 seconds into the process. Subject is 
manually restrained but undergoes no further response, 
and the 2 ml sample is successfully recovered. Subject 
suffers increased tissue damage at the lumbar puncture 
site, but recovery is complete. 


Subject reported a sudden "falling feeling" post-injection. 
EEG reported onset of Stage 1 NREM sleep 
approximately 1.5 seconds before reflex response. The 
“falling feeling,” withdrawal reflex, and NREM onset are 
consistent with a hypnic jerk. 


Biochemical analysis of the sample indicated no trace of 
SCP-3966-A. A new protein was recovered (labeled 
SCP-3966-B), and sequenced. The protein was 
chemically non-anomalous and ends with a C-terminus 
as expected. Further testing is required to determine how 
SCP-3966-B is constructed. 


+ EVALUATE CORRESPONDENCE SAVED UNDER MORPHEUS-4 


SAVED COMMUNICATION FROM SCP-IM 
SYSTEM 


Pawlie: Hi Dr. Argent. Experiment completed. 
We were worried when the subject startled 
with a big needle in their spine, but it all turned 
out okay. 


RodArg: | saw the report. Do we know where 


the new protein came from? 


Pawlie: No. | can't imagine it would be 
constructed so quickly. 


RodArg: Exactly. We need to know where it 
came from, its amino acid sequence, what 
assembles it, and how it's folded. 


RodArg: We also need to understand what 
action SCP-3966-A has in vitro. Normally a 
protein should start at the N-terminus and end 
at the C-terminus. That missing C-terminus 
should mean it's extremely biologically reactive 
since it should bind to pretty much any other 
protein and tear it apart. | was expecting it to 
act like a prion-style cyanide, but we aren't 
seeing any signs of widespread biological 
disruption. Also, there's little reason it should 
only be found in the CSF if it's so long-living 
and open. It should be able to just punch 
through the blood-brain barrier by opening cell 
membranes. 


RodArg: I'm sending over some new test 
protocols. I'll help you with them as my 
schedule allows. Thanks for the help, and 
welcome to the team, Ellie. 


Pawlie: Sure thing! 
Experiment 3966-2 


Protocol: 0.5 ml of a sterile 10% solution of SCP-3966-A 
administered to a petri dish containing 0.5 ml of a sterile 
5% solution of gamma globulin and 5% albumin. Sample 
monitored for reactivity. 


Result: No reactivity reported. Levels of SCP-3966-A 
unchanged. 


Experiment 3966-3 


Protocol: Amino acid sequencing of SCP-3966-A and 
SCP-3966-B via Edman degradation and mass 
spectrometry. 


Result: SCP-3966-B sequencing complete. Total chain 
length: 289 amino acids. 


SCP-3966-A sequencing concluded. Total chain length: 
143 amino acids. The initial 142 amino acids match the 
N-terminus sequence of SCP-3966-B. The final amino 
acid was unrecoverable. Sample mass was indicated to 
decrease by approximately 0.70%. 


+ EVALUATE CORRESPONDENCE SAVED UNDER MORPHEUS-4 


SAVED COMMUNICATION FROM SCP-IM 
SYSTEM 


RodArg: Hello Ellie, I'm going to need you to 
run Experiment 3 again on an -A sample. 
There was clearly some contamination, given 
the mass imbalance. 


Pawlie: Sorry, will do. | was just really tired. 
Haven't been sleeping well. 


RodArg: It's all right. Take a nap if you need 
to. Check the equipment beforehand; we can't 
have any leaks. 


Pawlie: Okay, but it's not like I've been able to 
take a nap lately, either. | keep almost falling 
asleep, but then | imagine I'm tripping over 
something and my brain panics and wakes me 
up. When | eventually sleep, | get nightmares. 
It's been really bad. 


RodArg: Wait, are you telling me you have 
been getting hypnic jerks? 


Pawlie: | guess so 


RodArg: I'll be right back. | want to check on 
our D-class. 


Pawlie: ok 


RodArg: D-51174 has been complaining of 
the same thing. You may have received a 
dose of SCP-3966. May | perform a lumbar 
puncture on you to rule out the possibility? 


Pawlie: You want to stick a long needle in my 
spine? 


RodArg: It's how we'll be able to test your 
CSF. It's not like it's easy to reach, and it's 
never been seen in blood. 


Pawlie: | guess | don't really have a choice, do 
|? 


RodArg: No, but it's an outpatient procedure. 
You'll be back at your bench in an hour. 


Pawlie: Whatever you need, | guess. 
Experiment 3966-3B 


Protocol: Amino acid sequencing of SCP-3966-A via 
Edman degradation and mass spectrometry. 


Result: SCP-3966-A sequencing concluded. Total chain 
length: 143 amino acids. The initial 142 amino acids 
match the N-terminus sequence of SCP-3966-B. The 
final amino acid was unrecoverable. Sample mass was 
indicated to decrease by approximately 0.70%. Results 
identical to Experiment 3966-3. 


Research 3966-Alpha 


Protocol: Map known amino acid sequences to the 


human genome. 


Result: No match to human genome. Further research 
into genomes of other species ongoing. 


Head Researcher's Note: We don't know where it comes 
from, but since it's not human, it must come from the 
environment. The CSF is bacteria-free, so it must 
somehow be deposited across the blood-brain barrier. 
The most likely candidate for an entry point is the choroid 
plexus, since it generates the CSF from blood plasma, 
but this is located deep inside the cerebrum so it is hard 
to examine. Will requisition neural tissues to see how 
else it might work. - R. Argent 


Experiment 3966-4 
Subject: Junior Researcher Pawlukojc 


Protocol: Subject undergoes a spinal tap to retrieve 1 ml 
of cerebrospinal fluid for testing for SCP-3966. 


Result: Biochemical analysis of the sample indicated no 
trace of SCP-3966-A. Detected levels of SCP-3966-B 
are the highest to date at 4.2 mg/dL, 350% what has 
been discovered in earlier specimens. 


+ EVALUATE CORRESPONDENCE SAVED UNDER MORPHEUS-4 


SAVED COMMUNICATION FROM SCP-IM 
SYSTEM 


Pawlie: Dr. Argent? What's happening? Am | 
going to be okay? 


RodArg: There appears to be SCP-3966-B in 
your CSF. Highly elevated. 


Pawlie: You said this was like prion cyanide, 
though? 


RodArg: That would have been the -A form. 


We detected no trace of that. We're still unsure 
where the -B comes from and what effect it 
has on the body, but it has not shown to cause 
any anomalous activity. I'm speaking to Dr. 
Drake, bringing in some samples of human 
neural tissue for further testing. We need to 
find out if and how SCP-3966 binds to neurons 
and/or glia. 


Pawlie: Okay. So what happened? Why am | 
infected? 


RodArg: There was the leak during 
Experiment 3. My present hypothesis is that 
you were exposed to SCP-3966 during the 
leak. 


Pawlie: I'm so stupid. 


RodArg: Accidents happen, but we've got to 
make sure you're all right. | want you to take 
the day off, get some sleep. You've been 
looking rather ragged. 


Pawlie: Yeah, | still haven't been sleeping 
well. | keep drifting off, just to suddenly feel 
like I'm falling and | jerk myself awake. All 
night long. What causes that? 


RodArg: There's no definitive answer, but 
hypnic jerks are related to an imbalance 
between the time sleep onset and sleep 
paralysis set in. Some scientists think it's 
evolutionary in nature, stretching back to when 
we as primates slept in trees. I'm not 
convinced, though. Other animals appear to 
have them, too, although they don't seem to 
be awoken by twitches during REM sleep. In 
any case, healthy adults and children have 
them all the time. They're annoying, but 
normal. 


Pawlie: i just want them to stop 


RodArg: One more thing. You mentioned 
having nightmares? 


Pawlie: Yeah. Why? 


RodArg: | had strange nightmares last night, 
too. What happened in yours?