Dr. : For that to work... for the discs to all be 
pre-recorded, you'd have to know what | was going to 
say, and do, exactly, years before | did it. 


SCP-315-1: | suppose | would. I'd need to be a pretty 
decent psychic and clairvoyant, though. Or have some 
kind of future-extrapolation device. That would be 
improbable, but not impossible from a mathematical 


SCP-2737: A Dead Lamprey 


WARNING: MEMETIC COUNTER-AGENT 
ACTIVATED 


INOCULATION COMPLETE 


Item #: SCP-2737 
Object Class: Safe 


Special Containment Procedures: Personnel working with 
SCP-2737 must undergo weekly counter-memetic training. Anti- 
memetic agents are to be employed before and after exposure to 
SCP-2737. Infected personnel and test subjects are to be treated 
with amnestics. Formerly infected individuals are to be monitored for 
signs of possible relapse. 


Description: SCP-2737 is a dead lamprey. Despite its deceased 
status, SCP-2737 does not undergo decay. The urn containing 
SCP-2737 has been dated to approximately 100 CE and appears to 
be of Roman design. Awareness of the existence of SCP-2737 
triggers a memetic infection. 


Symptoms of infection can include: 


* Increased empathy (both emotional and cognitive)! 

¢ Major depressive disorder 

* Acute thanatophobia2 

* Obsessive thinking with regards to theodicy$ (specific to 
religiously minded individuals), immortality, transhumanism, 
and the existence of entropy. 


* A belief in collective experience and interconnected life 


It is suspected that depression is a non-anomalous side-effect 
caused by the primary anomaly. 


SCP-2737 was discovered at a Foundation storage site for minimally 
anomalous objects. The object (initially believed to be the urn 
containing SCP-2737) was found within proper documentation. Dr. 
Ernest Bishop was tasked with reevaluating the object's anomaly 
and returning it to storage. Dr. Bishop, approximately 2 hours after 
exposure, would be terminated by security personnel while 
attempting to force a containment breach, claiming the Foundation 
had "no right to harm" SCP-__. A connection to SCP-2737 was 
shortly established, as it was the only anomalous object handled by 
Dr. Bishop that day. In order to understand the nature of the 
anomaly, D-class personnel were requested for experimentation - 
authorization was granted. 


+ Experimentation Logs 
Test 01 - 01/24/1983 


Subject: D-39091 - Subject is an Asian 
female, age 23. Subject has a history of petty 
theft and drug abuse. 

Procedure: Subject was shown SCP-2737's 
container. 

Results: No change in personality. 
Analysis: The anomaly appears to be rooted 
with the contents of the jar, not the jar itself. 


Test 02 - 01/25/1983 


Subject: D-39091 

Procedure: Subject requested to look inside 
SCP-2737's container. 

Results: Subject complied; states that 
SCP-2737 appears to be "just a dead fish". 
Approximately 5 minutes later, subject begins 
to weep. Subject is asked a series of questions 
in order to gauge possible changes in 


personality. Subject is upset with a "lack of 
time" and claims they have squandered their 
youth. Subject displays increasing anxiety on 
the subject of death, despite their young age 
and the lack of death related questions asked. 
Analysis: The dead lamprey is most certainly 
the vector of the cognitohazard. More 
extensive research is required. The jar is 
entirely non-anomalous. 


Test 03 - 01/27/1983 


Subject: D-39211 

Procedure: Subject is given a piece of paper 
with the sentence "The lamprey is dead" 
written upon it. Writer is aware of SCP-2737. 
Results: Subject initially appears confused but 
proceeds to weep. Subject is asked what they 
are currently thinking about. Subject describes 
the loss of their father at a young age and how 
they were never properly mourned. 

Analysis: SCP-2737 is proven to be both a 
cognitohazard and memetic. 


Test 04 - 01/28/1983 


Subject: D-39214 

Procedure: Subject is given a piece of paper 
with the sentence "The lamprey is dead" 
written upon it. Writer is unaware of 
SCP-2737. 

Results: Subject fails to display an anomalous 
reaction. 

Analysis: The reference to SCP-2737 must be 
intentional to trigger a memetic effect. 


Superfluous data omitted for the sake of brevity. All D- 
class subjects display similar changes in personality. 
Further experiments suggest these changes can be 
repressed, possibly reversed, through the use of 
amnestics. 


Test 32 - 03/19/1983 


Subject: D-39320 - Subject is a Caucasian 
female, age 44. Subject had been convicted of 
homicide. 

Procedure: Subject is exposed to SCP-2737. 
Results: Subject began to weep. Subject is 
asked a series of questions in order to gauge 
possible changes in personality. 

Analysis: Subject displays unusual insights on 
issues related to developed symptoms. See 
interview log for further details. 


Interviewed: D-39320 
Interviewer: Dr. Calixto Narvaez 


Foreword: Subject is to be administered an 
ink blot test; one had been performed prior to 
exposure to SCP-2737, the results not 
unusual, if somewhat suggestive of a lack of 
creativity. 


<Begin Log> 


Dr. Narvaez: What do you see? [holding an 
ink blot card] 


D-39320: A corpse.4 


Dr. Narvaez: Again. [holding a second ink blot 
card] 


D-39320: Their face. 
Dr. Nelson: Whose face do you see? 


D-39320: It hurts to look. [closes eyes] And | 
still see them. | feel the knife enter. It's cold. | 
remember holding the hilt. | never knew how 
cold it was on the other side. 


Dr. Narvaez: You were convicted of homicide. 
Was this your victim? 


D-39320: Yeah. Don't know why | did it. Felt 
right at the time. Felt justified. But it's worse 
than that. Death is ugly. | don't remember it 
being this ugly. | see all of 'em. | see ma and 
pa. My sister Jill. They're all dead. | used to be 
glad they got a clean death but there ain't such 
thing. Can't go back to fix things. Can't make it 
right. | shoulda made it better for 'em. Ease 
that pain. Make 'em proud. 


Dr. Narvaez: No one lives forever. Everyone 
dies eventually. 


D-39320: It ain't right. [weeps] | felt nothing 
then. Couldn't see 'em. Not like now. 


Dr. Narvaez: Couldn't see? How do you 
mean? 


D-39320: Take a walk anywhere. Bound to 
step on some bugs along the way. Didn't kill 
‘em outta hate. Just never saw 'em. Never 
cared to look. Yeah. Was careless. Broke too 
many hearts. Ya think | got time? 


Dr. Narvaez: Time for what? 


D-39320: Things fall apart. This time | wanna 
pick up the pieces. Got a brother in Arizona. 
Haven't spoken in nine years. Ya think | could 
make things right? 


Dr. Narvaez: | can't answer that. But there is 
always time. 


D-39320: No there ain't, doc. No there ain't. 


<End Log> 


Test 44 - 04/08/1983 


Subject: Dr. Jing Yi 

Procedure: Subject is exposed to SCP-2737. 
Testing for differences in symptoms for those 
aware of the anomaly and who have 
undergone anti-memetic training. 

Results: Subject begins to cry but shows 
more restraint than others. Subject is asked a 
series of questions in order to gauge possible 
changes in personality. 

Analysis: Symptoms manifest in a more 
serious manner. See interview log for further 
details. 


Interviewed: Dr. Jing Yi 
Interviewer: Dr. Albert Cronenberg 


Foreword: Subject is to be administered an 
ink blot test; one had been performed prior to 
exposure to SCP-2737, results considered 
normal for Foundation personnel. Dr. Narvaez 
was unable to conduct the experiment due to 
illness and Dr. Cronenberg served as a 
replacement. 


<Begin Log> 


Dr. Cronenberg: Tell me what you see. 
[holding an ink blot card] 


Dr. Yi: | see a callous man. 
Dr. Cronenberg I... | see. Now, what... 


Dr. Yi: | feel them, you know. Every single one 
of them. 


Dr. Cronenberg: Please, specify... 


Dr. Yi: [interrupts] Just following orders, right? 


Just fresh materials to work with. How many 
did you tear open to find what you needed? 


Dr. Cronenberg: This interview is over. 
Refrain or | will call security. 


Dr. Yi: How many did you kill? You wretched 
fuck! You took them apart - piece by piece! 
What were you hoping to find through their 
suffering? | hope you die, Cronenberg - just 
like all your guinea pigs, | hope you get torn 
apart. 


<End Log> 


Closing Statement: Subject was administered 
amnestics and no longer recalls the test or his 
outburst. This remains the only instance where 
an SCP-2737-infected subject displayed 
aggression. Even subjects with a history of 
violence were normally pacified by SCP-2737 
exposure. 


Test 50 - 06/15/1983 


Subject: Dr. Calixto Narvaez 

Procedure: Short term amnestics were 
applied prior to subject's exposure to 
SCP-2737. Subject has extensive anti- 
memetic training. 

Results: Subject's lips begin to tremble. Ink 
blot cards, while not revealing obvious 
changes in personality, do result in a singular 
preoccupation with death. 

Analysis: See interview log for further details. 


Interviewed: Dr. Calixto Narvaez 
Interviewer: Dr. Jing Yi 


Foreword: Subject is to be administered an 


ink blot test; one had been performed prior to 
exposure to SCP-2737, the results considered 
normal for Foundation personnel. Memories 
associated with SCP-2737 have been 
repressed. 


<Begin Log> 


Dr. Narvaez: Please begin, Jing. I'm as ready 
as I'll ever be. 


Dr. Yi: There is a dead lamprey in that jar. 
[points to SCP-2737's container] Please take a 
moment to observe it. 


Dr. Narvaez: I'll take your word for it. 


Dr. Yi: What do you see? [holds up an ink blot 
card] 


Dr. Narvaez: An ancient castle. 

Dr. Yi: [holds up a second ink blot card] 

Dr. Narvaez: A swamp in the dead of winter. 
Dr. Yi: [holds up a third ink blot card] 


Dr. Narvaez: |... | remember when | was still 
of faith, telling myself that everything 
happened for a reason. That tragedies were 
there to teach us - to make us better people. 
There are terrible things that go unknown, from 
which no lesson can be learned. A child, 
abandoned in a well and never to be found. A 
vagrant, without friend or family, sunk beneath 
a mire. Death is not a friend. 


And just like that, I'm there again. | don't want 
to remember this. I've done everything to avoid 
going back there. 


He's dead. He'll always be dead. My father. | 
remember him vividly. His will was great - his 
sickness greater. The doctors would amputate 
- butchering him in a vain effort to save the 
whole. A foot, a hand, no success. Arms and 
legs, still it soread. His eyes, his tongue - they 
took them too. 


| told him the stories he had once taught me, 
wishing he could understand my words. | 
prayed over his jaundiced body - invoking 
every saint | could recall, and a few | likely 
made up. Was he conscious? | don't know. He 
moved, sometimes screamed, seemingly 
trapped in a nightmare. The room was filled 
with bedpans of shit and piss and blood. They 
injected him with opiates — enough to numb 
reality. | didn't want him to suffer, but | wish... | 
wish | could have spoken to him one last time. 
We never had a chance to say goodbye. 


In my effort to forget those months of horror, | 
lost the pleasant as well. Erasing him from my 
mind. | remember trips to the beach. Our visits 
to the Alhambra. A night filled with warmth and 
old tales. And, while his illness was weak, my 
first sip of wine. 


| will be forced to forget this. I'll return to my 
refusal to remember him. But it was worth it. 
So worth it. [begins to cry more profusely, 
smiling] Protocol - my old enemy, we meet 
again - but I've never hated you as much as | 
do now. [chuckles while still crying] 


<End Log> 


Closing Statement: Subject was administered 
amnestics and no longer recalls the 
experiment. 


+ Addendum 


In 1991, the outer portion of SCP-2737's container was 
scanned. Image retrieval software revealed faint 
markings suggestive of an inscription. Further analysis 
resulted in the discovery of a quote from Plutarch's On 
the Intelligence of Animals. Translated from Latin, it 
reads: 


"So, when Domitius said to Crassus the orator, 
Did not you weep for the death of the lamprey 

you kept in your fish pond? — Did not you, said 
Crassus to him again, bury three wives without 
ever shedding a tear?" 


+ A Statement from Dr. Calixto Narvaez: 11/29/2010 


If you are reading this, then your treatment has 
already begun. The inoculation merely delayed 
the memetic agent, allowing you read this 
document and be better prepared for the 
experience. SCP-2737 exposure has been 
shown to outperform psychotherapy and 
medication in the alleviation of post-traumatic 
stress disorder, major depressive disorder, 
secondary traumatic stress, and generalized 
anxiety disorder. Through decades of research 
we have fine tuned the therapeutic process. By 
the end of this session you will likely feel as 
though a burden has been lifted, with no 
recollection of this document and its 
associated experience. 


There is an undeserved stigma associated 
with mental health and its management. 
Through SCP-2737 treatment you will not be 
judged, analyzed, and no one will tell you how 
to live your life. Think to yourself or speak out 
loud - a lamprey that died 2,000 years ago 
makes for a surprisingly sympathetic listener. 


standpoint. 


Dr. : Sufficiently improbable that I'd sooner 
believe the impossible. 


SCP-315-1: Or, how about this? | could be from the 
future. | know what you're going to say because | have 
the records you're making, and can respond accordingly. 


Dr. : That makes no sense at all. It'd be... 
unimaginably paradoxical. 


SCP-315-1: Mmm. Yeah, you're right, actually. The other 
problem, of course, is that | have very little motive to 
record 10 or so days worth of video just to screw with 
some SCP employee. 


Dr. : SO we've made no progress whatsoever. 


SCP-315-1: Well, that's not entirely true. You've got 
some more ideas in your head about how these DVDs 
work, whether they're right or wrong. You have some 
new things to try and disprove. 


<End Log> 


Interviewed: SCP-315-1 
Interviewer: Dr. 


Foreword: Dr. 's fourth three-hour conversation 
with SCP-315-1. 


Disc watched: 11 
Glyph: [DATA EXPUNGED] 
<Begin Log> 


SCP-315-1: | wonder what would happen if you were to 
throw one of the discs away. 


Today you will cry. You will mourn. You will 
remember all you have ever lost. 


And through this, you will begin to heal. 


Footnotes 
1. Testing has suggested this to be the only consistent effect. 


2. Fear of death. 
3. The attempt to answer the question of why a good God permits 


the manifestation of evil. 
4. Not considered an unusual answer due to the subject's exposure 
to a deceased organism moments earlier. 


« SCP-2736 | SCP-2737 | SCP-2738 » 


SCP-2738: Anticapitalist POS System 


Item #: SCP-2738 
Object Class: Euclid 


Special Containment Procedures: MTF Lambda-13 (“Inventory 
Control”), based out of Site-12, is tasked with detecting and 
containing SCP-2738 instances as they manifest. As tests have 
shown that SCP-2738 is potentially spread between registers and 
between retailers through the use of items anomalously transacted 
using the SCP-2738 program, such as prepaid cards or gift cards, a 
cover story of SCP-2738 being a credit theft program has been fully 
developed and spread to the upper management of all major US 
retailers. 


When SCP-2738 is found on a register system, the store's district 
manager is to contact Site-12 personnel and by extension MTF 
Lambda-13 personnel for containment operations. All retail 
employees, including high-level managers, are to be kept under the 
guise that Lambda-13 personnel and any involved Foundation 
research personnel are FBI agents investigating credit theft.