Site Director Eric Radford, your project 
OPERATION STYX (www.scp-wiki.scp.fo/ 
l4access/verification/intscpfn-portal/personnel/ 
eradford42/operation-styx) has been flagged 


for content and approval violation by one or 
more Ethics Committee boardmembers and is 
pending review. 


Do not proceed with this project until you are 
contacted within 12 hours of receiving this 
message. 


ADDITIONAL NOTES 


Text attachment from supervising 
officer(s): 


Cease operations until further contact. Do not 
allow C-51174 to leave Site-42 until further 
contact. Order C-39438 to self-amnesticize 
and resume his schedule. -Blanchard 


END MESSAGE 


Site Director Radford looks up from his phone. "Hang on, 
stop walking for a sec." 


Trauss stops and turns around, attracting the attention of 
a passing researcher as he flips his helmet's face shield 
up. "What is it?" 


Radford leans against a corner in the hallway, pressing 
his back against the painted cinderblock wall. "Fuck," he 
says under his breath. "Okay, what am | doing, | can't 
show you this," he says with a nervous chuckle, sliding 
his phone back into his pocket. "Let's step into the proper 
research room, here." He scans his access card on the 
door lock to Room A4 and gestures the two agents in 
ahead of him. "Hello, Mallory," he says to the lead 
researcher, closing the door behind them. 


"Oh, goodness. | haven't seen that uniform since | 
worked on 3069," she says to Trauss and Rogers. "I can 


Note: | wonder if there are set paths that each setting 
follows. - Doctor Mason 


Input: One (1) tracking beacon 

Setting: 1:1 

Output: One (1) unlabeled tracking beacon consistent 
with those used by Canadian counterterrorism groups. 
Path: "North" for 3.41 meters. Signal then moves 
towards one of the "Southwestern" outer segments of 
SCP-914, where it repeatedly follows an equilateral 
triangle for 0.13 seconds before losing signal. Analysis of 
received signals shows a new signal retracing a path 
back to the booths. 

Note: Seriously, though. What is that first bit Northward 
for? I've checked the recordings, it does that in every 
test. Every. Single. One. -Dr. Mason 


Input: One (1) tracking beacon 

Setting: Fine 

Output: One (1) apparent tracking beacon, components 
consistent with Foundation-specific requirements. 
Tracking beacon is smaller than standard, with certain 
unknown components. Testing revealed it to be fully 
operational, although signal was lost mid-test, as the 
output ran a different operating system. 

Path: "North" for 3.63 meters. "South-southeast" for 0.7 
meters. Accelerates in the opposite direction for four (4) 
meters before signal cutoff. 

Note: So, | was talking to a colleague about my testing, 
and they said that the Fine output sounded familiar. 
Turns out the smaller beacon and the new OS are both 
prototypes right now. Guess we end up using them. - Dr. 
Mason 


Input: One (1) tracking beacon 

Setting: Very Fine 

Output: One (1) thin strip of translucent film, shown to 
be attachable with static cling. Discovered to be 
remarkable resilient for its size when D-1126 tore a 
fingernail pulling it off of the wall of the Output Booth. 


only assume you two are gearing up for-" 


Radford rushes over to the doctor and whispers in her 
ear, interrupting her. She nods and scoots around to the 
other side of the table, flipping an opaque black cloth 
over a metallic device displayed in the middle. "Sorry, 
gentlemen, but we've just found out some sensitive 
internal information. Agent Rogers, I'm afraid you'll need 
to administer Class-As- uhh, let's see, what time did 
Agent Trauss come to get you? | think you'll need to go 
back at least forty-five minutes. Sorry, but it's Ethics 
Committee orders. Now please forget | said that." 


Rogers glares at Trauss, but there's a hint of sympathy 
present. "Another day at the office." He starts shaking his 
spray can. "Sounds like you're in some deep shit here. 
Good luck." He exhales fully and counts to himself before 
inhaling for nine seconds. 


Trauss pats him on the back and reattaches the can to 
his belt for him. "Alright. Go walk down the hallway and 
go home for the day." He pushes him toward the door. 
Rogers wheezes into his fist and stumbles out. 


"Now, back to business," Dr. Wickerford says, taking the 
cloth off of the device on the counter. 


"What do you mean? They just sent us a cease-and- 
desist!" 


She raises an eyebrow over her glasses. "Well, maybe 
for Operation Styx they did, but not for my proposal.” 


Radford looks bewildered. "I told you | wouldn't approve 
that." 


"And | told you it didn't need to go through site 
management, only the Ethics Committee." 


The two of them glare at each other in silence. Trauss 
takes his helmet off. "Mind if | ask what's going on here?" 


"Mallory has a proposition for you," he says with a side- 
glance at her, "but just know that | am not going to make 
it mandatory, so don't-" 


"Oh, don't make it sound more stressful than it is, Eric." 
She pulls Trauss over to the table by the arm and 
gestures to the device. "Have you seen this before, 
Agent?" 


"Not that | can recall." 


She nods. "Right. Well, this here is AC84D NC77Q 
95DCS." 


Trauss chuckles. "An MC&D object. Didn't know they 
were active around these parts." 


"Indeed they are. Don't be disappointed, but our 
possession of this is actually fairly old news. This version 
here on the table is our first re-engineered prototype, 
though. It's not like the original at all." 


"Is it anomalous?" 


"Well, yes, I'll confess that the core element is 
anomalous. But we've compartmentalized that element 
and sufficiently improved our understanding of it over the 
course of our research. It's not the first anomalous 
technology we safely utilize, as you're well-aware from 
your experience in the field." 


"I'll see. | don't really like using anomalous tech." 


"Well, that's what I'm getting to." She shoots a glance at 
Radford, silencing him as he opens his mouth to say 
something. "Agent Trauss, I'm going to make you an 
offer, and | suggest you take me up on it. This device is 
capable of extremely accurate and detailed artificial 
memory inception. Not only memory in the objective 
sense, but in concept and intention as well. At your 
clearance level, | am certain you are aware of the 


disturbing increases in the frequency of Lethe Events, 
yes?" 


"Yes, | am." 


"Imagine a device that can reverse the effects of 
SCP-3848. A device that is 94 percent effective in both 
restoring information and creating memories of new 
information. Even fabricated memories.” 


Trauss leans over the table and squints at the small 
screen of the device. "What coding language is that?" 


"It's a language entirely unique to and invented for this 
device, and others like it that will be developed in coming 
years. We've named it ED-K+ for now, sharing a 
designation with terminology from 3848. It's the second 
iteration of the language. ED-K, the first rendition, was 
written for Schulman's original device. But we're long 
done with that now. This version, this is ours, through 
and through. You see, Schulman was only on the cusp of 
actualizing this thing's full effects. He and his customers 
were just typing in words and sentences. We developed 
an accurate, procedural approach that uses much more 
of the tech's potential." 


"But what's your end goal right now, if you don't mind me 
interrupting?" 


"| know you're the type to cut to the chase. Don't mind 
my tech babbling. We're about to need to test this. For 
the first application on a willing human subject, I've 
written a script for an incredibly simple and useful 
concept to implant. Targeting the hippocampus and 
specific regions of the cortex, this device will alter the 
memory recall of the subject to include specific thought 
processes and ingrained memetic vectors which 
effectively induce the desired behaviors." 


Trauss blinks. "I'm not as fluent in scientist as | used to 
be, but I'm not entirely comfortable arming myself with a 


thought control device, if that's what you're getting at." 


"Sadly, to call it a thought control device would be an 
overstatement of its capacities. Writing a concept or 
memory in ED-K+ is time-consuming and nuanced." 


"What happens to someone's brain if you make a typo on 
that thing's keypad?" He gestures with a gloved hand to 
the size of the device. 


"We never use that keypad except for minor edits. ED-K 
+ is written in any text editor and then copied over via a 
wired connection." 


"Alright. Well, look, | think it's interesting and everything, 
don't get me wrong, but | really don't want to be near it." 


Radford steps forward. "Right, you heard the man. Shall 
we?" 


"Not so fast, Eric," Wickerford snaps. "Trauss, let me be 
frank with you. Your superiors are and always have been 
fully aware of your personal struggles." She lowers her 
voice and perches on a lab stool in a failed attempt to 
ease the tension in the room. "You show some 
interesting behavioral traits, from a psychological 
standpoint. Notably, you are one of the only employees 
to allow a permanent communications implant to be 
installed. If you don't mind my asking, what makes you 
so comfortable with the Foundation's presence in your 
life?" 


He glances at the floor, feeling the two of them watching 
him. "I'm not entirely certain." 


"Does it make you feel safe?" 
"You could say that." 
"You feel willing to trade privacy for protection?" 


"...Again, | guess you could say that." 


"The easiest way to see efficient results from running an 
ED-K+ script is to have a neural pathway for the memory 
or concept somewhat distinguished already in the mind 
of the subject." 


"Where are you going with this?" He sweats under his 
uniform, wondering why he's wearing this for a white- 
collar lab meeting. 


"| have written a script consisting of a psychological 
package designed to plant a series of closely related 
conceptual seeds; namely, the association of the 
presence of the Foundation with safety and security, the 
notion that compliance with Foundation operations and 
procedures is not only preferable but rewarding, and the 
desire to serve the Foundation and work toward its 
common goals." 


Trauss shudders. "Jesus Christ." 
"Why so taken aback?" 


He laughs. "| thought you said this wasn't thought 
control, somehow." 


"Well, fair enough, if you'd like to call it that. But it's 
certainly not versatile enough yet to control thought at 
the press of a button or the pull of a trigger. This is by no 
means field-ready. There are fewer than a dozen ED-K+ 
scripts in existence, and this is by far the safest one, 
conceptually." 


"What did you say about this working better if the path is 
already established in the person's brain?" he asks, 
already knowing the answer. 


"If you are so willing, | would like to use you as the first 
recipient of this script." 


He stares at her. "W-what makes you think | would want 
that?" 


"To be honest, Agent Trauss, you seem a little uncertain 
even as you Say that. You are a fairly self-aware 
individual, as I've read in your personnel history, and not 
just in the technical way of your ARTMET training leaving 
more room for correct interpretation of memetic signals. 
You certainly know that you fit the parameters of already 
having these thought patterns established. You admitted 
yourself earlier in this conversation that you know you 
are comforted by the Foundation's presence in your daily 
life. Do you not think you would be happier, on a 
personal level, if those elements were amplified?" 


Trauss' pulse thumps once in his chest. He sits down on 
a stool across from Wickerford. 


"| want to stress that | am not requiring this nor directly 
endorsing it," Radford says. "But we do need to test this 
device somehow, and to be frank, the other option was 
definitely your least favorite." 


"| was wondering if all of this was related to what got 
wiped out yesterday." 


Dr. Wickerford leans forward, fingers intertwined on her 
lap. "The Foundation gave me a chance with 3069, and | 
delivered. Here we are right on the coast, still alive years 
later, thanks to something | did that seemed wrong and 
dangerous at first but ended up paying off. All I've asked 
of my superiors, and all I'm asking of you, is the trust to 
make the right decisions for the greater good yet another 
time, and deliver results yet another time." 


"| don't know. | don't want you to think | don't have faith 
in your skill, but if there's anomalous tech in there, I'm 
scared of letting it fuck with my head." 


"That aspect of its functionality is stable. I've conducted 
plenty of testing on human subjects, but a D-class 
complying with a test because they have to is not as 
valuable as a long-time employee completely consenting 
to a test because they're aware of the expected results 


and even desire the results." 


Trauss scoffs. "So you're looking for your first willing 
human subject." 


Wickerford shrugs a little. "You've been with the 
Foundation for what, ten years at this point? More, less? 
| don't have any shame about the work | do, and you 
know why." 


He makes direct eye contact with her for the first time 
since their meeting. "How do you use that thing?" 


An expression halfway between excitement and focus 
crosses her rosy cheeks as she reaches for the device. 
"Well, | won't lie, it's not comfortable. You'll need to be 
lying face-down for between 17 and 19 minutes — that's 
how long | estimate the script will take to run — and 
you'll have to tolerate some unpleasant sensations in 
your spinal cord, because it requires a lumbar puncture." 


"Yeugh... Do | have to be conscious?" 


Radford turns to Trauss, arms crossed. "Are you actually 
considering this?" 


"Why would you of all people be against it?" 


"Well- | don't know, | guess I'm... not. But why aren't you 
against it?" 


"| don't know. Maybe because | don't feel like | have 
anything to lose, and | haven't in years. Maybe because | 
wake up aching and depressed most days now, and | 
didn't used to. Don't you know that a Foundation agent's 
lifespan is half of anormal human's, Director? | might as 
well be 65 years old." 


Radford permits a small laugh and nods in 
understanding, though Trauss senses a little disdain. 


"What | want to make clear, Trauss, is that we are not 


engineering this device to control what anyone thinks. 
We're just engineering it to... guide them in the right 
direction. It doesn't remove personality. It doesn't remove 
anything. It's the opposite of amnestics, it plants a seed 
in your mind and from there the seed grows. It's only 
dangerous if you start growing the wrong seed." 


Trauss nods, removing his gloves as the sweat builds on 
his skin. "Alright." 


"We may not know each other very well, Agent, but | 
have read about you extensively and talked with many of 
your superiors. This is who you are, | can tell. Your 
dedication to this organization is clear and present in 
everything you do. If you're willing to lend us your 
thoughts on the matter, so to speak, it would further our 
research considerably." 


"And the other option?" 


"Take Class-As again and find out what you knew 
yesterday, and get this thing tested the other way." 


Trauss sits back in his stool with a sigh, biting his lip in 
thought as he stares at the device on the table. 


The issue has never been that the Foundation's employees are 
emotionless embodiments of robots. On the contrary: Most of them 
that I've met are exceptionally normal (Il suppose they're making an 
effort to be as opposite to 'anomalous' as they can be?) and have a 
decent personality on top of it. Very few of them exude the Men in 
Black aura that one would expect from their job description, and are 
quite open to conversation and communication.