Decommissioning Department Hub

One of the essential principles embraced by the Foundation is containment. To destroy anomalous entities would only destroy opportunities for research. While some anomalies remain concealed, many need intervention. The Foundation has persistently devoted itself to safeguarding and preserving this world, and this mission has been largely successful.

However, there are instances where containment reaches its limits. The Foundation's commitment to containment, while formidable, encounters inevitable failures. As the Foundation has evolved from its conspiratorial and authoritarian origins, it has made tremendous progress in ethical practices. Yet, when circumstances compel us, the Foundation must resort to termination; otherwise, the very foundation it relies upon to shield this reality will crumble.

This is where we, the Decommissioning Department, come into play. Our role is to preserve secrecy when containment prove ineffective, by the termination of anomalies. Termination of anomalies is the ultimate and most extreme method of safeguarding the mundane world, and it demands the utmost seriousness.

If you are reading this, it signifies that you have sought to join us. However, be aware: this is not a profession pursued out of pleasure or personal gratification. If you approach us with such intentions, it would be best for all parties involved if you were to depart. Decommissioning is a rare procedure, reserved solely for situations where it becomes necessary, not where we derive satisfaction or contentment from it.

If you are considering joining us due to a lack of motivation in upholding your assigned task of preservation, then go. If your motivations stem from resentment or anger towards the anomaly under your watch, then go. Only if you approach us as a last resort, acknowledging that there are no other alternatives, are you on the right path.

This is a duty that must be fulfilled—a duty no one would willingly choose. If you comprehend this and are driven to assist because you understand the weight of the responsibility, then we are prepared to welcome you into our ranks.

Welcome to the Decommissioning Department Hub.

## History

The Decommissioning Department is relatively young compared to some of the Foundation's other departments, but its roots extend many, many years before its inception, almost to the Foundation's creation.

Initially, the Foundation was far more decentralized than it was today. Sites and research groups would have their own rules and customs, including when it came to actually containing or researching the anomalies themselves. This was before the founding of the Ethics Committee as a central body, and Site directors or lead researchers mostly only answered to O5 Command. This meant that certain unwise or even unethical procedures were often practiced, with very few repercussions.

One such practice was decommissioning. While the Foundation's focus has always been on containment, particular scenarios do not always lend themselves well to this dogma. For some anomalies, containment isn't a viable option. Some are too dangerous or too unpredictable to continue persisting.

Of course, had decommissioning been utilized more rarely, and only as a last resort, there would be little issue. However, the lack of accountability meant that the barriers to decommissioning were far too lax. This was made only more evident by the fact that the Foundation was still very young, and almost never dealt with anything that would necessitate destruction.

Unfortunately, decommissioning was rarely performed responsibly. Oftentimes, anomalies were destroyed out of fear, laziness, or even personal or political reasons. This carelessness, of course, lent itself to numerous problems; these attempts would often fail or go poorly, resulting in breaches, damage, and even death.

Shortly afterwards, decommissioning was all but wholly banned, with the termination of SCP objects requiring a unanimous approval by the O5 Council. This almost complete shutdown of the practice persisted until the founding of the Ethics Committee.

The Ethics Committee's primary job is to ensure the general well-being and ethical treatment of both personnel and anomalous objects, while remaining in line with the Foundation's primary mission. While it has been the subject of much controversy in the past, it has at least, to some degree, grown and fine-tuned its policy-making and situation handling abilities.

In accordance with this, the Ethics Committee was placed in charge of decommissioning, and for some time, it seemed that this was the right place for the policy to be handled. However, as time passed, it became apparent that the Committee suffered the complete opposite problem to the old guard: it was *too* strict, too attached to the Foundation's dogma of containment over all else. Even when destroying an SCP object was clearly the correct and efficient choice, the Ethics Committee would pursue containment over all else, only terminating the object if containment was literally impossible.

Dr. Calvin Bold, a reserve Ethics Committee liaison, was occasionally denied termination requests by the Ethics Committee, and so he took the requests to the O5 Council, along with the pitch for a potential new way to handle anomaly termination: the institution of the Decommissioning Department. The Ethics Committee was able to handle concerns of ethics, but it was still too strongly tied to a certain aspect of the Foundation to be able to handle this particular duty. Bold claimed that a separate -- but not altogether independent -- department would be the best course action; it would enforce centralization, accountability, and necessity, without being as restricted by philosophical ties.

Fortunately for his idea, this pitch was made at a time when the Foundation was in a state of partial decentralization and general administrative overhaul. Several new departments and divisions were being instated at the time to account for the Foundation's steadily increasing growth. The inception of such a department was somewhat controversial, but there was little outright disdain, and eventually, the motion passed.

This leads us to the present day. Altogether, the Decommissioning Department has proven to be adequate at its job. There have been some failures, naturally, but its successes have outweighed those flaws... at least so far.

It's still very young, of course. There are still many more challenges for it to face. So as of right now, we're still waiting, and hoping that we made the right decision. Because we may very well have not.