Photo of SCP-220 taken outside his window

Item #: SCP-220
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-220 is housed in a one-bed, one-bath unit in an empty condominium. The subject believes the building to be occupied by other residents and should persist in this belief.
A false bus stop has been installed near the building's entrance. This measure is sufficient to deter SCP-220 from leaving the containment area. The anomaly will approach the bus stop, sit on the adjacent bench, and remain there for thirty minutes to an hour before returning indoors.
SCP-220's room is equipped with a telephone connected to an automated recording service. These recordings, in combination with several video surveillance feeds, are used to determine SCP-220's medical, dietary, and other personal needs.
In light of Incident 220-P, in the event that in-person contact with the anomaly is absolutely necessary, only D-class subjects may enter the containment area. Any person who has been exposed to SCP-220 must be quarantined immediately and maintained in complete isolation, including from phone or radio contact.
Description: SCP-220 has the appearance of a multiracial, English-speaking human male. According to his birth certificate, he is 84 years old as of 05/15/12.
SCP-220 is believed to be a single humanoid entity. Depending on the time of day, he will adopt the name, memories, and mannerisms of one of two distinct persons. Any human subject who converses with SCP-220, regardless of which mannerisms he has adopted, will perceive two physically distinct people instead of one.
From 5:00 AM EST until 8:00 PM EST, SCP-220 will identify himself as "Ollie G████" (the name that corresponds with his birth certificate). From 10:00 PM EST until 5:00 AM EST, he will identify himself as "Ormond Garibaldi". During the period between 8:00 PM EST and 10:00 PM EST, this distinction is unclear.
Subjects do not exhibit fear, distress, or confusion when conversing with SCP-220; however, the effect of these conversations— perceiving the anomaly as two persons— appears to be irreversible. Regardless of whether an individual is informed of SCP-220's nature before or after their exposure to the anomaly, their recollection of speaking to both Ollie and Ormond will persist.
If a subject's in-person contact with SCP-220 exceeds five minutes, they will begin to display additional signs of disorientation: easily forgetting their purpose in entering a room, the date and time, or the subject of a conversation. This effect, too, is irreversible.
If a subject is in contact with SCP-220 for more than ten minutes, this disorientation degrades to a state researchers have described as "perception mitosis". Affected individuals will begin to perceive every person and, eventually, every living thing and solid object as two instead of one.
Acutely affected subjects appear to believe one or both of their conversation partners is a close friend or relative, regardless of their prior association with the individual.
In the case of objects, the subject may interact with the original item as well as the empty space occupied by an illusory item, or they may lose spatial awareness altogether.

+View Incident 220-P

-Close File

A secondary, more serious effect of contact with SCP-220 was discovered during psychiatric evaluation of D-7905 by Dr. Palermo.
D-7905 had been in conversation with SCP-220 for a period of eleven minutes. In the course of their subsequent psychiatric evaluation, they began to refer to Dr. Palermo alternately as "Doctor" and "father". Thirty minutes into this evaluation, Dr. Palermo also began to display signs of confusion, addressing the interviewee as both D-7905 and "Anthony".
This incident has established that SCP-220's effect may be highly contagious and spread via in-person contact. Fifteen individuals were subsequently quarantined, but not before it was discovered that the contagiousness of these symptoms increases with their severity.
Individuals who observe SCP-220 via audio or audiovisual recordings demonstrate no anomalous effects, provided that these recordings do not take the form of a two-way conversation with SCP-220. Whether this is also true of individuals affected by SCP-220 has not been tested at this time.

Addendum 1:
On 01/26/12, SCP-220 suffered a fall. D-9120 was instructed to assess the subject's injuries. SCP-220's emotional distress was observed to exacerbate his influence on D-9120, who became rapidly disoriented, forgetting her objective. D-9002 was instructed to retrieve D-9120 from the containment site and was also indisposed by these symptoms, though at a notably slower rate. D-9120 and D-9002 were subsequently quarantined.
Addendum 2:
The following is the complete list of requests made by SCP-220 via phone. Requests granted are supplied while SCP-220 is occupied with his daily ritual of walking around the building's lobby five times. Requests denied are communicated by a note of apology from the condominium's manager, citing the item's unavailability.

+View Requested Items

-Close File

Requests made by SCP-220 while identifying as "Ormond":
-Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(granted)
-a pair of silk house slippers
(granted)
-a French coffee press, grinder, and coffee beans
(granted)
-an electric kettle
(granted)
-a request that management post his open invitation to a chess tournament for other guests to see
(denied; denial phrased as "best postponed until the busy season")
Requests made by SCP-220 while identifying as "Ollie":
-a picture of his wife
(denied; records indicate that Ollie G████ was never married granted; with permission, Assistant Researcher Evans has supplied a photograph of her deceased grandmother)
-Tylenol PM
(granted; dosage limited to two tablets)
-an address book
(granted; SCP-220 has been observed to write in this book frequently)
-a request for a call to be put through to his granddaughter
(denied; SCP-220 has no record of family— denial phrased as "number unavailable")
-a bicycle
(denied)
-a guide to birdwatching in Florida
(granted)
-a pair of binoculars
(granted)
-a chess set
(granted; between the hours of 8:00 and 10:00 PM EST, SCP-220 has been observed intently engaged with the chessboard; crossing back and forth to play each side)

« SCP-219 | SCP-220 | SCP-221 »