Theodore Roosevelt wearing SCP-3782 pre-containment.

Item #: SCP-3782
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3782 is kept in a standard containment safe in Site-39. Testing is strictly prohibited in experiments that may result in the death of the wearer or damage of SCP-3782. Information concerning SCP-3782 and its history may only be known to those with Level 4 or higher security clearance.
Description: SCP-3782 is a pair of C-bridge style pince-nez eyeglasses whose original owner was the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Scratches can be seen in both lenses, but they are otherwise undamaged despite their age.
When an individual puts on SCP-3782, they are perceived by others to be the last person who died while wearing the object (henceforth referred to as SCP-3782-1). As of the acquisition of the object on 06/05/2004, the current SCP-3782-1 is the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.
The illusory effect of SCP-3782 extends only to visual and auditory perception. Physical contact with the wearer may result in minor disruption of the effect due to differences in height and figure. While SCP-3782 cannot be seen when active, it is still possible for it to be removed by normal means. Doing so will deactivate it and the wearer will appear as they were before putting it on.
Discovery: SCP-3782's anomalous effects were alluded to on 05/20/2004 during one of SCP-1867's recollections of its time with President Roosevelt. It had remarked that it visited President Roosevelt two weeks after his attempted assassination on October 14th, 19121, mentioning that Roosevelt did not remember any of their past meetings in addition to changes in behavior. Despite the validity of SCP-1867's claims, a general consensus among site staff led to a request for an in-depth investigation of the American government and past cabinet officials. The request was approved with implanted agents being notified on 05/24/2004.
On 06/05/2004, Agent Mallory, an embedded agent in the White House security staff, witnessed the exchange of an eyeglass case between an unknown individual and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow. Mallory followed Secretary Snow as he placed the case containing SCP-3782 into a lockbox kept under his desk. Later, Mallory returned to the lockbox and recovered the object from it as well as an accompanying document (See Document 3782-I).

+ Document 3782-I

- Access Granted

Document 3782-I: The following document was recovered along with SCP-3782.

All acting replacements are required to sign this document at the moment of receiving their duties and must return the property in question (the eyeglasses) to the acting Secretary of the Treasury. Failure to do so is a direct violation of their duty and will be met with severe punishment. Replacements may be called upon again for future public addresses.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. - Death by a gunshot wound, October 14, 1912. Acting replacement is Herman Morrison, age 41. Instructed to return the glasses should Roosevelt lose the 1912 Election or should he be able to complete a presidential term.
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. - Death by pneumonia, November 30th, 1924. Acting replacement is Charles Lambley, age 38. Instructed to return the glasses should he fail to be re-elected or after his second term.
Harry S. Truman - Death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, August 29th, 1945. Acting replacement is Samuel Bridge, age 48. Instructed to return the glasses should he fail to be re-elected or after his second term.
Richard Milhous Nixon - Death by a gunshot wound, August 7th, 1974. Acting replacement is Fredrick Thomas, age 37. Instructed to return the glasses after delivering an address of resignation to the American public.
Ronald Wilson Reagan - Death by a gunshot wound, March 30th, 1981. Acting replacement is Lawrence Mayford, age 45. Instructed to return the glasses should he fail to be re-elected or after his second term.

Interview 3782.4: For the purposes of clarifying the circumstances of Nixon's death and the actions taken by his replacement, a former federal agent (Harold Terring) assigned to guard service of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon was brought in for an interview. Terring was both confirmed to have been involved in SCP-3782's use and easily reached for an interview. It was conducted on 08/18/2004 by Agent Mallory.

<Begin Log>
Mallory: First, I'd like to thank you for your service, Mr. Terring.
Terring: Oh, err, you're welcome.
Mallory: I'd like to speak to you about your personal experiences with the glasses. In the document we recovered with them, President Nixon is mentioned and we'd like you to shed some light on their use.
Terring: Teddy's glasses. Right. I've only seen them used once. From what I understand, most people only see them put on once, if ever. Otherwise, they were kept away, even from us in the secret service.
Mallory: When did you see them? The glasses, I mean.
Terring: [brief pause] It was during Watergate. A lot of politicians were in deep, you know. Nixon was one of them. I remember being in the room when they sat him down. Agnew and Will Simon were the only ones I recognized. I was told to guard the door.
Mallory: Sat him down?
Terring: Yes, that's right. They sat him down to talk. They tried to convince him to resign. Things were getting out of hand and they knew that Nixon was involved, no one could deny that. He did this to himself, and they wanted him to give it up. He'd already lost his influence with the Republicans.
Mallory: What did Nixon say?
Terring: He refused. He swore he could dissolve the whole thing, falsify it. He thought he had the power to lie to America and they would eat it up. The cabinet wasn't having it. So Mr. Simon got out the glasses. If they couldn't get him to do what they wanted, they'd find someone who would.
<End Log>

Closing Notes: Nixon is believed to be the only president treated in this manner. However, this cannot be clarified for presidents preceding Nixon, as all listed replacements are confirmed to be deceased, with the exception of Lawrence Mayford. A formal request has been submitted for the arrest and interrogation of Mayford as a result.

Interview 3782.6: Below is an excerpt from an interview with Lawrence Mayford, the listed replacement for former President Ronald Reagan. The interview was conducted on 09/30/2004, two days after the detainment of May due to his initial resistance to comply, with Agent Mallory leading the discussion.

<Begin Log>
Mallory: Hello, again, May. Security staff informed me that you were more willing to tell us something.
Mayford: That'd be right.
Mallory: Good. The sooner you answer some questions, the—
Mayford: Sooner I get released, yeah yeah, I get it. God, you're a broken record. [brief pause] Sorry. I just get a little stir crazy. I don't do well with staring at the same walls, you know?
Mallory: I understand. Let's agree to make this brief then. Now, what happened to Reagan?
Mayford: You already know what happened to Reagan. He was shot and killed by that one guy. Hinckley. Thankfully, he didn't bite it right away, so they slipped the glasses on him and allowed him to pass.2 They picked me to replace him. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to be the next president.
Mallory: I can imagine. It's an entertaining thought to be able to have that much influence over a country.
Mayford: [chuckles] You'd think so, but that wasn't the plan for me. No, I was just meant to echo the Congress. They'd plan out the rest of my term and I'd have to go along with it.
Mallory: Why wouldn't they allow the vice to accept the position, then? Surely they'd get just as much done that way.
Mayford: Sure, but the vice president wasn't specifically selec— [coughs]
[brief silence]
Mallory: Mr. Mayford, I thought we had an understanding. Tell us what you know, and you'll be allowed to leave. Anything you say here is confidential and can only be reviewed by Foundation staff.
Mayford: [sighs] Right. It's a reflex. They make it perfectly clear that this can't get out. [deep breath, followed by a long exhale] I, like all the others, were specifically picked by certain members of Congress. Those members of Congress are the only ones that know about the glasses. You know about the Dinner Table Bargain, right?
Mallory: I'm familiar.
Mayford: It's a lot like that. They3 get together in secret, discuss what actions they are going to take, and then plant the ideas into the other government officials to push it forward. The rest is up to me to make sure it goes through.
Mallory: Do you know what things they've compromised on?
Mayford: Hell, could be all of my actions in a term, could be none of them. I don't know what they do behind closed doors. Kind of the point, don't you think?
Mallory: Seems that way. Have they ever made it clear as to what "severe punishment" refers to? We saw in the document you signed.
Mayford: I honestly don't know. But I'll tell you one thing: I wasn't eager to find out, and I doubt any of the others were, either.
<End Log>

Closing Notes: An investigation into Mayford's history has shown that he has never held any formal position in a government agency or military branch, making him considerably underqualified for any political position with a widespread influence. However, an archived criminal record was recovered listing several major felonies.

Addendum 1: Investigations made into the other replacements noted in Document 3782-I have yielded similar results to Lawrence Mayford's background. Morrison, Lambley, Bridge, and Thomas were all confirmed to have no prior government experience and a hidden criminal record. It is possible that GoI-1115 selects these individuals with the promise of pardoning them and burying their criminal history, though there is no clear evidence that directly supports this case.

Footnotes
1. This was also noted as unusual, as SCP-1867 has displayed a willful ignorance of events past 1910.
2. This statement cannot be confirmed to be true or false.
3. These individuals (hereby designated as GoI-1115) have not been identified. Mayford claims to have had no contact with any of the aforementioned individuals.

« SCP-3781 | SCP-3782 | SCP-3783 »