4/4486 LEVEL 4/4486
CLASSIFIED

Item #: SCP-4486

Keter

SCP-4486 at public event

Special Containment Procedures: Due to its ability to instantaneously translocate, SCP-4486 is currently uncontained. MTF Kappa-3 ("Happy Helpers") has been assigned to monitor SCP-4486 and maintain a discreet presence during any events where the appearance of SCP-4486 is anticipated.
The Foundation Office of Budget & Finance has approved a trust which will contribute $100,000 USD per annum to the Ronald McDonald House Charities, payable quarterly. Any adjustments to this contribution based on the rate of inflation are automatically approved.
Description: SCP-4486 is an amalgamated thought-form entity1 endowed with limited retrocausal control over local reality. Although the form of SCP-4486 is transitory, currently prevailing aesthetics depict the entity as a humanoid approximately 2.2 meters in height wearing company-branded apparel resembling that of a clown. SCP-4486 also has the ability to manifest at any and all McDonald's franchises, offices, affiliated properties, or events which may contain associations to the McDonald's brand.
SCP-4486 often manifests for the explicit purpose of promoting McDonald's or expanding the reach of the brand. The most common application of this power is the creation of a new franchise restaurant, as well as the integration of this new building into local reality. Secondary effects of this power include fabricating memories of the building's construction and advertisement within the local community, as well as selecting members of the local population to work at the restaurant. New employees are able to describe vivid memories of having applied to and been interviewed for their jobs, as well as a degree of training for their new position.
Recovered documentation suggests that SCP-4486 was originally created in 1955 where it was employed as a guiding voice in business decisions for Maurice and Richard McDonald and their business partner Ray Kroc. In 1960, after years of attachment to the corporate zeitgeist, SCP-4486 accumulated enough cohesive reality to manifest in real-space where it then became a face for the brand. The McDonald's corporation employed a number of diversionary tactics including paid actors to obfuscate the true nature of SCP-4486.
The McDonald's Corporation was successful in concealing these events until a McDonald's spontaneously manifested in the Site-19 mess hall in 1993. Although an investigation was opened into this matter, the nature of SCP-4486 prevented a full understanding of its abilities until leads were provided by the events of addendums 1, 2, and 3.

Addendum 4486.1: Communications from the Estate of Richard McDonald.
In 1998, Foundation investigators received a parcel of letters from the estate of the recently deceased Richard McDonald. This parcel catalogs communications from Ray Kroc, McDonald's personal friend and business partner. Although Richard and his brother had sold the company to Mr. Kroc many years prior, they continued to exchange ideas and communicate openly until Kroc's passing in 1984. The letters which relate explicitly to SCP-4486 have been attached below.

OPEN ARCHIVE FILE 4486.1

LOG OUT SECURE ACCESS

7 June 1961
Richard,
It has been both a pleasure and an honor to get to know you and Maurice as well as the latest addition to your family: Ronald. With this step forward, I promise to carry the legacy of friendly service, good food, and affordable prices to the furthest corners of this great nation, and Ronald will be with me every step of the way. Just as you envisioned your sons taking over for you, Ronald will learn the trade alongside me until he's ready to make us all proud. You're in good hands.
Best,
Ray Kroc

25 February 1966
Richard,
Your boy has gotten so big and so strong. Looking down the road and seeing those golden arches casting their light down on him makes my heart swell with pride. Having said that, I hope you've had some time to review his conduct lately. While I know we all encourage his personal growth I don't think anyone expected things to take off this quickly and I worry it might be too much for him. This life can move awfully fast. Maybe you can talk to him for me and see how he's holding up. He's not stopping by much anymore.
Best,
Ray Kroc

21 December 19712
Richard,
You know I will always be there for you. No one could ever replace Maurice but Ronnie needs strong parental figures in his life now more than ever. He is no longer responding to me at all. Even when I did the ritual from Store #1. I fear for his state of mind. I hope you write me soon with good news; we all need each other now more than ever.
Thinking of you,
Ray

3 March 1974
Richard,
Enclosed are three more photos of new McDonald's that Ronnie has opened. I've only located these three since Christmas but we both know there are more out there. Ronnie is the only explanation for this and I wish you would take this as seriously as it deserves. I get it, I can be a curmudgeon, but I am not above flying out there and speaking to you face to face if you won't help me confront this.
I don't want our most precious memories of the time we've had together tainted by a breakdown in communication or the callousness of old age. Maurice, Ronnie, you, and me, all together again like the family we were meant to be. I yearn for the day, but it is still many years down the road. Let's hold on to what we can. Let's do Maurice's memory justice.
Call on Ronnie. He'll listen to you.
Best,
Ray

25 May 1974
Richard,
Ronnie came to me at my home. I know you must have spoken to him because I could see the contempt in his eyes; He feels I betrayed him. What did you say to him? Whatever it was, I hope it was at least the truth. I could always count on you for that before and I will need to count on you for that again. We are old now but we can still do some good. Please. Come to Store #1. It has to be us that does it.
Best,
Ray

Addendum.4486.2: A record from the Estate of Richard McDonald.
Also attached to the parcel was a VHS tape bearing a plain white label that reads "The basement, 1974". The age of the VHS tape and the quality of the video indicates that it is likely not the original although it is unknown how many copies exist. This video depicts Richard McDonald sitting in a study recounting their attempt to power down SCP-4486 and has been transcribed below.

OPEN ARCHIVE FILE 4486.2

LOG OUT SECURE ACCESS

[BEGIN RECORDING]

The tape begins with the face of Richard McDonald near to the camera as he adjusts focus and affirms the recording device is working. Also present on-screen is Ray Kroc seated in a chair in the background. The room is an interior study lit only by the fireplace. McDonald, looking bewildered, waits nearly three minutes before finally speaking.
McDonald: "When my brother and I first dreamt up Ronald, it was from a place of profound hope and love. Someone to mentor and teach and to share the same ambition and passion for the business that we had. He was the visionary we needed to take us to the next level." McDonald lifts up a mug and takes a short drink. He removes a flask from a desk drawer and pours a nip into the mug before taking another drink.
McDonald: "We loved him so much that…well…he truly was a part of my family. My sin though was in realizing far too late that ideas can take on lives of their own. Once you give them to the world, they are never truly yours again. Ever. No matter what you say or do or beg or plead." Kroc, seated in the background, leans forward and places a hand on McDonald's shoulder for comfort.
McDonald: "I was never a father in the traditional sense. Never had kids of my own. Stepchildren through the missus but…but not ones I raised from birth; For me, that true son was Ronnie." McDonald stares off into the fire and Ray Kroc gets up from his seat, moving into the foreground next to McDonald.
Kroc: "And when you love your children, you want the best for them. You'll do anything to help 'em succeed. To see 'em happy. And we did plenty of that for Ronnie. But kids…as much as they are the fruit of your tending and your care, they are also their own people. Ronnie is no exception. We love him but…"
McDonald: "What he did is unforgivable."
Kroc: "Unforgivable." Kroc pulls out a chair and sits in front of the camera, angling it away from McDonald and toward himself. "We decided Ronnie needed to go back from where he came. Richard and I…and the other fellas that helped raised him…we all agreed and so we met up where it started. To do it together. But something was wrong from the start; knew it the moment we walked into the basement."
"There's a call Richard and I know that'll bring him instantly. He started resisting mine, but he ain't never failed to answer when we were all together. We had to repeat the damn thing three full times before he showed; he could tell we were anxious and he showed the same right back at us. Ronnie said we didn't understand that he had grown beyond us. Said that we were small and simple-minded. Said he was McDonald's now. And he wasn't wrong."
"We surrounded him, just like the book said to do, and started to say all of the words. Ronnie didn't like that one bit. Got bigger and meaner and taller than I'd ever seen him. He went for poor George3 first and put his arm clear through his chest. The blood spray on the back wall made a giant goddamn 'M' like somethin' from a comic book…At least he died quick."
McDonald: "Then Willard, King, Bev…right on down the line like they didn't mean a thing to him. Parts and blood and guts everywhere while Ronnie just smiled. While I screamed and begged him to stop."
Kroc: "That's right. Until it was just down to the three of us. He lunged at me like he was going to do it, and I buckled. I ain't gonna pretend I didn't damn near soil myself right there but for the sake of Maurice's legacy and what scraps were left of my pride, I stayed put next to Richard. Closed my eyes real tight but Ronnie didn't kill us. When I opened my eyes again, the anger and the hatred on his face were just…gone."
McDonald: "He stares deep into me and says, 'Why dad. Why are you doing this?'." McDonald finally looks back to the camera, shoulders slouched and head hanging low. "He just asked me why and every fiber of me wanted to hug him and tell him that he was good and that it was me that had failed him. E-everything I've ever needed to say rushed up all at once and choked me and I-I…I didn't, couldn't, say anything." Several minutes pass; Kroc puts a hand on McDonald's shoulder again, reassuring him as he cries.
Kroc: "Ronnie cried his eyes out too. We were surrounded by the blood of our friends, our own tears, and the ashes of our family. Then Ronnie just left. I don't know where to go from here."
Another minute passes before Kroc leans forward and turns the camera off.

[END RECORDING]

Addendum 4486.3:
The following memorandum was issued internally to the board of directors and all other executive staff within McDonald's Corporation. A copy was obtained after a search of the personal effects of Richard McDonald.

To: Board of Directors
From: Ray Kroc

Esteemed Members of the Board,
It is the sincere wish of Richard McDonald and the estate of Maurice McDonald, the founders of this great company, that a charity be founded which will bear the name of our most beloved spokesman and mascot: Ronald McDonald. It is the hope of both of these great men that the name McDonald can become synonymous with not only with our restaurant but also with humanitarian deeds and honest, charitable works that the entire corporate family can be proud of.
The founding principles of the McDonald's Corporation include the love of a family that can sit down and share a meal with one another, putting aside the pettiness of their day or whatever busy activities may keep them apart. Together, at the dinner table, laughing and smiling over simple, good food. Just as the Good Lord intended.
It is the belief of Richard and his late brother Maurice that all children deserve happiness, warmth, and a chance at life. Family should be kept together. Ronald can become the symbol of hope to those children in need, if only we let him. If only we help guide him.
Thank you.

Footnotes
1. Sometimes referred to as a 'tulpa'.
2. This date is noted as 10 days after the death of Richard McDonald's brother and fellow co-founder Maurice McDonald.
3. Presumably George Voorhis; an actor who portrayed Ronald McDonald from 1968 to 1970

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