Item#: 5422

Level3

Containment Class:
esoteric

Secondary Class:
cernunnos

Disruption Class:
vlam

Risk Class:
caution

link to memo

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the location and nature of SCP-5422 direct containment is not currently possible, although the nature of the anomaly means it is primarily self-containing. Efforts will focus on the study of the anomaly and mitigation of its growth, however complete prevention of SCP-5422's growth is currently considered impossible1.
Agents imbedded within anomalous organizations and communities will actively discourage the use of intangibility for tactical or recreational purposes and will make efforts to prevent any experiments involving such, to the extent that it does not interfere with their other duties. Foundation experiments involving intangibility will only be carried out when there is judged to be a minimal risk of the creation of a SCP-5422-1 instance.
Analysis of SCP-5422 is to be performed via use of thaumaturgical scanning equipment and Intangible object detection devices. SCP-5422 is to be continually monitored to detect the arrival of SCP-5422-1 instances at SCP-5422.
Proposals regarding SCP-5422 are to be reviewed and accepted/denied on a case-by-case basis by all relevant parties. Any feasible proposals pertaining to the permanent neutralization of SCP-5422 are pre-emptively approved by the Ethics committee.
Description: SCP-5422 refers to a mass of intangible objects located at the approximate gravitational center of the earth. While this mass consists partially of various chunks of earth, small objects and animals, the vast majority of the mass is composed of human bodies, hence after referred to as SCP-5422-1 instances.
SCP-5422-1 instances appear to have no singular source, rather originating from a variety of sources over the course of several centuries. All SCP-5422-1 instances have been measured to be between 0.2-0.3 on the Yempit opacity scale2. There are currently believed to be over ████████ SCP-5422-1 instances within SCP-5422.

+ Log of notable SCP-5422 instances

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SCP-5422-1 instance
Description

SCP-5422-1-20
A Caucasian male of approximately 30 years of age. The instance is dressed in clothes consistent with those of the 13th century and emits mild amounts of Akiva radiation. The instance appears to have suffocated.

SCP-5422-1-537
A young, heavily disfigured female of apparent Asian descent. The instance show wounds consistent with those typically inflicted by SCP-███, believed to be the cause of their presence within SCP-54223. These wounds do not appear to have been fatal.

SCP-5422-1-4035
Instance is identical in appearance to D-15480 prior to test 4035-27. Instance appears to have died from starvation.

SCP-5422-1-11037 through 11043
Instances wear armory consistent with that of the Allied Occult Initiative4. A piece of machinery held by one of the instances is believed to be responsible for these instances' presence in SCP-5422. It is unknown whether the instances are aware of or have ascertained each others' presence.

SCP-5422-1-███████ through ████████
All instances are identical to a person confirmed to be alive as of 1980. As all the vast majority of these people are confirmed to still be present on the earth's surface, it is unknown how these instances exist, although they have been confirmed to be present in SCP-5422 as a result of unstable Hume fluctuations. Due to this, the status of the instances is unknown.

SCP-5422-1-1
See Addendum-1

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Addendum-1: Discovery:
SCP-5422 was discovered in the aftermath of Incident-██-35. Incident-██-35 involved several assailants from the Chaos Insurgency attacking Site-██, presumably with the goal of securing SCP-048. While the attack was successfully repelled, the assailants activated a device while on the retreat to prevent their capture. The activation of the device cast what is believed to be a modified version of thaumaturgical ritual D5-24, resulting in a large portion of the Site, along with the device, SCP-048 and numerous personnel becoming intangible, and subsequently falling through the ground5. Among these personnel was Researcher Bradbury, who was in his office at the time of the device's activation.
Approximately 3 hours after the incident, during cleanup and repair operations, the following message was received on several co-workers' computers:

+ Recovered Communication

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HELP HELP IM A FOUNDATION RESEARCHER WE WERE ATTACKED SOMETHING HAPPENED AND NOW I CANT SEE OR HEAR OR FEEL ANYTHING [Redacted for brevity]

Signal tracing located the origin of this message to be approximately 44km beneath Site-██. It is believed that Researcher Bradley was in contact with his personal work computer at the time of transformation, and that the anomalous augmentations of the computer6, along with his training in non-visual typing7, allowed him to continue to communicate with his surface colleagues. It was considered likely that Researcher Bradbury was experiencing extreme sensatory deprivation as a result of his location and intangible nature.
The signal from Bradbury's computer continued to be tracked for several hours before coming to rest at the approximate gravitational center of the earth. The use of thaumaturgical ritual B9-73 was authorized, resulting in the discovery of SCP-54228.
Addendum-2: Communication:

SCP-5422 Research Proposal
Attempt two-way communication with Researcher Bradbury via a Foundation standard computer, as so to ascertain more about the nature of his situation.
Status: Approved by O5 command
Reason: Two-way communication would allow active analysis of Researcher Bradbury's situation and the nature of SCP-5422 along with the status of lost objects and personnel.

Following the approval of the above proposal, communication was attempted with Researcher Bradbury (Hence after referred to as SCP-5422-1-1) via his computer, which was still believed to be in his possession. The following interaction resulted:

+ Recovered Communication

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Interviewed: SCP-5422-1-1
Interviewer: Dr Carlson
Foreword: This interview was conducted via Dr Carlson's email account. Dr Carlson was chosen for the interview due to being a prior co-worker of SCP-5422-1-1 and receiving the multiple emails from it. These emails have been placed into an interview format for easy reading with spelling and grammar corrections.
<Begin Log>
SCP-5422-1-1: Is anyone there? I'm sorry for typing in all caps, I just needed to attract your attention. Anyone?
Dr Carlson: Bradbury? Researcher Bradbury? Can you see this?
SCP-5422-1-1: Anyone at all?
Dr Carlson: Can you see this Bradbury?
SCP-5422-1-1: The Site Director said this would work.
Dr Carlson: You can't see this can you.
SCP-5422-1-1: "Extradimensional technology" they said. "It will never fail, even pocket dimensions and rooms with impossible geometry!". Even if no-one saw my messages you'd think an AI would pick it up.
SCP-5422-1-1: Yet I've been typing at this god damn thing for hours, days even! And no reply. Guess they never accounted for wherever the hell I am. I can't see, or hear, or feel anything except this computer! And it DOESN'T EVEN WORK!
Dr Carlson: Stay calm Bradbury, we'll figure out a way to retrieve you.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: It is currently believed that SCP-5422-1-1 was unable to perceive that he had been contacted due to sensatory deprivation.

Shortly after this interview, communication from SCP-5422-1-1 ceased. This is believed to be due to SCP-5422-1-1 falling asleep.

Addendum-3: Research & Analysis:
Following initial communication attempts, research through alternate methods was proposed.

SCP-5422 Research Proposal
Deploy a deep-earth probe for the analysis of SCP-5422 and the retrieval of lost personnel.
Status: Denied by O5 command
Reason: The cost and risks of such a project would far outweigh the potential benefits.

Research and analysis was eventually authorized via further use of thaumaturgical ritual B9-73 and other relevant thaumaturgical processes along with recently developed technology for detecting intangible anomalous entities9. The anomaly was determined to not be from a single original source, cause or event, but rather a multitude of sources, causes and events, which collectively resulted in the formation of SCP-5422 due to their similar natures and outcomes. Current containment procedures were implemented shortly thereafter.
Around this time, SCP-5422-1-1 resumed communication.

+ Recovered communication

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Note: Grammar and spelling corrections have been made.

SCP-5422-1-1: Hello? I just woke up. Or at least I think I woke up. Hard to tell when you can see just as much awake as asleep.
SCP-5422-1-1 Still have this computer though, so that's something. Found it floating against my chest if you'd believe that. Guess the gravity in this place is kinda funked up… Come to think of it, I don't even know which way is down.
SCP-5422-1-1: Guess this is how Scranton must have felt. At least he had some idea of where he was. Don't think I am where he was though, cause I still feel hungry. And thirsty.
SCP-5422-1-1: Why am even still writing these? I guess because of the slight chance that the Foundation, or heck anyone at all will see these. No sure how, but that sort of stuff seems to happen surprisingly often. I mean, I know they're not getting it, else they would have rescued me by now. Or at least sent a response.
SCP-5422-1-1: As it is, I'm just sitting here, in a empty void, sending messages that no-one will see. And no-on knows where I am. I'm going to die here, aren't I ?

These messages was followed by several similar message strings over the course of several hours before once again ceasing (Consult Addendum-5422-B for a full list of recovered transmissions). This is believed to be due to SCP-5422-1-1 fainting from sleep deprivation.
Addendum-4: Ongoing Containment:
Due to the remote location and difficult to contain nature of SCP-5422, multiple proposals to contain it more securely were submitted.

SCP-5422 Containment Proposal
Deploy a deep-earth probe for equipped with an incorporeal entity vacuum chamber for the containment and transportation of SCP-5422, along with the recovery of lost personnel.
Status: Denied by O5 command
Reason: Once again, the cost and risks of such a project would far outweigh the potential benefits. Furthermore, incorporeal entity vacuum chamber partially solidifies all intangible objects placed within it, making it impractical for transporting a large number.

SCP-5422 Containment Proposal
Use SCP-██ to teleport SCP-5422 to a suitable Foundation holding site, as so to allow for the recovery of lost personnel.
Status: Denied by O5 command
Reason: SCP-██ is too valuable to risk for an objective like this. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the SCP-5422-1 instances will be affected by it.

The following communication was received from SCP-5422-1-1:

+ Recovered communication

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Note: Grammar and spelling corrections have been made.

SCP-5422-1-1: So here it is, my last-ditch attempt for rescue. And yes, it's just more of the same, because there isn't much to do in this void of a place is there?
SCP-5422-1-1 I've kind of made peace with the fact that I'm almost certainly going to die down here. Hey, at least I get to write some poetic stuff before I go! Thank goodness for touch-typing.
SCP-5422-1-1: The again, I might be typing gibberish. Who knows?
SCP-5422-1-1: Well, if anyone does see this, let this be my dying request. Stop this. Stop whatever happened to me from happening to someone else.
SCP-5422-1-1: When I entered the Foundation, I kind of already made peace with the fact I was more than likely going to die on the job. I mean, I would have been crazy to work with cognitohazards if I hadn't.
SCP-5422-1-1: But what if this happens to someone else? Someone totally unprepared for the experience? Someone with a family to go back to, who desperately doesn't die in a place like this? Someone who has to spend much longer in here? If it happened to me it could happen to others, and I know I have a slightly higher chance than most of people knowing what happened to me.
SCP-5422-1-1: Stop this. If not for my sake, for theirs.
SCP-5422-1-1: God, I'm so thirsty.

Following this, communication from SCP-5422-1-1 ceased and has not since resumed. This is believed to be due to SCP-5422-1-1's death from dehydration.
Addendum-6: Neutralization Proposals:

SCP-5422 Neutralization Proposal
Use of an intangible explosive device to neutralize SCP-5422.
Status: Denied by O5 command
Reason: This is unlikely to resolve the issue for any significant length of time.

SCP-5422 Neutralization Proposal
Use of an intangible explosive device to neutralize all SCP-5422-1 instances still alive within SCP-5422.
Status: Approved by O5 command
Reason: We're not cruel, we just know when we can't stop something from happening.

Footnotes
1. Functional containment procedures exist for Cernunnos-class anomalies, but are unable to be implemented due to ethical and/or logistical reasons.
2. The Yempit opacity scale is used to measure the amount of intractability that an intangible or partially intangible object has upon the physical world, with 0 having no intractability and 1 being fully intractable, the baseline amount for most objects. Objects with a Yempit opacity rating of between 0.2-0.3 are capable of being acted on by the forces of gravity but not by electro-magnetism to any significant degree and therefore are capable of passing through solid objects.
3. The implications of SCP-███ existing within Asia is currently under investigation.
4. A precursor to the Global Occult Coalition formed during the 7th Occult War.
5. Thaumaturgical ritual D5-24 causes intangibility in the caster or people in close proximity that the caster targets. While the ritual is intended to lower the target's Yempit rating to 0.5, allowing egress through solid objects only with sufficient momentum, the ritual is structured in such a way that minor mistakes can lower the target's Yempit rating to under 0.3. This ritual saw widespread usage among the anomalous community throughout the 1970s and is believed to be responsible for the existence of no less than ████ SCP-5422-1 instances.
6. The non-Euclidean geometry of the majority of the anomalies contained at Site-██ meant that all communicatory devices at the Site operate by first sending communication to an extradimensional location, after which it is sent to the appropriate recipient.
7. Researcher Bradbury is assigned to the analysis of digital cognitohazards.
8. Thaumaturgical ritual B9-73 allows the caster to project an image in the caster's vicinity of any person within a precise location targeted by the caster. These projections take the appearance of the target and emit the same amounts of heat and radiation (both anomalous and non-anomalous) despite being intangible and disappearing after a variable amount time.
9. These newly developed technologies send out various types of anomalous and non-anomalous radiation, utilizing a process similar to sonar to detect intangible objects.

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