SCP-5240
rating: +57+x

Item #: SCP-5240

Object Class: Thaumiel

Special Containment Procedures: The object communication device is to be installed in Zone 0. The duty shift of the primary normalcy monitoring centre "Global-0" has the right to use said device in critical situations (VEDIST level 1)1. The messages are to be relayed according to the rules described in the logbook manual attached to the communication device.
The location of SCP-5240 is unknown. In accordance with established treaties the Foundation is to make no attempt to locate the object. On accidental discovery of SCP-5240 Foundation personnel is to immediately report all acquired information up the command chain; no additional investigation and personal action pertaining to the object is permitted. Due to limited access to the SCP-5240 dossier, all responsible parties are only provided information outlined in this paragraph of the Special Containment Procedures as well as Addendum 42. On object discovery the Special Containment Procedures will be reevaluated by decision of the O5 Council.

A Foundation representative is present in the premises of SCP-5240. The fact of the Foundation representative's existence/loyalty is currently under question.

Description: SCP-5240 is a socio-political formation existing in the form of a "city-state". The object's distinction lies in complete lack of information pertaining to it in any historical or contemporary records. This is achieved by widespread use of anomalously programmed chemical agents causing varied effects of amnesia and altered cognition.

On ██.██.19██ the object came into contact with the Foundation in person on one of its former operating frequencies and offered a mutually beneficial agreement; in exchange for supply of food and technical goods SCP-5240 provides the Foundation a wide assortment of amnestics and accepts requests to release vast quantities of "Ennui"- and "Global"-class programmable substances into the atmosphere. A two-way communication device was assembled to that purpose, which is used by SCP-5240 to relay schedules of required produce and by the Foundation to request delivery of amnestics. Despite lack of knowledge pertaining to the object's location, mutual delivery chains have been established and operate without de-masking SCP-5240. The agreement also lists a non-interference clause, in accordance with which the Foundation does not perform active search for the object, and the object acts upon the Foundation's requests to release amnestics without objection.

To enhance mutual trust and to alleviate any technical difficulties, SCP-5240 has allowed a single Foundation representative to enter its territory - logistics specialist Alfred Bruske. The subject has been allowed to send service correspondence and photographs under agreement not to perform acts of industrial or other sabotage.

The Foundation has only limited general intelligence pertaining to SCP-5240, acquired by Alfred Bruske:

  • the moniker of "the City" is used in common talk and official documents. Rarely the citizens mention the name "Fehlerstadt";
  • the City's population count is unknown; by estimation of an agent with no prior knowledge of investigative analytics, it can be estimated at 500-650 thousand people. The size of the City's suburban regions is unknown;
  • the City's citizens converse in German. Their cultural specificities are so negligible (imperceptible) that it is not possible to reliably attribute them to the German or any other nation;
  • the City is located in hilly terrain; low mountains are visible on the horizon. A river flows through the object's territory. The outer perimeter of the city's developed area is lined with an abandoned and unguarded complex of engineered obstacles in the form of a concrete wall, crooked watchtowers and rows of rusted barbed wire;
  • the City's information development, transport and other technologies are approximately in line with the middle of the XX century.

SCP-5240 has massive industrial potential by way of abundance of chemical plants chaotically dispersed throughout the City's territory. The majority of citizenry is employed in these facilities, the only function of which is production of a wide spectrum of amnestic substances. Some of them are dispersed into the atmosphere in gaseous form, or into the river in liquid form. It is supposed that such measures are required for the City in order to maintain concealment of its existence from the worldwide community, to protect itself against diplomatic pressure (or military intervention), and to halt outwards cultural expansion.

The chemical plants are supplied by large produce storage sites, as well as interlinked with a branching network of large and small pipes that route through the entirety of the City: along streets, above houses, through buildings and apartments (some heated precursors are used as conductors for central heating systems). SCP-5240's metro system is likewise adapted to the needs of the industrial complex. The metro and above-ground rail lines connect all the main amnestic factories; stations are named after the neighbouring chemical plants ("Combine №7", "Factory №16" etc.; the only exception is the "Ministry" station).

The medium industry and car manufacture work in the interest of the chemical sector. Only a small portion of the City's factories creates consumer goods, which is why the society of SCP-5240 experiences a perpetual deficit. More than half of consumer labels are distributed under directive.

Ubiquitous factory exhaust pipes are always in use, creating multicoloured smog and scented fog; constant leaks from overused pipelines and factory accidents additionally worsen the ecological situation. SCP-5240's citizenry is unanimously afflicted with respiratory illnesses.

Periodically, in accordance with the Ministry's schedule (or by the Foundation's request), a "dispersal event" is announced in SCP-5240. The City's siren and loudspeaker system is activated, warning the citizens about the time and duration of the event, the amnestic used and the prescribed order of actions for personal protection.3 The object's citizens always carry a bag with a gas mask and a set of filters in their possession, every person learns the names of all amnestics, their composition, locale of production, approximate production cycle structure, identification and counteraction measures by heart. The standard citizen rations include a mnestics package distributed in the form of dragé pellets and dissoluble powders.

SCP-5240 maintains a set of outdated (but never repealed) restrictions on its territory, enforced by "the Central Department for City Rasure" (Stadtvergessenheitshauptamt, SVHA). Despite the citizenry's lack of memory regarding the cause for such restrictions, the following items are prohibited within Fehlerstadt: historical photographs and portraits of people, documentary movies, diaries, biographies and books on history, antiquities, weapons, blazons, flags, any and all recording or retelling of information regarding the City's "previous epoch", as well as overall interest to it. The citizens are neutral in regards to the restrictions, and abide by them habitually with no resistance. The rare violators are reported by their peers and neighbours to the SVHA. Restricted items are burned in pyres, found criminals are permanently taken away in an unknown direction. All of the City's monuments, memorials, bas-reliefs and other historic cites have been destroyed.

Alfred Bruske's official reports are under classification code "Clearance level 5". Below are some of the agent's personal letters, sent to his direct manager and Foundation colleagues:

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#1 ██. ██. ████

This morning I awoke not in my bed in Zone 16, but in a small flat with a very old-timey outfit. It was dark, and rain drummed loudly out the window. I barely managed to find the switch to the lamp by touch, and turn it on. Two tall men in dark leather coats appeared from the darkness. One of them spoke in German and presented himself as my "curator". I almost thought that I've been captured by the Stasi Section XXV, but no, I've been briefed on the matter: I am on the grounds of some city concealed from public eyes, and I represent the SCP Foundation in the matters of developing mutual arrangements in the chemical sector. I am to relay cursory information about production of some sort of chemicals in this city, and I am to negotiate delivery of equipment and metalworks. So I've been made an ambassador of sorts and allowed to send private letters to the Foundation once per day under condition that I will not blatantly spy on them. All my questions about how I ended up here and who even sanctioned this in the first place remained unanswered. One of the tall men said that I will need to undergo prolonged acclimatization to the city's conditions, then they had me take a couple pills and go back to sleep.

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