An intangible entity wanting to share its knowledge with the human race by placing its knowledge into the center of a labyrinth only accessible through a 'mental' gateway. [Originally known as Hall of Insanity before reiteration]
Seeking Greenlights: Yes (2/2)
Page Type: SCP Article
Genre (Optional): Mystery
Elevator Pitch: An intangible entity, which has a fascination with the human race, wanting to share its knowledge to help progress civilization further. To do so, it places its knowledge in the center of a labyrinth and ‘transports’ people’s minds once they enter its physical gateway; however, there are limitations to how much knowledge they can obtain before suffering consequences.
Central Narrative:
In my article, there is a scholar currently researching towards solving an unsolved concept. The gateway is a hallway in a public library, enabling the entity to expand its reach to more people. Once entering, the scholar originally gets pointed towards an answer for their unsolved task; however, when they gain the knowledge they required, the entity starts to draw the scholar to a new area, deeper within the labyrinth.
Here, they mentally combat a few conflicts. They have achieved her goal, they can publish the answer with the missing pieces finally found; however, their mind keeps wandering back to the labyrinth and what ‘untold’ knowledge there is left, their curiosity growing. Their main reason against re-entering is due to the risk of potential mental damage, as rumors have spread with people left in a ‘zombie-like’ state who were ‘unworthy’ to the entity and consequently punished. As a substory, a cult will form over finding a person worthy enough for the labyrinth and its answers, giving a position of power to those deemed worthy. With this in mind, the scholar’s conflict will be entering at their own risk and understanding they have a limit, versus their thirst for more knowledge, grasping at the opportunity to be the first person to answer ‘the unanswerable’.
In the end they decide to enter the labyrinth, introducing them to the newer area. However, what they discover is completely incomprehensible. As the damage isn’t instantaneous, they have the option to withdraw with minor damage; however, knowing they are close to the answer pushes them to stay within the labyrinth. Unfortunately, despite their effort, they fall victim to their own greed as they weren’t physically able to handle the new influx of knowledge. Their actions leave themselves neurologically damaged, with in particular, their motor functions and memory in a degraded state. Their work will be published on their behalf, yet they will never truly relish its success.
Hook/Attention-Grabber: The mystery surrounding what the limit of knowledge truly is and if there are answers to unknown concepts humans can’t conceptualize (eg. death, existence, meaning of life).