The Foundation enjoys a variety of income sources, both from its front companies and other methods. However, this supply is not endless, and the price of anomaly containment can range from negligible to downright exorbitant. While safe is always better than sorry, every effort should be made to make sure containment procedures are reasonably cost-effective.
While many assume that the most dangerous anomalies have the most cost-intensive containment, that is only rarely the case. On average, the type of anomaly that cost the most to maintain are far and away humanoids. On top of just the costs of maintaining humanoid living quarters and on-site accommodations, every meal, medication, and bar of soap comes straight from the Foundation's budget, from the moment containment is established to the moment the humanoid dies. This is of course not to mention the staffing requirements for keeping such a wide range of living, thinking anomalies under lock and key. From psychiatrists and epidemiologists to more experienced security personnel to account for adaptable escapees, a single humanoid can cost the Foundation money for decades.
That's where you come in. At the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment, it's your job to decide what measures need to be taken to ensure the safety of the public and the veil when it comes to the wide, wide world of humanoid anomalies. From simple probation to SCP designation, no two assignments on your job will ever be quite the same. Just remember: you are our first and often most important point of contact between the Foundation and the often daunting world of humanoid anomalies.
-Introduction to The Handbook for the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment
David never cared for flying. Even growing up in the Midwest, he was more than happy to hop in a car and drive for seven hours to see his family in Cleveland rather than getting on a plane for an hour. But of course, after waiting weeks for his first legitimate assignment for his new job at the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment, he was handed an urgent notice to fly from Site-17 to Phoenix. With the amount of turbulence over the Rockies he assumed the Foundation pulled some strings to make sure his flight out didn't get delayed.
Looking across the gaggle of faces milling about the arrivals terminal, David eventually saw the name David Johnson scrawled across a notebook, held by a stern-looking man with glasses, well-groomed hair and a moustache who David thought looked more at home in a Cold War drama than groggily holding a coffee in a half-full airport. David and the man made eye contact and the man made a half-wave with his coffee hand as he was moving down the escalator, and walked over to him.
The man tucked the notebook underneath his coffee arm and extended his free hand to David. "Jeremiah Collins," he said as they shook hands. "I take it you flew in for the hiring positions?"
David was caught off-guard by the obviously wrong claim from the man who belied not a hint of uncertainty. "Wha- uh, no. I've already signed on, I'm here for the… uh, on-the-job training?"
"Ah, yeah. You're in the right place, I'm your new partner." Jeremiah looked around for a couple seconds as though scanning for a bathroom, before he turned back to David and muttered "Just checking. Some of our competitors like weaseling their way into proceedings." He turned to leave while gesturing at his new partner to walk with him. "Don't worry," he added as they began to walk as though sensing David's confusion. "It's not really a common issue, it's just a prudent habit to have."
David was at something of a loss. After that total mood killer, he wasn't sure where to take the conversation, especially because Jeremiah appeared completely stonefaced for the entire time. Of course, you aren't supposed to talk about work in such a public setting, but, well, David was having a hard time not thinking about anything considering how much he'd been brushing up on his training before his first job. From what David had heard, the Foundation had a habit of designing every single orientation course of theirs to make each department sound like the lynchpin that held the world together. David was aware that this was probably just to instill loyalty and purpose into recruits, but he'd be damned if every time he realized he couldn't think of a fact about Type-Green development off the top of his head he didn't start thinking about how such a failure might get a small town flattened. Although, he thought, if a town was going to get flattened, per se, it would more likely be the work of some kind of-
Jeremiah appeared to notice David's nervous appearance and felt obligated to start a back-and-forth. "So, David, how was the flight out?" He snapped David from the same never-ending line of thought that he'd been on for the past two weeks as they walked past the baggage claim. David wondered how badly his nerves were showing.
David grumbled. "Pretty shitty. Damn near thought the plane was gonna break open over the Rockies. Probably should've canceled it, but of course this was urgent." David realized after saying that that perhaps he sounded a bit too unhappy to be here. He was formulating a sufficiently kiss-ass addendum to his statement when Jeremiah spoke up again.
"Never cared much for flying, either. No privacy, and you can't even check company documents in peace in the airport." Jeremiah slid into the predictable, monotonous rhythm of professional talk, not even looking back at David, just walking to the taxi pickup with a totally neutral expression. "Our department tends to operate on a regional basis, so normally I'd just be in the Bay Area. But the man in charge of handling our customers in this region is booked and can't take a good look at a new client who just popped up. Considering the time-sensitive nature of all of this, HR asked us to fly in. It's a good case for you, besides." David was impressed by the way the man spoke in that public-appropriate doublespeak the Foundation loved so much without missing a beat. He wondered how long he'd been getting in practice.
"So, Jerry, how long you been with the company?" David casually probed.
Jeremiah cocked his head to look at David, his face betraying the first real hint of emotion David had seen. "Jeremiah. I'm alright with first names but you'll use the whole thing, son," he said with just a hint of indignation.
"Ah, yeah, sorry." Not fine with using my first name, David thought but wisely decided to keep to himself.
"To answer your question, I've been at the company since I was in college. I've been in the Department since the day it formed, and before it, in essence," Jeremiah said, vacantly staring into the distance beyond the slightly conspicuous taxi that seemed to be waiting for them.
"When was that, exactly?" David asked more out of an interest in carrying the conversation than of genuine curiosity.
"We were looking at a new customer. Pretty green, you know, but we didn't know how green. Turns out, much higher profile than we had anticipated." Jeremiah's impassive gaze faltered slightly as he looked at the ground in front of him. "Caused a… real PR nightmare. Management wanted to avoid things like that in the future, and made a department more focused on examining our clients."
David was both surprised and not that he hadn't heard that story before, even in passing. On the one hand, sounds like a big deal, on the other hand, probably wouldn't have done wonders for trainee retention if you told them their jobs exist because the last time someone fucked it up they got turned into something only the eggheads at Site-19 have words for.
David realized he hadn't met anyone who had been around when the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment had been formed and turned to ask Jeremiah about the turnover rate, before a more pressing thought interrupted him as he realized his partner was opening the trunk of the cab for him.
"Hey, uh, Jer—-emiah, uh…" Jeremiah stopped what he was doing and refocused on David as he started talking like a six-year-old trying to tell his dad he had to pee in a movie theater. "This car-cab, I mean, I think it's a little… I mean, it was just sitting here, and… I mean, if any gr- uh, competitors saw us, you know…" David spoke in hushed tones while looking around shiftily, suddenly very aware that the cab pickup lane had no walls to hide behind.
Jeremiah blew air from his nose in something approaching bemusement. "I didn't mean to scare you back when I picked you up. I did get the cab from the company, but some advice from a veteran? The first rule of not acting suspicious," he said as he opened up the taxi door to sit in the backseat, "Is to not constantly think you're being suspicious."
Type Green humanoids, or as they are often referred to, reality benders, tend to instill fear in Foundation staff. While you may encounter dangerous Type Greens in your time at this job, many new recruits tend to overestimate the amount of hostile reality benders there truly are, and underestimate the amount of benign reality benders they may encounter.
Even seemingly unimpressive Type Greens can be an enigma, as the wide range of abilities they might have can be difficult to get a handle on and categorize. However, familiarizing yourself with Foundation documents on Type Green capabilities and development as well as examining the facts about each case can help you better understand them.
Most Type Greens tend to fall into one of four phases at any given time: repression of capabilities, exploration of capabilities, stability, and abuse. Type Greens are the easiest to deal with when kept at the repression phase, and those with stable capabilities can be handled reasonably well, although Type Greens tend to oscillate between experimentation and stability. This has led some to argue that the current system is outdated. These phases should be considered a rough generalization at best of the Type Green's current mental state, but it can be useful to at least familiarize yourself with them.
-Excerpt from The Handbook for the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment
"The drive might be a while, but we'll be heading straight to the humanoid," Jeremiah said as he handed David a briefcase. David opened it up to see a small pile of legal and medical documents, as well as what looked like police reports. "I don't know if you had a chance to look at any of these yet. Seems like she kept her abilities under wraps until just yesterday, hence why we weren't here sooner. I think it's lucky we got to here before anyone else, frankly."
David figured this was probably some kind of test. It's important to be able to pick a method of approach based on any available information before contacting the anomaly, his lecturer repeated in his head. David resolved to finding something reasonable to suggest to his senior.
First thing he pulled out was a police report featuring a mugshot of a frankly very disheveled looking teenage girl. Great. A kid. Name was Iris Thompson, lived with her parents and younger brother, and the prime suspect in the murder of a classmate due to the fact she was covered in the victim's blood and called the police immediately upon the crime taking place. Nice, David thought, a dead 13-year-old and his psychotic, reality-bending murderer.
"So are we assuming a violent disposition?" David ventured a guess. With reality benders, it was important to get a handle on what they were capable of early.
Jeremiah didn't turn his head from the window. "Just keep reading."
Shit. David got ahead of himself. He recommitted to combing through the papers in his lap.
Defendant remained silent during the majority of litigation as she plead guilty, but suddenly spoke out during cross-examination of a family member, claiming the circumstances surrounding the murder were the result of her ability to "reach into photos and pictures." Defendant became distressed after she was disallowed from 'demonstrating' this ability, and court was adjourned. Defendant's lawyer is motioning to plead insane pending a psychological evaluation. Oh. Yeah. That'll do it.
David scanned over the rest of the papers. A clean bill of health, a sheaf of papers with a full court transcript, and testimony from friends and family that the girl didn't have a violent bone in her body, as well as her alibi. Seems like the only reason the case was still in the court was that the timeline of events was fuzzy, but he figured that could probably be explained by the photos, if what the girl said was true.
David considered his words carefully. "So… worst case scenario, she had a psychotic break and her family is lying about her alibi." Jeremiah nodded in response. "Say, how many cases end up being duds?"
"About two in five end up being non-anomalous. That's down from four in five. We've got staff sorting through reports now." Jeremiah turned to face David with his still-neutral face. "What's your initial reaction, assuming that everything you got from those papers is right?"
"Okay…" David knew this question was coming. It seemed pretty textbook, which he figures is why he was assigned to this, but he still wanted to sound good. "Seems like a low-level reality warper with specific criteria as to her abilities. The fact that this has been kept secret from her family implies a good level of conscious control, unlikely to be swayed strongly by emotions." He looked at his partner for confirmation, but Jeremiah only looked back at him, waiting for him to continue. "So probably just, what, let her go to an asylum and convince herself she's nuts, then monitor her after her release?" David didn't like the idea of gaslighting a teenager into thinking she committed a murder, but this was easier for everyone involved - and, he told himself, gave the girl a shot at re-integrating back into society,
"Maybe. Stressful situations can lead to unexpected consequences with Greens, especially if their abilities are impacted by their mental state. And even then," the senior partner said with his voice becoming just a bit more thoughtful, "we should keep an eye on this. Your assessment is correct, though, based only on this information." David hoped the pride he felt at the compliment didn't show on his face. "But never, ever get married to a plan in this job," Jeremiah added as pointed his finger upwards, more to show emphasis than to point to anything in particular, "especially with a Green."
David remembered how a solid 45% of his training revolved around reality benders, despite the fact they were somewhat less common than other humanoid types. The main thing he ended up getting from the ordeal was to recognize that nobody ever really knew what the hell a bender would do until they did it.
"We're going to catch some of the court proceedings, then we'll have a chance to interrogate the anomaly thanks to some agents in the local PD. Understood?"
"Understood." David decided to attempt to lighten up the mood for the remainder of the car ride, adding "hopefully it's just a photograph, you know?"
Jeremiah looked back out the window. "It's never just a photograph."
Contrary to the positions of some staff here at the Foundation, agents of the Department of Risk Assessment are advised against dehumanizing the anomalies they investigate. While this can help some of our containment staff work with these anomalies post-containment, your job is quite different. It's your job to assess if these humanoids require containment in the first place.
Does the humanoid desire a normal life? Do they have a moral compass and dislike harming others? Are they likely to hold grudges and idolize revenge? Do they have a family and a social support network? Are they in an emotionally distressing environment? All of these can greatly influence the risks posed by humanoids. While many could be dangerous to others or the veil, they may pose no more of an immediate threat than a civilian with a concealed carry firearm. Simple surveillance may be appropriate measures for many humanoids you encounter, although sufficiently dangerous or disruptive anomalous traits should always be your foremost concern.
Nowhere is this more true than for Type Greens, whose capabilities are often tied to their mental state. Well-supported and emotionally stable Type Greens can exhibit a great deal of control, restraint, and even repression over their anomalous traits. However, before issuing any ruling, you must always ascertain the extent of their abilities to the best of your abilities.
-Excerpt from The Handbook for the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment
The prosecutor cleared her throat. "Alright, Miss Thompson. What relationship did you have to the victim?"
The jumpy-looking teenager on the stand glanced around the room. To her parents, the jury, the observers, and for a moment, her eyes lingered on Jeremiah and David, who came in just before the cross examination with whatever credentials the Foundation got for Jeremiah. David nudged the other agent. "What, does she recognize us?"
"Hopefully the opposite. We might stick out as new since the proceedings haven't been opened to the public," Jeremiah said. "It's always good to look out for perfect memory or unnatural cognition of others, though."
David wondered why Jeremiah would make a point of such uncommon traits.
"Miss Thompson?"
David and the defendant both refocused. It was her first time being examined, and she looked like a kid with stage fright giving a presentation. "Uh… c-can you repeat the question?" Her voice was shaky.
"What was your relationship with the victim?"
"Oh, we- we were friends." the girl paused as if expecting another question before continuing. "I just knew him from school. We've… we were friends for a while."
"Family members of the victim said you two were romantically involved. Did the two of you have some sort of dispute recently?" It seemed like the prosecution was trying to establish motive.
"What? I didn't- I mean I- we were friends. And- and we did get into a fight before he- he- he died, but it wasn't…" David figured the girl was just nervous or couldn't talk about the murder. A promising sign of predicable emotions to him, but he imagined the stuttering didn't look good to the jury. Although he supposed that might also work in his favor.
"Can you describe the events of the night of the murder?"
The girl on the stand took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Well, I was at home at the time. I-I really was, you know, you heard what my mom and dad said, I even talked to my brother, too-"
"We have their testimony," the prosecutor interrupted, "we just want your version of events."
The girl on the stand seemed surprised to have been cut off, but refocused herself again. "I- he was walking home. Back from a friend's house, and I…" she trailed off, looking around the room, then down at her feet. "I had a picture. Of him. So I could watch him walk home alright." There were several murmurs from the courtroom at the mention of it, and the girl looked back up and hastily added "I swear, I only used it to make sure he didn't get hurt! I didn't watch him when he was just at home!"
They weren't talking because they assumed she used the picture to watch him all the time, of course. But David thought if it was true, it could be a good sign of reasonably developed morality. This was good to see from a Green: it made them less likely to use their anomalous traits to take advantage of others.
"Please continue," the prosecutor said.
The girl started to get visibly uncomfortable. Shifting around in her seat, she continued "he was just walking back home, and…" Another deep breath. "And I saw someone. Coming up behind him." Pause. "He had a knife. I- I just heard that people had been getting stabbed recently, and I was just- I didn't know if he was going to just get robbed or attacked or- or what, I didn't mean to, I-"
"Please, just take a minute." The prosecutor interrupted the increasingly distressed girl. "When you're ready, just tell us what happened. In your own words."
Several seconds passed before the girl continued, in a much smaller voice. "I was just trying to help. I stuck my hand in the picture for the knife. I don't know what happened but it… it still ended up in…" Her voice broke and she stopped talking.
Another pause before the prosecutor spoke. "You say your fingerprints were on the murder weapon and the victim's blood was on your body because you reached through a photograph?"
The girl looked back up to the prosecutor, saying "I know what I did. That's what I did. I didn't make that up and…" She trailed off as she looked around the room, then finally at her parents.
Her body and voice shrunk again as she fell back into her seat. "I'm not crazy."
The prosecutor nodded. "That will be all. Thank you, Miss Thompson." The girl wordlessly shuffled back to her seat, not once looking away from her feet.
Despite the absolute shitshow that was just described and the fact that there is more than likely a child murderer running around somewhere in the area, David found himself somewhat thankful for that story. The girl lived with her full nuclear family, had a great deal of restraint in using her abilities, and likely a strong degree of control, seeing as it didn't seem as though her family was ever made aware of it. With any luck, a few years of doctors telling her she's normal in a psych ward would put a lid on anything else from her.
David nudged Jeremiah, and leaned over to whisper "seems like a cut-and-dry case, push an insane verdict through and ask local surveillance to keep tabs on her."
"Seems like it." Jeremiah muttered. "I got an interview with the humanoid after the court adjourns. You can lead the questioning. She'll be given amnestics afterwards, so ask important questions."
The defendant's lawyer took the stage. New psychological results have shown the defendant wholeheartedly believes her story, likely suffered trauma from the killing, and feels genuine remorse for what happened. Despite the late coming of the insane plea, it seemed to have a decent shot at winning over the jury. Far better to get the poor girl the help she needs than to lock her up, they thought.
Perhaps her appearance aided her sympathies with the jurors. She seemed to shrink even smaller than her already diminutive size as she tried to hide herself in her seat.
"I'm not crazy…"
The majority of Type Greens you're likely to come across will be able to be addressed simply by ensuring the humanoid self-represses their ability entirely. There may be some cases where it is adequate to have a Type Green who makes use of their anomaly only in private, although cases are rare due to the threat this may pose to the veil. This course of action can be pursued once three criteria are met:
- You understand how an anomaly functions, specifically its limits and restraints.
- You establish that the humanoid in question has a stable and reasonable mental state and are confident it will continue to be so. (The definition of reasonable can change from case to case, but generally more potentially dangerous anomalies are expected to have more benevolent and nonviolent demeanors and be satisfied with the status quo.)
- You are able to ensure a consistent line of surveillance on the humanoid. Preferably, this would entail something like phone taps or ensuring the humanoid has regular appointments with Foundation-affiliated civilian psychologists, as moment-to-moment surveillance is resource and personnel intensive.
While it may seem like gaslighting, these methods of ensuring self-repression and surveillance are both far most cost-effective for the Foundation and far less stressful for the humanoid. However, it is always important to consider the capabilities of the Type-Green first and foremost.
- Reality Warpers can move matter around but are unable to change matter or exert force upon it. This mostly extends to the creation of small rifts or 'portals' to and from points within the reality warper's perception, but can extend to forcing these changes upon reality permanently, appearing to sever objects suspended in a rift. Most reality warpers are relatively weak and can often be addressed by self-repression.
- The phrase 'Reality Bender' is usually synonymous with Type Greens as a whole, but the phrase is actually used to refer to a subtype of Type Greens which are capable of manipulating matter, usually to form other matter. This is what most people think when they hear 'Type Green,' someone who can turn trees into dogs and water into fire. However, most reality benders are limited by their perception and imagination, and much less capable of using their abilities on a large scale than some of the more infamous humanoid SCPs we have contained. Self-repression is still a viable method of addressing these Type Greens, but extra care must be taken in order to ensure you fully understand their capabilities.
- Infovores are to be contained.
-Excerpt from The Handbook for the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment
David settled into the chair across from the Type Green from the court, staring just as intently at her feet as she was then. "Hello, Iris. My name is David, and this is Jeremiah. I'm just here to ask you a few questions, if that's alright." Got to act friendly with kids, David thought. Tell as much of the truth as I can get away with. They know when you're being upfront.
The girl weakly nodded in acknowledgement. "Why?" She seemed like she would be angry if she wasn't so tired. "Haven't you asked me enough. I- I told you everything." Her voice broke "Even when I tried to do the right thing, everyone just said… they said I was…"
David channeled what little child-comforting skills he could remember from when he babysat for his aunt when he was a teenager and tried to speak in more of a comforting voice. "Just relax. I'm not really with the police or the court or anything. I really do just want to ask you a few questions, and I'll be out of your hair."
Jeremiah just stood at the back of the room, watching. He'd probably done this song and dance enough times before to where he felt confident judging David for how he did.
"Can I ask you to do me a favor?" The lump of a girl once again nodded noncommittally.
Turning back to Jeremiah, David stuck out his hand and asked "would you please." Wordlessly, Jeremiah produced a polaroid photo of a cup from his jacket pocket and handed it to David, who in turn pushed it towards the lump.
"Can you give me the cup in that picture?"
The lump shifted its head forward. For a second there wasn't anything signaling a change. Then, its eyes lit up. The girl straightened her back and looked up at David. Her face looked so happy it made a part of David hurt, and he felt a little bad for hoping it wouldn't be like that every time.
"I didn't think anyone actually… was listening to me, anymore." The girl snatched at the photo like she was scared it was going to run away. "Y- Yeah, I can do that. Easy."
Davis felt he was leaning halfway out of his seat. He really had no idea what was about to happen if she was a Type Green, and if she was really just a schizophrenic, he also had no idea what was about to happen. He weighed the odds of himself beating an irate teenage girl in mortal combat and found himself lacking.
But, as she had said, the picture began to shift like sediment settling in water until it formed a slightly different picture of the same cup. With obvious concentration, the girl slowly stuck her hand in, and pulled it back out with the cup intact, and suddenly the picture no longer had the cup. When she turned back to David, beaming in spite of herself, the picture retuned to its original form.
Jeremiah remained unreactive, but David clearly settled back down into his chair. Just as he had hoped for. "Alright, thank you Iris."
Iris cocked her head to one side. "You guys don't seem as surprised. Did you already think I was- Oh, crap! Sorry, I didn't really say hi. I'm Iris. Sorry."
"That's alright, Iris. I understand you've been through a lot lately," David said with what he hoped was his most genuine smile.
Iris laughed weakly and ran her hand through her hair. "Aha. Yeah, that's, uh, one way to put it. But you guys seemed pretty cool with, uh, that. So, are the other people cool with it? I can show them that, right? Since you guys are with the police?"
David held his hands up at the rapid-fire questions. "We're not with the police. And I can't really let you show what you did to anyone else just yet." He put his hands down and took a more approachable posture. "I'm sorry, but we can't do much for you right now. We will be able to soon, though." He thought he wasn't lying when he said that. Either way this went, the insane verdict would help.
"Oh. okay. Wait. Are you guys with the government or something? I knew I should've been keeping this under wraps, it's just. You know, with everything that happened…" She caught on quick.
"Something like that, I'm afraid I can't get into specifics right now, however." David cleared his throat. "I just have a few more questions, if that's alright."
"Oh, yeah, sure. Of course." Iris was leaning forward attentively now, making eye contact. David wondered in the back of his head how long it's been since she looked like that.
He pushed that thought down and continued. "Okay. First off, can you tell me about your abilities? What is the extent of them?"
"Ah, it's really only what you just saw. When I sort of, I don't know, focus? On a picture, I can see what's happening to the thing in the picture, but it goes back when I'm not trying to do it."
"The exact place it was taken?"
"Sometimes, if the picture is of a place. But if it's a picture of a thing, it's where that thing is."
Sounds perception-based, David thought, which explains how she followed her friend while he was walking. "Is this the case with any photograph?"
"Er, not really. Mostly things from my camera." David made a note to ask for her camera to be collected. "It sorta works with other photos, just not as well. I'm more comfortable with just my camera."
Absolutely perception-based, David concluded, and moved along. "Have there been any 'improvements' or changes to these abilities?"
"Not since I first realized I could do it a couple years ago. I can focus on more photos now, though. Maybe a dozen. But I haven't been able to do anything else with or without pictures, if that's what you're asking." David was a little surprised how easy this all was. Iris seemed eager to talk about it.
No significant improvements over a notable period of time. Moving right along. "How do you make use of your abilities, and who have you shown them to?"
"I haven't shown them to anyone, really." Less money to spend on amnestics, thank God. "And I really only use it to look at pictures. I really love photography, you know. I have for a while. Even before I knew what I could do, it was my favorite hobby." Jeremiah made a strange noise, like a startled grunt, but Iris started up again before David could turn around so see what was the matter. "That thing with my friend was just that once. I just had a bad feeling." Her gaze faltered again. "Guess I was right."
Clear control over capabilities, and a desire to fit in to normalcy. Last question now. "How would you say your family and friends support you?"
Iris stayed focused on the far wall as she began to reply. "Not many friends, I don't think. They all think I killed one of their friends. But, hey, soon they'll know that I was right, right?" She perked up.
David redirected her focus. "And your family?"
"Oh. Well, my mom and my dad… I don't really know what they think. They were always real happy and nice, but ever since what happened, they just seem sad." A sad smile crept onto her face. "But my little brother, Tommy, he believes me. Aha, not really all that impressive when the only one on your side is eleven, but he's a good kid." Iris chuckled weakly as she continued, adding "Tommy Thompson. Kids used to give him crap for that, that name, you know? They gave him crap for a lot of stuff." She looked back up at David with some kind of pride. "But kids his age are dumb, and they think I'm stronger than them because I'm older. If nothing else, a big sister is good for scaring a-hole kids off."
David summed everything up in his head. Limited abilities that are easily controlled and a good moral framework with a desire to fit in as well as a supportive family. Textbook.
"Thank you, Iris. Those are all the questions I had." David looked back at Jeremiah, still standing in the same position he was left in. He seemed unreadable but David took the lack of an objection for approval. "I can't guarantee that I'll be able to help you out before the end of your court proceedings, but the information gathered here today will certainly reach the proper people."
Iris seemed a little unsure what that even meant but stayed optimistic. "Okay, thanks. You know, my mom says I'm usually a good judge of character, but I think I had you two wrong. I felt like the two of you were coming to contain me when I first saw you, aha."
Odd word for a 13-year-old to use. Probably just meant like in a prison, thought David, but any further thoughts he had on the matter were interrupted by Jeremiah suddenly moving towards the table.
"What do you mean by that?" Jeremiah seemed far more emphatic than his normal 'passive observer' persona would allow.
"What? Uh, I mean, you know, like a bad feeling." Iris seemed confused.
"When and how did you get that feeling? Why use that word?"
"Uh- I dunno, I just felt weird going up for cross-examination. That's just what popped into my head."
"That was before you even saw us. Do you get feelings like that from other people often? Have you used that word before?"
"I mean, yeah, kinda. But I'm usually good at clocking people, and everyone - you know, gets the feeling of being watched. And I know what 'contained' means but I don't really, er, use it." Iris had started to glance between Jeremiah and David, who was only slightly less confused than Iris.
"What did your parents get Tommy for his second birthday?"
Iris was properly lost now. "What? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Answer the question." Jeremiah was damn near yelling, and it was starting to spook Iris more than confuse her.
"Uh, one of those toys with the wires with wood beads on them and lots of clothes. Lots of plaids, because my dad liked them," Iris hastily added, as if more detail would sate Jeremiah. She was now fully looking at David, looking like she was asking for help with her eyes.
"What is your earliest memory?"
"O- Off the top of my head, the day Tommy was born?"
"You were two." Jeremiah said it as a statement rather than a question. "How much of your life can you remember?" He asked it more like stating a demand.
"A lot? I, uh, have an eidetic memory, it's called. Photographic memory, you know. Ahaaaaa…" Iris tried to make a joke even while she was trembling.
Jeremiah stepped back from the table, paused for a few second while David and Iris looked at each other and back to Jeremiah. Then, without a word, he stepped out of the room and retuned with a clear glass of water. David recognized it as the short-term amnestic treatment he planned on giving to the Type Green after the interview.
"Sorry for losing my temper. Please drink this." His words were calmer, but David could tell he was still on edge.
Iris did as she was told, sheepishly taking a few sips until the two pairs of eyes on her compelled her to down the whole cup. The three waited in a painful silence until Jeremiah stepped towards Iris again.
"The Lethe runs slowly." The trigger phrase for the amnestic treatment. "You were asked redundant questions by two unremarkable police officers today, and nothing stood out."
Another silence. David had never seen this kind of treatment in action, but he assumed Iris would be in something of a stupor, but instead Iris continued looking between the two agents with a new look of confusion.
"I, uh, don't know what a Lethe is. And I've got a good memory, so, uh, I'd probably remember if I did. And, what, is that the cover story? You guys are like the Men in Black, right? So, uh, yeah, I got you. I think."
Jeremiah stared at Iris for a few seconds before abruptly turning on his heels and leaving the room. David waved goodbye with an apologetic look and hurried after his partner.
Iris was left a shrinking, echoey voice as David walked out of the building. "Okay, I guess. See you again soon."
Infovores are particularly dangerous among Type Greens because of their tendency to rapidly and unpredictably exhibit sizable and dangerous expansions of ability with little warning. Despite this, Foundation staff tend to be less aware of them compared to the other two chief subtypes of Type Greens. The reason for this is perhaps twofold: many dangerous cases with infovores develop rapidly and are responded to quickly, as well as the common practice as labeling infovores as 'mindbenders' and lumping them in with reality benders.
As their name implies, infovores are able to store and manipulate information, and use it to create infohazards. Many can use their psionic capabilities to force other minds to process this information, and therefore exhibit various forms of influence and/or control over others. Due to the high-profile nature of this ability, this is where the 'mindbender' colloquialism stems from.
Infovores often exhibit the capabilities of reality benders and warpers, and this form of informational processing can occasionally augment those abilities. For this reason, as well as the significantly lower quantity of infovores compared to reality benders and warpers, infovores often go overlooked. This can lead to disastrous results, as they have a tendency to rapidly exhibit and develop infohazardous capabilities. This can be seen in the various instances of 'mindbenders' pulling large populations of civilians under their influence, constituting a massive public safety risk as well as a threat to the veil.
For these reasons, agents of The Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment are advised to contain all infovores, as close monitoring and/or isolation may be needed for safe handling. You should always be looking out for the following traits in subjects you investigate:
- Uncanny awareness of other people and/or their intentions, especially when observed
- Perfect memory
- Low susceptibility
- High resistance to other infohazardous or psionic forces
- High resistance to amnestics
- Type Green capabilities tied to forms of information, such as text, photographs, electronic data, etc.
- Type Green capabilities tied to things the Type Green had interest in or familiarity with before the manifestation of their abilities, as these cases are likely latent psionic abilities manifesting in ways the Type Green is familiar with, but not ways actually tied to their psionic abilities in any way other than perception
-Excerpt from The Handbook for the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment
David caught up to Jeremiah in the break room of the police station Iris was being held in, now empty save for a Foundation plant in the police force. He seemed to be staring calmly at the coffee maker.
"What the hell was that?" David realized his tone was liable to get him reprimanded, as Jeremiah was very much his senior, so he set himself to finding a way to backtrack the tone but not the question itself, before Jeremiah started talking like he hadn't just been disrespected.
"What's the most common sign a Green is failing to properly utilize their potential?" His speech was even now, and his posture was rigid.
"What?" David thought back to his training before answering "if their abilities are tied to prior interests, it could be psionic potential manifesting in a familiar and limited way." He parroted the answer before he started to really process what Jeremiah was saying. "But, that's just a generalization. Iris hadn't seen improvement in years."
"What makes an infovore uniquely dangerous?" From where David was standing, Jeremiah didn't seem to be moving at all.
They have a noted tendency to rapidly exhibit and develop infohazardous capabilities recalled David. "But what's that got to do with-"
"What are the chief traits to look for in possible infovores?" The monolith in front of David cut him off.
It took David to recall the checklist he had to memorize once. "Uncanny perception of others." Like a bad feeling. "Perfect memory." Photographic memory, you know. "Low susceptibility. Resistance to other infohazards and amnestics." So, uh, yeah, I got you. I think. "Abilities tied to forms of information and past hobbies." I really love photography, you know.
David understood what Jeremiah was saying. A silence stood between the two. The Foundation plant knew not to stick his nose in their business and kept his eyes on a newspaper. For a while, the only sound was the dripping of the coffee machine as it ran.
"We can't know any of that for sure," David started slowly. "Even non-anomalous people can resist the amnestic treatment. We can't contain someone for an eidetic memory." David spoke deliberately, as if more to himself than the pillar of a man facing away from him.
Finally, the pillar turned around. "Infovores are to be contained for monitoring. Safety is to be prioritized over all else. These are rules we have to follow."
David spun Jeremiah's words in his head. "What even are the chances she's an infovore?"
Jeremiah kept eye contact with David. "Even with everything, the chances it's an infovore are low. They're rare, and they tend to not exhibit their traits for a long time."
"What would you know about any of this, then?" David was surprised by the accusatory tone in his voice.
Something passed over Jeremiah's eyes as he became properly indignant. "I know a hell of a lot more than you, son," he spat. "You know why this department was formed? Because someone made the call you're making now. They let a mindbender go and let them drive a whole hotel batshit insane. I know. I was there, the day the Department formed." David shrunk down now, and wondered if this was how Iris felt.
David was stunned into silence, and Jeremiah seemed to deflate a bit, and turned back to pour some coffee into a nearby mug. "It's not our call to make."
Another pause before David spoke again. "So that's it? We'll lock her up, then? No shot of seeing her brother?"
"What would the alternative be, really?" Jeremiah grabbed a second mug. "Convince her we never existed, that she stabbed her friend to death? That she can't trust her own senses? Throw a perfectly sane girl in an insane asylum until she turns 21? What chance of re-integrating would she really have, then? Maybe by then she'd really be crazy. At least at Site-17 she'd know she's sane."
David clenched and unclenched his fists. He wasn't doing a very good job of thinking right now.
Jeremiah sighed, and handed him a cup of coffee. "We've all had our first job, son. But some advice from a veteran? Our job is to save the Foundation money. At the end of the day, looking out for the humanoid's happiness isn't anywhere in our job description."
While it isn't your job to decide the containment procedures for the humanoids you list for containment, it can be useful to familiarize yourself with the General Containment Procedures as well as the established guidelines for Special Containment Procedures the humanoids may fall under…
… Several of the guidelines for infovores are as follow, although this is by no means a complete list, and infovores are almost always given SCP designation.
- Discourage any experimentation with abilities
- If the Type Green's abilities are linked to a certain item or action based on perception (such as a prior interest), disallow access to this item/action in order to further discourage experimentation and reinforce the perception that psionic capabilities are tied to the aforementioned item/action
- Public containment procedures may list the item/action as the actual point of anomalous ability, in order to ensure personnel the Type Green interacts with reinforce the perception of limited capabilities
- Maintain consistent monitoring on the Type Green's abilities while in containment, as consistent monitoring is the primary reason for containment
-Excerpt from The Handbook for the Department of Humanoid Risk Assessment
Interviewer: Dr. Harry Erikson, Site-17 psychology staff
Interviewee: SCP-105
Standard quarterly psychological assessment for SCP-105, #40
24 minutes of extraneous conversation removed for brevity.
Dr. Erikson: Alright, we're just about done. Just a few more questions before you can go.
SCP-105: Yippie. Can we just get on with it? I never understood the point of these ones.
Dr. Erikson: It's just standard procedure for interviews, I didn't write them.
SCP-105: The answers haven't changed, though. Can I go?
Dr. Erikson: These questions are required, and there are very few of them. Besides, one of them changes each time.
SCP-105: I know. Just get on with it.
Dr. Erikson: You were the one impeding this.
SCP-105: Sorry.
Dr. Erikson: Alright, just take a drink of that water and we'll move on. Elephant.
SCP-105: Elephant. The word you're going to ask me for later is elephant.
Dr. Erikson: It's a memory test, just- okay, so, who did you play outside with around the time your brother was born?
SCP-105: Cindy McAlister. As much as a kid that young could play outside during the summer in the fucking desert.
Dr. Erikson: What's the earliest thing you can remember?
SCP-105: The day my brother was born.
Dr. Erikson: You answered that very quickly. Can you really try to think about it?
SCP-105: Okay, okay… wait, actually, I'm getting something.
Dr. Erikson: Yes?
SCP-105: Well, I was smaller. Like a lot smaller. And I didn't have arms, or legs, really, they were like one tail. I couldn't see anything, but I was swimming along with a bunch of other things like me, I know, and it was warm, and eventually I hit this thing that was bigger than I was, but still real small, so I swam inside of it-
Dr. Erikson: For the record, you could have said you didn't remember anything else.
SCP-105: Like I did every other time?
Dr. Erikson: Moving on. What am I thinking right now?
SCP-105: You're a little tired but you can't really bring yourself to be properly annoyed. You're going through the motions, you know? You think your job is important but the same scheduled interviews day after day are wearing you down. It's that endless grind.
Dr. Erikson: (Long pause) Excuse me?
SCP-105: I'm joking. Jesus.
Dr. Erikson: (muttering)
SCP-105: Look, I just pulled that out of my ass. Can we move on?
Dr. Erikson: Do you ever feel like you're being watched, or feel other people near you?
SCP-105: I might be legally insane in the state of Arizona, but I don’t actually hear voices, you know.
Dr. Erikson: Answer the question, please.
SCP-105: Sometimes, sure, but I'm pretty sure I am being watched. If I'm not, somebody's not doing their job.
Dr. Erikson: How do you feel about the current containment procedures barring you from your camera?
SCP-105: Look, I get what you guys are doing here is important, okay? I'm not about to skip out or anything. Hell, I'd probably be worse off.
Dr. Erikson: The question was specifically about your camera, not the procedures in general.
SCP-105: Ah, yeah, I mean I get it. That's like my whole thing.
Dr. Erikson: Please look at the screen in front of me.
SCP-105: Swear to god all these flashing images are doing a better job blinding me than that piece of shrapnel did.
Dr. Erikson: Please just look at it.
SCP-105: Yeah, yeah. (Remains silent while low-level visual memetic hazards play on the screen) Okay, it's done.
Dr. Erikson: The Lethe runs slowly. Wh-
SCP-105: Elephant.
Dr. Erikson: (Pause) Okay. Do you feel anything out of the ordinary?
SCP-105: Confused as to why we go through this each time we meet.
Dr. Erikson: As I said, it's standard operating procedure. No dizziness? Confusion? Forgetfulness?
SCP-105: Aside from what I just said, no.
Dr. Erikson: Alright, then. That's everything I have to ask. Any questions for me?
SCP-105: Yeah, since it's my tenth anniversary of coming here, do I get a cake or something?
Dr. Erikson: I, er, don't think anything was planned.
SCP-105: Joking.
Dr. Erikson: Do you want a piece of cake?
SCP-105: Oh, uh… maybe. I guess.
Dr. Erikson: I suppose I could ask. The staff mess hall has desserts each day. Is there anything else?
SCP-105: No, that'll be it.
Dr. Erikson: Okay, then. You're free to go. Have a nice day.
SCP-105: Yeah, you too.