A name is everything. A name anchors you.
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Info
SCP-5353: Does Anyone Remember Fritz Obermeyer?
Author:Tufto. This tale is part of the Man Who Wasn't There canon, and is the fourth entry for Team Nobody's Winning in the Canon Renaissance Contest. More of their work can be found here. This forms the fourth
Image: The image is cropped from a CC0/public domain photograph, which can be found here.
BY ORDER OF THE OVERSEER COUNCIL
The following file is Level 4/5353 classified. Unauthorized access is forbidden.
5353
| Item #: SCP-5353 | Level 4/5353 |
| Object Class: Keter | Classified |
Possible photograph of SCP-5353.
Special Containment Procedures: Encounters with SCP-5353 are to be reported to Agent Hester Maliz at Site 122. Any incidents involving SCP-5353 should be dealt with under Protocol Ajax-4, utilising the press, government contacts and tactical use of experimental amnestic drugs to preserve the Veil.
Description: SCP-5353 is a anomalous humanoid, first observed by the Foundation in Belgium in 1917. SCP-5353's name and purpose are unknown, and few solid details about his appearance are available; the only consistent facts are that he appears and identifies as male and that he always wears a white suit.
SCP-5353 has been sighted worldwide, and is believed to possess several contacts among the anomalous underground. He appears to have little interest in the Foundation and its activities, but has interacted in both a friendly and hostile manner depending on circumstances.
SCP-5353 has an unidentified link with PoI-000 "Nobody", and most sightings of SCP-5353 in recent decades have involved PoI-000 to some degree. The exact nature of their relationship is unknown, but it is evidently a hostile one, with several altercations between the two on record.
Update 17/05/1975: In the last two months, an unusual acceleration of SCP-5353 and PoI-000 incidents have been recorded in the Western United States. This has made the containment situation more unstable. Agent Hester Maliz, based on her highly successful record in containing SCPs ████ and ████, has been assigned to track down and apprehend SCP-5353, as well as PoI-000 if possible.
The following table is a summary of the aforementioned incidents:
| Date | Location | Anomalies involved | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16/03/1975 | Pahrump, Nevada | PoI-000 | A man described as a "hobo in old rags" reportedly held conversations with several local citizens, asking them if they knew of any shops selling war memorabilia. Only one person answered in the affirmative, and won $10,000 in the lottery the next day. |
| 23/04/1975 | Boise, Idaho | SCP-5353 | A man in a white suit was spotted putting up identical leaflets in Boise's North End. Each leaflet bore anomalous text that cannot be perceived. |
| 05/05/1975 | Nevada City, California | SCP-5353 | A man in a white suit was seen standing in woodland near the town by several individuals, smoking a cigarette. When questioned by locals, he stated that he was "waiting for a sign". Three days afterwards, a large wildfire abruptly began in the forest. |
| 12/05/1975 | Del Muerto, Navajo Reservation, Arizona | PoI-000 | Figure "in rags, with an indistinct face" seen visiting the houses of several widows over the course of the day. One week later, all these women abruptly travelled at the same time to several different towns in southern Nevada. All of them made a call at a payphone to an unknown number, each stating "no-one is home", before returning. None of them can recall doing so. |
Update 01/06/1975: On 26th May, Agent Maliz was able to track and attempted to apprehend the anomaly. A log of her efforts can be found below.
Update 06/08/1975: The following is a log of activities involving PoI-000 and SCP-5353 since Incident 5353-1:
| Date | Location | Anomalies involved | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16/06/1975 | Detroit, Michigan | PoI-000 | A large factory explosion was linked back to PoI-000, who had been spotted conversing with the perpetrators some days before. Subsequent records revealed that the German-born owner of the factory was a wanted war criminal who had fled to America under a false passport. |
| 21/07/1975 | Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin | SCP-5353 | A unidentified man in a white suit was seen in conversation with several local officials. The following day, a major bribery and corruption scandal involving these officials was exposed, causing a political crisis and major protests in Chippewa Falls. |
| 28/07/1975 | Natchez, Mississippi | PoI-000 | Several anomalous symbols were painted by associates of PoI-000 on the ground at key intersections. Each of these contained an infohazardous effect which rendered them unable to be perceived, but instead induced a severe manic and depressive effect. Several individuals suffered mental breakdowns and were hospitalised following this incident. |
Update 17/09/1975
On 15/09/1975, Agent Maliz managed to track down PoI-000 and engage the subject in a brief conversation. A log of this can be found below.
Update 03/10/1975: The following is a log of activities involving PoI-000 and SCP-5353 since Incident 5353-2:
| Date | Location | Anomalies involved | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23/09/1975 | Cut Bank, Montana | SCP-5353 | Anomaly was spotted conversing with PoI-6236 "Old Mag", a former resident of the Three Portlands who was renowned for her fortune-telling abilities. SCP-5353 asked an unknown question, which PoI-6236 responded by shouting "It will bleed their names! It will strip their souls!" repeatedly. SCP-5353 then shot her twice in the stomach and departed; PoI-6326 subsequently expired. |
| 01/10/1975 | Fargo, North Dakota | PoI-000 | PoI-000 incited a riot in several suburbs of Fargo, resulting in 3 deaths and at least 20 injured. Several items appeared to have been stolen from government buildings during the riot, including census data and a list of German-language translators used last year in an investment in local government projects by a German company. |
Final Update 12/05/1976: On 05/10/1975, a major incident involving PoI-000 and SCP-5353 took place in Pierre, South Dakota. An altercation between the two was reported to have taken place outside and in an empty apartment. Witnesses reported seeing a homeless man running from the scene, as well as a man in a white suit walking with a heavy limp and bleeding profusely. One witness reported seeing a man in a long coat fall from a window, but no body was recovered matching this description.
The apartment in question was reported to have been empty since 1955. Inside, however, were signs of recent habitation, including an extensive collection of WW2 memorabilia, several bottles of whisky, books in German and files on Nazi war criminals. A note was also found, written in somewhat old-fashioned German; a transcript can be found below.