SCP-5571


AppalachiaMapA
Map presented towards the beginning of SCP-5571's run time.

Special Containment Procedures

METATRON.aic will track any further dissemination of SCP-5571 and insert Themis into any devices upon which the anomaly is stored. The AIC is also to monitor for any activity resembling SCP-5571 and alert MTF-Kappa-43 (“The Mediators”) if found.

A single copy of SCP-5571 is stored in High-Yield Data Storage Facility 1 at Site-43, having been transferred via flash drive which was then destroyed to limit further contamination.


Description

SCP-5571 is a digital recording of the first season1 of the documentary series, American Backyard produced by Vikander-Kneed Technical Media (GOI-5889). The series focuses on both the natural wildlife and culture of a given area of the United States. SCP-5571 is comprised of five episodes focusing on the Appalachians, each approximately fifteen minutes in length.

When SCP-5571 is played on a device, the video file is saved to the device’s hard drive and cannot be deleted.2 The file can be transferred from one device to another, but each device retains a copy.

Additionally, watching SCP-5571 will plant a memetic compulsion with several layers.3 First, the subject will be compelled to share the video through social media or other means. Second, the subject’s ability to accept concepts without tangible, verifiable proof will be steadily eroded until the individual cannot accept even the most basic of tenets without said proof. This process takes approximately thirty minutes.

Discovery:
On 4 July, 2021, SCP-5571 was uploaded to YouTube on various channels that did not have an existing connection with GOI-5889. Within an hour of the uploads, thousands of posts on forums and social media shared links to the video. Within ten hours, the video had been viewed upwards of two hundred thousand times.

The Foundation was informed of the matter when Parawatch forum posts began discussing the anomaly. MTF-Kappa-43 were mobilized from Site-43 to secure servers storing the file.

Given the wide-reaching scope of the danger to normalcy represented by this discovery, Director McInnis requested assistance from the AIAD. In the following twenty-seven hours, another 2.5 million devices had been infected with the anomaly.

Furthermore, the secondary anomalous effects began impacting societal function throughout the United States and Canada. Subjects that had viewed the anomaly were incapable of accepting any premise or fact without tangible proof. This affected the very machinery of society in many ways, most notably the following:

  • Employees stopped appearing for work without physical reassurance of payment by employers;
  • Legislators affected refused to agree on any aspect of proposed legislation without tangible proof of the benefits, causing turmoil between affected and nonaffected individuals;
  • Members of the police force affected refused to enforce laws without tangible proof that those laws protected the citizenry.

In addition, conspiracy boards and discussion groups on social media saw a steep decline in activity. Notably, sharing of material associated with Qanon dropped to an imperceptible level.

Thirty-six hours after the anomaly was uploaded, AIAD – along with assistance from Dr. Lillihammer and her team of memeticists – had successfully developed a virus to counteract the anomaly. The virus, designated Themis, would ride the signal of the anomaly’s spread through digital channels and insert code into each device that stored a copy of the file. The virus had two effects: a) it would deceive the operating system of a device containing a copy of SCP-5571 into not recognizing the file, such that the file would not be visible or watchable; b) a memetic agent would be inserted into the hard drive that counteracted the compulsion and removed the anomalous effect on the subject’s ability to accept premises without tangible proof.

Themis proved to be successful in completely counteracting the anomalous effects of SCP-5571. Thus, even though several million copies of the file were stored on numerous devices, the anomaly no longer posed a threat to normalcy.


Addendum 5571-1:

Transcript of SCP-5571’s Contents4

The following is a transcript of all five episodes of SCP-5571. The series is hosted by Herbacious Willoughby, a female humanoid entity who is estimated to be 2.9 meters tall but otherwise non-anomalous.










rating: +104+x


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