Cold showers are a SCAM! 📗, by andromedaz
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SCP-6480
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6480 is contained in a standard safe-class item locker in Sector-C of Site-37. No further interaction necessary.
Description: SCP-6480 is a standard letter paperback book weighing 190 grams. SCP-6480 lacks an entrance and contains 220 pages. Each page of SCP-6480 is printed with 30 lines, which lack proper formatting. These lines are written with various letters from all known lingual scripts, and written in arbitrary orders without systematic consistency. The anomalous effect of SCP-6480 occurs when a subject concentrates on the pages, which allows them to read and decipher individual lines, regardless of what languages they are capable of understanding.
Testing shows that SCP-6480's content does not read the same consistently. However, the content of SCP-6480 triggers similar effects in all subjects, including temporary increases in dopamine levels. Additionally, the content of SCP-6480 focuses on the same topic for all subjects, which is providing advice for improving physical and mental health. Most of the advice provided from SCP-6480 lacks longevity effects however.
Addendum-1: Discovery
SCP-6480 was discovered in a junkyard in Red Deer, Canada, by a local resident on May 13, 2018. Following the discovery of its anomalous effects, the individual passed the book over to law enforcement, which attracted Foundation attention. SCP-6480 was acquired with several loose papers, appearing to be torn from a journal book. The content of these pages is transcribed below verbatim.
October 21
I don't know why I'm still writing in this thing. My days are about as interesting as a blank canvas, and my motivation is at the bottom of the ocean. All I'm doing when I'm not writing in this thing is laying and staring at the ceiling, while listening to the ticking of clocks.
I wish I remembered how this got started. I used to be the happiest kid ever, running on the streets and dreaming of the future. Now that I've realized how intimidating and depressing the world is, my dreams feel like they're dark mountains on the opposite side of a deep, dark ocean too grand to swim across. And all my guardians tell me when I approach them is, 'it's a phase, you'll grow out of it.' I want out. I'm tired of laying around waiting for better days.
October 30
I talked to one of my last loyal friends, Omariz, for the first time in a few weeks. He's a quirky guy, and the type of person who believes there are lost alien civilizations in our past, or that world leaders are actually aliens in suits. Our conversation veered in the direction of my mental state, and I told him how empty I felt. That got him excited, and he told me that he knew how I felt, and how he knew the perfect solution.
A book, without any title, or author name, or any decipherable content on its pages was what he gave me. He told me that he once felt lost, but that the book he handed me became the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm shocked to hear that Omariz once felt like me. It's unlike him, all hyperactive half the time.
After realizing the nonsense scribbled in it, I rejected the book. I told Omariz he could keep his 'exotic and unheard of solutions' for himself. Yes, that is what he called them. But he pressured me into keeping it, and told me to embrace the letters, instead of getting confused by them; whatever that meant. I asked him where the book came from, and he told me, 'don't worry about it! You and me know there are parts of this world obscured from the rest. That book is from one of those places. It will change who you are forever!'
So now I have yet another thing to add to my collection of things I keep but never use. Fantastic.
November 5
I think I need to give Omariz some glory here. His book of nonsense is better worded as his book of magic. I took another flip through the pages, and realized that the various figures began to look like readable phrases. Like something right out of a fantasy book for children. I don't know if reading is the right way to describe it. Maybe interpret is a better word, as it felt like the words were pretending to form, rather than actually form; I don't know how to describe it. Like I was reading alien scripts but somehow understanding them.
At first, the phrases were rather mundane, but as I continued reading, I became more engaged. I began seeing positive quotes and words in the lines. Soon enough, I felt the positive influence overtaking the void inside me. I started to feel less like I was a shell of my former self, and more capable of accomplishment. One of my favorite lines was 'the feeling of the dark void is needed to feel the warmth of the light.'
Maybe this is it! I can finally find the ambition to get out of my dark, depressive room! Actually, I can almost imagine myself walking into the waters before those dark mountains that are my dreams!
November 12
I've read Omariz's book for several days now. It has started giving me advice on physical improvement, and they do feel effective. I never knew that a better change was just a few cold showers and workouts away! And the reading of some motivational quotes. I've also been trying to replace artificial sugar with natural sugar; you know, fruits and stuff. And like the book told me, I feel much better. Positive diet-positive health is how I really work I suppose.
It finally feels like I have the energy to cross the ocean between me and my dreams. Of course, change does not happen overnight, but to quote the book once again 'good things take time, and don't come immediately. Work hard, and your goals will come to pass.' I feel that I can achieve my goals! It also promised me I would feel like a completely different and better individual in a few weeks of reading it consistently! Oh wow! I can't wait!
December 2
The amount of positive energy Omariz's book is giving me is unlike anything before! I went to thank him, but all he replied with was complaints about how I doubted him. I guess people really are good at finding something to complain about. He's like that sometimes anyway, and in return I can thank the book for not making a fuss out of something that small.
Some of the phrases the book gave me at first have started to go dull, but it doesn't matter much anyway. I can just look in another part of the book, and it effectively generates more words. Then it feels even better. At this point, I'm swimming with speed through the water towards the mountains!
Speaking of all this, my guardians have started to notice the changes in me. I've been complaining about my emptiness to them for months, and they are happy that I've finally found a way out. I just hope they don't leave it all on me like this for any future blocks I run into. I might not have Omariz's magic then.
December 27
Omariz book is starting to feel less fulfilling. I mean, it's still helpful, and I keep coming back to read it, but it feels like the old stuff that was once inspiring feels numb. I can always look in other parts of the book in an attempt to find new phrases, but it is starting to become harder to find. Everything I read is starting to feel the same. I mean it's not bad. But it's not giving me that rush of adrenaline I'm looking for. I feel like I'm running low on stamina to swim across the ocean. Yeah, I guess that metaphor is not going anywhere.
A week ago, the book told me that I should start setting some smaller goals before tackling the bigger ones. That is what I've done, which is mostly just getting a better mindset. But now I'm starting to feel stuck, and the only help I have is the book and it's advice. I know it said 'always be patient', but it was promising resolutions in a few weeks, but that is now turning into months. It is really testing my patience at this point. I am not ready to give up yet though. Something that is lost can always be found again. Right?
January 18
I had to turn pages for almost forty minutes before I finally found something that gave some excitement. Pretty much everything that gave me that boost from the start has become a bunch of cliches. I don't even remember what the quote that gave me the excitement was. I'm coming clean to say that this book is slowly starting to get old.
But at the same time, I cannot let go. I'm not giving up on it. I don't want to. If it made me feel inspired before, it has to be able to make me feel inspired again. I'm starting to feel change, but not in a good way. I don't know w
February 3
I feel hopeless and empty, again. And I know why. Not only because of the old void that I thought had been eliminated from me two months ago. It is because of the book! I'm right where I started, looking for some 'perfect quote' from some magic papers. I could probably sit here for hours now before I found something inspiring in this paperback.
And now when I take my face out of the pages, I discover that all the progress I thought I made towards my goal of improvement was just a facade. In reality, I have not made any progress! Deep down, I'm still in a state that would be equivalent to staring at the ceiling. All I've done is looked for pleasure in words and followed ineffective advice, thinking that they had longevity, which they don't at all! I'd say I feel even worse than when I started, with this in mind. At the bottom of an abyss even before the ocean shore, with an impossible climb out.
I'm throwing this thing out, along with the pages I wrote about it in my journal. I want nothing to do with it, nor do I want Omariz to find it again. There is something valuable I learned from this. Omariz said the book would change who I was, like never before. But change is not what I wanted. I wanted improvement! So this is all I can say. Improvement is more important than change. And improvement has not happened at all.
