Special Containment Procedures: Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has been established for the purpose of carrying out Procedure 6852-BEAR. Foundation fronts operating as Build-A-Bear Workshop retail stores are to be opened as rapidly as possible internationally, with preference in location towards shopping malls. 354 of these stores are currently operating, 305 of which are in the United States and Canada.
These stores can be operated by civilian employees, with Foundation personnel (including non-violent D-Class) operating only when understaffed during the busy holiday season. It is, however, imperative to the success of Procedure 6852-BEAR that the civilian employees and customers are not made aware of the contents of the cotton stuffing and the importance of the "heart ceremony". (See Addendum 6852.1)
Description: SCP-6852 instances are hostile entities of varying appearance that are consistently described as "scary," "terrifying," and "monsters" by young children. These entities usually reside under a child's bed or within their closet, only leaving their spot during the night to presumably harm the child. While no major injury or death caused by an SCP-6852 instance has been reported, they have caused an increase in nocturnal enuresis and paranoia among young children.
It is theorized that these entities possess a form of age-specific antimemetic camoflauge as they are unable to be seen by those over the age of 12 or during the day, making research and containment difficult. It is known that these entities do not have a sense of object permanence as they are unable to sense a child that is hiding under a blanket.
Addendum 6852.1: Procedure 6852-BEAR
The goal of Procedure 6852-BEAR is to unknowingly provide young children with manufactured instances of SCP-6330-1 as protection against an SCP-6852 instance should it succesfully harm them. Procedure 6852-BEAR requires three essential components: an empty "shell" (the unstuffed animal plush), Élan-Vital Energy (EVE)1 infused cotton stuffing, and a thaumaturgic ritual (the "heart ceremony").
Once the customer has chosen a shell to be used in the procedure, an employee will assist them in stuffing the plush with EVE infused cotton. Customers are then given a fabric heart to use in the "heart ceremony" before it is placed inside the stuffed animal.
During the heart ceremony, customers are instructed by the employee to tap and rub the heart over various places on their body as well as to perform physical activity such as jumping and spinning. For example, an employee could say to rub the heart over one's stomach so the stuffed animal will "never go hungry." Both the employee and customer are unaware that these are incantations for a thaumaturgical ritual intending to "activate" the stuffed animal. Various examples of incantations are provided to the employee during training. The activation of the stuffed animal marks the end of Procedure 6852-BEAR. Dressing and naming the stuffed animal is unnecessary to the procedure and only exist to create further market appeal.
In the presence of an SCP-6852 instance and when unobserved, the stuffed animal will become animate and summon small-scale wooden medieval weapons (such as swords and shields) to combat it. These altercations result in the SCP-6852 instance's neutralization 92% of the time. Upon the instance's neutralization and/or the stuffed animal becoming observed, it will become inanimate.