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Any unauthorized access is strictly forbidden and will result in disciplinary action
PROJECT BALDER
Access to Project Balder is restricted to Level 4/7122.
By order of The O-5 Council and the Department of Intelligence personnel with lower clearance levels are prohibited from viewing this file.
7122
Following the discovery of SCP-7122 and its anomalous effects, the Department of Intelligence has proposed utilization of the camera for the purpose of applied influence and liquidation of persons of interest.
This proposal has since been granted by the O-5 council and the Department of Intelligence has been provided with personnel and funding for further experiments.
After the results of Tests 7122-17 and 7122-18 have suggested that SCP-7122 may be used to transfer a person’s consciousness to a different person’s body – including post mortem – the O-5 council ordered enhanced testing of this effect for possible containment and security appliances. SCP-7122 has so far been used to capture 7 and terminate ██ hostile persons of interest while having also been used to influence ██ important non-Foundation individuals.
D-Class Testing
Tests 7122-17 and 7122-18 have shown severe side effects with the transfer of metadata. The following tests seek to find a way of negating these effects.
| Test DOI-7122-01 | |
| Subjects | D-5389, D-8376 |
| Test description | Subjects were told to memorize one poem each beforehand as a way to determine if a transfer of consciousness via metadata had occurred. If successful, subjects were to be dosed with medical ketamine or similar euphoric drugs to reduce the level of trauma seen in test 7122-17. |
| Results | When asked, D-Class personnel recited each other’s poem after their metadata had been swapped, thus proving that a transfer of consciousness had been successful. Subjects expressed discomfort about the situation, but not to such an extent as seen in D-7673 and D-9874. Still, the subjects became highly agitated and refused to elaborate when asked about what happened during the exchange of metadata. |
| Conclusion | Psychedelic drugs that induce euphoric states are feasible to reduce the apparent traumatic effects of a transfer of consciousness. However, they do not manage to completely negate said problems and the long-term effects of regular drug administration point to this not being a permanent solution. Still, as no suicides of test subjects had occurred, the test was deemed a success. |
| Test DOI-7122-02 | |
| Subjects | D-4381, D-1768 |
| Test description | Same as Test DOI-7122-01, however subjects were placed under general anaesthesia for the transfer of consciousness and dosed with heavy opiates afterwards. |
| Results | D-Class personnel confirmed a successful transfer had occurred by reciting the correct poem. Just as the participants of test DOI-7122-01, D-4381 and D-1768 were uncomfortable with the situation. Unlike test DOI-7122-01, subjects stated they were unable to recall anything about the process of the exchange of metadata. Still, Foundation psychologists determined that the effects of a subconscious trauma were present, though not overly obvious. |
| Conclusion | Traumatic effects may be reduced further by artificially inducing a coma within subjects. The psychological trauma however is still a considerate factor that is to be eradicated if possible. |
| Test DOI-7122-03 | |
| Subjects | Dr Dominik Martin, D-6578 |
| Foreword | Dr Dominik Martin is a senior researcher of the Foundation assigned to Project Balder with terminal lung cancer. Dr Martin has volunteered as a test subject as a way to test possibilities of extending human life by transferring consciousness to another, healthy body. Dr Martin has declared he will not be placed under anaesthesia and initially refused the administration of drugs in order to properly record and document what happens during the exchange of metadata. D-6578 is a former Foundation employee of the administrative sector found guilty of espionage for a hostile group of interest. |
| Test description | As the effects and risks of having one subject with and one without anaesthesia are unknown, the transfer occurred without either subject being sedated. As per usual, both subjects memorized a different poem beforehand as a way of verifying a successful transfer of consciousness. Dr Martin was then to report on what he could recall according to his own abilities. |
| Results | D-6578, who had purposefully not been informed about the test’s specific nature beforehand, awoke screaming in the body of Dr Martin, while Dr Martin, while visibly distressed, remained comparatively calm. D-6578 was restrained and – after reciting the correct poem to confirm the transfer of consciousness – sedated. Dr Martin requested the administration of anxiolytic medication. This request was granted. Additionally, Dr Martin was also given a mild sedative for the following two days. On the third day following the test, Dr Martin resumed documentation on his journal which he had started beforehand in order to document the events of the transfer of metadata from his own perspective. The contents of his journal can be found below. D-6578 passed away from lung cancer three weeks after the completion of the test, but was transferred into a new, living body for interrogation. After a lack of cooperation and the failure of conventional and advanced interrogation methods, D-6578 was terminated via a fatal shot to the head and transferred into another body three hours later, causing D-6578 to give in and provide the Foundation with the requested information in exchange for the permanent deletion of his entire file. |
Journal of Dr Dominik Martin
for
Project Balder
Test DOI-7122-03
Date: 25/10/████
[BEGIN LOG]
Hello. My name is Dr Dominik Martin. I am 56 years old, born in Hamburg. I have volunteered to be a test subject in an experiment about the transfer of human consciousness into another body. Thinking about it, were this not the Foundation, I’d probably go to a psychiatric ward for simply saying this sentence.
I should perhaps note that the primary goal of this journal is not to provide an overly scientific or clinical documentation, as it aims to document my own subjective experiences and observations during this test. It is hoped that said observations will provide the Foundation with new insights for both psychological and “practical applications”.
All that is currently known is that it is possible to bring the consciousness, or “soul” if you believe in that, of a person into the body of another by using a specific anomaly the Foundation has acquired. And apparently, this process seems to be severely traumatizing. Traumatizing enough, that several D-Class Personnel have committed suicide afterwards and every single test subject so far was either unable or outright refused to talk about what happened for the short time that their “soul” was deleted from our reality.
So why on earth I would volunteer for such an experiment? The answer is quite simple. I have been a chain smoker since I was a young man. Well, surprise: all those warnings that smoking causes cancer are true, who would have guessed. I have terminal lung cancer and my time is about to come, according to doctors. So, since I have been assigned to this project for quite some time and my curiosity has always been morbid in nature, I figured I might as well just try to be a useful asset to this programme. Let’s just hope my mind doesn’t end up as some kind of cerebral pudding.
The test will begin in two days.
[END LOG]
Date: 27/10/████
[BEGIN LOG]
I’ve just been photographed by the anomaly. Now there’s no turning back. I will be restrained for the transfer. Apparently, the owner of my new body is a spy of some hostile GoI who was embedded in the Foundation and they want to prevent him from fleeing once he’s inside my body. Not that my broken body would be capable of running anyway. They see it as a kind of prison for him. Convenient. Convenient, but cruel in my honest opinion.
I was told to memorize a poem, just like the test subjects before me, as a way of identifying me after the transfer. Standard procedure by now.
The poem goes like this:
Be not afraid in the face of change
Be courageous, standing like a wall
Though at first things may seem strange
And nothing familiar at all
There’s a purpose in the bland and grey
Though it may still seem far
You can make it through the day
No matter where you are
I don’t recognize this poem. It seems very random. I wonder if this one was selected for any specific purpose.
Anyways, it’s time to begin the test.
[END LOG]
Date: 30/10/████
[BEGIN LOG]
Hello. My name is Dr Dominik Martin. 56 years old, born in Hamburg. Well, not really. I’m actually 35 years old, born in Dunkirk. My body, at least. The transfer of my consciousness has been successful. It has been… quite the unpleasant experience, hence why I have requested anxiolytics for the time being.
The transfer itself, well, how do I describe it? At first there was a mild sense of unease, followed by a headache. Then time started to slow down as both symptoms gradually became worse. I felt an intense pressure on my eyes and inside my head accompanied by a strange pulling sensation, as if something in the inside of my body was pressing against it’s outside, trying to force its way through. Then, a sudden… “rip”. There was darkness. Well, not actually darkness. It was colourful and black and white and grey and colourless all at the same time. Trying to describe it is like trying to define the colour of a mirror. I saw geometry that didn’t make sense, like squares with five sides, or triangles seemingly comprised of 90-degree angles. I was in a place without space or time. I couldn’t breathe because neither was there air nor did I have a body to breathe. I was conscious and unconscious at the same time. Existing, vegetating through a reality I could not comprehend. I was in a limbo. Time did not seem to exist, I may have been there for a few seconds or hundreds upon hundreds of years, I do not know, both felt the same. After a time I cannot define I entered what felt like an intense fever dream. An array of illogical and random thoughts, words, sentences and impressions infinitely repeating. I dreamt in a circle. A circle that I could not break out of. I don’t know if I could even perceive that circle, or my situation as a whole. Then began the memories. I lived through them like it was my first time experiencing them and yet, they often felt familiar, like a Déjà-vu. I thought I was alive. But my memories were not in an exact order. I’d often jump in between them in nonsensical ways. Not all memories were true either. Some contradicted each other, all this causing me to question myself and my sanity. I’ve met people I knew were dead or did not belong in my perceived timeline. These contradictions however made it possible for me to realize that none of this was real. At least I think it wasn’t. Having realized that I focused on the poem I had memorized before. I used it like a mantra to try to hold onto my reality. I’m sure I could have done without it, I mean the other D-Class managed it as well, but I think it helped me deal better with my situation. Maybe it made it all less “traumatic”, in a sense. From what I’ve heard I am dealing with it much better than he does. Thinking about it, I’m wondering even more now if there was a specific reason for the selection of my poem.
Entering the new body was an unsettling experience. I started to feel a spinning and pulling sensation. I felt sick. Then, like a curtain, this not-reality I was in gave away to our reality. My eyes were open but I could not yet see. Everything spun around and it felt like the insides of my body were rearranging themselves. For what felt like days, but were likely merely seconds I was in terrible pain. I could feel my brain. It felt like it was burning, melting. I think those symptoms may be very real as they perfectly match those that killed D-7673 in test 7122-18.
I… tasted… purple?! I heard… triangles and squares. The synaesthesia took some time to go away. My theory is that those symptoms were my consciousness, or, my “soul”, if you want, adapting to my new body or vice versa. Probably similar to the transplantation of a new organ. My theory is, that, unless the brain and body are in a specific state, they may “reject” the new consciousness in some way, which is probably what led to the known complications of a transfer. It’s a wild guess, but maybe surgical precautions like deep brain stimulation and general anaesthesia could help with that. I should maybe add that I could not initially remember everything about the transfer. It was like waking up in the morning, where you actually have to think about what you dreamt, because you can’t really recall all of it at first. With me, since I knew what was going on, this was probably pretty easy when compared to other test subjects, who only seemed to start remembering when something triggered their memories about it. So amnestics may also be helpful to minimalize both physical and psychological harm.
[END LOG]
Following test DOI-7122-03 the recommendations of Dr Martin have been tested and were found to be effective. Dr Martin was subsequently administered mild amnestics at his own request.
Since the transfer could now be carried out safely, the Department of Intelligence was given permission by the O5 council to initiate Operation Soulmate.
Operation Soulmate
Operation Soulmate is an intelligence and security operation carried out by the Foundation’s Department of Intelligence. Operation Soulmate is aimed at gaining intelligence about enemy groups of interest as well as the secure permanent imprisonment of key hostile agents.
In preparation for Operation Soulmate, field agents of the Foundation are tasked with recruiting subjects fitting the following criteria:
- Paralyzed (preferably from the neck down)
- Living in severe poverty
- From a very rural area and/or a third world country
- Very few or no family members
- Very few or no friends/similar acquaintances
- Preferably no terminal illnesses
- Age between 12 and 55 (ages outside of the specified range need to be approved beforehand)
If a fitting subject is found, field agents are to introduce themselves as government officials or as medical staff of various humanitarian aid NGOs (including ████████, ████, and ███████) and offer the subject the participation in an experimental medical procedure to fully cure their disability. If subjects refused, they are to be administered amnestics and released. If subjects agreed, they are to be taken to Site-717, Jasmund peninsula, Germany and prepared for a transfer of consciousness. Any acquaintances of the subject are to be informed a week later, that the subject was killed in an accident involving the ambulance vehicle they were transported in and that the body could not be recovered.
Preparations for transfer include implantation of a deep brain stimulation implant, memorization of an individual poem, memorization of a telephone number belonging to the Foundation and limited mental preparation about the procedure itself. Subjects are not to be informed about the existence of the Foundation under any circumstances to guarantee the integrity of the veil of secrecy. If not yet the case, field agents are to then use SCP-7122 to photograph the target PoI.
For the transfer, subjects are to be placed under general anaesthesia inside an interrogation cell. Subjects are told beforehand that it is absolutely integral they find a telephone and call the specified number as soon as possible after waking up. Foundation agents are then to track and locate the phone call and provide instructions to link up with Foundation personnel or – if necessary – dispatch field agents to return them to a nearby site for further treatment.
Once the subject is recovered, they are to be administered amnestics and given a cover-up story about their new life. Only once it was certain that the subject itself believes said story, they are to be released from Foundation custody.
Documentation about Operation Soulmate can be found below.
The following is a list of all persons of interest captured during Operation Soulmate alongside additional basic information.
Further information such as intelligence gained or subsequent operations of the DOI have been excluded from this list due to secrecy and irrelevance to the file.
| OP-Soulmate-01 | |
| Subject | Yaroslav Gordov, 22, from Siberia, Russia, both legs amputated due to Diabetes, lived with his father, a russian army officer. Recruited after a doctor's appiontment. |
| PoI | Louis Marcello Rousset, 47, from France, known collaborator of Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd. |
| Notable incidents | None, subject was recovered and amnesticized. |
| Conclusion of Operation | Operational success |
| OP-Soulmate-02 | |
| Subject | Aaditya Biswas, 19, from Bangladesh, paralyzed from the neck down, no family, lived in a disabled persons residence from UNICEF |
| PoI | Vladislav Bortsov, 31, from Russia, recruiter for a sarkic cult within Russia, now within Foundation custody |
| Notable incidents | None, subject was recovered and amnesticized. |
| Conclusion of Operation | Operational success |
| OP-Soulmate-03 | |
| Subject | Sanun Nguyen, 49, from Thailand, entire family and friend group died in a large fire at a wedding, failed suicide attempt left him paralyzed from neck down, recruited straight from hospital |
| PoI | María Muñoz-Pereira, 45, from Argentina, member of the Serpent’s Hand, now within Foundation custody |
| Notable incidents | None, subject was recovered and amnesticized. |
| Conclusion of Operation | Operational success |
| OP-Soulmate-04 | |
| Subject | [REDACTED], 12, from Xinjiang, China, separated from her family at a young age, paralyzed from neck down as a result of physical violence, recruited from Uyghur internment camp |
| PoI | [REDACTED], mid-tier operative of the Chaos Insurgency, now within Foundation custody |
| Notable incidents | Subject behaved unusual enough to arise suspicion before being recovered. Subject was terminated by a field agent to assure secrecy. |
| Conclusion of Operation | Limited operational success |
| OP-Soulmate-05 | |
| Subject | [REDACTED], 14, from Syria, family died in IED explosion which left her paralyzed from the waist down, recruited from foster home for disabled children |
| PoI | Ahmed Mohammad Al Hassin, 52, from Iran, higher ranking ORIA Officer, now within Foundation custody |
| Notable incidents | Subject apparently was mentally unstable before the transfer and committed suicide despite precautions. |
| Conclusion of Operation | Limited operational success |
| OP-Soulmate-06 | |
| Subject | Abubakar Wachuku, 35, from Niger, paralyzed from waist down after car crash that killed his family, recruited from hospital |
| PoI | [REDACTED], 43, from Canada, priest of the Fifth Church, now within Foundation custody |
| Notable incidents | Subject behaved unusual enough to arise suspicion. Subject was detained, interrogated and killed by members of the Fifth Church before Foundation operatives could intervene. Note: As the subject was not aware about the existence of the Foundation, the information gained by the Fifth Church is most likely very limited. Still the operation is considered a failure. |
| Conclusion of Operation | Operational failure |
| OP-Soulmate-07 | |
| Subject | [REDACTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF OPERATIONAL PROTECTION OF FOUNDATION OPERATIVES] |
| PoI | [REDACTED], high ranking member of a Sarkic Cult, now within Foundation custody |
| Notable incidents | Subject recovered without incident. Subject refused amnestics after having learned about the Foundation and offered to remain an informant embedded within the cult. After the necessary precautions and security measures were taken, [REDACTED] was officially reinserted into the cult and has since proven to be a reliable source of intel. |
| Conclusion of Operation | Great operational success |
BY ORDER OF THE ETHICS COMMITTEE
OPERATION SOULMATE HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN DUE TO ITS INHUMANE AND UNETHICAL NATURE. ANY SIMILAR OPERATIONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM BEING CONDUCTED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
Verdict of the Ethics Committee
regarding
Operation Soulmate
After careful consideration, the Ethics Committee has come to the conclusion that while Operation Soulmate has undoubtedly been a full success for the SCP Foundation when it comes to intelligence on hostile forces, in doing so it has also committed serious violations of human dignity.
Although the Foundation does not currently know whether there is such a thing as a soul, it is safe to say that human consciousness is the closest thing to what one could call a soul. As such, entrapping a person's consciousness within a foreign, paralyzed body defies every known concept of human dignity. Furthermore, Dr Dominik Martin's journal, together with tests 7122-17, 18, DOI-7122-1 to 3 and OP-Soulmate-05, show that the deletion of metadata and the transfer of consciousness are psychologically almost unbearable for the subjects and lead to severe trauma and, in some cases, suicide. Even if the end always justified the means - which, in the opinion of the Ethics Committee, is not the case here - the use of such methods for advanced interrogation would be highly questionable.
The success of the Department of Intelligence does prove it right, which is why Project Balder may persist, however continuation of Operation Soulmate and all further operations of this kind are nevertheless prohibited on the basis just mentioned.
We secure. We contain. We protect.
— The Ethics Committee of the SCP Foundation
