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Item #: SCP-7778
Object Class: Thaumiel
Special Containment Procedures: Due to the nature of SCP-7778-α, direct containment is neither feasible nor necessary. Steps are to be taken to ensure that the continued safety and security of SCP-7778-α is not compromised. Operation of SCP-7778-β is to continue indefinitely. Efforts to develop more effective means of sustaining SCP-7778-β are ongoing.
Description: SCP-7778 is the collective designation for two adjacent anomalous phenomena: SCP-7778-α and SCP-7778-β.
SCP-7778-α is a powerful ontological anomaly affecting Administrative Area-01, the formal meeting place of the Overseer Council and location of the primary RAISA1 archives. Through unknown means, Area-01 has been conceptually merged with the metaphysical constructs of "security,” "protection,” and "containment"; the foremost pillars of the SCP Foundation's founding Charter.
As a result of this fact, the integrity of Area-01 is intrinsically linked to the continued preservation of Foundation operations. For instance: it is speculated that the capture of SCP-7778-α by a rival Group of Interest, irrespective of external factors, would inevitably result in an irreversible SK-Class ("Dominance Shift") scenario within less than six months of its occurrence.
SCP-7778-β is an anomalous apparatus located beneath Area-01, assembled in 1967 by the Department of Applied Engineering after two years of development. SCP-7778-β is powered by the corpse of SCP-1102-ARC, former Chicago Spirit operative Lawrence Anthony Amato (1874-1933); more commonly referred to by his nickname, "Lucky Larry". Amato is believed to have possessed one of the most powerful probabilistic anomalies identified to date, enabling him to evade law enforcement while engaging in numerous criminal activities over a twenty year period, until his eventual death in 1933 at the hands of Spirit caporegime Warren O'Donnell2 (1898-1973).
O'Donnell himself would later be captured by Foundation agents in December of 1962, and agreed to lead investigators to the body of SCP-1102-ARC in exchange for lighter terms of confinement, which was retrieved and integrated into SCP-7778-β on 10/8/1967. Utilizing SCP-1102-ARC's cadaver as a fuel source, SCP-7778-β generates a 15 km²3 field of energy containing a localized probabilistic anomaly, causing human subjects in its vicinity to experience:
- Positive outcomes in situations with high levels of uncertainty;
- Indirect protection from virtually all bodily injury;
- Increased competency and diligence while making decisions under pressure;
- An overall upward trend in 'good fortune'.
Due to SCP-7778-α's anomalous properties, traces of SCP-7778-β's effects permeate throughout the whole of Foundation operational structure, leading to marked increases in the success of containment procedures and InfoSec4 policies which would otherwise be incomplete, ineffective, or completely nonsensical prior to the creation of SCP-7778.
The existence of SCP-7778-β is essential to the continuation of the present relationship between the majority of the global population and the activities of the Foundation, colloquially known as "The Veil". For more information, see Addendum 7778-2.
Addendum 7778-1: Origins of SCP-7778-α
SCP-7778-α is believed to have first manifested sometime in the year 1922, in the midst of the March 1921 Administration Crisis, a violent interorganizational conflict triggered by the indictment of PoI-7778-1 — then-incumbent Foundation Administrator Franklin Williams III (1878-1923) — on charges of conspiracy, corruption, and other similar offenses.
PoI-7778-1, c. 1902
Williams previously served as deputy-director of the Department of Research and Development, and was appointed to succeed his father, Fredrick, after his assassination in 1919 by defecting members of MTF Alpha-15. One of Williams first acts as Administrator was to order the execution of 37 personnel suspected of involvement in this conspiracy, many of whom were sentenced without trials, beginning a pattern of autocratic and paranoid behavior which would define much of Williams' administration.
In 1921, these outbursts would begin to increase in severity, culminating in O5-1 organizing the assembly of a special Ethics Committee tribunal for the purpose of discussing a potential motion of no-confidence. In response, Williams unilaterally ordered the detainment of O5-1, the immediate dissolution of the Ethics Committee, and the immediate removal of the remainder of the Council, marking the official beginning of the crisis.
Much of the circumstances surrounding SCP-7778-α's creation remain ambiguous. Although accounts vary, it is generally agreed that Williams commissioned the creation of SCP-7778-α from an unknown thaumaturge6 as a "fail-safe" in the event of his successful removal, with the intention of detonating Area-01's on-site nuclear warhead if this were to occur. However, these plans were inadvertently thwarted when facility engineering staff — fearing Williams' deteriorating mental state — elected to disable the building's central power grid before abandoning their posts. Facing mass desertions and near-certain imprisonment, Williams' would later be found dead in his personal quarters on June 8th, 1923. The manner of death was officially ruled as suicide by cyanide poisoning.
Subsequent attempts to reverse SCP-7778-α based on notes from Williams' personal diary proved unsuccessful, as the majority of relevant documentation had been dictated in elaborate cryptogram, with the information contained in this file being the extent of knowledge obtained from deciphered materials. Further decryption efforts are ongoing as of the time of writing.
Addendum 7778-2: Creation of SCP-7778-β
Following Williams' removal and the broad reorganizations of Foundation command which followed, the number of anomalies entering into containment per year increased from an average of 27 in 1925, to over 300 in 1965, inundating existing containment personnel and resulting in 77 containment breaches, seven partial "Broken Masquerade" scenarios, and an unknown number of activations of SCP-2000. Several proposals were introduced to address these incidents, including outsourcing containment of select anomalies to friendly Groups of Interest, lowering requirements for recruitment, and decommissioning of hazardous anomalies already in containment.
On August 14th, 1965, O5-7 proposed the application of additional thaumaturgical augmentations to SCP-7778-α for the purpose of resolving the crisis, exploiting SCP-7778-α's7 ontological properties to disseminate a beneficial anomalous agent among Foundation personnel. This motion was debated for several weeks — during which a number of alternative solutions were discussed, enacted, and subsequently failed to produce significant results — before its eventual approval on September 1st, 1965, following an 8-5 vote of the Overseer Council.
Incidentally, the true nature of SCP-1102-ARC's anomalous properties — previously only classified as a minor reality bender — had been posthumously brought to the attention of Foundation personnel in relation to the sudden manifestation of SCP-████ over New York City in July of 1965. O5-6, SCP-████'s acting HMCL supervisor, suggested bargaining with captive Chicago Spirit operatives for the location of SCP-1102-ARC's remains, which would then be used in the creation of an artificial probabilistic anomaly for installation beneath Area-01. This proposal was approved on July 31st, 1965, and carried out through the commissioning of SCP-7778-β, which was completed two years later on December 1st, 1967.
The effects of SCP-7778-β's activation were immediate and consequential. The containment crisis — which had hindered central Foundation operations for nearly seven years — was declared resolved on April 18th, 1969, following a series of fortuitous alterations to the behavior of several anomalies widely regarded as antipathical to human life. These events coincided with a number of other similar effects across a wide variety of Foundation departments, divisions, and sub-organizations, decreasing overall containment expenditures by an estimated 7.6 billion USD.
An abridged record of SCP-7778-β's broad alterations to anomalous behavioral patterns has been attached to this file below.
| Anomaly | Laconic Description | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| SCP-682 | Intelligent reptilian entity with immense regenerative abilities possessing significant contempt for human life and humanity as a whole. | The primary contributing factor to three major InfoSec disasters of the 1925-1969 containment crisis. Inexplicably ceased targeting major population centers during containment breaches, instead choosing to attack smaller farming communities & rural municipalities in the area surrounding its holding facility. |
| SCP-1155 | Incorporeal ambush predator capable of assuming the appearance of non-anomalous street art to attract potential victims. | Displayed a marked decrease in attention-seeking behavior following the activation of SCP-7778-β, with relocation events primarily occurring in abandoned buildings and other similar structures without direct provocation8 by containment personnel. Additionally, a marginal decline in the lethality of relocation events was noted, from 99.7% in 1968 to 88.3% in 1978. |
| ●●|●●●●●|●●|● | N/A | 💕: 🗣️ 📝💽 🎨 <—β—> 💕: 🗣️📝💽 |
| SCP-3916 | Extinct sub-species of Chortoicetes terminifera (Australian plague locust) capable of reproducing at an abnormally high rate. | Experienced a mass die-off after the stunting of its primary anomalous property, unable to sustain healthy fertility rates through biological means, directly averting a possible ARBH-Class Event within the next several decades. |
| SCP-4201 | A conflict between two opposing pizza restaurants which resulted in the complete destruction of the town of Agloe, New York. | Following the sudden appearance of SCP-4201-2, SCP-4201-1 was unable to successfully carry out its plans for expansion into other counties of New York State, and has since been diverted entirely by its perpetual antagonism towards SCP-4201-2. |
| SCP-5131 | Anomalous sleep paralysis. | With the spread of SCP-5131 to all Foundation personnel, the psychological effects of the anomaly on the Overseer Council have decreased substantially. |
File Update 10/2/2011: Contemporary revelations
On March 3rd, 2010, during a routine survey of Area-01's topographical features, O5-11 reported an alarming 3km decrease in the length of the facility's grounds — an island — a significant decline from data collected twenty years prior in March of 1990.
SCP-9722 file photo, c. 1958
On August 21st, 1986, in response to an ongoing outbreak of SCP-97229, the Overseer Council voted unanimously to commission the removal of all vegetative material surrounding Area-01, leaving only the aphanitic basalt rock comprising the core of island's landmass. Due to the sensitive nature of SCP-7778 and the security of Area-01 as a whole, this was performed without the approval of relevant planning committees, and undertaken personally by members of MTF Alpha-1.
It is presently hypothesized that these actions — assisted, in part, by a number of ecologically stunting anomalous supplements — inadvertently resulted in the rapid erosion of nearly 12% of the island's landmass over a period of less than 30 years. Research conducted in weeks following estimated the island was set to disappear entirely in less than 300 years, with the structural integrity of Area-01 anticipated to fail sometime in the year 2165.
These findings reinvigorated efforts to decrypt the contents of Williams' journals, with the ultimate objective of transferring SCP-7778 to a location where it could be operated indefinitely. Advancements in the field of cryptography since the year 1923 lead to several breakthroughs in September of 2011, culminating in a raid on a restaurant propertied by members of GoI-66610, an anomalous Jacobite society centered around the restoration of James Francis Edward Stuart to the British throne.
Among the detained were thirteen members of GoI-666, including an individual identified as George Arthur "Aegor"11 Yeatts (b. 1886), a 124-year-old Scottish occultist and sorcerer purported to have engaged in arcane blood rituals to maintain his youth. Yeatts, a third cousin of Williams III, would go on to confess intimate knowledge of Foundation activities during the years of Williams' administration, along with details of SCP-7778-α's creation, function, and other extraneous information already possessed by Foundation archivists. Although he claimed it was possible to reverse SCP-7778-α, he further stated that a successful transfer of the anomaly was infeasible, and would likely result in a similar outcome to Area-01's demolition.
Upon confirming these assessments to be accurate, an impromptu meeting of the Overseer Council was held to debate potential actions moving forward, including a proposal submitted by the SCP-7778 research team following Yeatts' statement. After two hours of deliberation, a vote was undertaken. The results were as follows:
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