SCP-7834. Cognitohazardous text has been removed.
Item #: SCP-7834
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-7834 is to be kept in a low-priority storage locker. Personnel with expertise in extinct languages are not allowed access to SCP-7834.
Description: SCP-7834 is a stone tablet that dates back to the Neolithic age. The writing on the tablet is written in an ancient language primarily spoken in the modern day region of southern Europe. On the back of SCP-7834 is a sigil of unknown origin, which resembles a worm.
SCP-7834 exudes a memetic effect when read and understood, causing the reader to hallucinate and believe that worms, designated SCP-7834-1, are located within their walls. According to testimony, they are approximately 12 millimeters long, and appear to be brown in color. Currently, no instances of SCP-7834-1 have been seen by staff.
Incident Report On 8/15/23, Researcher Ben Reedson returned from a research trip, and attempted to translate SCP-7834. The following files regard what occurred during and after translation.
AUDIO LOG
DATE: 8/15/23, 11:03 AM
LOCATION: Containment Room 12, Site-75, Kansas
NOTE: This audio was recorded by a microphone owned by Researcher Ben Reedson.
[BEGIN LOG]
Reedson: Alright, hello, site personnel. This log is to detail the translation of SCP-7834. I'm going to be attempting to read the ancient tablet, which isn't ever a bad thing… Ok. Let's do this. So… This first part… That means… "Ascend beyond yourself." Okay. The next part… That means "And become many." Well, that's never a good sign… hang on. I have to use the bathroom.
(A noticeable silence occurs for a few minutes. Later, the sound of the door opening can be heard.)
Reedson: What the hell?
(Footsteps can be heard running closer, likely Researcher Reedson's.)
Reedson: Okay, I don't know what just happened, but there were these little worms on the tablet. As soon as I entered the room, they jumped off the tablet and buried into the floor. I tried to grab one, but… well, it failed. Oh! That reminds me, I got these things on my work trip…
(Ben pulls out a pair of goggles from his pocket.)
Reedson: Okay, uh, these are infrared goggles, and they allow me to see heat signatures. I'm going to see where the worms went. Okay… here we go…
(Several seconds of silence occur.)
Reedson: They're in the walls. Not just the three or so I saw on the tablet. Hundreds, maybe thousands.
(A noticeable silence occurs once more.)
Reedson: I have to call security.
(Researcher Reedson turns the microphone off.)
[END LOG]
VIDEO LOG
DATE: 8/15/23, 11:15 AM
LOCATION: Site Cafeteria, Site-75, Kansas
NOTE: Footage was taken by the security camera located within the room.
[BEGIN LOG]
(Three people are located within the room at the start of the footage, identified as Researcher Mary Bridget, Security Officer David Sven, and Head of Security Luke Zachary. Ben Reedson bursts in quickly.)
Reedson: There's worms in the walls.
Bridget: What does that mean?
Reedson: I mean there are literally worms in the walls. Not just one or two, but thousands. Maybe more.
Sven: Alright. Show us.
(Reedson hands Sven the goggles, and he puts them on.)
Sven: I don't see anything.
Reedson: What? Let me see.
(Sven hands Reedson the goggles back. He puts on the goggles, looks around, and takes them off again.)
Reedson: No, they are definitely there.
Zachary: Listen, it's not cool to lie about these sorts of things. These things could realistically happen at Foundation sites. We don't want people getting worked up over nothing.
Reedson: If they could realistically happen, then why aren't you investigating them?
Bridget: Because we don't see anything. Besides that, did you do anything regarding any anomalies recently?
Reedson: Y-Yeah. I was attempting to translate that stone tablet.
Sven: Oh, that thing! That's, uh… which one was that again?
Bridget: The one in room 15, I think.
Zachary: Well see, there's your problem. You read that thing and you must've triggered a memetic or something.
Reedson: I'm not sure… It doesn't seem like one.
Zachary: Well, nothing seems like a memetic until it actually is.
Bridget: Listen. If it's a memetic, then it's a simple thing that can easily be resolved.
Reedson: And what if it's not?
Sven: Then we'll deal with that when the time comes. We just want to help you.
Zachary: Chill out. I know I did.
Reedson: …I-I don't know. I just think we need to examine all the angles first. Like, starting with "This thing is a real threat" and not just… dismissing it as a memetic.
Bridget: Well, we can't see it, so it's obviously a memetic. Simple as that.
Reedson: No, not as simple as that. Maybe SCP-7834 is some sort of conduit that, by me attempting to translate it, caused me to see some extradimensional entity.
Bridget: Do you know how unlikely that is? Let me explain a little something to you. These things have not harmed you or done anything that makes them unable to be classified as "real." We can't see them either. If you had come here and told me they bit you, well, maybe I'd be more inclined to believe you. But right now, there's no real threat to the Foundation.
Reedson: No real threat? We would contain a rock if it floated 2 feet off the ground, and this is "no real threat?"
Bridget: I see what you're saying, but there's no real way to know if you're right. So, unless you have definitive proof that these things are real, then I can't believe you.
Reedson: You want proof? I'll give you proof! These things are real, and I'll prove it!
(Reedson leaves.)
[END LOG]
AUDIO LOG
DATE: 8/15/23, 11:21 AM
LOCATION: Containment Room 12, Site-75, Kansas
NOTE: This audio was recorded by a microphone owned by Researcher Ben Reedson.
[BEGIN LOG]
Reedson: Alright, if I'm going to get proof from anywhere, it's here. Let's see here… Ah! The tablet! Maybe if they attempt to read it, they'll understand.
(The footage goes quiet for a moment. A loud noise, similar to a wall being burst down, can be heard. Shortly after, a loud scream can be heard, presumably from Researcher Reedson. Afterwards, a loud door slam can be heard.)
Reedson: The worms… Hundreds of them just burst out of the walls. A-And even worse, I wasn't able to get the tablet.
(The footage goes quiet again for a bit.)
Reedson: …These are just worms. M-Maybe I can protect myself against them with some armor.
(Reedson walks around for a bit, presumably heading to the armory. Eventually a door being opened can be heard.)
Reedson: Ah! Here we go! Let me just put this on…
(The sound of armor being put on can be heard.)
Reedson: There we go! Now… it's time to go into… the nest… of the worms… and… Oh god, what if they eat me? What if they can eat through armor? Maybe they'll eat everything I have!
(Reedson sounds like he is hyperventilating.)
Reedson: No… No! I have to do this!
(Reedson proceeds to walk back to the containment chamber.)
Reedson: Alright… Here… we… go…
(The door opens.)
Reedson: Oh god, they're all over the floor… But the tablet's right there… I just… gotta… get to it…
(Reedson proceeds to walk towards SCP-7834. Squelching sounds can be heard.)
Reedson: They're… They're climbing on me! Oh god, they're climbing on me! Fuck!
(Reedson continues walking towards SCP-7834. His movement seems to be hindered.)
Reedson: Oh god, they've reached my torso… but… I'm almost there…
(Silence for a few seconds, aside from some squelching.)
Reedson: Got it!
(Reedson runs out of the room and closes the door. He takes off his armor and slams it onto the ground. He proceeds to run back to the armory, grab a flamethrower, and begins to incinerate the armor.)
Reedson: Die, you monster! Die!
(Footsteps can be heard from behind Reedson. They walk close to him.)
Bridget: Ben, what are you doing?
(Ben screams. In his shock, he drops the flamethrower.)
Bridget: What the hell are you doing with SCP-7834?
Reedson: I-I was going to prove to you that the worms are real. I was hoping that if you read the tablet, then maybe… maybe you'd see I was right. But when I went in there to retrieve it, there were hundreds of worms in there… and I was just barely able to get out alive. So I burned the armor that the worms were crawling on.
Bridget: You thought that making me read a potential cognitohazard was a good idea? Ben, I think you need psychiatric evaluation.
Reedson: No! The worms were in there, and they are real!
Bridget: Alright then. Let's see if you're right.
(Bridget opens the door to the containment room.)
Bridget: See? Nothing.
Reedson: Why… Why aren't they attacking you? I could hear and feel them crawling up me… and you're literally standing in them and they don't hurt you!
Bridget: I don't think they exist, Ben.
Reedson: Tell me you at least see the hole in the wall they burst out of.
Bridget: Sorry, I don't see that either.
Reedson: But then… But then how could I hear the sound of me stepping on them, and feeling how they crawled up my suit?
Bridget: Sometimes, cognitohazards can do that. They can make you see, hear, and feel things that don't exist. Now then, how about that psychiatric evaluation?
Reedson: …Okay.
(Bridget and Reedson proceed to leave the room.)
[END LOG]
VIDEO LOG
DATE: 8/15/23, 11:36 AM
LOCATION: Interrogation room, Site-75, Kansas
NOTE: Footage was recorded by the room's security camera.
[BEGIN LOG]
Bridget: Alright, have a seat.
Reedson: Okay.
(The two of them sit down.)
Bridget: So I wanted to talk to you a little about your… problem.
Reedson: Alright.
Bridget: Let's start off with this. When did you first start seeing SCP-7834-1?
Reedson: You mean the worms? I had just come back from the bathroom, when I saw them crawling on the tablet.
Bridget: Okay. And, what happened to them?
Reedson: Well, I tried to grab them, but I missed. It was like they just slipped through my fingers.
Bridget: I see. How big are these worms, exactly?
Reedson: They looked about the size of my fingernail… maybe twelve millimeters?
Bridget: Hmm… Okay. Again, we theorize it's a memetic effect. So, if you're willing, we can prescribe you some amnestics and call it a day.
Reedson: No. I don't think these are memetic.
Bridget: What makes you believe that it's not a memetic effect?
Reedson: Because I could see them crawling around, and they attempted to crawl up my suit.
Bridget: Not necessarily. Remember, SCP-7834 could've just messed with your senses in order to make you feel like this.
Reedson: But why? What's the purpose of a useless tablet that makes you see worms?
Bridget: Maybe to drive people crazy, like what's happening right now.
Reedson: I am NOT going crazy!
Bridget: Okay, that was out of line. Anyway, next question… Why would you think that we are the crazy ones? I can't seem to fathom it.
Reedson: W-When did I say you were crazy? I think you don't want anyone to know about the worms.
Bridget: Me? Why me?
Reedson: M-Maybe there was an accident. Something that happened that was so terrible, you couldn't bear to let the truth out. And when I came along and discovered the aftermath, you told me that I was in the wrong. Even now, you want to kill me, by applying these "amnestics" to get me out of the picture. And when they ask what happened to me, you'll say that I went crazy and had to be executed.
Bridget: Ben, no-
Reedson: Or maybe instead of an experiment gone wrong, it was an experiment gone right. Perhaps you attempted to make a superweapon that could be used to grant you power over the site, and when I discovered it, you called me insane. Or maybe you found an ancient vault of these creatures beneath the earth and opened it. Or maybe you're a shapeshifting alien whose children are larvae. Or maybe-
Bridget: Ben, STOP! This is ridiculous. Do you hear how you sound? You can't just throw out accusations willy-nilly and expect me to believe it.
Reedson: …I think I understand.
Bridget: …Listen. It seems like you're really stressed out, and you're afraid because everything isn't as simple as it usually is. So, what I think we should do is prescribe you a therapist, and if you're willing, take some amnesti-
Reedson: Are you serious? After all of that, you don't even give a second thought that I might be in the right? Maybe by reading that tablet, I opened my eyes to seeing something the rest of you can't! Or maybe you guys can't see it because only certain people can see them! Or maybe-
Bridget: Calm down. We just want to help.
Reedson: No. I'm done talking to you. You just keep saying the same thing, over and over. But I know, deep down, that I'm not crazy. I'm going.
(Researcher Reedson storms out of the room.)
[END LOG]
Addendum: Currently, no evidence has been found to back up Researcher Reedson's claims. Psychiatric evaluation for Researcher Reedson is pending.