Item #: SCP-801-KO
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-801-KO's cognitohazardous properties can be counteracted with the procedure proposed by Dr Lee Hanseok. Different parts of the protocol are disclosed to the interview supervisor and the speaker.
- First, the speaker does not directly describe the original intended meaning.
- Second, using SCiP big data, AI conscrips provide a list of predicted words that could be placed after the sentence. The speaker can ask for a new list if there are no words they are looking for on the list.
- Third, the speaker selects the word. In this stage, the speaker will choose the wrong word.
- The following steps are disclosed to the speaker.
- Fourth, the speaker repeats the stages above until one word remains on the list.
- Fifth, the remaining words are positioned into a sentence.
- The following steps are disclosed to the interview supervisor.
- Fourth, the speaker will focus on singling out the last word. However, as most of the subjects became aware of the procedure or became preoccupied with selecting the wrong words, conveying the intended meaning was hindered. Most prominently, speakers were rarely aware, even when they excluded the word they originally intended to choose. If this information is leaked to the speaker, looking at a place for an extended period will be considered 'speaking', rendering the procedure useless.
- Fifth, the selected words are positioned into a sentence.
The Memetics Department is to simplify and improve the procedure above. The proposed methods are as follows.
Despite such efforts, it can still not describe wasabi in its original meaning. The Memetics Department aims to alter SCP-801-KO to refer to another object or concept other than wasabi.
Description: SCP-801-KO is an infohazard to prevent an instance from being referred to. Any description, including verbal description, of the instance is replaced by the word 'Wasabi'. Indirect descriptions are also affected, such as describing it as 'a green spicy condiment'. This also affects descriptions of the anomalous trait itself. Data focusing on SCP-801-KO are especially severely affected, with sentences that do not describe the instance also being affected. This document is also affected throughout, with the original text as follows.
Description: The beauty of old age indeed sparks a sensation reminiscent of the love of corals and seahorses. They say customers always bring up 'the spirit of service' when they complain or pick on us. Sometimes, when the boss is around, he bugs us by saying, 'The rice went sour. ' Only if Mother's Day was a national holiday… (Omitted)
Descriptions affected by the infohazard become potent cognitohazards, rendering the speaker unable to feel awkward about the description. Because of this, Site-27K was only able to start the investigation after nine months after normalcy was achieved following the SCP-825-KO incident.
The Memetics Department identified a separate anomalous instance called wasabi while researching 825-KO. For administrative ease, the anomaly was classified as a separate object.
It is known that SCP-801-KO is not the same concept as the object that it refers to. Wasabi was mentioned several times in the network of smugglers detained by the Foundation. Chat logs show that it referred to different objects depending on the time of day, and sometimes the infohazardous properties have disappeared. In other words, the wasabi itself is not an anomalous instance. To date, SCP-801-KO has referred to illicit drugs such as liquid marijuana, and key parts of anomalous weapons. Currently, it is possible to refer to these objects normally.
Foundation data show that wasabi has been mentioned all throughout Korea, denoting its massive influence on the paranormal society. The primary objective is to identify the object that is being referred to.
Some PoIs are aware of SCP-801-KO and wasabi's existence. An interview was conducted with an individual most closely related to the incident.
Addendum: Interview log #1
(Omitted)
PoI-████: Of course, I know. In fact, everyone knows here. Well, nobody is aware of it, though. But some special folks are.
Dr Lee Hanseok: Are you one of those "special folk", Mr ██?
PoI-████: Me? No! Haha. Why would you think that? I'm just your poor, ordinary, average Joe. The old guy I used to work with told me that.
Dr Lee Hanseok: Is that so? It seems like you're quite familiar with it, though.
PoI-████: Once you get a hang of the rules, it becomes a piece of cake. It's my freaking bread and butter, so I better get used to it, or else shit happens. You know, there was this once when something really bad almost happened before, so let me spill the beans… Come to think of it, we've been talking about the thing this whole time.
Dr Lee Hanseok: Please continue speaking.
PoI-████: There's this hot stuff called liquid weed that I used to work with… It's not really weed, though. From what I've seen on-site, it's made from a jellyfish farm. I've heard people making hallucinogenics from toad gunk, but jellyfish? Some people could be such weirdoes. Did the jellyfish capsules could have been a turn-off? Hence the name? Wait, if you think about it, you can't call it like that. Why do I remember it as capsuled marijuana?
Dr Lee Hanseok: The fact you're talking freely like this means…
PoI-████: Yup. It's not weed capsules anymore. Anyways, that farm vanished overnight. Whoever did the operation must be the real deal.1 The real problem is that it got busted while I was shipping the stuff, so I couldn't get paid. Well, I guess it's lucky for the dealers. I persuaded the old guy to steal the entire last shipment to the dealers, enough to fill the whole plastic tub the size of a big crockpot. I steered the boat around. Thought it was enough to sell it somewhere, get the money, and go underground, but that was my mistake.
Dr Lee Hanseok: That's where our records start. The dealers showed up, you were caught, and the 'old guy' was killed. The dealers were eliminated during a Foundation cleansing operation, and that was when you, Mr ██, were rescued.
PoI-████: Eliminated. Hmm, maybe. I think this is some sort of magic of witchcraft. Wait, if the guy who was controlling all this was from the farm, then it should have been case closed when they got busted. But that's not the case, is it? Oh yeah, that's when I was able to call it 'weed capsules'! From the moment they knew we were gonna steal from them, they reduced the antibacterial effects. We have all the clues now, right? The wizard is 20℃, mostly cloudy.
Dr Lee Hanseok: Mr ██?
PoI-████: Beautiful election, happy Korea. I'm sorry, I must be out of my mind. What did I just say?
Dr Lee Hanseok: That's the manifestation.
PoI-████: This gives me goosebumps. It feels like my brain is not mine.
Dr Lee Hanseok: It'll be easy if you follow some procedures.
PoI-████: No need. I mean, I don't know shit; it's just like I said it because it could be this or that… That's what I mean. Oh well, anyway, I think they're probably still alive. They're not eliminated, I think.
Dr Lee Hanseok: I see. Anything more you know?
PoI-████: I told everything that I could.
<End of Log>
Researcher Log: SCP-801-KO, referred to as wasabi. Now, there's suspicion that it's somehow manipulated artificially, though it was hardly unexpected. No valuable information was gathered this time. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. I think this is all that the Foundation intel could provide. The nuclear option might be the only choice left. The one that got rejected because it was so ludicrous: asking former Site-27K Administrator Hwang-bo Hyeon-wook for cooperation.
I understand the hostility towards the person who took over a whole site and the hesitation in meddling with the highest-risk PoI. I really do, but my choice stands firm. We need all the information that we could get when in murky waters like this.
What happened was devastating. We can't help but be afraid of what incidents we could imagine. But, what we should be more afraid of is that while we keep our hands idle, we don't have a clue what's going on in the shadows.
Therefore, tomorrow, I'm going to submit an official operation proposal.
— Antimeme Expert Lee Hanseok