SCP-8036 interior; Auditorium Eight.
| Item #: SCP-8036 | Level 1/8036 |
| Object Class: Exempt | Classified |
Object Relations Procedures: Containment measures or surveillance operations for SCP-8036 are not authorized. However, SCP-8036 has agreed to willingly remain in the city of Puerto Montt, Chile, near Site-53, on the conditions that it receives a regular audience and remains open to the public. Bi-weekly attendance to SCP-8036 is mandatory for all Class-C and Class-D personnel at Site-53.
Special Task Force Zeta-C2 ("Film Buffers,") formerly assigned to observe, research, and propose potential long-term containment measures for SCP-8036, has been formally disbanded. In the event that SCP-8036 relocates away from Puerto Montt, Field Agent Marcela Reale must be dispatched within seven days to negotiate its return. SCP-8036 is expected to demand additional patronage during negotiations, and the Foundation has authorized patronage demands to be met unconditionally. If further demands are made, Site Director Caroline Vasquez must report to the Anomalous Entity Engagement Division.
Description: SCP-8036 is a 29,000-square meter, two-story, 1880-guest capacity modern movie theater, operating under the name "Living Pictures Theater." It is comprised of one lobby, two concession stands, an arcade space with four games, two restrooms, and eight auditoriums1. Notably absent are any employee-only areas, kitchens, storage areas, or access points to upstairs projection rooms. SCP-8036 has remained in one fixed location since August 9th, 2016. However, prior to Foundation intervention, the theater would spontaneously de-manifest every Tuesday at exactly 12:00 A.M. relative to its initial location's time zone, re-manifesting in a new, seemingly random location and changing its film and concession offerings in the process. Following Foundation intervention, while SCP-8036 has not yet re-located, its films and concessions still change along the same schedule.
While SCP-8036 typically shows at least one film per week in line with other international theaters2, it primarily shows films which are otherwise non-existent, unfinished, or cancelled.
Humanoid entities acting as "employees" of SCP-8036 exist throughout the building. These entities have not been observed cycling through shifts, entering, or exiting, and appear to spontaneously manifest and de-manifest as needed. "Employee manifestations" freely admit to being mere components of SCP-8036, as opposed to independent actors in their own right. By speaking through these "employees," SCP-8036 has demonstrated itself both sentient and sapient. Generally, SCP-8036 is compliant and amicable, but it has demonstrated extreme resistance to explaining its own anomalous properties or to undergoing extended observation.
The first stage of Foundation intervention took place from June 7, 2016 to July 11, 2016. Initially, a single tracking beacon was planted behind a trash can in SCP-8036's front lobby, both to see whether SCP-8036's change in location could be effectively tracked and to see whether items left in the building remain after a relocation event. When this experiment proved successful, Foundation agent Marcela Reale was tasked with repeatedly staying in one of SCP-8036's lobbies overnight during relocation events, tracking its movement, interviewing its "employee" manifestations when possible, and documenting its film and concession offerings. The results of this experiment can be seen in Report 8036.
On July 13th, 2016, Site Director Caroline Vasquez received a relevant phone call from astronomy analyst Jackson Hall. A transcript of this call is attached below.
SCP-8036 remained missing until August 1st, when it was re-discovered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. At this point, Caroline Vasquez contacted Agent Reale concerning a negotiation assignment. A transcript of the following calls are attached below.
Agent Reale returned to SCP-8036 on August 3rd to negotiate with the entity and complete her report.
Following the completion of Report 8036, SCP-8036's exemption was finalized and its Object Relations Procedures were codified.
NOTICE OF EXEMPTION
To be appended to SCP-8036.
To say Agent Reale's suggestion has been a controversial one is an understatement - the Foundation, generally speaking, does not do exemptions. And yet, the longer her proposed "Object Relations Procedures" have sat at my desk, the longer I have found myself wondering who or what we are actually meant to be protecting. Who benefits from our interference on SCP-8036? Is our role here to incarcerate that which is dangerous, or is it merely to hide that which we cannot yet explain? And why is it so difficult to accept that there may be a difference?
SCP-8036's anomalous properties pose no clear threat to itself, the Foundation, or humanity. With that in mind, all containment procedures are now unauthorized. I understand some may question my authority to make this decision. To them I would like to say: it was difficult enough for you to find one person willing to run this place; I don't think you want to risk having to go for a second.
All of us here, to varying extents, love that which is alien to us. You almost have to, to dedicate your life to the Foundation's cause. The only difference I see between Agent Reale and the rest of us is that, in her case, the love is reciprocal.
I'm very happy for you, Marcela. Please never make me pull something like this again.
— Caroline Vasquez, Director, Site-53
