Where was I?
Item #: SCP-8197
Object Class: Plato
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-8197 is contained within a hazardous materials lockbox in Site Pink, located in Labrador, Canada. SCP-8197 is authorized for field testing on any candidate fitting current execution protocols.
Description: SCP-8197 was first recovered in Canmore, Alberta after increased agency presence in the area discovered the object within an abandoned cabin. Two personnel would succumb to the object’s effects before it was secured.
SCP-8197 is a small, marble figurine of the Virgin Mary. SCP-8197 exists primarily in metaphysical space, acting proportionally to an individual’s continued mental acknowledgments of it. SCP-8197 exhibits a strong degree of visual incomprehensibility, rendering complex understanding of its form difficult. This effect becomes potent to the point of physical harm when an individual enters close proximity to it. When any persons attempt to visually decode SCP-8197 within its immediate vicinity, they will begin experiencing significant loss of sight corresponding to symptoms of a stroke, resulting in a general inability to process the surrounding environment. This will gradually evolve until the subject’s brain is no longer capable of determining coherent signals. Following this point, the occipital lobe1 will begin processing foreign electrical information, causing the subject to vividly hallucinate the interior of a large chapel. SCP-8197 possesses two qualities across all permutations; it is always devoid of life, and it is always described as a church. This description persists across large gulfs of environmental variance, suggesting immutable or otherwise mental components in its visual perceptions.
Reconstructed brain scan imagery. Quality unrecoverable.
Within the limited scope of available participants, testing has been performed a total of 3 separate times.2 In all cases, subjects have suffered a fatal brain aneurysm in range of 2-3 hours after original exposure.
Explorations have mapped out small portions of SCP-8197, creating a series of unconnectable fragments with largely incoherent architectural layout. Various interconnected rooms and passageways have been discovered, each containing individually distinct structure and visual composition. Changes often correspond to the inducement of heightened emotional activity, typically resulting in increased cranial pressure with direct linkage to accelerating conditional inevitabilities.
Notes taken directly from testing instances are contained below. Although the reliability of witness accounts is largely undeterminable3, corresponding details and consistency in understanding generally verify the statement’s accuracy. All notes are adapted from statements of affected individuals.
Log 1
Date: December 3rd
Subject: Daryl Arnold Whitter. 23 years old. 30 minutes post first symptoms manifest.
There is a small room. The walls of the room are made of some sort of plaster or drywall, colored an off-muddy green. In front of the subject, there is a small wooden door. The subject attempts to open the door, but the door is locked. The room appears to be a closet. The subject attempts to open the door, but the door is locked.
The room is a church. The subject attempts to kick open the door, shattering it off the hinges. The door does not hit the floor. The next room is larger. The wallpaper of the room is identical. The air has a strong must, but does not smell. The room is cold. Wood and metal scraps are scattered about the floor, covered in a thick layer of dust. Multiple lines of church pews populate the floor. There are no windows, and the room is dim.
Across from the closet, there is a large elevated stage leading directly to a larger door. Subject advances to the door. Subject pulls on a large iron ring located in its center and the door folds inward, collapsing into a heap. Behind the door, there is a long, dimly lit hallway containing a series of marble statues. The statues are lined up neatly in rows across the walls. They have no recognizable form.
They are figures of worship. Subject proceeds into the hallway which is covered in a thin layer of grey water. Subject reports the sensation of cold preceding a strong smell of copper. Bronze-colored piping is increasing in quantity as the hallway advances. The piping begins to consume the room entirely and leaves a small dark opening and the subject pushes through the opening.
Behind the opening there is another long hallway, enclosed tightly by two walls. Subject begins to shuffle sideways down the passage, coughing loudly. It smells strongly of rotting wood. Subject places their hand on one of the walls and they accidentally punch through. They pull it out. The hand is now covered in a "dust-like" substance. It is coarse. Subject reports feeling ill and vomits. They collapse.
Time of Death: 17:04. 2 hours 34 minutes post first environmental manifest.
Log 2
Date: December 3rd
Subject: Jeffery Bill Atto. 25 years old. 32 minutes post first symptoms manifest.
There is a long hallway. It is lit with a series of small candles lined along the walls. The ground is covered in a thin layer of water. There is a window at its end. No light is coming in or out of the window. The room is cold. Under the window there is a door. The door is open. The door opens to a small, windowless church.
There is a large set of spiral stairs, heading in all directions. Subject proceeds upwards and the light continues to dim as the staircase advances. Subject is now standing in a large enclosed room. It is within the belfry of a church. There is no bell, but there is a door. It is thin, and leads into another staircase. The stairs are wet and slippery and the room stinks of must and mold. There is a large amount of dust in the air. It is dark, but not so dark as to significantly obscure visibility.
Subject begins to descend the stairs and the room is getting darker. The stairs eventually collapse into a large circular room surrounding a marble statue. The statue is covered in a thick layer of dust, and shows visible wear. Its form is unfettered and illogical. It has a mouth, eyes, and wings.
Subject runs their hand across the statue, and reports a sudden onset numbness along their left side. They pull their hand away from the statue and it is a figure of worship. The room is cold. They are on a set of stairs and then they are in front of the door. The door won't open and then they are in front of the statue. They collapse.
Time Of Death: 6:05. 2 hours 10 minutes post first environmental manifest.
Log 3
Date: May 14th
Subject: Resource 84. Unknown age. 26 minutes post first symptoms manifest.
There is a church. The church is cold. Colder than it should be. There is nothing outside of the windows, because the room has no windows. The room is large, and has no door. On the cracked wooden floor there is a large opening which enters into the rocky tunnel of the church. The room is not well lit. It is too dark to see down the opening. There are church pews down the opening, although it is too dark to see them.
Subject begins to advance down the opening. The opening is short. The church pews are facing the subject. They are covered in a thick layer of dust. The subject is between the aisles of the church pews. The aisle is long. The room is cold. There is a faint orange light at the end of the aisle, elevated slightly above the rows. It illuminates the sheen of a polished stone podium, jagged and poor in form.
In front of the podium there is a human-sized statue of indeterminate height and build. The statue’s marble is dulled and grey from its dust coating. Subject coughs loudly as they approach the statue. Large heaps of dust fall from its mouth. Subject leans in closer to the statue and coughs again. Its form is unclear, but it wears a cloak or tunic draped over its head. It is a figure of worship.
Subject slowly moves their head away from the object and approaches a sizeable opening behind the figure. Light reaches the edges of the opening and sputters out. 5 feet into the chasm there is nothing. Subject proceeds into it. They feel their feet hit something solid and then nothing and then something solid again. Subject is waist deep in a pile of ash.
They continue and the ash slowly rises until they are submerged entirely. They close their eyes and hold their breath. It is pitch black. They continue to descend. There is more ash. They continue to descend. It is wet. It is entirely odorless. It is hot. Hotter than it should be. They continue to descend. There is more ash. It is getting hotter. Subject expresses discomfort. Subject attempts to turn around but cannot properly orient themselves. They continue to descend. There is more ash.
Subject begins coughing violently. They clutch at their throat as large heaps of dust are expelled onto the table and throughout the room. Subject continues coughing as a continuous stream of dust exits from their mouth and nasal cavities. Their head collapses onto the table as dust continues to pour from their throat.
Outpour ceased 15 minutes post event conclusion. Further investigation into the expelled substance would confirm it is chemically identical to human remains.
Time Of Death: 13:24. 2 hours 18 minutes post first environmental manifest.