Item:# SCP-8932
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-8932's sphere of influence has been cordoned from the public under the Foundation front company Steierland Contamination Prevention, LLC, using the cover story of radioactive material spilled during transit.
All surviving instances SCP-8932-A are kept in drug-induced comas at Site-259's humanoid wing. While the 4/21/2025 resolution of the Ethics Committee necessitates their deprogramming from SCP-8932's influence, a means to do so effectively is not yet known, and research continues through Project Unchaperoned.
Description: SCP-8932 refers to a bronze sculpture, 1.29 meters in height, depicting a great horned owl wearing a waistcoat, cravat, and pince-nez. The sculpture is connected to a concrete column in the Corinthian style, 2 meters in height, with a single inscription at the base reading "NO!"
SCP-8932 is located in Gadsden Square, a public park in the center of the village of Whitmore, Nebraska. Any human subject that comes within a 1.7-kilometer radius of SCP-8932 becomes an instance of SCP-8932-A. Leaving SCP-8932's sphere of influence does not reverse this.
While they have no other anomalous characteristics compared to an ordinary human, SCP-8932-A, along with their clothes and all held belongings, have a tendency to flicker in and out of existence for 0.05 seconds.
The full extent of the cause for trigger events is still being understood. All known triggers center on an SCP-8932-A's behavior, including:
- Blasphemy.
- Excessively negative speech.
- Physically assaulting others.
- Smoking or drinking alcohol.
- Masturbation.
- Improper grooming.
- Over/undereating.
- Failure to regularly exercise.
- Flatulence.
- Excessive use of condiments while eating.
- Attempting to explain what happens during a Flicker Event.
Research into Flicker Events has been heavily impeded by the latter list item, especially due to Flicker Events' tendency to interrupt mid-trigger.
Addendum 1 - Recovery: A placard near SCP-8932 indicates that it was erected on August 12th, 1942. However, by February of 1945, the town's population had decreased from 2,780 to 7, with all 2,773 residents recorded as having abruptly moved into seclusion elsewhere.
Four people still lived in Whitmore at the time of the anomaly's discovery in 2025, living as scavengers and recluses who were "forbidden to leave" for unclear reasons. All four were confirmed to be instances of SCP-8932-A, and were designated SCP-8932-A-1 through -4.
Foundation agents discovered the town to be in a state of severe abandonment, with very little maintenance having been done since 1942. Years of unchecked storm damage left the public records office in disrepair, and only two documents pertaining to SCP-8932 could be deciphered through heavy mold damage:
From the desk of Mayor Gus Niederman
April 2nd, 1943
Memorandum
The complaints about our growing juvenile delinquency problem haven't gone unnoticed. Far from it. But as much I'd like to bolster our police force, every cop in the tri-county area who isn't too old to outrun these punks is away on, shall we say, international business.
Luckily, I've been in contact with some eggheads from the Marshall, Carter, & Dark catalog who said they've got an experimental doohickey that could bring the rule of law back to Whitmore. (Nonviolently, even!) You'll see my secret weapon in Gadsden Square sometime this August - but as usual, my loyal staffers get the sneak preview.
(Linda - we're gonna have to be careful about the press release for this one. Apparently, some of the technology involved is something that Uncle Sam wouldn't want Hitler to know about.)
- G
Addendum 2 - Experimentation:
During initial containment, six agents of Local Task Force Hagal-2 "Corn and Corn Alone Day"'s initial exploration team had entered the zone of influence, thereafter becoming SCP-8932-A-5 through -10. They were brought to Site-259 and volunteered to trigger Flicker Events intentionally for research, using the guaranteed trigger phrase "I swear on a stack of Bibles that Johann Sebastian Bach sucked my dick."
Experiment Log - Hagal-2 Exploration Team
Test 1: Control
Subject: SCP-8932-A-5/Sgt. Hailey Nesbitt
Items Held by Subject: N/A
Result: Subject re-materialized in a state of severe embarrassment.
Notes From Subject: "I've been forbidden to tell you what happened in there. … Look, I know how that sounds, and I'm fully aware whose payroll I'm on. I'd tell you if he'd — " [Second flicker.]
Conclusion: Flicker Events involve the subject making contact with a hostile entity, heretofore SCP-8932-B.
Test 2: Duration
Subject: SCP-8932-A-6/Pvt. Carl Fargo
Items Held by Subject: Stopwatch
Result: Subject re-materialized in the fetal position, hyperventilating. The stopwatch had run for six hours. Subject confirmed that it ran without interruption throughout the event.
Notes From Subject: "Please don't make me go back."
Conclusion: Six hours had elapsed for the subject during the Flicker Event.
Test 3: Interview
Subject: SCP-8932-A-7/Pvt. Maria Pender
Items Held by Subject: Pen and notebook
Note: Subject was ordered to question SCP-8932-B.
Result: Subject was severely irritated upon re-materialization. The Notebook had been shredded beyond repair by clawlike implements. Reconstruction of the paper indicates that the subject used it to write "I SWEAR TO YOU THAT I WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER DO IT AGAIN" 2,000 times.
Notes From Subject: "Well, that was obnoxious, but I don't understand why Carl was traumatized by it. I've seen him pull off jobs that would make me puke."12
Conclusion: SCP-8932-B is capable of causing physical harm, expresses hostility to being interviewed, and is possibly avian.
Test 4: Recording Attempt 1
Subject: SCP-8932-A-8/Pvt. Robert Sams
Items Held by Subject: Camcorder
Note: Subject was ordered to record footage of SCP-8932-B.
Result: Subject re-materialized in a state of extreme bewilderment, with the camera destroyed.
Notes From Subject: "Well, uh, that was certainly… British."
Conclusion: Flicker Events are "British."
Test 5: Recording Attempt 2
Subject: SCP-8932-A-9/Pvt. Daniel Farley
Items Held by Subject: Foundation standard-issue 9mm pistol with ten rounds of non-lethal ammunition, body camera
Note: Subject was ordered to record footage of SCP-8932-B. If 8932-B attempted to destroy the body camera, it would have been repelled with non-lethal force.
Result: Subject re-materialized with the camera destroyed and all ammunition spent. Enraged, the subject then stole a security guard's assault rifle, entered a second Flicker Event, and re-materialized with no ammunition. Subject angrily entered 12 more Flicker Events in an attempt to cause any kind of physical harm to 8932-B. Following a medical analysis, the subject was found to be physically unharmed save for self-induced bruising to the knuckles and feet. Additionally, while the subject's hygiene and hair growth/graying were consistent with experiencing 84 continuous hours of Flicker Events, the subject's only exhaustion was mental.
Notes From Subject: "I'M NOT CRYING!"
Conclusion: Some biological functions, including physical endurance and hunger, are temporally suspended during a Flicker Event. SCP-8932-B is impervious to damage, but will not use physical violence in self-defense, only to destroy recording equipment.
Test 6: Recording Attempt 3
Subject: SCP-8932-A-10/Pvt. William Steck
Items Held by Subject: Audio recording device (hidden in the subject's shirt)
Note: Subject was ordered to discreetly record audio from the Flicker Event.
Result: Subject re-materialized with the recording device intact and a full recording of the Flicker Event. Subject attempted to destroy the recording himself, so it was acquired by force.
Notes From Subject: "I'm sorry, but I've been forbidden to let you have this… No, really, I don't think this is a good idea!"
Conclusion: See below.Partial Audio Log: SCP-8932-A-10's Flicker Event
<Begin Log>
SCP-8932-A-10: Check.
Junior Researcher Talman: Equipment's good. Ready when you are.
SCP-8932-A-10: What's the phrase, again?
Talman: "I swear on a stack of Bibles that Johann Sebastian Bach sucked my dick."
SCP-8932-A-10: [Chuckles.] What? Whose terrible idea was that? I thought y'all were professionals, not amateur —
[Flicker. The air shifts.]
— comedians?
…
[Whispering] Okay… looks to be some kind of stuffy old office in a Victorian —
[Flapping of wings.]
Hoo, boy, that must be —
[The entity speaks exclusively through shrieking in received pronunciation English.]
SCP-8932-B: YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER BOOB!
SCP-8932-A-10: Hi.
SCP-8932-B: Ohh, don't you go galavanting about with your smarmy ickle Johnny-go-say-hi-at-things with me! In all my years of pruning impudence, NEVER! Have I scraped my lack of shoes across such a filth-sotted bump in the cobbles as that very DONKEY that so ingloriously slouches before me! Shame on you! SHAME! SHAAAME!
SCP-8932-A-10: Who are you?
SCP-8932-B: You'd do well to think about whomever YOU might be before looking into the affairs of others, Mr. William Feeney Steck Junior!
SCP-8932-A-10: How do you know my name?
SCP-8932-B: "Ooh, how do you know this? How do you know that? What's a horsey? Where are its WINGS?!" DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL OR NOT?!
[Heavy sigh.]
Now, then… are we going to discuss the transgression that brought you here, or are you going to sit there and put question marks on all the obscene parlor tricks you can do with your mouth? Let's see how you've broken my heart this time.
[Shuffling of papers.]
Hmm… ah, yes, here it is.
YOU: "What's the phrase, again?" (Because you're FORGETFUL.)
Junior Researcher Mr. Talman (a nice enough fellow, lovely taste in music): "I swear on a (Oh, my goodness gracious.) that Johann Sebastian Bach (Heavens to Betsy.)"
YOU: "BAAAW, HAW, HAW, HAW, HAW! What?! Who's terrible idea was that? I thought YAAUWL were professionals, not amateur comeeeedians!"
SCP-8932-A-10: I mean —
SCP-8932-B: HOW COULD YOU?! SOMEONE WORKED VERY HARD ON THAT admittedly vulgar and tasteless REMARK FOR THIS PROCEDURE! Do you have any idea how much forethought, preparation, and toil goes into the craft of words?! Are the Foundation copy-editors, to you, simply adding machines of letters?! Now, there you stand, seeing the fruits of their labor presented before you for your benefit — and because it isn't shining your shoes and automatically dispensing rice pudding free of charge, you DARE to call it "terrible!"
It's a brave new foray into unconquered territories of inverted gratitude! What's next?! Tipping your waiter with ad-hominems? Paying your taxes with goat droppings?! SENDING YOUR GRANDMOTHER A THANK-YOU BOMB FOR HER CHRISTMAS COOKIES?! IS THAT THE KIND OF ABJECT TOPSY-TURVINGS FOR WHICH YOU YEARN IN THE NAME OF PALTRY CONVENIENCE, YOU SWINE?!
SCP-8932-A-10: Uh…
SCP-8932-B: Of all the most vicious and wretched ingratitude! After all I've sacrificed from the shadows to ensure that your misbegotten life… someday, I'll see you break the camel's back, and my poor heart will explode! Then, young man, I'll be properly gone from your life forever — there shan't be ANYONE to drag you into a pocket dimension and scream at you!
SCP-8932-A-10: Are you done?
SCP-8932-B: [Scoffs.]
…
Just for that, here is a Polonaise I have written about how much I resent your very presence.
[Sound of a piano sliding across the floor.]
<Heavily redacted for brevity>
[Sound of papers shuffling.]
SCP-8932-A-10: "…and come we hence to end this sad affair / of naughty Master Willy Lack-a-Care. / Be warned, ye lackadaisies on the stoop / who walk the path of Willy Nincompoop!"3
SCP-8932-B: Hmm. Well, if nothing else, your skill in recitation is impressive enough.
SCP-8932-A-10: Heh, well, I did slam poetry back in —
SCP-8932-B: WHY YES, BY ALL MEANS, YOUR MAAAJESTY, SPIT IN THE VERY EYE OF HUMILITY!
SCP-8932-B: Sorry.
[Watch chain rattling.]
…oh, bother it all, your six hours are almost up.
SCP-8932-A-10: [Exhales deeply.]
SCP-8932-B: BUT! Before you go, I must warn you…
SCP-8932-A-10: Hmm?
SCP-8932-B: Don't think I haven't noticed that incognito electronic sound-recording-machine on your person.
SCP-8932-A-10: …
SCP-8932-B: Oh, you needn't worry. I'd ordinarily be opposed, but, given your spotty memory, you may need to keep that recording around to review your lesson.
…
However.
You are expressly forbidden to let your superiors hear it.
Should this occur anyway, you will need the special lessons.
SCP-8932-A-10: Special? …so, you'll torture me, or something?
SCP-8932-B: [Hysterically angry hooting.]
SCP-8932-A-10: Uh…
SCP-8932-B: I, DISCIPLINAVIAN, A TORTURER?! OF ALL THE INSUBORDINANT, VACUOUS, AND ILL-FOUNDED ACCUSATIONS OF —
[The Flicker Event ends.]
<End Log>
Addendum 3 - SCP-8932-A-10:
Following the experiment, SCP-8932-A-10 was placed into preliminary containment at Site-259 in a standard humanoid containment cell.4
On 3/20/25, two days after the experiment, SCP-8932-A-10 was found in an unusually advanced state of decomposition in his cell. Cause of death was determined to be old age.
The following handwritten note was found on his person:
6 x 4 = 24
24 x 60 = 1,440
1,440 x 60 = 86,400
86,400/0.05 = 1,728,000 MAXIMUM FLICKER EVENTS/DAY
1,728,000/4 = 432,000
432,000/365 ≈ 1.183.5
APPARENTLY THERE'S A LOT OF ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Following the discovery of this note, SCP-8932-A-10's corpse went into an additional Flicker Event.