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Special Containment Procedures: All copies of SCP-351 are to be stored on secure Foundation containment databases, with access only available to Memetics Division personnel. If testing is performed, a "blank" copy of SCP-351 consisting solely of SCP-351-1 will be used to neutralize the anomaly's effects in the test subject and potentially compromised personnel.
Bots I/O-SHANNON and I/O-MINERVA are programmed to routinely scan online websites for the appearances of SCP-351 copies. Found copies are to be downloaded then removed from the sites under standard online anomaly containment protocols. Mobile Task Force ψ-13 ("EOT") has been tasked with halting mass memory alteration in the event SCP-351 affects large portions of the populace. Task force agents must follow standard memetic quarantine protocols and are equipped with electronics that display the aforementioned blank copies, which must be viewed on a twice-daily basis.
Testing to determine the limitations of the anomaly's implanted memories is underway.
Description: SCP-351 is an ASCII plaintext (.txt) file containing a virulent memetic agent, which implants false memories visualized as ASCII art1 into human subjects that view the file. The primary component of the anomaly is SCP-351-1, a string of 30 characters which does not correspond to characters in any known encoding standard, which converts the entire file into a memetic vector.
Additional text added to the file is the basis for the false memories SCP-351 implants, with the level of detail the text has corresponding to the level of detail subjects can recall from the "memories." All memories are recalled eidetically and are resistant to all amnestic treatments and effects. Copies of the file (SCP-351-A) display the same properties. However, exposing subjects to SCP-351 or a copy of the file lacking text other than SCP-351-1 (hereafter "blanks") results in the memory being being replaced by a "blank" memory, entirely removing it. This in turn serves as the primary method of removing the memetic infection.
Despite the clear recall, subjects report that the memories lack the immediacy and richness of their other memories. It is theorised that this is the result of the strings of text the memories are based on inherently lacking the sensory qualia normal memories are based on.
Subjects memetically compromised by the files (hereafter SCP-351-B instances) are capable of implanting their false memories into persons they associate with, such as friends or colleagues. Conversations of any medium involving an instance will result in the instance discussing memories from SCP-351, turning the conversation into a memetic vector which affects all persons involved in it. These affected persons become further SCP-351-B instances, and can spread the meme in the same manner.
Beyond the addition of previously nonexistent memories, SCP-351-B experience few other cognitive effects. Instances behave as they would prior to infection when not in conversation with uninfected individuals, and questioning regarding any ways SCP-351 memories conflict with actual memories is met with disregard. Symptoms of lethargy, anhedonia and apathy have been observed in SCP-351-B instances at significantly higher rates of incidence than in the unexposed population.
Addendum.1: SCP-351 Text Samples
The following are excerpts from SCP-351-A instances as they were found at the time of their discovery. Full copies of the file contents are available in Document 351-RT/267.
Instance #: SCP-351-A5
You were marching through the forest, everything dark except for the flashlights of fellow survivors and the Enemy bombs going off overhead. Their explosions looked like blinding sparks. John's blood was still warm on you and your gun, and every time you looked behind you expected to see him there, smiling like always, but he wasn't there. The napalming turned everything to incinerator heat.
The palm trees swayed and broke, cinders going into your nose. The Enemy's soldiers emerged from the canopy, rappelling in and they shot at you. You never felt a more searing, stabbing pain in your life than when the bullets hit your body, the sensation of a thousand fire ants at an open wound. With luck you fell to the ground, out of their sight. The rest didn't. You heard their screams. You only saw the bloodied dirt in front of your face.
You knew that the Enemy did this, and for that you hated. You hated the Enemy. At that moment you vowed to fight the Enemy for the rest of your life, and you vowed that you would make the trek to[COORDINATES REDACTED] to train for an eternity of combat with the Enemy. For John. For the survivors. For the world.
Recovery: Found on a computer at an abandoned military complex in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Additional files in the area suggested plans to disseminate copies of SCP-351-A5 onto various online forums had been arranged, though had not been performed for unclear reasons.
Instance #: SCP-351-A19
You didn't drive the car past the red light. It was green, and the street was clear of pedestrians and cars. Your vision wasn't blurred — you were sober. It was dark but your headlights were on so you could see the road fine. Your wife wasn't shouting at you. Her head was leaning against your shoulder.
You saw the other car coming so you could swerve out the road in time. You were on the right side of the road and they were on the wrong side, so you had done nothing wrong. It would've been impossible for your cars to crumple together, for the windshield to shatter, and even if that did happen it would make no sense because you swerved out of the way in time. Your seatbelts were buckled so nobody could've gone through the window. You had no sights of blood. Or glass shards in your body. Or her body.
Your one year anniversary celebration with her happened the day after. It was a great party. She was laughing, and smiling, and talking about how great of a career her lab work has been. The days after were happy. And so have the months after been. She's been with you the whole time, she hasn't gone off. Four months of joy since the anniversary.
It wasn't your fault.
Recovery: Found on the personal computer of Sandra Holt after her suicide on 04/12/2006.
RELATED FILES:
Interviewer: Undercover Agent Sascha Hahn
Interviewee: Alisya Dean
Foreword: Alisya Dean was a work colleague of Sandra Holt prior to her death, and had become an SCP-351-B instance due to frequent interaction with Holt. Following the conclusion of the interview, Agent Hahn exposed both themselves and Dean to a blank that removed memetic infection.
< BEGIN LOG >
Agent Hahn: Can I ask some questions about Sandra Holt?
Alisya Dean: It wasn’t her fault.
Agent Hahn: It wasn’t her fault, I’m sure, but I still need to ask some questions. How long had you known each other?
Alisya Dean: I.. about three years, I guess, since I started working at [REDACTED]. She was a good boss, kinda quiet I guess, but not a hardass or anything, really sensitive. And then she started dating Jane Kysely… Did I mention her? Her wife. Well, future wife at that time. And then it was like a light went on inside her.
Agent Hahn: What was Jane like?
Alisya Dean: I only met her once, except when I saw her at her anniversary party, after she died in the car accident she survived, and I was in the car too. It was a great party. She was laughing, and smiling. She didn’t go through a window.
Agent Hahn: Yes, it was a great party. Uh… (pause) we’re getting off track here. What did she look like, Jane, her wife?
Alisya Dean: Oh, she was like.. Five two, mousey brown hair, kinda straight up and down, just like a U+007C vertical line, you know? Not my thing but you could tell they were into each other, real sweet. And no glass shards in her body.
Agent Hahn: No glass shards, right.
Alisya Dean: None on either of them. Or blood. I never saw blood.
Agent Hahn: Yeah.. (pause) Sorry, there’s something… you mentioned an accident?
Alisya Dean: No. I mean, yes. She swerved out of the road in time. Nobody went through a window. That’s very clear, that didn’t happen. It wasn’t her fault.
Agent Hahn: It wasn’t her fault. But… there was an accident.
Alisya Dean: Yes, the day before their anniversary. Then they had the party - it was a great party - and then her funeral a few weeks later. And then they had four months of joy, and then Sandra… committed suicide.
Agent Hahn: Yes, that makes sense. What was her mental state like in the days before the suicide, at work?
Alisya Dean: She kept having this one file open on her computer, revising it over and over, and crying. Which was weird, because she’d been having those months of joy. And she was drinking, which was odd too, because she was sober and her vision wasn’t blurred - she could see the road fine.
Agent Hahn: Yes, that’s right. She saw the road fine. Her lights were on.
Alisya Dean: Her lights were on. And it wasn’t her fault.
< END LOG >
Addendum.2: Experiment Log 351/1
On 09/01/2007, Researcher Ferdinand Fortier was granted permission to perform preliminary tests to determine the limitations of SCP-351's memory alteration capabilities. Tests would be conducted with Fortier and his research team inserting text into an SCP-351-A instance via autonomous processes, then displayed to a D-Class subject who would be infected and subsequently asked to describe their memories. Blanks would then be shown to the subject and the whole research team, as to minimize the potential for memetic spread.
Test #: 1
Text Used (Summary): A detailed paragraph describing a green-eyed black and white cat, said to be one the subject currently owns.
Outcome: The subject visualized the cat as being cat-shaped, with ASCII characters forming and outline of its body, fur patterns, and shading. All characters were grayscale except for the eyes, which were "irises of @ signs." The color green was not mentioned, suggesting grayscale visualization of the memories.
Past tense tests yielded the same results, though with an inability for the subject to describe why they no longer own the cat.
Test #: 2
Text Used:You own a black cat, a striped cat, and a white cat.
Outcome: The black cat was described as being "like a hole" formed from ASCII block characters, the striped cat being a cat-shaped mass of stripes formed from hyphens and similar symbols, and the white cat being an outline of a cat formed from periods and dots. They were incapable of elaborating.
Test #: 3
Text Used:You own a cat.
Outcome: Subject stated "I own a cat." They were incapable of elaborating.
Test #: 4
Text Used:You will own a cat.
Outcome: Subject described a lengthy, incoherent memory involving "reverse blindness," feline anatomy, and space travel. Further tests with future tense text yielded similar results.
Test #: 5
Text Used (Summary): The text of Test #1 but translated into Spanish2.
Outcome: The implanted memory was described to be highly disorienting for reasons that the subject could not identify. The "cat" present was described as having "singing limbs," a shape of rapidly changing ASCII symbols, and eyes forming advertisements written in an unclear language. Visualizations were not consistent between different subjects.
Test #: 6
Text Used (Summary): A disturbing childhood encounter withSCP-3840, intentionally written to make note of colors, sounds, specific physical appearances, and additional qualia.Outcome: When provided with images and information regarding SCP-3840, the subject displayed expected fear responses, albeit with no response when recounting or illustrating their memories. While the level of detail was higher than that of previous tests, the memories continued to possess ASCII art qualities, along with "hazy" surroundings and amorphous shapes for objects that weren't thoroughly described. No non-grayscale coloration was described.
Test #: 7
Text Used (Summary): Revised version of the Test #6 text but with a doubled wordcount and further details.
Outcome: Expected fear responses and a phobia of dense forests displayed, though the lack of "realism" from the ASCII art qualities still reduced overall emotional impact. Hypotheses regarding correspondence between the level of detail and the vividness of implanted memories are confirmed.
Test #: 8
Text Used (Summary): Memories of being rescued by a mobile task force in the same scenario as Test #7.
Outcome: Same fear responses were present but lessened. The subject had a greater affinity toward mobile task forces. However, they remained skeptical due to their past D-Class testing in the Foundation.
Test #: 9
Text Used (Summary): A series of events involving the subject being a member of a mobile task force, eventually demoted to being D-Class personnel as part of the containment of a (fictional) anomaly.
Outcome: A greater affinity to the Foundation was established. Experiences they had as a D-Class were not overwritten by the implanted memories, some integrating themselves as events during their task force experience, causing heavy skepticism toward the Foundation to remain. What influence the ASCII art visualization had on this is not clear.
Test #: 10
Text Used:You have never doubted the Foundation. You have always been loyal to the Foundation.
Outcome: Subject was found to be agreeable with Foundation protocols, such as containment and the maintenance of the veil. Ambivalence regarding D-Class testing was not wholly removed.
Experiments using longer and more detailed texts to further alter personality traits are planned.
NOTE: Continued tests of this nature are currently forbidden by order of the Ethics Committee.
Addendum.3: Project Tin Man
On 29/03/2007, Researcher Lucinde Behringer was performing standard monitoring of SCP-9906 when the anomaly's cognitohazardous properties bypassed all memetic filtration systems, converting Behringer into a memetic vector. Before a containment breach could ensue, Behringer injected all available amnestics in her vicinity and exposed herself to experimental anti-memetic glyphs. The cumulative effect of both the anomaly and the measures taken by herself was the complete erasure of her personality, memories, and almost all mental faculties. This induced an effective vegetative state. After being connected to life support, no methods were found by which Behringer could be returned to her prior state.
On 21/04/2007, the Ethics Committee granted approval for the experimental use of SCP-351 in reconstructing Behringer's personality and memories. Classified Project Tin Man, all database information on Behringer, correspondence from coworkers3, and personal journal entries were gathered to write a heavily detailed text with the potential to restore her mental states. Said text would be comprised of all known thoughts, life events, memories, and personality traits arranged in chronological order. By 01/10/2007 the text had reached 50,000 words.
Once no new information could be found, the text was added to a specially designated SCP-351-A copy (SCP-351-AΔ). On 10/10/2007 Researcher Behringer was exposed to the file. Initially only slight limb movements were performed, but after one hour she began to pace around her room. An interview was performed the following day.
Interviewer: Researcher Rayyan Bousaid
Interviewee: Lucinde Behringer (hereafter SCP-351-BΔ)
Date: 11/10/2007
Foreword: Researcher Bousaid was a colleague and close friend of Behringer prior to the SCP-9906 breach. He served as one of the lead researchers on Project Tin Man, specifically requesting to perform the initial interview due to his familiarity with her.
< BEGIN LOG >
Bousaid: Behringer?
SCP-351-BΔ stands in the center of the room, blankly staring at a wall.
Bousaid: Behringer, could you please move over to the chair by this window?
He taps on the glass separating his observation chamber from the room. No response occurs.
Bousaid: Lucinde?
SCP-351-BΔ slowly turns her head. She moves the chair and desk in front of the window, seating herself.
SCP-351-BΔ: Hello.
Bousaid: Are… Are you feeling well?
SCP-351-BΔ: I'm feeling fine.
Bousaid: Okay, that's good. (a deep breath) Look, apologies if I get unprofessional here. It's just been so long since I've actually seen you look, well, alive! I hope you'll understand.
SCP-351-BΔ: I do.
It is of note that, at this point in the interview, SCP-351-BΔ's facial expressions have not experienced any change.
Bousaid: (another breath) So, how did you feel when you were under? Before we showed you the file?
No response.
Bousaid: Nothing? Can't think of anything? (continued silence) Well, that's alright. I shouldn't be surprised. So—
SCP-351-BΔ: I don't see the need to speak much. Succinct is always better.
Bousaid: Well, thatis identical to part of what we wrote in the file, but you aren't wrong there. (chuckles) So, you remember who your husband is, right?
SCP-351-BΔ: Mike Landon Page, I would never forget.
Bousaid: Alright, good, and do you also remember your marriage? You know, when you were at in the for—
SCP-351-BΔ: We were at the church at the end of the winding road leading into the woods. The sun was a shining ring of dashes, and the trees' leaves were thousands of swaying angle quotes that kept fluttering off. The wind was chilly. The clouds were puffy brackets. It was a beautiful day.
Bousaid: …Well, that's good to hear.
SCP-351-BΔ: Because of our involvement in the Memetics Division the Foundation monitored the marriage and limited attendees to our coworkers but it was beautiful all the same.
Bousaid: Alright, good. Do you remember anything else about those clouds? The trees?
SCP-351-BΔ: The clouds were puffy brackets and the trees' leaves were thousands of swaying angle quotes that kept fluttering off. What else is there to say?
Bousaid: I know you aren't one for talking but isn't there anything more you could say? Even just a simple "I can't remember anything else?"
SCP-351-BΔ: I can't remember anything else.
Bousaid: I… Alright then. Can you remember how you felt then, any of your emotions?
SCP-351-BΔ: I was happier than I had ever been my entire life. Every dash and letter of Mike Page's face filled me with joy. He kept making references to those bad Star Trek episodes we saw years back and I couldn't stop laughing. At night when we laid back and stared at the asterisks in the sky I felt like I was in love all over again.
Bousaid: Does remembering this make you happy?
SCP-351-BΔ: Yes.
Bousaid: So how come your tone of voice hasn't changed at all? How come your facial expressions haven't changed?
No response.
Bousaid: You say that this makes you happy but I can't see it, Lucinde. I remember every day after that marriage you couldn't help but grin if I even brought up the slightest thing on it, like how every dash and letter of Mike's face—
Researcher Bousaid views the blank on his computer terminal then resumes speaking.
Bousaid: I'd bring up the slightest thing and I'd keep seeing you smile for so long after.
SCP-351-BΔ slowly smiles.
Bousaid: You're doing it now, but it's like when you copy what I say. It doesn't feel genuine.
SCP-351-BΔ: I was happier than I had ever been my entire life.
Bousaid: But you keep repeating that, how I was happier than I had ever… (deep breath) This doesn't feel genuine, Lucinde. I don't feel I'm speaking to the real… to the real you.
SCP-351-BΔ: I'm myself, Ray. I don't get what you mean.
Bousaid: (sighs, then pauses) I didn't want to tell you this earlier, since the the clouds were puffy brackets and it was a beautiful day, but I think I should.
SCP-351-BΔ: It was beautiful, but what is it?
Bousaid: Mike's dead.
No response.
Bousaid: He was in a containment breach several months after yours. He left a last message but the agents never found his body.
SCP-351-BΔ: Oh.
SCP-351-BΔ's smile shifts into a frown.
SCP-351-BΔ: Oh god. How could this happen.
Bousaid: That's the only reaction you can have?
SCP-351-BΔ: I am distraught. How could this happen. Oh god.
Bousaid: I was laying back and staring at the asterisks in the sky but this is all? Could you please, please think about the rest of your time with him? Can it get anything else out of you?
SCP-351-BΔ: I don't understand what you mean. I loved him more than anyone else in the world.
Bousaid: But that's identical to what we wrote in the document, where we wrote down how we were at the church at the end of the… Please, can you think of anything outside of what is in the document? Anything? Did the memories give you any mind past that?
SCP-351-BΔ: I loved him more than anyone else in the world.
Bousaid: That's just… what we wrote, it's word-for-word what we wrote.
SCP-351-BΔ: He had such beautiful gray gradients of hashtags and ampersands in his eyes. I loved him more than anyone else in the world.
Bousaid: That's just…
SCP-351-BΔ: I loved him more than anyone else in the world.
Bousaid: I loved him more than anyone else in the world. I'm sorry, Lucinde…
Researcher Bousaid exits the observation chamber. SCP-351-BΔ continues to stare at the space Bousaid was formerly in, frowning. No other movements are made.
< END LOG >
In a state of emotional distress, Researcher Bousaid exited the chamber without viewing the blank on his computer terminal, breaching standard security protocols. This resulted in the memetic spread of SCP-351-BΔ's memory constructs to all present Project Tin Man personnel until site security was alerted and dispatched.
Unusually, upon exposure to blank instances, the affected personnel experienced a near-complete loss of all memories regarding SCP-351-BΔ. The theorized cause of this is that the implanted SCP-351-AΔ memories were so similar to actual memories of SCP-351-BΔ that both became connected, causing the erasure of implanted memories to erase the actual ones. Since all acquaintances of SCP-351-BΔ had been recruited for Project Tin Man and were present when Bousaid breached protocol, all of the original memories SCP-351-AΔ had been based on are lost.
Researcher Bousaid has been removed from all SCP-351-related research and new security protocols are being implemented to prevent the repeat of incidents of this nature. Project Tin Man has been considered a failure. However, SCP-351-BΔ has proven useful in isolated environments that prevent memetic spread. Following revisions to SCP-351-AΔ that removed information regarding emotions and added loyalty-increasing text4, SCP-351-BΔ can consistently perform activities beneficial to memetics research on a daily basis.
Assuming plans for life support systems that will automatically provide health assistance to subjects are completed, SCP-351-BΔ is expected to be capable of serving the Foundation indefinitely.