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|name=Shadow-Entity.png
|caption=Recovered security footage showing SCP-XXXX manifesting within an unlit containment corridor during Incident-XXXX-Alpha.
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**Item #:** SCP-XXXX
**Containment Class:** Euclid (Reclassification to Keter pending)
**Disruption Class:** Vlam
**Risk Class:** Danger
**Special Containment Procedures:** SCP-XXXX is to be contained within a specialized, light-filtering subterranean chamber at Site-19. The containment cell must remain in a state of absolute, zero-lux darkness. No bedding, pillows, or sleep-assistance materials are permitted within the cell at any time.
To maintain containment stability, SCP-XXXX requires a continuous rotation of human prey. One (1) D-Class personnel exhibiting elevated baseline stress levels is to be stationed inside the cell. Standard rations and water are to be provided daily via an automated, unlit chute to sustain the subject's physical lifespan, while acute sleep deprivation is actively enforced via random, high-frequency auditory disruptions broadcast through cell speakers.
In the event that a designated D-Class subject expires, becomes completely unresponsive, or fails to generate sufficient psychological stimuli, Mobile Task Force Mu-13 ("Ghostbusters") is to be deployed immediately. MTF Mu-13 units must utilize specialized pneumatic collection apparatuses to harvest SCP-XXXX's localized residue (designated SCP-XXXX-A) to force a mass-reduction event and guide the anomaly back to its primary cell. All personnel below Level 2 clearance are strictly prohibited within a 200-meter radius of the containment zone to prevent incidental feeding events from tired or overworked staff.
**Description:** SCP-XXXX is a sapient, predatory humanoid entity of variable height, featuring an elongated skeletal structure and severe emaciation. As captured in rare photographic evidence, its cranial structure features heavily dilated, hollow, and non-reflective ocular cavities that appear entirely vacant, giving the illusion of empty sockets within a pitch-black void. SCP-XXXX is an obligate psychological parasite; it cannot digest physical matter and subsists exclusively on the neurological markers associated with chronic fatigue, acute paranoia, and severe psychological stress.
SCP-XXXX targets individuals residing in structurally isolated, cramped, or naturally unlit environments, with a strong statistical preference for alley-facing low-income apartments, basements, and unlit subterranean sectors. The presence of SCP-XXXX causes a progressive psychological deterioration in its target. Over a period of several days to weeks, victims report a persistent, severe sensation of being observed from unlit areas, resulting in rapid-onset insomnia, auditory hallucinations, and clinical paranoia.
During this stalking phase, SCP-XXXX deposits a highly viscous, black biological exudate (SCP-XXXX-A) across local light sources, light bulbs, and shaded surfaces. This substance physically blocks light emission and emits a distinctive, pungent odor resembling bitter almonds mixed with musty organic decay. Notably, introducing collected samples of SCP-XXXX-A back into direct contact with SCP-XXXX acts as a localized neutralizing agent, causing a rapid, painful reduction in the entity's physical volume and forcing it to retreat. However, the entity will rapidly regrow its mass upon exposing itself to new sources of fear and exhaustion.
Once a target reaches total psychological instability due to exhaustion, SCP-XXXX will manifest within a nearby shadow. The entity will rapidly expand, engulfing the local shadow before consuming the victim's consciousness. This feeding process results in one of two outcomes:
1. **Total Eradication:** The victim is completely consumed by the shadow, leaving no physical traces behind except for a high concentration of SCP-XXXX-A.
2. **Neurological Hollow:** The victim is left physically intact but completely amnesiac. These individuals present with severe systemic hypoxemia (critically low blood oxygen levels), pale complexions, permanent dark discoloration of the sclera, and a total loss of higher brain function.
**Addendum XXXX.1: Discovery Log**
SCP-XXXX was recovered on 14/03/2021 from an apartment complex in [REDACTED], England, following a string of missing persons reports and sudden cases of unexplained severe amnesia among local tenants. Local police files noted a "foul, bitter odor" clinging to the walls of the building's alley-facing rooms. Foundation agents intervened when responding officers discovered a resident in a state of advanced psychological collapse, screaming at a corner of his ceiling where a mass of black sludge had completely covered the light fixture. Mobile Task Force Mu-13 successfully captured the anomaly using improvised chemical scrapers to collect the residue and repel the entity into a mobile containment unit.
**Addendum XXXX.2: Incident Log (Test Log D-9821)**
During a routine feeding cycle, D-9821 (selected for high baseline anxiety) was introduced to the cell. Counter to psychological profiles, D-9821 demonstrated an anomalous degree of mental resilience, adapting to the sleep deprivation and utilizing stoic meditative techniques to actively reject the induced paranoia and savor the simple rations provided.
Because D-9821 failed to generate the required stress and tiredness stimuli, SCP-XXXX became highly agitated. Refusing to feed on the subject, SCP-XXXX entered a starvation state, destabilized its localized mass, and seeped directly through the containment cell walls into the upper laboratory sectors. This resulted in Incident-XXXX-Alpha, leading to the total memory eradication of three (3) tired research staff before MTF Mu-13 successfully contained the asset.
**Addendum XXXX.3: Post-Incident Interview**
> **Interrogator:** Dr. Aris Thorne, Lead Containment Researcher
> **Interviewee:** D-9821
> **Date:** 19/03/2021
>
> **[BEGIN LOG]**
>
> **Dr. Thorne:** Please state your designation for the record.
>
> **D-9821:** I’m D-9821. Look, can we turn down the lights in here? My eyes are burning. Your guys wouldn't let me blink for three days straight in that hole.
>
> **Dr. Thorne:** The lighting stays as it is. Let's discuss your time in the zero-lux chamber. According to our biometrics, you didn't experience the baseline panic we expected. Why?
>
> **D-9821:** Because I used to pull double shifts at a steel mill before I ended up in death row. I know what tired feels like. When the sirens went off every hour to keep me awake, I just stopped fighting it. I sat on the floor, breathed slow, and focused on the taste of the water you gave me. I didn't give the dark permission to scare me.
>
> **Dr. Thorne:** Did you see the entity?
>
> **D-9821:** I felt it before I saw it. The room started smelling like bitter almonds. Like old, rotting fruit. Then the shadow in the corner started... getting thicker. It didn't have a shape at first, just a heavy blackness that felt colder than the rest of the room.
>
> **Dr. Thorne:** Describe its behavior when it approached you.
>
> **D-9821:** It stretched up. It got so tall its head was scraping the ceiling, bending over me. I couldn't see a nose or skin, but I saw its face. Two hollow, empty holes where eyes should be. Just staring. It opened its mouth—its jaw dropped down way too far, like a broken hinge—and this black, greasy drool started dripping onto the floor.
>
> **Dr. Thorne:** Did it attempt to engulf you?
>
> **D-9821:** No. It leaned right up to my face. I could feel the cold coming off it. It hovered there for a long time, just waiting. Like it was waiting for me to scream or shake. But I just kept breathing, matching its rhythm. I stared right back into those empty sockets. After a few minutes, it made this horrible, rattling sound in its throat. It sounded pissed off. It looked at its own drool on the floor, then it just... melted sideways right into the concrete wall.
>
> **Dr. Thorne:** It rejected you because you wouldn't give in to the exhaustion. Your compliance with your meditative routine directly starved the entity, causing it to breach containment to hunt our staff.
>
> **D-9821:** Sounds like your staff need to get more sleep, Doc. Because whatever that thing is, it's still hungry.
>
> **[END LOG]**
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|source=SCP Visual Records Vault (http://wikidot.com)
|author=Community Archive
|license=CC BY-SA 3.0
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