[[include :scp-wiki:component:anomaly-class-bar-source
|item-number=XXXX
|clearance=3
|container-class=keter
|secondary-class=tigonderoga
|disruption-class=keneq
|risk-class=notice
]]
SCP-XXXX — “The Rumor Spreader”
Special Containment Procedures
Permanent physical containment of SCP-XXXX is unfeasible due to its native capacity to phase through all known atomic structures and execute localized spatial teleportation within a two-hundred-meter radius. Containment efforts are strictly relegated to informational quarantine, automated memetic filter monitoring across global telecommunications, and preemptive civilian amnesticization protocols managed by Mobile Task Force Gamma-5 ("Red Herrings").
Pursuant to Accord XXXX-03, SCP-XXXX is permitted restricted mobility within the sub-levels of Sector-4 under continuous closed-circuit optical surveillance and localized Hume-field modulation arrays. In the event of an unapproved boundary breach or unauthorized civilian interaction, MTF Gamma-5 is authorized to deploy Class-A amnestics and apply the appropriate media cover story (designated Cover Story-88, "Mass Hysteria/Social Contagion").
Direct interaction, oral interviews, or behavioral testing involving SCP-XXXX require Level 3 authorization and must be conducted within a soundproofed, reinforced observation suite lined with conceptual dampening baffles.
Description
SCP-XXXX is a humanoid anomalous entity visually manifesting as a two-dimensional illustrated figure resembling a young female adolescent, standing approximately 1.7 meters in height.
The entity possesses zero physical depth, variable mass equivalence, and no observable biological systems, including respiratory, digestive, or circulatory functions. Its physical composition mimics a painting executed with wet acrylics and watercolors; the pigment layer adheres to surfaces it contacts but can be displaced or smeared by kinetic force without causing injury to the entity. Over chronological cycles ranging from twenty-one to ninety-eight days, SCP-XXXX undergoes slow, continuous visual mutations. Hair length, apparel style, chromatic palette, and minor facial geometry shift seamlessly over time, though its foundational artistic style and childlike facial proportions remain structurally constant. Observers consistently report that SCP-XXXX’s expression evokes simultaneous feelings of superficial warmth and profound psychological discomfort.
Anomalous Properties
* Phase Invalidation: SCP-XXXX can pass through any known solid material, matter state, or architectural barrier without kinetic resistance or structural damage to the substrate. Attempts to trap the entity inside vacuum-sealed chambers, electromagnetic cages, or localized reality anchors result in the barrier experiencing localized atomic decohesion along the exact perimeter of the entity's silhouette.
* Spatial Relocation: The entity can instantly relocate to any coordinate within approximately 200 meters of its current spatial position. This movement generates no displacement wind, thermal signature, or auditory shockwave. SCP-XXXX exhibits a documented behavioral tendency to materialize directly behind targeted human subjects without warning.
* Cognitive Memory Inoculation (Rumor Generation): Rather than transmitting verbal misinformation through conventional acoustic projection alone, SCP-XXXX directly modifies the cognitive architecture of exposed human subjects. When the entity communicates a fabricated statement, the affected individual instantly generates a false autobiographical memory of the interaction.
While victims retain absolute conviction that they engaged in a conversational exchange and were provided the information by another living human being, all descriptive data regarding the source—including facial features, vocal tone, clothing, and the precise spatial origin of the conversation—suffer absolute neurological erasure. Despite recognizing the logical paradox of possessing memories of an unidentifiable entity, victims remain utterly compelled to treat the rumor as authentic human intelligence, driving uninhibited social transmission.
Addendum XXXX-01: Controlled Experiment Logs
Test XXXX-03
* Subject: D-4921 (Brought into testing under standard protocol; unaware of SCP-XXXX's specific cognitive alteration properties).
* Procedure: D-4921 is secured within a reinforced glass observation booth. SCP-XXXX materializes adjacent to the subject and whispers a fabricated statement concerning an upcoming transfer of D-Class personnel to a hazardous subterranean wing.
* Observation: D-4921 blinks, turns to acknowledge SCP-XXXX, and nods in response. SCP-XXXX then teleports out of the chamber. Dr. Thorne enters the observation room to conduct the post-exposure debriefing.
* Transcript Excerpt:
> Dr. Thorne: D-4921, did you hear any rumors as of late? Anything floating around the cell blocks?
> D-4921: Yeah, heard some chatter right before they brought me down here.
> Dr. Thorne: Who told you?
> D-4921: Some guy in a grey suit. Just walked up beside me by the chow hall line.
> Dr. Thorne: D-4921, look around this room. You have been sitting alone in a sealed, empty glass booth with a two-dimensional painted entity for the last twenty minutes. There was no man in a grey suit.
> D-4921: (Scoffs) Look, man, I'm just telling you what I heard. The guy was standing right there a second ago. Why are you messing with me?
> Dr. Thorne: Can you describe his face? His voice?
> D-4921: I... I don't know. It's slipping my mind. But he was right next to me, I swear.
>
* Researcher Note: The memetic compulsion overrides rational logic completely, forcing the human brain to invent a phantom human source out of thin air. — Dr. A. Thorne
Addendum XXXX-02: Recovered Historical Documentation (1789)
The following text was transcribed from a heavily water-damaged municipal parish register recovered during an archaeological recovery operation in rural Île-de-France, following chronometric data anomalies detected by Foundation historical analysis algorithms.
> "...and the peasantry poured out of the timber-frame huts into the wheat fields at dusk, screaming wildly of nonexistent brigands, phantom riders, and unseen armies moving through the mist. None could identify the person who brought the initial warning from the burning châteaux; each swore upon the crucifix that the whisper had been spoken directly into their ear by a neighbor whose face they could not call to mind. The panic took root like wild briars. In the center of the village square, where the hysteria culminated and blood was spilled over rumors of treason, a child’s portrait was discovered pinned to the heavy oak doors of the parish church—wet still with acrylic pigments and oils wholly anachronistic to the period, bleeding blue watercolor down the weathered grain..."
>
Addendum XXXX-03: Containment Accord & Settlement
> [BEGIN LOG]
> (Dr. Thorne stands inside the Sector-4 administrative corridor, observing SCP-XXXX as it traces a painted finger along the edge of a steel doorframe.)
> Dr. Thorne: You've made quite a circuit of the lower sub-levels today. Security flagged three separate instances of unmonitored wandering.
> SCP-XXXX: (A soft, rustling giggle) The walls here are wonderfully porous if you know how to lean against them, Doctor. And the staff whisper the most delicious little secrets when they think nobody is listening.
> Dr. Thorne: We didn't bring you into Sector-4 so you could treat our hallways like a playground. Your outside outbreaks forced our hand, but we aren't running a daycare.
> SCP-XXXX: Then lock me away tighter. Oh wait—you tried that. The concrete didn't mind me passing right through it. C'est dommage.
> Dr. Thorne: We aren't going to lock you in a box that doesn't work. We are offering an arrangement. You want a constant supply of fresh, complex material to twist into your rumors, and we want to keep your chaos away from the civilian public.
> SCP-XXXX: Go on.
> Dr. Thorne: You remain contained within the designated perimeter of Sector-4. You restrict your rumor generation to controlled testing parameters and approved personnel. In exchange, you are given operational freedom of movement within this wing, granting you access to an environment saturated with anomalous phenomena and classified personnel.
> SCP-XXXX: (Its painted expression shifts, the acrylic features narrowing in sudden, sharp interest) A facility full of caged anomalies, locked secrets, and people who are already terrified of what's in the dark?
> Dr. Thorne: Precisely. Keep your experiments inside our walls, and your file stays clean. Step outside those boundaries into civilian sectors again, and we stop talking.
> SCP-XXXX: (An unnatural, wide smile stretches across its flat face, its painted eyes gleaming with amusement) A closed loop of paranoia with infinite playthings. I accept your terms, Doctor. Let us see what stories these walls have yet to tell.
> [END LOG]
>
Addendum XXXX-04: Comprehensive Foundation Profile & Behavioral Summary
The following compilation summarizes all verified data concerning the origin, mechanics, and operational status of SCP-XXXX.
* Origin & Nature: Born from the historical accumulation of mass panic and collective despair during the French Revolution's La Grande Peur of 1789, SCP-XXXX is a sentient, two-dimensional illustrative construct composed of acrylic and watercolor pigments.
* Anomalous Mechanics: The entity possesses absolute phase invalidation (allowing it to pass through any solid matter) and localized spatial teleportation within a 200-meter radius, rendering traditional physical containment completely impossible.
* Cognitive Hazard Vector: SCP-XXXX does not merely spread misinformation; it executes cognitive memory inoculation. It implants false memories of a human interaction while systematically erasing all descriptive features of the source, compelling victims to trust and propagate unverified narratives.
* Current Containment Status: Due to the failure of physical barriers, containment is maintained via a voluntary structural accord. SCP-XXXX resides within Sector-4, utilizing the facility's classified personnel and contained anomalies as a controlled medium for its psychological experiments.
Researcher's Final Note
> SCP-XXXX is not a physical threat that can be contained by thick steel or concrete; it is a living manifestation of human gullibility and historical paranoia. It feeds on our baseline vulnerability to trust a compelling narrative over cold reality. In the end, the Foundation didn't lock her away—we simply gave her a larger audience, hoping her hunger for chaos stays trapped behind our doors rather than tearing society apart from the outside.
> — Dr. Aris Thorne
>
