SCP-3309: "Fade, Fade Away"

Item #: SCP-3309

Object Class: Keter Thaumiel

Tags: Concept, K-Class Scenario, Meta, Narrative, Ontokinetic, SCP, Thaumiel

The Chihuahuan Desert post PROJECT: TAPERED SPEAR

Welcome back to SCP: Uncovered. Today, we're going over a slightly complicated SCP. Compared to some of the SCPs we've gone over, this one's not too bad. However, it is VERY metaphysical, and even gets into pataphysics. Let's begin with some vocabulary.

• Metaphysics: A branch of philosophy that gets into the principles of things and is often abstract. It also can mean to refer to itself. An example of this would be:
  
  "Do two red blocks share a universal property of the color red or do they have their own instance of having the color red? That is to ask is there a universal thing called "the property red" that exists in more than one place at one time or is there no such thing?"
• Pataphysics: Metaphysics, but one step ahead. It's metaphysics of imaginary phenomena in a world without metaphysics, or "The science of imaginary solutions," from the American Heritage Dictionary
• Ontokinetic: A SCP-wiki created word for entities that can bend the laws of reality anomalously, deliberately or not.
• Thaumiel: A class given to any SCP that can be used to contain other SCPs, most of the time Keters.

With that out of the way, let's start!

The SCP begins with a warning from the Pataphysics department.

NOTICE FROM THE PATAPHYSICS DEPARTMENT

The file you are about to read, 'SCP-3309,' describes an unpredictable narrativic anomaly intersecting with multiple subnarrative layers. Narrativic inoculation is required, as this document contains several embedded narrativohazards. Personnel not inoculated against such anomalies may undergo a narrative paraphrasing event. Are you sure you wish to proceed?

Narrativic inoculation disseminated.

Sometimes we don't fade until it's too late.

Until we've withered, withered, down to the bone. And at the end, there's nothing left to fade. It's forgotten. Memories, hopes, dreams, we're forgotten. How do we know that people can even have these memories, these hopes, these dreams? How can we be forgotten if there was nothing there in the first place? We fade from the minds of others, but not from our own. We live with it until we can't live any longer. Until we forget that there was ever any way we could live in peace. And then, that's when we fade away.

Fade, fade away.

Inoculation complete. You may proceed.

What a nice, friendly warning. The inoculation is supposedly to prevent you from undergoing a "narrative paraphrasing event." Combine that with how much they're talking about narratives and pataphysics, it's relatively easy to assume that this entire SCP is about some kind of narration or narrative. Now, what exactly is a "narrative paraphrasing event?" No clue as of yet, so let's keep going.

Special Containment Procedures: 

All documentation regarding anomalies affected by SCP-3309 is to be preserved in a rewritten format and kept within the RAISA archive database. Following the containment of an instance, all personnel assigned to the affected item must undergo amnestic treatment and transfer to unrelated projects.

So SCP-3309 affects documents. Apparently, we can change the effects by simply rewriting the document. However after doing so, everyone assigned to containing the anomaly must forget about it, as seen by "undergo amnestic treatment and transfer to unrelated projects." We'll see why in the description.

Description: 

SCP-3309 is a phenomenon in which catalogued anomalies spontaneously disappear. Items affected by SCP-3309 have included anomalous objects, entities, locations, and conceptual structures. Anomalies affected by this phenomenon do not appear to be directly related; SCP-3309 activity is indicated by a note (designated SCP-3309-1) of unknown origin.

48 hours before the disappearance of an anomaly, SCP-3309-1 will appear appended to the end of the object's document. Documents undergoing SCP-3309 become wiped from all known file systems, including Protected Site-01 and RAISA archives. After this, the anomaly itself becomes effectively neutralized, or otherwise disappears entirely. The contents of SCP-3309-1 are as follows:

If you are not the author and you want to rewrite this article, you may reply to this post asking for the opportunity to do so. Please obtain permission from the author.

SCP-3309 affects back-ups created for disappearing documents. SCP-3309 also affects documents of anomalous items coming into contact with SCP-3309—approximately 71% of disappearing documents are connected to other non-affected anomalies. This leads to a weakening in the Foundation's anomaly containment network, potentially escalating to an ADK-Class Full Anomalous Destabilization scenario.

Now, the contents of SCP-3309-1 are quite familiar to readers of the SCP-Wiki. It's the standard deletion process of articles that just aren't good or popular. When an article on the SCP-Wiki's rating dips below -10, standard deletion occurs and that article is removed. 

What does this mean? SCP-3309 is, quite literally, the process of deleting articles on the SCP-Wiki. It's getting really meta in here. 

Now, in the first addendum, it shows a vote from the Tribunal, a council formed by the Ethics Committee. It's a vote to use SCP-3309 against anomalies that could threaten the safety of anyone. The vote barely passes, and PROJECT: TAPERED SPEAR is authorized. 

First, they try to use it on SCP-4463. SCP-4463 is apparently an anomaly that is turning parts of the Chihuahuan desert into wetlands, and can flood North America if given enough time. 

To weaponize SCP-3309, they edited SCP-4463's article to have many grammatical errors, to have unrelated pictures, and fabricated addenda. Immediately, SCP-3309 took effect and erased 4463 from the face of the earth. After testing it on 19 anomalies, they permanently set SCP-3309 to Thaumiel. Hooray! 

If that was the end of the story, this SCP probably wouldn't be very popular. It has an interesting story, but it wouldn't end on any note besides the "We got rid of the thing that was going to kill lots of people" cliche. Luckily, it's not. Meet Researcher Adamo Smalls.

Smalls is suspicious about where the neutralized anomaly goes, and how it goes away so easily. A little bit... too easily. Here's a note that he wrote: 

Researcher Note: 

I don't understand how one round of testing can burden a man with so much stress. I think I even saw my first grey hair this morning, or an entire patch of grey hairs? No, surely that's unnatural? I don't feel natural right now. I don't feel alright. But so early on in my tenure?

Fading to dust, what does that feel like? Would it burden my senses in the same way an illness might? Or might it leave me numb? I think, if I was to go out, I would want to continue to feel, even into my final moment. To know that I'm still here, as everything else fades away.

I'm not alright.

I've locked myself in my office. I'm going numb. This isn't what I would have wanted. But the end doesn't care about one man's wants and needs, does it? There is nothing, nothing.

Did we ever find out where those neutralized anomalies went? Surely it can't be so easy, to do what we did, to feel justice without any repercussions. That's unlike us. But it feels like everyone, everyone except me, forgot what happened to those anomalies. Is it that simple? Have we simply forgotten?

I don't want to be forgotten.

— Researcher Adamo Smalls

Smalls is feeling... numb. Like he's fading away. Remember the notice? 

Let's move on to the final addendum. The final addendum is simply a conversation between 2 researchers, with a bit of a twist.

Researcher Smalls did not show up during the latter parts of our testing this evening. He no longer appears on any of our itineraries and his name has been expunged from my project files. If there has been an immediate project alteration or a change in schedule that I was not informed of, please notify me immediately.

— Researcher John Calzaroli

Researcher Calzaroli, are you alright? Yes, there was indeed a 3-hour schedule change, but a "Researcher Smalls" has never been involved with this project. Further, I assure you that someone named Researcher Smalls does not work with us. Please, John, take a break, the stress must be getting to you. Testing has been absolutely rigorous these past few weeks. I feel it, too.

— Researcher Robert Woods

I'm sorry, you're mistaken. You must know the man. He's the most exceptional memeticist we have.

But, if you truly claim that there is no Researcher Smalls, well, there must be something more to this. SCP-3309 erases anomalies and the files associated with them. We haven't discussed where exactly these anomalies go, and I'm sure we've all had our questions. As far as I can remember, Smalls was assigned to investigate SCP-4463 when it was first discovered.

Are we sure personnel aren't also being deleted?

— [DELETED]

What the hell?

— Researcher Robert Woods

[FROM: ACCOUNT DELETED]:

[MESSAGE DELETED]

Oh no. Smalls was right. There are consequences to using SCP-3309. Not only does it delete everything on the targeted SCP, it also deletes personnel working on it. Who knows how many people the Foundation has killed by removing 19 whole SCPs, each with personnel working on them. 

Now, where did Researcher Smalls go? Why is this SCP considered Pataphysical if all it does is refer to the SCP-Wiki site? These loose ends are tied up if you scroll further down. 

It's a forum. The SCP Forums to be exact. Every deleted SCP and person gets sent to the Forums, where the deletion vote takes place. SCP-3309 is not only an article in the Wiki, it's also THE wiki itself. That's why it's pataphysical. It works beyond what you would consider metaphysics. To finish, type anything you want in the text box that shows up at the bottom. It always says the same thing. 

And so the question remains: are you worth remembering?

tl;dr: Every time you do something on the site, God kills Researcher Smalls. Except you're God and you're doing it, you monster.