Item #: We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five (Whoa! What's this?)
Welcome to another SCP: Uncovered. Today, we'll be going over SCP-... nothing actually. This time, we're going over a tale! A tale is essentially a short story based on the SCP Universe. It normally either references SCP lore or acts as a support document for other SCPs. This time, it's both. Welcome to the Antimemetics Division!
What is the Antimemetics Division you ask? Well, the SCP Foundation has several different "divisions" that focus on different types of SCPs, like how we have different fields of science. For example, the Memetics and Infohazards Division focuses on those especially.
Anyway, "We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five" is the first "chapter" in the Antimemetics Division Series. Let's start off with some vocab:
- Antimemetic: A self-keeping secret. An antimemetic SCP would be an SCP that could prevent people from describing it or even remembering it at all.
- Fifty-Five: SCP-055. One of the first Antimemetic SCPs ever written. Also likely the most famous antimemetic SCP.
Let's start!
The story begins with Marion asking a receptionist if she could smoke. The receptionist denies her request and tells us 2 things. She is at Site-200 and it is an administration building. We find that Marion has asked that question several times already. We also find that she has to take a pill, as seen by the reminder on her phone. She puts it off for some reason. Then we see the next sentence.
The story begins with Marion asking a receptionist if she could smoke. The receptionist denies her request and tells us 2 things. She is at Site-200 and it is an administration building. We find that Marion has asked that question several times already. We also find that she has to take a pill, as seen by the reminder on her phone. She puts it off for some reason. Then we see the next sentence.
She's nervous because she's here to meet an O5, and O5s are scary. O5s never want to see you for a small thing. It's the end of the world, or nothing.
If you don't remember, O5s are the heads of the Foundation. They rarely see people for anything besides items of utmost importance. So, Marion has obvious reason to be worried.
The O5 calls for Marion to enter the room. Almost immediately, she has a gun pointed at her head by the O5's assistant. The O5 proceeds to rattle off tons of information about her. Her life, her family, her hobbies, her age, everything you'd expect someone in his position to know. We also see that Marion is quite high up in the Foundation hierarchy - as in she has access to several Foundation sites and secure locations... locations that the O5 says doesn't exist.
This is a huge red flag. If an O5 doesn't recognize a high ranking official within the Foundation, something's wrong. It would make sense if it was simply a level 1 or 2 member, but someone at her level? Everyone should know about Marion. However, they don't. It's only normal to suspect that she's a spy for some other GoI (Group of Interest).
Marion isn't taking any of it.
Marion strikes back at the O5 and his assistant with even more exposition. She explains how she's the Chief of the Antimemetics Division, something that O5-8 claims doesn't exist.
Pretty self-explanatory. It's also pretty scary. Imagine finding something straight out of a horror movie... but you can't remember it, and all the evidence of it can't be remembered either. Imagine seeing horrifying things every day, but you just can't remember it.
Now, the O5 seems ever so slightly open to the idea of antimemetics. His assistant isn't having any of it though.
She goes on to talk about SCP-055, an example of an antimemetic SCP. When the O5 and Clay (his assistant) find the file, they investigate it to find that it's very real. Then there comes this set of dialogue:
The O5 calls for Marion to enter the room. Almost immediately, she has a gun pointed at her head by the O5's assistant. The O5 proceeds to rattle off tons of information about her. Her life, her family, her hobbies, her age, everything you'd expect someone in his position to know. We also see that Marion is quite high up in the Foundation hierarchy - as in she has access to several Foundation sites and secure locations... locations that the O5 says doesn't exist.
This is a huge red flag. If an O5 doesn't recognize a high ranking official within the Foundation, something's wrong. It would make sense if it was simply a level 1 or 2 member, but someone at her level? Everyone should know about Marion. However, they don't. It's only normal to suspect that she's a spy for some other GoI (Group of Interest).
Marion isn't taking any of it.
Marion has long since stopped listening. "You dullard," she says now she can finally speak, "I'm your chief of Antimemetics."She's either really brave or really idiotic to insult an O5. Either way, she's got balls.
Marion strikes back at the O5 and his assistant with even more exposition. She explains how she's the Chief of the Antimemetics Division, something that O5-8 claims doesn't exist.
"There are SCPs with antimemetic properties," Marion goes on. "There are ideas which cannot be spread. There are entities and phenomena which harvest and consume information, particularly information about themselves. You take a Polaroid photo of one, it'll never develop. You write a description down with a pen on paper and hand it to someone— but what you've written turns out to be hieroglyphs, and nobody can understand them, not even you. You can look directly at one and it won't even be invisible, but you'll still perceive nothing there. Dreams you can't hold onto and secrets you can never share, and lies, and living conspiracies. It's a conceptual subculture, of ideas consuming other ideas and… sometimes… segments of reality. Sometimes, people.
Pretty self-explanatory. It's also pretty scary. Imagine finding something straight out of a horror movie... but you can't remember it, and all the evidence of it can't be remembered either. Imagine seeing horrifying things every day, but you just can't remember it.
Now, the O5 seems ever so slightly open to the idea of antimemetics. His assistant isn't having any of it though.
She goes on to talk about SCP-055, an example of an antimemetic SCP. When the O5 and Clay (his assistant) find the file, they investigate it to find that it's very real. Then there comes this set of dialogue:
Clay glares at Marion. "This isn't possible."
Marion nearly spits. "For Christ's sake, Clay, how long have you been working here?""But if this SCP is this powerful…" he begins.
"Yes?"
"Who wrote the file?" the O5 finishes. "And for that matter, how was the interview conducted, and who is 'Bartholomew Hughes'? And most importantly, how do you, Mrs. Wheeler, retain knowledge of any of this?"
"Bart Hughes wrote the file. He's dead," Marion says.
Bartholomew Hughes was talked about in SCP-055. He's the one that suggested using what SCP-055 isn't to help identify what it is. Apparently, he's dead now, and we don't want to know how.
She then explains that they are capable of remembering antimemetic items by pharmaceuticals. They use what they call, "mnestics", ranging with classes W, X, and Y. Class W mnestics are supposed to be for daily use, and the O5s are supposed to be on them. However, somehow, O5-8 missed a dose and has subsequently forgotten completely about the entire Antimemetics Division.
Apparently, SCP-055 is a weak antimemetic SCP. It's weak because they can actually keep track of the file. They have written containment procedures and they can contain it.
She then reveals that there are, for certain, at least 2 antimemetic SCPs in the room at the moment. One has been "trained" by Marion. SCP-4987 (which apparently doesn't have a file) constantly tries to eat her memories. What happens is that she keeps it fed by giving it useless memories and having it target specific memories from other people.
"And what's the other one?" Clay asks.
With another nod from O5-8, Marion goes to her bag again. This time she pulls out a gun and shoots Clay twice in the heart.
That's right. Clay was an antimemetic SCP. Marion reveals that it is quite literally impossible to forget about taking a dose of the class W mnestic... unless someone actively makes you forget about it. Clay was the one stopping O5-8, without anyone even realizing it.
However, what is happening is that Clay is somehow a "duality". Antimemetic SCPs are normally ideas or concepts, and ideas are bulletproof. However, Clay had a human body that was killed by a bullet. This makes it somehow both an idea, and human. A duality. We don't know how, but it is.
This was a fun story to do, and I plan on doing more on the antimemetics division. For now though, thanks for reading!
tl;dr: I forgot.
