SCP-XXXX - Si Vis Pacem, Cerebellum
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Anomalous brain activity from SCP-XXXX recorded using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). The colored areas represent increased blood flow, which is correlated to higher neuron activity.

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe Neutralized

Threat Level: Green

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX was formerly being treated at the Site-22 medical ward. Medical personnel were instructed to alert Dr Ferenczy in case of any unusual occurrence or awakening of the subject.

As of January 6th 2020, containment has been discontinued. The subject's body is scheduled to be returned to her family.

Description: SCP-XXXX refers to Klára ███████, a 19 year-old human female from Budapest, Hungary whose neural activity appears to be disconnected from her bodily functions. SCP-XXXX's vital organs continue to operate as necessary to insure life despite her condition, and neuron activation or absence thereof in any area of the brain does not trigger the expected physiological response in a non-anomalous patient. As such, the subject is unable to move her body and perceive or respond to external stimuli.

SCP-XXXX was recovered at the National Institute of Neuroscience in Budapest, where she had been in a persistent vegetative state for about four years following a serious brain injury. Prior to the appearance of anomalous behavior, fMRI scans showed severely decreased blood flow in every area of the brain not involved in vital functions, as is typical for patients in a vegetative state. However, on January 3rd 2020, any and all brain function ceased, despite the patient remaining alive. The next day, a roughly spherical area of increased brain activity appeared, approximately 5cm in diameter, in the pre-frontal cortex. As the day progressed, the area slowly moved to the temporal lobe, where it began changing its outline to depict various animals and objects. Since then, fMRI scans have consistently shown the area moving around the subject's brain and transforming into various shapes. This mobile area of increased activity has been dubbed SCP-XXXX-A.

On January 4th, 2020, the use of a Draghi Device for non-invasive, artificial brain stimulation of SCP-XXXX was approved. The aim of the experiment was to observe changes in SCP-XXXX-A upon stimulation of adjacent areas. Due to the disconnection between the subject's brain function and physiology, the experiment was deemed sufficiently safe. It was thus revealed that communication with Klára ███████ was possible in this manner.

EXPERIMENT XXXX/1

Date: February 4th, 2020
Project Leader: Dr Zoltán Ferenczy

Experiment setup: The Draghi Device is a bio-electronic interface between a culture of SCP-018-IT intra-cranial cells and a control panel. It allows the operator to induce very localized electro-magnetic fields of varying intensity and in any pattern.

SCP-XXXX is brought within operating range of the Draghi Device and prepared for the fMRI imaging process. Dr Ferenczy will be in control of the machine and will therefore be able to stimulate any area of the subject's cerebrum with great precision. Evolution of brain activity will be recorded.

Notes: All transcripts were translated from Hungarian.


(The experiment begins. SCP-XXXX-A is located in the temporal lobe — front of the brain, and visible on the fMRI feed as a mass of colored pixels.)

Dr Ferenczy: Alright, let us begin with a single stimulation point near SCP-XXXX-A, in the Broca area.

(A coloured dot appears on the fMRI in the Broca area, just behind the forehead. SCP-XXXX-A suddenly shoots to the back of the brain.)

Dr Ferenczy: Let's move closer.

(The coloured dot migrates to the cingulate cortex, in the center of the head. After a few seconds, SCP-XXXX-A slowly migrates around the dot through the left side of the brain, then quickly shoots to the front.)

Dr Ferenczy: SCP-XXXX is therefore responsive to intracranial stimuli. I will now attempt to communicate with the patient.

(The word "Hello" appears in the subject's temporal lobe. SCP-XXXX-A changes shape to depict an answer. From this point on, conversation between SCP-XXXX and Dr Ferenczy will be indicated by italic text.)

Dr Ferenczy: Hello

SCP-XXXX: What is happening to me?

Dr Ferenczy: It works! Alright, let us focus. What would be the most appropriate thing to say…

Dr Ferenczy: Hello Klára, my name is Dr Zoltán Ferenczy. I am a neurologist, and I wish to ask you a few questions.

(ten second pause)

SCP-XXXX: Where am I?

Dr Ferenczy: You mean you can see around you?

SCP-XXXX: Well, yes????

Dr Ferenczy: Note that the patient's eyes are currently closed.

Dr Ferenczy: You are in a hospital laboratory, let's leave it at that for now.

SCP-XXXX: A laboratory????
Isn't it a bit… empty?

Dr Ferenczy: How so?

SCP-XXXX: Well, it's a big, barren pink room. There are no items…

Dr Ferenczy: A pink room, you say. Can you describe it for me?

SCP-XXXX: Doctor… If anyone has questions to ask, it's me!!!! What the hell is this place???

Dr Ferenczy: Note that the laboratory we are currently in has white walls and contains medical equipment.

Dr Ferenczy: I'm afraid I'm unable to explain everything in detail, but in a nutshell, you suffered quite a serious accident, which resulted in your current situation. I am here to help you, and as such, it would be most helpful if you could answer my questions. Is that alright?

SCP-XXXX: Sure????

Dr Ferenczy: Excellent. So tell me, what does the room look like to you?

SCP-XXXX: Well it's pinkish gray, completely round, there's no edges or corners
Kinda oblong…

(SCP-XXXX-A migrates to the front of the brain.)

About 20 meters across in that direction…

(SCP-XXXX-A migrates to the left hemisphere.)

And 15 meters in that one.

Dr Ferenczy: I will now perform a standard consciousness test: I will instruct the patient to grip my hand and see if a physiological response follows.

Dr Ferenczy: I do not know if you can tell, but I am currently holding your hand. Can you try to grip it?

SCP-XXXX: We don't HAVE hands???
We are floating clouds of fog!

Dr Ferenczy: The patient appears to be hallucinating.

Dr Ferenczy: Can you describe what you see?

SCP-XXXX: Well… we're large, round clouds of dark fog, we can hover around the room, and change shape at will.
Which is what we've been doing for like, ten minutes, you know? Like, turning into words.
Doctor, why am I like this? What is happening to me?

Dr Ferenczy: I'm afraid I don't have an answer for now.
Changing shape is what you have been doing for the last few days, right? Turning into animals and such?

SCP-XXXX: Yes. There's nothing else to do in this empty room.
Well of course, I panicked at first… then I found out that I can transform into pretty much anything I can think of:
A cat…

(On the fMRI feed, the mass of colored pixels representing SCP-XXXX-A turns into the image of a cat.)

SCP-XXXX: A bird…

(SCP-XXXX-A turns into the image of a bird.)

SCP-XXXX: Or any fictional creature I can come up with.

(SCP-XXXX-A turns into what seems to be a griffin.)

SCP-XXXX: Is this your doing? Are you responsible for this?

Dr Ferenczy: Oh my, no, I am as clueless as you are.
Say, can you turn back into a cloud for a second?

(SCP-XXXX-A takes the shape of a sphere.)

Dr Ferenczy: Now can you move to the side of the room?

(SCP-XXXX-A migrates to the left side of the brain until it reaches the temporal bone.)

Dr Ferenczy: Can you keep moving?

SCP-XXXX: No, I'm against the wall.

Dr Ferenczy: Very well. Thank you Klára, I think I understand your condition a little better, now.

SCP-XXXX: Really? What's going on???? Why am I in this room? Why am I a cloud? Can you turn everything back to normal?

Dr Ferenczy: I'm sorry, I must leave for now, but I will come back tomorrow.

SCP-XXXX: Leave??? Leave where?
If you know how to leave, take me with you! This place is so weird!

Dr Ferenczy: I'm afraid I have no idea how to. Goodbye, Klára, see you tomorrow!

SCP-XXXX: WAIT DON'T GO!!!

(Dr Ferenczy disables the Draghi Device. The colored dot disappears from the fMRI feed.)


Afterword: It appears SCP-XXXX's consciousness is now contained not in her entire brain, but in SCP-XXXX-A, the blob of neural activity wandering around her cerebrum. The range of her perception has been reduced to her cranial cavity, which she sees as an empty room. It seems most appropriate now to identify SCP-XXXX-A as Klára ███████, and make a distinction between it and SCP-XXXX, which is the deserted body of this poor girl.

It might appear illogical that consciousness could be contained in something that does not have an existence of its own: SCP-XXXX-A is nothing more than electrical signals happening in a single area, prompting us researchers to perceive them as a single entity, much like ripples on the surface of a lake, or a stadium wave. However, since the state of consciousness does depend on neural excitement to exist, it does not seem so absurd to think that it could reside in those signals, rather than the underlying matter.

After the experiment, SCP-XXXX-A moved frantically near the edges of the subject's brain for several minutes. Dr Ferenczy theorized that SCP-XXXX-A was attempting to find an exit from her current situation. In the following hours, SCP-XXXX-A changed shape as to reproduce the conversation she had with Dr Ferenczy. The next day, Dr Ferenczy conducted another interview with the aim of informing SCP-XXXX-A of her current situation.

Date: January 5th, 2020
Interviewer: Dr Zoltán Ferenczy
Interviewee: SCP-XXXX-A


(Dr Ferenczy begins stimulation in the frontal lobe)

SCP-XXXX-A: Doctor ferenczy, is that you??? You came back!!!

Dr Ferenczy: I am flattered that you remember my name.

SCP-XXXX-A: I've been whispering the conversation we had to myself. there's nothing else to do here.

Dr Ferenczy: I do apologize for leaving you so abruptly. As you can imagine, as a doctor, I have a busy schedule.
You see, I think I understand some things about your current situation, but I'm far from having all the answers, and I want you to help me figure it out.
But… Klára, that requires me to inform you of some very bad news about your health. Do you think you are ready to handle that?

SCP-XXXX-A: Anything to distract me from this fucking room.

Dr Ferenczy: Klára, you have been in a persistent vegetative state for four years. I do not know how familiar you are with this condition, but it means you have been in a bed, immobile, for years.
Even though you perceive me as a "cloud of fog," I am nothing more than a human. Right now, you are lying in a bed and I am besides you, using a fancy machine to communicate with you.

(Very long pause)

Dr Ferenczy: If you want me to leave, I understand.

SCP-XXXX-A: NO DON'T GO!!!
So…
You're saying that what I see around me is an illusion?
How long have I been like this, you say?

Dr Ferenczy: Four years. Although it seems you became this "cloud of fog" fairly recently.

SCP-XXXX-A: Makes sense. I only remember being here for a little bit…

(Long pause)

And… can you wake me up?

Dr Ferenczy: Unfortunately, I am not sure there is any reliable way to do that.
But you can help me understand your situation better. Then, perhaps I can tell you with more certainty what we can and cannot do for you.

SCP-XXXX-A: Yes of course!!!

Dr Ferenczy: Very well. First of all, you should know that you are quite an unusual patient.
As confusing as it sounds, I believe that the big pink room you see around you is nothing more than your own brain. The cloud of fog you see yourself as, an area of neural excitement that changes shape and moves around in synchronization with how you "move" in the "room."
Do you have any memories related to this situation?

SCP-XXXX-A: Well, the last thing I remember before then is hanging out with my friends on the Danube promenade at night. We were sitting on the bench behind the Cipők1 and admiring the Buda castle. I stood up and slipped on the wet stone ground. And, you know that adrenaline rush you get when you feel yourself start to slip? As soon as I felt that, I woke up as a fog cloud in this room.

Dr Ferenczy: Woke up, you say?

SCP-XXXX-A: Yes. It genuinely felt like waking up from a dream.

Dr Ferenczy: Your account does coincide with your medical record: a coma induced by a head injury on the Danube Promenade.
So, you have no memory between your fall and your "awakening" in the gray room?

SCP-XXXX-A: Actually… now that you say it…
There are some memories that I have and I can't tell when they're from… it's like they're from… outside my life???
Like, I remember people talking about oxygen, and tubes, and needles… I remember my mom and my sister telling me to speak to them and wake up…
And I think I heard one of the words you said… vegetative, was it? I feel like I heard many different voices say that.
I also remember hearing several voices talking about consciousness and guinea pigs.
Like, specifically the two together.
Why would anyone mention that, did I dream it?

Dr Ferenczy: Do you recall any other details?

SCP-XXXX-A: These were feminine voices, and there were also some loud, like, mechanical noises as that was happening.
And I remember an awful smell, like burnt food, but also somewhat chemical.
Other than that, everything's blurry.

Dr Ferenczy: Very strange indeed.

(pause while Dr Ferenczy organises his notes)

SCP-XXXX-A: So… How are things outside of my brain?
A lot happened in four years, right?

Dr Ferenczy: Oh, things come and go, time passes as usual. I apologize, I am often buried in my work, I don't follow the news much.

SCP-XXXX-A: As long as the world didn't end…
Is Orbán still the prime minister?

Dr Ferenczy: He is.

SCP-XXXX-A: Shit…

(Dr Ferenczy chuckles.)

SCP-XXXX-A: Four years. Jesus christ.
My family must miss me so much.
They can't get into this room, can they?

Dr Ferenczy: Not as such, but in theory, anyone can use the machine. So I suppose they, too, could…
Unfortunately, it's impossible.

Dr Ferenczy: Oh dear, I should not give her false hopes.

SCP-XXXX-A: I hate being like this so much. Shapeshifting is somewhat amusing, but the one shape I want is my own.

(SCP-XXXX-A turns into a feminine human figure resembling her own body.)

SCP-XXXX-A: This is better, but I can somehow feel that it's only a mirage.
What about you? What do you look like in real life?

Dr Ferenczy: You want me to draw myself? Golly, I don't think I have very good artistic skills.

(Dr Ferenczy hesitantly draws a human figure with a beard, glasses and a very large nose.)

SCP-XXXX-A: Ha ha! You look like a nice grandpa!

Dr Ferenczy: I sure hope to become one some day.

SCP-XXXX-A: Thank you for trying to help me, Doctor.

(SCP-XXXX-A approaches the depiction of Dr Ferenczy and extends her hand. Without input from Dr Ferenczy, the depiction shakes her hand.)

Dr Ferenczy: Did you do that, Klára?

SCP-XXXX-A: What? Shake your hand?

Dr Ferenczy: Make me shake your hand.

SCP-XXXX-A: maybe.

(The feminine figure appears to be laughing. Dr Ferenczy chuckles.)

Dr Ferenczy: Thank you for your time, Klára. You've been most helpful.

SCP-XXXX-A: Oh, you're gonna leave again?

Dr Ferenczy: I have some work to do, especially with the information you told me. This definitely won't be the last time we speak, though.


Afterword: After checking with the National Institute of Neuroscience, it turns out that three days before the appearance of her anomalous properties, Klára ███████ was visited by two women who claimed to be her sister and her mother. The subject's actual mother and sister do not recall this visit. According to hospital staff, the two women carried a large suitcase and left after twenty minutes "in a hurry." It appears SCP-XXXX was subjected to an unsanctioned, clandestine experiment on the consciousness of vegetative patients, which resulted in her current situation. An investigation is ongoing.

For as long as no suspects are captured and interrogated, I'm afraid no more information can be revealed about SCP-XXXX's condition. Brain scans will obviously not be of any help, and her reaction to invasive procedures such as surgery is unpredictable.

Addendum: 2020/01/06 incident

On January 6th 2020, the Site-22 medical ward, where SCP-XXXX was being treated, was damaged in a containment breach involving SCP-████. SCP-XXXX was among the injured and suffered a serious skull fracture on the left side.

While being operated on, SCP-XXXX-A requested the presence of Dr Ferenczy via brain scan. The Draghi Device was brought to the operating room; below is a transcript of the conversation.

Date: January 6th, 2020
Interviewer: Dr Zoltán Ferenczy
Interviewee: SCP-XXXX-A


Dr Ferenczy: Do not worry Klára, you are being treated as we speak.

SCP-XXXX-A: DR FERENCZY!! IT'S AMAZING! I SEE THE EXIT!

Dr Ferenczy: What exit?

SCP-XXXX-A: there's a crack in the wall! It looks just big enough for me to squeeze through!

Dr Ferenczy: Klára, you cannot "squeeze through the crack." What you are looking at is a skull fracture. As long as you are not feeling pain, please wait for your operation to finish.

SCP-XXXX-A: But you said I was trapped inside my own brain right?
So if there's a fracture, then I can escape!

Dr Ferenczy: As I told you, your consciousness resides in a sphere of neural activity. That sphere has no substance, it relies on underlying neurons to exist, like a ripple on a lake. The only place it can possibly be is inside your brain.

(SCP-XXXX-A approaches the location of the fracture.)

SCP-XXXX-A: I'm telling you this crack is very real, and I WILL go through it.
I'm not staying in this horrible place any longer.

Dr Ferenczy: It will be vain, Klára!

SCP-XXXX-A: Thank you for helping me, Dr Ferenczy. I will forever remember you.

(On the fMRI feed, the mass of colored pixels representing SCP-XXXX-A appears to leave the image of SCP-XXXX's brain and enter the unused area of the screen.)

Dr Ferenczy: What is happening? Am I seeing this right?

(Dr Ferenczy violently slaps the side of the monitor. The mass of pixels continues to move towards the edge of the monitor, until it disappears off-screen. SCP-XXXX's heart stops.)

Dr Ferenczy: What the hell was that?

Dr Ferenczy: Klára? Are you there?


Afterword: I must admit that in ten years of work for an organization dealing with the anomalous, I had never been confronted to such a perplexing situation. There is no way SCP-XXXX-A could possibly exist outside of a brain, and even then, there is no way the scans could have detected it, or the monitor displayed it. Furthermore, as soon as the colored blob left the screen, I noticed a sickening smell of putrefaction. When I turned to look at Klára's body, I jumped in disgust. It looked like she had been dead for at least a few days, which is incompatible with the recorded electrocardiographic data.

Everything in this affair defies not only normalcy, but also logic: how one would expect things to behave, should they have any sort of self-consistency. Almost as if these events were caused by something or someone with no knowledge of neurology or physiology… almost as if someone was attempting to play a bad practical joke on me. Could it be possible? Was Klára ███████ fooling us this entire time? Can vegetative patients play practical jokes? Can dead people pretend to be alive? As demented as it sounds, I am starting to believe that it is plausible, or at least, not any less plausible than anything else that has happened so far.

In the end, I think I might defer this case to a colleague. All of this affair has already given me quite a headache: even assuming there is a sensible explanation, I am not sure I can wrap my brain around it.