SCP-1790
Layla
SCP-1790 and its three most recent prior instances, clockwise from top left
Special Containment Procedures
SCP-1790 is to be housed in isolation in a modified standard humanoid containment cell. SCP-1790 is to be blindfolded at all times, and fitted with vocal restraints whenever it is outside its cell, except for testing or as medically necessary; staff are to make no attempt to directly communicate with SCP-1790 except for the issuance of orders and directions. SCP-1790 is to be monitored at all times for any attempt to injure or kill itself and any attempt is to be responded to with prompt and comprehensive medical attention. Any communication with SCP-1790 is to be conducted via an asynchronous text-based medium and all communications from SCP-1790 are to be reviewed simultaneously by at least three staff members possessing Level 4 clearance. All personnel responsible for handling of SCP-1790 are to be screened regularly for indications of SCP-1790 influence and are to be reassigned as necessary.
If and when SCP-1790 dies, the Foundation is to canvas all hospitals and licensed midwives within a 500 km radius of the location where death occurred and identify all persons born within one hour before or after declared time of death. All persons so identified are to be covertly monitored until such time as the new instance of SCP-1790 can be identified, at which time it is to be taken into custody immediately and contained as per the above paragraph.
In the event that any monitored individual dies of self-inflicted or violent injuries before SCP-1790 can be identified, a secondary canvas and identification of potential subjects is to be made. In the event that SCP-1790's death occurs in a region where the identities and locations of newborn infants cannot be accurately compiled, or when the number of potential subjects exceeds the Foundation's ability to track, Procedure Antipas may be enacted at O5 discretion.
Description
SCP-1790 is an accumulation of human memories and an associated personality, capable of preserving its existence after death by transmitting itself into the mind of a newborn infant. SCP-1790 currently inhabits the body of a Hispanic female, 33 years of age. SCP-1790's current state is the seventh instance that has been identified to date; in interviews, it has claimed to have existed as at least ██ distinct individuals since its first incarnation in [REDACTED]. Interviews and testing have determined that all instances of SCP-1790 possess full recall of the known memories of each prior instance and share similar personality traits.
The means by which SCP-1790 transmits to a new instance at the time of death is unknown; all attempts to block transmission have failed to date. Transmission of consciousness appears to occur at the time when brain activity ceases in the current instance, and is not prevented by keeping the instance clinically alive after brain death. In all documented transmissions, the new instance has been identified as a person with a documented time of birth less than one hour after the assumed time of brain death, born within a 500 km radius of the location where the previous instance died. SCP-1790 has shown no preference for infants of any specific gender or ethnicity.
All instances of SCP-1790 have been noted to possess a high degree of natural charisma and rhetorical skill, and have been demonstrated to be highly capable of convincing others to follow their instructions. SCP-1790 has demonstrated an expert ability to "cold-read" individuals within seconds of beginning a conversation, and determine how to converse with that individual in order to coerce their agreement. No indication of a memetic or hypnotic effect has been associated with this ability; persons interacting with SCP-1790 have reported no compulsion or involuntary urge to obey or agree with SCP-1790, except in that they find its rhetoric highly convincing. SCP-1790's persuasive abilities are maximized when it is able to converse with another person face-to-face; covering SCP-1790's eyes, removing the second party from its physical presence, or conducting a conversation in writing rather than verbally inhibit its ability to read and persuade other persons.
In all instances where SCP-1790 has remained outside containment for a significant period of time, it has taken advantage of its charismatic abilities to establish itself as the leader of an insular and self-contained religious movement, whether by establishing one itself or assuming leadership of an existing group. Once in a position of leadership, SCP-1790 will induce the evolution of rites within the sect idolizing mass murder and ritualized human sacrifice, and will, if not taken into containment, eventually organize and carry out a large-scale covert campaign of ritualized murders targeted against the general population within its area of influence. This campaign will continue until SCP-1790 is either killed or apprehended, the sect collapses due to the arrest or death of its members, or the locale in which the sect operates has been depopulated, at which point SCP-1790 will abandon the sect and establish a new movement elsewhere. In all documented instances of SCP-1790 related campaigns, pregnant women and children under the age of 8, as well as members of associated sects themselves, have been excluded from those individuals targeted.
SCP-1790 was first identified in 1868, when █████ ██████, the ringleader of a group of Thuggee cultists operating in the area of Rajmahal, India, was apprehended by British authorities and sentenced to death. Prior to execution, ██████ claimed to be the reincarnation of ████████ █████████, a Thuggee leader who had been executed during the first wave of British anti-Thuggee activities in 1832. ██████'s comments were dismissed at the time. In 1893, 22 years after British authorities in India had declared the Thuggee movement extinct, a new Thuggee cell was found to be operating near Delhi, lead by ██████ █████, who similarly claimed to be the reincarnation of █████████ and ██████. █████ was transported to Great Britain and placed in custody there until his death of natural causes in 1899. In 1916, a string of murders in London with a methodology similar to that used by the Thuggee was traced to an Irish-born woman, ██████ ███, who told police upon apprehension that "I have lived a thousand years and will return and kill again and again until I kill my Majnun, and he rises anew from the slaughter"; after the connection was discovered between ███ and the previous subjects, she was surrendered into Foundation custody.
The name "Majnun" referenced by SCP-1790 has been identified by Foundation historians as referring to Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, a figure from Persian folklore who was involved in a forbidden romance with Layla, the daughter of a man who refused to allow their marriage. The degree to which SCP-1790 identifies with this figure has not been determined.
Memo from Dr. Samesh: I am concerned that SCP-1790 is getting better at hiding itself from us each time it is reborn. We did not apprehend its most recent form until it was nearly 30 years old and had killed several dozen people. SCP-1790 has had nearly a century to learn the way the Foundation operates and what we look for when it reincarnates, and its natural charisma goes a long way towards stopping its parents and family suspecting that anything is amiss. I recommend that we relocate SCP-1790 to a more isolated region and establish a more severe revision of Procedure Antipas so that future instances can be identified in their infancy.
Request received; Ethics Committee review pending. -O5-12