SCP-3370
Dead Air
Connected to: SCP-2539
Special Containment Procedures
As SCP-3370's effects cease once the subject leaves the affected flight, disinformation campaigns currently center around depicting "Miriam Wells" as a local hoax/in-joke similar to the Bielefeld Conspiracy. Several popular social media accounts including an "/r/miriamwells" subreddit and "Official Miriam Wells" Facebook page have been established and are currently operated by Disinformation Division operatives.
Description
SCP-3370 is Gate 43 of the Sydney Kingsford-Smith International Airport. SCP-3370's anomalous properties only manifest for passengers who have spent more than two hours in SCP-3370, and is otherwise non-anomalous in appearance and physical properties.
When a passenger meeting the above criteria boards a flight departing from Gate 43, they will perceive every flight attendant as a woman with the physical appearance and mannerisms of Miriam Wells, a highway patrol officer who disappeared in late 2009 following a routine patrol.
SCP-3370's anomalous effects cease once the flight lands. Electronic recordings of time spent on the flight uniformly fail to reveal any anomalous phenomena1, and passengers not affected by SCP-3370 report no anomalous effects.
Addendum SCP-3370-a: In an effort to determine the boundaries for activation of SCP-3370's anomalous effects, Researcher Lai Zhuanmei proposed a test wherein an agent would be provided a ticket for one flight departing from Gate 43, but board a different flight departing from the same gate. The test was approved and the appropriate negotiations made, with Assistant Researcher Renfield being selected as a test subject due to the low likelihood of danger.
The following log is a transcript of footage recovered from A. R. Renfield's supplied body-camera.
[EXTRANEOUS FOOTAGE REDACTED FOR BREVITY]
[Surrounding passengers appear to be asleep, as would be expected given the late departure time of the flight.]
A. R. Renfield: Hallucinations reported almost directly after take-off, as expected. All the nametags even read M. Wells, too: surprising level of detail for a cognitohazard like this. Will perform the usual test.
[Renfield calls an attendant over: appearance does not match that of Ms. Wells. Renfield asks for a glass of water and receives the drink without incident.]
Renfield: I know it's not quite professional conduct, but the body camera'll keep rolling. I think I can afford a 30-minute nap for the time being.
[Renfield shifts the camera so as to face the aisle from her window seat: the view is noticeably blocked by the passenger seated next to her. Approximately five minutes afterwards, she falls asleep. No further noticeable activity until seventy-five minutes afterwards, when a shift in her position momentarily covers the camera with a blanket. The passenger next to her now appears to be Miriam Wells.]
[EXTRANEOUS FOOTAGE REDACTED]
[Renfield is now awake, as is the other passenger. The apparent change in the passenger's appearance appears to have been noticed by Renfield herself.]
Renfield: Good morning, Miss.
[Passenger does not respond for two minutes.]
Renfield: Isn't it a little warm right now?
[Passenger does not respond for three minutes.]
Renfield: …I see.
[Renfield calls an attendant over using the supplied console, before looking out the opened window. Faint orange light can be seen coming from the window, although at this point in the footage, no clear view of the window can be seen.]
Renfield: What in the-
Intercom: And to your left, you'll be able to see Sydney from our current altitude of 270 kilometers.
[Renfield adjusts her position such that the outside is more clearly visible from the camera's vantage point. The landscape is composed of several hundred interconnected roads, interspersed with long stretches of outback landscape: identical cars, apparently police cruisers, can be seen appearing, driving up and down, and disappearing from these roads at sporadic intervals. After a minute, the sound of a trolley moving up the aisle can be heard and Renfield turns to face the attendant.]
Renfield: Attendant, could you get me a glass of water?
[The attendant, as consistent with reports of other SCP-3370-affected subjects, appears to be Miriam Wells, dressed in full highway patrol uniform. Her arms appear to be heavily sunburnt.]
Attendant: Please keep your hands and arms inside the car, sir.
Renfield: I'm sorry?
Attendant: It's dangerous to be out here this time of night, mate. You want a ride?
Renfield: No, I- I'd like some water, please.
Attendant: Long drive from here back up to Melbourne.
Renfield: You're not making sense, please, I- I just want a drink. Anything.
[Attendant retches loudly, before wiping her hand with her mouth. Hands now have wounds consistent with second and third degree burns.]
Attendant: You didn't come up here with supplies? Are you stupid or just crazy, love?
Renfield: What? I'm sorry, I don't- it's so hot in here-
Attendant: I'll radio base. They'll be here to pick us up in a day at most.
Renfield: I can't breathe-
Attendant: Come on, Lanna. You've got to keep your head up.
[A loud crash sounds from the front of the plane. No movement is visible from any of the other passengers, though Renfield appears to have passed out as a result of the heat.]
Attendant: Oh, don't give me that look.
[The attendant bends down to kiss Renfield, momentarily exposing the extremely disfigured face of Ms. Wells. Similar burn wounds have now appeared over her neck and collarbone, exposing the bone underneath. Smoke appears to be leaking into the cabin from an unknown source. Apparently attempting to communicate with Renfield, the attendant emits a loud rasping noise, before walking towards the apparent source of the smoke. Smoke then totally obscures the lens of the camera, rendering all further footage unusable.]
[END LOG]
After the flight landed without incident, Assistant Researcher Renfield was discovered to have passed out from apparent hypoxia and was later found to be suffering from severe symptoms of smoke inhalation. Notably, when opened, her suitcase contained a 50.9-kilogram piece of severely-burnt human flesh in the rough shape of a torso. DNA testing has been inconclusive as to its source.