SCP-3852

Description

SCP-3852 is a repeated phenomenon affecting rural towns and populations within the East Coast and Midwest of the contiguous United States. SCP-3852 has not been observed to manifest in any community with more than two-thousand permanent residents. As of 2013, seventeen SCP-3852 events have been confirmed since 1978.

SCP-3852-1 refers to a set of adult, male corpses. All instances of SCP-3852-1 are genetically and physically identical. All instances of SCP-3852-1 have no signs of internal or external injuries, and autopsies conducted by Foundation personnel have been unable to determine a cause of death. Investigation into the identity of SCP-3852-1 instances is ongoing.

During an SCP-3852 event, an instance of SCP-3852-1 will spontaneously appear within the vicinity of the affected town. Upon discovery of the SCP-3852-1 instance, all members of the affected community will identify the body as a specific male of the community (hereby designated SCP-3852-2). The SCP-3852-2 instance will remain unaffected by the SCP-3852 phenomena, but will not be recognized by the rest of the affected community. Instead, the SCP-3852-2 instance will be regarded as a newly arrived outsider.

There is no apparent pattern to how the identity of SCP-3852-1 is chosen It is presently hypothesized that the SCP-3852-1 instance will be identified as a member of the affected community previously accused and subsequently acquitted of repeated or severe crimes¹.

Within 2-5 hours of the beginning of an SCP-3852 event, members of the affected community will begin to accuse SCP-3852-2 instance of crimes leading to or directly causing the death of the SCP-3852-1 instance. In ██% of SCP-3852 events, 11-27% of the affected community refute the accusations leveled against the SCP-3852-2 instance. Any dissenting members of the community will be accused of obstructing justice. The affected community will attempt to apprehend and summarily execute any and all of the accused, prioritizing the SCP-3852-2 instance.

The affected community will only cease attempts to apprehend the SCP-3852-2 instance upon its capture or death. Upon successful execution of the SCP-3852-2 instance, the affected community will return to normal behavior. Community members have displayed no symptoms of long term psychological effects prior to or following amnestization, but have given inconsistent accounts of SCP-3852 events.

Excerpts from Event Log-16A2M

Event: EV-3852-07F3T

Location: █████ IN

Date: 03/01/1978

Affected Population: 368

Overview: First known occurrence of SCP-3852. SCP-3852-1 instance is discovered in the town square shortly after sunrise. Identified by the affected community as 28 year-old Glenn ██████, an unemployed man. SCP-3852-2 instance is captured after failing to cross a nearby river, and is hanged by the affected community.

SCP-3852-1 instance recovered by Foundation personnel. Members of affected community questioned, amnesticized, and released.

Event: EV-3852-15C1K

Location: ██████, OH

Date: 02/05/1996

Affected Population: 572

SCP-3852-1 instance is discovered in a school yard. Identified by the affected community as 31 year-old Hector ████, a former factory worker paralyzed from the waist down in an accident 5 years prior.

Roughly 23% of the affected community reject the accusations against the SCP-3852-2 instance. Dissenting members and the SCP-3852-2 instance seek shelter within a nearby abandoned barn. Roughly two hours later, SCP-3852 event is confirmed and MTF Rho-18 deployed.

SCP-3852-1 instance located and recovered by MTF Rho-18. As of 2015, 96% of the remaining members of the affected community have successfully been released and redistributed.

Interview Log-22M7B

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Subject: Matthew Escot, age 52, a member of the affected community.

Interviewer: Dr. Kieger

Foreword: Interview took place 2 weeks following SCP-3852 event EV-3852-15C1K.

<Begin Log, 14:30, 2/19/1996>

KIEGER: Good afternoon Mr. Escot, I appreciate your cooperation. With any luck, things will be back to normal soon enough.

ESCOT: Soon? It's been two weeks since you scooped us up and I haven't even seen my wife yet! You didn't even bother to tell us where or what this place is!

KIEGER: All in due time, I assure you, Mr. Escot. The sooner you answer our questions the sooner we can answer yours.

ESCOT: (subject sighs) Right, get on with it then.

KIEGER: Well I'd like to know a little bit more about the uh…victim. Could you describe him for me?

ESCOT: Hector? Kinda brutish, big fellow. You uh…probably already know this, but he was paralyzed a few years back in an accident. He killed some other poor bastard too, and from what we all could tell, it was Hector's fault.

KIEGER: Was Hector well known prior to the accident?

ESCOT: Well everyone basically knows everyone around ██████, small town and all that. Besides, Hector was never exactly the ideal neighbor, if you catch my drift. He made standoffish a lifestyle. And if people didn't like 'em before, they basically hated him after he got off the negligence charges scot-free. (subject pauses) T-Thinking back, we were probably a bit rough on him, but…Accident or not, two healthy men for a cripple isn't the most ideal trade.

KIEGER: How did you react when you saw the body, Mr. Escot?

ESCOT: I was…well, stunned, really. Couldn't make heads or tails of it. Hector was one of those people you thought was gonna live forever. Then, he just turns up not only dead, but murdered.

KIEGER: So you're certain the body was Hector's?

ESCOT: Sure as anything. I mean, he wasn't someone who could easily blend into a crowd.

KIEGER: And you're also certain he was murdered? Is it possible Hector died of natu-

ESCOT: Doc, please y-you…must've saw the body too. There was nothing natural about it.

KIEGER: You said someone arrived shortly after you found the body?

ESCOT: Yeah, just a few minutes after most of us had gathered. He was…well he wasn't really answering our questions right, a-and then he uh…Well his wife showed up. Hector's, I mean.

KIEGER: How did Hector's wife react to seeing the body?

ESCOT: (subject sighs) She was in hysterics, doc. God, I don't know what she saw in him that the rest of us didn't but…T-That newcomer came up to her and was tryin' to talk to her but she was just screaming and sobbing, and…that's when things turned sour.

KIEGER: About this newcomer, did you happen to notice that he was paralyzed as well? Don't you think that's rather coincidental?

ESCOT: (subject sighs) Doc, I'm not a genius, okay? To be honest, I don't know why you chose to speak to me, cause I wasn't the ringleader or anything. It goes the same way right? One person pointing fingers at someone doesn't mean much, but…after she accused him people started looking at it from a different angle. And, well, I figured they all knew a few things I didn't.

KIEGER: Not everyone agreed though, isn't that correct?

ESCOT: (subject pauses, before nodding)

KIEGER: Did you know any of the dissenters personally?

ESCOT: Ah, no, y-you can't expect me to know everyone, it's a big place. No, I figure most of 'em were loners and stuff, we barely recognized 'em. (subject pauses for a moment) Well…any of them, really, now that I think about it.

KIEGER: What happened after they went into the barn?

ESCOT: (subject shifts uncomfortably) Well we uh, figured we better get him out of there fast. So that's why we must've…uh…

KIEGER: I see, Mr. Escot. Did you and the rest of the community intend to kill the accused murderer and the others by doing so?

ESCOT: (subject remains silent)

KIEGER: Thank you Mr. Escot, that will be all. This concludes the interview.

<End Log, 14:52>

Addendum-05/22/2016:
On 05/15/2016, a eight-minute video entitled "2/5/96 ██████" was uploaded to YouTube. The video was discovered by a Foundation webcrawler, and was taken down roughly 2 hours after upload. An investigation into the identity of the cameraman is ongoing. A transcript of the video is available below.