SCP-296

Item #: SCP-296

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-296 is to be held in a sizeable, disused office building. Access is restricted to two (2) Level 4 personnel at any point. SCP-296 may only be removed from the office once every three (3) days. SCP-296's chamber is to be cleaned and sterilized weekly; any decayed organic tissue is to be disposed of or incinerated.

The office building should also be cleaned periodically, with the aim of removing all traces of SCP-296's effects. No other contaminants are to be allowed within the room.

Description: SCP-296 is a ███ ████ branded telephone. Despite this, it produces no discernible electromagnetic radiation. SCP-296 has not been able to be identified as anomalous due to it existing within a standard office building, as well as the lack of any obvious differences when compared to a normal telephone.

SCP-296's effect manifests once a day at the beginning of the workday (12:00 hours). When SCP-296 is picked up and placed on its cradle, a random employee in the office building will begin acting strangely. Throughout their day, they will continue to behave normally until they retire for the evening. After retiring, they will be unable to sleep and will spend the majority of the next day sleeping. They will awaken to find that they cannot recall any of these events. Although they can remember almost everything on an ordinary basis, they have difficulty making them coherently verbalized after time passes since these events occurred. During this period, their memory seems to become hazy, and several hours at a time may pass before any details are recalled. Once their shift ends (after their supervisor has returned from the evening meal) they will resume normal behavior and the effect will end.

This phenomenon does not manifest in any other area of the facility or outside of work hours.

Addendum: SCP-296 was discovered in the ████████ office space in a large, abandoned building. The building had been abandoned for at least ██ years, and had been recently purchased by an individual who had no known connection to the previous owner. Foundation agents were able to locate all of the employees present during the initial manifestation, and it was discovered that they were suffering from a severe, unremitting sleep deprivation.

Deliveries to SCP-296 were suspended after the first few days of its effect, as the employees were no longer able to focus on their work. Researchers believe this to be due to the negative psychological effects of being unable to sleep.