SCP-420

Item #: SCP-420

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: The entire province of Bower County (U.S.A.) is to be enclosed within a large containment area, designated Area 420. Access to this area is to be strictly controlled; all personnel entering the Area are to carry with them written permission from O-5, Denys Arcus.

No less than two guards are to be stationed at all times in Area 420; any personnel attempting to visit the area unauthorized are to be detained immediately and then amnesticised. Any personnel found attempting to exit Area 420 after leaving the containment area are not to be allowed to leave the country alive. All interviews of eyewitnesses in Area 420 should take place in a soundproofed room at Site-15; this is due to the fact that constant screaming and moaning can induce psychological trauma upon those nearby.

All witnesses interviewed within Area 420 shall wear earplugs, and intake agents are to ensure that all witnesses are dosed with as much sodium pentathol as necessary for their mental state; any witness not sufficiently drugged shall have their testimony taken by agents who have been trained specifically for this purpose.

Any information on SCP-420 which can be obtained from physical evidence left in Area 420 is to be taken immediately, regardless of whether such information has significant historical value.

Description: SCP-420 is a large and imposing structure, located in the mountains of Bower County. The exterior of SCP-420 is made of a white stone with a reddish tint. Within SCP-420 are several rooms and passageways, all of which are lined with floor to ceiling windows. Within these windows, it is possible to observe a mixture of humans, humanoid predatory creatures, and various types of animals being tortured by one another and by the entities within the rooms.

SCP-420 was first discovered on 4/15/05 by Agent Arcus, who entered Area 420 with his team in order to arrest an entity possessing two Hell Hounds. The entity was successfully arrested and interrogated over three days, before finally revealing its true nature; this entity was able to alter the memories of all personnel in Area 420, causing them to believe that they were employed by various companies within Area 420 (such as "The Company" and "X"), undertaking various tasks for their benefit. This altered memory also caused them to believe that they had been transported outside of Area 420 via teleportation device, and back into the containment area again when time had expired for their task. All living witnesses interviewed believed that this had happened.

The entity will use any means necessary to prevent personnel from leaving the area; personnel can leave the area after the task has been completed, but they will not recall what they were doing while they were there. Should any escape attempt be made before completing the task, or should any attempt be made by equipment unable to withstand the environment of Area 420 (at which point no equipment will work in Area 420), the environment of Area 420 itself will begin to deteriorate and melt any non-resistant equipment. Personnel attempting to leave Area 420 are advised to carry portable generators; if such equipment is used after an escape attempt has failed, personnel will have their memories altered again so that they believe that the power outage was caused by something outside of Area 420 rather than a failure in equipment.

In addition to this alteration effect upon personnel, SCP-420 also induces intense psychological trauma upon those who enter it; due to this effect, investigators are strongly advised not to take anyone on assignment until he or she has undergone psychological counseling for at least six months following their arrival at Site-42 (where all personnel awaiting assignment undergo this counseling). Although not inherently harmful as therapy in itself, exposure to SCP-420 is often considered extreme torture.

Addendum:

Interview 420-1

[This interview was conducted on 5/18/05, after all personnel have been stationed at Site-41. The personnel present were ordered to remain silent and maintain a distance from each other, as well as from the windows. The following is an excerpt of the interview recapped by Agent Arcus. All dialogue is presented in transcript form.]

Agent Arcus: Alright, let\'s get started. I want to know everything that happened while you were in Area 420.

Witness A: Alright, I\'ll start with my name, sir; my name is John Calvin [he has not been recorded using this name before this point].

Agent Arcus: What was your role in Area 420?

Witness A: Well, I was there for my first day of work, sir. I was hired by "The Company" to become their new manager.

Agent Arcus: Can you describe the area in which you were working? How many employees were there? What was the nature of their work?

Witness A: We were instructed to make sure that all equipment was working properly, that all employees were briefed on what they were going to be doing, how long they would be working, where they would be going and so on.

Agent Arcus: And what were the employees doing while you were there?

Witness A: They were working on various equipment and facilities. As far as I knew, they were just keeping things up and running. They weren\'t exactly in a hurry to get out of there.

Agent Arcus: So what happened once all this work was completed?

Witness A: Well, we all got paid, then it was time for us to leave. I mean, I know it sounds weird but we really didn\'t feel like leaving there, if that makes any sense. There was something about the place…(He pauses for several minutes.) It felt like a nightmare that you can\'t wake from…like a nightmare that keeps getting worse every time you try to wake up from it.

Agent Arcus: (Pause) Have you ever had any unusual experiences before you came here? Anything that would explain why you would feel like this place is a nightmare?

Witness A: Not really…I mean, I\'ve heard stories about how people who are sent into Area 420 start hearing voices that tell them horrible things about themselves or others…but none of them sounded like anything I could call my own voice. In fact, they sounded more like they came from somewhere else…like they weren\'t even real words at all…they were just pieces of nonsense put together to make some kind of sick joke.

Agent Arcus: Do you think anyone else in your group had similar experiences before coming here?

Witness A: (Several moments of silence.) No…I don\'t think so…at least not most of them. Those guys seemed pretty normal when we first got there…but after we got into Area 420 I don\'t know…they just changed into these people I never met before in my life. It wasn\'t like anything I expected or even heard about before coming here…and it wasn\'t something I could explain to anyone else…it didn\'t make sense to me either but it felt like something was happening down there…something really bad and really wrong…and it wasn\'t just something that happened to me during those three days I was down there…I don\'t know what happened down there but the only way I could explain it is that it happened to everybody else too.

Agent Arcus: Can you describe what happened down there? Did anything unusual happen while you were inside Area 420?

Witness A: (Another pause.) All right, sir…sir…I\'m not sure what\'s going on here but all I can tell you is that everything inside Area 420 is not right at all…it\'s all wrong…and it\'s not just what\'s going on inside those buildings; it\'s everything outside those buildings too. Nothing makes sense here and nothing works right anymore! There are different kinds of animals fighting and killing each other in ways I never seen before and if that wasn\'t bad enough there are people back here too! People who talk to each other and act like they\'re human! They ignore us when we talk to them but we can see them talking to each other through the windows but we can\'t hear what they\'re talking about! They are some kind of monsters! They are the ones who should be locked up down here! Nobody should ever be allowed in here again! Nobody! Nobody should ever be allowed near Area 420 again! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody!Nobody! Not even an agent should be anywhere near this place because nobody should be allowed near this place because nobody should be allowed near this place because nobody should be allowed near this place because nobody should be allowed near this place because nobody should be allowed near this place because nobody should be allowed near this place because nobody…nobody…nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….nobody….noboundy……..Nobody!! (He begins to tear up; he falls back against the wall.)

Agent Arcupus: What happened next? When did you get back into Site-15? What did your coworkers say after they left Area 420? What did they say about Area 420? Why haven\'t you ever come back here again since? Why do you remember every single thing that happens inside Area 420 yet still claim that it\'s not right? Why do you say everything is wrong despite being able to see everything clearly through the windows? (He pauses for several seconds.) You can stop now; none of these questions need to be answered anymore. Let\'s end this session for now and see if our cause has been improved at least one iota by it.