SCP-874

Item #: SCP-874

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Regional authorities have been notified of the appearance of SCP-874, and advise citizens to take measures to prevent it from entering urban areas. Civilians with an affinity for water sports, including kayaks, are encouraged to travel through or near SCP-874 as little as possible. Suspicious individuals with similar hobbies may be detained or given amnestics before being transported to Safe SCP-874-A.

Instances of SCP-874 are to be monitored around the clock by Foundation agents stationed in neighboring regions. When SCP-874 enters urban areas, special containment procedures are enacted with the assistance of local law enforcement. Any civilians who enter SCP-874 should be transported to the nearest city by Foundation agents while the local mental health system is contacted in order to help any affected civilians that have entered a catatonic state.

Description: SCP-874 is an anomalous geographical phenomenon consisting of a large body of water that only exists in Louisiana's Red River and its tributaries, which also include the Atchafalaya, Cane River, and Amite River. The basin of SCP-874 varies in size and shape over time, but during its first 80 years, it expanded at a rate of approximately 2 km per decade. Entities (hereafter referred to as SCP-874-A) observed within the area of SCP-874 are generated by copies of people who have traveled through or into the area. All instances of SCP-874-A are sentient in nature and show some degree of independent thought when observed.

Instances of SCP-874-A will attempt to reach populated areas where they can be safe. Inevitably, they return to SCP-874 if unable to secure a residence. Due to their desire for safety and denial of the need for safety from their own lives, survivors are not able to effectively describe what occurs when an instance comes into contact with human life, other than stating that all individuals become paralysed for up to several minutes before being lost in space for several hours. Partially recovered instances have reported similar descriptions regarding their interactions with nonliving objects such as trees and buildings.

SCP-874 was first detected by Foundation researchers interrogating a prisoner from Vinton Correctional Facility. Several months after his escape from prison, one of the subject's family members claimed to hear strange sounds emanating from a typical southern river in the town where they lived. Despite searching several locations claimed by the family member, no trace could be found of the mysterious entity; this led researchers to conduct a full containment investigation on the Red River Basin following reports of two entities entering New Orleans at separate times without leaving any trace.

Addendum: SCP-874 was originally contained at a facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. After an incident in which several civilians were lost in space for several hours and claiming to be unable to remember their reaction to the event, the Foundation decided to move the entity to a more secure facility on the site of a former mental health hospital. Since then, SCP-874 has not been able to escape its containment, despite the attempts of several civilians who have tried to enter the area.

SCP-874-A was first discovered when a group of researchers entered SCP-874 and communicated with one of the instances, hereafter designated SCP-874-A-1. The following interview was conducted by ██/██/████, while SCP-874-A was still inside SCP-874.

Dr. █████: Were you able to reach the other side?

SCP-874-A-1: Yes.

Dr. █████: What did it look like there?

SCP-874-A-1: I don't know. It was different than here. Everything was very bright. There were many people there and they were all talking very fast. I could not understand them. It was very confusing. They kept asking me where I had come from but I could not answer them. I was too worried about what had happened to me on this side. They said that I would lose my mind if I did not leave soon and start living again.

After several minutes of silence, SCP-874-A-1 asked Dr. █████ how he had been able to cross into space. Upon being informed that he had been lost in space for several hours, he became distressed and asked for time to think about it before continuing with his story.

SCP-874-A-1: They said that I had missed my chance at life and that I would regret it forever if I did not leave immediately. I asked why they did not just send me back, but they told me that I was too far from them so they could not send me back. They said that I was dangerous and that if I went back to my old life, it would be too late for me. They tried to make me stay, but I knew that they were wrong and that this new place might be home for me after all.