The RMS Libitina, 1902.
Item #:
Category: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: The RMS Libitina is contained at Site-##, hangar 453-b. At all times, a minimum of twelve foundation agents are to be stationed within the ship's ballroom to monitor SCP-9999 for a 9999-LIMINAL event. Agent rotation is to occur every 8 hours. At the commencement of a LIMINAL event, Procedure: DEADBOLT is to be immediately enacted.
Agents who enact Procedure: DEADBOLT are to be reassigned after the confirmed cessation of the LIMINAL event. A medical team with knowledge of palliative treatment is to be stationed outside of the ballroom. Recording equipment, both still and motion capture, cease to function within the ballroom.
A counterfeit shipwreck has been constructed in the Porcupine Seabight. Academic research, media coverage, or conspiracy theories contrary to the Foundation disseminated narrative are to be suppressed.
Description: SCP-9999 is a white, double-leaf panel door stood in the centre of the ballroom of the the RMS Libitina, a transatlantic ocean liner. When approached by an individual with the intent of opening it (or, during a LIMINAL event, the intent of closing it), SCP-9999 will begin to move away from the individual at an equal speed to which it is approached. If SCP-9999 reaches the edges of the ballroom it will anomalously extend the interior dimensions of the room. When no longer approached, SCP-999 will return to rest in the centre of the ballroom and architectural anomalies will be reverted.
Prolonged exposure (approximately >10 hours) to SCP-9999 will result in individuals experiencing cognitohazardous effects. The most common of these include dsychronometria1, hallucinations, pseduohallucinations, and temporary blindness or deafness. The most common visual hallucination experienced is an individual's childhood self approaching SCP-9999. Individuals who experience this hallucination will subsequently report a memory of a childhood nightmare where they are pursued through the RMS Libitina by an entity with ursine features towards SCP-9999. On several occasions this recollection has been collaborated by testimony from relatives and entries in childhood diaries; this evidence was not extant before interaction with SCP-9999.
Replication of the symbol drawn upon SCP-9999.
An unknown symbol has been painted on both sides of SCP-9999 in a red substance, either bovine blood or red lead paint. If the substance on the front of SCP-9999 is blood, then the substance on the rear will be paint, and vice versa. The mechanism through which the substance transmutes has not been identified, but transmutation will occur daily at local sunset time. Identification of the symbol has so far been unsuccessful - this is hypothesised to be a result of SCP-9999's cognitohazardous nature rather than a Foundation failing.
The RMS Libitina was in service between 1899 and 1908 transporting passengers, cargo, and mail between Liverpool and New York City. The liner was owned and operated by "Northern Star Lines" (NSL), a British shipping company. NSL was founded by Cornelius Eden, a British aristocrat and businessman, in 1892.
On 12th October 1908 the Libitina launched from Liverpool on a private voyage hosted by Eden. Those on-board included Eden himself, 67 invited guests2, and 189 crew members. Plans disclosed by NSL to port authorities stated the Libitina would embark on a 13 day cruise, sailing past Ireland into the Atlantic Ocean, before returning to Liverpool.
When the Libitina did not return to port on its intended date, and subsequently failed to respond to contact attempts via wireless telegraph, search and rescue vessels were dispatched but found no evidence of the liner.
The liner was believed sunk until 1974, when it was discovered drifting in the Beaufort Sea, north of Canada. There was no evidence of Eden, the other passengers, or their fate, and the Libitina's lifeboats were still present. SCP-9999 was subsequently discovered, and the Foundation took ownership of the Libitina. A media disinformation campaign was launched, shifting the narrative from the discovery of the liner to the discovery of its wreck west of Ireland.
SCP-9999-LIMINAL Events:
It is currently believed that the successful execution of Procedure:
It is currently believed that the completion of a 9999-LIMINAL event poses a significant risk to normality. The successful execution of Procedure: DEADBOLT at the commencement of a LIMINAL event will cause the event's cessation.
Procedure: DEADBOLT involves twelve foundation agents simultaneously approaching SCP-9999 in a circular formation with the intent to open/close it, and with each agent separated from the adjacent agent by a 30o angle. When agents are within reaching distance, SCP-9999 will disappear until they have retreated. If a 9999-LIMINAL event is in progress, the event will have ceased upon reappearance.
The commencement of a LIMINAL event is marked by SCP-9999 mildly vibrating and shaking for a time period between 2 to 5 minutes. SCP-9999 will then open, in either direction, due to the forceful expulsion of one of the 257 individuals present on the RMS Libitina at the time of its disappearance in 1908.
Individuals display no signs of aging since the date of disappearance, but exhibit major physical trauma. Injuries displayed include avulsion, evisceration, partial flaying, bone fractures, lacerations, and substantial contusions. Once Procedure: DEADBOLT has been successfully enacted, the medical team stationed outside the ballroom is to provide emergency care to the individual, if they have not yet expired. To date, ██ have been returned from SCP-9999. Survival rate past 24 hours is currently at <10%, and those who have survived have not recovered to a condition in which they are fit to be interviewed regarding their experiences.
Significant difficulty has been encountered in researching SCP-9999 and LIMINAL events after the initial expulsion, as the event gains strong amnestic properties. All witnesses to a LIMINAL event, including those enacting Procedure: DEADBOLT, are able to confirm that SCP-999 remains open, but are unable to recall what lies over the threshold - only that the door does not link through to the other side and the ballroom interior.
Whilst the interior of SCP-9999 has strong amnestic properties, it's impact is strongly mnestic. Witnesses to a LIMINAL event are able to recall intensely strong feelings of dread, fear, and distress, yet are unable to recall any detail of what is beyond the threshold of SCP-9999 or what is eliciting their emotional reaction. When discussing SCP-9999 witnesses also exhibit physiological signs of distress, including impaired temperature regulation, tremors, and respiration difficulties.
In ≈90% of cases witnesses have developed post-traumatic stress disorder and parasomnia. Amnestic treatment has been unsuccessful at erasing memories of interaction with SCP-9999, but traditional therapeutic treatment has shown some success in enabling agents to return to fieldwork.