SCP-137-FR : The One True Religion

Name: The One True Religion
Author: Reyas
Rating: 22/22
Created at: Sat Aug 25 2018
Item #: SCP-137-FR
Threat Level: Yellow ●
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containement Procedures: SCP-137-FR is to be kept inside a secure locker at Site-Aleph and removed from containment only for the purpose of tests on Class-D personnel. Outside of these tests, only personnel confirmed as non-religious may handle SCP-137-FR, in order to prevent any accidental opening.
Description: SCP-137-FR is a 15x25cm glossy paper brochure, folded in half. Printed on the front side are the words "A world with no religion, is it possible?" along with a depiction of the earth surrounded by various religious symbols. The back side bears a single word, "yes". At the bottom is the logo for an organisation named "SAPHIR"1, which was previously unknown (see Recovery Log). The two inner pages are blank.

When closed, SCP-137-FR exhibits no anomalous effects. However, when opened by a subject affiliated to any religious denomination, both the object and subject vanish. The subject and SCP-137-FR will then reappear 1 second to 8 hours after opening.

The subject will return in a severe state of shock, with considerably weakened mental health, and will manifest a visceral repulsion towards the subject's original religion prior to the experiment. Subjects invariably claim to have remained in the exact location they were before, but in a dystopian world where the only existing religion is theirs. Although the exact duration of their presence there is undetermined, it appears considerably longer than the duration of their disappearance. An average duration of three months has been suggested.

As the subjects' severe state of shock compromises interrogation, a crisis unit was established and the use of tranquilizers was allowed.
SCP-137-FR experiment log:

Subject D-9811 was of Christian faith (specifically Catholic) prior to the experiment. D-9811 opened the brochure and disappeared as expected, before reappearing eight (8) minutes and thirty-one (31) seconds later. Upon return, he was in a state of severe panic, had holes in his hands and feet and was suffering from severe dehydration.
Interview log:

Dr Gémini: Are you comfortable? Can we begin?

D-9811: nods silently

Dr Gémini: Alright. Please begin with what happened when you opened the brochure.

D-9811: I… I didn't do anything. I stayed here and… everything, everything around me changed…

Dr Gémini: Please elaborate.

D-9811: Everything… er… the walls, the ground and the ceiling were black dimension stone… Everything else was wood… and there were the men…

Dr Gémini: Who were they?

D-9811: They said I was in the Clergy's Holy Prison. "What did I do?" I asked. "Nothing" they said, I was here like everybody else.

Dr Gémini: Like… everybody else?

D-9811: D-9811's eyes begin to water You had to go through it. You had to undergo the Redemption. You had to do it. You had to-

Dr Gémini: snaps fingers 9811? 9811, by the love of God, stay with me.

D-9811: What? Yes. No, not God. Please stop using that word.

Dr Gémini: Alright. Carry on, then.

D-9811: Yes… They… Humanity had to… had to pay for the Fault. We had to. All of us. Those who hadn't redeemed themselves yet were jailed in the mean time…

Dr Gémini: What was the redemption about?

D-9811: starts crying

Dr Gémini: Please answer my question.

D-9811: still no answer

Dr Gémini: I will not repeat myself. What was the redemption about?

The agent responsible for securing the interrogation points his weapon at D-9811

D-9811: You… you had to suffer!

Dr Gémini: Suffer?

D-9811: Suffer like the Forefathers did. To pardon ourselves. Only our tears and screams could… it was the respect that was due to them…

Dr Gémini: Who are the Forefathers?

D-9811: …they asked you for your first name. I knew something was fishy. I didn't want to tell them. They hurt me. They hurt so, so, so-

Dr Gémini: Bear with me, please. And elaborate.

D-9811: They… they asked us for our first names. It was to know the martyr, you understand? The Redemption was different for each one. Agatha's had their breasts cut off, Lucy's had their hair ripped off, Laurent's were grilled…

Dr Gémini: I see, they subjected people to the same persecution as the saint with the same name. Can you…

D-9811: …iron hooks, Valentine's were beaten…

Dr Gémini: Hold yourself together, D-9811.

D-9811: …pitch, burning hot pitch! Then the Julia's were whipped, and…

Dr Gémini: Christ, D-9811, hold yourself together!

D-9811: …dragged by bulls, dragged on the endless road…

The security agent points his weapon at D-9811 again

Dr Gémini: Forget it, we lost him. Get some tranquilizers.

[END RECORDING]

Subject D-3004 was of Muslim faith (specifically Sunni) prior to the experiment. D-3004 opened the brochure and disappeared as expected, before reappearing four (4) hours and twelve (12) minutes later. Upon return, he was in a state of severe exhaustion. Deep lacerations were noticed on his back. After a forty-two (42) hour rest, an interview could be conducted.
Interview log:

Dr Gémini: Hello D-3004. Or should I say, welcome back.

D-3004: You sent me there, you son of a bitch!

D-3004 stands up and attempts to hit Dr Gémini but collapses immediately due to his physical fatigue, and is then set back on his chair by the security agent

Dr Gémini: Let's carry on. I know it is a bit early but can you describe what you experienced?

D-3004: Go [CENSORED] yourself.

[RECORDING INTERRUPTED WHILE D-3004 REFUSES TO COMPLY]

Dr Gémini: …Alright, I hope this convinced you to accept helping us. So then: how was it over there?

D-3004: I… I opened your paper thing, and… The entire landscape changed radically. The walls were metal. It was incredibly hot. There were men all around me screaming in a language I didn't understand.

Dr Gémini: Something derived from Arabic?

D-3004: No idea, I only know Arabic from my uncle… But it didn't sound like it…

Dr Gémini: Alright, carry on.

D-3004: They were all naked and seemed so sick… so weak… they… can I have some time?

Dr Gémini: We'd prefer you to collaborate now.

D-3004: Ehm… Then there was this guy… A fucking giant, a muscle mountain. He was inhuman. There were many others like him. He had this kind of mask and… D-3004 undergoes psycho-pathological convulsions

Dr Gémini: Calm down, 3004.

D-3004: They… they stripped me. I still didn't understand what they said, but I got it when we went outside.

Dr Gémini: What was there outside?

D-3004: What? The Construction, of course!

[NOTE: It appears D-3004 can't distinguish between the outside world of the Foundation and the one he was transported to by SCP-137-FR.]

Dr Gémini: What construction?

D-3004: It is everywhere. On the whole horizon. A view I never could have imagined before… they chained me, I didn't even realize. Everything was too large, I was overwhelmed by vertigo. Like a mountain range. They pulled the chains, too. I fell, didn't give a shit. Seeing the ground was all good after staring at immensity…

Dr Gémini: But what are you talking about exactly?

D-3004: Look out by the window, dammit!

Dr Gémini: choosing to play along Ehm… Yes, I saw it, but I didn't understand. What are they building exactly?

D-3004: The Mosque. The Sole Mosque. The Great Mosque for Allah and his worship. And Allah is great. His worship, universal. The Mosque must be worthy of it. It must be high…

Dr Gémini: How big, exactly?

D-3004: convulsions resume I don't… ehm… do you have some paper and a pen?

Dr Gémini provides the supplies to D-3004, who writes down a few figures and slides the paper back

Dr Gémini: That's… ridiculous.

D-3004: And I'm still far from reality.

Dr Gémini: No, it's… it's absolutely… that would reach the stratosphere, do you realize that?

D-3004: An entire continent turned into a stone quarry. Half of the planet voided to be assembled on the other half. Billions of humans turned into ants, all submitted with the same aim under the cracking of the whips. They whipped me, you know. They whipped me. A lot. I didn't go fast enough…

Dr Gémini: If what you're saying is true…

D-3004: …not fast enough… …not fast enough…

Dr Gémini: Please, go back to our topic.

D-3004: No. Never go back. Never… never…

Dr Gémini: What is h- HE'S STABBING HIMSELF REACT DAMMIT HIS HEART HE STABBED THE PEN INTO-

D-3004: The Mosque won't take me. I am not an ant.

[END RECORDING]

Subject D-11027 was of Jewish faith prior to the experiment. D-11027 opened the brochure and disappeared as expected, before reappearing one (1) second later. D-11027 reappeared deceased from a gunshot to the head. Experiments with SCP-137-FR on people of Jewish faith are suspended indefinitely until otherwise stated.

Subject D-9852 was of Buddhist faith prior to the experiment. D-9852 opened the brochure and disappeared as expected, before reappearing forty-five (45) minutes and twenty (20) seconds later. D-9852 reappeared in a state of terror and paranoia so severe it was difficult to detect at first. However, the crisis unit successfully convinced him that he was back at the Foundation.
Interview log:

Dr Gémini: Hello, D-9852.

D-9852: H… Hello… bodhisattva?

Dr Gémini: sighs For the last time, you are back at the Foundation, 9852. You have nothing to fear.

D-9852: I… suppose…

Dr Gémini: Good. Now tell us what happened when you opened SCP-137-FR.

D-9852: Well… Everything changed. I was in the same place, in the same room… but not the same room. Everything was gray and dirty. They called it the Spiritual Preparation Center. I was welcomed by numerous men and women. They were shaved, wore strange clothes, all in white, a bit futuristic… But… their smiles haunt me…

Dr Gémini: Their smiles?

D-9852: slightly panicked They had big smiles, really big! All supportive! Really friendly, really, really…

Dr Gémini: 9852, remember. All of this is over. Look: "Death to the Buddha!" Erikson, repeat "Death to the Buddha."

Agent Erikson: Ehm… "Death to the Buddha!"

Dr Gémini: See?

D-9852: I… yes, alright. May… may he die!

Dr Gémini: Good. You see? Nothing happened. Can we continue now?

D-9852: Yes… So, their smiles… they had big joyful smiles… all the time. Frozen like that. And in their eyes… there was that little haze that had vanished. That haze that exists even in the worst monsters, you see?

Dr Gémini: I think I see.

D-9852: It was just a huge reeducation center! Everything! Here! Outside! The world. There were posters, speakers, everywhere, all the time. They monitored us night and day!

Dr Gémini: What kind of messages?

D-9852: Don't ask me that, I beg you! They repeat in my head… When I close my eyes… I'm afraid they'll surface again, and take over…

Dr Gémini: Say it.

D-9852: I… alright. It was a lot of slogans, things like "Desire is Pain" or "The Awakening needs Will to sleep" or "If you stray away from the Path do not seek the Shelter…" The remaining was speeches from a man I didn't know. "The New Incarnation." His face was everywhere. On the walls. On the screens. I… I see his face everywhere… He will never leave my mind. I know it.

Dr Gémini: What happened after that? How long did you live there?

D-9852: For long. Too long. Several months. It was hell. We did almost nothing in the day. Eat, meditate, sleep, but not too much. Everything was seen as bad. Everyone lived in fear but had to show their happiness to others. Pretend we were at peace while suffering a bit more every day. That's how I got to live. The people… everyone had a gun, everyone shot the other at their first mistake. While smiling, of course! No anger, no remarks, just… termination. According to them, it allowed the disrespectful to redeem themselves during their next reincarnation.

Dr Gémini: Didn't that cause demography problems?

D-9852: Oh, they… they didn't kill them all… they brought the others in… the Houses of Avidyā and…

Dr Gémini: And?

D-9852: I prefer not to talk about it… I beg you, let me have some time…

Dr Gémini: I understand, you probably need to meditate on…

D-9852: NEVER WILL I FUCKING MEDITATE, SON OF [CENSORED]!

D-9852 attempts to hit Dr Gémini but is intercepted in time by the security guards

[END RECORDING]

Subject D-5541 was formerly part of a cult named "The Progeny of Mephisto" and was captured after having ritually murdered ██ people and being sentenced to death. He was brought in specifically for this experiment. D-5541 opened the brochure and disappeared as expected, before reappearing six (6) hours and fifty-two (52) minutes later. D-5541 reappeared in a state close to insanity, ruling out any possibility of a constructive discussion. Although, it seems paradoxical that a dystopian scenario similar to the others would make him abandon satanism.
Excerpts of D-5541's Monologue after the experiment:

They mustn't. Mustn't. Mustn't! The castle, in the sky. Too high. Way too high. Lightning. Horses of thunder. One. One, two. Six. Six, six, six. Nine! Nine, no, nine! Ah. Hehe. [UNINTELLIGIBLE] Mankind had forgotten. In the bottom of its heart. Faded. Forever! Forever? No. Noooo. He reminded them. All. His Sons, His Daughters But his Parents too. [SENSITIVE DATA REDACTED] What a burden. What a joy. Burden, joy, burden, joy. Farewell, birds. The fish rule, now. The valley doesn't care anymore. Does it? No. Why would it worry? It sinks, and sinks. And sinks and sinks and sinks! [UNINTELLIGIBLE] of the Great Mage! They do not know about it. They worshiped the Wrong King. Then they turned to another False King. What a dumbass. I was crazy. Dumbass, dumbass, dumbass, dumbass, dumbass, dumbass, dumbass! The Heir (Air?) came. The knees. Gone. The thunder and its horses. [UNINTELLIGIBLE] Don't look at the words! They are written, it is bad! [UNINTELLIGIBLE] Don't do it, don't do it! The Nine Houses. Farewell. The Clouds caught fire. We fed the groan (Grown?) of the sea. But there was nothing left to drink. Thirst. [UNINTELLIGIBLE] I prefer to see the [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. The heir (the air?) of the Fish of her Majesty. You believe this world is safe? It's the same everywhere. They all cry, into infinity. And their tears assemble and form my coat. For it is [SENSITIVE DATA REDACTED] and this is what he wills !

Subject D-11027 was a former follower of the Church of the Broken God, previously captured by the Foundation during a raid. He was brought in specifically for this experiment. D-11027 opened the brochure and disappeared as expected, before reappearing eight (8) hours and three (3) minutes later. D-11027 reappeared in a state of intense panic, covered in geometric burn marks and rust regularly embedded into his skin.
Interview log:
[SENSITIVE DATA REDACTED BY O5 ORDER]

Post Scriptum: Subject D-11027, after having fully rejected the Church of the Broken God and recovered from the emotional shock, volunteered to assist the Foundation in fighting the Church of the Broken God. Request awaiting approval.

Following the various experiments carried out on Class-D personnel of a number of denominations, the following was determined:

• Followers of cults, neo-pagan sects and other religious groups that are not widely known and/or not considered "official religions" were able to activate SCP-137-FR.
• Some subjects that belong to the three major Abrahamic religions were not able to activate SCP-137-FR. Psychological interviews appear to reveal that they inherited their religion under the influence of their cultural and social milieu or family rather than their own faith.

In order to determine the conditions to which SCP-137-FR accepts or refuses a religion, the Hedenon Progam was introduced.
This program, led by Drs Ambrozy and Gémini, consisted in the brainwashing and conditioning of subject D-1614, using SCP-███ and SCP-███-FR, in order to implant the subject's mind with a tenacious belief in an entirely fabricated religion, based on an only god named Hedenon.

A 72-hour observational phase in an isolation cell did show that this artificial faith was correctly implanted, with the subject engaging in several rituals suggested to him, including a half-an-hour prayer memorized flawlessly and a self-mutilation ritual that a non-devout person would not have carried out.

As a validation, tests in conditions of [REDACTED] demonstrated that when D-1614 believed he was on the verge of death without any other possibility, the subject opted to pray Hedenon as a last resort.

During the experiment with SCP-137-FR, D-1614 opened the brochure and disappeared as expected, before reappearing two (2) hours and twelve (12) minutes later. D-1614 reappeared in a catatonic state. On his nape was a symbol similar to that of the Foundation, though altered and enriched with new elements, burnt into the skin using hot iron. This seems consistent with the fact that the Hedenon cult was invented by the Foundation.

This appears to show that faith alone is a factor for the activation of SCP-137-FR, regardless of the status of the religion it is directed to.

Research on a dystopia where the Foundation became a global religious organism has been proposed. A successful observation expedition could indeed bring potential novelties in terms of containment. The proposal is under review.

Recovery log: SCP-137-FR appears to have been distributed in multiple copies on ██/██/████, in a square in the city of Dijon, France, by volunteers from an organisation known as SAPPHIRE. The Foundation's attention was drawn when agents embedded in the local police received witness accounts of people "vanishing suddenly" and "reappearing completely panicked." When MTF Zeta-8 "White Dove" arrived to administer amnestics to the witnesses and victims, the SAPPHIRE members had disappeared, after having recovered or destroyed all copies of SCP-137-FR. Fortunately, SCP-137-FR was found in a trash can near the square, where it had been thrown by a civilian who did not open it.

Research has been conducted to determine the nature and purpose of SAPPHIRE, so far mostly unsuccessful. According to previous findings, SAPPHIRE appears to be an intellectual group wishing to impact religion as a whole in order to promote rational thinking. The motto written underneath their logo, "Nostram Assulam Pavete" (latin for "Fear Our Shine") shows they consider themselves a threat. Further clearing is awaited.