Item #: SCP-1992
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: If the existence of an SCP-1992-1 is confirmed, Foundation agents are to attempt to persuade passengers to disembark. Foundation personnel are advised to not board the train, regardless of how persuasive the arguments of the passengers are.
Should Foundation personnel fail to keep an instance of SCP-1992-1 from crashing, MTF-Gamma-5 ("Red Herrings") are to secure the crash site, disseminate information concerning the crash, and identify all passengers. Survivors are to be taken to hospitals under Foundation control until release to their residency and given Class B amnestics. Cover stories are to be fabricated for the deceased at the discretion of MTF-Gamma-5.
Description: SCP-1992 is a worldwide phenomenon focused around various forms of media including novels, music, movies, television programs, stage productions, and comic books. SCP-1992 physically manifests in the form of an autonomous passenger train, designated SCP-1992-1. Multiple instances of SCP-1992-1 are capable of existing at once.
SCP-1992 events begin with the announcement of a piece of media that is met with widespread enthusiasm; a variable researchers have tentatively termed "hype." However, an instance of SCP-1992-1 will not manifest for every anticipated piece of media. It is unknown how exactly SCP-1992 selects its sources, though it it hypothesized it selects media that will cause the most damage. It is theorized SCP-1992-1 will only preemptively manifest to represent media that are met with a largely negative reaction upon release. If true, it is unknown whether SCP-1992 is able to predict the quality of upcoming media, or retroactively affects the source media upon manifestation or media release, as the creators of the media are often confused by the negative reception.
Upon manifestation, individuals who hold interest in the relevant upcoming media are subject to a minor compulsion to board the train. SCP-1992-1 will disappear shortly after departing from the station. As more people board the SCP-1992-1, the range and strength of the compulsion increases. Those aboard SCP-1992-1 are theorized to subsist on "hype" rather than typical sustenance of food and water.
Upon the media's release, the relevant SCP-1992-1 will manifest somewhere on a rail line in the media's country of origin. The SCP-1992-1 will travel at a velocity dependent on both the number of individuals on board the train, and the number of people in a "hype" state for the piece of media in question worldwide. The train will then either arrive peacefully at the next station if the media was well recieved, or will suffer an end involving the complete or partial desctruction of the vehicle, as well as the deaths of many, frequently all, passengers if the media is poorly recieved1. The nature of this event is often related to the media in question2.
Incident 1992-50
Premiering in Japan on May 29th, 1954, the movie "Godzilla" concerns the titular monster "Godzilla" or "Gojira" destroying large amount of the city of Tokyo, before being terminated through use of an "oxygen destroyer" bomb a fictional superweapon portrayed as the only thing capable of defeating godzilla.
The film was a huge financial success, grossing over 2.25 million dollars from its initial budget of nine hundred thousand, and going on to be shown to audiences in the united states, drawing audiences chiefly from Japanese-American backgrounds. Its success has been such that a dubbed US release is scheduled for April 27th of this year. Said relase is eagerly anticipated both in the United States and Europe. If the movie is poorly recieved, the anticipation and sheer number of different possible threats that could occur to the train mean that the results could be catastrophic.
Potential events:
-Simple crash.
-High speed crash.
-Collision with Japanese military tank.
-Attack by Japanese military (officials have been noted).
-Train destroys minor city in a manner similar to Godzilla.
-Train destroys major city in a manner similar to Godzilla.
-Oxygen destroyer detonates in built up area.
-Godzilla itself manifests.
In a random stroke of luck, SCPs 5080 and 5030 have been highly interested in the "Godzilla" movie franchise. Due to their nonstandard link with normal mental systems, the Foundation was capable of tracing the compulsion SCP-1992 generated to a specific train in southern California, SCP-1992-50, which was transported to New York. The train has been studied over the past few months, massively increasing the Foundation's understanding of the anomaly.
YOUR MISSION
SCP-1992-50 will be placed onto a cordoned off section of the US rail network, and released at 19:00, 4/27. Psi-7 agents will travel on the train, ensuring no hostile parties arrive to take the anomaly, until 19:40, twenty minutes before the premier of Godzilla is shown to audiences in Los Angeles. At this time a retrieval train will pull alongside the instance and the agents will safely transfer onto it, allowing SCP-1992-50 to expend itself harmlessly in the New York forests, after which they will move in to retrieve the wreckage or functioning train. Gamma-5 will then issue amnestics to any witnesses or survivors, and cleanup will proceed as normal.
The train will be issued with one (1) standard heavy defence armoury, as well as one (1) stasis bomb, the detonator to be held by Gamma-5 commander Carmen Navarro for use if SCP-1992-50 does not arrive at the station and Godzilla is well recieved. Agents Tomas and Elliot of Gamma-5 will be placed at the premier to gauge local reception.