Item #: SCP-712
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-712 is to be kept affixed to an A4 sized piece of card stock inside of a C4 sized ISO envelope. All materials and sizes may be generic office supplies. Envelope is to be locked inside a standard document box or storage locker when not removed for experimentation purposes.
Description: Object is a class 2 memetic hazard. Personnel wishing to conduct experiments with SCP-712 should not attempt to read what is written on the object. Due to the drain of resources and lack of experimental progress with the object, use of class D subjects for experimentation is forbidden without special dispensation by staff of level 3 or higher.
Object was recovered by SCP Retrieval Task Force Omicron-C, after an unusual spike in asphyxiation deaths occurred in the small town of ██████, Texas. Object was recovered from room 227 of the ████ Inn. Incident was explained away as a carbon monoxide leak.
SCP-712 appears to be a standard 7.62 x 7.62 cm (3 x 3 inch) canary yellow Post-it brand sticky note. According to D class personnel used during experimentation, three words are written on it with what appears to have been a black sharpie.
Whenever a human literate in the English language reads written phrase, they are immediately infected with a virulent memetic disorder. Furthermore, an infected individual can spread the meme to others by writing it or speaking it aloud. Only the specific three word combination will infect an individual. It is suspected that the phrase will have the same effect no matter its origin, and a textual analysis of all electronic databases the foundation has access to is underway in an attempt to remove the phrase from them.
Describing the effects of the meme does not seem to spread it. Anyone infected by the meme will immediately become directly conscious that they are breathing. The task of breathing is somehow transferred from the spinal column to the frontal lobe of the brain, and an infected individual is unable to return it to their subconscious mind as is usually the case. Individuals must constantly maintain their breathing in order to prevent expiration due to suffocation. In addition, the suffocation reflex, which causes extreme unpleasantness after blood oxygen levels drop to low enough levels in normal individuals, is removed.
Subjects infected with the meme may not be allowed to fall asleep without assisted respiration as they will suffocate within minutes of doing so. Subjects also no longer feel the need to breathe deeply while undergoing extended physical exertion, leading to faintness, unconsciousness, and death due to oxygen starvation if no assistance is rendered.
SCP-712 is of little threat when properly contained, and while research into the meme is slow, containment costs little. SCP-712 is not marked for destruction at this time.
See experiment logs for additional information.
Experiment #712-E1:
Class D personnel was instructed to read the note. Subject the remarked that they had noticed they were breathing. Subject detained for observation. Subject expired while sleeping.
Experiment #712-E2:
The first two words of the phrase were covered up. Class D personnel was instructed to read the remaining word. Subject did so and reported no changes. Subject was asked to remove the cover and read the entire phrase. Subject immediately remarked that they were breathing. Subject detained for observation and kept on a ventilator. When removed from ventilator, subject expired during normal sleep cycles.
Addendum #712-A1:
Level 2 personnel Dr. Alan █████████ was accidentally exposed to the phrase during experiment 712-E2. Knowing that he would most likely be subject further experimentation if he revealed he was infected, Dr. █████████ remained silent until after his role in the experiment had concluded and proceeded back to his quarters. Dr. █████████ then attempted to stay awake for as long as possible though the use of multiple stimulants.
When he did not report for duty thirteen days after the experiment, a security dispatch sent to rouse him discovered Dr. █████████ dead on the floor of his quarters due to massive amphetamine overdose. Subject also had moderate self-inflicted injuries to his chest and neck. Individuals close to the subject remarked that he had been behaving oddly before his death, but that he was "usually pretty twitchy" so they did not think much of it. Sometime before his death, Dr. █████████ had covered the walls of his quarters with the memetic phrase from the note. This resulted in the eventual deaths of the security dispatch and the two class D personnel sent to clean up the room.
It is not clear if the doctor's apparent insanity was due to SCP-712 or simply the effects of nearly two weeks without sleep and excessive stimulant usage, and command is unwilling to waste any more personnel to resolve the issue.