Special Containment Procedures: A big storage tank has been installed below SCP-040-VN’s discovery site to contain the increasing amount of liquid. A barrier has been built around the affected area. When coming in contact with SCP-040-VN, personnel are not allowed to carry any kind of information media. Personnel returning from the site are to be checked for psychological and psychiatric disruptions, and placed under a following 5-day period of surveillance. Research is still being conducted in order to contain SCP-040-VN more effectively. Destroying SCP-040-VN is not yet possible and further research is still needed.
Update 5/24/2021: A novel should be placed inside SCP-040-VN’s discovery site once a week. The novel should stay intact or have only been damaged minimally, without the written content being affected. Upon entering the site, personnel are not allowed to bring any other form of information media. After leaving the site, personnel will be checked for psychological and psychiatric disruptions, as well as being under surveillance for at least 2 days. Security cameras have been installed near the site to ensure that SCP-040-VN does not breach containment.
Description: SCP-040-VN is a black liquid of unknown components that resembles ink. This liquid is non-toxic to the touch, but has the ability to eventually corrupt information. This process can take from a few minutes to a few days. The effect of SCP-040-VN can spread to other information media and humans within the radius of 5 meters from the original corruption point.1
For physical documents and images, ink stains will gradually appear on the document before spreading and covering its entirety. Any attempt to reverse this process or restore the affected documents have resulted in failure. However, if the documents are taken away from the original SCP-040-VN source, the corruption process will cease.
SCP-040-VN’s effect on digital files is similar to that of physical documents. Exposing electronic devices to SCP-040-VN is not recommended, as SCP-040-VN has the ability to spread into files stored on the device. The corruption of electronic data cannot be stopped even after the device has been isolated from the original affected point.
For human subjects, SCP-040-VN will modify and erase the subject's memory; affected memories are mostly unimportant, but more severe cases (such as forgetting one’s own mobile phone number, home address, and passwords) are present. In these cases, the subject will be quarantined for at least 5 days and will receive special treatment.
The liquid was found in an abandoned library, spreading throughout the area, flooding the basement and rising without signs of further rising.
Explorations were made to discover the nature of SCP-040-VN.
Exploration Report SCP-040-VN-1
Date: 15/5/2021
The exploration team entered the discovery site. SCP-040-VN was reported to be raising to their knees (about 50cm in depth). The basement had heavily deteriorated, with some areas having already collapsed. After going deep into the book storage area, the team found two boxes which appeared to be intact. One box contained various documents written on tissue paper, some of which had been infected with SCP-040-VN. The other box contained an esoteric device2. All team members left the area immediately; following general check-ups have discovered nothing of concern.
Exploration Report SCP-040-VN-2
Date: 5/17/2021
Several exploration drones were deployed into the area, in which the level of ink was reported to be higher than the previous exploration. After searching, these drones have found a portal deep below SCP-040-VN, near the area where the documents in the previous exploration were found. The drones were directed to go through the portal.Reports have shown that this dimension’s gravity is equivalent to Earth's; besides, all measuring and communication devices still worked normally. The drones navigated themselves to the surface of the SCP-040-VN flood. They then found various corpses of black creatures, and most noticeably, many mechanical components belonging to a complex device, with the letter sequence “DEUS” carved onto some fragments. The remaining database contained an unsent message asking for help, which had been infected with SCP-040-VN.3. No other lifeforms were found in this area.
A box was discovered after the drones showed signs of errors. The box was successfully retrieved before all drones received significant damage. Inside the box was a handwritten letter. The drones were disposed afterward.