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Credits
Title: SCP-3982-JP - The Identity of That Mysterious Something and, Incidentally, the Happiness of Falling Asleep as a Child in the Backseat of Your Parents' Car on the Way Home from a Trip
Author:EianSakashiba
Year of Creation: 2025
Item #: SCP-3982-JP
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: Containment of SCP-3982-JP is considered impractical. The Foundation's efforts are focused on post-encounter concealment and scenario management. Any individual confirmed to have experienced SCP-3982-JP must undergo administered concealment procedures, including amnestics. Any objects produced as a result of an SCP-3982-JP event are to be collected and processed by the Foundation.
Description: SCP-3982-JP is an anomalous phenomenon that occurs exclusively inside vehicles during long-distance solo driving sessions. While the precise conditions remain unclear, statistical analysis of documented incidents suggests the following factors increase the likelihood of its manifestation:
- Travel distance of over one hour from the starting point to the destination.
- Continuous highway driving, including pit stops, lasting more than one hour.
- Solo driving after sunset for a prolonged period.
When any of these conditions are met, the probability of SCP-3982-JP’s occurrence increases in proportion to the number of qualifying factors. Once SCP-3982-JP manifests, regardless of whether the vehicle is moving or stationary, the driver is instantly transferred to the rear seat. Two unidentified entities, hereafter referred to as SCP-3982-JP-1 and SCP-3982-JP-2, occupy the driver's and passenger seats, assuming the roles of the driver and front passenger. The original driver perceives these entities as "their parents from childhood/youth" and feels neither doubt or anxiety regarding their presence or actions.
No direct visual confirmation of SCP-3982-JP-1 or SCP-3982-JP-2 have been recorded. Observers consistently explain this lack of clarity as being due to the dim lighting inside the vehicle, fatigue from driving, or an unquestionable certainty that the entities are indeed their parents. However, the Foundation suspects these factors are insufficient as complete blind concealment and may be part of the anomaly.
During SCP-3982-JP events, the vehicle interior becomes entirely silent even if speakers or external audio devices were playing radio or music beforehand. The original driver experiences a sense of profound comfort when observing the entities’ silhouettes or the scenery outside the window. This comfort is accompanied by an overwhelming fatigue that invariably leads to the driver falling asleep.
Upon regaining consciousness from their sleep state, drivers find their vehicle parked at the destination. The arrival occurs within a realistic timeframe, and in cases where parking is unavailable at the destination premises, the vehicle is found parked in the nearest available parking facility. The driver regains consciousness while seated in the driver's seat, and SCP-3982-JP-1 and SCP-3982-JP-2 are no longer present. Inside the vehicle, paper shopping bags containing souvenir items from various random locations across Japan, including theme parks and other recreational facilities, are present. These items exhibit no anomalous properties and are verified to be genuine, commercially available souvenirs.
Addendum: The following is a record of a Foundation agent's encounter with SCP-3982-JP. While SCP-3982-JP incidents involving Foundation personnel have been previously documented, the subject agent had consumed mnestics due to operational requirements as part of containment operations prior to the event. This allowed the agent to resist SCP-3982-JP’s cognitive influence and successfully record an audio log during the encounter. Below is a transcript of the audio recording:
Agent: [whispering] This is Agent ████, Site-████. I’ve completed the containment mission and am en route back to the site when an anomalous event occurred. I’ve activated the recording mode on my issued smartphone.
SCP-3982-JP-1 (Passenger Seat): Oh, Shu-chan, did you wake up?
SCP-3982-JP-2 (Driver’s Seat): We’ve still got some time until we get home. Using your smartphone in the dark will hurt your eyes, so you should go back to sleep.
Agent: [pauses] It’s been about twenty years since I’ve been called that. My mother used to call me Shu-chan, but only for a short while when I was a kid. While I do feel a sense of nostalgia coming from you two, my memories tell me something's wrong—there were no smartphones in my childhood.
SCP-3982-JP-2: [voice shifts from that of a young man to an elderly man] Ah, I see. You’re the first person to perceive us correctly. My apologies if I’ve offended you.
Agent: Ah, so you can communicate… One thing I know for certain is this—you two aren't my parents. From the backseat, you guys look pitch black, and when I try to lean forward to get a better look, somehow…
SCP-3982-JP-2: You suddenly feel extremely tired and sleepy?
Agent: Exactly. I’m fighting the urge to pass out just to get answers from you.
[Silence. SCP-3982-JP-1 and SCP-3982-JP-2 do not respond.]
SCP-3982-JP-2: I’ve given rides to others like you several times before—people who work for an organization that finds and contains things like us. But I’ve always ensured they return home safely, and I’ll do the same for you.
Agent: Who are you? Do you have some purpose in doing this?
SCP-3982-JP-2: Pardon me, but when you were little, did you ever go to amusement parks or tourist spots with your parents in their car?
Agent: I suppose I did, like most people.
SCP-3982-JP-2: Do you remember falling asleep in the car on the way back home?
Agent: It wasn't memorable enough to leave a strong impression on me, but I probably did.
SCP-3982-JP-2: As a child, did you ever wonder? How your parents managed to drive home despite being just as tired as you? Well, you see, when parents look into the rearview mirror and see their child sleeping peacefully in the back seat, it gives them strength. That is how they manage to keep going.
Agent: A predictable answer, yet deeply ideological.
SCP-3982-JP-2: When children who once dozed off to the gentle rocking of the car, eagerly anticipating sharing souvenirs with the family back home, grow up and take the wheel of life themselves, they sometimes feel an unexpected loneliness. Loneliness exhausts the heart, and exhaustion leads to accidents. To prevent that from happening, I do what I do—so they might remember the happy drowsiness of those days.
Agent: Listening to all this, I get it now—you're like the "embodiment of parental roles" for children, right?
SCP-3982-JP-2: [laughs heartily] My, you've got quite a way with words, haven't you? That's a fine way to put it. And from my perspective as what you call the "embodiment of parental roles," why, all of humanity looks like children to me.
Agent: I see.
[Silence; the agent’s head nods as they struggle to stay awake.]
SCP-3982-JP-2: You must be feeling quite drowsy by now. Rest assured, I consider myself something of an expert when it comes to operating vehicles. There won’t be any accidents. As I said before, I’ll make sure you get home safely. And don’t worry—I won’t tamper with your recording or anything like that, so sleep easy.
Agent: [briefly regaining alertness] What?
SCP-3982-JP-2: There’s no need to pretend. For an adult, a child’s attempts at keeping secrets are easy to see through. But rather than scolding or taking things away from their child, a parent’s job is to leave a gift while the child sleeps—don’t you think?
Agent: A gift…? [pauses for a few seconds] Wait, in the passenger seat… Does that thing have horns?
SCP-3982-JP-2: Oh my, you hadn't noticed until now? If anything, I'm wondering how you managed to spot it just seconds before falling asleep.
Agent: Just… [suddenly losing consciousness] T-Tell me one last thing—If my hunch is right, it’s not even December. So why are you here right now?
SCP-3982-JP-2: Why now, you ask? What an odd question. If I wanted to avoid being identified, wouldn’t it make more sense not to be active in December? December is quite busy, you see—delivering presents to the actual children leaves no time for things like this.
SCP-3982-JP-2: Remember this: adults, regardless of the season, often feel compelled to do things for their children. It’s not about Christmas—it’s about the desire to leave behind something meaningful while they sleep.
SCP-3982-JP-1: [Makes a small whimpering sound]
[The agent’s consciousness fully lapses, transitioning into a deep sleep. The recording continues for 1 hour and 48 minutes, during which the only sounds are ambient noises of the moving vehicle.]
The agent's administration of mnestics was purely coincidental, which allowed them to resist the cognitive distortion effects of SCP-3982-JP and correctly identify the anomaly. However, they were still unable to counter other anomalous effects, such as the inability to properly confirm SCP-3982-JP-1 and -2, and the inevitable transition to sleep, resulting in the termination of the above unexpected interview.
Subsequently, the agent who encountered SCP-3982-JP safely returned to Site-████. Upon inspection of the vehicle, a non-anomalous souvenir, which the agent had no memory of purchasing, was discovered. This confirmed the incident as an SCP-3982-JP event.