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Credits
Title: SCP-563-JP - Hallucination in Shared Cell #██
Author:GEL_0916
Year: 2013
Item #: SCP-563-JP
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: Due to the uncertainty of what impact the relocation-induced environmental changes will have on SCP-563-JP, the prison where SCP-563-JP manifests is being operated as a D-class personnel housing facility under the control of the Foundation. Shared Cell #██ is to be equipped with standard D-class housing facility surveillance equipment, along with two security staff stationed on-site. It is recommended that Shared Cell #██ house its intended capacity of six D-class personnel, who are to be subjected to weekly psychological evaluations.
Description: SCP-563-JP is a non-corporeal phenomenon that occurs in Shared Cell #██ of ██████ Prison located in the city of ████████, ██████ Prefecture, Japan. This phenomenon only manifests when the cell is occupied by six inmates (its supposed capacity) plus or minus two. The same inmates must spend an average of two hours in the cell before SCP-563-JP manifests. It is only triggered when the inmates have violent and/or criminal tendencies and an actual history of incarceration for committing a crime; the manifestation was not observed in cases where non-criminals were housed in the cell. It is unknown how SCP-563-JP perceives the history of the inmates.
Upon the manifestation of SCP-563-JP, the inmates notice that they are perceiving a young female western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), approximately 150 cm in length and with a prior history of pregnancy. The inmates' accounts are detailed enough to allow the Foundation zoologists to identify the species, and they all provide consistent answers to questions about where the gorilla is and what it is doing right now, even when they are individually isolated. Truth serum, polygraph testing, and high-level enhanced interrogation have revealed that the inmates believe they can perceive a western lowland gorilla (at least vividly enough to be indistinguishable from reality).
SCP-563-JP acts largely consistent with the behavior ethologically expected of a western lowland gorilla placed in a shared prison cell, although it tends to show greater affinity for humans than the real lowland gorilla used in the control experiment. While SCP-563-JP feeds and sleeps in the same cycle as the real western lowland gorillas, the inmates cannot witness the moment of appearance of the food (such as bamboos, bread, bananas) that it is feeding on. Likewise, its excrement becomes imperceptible to the inmates after some time (around 20 minutes).
The manifestation of SCP-563-JP exerts a unique effect on the inmates of the shared cell. In the presence of SCP-563-JP, the inmates become less aggressive and mentally calmer. Violent incidents rarely occur, most interpersonal problems are resolved amicably with mediation by other inmates, and they voluntarily keep their cell tidy and clean. If asked about their motivation for such exemplary behavior, they respond that they "feel like they should" and that "she is watching".
The affected inmates have also been observed to remain under SCP-563-JP's psychological influence even after being moved out of Shared Cell #██. It is unclear whether this is simply because they have memories of being under SCP-563-JP's influence, or whether SCP-563-JP continues to exert psychological intervention on the former inmates. In any case, this effect can certainly be eliminated by erasing the relevant memories with Class-C amnestics. Retaining the memory of SCP-563-JP generally helps keep the former inmates in positive mental health, although the administration of Class-C amnestics is recommended for those who become rebellious as a result of cell transfer. That being said, most disobedient D-class personnel are unwilling to forget their memories in Shared Cell #██, which makes it possible to facilitate their control by explaining the efficacy of amnestics treatment.
Addendum: Interview Log 563-4
Interviewee D-1865 was sentenced to death for two counts of robbery homicide. He was selected as a test subject due to his frequent interpersonal conflicts with other D-class personnel following his employment by the Foundation. D-1865 had spent 15 days in Shared Cell #██ at the time of the interview without causing any trouble.
The interview was conducted in Shared Cell #██, which was partitioned off and the other inmates were sedated. Two security staff members were present as per security regulations.
Dr. ██████: Okay, let me start the interview. You, and your colleagues in this Shared Cell #██, seem to have calmed down a lot since the transfer. Could you tell me why that is?
D-1865: It's… (brief pause) Look, the threat from that guy in uniform really worked. I don't want to leave this cell. But is this interrogation really necessary?
Dr. ██████: We wouldn't be interrogating you if it wasn't necessary. Is there some reason you don't want to answer?
D-1865: Not really. No, maybe there is. I'm going to tell you something that's very unlike me now, since everyone's already asleep. Don't laugh.
Dr. ██████: I won't. I'm just trying to figure out what kind of phenomenon SCP-563-JP is through your words, it's not my job to laugh at it. Please go on to tell me how moving to this place has affected you.
D-1865: As you lab coats say, I've changed, we've all changed. Maybe we've learned what shame is. Of course we all knew shame before we came here. Or so we thought. But all we knew was that we didn't want to be looked down upon.
Dr. ██████: What do you mean?
D-1865: The dude standing over there can probably guess. (D-1865 looks at a security staff member in attendance) In jail or on the street, the guys like we used to be always think the same thing; they don't want to be looked down upon. Once you get taken lightly, you're done. If anyone finds out you're a coward, you'll be forced to sleep near a toilet. No, not quite right, they'll turn you into a toilet. You have to open your mouth wide and tolerate the tough guys straddling you. So we had to be the craziest of the crazy bastards, just like what happened at ██████ (the name of the store D-1865 robbed). I… fuck, you don't get this shit!
(D-1865's expression changes; he looks at a point in the cell, then looks back to Dr. ██████.)
I mean, just, there are matters that can only be expressed like this. I'm sorry for using foul language. Will you forgive me?
Dr. ██████: I- uh. Of course. I get your former situation, but you're saying it's different now. Can I interpret that, um, SCP-563-JP, the entity that you are seeing now is linked to your current attitude?
D-1865: You don't talk like that. Everyone here is supposed to speak respectfully.
Dr. ██████: Alright then, I'll refer to the entity as "she" here. Is that okay?
D-1865: That's fine. That's what we call her too. Though I don't know how she feels about it, since she doesn't answer us even if we try to talk to her.
Dr. ██████: How she changed you despite not answering when you talk to her, that's what we'd like to know. Please go on.
D-1865: She… is watching us. When you're in prison, someone's watching you even when you're shitting… sorry. Even when you're in the bathroom. But the way she looks at us is different than how the guys in prison do. I think there's something different behind her eyeballs. No matter how foul we are talking or how much we argue over whether one of us glared at another or not, her behavior is almost always the same. I don't know if she understands what we are doing. I mean, she does get startled when someone raises their voice or something.
What I'm saying is that when she looks at you differently than the others, it makes you… question why you are doing what you are doing. Then you start to wonder why you have to do this, and maybe there are more important things in the world. In my case, I did. Maybe this is what feeling shame is all about.
I don't know what the other guys in this cell think. But I'm pretty sure they all think it's better that she's here.
Dr. ██████: But… she is still a gorilla, isn't she?
D-1865: Yeah. But you don't understand anything.