I want to cancel the examination. Okay. But what was Drona saying? Drona said, don't be so upset. Why do you want to cancel? If you don't pass the examination, that's okay. I will teach you more. But you have to learn. You are the heir to the throne. You will be the next king of the Astrodon. If you can't help yourself, if you are ignorant, the world will be ruined. Astrodon will be ruined. I'm going to tell that Drona was angry. He talked like this. He said, Drona, my teacher, don't you remember what you were like before you came here? You were poor. I have given you everything. I have given you money. I have given you a house. I have given you a palace. You have to do what I say. If I want to cancel the examination, you cancel the examination.  Leave. Go away. Drona replied, you should follow the example of the Pandu. The Pandu are interested in learning. And you should be wise like them. They just want to get lots of money so they can have money like me. And I have lots of money already.   I don't have to write a thesis. I can just copy somebody else's thesis and hand it in as mine. That way I'll get my degree and I'll become even richer. And Drona was very sorry to hear this. He said, Duryodhana, that is plagiarism. Your thesis must be your original work. You will be caught. Your degree will be taken away. You will lose your honor. And Duryodhana said to Drona, the only good thing about my education here is that we have lots of money for games. That is where the money should be spent for games. Cut the budget everywhere else, but keep my games. Drona chastised. He said, no, Duryodhana, education is important. Teaching is important. Learning is important. That is where the money should be spent. Not for games. You can't take the money away from teaching and learning. If you hear that before the examination, Sakuni, the king's assistant, changed the Pandua weapons, he replaced them with bad material. Sakuni replaced the weapons. Yes, that way the Koroa will win out stronger weapons than the Pandua, and the Koroa will be sure to win the examination. That isn't right. They shouldn't do that. Oh, but anyway, look, the examination is about to get started. The soldiers are cheering. Let's go watch. Kito Pinnacle Saxi. Okay, boss. I'll be the umpire, and we'll get started. And so, first up, it will be Nakula for the fighting begin. The Pandua have won because this shows the value of education. Education? Yes, education, because the Koroa had those stronger weapons, the Pandua had the weaker weapons, but they won anyway. They won because they are disciplined, because they want to learn. This shows us what Residrona has taught us about the importance of education. Is that all? Because this is all the time our American Dawang had in Bali. This is all he was able to learn. I hope he can go back to Bali sometime soon and learn more. Yes, I hope so. Maybe he could learn all of the Mahabharata and perform the entire Mahabharata and maybe the Ramayana too. Well, that would be fun, but I think it would take about several months to perform all of that. Maybe he can just learn a little bit more. Okay, well, that's fine. All right, that's all. This is at the end. You can go now. Smoothly and easily. And I apologize to all of you and I apologize to my teacher, for all of the mistakes that I have. Questions? Discussion? What would you like to know? In Bali, how often are performances like this given every day or just on holidays? It all depends. They can really be done quite often, and they tend to be performed more often at certain times of the year when festivals are happening, but they're very expensive to produce, and so the family or town has to save up a lot of money for this. And so in answer to the question, at any given time, any given town might do one only a few times a year, but whenever I've been there and been traveling around on any given night within an hour's drive, we can find two or three performances going on. So they're happening quite often. It's interesting that when you look at the shadows, you can't see how beautiful the puppets are. But they're so elegantly decorated. So what's the explanation for that? Because they're not for you. It's for the gods. The gods can see the puppets. The gods can see how beautiful they are. So they're decorated with the gods. Now in Java, the audience will watch from the shadow side, and so they will see the puppets because they want to see the puppets, they want to see the beauty of the puppets. But in Bali, very few of the audience sees the puppets, and it is much more specifically religious and devotional than it is in Java. But the philosophy is still the same. It's just the people have chosen to sit on the other side. In Java? Yes, it's more complex in Java because it's predominantly Islamic. And so these are plays about Hindu gods. And I think what that shows us is that Islam has practiced in Java and I'm by no means any expert on this, is much more of a syncretic religion than people in America might understand. There are many different forms of Islam and that this is a form of Islam that has no problem incorporating Hindu gods, Hindu stories, and so forth. And there is still clearly a devotional aspect to it. There is a spiritual aspect to it. It is not as explicitly about the practice of their religion the way it is in Bali. But still, it's serving a devotional function. There is also a form of Guam in Java specifically about telling Islamic stories and about teaching Islam. Yes? I've got a couple questions. How long does it take for the puppets to be constructed and is there a certain type of material like a certain type of animal to use? Because I know you said they're made out of leather. Yeah, it's cowhide that is used. And I don't know exactly. I know it is a process of curing it, flattening it, curing it, scraping it, and then the cutting. And I don't know exactly. My teacher told me that these were puppets that he was making for me while I was there and then gave me these puppets. They appeared awfully fast. I would not doubt my teacher. So it is a very long and laborious process. I don't know exactly. I think that's the other question I had, too, was like the dyes and the colors are used. Is that all native things to that area? Or are they getting done from another area? Traditionally, yes. Well, they often, yes, are using much more. So, for example, in western Java, the area around the Sundanese region, around Bandung, there's a famous puppeteer as a television show named Asap, and he uses automobile paint on his puppets because it's very bright, it's very glossy, and he likes that very sharp effect. So, you know, there's a fascinating whole issue of issues of tradition and colonialism and going on that is part of this, too. Because I think in the West, we often have this idea that we want to preserve. It's important to keep the tradition. It's important to preserve the tradition. The tradition is important. And there certainly are people in Bali and Java who believe in this importance of tradition, but there are many other people who believe that it's absolutely essential to keep updating it and keep changing it. And if you look at the tradition, actually, the question of the tradition is very questionable and very problematic. And to a large extent, the tradition was invented by the Dutch colonialists. And so the issue of tradition is problematic and hard to think of. So what is native? What is traditional? But in a way, Asap kind of, I felt gave me permission for doing the course the way I do it and teach how to do it. Because he's very controversial with his television show and the kind of updating that he does. And when I interviewed him, he said to me, what I do in Java is Javanese, is Sundanese, why I'm going. What you need to do is go to America and make America a way. And so I felt in that way that many of the kind of innovations and changes were making here, I feel I have Asap's blessing in doing so. If not always my teacher, but don't jump in as much more conservative. Does your teacher or do other Dalungs, do they do this as like a career or is it more like a hobby? It's his career. Yes, this is what he does. Though there are many Dalungs who perform due to tourists shows. And he's very critical of that because he feels that you lose your talent. You're debasing yourself and that you just become a kind of showman and losing the spiritual aspect of it.  What makes one a good Dalong? How do you know that? Recutations is one thing. But then also it has to do with the dance of the kionic. So someone who is a devotee of this, they're going to be able to see the dance of the kionic immediately and determine how good you are based on the motions that you are doing that. And that dance was something we spent hours and weeks studying because he would say to me, someone watching your performance will recognize that you are a good Balinese Dalong because of the exact performance. It was fascinating as a student of his to do this because so much of the teaching we do, especially in the humanities, has to do with what your opinion is and what my opinion is. And it's all relative and we can discuss it. Nothing is right and nothing is wrong. His teaching is, here is the way to do it. And the way to do it is the way to please the gods. And this is step one. And we are not moving on to step two until you get step one right. So I spent hours on that dance of the kionic and we spent hours practicing that. And then he'd say, okay, go back to your hotel and practice it. And I'd go back and practice it and I would come in the next day and he said, did you practice? And I would say yes. And he said, did your wrist hurt? And I'd say no. And he would say that you didn't practice enough. So it really is a matter of watching those fine points which the devotee of it will be able to tell. And someone who could not devotee, that's implying that it's only elite. A person who goes along will be able to tell right by that whether you're... Yeah. When we're talking about the gods, are there elements of indigenous religions? Yes, yes. And that goes back to the animist quality of it. So in a sense, the gods are very local. So for example, a quick story on that. My friend Sene that I was mentioned before, the one whose temple I was pointing at. When we visited her last time, Sedona was still in London where he was teaching. He got held up because of the volcano in Iceland, if you remember. And she explained that whenever he travels out of Bali, she gets snakes into her house. And the reason the snakes get into the house is because they live in Denpasar, but she is not from Denpasar. She's from another village. So the rituals that she knows and the rituals that she does are for the gods and spirits of her village. And she doesn't know the right rituals for Denpasar. And because she is not performing the right rituals, and because Sedona is not there to perform the right rituals, snakes get in the house. And what she has to do is she goes to the king and invites the king in. The king comes in and does the right rituals, and then there aren't snakes anymore. So the gods are very local, and there very much is a kind of... Again, the question of Hinduism in Bali is very complex, and that's a whole other subject. But there's a law of scholarship to suggest that Hinduism is really a kind of mid... As practice in Bali now is a kind of mid-20th century construction and that it is much more based on pre-Hindu, local gods, and local traditions. Yeah? You might have said this, but I might have missed it. Do these shows travel around to the people, or do the people go to a particular place? They'll go to the temple. They'll go to the temple to see it, but the temple in their village. So the Dalong will go to a village. But the Dalong travels around. Yes, previously the tradition has it that every village would have their own Dalong. He would not be a professional Dalong, but would be a villager who would do this. And now local Dalongs are... Because people are more able to travel more, now it's become more professionalized and they want someone who's more of a professional. I'm just wondering where... I mean, about the script that you tell a story, but generally that's Dalong made up the story or right type of script by itself and where is the source of getting those traditional types of stories? Yeah, good question. The stories come from either the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, typically, and then there are what's referred to as even branch stories, trunk stories or branch stories. Trunk stories are stories that come straight out of the text. So we take this part out of the text and we perform it. Branch stories are ones which branch off from that, which use the characters, but they freely make up stories that you would never find in those epics. And yes, so the part... the Dalong has to, on the one hand, respect the tradition, know the tradition, memorize the kawai, perform the kawai, do it the right way, but also it's very important for a Dalong to be creative and make things up to him or herself. So there is... and also the clowns do not appear in the epics at all.  These are clowns from Bali and Java. And the clowns in the Sundanese region of Java are completely different from the Java-dese areas of Java and completely different from the Bali-dese clowns. So it seems as though it's quite possible that they come from an even more ancient tradition. That then, when these Sanskrit epics are coming, are combined into that. Yep. Was the traveling Dalong who goes from temple to temple, does he bring the gamelan with him? Or does he pick up local cats? In some cases, a Dalong will have musicians that he always works with. So in the case of Chenglong, he's very rich. He has his musicians and his backup band that always travels with him. In other cases, you'll get whoever is available. So it might be... there's more in the sense of a pool of people. I had a question about the humor. Is there... because for it to be relatable, it also needs to be contemporary in some ways, like the humor that you have and is that also true of a traditional furniture? Yes. The humor is very topical. It'll have to do with political issues right now. It'll have to do with villages. One of the things that Dalong will do is arrive early in the day and walk around the village and say, what's going on here? What are the issues here? When my friend Zidano was here, if any of you have been here long enough, and you remember Vision Ohio, he knew it, so he incorporated Vision Ohio into his performance of that. Typically, what I would do when I was there is I would arrive early for a performance. I would go and meet the Dalong, and notice they would always want to get my name, and they would always want my name in lighting. And so then in one of the clown scenes, they would always make jokes about this American professor who was here to have the performance. In fact, in one performance, they set a microphone out into the audience of one of the clowns' interviewed names from the stage. So indeed, incorporating into contemporary issues. But it is... and that's where a lot of correction happens as well, kind of commanding. So I would talk to my teacher a lot about the jokes I would use, and is this acceptable? How is this acceptable? For example, there's an obvious reference in there to sports at Ohio University. And I had a long talk with my teacher about how to incorporate that. And he and I discussed it. It was clear that if I were to... So suppose President MacDavis... Okay, suppose President MacDavis were here, and I were to explicitly say, I think we are spending too much money on the football team, too much money on sports at Ohio University. That would be insulting to him. And that would not be a proper thing to do. However, couching it in a different context where the message is clear, but it's couched in a different context is an acceptable thing to do. Well, thank you so much. Thank you.


Item number SCP-046, Object Class, Euclid, Special Containment Procedures. The land surrounding SCP-046 has been purchased and surrounded by multiple layers of security, including fencing, barricades, and lethal effect traps. Multiple signs marking the area's private property are to be prominently displayed. The area is to be heavily guarded at all times to prevent access by civilians to SCP-046. All personnel working around or within a 50 kilometer radius of SCP-046 are to undergo rigorous medical testing to ensure the absence of any potentially life-threatening illnesses. Additionally, increased mental health examinations are to be administered to ensure that no personnel inclined or potentially inclined towards self-harm or self-destructive tendencies are allowed within the 50 kilometer radius. Any injured personnel are to be evacuated to a hospital outside of the 50 kilometer zone around SCP-046. All vegetation surrounding SCP-046 is to be destroyed, and all animals attempting to access SCP-046 are to be terminated and destroyed before reaching its outer perimeter. Any personnel showing unusual interest either in SCP-046 or in traveling to the region near SCP-046 are to undergo medical examinations as detailed above. Any modification to these containment procedures are to be approved by O5 Command before being added to this containment document. Any personnel attempting to modify this document without appropriate authorization are to be demoted and reassigned. Description SCP-046 is a predatory botanical mass located in southwestern Kentucky. SCP-046 is composed of two parts. SCP-046-1 is a large mass of vegetative matter, composed largely of plants indigenous to the region, including Quercus alba, Ilux aquifolium, and Lonocera semperverans, though several offshoots composed of other plant species are also present. SCP-046-2 is the land in the immediate vicinity of SCP-046-1, extending to a roughly circular area 20 meters in radius from its base. This area is SCP-046's primary feeding area. SCP-046 is capable of attracting prey within a 50 kilometer radius through hallucinogenic means. All evacuations of personnel should carry them outside of this radius to disable SCP-046's effect. Animals, including humans, suffering from potentially life-threatening physical injuries or diseases, or who are afflicted by psychological disorders that induce self-destructive tendencies, feel a powerful compulsion to come to SCP-046-2 and lie in a prostrate position facing SCP-046-1. Individuals lying in such a position are rapidly attacked by an unusually powerful combination of saprophytic organisms and opportunistic infections, including several strains of methicillin-resistant stephalococcus aureus, MRSA, known to induce necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating bacteria, a form of fungal spore similar to Stachybotrys chartarum or black mold, which poisons prey organisms and induces paralysis, and finally, complete consumption by several heretofore unknown species of insect that emerge from the inside of SCP-046-1 during the final stage of feeding. SCP-046 appears to derive nutrition through the complete digestion of affected individuals, particularly larger mammals such as humans. It is unknown whether SCP-046 is capable of growth. As such, all steps are to be taken to ensure that SCP-046 is deprived of prey until more information is known about its abilities. These efforts are to include terminating individuals prior to their arrival at SCP-046 and disposing of their bodies in a separate location. Addendum 046-A, investigation is ongoing into potential memetic effects brought about by knowledge of SCP-046 due to anomalous effects demonstrated by certain personnel in response to SCP-046. As to document 046-07 is restricted to level 4 personnel and above. Item number, SCP-046, Object Class, Safe, Special Containment Procedures. The land surrounding SCP-046 is to be cordoned off, marked as private property, and surrounded by multiple layers of fencing. The area is to be guarded by no less than 10 guards, though minimal armaments are required. All knowledge of SCP-046 effects is not to be made widely known. Personnel afflicted with life-threatening diseases may be permitted to enter SCP-046-2 after psychological screening for self-destructive tendencies. Likewise, D-Class personnel selected for termination may be effectively exposed to SCP-046-2 to facilitate this process. Due to the lack of threat to Foundation security, individuals not employed by the Foundation may be permitted access to SCP-046, though Foundation needs for access take first priority. Description, SCP-046 is composed of two parts, SCP-046-1 is a cylindrical area 5 meters in diameter and 30 meters tall, containing several species of plant matter, including Quaricus Alba, White Oak, Ilex Aquifolum, European Hollybush, and Launicera Semperverans, and Tucky honeysuckle, though several offshoots composed of other plant species are also present. No anomalous traits have been detected in the molecular composition of the plants. SCP-046-2 is a clearing of grass extending approximately 20 meters around SCP-046-1. SCP-046's anomalous effects extend principally to animals, including humans, that are threatened by chronic or debilitating illnesses or injuries. SCP-046 is frequently visited by such individuals, humans of this type report having felt a compulsion to travel to SCP-046's location, often reporting that the location came to them in a dream. Psychological evaluations have consistently showed that such individuals were not previously aware of either the Foundation or SCP-046's specific properties. Individuals feeling this compulsion have all reported having been within a 50 kilometer radius of SCP-046 at the time. This is believed to be the outer range of the object's compulsive range. Individuals who come to SCP-046 consistently describe a dream in which they lie down in the vicinity of SCP-046-1 and rest.  Created by a feeling of calmness, relaxation, and euphoria. Individuals lying down in front of SCP-046-1 will begin to be covered by several vines, similar to runners of cyanodon-dactylon plants, also known as bermutagrass, followed by the apparent sprouting of seed-dactylon all over the body. SCP-046 has no compulsive properties, and its effects will only manifest on individuals willing to experience the effects voluntarily. Individuals exposed to SCP-046 will remain communicative until they are no longer visible beneath the grass growing across their bodies. All individuals exposed to SCP-046's effects describe a feeling of peace and serenity and a happiness that they were able to die pleasantly. SCP-046 appears to fully decompose individuals exposed to its effects within two hours and may or may not use decomposed tissue as a food source. Addendum 046-1 SCP-046 to be reclassified as Euclid and primary containment document to be rewritten to demonstrate SCP-046's predatory nature by order of O5 command. Any references to voluntary individuals are to be removed. Description to be rewritten to emphasize volatile and lethal nature of SCP-046 and potential threat thereof. Addendum 046-2 There is no evidence whatsoever that SCP-046 is predatory, or has any desire to harm any creature unwilling to expose itself to SCP-046's effects, suggest original containment procedures be reenacted, and voluntary access to SCP-046 continued. No individuals are capable of breaching Foundation security once exposed to SCP-046. As such, there is no reason to deny afflicted individuals the opportunity for relief. Likewise, there is no reason to make this entity seem more hostile than it actually is, aside from a desire to portray every object in Foundation custody as dangerous. Some things must be contained simply because they are strange. Dr. Edward Carter, Head Researcher, SCP-046 Addendum 046-3 Dr. Carter, Principal Researcher for SCP-046, is to be removed from his position and reassigned to the SCP-1250 project. Addendum 046-1 stands by order of O5 command. Item Number SCP-055 Object Class Ketter Special Containment Procedures Object is kept within a 5 meter by 5 meter by 2.5 meter square room, constructed of cement, 50 centimeter thickness, with a faraday cage surrounding the cement walls. Access is via a heavy containment door, measuring 2 by 2.5 meters, constructed on bearings to ensure door closes and locks automatically, unless held open deliberately. Security guards are not to be posted outside SCP-055's room. It is further advised that all personnel maintaining or studying other SCP objects in the vicinity try to maintain a distance of at least 50 meters from the geometric center of the room, as long as this is reasonably practical. Description SCP-055 is a self-keeping secret, or anti-meme. Information about SCP-055's physical appearance, as well as its nature, behavior, and origins is self-classifying. To clarify, how Site-19 originally acquired SCP-055 is unknown. When SCP-055 was obtained, and by whom, is unknown. SCP-055's physical appearance is unknown. It is not indescribable or invisible. Individuals are perfectly capable of entering SCP-055's container and observing it, taking mental or written notes, making sketches, taking photographs, and even making audio-video recordings. An extensive log of such observations is on file. However, information about SCP-055's physical appearance leaks out of a human mind soon after such an observation. Individuals tasked with describing SCP-055 afterwards find their minds wandering and lose interest in the task. Individuals tasked with sketching a copy of a photograph of SCP-055 are unable to remember what the photograph looks like, as are researchers overseeing these tests. Security personnel who have observed SCP-055 via closed-circuit television cameras emerge after a false shift exhausted and effectively amnesiac about the events of the previous hours. Who authorized the construction of SCP-055's containment room, why it was constructed in this way, or what the purpose of the described containment procedures may be, are all unknown. Despite SCP-055's container being easily accessible, all personnel at Site-19 claim no knowledge of SCP-055's existence when challenged. All of these facts are periodically rediscovered, usually by chance readers of this file, causing a great deal of alarm. This state of concern lasts minutes at most before the matter is simply forgotten about. A great deal of scientific data has been recorded from SCP-055, but cannot be studied. At least one attempt has been made to destroy SCP-055, or possibly move it from containment at Site-19 to another site, meeting failure for reasons unknown. SCP-055 may present a major physical threat, and indeed may have killed many hundreds of personnel and we would not know it. Certainly it presents a gigantic memetic mental threat, hence its Ketter classification. Document 055-1 An Analysis of SCP-055 The author puts forward the hypothesis that SCP-055 was never formally acquired by... and is in fact an autonomous or remotely controlled agent, inserted at Site-19 by an unidentified third party, for one or all of the following purposes. To silently observe or interfere with activity is at Site-19. To silently observe or interfere with activities at other SCP locations. To silently observe or interfere with activities of humanity, worldwide. To silently observe or interfere with other SCP objects. To silently observe or interfere with... No action to counter any of these potential threats is suggested, or indeed theoretically possible. Addendum A Hey, if this thing really is an anti-meme, why doesn't the fact that it's an anti-meme get wiped? We must be wrong about that somehow. Wait a minute, what if we were to keep notes about what it isn't? Would we remember those? Artholomew Hughes, NSA Document 055-2 Report of Dr. John Mericek Survey team number 19-055-127BXE was successfully able to enter SCP-055's container and ascertain the appearance and, to some degree, the nature of the object. Notes were taken according to the project methodology, after which the container was sealed again. Excerpt from a transcript of personality briefing follows. Dr. Hughes Okay, I'm going to need to ask you some questions about number 55 now. Interviewee Number what? Dr. Hughes SCP Object-55 The object you just examined. Interviewee Um, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't think we have a 55. Dr. Hughes Okay, then? I'd like you to tell me what you've been doing for the past two hours. Interviewee What? I... Subject appears uncomfortable. I don't know. Dr. Hughes Okay, then? Do you remember that we all agreed that it wasn't spherical? Interviewee That what wasn't? Oh! Right! It isn't round at all. Object-55 isn't round. Dr. Hughes So you remember it now. Interviewee Well, no. I mean, I don't know what it is, but I know there is one. It's something you can't remember, and it's not a sphere. Dr. Hughes Wait a minute. What's not a sphere? Interviewee Object-55 Dr. Hughes Object what? Interviewee Doc, do you remember agreeing that something wasn't shaped like a sphere? Dr. Hughes Oh, right! It appears to be possible to remember what SCP-055 is not, negation's effect, and to repeatedly deduce its existence from these memories. Personnel involved in Survey 19-055-127BXE reported moderate levels of disorientation and psychological trauma associated with cycles of repeated memory and forgetfulness of SCP-055. However, no long-term behavioral or health problems were observed, and psych assessments of Survey personnel showed consistent reports of this distress fading over time. Recommendations It may be worthwhile to post at least one staff member capable of remembering the existence of SCP-055 to each critical site. Item Number SCP-074 Object Class Euclid Special Containment Procedures SCP-074 is contained at Site-81 SCP-074 is an active info hazard. No research in evaluating its anomalous properties is to be conducted. All personnel who have previously engaged in research into SCP-074's anomalous properties must never come within 5 km of SCP-074. SCP-074 is contained within a 6 m x 6 m x 3 m reinforced glass chamber, filtered to block all ultraviolet light, and situated within a windowless room, lit by monochromatic safe lights, which serve as secondary containment. A smaller containment chamber would significantly increase the probability of SCP-074 spontaneously breaching primary containment. The containment chamber is to be surrounded with scaffolds bearing sheets of live-cultured human skin, held parallel to the surfaces of the containment chamber, and arranged overlapping each other such that lateral coverage is at least 95%. Skin sheets must be a minimum of 3 mm thick, and warm to 37°C, and must be grown from samples provided by D-Class personnel with no less than a middle school education, and no more than a high school education. All skin sheets are to be examined on a daily basis for instances of SCP-074-1. All instances of SCP-074-1 are to be excised and incinerated. SCP-074 is to be fed 75 g of fresh-shredded apple leaves, genus malus, bark, and fruit, hydroponically grown to ensure lack of pollutants in foreign organisms, once a day, via a mechanical dispenser. In the event of a spontaneous containment breach, personnel can coerce SCP-074 into returning to its containment, by first occupying each of its four sets of jaws with an entire raw apple, then physically pushing SCP-074 in the desired direction, gently tapping its compound eyes with an open palm, or spraying its front pair of antennae with a 0.5% solution of methanoic acid. Description SCP-074 is an anomalous organism, which uses various quantum properties at a macroscopic scale, and in other ways modifies the standard laws of physics within its immediate vicinity. The specific nature of these modifications appears to be linked to the extent to which humans in SCP-074's vicinity are aware of the precise details of the physical laws which SCP-074 modifies. Such that, research to determine whether SCP-074 has a given property or capability results in SCP-074 developing or manifesting that property or capability. Archive 074-317e A full list of the anomalous physical phenomena known to be, or to have been, associated with SCP-074, is available to personnel level 3 or higher. Personnel who access this document will be disqualified from working with SCP-074, or for any other reason coming within 5 km of Site-81. SCP-074 has repeatedly manifested the ability to spontaneously materialize at locations as much as 3 meters outside its primary containment. This is believed to be, or to be analogous to, quantum tunneling. Foundation entomologists have tentatively identified SCP-074 as belonging to the order Isopada, commonly known as a woodlouse. Its inertial mass is approximately 1700 kg, but its gravitational mass is approximately 375 grams. Its volume has been estimated at 1.7 m3, approximately the size of a compact car. SCP-074 is female, although it lacks the typical isopod marsupium, or brood pouch in which eggs are incubated, and parthenogenetic. Periodically, approximately 1.3 times per hour when SCP-074 is shielded from ultraviolet light, and approximately 29.2 times per hour when SCP-074 is exposed to unfiltered daylight. The globular organ at the tip of its ovipositor luminesces, and emits what it was originally thought to be a form of non-ionizing radiation, but which has since been identified as coherent wave packets, of the probability of one of SCP-074's self-fertilized eggs, henceforth SCP-074-1, reifying, i.e. becoming a thing, spontaneously coming into existence. Personnel who properly understand the concept of wave packets are disqualified from working with SCP-074. Instances of SCP-074-1 preferentially reify and incubate within the flesh of humans with knowledge of physics. The rudimentary knowledge of physics which even poorly educated adult citizens of a technological civilization can acquire via cultural osmosis. For example, magnets can attract or repel each other, matter is made of atoms, light has a speed, appears to be sufficient. In the absence of suitable humans to serve as hosts, the wave packets will reify within other organisms, or within inanimate objects. However, rather than incubating, the eggs will wither and die, leaving perforations similar to radiation damage at a macroscopic scale. The wave packets appeared to decay over time, as no wave packets or instances of wave packet related damage have been detected at distances greater than approximately 400 meters from SCP-074. The rate at which successfully incubated instances of SCP-074-1 mature appears to be dependent on the host's exposure to ultraviolet light. Within a host exposed to an average of 30 minutes of unfiltered sunlight per day for a month, an instance of SCP-074-1 was observed to grow from 2 mg to 8 kg, at which point it was surgically excised and killed. Whereas within a host totally isolated from natural light for a month, the three simultaneous instances reached sizes at excision of only 600 g, 680 g, and 710 g. The complete developmental history and life cycle of SCP-074-1, including how they emerge from their host, and their size at emergence, is not yet known. Item number SCP-139 Containment Class Eparque Disruption Class Dark Special Containment Procedures Containment Suspended Description SCP-139 designates the disappearance of Lucian Sachs, formerly a Foundation-employed Security Specialist. Sachs had, until SCP-139's occurrence, acted as a consultant for Site-97 on the matter of esoteric reanimation methodology. SCP-139 is considered anomalous, both due to a persistent info hazard encountered following its occurrence, and due to the cutoff of information pertaining to SCP-139 after April 4, 1978. Despite Site-97's best efforts, neither Sachs's past or present whereabouts, nor the location of a cadaver, have been uncovered. Extra-dimensional travel is suspected, but not confirmed. No primary suspects which could be responsible for SCP-139 have been identified, owing to the largely inconclusive results of investigative efforts. As such, SCP-139 is currently considered a cold case, and is expected to continue indefinitely. Timeline of Events March 5, 1978 Sachs clocks in at Site-97 and declines usual chatter with personnel at the front entrance. He enters his office, and does not exit for the remainder of the workday. For a period of 12 hours, Sachs queries 42 skip-net entries, pertaining to thomatergic workings, global layline activity, and available research into way and knock techniques. This idle activity contradicts his otherwise exemplary productivity record, and raises concern among Site-97's staff. Sensor agents are dispatched appropriately. No further abnormalities occur until Sachs is punched out, and arrived at his residence in suburban Albany. By 10.45 pm, he vacates his residence, presumably on foot to avoid detection, and exits the city limits. March 6, a paper trail of bus and train tickets suggests he traveled approximately 2,000 kilometers to Topeka, Kansas, arriving at 12.15 pm.  March 7 to April 4, after Topeka, the paper trail terminates, and reports of Sachs' location during the following month become increasingly irregular. A car he is believed to have rented is sighted in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Lubbock, Texas, on March 10 and March 15 respectively. Although the windshield and rightmost taillights shattered between the two cities, he is last documented in Tucson, Arizona, after residential police implicate him in a resistant flea incident on suspicions of vagrancy. Note, this police report was filed on April 3 at 3.48 am, and is considered the last documented sighting of Lucien Sachs by the public. On April 4, sensor agents embedded within the Tucson USPS remove the following letter from the mail pool.  I hate what you've done and what you're doing to me and what I think you did to the others who ran.  I'm curious by trade, but you've really got me beat. I'm not the first to run, but I might be the first to break free. I'm going someplace without cameras or fingerprints, someplace you can't follow. It was fun while it lasted, but you lost this one.  The hand has always been welcoming to people like me anyways. Addendum 139-1, SCP-137 officially concluded on April 27, 1993, when a minor structural failure revealed a small air pocket within Site 97's concrete foundation. Although this led to a temporary lockdown due to the destruction of Site 97's courtyard, debris was eventually restored. Models of the air pocket prior to the structural failure indicated it resembled a prostrate human body, fitting Lucian Saxe's height and build. After the initial excavation, the following personal effects were discovered. The necrotic flesh of a heavily decayed human cadaver and several human bones, most pulverized by the aforementioned structural failure. A foundation keycard for a Site 97 security specialist, ID numbers scratched out, suggesting deep shame. A forbidden thaumaturgic ritual to preserve its user's spirit after their death. A map of layline positionings in the contiguous United States, often referenced by enemies of the foundation. A circle had been drawn around a nexus on the US-Mexico border near Tucson, Arizona. Saxe's cause of death is believed to be terminal dehydration, following several days of entombment. During the investigation of this air pocket, Site 97 excavators punctured a secondary cutout hidden within the concrete. Due to the considerable strain that excavation would put on Site 97's foundation, this cutout has not been analyzed extensively. What can be determined, however, is that it contains a large number of partially decomposed human eyes, believed to exceed 1,000 in total. Perforations within the concrete would have allowed these eyes to observe their target on all sides until he expired. Archived containment procedures. SCP-139 Omega is presently being tracked, observed, and hounded by Site 97 deep cover personnel. Via Unanimous 05 vote, the Tucson-Layline Bridge has been rerouted to Site 97's foundation for the interim. Update. Greater containment effectuated. Protocol. All eyes on Lucian rescinded. Project loose ends in progress. Site 97's full capabilities have been directed towards the neutralization of SCP-139 Omega, who remains at large post-mortem via knowledge it has stolen from Site 97. Following a breach of its containment area beneath Site 97, SCP-139 Omega has demonstrated robust mobility and incorporeality, rendering it difficult to track and recontain. Fortunately, it has a habit of sticking its nose in places it does not belong. Note. Ethics Committee review of SCP-139 Omega's containment procedures have generated unanimous approval. Overwatch Command is in agreement. SCP-139 Omega's crimes are many and unforgivable. Site 97 took SCP-139 Omega in. They provided it with safety, community, and purpose. And it has shunned all of those. This is why on the other side of that way, it found nothing but concrete damnation and the all-seeing eye. Item number. SCP-370. Object Class. Keter. Warning. SCP-370 is an exceedingly contagious memetic infection. No cases of personnel being infected simply from reading this article have yet been recorded. But nevertheless, as a precaution, this document may only be read in a controlled environment, with mechanisms in place to terminate the reader at the first symptoms. Spreading any information about SCP-370 by word of mouth is grounds for immediate termination. SCP-370 itself is embedded in a small slab of solid lead and kept inside a solid steel box, with no openings and 0.5 meter thick walls. Under no circumstances is SCP-370 to be removed from either this box or the lead slab. If SCP-370 becomes partially or completely exposed, blindfolded personnel will be assigned to locate it with a metal detector. An electromagnet will then be used to transfer SCP-370 to a small mold, filled with molten lead. Once this is hardened, the lead slab containing SCP-370 will be returned to its steel box, and the box returned to its containment vault. This box is kept in a specially designed vault at Site B. SCP-370 requires no maintenance whatsoever, and no research is authorized. Care to open this vault to perform research on SCP-370, or for any other reason, is a symptom of SCP-370 infection. Any personnel displaying this or any other symptoms must be quarantined immediately and terminated if symptoms persist. SCP-370's vulnerability status is unknown. No testing of this sort has been carried out, and no future testing is authorized due to the extreme risk of contagion to personnel involved. D-class personnel with significant violent or sadistic tendencies are to be preferred in all interactions with SCP-370, or potentially SCP-370 contagious data. All live broadcasting capability will be removed from any Foundation site that shows signs of SCP-370 presence, and restored one year after the last SCP-370 event. Any personnel assigned to SCP-370 who show a sudden improvement in overall well-being should be quarantined and deprived of sleep. If any personnel continue to display happiness symptoms, despite this measure, termination will be authorized. Description SCP-370 is a key. The size, shape, material, and general appearance of SCP-370 are unknown. Knowledge of these characteristics is the primary vector for the spread of the SCP-370 disease. Therefore, all records thought to contain such information have been destroyed without review. The disease caused by SCP-370 has three distinct sets of symptoms. Signations SCP-370-A, B, and C. The form of the disease appearing in any given subject appears to be determined primarily by personality. SCP-370-A manifests most frequently in subjects characterized by their peers as self-centered or cowardly. It is the most common manifestation. Subjects suffering from SCP-370-A show no symptoms upon the initial infection. However, these subjects will commit suicide as soon as they have an opportunity to do so, with minimal suffering. For example, SCP-370-A victims will jump from high ledges or shoot themselves in the head with firearms, but will not cut their own wrists or hang themselves. The instant the subject's heart ceases to beat, the infected corpse will glow brilliantly and undergo an unknown transformation. Subknowledge of the transformation is a vector for the infection, as is direct visual contact with the light produced. No trace of any part of a subject's corpse has ever been recovered following this transformation. The majority of SCP-370-B subjects are commonly described as both extroverted and altruistic. However, an identical manifestation of SCP-370-B appears in individuals with strong sadistic or violent tendencies. Subjects infected with SCP-370-B initially become very calm. This stage lasts for several seconds and is followed by a sudden, unprovoked assault on anyone within the subject's reach, which continues into an indiscriminate killing spree. Persons killed by the infected subject will glow brightly and undergo an unknown transformation, presumably the same or similar to that of the suicides. Initially, the infected subject is no more dangerous than any ordinary violent human. However, after approximately killing two to three victims, the subject's body will begin to radiate yellow light. This light appears to inhibit the sympathetic nervous response of the subject's victims, making it difficult for victims to fight back. After approximately five to six successful kills, the light triples in intensity and the direct skin-to-skin contact with the subject becomes deadly. At this point, any eye contact with the victim becomes a contagious factor. After killing an average of 12 victims, subjects who were considered violent prior to infection may require as many as 50 kills to reach this stage. The subject will abruptly cease hostilities and enter the final phase of SCP-370-B infection. Things will raise its arms skyward and shout in a slightly amplified voice. Take me home. This sound seems to pass through soundproof walls, an industrial-strength earmuffs with only slight muffling. Infection of all human beings with an earshot is virtually guaranteed, except in case of sensory deafness. After this cry, a shaft of radiation in the visible spectrum forms around the subject who will then levitate several feet above the ground before warning and vanishing. As with SCP-370-A, no traces of the vanished subjects have ever been found. SCP-370-C manifests in subjects of high IQ and analytical or contemplative personality type and is the most dangerous of the three manifestations. Unfortunately, the majority of the Foundation's research staff are susceptible to SCP-370-C. Upon initial infection, subjects will close their eyes and remain voluntarily still and silent for an average of 30 seconds. If questioned on this, subjects will claim to have been praying. Any infected subjects detected at this stage must be terminated immediately and by any means necessary. After the initial infection, subjects will behave as normal, but with significant increase in sense of well-being. This system persists even when the subject is forced into unpleasant conditions. Infected subjects seem to possess SCP-370 contagious knowledge about the appearance and exact nature of SCP-370, whether or not they have ever been exposed to such information. Experts will actively and covertly attempt to spread SCP-370 infection, specifically targeting victims likely to manifest SCP-370-A or SCP-370-C. These efforts are likely to include but not limited to mentioning SCP-370 contagious information and casual conversation, attempting to have SCP-370 removed from containment for research or attempted disposal. Attempting SCP-370 vectors to Foundation research notes or other documents, including this page. Attempting to broadcast infectious material on a large scale. After about 50 successful infections, SCP-370-C enters its final phase. During this phase, the air around the subject radiates a small amount of light in the visible spectrum, creating a faint yellow glow around the subject. This glow induces a parasympathetic calming response in viewers and has a %% chance of causing infection for every minute of visual contact. Within about a day of this radiation appearing, regardless of any further successful infections, a flaming data expunged, burn marks on any surfaces it touches or passes through and leaving no trace of the infected subject. This event leaves behind an invisible patch of contagious space, which infects anyone who passes through it. Patches seem to fade in approximately 7 days, but as a precaution, should be avoided for a full 2 weeks. It has become apparent that SCP-370-C infection is being used by some personnel as an excuse to torment and murder fellow Foundation staff. The personnel responsible have been demoted to D-Class. However, considering the enormous threat posed by SCP-370-C, the containment protocol above will not be revised. Dr. Addendum 370-A The circumstances of SCP-370's original retrieval are unknown. It was found in the ruins of Site-1, a remote Foundation base in Eastern... These containment protocols in their original form and the described steel box were found in a sealed vault, along with a single corpse, identified as Dr. Unknown Satanist and the doctor's personal log, which was found to be SCP-370 contagious. The rest of the site was abandoned and no other dead bodies were found, although signs of struggle were ubiquitous. The rest of the site's stored data on SCP-370 had been erased or destroyed, although a few useful notes on other SCPs were recovered, particularly SCP-370-C. Several infection events occurred during recovery efforts. These were contained with extreme prejudice, and the infection was believed extinct. SCP-370 was briefly designated safe. However, in light of recent data expunged, Keter designation has been restored and anti-mimetic security has been tightened throughout all Foundation sites. Addendum 370-B Dr. Wang's log has been successfully purged of mimetic infectiousness and is cleared for viewing by authorized personnel. The same precautions described for reading this article also apply to the log. Incident 370-A Personal log of Dr. Wang Date Data Absent 2009 Richard's team came back yesterday. What was left of it anyway? Most of them were wiped out by some sort of mimetic infection. They've also brought back an artifact, a key or something, from the dig. There's something wrong with Richard. He ought to be inconsolable, having lost so many agents, but he just keeps smiling. Meanwhile, work on SCP-370 as ground to a depressing halt. The next battery of tests will involve irrelevant data expunged. Personal log of Dr. Wang Date Data Absent 2009 Ha! I was right. I knew there was something abnormal about those smiles. They brought the artifact out today.  The survivors have been quarantined. The bodies of the dead have been incinerated and the survivors are still in quarantine. The artifact recovered has been designated SCP-370. I hate observational mimetic hazards, by the way. How am I supposed to study something if I can't f***ing look at it? Personal log of Dr. Wang Date Data Absent 2009 It's not observational. It's worse. Probably the worst meme we've ever encountered. Reading the notes on the thing seemed to have exactly the same effect as looking at it. It's pure luck I didn't get infected myself. Word of mouth information transfer does the same thing. We've got a full third of our research staff in quarantine now. Or at least we should. Some of them have just disappeared. I'm freaking out here. I did a compassion ritual yesterday. Made me feel a bit better. Details of ritual expunged. Seeing Richard in this state is really messing with my head. He's not himself at all. He's freakishly cheerful, borderline manic. And he's tried to breach the quarantine three times already. Managed to cause several infections by shouting what I assume were details about SCP-370's appearance. I don't even know what information can spread this thing.  Dr. C says I'm being paranoid. So I quarantined him too. Personal log of Dr. Wang Date Data Absent 2009 Well, I've solved the mystery of the disappearing personnel. Some of the infected commit suicide. And when they do, they vanish with this blinding flash. I caught maybe the very edge of the flash. I'm afraid I'm contaminated now. I can feel the key hovering around the edges of my mind. If I wanted to, I think I could see it in my head. Ugh.  Helps me keep my mind off, well, it. There are three kinds of infections. The murdering kind, the suicidal kind, and the happy kind. Suicides and murderers don't actively try to spread the infection, but deaths caused by 370 all seem to create this infectious light. The happy ones seem mentally unaffected, but their only desire is to spread this thing by any means necessary. They're clever though. They'll pretend not to be affected. The only giveaway is the happiness. Even if you torture them, they show signs of pain, but don't seem to care. It doesn't make them unhappy.  So I've let him go. Personal log of Dr. P... Date. Data absent. 2009. We've lost our grip on this thing. Richard and team are still contained, but we have the Smilers wandering free in the base. I've taken to carrying a handgun and just shooting anyone who looks happy. Considering how haggard and miserable most of our staff is, there's not much chance of a false positive. I've sabotaged all the communication systems. We will stop this thing here. The infection in me feels like it's spreading, starting to take a conscious effort not to think about that. There is no God. I am God. Personal log of Dr.... Date. Data absent. 2009. There is no God. Quarantine had been breached. I'm afraid Dr. C and I may be the only uninfected personnel on site at this point. He's only safe because he was in that quarantine cell for so long. Knowledge is starting to slip. I know things. Expunged. Not know what 370 looks like, but I know expunged. There is no God. I worship only myself. Personal log of Dr.... Date. Data absent. 2009. Notes. From this point on, the writing gets more and more shaky. Some parts appear illegible, and large segments had to be removed due to memetic contamination.  A symbol of freedom. I've changed my mind. I pledged expunged. I've performed another ritual, not in the book, just one that came to me. I had to use Dr. C, felt a bit bad about that at first, but it's all for the foundation. I have a plan. Expunged, until all the infected have expunged, should provide an opening for me to make contact expunged. If I can get the physical key encased within the molten lead for my experiment with SCP, then expunged, until the rest of the foundation finds us. I think I'll stick it in a huge steel box, too. You know, just in case. Personal log of Dr.... Date. Data absent. 2009. Notes. This final entry is written in blood and begins with an outline of a complex and gruesome ritual involving, among other things, the use of 80% of the invoker's blood. Intended purpose of this ritual is unknown and our attempts to recreate it have all failed, with the subjects falling dead from blood loss before completing the procedure. Details of ritual expunged. In the name of adversary, I seal the gates. Expunged. Return to your thrones. Personal log of Dr.... Date. Data absent. 2009. Notes. Again, written in blood. Positively identified as Dr.... What have I done? My memory is shaky. Not surprising considering what I've been doing to my mind for the past few days. The containment must have been successful as I find myself sealed in with 370 in this book. Good. The effects of the ritual are beginning to wear off, feeling extremely woozy, consciousness fading. What have I done? Ultimate selfishness or ultimate sacrifice or just ultimate pettiness in spite. I must apologize to Richard End of log. Item number, SCP-426. Object class, Euclid. Special containment procedures. I am to be sealed in a chamber with no windows through which I may be viewed. The door to my chamber must have a label completely unrelated to my designation or identity in order to prevent unintended spread of my primary effect. Only level three and above personnel are to know of my presence and particularly of my properties. Assigned personnel are to be rotated out on a monthly basis to prevent contamination by my secondary effect. Psychiatric evaluation is mandatory at the end of the month. If personnel are deemed unaffected, they may be reassigned to me no less than four months after their last rotation with me. Any affected personnel are to be given a class CM-nestic and transferred to a different site. Description. Hello, I am SCP-426. I must be introduced this way in order to prevent ambiguity. I am an ordinary toaster, able to toast bread when supplied with electricity. However, when any human being mentions me, they inadvertently refer to me in the first person. Despite all attempts, there is yet to be a way to speak or write about me in the third person. When in my continuous presence for over two months, individuals begin to identify themselves as a toaster. Unless forcibly restrained, these people will ultimately harm themselves in their attempts to emulate my standard functions. I was discovered in the home of the family after the gruesome deaths of three of its members. I had been given to the younger Mr. and Mrs. as a wedding gift. No card or any other identifying markings had been found on my box. Approximately two months after the family received me, fire crews were dispatched to the home due to an electrical fire. The younger Mrs. died from the electric discharge that she had caused when attempting to devour an electric socket. The other two victims had died shortly before the fire occurred. The elder Mrs. had gorged herself with nearly 10 kilograms of bread before her stomach burst and she died of internal bleeding. The younger Mr. died of severe blood loss after attempting with me. The sole survivor was the elder Mr. who was suffering from severe malnutrition. He stated that he had inserted some bread a week prior and was still waiting for the toast to pop out. I was confiscated by the foundation after police noted my unusual properties. A class CM Nestic was administered to the affected officers. Experiment log 426-1. Date, expunged. Subject, D-Class Personnel, D-426-1. Procedure, D-426-1 was asked to describe what he believed was contained in my chamber. He was not informed about my identity or properties. Details, D-426-1 stated. I'm probably some huge monster holed up in there. That's what you guys have all over the place, right? D-426-1 remained oblivious to his use of the first person pronoun. Experiment log 426-2. Date, expunged. Subject, D-Class Personnel, D-426-2. Procedure, 426-2 was placed in my chamber and given regular meals through a dispenser. No communication with D-426-2 was permitted. Multiple cameras were situated in the chamber, positioned so that I was outside of their field of vision, but allowing constant observation of D-426-2. We remained sealed until my secondary effect manifested in the subject. I was bolted to the floor so that I could not be moved into a camera's view. Details, after 45 days of isolation, D-426-2 wrapped his arm around me and began conversing with me, stating that we were brothers. D-426-2 never deviated from using the first person plural when speaking with me. Subject was terminated one hour after this event. It is theorized that the isolation accelerated the progression of my secondary effect. Experiment log 426-3. Date, expunged. Subject, D-class personnel D-426-3. Procedure, a screw was removed from me and shown to D-426-3, was asked to describe it. D-426-3 was not informed about my identity or properties. Details, D-426-3 referred to it as my screw, consistent with experiment 426-1. The subject was oblivious of his use of the first person in his description. This suggests that even if I were destroyed, my effects would still be inherent in my remains. Experiment log 426-4. Date, expunged. Subject, D-class personnel D-426-4. Procedure, D-426-4 was placed in isolation in a cell adjacent to my chamber to be observed until my secondary effect manifests. Details, no effects appeared. D-426-4 was terminated 90 days after the start of the experiment. Thank God there were some limits to my effects. A lot of us were really starting to get worried about me. Doctor C. Item number, SCP-436. Object class, Euclid. Special containment procedures. SCP-436 must be closed at all times, except for testing purposes. It is stored in a large unlocked room to avoid misplacing the item. Personnel below level three are not allowed to enter the room. Once per week, SCP-436 will be moved to a nearby identical chamber to allow the floor to be reconstructed. Description, SCP-436 is a small locket, apparently made from gold. When opened, an inlaid photograph can be seen. It is unknown if the photograph is the source of SCP-436's effect because this cannot be tested. All measurements within a certain distance of SCP-436 will be affected by significant error. There is no observed pattern to the amount of error. It seems to constantly change, though this cannot be verified because it requires a time measurement. This issue is common to many aspects of SCP-436. The range cannot be reliably determined. The intensity of the error effect cannot be verified and its location is often vague. It is known, however, that the error effect extends towards its own nature. To clarify, a measurement is required to learn anything about the error effect and this measurement will have an error. The actual dimensions of an object will be permanently affected even after removal from SCP-436's range. Lids on containers cease to fit properly. Level objects tilt and measurement devices in particular will warp. Individuals affected by SCP-436 will have their height and weight altered and in some cases, their personality. Ability to learn, perform calculations and make judgments will be impaired. Medical conditions such as data expunged and in particular cancer have occurred. Long-term exposure to SCP-436 allows the alterations to accrue eventually resulting in an often indescribable item. Dr. Wu possesses three samples, currently under study. When SCP-436 is closed, the error effect apparently decreases in intensity. Although, as previously mentioned, this cannot be confirmed. Attempting to average many measurements affected by SCP-436 will not result in a more accurate measurement. Note that these are not isolated instances of the effect. The measurements simply average to a significant deviation. With multiple averages from multiple sense of trials, the results still does not gain any accuracy. It is unknown how SCP-436 produces this multi-layer effect without... Addendum. When handling SCP-436, leave it in a flat open place. We usually have trouble finding it again when personnel leave it in a container and when we do, it's not easy to open. Dr. Wu. Lesson complete. To continue with your orientation training, subscribe to SCP Orientation right now and make sure you don't miss any of our upcoming videos.


I won't start anyway. So the first item, we're gonna be joined in a few minutes by the Health and Welfare Committee, Senate Health and Welfare at 10 o'clock. They're new to come in. And I got the wrong agenda here. Better look at the right agenda. I got it. Thank you, Joe. So what I thought would be helpful is that Eric was to go over the veto bill with us. So my plan is at 11.30 to get back together in room one and talk about next steps, if that's all right. And then we're gonna hear at 10 a.m. with the, from the Harvard regarding the research on done waiting periods. So if Eric, if you would go over, many of us may not remember completely the bill that the governor vetoed last June or May. Yeah. Take it with you. Was he waiting for you? Yeah. If you'd go over the veto message as well of what was in the bill that was vetoed and so we can understand what parts he didn't like, what parts he liked, why he vetoed the bill. Sure. Sounds good. Morning, everybody. Eric, Eric, it's Patrick with the Office of Legislative Council with us. Senator Sears was indicating here to talk about S169 as well as the governor's veto of S169 last year. I had to do the same thing.  There was a number of different things and that gives rise to the title of the bill, which was actuate firearm procedures that were several different pieces of it and actually several of them were related to firearms legislation that he had passed the year before or he had passed a couple of quite large lengthy bills. It was act 94 that had a number of different firearms procedures. There was the extreme risk protection order legislation that had also been passed the year before and some of what was going on as 169 was some, some, I wouldn't call it cleanup, but certainly some amendments, some clarification of some of the procedures that he would already passed the year before. So has everybody actually had a copy of that 169 as it passed both bodies and have copy of the veto letter as well? I don't have to be. Yeah, they're in the folder. It's such a new case. Yep. It's, uh, very, very high. I'll be down on Harry. Nope. Let's take a one-hater. Looks like that. I don't know. I don't know. There's the, I don't know. Oh, it's, it might seem to be one of the last pages. Oh, yeah, I'll say that. So let's, yeah, okay, great. So let's, let's look at the bill itself first just to refresh all of our recollections of what the different pieces of it were. First section to dealt with the ban on large capacity ammunition feeding devices, the high capacity magazine, hey, remember I've been in act 94 the previous year and the general approach of the magazine ban was if it's a long gun, any magazine that had a capacity of greater than 10 rounds, it was a handgun, a magazine with the capacity of greater than 15 rounds was generally prohibitive, right? The criminal penalty associated with it, they were banned, but there was a number of exceptions, fairly lengthy list of exceptions. And what you did last year, what the legislature did anyway, and S169 was to do some amending around some of those exemptions that had already been in. So you remember, one of the exceptions had to do with shooting competitions. Everybody remember that one? There had to be an exemption for high capacity ammunition feeding devices brought into the state of Vermont that had to be brought into the state. It wasn't the ones that were possessed by Vermont residents that had to be brought into Vermont for purposes of use in a shooting competition. You made a couple of amendments, but that had a sunset, but you remember that? That sunset last year, July 1st, 2019. So a couple of different changes were made in S169 to that piece of the magazine. One was that the sunset was repeated. So that actually is an in-section one. It happens to be at the end of the bill in section six. That's a repeal of the sunset on that exemption so that they could be brought into the state for these competitions going forward without any time. I remember that piece. So another change that was made to that exemption, which is right on the underlying language on page one, in subsection C1A, had to do with the fact that originally that exemption only applied for people bringing these high capacity devices into the state. Vermont residents didn't have the benefit to the same exemption. They were gonna use it at a shooting competition which only folks from out of state who were able to do so. So what this proposal was in S169 was it made that also apply to Vermont residents. So if you possessed it, if you were grandfathered in by having possessed the magazine before the effective date of at 94, well Vermont residents as well as out of state residents could use them at these competitions. So that's that piece. You move on down to page two. Another exemption that had existed for the magazine law, the magazine prohibition, was for law enforcement use. So legitimate law enforcement purposes by law enforcement officers. But they were applied to Vermont officers only. The question that does happen sometimes that an out of state officer might either pursue a suspect into the state of Vermont or otherwise be coordinating their law enforcement work with a Vermont law enforcement officer. And the idea of this exemption, or at least the proposal in S169 was to expand that exemption. So it applied not only for Vermont law enforcement officers, but out of state law enforcement officers who were in Vermont off their legitimate law enforcement purposes. That's the second piece. Actually, that's as far as the magazine goes, the kind of sort of minor language piece. You'll see the subsection F on page two, the physical language change, it was proposed that the president saying, establish shooting competition for organized shooting competition. A minor change that you felt that was more accurately described competition themselves. So that covers the magazine piece. Now, another amendment to what you have passed in 1994, which was done in this bill, has to do with background checks. Now, the background check piece was also a big part of that. So-called betting. Yes. That's right, that's correct. That's on the top of page three, exactly. That was the issue. Remember, there's those sort of background checks generally required for private sales of firearms. Federal law requires background checks for sales by firearms dealers. What you have to require for private transactions, not between dealers, but there's a list of exceptions. There are times when you don't have to get a background check when you sell a firearm. One of these times was immediate family member. But you see the proposal from S169, to expand that list of who is an immediate family member. So a transfer between siblings in law and uncles and nieces and nephews also would not be required to get a background check. It's another amendment to what you've done in 1994. All right, so now we'll come to the next piece. It's substantively new. This is not a change to what you've already passed the previous year. This is the waiting period. And then you see what passed the legislature was a waiting period of 24 hours that applied to hands and zones. So generally speaking, you can't transfer a handgun to another person until 24 hours after the completion of the background checks that's required by the federal or state law. Now remember, the federal or state law background checks vary depending on who's making the sale. Federal sales by a licensed firearm dealer, the background check reminds a private sale under certain circumstances. So any one of those sales has to undergo background check that's done through the national instant criminal background check system run by the Department of Justice. So once that background check is complete, the 24 hours law begins. Now it's a 24 hour waiting period that is passed by the state law. You see the way it's phrased is 24 hours after the completion of the background check. Now again, that also, as we just said, not all sales require background checks. So for example, when you look at subsection C there, section doesn't apply to a handgun transfer that does not require the background check. So if it's a transfer between a new family member, law enforcement agency, an emergency situation, any transfer that doesn't require a temporary loan, for example, any transfer that doesn't require the background check in the first place is not going to be subject to the waiting period. You don't have to wait the 24 hours. If I see how that would work. So that was the way that the passcode bodies in S16 act. Next piece, section four relates to the extreme risk prevention order. Remember that also had passed the previous year that legislature established those. Now what had come up in this situation was that remember an ERPRO can be filed for by a law enforcement officer, or sorry, by the state's attorney or the attorney general. They can use information that they get from law enforcement officers, but that the LEO and herself can't file it directly. What had come up was some physicians were concerned that they might obtain or come into awareness about information about a person who was dangerous, but they felt that they couldn't disclose that information to a law enforcement officer, or to the state's attorney, without violating HIPAA, the Federal Health Privacy Act. So this one, which does is it essentially taking back some of the existing HIPAA exemptions. This already has an exemption for the situation in which there's a reasonable basis for thinking that there's a harm that's going to come to somebody that allows information to be disclosed during those situations. So this essentially works that same exemption for HIPAA into the ERPRO law. So that emergency room doctors, physicians, healthcare providers would be able to disclose that information in an emergency situation directly to a law enforcement officer who could then pass along to the state's attorney that they won't file a permit. Is that including the mental health specialization? Yes, healthcare provider does. That definition you can see there. Somebody asked me. I go back to something. Yeah. It's on previous page where it says background check is completed. Pardon me, sorry. On section three of this page, it says after the completion of the background check. Give me my, yeah. I'm assuming that means after the results get tested and reserved return to the ERP or the cell provider. It doesn't mean after you've completed the form with the cell provider. Correct. Correct. I think the reading of it is that it is after the next system sent to the results. Okay, are we? Yes. Next is the report. Yes, we had some reporting about her post. But that was the request of Dr. Brasard, who is a national expert to try that by emergency room doctors to try to keep track of the red flag laws that have developed around the country to try that. So they were looking for reports from all the states that have this central model, but compiled in the infection model in fact there were other ones. Yeah. Yes, so that's exactly that. To try and provide them that sort of data and information so that they can see how their post were working in practice and whether they were getting the information that they needed in a dangerous situation. Section six I already mentioned, that's the reveal of the sunset rather than the context. Exactly, true account. So that's a review of what was in S169. That was passed by both bodies last year and then it was vetoed by the governor on June 10th. Second one has a copy of the veto letter in front of them now. You'll see that it's relatively short and the essence of the rationale for the veto I think is in the second to last paragraph, a quick review of what's in the language before that just sort of an introductory paragraph mentioning that the veto was happening, a review of what was done previous year which I just spoke about. The veto letter reviews the same thing. During the past year, background checks were passed. The ERPOs were passed. Ability of law enforcement to remove firearms from those that should be passed in violence and create an establishing of an age limit so that firearms have to be, person has to be 20 years of age or older to purchase a firearm. So that's a review of, as I mentioned, what the legislature has passed the previous year. And I think the key paragraph to look at is the one following those bulleted points. We'll see that one. It says, with these measures in place, we must now prioritize strategies that address the underlying causes of violence and suicide. I do not believe S169 addresses these areas. So again, paragraph afterward follows up on that, that's moving forward. I asked the legislature to work with me to strengthen our mental health system, produce adverse childhood experiences, combat addiction and provide everybody to monitor the economic opportunity. So I think the real operative paragraph is the one immediately preceding that one and that sort of goes to the rationality. If you say, if you read that as expressing to me that the S169 doesn't address the underlying causes of violence and suicide. So that's the rationale that's there in line that the elements, the provisions of the S169 that were passed, including the background check, don't actually impact violence and suicide. I think that would sort of imply that it's a data issue, that's an information issue, that there is no evidence, no evidence or a connection between the provisions of S169, including the background, sorry, a waiting period, for example, there's no evidence indicating that there's a correlation between a waiting period, for example, and a reduction in violence or reductions in suicide. I'm sort of extrapolating a little bit as to what's in there to be throughout the brief, but that's the way I agree. Yeah, I would just say, I'll be right back. I feel that there's a built-in contradiction here, which is the governor is touting his signing of at 94, and he's saying, among other things, that the ability of law enforcement to move firearms from those accused of domestic violence makes our community safer from violence that he's proud of that. But he could easily have vetoed that and said it doesn't get at the root causes of domestic violence. So in one case, he's saying removing the gun from the situation makes our community safer. In the case of S-169, he's saying, removing the guns isn't what we need to do. We need to go to the root cause. It seems in both cases you would want to have to do the cause and potentially remove the gun from the situation. So I don't know if this letter doesn't strike me as overly helpful in anything but understanding what is, you know, it's not really a rationale for detail, it seems to me it's more like a failure to provide a rationale. That's a good one. Well, I was surprised when I read the letter here and that's all it said, and I agree with Bill if there's, because there wasn't any projection to any particular thing in the bill itself. I mean, that was, did he object to the weighting area or did he object to the, we don't know at all except that it doesn't attack the root causes, which is true, it doesn't attack the root causes but we aren't trying to do that in other bills. So I agree with Bill on this, it's a pretty, I think there were some public comments by the governor regarding the weighting period, but this letter doesn't provide a direction as to what he would support. I do feel picked on this year, two bills he may have reported, I feel messaged he was very clear as to what he objected to and what not clear what he would support in very vague, as I see, you know. Of course we want to deal with it, the governor comes in and overrides and decides what to do. We can take this bill, rewrite it, put it in 48 hours, see if he likes that better. So I would suggest that this was probably is the opportunity to explain because that's what a veto letter is, is explaining why I'm vetoing. I mean, we could have them come in and further explain but the veto letter is the explanation of why I'm vetoing. Probably. I think that we can internally have a debate about our own respective interpretations of what he was talking about. I understand it doesn't give clear guidance on what specific provision that he's objecting to in the veto letter in total. I understand we're gonna take in from in support of the ones laws I believe the committee is thinking is the source of conflict. I would think that it would be only fair if we're going to open that door up that we have the administration come and be specific because if that is the provision that we are now taking evidence on, yes. I think Joe's point makes good sense assuming we're writing a new bill. If the committee's decision is to override the existing bills that I don't think it's necessarily at this point that we need to be taking testimony from the administration because the veto is, he has made it with the veto and the letter. But yeah, if we make a determination to write a new bill then I think we would ask for all kinds of witnesses to speak to it and the administration would be a normal route of trying to figure out a direction. Does that make sense? My only reaction, Phillip, we're about to take what I believe to be evidence on a provision people are assuming is the one source of contention. I see the door being open for a full discussion of that. I see two folks on the schedule who I understand are gonna come in in support of one provision that is the source of contention. I would therefore question we're not gonna have an open discussion on both sides of it, why we are taking testimony from these two individuals now. We could have a full-fledged conversation and vote in the committee based on what the governor's veto message says. But once you open the door to provide evidence, it seems to me at least uncomfortable that the door doesn't get open to both sides. Sorry, Senator, but nobody said the door wasn't open to both sides. The committee who have citing waiting periods that's that simple in support of the markets necessarily when we make a decision, make that decision, we're probably happy to hear from the governor if the governor wants to come down and meet with this committee. But I'm not willing to hear from every person about whether or not we should attempt to override the governor's veto. If we do a new bill, I'm perfectly happy. If the governor's legal counsel, while we're making decisions, or the governor himself wants to come to this committee, he's more than welcome. In terms of us making a decision whether to try to override his veto. I'm more than happy to hear from either he or his legal counsel. I think I'm taking testimony. I think we're taking from two people who have offered to drive bridge masks to us about their national expertise in waiting periods and it's not really, I don't see it the same as what you were, how you see it. So maybe I'm missing something. This is the exact process we used on S37, exact process. We heard from some people regarding the veto message. The people to help us understand the decision made by Judge Crawford, which had changed things. The veto message on S37 was clear. So I don't see the difference. That's why I didn't schedule J. Johnson or Phil Scott. But if the governor's got or his legal counsel want to come down and talk to us, we're not happy to hear. I hope an invitation. I happen to have a meeting with him at noon time and perhaps if we can at least agree not to hold a vote on anything prior to getting the answer that not have a vote. We will not hold a vote on whether to override until after we hear from him. If the governor wishes to testify, we'd like to welcome the hello for witnesses from Cambridge are here.