SCP-PL-091
Item #: SCP-PL-091
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: The animals are secured in a pasture located in a Provisional Biological Area, built in 1956 on land near [REDACTED] in Lower Silesia, where their anomalous nature was discovered.
The containment unit is a one-story concrete building divided into pens containing five sheep each and one pen containing two sheep. The building is equipped with a camera system. The containment unit includes a water trough and a 157 [m] by 132 [m] parallelogram-shaped field enclosed by a wooden fence, used as a sheep grazing area.
The pasture is monitored by teams of scientists, led by Dr. Gajda, who rotate every 8 hours. Among them are trained shepherd dogs, responding to the names of Fuks and Rudy. To conceal themselves, the employees are dressed in typical shepherd's clothing. Their task is to watch over the grazing animals and to collect the instances of SCP-PL-091-1 left behind. The whole collected amount of SCP-PL-091-1 should be stored in airtight vacuum containers and the excess should be burnt.
When the sheep are finished grazing, they should be herded into pens and under no circumstances should they be counted. However, given human nature - the guards are prone to count the sheep subconsciously by checking their numbers in the pens, which creates an anomalous effect. When the effect occurs, the affected worker must be replaced.
Sheep counting is allowed for stress relief purposes for Foundation staff.
Description: SCP-PL-091 is a flock of 52 domestic sheep (Ovis aries). The subjects do not exhibit any characteristics deviating from the nature of ordinary representatives of this species. The anomalous effect manifests itself when attempting to count the entities and is manifested by the appearance of a strong feeling of progressive sleepiness in the counting person relatively to the number of counted sheep.
A faint odor was discovered during the examination of sheep's wool. Its analysis revealed it to be the effect of an ester similar in composition to an insomnia remedy made by the company [REDACTED]. The intensity of the odor increases as the number of sheep counted increases. It is presumed that the mere fact of counting an individual causes it to emit a stronger odor.
SCP-PL-091-1 is a substance in the form of small flakes with a composition similar to ordinary cosmetic sodium soap left behind by the sheep after they have passed through the pasture. Analysis showed the same composition coinciding with an insomnia remedy. The flakes are deposited on the sheep's wool and, as the count progresses, fall to the ground.
The sheep themselves do not react to the odor they emit.
Attempts were made to keep the human factor to a minimum, however monitoring the herd from a distance also resulted in subconscious counting of individuals, in effect causing the rangers operating the monitoring to fall asleep.
As demonstrated by Incident Alpha, the anomalous effect also occurs in the vicinity of garments made from sheep wool without the need for a live individual.
Recovery Log PL-091: SCP-PL-091 was discovered on March 13, 1956 after a series of disappearances in the village of [REDACTED] in Lower Silesia, which are regarded as a local anecdote due to their peculiarity. While searching for a shepherd and his helpers, who had been looking for a lost flock of 15 sheep before their disappearance, a pasture with many more animals and sleeping shepherds was stumbled upon.
According to the police report, the shepherds found their sheep grazing next to another flock of unknown origin. They saw neither dogs nor shepherds anywhere. They made a calculation of the size of the new flock, which caused the anomalous effect of the flock. After a few hours of absence, the policemen found and awakened the missing shepherds, and on learning about the flock, one of the policemen, aspirant G██████, made a report on the disappearance and another, on the finding of the flock, for which the policemen had to count the sheep. They proceeded to carry out their activities assisted by the shepherds.
The wife of aspirant G██████, worried by his prolonged absence from home, went to the police station where she was given information about the search in which the missing man was involved. The woman gathered the neighbors and, assisted by the provincial police, found the sleeping shepherds and the missing husband.
Police officers from the regional headquarters made their report after seeing incomplete data on herd size. They were assisted in completing the data by the herders, policemen from the local police station, the wife of aspirant G. and neighbors, falling victims to the anomalous effect.
Agent P██████, who, observing the developments, identified the phenomenon as anomalous, thus interrupting the unfortunate calculations.
Addendum 1: Jan W██████ was questioned about his knowledge of the anomalous nature of the goods he sold. The interrogator openly admitted that he was aware of the anomalous nature because it was his stock, which he called by the enigmatic term "calcumuttons". Besides, the interrogator openly showed resentment, bitterness and annoyance caused by the fact that he was a victim of the anomalous effect on the day the flock was found by the shepherds, as a result of which he lost his flock to the Foundation. In revenge, he decided to sell items of clothing made from the wool.
On November 23, 2010, an incident involving customers of a local clothing market occurred at [REDACTED] located near where the instances were found and secured.
Twenty-three people who purchased woolen goods from a local vendor, Jan W██████ experienced an abnormal effect in their apartments or at a local supermarket. As it turned out, this coincided with activities that required counting - reading lottery numbers, buying fruits or vegetables, or paying for groceries. During these, those wearing woolen garments fell asleep.
It is likely that the count itself has an activating effect on the anomaly. All of Jan W██████'s goods were secured and burned.
Leader: Dr ██████
Tester: Thai Ngoc, a 67-year-old Vietnamese man who lives in the Quang Nam province. He has not slept for over 30 years. According to him - his sleep problems began in 1973, when he became seriously ill and lay consumed by fever.
Description: An experiment using an instance of SCP-PL-091 and ovine ester extract in capsule form. As shown in laboratory tests, the resulting capsule is fourteen times more potent than the standard product of the company [REDACTED].Course of events:
"Mr. Thai, can you explain to us why you can't fall asleep and whether it has a negative impact on your health?"
"I don't know if insomnia is affecting my health or not. However, I am still fit and able to work on the farm, as are my neighbors. My wife says that 'even proper booze can't make me sleep.'"
"I see. Please focus on the flock in front of you and count it."
The tester easily reports the number of 52 sheep.
"Do you think counting sheep will put me to sleep, Doctor?"
"We're just testing your concentration and mental capacity. We have a new sleeping aid for you, and we want you to try it."
The tester ingests one capsule and after 2 minutes collapses to the ground, falling hard asleep.Notes: The tester was administered a Class A amnestic agent and sent away. Tester's sleep deprivation problem did not go away after the experiment.
« SCP-PL-090 | SCP-PL-091 | SCP-PL-092 »