SCP-5682

Title: [SCP-5682: A Brief Moment of Revelation](http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-5682)

Object Class: Neutralized (Provisional)

Author: stormbreath

  1. Intro

Hello, and welcome to the declassification of my SCP-5000 Contest entry, A Brief Moment of Revelation. This declass will be both of the normal kinds, but seperated. I'll begin with a brief run-through of the SCP, pointing out any easter eggs, but primarily focusing on a simple overview of what's happening in each section. After that, I'll go through the actual mysteries and the essential themes of the work (aka, the real meat of the story).

—-

  1. Overview

We begin, as we always should, with the Object Class and Containment Procedures. These establish the following essential facts: That the anomaly is only potentially neutralized; that this is some form of criminal cult, and that the Foundation isn't sure if it's going to stay dead. Mostly just a teaser for the SCP itself.

A few quick references appear here: there's a link to Site-64 (which handles anomalies in the PNW), to [aismallard's 5K](http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-5900) (which hadn't been published when this reference was made), and a reference to MTF Zeta-2, a task force I've used in [SCP-3477](http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3477) and [SCP-4901](http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-4901), which specializes in the capture of humanoids that are outside of containment.

We then move on to the description. Here, we find out that SCP-5682 is a former religious movement, which discovered access to a higher plane of existence. ("Higher" here has multiple meanings - linear dimensions, spiritually, and the drug slang.) They worshipped the entities on this plane, and tried to get there themselves. It isn't clear, however, if the plane is real, or faked. There's a drawing of the plane, which shows a singular figure seated in lotus position, turned away from the viewer, sitting in chaos. This is one of the higher beings, and they are in the upper dimension.

It's possible to call this a cult. It does fit many of the descriptions of one, and you wouldn't be wrong to do so. But if you do, you need to qualify that it doesn't have many of the normal negatives associated with a cult: the indoctrination, the inability of members to leave, etc.

Next, we find out about the leader/founder of the religion, one Josiah Thornettle. He's a classic hippy, as are all the rest of SCP-5682. He discovered/created all the anomalies involved, and then started recruiting people to the religion. They started a commune in Washington, and started producing massive amounts of LSD and marijuana - both of which they heavily used themselves - to support it.

The final note of the description is that Thornettle has vanished. The house he was in disappeared, and he's nowhere to be found. Maybe he ascended? Probably not, the Foundation concludes.

We then get a small collection of anomalous objects associated with 5682. These primarily serve to describe what the commune was like, and what the religion/visions are like. There's a lot of information here that goes to one of the primary mysteries of the SCP, but I'll be covering that later.

The first interview is a good cop/bad cop routine. The UIU agent is approachable, willing to compromise, and has an actual name. The SCP sends a belligerent asshole with an obviously made up codename. The interview itself discusses how one member of the commune joined it, and his first divine experience.

A quick cameo here: Kollwitz mentions his friend went to Reed (the real college). This isn't quite true: his friend went to Deer (the SCP pastiche of Reed). The friend didn't want to break the Masquerade for this guy and told him he went to the closest thing to Deer that exists in the real world. This is how the friend was able to get paradrugs, and why the friend wasn't as wowed by them as Kollwitz.

We then get the UIU's perspective, and discussion of the raid itself. In essence, the ATF finds out about the drug smuggling, then the anomalies, and concludes it is not big enough to deal with the issue, so they hand it over to the UIU. My personal headcanon is that the UIU frequently oversteps it's jurisdiction by the simple virtue of being the only branch of the US criminal justice system that is equipped to deal with anomalies.

The raid goes well for the UIU, but Josiah's house burns down and he's nowhere to be found. Since he was their primary target, it's not a full success. Other than that, it went well.

One cameo here: the Department of Anomalous Drugs and Ordinance acronyms to DADO. Is this dado's evil twin, or his backstory?

The final part is an interview log, this time with a more senior member of the commune. She's angry at the UIU and the Foundation, because they chased her prophet (and possible lover - that might just be something Blackwire spouts off the hip to taunt her, but it might be accurate) into heaven and left her to rot. She's been denied paradise, and she knows she's at the end of her moment of revelation. A rather brief one, all things considered.

There's a set of three redactions here. We'll get to those later.

In short: in the 60's, a group of hippies discovered a new religion. They started to practice it as much as they could, but the feds busted them and shut the whole thing down. A simple story, but it isn't really about the *story* here.

—-

  1. Breakdown

Now to begin the literary analysis. The work is structured around the question of faith, primarily viewed through the lense of the following definitions of mystery:

3. the secret rites of Greek and Roman pagan religion, or of any ancient or tribal religion, to which only initiates are admitted.

4. a religious belief based on divine revelation, especially one regarded as beyond human understanding.

This describes all of the anomalies in SCP-5682. The commune discovered a way of replicating and repeating divine enlightment, one that only works for them. Rites that provide divine revelation, but only for their initiates. Further, only those that have been properly introduced to the religion and the revelations are capable of actually getting it well:

Contents of the dream are frequently described as mildly disturbing by individuals who are not already familiar with SCP-5682. Was only provided to long-term adherents.

The question of faith is most apparent in the two interview logs. At first you have a member of the cult describing the beginning of their time within it: how they were able to attain the first of the divine revelations and immediately dove headfirst into the cult. They saw truths beyond understanding, things that they aren't capable of explaining to the UIU/Foundation that they're talking to:

Kollwitz: And in between the chaos, there were beings. Angels, I think. Not sure what else they could be. And they're not really things you can explain, either. They're from the other plane, and they've got too many angles for our minds to really get them, y'know? I can try to draw you a picture but I don't know how good it'll be for you.

As discussed by Operative Blackwire and Church (could I be any more blunt with that name?), the only way of actually getting to know what the cult is about is if you partake in the anomalies - the revelations - for yourself.

Church: Tell me, Operative, have you ever experienced any of the revelations that we offered in the commune? Any of the enlightenment?

SCP Blackwire: Have I willingly exposed myself to dangerous anomalies? No. Never.

Church: You wouldn't get it, then? Would you? These things require faith. You have to take that first step into the water.

This is the first of the three mysteries of the SCP and the overall theme of the article. How do you properly explain every facet of a divine revelation to a heathen? Something that is, by definition, only something that could be understood by seeing it for yourself? The Foundation attempts to describe it and Kollwitz tries to relay it, but neither of them truly captures what is so captivating about the visions.

Kollwitz: Sure did. I talked to some other friends on the way up here, and they didn't get what I had seen while on the trip. Didn't get why it was so inspiring for me.

SCP Blackwire: Don't think I do either.

Kollwitz: Exactly! But at the commune? Everyone got it. I wouldn't belong anywhere else. I just had to stay.

This links to the second mystery of the SCP: what happened to Josiah Thornettle? He vanishes at just the right moment, right as the authorities are closing in on him. The SCP ends with a pretty definitive explanation, but you have to remember your source on that: an acolyte of his who wasn't even there at the time, and shouldn't know anything about what happened…

(Well, there's one way she could know. What if she *was* there? What if she actually managed to escape the commune when the UIU/Foundation showed up? That would explain why she knows so much about what happened at the end — remember, there's nobody else she could have heard this from. And if that's the case, then isn't there a possibility that Josiah escaped too? What if he snuck out the back and has been spending the past fifty years living outside the country?)

But that's just a theory, and one that isn't particularly supported by the text itself. There are three stronger theories about what happened to him:

1) Josiah *was* in the house as it burned down, but for whatever reason, the UIU wasn't able to find the body.
2) Josiah completed the ritual, but was mistaken about what it actually did/entailed. He either died in the process, or shortly after it was completed.
3) Josiah ascended and became divine.

The first is the simplest answer. It does let us address that house fire, which sure is a mystery in and of itself. The UIU swears they didn't do it, and you are supposed to take that at face value. They don't really get anything out of covertly murdering Josiah and burning down a trove of evidence. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that Josiah burns the house down himself.

In the first explanation, this is suicide. He sees the FBI closing in, and kills himself rather than enter custody. He knows his followers will see him as a martyr, and he doesn't want to live in jail for the rest of his life. This is the most simple explanation.

The other two answers hinge on what answer you accept from the third mystery. But the difference between the first answer and the other two is the same as your answer to the first mystery: whether you choose to accept Josiah's faith, or whether you reject it. In short, do you believe there was a paradise beyond this world? If so, Josiah ascended. If not, he burned to death.

There is no firm answer. I do not have one myself. To have a firm answer would ruin the sacred mystery, the question of faith and belief posed in the article. It's about what you choose to believe.

There is a final, and third mystery. Unlike the other two, this has an answer.

If you read back through the SCP, after Blackwire's comments, there's a certain nature of unexpected violence from the anomalies themselves SCP-5682 worshipped. This is strange because they're really peaceful hippies. This is stressed frequently, particularly when the UIU shows up, and they calmly and peacefully turn themselves over, without a fight. They aren't violent people, they aren't a doomsday cult, and they aren't the Manson Family.

Take, for instance, the following:

Contents of the dream are frequently described as mildly disturbing by individuals who are not already familiar with SCP-5682. Was only provided to long-term adherents.

&nbsp

Serrated knife with a fractally defined edge. Edge of the knife is therefore infinitely sharp and does not possess a conclusive point.

No evidence of usage within SCP-5682. According to testimony, proved sharper than expected.

&nbsp

SCP Blackwire: Salvation. Guess what? We know what you were dealing with. We call them [REDACTED] and they aren't fucking pretty. These are beings that [REDACTED]. If your boyfriend managed to get into their home at the end, he isn't alive anymore.

Hmm. Interesting, isn't it? What could be behind those redactions? The cult is nonviolent, but there's a possibility that what they were worshipping wasn't. Take, then, the following into consideration:

Adherents frequently emphasize chaos, loud noise and patterns in their descriptions of their experiences, believing all of these to be central to SCP-5682.

&nbsp

Causes hallucinations which typically feature loud sounds, patterns and geometric tessellations.

&nbsp

These include the disappearance and manifestation of small objects, the appearance of patterns of light, and quiet sounds reminiscent of whispering.

&nbsp

There was this … well, it sounded almost like static, but it didn't sound mechanical. It sounded spoken, if that makes sense.

&nbsp

Kollwitz: And yet, despite the cacophony — *the screaming*, the crying, the sounds — there was a beauty to it all. Within the chaos, *patterns*.

The screaming patterns, huh? I wonder what that could be…

So it's obvious the redactions had the Pattern Screamers. The third redaction is whatever the Screamers do to their victims, which could really be … anything. Whatever you want it to be. I totally reject any canon for them, which makes them a perfect mirror for the question of faith that is so prevalent in the SCP.

Are they malevolent? Quite possibly. But as Church rebuts:

Church: Ah, yes. The so-called Pattern Screamers. Merely fear and superstition, perpetuated by people that do not understand the truth. It is common for the unenlightened to fear that which they do not understand. I know the angels could scare those that have not seen them before, but they are holy nonetheless.

After all, what are the first words out of the mouth of every Biblical angel's mouth?

—-

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