SCP-223: A Photo Album

SCP-223: A Photo Album SCP-223 is a photo album documenting an engaged couple's beach vacation. It holds twenty-eight photographs, with the final two pages torn out. A handwritten message on the back says it is from Danny, with love. An unidentified man appears frequently alongside the couple, apparently as their friend, but he does not appear in photographs or recordings made of the album itself. The couple later died in what was initially described as a murder-suicide. The man's note claimed he had discovered his fiancée with another man. Investigators found no evidence of an affair. That history becomes more troubling once researchers see how the album affects its readers. It tends to target someone in a stable, happy romantic relationship. The person first notices their partner appearing in one of the vacation pictures in place of a background figure. At this early stage, other observers can verify that the photograph has actually changed. The anomaly is not entirely confined to a single viewer's imagination. Continued viewing produces a more personal version of the album. The target sees their partner spending time with an attractive figure and becomes convinced there is a reason for jealousy. Other readers still see the original vacation photographs. The target begins searching for the missing pages, believing those last images will settle whether their partner has been unfaithful. Taking the album away does not immediately end the problem. Other photographs begin looking different to the target, often with a figure resembling the unidentified man inserted into them. Pictures of the target and their partner can be especially damaging. Repeated exposure builds a conviction that something terrible is happening and that finding the missing photographs is the only way to resolve it. The effects can wear off completely within a week, provided the person avoids both the album and new photographs. That condition becomes difficult when the person believes more photographic evidence will help. Looking for reassurance prolongs the very condition causing the suspicion. Dr. Morris demonstrates that trap during an interview. He says he has avoided photographs and argues that a week has passed. The examiner reveals that staff found nearly twenty pictures hidden around his quarters. Morris remains desperate to prove his wife's innocence and lashes out at the person trying to explain that the images cannot be trusted. The closing note says Morris receives an amnestic and returns to his duties. His wife is told that he has died. The report supplies no fuller explanation for that decision, leaving a disturbing gap between restoring a useful researcher and restoring the life he had before exposure. The last addendum reopens the original couple's deaths. Some of the man's wounds could not have been self-inflicted, so investigators rule out suicide. There is still no evidence of another person entering or leaving. The album clearly manipulates jealousy, but that final finding prevents the case from being neatly explained as two deaths caused only by a false belief. The missing photographs and the unidentified man remain unresolved. Original Entry: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-223