Item #: SCP-008
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures
SCP-008 manifestations cannot be fully prevented, but their exposure can be mitigated through media suppression and subject removal.
Monitoring: Foundation agents embedded in international and regional athletic commissions are to flag unusual basketball matches fitting SCP-008's profile.
Media Control: Civilian recordings are to be intercepted and replaced under Protocol Falsus Dunk-88 ("camera glitches" or "stylized edits").
Witness Management: Spectators exhibiting obsession or withdrawal symptoms are to be tracked. Unresponsive individuals are to receive Class-B amnestics or be placed under permanent Foundation care.
Player Isolation: Confirmed SCP-008-1 individuals are to be quietly extracted under the guise of medical disqualification, scholarship transfers, or career-ending injuries. Subjects are transferred to Site-██ for indefinite containment.
Interference Ban: No experiments are permitted during live SCP-008 events. Foundation operatives attempting mid-match interventions face disciplinary review.
Description
SCP-008 is a recurring phenomenon affecting organized basketball games under specific conditions (minimum of ten players, regulation court, scoreboard, and referee presence). When active, all participants are designated SCP-008-1.
Recorded anomalous traits include:
Exaggerated Athleticism: SCP-008-1 subjects demonstrate vertical leaps exceeding 12 m and sprinting speeds surpassing 70 km/h.
Visual Displacement: Players occasionally vanish from visual frames, leaving multi-second afterimages before reappearing.
Spatial Distortion: Basketball trajectories defy conventional physics. Documented cases include midair curvatures, instantaneous possession transfers, and rebounds occurring without surface contact.
Psychological Immersion: Both players and spectators describe matches as "life-or-death duels." Prolonged exposure induces dependency, with withdrawal symptoms upon denial of further matches.
SCP-008 activity ceases immediately once official gameplay ends (buzzer, disqualification, or forfeiture). Pickup or informal matches have not produced anomalies.
Incident Log 008-07
██/██/20██ – Regional tournament, ███████. SCP-008 escalated beyond prior observations.
Documented events included:
A dunk generating shockwaves that collapsed the gymnasium ceiling.
Multiple players occupying the same physical coordinates before dispersing.
A 9-minute blackout across the venue; all spectators reported "the game continuing" despite surveillance showing an empty court.
Following the event, ██ spectators attempted forced reentry into the collapsed gymnasium. When restrained, they repeated the phrase:
"The game isn't over."
Addendum 008-A – Behavioral Notes
Post-event interviews suggest SCP-008-1 retain vivid memory of anomalous matches but perceive them as natural extensions of their skill. Several insist that "every game feels real" and that their opponents are "fighting for something more than basketball."
Spectators, meanwhile, exhibit compulsive rewatching of footage, often describing non-anomalous games as "empty" or "fake."