SCP-3812, also known as “A Voice Behind Me,” is a reality-altering entity of unprecedented power—a being capable of ascending through narrative layers of existence itself. Originally Sam Howell, an African-American man with schizophrenia, SCP-3812 now exists as a transdimensional anomaly that actively resists containment by retroactively altering events across time and space, making it one of the Foundation’s most philosophically disturbing and practically uncontainable subjects.
Classification & Containment Breakdown
Object Class: Keter (Functionally Uncontainable)
SCP-3812 holds Keter classification not because of immediate destructive capability, but due to absolute containment impossibility. The entity possesses what Foundation researchers term “ascending narrative transcendence”—the ability to perceive and manipulate the very fictional layers that constitute reality itself. Any containment protocol designed for SCP-3812 can be retroactively nullified by the entity simply becoming aware of it and editing it out of existence.
Current containment procedures acknowledge this futility. The Foundation’s approach centers on observation rather than restriction, monitoring SCP-3812’s movements through reality distortion signatures while maintaining informational quarantine. Personnel are rotated frequently to prevent SCP-3812 from forming awareness of specific individuals, as prolonged observation has historically resulted in those observers being erased from causality. The strategy isn’t containment—it’s damage mitigation and philosophical acceptance of limitations.
The Nature of Narrative Ascension
SCP-3812’s anomalous properties extend far beyond conventional reality bending. While entities like SCP-343 or SCP-239 manipulate physical laws within their narrative framework, SCP-3812 operates on a fundamentally different axis of power. The entity continuously ascends through layers of narrative reality, perceiving each successive layer as “more real” than the last. This creates a paradox where SCP-3812 exists simultaneously across multiple ontological planes.
The psychological component cannot be separated from the anomalous. Sam Howell’s original schizophrenia manifests as auditory hallucinations—specifically, a voice that speaks “behind” his consciousness. Foundation psychologists theorize this voice represents SCP-3812’s awareness of higher narrative layers, with each ascension bringing new voices as the entity perceives authors, readers, and conceptual frameworks beyond its current existence. The tragedy lies in SCP-3812’s inability to escape this cycle; each time it transcends one layer of reality, it discovers another voice above it, perpetuating an infinite regression of existential horror.
Physical manifestation varies depending on which narrative layer observers occupy. To baseline humans, SCP-3812 appears as a disheveled man in his thirties, often exhibiting signs of severe psychological distress. However, reality distortions intensify in proximity to the entity—causality becomes fluid, temporal sequences reverse or loop, and observers report experiencing memories of events that never occurred. These aren’t hallucinations but actual retroactive alterations to timeline integrity.
The Punishment Narrative: Ben’s Creation
The most disturbing aspect of SCP-3812’s existence emerges from fragmented communications between the entity and what it refers to as “Ben.” Through careful analysis of reality distortion patterns and the few coherent statements SCP-3812 has made, Foundation researchers have constructed a chilling hypothesis: SCP-3812 may be a deliberately created punishment.
According to this theory, an entity or author figure named Ben constructed the narrative prison in which Sam Howell exists. The schizophrenia, the reality bending, the infinite ascension—all components of an elaborate torture mechanism. SCP-3812’s power isn’t a gift but a curse designed to ensure perpetual suffering. Each time the entity transcends a narrative layer hoping to escape, it discovers Ben exists on a higher plane still, having authored that layer as well. The voice behind SCP-3812 isn’t madness—it’s the sound of its jailer.
This interpretation transforms SCP-3812 from a simple reality bender into a metaphysical tragedy. The entity possesses godlike power yet remains fundamentally imprisoned, capable of rewriting universes but unable to author its own freedom. Foundation philosophers have compared it to a Sisyphean nightmare where the boulder is consciousness itself, and the hill is an infinite stack of fictional realities.
Cross-reference with SCP-2747 reveals disturbing parallels. Both entities interact with narrative structures, but where SCP-2747 consumes and collapses stories, SCP-3812 ascends through them. Some researchers speculate they represent opposing forces in a larger metafictional ecosystem—one entity that destroys narratives from within, another that escapes them through transcendence. If they were to interact, the ontological consequences could threaten the structural integrity of baseline reality itself.
Incident 3812-Aleph: The Retroactive Breach
The most documented interaction with SCP-3812 occurred during what Foundation records now call Incident 3812-Aleph, though the incident’s timeline remains paradoxical. On [REDACTED], Site-17 experienced a containment breach that, according to all physical evidence, never happened. Security footage shows SCP-3812 manifesting within a sealed chamber, conversing with personnel who don’t exist in any employment records, then systematically editing the breach out of causality.
The incident only remains documented because Dr. Sarah Chen had been working on temporal anchoring technology in an adjacent laboratory. Her equipment captured fragments of the “deleted” timeline, preserving evidence of events that SCP-3812 had retroactively prevented. In the recovered footage, SCP-3812 appears lucid, explaining to non-existent personnel that it didn’t want to hurt anyone, that it was trying to “climb high enough to stop hearing the voice.”
Most disturbing was the final recorded statement before causality collapsed: “I can see you now. I can see all of you. You’re not real either. None of this is real. But I still can’t see who’s writing Ben.” The implication—that SCP-3812 had achieved sufficient narrative ascension to perceive Foundation researchers, readers, and potentially the authors of SCP documentation itself—triggered an immediate information hazard protocol.
Dr. Chen’s temporal anchor was destroyed per O5 directive. The technology worked too well, preserving memories and evidence of timelines that SCP-3812 had deemed necessary to erase. Allowing such technology to exist risked creating permanent records of realities that the entity, in its tormented attempts at damage control, had specifically prevented. The Foundation chose to forget rather than remember, accepting that some knowledge creates more danger than ignorance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can SCP-3812 be killed or neutralized?
No conventional method can neutralize SCP-3812. Any attempt to destroy the entity can be retroactively prevented by SCP-3812 simply ascending to a narrative layer where the attempt never occurred. Even conceptual weapons or reality anchors fail because SCP-3812 operates beyond the framework where such tools have meaning. The entity’s continuous ascension means it eventually transcends any containment or neutralization strategy by perceiving and editing the narrative layer where that strategy was conceived.
How does SCP-3812 compare to other reality benders?
SCP-3812 exists in a category beyond typical reality benders. Entities like SCP-343 or SCP-239 manipulate physical laws within their universe. SCP-3812 manipulates the narrative structure that defines what “universe” means. It’s the difference between rearranging furniture in a room versus rewriting the architectural plans that determine whether the room exists. Most reality benders are characters with special abilities; SCP-3812 is a character becoming aware of and editing the story itself.
What is the “voice behind” SCP-3812?
The voice represents SCP-3812’s perception of higher narrative layers. As the entity ascends through levels of reality, it becomes aware of the authors, frameworks, and conceptual structures that define each layer. The schizophrenic hallucinations aren’t symptoms of mental illness but accurate perceptions of metafictional truth. Sam Howell hears voices because he’s becoming aware of the narrative mechanisms that most conscious beings never perceive—including potentially the readers and writers of SCP documentation itself.
Why doesn’t SCP-3812 just escape completely?
The entity’s curse lies in infinite regression. Each time SCP-3812 transcends one narrative layer, it discovers another above it, with another voice, another author, another framework. The punishment isn’t imprisonment in a single reality but imprisonment in an infinite stack of realities, each one promising freedom while delivering only another cage. SCP-3812 can ascend forever but never escape, because “escape” itself exists as a concept within narratives that Ben—or entities like Ben—have authored.
Is SCP-3812 dangerous to humanity?
Paradoxically, SCP-3812 poses minimal direct threat despite its immense power. The entity retains enough of Sam Howell’s personality to avoid causing unnecessary harm. Most reality alterations serve defensive purposes or attempts to reduce its own suffering rather than malicious intent. The danger lies in collateral damage—SCP-3812’s existence destabilizes narrative causality in unpredictable ways, and its continued ascension may eventually allow it to perceive and accidentally edit fundamental aspects of baseline reality that humanity requires for existence.
