Link to article: SCP-4041.
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[[include :scp-wiki:theme:classic]] [[>]] [[module Rate]] [[/>]] [[include component:image-block name=usurpers.jpg| caption=An SCP-4041 event in progress. ]] **Item #:** SCP-4041 **Object Class:** Keter **Special Containment Procedures:** The DYNASTY Protocol is currently in effect, and is to be maintained indefinitely. Birds injured by SCP-4041-1 are to be explained under the cover story of predatory birds consuming toxic materials. Civilians witnessing or interacting with SCP-4041-1 are to be amnesticized. The DYNASTY Protocol is as follows: * Complete infiltration of the paleontology field by Foundation personnel. * Surrounding planned and current paleontological dig sites, both [[[SCP-4003|anomalous]]] and nonanomalous, with anti-avian measures prior to excavation. * Widespread declaration that the theory suggesting that birds evolved from dinosaurs is obsolete. * Use of memetic agents embedded in educational media to reinforce that birds and dinosaurs are unrelated, and that no dinosaurs ever possessed feathers. **Description:** SCP-4041 is a phenomenon involving anomalous coordinated behavior among various species of birds. SCP-4041 events begin as ordinary flocks. The flock will stay close to the ground, often generating large clouds of dust or dirt. High-speed cameras trained on SCP-4041 events have detected small groups of birds within the flock attaching their wingtips together to form rings before dispersing again in a very short burst of light. Observation of SCP-4041 events has not shown any inherent pattern in these lights. Excavation of the ground beneath SCP-4041 events will often (~70%) uncover various dinosaur fossils. Rarely, this will occur even in locations previously shown to have been completely excavated for fossils. Fossils discovered after SCP-4041 events are always of theropod dinosaurs, often coelurosaurians[[footnote]]A subgroup of dinosaurs that includes //Archaeopteryx//, //Struthiomimus//, and //Tyrannosaurus rex//.[[/footnote]]. The variety and quantity of the fossils increase with the number of birds in the SCP-4041 flock. Fossils located via SCP-4041 appear nonanomalous. They exhibit a high degree of preservation and detail, with feather imprints and skulls often intact; all fossils match generally accepted taxonomic timelines. Eleven new species and seventeen new subspecies have been tentatively accepted by Foundation paleontologists. SCP-4041-1 instances are translucent Class III Incorporeal Entities, and resemble theropod dinosaurs in various states of decomposition. All instances with visible skin lack feathers. **Timeline of SCP-4041 Incidents** ||~ Date||~ Notes|| ||= 1861||Friedrich Witte and Karl Häberlein discover the first //Archaeopteryx// skeleton unearthed in Germany. Later suspected to be an occurence of SCP-4041 due to the mentions made in Häberlein's journal of the "great and peculiar flocks of birds" seen that day.|| ||1859-1863||British biologist Thomas Huxley learns of the recently discovered //Archaeopteryx// and becomes an ardent proponent of the possibility of an evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.|| ||04/16/1944||Collateral damage during bombing of Munich in World War II destroys rare //Spinosaurus// fossils suspected to be compromised by SCP-4041. Surviving photographs and journals edited.|| ||02/17/1971||Birds involved in most recent SCP-4041 event sustain severe, often fatal injuries during event; usually bite marks, dismemberment, blunt trauma, or complete crushing.|| ||08/26/1996||SCP-4041 event leads to civilian discovery and publishing of //Sinosauropteryx//, the first publicly documented feathered dinosaur. First instance of birds sustaining injuries outside of the duration of the event.|| ||01/19/2002||Dr. Pascal Godefroit, a Belgian paleontologist, sustains similar bite injuries after publishing an article describing dinosaur-bird phylogeny. He is hospitalized and claims to have seen incorporeal, dinosaur-like entities. After Godefroit's recovery, he is amnesticized and the cover story of a car accident is disseminated.|| ||09/15/2004||SCP-4041 event ends prematurely due to death of all birds present during event. Cameras detect a translucent silhouette resembling a //Tyrannosaurus rex//, designated SCP-4041-1.|| ||02/13/2006||SCP-4041-1 instances destroy several museum displays and theropod fossils.|| ||07/01/2009||SCP-4041-1 instances manifest within a Foundation paleontology conference, injuring 22 before MTF Phi-2 ("Clever Girls") and MTF Mu-13 ("Ghostbusters") arrive on the scene. (See Incident Log 4041-119 for details.)|| [[collapsible show="Incident Log 4041-119" hide="ACCESS GRANTED"]] > **16:14** Four MTF Phi-2 agents arrive on the scene, and enter from the back of the conference room. Three instances of SCP-4041-1 are present; two indistinct raptors and one //Deinocheirus//[[footnote]]A large (10m long) ostrich-like dinosaur.[[/footnote]]. The raptors have bitten five researchers already, while the //Deinocheirus// stands over one attendee. > > **16:15** Phi-2 agents fire at the raptors, to no effect. > > **16:17** Phi-2 leader charges the raptors, flanked by her teammates, and vocally imitates tyrannosaur roars to challenge them. The raptors retreat. Site-wide evacuation commences. > > **16:20** The raptors call to the Deinocheirus. It crouches over the prone attendee (identified as Dr. Karina Barrera), then joins the raptors. > > **16:22** The Deinocheirus charges, knocks over one agent, and swats another with its tail. Several attendees are trampled. > > **16:27** One raptor solidifies to bite on an attendee's leg; an agent shoots it in the head. The raptor screeches and disintegrates in a cloud of purple smoke. > > **16:31:** The Deinocheirus attempts to flee, picking up Dr. Barrera and carrying her on its back. > > **16:33** Mu-13 agents arrive and neutralize the remaining raptor instance using spectral weaponry. Phi-2 leader recommends capture of the Deinocheirus. > > **16:36** Following setup by Mu-13 agents, Phi-2 agents use dinosaur calls to herd the Deinocheirus into the CHALICE-class spectral containment ring, which activates and successfully contains the instance. [[/collapsible]] Following treatment of all injuries and subsequent moving of the SCP-4041-1 Deinocheirus to a permanent containment cell, Dr. Barrera was interviewed. [[collapsible show="Interview Log 4041-001" hide="ACCESS GRANTED"]] > **Interviewer:** Phi-2 Agent Angelica Iglesias > **Interviewee:** Dr. Karina Barrera > > **[BEGIN LOG]** > > **Iglesias:** State your name, for the record. > > **Barrera:** Doctor Karina Maria Barrera Campaña. > > (//Iglesias places a large file folder on the table.//) > > **Barrera:** How's your arm? > > **Iglesias:** Just a scratch. Look, Karina, let's just get through this. Right now I want to know exactly what went down at the conference. > > **Barrera:** Ghost dinosaurs. Not the weirdest thing in our world. > > **Iglesias:** Come on. I've read the 4041 documentation, I know there's ghost dinosaurs. What I want to know is how you got through without a scratch while 16 other people have Jurassic Park scars. > > **Barrera:** Jig's up, I guess. > > **Iglesias:** What the hell did you do? > > **Barrera:** Right, so remember that paper I published in '07? The one about ornithomimoids and striations on their arms and wing anchoring bones. > > **Iglesias:** Yeah, of course. Read all your stuff. > > **Barrera:** Yeah... okay so, that wasn't //all// me. > > **Iglesias:** I know you're not a plagiarist, Karina. Get to the point. > > **Barrera:** Okay okay. Three weeks before the submission deadline I had a dream. I dreamed of a //Deinocheirus// and a //Gallimimus// and a couple others. They showed up in my room, but they weren't ghostly at all. They were fully fleshed out, most vibrant colored scales I'd ever seen. Not a single feather on 'em. > > **Iglesias:** Right. And this... fever dream inspired you to crank out that paper? > > **Barrera:** //Sí.// They stood different, looked different -- nothing about them fit the standard model. I went back into our database and cross-referenced the records, but ignored all fossils associated with SCP-4041. What I ended up with didn't look like the standard model at all. They looked like the things in my dream. > > **Iglesias:** Wait, so what are you saying -- > > **Barrera:** Doesn't it strike you as just a //little// suspicious how perfect the 4041 fossils are? They're //too// well-preserved. You got feather imprints on a Troodon in the same formation as a single fragmented Triceratops foot. It's like a murder scene with the fingerprinted gun left behind with a confession note. > > **Iglesias:** I mean, there's plenty of other ways to explain it. > > **Barrera:** Yeah, that's what I thought, too. So I decided to test it: I got to work publishing articles critical of the standard model. And you know what happened? Every time I exposed a flaw, someone found an answer. Sternum not the right shape to support a transition? Next 4041 fossil, there it is. > > **Iglesias:** But... why? Why would anyone do something like this? Who would want to create an entirely false fossil record? > > **Barrera:** (//sighs//) You're gonna think I'm crazy. > > **Iglesias:** At this point, I don't think anything is too crazy. > > **Barrera:** (//whispers//) I think it's the birds. > > **[END LOG]** [[/collapsible]] Dr. Barrera died two days later in a car accident, when she collided head-on with a semi-trailer truck. Investigation of the scene found a //Velociraptor// skull in the car's trunk. [[footnoteblock]] [[div class="footer-wikiwalk-nav"]] [[=]] << [[[SCP-4040]]] | SCP-4041 | [[[SCP-4042]]] >> [[/=]] [[/div]] [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box]] ===== > **Filename:** usurpers.jpg > **Name:** Starling Roost > **Author:** Donald Macauley > **License:** CC BY-SA 2.0 > **Source Link:** [https://www.flickr.com/photos/27770620@N02/6781835682/ Flickr] ===== [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box-end]]