Link to article: SCP-9944.
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[[>]] [[module Rate]] [[/>]] [[include component:image-block | name=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/World_population_density_1994_-_with_equator.png | caption=Actual global population estimation. Note that it's significantly lower than public estimations. | width=50%]] **Item #:** SCP-9944 **Object Class:** Keter **Special Containment Procedures:** The Foundation is to obscure publicly available census data to reflect SCP-9944 estimations. Civilians who become aware of SCP-9944 are to be debriefed and amnesticised. To prevent civil unrest, misinformation campaigns are to discredit academic sources which reflect actual global population numbers until a point (if such a point ever occurs) where SCP-9944 and real global population figures overlap. If possible, only personnel with few attachments and introverted or self-centered personalities should be assigned to SCP-9944. **Description:** SCP-9944 is a phenomenon in which global population numbers are consistently and egregiously reported as being higher than they actually are. As of writing, the global population is reported as approaching nine billion humans. In actuality, the Foundation estimates the true population as being no higher than four billion, and likely lower. Despite this, global commerce continues as if it the population were true to SCP-9944. Among other anomalies, GDP per capita is consistent with SCP-9944, global resources are depleted at a faster rate than the true global population would suggest, housing is needlessly built to accommodate SCP-9944 numbers, elections are held with a polling sample of SCP-9944 despite the shortcoming of actual voters, and employment rate is reported in-line with SCP-9944 despite no such workers existing. Reporting of SCP-9944 is not due to incompetence or deception on the part of any specific individuals or parties. International governments genuinely believe the census data pertaining to SCP-9944 to be accurate, with all known nations producing data that corroborates with one another. Wealth that would otherwise be exchanged between the SCP-9944 population effectively "vanishes" from the economy, and physical commodities such as housing and other such property are either inaccessible or ignored to the general population. [[include component:image-block | name=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/High-rise.jpg | caption=A vacant tower block in ████████, United Kingdom, secured by the Foundation to prevent civilian access. The tower would otherwise be populated by people counted in SCP-9944. | width=50%]] In extreme cases, members of the public have either embellished or completely invented people they have connections with. Approximately 50% of the human population has reported friendships which, in reality, do not exist. Approximately 20% have reported distant family members who do not exist. Approximately 5% of parents have incorrectly suggested they have more children than they actually do, insisting they're simply estranged if pressed on why they haven't seen them in a prolonged period of time. **Discovery:** SCP-9944 came to the attention of the Foundation over an extended global recognisance campaign to locate off-grid GoI settlements. Population data sourced through a series of covert missions did not match that which the Foundation could access through civilian government channels. The team put in charge of initial cataloguing of the anomaly and implementation of containment procedures initially refused to work on the project, as research into SCP-9944 revealed that almost all personnel on the team had at least one connection that did not actually exist. The resulting grief lead to uncooperative and, in some cases, violent behaviour from the personnel; requiring intervention from the on-site security team. These reactions were considered to be a non-anomalous reaction from learning the nature of SCP-9944, and after necessary disciplinary action was taken, containment procedures were revised. **Addendum 9944-1:** Incident Log SCP-9944 has been inadvertently discovered by the public on a number of occasions. The list below details notable incidents. > **25/12/1990 -- Salt Lake City, Utah, US** > ---- > **Details:** Local authorities are called to the residence of Henry Johnson, a retired widower, after reports of breaking and entering. They found he had broken his own windows out of stress after his daughter failed to visit him and he was unable to contact her. > > **Action Taken:** Subsequent investigation found Johnson never had children. All parties involved were amnesticised, Johnson passed away of natural causes two months later. > **10/01/2000 -- Toronto, Canada** > ---- > **Details:** Jordan Yu was reported as a missing person after he'd failed to show up to his office for over a week. His last known whereabouts were a NYE party at his friends' house. > > **Action Taken:** Yu was discovered in an abandoned warehouse surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol. The address and friends he gave were found to not actually exist. Yu had no recollection of what happened, and was discharged after receiving initial medical attention. > **03/08/2021 -- ████████, United Kingdom** > ---- > **Details:** An unidentified corpse was found in the stairwell of a residential tower block. Decomposition suggested it had been there for a number of weeks. A "Get well soon" card was found on its person, addressed to an unknown person just described as "mum". > > **Action Taken:** None. [[collapsible show="Enter level 5/9944 clearance to view the rest of the file" hide="Access granted"]] **Addendum 9944-2:** Recent Estimations The Foundation has concluded its closest approximation of the true earth population size. Current estimations suggest the true population to be approximately 990,000,000, less than 1/8 of what SCP-9944 suggests. Repopulation efforts are currently pending Ethics Committee approval to bring the population as close to SCP-9944 as possible, in order to mitigate negative effects of the anomaly and reduce instances of hostile public response. [[/collapsible]] [[footnoteblock]] [[div class="footer-wikiwalk-nav"]] [[=]] << [[[SCP-9943]]] | SCP-9944 | [[[SCP-9945]]] >> [[/=]] [[/div]] [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box]] > **Filename:** World population density 1994 - with equator.png > **Author:** United States Department of Agriculture > **License:** Public Domain > **Source Link:** https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_population_density_1994_-_with_equator.png > **Filename:** High-rise.jpg > **Author:** Mcx8202229 > **License:** CC 0 1.0 > **Source Link:** https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High-rise.jpg [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box-end]]