WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:04.720 It is a mild evening in Paris, France,  and the sound of ticking clocks fills   00:00:04.720 --> 00:00:09.320 a modest church tucked down a less  populous street. From the outside,   00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:14.800 it looks like any ordinary Christian  church, but inside it is quite different. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:19.920 There are gears and cogs on the walls where  stained glass windows might ordinarily be placed,   00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:25.360 and the altar resembles the inner workings of  a massive clock. The ticking sound is coming,   00:00:25.360 --> 00:00:31.840 not from any timepieces, but from the congregation  themselves. This is a ceremony for members   00:00:31.840 --> 00:00:38.000 of the Cogwork Orthodoxy, an offshoot of the  Mekhanists or the Church of the Broken God. The   00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:44.040 congregation is small, a little less than a dozen  in attendance, but they are devout in their faith. 00:00:44.040 --> 00:00:48.280 A solemn hush falls over the room  as the Patriarch stands before them,   00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:53.800 holding a bottle of holy oil. He beckons up each  congregant to the altar, where he anoints them   00:00:53.800 --> 00:01:00.360 with the oil on whatever cogwork augmentation is  most easily accessible. Some have visible gears,   00:01:00.360 --> 00:01:07.040 others limbs made from brass. One man has a clock  in the middle of his forehead like a third eye. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:10.480 After all have been anointed,  they return to their seats and bow   00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:17.520 their heads in solemn prayer. Tick. Tick.  Tick. The sound is rhythmic and constant,   00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:22.560 like one shared heart thrumming all  together. The sound fills the room,   00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:29.280 steady as it always has been. But then...the  pace changes suddenly, for the very first time. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:35.600 The ticking comes faster now, less like a familiar  clock and more like a bomb ready to go off. It   00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:41.400 ticks faster...faster...faster... The sound  of grinding metal fills the room, interrupting   00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:47.520 whatever peace remained. The Patriarch cries  out in pain, holding his chest. His eyes widen,   00:01:47.520 --> 00:01:53.320 and all of a sudden...his chest explodes,  metal fragments flying in every direction. 00:01:53.320 --> 00:01:55.960 One by one, the rest of the congregation follow,   00:01:55.960 --> 00:02:01.720 their augmented bodies failing them in a shocking  display. Metal legs fuse together, gears grind,   00:02:01.720 --> 00:02:07.320 spark, and explode. The rifle grafted into  one man's arm begins firing at random. An   00:02:07.320 --> 00:02:12.880 internal combustion engine heart fails, and a  woman collapses to the ground. All the while,   00:02:12.880 --> 00:02:17.360 the initial explosion has set fire to  the old wooden beams of the building. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:23.520 It is all going up in flames By the time the  authorities arrive on the scene, over 50,000 euros   00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:29.960 of damage has been done to the building, and the  entire congregation is dead. It doesn't take long   00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:35.840 for the SCP Foundation to become involved, or for  them to suspect foul play. The Cogwork Orthodoxy   00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:40.880 are relatively peaceful, and have never been  involved in an incident quite like this before.   00:02:40.880 --> 00:02:48.400 No, someone planned this, and executed it  meticulously. The question is how? And why? 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:53.480 Following the 2011 incident at the Cogwork  Orthodoxy church, other cases of this mysterious   00:02:53.480 --> 00:02:58.480 ailment began popping up. The Foundation  was able to take several bodies for autopsy,   00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:03.040 though the means by which this was accomplished  are obscure to me. They determined that the   00:03:03.040 --> 00:03:09.480 failure of the victims' bodies and augmentations  was caused by a parasitic infestation. Somehow,   00:03:09.480 --> 00:03:13.200 they had all been dosed with the  same contaminated material. But   00:03:13.200 --> 00:03:19.960 what was the link between these parasites and  technological failure on a massive, deadly scale? 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:24.520 The clues were scarce, and there was little to  point the Foundation in the direction of motive   00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:30.080 or means as dozens of deaths were reported.  With little else to go on, the Foundation   00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:36.840 classified the parasites: SCP-3859. Whatever  their exact nature, they were like nothing   00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:42.520 anyone had ever seen before. That much  was certain, even if nothing else was. 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:46.160 They were able to interview a victim after  all of the previous infected had died on the   00:03:46.160 --> 00:03:51.040 scene. Following one of the attacks in Lyon,  a Maxwellist was kept alive long enough for   00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:55.600 the Foundation to conduct an interview.  He was able to communicate via writing,   00:03:55.600 --> 00:04:01.840 but the state of his SCP-3859 infestation rendered  him unable to speak, as it interfered with   00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:07.080 the function of his vocal processors. Rather  than transmitting anything he wanted to say,   00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:11.960 they instead playing a continuously looping  message in French that translated to: 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:16.840 "You are nothing but an engine powered by  ignorance. Forsake your superstition, your   00:04:16.840 --> 00:04:22.440 god of metal, your blind faith that has caused  you to suffer. We have created the anti-virus   00:04:22.440 --> 00:04:27.560 for your technological blight, the firewall  to cleanse Europe of your influence. You are   00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:35.120 nothing but a flaw in history, and we shall cut  you out. Vive la rationalitĂ©. Vive l'athĂ©isme." 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.520 The message continued to play until the  subject's artificial pineal gland was destroyed,   00:04:39.520 --> 00:04:45.720 killing him. After this incident, the trail went  cold for about a year. More cases turned up,   00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:50.560 but they brought no information. Then, a  surprising development broke it all wide open,   00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:54.560 tipping over the first card that  would bring the entire house down. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.960 In late 2015, French parasitologist  Frederic Lacroix was checked into the   00:04:58.960 --> 00:05:04.560 hospital after his pacemaker failed. While he was  being examined, unusual parasites were found in   00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:09.800 his system. They had somehow eaten away most  of his pacemaker, and it failed after three   00:05:09.800 --> 00:05:14.840 days of intensive care. But there was something  that set Lacroix apart from other victims of the   00:05:14.840 --> 00:05:21.680 parasite that the Foundation was beginning  to call SCP-3859: he was a staunch atheist. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.960 In fact, he was so opposed to organized  religion that he had previously been arrested   00:05:25.960 --> 00:05:30.760 after fighting with a priest in his hometown  of Orleans. So what, the Foundation wondered,   00:05:30.760 --> 00:05:35.400 made him the exception to the rule? Why  did the parasites choose him as their   00:05:35.400 --> 00:05:40.400 first non-religious target? Surely his field  of research being parasitology couldn't be a   00:05:40.400 --> 00:05:44.960 coincidence. They decided to dispatch  a team to investigate more thoroughly. 00:05:44.960 --> 00:05:49.240 Agent Katerine Dubois led a Mobile Task  Force, operating under the cover story that   00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:54.280 they were National Police Officers investigating  Lacroix's death. They went to Lacroix's house,   00:05:54.280 --> 00:05:57.480 attempting to uncover any clues  that might indicate his connection   00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:02.640 to SCP-3859. After Lacroix's widow  granted them access to the house,   00:06:02.640 --> 00:06:07.800 they began a thorough search. In his bedroom,  they uncovered a large book entitled,   00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:13.600 "The Holy Bible, with commentaries by  C.I. Scofield and a guide to Bible Study." 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.600 This struck them as odd, given his  atheist leanings, and one of the   00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:23.120 officers picked it up. It was partially hollow,  and rattled when shaken. They opened the book,   00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:27.840 and tipped its contents out onto the  desk. This would prove to be a mistake,   00:06:27.840 --> 00:06:33.040 as the desk promptly burst into flames.  It had been booby trapped. Luckily,   00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:37.360 the task force moved quickly and was able to  salvage most of the documents contained within,   00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:42.960 before the fire could consume them. They also put  out the fire without alerting the widow Lacroix. 00:06:42.960 --> 00:06:47.280 But when the task force reached the door,  they found more officers waiting there.   00:06:47.280 --> 00:06:52.120 These strangers also claimed to be from the  National Police. But the MTF smelled something   00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:57.080 fishy- and it wasn't the widow Lacroix making  bouillabaisse. There was no way these officers   00:06:57.080 --> 00:07:02.760 were National Police. They held Rugers, when the  National Police were known to carry SIG Pros. No,   00:07:02.760 --> 00:07:07.280 these were not cops. The MTF had to get  out of there- and fast. They ran out the   00:07:07.280 --> 00:07:11.720 back of the house, and "commandeered" a  vehicle from a, let's say somewhat willing   00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:16.520 civilian. As they drove away, gunfire  ricocheted off of the body of the car. 00:07:16.520 --> 00:07:20.720 The enemy officers were in pursuit, and they  teleported their car in front of the MTF in   00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:26.400 an attempt to cut them off. With the assistance  of MTF Omega-5, the Jewelers, the task force was   00:07:26.400 --> 00:07:31.520 able to evade this enemy force. They were also  able to connect the weapons and technology to   00:07:31.520 --> 00:07:37.720 an existing Group of Interest. They seemed to  be affiliated with RUBIS, or "Recovery, Use,   00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:43.440 Beloscosity, and Inhibition of Singularities." A  deeper look revealed Lacroix's true allegiance:   00:07:43.440 --> 00:07:48.440 he was a member of SAPHIR, a militant atheist  organization dedicated to wiping out religious   00:07:48.440 --> 00:07:54.880 organizations worldwide. This was the French  branch; the English branch is known as SAPPHIRE. 00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:59.560 One of the documents recovered from Lacroix's  home revealed this allegiance, titled "A Brief   00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:04.400 Manifesto Against The Mekhanite Superstition and  How to Topple It." They described followers of   00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:09.840 the Mekhanite faith as people who "look human,  but their hearts beat to the tune of clockwork,   00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:14.760 their breath is the humming of a computer fan, and  their muscles bulge with carbon fibers the likes   00:08:14.760 --> 00:08:20.120 of which we can only hope to develop. Some of them  even go so far as to replace their pineal glands,   00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:25.360 an organ often associated with the superstitious  world." The manifesto lamented the inability of   00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:30.800 SAPHIR pamphlets to deprogram Mekhanites, people  so devoted to their faith they would change their   00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:37.000 bodies permanently. But this faith, in the words  of the manifesto, would "derive their doom." 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:43.960 This is where the development of SCP-3859 comes  in. In October of 2010, a Mekhanite was "found   00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:48.360 and disassembled" by RUBIS agents (whether  they were alive or not during this process,   00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:53.800 I could not determine). In this Mekhanite's body,  RUBIS agents found an Organic Interface Virus,   00:08:53.800 --> 00:09:00.560 or a virus created from nanotechnology. In short,  an OIV is like a computer virus made material,   00:09:00.560 --> 00:09:05.840 made into something that can infect a human  body. This virus was intended to respond to   00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:10.960 strong Mekhanite faith, and to prevent the organic  parts of a person's body from rejecting their new,   00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:16.200 inorganic modifications. But, programming can  be rewritten, and SAPHIR was determined to find   00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:22.320 a way to reverse the purpose of this OIV and  cause it to reject these inorganic components. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.680 However, they ran into one problem:   00:09:24.680 --> 00:09:29.560 the virus would not interact directly with a  human body. It was engineered for the specific   00:09:29.560 --> 00:09:34.280 Mekhanite it was found in, and did not  take to other human subjects. But then,   00:09:34.280 --> 00:09:40.200 Dr. Lacroix discovered an ingenious solution. The  dead Mekhanite was not just full of technological   00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:44.680 augmentations. They were also infested with  hookworms, who had been infected with the   00:09:44.680 --> 00:09:50.760 OIV. He took these hookworms, and created  a new species named Ancylostoma neddluddi,   00:09:50.760 --> 00:09:56.160 named for the Luddites who destroyed technology  deemed evil. The manifesto closed with a goal:   00:09:56.160 --> 00:10:01.880 "By the close of 2015, we expect to eliminate  any Mekhanite influence on the continent." 00:10:01.880 --> 00:10:08.080 So, Dr. Lacroix created SCP-3859. But,  he also wound up in a hospital bed,   00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:13.800 dying as a result of his creation. As one  mystery was solved, another revealed itself.   00:10:13.800 --> 00:10:18.440 What went wrong? The plot only thickened  as more SAPHIR agents died in the wake of   00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:24.160 Lacroix's death. Six in total perished  from an infestation of SCP-3859. Each   00:10:24.160 --> 00:10:28.600 was killed when their metal tooth fillings  exploded, causing fatal brain hemorrhaging. 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.760 We know the devastating impact that  it has had- some know it all too well,   00:10:32.760 --> 00:10:39.280 but what exactly is SCP-3859? The Foundation was  able to determine a bit about its nature. It is   00:10:39.280 --> 00:10:44.800 a microscopic parasite that has been infected  with an OIV. This particular OIV results in   00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:50.480 nanotechnological augmentations to the parasite.  It is in the same genus as Old World hookworm,   00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:55.720 but is hermaphroditic rather than dioecious,  setting it apart from most hookworms. It also,   00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.560 closer study has revealed, appears to  have been hybridized with tardigrade   00:10:59.560 --> 00:11:05.840 DNA at some point in the prior two hundred  generations. The function of SCP-3859 in the human   00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:12.200 body is to infest hosts with artificial components  added to their physiology, and to destroy them. 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:16.760 Again, this is notably different from ordinary  hookworms, who do not normally behave in an   00:11:16.760 --> 00:11:21.520 aggressive fashion or leave the digestive  tracts of their hosts. This would suggest   00:11:21.520 --> 00:11:27.040 that the technological components of SCP-3859  are causing them to act in defiance of their   00:11:27.040 --> 00:11:32.640 nature. SAPHIR's aims in creating this augmented  parasite are clear, but what is still unclear   00:11:32.640 --> 00:11:38.440 is what happened next. Why did Lacroix's  creation turn on him? What happened? Well,   00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:44.760 when I first began looking into SCP-3859, it  seemed we would never know for sure. But then,   00:11:44.760 --> 00:11:49.440 SAPHIR released a statement, along with some  formerly classified files. I'll save those   00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:56.360 for later. First, their statement, issued  in December of 2015 to all SAPHIR agents: 00:11:56.360 --> 00:12:01.000 "Effective immediately, all Lacroix hookworms  in possession of SAPHIR are to be destroyed,   00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.760 and the program is to be discontinued. 00:12:03.760 --> 00:12:07.400 They are acting indiscriminately,  affecting atheist and superstitious   00:12:07.400 --> 00:12:12.280 alike. Twenty have died from infestation,  including Lacroix...Lacroix was a traitor   00:12:12.280 --> 00:12:17.280 and a Mekhanist. His rank is stripped, and  his name will be wiped from our history." 00:12:17.280 --> 00:12:22.520 The statement is intriguing, and includes some  bold claims. The Foundation was not able to find   00:12:22.520 --> 00:12:28.160 any information linking Lacroix to Mekhanism, or  anything indicating him as a sort of double agent.   00:12:28.160 --> 00:12:32.240 Therefore, I was thrilled when a former RUBIS  agent was able to help the Foundation decipher   00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:37.160 Lacroix's original journal entries, eager to see  what light they might shed on the whole matter.   00:12:37.160 --> 00:12:42.400 Nothing could prepare me for what I learned.  SAPHIR's assertions about Lacroix were wrong,   00:12:42.400 --> 00:12:47.640 and the truth was so much stranger than anyone  could have anticipated, even the SCP Foundation. 00:12:47.640 --> 00:12:53.360 In his writings, Dr. Lacroix referred to the  parasites as his "children," an impulse that-   00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:57.880 though unsettling- I can sympathize with.  It is a lonely business, locked away with   00:12:57.880 --> 00:13:03.160 only one's research for the company. His aims  with that research, however, I am a good deal   00:13:03.160 --> 00:13:08.360 less sympathetic to. Using research on the  Crucifix Protein, a protein supposedly found   00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:12.800 in the brains of the devoutly religious, he  modified the hookworms. Whenever they detected   00:13:12.800 --> 00:13:18.160 the presence of this compound, the parasites  would become aggressive and highly destructive. 00:13:18.160 --> 00:13:23.920 They would seek out anything unnatural added to  the human body, and tear it apart with gusto. As   00:13:23.920 --> 00:13:29.120 a test subject, he selected the congregation of a  church, one of whom was known to have a pacemaker.   00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:32.800 A friend of Lacroix's, hiding in  plain sight amongst the clergy,   00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:38.320 spiked the communion wine with parasites on St.  Valentine's Day. The experiment was a success,   00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:42.080 from Lacroix's perspective at least.  One poor parishioner dropped dead of a   00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:46.960 broken heart that Valentine's Day, or  at least of an overloaded pacemaker. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:51.960 The next documented experiment was the fateful  day of the Cogwork Orthodox service in Paris,   00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:56.640 the day that the Foundation first  discovered the existence of SCP-3859.   00:13:56.640 --> 00:14:01.080 Lacroix slipped his children into the  holy oil, and there were no survivors. 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:05.520 On October 12, 2012, Dr. Lacroix  received word from Nova Scotia that   00:14:05.520 --> 00:14:10.640 one of his SAPHIR colleagues had died.  The cause of death? His teeth exploded,   00:14:10.640 --> 00:14:15.120 and there were signs that the hookworms had  made their way into his system. He had been   00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:20.160 placed there as an aid to a Cardinal, while  reporting back to SAPHIR in secret. Lacroix   00:14:20.160 --> 00:14:26.000 theorized that he had begun to develop a sense  of faith, and thus his death was his own fault. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:31.320 By June 17th of the same year, there were no  more Mekhanists left in central France. Sure,   00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:35.840 a few fringe believers remained scattered through  Paris, but most sects that had previously held   00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:41.080 a strong presence there either fled the  country, or simply perished. Dr. Lacroix   00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:46.120 considered himself victorious. But the  bodies had not yet finished piling up. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:52.800 By May 4, 2014, ten people who worked alongside  Dr. Lacroix on the project were dead. Autopsies   00:14:52.800 --> 00:14:56.720 revealed that all of them had the hookworms  in their systems, and they had all recently   00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:02.400 been in contact with Mekhanites. Dr. Lacroix  theorized that these colleagues had been hacked,   00:15:02.400 --> 00:15:06.640 and that the reclaimed technology in their bodies  had been hacked by Mekhanite influences that left   00:15:06.640 --> 00:15:11.680 them vulnerable to the effects of the parasites.  A software update would fix it. At least,   00:15:11.680 --> 00:15:16.480 that's what he thought. An analysis of  the software showed no changes at all.   00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:21.320 Strange...perhaps an explanation would  reveal itself under further scrutiny. 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:28.720 On March 7, 2015, Dr. Lacroix began to feel  ill. He experienced tremors, sweating, a fever,   00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:33.320 and persistent vomiting. The containment  of his project had failed, and there were   00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:38.160 hookworms in his system. Not to worry, though.  These hookworms wouldn't do much without the   00:15:38.160 --> 00:15:43.000 Crucifix Protein being present. He took some  of the anti-parasitics kept around the lab,   00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:48.640 and waited for his symptoms to abate. But on  March 15, he was still feeling ill. It was then   00:15:48.640 --> 00:15:53.880 that he realized a drastic error he had made: by  changing the physiology of the worms and making   00:15:53.880 --> 00:15:58.920 them hermaphroditic, they were able to reproduce  more quickly than the medication could kill them. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:03.560 He checked himself into the hospital for  more thorough treatment. After five days,   00:16:03.560 --> 00:16:07.680 the infection had been effectively addressed,  and he was ready to recuperate and get back   00:16:07.680 --> 00:16:12.720 to work. But again, the situation  was far worse than he realized.. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:17.200 On March 23, Dr. Lacroix was working at  his desk when he suddenly collapsed to the   00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:21.800 floor. His heart was seizing up, skipping  beats at a time. It was his pacemaker,   00:16:21.800 --> 00:16:25.960 he realized. Its battery was running out. He  would need to go to the hospital as soon as   00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:31.800 possible to have it repaired. But before he did,  he decided to perform a few tests on himself.   00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:36.800 He took a sample of his blood, and analyzed  it. What he saw should have been impossible,   00:16:36.800 --> 00:16:41.000 but nevertheless, there they were:  crucifix proteins in his blood,   00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:46.800 the blood of a staunch nonbeliever. The worms  were feasting. Somehow, he had been poisoned   00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:53.480 with extreme faith. There was no going back...he  was going to die at the hand of his own creation. 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:57.280 He checked himself into the hospital, and was  informed by his doctors that there was nothing   00:16:57.280 --> 00:17:02.040 wrong with his blood except for the parasites  present there. His pacemaker, on the other hand,   00:17:02.040 --> 00:17:07.200 was severely damaged. Its wires had been  severed. Dr. Lacroix knew that the hookworms   00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:12.120 were the culprit, and that he had a week left to  live at most. But how had the crucifix proteins   00:17:12.120 --> 00:17:17.520 made their way into his blood? Had someone  somehow injected him with a contaminated sample? 00:17:17.520 --> 00:17:22.880 But no...as much as he wanted to believe that,  he knew it was something else. He had examined   00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:27.480 other blood samples that he kept around the lab  for emergency transfusions, samples from dozens   00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:32.760 of his colleagues. Every single one of them  contained the Crucifix Protein, and it was   00:17:32.760 --> 00:17:38.440 naturally occurring. No evidence of tampering.  There was only one remaining explanation. 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:44.080 His ultimate entry I will simply quote verbatim,  and let his dying words speak for themselves: 00:17:44.080 --> 00:17:47.480 "The doctor says there's nothing wrong  with my blood other than the parasites,   00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:52.320 and my pacemaker wires have been severed.  I maybe have a week left. I feel as if I   00:17:52.320 --> 00:17:56.200 am committing treason while writing  this. I tested samples I keep in my   00:17:56.200 --> 00:18:01.680 lab for emergency transfusions— all of our  blood has the Crucifix Protein. And it's   00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:06.800 occurring naturally. We have failed. In our  quest to make the world a reasonable place,   00:18:06.800 --> 00:18:14.160 we have made it a crusade. SAPHIR is a  cult. Atheism is a religion. God help us." 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.640 Though its use has decreased since 2015,   00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:22.440 there are still active instances of SCP-3859  on the European continent. As a countermeasure,   00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:26.080 antiparasitic drugs have been introduced  into the water supply of France and its   00:18:26.080 --> 00:18:31.840 surrounding nations. A new EU Regulation was  also lobbied for by several Foundation companies,   00:18:31.840 --> 00:18:36.680 increasing food safety standards for items such  as Eucharist wafers and other consumables used   00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:40.800 in religious ceremonies. Any Foundation  personnel believed to have been infected   00:18:40.800 --> 00:18:47.960 with SCP-3859 must be administered a cocktail  of anti-parasitics and anti-OIViral drugs. The   00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:53.400 exact makeup of this cocktail may be accessed  only by approved Foundation medical personnel. 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:57.640 Over the course of my time researching the  outskirts of the known world, the places beyond   00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:03.720 our imaginations, I have come face to face with  hundreds of belief systems. Some are offputting,   00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:09.160 others comforting, and all of them alien  to me. The one constant I have seen again   00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:14.840 and again is this: extremism, the sort that  seeks the elimination of all its opponents   00:19:14.840 --> 00:19:19.600 through whatever means necessary, always  sows the seeds of its own destruction. 00:19:19.600 --> 00:19:24.800 It seems that Dr. Lacroix sowed those  very seeds when he engineered SCP-3859,   00:19:24.800 --> 00:19:29.640 and reaped them in the most devastating  fashion. The story of SAPHIR and its hookworms,   00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:34.760 the disease that turned on them when their  fervor became violent, is a cautionary tale.   00:19:34.760 --> 00:19:40.320 Our beliefs can buoy us through the stormy  sea of life, can lift us up and keep us sane,   00:19:40.320 --> 00:19:46.600 but if left entirely unchecked and unexamined,  they can steer us straight into our doom. 00:19:46.600 --> 00:19:50.800 Check out the Dr. Bob Patreon and become a  junior researcher today! Now go and watch   00:19:50.800 --> 00:19:56.720 another entry from the files of Dr.  Bob, like "SCP-478 - Tooth Fairies!"