Proposal of Expanded Protections for Post-Amnesticization Personnel

The matter pertaining to the security and safety of personnel post-retirement has recently come to the attention of the Council.

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Case #: 8980-4

Date: 09/OCT/2022

Relevant Person: Christopher Byrnes | Retired Research Staff

Proposal: The creation and deployment of a team dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of personnel who have previously retired from the Foundation in good standing.

Request Submitted To: O5-1 (Arbiter), O5-3, O5-11

O5-1: Thank you both for taking the time to be here.

O5-3: Our pleasure.

O5-1: Given the short notice the context of our meeting provides, we will not be joined by other Council members on the date. Both of you are to make your insights clear, at which point I - an unbiased party - will decide upon which course of action to take. Is that clear?

O5-11: It is clear.

O5-3: Clear.

O5-1: You both have been adequately informed on the situation, have you not?

O5-11: Yes we have.

On 06/OCT/2022, a person within Site-17 disseminated copies of the SCP-8980 file to the public. All copies sent to civilians and media outlets were retrieved, and the person responsible was detained. However, numerous hostile agents of non-normalcy were able to create their own copies of the SCP-8980 file.

Two individuals hence dubbed as PoI-8980.1 and PoI-8980.2 subsequently took significant interest in Christopher Byrnes, beginning discourse regarding him. On 08/OCT/2022, both persons successfully identified the whereabouts and new identity of Byrnes prior to closing in upon his location.

Note: Conversations made between PoIs were transcribed via standard spacial-distortion recording available to the Council.

PoI-8980.1: It's fucked up. It's bullshit!

PoI-8980.2 What?

PoI-8980.1: Did you read the leaked file yet?

PoI-8980.2 No.

PoI-8980.1: Okay. Just- read that first. It's- fucking haunting, man.

…

PoI-8980.2 Jesus Christ.

PoI-8980.1: And she's still in containment, too! That's the worst part. They just gave her a pat on the back and are moving on with their day.

PoI-8980.2 We already knew those guys were assholes. Just…

PoI-8980.1: Hopefully this does something to them.

PoI-8980.2 I don't think this is really going to do much for anyone who isn't already against the Foundation.

PoI-8980.1: I know, I know.

PoI-8980.2 I mean I'm agreeing with you - anybody who let that happen should go to whatever variant of hell they believe in. But nobody is going to change anything after this.

PoI-8980.1: They still have her in there.

PoI-8980.2 She should be free. But nothing like that is ever going to happen to her again - especially after this. At least she has good care now. Be glad that it is better than it was.

PoI-8980.1: You know what the real fucked up part about it is? That they let that piece of shit Byrnes get away with it.

PoI-8980.2 I know.

PoI-8980.1: He's probably enjoying retirement. Marley has to spend the rest of her life with everything he did to her - and he gets to forget all about her.

PoI-8980.2 It's bullshit.

PoI-8980.1: I don't… He doesn't- I don't know. I don't even know what to think right now.

PoI-8980.2 There's not much we can do for her, I don't think.

PoI-8980.1: I know.

PoI-8980.2 I really, really wish we could, though.

PoI-8980.1: Hopefully she gets done right one day.

…

PoI-8980.2 What chance do you think there is that Byrnes is guarded?

PoI-8980.1: What?

PoI-8980.2 In retirement - do you think he has security?

PoI-8980.1: I don't know.

PoI-8980.2 You see- I'm thinking that he doesn't. He retired in a position where he wouldn't reasonably have anyone going after him, and now he's disgraced within the Foundation.

PoI-8980.1: …

PoI-8980.2 So I'm thinking that there is a really good chance that Byrnes is the only person who cares about Byrnes at the current moment.

PoI-8980.1: …

PoI-8980.2 Do you want to pay him a visit?

O5-3: I think it is readily apparent that should we not intervene, Byrnes will at best be murdered by the hostile persons. But at worst, we risk the PoIs kidnapping Byrnes and attempting to extract sensitive information.

O5-11: A risk we actively take with an amnesticization retirement plan across all personnel. Not to mention any personnel who choose to not undergo amnesticization after retirement.

O5-3: The crucial difference being that Byrnes is actively under threat.

O5-11: Byrnes the person is under threat. But there exist very minor reflections of that threat upon normalcy at large given his amnesticization.

O5-3: Are you forgetting amnesticization reversal?

O5-11: We exist as the only polity with remotely the proper resources to reliably and viably perform such a procedure. A procedure heavily reliant on recency, memory type, resistance, and the experience of the performing amnesthesiologist. Not to mention how incredibly expensive a reversal procedure is.

O5-3: There always remains a chance that hostile groups possess technology we are unaware of.

O5-11: If captured alive, the chance of anybody being able to retrieve anything of value is incredibly low.

O5-3: But-

O5-11: -and that is if Byrnes is captured alive. There is a strong chance that Byrnes is killed on the spot by the hostiles. Your argument relies on a very specific, unlikely scenario.

O5-3: That is just one example. But even if it were the only one, we can not risk any chance. What was the opinion of the 1967 Annual Council Meeting? "Laziness is the path to normalcy meeting its neverend."

O5-11: Then I would propose for the neutralization of Christopher Byrnes.

PoI-8980.2 Found him.

PoI-8980.1: Nice. Where is he?

PoI-8980.2 Brisbane.

PoI-8980.1: Australia?

PoI-8980.2 No, no. It's a town near San Francisco.

PoI-8980.1: Oh.

PoI-8980.2 Close enough to Site-17 from what I can tell.

PoI-8980.1: They really have a lot of sites around San Francisco, don't they?

PoI-8980.2 Which means we're going to have to be pretty careful with him.

PoI-8980.1: He probably just kept his house from before retirement, didn't he?

PoI-8980.2 Yeah.

PoI-8980.1: How far away is it from Site-17? A 40-minute drive? 1 hour?

PoI-8980.2 Around half an hour.

PoI-8980.1: That's going to be pretty close.

PoI-8980.2 Are you planning on make a stop there?

PoI-8980.1: I mean- we're going to kill somebody who used to work with them. They're probably going after us anyway. Might as well try to break Marley free?

…

PoI-8980.2 We can't.

PoI-8980.1: Yes we can-

PoI-8980.2 First off, there is not any possible way we could come close to succeeding in that. And secondly; what would we even do after?

PoI-8980.1: I don't know.

PoI-8980.2 We can't break into one of the biggest Foundation sites, kidnap someone, and just walk away with her.

PoI-8980.1: She deserves to get out of there.

PoI-8980.2 Of course she does! I really, really want her to go free. But we can't realistically do anything to change that.

PoI-8980.1: I know, I know. It was just a thought.

PoI-8980.2 Things aren't as bad for her as they used to be. They really, really suck ass still. But things got better for her when Byrnes left. The main issue was Byrnes.

PoI-8980.1: And we're making sure he sees justice, yeah. I don't like how this is everything we can do about it.

PoI-8980.2 For now. I'm sure it will change in the future. But lets do what we can now and give this sadist what he deserves.

O5-11: I'm thinking of this from a purely logistical angle; let's think for a second about what we'd be spending on Byrnes. All of that funding, all of that manpower, all of those hours planning. Imagine all of that - against a single bullet to the head.

O5-3: But what would that establish?

O5-11: What?

O5-3: It would establish that we - as an organization - are willing to kill anyone who poses a remote challenge upon our objectives. We are not the Foundation of yesterday, we are a moral organization leading the way to humanity's future.

O5-11: We are far, far past that. The Foundation of the past would round up those they merely suspected to interfere with their goals and detain/neutralize them. I agree that we are not that Foundation.

O5-3: And I see that what you are suggesting may seem radically different. But I could easily imagine this being the start of future Councils organizing assassinations against those who don't deserve it.

O5-11: The neutralization of Byrnes would be the exception, not the rule.

O5-3: Regardless, we simply can't kill somebody because we do not like what we did. We have rules. The neutralization of Byrnes would make us hypocrites.

PoI-8980.2: You're sure that you are sure that you want to do this?

PoI-8980.1: Stop asking me that.

PoI-8980.2: It's just how you look - it makes me think that you aren't sure with yourself.

PoI-8980.1: Hell no. I got to- We've got to give him what's coming for him. I'm sure about that…

PoI-8980.2: Are you just nervous in general?

PoI-8980.1: No.

PoI-8980.2: Well, I'm not going to stop pestering you until you get whatever's on your mind off of it.

PoI-8980.1: I was just thinking about Byrnes.

PoI-8980.2: What about him?

PoI-8980.1: Not too sure.

PoI-8980.2: Is it what he did? How he got away?

PoI-8980.1: Something similar to that. Just his amnesticization - how he doesn't remember anything.

PoI-8980.2: Hey, no! He abused that knowing that it'd get him off scot-free.

PoI-8980.1: Oh, definitely. I'm just second-guessing the point of it.

PoI-8980.2: Point of what?

PoI-8980.1: Killing him. He doesn't remember anything, isn't involved with the Foundation, and nobody cares about him anymore.

PoI-8980.2: There has to be consequences for pulling shit like that. If the Foundation won't lock him away for the heinous stuff he did in the past - then we'll give him what he deserves.

PoI-8980.1: But is that Byrnes even the same person anymore? They have different memories - or at the very least forgot everything the original did.

PoI-8980.2: There has to be overlap. Even if he doesn't remember what he did, he still has the mental capacity to do it again.

PoI-8980.1: Yeah, yeah. I guess.

PoI-8980.2: If we don't stop him now; it is only a matter of time until he finds another victim.

PoI-8980.1: Fair, fair. I agree with that.

PoI-8980.2: You still reserved about it?

PoI-8980.1: Slightly. But - I'm going to go through with it if you are.

PoI-8980.2: Yeah. Even then, whatever variant of himself he designs to escape guilt simply can't be allowed to work.

PoI-8980.1: I know. It's just… difficult to get past.

PoI-8980.2: It's tough, but Byrnes is the same person. He is evil, sadistic, and dangerous. What we are doing is a good thing - and that is making sure that Byrnes faces retribution.

PoI-8980.1: Yeah. Of course.

…

PoI-8980-2: You want to know something strange?

PoI-8980-1: What?

PoI-8980-2: I think there's a good chance Byrnes remembers what he did. Maybe the amnestics weren't applied right, or something like that. But I think that deep down, he remembers every minute detail of what he did to Marley. I think that he wakes up every day and takes joy from what he did to her. And it makes me feel disgusting.

O5-11: And yet you propose with hardly any basis to go out of our way to ensure the security of a single man?

O5-3: Not just a single man, no. Anyone who is retired and deemed to be under threat may join a programme for further protections. It wouldn't be exclusive for Byrnes.

O5-11: And what defines being "under threat"?

O5-3: As of now, we will. Moving forward, we will establish a team to analyze developments and attempt to discover threats against the well-being of retired staff prior to action against them.

O5-11: Could we assemble all of that within the next 24 hours for Byrnes?

O5-3: Most likely.

O5-11: Covert surveillance, a search team to find assailants, operatives to stop threats from reaching him without his knowledge of their existence. All of that?

O5-3: We have Site-17, Site-15, and Site-14 all in the Bay Area. He is in the best area for such a team to be assembled.

O5-11: I would directly oppose any action to the benefit of a single, unimportant man. However I would support any action to establish protections for those beyond simply Byrnes.

O5-1: So you remove any opposition to the proposal?

O5-11: Yes. So long as the protections remain in place for all retired personnel should it be needed.

O5-1: In that case, we shall proceed with the proposal. -3, you are relegated to the immediate security of Christopher Byrnes as the first mission of the new programme. -11, you are dismissed. Thank you both for your participation in the discussion today.

Date: 09/OCT/2022

Note: On 10/OCT/2022, PoI-8980.1 and PoI-8980.2 launched an assault on where they believed Byrnes' location was. Foundation operatives had previously removed Byrnes from the area. Both PoIs were confronted by personnel. The PoIs initiated violent contact with the attending personnel, resulting in armed personnel opening fire. PoI-8980.1 was neutralized during the engagement while PoI-8980.2 was apprehended, albeit injured. PoI-8980.2 would later expire during interrogation.

O5-1: Ah, -3! Come in. Have a seat!

O5-3: Thank you.

O5-1: Would you like a drink?

O5-3: No thanks. I'm not a drinker.

O5-1: Really? Could've sworn I've seen you drink before.

O5-3: Not really my thing anymore.

O5-1: Ah.

O5-3: Hey, don't hold yourself back because of me.

O5-1: Not particularly planning on it.

O5-3: Heh.

O5-1: And hey - we did a good thing there the other day. Looking back on it - I don't see how the council hasn't made a body such as that before.

O5-3: How so?

O5-1: There are the odd assassinations every decade or so. Typically we learn of them afterthefact; so this was unique.

O5-3: Do you imagine the same legislation passing regardless?

O5-1: Of course! It really was inevitable that something like that would be made eventually.

O5-3: But would that time be now; or somewhere in the future?

O5-1: Does it really matter?

O5-3: Not really, no.

O5-1: The only thing that really matters is the precedent we establish. Precedent and normalcy go hand-in-hand, as it is normalcy's biggest rule. Precedent can not exist with exception - and thus normalcy can not exist with exception.

O5-3: Indeed.

O5-1: Ultimately; this will be a benefit to all of the Foundation.

O5-3: I doubt any personnel who plan on retiring oppose it - which are all of them.

O5-1: Gives them the good grace to relax knowing that we will protect them. No matter what happens.