Immortality, like with everything - comes with a price.
Since the dawn of time, humanity has been fascinated with the prospect of eternal life
- of a being that has walked through the ages, unaffected by the ever-shifting sands of time,
bearing witness to the rise and fall of countless civilizations - and always just out of reach
of Death’s cold grasp.
The Holy Grail.
The Fountain of Youth.
Whichever way you spin it, it’s a concept that resonates deep within our mysterious,
cosmic psyche.
Well, as you all know by now - the SCP Foundation has us covered with many of these bizarre
and intangible concepts - so, let me introduce you to the elusive SCP-1440 - the immortal
man who cheated death himself.
Hello internet - and welcome back to the most inquisitive channel on YouTube - Life’s
Biggest Questions.
As per usual, I’ll be your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch - as today, we dive back
into the dusty old archives of the SCP Foundation - and curiously ask the question, What If
SCP-1440 Was Real?
Roll the clip.
Folklore and urban legend are rife with tales about individuals cheating death.
Daring youngsters, and belligerent middle aged men who felt brave enough to contest
the Grim Reaper himself and outwit them in a game of chance.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s tale of Godfather Death - the Norwegian tale of the Boy with
the Ale Keg - in 1957, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal - and more recently, J.K
Rowling’s tale of the Deathly Hallows, and the three wizardly brothers.
In essence, SCP-1440 follows the same story - although, along the way, there are a few
caveats that make the whole thing a hell of a lot more interesting.
But the bigger question is how would our civilization function when faced with a being that could
not die?
Death is the one certainty that binds us all - and without it, the very fabric of our existence
comes into question.
As the record states, SCP-1440 is a Keter class anomalous entity - taking the appearance
of a man of unknown ethnicity and age.
When questioned about its name, place or time of birth - SCP-1440 will refuse to answer,
although it is unclear if this is due to the subject being unwilling to share this information
- or simply not possessing it.
I guess it gets tiring counting your birthdays for eternity.
Although the subject’s appearance is that of an octogenarian - in layman's terms, a
man in his eighties - it has not shown any further signs of aging in the fifty years
since first coming to the attention of the Foundation.
So what’s the big deal?
An old dude, wandering around for eternity - minding his own business.
Let him get on with it.
Well, if only it was that simple.
The old man’s anomalous nature becomes apparent once he comes into contact with human population
or man-made objects and remains in contact with them for longer than a few days.
In essence, SCP-1440 has an acute adverse effect on everything connected to humanity.
Prolonged exposure of any man-made object or person to 1440 will cause increasingly
destructive events to occur in its vicinity - until the destruction or death of said human
element.
The only exception to this are SCP-1440 himself, his clothes and his belongings - a sack made
of unidentified material, a pack of worn playing cards, and a small glass cup.
Remember those three things, because they’re very important.
But that’s the real tragedy of SCP-1440.
He’s immortal, yet he cannot spend any time with civilization for fear of destroying everyone
and everything.
And that’s where the problem lies - because the planet’s population is expanding, and
SCP-1440 is running out of places to hide.
The old man appears to be aware of his effect on human populations, and will attempt to
avoid coming into contact with them whenever possible.
Despite these intentions, SCP-1440 is compelled to travel in what seems to be a highly complex
pattern, which invariably leads it into contact with human population.
The exact nature of this behaviour has yet to be successfully analyzed, but it’s compulsion
to gravitate toward large populations had led the old man to seek to be destroyed by
the foundation.
He’s terrified of his effect on the planet - and he’s running out of places to hide.
If he was real, the clock would rapidly be ticking towards a point of no return.
The population of our planet is nearing 8 billion people - and save for the barren landscapes
of Siberia, the Sahara Desert, Antarctica and the Arctic Circle - there aren’t that
many geographical oases to seek sanctuary in.
So what’s the solution then?
Because, according to the Foundation - they haven’t got a clue.
But perhaps the solution wouldn’t lie in SCP-1440 himself, after all - there’s not
much you can do after you’d pissed off Death and his three brothers - perhaps then, the
solution would lie with us - because as the old adage goes - when everyone’s a super,
no one is.
Maybe the way to solve the unsolvable problem of SCP-1440 is to achieve immortality ourselves.
Maybe, just maybe - SCP-1440 would be the indicator that we could use to cheat death
ourselves.
According to leading futurologists such as Ian Pearson, humanity is on course of achieving
immortality by the year 2050.
Now, this immortality obviously isn’t the same means as the way that the Old Man achieved
it - but more in line with technological advancement that allows our species to bring our mortal
forms to such scientific proficiency that death no longer becomes a thing.
The gene editing tool CRISPR, the ability to regrow and synthetically manufacture organs,
and the technology to upload our minds to machines - hey, it almost sounds like those
three belongings that SCP-1440 carries with him.
Yeah, yeah - I know what you’re saying - but SCP-1440 destroys any man-made material around
him, and yeah - of course that is the case.
But hey - if death actually IS a real entity, and an entire planet just cheated him through
technological means - I’m guessing he’d be willing to give SCP-1440 a bit of a break.
After all, the guy’s deserved it.
Well, there we have it folks - let us know your thoughts in the comment box down below.
Before we depart though, let’s read out some of your more creative comments from over
the past few days.
Kendall Taylor says -- Hey jack which SCP you absolutely would love to be real and one
you would absolutely have nightmares about if it was real?
-- Great question Kendall, cheers buddy.
An SCP that I’d love to be real would be SCP-999, just so he could be my best friend
and we’d chill and stuff.
As for the nightmare one - 100% it has to be 072 - I’d never, ever sleep again.
Or, well, I’d probably get myself a hammock.
Does it affect hammocks?
I hope not.
MikePike says -- It’s Ku-Thu-Lu and not Ku-Tu-Lu.
Love the vids keep it up!
-- Well, MikePike, thanks for the love - and glad that you’re enjoying our videos.
Unfortunately, it’s actually whatever we want.
Lovecraft intended the names of all of his creations to be of an unpronounceable, guttural
cosmic language that humanity couldn’t ever comprehend - so we could say Cathralalalalloolongtu
- and technically, it’d mean the exact same thing.
Well - there we have it, cheers for sticking around all the way till the end.
If you were a fan of this video, make sure to hit that thumbs up button - as well as
that subscribe bell - and we’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch - you’ve been
watching Life’s Biggest Questions - and until next time, take it easy.