Dead wives tell no tales.
mxsinister & xexnoncores
This work contains CWs for: spousal abuse, domestic violence, references to suicide, and descriptions of gore.
SCP-8116 : Eau de l’Affinité by mxsinister and xexnoncores
Item#: 8116
Level2
Containment Class:
safe
Secondary Class:
none
Disruption Class:
vlam
Risk Class:
caution
An instance of SCP-8116.
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-8116 is to be held within a cushioned, scent-proof box in a standard containment locker, with access permitted only for testing purposes.
Description: SCP-8116 is a perfume held in a non-anomalous 50 mL glass container engraved with the label “Eau de l’Affinité”. When applied to a sapient being, SCP-8116 causes the transmission of the wearer’s emotional state to individuals who perceive its scent, eliciting an involuntarily empathic response.
The nature of these effects progress in correlation to the perfume's aromatic composition:
Top Notes: Bergamot and frankincense. Effects last up to 15 minutes after application. During this time frame, the scent has a placating effect, and affected individuals will display increased affability towards the wearer.
Middle Notes: Black tea and jasmine. Effects begin after top notes fade and last up to 4 hours after application. Affected individuals during this time frame will develop a profound empathy and understanding towards the emotional state of the wearer.
Bottom Notes: Saffron and vetiver. Effects begin after middle notes’ effects fade, lasting up to 6 hours after application. Individuals exposed during this time frame will experience a rapid emotional shift until their emotional state matches exactly with that of the wearer.
The radius of effect may vary depending on the strength of the application, but has not been recorded to exceed 1.5 meters. Effects also do not vary based on whether SCP-8116 is self-applied or administered by a third party. If multiple individuals wearing SCP-8116 are present within the same 1.5 meter radius, their emotional states will synchronize within fifteen minutes.
Discovery: SCP-8116 was discovered at ████ ██████, London, England, in the home of Benedict Belmont III and his wife, Frances Lovett-Belmont. On 20 July 2020, a domestic dispute escalated, resulting in the serious injury of Frances Lovett-Belmont. At 22:34, the couple’s ten-year-old son, Benjamin Belmont IV, contacted emergency services, citing that a gun had been fired several times in the house and that objects were being thrown. The call was flagged by Foundation operatives already surveilling the Belmont residence on account of confirmed associations with GoI-012.
Following interviews with local police and undercover Foundation agents, Benjamin was placed into the care of his maternal aunt with an advisory for psychiatric treatment. Both Belmonts were put under temporary house-arrest to ascertain the cause of the dispute, as the couple was reportedly without problem up to that point, with Benjamin recalling that his father was involved in local volunteer organizations to assist domestic violence survivors. The intent was to interview the couple after Benjamin was confirmed fully cleared.
Addendum 8116.1
Upon arrival at the Belmont residence on 21 July 2020 at 18:04, MTF Mu-3 (“Highest Bidders”) operatives discovered both Benedict Belmont III and Frances Lovett-Belmont deceased in their master bedroom. SCP-8116 was found open and nearly drained of its contents on a nearby vanity, with an invoice for ‘Eau de l'Affinité’ in the drawer, issued by Luxe Bids Auction House.
The scene was as follows: Frances Lovett-Belmont’s body was lying on the floor at the foot of the bed with shards of a ceramic vase scattered around her. Several pieces were embedded in her face and scalp, indicating a lack of defensive efforts and a relatively quick death. Autopsy reports confirm that she died at approximately 17:30 from multiple instances of blunt force trauma to the skull, presumably inflicted by her husband.
Benedict Belmont III was found slumped over his desk with blood, skull fragments, and brain matter splattered over a variety of books and a briefcase. He was determined to have died via suicide at approximately 17:52 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound that came from a .45 caliber hollow-point bullet.
No suicide note was able to be recovered. However, the following email exchange was found on Benedict Belmont III’s personal desktop computer, made shortly after his wife’s death.
From: ben.belmont@outlook.com
To: customersupport@mcd_outmail.mcd
Subject: I WANT A FUCKING REFUND
Holy fucking shit. Holy fucking shit, what did you bastards sell me?!?!?! I didn’t mean to do it. Oh my god. I didn’t want to turn out like my old man. I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t want to turn out like him. Mum, please forgive me. God, forgive me if you can hear me. Forgive me for what I’ve done. Please, I know I haven’t gone to church in so long, but you have to forgive me. You have to. I’ve done so much to deserve it. I didn’t want this
I didn’t want this! I bought that perfume for her because she worked in sales. I’m NOT a bad husband, I swear. It was only supposed to boost her numbers. The customers ate it up, bought from her in droves even in a down market. I didn’t think about us. I didn’t know how angry she could get. I didn’t think it would affect me!
WHY DID SHE WANT TO KILL ME FIRST?! Oh god, I couldn’t think straight. We just kept yelling louder and louder at each other, over and over and over until we couldn’t do anything except that, until I felt like she was like she was like she was she was going to going to going to
Please. What the hell is wrong with you people? Did you intend to sell me something that would turn me into a wife-beater? Did you intend to sell me something that would send me to hell? That would make me hurt the woman I loved the most? Fuck, all that therapy and all that time, all that goddamn money and breathing exercises and fucking shitty meds and I still hit my wife just like. Just like
Please. Do something. I don’t know what. But you guys are magic, right? Can I, I don’t know. Can you fix this? Please?
From: customersupport@mcd_outmail.mcd
To: ben.belmont@outlook.com
Subject: Re: I WANT A FUCKING REFUND
Mr. Belmont,
By registering to bid in the auction, you agreed to Luxe Bids Auction House's Conditions of Sale. Per agreement to complete your bid, all sales are final and non-refundable. The liability for damages to your person was transferred from the auction house and all associated parties involved in the manufacturing and distribution of the item to you.
Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd. will not be looking at further inquires on this matter because we are not the appropriate party for you to file complaints with. We encourage you instead to contact the seller directly if you have further questions.
CONFIDENTIAL: This is an automated response. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. MARSHALL, CARTER, AND DARK LTD. is under the most minimal liability in all jurisdictions for any products and services rendered except where explicitly specified.
From: ben.belmont@outlook.com
To: customersupport@mcd_outmail.mcd
Subject: Re: I WANT A FUCKING REFUND
FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU I WOULD KILL YOU AND YOUR STUPID BOSSES IF I COULD
THIS IS YOUR FAULT. ID THREATEN TO SUE IF I THOUGHT IT WOULD DO A DAMN THING. ID SUE YOU AND ALL OF YOUR ROTTEN KIDS AND EVERYONE WHO COULD EVER POSSIBLY BE RELATED TO YOU
I'LL SEE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU BASTARDS IN HELL WITH ME
Addendum 8116.2
Since its initial discovery, 7 more instances of SCP-8116 have been retrieved from different locations in London. A total of 16 casualties were recorded associated with SCP-8116 applications, 5 of them being spouses and 6 of them suicides.
In addition, 14 instances of SCP-8116 were intercepted from a perfumery in Paris on 18 August 2020. None of these instances were opened or used at time of their recovery.
Attempts by MTF Mu-3 to determine the identity and location of the original manufacturer are ongoing. Based off of information from other operations, there is a high likelihood that SCP-8116 was produced by outsourcing efforts typical to GoI-012’s extremely flexible business models.
Addendum 8116.3
On 14 September 2020, the following email was decrypted in a sweep of GoI-012’s internal databases. It is assumed to be from PoI-012-02 and related to the incidents covered in previous addendums of this article.
From: amarsh@mcd_intmail.mcd
To: pdarke@mcd_intmail.mcd
Subject: Re: Eau de l’Affinité
Well, it’s good Åberg isn’t too peeved over that disaster of a rollout. And a miracle nobody at the office took a sample home for themselves. I’m sure my own wife would have killed me in no time wearing that, haha—but you wouldn’t have seen her taking a gun to her head over my body. I’ll get with Monaco to make sure the Foundation can find the rest of the bottles for us. Better them than someone in our supply chains we care about. I’m genuinely a little worried what this could look like to my contacts that this spawned so many suicides—I’m not trying to please the demons this time, I’m really not.
I’m getting too old for this, Percival. Wives are always more trouble than they’re worth, but that doesn’t mean I want to make things that kill them. I know you keep telling me to forget Belmont’s email, but it’s been difficult with the way Olivine has been acting lately. Towards me and my son. I told you over and over again, year after year, that making those damn things available in an archive is a bad idea. I’m only going to want to go back and back and back obsessively and that prevents me from getting my work done like I should.
Can’t we delete an email just this one time? I’m sure nobody will care. Dead wives tell no tales, isn’t that what they say? (Wait, is that the right expression?)