"That's one of the theories. It could also be a probability effecting anomaly or Foundation interference with another skip could have altered reality to create Yellowstone, altering the memory of everyone but Foundation employees. Or it could be something else entirely."

"Lots of possibilities. Well, if I were a skip I'd probably want to hide from the Foundation too, does that seem like a common motive -"

He nods.

"There are skips whose entire purpose seems to be making it impossible to comprehend what they are. No matter how many steps back we take or what angle we look at them at, it's impossible to know what's actually going on because they, by their very nature, won't let us. Those are sometimes the most frightening ones. They could be harmless or they could threaten everything and we have no way of knowing."

"That sounds so interesting up until the point where it just gets frustrating - are there examples safely transmissible in conversational format like the toaster one?"

He considers this.

"Part of my job, though only a minor part, is keeping track of perception altering SCPs and making a report any time they or references to them appear outside of specifically allowed circumstances. SCP-2602, which used to be a library, is conversationally transmissible and is on the list of skips to watch out for, though I'm not quite sure why."

"Naively I'd assume whatever it became after it stopped being a library?"

He makes a so-so gesture with his hand. 

"Before I continue, are you sure you want information about the skip that used to be a library? As far as I know, it's harmless apart from its insistence on informing you that it used to be a library, but I assume it's on the list for a reason."

"I mean, I don't have any immediate use for information about an ex-library, but I'm definitely curious."

"Bringing me up," he closes his eyes, sighs. Instead of attempting to rephrase, he mimes putting bread into a toaster, "reminded me of the ex-library because it has a similar conversational tic. It's impossible to discuss SCP-2602 without also immediately mentioning that it used to be a library. That seems to be the ex-library's primary anomalous effect, the ability to record physical details of SCP-2602 seems otherwise unaffected. Personnel who entered were unharmed and were able to give full reports that was normal except for the continual reminders that SCP-2602 did, in fact, used to be a library."

"Okay, so it was a library, and then what?"

"It used to be a library. The foundation identified it in 2004, which seems to be when it first began to manifest anomalous properties."

"It used to be a library. What did it become after that? What is or was its post-library use?"

"I told you," he says, sounding frustrated, "it used to be a library."

Then, his frustration fades and his expression turns considering.

"Except, you're not the type to waste words are you? I obviously answered your question. It used to be a library. But then why are you asking me again?"

"Because you didn't answer my question, you're just repeating that it used to be a library! Over and over!"

"I did warn you," he says, looking a little amused. 

"As far as I can tell, I am answering your question, SCP-2602 used to be a library. But obviously you think I'm not, which is probably why this skip is on the list. Why don't you try asking a different one?"

"If we were talking about a - a different, non-skip library, that was then converted into a - church, and then I asked you the same question about that, the answer would be 'it was converted into a church'."

"As far as we can tell, SCP-2602 isn't anything else now. It's not being used. It's just a building that used to be a library."

"Okay. Why did it stop being used as a library? It does have an anomaly but not one that seems like it'd obviously interfere with the use, people could just say, 'oh, let's go down the street to the place which used to be a library and still is' - did it run out of funding or something?"

"There was a fire on the day that SCP-2602, which used to be a library, developed anomalous prosperities."

He thinks, chewing on his lip.

"But that was in 2004. It was a library until 1988."

"Is this just not known - or known to you, I don't expect you to have thousands of these memorized in all their details -"

"No. It, the building that used to be a library, is one of the skips on the list. Knowing the skips on the list is part of my job. And these are skips that worry us, we've found out everything we can."

He's speaking with some difficulty. 

"Part of the advantage of the list is that it lets us be generic. We can speak about common properties of the SCPs on the list even if that property isn't true for any individual skip on the list. If I don't think about the question you're asking specifically, then it seems relevant that there's information that we can find out but never know. We can have every piece of information we need to come to an obvious conclusion and still be completely unable to make that conclusion. I know that there are skips on this list we have photographs of, but still have no idea what they look like. I couldn't tell you which of the SCPs on this list that's true for, because I can only hold on to that information in the generic. So, theoretically, they are questions we technically have all the information we need to answer, but still can't."

"- what can you tell me about the one that used to be a library?"

"SCP-2602 is a brick building which has three floors above ground, which is a typical design for buildings that used to be libraries. Many of the items inside SCP-2602 were damaged to the point of being unrecognizable due to the fire and long-term storage in a building that used to be a library, but the items that were identified were consistent with items you would expect to find in a building that used to be a library."

"Did it still have books?"

"Yes, just like you'd expect in a building that used to be a library. Many of them were too damaged to be legible, but the salvageable books covered a variety of the topics you'd expect to find in a building that used to be a library, from records of experimental surgical procedures to instructions on how to synthesize plagues to target specific populations."