Lumancer

Lumancer's Proposal - NU

emann@fws1088 $ archive-fetch brief001nu.dir
WARNING: The requested collection is sealed to all personnel in accordance with the Rootwater protocols (see charter section IV, provision 2). Attempted access without pre-approval of the current governing body of the Foundation is grounds for disciplinary action. Are you sure you wish to proceed?
emann@fws1088 $ y
Verifying authorization ……….
Access Granted

During the Wellerman administration, SCP-001 detail was assigned as a reward to personnel nearing retirement age due to its low casualty rate and minimally demanding procedures. Given the advanced experience and loyalty common to such candidates, new transfers frequently expressed incredulity at the apparent quarantine violations and simplistic procedures associated with SCP-001. The transcribed video brief represents an early attempt to mitigate this reaction.

Video transcript: Standard Training 001/2 Version 4, ca. 1971

0:00:00 - Acoustic guitar music accompanies a standard Foundation title card, with the caption “SCP-001: Reassignment Briefing." The memetic deterrent codenamed “Bleeding Gibbous” appears at the top right of the screen, and remains for the duration of the film.
0:00:15 - Scene cuts to a desk set in front of a blackboard. Seated behind the desk is the late Dr. Roger Morrison.
0:00:16 - Morrison: Hello, and welcome. On behalf of the O5 council, I am honored to congratulate you on your assignment to SCP-001. This position has long been a privilege reserved for our most trusted personnel, and if you are viewing this video then you are assuredly counted among them.
0:00:32 - The purpose of this brief is to provide you with a basic overview of the properties and required maintenance of SCP-001, which will supplement your understanding of the the unusual Special Containment Procedures for this assignment. The reasons for this irregularity, while often surprising, are simple: while the physics involved in SCP-001 are heavily classified, the phenomenon is not considered to be anomalous. As such, most standard containment measures associated with SCP objects will not apply.
0:00:58 - Scene cuts to the interior of a well-lit limestone cavern. A body of water is suspended against the ceiling, pooling between stalactites.
0:01:01 - The pool you see here is the instance of SCP-001 at Site 19. While the instances that you care for during each of your deployments may differ slightly in appearance, all share a set of identical behaviors. There are five unique events, each taking the form of some non-anomalous material delivered into the cavern through SCP-001. We refer to each of these deliveries as an “emission”. We will describe them here in order of frequency.
0:01:20 - Type A emissions consist of air and water vapor, delivered every ninety minutes. No personnel action is required for emissions of this type.
0:01:28 - Scene shifts to a pile of pita bread on the floor of the cavern. A female researcher loads the bread into a wheeled cart labeled “TYPE B”
Type B emissions take the form of baked goods, delivered at dawn local time. Load these into the carts provided for processing by our resources team.
0:01:36 - Scene shifts to an assortment of docile wildlife native to North American scattered throughout the cavern. The researcher from the previous scene leads these animals into portable cages labeled “TYPE C”
These Type C emissions are mildly sedated at time of delivery. See them promptly to the provided cages to ensure that they are safely secured before the effect dissipates.
0:01:50 - Scene shifts again. The researcher appears to read a note card aloud, then escorts several persons wearing jump suits into a holding structure marked “TYPE D”
When Type D emissions first appear, be sure to read them the provided Rights and Responsibilities briefing, beginning with “You are convicted felons that have volunteered for our testing program.” When the briefing is complete, escort them to the provided holding cells while they recover from sedation.
0:02:06 - Scene shift. Researcher uses a shovel to move a pile of copper filings from the cavern floor to a crate marked “TYPE E”
Our last emission, Type E, consists of a variety of minerals, metals, fossils, and other strata. Various containers will be provided to you as needed depending on the composition of the emission.
0:02:20 - Scene returns to Dr. Morrison at his desk
Your supervisor will now take a moment to answer any questions you have about your work with SCP-001. When there are no further questions, you will be escorted to your new workstation and provided with all required documentation and materials, including a complete schedule of upcoming emission events. Again, congratulations on your reassignment, and best of luck in your new duties.
0:02:46 - Remainder of tape consists of a closing slide with the text, “Secure. Contain. Protect.” in block lettering below the Foundation logo.

The following is an early draft of a missive intended for circulation among the staff of the European Counter-Occult Society, a minor defense-of-normalcy organization known for its extensive use of preternatural knowledge and techniques. The message was intended to address growing confusion and tensions within the organization and its allies following the discovery of SCP-001. The insurrection at Luxor on September 27, 1905 badly disrupted ECOS operations and communications, interrupting the intended time table for this communique. The remaining factions of ECOS leadership ultimately decided against publicizing their findings, a policy which has been retained by their successor organizations to this day.

My Esteemed Colleagues,

By now you have doubtlessly heard countless rumors of the developments here in Egypt. Although the matters in question are of utmost sensitivity, the unrest that has followed our recent discoveries and breaches of secrecy demand open discussion.

As most of you are aware, for the past nine months our headquarters have been relocated to Luxor while we study the foremost of the 256 caverns discovered last year. Despite exhaustive research, our time here has revealed no explanation of what they are nor where they came from. More disturbing, and central to this missive, we have found no preternatural explanation for the phenomena observed in these caves. Consultants from the Geber Institute, Her Majesty's Foundation, the ASCI, and countless other allies have all come to the same conclusion we arrived at months ago: there is no magic in this place. These pools, whatever they are, are a natural feature of this world.

Alone, these finding would be a mere curiosity; but the context in which they are found raises uncomfortable questions.

Though we still cannot read the glyphs in the ruins here, the imagery in their mosaics and carvings is well known to us: the rivers of Enki, bringer of life; the great flood, which delivered the ark from evil and calamity; Nun's waters of chaos, from which all creation arose; and countless gods and legends of similar theme. What we know from the gods in question reveals no link to this place; how, then, do we interpret their images here?

Over the past three seasons that we have spent here, the pools' activities have undeniably changed in response to our presence. Once we understood what they were capable of doing, the extent of what they are capable of making, the outputs changed noticeably. Gentle puffs of wind replaced the enormous gusts we first encountered; enough bread appears each morning for the entire camp to break fast; fewer predators and more game animals arrive among the beasts it produces; a handful of rare metals fell this past solstice as opposed to the tons of stone and strata the season prior; and this past new moon only a single man emerged, seeded with memories of working in our employ as a mundane functionary with no knowledge of the preternatural. I am not alone in interpreting these developments as an attempt to communicate. In this light, I can only interpret these as gestures of goodwill, and the last, a near explicit offer for cooperation; but to what end?

And then there is the seal. The working that once held these pools in abeyance has been identified as late fourth century Roman craft- a time when knowledge of these arts was nearly extinct in deference to the Christian god- designed to crumble at the merest touch of power and leave a clear trail to Egypt. Whoever left that seal did so with clear intentions. If the practice remained dead as they expected, the caverns would remain lost; but if a group like ours should disturb them, they ensured that we would be able see the caves' function and trace them back to this place. What, then, did they expect of us next?

Most baffling of all are the findings of Professor Scranton. The tool he has devised to detect when natural laws out of balance shows that the opposite is true in this place. Some aspect of these pools is reinforcing the structure of reality around them. Why should these caverns strengthen the natural order when everything else in our domain of study seems to strain it?

In search of answers, I find myself returning to a much older question, one at the very heart of our society: why, for every miracle or thing of beauty, do we find ten or more horrors whose sole purpose is to send men to terrible fates? Why do so many things that live behind the veil hate us so desperately? In this place, contemplating all we have learned, I believe I finally understand. What once I saw as senseless aggression, I now see as desperation. Where once I saw a force of unfathomable invaders, I now see the roles reversed. If these caverns are what I now believe them to be then our natural order is a contradiction in terms. This is not our world. It never was.

My fellow Factors and our allies' representatives stationed here largely agree with my conclusions, and acknowledge the difficult decisions we now face in light of them. They agree on little else. Some have not taken it well; Inspector ██████¹ fled in the night with an Ankh and several other valuable items. I can scarcely blame him. Others have grown increasingly belligerent, rejecting the pools' apparent purpose and insisting with growing vitriol that we revolt against them, our original mission be damned. Still others have taken the other extreme, refusing to practice their arts. The fire in our archives and vandalism of certain artifacts are doubtlessly casualties of this faction's rhetoric.

As for myself, I am of two minds. On the one hand, I no longer believe that we can, in good conscience, use the tools of our enemies against them, not when they may be fundamentally incompatible with the world we are sworn to protect. On the other, I have dwelt too long behind the veil, seen too much beauty, to wish harm on otherworldly things, least of all if their motivations are as we now believe.

The answer, I think, lies with the pools themselves. The overtures they have made suggest that we have now at out disposal all of the mundane resources we could ever need. We can continue our work with new strategies, turning away from strange powers in favor of pure science, just as those who formed the seal seem to have turned to faith. But where now we banish or seal away the dangers that we face, I would have us treat them as we should have from the beginning: as prisoners of war. We have long protected humanity from the unknown. I now believe that we are called as well to protect the unknown in kind, and to learn all we can of our world's effects on theirs.

Regardless of the course we choose, much will soon need to change. I am calling for a general council at the Geneva chapter-house two months from the date of this missive. Regardless of what may come, I have the utmost confidence that we will find a course through these new challenges as one.

Humbly,
Franz Wilhelm
Grand Factor, European Counter-Occult Society

None of it's true, of course.

Or to put a finer point on it, none of it is true right now. But it has been before. And it will be again.

Is that so surprising? Our mission is to protect normalcy, to preserve the illusion of a rational world where nothing lurks in the shadows. The entire purpose of the Veil Protocol is to keep The Foundation and its holdings out of that vision. So long as normalcy and our objectives hold true, the niggling details like where we come from are immaterial. And, as the immaterial is wont to do, we change. Some of those changes are conventional of course, but the important ones are rather more… existential in their nature. Thanks to Scranton, Xyank, Quaid, and others like them, we can track those changes, quantify them, spy on their outcomes. Above all else, we learn from them. The research we accomplish while our resources are near-limitless gives our leaner iterations a fighting chance. The last dutiful logs from dying worlds save countless realities from sharing their fate. The nonsensical, conflicting origin stories you're so obsessed with form a collage of the preconditions needed to ensure we'll still be here the next time around, and can lend fresh perspectives on our present challenges.

What, then, can we learn from our cousins and their watery benefactor? Their research with amnesiacs, certainly; having so many blank-slate, suggestable test subjects delivered every month allowed that Foundation to try things we could scarcely dream of, and their findings are the basis for no small number of containment strategies. More, the drugs reverse-engineered from those amnesiacs' bloodstreams provide a different foothold on amnestic research, with a novel mechanism and a more reconstructive effect than the one you're likely familiar with. I'll send you the briefing, I suspect you'll appreciate some of the applications we've found for it.

Another interesting tidbit: in that history, as the pools reinforce the world and reality that they have fabricated, the baseline Hume constant there actually increases over time. Put another way, concensus reality is becoming more real there the longer they hold out. Theirs is a world where normalcy is not only on the offensive, but winning. Theirs is a future of quiet days [TK?] when their mission has ended, and that affords them a fascinating perspective. Take their deliberations over SCP-2040 [TK]: the source of its "restricted zone" of hostile "physical laws" is laughably obvious in a world with those pools, making its plea a great deal harder for that Foundation to ignore. The Ethics Comittee hearing notes on the subject read like absurdist parody compared with what we're accustomed to, to say nothing of their verdict… but that is a story in its own right.

On the other hand, the nature of their benefactor puts another pool we've had some trouble with [TK http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-354] in a disturbing light. Is it a competitor? A crude parody? The same phenomenon, somehow corrupted? Our counterparts didn't have the answer; as it happens, information security seems to have prevented that Foundation from even seeing the question. But we see it now, and sorting it out before we find ourselves back in their shoes is one of my top projects.

Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to my point. You believe that the Foundation is a singular riddle, and you search for the "real" SCP-001 in hopes of solving it; but even if you do find the answer, it's not one you can hold onto. The question moves, the puzzle changes. You've been through there archives before, seen dozens of possibilities, and dismissed them all because, at the time you found them, you didn't think they quite fit. Time to think bigger, Doctor.

END OF 001 DRAFT

Full of Shit / failed draft

Item #: SCP-2034

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Instances of SCP-2034 are to be stored in individual standard containment lockers at Site 11 as they are recovered. No instance is to be provided with fuel nor left operational except in the course of approved experimentation.

To assist in identification of uncontained instances, computer image analysis targeting recurring memetic images associated with SCP-2034 have been added to the sweep schedules of the SHORN IRIS project. Additionally, existing Foundation watchposts created to monitor United States cattle populations for SCP-████ infection have been provided additional resources for the capture of SCP-2034 instances detected obtaining fuel from such sites.

The origin of SCP-2034 remains unknown at time of writing but is suspected to be the work of one or more individuals in the New England anartist community. Identification and apprehension of these individuals is to be regarded as top priority for all staff assigned to SCP-2034.

Description: SCP-2034 designates a collection² of highly complex mechanical humanoid automatons with similar structure and behaviors. Each instance varies in height and other aesthetic details but follows the same fundamental design and construction. SCP-2034 are formed from an anomalously wear-resistant aluminum alloy and are articulated to provide a full range of motion comparable to that of a human body. Each automaton is powered by a 20 cubic centimeter mechanism located in the upper torso. Though the internal structure of this mechanism is poorly understood, in practice it serves as a highly efficient combustion engine fueled exclusively by mammalian excrement³.

Each instance of SCP-2034 is equipped with an unprecedentedly sophisticated suite of memetically active symbols, noise makers, and olfactory triggers⁴ exposed or released by the object under varying conditions. The individual effects of each meme vary widely; illustrative examples include:

Component Olfactory-3: prevents human subjects from becoming consciously aware of the odors produced by SCP-2034's fuel and engine exhaust.
Component Audial-76: convinces human subjects that they are engaging in a gossip-related conversation with any object audibly producing the meme until the sound ceases.
Component Visual-18: instills the belief that the marked surface is covered in denim.

In concert, the memetic components of SCP-2034 serve to make each instance resemble a human subject unique from all other instances and extant persons. Active instances are indistinguishable from non-anomalous human beings to unassisted observers, a property assists SCP-2034 in its primary behaviors and consistently hampers containment efforts.

All contained instances of SCP-2034 have been recovered from high schools or universities various institutions and organizations in the United States. In each case, the instance had integrated itself into the organization in question and successfully obtained prominent status within the social structures of that organization, including high regard from non-anomalous peers and inclusion in prominent cliques or other social groups. When not participating in its chosen organization, SCP-2034 covertly collects and stores additional fuel for its engine from the nearest appropriate source. These behaviors theoretically allow SCP-2034 to remain operational and maintain its false identity indefinitely barring severe damage to its mechanical or memetic components.

Although SCP-2034 demonstrates intelligent behaviors in its interaction with humans, deployment of memetic triggers, and fuel-seeking behaviors, none have been found to contain any electronics or cerebro-mechanical⁵ components that could explain their apparent sentience.

Noteworthy Instances:

2034 Designation	2034 Discovery Date	2034 Discovery Location	2034 Instance Achievements	2034 Details
Instance I	3 Oct, 2002	█████████ High School, █████, Texas	Founder of automotive club; starting quarterback of varsity football team	Instance discovered after suffering partial failure of its memetic effects due to impact damage in a football training session. Debriefing of witnesses prior to amnestic administration revealed that instance had participated in several games and practices without arousing suspicion prior to "injury".
Instance VIII	15 February, 2004	████ ██████ High School, ███████, Idaho	Student body vice president; organizer of competitive dance team	First instance to include visual memetic triggers capable of simulating tanning, minor injury, other temporary physical changes. Application of new memes greatly reduces probability of discovery due to CMD effects⁶ compared with prior models.
Instance XVI	27 January, 2007	█████████████ Country Club, ██████, Virginia	Prominent member and judge in club's garden society.	First instance not found in an academic setting.
Instance XX	5 May, 2008	████ University, █████████, Connecticut	Bachelors degree in cultural anthropology; graduated with honors.	First instance to successfully complete an educational program prior to detection by Foundation operatives. Identified via photo analysis approx. one year following graduation. Instance remains at large, whereabouts unknown.
Instance XXVIII	2 December, 2010	[REDACTED], New York, New York	[REDACTED]	Instance was positioned as a prominent critic in anartist troupe "██ ████████" (GOI-LB047). Anachronisms in instance's design and testimony of interviewed members suggest that instance had been operational since November 2006. Troupe disbanded voluntarily following revelation of instance's nature.

Addendum 2034-1: On April 30th 2012, MTF Sigma-2 conducted a raid on a suspected Church of the Broken God outpost located 20 miles south of Chicago, IL. The ensuing firefight resulted in the partial destruction of a combatant originally assumed to be an SCP-217 infectee, but which later proved to be an instance of SCP-2034. The subsequent analysis of captives taken on the raid revealed that six of the seventeen members of this cell were instances of SCP-2034. Interrogation of the remaining subjects produced convincing testimony that this infiltration of the cell by SCP-2034 was not previously identified by Church members. Intelligence operations exploring the possibility of incursion of SCP-2034 into other groups of interest is ongoing. Of note, no instances of SCP-2034 have been detected among Foundation or Global Occult Coalition forces to date.

On DATE, members of MTF-Phi 2 ("Looking Glass") successfully infiltrated a suspected Serpents Hand gathering at [REDACTED]. The event was quickly determined to be an academic conference discussing various subjects relevant to the preternatural community. Below is a partial transcript of a lecture delivered by person of interest "Scholar Klarus"⁷ entitled “Ancient Ferromysticism: Gnostic Precursors of the Broken God”

[…] Unfortunately, those same xenophobic tendencies stifled the proliferation of Tln’tan⁸ technology into Europe and South America, which in turn made the spread of machine-centric theology and philosophy all but impossible. Simply put, there was no way to preach communion with the mechanical to cultures that lacked knowledge of the cog, much less complex machines. It comes as little surprise, then, that the thaumaturgic sinking of Tln’tas by the Daevite navy resulted in the near-total eradication of the Ferromystic Gnostic religion. What little of the faith survives to the modern era consists of rites practiced by Tln’tan expatriates, who had devised simplified versions of the meditative arts that could be performed without the Grand Engines housed in the temples of their homeland.

One such practice that has been adapted by the Church of the Broken God is a form of augury using a tool known as the “Iron Tarot”. The deck itself is a set of 76 square ferromagnetic wafers, typically plated with various precious metals for cosmetic purposes. The means of employing the deck is beyond the scope of this discussion, but its composition is of particular interest.

As in the more commonly known deck, the Iron Tarot is composed of both suited “minor arcana” and a set of unsuited trumps, or “major arcana”. The fifty minor arcana come in five suits of ten cards each, with seven numbered cards and three face cards, the names of which vary by suit. In the modern deck, these suits are: Pipes, with face cards Shaper, Nexus, and King; Springs, with face cards Dancer, Hound, and Prince; Gears, with Tower, Rider, and Colossus; Chains, with Maker, Captive, and Priest; and Blades, with Keeper, Maw, and Empress.

The sole structural difference in the suited cards from the old Tln’tan deck to the modern version is the treatment of the Blades suit- it was regarded as the lowest suit in the old forms, but has been elevated to the highest position by the Church. Additionally, I have limited evidence that the third Blades face card in the ancient deck was simply the “Lady of Blades” as opposed to the “Empress”, though the lack of text in the ancient deck’s layouts makes this difficult to prove. The more interesting differences in the minor arcana relate to how they are depicted visually. As might be expected given Church doctrine, modern reproductions of the deck are entirely devoid of flesh- all face cards feature entirely mechanical representations of their respective subjects. Copies of the ancient deck, by contrast, depict partially or wholly organic creatures as appropriate, either as the main subject for cards such as the Dancer of Springs or the Colossus of Gears, or as ornamental additions on the Nexus of Pipes and Maw of Blades.

As with the minor arcana, trumps in the original Iron Tarot follow some superficial similarities to the traditional tarot deck’s format, with the addition of some additional structure. The twenty six original trumps can be interpreted as two full cycles through the thirteen-element deScieg alchemical model. These are, in order:
1. The Bellows
2. Anvil
3. Crucible
4. Waterwheel
5. The Maker
6. Resonance
7. Alloy
8. Rust
9. Gilding
10. Propeller
11. Lodestone
12. Mainspring
13. Automaton
14. The Vent
15. Mineshaft
16. Furnace
17. Oil
18. The Grand Engine
19. Ash
20. Steel
21. The Shuttered
22. Mirrorwheel
23. Railway
24. Ore vein
25. Pendulum
26. Harmony

As in the suited cards, the major arcana exhibit cosmetic alterations meant to eradicate the classical theme of harmony of flesh with the machine; but unlike the suited cards, the Church’s changes are far more dramatic. To being, two new arcana were created for the modern deck. First, meant to mimic “The Fool” in classical tarot decks, is trump Zero, “Flesh”, the only depiction of organic matter in the Church’s version. Second, and meant to serve as “The World”, is (unsurprisingly) a card representing The Broken God, referred to interchangeably as “The Heart”, “The Engine”, and “The Broken”.

In addition to these new cards, trumps that are incompatible with Church doctrine have been altered to suit their unique theology, typically replacing existing cards with representations of objects they believe to be parts of The Broken. Notable replacements are the replacement of “Harmony” with “Conversion”, representing their application of the clockwork virus; replacement of “The Maker” with “The Eye”, a relic held by the Church in ███ ██████; replacement of “The Grand Engine” (symbolism not know to the modern Church) with “The Voice”; and replacement of “Gilding” with the lost coin they refer to as “The Soul”. Those of you familiar with alchemical theory will note that most of these changes are incompatible with the intended symbolism of the original versions, and the effects on the deck’s function are noticeable; readings performed with the altered version of the Deck do not “play true”, and can produce dangerously deceptive results due to the altered balance of the trumps.

The speaker then opened the floor to questions, at which time agent ████████ exited in order to record an unrelated session⁹. The deck discussed in this lecture matches the description of a set of artifacts frequently acquired from captured members of Church clergy. The cards are typically accompanied by a complex crank-operated device containing heat-sensitive springs and weak magnets, now believed to be used in shuffling the deck and laying a field as in conventional tarot fortune telling. Investigation into possible anomalous properties in “Iron Tarot” decks and the shuffling device remain inconclusive at this time.

I DON'T CARE IF IT'S +27, PARTY IN A BOX STILL BUGS ME!!!

– hide block

Description: SCP-465 is a large two-piece cardboard box decorated in a colorful confetti pattern and labled "PARTY IN A BOX" in permanent marker. SCP-465 has no unique physical properties, and samples taken from the box have proven unremarkable. Based on wear and materials used, the object is believed to have been manufactured in the 1970's.

The primary effect of SCP-465 occurs when its lid is removed with at least one human being ("the primary subject") within a 5 meter radius. Upon activation in this manner, a variety of furnishings, equipment, consumables, and ostensibly human entities (collectively SCP-465-1) temporarily manifest in the vicinity of the subject and in adjacent rooms. The humanoid elements immediately engage in activities common to a party or other social gathering, including conversation, consumption of food and drink, playing of music, and dancing. Should the primary subject leave the area occupied by SCP-465-1, additional instances of SCP-465-1 will appear at the subject's new location. This effect, and the ensuing "party", continue for 5-8 hours, after which all elements produced by SCP-465 spontaneously vanish.

SCP-465 demonstrates several secondary effects, each triggered by interaction with specific elements produced by the primary effect. Any human subject (including but not limited to the primary subject) may trigger these effects, as follows:
* Subjects consuming beverages created by SCP-465 experience severe memory loss comprable in scope to that of class-omega amnesiacs. However, in place of the anxiety, disorientation, and other common symptoms of hippocampal erasure, affected subjects demonstrate excitement and mild euphoria. SCP-465 beverages have proven chemically mundane, but are consistenly dilluted with large quantities of unfiltered groundwater.
* Upon the conclusion of a SCP-465 activation event, any subject that has consumed food created by SCP-465 will vanish. Subjects affected in this way occasionally appear among the humanoid instances of SCP-465-1 during future activation events.

Addendum 456-01:
Despite ongoing investigation, comparatively little information relating to SCP-465-1 has been determined. Instances are selectively impermeable; although the entities are capable of interacting with solid matter, attempts to collect tissue samples or detain instances fail to make physical contact and are otherwise ignored. Attempts at formal interview with SCP-465-1 have succeeded only in the form of conversation in the context of the "party". In such interviews, instances discuss only the state of the "party" and popular culture; none have provided any personal information, including names.

In the course of experimentation, only three of the 6,825 recorded instances of SCP-465-1 have appeared during every activation. Each of these serves as a facilitator of the "party", as follows:

Designation	Role	Notes
456-1-000H	Bar tender	Eastern European male. Appears with a large selection of alcoholic beverages, especially wine.
456-000P	Caterer	Eastern European female. Appears with a variety of food, typically including fresh Mediterranean produce and one or more roasted meat dishes.
456-000C	Concierge	North African male. Offers to conduct guests through the highlights of the "party" for small quantities of money.

Addendum 456-02: On 4/12/2001, routine analysis of video logs produced during experiment 465-E38 triggered a Type-P Sinking Preacher event warning on SCP-465. Facial recognition routines identify SCP-465-1 instance LD4S as Agent ███████ ██████ (deceased; see breach event log 336KMRA). Agent ███████ was not exposed to SCP-465 prior to her death, precluding known explanations for her appearance.

As SCP-465-1-LD4S demonstrated no behavior atypical of a SCP-465-1 instance, and given that SCP-465 has not demonstrated knowledge of [DATA EXPUNGED], no immediate action is required at this time. However, until a Sinking Preacher event can be definitively disproven, procedure 99-Eridanus is to be enacted on all experiments involving SCP-465.

Name: Klarus
Concept: Heretical Druidic Broken-God Mystic
Faction: Church of the Broken God
Physical Health: 7
Mental Health: 7
XP: 0

Skills

Ferromancer: 4 (-mancy as in divination, not manipulation. "Read" information on past events or current surroundings stored in nearby metal; communication with analog machines; analysis of metal objects; limited fortune-telling / futuresight via metal implements; dowsing for specific metals )

Inner Peace: 3 (resistance to negative emotions, natural or otherwise; concentration under fire; calming personality / reassuring presence; strength of will)

Golden Fist: 2 (staff combat; limited unarmed combat; redirection of attacks & enemy weight/balance; evasion)

Mechanophile: 2 (Repair, modification, and development of clockwork or analog machinery)

Inventory

Weapons:
* Aluminium Rod — +1 to Golden Fist

Equipment:
* The "Iron Tarot" — +1 to Ferromancer

Perks

Hooks
* Undue Reverence: Klarus will not take potentially destructive action against any mechanical object or entity, even in self defense.

History Klarus' life was largely unremarkable prior to his twenties, at which time he was inducted into the Church of the Broken God. Following his catechism and initiation, the young man was given his name and infected with a controlled strain of SPC-217, converting his right arm, shoulder, and portions of his neck and torso. On expressing an interest in the church's clergy, Klarus was apprenticed to a High Priest, in whose service he remained for the better part of a decade.

In recognition of his service and the conclusion of his training, Klarus was granted the honor of an audience with a sacred artifact. Referred to simply as "the Eye", the object's effects vary greatly; in the case of Klarus, it opened his mind to knowledge through metal. His newfound Ferromancy provided Klarus with a fresh perspective on the church. The balance and beauty of metal and the mechanical had become apparent to him in ways that he could never have understood unaided. However, as the months progressed and his new assignments sent him thoughout the church's holdings, Klarus noted an increasingly disturbing pattern. The pieces of the Broken that he encountered in his travels were many things: some objects of beauty, some heavy with darkness, some twisted and strange so that it pained him to perceive them. There was but one thing that he did not find among the collected pieces; the sense that he was viewing parts of a whole. Klarus' decision to discuss his doubts with his old mentor ended quickly, violently, and with Klarus on the run from the institution that had housed him for over a decade.

Though he has fled his pursuers successfully thus far, Klarus is certain that the church will eventually find and kill him. With the belief that his days are short regardless of his actions, Klarus has chosen Tamlin House as his refuge; if he must die, let him become one with the most wondrous mechanism he has ever encountered.

What does your character fear?
Given his nature, the Great Outdoors. Also, the goals of the Church of the Broken God; he increasingly views them as a perversion of the nature and beauty of metal and the mechanical.

What are your character's goals?
To commune with Tamlin house through meditation and exploration until it or a disciple of the Broken God takes his life.

If your character could be an animal, which one would it be?
A music box is an animal, right? Barring that, a chameleon, for its ability to attune to its chosen environment.

What is your character's dearest wish?
To continue learning from the gift he has been given as long as he can.

Why is your character here?
A profound sense of awe for Tamlin House, an overdeveloped sense of fatalism, and the desire to make his death more meaningful.

If your character had a tattoo, or another one, what would it be?
The symbol of the Major Arcanum "The Pendulum" from the Iron Tarot.

If your character could have any superpower, what would it be?
Astral Projection.

What is your character's greatest weakness?
Innaction, both due to a fatalistic attitude and excessive introspection.

What is your character's greatest strength?
Even temperment and presence of mind.

(tarot brainstorm below this point)
Minor Arcana in five suits (springs, gears, pipes, chains, bolts) with numbers 1-7 plus three face cards
oil, smoke, furnaces / boilers, the smokestack, the pendulum, the scales, gilding, rust,

http://antique-gallery.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/55-antique-vanity1.jpg

Item #: SCP-FFFF

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-FFFF is secured in vault 12 at Storage Site-23. A fitted cloth cover is placed on SCP-FFFF and is not to be removed except during approved testing. As of 06/23/2006, experimentation on SCP-FFFF is considered complete and it has been placed in permanent storage. For additional information, or to request additional testing, contact Reevaluations and Review.

Description: SCP-FFFF is an antique wooden vanity mirror crafted in the late 1800s. The mirror itself has proven highly resistant to tarnish or warping due to age, but the object demonstrates no other unusual physical properties. Human subjects within 10 meters of the object score significantly lower on the Satisfaction With Appearance Scale (p < 0.05) and are abnormally prone to discussing elements of their bodies that they wish to change.

The primary effect of SCP-FFFF manifests when a human subject views itself in the object's reflective surface. If a subject in this state imagines an alteration to its appearance, that subject's anatomy is rapidly altered to match the envisioned changes. These alterations include only gross anatomical changes explicitly considered by the subject; individuals lacking extensive knowledge of human anatomy generally affect changes that are nonfunctional or actively detrimental to their health.

SCP-FFFF was recovered from the home of actress ███████ ██ █████ blah blah keeping herself young blah

Abridged Testing Log:

*Testing Procedure:* Subjects were introduced to the testing chamber with SCP-FFFF concealed, but near enough to the object to affect body image. Subjects were interviewed to determine their intent prior to full exposure. Following the interview, SCP-FFFF was revealed and its effects on the subject observed.

Subject: D-FFFF-0511
Interview Notes: Subject expressed dissatisfaction with his complexion, noting large pores and pock marks.
Results: Skin on subject's face fused into a smooth surface without pores or hair folicles. TODO REPERCUSSIONS

Subject: D-FFFF-4185
Interview Notes: Subject noted issues with excess body hair on his torso
Results: Subject rapidly sheds all body hair from his back, shoulders, and portions of his abdomen. Subject's hair follicles were not affected, and the removed hair regrew normally until the subject's scheduled termination.

Subject: D-FFFF-2784
Interview Notes: Subject expressed dissatisfaction with excess body fat
Results: Subject's skull was (blah blah obligatory furry, dead by cranial trauma)

+ Experiment log 1040

– hide block

(Experiment Log 1040)
Note: Active research of SCP-1040 is concluded at this time. In accordance with protocol Frostshed-Kappa, the artifact has been placed in long-term storage and all extraneous documentation archived. Pertinent excerpts of the unabridged testing logs may be found below for expedient reference. For additional information, or for the complete documentation, please consult Central Records.

Date: ██-██-████
Subject: D-class personnel D-1040-5
Intent: Initial analysis
Procedure: Subject released into testing chamber without prior briefing.
Results: Subject greets object by name "Samuel" and speaks to the object conversationally for ten minutes. Subject then asked the attending researcher what he and "Samuel" were being made to wait for. Debriefing revealed that D-10401-1 believed the object to be a fellow D-class.
Notes: This is the third D-class that claimed 1040 as one of their peers. The average D-class doesn't meet anyone but staff and other D's; that expectation may be relevant.

[…]

Date: ██-██-████
Subject: D-class personnel D-1040-9
Intent: To determine if subjects can be "seeded" with an arbitrary persona
Procedure: Subject informed that she would be introduced to a career counselor named "David Walton"
Results: Subject greets object as "Mr. Walton" and proceeds to speak to the object as though participating in an extended interview. The "appointment" concludes after one hour. Subject claimed that she and "Mr. Walton" had agreed that she demonstrates aptitude for interior design.
Notes: That worked far better than expected. This warrants further investigation.

[…]

Date: ██-██-████
Subject: D-class personnel D-1040-12
Intent: Further investigation of minimal "seeding"
Procedure: Subject introduced to the object at time of meeting as "Sharon"
Results: Subject did not respond to seeding; immediately following introduction, subject stated: "You feeling alright Doc? There's no one here but you and Carl".
Notes: Ok, fine. Apparently it's male whether we like it or not. Moving on.

[…]

Date: ██-██-████
Subject: SCP-890
Intent: Investigation of object's perceptual effect on a subject with abnormal perception of similar objects
Procedure: Subject introduced to the testing without any medical equipment to ensure safety of the object. Plexiglass barrier errected in testing chamber to insure no physical interaction between object and subject.
Results: Subject silently observes SCP-1040 for approximately 5 minutes. Subject then stated to attending researcher: "I'm sorry, but I'm a medical doctor. This man needs a psychiatrist."
Notes: none

[…]

Party in a Box rejigger

Item #: SCP-465

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-465 is secured in containment locker 8423 at Site-19. Under no circumstances is SCP-465 to be opened by any personnel ranking above class D, and then only in a space at least 15 square meters in area in the course of approved experiments. While active, the subject of SCP-465 is not to leave the testing chamber. No other special attention or care is required.

Description: SCP-465 is a large two-piece cardboard box decorated with a faded confetti pattern popular in the 1970s. Other than a large printed label on the top of the lid marked "Party in a Box", no indication of contents or manufacturer are found on any portion of the object. When any human subject completely removes the lid of SCP-465, an array of decorations, furniture, and a group of at least 20 people (collectively SCP-465-1) appear spontaneously in the room or immediate vicinity in which the box was opened. These individuals proceed to celebrate raucously and actively attempt to include the subject in their festivities (primarily dancing and consumption of alcohol).

Though most members of SCP-465-1 are persistent in these attempts, and several have proven extremely persuasive, the subject does not appear to be compelled to participate. Should the subject attempt to leave the area of effect, additional members of SCP-465-1 will manifest at any location that the subject visits for the duration of the "party". Approximately 5 hours following the appearance of SCP-465-1, all instances of SCP-465-1 (and therefore all evidence of the "party") will simultaneously vanish.

Inanimate instances of SCP-465-1 are physically indistinguishable from mundane objects and possess no anomalous properties of their own. The 128 recorded biological instances of SCP-465-1 are physiologically human and display no abnormalities save for blood alcohol levels averaging in excess of 1.8%. The health, dexterity, and cognitive abilities of these instances is not consistent with the detected levels of intoxication. Genetic testing has largely proven inconclusive, though three instances of SCP-465-1 match missing persons records from the ██████ ███████ and ███ █████, ██████.

Addendum 456-01: In the course of experiment 465-E38, subject D-74485 attempted to leave the testing chamber abruptly, causing him to collide with the SCP-465-1 instance designated H054. Audio logs at the moment of impact register two seconds of feedback at 180 decibels, though observers claim no unusual sound was audible. Instance H054 immediately became hysterical, weeping and pleading incomprehensibly with D-74485 and the attending researchers.

All instances of SCP-465-1 vanished 30 seconds following the outburst, approximately 3 hours before the expected end-time. Several shards of glass were discovered in the testing chamber following the experiment. It is unknown if these shards are instances of SCP-465-1, as they correspond to no object observed in the course of the experiment and did not vanish. Instance H054 has not been observed during any subsequent activations of SCP-465.

[[collapsible show="|" hide="Password accepted. Level 4 access granted."]]
Addendum 456-02: Following experiment 465-E58, a new biological instance of SCP-465-1 has been cataloged and designated 465-H129. The new instance is identical in appearance and similar in personality to the late Dr. Haber, though the instance denies any knowledge of that name and identity. General experimentation on SCP-465 has been halted pending a full investigation of this development. Until the possibility of a Sinking Preacher event has been disproven, all information related to experiment 465-E58 and subsequent investigation is restricted to personnel of level 4 or above. Euclid status is under consideration at this time.

[[/collapsible]]

Footnotes

SCP Sandbox Wiki I

Sandbox Smarter

Lumancer's Proposal - NU

END OF 001 DRAFT