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| SCP-402 |
Item #: SCP-402
Object class: Euclid, high-level (see Addendum 402-A-8)
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-402 is to be contained in a concrete bunker capable of withstanding severe weather conditions and possible hostile attack. Guards are to be posted year-round in Site 92 stationed around the aforementioned bunker. (Note that Site 92 is officially listed as a telescope installation.) Any unapproved individual approaching the bunker is to be warned immediately; noncompliance with orders to retreat is grounds for elimination. Under no circumstances is SCP-402 to be moved outside the installation without prior permission from three (3) O5-level personnel. If transported, SCP-402 is to be kept at a minimum of 560 kilometers from any major source of water.
Description: SCP-402 is an oblong black solid approximately 10 cm tall and 6 cm wide, weighing approximately 5 kg and ostensibly composed of a dark rock-like substance resembling polished obsidian. It displays two notable physical properties: firstly, when buried in any granular substance it will always rise to the top; this property has been verified with sand, silica gel, wheat flour, and ball bearings. Secondly, SCP-402 is an astoundingly effective absorber of water. When placed in contact with any form of water, SCP-402 will absorb it at a rate proportional to the saturation of its surroundings. The water absorbed by the item does not predictably affect the item's mass. In experiments the item absorbed 4000 kg of water in under seven minutes, showing a post-absorption mass increase of 131 grams. Attempts to obtain samples of SCP-402 have proved futile; its unique molecular structure allows it to absorb heavy impacts.
Additional notes: Climatologist ███████ ██████████, now employed as [92-0894], observed that patterns of soil moisture absorption in the southwest region of ██████ were inconsistent with standard geological behavior. Investigations interpolating to the center of the anomalous moisture patterns revealed the item's location. Site 92 was constructed in 198█ in order to house this object. [92-0894] speculates that an area with 500 km radius was rendered a desert over an unknown period of time due to the hydrophilic behavior of SCP-402. Chemical analysis of the item has been inconclusive; though the item is not alive, it displays long polypeptide chains not known in nature.
Addendum 402-A-8: Audio recording, ███-██-19██.
Begin transcript.
Gen. ████████ ██████████ ([19-5000]): [inaudible] don't care what you say, ██████████. It'd be an astoundingly useless weapon. I'm ordering you, as your direct superior, to classify 402 as E-level.
Dr. █████████ ████ ([19-4292]): Sir, that's horseshit. Drop that in the Yangtze valley and those bastards won't know what hit them. [inaudible] realize how much 4000 liters is? Seven minutes, for Christ' sake [inaudible] do it, but you're [inaudible] a mistake.
End transcript.
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| SCP-402 |
Item #: SCP-402
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-402 is to be contained in a reinforced concrete bunker, located at Site-92. Following Experiment 402-2-4, no water is to be allowed within thirty (30) meters of SCP-402. Guards are to be posted year-round in Site-92 stationed around the aforementioned bunker. The bunker is to be listed as a military radar station to further prevent travel. Any unapproved individual approaching the bunker is to be warned immediately. Continued approach warrants apprehension, interrogation and administration of Class-A amnestics. Under no circumstances is SCP-402 to be moved outside the installation without prior permission from three O5-level personnel. If transported, SCP-402 is to be kept at a minimum of one-hundred (100) kilometers from any source of water consisting of more than two-hundred and twenty square-meters of surface water.
All staff housed at Site-92 must report for a monthly physical and psychological exam. Staff should take care to maintain appropriate hydration. Should personnel begin to show unusual obsession over SCP-402, they are to be transferred to a different project. Due to the lack of understanding of SCP-402's effect on life, interaction with SCP-402 is to be conducted through a non-hydraulic robot.
Description: SCP-402 is an oblong solid composed of a dark material resembling polished obsidian, and is approximately ten cm tall and six cm wide. SCP-402 weighs approximately five kg when in a dry environment. Attaining samples of SCP-402's material is difficult, requiring extreme force to break off segments. X-ray crystallography results indicate long chains similar to polypeptides composed of an unknown substance, which is speculated to be the source of the object's strength. SCP-402 displays two anomalous physical properties. The first anomalous property is that, when buried in any granular substance it will always rise to the top. The second and most notable property is that SCP-402 is an effective absorber of water. When placed in contact with any form of water, SCP-402 will absorb it at a rate proportional to the saturation of its surroundings. The water absorbed by the item does not predictably affect the item's mass. (See Experiment 402-2.) The water absorbed by SCP-402 is gradually dissipated back into environment in a manner similar to evaporation, beginning dissipation after twenty-four hours of no direct water contact. However, only the post absorption mass will be released back into the environment.
Additional notes: SCP-402 was located when Foundation climatologist Dr. Jackson ██████████ (currently the Containment Specialist for SCP-402) observed a significant shift in moisture levels in the environmental records of the ██████ region of ████. ██████████ speculates that an area of [REDACTED] km was rendered a desert over an unknown period of time due to the hydrophilic behavior of SCP-402.
Transcript of conversation between C.S. Jackson ██████████ and Gen. Wilson ██████████ regarding the deployment of SCP-402 as a weapon in ████.
<Begin Transcript>
C.S. ██████████: Good day General.
Gen. ██████████: And you Jack.
C.S. ██████████: I understand you want to discuss weaponizing SCP-402?
Gen. ██████████: I always admired how you don't beat around the bush Jack.
C.S. ██████████: Don't flatter me general, it doesn't work. Regardless, I feel as though I should express some concerns regarding the results of our human testing trials. They haven't gone so well.
Gen. ██████████: Ah yes, I saw. The psychosis and physical dehydration are actually bonuses. I thought it would just dry up their troop's water, but it could actually be a useful weapon against humans.
C.S. ██████████: Yes sir, but, we'll be dropping it in the city of Baghdad. There is a large civilian populace there.
Gen. ██████████: Yes? Some lives must be lost in war, C.S.
C.S. ██████████: I understand sir, but, releasing an anomaly that we can't effectively contain or control is not safe. And onto a civilian population moreover? This presents huge risks should it fall into the wrong hands, and will doubtlessly kill thousands of innocents.
Gen. ██████████: Jack, the staff of Site-92 are fine, and are exposed to this day in and day out. We'll just swoop in after we exhaust their water supply and take it back to Site-92. Nothing bad will happen.
C.S. ██████████: Sir, for one, our staff hydrate 70% more every day than a human living outside Site-92. For another, we exist to contain anomalies, not to unleash them on civilians. Further still, you yourself said that 402 could be a useful weapon against humans. Retrieval may not be as easy as you make it sound, either. Your shortsightedness further backs my decision to delay any potential deployment. And, for the time being, that decision is final.
Gen. ██████████: Shortsighted? Me? [IRRELEVANT CONVERSATION EXPUNGED]. Jack, I can just order a raid on this facility if I need to.
C.S. ██████████: Need I remind you who you directed that threat against?
Gen. ██████████: …..No. We're done here.
<End Transcript>
Closing Statement: Maps of Site-92 and the surrounding area were found in Gen. ██████████'s office, along with angry notes written in his journal and what appeared to be an attack plan drawn over multiple maps. ██████████ was terminated, his official death listed as K.I.A. After this incident, Foundation relationships with the world's military forces have grown tense.
Following the results of Experiment 402-2-4, I am requesting that SCP-402's containment protocols be revised. Also, after Experiment 402-3-1 through 3 I have concluded [REDACTED]. Thus I am also requesting Keter reclassification.
-Dr. Jackson ██████████
Containment procedure revisions granted. Keter reclassification denied at present. We still await the final results of human trials, we need to fully understand the effects of severe dehydration on human psychology.
-O5-██