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Item #: SCP-466
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-466 is to be kept in a locked room. Access is restricted to Level-2 personnel and higher. Under no circumstances is anyone to look inside SCP-466. Any personnel who are exposed to the inside of the object are to be euthanized within 10 days. Other than the dangers posed by observing the interiors of the object, SCP-466 is safe and requires no maintenance.
Description: SCP-466 is a carved, lacquer vase colored dark grey and with nine completely black humanoid silhouettes distributed among the carvings. The carving is in a geometric pattern except where broken up by the silhouettes. The vase is about 60cm (2ft) tall with a diameter of 30cm (1ft) at its largest point; at its opening, the diameter is approximately 17.8cm (7in), and at the base, 25.4cm (10in). The geometric patterns bear a resemblance to the geometric patterns found in early Islamic art, but the vase has been dated to less than a century ago, so origin in this area is extremely unlikely. SCP-466 is a harmless object except in one respect: any human who tries to observe the interior of the vase will die within 10 days at the hands of the 'shadow people' as detailed below. Subjects who observe the interior report seeing a [DATA REDACTED]. Looking at photographs or close-circuit camera of the interior does not trigger the death sequence, but the █████████████████████████████████████ is not visible, instead showing nothing inside the vase. Non-human creatures are apparently unaffected by looking inside.
SCP-466 was discovered in an abandoned house in ████████, Texas, USA in 19██. This house was widely considered to be 'haunted', as it had been abandoned, furniture and all, for ██ years after its owner mysteriously disappeared. However, this house had recently been purchased by an unsuperstitious new couple wishing to restore the house to its former glory. Within the month, they, too, had disappeared mysteriously, the husband a week before the wife. The house and all the couple's belongings passed to the uncle of one of the individuals, and within two weeks, he, too, mysteriously disappeared. Agent ██████, who is acquainted with the area, decided to investigate the causes of these mysterious vanishings, and so broke into the house to search it. While inside, he made the unfortunate mistake of looking inside SCP-466, but was quick to recognize this as a potential SCP object. The agent contacted the Foundation, and the vase was moved to Site 19. Sadly, Agent ██████ succumbed to the death sequence.
As determined by the accounts of Agent ██████, testing with Class-D personnel, and effects discovered in the house, looking inside SCP-466 causes a series of events to happen to the subject that occurs over the next ten days. Looking inside the vase causes a flash of light and unconsciousness in a human for approximately fifteen minutes; other than this the subject is unharmed. After that day, nine shadowy creatures will appear in the room where the subject is sleeping. The creatures, or 'shadow people' as they were dubbed, appear to be fuzzy humanoid figures composed of insubstantial darkness with dimly glowing eyes; however, they are invisible to the eye to all except the subject, but can be viewed by others (imperfectly) by means of an optic recording device such as a camera. These 'shadow people' make no attempt to communicate, doing nothing other than calmly and unblinkingly stare at the subject. The shadow people disappear upon several minutes of waking, but will reappear every time the subject falls asleep for more than five minutes. Nothing seems to harm or dissuade them, and they will silently watch the subject while he or she sleeps every night. These shadow people will move imperceptibly but steadily closer over the next ten days until by the tenth they are hovering directly over the subject. Over the ten-day period, it is observed that subjects become increasingly transparent, shadowy, and insubstantial, until on the tenth day they are barely recognizable at all (except on camera), though they retain mass and can still interact with solid objects. On this day, when the subject falls asleep for the last time, the shadows will slowly grasp the subject bodily from his or her place of rest, implacably march the subject directly towards SCP-466 (both the shadow people and the subject passing through any solid objects in the way) and insert the subject inside SCP-466. As the vase's opening is smaller than the human head, let alone the human body, it is unknown how this is accomplished, but theories include [DATA EXPUNGED]; according to all recordings of the process it is extremely painful. No remains have ever been observed inside SCP-466, nor is there any indication of where the consumed mass goes. Once a subject has been consumed, another black figure will appear on the exterior of SCP-466, and during the next death sequence and all others following, an additional shadow person will appear. It is possible that the subject has [DATA EXPUNGED].
This object is indestructible by any convenient means. Any attempts to shatter the vase result in it reforming itself from the shattered pieces within ten days. Attempts to thwart this by locking the pieces in secured containers have failed as the clay of the vase can phase through solid objects. Attempts to vaporize SCP-466 using SCP-███ were unsuccessful, as it seems to have the ability to reform even from ash. Looking inside the broken vase causes no ill effects until it has completely reformed. It is possible that the vessel may be destroyed by contact with antimatter, but since the Foundation has no easy means to obtain this material this is currently impossible. Research into the phasing properties of SCP-466 and its attendant creatures is ongoing.
This object is pending Safe classification as danger may be avoided with simple precautions.
Addendum: Those with Level 3 Security Clearance may consult Document #466-C.
Document #466-C: The following is a description of the experiments conducted by Professor Hobelhouse on SCP-466, detailing the death sequence of SCP-466.
Agent ███████:
Subject described his period of unconsciousness to doctors, as well as the strange creatures that appeared to him that night and all following nights. SCP-466 was removed from house via robot to avoid any human contact with the object, as it was then unknown what caused the ill effects the agent had manifested. Removal to Site 09 was swift and safely conducted. The agent was moved to a ward in the same site for observation. On the tenth day, Agent ███████ awoke from sleep screaming at the shadow people, and was lifted forcefully from his bed by an unseen force. He was carried through the wall, passing through solid matter on the way, directly to SCP-466 via the shortest possible path, and gruesomely stuffed inside. Security cameras revealed what was invisible to the human eyes of staff members, namely the forms of the shadow people. Cameras would be installed for all future experiments so as to directly monitor subjects. After the agent was stolen away, another black figure appeared on the SCP, raising the count from four to five.
Safety Trials
Class-D personnel were exposed to SCP-466 in order to detect what prompted the shadow people to appear. The first Class-D experienced no ill effects, until he looked directly inside the object and was rendered unconscious for 15 minutes. It was determined that exposure was safe as long as the interior was not directly observed. Exposure to photographs of the interior, taken by robot, caused no ill effects, though the contents of the vase were different in the photographs. Exposure directly and by photograph to animal subjects caused no ill effects. This SCP apparently only works on humans. Search of the house discovered photos of the shadow people, apparently taken by the man who owned the house before the couple did. It is unknown whether or not this man was the creator of the object; investigation proves inconclusive.
Subject D-0378
D-0378 was exposed to the inside of the vase, and described the contents, notably the ████████████████████████ patterns. Subject reported shadow people immediately the next night, the same as Agent ██████, but this time there were five, not four. D-0378 was moved from bed to bed in attempt to confuse the shadow creatures, to no avail. Finally on the tenth day he was moved 1 km offsite, but the creatures still appeared when he fell asleep, walking slowly through the night towards the SCP. Around 03:30 he was consumed by the vase. Requested to transfer next subject further offsite to test the range of the SCP. After his death, another dark figure appeared on SCP-466.
Note: Request denied. That was risky enough as it is, having a screaming man floating across the countryside, even if he was guarded to prevent any onlookers. Any further mistakes will result in disciplinary action. - Dr. Wu
Subjects D-1097 and D-0211
Two more subjects were exposed to SCP-466 simultaneously. This was done to see if the shadow people could abduct more than one subject at once. This was confirmed; however the shadow creatures apparently 'split duties', with only three appearing to each subject. No form of weapon could dissuade creatures, nor could any form of electromagnetic radiation. There are now eight figures on the vase. Requested to use nine subjects in the next experiment, as one may survive.
Note: Request denied. That is a waste of human resources. -Dr. Wu
Subject D-0092
D-0092 was exposed to the inside of the vase after the previous trial. As expected eight shadow people appeared to the subject. On the ninth day, the vase was smashed using a large hammer. Afterwards, shadow people stopped reappearing and subject returned to normal. Once the vase reformed, however, the shadow people began appearing again. On the ninth day, the vase was smashed again. Once again the death sequence was interrupted. The vase reformed after ten days and the sequence resumed. On the ninth day, once again, an attempt was made to smash it; however, the vase emitted a flash of light similar to those at the start of the death sequence and the D-class staff attempting to destroy the vase fell unconscious. The same happened to all D-class personnel who were ordered subsequently to try to destroy the vase during the death sequence. All D-class personnel recovered unharmed and survived more than three weeks until the scheduled monthly termination. D-0092 was absorbed by the vase.
Note: Possible sentience? 466 seems to have learned from our attempts to stall the process. Upgraded to Euclid status. - Professor Hobelhouse
Note: We're wasting D's on this SCP which is more or less safe. I'm suspending further experimentation on live subjects pending further analysis from the O5's. I'm also concerned what might happen if we feed too many people to this thing - what if we end up with an army of these creatures? We just don't know what we're dealing with. - Dr. Wu