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Entrance to cistern in ██████, Portugal. Similar to entrance of SCP-114. |
Item #: SCP-114
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-114 is contained on-site, within Armed Reliquary Site-114. It is immobile; however, it is also relatively well-hidden from civilians, and may be easily contained. The primary concern in containing SCP-114 is preventing information leakage. At this time, civilian access to SCP-114 is denied under the pretext of geological instability, and it masquerades as a mundane archaeological dig site. The perimeter must be secured by four roving Foundation guards disguised as civilian security personnel, with another eight guards posing as archaeologists and their assistants within the perimeter. A reserve of eight guards must be stationed belowground.
Due to the highly sensitive nature of the information available from SCP-114, personnel assigned to the site are restricted to Level 3/114 and above or D-class selected for information management aptitude; such as archival or library experience. Exceptions may be granted upon application to the AR Site-114 director. D/114 personnel will be exempt from monthly termination; however, they are prohibited from leaving the site for any reason and must be fitted with subdermal toxin injectors. If site security is confirmed to be breached, all D-class personnel will be terminated via remote activation of the injectors.
If site security is compromised, all staff must retreat below SCP-114's primary chamber and trigger pre-positioned charges that will demolish the entranceway and the primary chamber. This will also collapse several hundred tonnes of earth that have been left purposefully unexcavated. Mobile Task force Sigma-17 ("Psycho Librarians") is pre-positioned nearby for armed reinforcement. SCP-114-2 must be preserved in any eventuality; the pre-positioned explosive charges are carefully measured to avoid breaching more than the primary chamber of SCP-114, and there is no on-site warhead.
Description: SCP-114 is a vast necropolis of unknown construction whose entrance was discovered below the city of ██████, Portugal. The necropolis entrance is located below an old cistern constructed during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. The cistern consists of a part-subterranean primary chamber for water collection, within which there is a deep well, with a narrow, descending spiral staircase constructed around it. The necropolis entrance itself is accessible via [[REDACTED]] in the secondary chamber of the cistern. The cistern itself dates to approximately 1290 CE; the age of the necropolis is unknown, and may be inapplicable. The secondary chamber also contains SCP-114-2, a complex, geared water clock of apparent Moorish-Andalusian design. See Document # 114-K for more information on SCP-114-2.
Fanning out in arcs due east and west of the necropolis entrance, rough, raised stone slabs approximately 1.5m apart span an indeterminate, and possibly infinite distance. Upon each slab, there is a single, undecayed human cadaver, all apparently unique. Collectively, these are designated SCP-114-1. Lighting of any intensity brought into the necropolis fades to an approximate maximum intensity of 600 lumens at a distance of 21.1m from the source, dropping sharply in intensity thereafter. This prevents large-scale observation of the necropolis or of the cadavers.
Due to the relatively low roof and the proximity of the slabs, no practical vehicle travel is possible within the necropolis. Despite this obstacle, over 2.7 million human cadavers have been recorded and indexed to date. Each one is in a relatively perfect state of preservation; that is, no decay appears to have taken place after the moment of death. Careful examination of the cadavers has yielded no cause for the lack of decay.
The state of each cadaver appears to reflect the original cause of death. Thus far, 9 of those found in SCP-114 are linked to the Foundation: 4 D-class, 2 Level 3 researchers, and [EXPUNGED]. Of these identities, 6 are former Foundation employees, and 3 are currently in service. Causes of death of the former personnel linked to the cadavers are well-known, and appear to match perfectly. Also found matching are fingerprints, DNA, X-rays, and [REDACTED]. These deceased personnel have been exhumed where possible, examined thoroughly, and reinterred. No anomalies were found.
Note from AR Site-114 Director: Any personnel who believe they have found an SCP-114-1 matching recorded or unrecorded Foundation personnel are to report directly to me at once. Under no circumstances will this information be shared outside this Site, unless it is so ordered by the O5 Council. Any SCP-114-1 who may be associated with Groups of Interest will likewise receive top priority for research.
Some SCP-114-1 have been found to match persons with criminal records, several 20th- and 21st-century media personalities, and government personnel who have been the subjects of background investigations. Despite the presence of positively identified SCP-114-1, the overwhelming majority are not linked to any persons known to have lived or to be alive. Many persons linked to SCP-114-1 are thought to have lived before widespread, systematized record-keeping existed to refer to them. Most significantly, many SCP-114-1 are potentially linked to persons as yet unborn; this is inferred from clothing or personal items inconsistent with historical records or being obvious products of unknown, advanced technologies.
Most of the cadavers appear to be clothed in whatever their original counterparts may have worn in death. Additionally, any items that have been carried in pockets or otherwise concealed underneath clothing, and any relatively small object carried by hand at time of death is present. This is known to include small personal weapons, currency, books and diaries, notes, tools, and occasionally computer media.
These items are have proven generally consistent with Foundation or other records, if any are available, and others are assumed to be historically accurate. One of the Level 3 researchers represented in SCP-114 was found in possession of a portable USB flash storage device containing several unfinished reports related to the project she was working on at the time SCP-███ breached containment, killing her. At this time, ██ SCP-114-1 have been found with clothing, uniforms, or personal items identifying them as Foundation personnel not yet known to exist, including █ who may have possessed extranormal abilities. See Document 114-██, attached, for more details on extranormal SCP-114-1.
In addition to the evident completeness of the cadavers found in SCP-114 and the considerable amount of information that can be gleaned from their state, all examples of SCP-114 found to date have been accompanied by small, stone disc, approximately 6cm in diameter and 1cm thick. The discs are etched in a simple, mathematically-described language listing dates of birth and death and a summarized personal history.
These discs are frequently unremarkable; however, a significant number have been useful in expanding knowledge of historical events such as the Plague of Athens (430, 429, 427/6 BCE) [REDACTED]. In addition to being a source of historical knowledge, SCP-114 has provided knowledge necessary to:
- Neutralize SCPs:
- SCP-███ (Euclid)
- SCP-███ (Keter)
- SCP-████ (Euclid)
- Utilize SCP-120 to mine the core of [EXPUNGED]
- Contain [REDACTED]
- Prevent a CK-class breach of SCP-682
- Independently confirm the eventual betrayal of [EXPUNGED]
In every case where it is possible to confirm or refute the accuracy of this information, it has proven accurate.
Document # 114-K: SCP-114-2, the water clock discovered within SCP-114's secondary chamber, is etched with stanzas carefully describing the mathematical foundation of the stone discs found in the necropolis; this enabled the language to be deciphered. The clock itself contains several notable anomalies, the first of which is that it has operated continuously since sometime prior to discovery. The basic design resembles known works of Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi, an engineer historically consistent with the Moorish occupation of the Iberian peninsula, although not the date of the cistern's construction. However, unlike any recorded water clocks of the time, this design does not require any manual operation.
Normally, a tap must be opened to start operation, but there is no such device attached to the water tank at the top. Instead, water flows continuously from the tank, which has been determined to be empty by internal imaging. Historically consistent clocks also required periodic adjustments to account for the uneven length of days in the year; this clock appears to self-adjust through a poorly-understood mechanical process that requires no intervention.
Finally, in addition to accounting hours and days, SCP-114-2 contains a small (6.5cm x 12cm), silvery cylinder of unknown metallic composition with a threaded cap on one end. The flow of water through SCP-114-2 regulates a shaft attached to the cap, which slowly rotates it open through a complex gear reduction mechanism. This cylinder is theorized to contain a number of discs identical to the ones found with SCP-114-1. The shaft rotation is very slow, requiring time-lapse photography over a period of several months to measure.
A hand-carved wooden block is positioned next to the cylinder, with the numbers 0-7 inscribed on eight rotating faces. This wooden block is driven by the same reduction mechanism. Time-lapse photography reveals that it is decrementing from 7 to 0, with 2 presently displayed. The cylinder is presumed to finish opening when the block displays 0, which is estimated to occur ██-██-22██.
Addendum 114-A: Following discovery of a tenth SCP-114-1 linked to Foundation personnel ██-██-20██ and successful decryption of the data found with it, this instance is re-designated SCP-114-Ω. The translation of SCP-114-Ω's disc has been expunged from all Foundation records. All further attempts to open SCP-114-2 early are preemptively denied by the O5 Council.
Requesting permission to attempt imagery of SCP-114-2. —Dr. ███████████
Denied. —O5-██
Requesting permission to experiment with adding water to SCP-114-2. —Dr. ███████████
Dr. ███████████ has been reassigned to research of Safe-class objects at Site-███. I don't expect to see any more requests regarding SCP-114-2. —O5-██