Prayer Beads
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Former home of Fra. Meza

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: When not being used for testing, item SCP-XXXX is to be kept in a hermetically-sealed, soundproof case in Site-17. Access is limited to researchers and containment specialists Level 3 and higher.

Researchers and test subjects working with the item are to undergo regular psychological screening to monitor for stress, and shall be required to report any potentially distressing events1 in their personal lives to their supervisors prior to having access.

Individual instances of SCP-XXXX-1 may each require unique containment procedures depending on the nature of the subject. Unique procedures are to be drawn up at the discretion of researchers working on this project and the senior-most researcher or containment specialist currently assigned to this item. New instances of SCP-XXXX-1 are to be treated as Euclid-level items until either:

  • the subject expires,
  • no anomalous activity related to the instance of SCP-XXXX-1 is noted for 180 days, or
  • the subject is deemed otherwise Safe or not needing containment, as approved by the most senior staff member assigned to this item

Any unique containment protocols and procedures are to be logged with all testing documentation for each instance. See Addendum XXXX-2012-04-05 for further information.

Due to the nature of SCP-XXXX-2, it is currently uncontained. A reward is available to anyone able to capture the entity As of ██/██/████ no Foundation personnel may attempt to contact, capture or otherwise interfere with this entity until its nature and motivations may be more closely studied. See Incident Report XXXX-2012-04-05 -O5-█

Description: SCP-XXXX is a set of prayer beads. The individual beads are made from an alternating set of different ornamental materials, including jade, amethyst, topaz, turquoise and fossilized bone of an unknown origin (see Document XXXX-05 for details). Each bead has an intricately-carved pattern, also of a style unknown to any Foundation art or religion historian, however many people among non-historian laity have described it as being reminiscent of the arabesque style.

SCP-XXXX was recovered from the personal effects of Fra. Bartolomé Meza, a brother of the Trappist order at Monasterio Sta Maria de Río Seco, near the Atacama Desert in Chile, during a missing persons investigation. Fra. Meza was reported missing by the abbot to the local authorities on █████ 1983. The abbot reported that Fra. Meza would frequently take walks in the desert to meditate and pray, citing that "it reminds him of Christ's fast in the desert". The police were not able to locate Meza after a few days of searching, ruling the case closed, citing that the friar likely became lost during his walk and died of dehydration or exposure.

Meza's personal effects were taken into police custody during the course of the investigation, at which point the anomalous properties of SCP-XXXX were discovered.

Anyone using the prayer beads to "pray for something", hereafter referred to as SCP-XXXX-1, will have that request granted, however it will often have unforeseen, often severe, consequences, in some cases up to and including SCP-XXXX-1 ending up in a worse position than had they never made the request. For example, an instance of SCP-XXXX-1 may request a promotion at work, which they will receive, but only because their colleague would be killed on the way to work in an automobile accident. In some cases, SCP-XXXX-1 would end up being terminated or demoted from their position due to being unqualified or incompetent.

The requests can be granted immediately, or after several months, with no apparent pattern to the delay.

In certain cases, users of SCP-XXXX report seeing or interacting with a humanoid entity (designated SCP-XXXX-2). This entity has been described with varying appearances, including an old man, a Foundation scientist, or a beggar. Regardless of the appearance, SCP-XXXX-1 is never able to recall the face of the individual to which they speak, saying the person had a very forgettable face.

At this time, the extents to which SCP-XXXX is able to answer requests for prayer are not known. It is known, however, that prayers must be verbalized for any effect.

Further accounts of SCP-XXXX's recovery can be found in Document XXXX-03, below

A list of tests used to ascertain the nature and properties of SCP-XXXX's abilities can be accessed in