 Item number SCP-140 Object Class Keter Special Containment Procedures SCP-140 must never be brought closer to 15 meters to any source of standard ink, human blood, or other fluids suitable for writing. Any contamination by blood or ink must be reported immediately. Any remaining copies of SCP-140 created during the initial printing must be found and destroyed as soon as possible. Only SCP-140 is to be preserved, for purposes of study, early warning, and cataloging and recording possible SCPs derived from its subject matter. SCP-140 is contained at Site-76 in a sealed vault containing a single desk. At this time, no researchers to be carried out upon the original SCP-140. Researchers are to read from prepared copies not bearing the signature of its author which lacks its properties. In the event of approved research, SCP-140 may not be removed from the vault and readers may not be in contact with it for longer than nine hours. Access requires written approval from the head researcher for the explicit purposes of testing. An armed guard stationed outside the vault will meet any attempted death with deadly force. When any personnel begin displaying obsession with SCP-140, or signs of possible memetic contamination, they are to be issued a Class-A amnestic, false memories implanted if necessary, and transferred to another project. Transferred personnel must be monitored for signs of relapse. Description SCP-140 is a modern hardcopy book with a unremarkable black binding and an unknown number of white pages. The book jacket is missing, but the title, A Chronicle of the Davis, is clearly legible. The inside cover is signed by the author, whose name is indecipherable. The text is copyright 19. Careful examination reveals there are far more pages between the bindings than could be contained within them. Readers admit the feelings of paranoia, unease, and occasional nausea while reading SCP-140, although this may be related to the subject material. Nonetheless, readers almost universally describe SCP-140 as fascinating and express continued interest, despite its frequently unsettling content. One in fifteen readers describe SCP-140 as having a faint odor of dried blood. SCP-140 is a detailed account of an ancient civilization originating in what is now South Central Siberia, identified as the Davites. Although like all cultures, the Davites evolved and changed over time, they appeared to have exhibited unusual continuity. Universal fixtures of the Davite culture in all periods include a militarism, conquest, ancestor worship, urban centers ruling over large slave populations, gruesome human sacrifice, and the practice of apparently efficacious thomatergic rituals. A variety of relics and creatures produced by the Davite culture would be abnormal or dangerous enough if the account is to be believed to qualify for containment in their own right. If SCP-140 comes into contact with any fluids suitable for writing, including human blood, the account of the Davite civilization's history expands. Human blood appears to most potent of possible writing substances, but in any case, the amount of new material does not correspond proportionately to the fluids introduced. Although these new segments sometimes include new descriptions of rituals or cultural traits or illustrations of previously covered material, they more frequently include new, more recent accounts of information chronicling the continued history of the Davite civilization or descriptions of new individuals and artifacts. Formerly decisive the feats become setbacks, new persons and events are inserted. Foundation archaeologists have discovered corresponding new artifacts and traces of the Davite civilization in applicable locations and strata, in some cases found in dig sites that have already been thoroughly explored. Although at times the Davites were a collection of city-states, they appear to have consistently returned to imperialism under a theocratic aristocracy, the Dava. Practitioners of cannibalism and thaumaturgy. Although initially Foundation researchers bleed the Dava to have been a hereditary class recycling the names of noteworthy individuals, evidence in the events of ████████, suggests that the Dava possessed preternatural longevity as a result of ██████. Several researchers, notably Professor ██████, have concluded the dava were so divergent from modern humans as to be a separate subspecies, a conclusion supported by graphic representations within SCP-140 and ██████, SCP-140 is remarkably detailed by the standards of a primary source, seeming closer to a biography than a historic text. It includes lurid descriptions of sacrificial rites, battlefield descriptions, daily life, and the life stories of various noteworthy individuals, including quotes and dates of birth. Over ████ distinct individuals have been identified, including the individual presently termed SCP-140-A, of which only ██████ are accounted for by recorded deaths. Modern archaeologists have discovered several sites containing ruins consistent with the supposed dava culture in various locations across Siberia, Northern Iran, and Mongolia. Artifacts and traces of intercultural conflict and contact have been discovered as far west as the Carpathian Mountains and as far east as Northern Pakistan and China. These include SCP-█████, Addendum 140-A. SCP-140 was originally found in the Office of the Seized Historian ██████. The previous owner was discovered in his office at ██████ University, having expired from self-inflicted lacerations on both wrists. There were no traces of ██████ blood in the office. These claimed during interviews they discovered a note and faded ink in ██████ handwriting next to SCP-140. All witnesses were administered class-A amnestics and false memories implanted. ██████ note read ██████, I have to know, I'm sorry. All texts within 15 meters except several books relating to the history of the region were blank. The remaining books now included accounts of supposed interaction between the Debye civilization and the subject cultures or applicable discussions of Debye history and culture. These texts were confiscated. All printed forms and media were blank. All pens, printers, and ink cartridges were empty. Addendum 140-B Although SCP-140 was published during the 20th century, the tone of the book suggests it is a recounting of events, individuals, and practices experienced firsthand by SCP-140's unknown author. Foundation investigators have tracked SCP-140's publication to the ██████ printing house in a batch of ████ copies self-published by a wealthy individual hereby termed SCP-140A. SCP-140A's signature on the contract matches the strange signature inside SCP-140. More than ████ of the copies produced in this batch were apparently leaked of all ink by the ██████ remaining copies. To date, Foundation agents have recovered and destroyed ████ of the remainder, but between ████ and ████ remain at large. Two expansion events have been reported during periods when SCP-140 had never been exposed to fluids of any sort or removed from its vault. An investigation and manhunt for the author of SCP-140's ongoing. In the event of contact, agents are advised ██████ addendum 140-C. Through study of SCP-140 and other contained objects related to the Daybite civilization, Foundation researchers have concluded that, transposed to the modern era, the resurgence of a hostile Daybite civilization in history more recent than ████ would constitute a grave and even possibly retroactive threat to the Foundation and modern civilization as we know it. Even best case projections of Daybite resurgence in the modern day suggest a CK-class restructuring of modern society and a worldwide conflict with the projected death toll of at least ████ and an end to the Foundation's secrecy. Addendum 140-D. Journal found on his home PC-N ██████ indicated that upon his initial reading of SCP-140, it ended with the almost utter destruction of the Daybite civilization and the genocide of all known Dava and two ████ by the forces of Chinese journal Qin Kai. As a result of subsequent containment breaches, including those detailed in the journal, copious quantities of new material have been added, describing survivors regrouping and migrating to another region of central Siberia, rebuilding their empire steadily and continuing to advance culturally and technologically. At present, the empire is described as having finally been crushed by Genghis Khan during the early period of his conquest, although the fates of many important persons in several cities remain ambiguous. Foundation archaeologists will be dispatched to ████ for investigation and research. Addendum 140-E. After the incident on ████ at ████ dig site resulting in over ████ casualties, all Foundation archaeologists excavating sites of suspected Daybite artifacts or ruins are to be accompanied by a fully armed security team. SCP-140-1 has been neutralized. SCP-140-2 remains at large. All other anomalous contacts and artifacts were destroyed when the dig site was struck by a cruise missile. Agent ████ received a commendation and was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Doctor ████ received a post-humans commendation for courage. An investigation into the possible involvement of SCP-140-A or their agents in the events of ████ is ongoing.