 Item No. SCP-2845 Threat Level Black Containment Class Keter Special Containment Procedures Use of outsourced containment resources and consultants has been authorized for the containment of SCP-2845. Consultants are to be considered Level II personnel, and are at no time permitted to leave Site-100. If at any time an outside consultant must be removed from containment of SCP-2845, Class A amnestics are to be applied before release. A minimum of 30 trained individuals and an unhindered supply of untrained subjects is required for proper containment of SCP-2845. 48 trained personnel are currently assigned to active containment of SCP-2845, blit into eight teams of six, with a further 24 individuals available as replacements. An allowance of 5d class per week has been authorized for the containment of SCP-2845. Site-100 has been constructed to the following specifications. Site-100 consists of 9 concentric circular bands, designated Ring A through Ring I, with a gap located between Ring C and Ring D, designated as Gap 1. Circular chambers are located at 0, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300° within each ring and gap. The chambers located at 0° are aligned with geographic north. Two additional circular chambers are located outside of Ring I, located at 120 and 240°. The floor of each circular chamber contains an unobstructed lead hexagram. The central chamber, containing SCP-2845 and 216 instances of SCP-2845-1, is to contain an atmosphere of 96.3° hydrogen, 3.25% helium, and 0.45% ammonia maintained at negative 110° Celsius and a pressure of 2.3 bar. The following procedures are all to be carried out in a repeating cycle of 63 hours 54 minutes. This procedure is the last 39 minutes, with 10 hours between each procedure. Each procedure must be carried out by 6 individuals. The location of each procedure is denoted in parentheses. At the beginning of each new cycle, containment procedures will be carried out in the next ring closest to the containment chamber. Ceremonial recitations for all procedures and descriptions of all variant costumes may be found in document 2845-C-EXP. Procedure 410, Constantin, 60°. Containment specialists are presented with masks, joy, sadness, anger, apathy, fear, and foolishness, and act out Ceremonie, Constantin A. Ceremonie, Constantin A is a farcical comedy of errors and exchange of insults between the six individuals, culminating in foolishness outwitting the group in a game of riddles and declaring himself king. The conclusion of Ceremonie, Constantin A is followed by a game of dice. The winner of the game is irrelevant to the procedure. Procedure 420, Parinaldo, 120°. Performance of a musical piece for flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, timpani, and bass drum. The piece is accompanied by specific somatic and vocal components carried out by the players throughout the performance, designated Ceremonie Parinaldo A. The performance must be live, recordings of the piece have no effect. Procedure 430, Epimethius, 180°. Gifts are exchanged among containment specialists. Content of gift is irrelevant to the procedure, but each gift must not exceed $4.28 in worth. Each gift is accompanied by recitation of Ceremonie Epimethius A in its entirety and a scattering of grain around the containment chamber. Procedure 440, Cassial, 240°. Ceremonie Cassial A is recited as containment specialists buying their feet with wool and consume .5 liters of olive oil. They then will break apart a rock weighing at least 200 kg with hammers. Ceremonie Cassial B is recited throughout. Procedure 450, Cairo, 300°. A D-class subject is prepared by painting a symbol, ring surrounding a dot with an arrow pointing upwards of the 90° point, on the stomach with a platinum-based solution, and presented with a blue cloak, crown, and scepter. D-class subject is then restrained at a chair, and Ceremonie Cairo A is recited. After recitation of the Ceremonie Cairo A, the D-class subject is to be castrated by use of a hand-sicle by a containment specialist. The testes are then to be disposed of in a bowl of salt water as Ceremonie Cairo B is recited. Procedure 460, Unphilos, 0°. Ceremonie Unphilos A is to be recited before roasting of a child of no more than three months of age. Ceremonie Unphilos B is to be recited before consumption. After consumption of the child, Ceremonie Unphilos C is to be recited over the gastrolisks, which are then swallowed. Bombing is then induced, and Ceremonie Unphilos D is recited, signaling the beginning of a new cycle. In the case of containment breach, Site-100's nuclear device is to be detonated, followed by lockdown of all Foundation facilities, and activation of Protocol 2845-XK-1, strike down in the Moon. A message for containment consultant ████████ to Site Director Dell, January 31, 2012, towering Cadoth, my home. I have been approached several times already in regards to the containment procedures and their complexity. I have been asked if all the procedures are truly necessary, if they could not be cut down or edited for simplicity, and at least one claim that they were patently ridiculous. This is my response, and I expect that it will be seen by all the Foundation staff working on this project. I will not repeat myself, and I find it sickening that after all the struggle to contain this creature, pencil-pushing bureaucrats are still seeking to cut corners where they cannot be afforded to be cut. The answer is no. The ritual will remain as it is, and will not be changed in any way. It cannot be cut down further, nor can it be added to. It has been set in place, and now that it has begun, any deviation at all could very easily be catastrophic. Rituals do not work because of some underlying laws, such as those that science operates on. Rituals work because they are rituals. They work because the arbitrary set of criteria has been met with exacting care. If that meeting these arbitrary criteria achieves a certain end as signs power to the ritual, the actions that were once meaningless now have been assigned meaning through the repetition and application. This is how one seals away a God, and this is a God. I know that the Foundation does not approve of using the term, but it is still the case. This stag is a God, and it is not a pretty local God. It is not one of the mild gods of earth, or some weaker spirit that is bound by the strength of man's belief. We have, for the time being, fooled it into thinking that we have overpowered it. It does not understand that we do so falsely. It is a God. For God's words have power. Ritual and belief hold greater power over a God than all the laws of science. However, it must be kept in mind that the stag could escape right now if it so chose. With the thought this entire facility could turn to a puff of hydrogen, if at any point the stag got to escape, it would, and we would be powerless to stop it. However, it will not think to escape or even to change a strategy. The ideal will not even pass through its mind. It cannot comprehend a concept. It does not think in the way we think. Truth be told, I would not say that it thinks at all. This is an old God. It does not dabble in decisions. Decisions are for the creatures who may act erratically, variably or out of line. A God of this trend simply is. It is an absolute. It acts as a force. In building this ritual, we have shifted its being the slightest bit, and now it is locked into a pattern of behavior. It struggles against us, we struggle against it, and we are locked together in an internal dance so long as the ritual remains intact. If one thing goes awry, the entirety is lost, and the deadlock is broken. Unstoppable force without an immovable object. The rituals might seem to be nonsense, but they are what I divine to be the best course of action. Those are powerful symbols there, and whether or not you or I think they are appropriate to the situation is irrelevant. I have listened to the converted, and I have listened to the echoes of the stag in their songs. They are not suffering, but they are no longer human. They are changed utterly. The ritual remains as it is. Description SCP-2845 is a quadruped entity, measuring 2.9 meters in height at the shoulder and weighing 815 kg. A sinuous neck, generally held in an upright position, extends a further 0.5 meters, terminating it ahead with humanoid facial features. SCP-2845 possesses antlers, measuring 4.8 meters across. Antlers are white with black marbling and coloration, and have not been observed as shed. SCP-2845 is covered in hair with an average length of 10 cm, with the exception of the face which is hairless. SCP-2845's coloration is primarily a pastel green, with a stripe of cream on the underside of the neck and belly. A ring of ice particles is suspended 15 cm behind SCP-2845's skull, measuring 1.7 meters in diameter with a ring thickness of 35 cm. This ring is interrupted at regular intervals by seven spheres consisting of metallic hydrogen and metallic helium, each measuring 15 cm in diameter. The ring and sphere rotate clockwise at a speed of 1.6 rpm. The force maintaining the movement of the ring, the physical state of the spheres, and the means by which SCP-2845 is capable of supporting its head under the weight of its antlers are unknown. SCP-2845 is capable of instantaneous transmutation and reconstruction of matter. No matter is created or destroyed during this process. This property is manifested at will, with an observed range extending to targets within eyesight. Maximum range of disability is unknown. Transmuted matter will remain stable despite the lack of other factors. For example, metallic hydrogen and helium are common results, which will remain in either solid or liquid form despite the surrounding temperature. Altered atmosphere will not mix with unaltered regions, maintaining chemical consistency. The most common transmutation results are to solid or liquid form the hydrogen and helium, the conversion of atmosphere into a hydrogen and helium ammonia mix, and the transmutation of plant life in the metalloids-based organisms. SCP-2845 will typically surround itself with a transmuted area with a radius of approximately 5 meters at all times. SCP-2845 has proven itself completely resistant to physical damage. The most common forms of offensive transmutation used by SCP-2845 are a column measuring 5-7 meters in diameter, and 60-80 meters in height, or a horizontal cone measuring between 100 and 150 meters in length, and 10 to 30 meters in width at the furthest end. However, SCP-2845 has been observed to attack single targets at distances of up to 10 kilometers. Early observations of SCP-2845 during recovery indicated that it will generally ignore non-combatants focusing on retaliation against attackers. However, SCP-2845 was not seen to make any attempts to spare non-combatants within the area of effectiveness transmutations, and later recovery accounts indicate preemptive attacks against both military and civilian targets. SCP-2845-1 designates human beings that have been modified by SCP-2845. Examples of SCP-2845-1 are hexagonal columns measuring 2.4 meters in height, with rubbery yellow-green skin. SCP-2845-1 instances do not have any outward sense organs, and autopsy has shown that internal organs are likewise absent. Save the brain, which now takes up the entirety of the column and contains the reconstituted mass of the other organs and some additional outside materials. It is unknown how SCP-2845-1 instances derive nutrients or if any nutrition is required. Neuroimaging of SCP-2845-1 specimens has revealed to brains in a constant state of high activity. Analysis of multiple specimens indicates patterns of call and response, so some form of remote communication between SCP-2845-1 specimens is presumed. Motile variants of SCP-2845-1 have been reported, but have evaded capture and study. Addendum 01 An abridged timeline of SCP-2845 from initial discovery to containment is as follows. November 27, 2011 Initial sighting of Comet C-2011-W3 December 1, 2011 Comet C-2011-W3 confirmed by Mt. John University Observatory December 2, 2011 Comet C-2011-W3 confirmed and named by the Minor Planet Center December 16, 2011 Comet C-2011-W3 reaches Parahelion Solar Dynamics Observatory record images of a fragment breaking off from the main body of the comet, maintaining a speed of .0018C December 17, 2011 Fragment trajectory confirmed to end in collision with Earth, with estimated impact of December 21. Thoughts stationed to turn procedures fail the changing fragments course. Public announcement made by the United Nations. Evacuations begin. December 21, 2011 Fragment impacts in the Pacific Ocean, 124 kilometers off the Western American coast. December 24, 2011 SCP-2845 believed to reach shore on this day December 25, 2011 First observation of SCP-2845 through civilian video footage Drone contact made, SCP-2845 confirmed as hostile. Foundation assets within United States military begin direction of recovery and containment procedures with assistance of Global Occult Coalition representatives. Containment sites in the region enter lockdown. December 26-29, 2011 Artillery bombardment of SCP-2845 commences, along with initial battery of tests. Contact with outside containment consultants met at this time upon observation of SCP-2845's properties. December 30, 2011 SCP-2845 is unimpeded for 16 hours. December 31, 2011 Bumbardment recommences. January 1-14, 2012 SCP-2845 is led across the Sierra Nevada mountains while remaining under heavy bombardment. Develops initial containment procedures. January 15, 2012 SCP-2845 reaches predetermined containment area. Initial containment procedures enacted. January 18, 2012 Initial containment procedures end in success. January 20, 2012 Construction of Site-100 begins. February 3, 2012 Refinement of containment procedures implemented. February 19, 2012 SCP-2845 declared contained. October 15, 2012 In the wake of SCP-2845 On a clear orange and blue day in October, when the air was not chilly enough to be uncomfortable, City Sagal took stock of what was left of her world. There wasn't a whole lot to be seen. She had found more and more time to herself as the months went on, time filled with empty slow spaces, dotted with moments of smothering acute awareness at how little she belonged, of how alien the world felt around her, of how disconnected she was, floating it alone without an anchor, without a purpose, a leftover crust of bread floating under water waiting for the fish. There were not even bones left to her world, bones were too solid, too real. Now there was only that chilling pocket emptiness that crept up the spine, gently silencing words in the throat. Not violent. No, it would have been better had that been the case, rather than a dandable silence. Out there, past the vast empty space that surrounded her, City Sagal saw the world passing from her hands. It could never go back, and what lay ahead was obscured. For so long, the future had been two things to City Sagal, a continuation of the present or death. There was no branches from the path, no variations, no choices to make. The path was solid, it was real, it was normal. There was nothing to doubt, nothing that would break the comfort and cocoon that formed around her, nothing to assault the belief that she was doing the right thing, that she was serving a purpose, and now it was gone, gone with the chill October air. The people demanded security, they demanded comforting words, they demanded blood, and City Sagal could give them none of that. The name carved on her yoke of 26 years was smeared with mud, and there was no comfort to be had in it, only doubt. City Sagal carried with her a blackened name, the people who did nothing, her people did not kill monsters, they did not share miracles, they did not create, they merely hoarded. In immaculate order, all was labeled and tagged and placed in a box, they put the world in many boxes, and then they did nothing. She could not blame the public who shunned her people, her people could not say, I have slain Grendel, her people could not open their arms and say, I have walked among the gods and written down the words, her people could not say, we shaped the future by our own hands, they could only say, we were there. Being there was not good enough, slander was thrown, demands were made, turns were set, City Sagal's yoke was chipped down, slowly, slowly until it felt weak on her shoulders, monsters were killed, miracles were shared, men, women and children looked up into the sun for the first time in years, though world adapted, though it did not do so smoothly or quietly, a blessing to be rough and loud and honorary. Chip by chip the yoke was broken down, and the horde was emptied until, until there was nothing left. Obisir 7, City Sagal, sat on a bench in the park, by the lakeside, and was alone.