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 SCP#: 1523

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP 1523 has several anomalous properties that allow it to jam communications via wireless connection. For this reason, all communication devices surrounding the SCP’s containment must be done through wired devices. The site director is to assign all containment personnel a device that is tapped into the wire system. SCP 1523 is to be kept under constant surveillance by either motion sensors or live security. 

Under no circumstances are any foundation employees to enter SCP 1523’s containment cell, as it is triggered by human interaction. The creature does not seem to require food or sustenance of any kind as long as it remains dormant. Therefore the only reason anything should enter the containment cell is if a study is being done on SCP 1523. While under these conditions SCP 1523 will be harmless. If unprovoked movement is detected, report the action immediately so a qualified MTF team can be signaled incase of emergency. If SCP 1523 is stirred from its dormant state, a live surveillance team is required to keep watch, and make sure that it returns to its dormancy. 

In the unlikely event that SCP 1523 does not return to dormancy after a period of 5 hours, or if it becomes increasingly aggressive to its surroundings, the MTF team is to engage the creature with sedative gas. Projectile weapons must not be used against SCP 1523 unless absolutely necessary, as any puncture wound to the creature will result in a high dosage of its fear-inducing gas to be released.  It is vital that any MTF team is given their own oxygen before entering  the containment cell so as to not breath in any of SCP 1523’s anomalous gasses. Once sedated, and back to its dormant state, live surveillance will again be required for the following 24 hours. If SCP1523 is ever to escape containment, it must be sedated, not killed, lest the foundation risks an outbreak of the anomalous gas produced by the creature.

Description: SCP 1523 is an artificial lifeform of unknown creation that exhibits a predatory response towards humans. It sits at 150.5 cm tall, with arms that are almost double the length at 276 cm. It has short legs that tuck under a thick barrel-like torso, and a round head with a large mouth. Under its arms are large flaps of skin that SCP 1523 uses to glide between trees and other high places. It has been noted that the creature can fly a short distance as well by flapping its arms, though it does not gain any height from its effort, but rather speed and distance. SCP 1523’s eyes have a shocking resemblance to that of a human, and the creature is all in all, slightly humanoid. 

Behaviorally, the creature is an interesting point of study. It is predatory, but only specifically towards humans. Tests done show that SCP 1523 has no interest in a variety of animals from cows to pigeons. When in the wild, the creature is constantly on the lookout for food, lurking in rural areas where it can prey on humans who can’t obtain help. It is a very careful and intelligent hunter that uses its anomalous properties to its advantage while hunting. It has been noted to chew telephone wires, and slash vehicle tires to ensure its victims cannot escape. Additionally, SCP 1523 has the ability to block all wireless communication via satellite, internet, or other. In order to lure its prey out it will make sounds akin to that of a barn owl, or of a bobcat, as well as release a fear inducing gas that panics its prey. SCP 1523 is an ambush predator that latches onto its prey and begins to consume them alive, it is incredibly relentless when hunting. 

However, when SCP 1523 was contained, a new behavior was observed which has been called dormancy. It was this dormancy that led the investigation team to discover that the creature was an artificial lifeform. It appears that when SCP 1523 is not able to hunt it shuts off and remains completely still until the next hunting opportunity. While dormant, there is no blood flow, or  respiratory action, and the eyes turn gray. Introducing other animals into the cell while dormant will not trigger the creature to wake up, but the second a human subject is within the cell it wakes up immediately as if it has a sensor built into its system. 

The anomalous gasses put out by SCP 1523 seem to come from every pore in its thick skin. After a successful sedation of SCP 1523 with a dosage of  9 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine, an incision was made in the creature's abdomen by the research team only for a far more potent version of the gas to be released in high quantity. The team was evacuated quickly, but effects of the gas were felt for days after the exposure. All subjects exposed to the gasses reported seeing and hearing SCP 1523 in their sleep, and while awake. They also reported elevated stress, paranoia, and headaches. All subjects measured high blood pressure and blood test results showed elevated adrenaline levels in all affected individuals. 

After this incident, the research team was able to recall what they saw inside the incision, even if briefly. According to several team members SCP 1523’s internal organs resembled that more of a machine than an organic lifeform. One member is reported as saying it was “Like an engine made of flesh,”. This led the team to believe that SCP 1523 could be an artificial lifeform, which has only become more supported by further tests. The question now is simply: who created SCP 1523? 

Several organizations have been examined as potential creators of the creature, from doomsday cults to other SCPs. However, there was no proof that any of them had anything to do with SCP 1523. That was until a test discovered a response to the word “Prometheus”. According to the report from the experiment, SCP 1523 had been woken from its dormant state at the mention of the name, before returning to dormancy. This has been replicated several times. As a result, researchers have begun to look into any involvement possible from that of Prometheus Labs. 

It appears that whoever designed SCP 1523 did so with the purpose of creating the perfect predator for humanity. Reasons as to why are up for debate, but the evidence is there. The creature is resistant to chemicals, projectile weapons, and fire inflicted damage. Furthermore, SCP 1523 is intelligent enough to isolate its targets and has the anomalous properties to prevent communication. Finally, its instinct to hunt humans and no other living thing seems to suggest that it was programmed specifically for preying on humanity. 

Appendix A: This is an account written by a survivor of an attack from SCP 1523 before it was contained. Events took place September 2nd - 3rd, 2013 near the Uinta Mountains in Utah. 

I’m not exactly sure how much you want me to include here, but basically I live alone and wanted to do a get-away to my father’s cabin for labor day. He died two years before, and had left the cabin to me, but I had never gone up to visit. As I went up to the cabin I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, the road was good, the traffic was normal for a holiday, and the weather was clear. The Cabin is a ways up a mountain trail and sits alone in the saddle between two peaks. When I got there I again didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, and it continued that way for the majority of the day.

 For the first part of the afternoon I was four wheeling up behind the cabin down a trail I knew near the mountain peaks. I stopped at about 2 miles in, ate some food I brought, took a few pictures, then turned around and headed back to the cabin. Like I mentioned earlier, the cabin is pretty isolated, so even over labor day I didn’t encounter anyone else, which was fine by me as I prefer the solitude. When I got back to the cabin was when the nightmare began. I turned off my four wheeler, and the second I removed my helmet I heard this awful screaming sound. It was faint and far off, but it gave me the damn shivers. I looked around the saddle for a second but didn’t see anything. 

Then I heard it again, it sounded almost like a hawk, but deeper in pitch and far more gravely. I figured it was an animal, but I had never heard it before. I was a little spooked so I headed inside and stayed in the cabin for the rest of the afternoon. While I was inside I used what little internet connection I had up there to search through different bird calls and animal sounds. Eventually I found the barn owl. The sound was incredibly similar to the one I heard, which put my mind at ease a bit since it gave me an explanation. However, I was still a bit confused as I didn’t know barn owls to live in the area. 

A little later in the evening I started hearing sounds around the cabin. For reference, the cabin has two floors, the first floor has a kitchen and a bathroom with a living room across the hall, and a staircase in the back of the hall that leads to the second floor. The second floor has 3 bedrooms that line a hallway. I was sitting in the living room when I thought I heard scratching from above me, this would have been the room I was staying in on the second floor. When I went to investigate I couldn’t find anything, and assumed mice had gotten into the cabin over the last two years. I went back to the living room and sat on the couch. There was a window behind me, with the blinds closed and I was reading a book. Then I heard a single knock on the window. It made me jump, and I came to my feet and faced the window. I opened the blinds carefully, but saw nothing. 

At this point, I had begun to get creeped out, the sun was now setting, and the long shadows in the saddle made it hard to see. But as I looked out the window I thought I saw something move around in the treeline not far from the cabin. My thoughts at the time were that someone was playing a prank on me, or that someone might be trying to break into the cabin. The thought put me on edge and I went around checking all the windows and doors to make sure they were locked. As I did this, I kept hearing the scratching around the cabin, it started to drive me crazy and I ended up yelling for whoever was messing with me to go away, and that I had a gun. The scratching stopped, and I sat still for a while until I was confident that whoever it was was gone. I didn’t know how they had been making the sound, but I think I was desperate enough for an explanation to just wave the specifics away. I didn't hear anything for the rest of that night, so I assumed that it had been someone just messing with me, so I confidently went to bed thinking I'd scared them off.

That night I had a dream, or a nightmare, that I was out in the woods. I had my fourwheeler next to me, but I couldn't get to it for some reason. I was standing next to a twisted tree that had fallen over, a large boulder next to it. Suddenly I could hear that damn barn owl sound behind me but whenever I turned to face it it would come from behind me again. Every time it was closer, until it got so close that I heard breathing too. It sounded hungry and crazed, more like a wolf. I remember trying to get to my fourwheeler, but my legs wouldn't work. The owl sound was now right behind me, and as I finally moved and got on my fourwheeler I turned my head and froze in horror. In the dark trees, not 10 feet from me, two lifeless eyes looked at me and a slack jaw mouth hung with a tongue pouring from its maw like a snake. As it looked at me it let loose the owl screech, and lunged at me. 

At that I woke up in a panic. I don't really ever have nightmares, or anything like that, so I was unsettled. I figured that the sounds from the day before mixed with whoever had been playing a prank on me had gotten my mind running, and tried to shake it off.  I tried to fall back asleep, but it never came. After about another hour or two of lying in bed the sun started to rise, and I decided to just get up and make breakfast. I had planned to go four wheeling again that day, but as I got ready to go I just couldn't stop thinking about the dumb dream. For a moment I considered not going, and God I wish I didn't. 

Being as stubborn as I am, I decided to do my best to shake it off and go anyway. So I did. I was out on the trails for most of the day; I planned to go until my hands were too sore to hold on. Around maybe 5 o'clock after I had been riding practically all day, and the shadows were getting longer, I came across an offshoot trail I'd never noticed before. Figuring some other off-roaders had recently made it, I decided to go down the trail as my last ride of the day. After a few minutes of riding I came to the end of the trail, and began to turn around. As I reversed my machine I looked over my shoulder and stopped. There sat a fallen, twisted tree with a boulder next to it. It was the weirdest thing I'd have ever felt. It wasn't quite fear, but just a deep sense of confusion and perturbation. It was like I was back in my dream, almost exactly. As I continued to look over my shoulder a sudden sound split the silence: That barn owl screech, from directly above me. Thoughts of those eyes in my dream shot into my head, and a rush of adrenalin gave my tired arms a sudden boost of energy to finish turning my machine around and drive like hell out of there.

 I didn't slow down for the next hour or so as I rode back to my cabin. When I got back it was probably close to 6:30, and the Sun had gone down over the mountain, not leaving me in complete darkness, but still keeping everything in shadow. I rushed into the cabin and started packing things up. I had planned to stay until the next afternoon, but had decided to leave now. I didn't know what kind of freaky supernatural things were happening but I was done with it. As I was packing up I realized I needed to put my four wheeler back on my truck. Not wanting to spend any more time outside than I needed to, I decided to just get it done before it was completely dark. I rushed outside and looked around the saddle, nothing was moving. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. It was dead silent. I suddenly grew apprehensive about going outside, but the thought of staying another night was enough motivation to get me going.

I worked fast and got my ramps setup on my truck and  jogged to my four wheeler. I put the key in and turned it on. The engine sound was so loud to my ears as it came on and I sat frozen for a second to see if I heard anything. There was still silence and I quickly wheeled the machine up the ramps and into the truck bed. I worked quickly to strap it down, but my hands were shaking and it was getting darker every minute. It took me maybe 20 minutes in total to get the four wheeler up and my anxiety was higher than it has ever been. I could hardly see straight. I was so scared, and I had no idea why. Then as I turned back to my cabin I saw something move in the trees. It was high up and seemed to move between the branches of two pine trees. At this point I was too scared to think and just ran back to the cabin, slamming the door shut and locking it. I then opened my phone and tried to call 911. I had a cell tower not too far away that my dad had set up years ago. I dialed the number and held it to my head. It rang for what felt like eternity before it stopped, and I heard someone pick it up. I yelled out for help, but was met with only static. As I listed I realized it wasn't just static, but that terrible screech was faintly playing in the background. I dropped my phone in horror and backed up to the stairs. 

The screeching from my phone got louder and louder until there was a loud pop sound, and the phone went silent. Then the screeching began again, this time from right outside my cabin. It was at this point I wished I did actually have a gun, and ran upstairs to hide. At this point I had tears in my eyes and was shaking like a little dog. I locked myself in a room and stayed in the corner. The screeching stopped again, and I heard something crash in the trees outside the window. 

I cautiously moved to the window and peaked under the blinds. It was dark out now, and I scanned the tree's for anything. Then I saw it. Sitting on a branch in one of the trees something stared back at me. At first the silhouette really did look like an owl, just the scale was wrong, and would have been closer in size to a human. But as my eyes adjusted I realized it had arms that stretched down way below the branch. It sat forward a little and what little light remained from the sky lit up its pale skin and I saw its eyes. They stared unblinking, right at me like the ones in my dream. Every horror I could have thought was happening did not compare to what I saw. It almost looked humanoid, but deranged and sickly. It opened its wide mouth and screeched before jumping down from the tree and running on all fours towards the cabin. I jumped back from the window and scrambled to my feet. I heard a loud thump on the side of the cabin and then a series of scratches that got closer to the window. Scared that it was climbing up, I turned to the door and ran. I could hear it screaming and scratching as I ran down the hall. I don't know why but my only thought was to go outside and get to my truck. I'm so glad I never made it. As I got to the stairs I tripped and fell head first, then, everything went dark. 

When I woke up I didn't know where I was for a while. I sat up from the floor and my head throbbed like crazy. As I looked around the cabin I realized I was at the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly I remembered everything from last night and began to panic, but after maybe thirty minutes of silence I found some courage and went outside. Nothing was there. Taking this as my chance, I ran to my truck and got in. I looked out to the cabin and saw it was covered with scratches along the door and walls in the front. That was the last motivation I needed to start the truck and never look back. I don't know why, but I feel lucky that I fell down the stairs. I don't know what would have happened if I had gone outside, but I don't think I'd still be alive.

Appendix B: Transcript of communication during the capture of SCP 1523. Operation began 0300 hours outside of Park City, Utah.

HELIOS: Helios to 1A, Bird is in position, you are clear to drop. You are one mile out from the target destination, proceed quickly down the road, but be cautious, over.

1A: 1A to Helios, we copy. Beginning decent, over.

1A: 1A to Helios, we have damaged telephone wire along the road, possible confirmation of subject, please advise, over.

HELIOS: Copy that 1A. Proceed as planned, and watch the treeline, over. 

1A: 1A to Helios, copy. Over

3A: This is 3A to Helios, I’m detecting traces of the anomalous gasses outside the cabin. Confirmed target has been on site, moving in on the cabin, over.

HELIOS: Helios to 3A, you are clear to enter the cabin, overwatch is green, over.

HELIOS: Helios to 1A, we can’t get a read on any team members, over.

HELIOS: Helios to 1A, please report. Over.

HELIOS: Helios to 1A, do you copy?

HELIOS: 1A, come in.

1A: 1A to Helios, do you copy? Over.

HELIOS: This is Helios, we read you 1A. What is your status?

1A: 1A to Helios, subject is under sedation. We have 2 team members potential KIA, requesting extraction, over.

HELIOS: Understood 1A. We have you back on our scanners, the bird is on its way.

1A: 1A to Helios, subject is secured, we are clear for EVAC, over.

HELIOS: Helios to 1A, you are clear to go, over.

Appendix C: Report of attempted incision to SCP 1523 during lab test A-6. Reporting researcher Matthew D. Wright. 

Test A-6 began by waking SCP 1523 from dormancy with brief interaction from D class personnel, then sedation with a dosage of  9 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine. Object was then placed on an operation table inside its containment cell. Operators began to scan for any vital activity. Heart rate was noted to stay at an unwavering 60 BPM and blood pressure at 111/76 mmHg. A researcher then tried using a stethoscope to listen for its breathing. They noted that it seemed to breathe from everywhere in its body rather than a centralized respiratory organ. Next, a high carbon steel needle was used to draw blood from a vein in SCP 1523’s forearm. An interesting note to be made about the vein structure is that they are more triangular in shape, suggesting that the manufacturer of SCP 1523 was interested in making the veins more structurally sound.

After blood tests were complete, preparation began for an incision below the ribcage of SCP 1523. The skin of the object is incredibly durable, and no scalpel was able to cut through the skin. This made it necessary for the usage of a handheld saw to make the cut in the skin. A four inch incision was then made with the saw at the indicated area. The team then used forceps to open the incision for better viewing into the abdomen. Almost instantly sensors for detecting the anomalous gasses began to go off. When an operator checked the sensors, they noted that the levels of gas were off the charts and at dangerous levels. 

Less than a minute after the incision was opened, all operators began to feel affected by the gas and started evacuation. The on site MTF team was deployed to stitch the incision while all operators were escorted away to a secure location. 

Although exposure to the anomaly was brief, all five affected operators were out of commission for a minimum of 3 days, with the longest symptoms lasting 5 days. Operator Samantha Holiday experienced fear induced myocardial infarction on day two of symptoms and briefly stopped breathing. All operators were unresponsive to questions during the worst of their symptoms, and several were unable to stop screaming in fear for hours on end. Testing done found all subjects had elevated blood pressure while affected, and an average adrenaline level of 240 pg/mL. 

Once symptoms began to die down in subjects, a full list of the effects was made. All Subjects reported to see SCP 1523 everywhere they looked while affected by the gasses. Several reported closing their eyes and still seeing the creature staring back at them. Further symptoms included paranoia of those around them, general anxiety, headache, and increased agitation. 

After the symptoms had subsided, team members were able to recall what they saw inside the incision, even if viewing was brief. It appeared that SCP 1523’s internal organs operate more as a machine than an organism. Inside the chest cavity there were biomechanical parts. The best description of the brief look is that the internal workings reminded an operator of “an engine made of flesh”.