SCP-274

Item #: SCP-274

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Instances of SCP-274 are to be maintained in a high security soundproofed room at Site-19. This room is also to be equipped with a television monitoring screen, a radio set and an intercom system. Logs of the broadcast are to be kept on a dedicated computer.

Whenever a new instance of SCP-274 enters the containment area, the instance's personal effect items are to be placed on the designated table, which is to be composed of plywood painted black. All such objects should be stored in plastic bags. A sign should clearly state that no other personnel besides the person who put them in this location may attempt to remove them.

Any personnel who wish to speak with an instance of SCP-274 are required to answer the intercom system question 'Do you want to speak with me?' before being allowed access to it. No personnel may enter the containment area except for in case of emergency, or if an instance of SCP-274 requires assistance, until said facility testing has been completed and clearance given by at least two (2) Level 2 staff members from Research Area-24. Any such individual must remain in the soundproofed observation room until all testing with an SCP-274 instance has been completed.

Description: SCP-274 is a set of eighty (80) plastic tableware items. All instances have been FDA approved, and have been legally sold in one or more retail outlets as 'maggiatura, per marzo 1849'. However, when handled by a human being they do not appear to be made of plastic or any other material that the human body can physically interact with. When a human attempts to bend, tear or otherwise physically alter or manipulate an SCP-274 instance, it begins to deform at the points where the item would normally be joints, causing discomfort and potentially severe trauma to the subject.

SCP-274 also functions as individualized calendars, capable of tracking the age of any given instance from birth onward. For example, all instances born on 27 February 1862 are designated A█████ S██████ B██████ and all instances born on 20 March 1864 are designated T██████ M█████ P██████. It should be noted that these designations do not use first names, but instead refer to particular dates. This designation system appears to operate unconsciously across multiple SCP-274 instances in close proximity. No explanation has yet been found for this behaviour.

SCP-274 was discovered growing amongst an abandoned permabarn farm house in ██████████, Arkansas (US). At time of discovery SCP-274 had already begun broadcasting a program on local radio stations. This broadcast itself did not contain any unusual features, but was of no concern, though was recorded by Foundation agents who were monitoring local broadcasts at the time. The recording is available on this site's repository.

Once the broadcast reaches 52 minutes and 36 seconds into the recording (which includes the first broadcast announcement at 52:32), the effect of SCP-274 begins to take hold: it begins affecting any individual listening to this broadcast within 1km from their original location. Affected individuals begin experiencing intense pain whenever they attempt to bend objects between joints or apply force between two points together without previously breaking them apart with another object. Although affected individuals feel this pain as if proportional with their physical strength and endurance, research has shown that each individual has a unique threshold for painful stimulation; for example an individual who weighs [REDACTED] kg will react upon bending a [REDACTED] kg item around their knees at the same level of pain experienced by another individual who weighs [REDACTED] kg bending a [REDACTED] kg item around their knees.

SCP-274 was recovered after its effect was discovered by several University of █████████ students who were visiting the farmhouse in order to perform [REDACTED]. After an initial examination of SCP-274's effect on several members of Rho Gamma Gamma sorority (with cooperation from several other university organizations) they reported their findings to local authorities, which arranged for Foundation personnel to intercept and recover all instances of SCP-274 before it could be obtained by non-Foundation agents or persons without proper clearance.

Addendum: SCP-274 has been reclassified as Safe following SCP-289.

SCP-274 was confirmed to be non-anomalous after a thorough investigation involving both Foundation and US federal law enforcement agencies.