SCP-700

Item #: SCP-700

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-700 is to be kept in a steel box containing four large marine animals, two sharks and two rays. The sharks are to be kept individually and the rays conjoined. SCP-700 should always be kept surrounded by saltwater, but in a location far from a population center or any sources of electromagnetic radiation (other than the facility in which it is kept) at all times.

SCP-700 can be taken out of its containment box with authorization Level 4 personnel who are accompanied by at least two members of security detail. The agents must also wear full radiation protection while approaching the object. The agents will carry the item in a shielded container such as a lead box lined with lead foil. Once they have the object they return it to its original position with no more than 30 minutes passing between their taking the object off the premises and their leaving the area, in order to prevent any potential exposure to contamination.

A series of 50cm concrete slabs, maintained on site and protected from the elements, are positioned in a 5m wide line along a former rail track that runs through a grove of trees in a heavily wooded area near to where SCP-700 was recovered. As part of ongoing psychological testing, research staff are instructed to use footpaths through and around the grove, including paths that pass within fifty meters of SCP-700's current containment ground zero position. These footpaths must be marked with yellow flags.

Description: SCP-700 is a solid lead weight approximately 14 cm in diameter, with the letters "H. L. A." inscribed on one side in ornate gold paint. The other side is smooth and has been damaged by exposure to chemical agents; it also bears no writing or engraving. The object weighs approximately 3.5 kg, and cannot be split into its four components.

When SCP-700 has not been moved for at least 15 days, it will begin to radiate gamma radiation steadily across the area thirty meters around it, beginning at the center of its suspected position, directly opposite its original containment location. This radiation manifests itself in two separate streams, one directed straight ahead of the object and another that shoots forth at a rate of 1m/s from each end of the object's shaft. Objects contacted by this radiation will show signs of contamination within 30 seconds, followed by exposure in five minutes. Subjects exposed to this radiation will experience severe swelling in their eyes and mouth, severe nausea and vomiting, dizziness, slurred speech and disorientation – these symptoms are consistent with acute radiation poisoning. Any exposed persons who survive more than 120 minutes will die from massive internal hemorrhaging and organ failure due to blood clotting as well as loss of blood volume caused by dehydration and electrolyte imbalance caused by vomiting during exposure.

SCP-700 exhibits little variation in its radiation output once set into motion; however since the time it was discovered in ████ ██████ Forest Preserve in California on 07/03/1999 it has only killed 10 test subjects since recovery, all of whom were living close to SCP-700 when it was first discovered.

Addendum: Since the discovery of SCP-700, tests have been conducted on small groups of civilians living near the site of its recovery. Several dozen people have been exposed to SCP-700\'s radiation, and all have shown signs of radiation poisoning. The following are excerpts from a report by Dr. ████████:

Subject #: [REDACTED]

Date: 09/08/1999

Location: Seattle, WA

Object Class: Euclid

[REDACTED] was a female Caucasian citizen in her late twenties, and worked as a clerk at a local supermarket. She had no history of exposure to radiation or other unnatural phenomenon, although she had heard the story of the "man who died for a nickel" from another store employee. [REDACTED] had been living at her present residence for less than a week.

During her exposure, [REDACTED] experienced severe vomiting and cramping in her stomach, along with intense pain in her eyes and mouth. She was unable to open them due to severe pain; when she did eventually open them they were filled with fluid, and she could only see out of one eye. She also experienced severe bleeding from the nose and mouth, and collapsed after fifteen minutes into a sitting position on the floor, crying hysterically. Her skin began to turn blue outside of her mouth and eyes, and by twenty-five minutes she was dead.

Subject #: [REDACTED]

Date: 09/10/1999

Location: ████████, MO

Object Class: Safe

[REDACTED] was an elderly Caucasian male in his eighties, who lived alone. He had no record of exposure to radiation or any other phenomena that would cause him harm, although he had been hospitalized for several weeks with a chronic lung ailment that has not responded to treatment. He was found alive inside the ruins of a house destroyed by fire five days earlier. He showed no signs of external injury from the blast or from the ensuing fire, but was unconscious when first discovered by rescue crews due to lack of oxygen intake through his airway. He died two hours later as a result of massive hemorrhaging in his lungs.