Astatine

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is installed in 5 x 5 x 5m containment cell. The room is to be observed at all times by a camera, and any unanticipated activity is to be reported immediately. No personnel should enter SCP-XXXX at any time unless authorised for testing. In light of the events of Incident-XXXX-1, entry to SCP-XXXX is absolutely forbidden. Two armed guards are placed outside the containment chamber at all times, and should be equipped with hand-held transceivers, only to be used in the event of unanticipated activity from inside the cell. Pressure plates are installed inside the cell to provide an early warning system.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a revolving door. Its framework is made from steel, but the glass that would usually be seen in the wings of such a revolving door has been replaced with large silver glass mirrors. SCP-XXXX has four wings and each has two mirrors, placed back to back so as to always provide a reflection. The images provided by the mirrors are clear and undistorted, barring the one mirror which has been cracked. Despite the severity of this damage, all attempts to remove distinct shards of the glass from the door have failed.

When a subject walks through the door to the other side, it will at first appear that they have somehow walked a full circle and returned to the original room. However, it will become apparent that this is not the case. One of the most obvious indications of this is in writing, which will be mirrored (writing brought back to this side of the doors have retained this property) but otherwise no different to the writing present on this side of the door, in terms of location, font, size, etc. Everything else will also be mirrored. Right handed people will become left handed, profiles on coins will face the opposite way, cars will drive on the opposite side of the road as would be expected of the country, etc. All people (hereafter referred to as instances of SCP-XXXX-1), locations and –history— (see Incident-XXXX-1) are identical to ours, differing only in appearance. It has been noted, contrary to hypotheses, that the spoken word is identical to our own and suffers no distortion.

The world and people inhabiting it act in total accord to their doppelgänger, as far as it can be seen. Unfortunately, any testing using test subjects also results in a mirrored doppelgänger entering into our world. As such beings are technically SCP-XXXX-1 instances, there was initially complete resistance to letting the instance of SCP-XXXX-1 outside of the test chamber. Upon realising that returning SCP-XXXX-1 also returned the test subject with very little data acquired, this was revised. One supervised trip outside of the facility was allowed before Incident-XXXX-1. Due to the events that occurred as a result of this, testing has been discontinued and full security procedures have been put in place.

Incident-XXXX-1

SCP involved: SCP-XXXX, SCP-XXXX-1 instance
Personnel involved: D-9237, Dr. ████████
Date: ██/██/████
Location: ████ ██, █████████ █████

Description: On ██/██/████, a supervised trip of D-9237's SCP-XXXX-1 copy was authorised, under the conditions that settlements such as towns or cities were not approached. The SCP-XXXX-1 was to be provided with any photos (unaltered) that it asked for, and any information not related to the SCP Foundation or other sensitive topics. The instance of SCP-XXXX-1 appeared as D-9237 entered SCP-XXXX. After being searched, the SCP-XXXX-1 was blindfolded, gagged, restrained and earplugs applied to before being taken off-site, and remained restrained for the entirety of the time it was outside of the containment cell. (Sedation was suggested, but due to a lack of understanding of chemistry inside SCP-XXXX - i.e, whether molecules were their chiral opposites or not – researchers decided that they did not know what effect normal tranquilisers would have on the instance of SCP-XXXX-1. As such attempts were made instead to suppress sensory and motor abilities as much as was otherwise possible.) Requests for information or images were noted and the results of those that were granted were intended to be given to the SCP-XXXX-1 shortly before being returned to SCP-XXXX. After being removed from the site, the copy of D-9237 was driven █ kilometres ████. Upon awakening, it was allowed to examine various examples of flora and fauna native to the area whilst handcuffed at the wrists and ankles, and to request photographs of these specimens. Several armed guards surrounded the SCP-XXXX-1 throughout. Return to the site was uneventful.

However, when being transported back to SCP-XXXX's containment cell, a minor security breach of SCP-████ occurred. While this was resolved with minimal casualties, the SCP-XXXX-1 was killed.

Assuming that the same had also befallen D-9237, the information the instance of SCP-XXXX-1 had requested was assembled and placed with the corpse of SCP-XXXX-1 in SCP-XXXX, which was then turned.

Contrary to expectations, D-9237 returned alive and with mirrored copies of the information provided by the Foundation. Aware that this may be viewed as an act of hostility against the version of the Foundation within SCP-XXXX, a negotiator, Dr. ████████, was sent through with minimum delay.

No instance of SCP-XXXX-1 was seen coming through SCP-XXXX at this time.

Directly after the negotiator was dispatched it became apparent from the information recovered by D-9237 that the world inside SCP-XXXX was not actually a perfect (if mirrored) copy. The differences as far as they could be documented are relatively subtle. The major alteration appeared to be a far more violent culture, wherein 'an eye for an eye' was viewed as an acceptable form of vigilantism, gaining positions of power involved the death of the prior holder through set rules, and so on.

This became clear when Dr. ████████'s corpse was returned through SCP-XXXX. The cause of death was three shot wounds aimed at the chest, one of which was through the heart. The other two missed this, being slightly too far to the right. It is theorised that these two shots were fired first, but aimed for the position of the heart as it would be on the instances of SCP-XXXX-1. That is, it is assumed that internal anatomy in instances of SCP-XXXX-1 is reversed (such as in individuals with situs inversus). One of the bullets completely passed through Dr. ████████ and hit the revolving door, cracking one of the mirrors.

Fearing further retaliation, more stringent security measures were introduced.

It is unknown at which point or due to what cause that the contents of SCP-XXXX began to fall out of synch with our own. Now that it has, SCP-XXXX has become unpredictable. The believed aggression of its inhabitants in particular is particularly worrying. In the worst case scenario, the inhabitants of SCP-XXXX could wage war on this planet. The site would likely fall against the force of an army, even if they were forced to come single file through a revolving door. To prevent provocation, all testing has been stopped.

Research has begun into the decommissioning of SCP-XXXX.

+ Contemporary Art Trap

Photo taken by a test subject of SCP-XXX-3

Item #: SCP-XXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXX is to be kept in a secure containment locker in Site-32. As testing has been discontinued, SCP-XXX should not be removed under any circumstances.

Description: SCP-XXX is a mahogany box, dimensions 20 x 15 x 4 cm. There is intricate carving on the vertices of the box, partially decorated with gold paint. There is no latch or locking mechanism on the item, and it opens smoothly.

The inside of the box is velvet lined. If opened by a living human, a key, designated SCP-XXX-1, will be seen inside. This key is fairly large (approximated to be 15cm long, as it cannot be measured accurately) and appears to be made of stainless steel. Upon either being touched or the box being closed, the key will disappear. Opening SCP-XXX again will reveal it to be empty. If the box is opened by mechanical means, the box will always appear to be empty. If SCP-XXX is opened twice in 24 hours by two separate test subjects, the second test subject will find the box empty and will suffer no effects.

The anomalous properties of the box become apparent after the test subject next goes to sleep, but only when they do so in relative darkness. Occurrences are most common between sunset and sunrise in the location of the sleeping test subject, yet it should be noted that dark areas present during hours of sunlight will also permit this effect to take place.

Approximately █ hours into sleep, the test subject will wake up. This is due to a humanoid figure (hereafter referred to as a SCP-XXX-2) pulling on the test subject, usually by gripping an arm or shoulder. The features of SCP-XXX-2 have always been obscured by darkness regardless of light levels when the figure is observed. It will attempt to pull the test subject into a standing position, and the force with which it does so will increase until the test subject complies or else is dragged by SCP-XXX-2. Willingly or otherwise, the test subject will be pulled towards and through the door of the room.

The door will not lead to its usual destination, but instead to the interior of a building designated SCP-XXX-3. SCP-XXX-3 is described similarly by all test subjects: a series of corridors and large rooms, all walls, ceilings and floors constructed from highly polished stainless steel and a pale wood assumed to be pine. Despite a lack of light sources or windows, the rooms are described as brightly lit. The corridors have no such lighting and receive only that which comes from the rooms.

Upon entering SCP-XXX-3, the test subject will be surrounded by approximately ██ instances of SCP-XXX-1 that will proceed to restrain the test subject, while also covering their eyes (test subjects report light being completely blocked out) and dragging them away. Several minutes later the test subject will be released. They will find themselves in a different section of SCP-XXX-3, disorientated and with little grasp on their current location in relation to the door they entered through.

Test subjects have found the rooms to contain what appears to various types of installation art in varying stages of completion, the materials and equipment required to construct them still in the room as if the artist or artists were interrupted while at work. Some examples of the rooms' contents are:

• A field of flowers constructed from broken mirrors. (Incomplete, with close to three quarters of the floor covered and several mirrors and tubes of industrial glue laid against the wall.)
• A room resembling a portrait gallery. All of the inhabitants of the frames had been sculpted as reaching out towards the centre of the room. (Incomplete, with a space marked out for a much larger final painting that had yet to be filled.)
• A black and white film projected against one wall of the room. The film lasted for ten minutes and sixteen seconds before restarting, and depicted a rose growing in what appeared to be a scrapyard. The speed of the flower's growth was exaggerated and, except for the occasional blurred figure moving in the background, nothing else is observed for the rest of the film. (Complete, but difficult to view due to the bright lighting of the room and half-constructed seating.)
• A series of wind chimes composed of several different materials including paper, diamond and hair. (Incomplete. The wind chimes themselves were mostly works in progress, and only two had been hung up in the room. Spaces for the others had been marked on the ceiling. A speaker system had been installed but was silent.)

Barring the room referred to as the Throne Room, which is viewed by all who enter SCP-XXX-3 (see Interview-XXX-1) no single room has been described by two different test subjects. Test subjects usually find the door back to their room without incident, and upon returning to sleep the door leading to SCP-XXX-3 will lose its anomalous properties and will once again allow access to and from the original room that it led to.

Test subjects will awake the next morning as is usual, but they will be suffering from one of three effects, referred to respectively as SCP-XXX-a, SCP-XXX-b, and SCP-XXX-c.

SCP-XXX-a: The subject loses sight completely. No other effects result from this besides the expected psychological response.

SCP-XXX-b: In these cases, the subject suffers from no adverse effects after waking for approximately 24 hours. After this time has elapsed they will begin to complain of boredom, listlessness and apathy. Response to stimuli will be reduced, and the subject will lose interest in all people or activities. This is not so extreme as for the subject to lose their survival instinct, and they will still fulfil basic needs.

SCP-XXX-c: The subject will not awake at the usual time, and [DATA EXPUNGED] Any subjects suffering from SCP-XXX-c are to be terminated with minimum delay. Under no circumstances should subjects experiencing SCP-XXX-c come into the vicinity of SCP-XXX.

After the test subject experiences either SCP-XXX-a, SCP-XXX-b or SCP-XXX-c, SCP-XXX-1 will reappear in SCP-XXX.

Interview-XXX-1-A:

Interviewed: Subject D-5793

Interviewer: Dr. ████████

Foreword: This interview takes place after test subject D-5793 was exposed to SCP-XXX and experienced SCP-XXX-a.

<Begin Log>

Dr. ████████: My name is Dr. ████████. How are you feeling?

Subject D-5793: I… what's going on? Why can't I see?

Dr. ████████: This an effect of SCP-XXX, which you were exposed to. Can you tell me what you occurred between opening SCP-XXX and the loss of your sight?

Subject D-5793: Uh, yeah. I closed the box, but you guys told me to open it again. The key was gone.

[Expunged for triviality]

Subject D-5793: I woke up, but I was being dragged across the floor before I worked out what was going on. I was panicking a bit then, but I managed to get up-

Dr. ████████: Did you see who or what it was?

Subject D-5793: It was a person, I guess. I couldn't see their face, but that was probably just because it was dark and a light was shining from behind them.

Dr. ████████: A light?

Subject D-5793: From the door. I guess they must have opened it. It didn't lead out to the corridor, though… I got a pretty good look later.

Dr. ████████: What happened then?

Subject D-5793: I try pushing them away, but the guy doesn't let go of me and he doesn't stop walking towards the door. Didn't even flinch when I punched him. Next thing you know, he's got me through the door and loads of these guys are grabbing me. It goes dark – like this, now, I couldn't see anything at all – and when I can see again I'm sat in the middle of these huge stacks of books and there's no sign of them.

Dr. ████████: Describe your surroundings at them time, please.

Subject D-5793: Like I said, there's all these books. Massive, old, leather-bound things. Only someone's taken a knife to them and they're all carved up. I guess the shapes they've made with them are kind of nice, but they don't look like anything. I stood up, and there were these boxes at the other end of the room – which was huge, by the way – and when I take a look they're full of more of these books. Uncarved.

Dr. ████████: What language were the books written in?

Subject D-5793: None. The pages were blank.

Dr. ████████: Very well. Carry on with your story.

Subject D-5793: I walk out of the room, being kind of quiet so the people who grabbed me won't hear if they're still around, and there's this corridor. It's kind of dark, but there's a lot of light coming out of the doorways. I look through them as I'm walking and they're all full of weird things like the book room. I kind of just want to get out of there by this point. After a while, maybe ten minutes, I end up outside these massive double doors. Made of some kind of dark wood, so it stuck out. On the floor somebody had drawn a big arrow pointing at the doors, and it said something like, 'Throne Room. All who leave must enter here,' so I guess it's probably a good idea to take a look. Leaving was what I wanted to do. (D-5793 pauses.)

Dr. ████████: What was inside?

Subject D-5793: Well, there was a throne. Kind of had to be, right? (D-5793 laughs nervously.) The room was circular and the throne was in the middle. Steps led up to it, and there were… well, offerings, I guess, placed on the steps.

Dr. ████████: What kind of offerings?

Subject D-5793: Nothing weird. Valuable things, like jewellery made with gold and gems. Assuming it was real. It looked real. Crowns. Some kind of cloth - silk? Satin? Little statues, ceremonial swords. That kind of thing. Gifts for a king.

Dr. ████████: A king?

Subject D-5793: The guy sitting in the throne.

Dr. ████████: There was somebody in the room with you?

Subject D-5793: Well – see, he looked dead. Mummified. It was freaky, but I wasn't bothered because I could see the door leading back to the facility on the other side of the room, and he wasn't going to be doing anything to me. Not like that. So I ignored him and kept walking.

Dr. ████████: And then you re-entered your room?

Subject D-5793: No… I was just about to walk past the throne when I hear this noise… like a sigh. I stopped right there, because I know where it came from. So I look. And sure enough, the king's eyes are open. But he's not looking at me. He's looking past me.

Dr. ████████: Did you see what he was looking at?

Subject D-5793: Yeah. The people who grabbed me, they're all behind me. And it's bright in this room, really bright, and I still can't see their damn faces. I don't move, because I don't even know if they can see. Hell, maybe they don't have faces.

Dr. ████████: What happened?

Subject D-5793: One of them look straight at me-

Dr. ████████: With eyes that you couldn't see?

Subject D-5793: Y-yeah, and it says something. But it's too quiet. Only then they're all saying it, in perfect unison, and then I know I've got to get out. I just run for it and shut the door. They don't open it again.

Dr. ████████: What did they say?

Subject D-5793: 'The king demands light. The king demands life. The king demands tribute.'

<End Log>

Addendum-1: Upon recovery of SCP-XXX on ██/██/████ seventeen (17) notches were observed upon the lid, seemingly made by a knife. Since this time, seven (7) of the notches have disappeared, six (6) of which were noted to have vanished directly after a subject succumbed to SCP-XXX-c. The seventh had no such correlating event. Testing has been discontinued.