SCP-1234

Description

SCP-1234 is the former premises of "Schmidt's Swiss Pastries", a bakery and tea room that operated in Chicago, IL from 1947 to 2003. The interior of SCP-1234 remains fully furnished and possesses working electricity, hot and cold running water, and natural gas. SCP-1234's ovens and kitchen equipment remain fully functional, though appearing to be in a severe state of disrepair due to age and neglect. All attempts to remove or disconnect SCP-1234's kitchen equipment or utilities have been unsuccessful.

Under normal circumstances, SCP-1234 is inert. On an irregular basis, ranging from an observed minimum of 2 days to an observed maximum of 17 months, 12 days, SCP-1234 becomes active. Prior to becoming fully active, SCP-1234 exhibits a "warmup" period lasting from 12 to 36 hours. Phenomena indicating the onset of an SCP-1234 event include:

• Heavy electromagnetic fluctuations within a 100m radius of Site 602
• Interference and malfunctioning of monitoring equipment
• Electrical blackouts/brownouts on the city block Site 602 is located on
• Lights and electrical devices within SCP-1234 activating and deactivating spontaneously
• Unexplained disappearances of humans and animals within a 300m radius of Site 602
• [REDACTED]

SCP-1234 will become fully active within no more than 36 hours of the commencement of the warmup phase. To date, active phase has always initiated between the hours of 23:00 and 03:30 local time. Once fully active, SCP-1234's windows become fully opaque, all doors and windows become completely impenetrable, and all monitoring equipment located within SCP-1234 ceases to function. All attempts to enter SCP-1234 during an active phase have failed and no persons inside SCP-1234 when an active phase commences have been found alive at its conclusion.

Active phase has been documented to last from 4-10 hours, but will always conclude by 09:00 local time. Upon conclusion of active phase, the shelves, counters, tables, and display cases of SCP-1234 will have been stocked with approximately 200-500 freshly baked, shortbread-crust pies designated SCP-1234-1. All instances of SCP-1234-1 measure 22.8 cm in diameter and weigh approximately 0.75 kg each. Pies produced by SCP-1234 will make use of any biological ingredients provided to it, whether living or not at time of event, including fruits and vegetables, non-edible plants, insects, fish, poultry, red meat, and human beings. SCP-1234 will not, however, make use of any ingredients that are spoiled, stale, or are of unsatisfactory condition for use in baking. Instances of SCP-1234-1 will not be recycled into new instances when a new event begins. All instances of SCP-1234-1 are, at time of discovery, cooled to room temperature, contained in a disposable aluminum pie plate, and covered with a transparent plastic lid. Aside from the means by which they are produced, SCP-1234-1 bear no anomalous properties and may be eaten safely providing that the ingredients used in its manufacture are safe to eat.

On 17 occasions since observation began, instances of SCP-1234-1 have been found outside SCP-1234 following conclusion of active phase. On all such occasions, the pies were found on the shelves of supermarkets, convenience stores, and other food vendors within a 5km radius of SCP-1234, and had been labeled with a UPC readable by the vendor's point-of-sale system. No determination has been made as to how the pies were transported from SCP-1234 to the locations where they were found.

If there is not a sufficient supply of ingredients available within SCP-1234 when active phase commences, SCP-1234 will consume ingredients stored outside itself. Flour, shortening, and other biological matter is relocated into SCP-1234, beginning with the closest matter available and being attracted from an increasingly greater distance until the necessary amount of ingredients has been acquired. The means by which material is acquired or transported into SCP-1234 is unknown; due to the population density of the area in which SCP-1234 is located, no uncontained events have been allowed to occur since containment began.

Foundation containment of SCP-1234 began in 2006, following several reports of dozens of persons and animals disappearing within the downtown Chicago area. Local police traced the disappearances to the neighborhood in which SCP-1234 is located. Upon noticing an unusual scent emanating from the abandoned storefront now identified as SCP-1234, police breached the front door and discovered approximately 7,300 instances of SCP-1234-1 within, many of which were several months old and had spoiled. When police attempts to determine the identity of the persons responsible reached a dead end, a police liaison contacted the Foundation, which assumed jurisdiction and, following an additional event which resulted in several more disappearances, placed SCP-1234 under containment. Interviews with persons who worked at SCP-1234 prior to 2003, and with the previous owners of Site 602, stated that the cause of its closing abruptly in April of that year was not known to them and that they had never observed any unusual or anomalous events occurring within the property prior to 2006.