SCP-1734
The Hole in the Deck
An aerial view of Outpost-1734.
Special Containment Procedures
Due to impossibility of transport, SCP-1734 is contained on-site at Outpost-1734, which is located on an island in the Caribbean Sea approximately 450km east of ████████. The island is not in the vicinity of any practical sailing route, and as such, any civilians that come within 500 meters of the coast are considered to be suspect. Said civilians are to be detained, interrogated, then escorted from the outpost to the nearest appropriate port and administered class-A amnestics.
Personnel are permitted to board or enter the vessel for research purposes only, and only with the approval of a Level 3 or higher researcher. Following Incident-1734-1E, no personnel are permitted to interact with the appendage protruding from SCP-1734-1. Explorations within SCP-1734-1 are currently suspended.
Description
SCP-1734 is a grounded 18th Century full-rigged British frigate with considerable damage to the structure but relatively little evidence of deterioration. Artifacts recovered from the ship, however, demonstrate decay and contain material which suggest that it has been grounded for almost 300 years. Direct contact with the structure of the vessel appears to be impossible: matter cannot come closer than 1cm of the walls, floor, ceiling, and supports. Due to this, it is impossible to move or alter any portion of the ship (it does not sway from tidal pressure, and the sails are motionless even in high winds), but items unattached to the structure are unaffected by the phenomenon and exhibit no anomalous properties. The nature of this anomaly is poorly understood, but the entire vessel appears to be isolated from all surrounding matter. This phenomenon does not appear to be hazardous to the material it repels.
SCP-1734-1 is a spatial anomaly localized around a breach in the deck of the ship. This breach is roughly one (1) meter in diameter and irregularly-shaped. When viewed from the deck, this hole appears to lead to the interior of the ship, which is flooded. This is in contradiction of several explorations within the vessel, all of which have concluded that while the ship is heavily damaged, the immediate chambers beneath the deck are dry. The breach is visible from within the ship, but leads to an indeterminate amount of unlit space; attempts to observe or illuminate the area within have been unsuccessful. While the exterior-side of the anomaly is accessible, the interior-side is rendered impassable by the same phenomenon that prevents contact with the ship.
Extending from the exterior-side of the anomaly is a tentacle consistent with a specimen of Architeuthis dux, but of abnormal size (the observable length of the appendage is 7 meters, and the width is 35cm). The entity constantly makes slight movements, but is docile unless attacked. If this occurs, it will flail rapidly and wildly until it grasps an organism1. The entity will then drag the victim through the anomaly and into the water, wherein death occurs in 5-10 minutes. If death does not occur by drowning, it will result from [DATA EXPUNGED] (see DOCUMENT SCP-1734-E5). The tentacle will reemerge after 20-30 minutes. Any damage done to the tentacle (including complete destruction) will regenerate in no more than 180 minutes.
Addendum [1734-001]: Recovered Artifact #27
This is an excerpt from a journal in the possession of the ship's captain. The journal was recovered from the captain's quarters during the second exploration of the ship, and is extremely worn. Information from the remainder of the text confirms that the vessel was carrying a British privateer crew.
Day ██
We've lost half our men. I don't know how we made it out of there at all, but I don't even have the strength to question it. We hit a patch of doldrums an hour after escaping, and we could still see that…place behind us. I thought all of us were going to lose our minds while we drifted there. When we landed on this island, the crew prostrated themselves on the beach; I don't think I've ever been more grateful to see an uninhabited and uneventful spot of earth.
We're going to recompose ourselves, check for some food in the trees and bushes, then leave before evening. The idea of staying on an island in these waters after nightfall is completely unthinkable.
Day ██, Entry II
I have never been possessed of such fury and fear in all my years. Jones brought something from that place with him. An egg. He began to spout that it would be worth a fortune, and we'd be fool to lose all those men with nothing to gain from it. I shot him dead without a word, and cast that foul thing into the sea. I'd sooner face all the armies of Bonaparte then have one of those things on my ship. It's starting to get dark; we need to set sail.
Day ██, Entry III
It hatched. Everyone is gone. I'm the only one left. I can hear it…talking to me, telling me what will happen. It knows that I threw it into the sea, and now it delights in tormenting me. They pull their prey into their…"home". I do not know what they call it, and do not want to. I can see the "home" through the hole it ripped in the deck. In there, time stands still, and they can feed for as long as they want. Nothing will move. The stillness of the "home" has leaked out…nothing moves at all.
The water is so quiet.
The entry ends here. All remaining pages in the journal are blank.
Addendum [1734-002] Researcher's Note
There is another island about 100 km south-southeast of this one; between the two is a stretch of doldrums. That island is a little smaller than this one, and has the same flora. After recovering and analyzing the artifacts on SCP-1734, we decided to search the place. Five exhaustive examinations later, we hadn't found any evidence of anomalous activity there whatsoever. I decided to record the last search, just to be thorough. After reviewing the footage, something bothers me slightly. The sound of the ocean is rather prominent in the recordings, but I barely remember hearing it at all while I was there.
-Dr. Adler