SCP-1929
Down To Earth
Footage of SCP-1929-1 instance, taken from civilian "Oresmus Film".
Special Containment Procedures
All non-human instances of SCP-1929-1 should be held in storage containment units, located in Site-56, Site-66, and Site-76, which are all located in the Midwestern United States. Containment teams made up of three or more agents should be sent into the field whenever a possible report of an SCP-1929 instance is received. Research has determined that instances of SCP-1929 most commonly appear in the area identified as the "Dust Bowl", and as such agents have been dispatched there to form permanent research and containment stations. Anomalous specimens encountered in the field should be brought to one of these stations.
All towns that have been affected by SCP-1929 have been quarantined by SCP Foundation personnel. Nobody is to be allowed entry without proper authorization, and any human instances of SCP-1929-1 are to be terminated by bombardment with water. Townsfolk are not to be informed of this, as it may cause them to goad perimeter guards into destroying them.
Description
SCP-1929 was an event that occurred on 3/16/1934, in the US states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, creating the SCP-1929 area of effect. Its initial event manifested as a large, violent dust storm, which isolated several communities for long periods of time. Currently, over 60 artifacts generated or altered by SCP-1929, classified as SCP-1929-1, are held by the SCP Foundation. Three towns were eradicated with four others being severely damaged. These areas constitute SCP-1929's current radius of effect.
All humans living within these towns have had their bodies altered to be similar to domesticated animals, or to be composed of dust. Local residents reported that their bodies have a constant feeling of "itching" in the affected appendages. Residents are not able to eat or drink, but have continued to feel hunger and thirst pains while in containment. Those who have portions of their bodies break off will report still feeling pain from the missing limbs, even if they have dissolved. In addition, several missing residents appear to have been killed during the storm, with portions of their body integrated into local wildlife and fauna. No rain has fallen within 2 km of these towns since 2/11/1934.
Subject's lungs were found to be filled with dust during autopsy.
Any foods or drinks brought within areas affected by SCP-1929 will have their outer layer coated with dust, and become dry when contacted by humans. Locusts will grow from the food if no human contacts it for 3 hours after entry, and will consume the food. These locusts will then attempt to consume people and structures within the town until killed. Swarms of locusts are known to roam underpopulated portions of the area affected SCP-1929, and will occasionally harass SCP Foundation personnel.
Residents composed entirely out of dust, sand, and soil have been found to combine with similarly affected objects in contact. Combinations of humans, canines, felines, and farming equipment have been discovered. Personnel are to note that no water is to be provided to these creatures, as it will destroy them. Agents may request sound dampening earplugs if they are harassed by humanoid instances of SCP-1929-1.
Residents have been noted as becoming significantly more withdrawn, keeping to their property and venturing to Foundation stations only for requested interviews. Examinations of these people has shown that their skin was completely coated in dust, in addition to dust coating the interior of their bodies. Some residents, primarily the very elderly and the very young, are unable to speak, due to the presence of large amounts of dust in the esophagus and the lungs. In addition, 12 instances of SCP-1929-1 have had portions of their body replaced with a mixture of blood, dust, and water. All persons who were affected by SCP-1929 will bleed sand instead of blood, with expected damage caused to their bodies.
Other events have been known to occur, usually accompanied by small, localized dust storms. Houses may appear to become dilapidated overnight, or to be shifted randomly throughout the towns. Residents have been known to have the dust portions of their bodies suddenly dissolve, and re-appear in one of the other SCP-1929 affected towns. Buildings may displace themselves to other SCP-1929 affected areas, or disappear for extended periods of time. Residential buildings will appear and disappear without warning, with agents inside displaced buildings to be assumed lost. Persons found within these buildings will not report memory of where they were prior to manifestation. In addition, the voices of people local residents claim to have gone missing have been heard. For a full log of anomalous activity taking place in SCP-1929 towns, see the Addendum 1929-C.
SCP-1929's effect was first noted by Foundation personnel after reports of it reached personnel embedded in the local weather stations. Concerns were initially raised over apparent similarity with infestations of SCP-165, although further examination of the anomaly would later show no connection. When personnel were sent to investigate, they discovered several persons who had been altered by SCP-1929. When asked to testify, residents gave contradictory reports ranging from seeing a person standing outside in the storm, to some other non-humanoid organism obscured by dust.
Addendum 1929-A: Telephone conversation transcribed by SCP Foundation operatives, call was placed by a person within the SCP-1929 affected zone during the initial event:
<Begin Log>
Operator: Hello, this is-
Person: Hey, please just listen! There's a storm incoming, but that ain't-
Operator: Frank, that you? What's going on out there?
Person: There's a person! Outside my house!
Operator: Who is it, someone local? Maybe Jacob?Person: <Unknown garbled sounds, due to interference>
Operator: Frank?
Person: He's…<static> don't… <static> …coming closer.
Operator: Can you make out who it is, Frank?
Person: No! He looks… bad, off. I think he's hurt. He's limping, or stuttering, or something.
Operator: Let him in then, nobody should be in a storm like that with a bum leg.<Noise can be heard over the line, in addition to at least three muffled voices>
Operator: Frank, are you there?
Person: <At a distance> [He's] supposed to look that way.Operator: Frank?
10 minutes and 14 seconds pass, during which the sound of rising winds can be heard. The operator occasionally attempts to inquire into the persons current status, with no response
Unknown: … just breathe, Frank. It's all okay now. We don't have to fight.
<End Log>
Addendum 1929-B: Interview with local resident D████ ██████.
Interviewed: D████ ██████
Interviewer: Dr. Boyd
<Begin Log>
Dr. Boyd: Can you tell me your take on the incident?
D████ ██████: Well… I'd just come home from town, been trying to get some more work. Mary and Albert were asleep, but I wasn't really… I was too worried to sleep. So, I was walking around outside.
Dr. Boyd: That was when it happened?
D████ ██████: (Nods) I was just leaning on the door when I heard it. Another dust storm, coming in from the east. But… it was different. Just… darker than pitch black, and the howling sounded like the hounds of hell brayin'. I got inside quick, locked the doors, and hunkered down with Mary and Albert in the bedroom. We waited for it to pass.
Dr. Boyd: Did it pass?
D████ ██████: … No. It just kept going, on and on… for days. It didn't feel right. The dust caught on your arm hair and stuck, clumpin' and crystilatin' like nothin' I'd seen before that storm. Albert… Christ, it got in his eyes. Couldn't see, but he told us they were still lookin', but they took his eyes. Lord help him, they took his eyes.Dr. Boyd: They?
D████ ██████: The geeks out there… they take the eyes. Skin, voice… they want them. When we itch, they catch it in their baskets, and leave us to dry out in the dust. We're not sharp anymore, but we still know what it does.
Dr. Boyd: Alright, thank you for-
D████ ██████: So, when are you helping us?
Dr. Boyd: Excuse me?
D████ ██████: When are you going to put things back the way they were, before it happened?
Dr. Boyd: It's being-
D████ ██████: You think we like living like this? There's the god forsaken dust eroding everybody into soil! Do you know what it feels like to have one of your arms scatter like so much soil, but still able to feel every little bit floatin' in the wastes? You don't! So help us! Aren't we still human beings, or what?<End Log>
Addendum 1929-C
