SCP-2398

Description

SCP-2398 is a plain wooden baseball bat, roughly 110cm in length and made of ash with a taped grip. SCP-2398 bears no unusual markings other than the letters “K.O.” branded into the wood just above the handle.

SCP-2398 displays no anomalous properties when not in use; however, when swung at a speed over roughly 20m/s, any living organism that SCP-2398 comes in contact with at the end of a swing will violently explode. The mechanism for this is currently unknown.

Discovery: SCP-2398 was discovered by Foundation personnel embedded in City of Toronto local authorities after an altercation between Toronto Blue Jays baseball player Carl Thomas and a group of young men and women. One of the men, seeing Mr. Thomas approaching his vehicle after leaving a nearby nightclub, attempted to assault Mr. Thomas in an attempted robbery, quickly accompanied by three other men and two women. Mr. Thomas managed to get SCP-2398 out of the back seat of his car and swung it at one of the women, causing her body to detonate. The assailants quickly dispersed, and a passerby called the police.

Addendum 2398.1: Interview

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Towns: Alright, you already spoke with Officer Marco. We just need to know, for the record, what happened tonight.

Mr. Thomas: Man, I already told you I don’t know what happened. That girl must’ve had a bomb in her bag or something. I was trying to fight them off, you know, and then she come at me so I took a swing at her. Next thing I know there’s a sound like a balloon popping, and she’s just… everywhere. Yo, I heard about them before. You know, uhh… suicide bombers. That’s some fucked up shit.

Dr. Towns: Mr. Thomas, where did you get the bat you had that night?

Mr. Thomas: Bat? (Pauses) Yo, I don’t know what you’re talking about, man.

Dr. Towns: I can promise you that this will go a lot better for you if you tell us what we need to know.

Mr. Thomas: Hang on, I want a lawyer. I ain’t saying shit until I get a lawyer.

Dr. Towns: I’m not a cop, and you won’t be getting a lawyer.

Mr. Thomas: (Pauses uncomfortably) Look man, I don’t know about all this, man. I just… look, I heard some talk about they weren’t gonna renew my contract. My numbers haven’t been great since the injury, so you know. Sometimes you gotta do some shit.

Dr. Towns: And the bat?

Mr. Thomas: A friend of a friend. I might’ve cheated, but I ain’t no snitch.

Dr. Towns: What does it do?

Mr. Thomas: You didn’t see? Three home runs, four RBIs. Best game of my career. It hits homers, man. That’s all it does. It’s a really good bat.

Dr. Towns: That’s all it does?

Mr. Thomas: (Pauses) Oh, shit. I guess not, huh?

Addendum 2398.2: Testing Log

Test ID: 2398.01

Testing Parameters: SCP-2398 is swung by an operator at a melon.

Test Results: Melon is knocked onto the floor and smashed. No difference from non-anomalous control test.

Notes: Nothing out of the ordinary here. Fruit is unaffected. -Dr. Towns

Test ID: 2398.02

Testing Parameters: SCP-2398 is swung by an operator at a regulation baseball.

Test Results: Baseball flies towards the wall of the test chamber in a steep arc and embeds itself roughly 15cm into the steel wall of the chamber.

Notes: It seems to be ectoentropic; the ball definitely left the bat going faster than the bat was swung. Interesting. -Dr. Towns

Test ID: 2398.03

Testing Parameters: SCP-2398 is swung by an operator at a beach ball.

Test Results: Beach ball is knocked across the testing chamber. No difference from non-anomalous control test.

Notes: This is very interesting. Somehow, the bat is able to differentiate between baseballs and other balls. I wonder if softballs are likewise unaffected. -Dr. Towns

Test ID: 2398.04

Testing Parameters: SCP-2398 is swung by an operator at a regulation softball.

Test Results: Softball combusts, but does not explode.

Notes: Huh. -Dr. Towns

Test ID: 2398.05

Testing Parameters: SCP-2398 is swung by an operator at a test chicken.

Test Results: Test chicken violently explodes, sending feathers and viscera across the testing chamber. Operator is injured when a piece of beak becomes lodged in their arm. SCP-2398 is unaffected.

Notes: Notably, our control chicken was also killed when we hit it with a non-anomalous baseball bat. This was a little more dramatic, but there might be a better test to run here. -Dr. Towns

Test ID: 2398.06

Testing Parameters: SCP-2398 is swung by an operator at a test cow.

Test Results: Test cow violently explodes. Operator is killed as a result of the explosion. Testing chamber is severely damaged.

Notes: The more massive the creature, the more violent the explosion. The good news is our test cow wasn’t killed when we hit it with a regular bat, so we’re at least seeing a notable difference now. -Dr. Towns

Test ID: 2398.07

Testing Parameters: SCP-2398 is swung by a machine at a test pig.

Test Results: During setup of the swinging robotic arm rig, the arm swings prematurely, striking Dr. Towns in the arm and causing him to violently explode. The swinging robotic arm rig is destroyed. The resulting explosion causes SCP-2398 to arc across the test chamber and strike the test pig, which also violently explodes. That explosion causes SCP-2398 to then strike two D-Class personnel used as operators in earlier tests, who also violently explode. The test chamber is destroyed as a result of the four explosions. SCP-2398 is unaffected, and later placed back into containment.

Notes: We’re probably going to suspend testing of this for a while. -Dr. Lyle