SCP-3898
The Burden
Object Class: Esoteric
Connected to: SCP-3983
SCP-3898 during initial recovery, moments before Agent Palmer's transmutation
Special Containment Procedures
SCP-3898 is to be stored in the center of a locked standard hazardous object containment unit no smaller than 15x15x15 meters.
Under no circumstances are Foundation personnel permitted to enter SCP-3898's effective radius. If exposed, personnel are to be detained and kept under psychological observation until such time that they are determined to be healthy and not a danger to themselves or others.
SCP-3898's enclosure is to be equipped with a remote-operated restraining and pacification apparatus for subject retrieval, as well as an automated cleaning system for the purposes of removing bodily fluids, seawater, corpses, and other detritus resultant from testing.
Description
SCP-3898 is an iron Admiralty pattern ship's anchor, 2.5 meters in length and weighing approximately 350 kilograms. SCP-3898 shows signs of corrosion and deterioration consistent with exposure to seawater for an extended period of time, estimated at 140-150 years. It has displayed no material or chemical abnormalities and yields to sampling and destructive testing as expected.
Humans that enter an area approximately 5 meters from SCP-3898's surface will experience a range of anomalous psychological effects, varying between individuals. These effects are divided into two broad subsets, immediate and lasting, according to their duration and required proximity to SCP-3898.
Immediate effects of SCP-3898 exposure are only exhibited while the subject is within SCP-3898's effective radius. These include psychotic episodes, auditory and visual hallucinations, syncope accompanied by SLUDGE syndrome, and active suicide attempts, with varying degrees of probability and intensity.
Lasting effects of SCP-3898 exposure persist after the subject has been removed from SCP-3898's presence. Subjects invariably display symptoms corresponding to major depressive disorder, and may further exhibit suicidal ideation, nonlethal self harm, manic episodes, chronic malaise, and weakened immune system with varying probability. The duration and intensity of these effects worsens in proportion to the subject's closest proximity to SCP-3898 and total time of exposure. Therapy, antidepressant medication, and amnestics have proven effective in lessening these symptoms, as well as decreasing their duration.
Physical contact, defined as touching SCP-3898 with an uncovered body part, results in a wide range of dramatic anomalous effects, described in greater detail in the testing logs below.
Contact Tests: In each of these tests, the subject was instructed to approach SCP-3898 as quickly as possible (to avoid the incipient proximity effects) and make physical contact with it, via touching with a hand.
| Date | Subject | Results of Contact |
| 13 April, 2015 | D-3898-13 | Subject's body is instantaneously transmuted into an equivalent volume of clear fluid, which loses cohesion and splashes to the floor of the containment chamber. A sample of this fluid was examined and determined to be seawater, with living microbes consistent with those found in the epipelagic zone of the mid-Pacific Ocean. |
| 27 July, 2015 | D-3898-20 | Subject expires. Autopsy report revealed the majority of subject's abdominal viscera had been replaced with a mass of material comprised of algae, diatoms, various deceased fish, crustaceans, and aquatic mollusks in various states of dismemberment and decomposition, a live octopus, three shark teeth belonging to the genus Somniosidae, decomposing seaweed, and seawater, causing near-instantaneous death. Remains incinerated. |
| 06 September, 2015 | D-3898-34 | Subject's body in its entirety is crushed into a fine paste by a swift, sudden impact from above. Origin of force unknown. Impact energy estimated at roughly 400 kN. No information obtainable from remains. |
| 09 October, 2015 | D-3898-38 | Subject enters respiratory distress, expelling large amounts of a clear fluid while attempting to cough. Subject removed from containment chamber via remotely operated retrieval system. Medical treatment attempted, but unsuccessful, as subject's lungs continually fill with fluid from an unknown source. Subject asphyxiates and expires. Fluid sampled and determined to be seawater, of an identical composition as that retrieved during test dated 13 April. |
| 27 November, 2015 | D-3898-58 | See Incident Report 3898-01. |
Incident Report 3898-01: On 27 November 2015, test subject D-3898-58 made physical contact with SCP-3898 as instructed. However, unlike all prior tests, there were no immediately observable effects. D-3898-58 remained motionless with one hand grasping SCP-3898's central shank in excess of a minute, speaking continually at a low volume, before observing staff attempted to question him using the chamber's intercom. D-3898-58 remained unresponsive, and Senior Researcher Reynolds gave the order to pull the subject from the chamber. Before the robotic loading arms could make contact with the subject, D-3898-58 ceased speaking, then uttered a last indistinguishable sentence. He then raised his arm, lifting the 350 kg object above his head and pointing it directly skyward. The subject then vanished, leaving behind his clothes. SCP-3898 fell to the floor of the testing chamber without suffering any observable damage.
Review and subsequent filtering of the security footage from the incident revealed the content of D-3898-58's statements in the moments prior to his disappearance. Transcript follows.
The significance of this event is unknown. Investigation into SCP-3898's correlation to SCP-3983 and all other related anomalies is underway.