SCP-518
The Transinformational Tomb of Asa Rutledge
Portion of SCP-518
Special Containment Procedures
SCP-518 is to be monitored by a field research team consisting of at least three staff and one project lead, supplemented by two security staff. This team shall be based at Remote Observation Site-18, 3 km from SCP-518. An automated security perimeter surrounding SCP-518 is to be established and maintained.
One physical copy of SCP-518-1 is authorized to exist at any given time for the purposes of research. This copy is to be kept at all times in an opaque, protective sleeve, sealed in a locked container and kept in Storage Locker 742 in Restricted Access Wing 1 of Site-93. One electronic copy is permitted to be accessible from authorized terminals at Site-93 and Remote Observation Site-18. Any unauthorized instances of SCP-518-1 discovered by Foundation personnel are to be destroyed immediately.
Description
SCP-518 is a localized anomalous phenomenon, catalyzed by the dissemination and exposure of SCP-518-1.
SCP-518 is, currently, a complex in a small valley consisting of eleven wooden structures in varying states of repair, designed and built in the style of structures common in newly-settled areas of the American West during the mid-19th century. These structures are arranged in a manner inconsistent with an established settlement; buildings are arranged in a roughly circular pattern, with no regard to road systems or natural topography (one structure is currently located on top of a creek). SCP-518 is located in rural Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, in the vicinity of the Metolius River.
SCP-518-1 is a short narrative, first documented upon the initial exploration of SCP-518 (see Exploration Log 518-1). Whenever SCP-518-1 is read in its entirety by a sapient, comprehending individual, SCP-518 undergoes spontaneous physical changes. In most cases, these changes entail the movement of structures in relation to each other, rearrangement of the interior features of these structures, and a small amount of subsidence in the immediate geographic vicinity of SCP-518. In some cases, readings of SCP-518-1 will cause new structures to appear, or existing structures to simply cease to exist. Research has determined that these physical changes occur either instantaneously or at speeds beyond the observational capability of current technology.
Interior of SCP-518 structure
The buildings that make up SCP-518 superficially resemble commonly found structures of the region during the 1850s and 1860s. In addition to several houses, there are currently a barn, a three-story hotel, and a saw mill. However, the interiors of these structures are atypical of traditional dwellings and establishments. Features such as walls, floors and ceilings tend to be arbitrarily constructed; houses have been observed to have rooms with no doors, non-level floors (one dwelling is constructed with a "floor" at a 37° angle), ceilings of a height of 1 m or less, etc. Furniture and household items typical of the period are also present, but are arranged haphazardly (in several cases, chairs and beds have been observed nailed to walls and ceilings). Other buildings contain no features inside, while the "barn" merely covers an open shaft extending to a depth of 120 m.
The land area comprising SCP-518 is gradually undergoing conversion into a sinkhole, and is currently experiencing subsidence at a rate of approximately 2-3 m per SCP-518-1 event. Current projections estimate that SCP-518 will be completely submerged by the local water table after 25-30 additional SCP-518-1 events.
Below is a partial transcription of SCP-518-1:
This is the last Will and Testament of me, Asa Rutledge of Grett's Hollow, Kentucky1 made this eleventh day of February one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine. I bequeath no material possessions, having none.
[DATA REDACTED]
Though my soul be condemned to Hell for what happened here, I direct that my final wishes be carried out in full.
This place and all that happened here shall be forgotten by Man and buried under the Earth until the Day of Judgment. Though nothing is hidden from the Almighty, this being the only atonement I can now offer, I will it thus.
By the power left to me, which I pray is still sufficient to this task, let this testament be the means to conceal my shame, and let the tools of remembrance be turned to the act of forgetting. May Providence hasten the vanishing of this place from the Earth.
Since the establishment of containment, the Foundation has documented 15 spontaneous changes in the composition of SCP-518 that can be reasonably traced to the reading of SCP-518-1. Of these incidents, 13 have occurred under controlled research conditions.