The Summer King - SCP Foundation

SCP-076

Document 076-1: Procedure 07-Frazer

Drone Warfare

Other Reports

Item #: SCP-076

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: The land around SCP-076-B is owned by the French government, which allows the Foundation to maintain an outpost for the purpose of studying SCP-076-B. Food and provisions to be provided to SCP-076-B, as well as materials for constructing shelter. Reasonable requests for materials and food are to be routed up to Foundation Europe Headquarters for approval. Researchers are encouraged to engage SCP-076-B in conversation to learn more about its origins. Limited discussion of current events has been permitted to encourage good behavior.

On the Winter Solstice, no fewer than twenty agents trained for Procedure 07-Frazer will be stationed around SCP-076-A with weaponry designed for the purpose of killing SCP-076-B. At sunset, the first agent will enter SCP-076-A and will attempt to kill SCP-076-B. If SCP-076-B kills that agent, the next will enter SCP-076-A. This will continue until SCP-076-B is killed.

In the event that Procedure 07-Frazer is unsuccessful, the Foundation will encourage client-nations to maintain a five year stockpile of food to minimize global famines.

Description: SCP-076-A is a 500-meter ring of sandstone and dolerite menhirs in northwestern Morbihan, France. Archaeological study suggests it was constructed between 4000 and 3500 BCE. In the center of the ring is a cask of soil 1.5 meters tall and 1 meter across. Seven to ten trees grow inside the circle at any given time. Observed species include oak, ash, hawthorn, apple, and holly. If the trees are removed, new trees rapidly grow during the solstices, growing to full size over the course of a day. Other than their origins and behavior during Procedure 07-Frazer, they display no unusual properties.

SCP-076-B is a human male with Northern European features. Records from previous custodians of the anomaly state that it has been there as long as the site has been watched. Interviews with the entity suggest that it is contemporary with the construction of the stone circle. SCP-076-B is normally resistant to physical injury, showing no damage after being subjected to gunfire, extreme heat, edged weaponry, or crushing force. Outside of Procedure 07-Frazer, it appears to feel no pain, though it can experience discomfort, as from cold or hunger. SCP-076-B is unable to leave the edge of SCP-076-A. As this makes containment easier and prevents interruption of Procedure 07-Frazer, this has not been extensively tested beyond ensuring that SCP-076-B is unable to leave under its own power.

Outside of Procedure 07-Frazer, SCP-076-B behaves in a genial, agreeable manner. It speaks numerous dialects of French, English, Latin, Greek, Gaulish, Breton, [DATA EXPUNGED], and several other ancient and modern languages (See SCP-140 and SCP-769). It does not need to eat but becomes distressed when it goes several days between meals.

SCP-076-B refuses to answer any direct questions regarding its origins or why Procedure 07-Frazer has the effects it does, though some information has been gathered from indirect statements (such as it having witnessed the construction of SCP-076-A). Discussion of the procedure disturbs the subject greatly. It refuses to engage in conversations that continue returning to these topics.

On the night of the Winter Solstice, all humans within SCP-076-A will feel compelled to leave the area approximately thirty minutes before sunset. Once the sun is below the horizon, SCP-076-B can be killed as outlined in Document 076-1: Procedure 07-Frazer.

During this time, any weapon that enters SCP-076-A will be duplicated by the trees inside the stone circle. For example, if the Participant carries a sword, an oak tree may produce a sword-shaped branch. If the participant is armed with a rifle, an ash tree may provide a rifle-shaped base, with mistletoe and other flora providing additional parts and shaping. SCP-076-B will then take the weapon. These objects will function as the weapon wielded by the participant, though they do not appear to have any physical mechanisms that would allow them to do so. Projectiles are made of thornwood and obsidian. When examined after Procedure 07-Frazer, the weapons are obviously unable to function except as clubs or spears; blades lack edges, while the barrels of firearms have no bore, being solid pieces of wood.

SCP-076-B will attempt to defend itself with lethal force. Once one participant is killed, another can then enter SCP-076-A, becoming the new participant. This will continue until either SCP-076-B is killed or the sun rises.

SCP-076-B is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat and the use of most melee weapons. It is proficient in the use of several firearms, with its skill increasing rapidly throughout the course of the 20th century. It can be confused by unfamiliar weaponry but has shown a strong aptitude for adapting to new weapons.

When killed during Procedure 07-Frazer, SCP-076-B's body is absorbed by the soil. Within the next seven days, SCP-076-B's body will begin to manifest inside the cask of soil at the center of SCP-076-A. It remains quiescent until the summer solstice, at which point it emerges from the cask.

If SCP-076-B is not killed, severe changes to the global climate will occur. The exact methodology varies, but they always cause a cooling effect on the Northern Hemisphere. Records are somewhat unreliable, but the last time Procedure 07-Frazer failed was in 1882. This precipitated [DATA EXPUNGED], which did not return to normal until 1888.

Attempts to kill SCP-076-B through long range firearms or precision bombing have been attempted, but have produced no effect. After Foundation meteorologists detected a correlation between damage sustained by SCP-076-A from explosive ordnance and perturbations in global weather patterns (notably in 1951 and 1979), all such attempts have been cancelled.

Foundation strategy will focus on the use of highly-trained operatives and the use of weaponry designed to be more difficult for or unfamiliar to SCP-076-B. Examples include firearms with misaligned barrel, canes concealing blades, and unconventional trigger mechanisms. Agents prepared to act as participants will train extensively with these weapons so that they will not be at a disadvantage in using them. This strategy has reduced participant fatalities from ten per year in 1890 (when the Foundation took responsibility for Procedure 07-Frazer) to one every three years by 2010.

SCP-076 was previously held by a number of different organizations, including the Government of France, the Roman Catholic Church, a string of local nobility, and various Gaulish tribes. In 1890, the Foundation was given primary responsibility for containing the anomaly and enacting Procedure 07-Frazer.

Note: The Horizon Initiative undertakes containment of a similar entity contained in ██████████, Argentina. Foundation Intelligence reports that enacting the proper procedures "holds back the seas." As there is currently no data on the failure rate of these procedures, it is difficult to determine what this means. So far, all that is known is that this subject has the features of the indigenous people and is apparently cooperative. Attempts to gain further information from the Horizon Initiative have met with strong resistance.

Procedure 07-Frazer

Personnel required: One administrative overseer (the Celebrant), 40 agents trained in the current year's armament (Candidates), and SCP-076-B (the Sacrifice).

Preparations: Weaponry must be designed and produced that creates an increase in difficulty or else advantages that are not immediately useful. Examples include firearms with barrels that fire far to the left or the right, canes that contain concealed blades, or unconventional trigger mechanisms. The goal is a weapon that, with training, presents minimal disadvantages while withholding any advantages from the Sacrifice. Weaponry will be continually designed and tested by the engineering department at Foundation Europe Headquarters (EUHQ). At least four separate weapons will be available for Procedure 07-Frazer.

Procedure 07-Frazer becomes possible during the night of the Winter Solstice. Thirty minutes before sunset, all persons aside from SCP-076-B will be compelled to leave the area encompassed by the stone circle of SCP-076-A. Candidates must be in place with all equipment at least six hours prior to this time. Weaponry will be held in hard cases to ensure the Sacrifice does not gain any familiarity with the weaponry prior to Procedure 07-Frazer.

The celebrant will take a place ten meters outside of SCP-076, seated in a chair on a raised platform. When the sun is no longer visible above the horizon, the celebrant will say the phrase, "Who will bring the sun back?" The first Candidate will approach the Celebrant, and respond, "I will end the winter." The celebrant will say, "Enter the circle, spill the blood. Let the season turn." It does not matter which language is spoken, so long as key meanings are expressed.

At this point, it is common for the Sacrifice to begin screaming insults and threats. Personnel should ignore this.

Once the key phrases have been exchanged, the first Candidate is now the Participant, and can enter the circle. As the Participant enters the circle, a copy of his or her armament will manifest near the Sacrifice.

The Participant must attempt to kill the Sacrifice. Once the Sacrifice is killed, a wooden blade will manifest from the nearest tree. The Participant must use this knife to cut the throat of the Sacrifice. Once this is done, the body of the Sacrifice will sink into the ground, and the Procedure is complete.

If the first Participant does not succeed, further Candidates will continue until the Sacrifice has been killed.

"How's it look?" Technician Knoebel asked, patting the drone.

"Like it belongs on an assembly line," said Major Guerin, raising his eyebrow skeptically. The robot looked like a box, about five feet tall, with several arms and cameras sticking out. A pair of guns were mounted on the front, but they had obviously been an afterthought to the design.

"Well," Knoebel said with a sniff, "It's meant to be practical, not pretty." He kicked one of the large, ribbed wheels affectionately. "It was designed for bomb disposal, but with our modifications, it's going to have no problem taking out the target."

"Well, that's the hope," Dr. Mercier said. "We don't know if this will affect the target. Previous attempts to kill the target from outside SCP-076-A have been less than successful."

"Well, this time we'll have the weapon right there. And no one will be put at risk." With a satisfied smile, Knoebel began setting up the rest of his equipment.

"It's getting close to time, Doctor," one of the guards said. "If you will follow me, the chair is ready."

"Yes, yes," Mercier said. "I'm coming. I have done this before, you know." The old scientist left the trailer.

"He might as well not even go," Knoebel said. "I tell you, this will work. And no more need for silly rituals and nonsense."

"So you say," the Major said. "So you say. Still… We'll keep the Candidates stationed outside."

Knoebel continued to fit connections, and abruptly, the robot began its boot-up sequence. Once all lights were green, the technician grinned, and opened the door to the back of the trailer. "Don't go anywhere, Major. This is the best seat in the house."

"Oh, don't worry. I don't intend to go anywhere." He lit a cigarette, and sat on one of the plastic cases the equipment had been stored in.

Knoebel sat at the controls and guided the robot down the ramp. It moved smoothly over the path they had prepared earlier. The audio-pick-ups gave an echo of the threats coming from the stone circle. Some were in French. Some weren't. Knoebel smiled. Empty promises.

The robot soon came to the edge of the circle. It stopped. Knoebel frowned. "Dammit, I will kill that bastard. I will not let this mystic nonsense freeze the world." Suddenly, the robot veered forward again. "Hah. Just lost link for a second, I imagine. It's working now."

The major frowned, but said nothing, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

"Now, let's see where he's hiding." Knoebel once again guided it forward, playing with the controls with all the joy of a child with a new toy.

There was a glimpse of movement, and the robot moved forward. Knoebel's hands twitched to the gun controls, but he held off for the moment. He needed to make sure he had a clear target. No sense in warning it too soon.

They moved past a tall, thick oak, and there was the man, his skin dyed with blue patterns. He was sitting at an odd pile of rocks and flowers, it looked like, and something else… But before Guerin could get a closer look, Knoebel opened fire.

The sacrifice jumped away from the gunfire, diving into the bushes. The robot moved forward, following, trying to track the man.

"I'll get him, don't worry. As expected, he doesn't have any weapons of his own." Knoebel's fingers danced over the controls. He had a hungry look on his face, eager for the kill.

"We'll see," the major said, his voice neutral.

There was movement, and the robot fired again. "Come on," Knoebel said. "You're only delaying the inevitable."

There was a snap of branches, and Knoebel turned the robot around again, just in time to see the Sacrifice jumping on top of the machine with a rock in hand. There was a pounding, cracking sound. Knoebel tried to move the guns into position, but they weren't designed to point at the robot itself. "No, no, no!" he yelled in frustration.

"No weapons?" the major said, raising an eyebrow.

"Dammit. I think he's broken the receiver. I can't… No, it can't move." He grimaced in frustration.

The major picked up his radio. "Doctor, the machine has failed. Send in the first Candidate."

"Still, the principle is sound," Knoebel said. "Next year, we'll have a much better machine. Protected from crude attacks. He won't get away with that twice!" He glared at the video feed, still live.

The major looked as well. The Sacrifice had returned to the pile of rocks and flowers. Now he could see that, despite the time of the year, the whole thing was swarming with bees. And… There was something rising into the air. It looked like water. Yes, water, forming into a squarish shape, floating in front of the sacrifice.

There was a hiss and the doctor's tinny voice came over the little radio. "Major? The Candidate can't enter. There's something wrong."

"Hmm." The major looked more closely at the square of water. There was an image forming there. Like a crystal ball, or…

There was a sound outside the trailer. A tearing, grinding sound. A dark shape was rising from the ground.

On the screen, he could see a slightly out of focus image of a truck trailer, a ramp extending from its back.

"Uh-oh," Knoebel said.

The major flipped a switch, and the exterior lights came on, and he was able to get a good look at the thing.

It was roughly the shape of the robot. It had the same overall blocky shape, but it was made of stone and wood. He could see where it had ripped its way free of the ground, just about as far from the trailer as… As the sacrifice's position was from the edge of the ring. But instead of moving along on treads, this thing had a dozen small feet, like those of a deer, though made of stone.

"What's happening?" Knoebel said. "How is he doing this?"

"Ah. So he does have a weapon after all. Besides the rock, of course," the major said, spitting out his cigarette.

It was moving clumsily, and on the screen, he could see the sacrifice biting his lip as he tried to figure out the controls. He was moving bees from one place to another, interrupting paths, and it seemed to affect how the construct moved. He set a bee on a flower, and long wooden tubes expanded from the central body.

"Those aren't… They can't be…" Knoebel stammered.

"I rather think they are," said the major. He slowly pulled out his sidearm.

"He-he doesn't know how to fire, though," Knoebel said. "He can't really hurt us, yes?"

The Sacrifice moved a flower as though it were a switch, and with a sharp crack, one of the tubes flashed, and a hole appeared in a plastic case.

"It would appear he can," said the major.

"Then shoot it! Shoot it before he kills us!" Knoebel was scrambling behind his equipment, trying to put something, anything between himself and the ersatz robot.

"I think not," Guerin said. He took careful aim, and shot the technician in the middle of his forehead. The construct collapsed, its legs giving way. Parts fell off of it, and it became still again. The major turned on his radio. "Doctor, I think you will find you can send them in again. I recommend you do so now."

He set down the radio, sat once again on the case, and unhurriedly lit another cigarette. It was a shame about Knoebel, but the contest couldn't be allowed to end in a draw. Sacrifices must be made.

+ Report on the "Summer King" of Paimpont Forest

- Third Republic of France, 1882

In 1794, our Government took over full control of the stone circle in Paimpont Forest that keeps the man known as the Summer King imprisoned. Since then, a small portion of the government's funds and resources have gone towards the "ritual" intended to keep the sun rising. This involves pitting men in duels against him until he is dead. Though barbaric, it has been considered necessary, based on the legends that surround him.

According to the reports the church had written, the man's death is a surety to God of humanity's faith, and the price of winter's ending. The other obvious supernatural attributes of the Summer King were considered sufficient evidence of this claim.

However, there is no evidence that this is actually the case. Given the severe expense, in both materials and persons, it is the recommendation of Ministry of the Unknown that this barbaric practice be halted, at least for one trial year.

+ The Pagan of Brocéliande

- The Roman Catholic Church, 1353

The man simply referred to as the Pagan is well named. Covered in primitive tattoos, he speaks in a vulgar tongue, and says many blasphemous things. Surely he is the clearest relic of this country's heathen roots, before the church brought light.

It was in the 11th century when the nearby Monastery of Saint Cyprian of Anthioch took control of the circle from a cult of pagans who had kept themselves hidden from the eyes of the church. Though there was great debate among them, it was ultimately decided to continue the sacrifices, a decision that we affirm today.

God in heaven has asked us to reject, again and again, our selfish and satanic desire to turn from him for worldly power, and instead bask in his light. By killing the Pagan, we reject again the sins of our ancestors, and thus does he bring the warmth of the sun to us again. The times this duty has lapsed serve as constant reminders of the importance of this holy task.

There has been debate in Rome over the truth of our claims. I invite any man of Rome to come on a night other than the solstice, and attempt to drive steel into the man. No blade will harm him, no prayer will banish him. Attempts to drive his spirit away from this place have failed. Holy and good men have tried, but on no night but the solstice can he be harmed. There is no power greater than God's, so it must be God's will that he remain here, and that his death be ordained year after year.

I make this report to ask again for more men of faith to come and test themselves against him. Our work is as vital to the safety of the church as any elsewhere in Christendom. Surely any man who dies here finds himself in His arms in heaven.

By my hand, Bishop Geraud III

+ The Wild Man

- Gaulish Tribe, 102 CE

Be brave, my son. He is a great warrior, but you can still defeat him. You have trained for this for all your life. You are stronger than he, and taller by a head. He is skilled, but lesser men than you have killed him.

Wear the armor we have bought for you. Best armor from Rome, you have learned to wear it as a second skin.

Take the spear we have carved for you. The head is finest bronze. Its length is known to you. We change it from year to year, so he is never quite sure. Be quick with it, so he may never learn too fast.

Take my blessing, my son. In my youth, I stood where you do. Three times I bested him, more than any other man, before he took my hand on the third time.

Spill his blood to the ground, and the gods will give us back the sun.

+ The Sun's Child

- Oral Tradition, 2500 BCE

Long ago, the sun had a child. But that child was sent to the breast of the Earth, to walk as a man.

The child eats and drinks, speaks our tongue, and laughs like any man. But he cannot die, for the sun protects him.

The sun misses his child, though. The days grow shorter and shorter, until at last with his grief in full, the sun's protection is gone from the child. Then can he be slain, and sent back to the sun.

But the child is restless. As the days grow warmer and fuller, so too does his discontent, and so he returns to the breast of the Earth. So he does not wander far, and so he can be sent home again when the sun's grief grows too harsh, the Earth raised a prison of stones past which he cannot leave. And so each year he must be sent to his father again.

+ The Bet

- Wouldn't You Like to Know?

"Well?"

"Roll them."

"Damn! I was so close… I could have beaten you. I should have beaten you."

"But you didn't. It had to be one of us, and I'm not sorry it won't be me. Still, you knew the risks as well as the rest of us. Someone needs to be here."

"I won't do it! Let someone else die."

"Ah, but you lost. The bones have spoken. It's no use, brother. You shall die, and again, and again."

"No! No, come back here!"

"Farewell, brother. If it's any consolation, it could have been any of us. Just the luck of the dice."