Item #: SCP-3495

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3495 is held in a chamber in the underground bunker of the Vatican Secret Archives in Vatican City, cared for by zoologists employed by the Holy See (in accordance with Foundation/Vatican City Co-Containment Agreement 3495/CVI). A Level-2 Foundation staff member is to remain in the Archives to observe and assist, where necessary, with this containment. SCP-3495's feeding and care requirements are normal for a non-anomalous member of its species.

SCP-3495's containment chamber is to be under 24-hour surveillance, to assist in the analysis of its vocalizations. Any vocalizations with an apparent prophetic nature are to be sent to Site-407's Director (copied to the Cardinal Archivist in accordance with Foundation/Vatican City Information Sharing Agreement 3495/CVI).

Recordings and transcriptions of all Navigator Event vocalizations are archived in Site-407, and copied with the Cardinal Archivist. They are available to access by any Foundation staff of Level-2/3495 or higher.

Description: SCP-3495 is a male mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata). In place of its "howling" vocalizations, SCP-3495 produces sounds similar to human speech. SCP-3495 is capable of producing complex vowel and consonant sounds, despite their jaw structure, the shape of their lips, and the method in which they vocalize being unable to produce these sounds normally.

SCP-3495 "speaks" a number of languages, including Latin, English, Italian, Gaelic and a dialect of Castilian Spanish. SCP-3495 has been known to the Vatican since at least the 6th Century AD, but was not in Vatican custody until the 16th Century AD. SCP-3495 has not aged during this time, indicating a degree of immortality.

The vocalizations of SCP-3495 consist solely of Biblical and pseudo-Biblical verses; special consideration is given to vocalizations that occur yearly from May 9th to May 16th. Designated Navigator Events, these vocalizations begin at noon on May 9th with SCP-3495 vocalizing a prayer to St. Brendan of Clonfert1. Until noon on May 16th, SCP-3495 will contiguously vocalize, and will not eat or sleep. Furthermore, SCP-3495 will mutilate itself using its teeth, fingernails, and toenails, as well as whatever objects are present in its enclosure; these mutilations do not affect SCP-3495's vocalizations, and heal completely at the end of the Navigator event. SCP-3495's vocalizations will cease at 3:00 AM so it can drink water, before resuming at 3:03 AM.

Vocalizations during Navigator Events are prophetic in nature, and frequently switch between English, Latin, and Gaelic. During this time, other anomalous animals within the Vatican Archives will show increased anxiety, pacing within their enclosures, refusing food, and even attacking their keepers.

For excerpts from a Navigator Event from 2000, see addenda.

Despite the apparently original and non-imitative nature of many of the vocalizations of SCP-3495, it is not considered sapient. However, it possesses behavior that is not seen in non-anomalous howler monkeys, showing a pain response in view of crucifixes, rosary beads, the sound of prayers, and relics attributed to St. Brendan.

SCP-3495 was originally recovered by Spanish conquistadors during the subjugation of Maya peoples during the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula in 1542. Considered a zoological curiosity, it was caged and sent back to Spain to be presented as a gift to King Philip II. SCP-3495's first vocalizations of Biblical texts are not recorded, but is believed to have taken place within sight of the Spanish coast.

Addendum: Selected Vocalizations:

Date: June 6th, 1916

Vocalization: And the Lord spat on the bread and threw it into the dirt and filth, before offering it to the child. "Come and eat what you deserve, and nothing more."

Behavior While Vocalizing: Climbing within its enclosure.

Source: Unknown.

Date: December 17th, 1936

Vocalization: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."

Behavior While Vocalizing: Stretching upon waking up.

Source: Isaiah 60:1

Date: June 10th, 1957

Vocalization: "I saw a tree bearing twelve manner of fruits every year, and he said unto me, This is the tree of life."

Behavior While Vocalizing: Pelting a female keeper with discarded food.

Source: Unclear; a 'Tree with twelve kinds of fruit' appears in Revelation 22:2, but this line appears in reference to the lost, apocryphal Gospel of Eve in Gnostic writings.

Date: December 25th, 1960

Vocalization: "Behold, malachite. Those who worship the stone see a false idol in its green hue. The twelve and one-hundred is a fabrication— no doomsday key, nor a lock."

Behavior While Vocalizing: Defecating.

Source: None.

Date: May 5th, 1968

Vocalization: "And God declared, "The foul curs of the earth shall blaspheme no more". A plague was brought upon them, and a great many head of cattle and dog died.

Behavior while Vocalizing: Observing the cadaver of another anomalous animal within the Vatican Archives being taken past its cage.

Source: None.

Date: October 3rd, 1970

Vocalization: Man looked at the moon and said, "It is mine!". God replied, "It is not yours. Your pride shall destroy the cosmos. Go no further."

Behavior while Vocalizing: Sleeping

Source: None

Addendum: Transcript of 2000 Navigator Event:

The Lord said unto the utter west, "The light will no more be yours. The ocean has receded, and a tide of blood will flood your shores. Then, when your books burn and your brains are being consumed by ignorance, your hearts will burst from your chest and angels will look down upon you and mock you."

The volume of SCP-3495's vocalizations increase as they hang below a branch in their enclosure.

Judas is on his isle2, his stones being eaten by flames daily. You know this, and you do not help him— thirty pieces of silver to be part of a story.

SCP-3495 lacerates its cheek, which begins bleeding.

And here I sit, brothers and sisters, behind glass and numerology. The devil sits in a throne with an inverse crucifix. Christ returned, the second coming was upon us. He came in the form of a beggar with skin of malachite, and he was crushed beneath wheels on a street in Colombia. He was unmourned. He shall remain that way, thus saith the Lord.

When the New World was explored by Brendan, he recorded things that have been destroyed. The Coagulated Sea was choked by weeds. The Paradise of Birds is screaming for those who land on it to flee from the thing in the bushes. The Whale-Island has shown its true form, and it is a gelatinous aberration. The Portal to Hell is erupting, but some force keeps the legions at bay— a woman, crowned in flowers, no God she, despite what others call her.

SCP-3495 spits on the ground seven times. Due to the hole formed in its right cheek, the spit is mixed with blood.

The Church of the Latter-Day Saints claim that the Promised Land is in a place called America. It is west— but not so far as they think. Jesus said to me, the Portal to Heaven is in a place called Cleveland, hidden in a mural that is erased daily. Only here shall they find salvation.

SCP-3495 picks up objects and begins throwing them at the walls. This includes a left hand— SCP-3495 had both hands intact during this period, and the appendage could not be accounted for following the conclusion of this Navigator event.

Jesus said that there are six other portals to heaven— one in Clonfert, in the home of my King, long since buried by blood and hooves and soil. And so, the Portal in Clonfert is closed.

SCP-3495 begins smearing the walls with its blood. No pattern is discernible.

The Third Portal is in Bethlehem, in the manger, and was destroyed by a man with many weapons, praying to the same god we all pray to. He cared not that the Portal was destroyed, thinking it would only be used by their enemies…

Saying any of the names of God is a sin punishable by death. All who speak the Tetragrammaton's name shall be sent to a burning lake of Hell. Animals will be sent elsewhere— they do not have souls.

SCP-3495 begins pelting the walls of its enclosure with rotten food. A crack appears in the glass of the enclosure, despite no food impacting on it.

I alone am free to blaspheme, for I am a Devil of Ethiope, and I have done my sentence in Hell. Brendan pained me, and now, I am to spout this gospel until the end of days.

Thermal cameras show SCP-3495's form heat to approximately 400 degrees centigrade.

The day the world will end is January 1st, 2000. But God, you say, I am still around. Yes, and this is Hell. It has gone unnoticed. Only Judas gets respite.

The Wandering Jew is dead.

SCP-3495 chews on its severed left arm while vocalizing.

He has found himself in a public house on the side of a road somewhere in the west.

SCP-3495 howls for two minutes.

He pulled out a revolver, said "Lord our God, I cannot bear this burden. We are spat upon. And now, I will replace the spittle upon my crown with my brains."

SCP-3495 spontaneously ejaculates.

Moses wept.

Following the conclusion of this Navigator Event, it was found that a male of Jewish descent had committed suicide by revolver while drinking at a bar in Los Angeles, California at the exact time SCP-3495 uttered "Moses Wept". Reportedly, this individual had spoken a prayer immediately prior to shooting themselves.

This is the first recorded instance of a prophetic vocalization by SCP-3495 being verified. Additional monitoring equipment has been installed, and a retrospective analysis of its previous vocalizations has been approved.

Footnotes

1. Also known as St. Brendan the Navigator. The Patron Saint of Travelers, notable for an account of a voyage westward from Europe, in search of Paradise.

2. In The Voyage of St. Brendan, it was said that Brendan found Judas Iscariot on an isle, which he took a respite from his place in Hell on Sundays and on feast days.