SCP-1510

Item #: SCP-1510

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1510 is to be kept in a standard storage compartment in the Artifact Containment section of Site 19, kept dry and cool to prevent any damage to the fragile metal. It is to be polished and checked for rust every two weeks. A D-class personnel is to wear SCP-1510 for two (2) hours every day, in order to allow interviewers and mental health personnel access to SCP-1510-1. If SCP-1510-1 exhibits any violent behavior, this procedure may be revoked at the discretion of Dr. Stevenson, project Resurgum supervisor.

Description: SCP-1510 is a standard bronze Roman infantry helmet dating to the Marian Reforms of the year 107 BCE. The helmet bears no marks to distinguish it from other, similar helmets, and shows appropriate signs of aging. The helmet shows no anomalous properties unless worn by a man of the ages 28-35, most likely due to the nature of the entity residing in the helmet (henceforth SCP-1510-1). When worn by a man of the appropriate age, SCP-1510-1 will manifest, overriding the wearer's personality entirely until it is removed, whereupon it will return to normal. The wearer will have no recollection of the time the entity had control over his body. Subsequent scans reveal no lasting effect on brain chemistry nor any lasting residue of SCP-1510-1's personality.

When addressed, SCP-1510-1 will identify himself, in classical Latin of the Central Italian dialect, as Publius Carthephilus Aetius, a Roman soldier formerly under the command of the Consul Gaius Marius, who fought in the Jugurthine War and died under unclear circumstances the night following the triumphus of that war (see interview logs).

SCP-1510 was recovered after the Foundation intercepted reports of a man wearing an antique Roman helmet rampaging across the streets of ██████, Italy. The man was shouting profanities in Latin and attacking passersby with a spade, and after being arrested by local police and having his helmet removed, showed no recollection of the events, nor any skill in speaking Latin. The Foundation recovered the helmet and had the man, a known grave robber, committed to an asylum after questioning and the administration of class-C amnestics. Initial testings of SCP-1510 proved fruitless, until a D-class personnel of a suitable age was selected. At first, personnel wearing the helmet showed signs of aggression and confusion and refused to communicate with research crews, but after several tests SCP-1510-1's aggression subsided and the subject became more cooperative, which made interviewing it possible.

Addendum SCP-1510-1-1: The following is a transcript of the sixth and seventh attempts of communicating with SCP-1510-1. These are the first successful interviews with the subject.

Show interview log SCP-1510-1-6

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Interviewed: SCP-1510-1 (using the body of D-1510-13)

Interviewer(s): Dr. ████, Dr. ██████ (translator)

Foreword: All previous attempts of starting a conversation with SCP-1510-1 resulted in the subject attempting to attack research staff immediately after his takeover of D-1510-1.

<Begin Log>

Dr. ████: Good afternoon, SCP-1510-1. I'm glad to see you've decided to cooperate.

SCP-1510-1: I apologize for my previous behavior. You must understand, all of this is not easy to accept.

Dr. ████: I would imagine so. Would you mind answering a few questions?

SCP-1510-1: I will answer as best as I am able, which I suspect will not be much.

Dr. ████: Very good. Could you describe the events leading to your current state?

SCP-1510-1: The war in Numidia was finally over, and the Consul was leading King Jugurtha back to Rome in chains. His Quaestor, Sulla, ordered me and the rest of my cohort to guard the captured king on the way home. We drew straws for guard duty, and I got the last night before the triumphus, which was a shit appointment. I had to guard the bastard while the rest got to celebrate.

Dr. ████: What happened that night?

SCP-1510-1: Jugurtha asked for my name, then tried to persuade me to let him go. He tried to plead, bribe me, threaten me, anything to avoid the fate that was in store for him. When he saw he wouldn't get anywhere with me, he started to curse me. Fouler words I have never heard.

Dr. ████: What did he say?

SCP-1510-1: He used this old ritualistic formula. I remember every word: "Spirits of the underworld, I consecrate and hand over to you, if you have any power, Publius Carthephilus Aetius. Whatever he does, may it all turn to ash. Spirits of the netherworld, I consecrate to you his limbs, his head, his shadow, his brain, his mouth, his nose, his speech, his breath, his liver, his heart, his lungs, his intestines, his stomach, his arms, his hands, his knees, his calves, his heels, his toes. Spirits of the netherworld, if I see him wasting away, I swear that I will be delighted to offer a sacrifice to you, a king's sacrifice."

Dr. ████: What did you do?

SCP-1510-1: I hit him. Hard. Curses like that are not to be taken lightly.

Dr. ████: And then?

SCP-1510-1: The following day we paraded Jugurtha through the streets of Rome, chained and disgraced. The citizenry tore off his clothes and jewelry, even ripping off an earlobe with his earrings. He didn't seem to mind. The entire time, he was staring at me, smiling even when we threw him in the Tullianum to starve. That night, me and my comrades celebrated our victory.

Dr. ████: And how did you celebrate?

SCP-1510-1: Drinking, feasting, whoring, everything a man could want. I passed out in some alley sometime in the early hours of the morning. When I woke up, I — [subject appears distraught]. I would rather not talk about it.

Dr. ████: SCP-1510-1, if you want us to help you, we need to understand exactly what happened to you. Please proceed.

SCP-1510-1: [reluctant] Very well. When I woke up, I found my body rotting. My arms and legs were festering, gangrenous. My stomach was ripped open as if by some wild beast, and crawling with maggots and flies. A crow was feasting on my eyes, and my nose was gone, but still I could see and smell, feel every little bit of torment my body was enduring. Even after so long, I still remember every moment of it.

Dr. ████: Please continue.

SCP-1510-1: [hesitant, distressed] Please, no more. What happened next… I can't. I can't! Please, give me some time. Give me the darkness.

Dr. ████: Very well. We shall continue tomorrow.

<End Log>

Closing Statement: SCP-1510 was removed from D-1510-13 with SCP-1510-1's consent. After removal, D-1510-13 showed no recollection of the interview.

Show interview log SCP-1510-1-7

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Interviewed: SCP-1510-1 (using the body of D-1510-13)

Interviewer(s): Dr. ████, Dr. ██████ (translator)

Foreword: This interview took place the day following interview SCP-1510-1-6.

<Begin Log>

Dr. ████: Good morning, SCP-1510-1. I hope you are feeling better.

SCP-1510-1: I do, thank you. The darkness… it helps. I am ready to continue.

Dr. ████: Excellent. Go ahead.

SCP-1510-1: I watched myself rot for hours. The pain was intolerable, but I did not lose consciousness. I don’t think I was able to any more. I was trapped in a prison of dying flesh, feeling its agony but completely unable to control it. Unable to die. Eventually, I was discovered. Two beggars bumped into me in the dark, and once they saw what I became, fled and returned with a haruspex. When he came, he performed his holy art on me. He couldn't have known I felt every slash of his blade.

Dr. ████: Holy art? Are you referring to haruspicy? To my knowledge, it was only performed on animals.

SCP-1510-1: I was no more than that to him by that point. He said I was marked by the Furies, a herald of tyranny reborn. He saw this in my entrails. After he was done, he ordered the beggars to remove me from Rome, so that my foul presence could not mar the city any longer. Still in uniform, they buried me in an unused burial site outside the city. I supposed they felt they owed me this much. After that, there was only the slowly fading presence of my body, and finally nothing at all. There was peace in that emptiness. Until I was awakened. Nothing was the same.

Dr. ████: Describe your experience when first "awakening", if you will.

SCP-1510-1: After my long sleep, the sudden return of sensation was like being plunged into a frozen stream. I awoke to a small, dirty room that smelled of spoiled food and sweat. My body felt alien to me, like I have crawled into someone else's skin and was controlling it like a puppet. Nothing was familiar. The room was filled with loud noises and bright lights, it was unbearable. When I ran outside, it was even worse. Screaming horns, blinding multicolored lights, everything foreign, everything strange. I panicked. I wanted all of it to be gone, so I grabbed the nearest thing resembling a weapon. You know the rest. Once I was caught, I was returned to the darkness, the silence. Until you woke me up once more.

Dr. ████: Why did you decide to cooperate?

SCP-1510-1 I realize now I was given a second chance. The gods finally took pity on me. I cannot allow this opportunity to go to waste. They returned me to the light for a reason, and I shall find out what it is. By Jupiter and Juno both, so do I swear.

Dr. ████: Perhaps we can help.

Closing Statement: Recommending followup interviews with SCP-1510-1. Learning more about this "curse" should be the priority.

<End Log>

Addendum SCP-1510-1-2: SCP-1510-1 continues to be cooperative, and has granted researchers some valuable insights on the locations and nature of several possible SCP objects he encountered in the Jugurthine War, in present-day Algeria. Investigation is underway. No new information about the cause of SCP-1510-1's condition has been discovered as of this moment.