Item #: SCP-186

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: The site of SCP-186, comprising an approximately 300 km2 area, is to be closed to the public under the auspices of a habitat restoration initiative for the European bison. An automated security perimeter is to be established, monitored by staff at Remote Site-355. Security personnel must patrol SCP-186 every two weeks; any anomalous phenomena observed within the security perimeter must be documented and reported to the Research Director.

All known primary sources documenting the events of SCP-186 have been secured by the Foundation. These materials are to be stored in the Site-23 Archives. Due to the age of the materials and the potential for deterioration, all access to these documents must be approved by the Site-23 Archivist and handled per their instructions.

All instances of SCP-186-1 are to be secured in the munitions wing of Site-23.

Description: SCP-186 is the site of an unrecorded military engagement occurring from 7/24/1917 to 8/13/1917 between elements of the Imperial German Army and forces of the Russian provisional government as part of the larger conflict of World War I, and the continuing effects resulting from its aftermath. This conflict came to be known to its participants as the Battle of Husiatyn Woods in surviving accounts.

In July of 1917, an armed engagement between a detachment of approximately 500 German soldiers and the remnants of a Russian division scattered during the German counterattack to the Kerensky Offensive took place at the location of SCP-186. The forces met in heavily forested terrain outside the town of Husiatyn in what is currently Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. On both sides of the conflict, combatants deployed anomalous weaponry utilizing technology that has yet to be duplicated or understood at present. This battle eventually resulted in the deaths or permanent incapacitation of all forces involved, and approximately 300 civilians in its general vicinity.

SCP-186-1 consists of recovered weaponry dating from the initial containment of SCP-186 in 1917, and includes the following:

A highly modified weapon resembling the Skoda M1909 machine gun, capable of causing extremely rapid tumor-like growths to appear within the body of any organism larger than a common lab rat

Mortar shells specially designed to be fired from a Mortier de 58mm type 2, containing a gas that causes animal cells to become unable to cease life function

Concertina wire coated with an unknown hallucinogenic compound that permanently affects human test subjects upon entering the bloodstream

Remnants of an unknown incendiary device believed to have been detonated at the close of the conflict, accounting for what is estimated to be 34% of total casualties

British Empire-issue No. 27 type grenades, containing a gas capable of passing through all tested gas-mask filtration systems, and causing humans to constantly experience the sensation of being on fire

8x50mmR French rifle cartridges containing powdered human bone instead of gunpowder; purpose unknown

Historical records indicate that the German detachment involved in the Battle of Husiatyn Woods, at the behest of a Hungarian military advisor named Mátyás Nemeş, specifically pursued the group of Russian forces in retreat, which at the time included French scientist Dr. Jean Durand. Based on documents of the era since suppressed by the Foundation, it is believed that these two individuals are responsible for the development and limited manufacture of SCP-186-1, and had attached themselves to opposing sides of the Eastern Front for the express purpose of deployment of these weapons in a combat setting.

+ Research Log 186-7

- ACCESS GRANTED

Research Log 186-7: Notable Anomalies Documented at SCP-186

04/11/1923: A 3 km2 area in the southwestern portion of SCP-186 experiences a spontaneous die-off of trees. Decomposition occurs on an extremely accelerated time scale, and area is completely cleared of trees and other plant life within two weeks.

01/13/1927: Despite temperatures consistently at -15°C, no snow is visible throughout central portion of site. Temperatures measured at site are consistent with surroundings.

09/02/1932: The sounds of sporadic gunfire are recorded throughout the site, despite lack of observed presence of any civilians. Sounds persist for three days.

05/30/1936: Agents Chekhov and ██████████ fail to return from routine patrol of SCP-186. No subsequent traces of either person are ever recovered.

05/15/1941: Acting in accordance with intelligence sources embedded in the Third Reich, Foundation personnel evacuate SCP-186 in advance of Operation Barbarossa. Subsequent to decommissioning observation posts, faint glow visible from 150 m documented by staff to move through site. Definitive visual contact unestablished prior to evacuation.

10/29/1945: Containment of SCP-186 reestablished after discussions with Soviet Union officials. Upon initial patrol after reestablishment of containment, thirteen corpses dressed in uniforms and insignia of the German 4th Panzer Army and twenty-seven corpses in Soviet 22nd Army uniforms are discovered in advanced state of decay. No identifications of personnel are successful, as all identifying documents and insignia had been removed prior to Foundation containment.

02/19/1959: Following the formation of a large sinkhole in the northeastern portion of SCP-186, four men are observed wandering the immediate area in a state of extreme disorientation, dressed in what are later identified to be severely decomposed and degraded World War I-era military uniforms of both German Empire and Russian issue. Subjects detained and routed to Site-23 for subsequent research.

04/02/1959: After an extensive excavation of the site of the northeastern sinkhole, 23 persons are discovered buried at a depth of 15 m in a mass grave, alive despite decades of interment and various wounds and injuries. As with subjects discovered earlier, most are dressed in remnants of military uniforms of the World War I era and are presumed to be participants in the original SCP-186 event. Extensive research at Site-23 yields little information, as subjects are unable to provide any meaningful information or communication to Foundation staff due to extensive psychological trauma and profound mental disorders. Foundation staff attempt to euthanize subjects after 3 weeks of research, but fail in all attempts. Subjects subsequently tranquilized, anesthetized and incinerated.

07/29/1962: Prior to upgrades to containment facilities, security perimeter of SCP-186 found to be almost 85 m longer than originally documented. Inquiry later rules out clerical error as source of discrepancy.

12/13/1975: Localized weather phenomena documented as occurring entirely and exclusively within SCP-186. These include sustained winds up to 120 kph, 20 cm of rainfall and temperatures temporarily reaching 48°C.

08/12/1987: Packs of wolves, numbering an estimated 200 total individuals, travel to SCP-186, mass at a point in the central region of the site, and immediately disperse.

03/03/2009: A stand of three spruce trees is observed in the southwestern deforested area, the first documented plant life since 1923 event. Estimated age of trees is fifty years.

+ Transcripts of Selected SCP-186 Documents

- ACCESS GRANTED

Document 186-3: A flyer advertising a May 1911 lecture given by Dr. Durand to the Royal Institute of Chemistry

TO END ALL WARS

A presentation by visiting scholar DR. JEAN DURAND, formerly of the Académie des sciences, on the promise of modern science to create weapons of such terrible deterrent power so as to render future wars obsolete!

Dr. Durand shall explain the convergence of chemistry, ballistics, alienism and other emerging scientific fields of endeavor that will enable Mankind to usher in a new age of PEACE and MODERNITY.

To be given on the 19th of May, Derbyshire Lecture Hall

Document 186-11: Opinion piece published in the January 2, 1912 edition of the Hungarian newspaper Népszava, authored by Mátyás Nemeş

To my fellow subjects of His Highness Emperor Franz Joseph,

Truly, the greatest of human glories is the unification of a numerous and disparate people into a single, unstoppable purpose. That our marvelous Kingdom should embody this inescapable principle should go without saying from Vienna to Budapest.

But there are those, both within our territories and elsewhere on the Continent, that would see us splintered into a thousand shards and stand in the way of our destiny. What is to be done with such agitators and malcontents? While traitors and radicals are hung properly in the manner of the dogs that they are, there is no execution sufficient to quell the embers of treachery that burn in the hearts of the Balkanites. How are we to demonstrate our unity of purpose, our power, our God-given place at the head of the European procession?

By force of arms! The hangman can only strike fear into the heart of dozens. A proper army can strike it into the souls of millions. Perhaps we have the numbers, but in this we are not alone. The Russian and the Moslem can rally hordes to their banners, but for all of their masses are mere unruly nuisances. What sets man apart from the animals is not his numerical superiority, no, but his superiority of mind, demonstrated through quick wit and artifice!

My fellow subjects, I have dedicated my life to the construction of such demonstrations of artifice that none may stand against my weapons save the Almighty! It is through the force of superior arms that we will achieve our grand design, both within our borders and without! Give me the factories, give me the manpower, give me the chance to serve our Empire through my industries, and I will deliver to the people the flaming sword that will light the way to a civilized Europe! It is through these means, and only these means, that we will solve the questions that plague us today!

Document 186-32: Telegram sent by Jean Durand to Mátyás Nemeş from Paris, April 28, 1912

HAVE CONSIDERED YOUR PROPOSAL

MUST DECLINE. METHODS INFERIOR AND DERIVATIVE OF OWN RESEARCH

YOUR AIMS ARE OF CONQUEST. MINE ARE OF PEACE.

REGARDS, J. DURAND

Document 186-39: Undated memorandum from General Felix Graf von Bothmer of the Imperial German Army to unnamed subordinates

Effective immediately, Lt. Nemeş is assigned to your unit as an advisor. Experimental armaments are only to be deployed on Lt. Nemeş' orders. Despite potential for a breakthrough on the Romanian Front, unwise to use these ungodly things until more is known of their efficacy. Rumors of similar developments among the Tsarists remain unsubstantiated.

Document 186-52: Letter from Pvt. Pyotr Avtukhov, participant in the Battle of Husiatyn Woods

Dearest Nadya,

I have heard rumors of the madness happening at home. Be comforted that it is nothing like the madness that is happening here. We thought that four years of war had taught us everything we had to know and then more. We learned nothing.

The damnable Frenchman that the men elected to lead them spoke of peace. He spoke of weapons so terrible that we could make the enemy surrender on the spot. We were fools. We had run at trenches with dead men's rifles and sticks in our hands. We believed him the way we believed anyone that has supplies.

We never thought where this man came from. We didn't wonder why he had the weapons he did. We didn't care. We wanted to live.

We never considered that the enemy had the same things we did. I do not think the Frenchman did either. Or at least I hope he did not. I cannot imagine any man who would walk into this knowing what would happen. Maybe the Frenchman is not a man. Maybe he is something else.

I am sitting now in a hole I have dug in a forest somewhere. I should have run the second I saw the German take aim at Gilyov. That was no bullet fired at him. I could not look anymore after his face came apart and he was still screaming. I thought I saw hands pulling his head apart.

Somewhere in the distance Volikov is screaming that he can see devils roasting his children. He has been screaming about the same thing for five days.

I should have run away so many times. The Frenchman gave us a new gas weapon. We refused at first, remembering what had happened in Romania. But he promised us that this was different, that this would put our enemies down without harming them. Who wants any more bloodshed, he asked us. We could not argue with that. We fired mortars at a position ahead of us. A strange blue gas seeped from behind the trees, but the Frenchman cautioned us against advancing. One more thing, he said. He took one of our rifles, and taking aim took a single shot. Before we could ask what a scientist could know of shooting, we heard a scream. He had hit one of the Germans.

He handed me a pair of field glasses. Take a look, he said. I saw the German missing half of his head, still screaming. I have seen everything in this war, but I have never seen faces like those of that German's fellows as they watched their comrade. The Frenchman, in his terrible calm voice, explained that his shot had to have destroyed at least a quarter of the soldier's brain tissue. Enough to cause instant death, he said. But watch.

I kept watching through the field glasses. The German didn't stop screaming. At least ten minutes I watched, unable to move away. The Frenchman smiled. He smiled at this scene. The gas, he said, ensured that death would not come, regardless of injury. The Germans were too horrified by their comrade to notice that they were not behind cover, and the Frenchman lined up another shot. The rest of the soldier's head was now gone, and the screaming was replaced by some sort of low grunting, the likes of which I have never heard from men.

No, the Frenchman said, no harm at all. I have bestowed the gift of life on your opponents. Who could possibly stand against that, he asked.

I had to leave and vomit behind some bushes. I had not done that since the first trenches. Who indeed could keep fighting after such a thing? But fight they did. Once a group of us were ambushed and chased to a meadow. The first men through the trees were hit with something that took their skin. I cannot describe why seeing men blown apart is not as frightening as seeing a neatly flayed corpse on a battlefield, but our group scattered.

We are no longer armies. Not any more. We are animals, trapped in a forest together, uncomprehending. Sometimes, when Volikov sleeps, I hear the Frenchman in the woods, yelling in Hungarian, yelling and laughing. I would almost rather listen to Volikov.

I am going to die in this hole. I am too scared of what is outside of it to do otherwise. Minkin is going to try to brave the horrors in the woods to escape. I am sending this letter with him in the hopes that he does. As I gave it to him, he joked that he will get a civil service commission after the war for delivering a letter from Hell. I am not certain he is wrong.

Goodbye,

Pyotr