PeppersGhost

SCP-1695 - Circus Contraption by PeppersGhost

Due to the fire at the recovery site, only one sheet of schematics remains legible.

Item #: SCP-1695

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1695-1 is to be kept in a Type 31A storage vault within the eastern wing of Site-18. Any testing performed on SCP-1695-1 should be supervised by research personnel specializing in items created by GoI-192. Evidence discovered at SCP-1695-1's recovery site is to be kept in the western wing of Site-18 and is available for examination by any personnel with a clearance level of 2 or higher.

Description: SCP-1695-1 is a large mechanism constructed from a black metal alloy of unknown composition.1 The material displays an anomalous level of durability; consequently, all attempts to dismantle the device have proven unsuccessful. SCP-1695-1 is irregularly shaped, possessing a 2m by 2.6m rectangular base which arcs upwards in a semicircle that stands roughly 1.5m at its tallest point. At the rear of the device is a control panel with a number of buttons and switches that serve to operate the device; at the front end is a circular array of flat metal plates.

When SCP-1695-1 is activated via its control panel, the circular formation at the device's front end will dilate in a manner similar to an aperture. Viewing the interior of the device from the opening reveals an enclosed chamber walled with the same metal as the device's exterior. The interior wall of the chamber bears a number of irregularly-shaped indentations. It is believed that when the front end of the device is opened, the instruments responsible for SCP-1695-1's primary anomalous effects are retracted into the inaccessible portion of the device's interior.

When a human subject enters SCP-1695-1's exposed front chamber feet first, the circular array of plates will automatically close around the subject's torso. The device will only close far enough as necessary for restricting the subject's range of movement and preventing escape; subjects typically bear only minimal scarring from lacerations caused by the device's closing. Once trapped by SCP-1695-1, the subject will undergo a transformation into SCP-1695-2.

The following is a list of stages in the conversion process. As it is unknown what transformations–if any–the enclosed lower half of a subject undergoes, only the alterations to subjects' visible upper bodies will be listed.

Person of interest 1695-B, alleged creator of SCP-1695-1.

The subject's distal phalanges recede into the lower portions of the digits, followed by the intermediate and proximal phalanges,2 leaving the subject without fingers.

What remains of the subject's hands recedes into the arms, which similarly recede into the subject's torso.

Hair, ears, and nose recede into the subject's face, followed by any other defining facial features. The exception to this is the subject's eyes, which remain fully functional and normally sized. Subjects remain capable of making vocalizations; however, their capacity for speech is severely impeded by the lack of a mouth and facial muscles needed to properly articulate.

The subject's torso swells and elongates. Muscle and bone definition is lost at this phase as the body takes on a more rounded shape.

The neck recedes into what is left of the subject's shoulders. At this stage, the subject resembles a fleshy cylinder with two eyes on a rounded end.

The subject expands in size until the cylindrical torso is roughly 1m in diameter and 3m in length. The metallic array will slowly dilate to compensate for the subject's increasing circumference.

Flat plates of keratin3 begin to protrude from the side of the subject's body that is angled to the sky. The protrusions are always evenly spaced and set at an angle perpendicular to the length of the cylinder body.

The subject's skin secretes an adhesive chemical compound of anomalous composition. Once an organism or object has been in contact with the compound for longer than one minute, it cannot be detached until a counter-adhesive has been secreted.

SCP-1695-1 will play a prerecorded message (see Recording Log 1) followed by a selection of popular circus compositions.

Once this process is complete, SCP-1695-1's control panel can be used to elongate SCP-1695-2 further. Testing has shown no limitation to the distance SCP-1695-2 can extend. The device also allows for control over SCP-1695-2's direction: operators can cause SCP-1695-2 to extend at any angle, including upwards at a customizable incline without the need for support. If SCP-1695-2 is about to collide with a solid surface, it will automatically compensate its trajectory to either avoid the obstacle or travel along the obstacle's surface. The speed at which SCP-1695-2 elongates is adjustable with a max speed of 30 km/h.

This phenomenon will continue until the individual operating SCP-1695-1 chooses to reverse the process, causing SCP-1695-2 to recede in the same pattern of movements as it had elongated. Once this has occurred, SCP-1695-2 will excrete a counter-adhesive, releasing any physical matter attached to it. SCP-1695-1 will temporary cease playing music at this point and play a prerecorded message (see Recording Log 2).

When SCP-1695-1 is deactivated, SCP-1695-2 will be returned to its original humanoid state and released. Subjects who have undergone conversion into SCP-1695-2 will bear significant scarring on the lower body and varying levels of psychological trauma.

Recording Log:

Recording Log 1

Hey there, folks! Hop on Meaty the Meatworm's back and get ready for the ride of your life! Please keep your backs firmly against Meaty's nail plates to prevent injury. For your safety, Meaty's sweat will stick you in place so you don't fall off! Don't worry, Moms – it's stain-free! Be sure to hold on to your hats, glasses, and any other loose items, and enjoy the ride!

Recording Log 2

Thank you for riding Herman Fuller's Meatworm Coaster! Be sure to stop by the No Mouth And Ice Must Cream sweet parlor and pick up a handmade Meatworm figurine on your way out! Have a disquieting day!

Addendum:

SCP-1695-1 was recovered from the Estevan Fairgrounds in Saskatchewan on 05/19/████ after Foundation intelligence received reports of GoI-233 (Herman Fuller's Circus Of The Disquieting) activity in the area. At the time of recovery, much of the fairground was occupied by carnival structures that were either ablaze or severely fire damaged, presumably due to attempts to destroy evidence. Two individuals were discovered on the scene and apprehended: Person of Interest 1695-A, who was then serving as an instance of SCP-1695-2, and Person of Interest 1695-B, an elderly Russian male who claimed to be the inventor of SCP-1695-1.

+ Interview PoI-1695-A

-Interview PoI-1695-A

Interviewed: PoI-1695-A, found converted into SCP-1695-2. Identity unknown.

Interviewer: Agent Poltake

Foreword: The following is the recorded exchange that took place between PoI-1695-A and Agent Poltake immediately after PoI-1695-A was released from SCP-1695-1. Portions of PoI-1695-A's speech were unable to be recorded properly due to the quiet and hoarse quality of the subject's voice.

<Begin log>

PoI-1695-A: Please help (inaudible) the ground.

Agent Poltake: Can you walk?

PoI-1695-A: Don't put me back. Don't put me back.

Agent Poltake: We're not going to put you back. Do you need help standing up?

PoI-1695-A: Don't put me … (Pause.) Tell the Ringmaster I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I don't remember.

Agent Poltake: You don't remember what?

PoI-1695-A: The ground. I don't remember. I'm so sorry. Please don't.

Agent Poltake: Hey, help me get this guy to his feet.

Agent Farbold approaches PoI-1695-A, who recoils.

PoI-1695-A: No! Please, I'll give everything back. Just let me go. Don't put me…

Agent Farbold: Hey, hey. We're not going to hurt you. Just put your feet–yeah, like that.

Agent Poltake: I don't think he's strong enough to stand up on his own.

PoI-1695-A: I'm sorry. I can't. I don't remember.

Agent Poltake: How long were you in that thing?

PoI-1695-A: I'm sorry. I don't remember. The (inaudible) never heard me screaming. Tell the Ringmaster I'm sorry for stealing. I thought it was just a circus.

<End Log>

Afterword: PoI-1695-A lost consciousness shortly after entering Foundation custody and died of heart failure before a more comprehensive interview could be conducted.

+ Interview PoI-1695-B

-Interview PoI-1695-B

Interviewed: Leljud Kozlovsky, PoI-1695-B, alleged creator of SCP-1695-1.

Interviewer: Dr. Khansa

Foreword: This interview was conducted on 05/20/████, the day after PoI-1695-B was taken into custody.

<Begin log>

Dr. Khansa: You claimed yesterday during your arrest that you created SCP-1695-1. Do you stand by this statement?

PoI-1695-B: It is my work. My crowning achievement.

Dr. Khansa: What led you to create the machine?

PoI-1695-B: The circus needed an exciting new attraction to draw in the younger crowd, but roller coasters are too large and heavy to transport. So I say to the upside-down man, "I will make a ride we can take anywhere." Is still heavy, but we can move it.

Dr. Khansa: Yet you were left behind with it in Estevan.

PoI-1695-B: The upside-down man is very impatient. With him it is hurry, hurry, hurry, all the time. "SCP is coming! SCP is coming!" Pah. He said we did not have time to load up the machine, so he sent some men to destroy it. I stayed to stop them and the circus left me.

Dr. Khansa: By "the circus", are you referring to the Circus Of The Disquieting or the Meat Circus? I understand you have ties to both groups.

PoI-1695-B: Herman Fuller's Circus is a circus. Meat Circus is not a real circus.

Dr. Khansa: "Not a real circus"?

PoI-1695-B: In Moscow, there were men who called themselves the Meat Circus. I was among them. We were scientists and inventors. We created beautiful works of art.

Dr. Khansa: My colleagues tell me that the Meat Circus specializes in anomalously altering human physiology. Is this what you consider to be your "art"?

PoI-1695-B: The medium of the sculptor is clay. The medium of the painter is oil. The medium of the scientist is flesh. Sometimes we would sell our art, sometimes we would set it free. But that was many, many years ago. The upside-down man came to me and offered me a place at the Herman Fuller Circus, a circus with the … the elephants and the clowns. A real circus. I continued to be an artist, but I had a sponsor. A patron to exhibit my work.

Dr. Khansa: Please explain the process by which SCP-1695-1 functions.

PoI-1695-B: No.

Dr. Khansa: Mr. Kozlovsky, as we discussed earlier, things will be much easier for you in the long run if you cooperate with us now.

PoI-1695-B: I know. I know your kind. I've seen it before. I am an ass to you. You hold out a carrot in front of my nose and a whip behind my back. I know your game and I will not play.

Dr. Khansa: If you are aware that you will be rewarded for cooperation and you understand the consequences if you don't, why not make things easier for yourself?

PoI-1695-B: Why? (Subject appears extremely agitated.) Because fuck you, that's why!

<End log>

Note: According to surviving witnesses present in the interviewing chamber at the time, Mr. Kozlovsky extended his tongue after making his final outburst. This was initially interpreted as a gesture of animosity; however, shortly afterward Mr. Kozlovsky removed his shoes and socks without the use of his hands (as they were bound behind his back), pinched his tongue between the toes of his left foot, and extracted his tongue from his mouth. Several seconds afterward, Mr. Kozlovsky's abdomen erupted as a result of an apparent explosive decompression. The blast destroyed the reinforced glass divider in the interview chamber, killing Dr. Khansa instantly and injuring several junior researchers who had been observing the interview. Samples of confetti were recovered from the blast site and inside Mr. Kozlovsky's remains.

Footnotes

1. Testing has shown that this is the same material found in SCP instances originating from GoI-192 (Мясной цирк, "Meat Circus" in English). For more information, please refer to documentation in the Russian database.

2. The distal, intermediate, and proximal phalanges are the three sections of bone found in human fingers.

3. A fibrous structural protein that makes up hair, fingernails, talons, and hooves.