Item #: SCP-1139

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: By authorization of O5-█, object is housed at Research Area 39. Following Incident 1139-1, object moved to Research Area ██. When not being used for testing, object is to be enclosed in a seventy-five (75) by twenty (20) by twenty (20) centimeter block of rubber, molded into two pieces, with a Faraday cage surrounding the block, placed on a static-free workbench. The containment room for the object shall be made of unreinforced concrete (minimum thickness of three (3) meters) and shall be illuminated at all times by gas lamps. The humidity level shall remain between 70% and 80% at all times.

The door to SCP-1139's containment room shall be made of non-conductive, high impact ceramic materials. Following Incident 1139-1, access is via three (3) containment doors, the outermost door consisting of steel, with a metallic threshold grounded in case of electrical discharge. The two innermost doors are to be constructed of non-conductive, high impact ceramic materials.

No electrical devices, including pacemakers, watches, or recording devices are to be brought into the containment room except for testing purposes. In no event may an electrical device capable of creating an alternating current be introduced to the containment room without authorization of one (1) O5 personnel. In no event may an electrical device capable of producing more than one thousand watts (1000 W) be introduced to the containment room without written authorization of two (2) O5 personnel.

Research Area ██ shall remain equipped with two lightning rods at all times, neither of which shall be grounded within 200 meters of SCP-1139.

Following Test-1139l, and by order of O5-█, the staff of each Foundation Site must include one level 3 staff member previously affected by SCP-1206.

Description: SCP-1139 consists of a metallic grey rectangular block, roughly twenty (20) centimeters high and five (5) centimeters square at its base. The overall density of the object is roughly double that of iron, and the object is denser near the top. The object has thus far proved impervious to both deterioration and damage, making a determination of the object's age impossible. The sides are patterned with square protrusions in an unrecognized pattern, which can be confirmed by touch. Viewers of the pattern or of photos of the pattern observe the protrusions as block letters in a language they are familiar with, but this is merely a visual illusion. No subject has reported any subsequent change in the appearance of the letters. On the bottom of the object, there are four (4) 1 mm x 5 mm crevices, each coated in a copper-colored substance. No new effect has been observed through the manipulation of or application of electricity directly to the crevices.

Upon application of electricity a direct current, the object affects all individuals within a given radius through unknown means. Any person within the radius of effect begins speaking and writing a new language, though they apparently believe they are speaking their native tongue. Subjects lose the ability to speak or comprehend any prior known language(s). Linguistic analysis indicates that the new languages are fully formed languages, but all attempts at translation have been met with complete failure. Attempts at translation continue. Subjects have proven incapable of learning or re-learning any real world language after exposure to SCP-1139. Class AA amnestics successfully counteract the effect, though subjects are thereafter of little use to the Foundation, and Class AA amnestics are not advised in future testing. See Experiment Log 1139-1.

The radius of the effect is exponentially proportional to the wattage applied to it, with a "static shock" creating a radius of eight-tenths (0.8) meters and a direct lightning strike estimated to create a radius reaching beyond [DATA EXPUNGED], potentially resulting in a [REDACTED] scenario. Developing practical methods of containing, controlling, or reversing the effect is ongoing and should be considered a Level Chi priority. Possible use as a "worst case scenario" planetary defense is under consideration.

SCP-1139 was recovered during Incident 98564/k. Mobile Task Force Delta-5 ("Front Runners") raided a Church of the Broken God outpost in Normal, IL. A basement contained an apparently demented and violent elderly man holding SCP-1139, who was quickly terminated. In this room were over ███████ handmade documents, including stone tablets over ████ years old and modern paper showing minimal wear. Note that the earliest documents predate the Church of the Broken God by over ████ years. The documents do not appear to be written in any known languages, and ███ different languages have been identified.

+ Document SCP-1139a (regarding incident 1139-01):

- Close

At 4:30 pm, on July 28, 1997, over ██ scattered civilian vehicles approached Research Area 39 from both access roads. Research Area 39 was put on Blue Alert, and Procedure Theta Tau was implemented. The four (4) ground level Foundation personnel were initially able to maintain their cover identities when speaking with the trespassers and discovered that the latitude and longitude of Research Area 39 was distributed as the location of a youth "Jamboree.” Pursuant to Procedure Theta Tau, the trespassers were told that Research Area 39 was a hunting lodge and that they had been sent to the wrong location. The departure of the trespassers was stalled due to a constant stream of new arrivals. Approximately ███ adults and ████ youths arrived in total.

At precisely 4:52, approximately ██ of the adults and █ of the children pulled weapons from camping gear and attempted to breach Research Area 39 in a coordinated attack. Battle cries consistent with rhetoric of the Church of the Broken God were heard, as well as references to "The Tongue" and "The Voice." A perimeter breach occurred and lockdown was implemented. Mobile Task Force Rho-5 ("Bee Sting") converged on Research Area 39, countering the assault and containing the fleeing civilians with acceptable casualties. The surviving civilians indicated that revised coordinates were distributed via e-mail a week prior, though the source of such information could not be effectively determined. The survivors were given Class C amnestics and re-questioned, using known Church of the Broken God "secret" codes. Three additional members of the Church were detected and terminated. Area Command utilized Cover Story Beta Zeta, and the remaining civilians were provided grief counseling. Research Area 39 decommissioned.

C████. This is unacceptable. I don't care that the damn Church broke silence first; we cannot allow this much attention to come down on one of our locations. You had better pray this media hype about gun wielding scouts dies down and reporters don't find Research Area ██. O5-█

Request upgrade to Keter status. Area Supervisor C████

Request denied. O5-█

+ Experiment Log 1139-1

- Close

Addendum [SCP-1139c]:

Subject: D-02638

Linguist: Dr. A████

Wattage: 200 W of alternating current

Subjects exposed to active SCP-1139. Subject grabbed his head and screamed, making a noise that [REDACTED] included 3 Foundation staff, and Dr. A████ suffered from a broken wrist and persistent headaches. Remaining staff placed in quarantine for fear of memetic properties. No such properties evidenced themselves, and staff were released from quarantine and returned to duty without incident. Containment and testing procedures revised.

Addendum [SCP-1139e]:

Subject: D-18394

Linguist: Dr. A████

Wattage: 200 W of direct current

Subject is semi-literate prior to test. Subject is told to recite "alphabet" song during activation of SCP-1139 to confirm exposure. Exposure to SCP-1139 is followed by only non verbal communication. Subject shows no signs of distress, though displeased by the researcher's silence. Dr. A████, after seeing the mild success in rudimentary non-verbal communication, grabbed the closest thing to a picture book from his office, giving the subject a copy of the Voynich Manuscript. Subject ignored the pictures and began attempting to read the book, sounding out words as he went. Notably, he read the book backwards and from the middle of each page outward. All observations indicate that subject understood the book and found it to have a sad ending.

Well, for this one, we used the alphabet and a book. It should be simple enough to learn how to speak it. Dr. A████.

Two months after testing, Dr. A████ placed on voluntary administrative leave due to stress. Subject D-18394 terminated and all documentation locked in long term storage.

Addendum [SCP-1139f]:

Subject: D-18328

Linguist: Dr. A████

Wattage: 200 W of direct current

Subject asked to write a long, memorized phrase down on paper, followed by the alphabet and numbers from zero to fifty, reading each word or number aloud. While walking to the table, subject exposed to SCP-1139. Subject writes out a text of unknown language, speaking as she does so and showing no notice of her change in language. Subject is incapable of speaking English, and no effort at reintroduction to the English language is made. It is noted that the language from SCP-1139f is different from all prior instances.

We have a Rosetta Stone for this one. This should be simple to decode or prove as nonsense. Dr. A████.

Four months after testing, Dr. A████ placed on mandatory administrative leave due to stress. Subject D-18328 terminated and all documentation locked in long term storage.

Addendum [SCP-1139k]:

Subject: Dr. A████

Linguist: Dr. A████ and Dr. L████

Wattage: 200 W of direct current

Without approval or oversight, Dr. A████ exposed himself to SCP-1139. It is notable that Dr. A████ spoke eight languages fluently prior to the experiment. Dr. L████ took over as linguist for experiment SCP-1139k.

Dr. A████ exhibits the same symptoms of prior subjects, though he seems shocked by the verbal and written communications of Foundation staff. It appears that Dr. A████ now knows eight new languages, and by pointing at different places on an unlabeled map of the world, each new language has been associated with the language he is trying to speak. Dr. A████ has been unable to communicate beyond non-verbal pantomime and has since lapsed into inactivity and depression. Dr. A████ moved to a long term care medical facility and kept under suicide watch.

Addendum [SCP-1139l]:

Subject: D-17618 and D-14568

Linguist: Dr. L████

Wattage: 200 W of direct current

D-17618 exposed to SCP-1206 prior to standard exposure to SCP-1139; SCP-1139 had no effect on the Subject.

D-14568 exposed to SCP-1206 after standard exposure to SCP-1139; SCP-1206 had no linguistic effect on the Subject.

Addendum [SCP-1139m]:

Subject: D-18818

Linguist: Dr. L████ (acting remotely and assisted by Dr. F███ to avoid memetic contamination)

Wattage: 200 W of direct current

After standard exposure to SCP-1139, Subject infected with SCP-444. SCP-444 infection continued as normal, with Subject able to converse with other SCP-444 infected individuals. Dr. L████ and Dr. F███ cleared of memetic contamination and remain assigned to SCP-1139. Further use of SCP-444 in testing approved.

Addendum [SCP-1139n]:

Subject: D-18818

Linguist: Dr. L████ (acting remotely and assisted by Dr. F███ to avoid memetic contamination)

Wattage: 200 W of direct current

Subject infected with SCP-444 █ days prior. After exposure, Subject spoke a new language with no immediately apparent anomalous properties. Continued observation revealed [REDACTED]. Fatalities included █ Foundation personnel and contamination necessitated termination of an additional █ Foundation personnel. Dr. L████ cleared of memetic contamination and remains assigned to SCP-1139. Use of SCP-444 in testing suspended by order of O5-█.

Addendum [SCP-1139q]:

Subject: D-29374, D-93847, D-20375, D-20384, and D-29384

Linguist: Dr. L████

Wattage: 400 W of direct current

SCP-1139 activated carefully to affect four of the five subjects. Subjects quickly realized that none of them understood the others. The unaffected subject acted virtually identical to the others, despite still speaking English.

Long term remote surveillance commenced. Without meaningful external verbal stimuli, subjects exhibited typical reactions, analogous to solitary confinement and development of a crude, hierarchy based society. [REDACTED]. D-20375 terminated following experiment and corpses incinerated.

Request upgrade to Keter status. Dr. L████

Request denied, and pull the plug on this sideshow. If you want a long term test subject, use Dr. A████ O5-█