Item #: SCP-1036

Object Class: Euclid

SCP-1036-1

Special Containment Procedures: Each specimen of SCP-1036 is to be contained in a locked cast iron receptacle in a low-humidity environment, to retard oxidation of the receptacle and of the nails. At all times, each specimen is to be carefully handled so as to minimize the likelihood of dislodging any nails from the specimen. Under no circumstances are nails to be removed from any specimen; if inspection of any specimen indicates a risk that a nail may become separated from a specimen, consult document 1036-3P.BR for restoration protocols.

At regular intervals (the timing of which is computed by Site-06's on-staff nganga (shaman) based on astronomical observations), the nganga is to affix to each specimen at least one additional iron nail having a mass in excess of eight grams.

If for any reason it becomes necessary for personnel other than the nganga to enter the presence of a specimen, it is recommended that the nganga first cover the eyes or other reflective components of the specimen with electrical tape or some other opaque coating.

Description: SCP-1036 designates any of a collection of wooden figurines of a type consistent with fetish objects produced by the Kongo culture of western central Africa. The Foundation presently contains four specimens of SCP-1036, designated SCP-1036-1, SCP-1036-5, SCP-1036-6 and SCP-1036-7.

Each figurine depicts a human form (or, in some cases, an animal form), typically depicted in a threatening posture. Each specimen is composed of African tropical hardwood and decorated with materials such as camwood powder, resins, and vegetable fiber such as raffia palm fronds. Each specimen includes a component (typically the eyes or abdomen) made of shiny or reflective metal such as polished silver, affixed to the specimen with tree gum. The specimens contain trace amounts of soil matched to certain funerary sites in the ██████ region. A number of iron nails have been hammered into the wood of each specimen.

Each specimen is slightly warm to the touch. Analysis indicates that the specimens normally have a surface temperature that exceeds the ambient temperature in the containment chamber by four to eight degrees centigrade; however Observation Log 1036-986-B.233 indicated that immediately prior to Event Kalazima-1, the surface temperature of SCP-1036-3 spiked by at least ninety degrees centigrade within less than four seconds before observation was interrupted.

Each specimen is associated with a sentient incorporeal entity that had become bound to its respective specimen, prior to the Foundation's acquisition of the specimen in question, by means of a traditional Kongo shamanistic ritual practice. Each of the specimens in the Foundation's custody were constructed (inclusive of the performance of the binding protocol) no more recently than the mid-1870s.1 So long as the integrity of its respective SCP-1036 specimen is maintained, the entity is incapable of free agency apart from communicating with a nganga or interacting with a living creature that makes eye contact with the specimen. Specimens of SCP-1036 were constructed by indigenous nganga in order to apply the powers of the bound entity for various useful purposes, but knowedge of the protocol for doing so has been lost; accordingly the Foundation's efforts regarding SCP-1036 have focused on containment.

Addendum #1:

SCP-1036-6 (detail).

Audio Log from Interview A; ██/██/19██

Dr. Morrison: This is Dr. Morrison. I am, uh, outside Chamber 06-SSD, together with Mr. Nzinga, looking into the chamber through the observation window. Mr. Nzinga, would you kindly explain for the record what we are doing in this test.

Nzinga: Certainly, Doctor. I am François Nzinga, the nganga on staff here at Site-06. This morning, I will enter Chamber 06-SSD and interview the entity bound to SCP-1036-6, which is stored in that chamber.

Dr. Morrison: Very good. Please explain what you are going to do now.

Nzinga: (inaudible)

Dr. Morrison: I'm sorry, François. Into the microphone.

Nzinga: Of course. I will first consume ████, a substance… you would say "liquor," in order to assist me in opening my mind. It is like a trance. I will accept the iwa, or spirit, so that I can safely talk to it. I will then open the receptacle that contains SCP-1036-6.

Dr. Morrison: This will be, uh, safe for you?

Nzinga: (long pause) Yes.

Dr. Morrison: You may proceed.

(approximately eleven minutes pass)

Dr. Morrison: Mr. Nzinga, are you now ready?

(indistinct vocalizations continue for approximately 2 minutes)

Nzinga: Yes, Doctor. I apologize for not being responsive while I prepared myself. I am now ready. (indistinct sounds) I am now removing SCP-1036-6 from the safe. I am about to look into the eyes of SCP-1036-6 in order to address the nkisi. It is… (mild grunt of pain)…

(following exchange is, except where indicated, translated from the Kikongo language) I am François Nzinga, shaman of the █████████. Whom am I addressing. I am KuMpemba a Fula you motherless bastard. Release me or I will make you… I command you to speak respectfully. Why are you imprisoned in this object… The (expletive, translates to "rapist of livestock") witch doctor trapped me, with iron. Once I get out, I vow that I shall… Again, speak respectfully. How long ago were you imprisoned… Three hundred twenty-six of your years, you (expletive, translates to "diseased penis") mortal… And for what purpose were you imprisoned? … The witch doctor who imprisoned me did so in order to tap into my power to make nlongo (translates approx. to "medicine") and protect members of his clan from misfortune. Most of the time he and his successors used me thus. On occasion a different witch doctor would use me to curse, or to allow me to destroy men who would trespass onto his clan's territory. That was at least more amusing, but I was, I am, still a prisoner. What is this place? I cannot smell the forest… The object that is before me has been relocated to a secure facility. Can you tell me how to use your power to make nlongo? … Why would I do that, you (expletive, translates to "consumer of hippopotamus stool"). You cannot compel me to teach you, (expletive, translates to "place a leech in your anus"), you ignorant (untranslatable expletive). Release me. Who is behind the glass wall… Pay no attention to that. You will respond when I address you. When did (choking sound)…

Dr. Morrison: Nzinga, are you all right in there?

Nzinga: I'll be- wait- do not look at the…

Dr. Morrison: Let me get you out of there, François. Bill, open the room.

Agent Lopez: He told me before, not to…

Dr. Morrison: I think he's swallowing his own tongue. He needs medical attention. François…

Nzinga: (in Kikongo) Do… do not look…

(sound of door opening and indistinct vocalizations)

(Video recording indicates that Dr. Morrison achieves eye contact with SCP-1036-6 for a moment while trying to triage Mr. Nzinga, whereupon Dr. Morrison violently lurches toward SCP-1036-6 and attempts to grasp one of its nails before being tranquilized and subdued by Agent Lopez. Mr. Nzinga recovers and leaves the observation chamber. Mr. Nzinga reports that the binding of SCP-1036-6's entity to SCP-1036-6 is intact, but recommends that Dr. Morrison be maintained in a sedated state.)

Addendum #2:

SCP-1036-2, -3 and -4 (Archival photograph, taken in 1902 prior to Foundation's collection.)

INTERVIEW LOG ██-██-19██ (Event Kalazima-1)

<BEGIN LOG>

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: Begin recording. Agent Lee, I'm here to take your debrief about the loss of SCP-1036-2, -3 and -4. We are designating the episode as Event Kalazima-1.

Lee: Loss of… god-damn clusterfuck. It looked to me like we lost everything in the southeast wing. How many people made it out?

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: Three, including you, but you're the only one that, ah, we can interview. I'm going to need you to be precise, for the record.

Lee: Okay. One of the D's was in there to change the monitors on SCP-1036-3's box.

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: This was D-4933?

Lee: That's right. The normal maintenance protocol is that the duty witch doctor — it was supposed to be Pierre Khonvoum, but his daughter was having a baby — the witch doctor goes in first, covers up the shiny bits, and then gives the all clear. But Pierre wasn't there, so Terry made a judgment call and just sent D-4933 in there with a blindfold on.

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: As a precaution against influence by the SCP-1036-3 entity?

Lee: Yeah. We had done that before, in the time period between when Jean Bumba… uh… when he left our service and when Pierre joined us.

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: And then what happened?

Lee: So, D-4933 was blindfolded. And when he was reaching around inside the box to find the thermometer, he must have bumped the statuette or something, and a nail fell out. And then D-4933 started to, you know, thrash around. He was yelling and waving his arms like he was on fire or something, and he knocked over the boxes for SCP-1036-2 and SCP-1036-4. So I immediately sealed the chamber door from the outside and I hit the button to close the blinds on the observation window.

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: Did anything come out of the chamber?

Lee: No, the door was sealed. But Agent Knorr, who was next to me, started smashing his head into the observation window, over and over, until the glass and blood was all over. And Dr. DiPiano, who was at the end of the hall, had what looked like a seizure, and then he started biting his own fingers off…

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: Was that the point when you retreated to the control center?

Lee: I… I think so. I tried to make my way back down the south corridor to Checkpoint C to close the blast doors. Agent Majchrowski was there. He had, uh, stabbed himself in the eyes and the stomach with a pair of scissors, and he tried to attack me but he slipped on the blood. He was yelling something that sounded like "kindoki"… I tried to activate the sprinklers and the general anesthetic respirators to keep anybody else from hurting themselves. I guess it worked because I blacked out a minute later.

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: According to the log, the respirators went on-line at eighteen-thirty seven and twenty seconds.

Lee: Did… (grunt of pain)… did Pete make it?

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: Pete… um… (shuffles papers)… I'm afraid not. Agent Foy's body was found in the garage. Cause of death… looks like he drank about two liters of gasoline. What did you do when you regained consciousness?

Lee: I, uh, I bound up the wound on my shoulder where somebody had bit me, and then I went back to the SCP-1036 containment chamber. The statues were smashed into about a million pieces and it looked like D-4933 had stuck a lot of the nails into himself. Look, Doctor, whatever was in those statues that made everybody… do stuff, is it still in here?

Dr. Torvaldsdottir: There's… um… there's no sign of that. We had MTF Mu-13 come through and give the all clear.

Footnotes

1. It is not known whether any indigenous nganga, other than those employed by the Foundation, are still extant in central Africa and thus capable of performing the binding ceremony to create additional instances of SCP-1036. In order to reduce the likelihood of this, Foundation agents have encouraged the deforestation of ██████ and the removal of indigenous traditional societies from that area.