Containment Procedures: All instances of SCP-4204 are to remain in the safe deposit box located at Site-12 when not being utilized for testing. Removal of SCP-4204 from storage requires the authorization of the project's Research Head. Sites using SCP-4204 must meet the standards for lightning rod equipment outlined in Foundation Technical Document 4204-1.1

No personnel used in tests of SCP-4204 are permitted to leave Site-12 under any circumstance, effective April 2007.

Description: SCP-4204 is a collection of 55 coins measuring 6 cm in diameter with a thickness of .75 cm. Chemical analysis of the coins has determined they are a lead-iron pyrite alloy with a thin coating of 24 karat gold leaf. Carbon dating has placed the creation of SCP-4204 at approximately 2000 B.C.E.

Side A of SCP-4204 is embossed with a stylized image of a full moon and the words "Said the thief to the moon," while Side B bears the image of a Waning Crescent with the text "I'll extinguish your light soon." This text is always perceived in the viewer's native language.

SCP-4204 Activation Procedures

Close Procedures

Procedure-4204: SCP-4204 is capable of being activated by any creature with the ability to speak and read.

SCP-4204 must be gripped between the forefinger and the thumb of the right hand.

The inscription must be then read aloud as the user places the edge of the coin on the palm of their left hand.

The user must then roll the coin across their palm for at least one full rotation.

SCP-4204 displays several anomalous properties when activated as described in Procedure-4204.

The light reflected from the Moon will be completely obscured within a 25-kilometer radius of SCP-4204’s user.

All incandescent and fluorescent lighting in a room entered or occupied by the user will shut off completely and are unable to be powered on until approximately 28 minutes after the user has exited the room. Natural lighting such as fire will be extinguished, while bioluminescent light sources will be reduced by a factor of 10.

All security cameras within a 700-meter radius, including those equipped with infrared thermography or low light capabilities, will be unable to detect SCP-4204’s user.

Electronics capable of emitting sound within 200 meters begin to play The Thief and the Moon by Shawn James2 at 25 decibels.

Electronic and conventional safeguards such as locks will fail in a radius of 2 meters around the user. Simple mechanisms, like a boarded-up door, will be unaffected.

SCP-4204’s effects will remain active until such time as the coin is removed from the user's person or the sun has risen in the user's location. SCP-4204 can only be activated at night and attempts to use it during the day have resulted in failure.

Discovery: SCP-4204 was discovered when a person attempting to break into Fort Knox failed to exit the vault before sunrise. The aspiring bank robber, one Jesse Horton, aged 26, was discovered by the site's security officers, banging on the vault doors. After a review of the security footage, Horton was transferred to the FBI's Unusual Incidents Unit's custody.

During Horton's transportation to the main UIU holding site, the armored vehicle was struck several times by lightning and overturned in a field. Several agents were incapacitated by the crash and Horton attempted to make a bid for freedom in the confusion. According to several conscious agents, Horton ran approximately 25 meters before being immolated by 12 consecutive bolts of lightning. At the location when he was reportedly struck, no body was found and a ring of charred grass surrounded a patch of freshly disturbed earth.

Two years later in April 2000, SCP-4204 and its related files came into the Foundation ownership in exchange for information pertaining to an ongoing UIU investigation. A Foundation Recovery Task Force performed a sweep of Jesse Horton's family farm and discovered a small chest containing 55 additional instances of SCP-4204 buried .5 m under an ash tree surrounded by Aconitum variegatum. Agents reported seeing a large creature following them from a distance through the woods but were unequipped to engage or document it.

+ Addendum-01

- Close

On the night of March 21, 2007, an instance of SCP-4204 was discovered to be missing from its safe deposit box. After a thorough search of the Site, only Dr. Theodore Leto was found to be missing from the campus. Over the next 4 nights, two banks within 20-kilometers of Dr. Leto's home were robbed with no witnesses and no security footage. MTF Upsilon-11, "Avalon's Wake," was dispatched to the home to contain the anomaly. However, only Dr. Leto's wife, daughter and a caretaker were discovered at the location. Mrs. Leto and the caretaker were brought in for questioning; the daughter was unable to be moved due to complications from her Stage 3 leukemia.

Mrs. Leto was able to point the investigation to a remote cabin that her husband used for fishing and hiking. MTF members arriving on the scene noted that the roof of the cabin was completely covered by lightning rods. A search of the premises revealed a small quantity of blood matching that of Dr. Leto, and a note written by a crude tool or carving instrument on the wall of the cabin, which is available below.

Such a crime committed for love is still heresy against nature. Who are you to pluck the moon from the sky?

But it is because of your love that your punishment falls lightly on your shoulders. Consider it mercy.

SL

Footprints determined to be left by a bipedal lupine entity were found around the cabin. The entity appears to have circled the structure three times before entering it and reemerging with Dr. Leto. The MTF traced the tracks to a small cave 200m north of the cabin where they abruptly disappeared. Dr. Leto has been declared Missing in Action and the stolen SCP-4204 instance was not recovered.

Footnotes

1. Available on request from the Site-12 Records Department.

2. The first instance of SCP-4204 was documented in 1998, 13 years prior to the release of this song. Shawn James has no knowledge of the song's inspiration, nor the origins of SCP-4204.