Depiction of SCP-3207 from the unpublicized writings of Leonardo da Vinci.

Item #: SCP-3207

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3207 is currently kept in a 8m x 8m x 6m containment chamber located at Site-10. SCP-3207 is not to be activated except under strict testing conditions. Any potential movement on the part of SCP-3207 when unpowered is to be prevented via steel restraints binding its wheels and base.1 Maintenance of the organic and non-anomalous portions of SCP-3207 are to be performed twice a month by an on-site team of engineers and medical doctors briefed on the details of SCP-3207’s construction.

All testing of SCP-3207 is to take place at AWTR2 41, located a short distance from Site-10, and must be approved by at least one member of Level 3 personnel.

For information on the initial disinformation campaign involving SCP-3207, see Addendum 3207-1.

Description: SCP-3207 is a mobile war machine, five meters in diameter, believed to have been created in 1488 through a collaboration between inventor Leonardo da Vinci and an obscure artisan in the employ of the Duke of Milan named Marco Saul. It is constructed from a mixture of technology available at the time and anomalously advanced technology, the origins of which have yet to be determined. Investigation suggests that although SCP-3207 was completed, it was not deployed due to a falling out between its two creators.

In terms of construction, SCP-3207 consists of a conical ‘shell’, composed of wood and reinforced with metal plates, covering a main body. A number of cannons are placed around the rotatable perimeter of the machine, allowing it to fire in any direction. Perceptive devices are also present around SCP-3207’s perimeter, allowing its control unit to inspect the area and hear sounds around itself. Apart from these, most of SCP-3207’s anomalous features are present on the interior of the machine or when it is activated, and are thus not immediately obvious from outside observation.

When active, SCP-3207’s cannons are capable of firing blasts of an unknown form of energy, red in colouration and capable of vaporizing organic matter on contact. These blasts have also proven capable of heavily damaging stone fortifications, often blasting them apart with ease - however, most metal structures seem to present a great deal of resistance to it.

At the core of SCP-3207's interior is a metal power unit of unknown origin. A switch on the side of the power unit activates and deactivates it. Although it has not been detected emitting significant amounts of radiation, individuals in the vicinity report feelings of nausea and sickness when near SCP-3207, which grow more severe until they are removed from its presence.3 A repelling field invisible to the naked eye, which protects SCP-3207 from attack and adverse effects of high temperatures, is also deployed when SCP-3207 is active. Repeated impacts on a single section of SCP-3207 will temporarily deactivate the repelling field for up to thirty seconds.

SCP-3207’s control mechanism consists of a human brain and nervous system, stripped from an unknown donor and hooked into the machine’s mechanisms, the brain thus directing them through a method that is not yet understood. Testing with the control mechanism indicates that its only means of perceiving the outside world are through the perceptive devices on its exterior.

The control mechanism is soaked in a wax-like substance that acts as a life support system and slows cellular degeneration4, also shielding it somewhat from the negative effects of SCP-3207’s active power unit. Analysis of SCP-3207 has revealed that while its control mechanism is conscious, this is only the case while the power unit is active. While it is deactivated, the brain goes into a dormant state and SCP-3207 does not respond to stimuli.

Interview 3207-1

Interview 3207-1

Interviewer: Dr. ██████

Interviewed: SCP-3207

(Interview was conducted at AWTR 41. Subject was told to move itself to the left side of the chamber to indicate a positive response and to the right for a negative one. Interviewer was behind a protective barrier at all times. Original interview was conducted in Italian.)

<Begin Interview>

Dr. ██████: Hello, SCP-3207. To begin - can you see me?

(Subject moves to the left.)

Dr. ██████: Excellent. I assume you can hear me, also?

(Subject remains on the left side of the room.)

Dr. ██████: Can you perceive me with any other senses?

(Subject moves to the right.)

Dr. ██████: May I ask, are you aware of your current state of being - that you are no longer inhabiting a human body?

(Subject moves to the left.)

Dr. ██████: Was this process something you volunteered for?

(Subject moves to the right.)

Dr. ██████: You were coerced into this?

(Subject moves to the left.)

Dr. ██████: Physically?

(Subject moves to the right.)

Dr. ██████: Were you blackmailed?

(Subject remains on the right side of the room.)

Dr. ██████: Were you…financially coerced?

(Subject moves to the left.)

Dr. ██████: I see. Money, then. For you?

(Subject moves to the right.)

Dr. ██████: For your family?

(Subject moves to the left.)

Dr. ██████: …I see. Did you know the name of the man who coerced you?

(Subject remains on the left side of the room.)

Dr. ██████: Was his name Leonardo da Vinci?

(Subject moves to the right.)

Dr. ██████: Was his name Marco Saul?

(Subject moves to the left.)

Dr. ██████: Was a man named Leonardo da Vinci involved with the process?

(Subject remains on the left side of the room.)

Dr. ██████: Thank you - you’ve been very helpful. However…I have to tell you that we’re currently unable to remove you from this machine without killing you. Would you be willing to remain in this state for the time being?

(Subject moves to the right side of the room at extreme speeds, crashing into the wall.)

Dr. ██████: Well…I, ah…

(Subject continues crashing into the right wall.)

Dr. ██████: I…end interview. End interview.

<End Interview>

Addendum 3207-1 (Discovery and Initial Disinformation Campaign): SCP-3207 was first located after a collection of da Vinci’s unreleased writings concerning speculative anomalous designs, along with several confidential letters (See Addendum 3207-2), came into Foundation custody along with several other items after a successful raid against a Marshall, Carter and Dark auction house. Foundation historians analyzed the writings and followed directions contained within to locate an underground workshop on the outskirts of Milan.

Although the door to the workshop’s unique locking mechanism had been tampered with, making entry extremely difficult, a Foundation search team were able to make their way in with digging equipment. Investigation of the workshop revealed an inactive SCP-3207, which was then also brought into Foundation custody.

As a preventative measure against possible information regarding SCP-3207 being present in as-of-yet undiscovered da Vinci writings, a disinformation campaign was decided upon. The initial disinformation campaign consisted of inserting altered designs for SCP-3207 into da Vinci’s publicly available writings, presenting it as a much more simple and less advanced machine more consistent with its time of construction. However, errors by staff assigned to this task5 resulted in the presented design having severe flaws which made it unworkable - flaws which would have been easily recognized by an engineer of da Vinci’s skill level. Thus, additional disinformation was necessary in order to suggest that these flaws were intentional on da Vinci’s part as an effort to protect his work.

Addendum 3207-2 (Recovered Documentation)

Addendum 3207-2 (Recovered Documentation)

The following is a letter to da Vinci from his collaborator Saul, concerning da Vinci withholding and refusing to deploy SCP-3207 publically. The text has been updated somewhat for ease of reading, but direct scans of the original letter are available in Site-10’s historical archives.

From the esteemed engineer and artist, Marco Saul

To his disloyal former collaborator, Leonardo da Vinci

I must confess my continued disappointment that you refuse to respond to my letters. When we as two men of knowledge embarked on this voyage, did not we agree to stay in touch, and did not we agree to pool our wisdom together? Yet, you are silent. Our work, which I have informed you I am aware you have concluded your development of, lies unused and useless within our workshop, which I am sure you recall you have sealed from my use.

Please recall that - as a close and valued friend of His Excellency Duke Sforza - it is unwise to antagonize me to the degree that clearly you are intent upon. While your standing with His Excellency is currently without reproach, I must feel the need to remind you that what is the case today is certainly not assured to be tomorrow. Please keep this in mind as you continue not to acknowledge my communications.

I do admit some measure of amusement - having read the pleading letter you originally sent to His Excellency Duke Sforza of Milan, with whom I dine weekly6 - at your declaration that you will ‘make an infinite number of items for attack and defense’. Clearly, this is not the case, or else you would not have abandoned our grand work. In this case, were you perhaps attempting to deceive His Excellency in the hopes of profitable employment? You are a truly a lamentable man if that is true.

Your motivation in this matter is just as comprehensible as your actions - which is to say, not at all. In what way is it preferable for a man to be slain with a sword than with our grand creation? Does the presence of a human carcass somehow make the method of killing more legitimate? When I saw the works you had painted in your workshop when we met last year, I felt surely that you at least would be most receptive to what I had to offer - but again, you clearly lack my perspective. What is war but another canvas to paint upon? I can assure you that a man’s final breaths are just as pure an expression as a babe’s first smile.

I had hoped to share with you further miracles of my discovery7, but you have proven time and time again that you do not have the necessary constitution. I now sincerely hope that - by the time your residence in Milan has ended - we do not cross paths again, and I would highly recommend you share this desire. Although you may not have the stomach for true expression, I do, and this clumsy attempt of yours to sabotage me will by no means halt my work - I can assure you of that.

Footnotes

1. Although SCP-3207 has not yet demonstrated the capability to move when deactivated, these additional precautions were recommended by Containment Specialist Lawrence upon initial containment of SCP-3207 and have been approved by Site Director Willem.

2. Anomalous Weapons Testing Range

3. It is theorized that while some sort of environmental contamination is caused by SCP-3207's power unit, it does not come in a form that Foundation technology can currently detect.

4. Analysis of the control mechanism's current state and its projected rate of aging suggests that it will continue to be operable for at least two hundred years further.

5. These staff were later demoted or reassigned away from disinformation duties.

6. Records from the time indicate that Saul is likely overstating his relationship with Duke Sforza at this point.

7. Although Saul does not explicitly state where he obtained the materials for SCP-3207's construction in this letter, historical records from the year SCP-3207 was built mention a 'falling star' near the city of Milan.