Item #: SCP-2436

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: An area of four square kilometers around the projected location of SCP-2436-1 is to be designated Site 431 and fenced off. Civilians who enter the area are to be removed with a minimum of force. Site 431 is to be staffed at all times by no less than three researchers and two guards, all of whom are to be fluent in Icelandic and experienced with the raising of livestock. Researchers assigned to Site 431 are to be trained in the handle and care of rare books. Ordinary operation of the farm located at Site 431 is to continue at all times, and any living, adult heirs of Hjörtur Ármannsson, legal owner of the farm prior to the establishment of Site 431, are to receive equal shares of a monthly stipend consisting of one half of the farm's net profits.

At no time is any significant alteration to the main Site 431 structure to be made, and any damages which occur are to be repaired immediately. Interpretation of what constitutes a major alteration to the structure is to be left to the discretion of the director of Site 431.

Former SCP-2436-2 instances are to be housed in a standard security locker in the cellar of the main Site 431 structure. Active SCP-2436-2 instances are to be accessible to all site research personnel, and kept on the ground floor of the main Site 431 structure at all times. Access to former SCP-2436-2 instances is to be by approval of the site director only.

The tunnel which leads to SCP-2436-1 is not to be entered or interacted with without prior approval from the site director. Individuals who enter the tunnel housing SCP-2436-1 are to be transported off-site and interviewed. If the individual is found to have become an SCP-2436-3 instance, they are to be administered amnestics and released. Otherwise, they are to be released immediately. Any Foundation personnel assigned to Site-431 and known to be susceptible to becoming an SCP-2436-3 instance are to be immediately reassigned to another location. Any signs of unprecedented activity by SCP-2436-1 are to be reported immediately to Regional Director Vigdís Vilhjálmsdóttir.

Full adherence to the laws of the Republic of Iceland is to be maintained by all Site 431 personnel whenever possible.

Description: SCP-2436-1 is a presumed humanoid of unknown appearance located 11 kilometers north of the village of ███████████████████, Skaftárhreppur, in the Republic of Iceland. SCP-2436-1 was discovered by Foundation agents on 1973-01-27, shortly following the ███████ eruption, when an abnormal number of visitors to the farm that Site 431 is now located on were detected. The reason for this visitation has not been clearly established, but investigation of the property revealed multiple anomalous effects were present.

Most immediately noticeable, there is a roughly circular tunnel 1.4 meters in diameter at its mouth located near the center of the property, into which no Foundation operative was immediately able to penetrate. Initial attempts to explore the tunnel invariably resulted in agents quickly becoming lost and returning to the entrance without ever discovering an opposite end to the tunnel, despite the tunnel appearing to be almost entirely straight. Prior to the discovery of the object currently classified as SCP-2436-1, assumed to be housed within and responsible for the anomalous properties of the tunnel, the tunnel itself was initially classified as SCP-2436-1.

Interviews of the residents of the farm revealed a number of superstitious beliefs regarding SCP-2436-1, most prominently a belief that there was a fairy, troll, elf, or member of the huldufólk1 living inside the tunnel, and that it controlled access to the deeper extents of the tunnel. Interviews also revealed that residents credited this entity with the success of the farm over the course of several generations, with most residents readily supplying anecdotes of unusual good fortune occurring on the farm.

While residents were initially willing to answer the questions of Foundation agents and host them within the farmhouse, all were adamant that nobody outside of the family of Hjörtur Ármannsson be permitted to enter the cellar of the house. Foundation agents initially agreed to this, but took the opportunity to investigate the cellar as soon as the house was fully vacant of all residents.

In the cellar of the farmhouse, Foundation agents discovered a storage chest containing 26 handwritten journals dating from the apparent establishment of the farm in 1787 to the then-present year. A 27th journal was found on a writing desk, vibrating open to a blank entry dated to the current day. When the object, currently designated SCP-2436-2, was approached by a Foundation agent, text appeared on the opened page, stating, "I will be notifying the residents of your intrusion."

The Foundation agents investigating the site then departed to avoid confrontation. Upon receiving reports of their findings, the Foundation applied all necessary pressures to obtain legal ownership of the property now designated Site 431, and to acquire all 26 journals understood to be former SCP-2436-2 instances. The active SCP-2436-2 instance was not recovered, and is assumed to have been taken by one of Site 431's former residents, but it has not been discerned who took it or where it has been relocated to.

Attempts to locate the SCP-2436-2 instance active at the time of the discovery of SCP-2436 are ongoing. It is not known if SCP-2436-2 instances are capable of being used to communicate with SCP-2436-1 when removed from the area of Site-431. The active SCP-2436-2 instance under Foundation control has never demonstrated this ability, but the nature of the object makes conclusive findings on this matter an impossibility.

Following the initial assignment of Foundation personnel to Site 431 and the removal of all civilians from the area on 1973-02-05, the ground surrounding the main Site 431 structure in a radius of 20 meters shook violently for a period of five days. No damage to the structure was sustained. At the cessation of the shaking, a journal of similar size and composition to the 26 former SCP-2436-2 instances was found at the doorstep of the main Site 431 structure. Inside, a journal entry dated to 1973-02-10 was found, stating the following:

I was not familiar with your organization until the arrival of your spies some days ago. I am not impressed with what I understand to be its purpose. I am not impressed with what I understand to be the methods by which it functions. I am not pleased that your organization has displaced those that I have made a pact with. I do not intend to cooperate with your organization's objectives in this or any other place. I will advise that others do not cooperate with your organization. I will not tolerate interruption or disruption of my duties for the duration of your stay here. I would be well-pleased if you were to return legal ownership in the eyes of the Republic of Iceland to those I have previously approved.

19 days following the establishment of Site 431, after several attempts to explore the tunnel housing SCP-2436-1 resulted in failure, Researcher Jóna Steinsdóttir underwent an unauthorized expedition into the tunnel while off-duty, apparently prompted by a message in SCP-2436-2 directed specifically to her, which she blotted out in ink prior to leaving the main Site-431 structure. Researcher Jóna Steinsdóttir evidently successfully navigated the tunnel and reached SCP-2436-1, whereupon either direct contact or verbal conversation with the object caused Researcher Jóna to believe that it was imperative that Site 431 be abandoned and Foundation containment of SCP-2436 discontinued. Following her return to the surface, Researcher Jóna attempted several acts of covert sabotage of Site 431, including the destruction of Foundation firearms, equipment, and food and medical supplies. Researcher Jóna's sabotage attempts did not include any activities that could have directly caused damage to the main Site 431 structure, or to the health of any Foundation personnel.

Three hours after her return to the surface, Researcher Jóna was apprehended and, following an analysis of her behavior, was designated as the first known SCP-2436-3 instance. An interview followed, which, in combination with the collection of former SCP-2436-2 instances located at Site 431, contributed most of the information we have about the motives and habits of SCP-2436-1.

+ Show Excerpt of SCP-2436-3 Interview 1, 1973-03-01

- Hide Excerpt of SCP-2436-3 Interview 1, 1973-05-23

Researcher Hákon Stefánsson: Hello, SCP-2436-3. Would you like to discuss what motivated you to destroy Foundation property earlier today?

SCP-2436-3: Oh my God.

<22 seconds pass in silence.>

SCP-2436-3: You're using your interview voice on me. On me. I know your wife, Hákon.

Researcher Hákon: I am following standard procedure.

<SCP-2436-3 laughs for a period of 21 seconds.>

SCP-2436-3: Fuck. I know. I know.

<SCP-2436-3 laughs for an additional 13 seconds.>

SCP-2436-3: We don't belong here. What we're doing here is a distraction to it. To SCP-2436-1. It doesn't need us to contain it, and we don't need to understand what it's doing. It hasn't left that hole in centuries.

Researcher Hákon: And this belief motivated you to destroy Foundation supplies and equipment?

SCP-2436-3: I know it was silly and impulsive. I was emotional. I knew none of you would listen to me, and destroying that shit while everyone was asleep seemed like the best way to motivate you to leave, at least for a while. Maybe long enough to think of something else.

Researcher Hákon: Not all Site 431 personnel were asleep while you accessed the equipment and supplies you destroyed last night. Would you care to explain how you avoided detection for so long?

SCP-2436-3: No.

Researcher Hákon: Many of the objects you destroyed following your emergence from the tunnel housing SCP-2436-1 show signs of being crushed as if by a hydraulic piston or similar device, but no tool of that nature is located at Site-431. Could you explain how you achieved this effect?

SCP-2436-3: No.

Dr. Hákon: Can you describe the physical appearance of SCP-2436-1?

SCP-2436-3: Oh, yes. I won't ever forget what it looked like. It's big. Two and a half meters tall at least. Wide. Maybe three or four times the size of a man. It has two arms and two legs but it doesn't look human, more like a bat or a mole. Its voice is… hard to describe. It's like crystal - it's gentle and clear. Everything about it is like that. The place it lives - it's a hole in the ground, right? Dirt and stone. Everything there is dirt and stone but it feels like a home. It feels like walking into somebody's home - somebody who's been waiting to receive you as a guest for a long time, somebody who's cleaned and decorated just for you. That's what SCP-2436-1 looks like, do you follow?

Researcher Hákon: I see. Would you be able to describe what SCP-2436-1 appeared to be doing in the tunnel? It has referred in SCP-2436-2 to its 'duties.' Was there any indication of what those were?

SCP-2436-3: Oh yes, yes. That was why it brought me down there. It's concerned that Foundation containment protocols and experiments will keep it from protecting us. It said it's monitoring the movements of the Earth. Not through space - like, within the Earth. It said it's trying to supervise those movements, make them… clean? Clean, it said. I think it was talking about tectonic activity.

Researcher Hákon: And you believe SCP-2436-1 to be capable of influencing tectonic activity? That it is influencing tectonic activity for our benefit?

SCP-2436-3: I believe that, yes. I can't… explain this. It didn't give me proof - not beyond its ability to influence the rocks and soil in the area of Site 431 - but I believe it. It wasn't… insincere. I don't believe it lied about anything. I'm not sure it's ever lied about anything.

Researcher Hákon: I see.

Following this interview, an attempt to alter the memories of Researcher Jóna through the use of proto-amnestics in order to forget her encounter with SCP-2436-1 proved successful in curtailing her desire to circumvent containment. Following this, Researcher Jóna's classification as an SCP-2436-3 instance was suspended. Forty minutes following the reversion in Researcher Jóna's classification, a new message was found in SCP-2436-2, as follows:

I can see clearly that I was correct in assuming the worst of your organization. You plunder and destroy what is not yours to take. You have no respect for the natural rights of others; only for your own control. You have no respect for your stated purpose.

Following the reception of this message, the main Site 431 structure experienced tremors for a period of one hour. No damage to the structure was sustained.

Experimentation and observation over the course of SCP-2436's containment has shown that susceptibility to becoming an SCP-2436-3 instance correlates strongly with high levels of empathy and low levels of loyalty to the Foundation, where applicable. Correspondingly, civilians and nonviolent D-Class personnel who enter Site-431, in particular but not exclusively those who interact with the active SCP-2436-2 instance housed there, are at significantly more risk of becoming SCP-2436-3 instances than traditionally employed Foundation personnel.

Notably, though SCP-2436-3 instances demonstrate an ability to destroy materials as if by crushing them with great force, this ability has never been directly observed, and does not appear to correspond to any increase in the physical strength or other abilities of SCP-2436-3 instances. This ability is completely non-evident in all former SCP-2436-3 instances.

Addendum 1: SCP-2436-2 instances represent a significant wealth of knowledge regarding the nature and intentions of SCP-2436-1, both in regards to their composition and to the text written within them. All known former SCP-2436-2 instances are 18.3x13.1x2.6cm in dimension, 81 pages in length and bound with horse leather. The active SCP-2436-2 instance located at Site 431 appears to be bound in wolf leather but is otherwise identical to previous instances. All subsequent SCP-2436-2 instances appear to be based on the first known SCP-2436-2 instance, a journal originally owned by Bjartur Eiríksson.2

The first SCP-2436-2 instance appears to have been used for some time preceding the establishment of the farm and the first 23 pages are filled with the owner's thoughts regarding agriculture, religion, then-contemporary politics, and his personal life. Partway through the 24th page, text written in a different handwriting begins to appear. Subsequently to this, most text written in the original handwriting appears to be directed at SCP-2436-1, which SCP-2436-1 inconsistently responds to.

Included below are several notable excerpts from both former SCP-2436-2 instances and the active SCP-2436-2 instance.

+ 1788-05-22 [Earliest known communication by SCP-2436-1.]

- Access Granted

Entry written by SCP-2436-1.

I have noticed that you have recently acquired ownership of a plot of land under the laws of the Kingdom of Denmark and have begun to construct a home on that land. It is my understanding that you intend to begin using this land for agricultural purposes and that you have purchased a number of horses to that end. I have no wish to interfere in this enterprise, given the considerable investment it must have required to obtain horses in the current environment. However, I have been living on the land in question for some five years now, and relocation is untenable. Therefore, I believe we must establish certain rules between us.

Firstly, you must not enter the tunnel located 742 paces east-by-northeast from the location of the home you are currently constructing without invitation. Secondly, you must not block or prohibit others from accessing this tunnel. In return, I will assume responsibility for the conduct of any visitors brought here by the tunnel and ensure that no mortal power comes to harm you or your heirs without rightful legal authority so long as you live here. It is my intention to share this living space amicably. You may respond to me by writing in this journal. I will see it.

I apologize for making use of your personal property to deliver this message and I regret that it is no longer a private text. I can promise that I have not read any previous entries in this journal and do not intend to without permission. If you acquire another like it I can promise not to affect it in a similar way. In the future, I will supply all necessary means of communication myself.

Notes: Subsequently to this, Bjartur almost immediately agreed to the terms given by SCP-2436-1, after a request that SCP-2436-1 "please be very careful with [his] horses," mentioning that they were difficult to acquire. SCP-2436-1 responded with an emphatic assurance that it intended to do so.

+ 1791-08-12

- Access Granted

Entry written by SCP-2436-1.

I have received news that the reverend in ███████████████████ has passed away. This grieves me greatly, and I wish to extend my condolences. If every village had a reverend like him, I might be able to leave this place. Unfortunately, I do not think his like will be seen again for some time. I would appreciate it if you would inform his widow that I, too, mourn his loss the next time you visit ███████████████████.

Notes: A week later, Bjartur claimed to have informed the reverend's widow, ███████ ██████████████, of SCP-2436-1's message. Bjartur makes no further claims within former SCP-2436-2 instances of communicating to any individuals outside of his wife and children regarding the existence of SCP-2436-1, and it is indeterminate to what degree any individuals not living in close proximity to SCP-2436-1 were aware of it at this time.

+ 1831-02-27 to 1831-03-01

- Access Granted

1831-02-27. Entry written by Ásmundur Bjartursson and SCP-2436-1.

Ásmundur: I, Ásmundur Bjartursson, have always heard from my father that you, the elf living under my home, have promised to protect my father and his heirs so long as we live here and stay out of your hole. I have read my father's journals and I have witnessed your promises. I write to you now to tell you that you have not kept your promises. My sister, Lára Bjartursdóttir, has disappeared while cleaning the stables. She has not taken food with her. She has not taken a blanket. I have been out all night looking for her and found nothing. My sister has disappeared from the home you have promised to protect. I demand that you find her. I demand that you make her safe.

SCP-2436-1: I intend to.

1831-03-01. Entry written by Ásmundur Bjartursson and SCP-2436-1.

Ásmundur: Thank you for the recovery of my sister, Lára. We have been worried sick here these past few days. Lára has told me that you found her hungry and bleeding and lost and did not leave her until she was sated and whole and home. I, Ásmundur Bjartursson, apologize for writing that you did not keep your promise.

SCP-2436-1: You are very welcome. In the future, please do not hesitate to inform me of problems like this. I am busy down here, but I know that your sister is beset by terrors, and I take my promises very seriously. Her safety, and that of all your father's heirs, is very important to me.

Notes: This is the first known occurrence of usage of an SCP-2436-2 instance to communicate with SCP-2436-1 by an individual other than Bjartur Eiríkursson. More significantly, this is the only recorded mention throughout the former SCP-2436-2 instances of SCP-2436-1 leaving its tunnel for any period of time. Judging by previous entries in SCP-2436-2 instances by Bjartur and subsequent entries by Ásmundur, the 'terrors' that Lára Bjartursdottir was beset by appear to be hallucinations caused by a non-anomalous schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

+ 1949-06-05

– hide block

Entry determined to be written by Ármann Olvirsson and SCP-2436-1.

Ármann: Hjörtur drove down to ████████ yesterday to visit the girl he's sweet on. When he got back, he told me that the closer he got to ████████, the worse the roads got, and even the road going west towards █████████ looked like it was in worse repair than the one going home. You know, our road isn't paved properly, right? It's just dirt. Driving back and forth from ████████ like we do, it should be torn to hell by now. Is that your doing?

SCP-2436-1: I have always tried to help make life on this farm easier for your family, where I can.

Notes: Following discovery of this entry, Site 431 personnel dug a trench inside the road leading to the village of ███████████████████, about a kilometer outside of Site 431 in order to test if SCP-2436-1 would repair it. After a period of one month, no anomalous change to the trench was detected and it was filled in by Site 431 personnel. It is uncertain if SCP-2436-1's ability to affect the soil further than two kilometers from its location is inhibited, or if it was unwilling to produce a similar effect for the benefit of Foundation personnel as it was for Site 431's previous inhabitants. SCP-2436-1 was unresponsive to questioning on the subject.

However, following this event, a soil survey of Site 431 was carried out and it was noted that the area of Site 431 contains an abnormally (though not necessarily anomalously) high level of nutrients suitable to the growth of grass suitable for horse feed.

+ 1987-12-10

- Access Granted

Written by SCP-2436-1.

There is another heir of Hjörtur Ármannsson I will have to insist you begin including as a recipient of the monthly stipend we have agreed on. Her name is Emilía Heimirsdóttir and although she is only 16 and not agreed to be an adult by either the laws of the Republic of Iceland, where she was born, or the Kingdom of Denmark, where she currently resides, she is currently living independently with no income in the city of Aarhus. This is unacceptable. It is a moral necessity that she be included as a recipient of the agreed stipend. She has no access to a bank account and no fixed address, and so transferring funds to her may be more complicated than to the other heirs, but I have confidence in your organization's ability to fulfill its obligations.

Notes: Emilía Heimirsdóttir was located by Foundation agents in Aarhus following a brief investigation and an arrangement to distribute a portion of the stipend associated with the profits of the farm located at Site 431 were made. In the course of investigation, many questioned individuals in Aarhus did not recognize the name Emilía Heimirsdóttir but gave and responded to a description of her as 'the girl with the old diary.' Given that the active SCP-2436-2 instance immediately prior to Foundation seizure of the location of Site 431 has yet to be recovered, an investigation was initiated to discover if it was in Emilía's possession. For a period of three weeks, no Foundation agent reported witnessing her carrying any item that could plausibly be described as an old diary. 23 days into the investigation, Emilía was seen carrying a leatherbound journal of dissimilar proportions and composition to all known SCP-2436-2 instances. On recovery of this item by Foundation agents, it was analyzed and determined to have no anomalous properties, then returned to Emilía. Attempts to locate the missing SCP-2436-2 instance are ongoing.

Addendum 2: SCP-2436-1's exact location underground is difficult to ascertain. Use of sonar and other imaging technologies invariably results in pictures of completely solid ground throughout the projected area of the tunnel SCP-2436-1 inhabits. Additionally, because personnel sent to investigate the tunnel invariably return to the surface either claiming to have found the tunnel impossible to navigate, or having become SCP-2436-3 instances, attempts to explore the tunnel manually have been halted indefinitely. Following experiment series B, attempts to explore the tunnel through use of drones, or to penetrate the tunnel from another location have been halted indefinitely.

+ Experiment Series B Log

- Access Granted

Experiment B-1, 1973-06-08: Six camera-mounted drones were sent into the tunnel in four hour intervals over the course of one day.

Result: All drones sent into the tunnel immediately shut down upon going deeper than five meters past the entrance. Five of the drones were recovered outside the tunnel a week later. A message was found in SCP-2436-2 shortly beforehand, stating, "You may have most of these back, but I will need to keep one for examination." All five drones resumed normal operation once removed from Site 431.

Experiment B-2, 1973-06-11: Excavation equipment was brought to dig into the tunnel from the side, attempting to bypass SCP-2436-1's ability to control what is able to reach it through the tunnel.

Result: All excavation equipment shut down after digging further than one meter into the ground near the tunnel. No cause for shut-down could be ascertained. When removed from Site 431, all equipment resumed normal function. No new messages found in SCP-2436-2

Experiment B-3, 1973-06-13: Manual excavation was attempted through use of simple hand tools.

Result: The digging end of each hand tool was invariably broken off from the handle shortly after excavation began, irrespective of the tool's material composition. No method of avoiding this result evident. No new messages found in SCP-2436-2.

Experiment B-4, 1974-06-13: D-Class personnel were instructed to excavate the area manually, without the assistance of tools.

Result: SCP-2436-2 began to shake violently eleven minutes after the experiment began, and continued to shake for another three minutes until a researcher opened it. Inside, a new message stating "Please do not make me do this." was found written. Experiment aborted.

Footnotes

1. Icelandic and Faroese term meaning "hidden people."

2. Original founder of the farm upon which Site 431 is now located and direct ancestor of Hjörtur Ármannsson, owner of the farm immediately prior to its seizure by the Foundation.