SCP-4242

Item #: SCP-4242

Object Class: Thaumiel

Special Containment Procedures: Public access to the site of SCP-4242 must remain unrestricted. Only the lower labyrinth chamber is to be restricted to Foundation personnel. A secondary labyrinth can be made available to the public in a different area of the SCP-4242 grounds.

Due to the public nature of SCP-4242 instances, research teams must take care when entering or leaving the site, or when transporting equipment or weapons to or from the site, in order to prevent alarming civilians or creating paradoxes.

Any newly discovered SCP-4242 instance must be logged in the SCP-4242 Extended Location and Exploration Log.

Any new individuals arriving in SCP-4242 from other sites are not to be engaged unless they wish to leave the lower labyrinth chamber, in which case they must be detained for questioning but are not to be considered hostile.

Update 7/7/2018: It is considered a priority to see if there is some way to alter the function of SCP-4242 to access a future location. To date there have been 0 future locations found.

Description: SCP-4242 is a phenomenon by which a place of worship develops a labyrinth chamber in its lower levels. An individual chamber can contain as many as 25 labyrinths, both as walkable floor labyrinths and as wall-mounted finger labyrinths.

Destruction of a location causes SCP-4242 to reappear under another public place of worship anywhere in the world. The present location of SCP-4242 is at Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík, Iceland, so placed to maintain both the need for the location to remain public, while minimizing traffic to the location.

When a subject completes a labyrinth by walking or tracing the path, the subject is instantly transported to a similar chamber, containing a similar collection of labyrinths and located in the lower levels of a public place of worship. All such locations are temporally located in the past, and exiting the chamber will lead the subject to the historical time period in some location on Earth.

In all recorded instances, the chambers are closely monitored by an organization dedicated to the preservation of normalcy for the public, and/or the containment of anomalous phenomena. These historical organizations are either contemporary members of the SCP Foundation, or are similarly structured organizations from times and places where the Foundation did not exist.

These other organizations have been informed of the mission of the SCP Foundation and have been supportive. Exploratory and diplomatic missions to historical organizations have yielded insight into present challenges with containment, and Foundation expertise and technology have proven useful to historical organizations. The Foundation aims to continue to leverage access to these historical organizations to maintain Foundation goals throughout history.

Travel to earlier time periods can be accomplished by traversing a series of lower labyrinth rooms. Although each chamber connects to only 15-25 other chambers via labyrinth, further locations and historical periods can be reached from each chamber.

Below is a partial list of locations which have been reached and Foundation diplomatic missions have been established. Further locations discovered and contacted are available in the SCP-4242 Extended Location and Exploration Log.

Labyrinth leading to SCP-4242-Roma

SCP-4242 Chamber Code: SCP-4242-Roma

Location: Temple of Vesta, Tibur, Roman Republic

Time: 44 BCE

Exploration and Diplomatic Notes: The Roma location must be accessed with care, following the assassination of Julius Caesar and the outbreak of civil war between factions loyal to Marc Antony, Cicero, and Caesar Octavius. Researchers are advised to listen to locals regarding the movement of troops throughout the region and exercise caution on the roadways throughout.

Organization Notes: SCP-4242-Roma is monitored by the priests and attendants of the Tiburtine Sibyl, a young woman who tells prophecies upon entering a trance-like state. These prophecies are highly valued for their accuracy, although the cryptic nature of their delivery can lead to misinterpretation. Efforts by the Sibyl's Attendants have led to the prevention of three XK-Class scenarios, but have increased the level of uncertainty of their actions at any time.

Update 4/4/2004: The Tiburtine Sibyl has been observed to state the following prophecies:

"The centuries shall bear fruit, the children's children three hundred times will wish to bring peace. Fear their advice, for they know not the destruction they bear on their tongues."

"Find the triple tortoise, defending against its center. There is the pinnacle of protection. Beyond, there is nothing."

Entrance to SCP-4242-Iga. Guarded by three Clan members at all times.

SCP-4242 Chamber Code: SCP-4242-Iga

Location: Kasuga-taisha Shrine, Japan

Time: 1534 CE

Exploration and Diplomatic Notes: This instance is in Japan during the Sengoku period, a period of instability. However, the Shinto shrines themselves are offered respect, and should remain sanctuary locations.

Organization Notes: The location is monitored by the Iga Clan, a famed shinobi family, and works closely with the Emperor to track down and neutralize any anomalous threats to Japan. Kasuga-taisha is one of sixteen heihaku locations, to where the kami are delivered messages and storage of anomalous items takes place. The Iga Clan offers the hiring out of shinobi agents to the Foundation for stealth-based missions, and the Foundation has assisted the Clan with deliveries of amnestics.

Of note, clan members have made regular use of the location to enter future times and report on what they find. The following items have been found with them upon first Foundation contact.

A set of spears and shield from the Zulu tribe, ca. 19th century

Four 5.25" floppy discs, ca. 1985, containing a collection of Infocom text adventures

One 1977 Schwinn bicycle

200 America On Line compact discs, modified to have sharpened edges

One M1885 Remington-Lee bolt action rifle with 20 rounds of ammunition, ca. 1880

One Apple iPhone 6 (unpowered)

The Iga Clan has not reported having traveled further into the future than the Foundation's present day.

FURTHER REPORTING - Level 4/4242 ACCESS ONLY

ACCESS GRANTED

POI-4242-𐤀

Incident Number: 4242-𐤀

Incident Date: 7/7/2018

Summary: A male human of African descent (designated POI-4242-𐤀) emerged from SCP-4242 and was detained for questioning. Subject was cooperative and spoke Latin with researchers on site.

< BEGIN LOG >

Dr. Scarpelli: Welcome to Iceland. It is the Year of Our Lord 2018. My name is Claudio Scarpelli. Who are you and where are you from?

POI-4242-𐤀: My name is Amaztan. You speak Latin, and say Year of Our Lord, so you are Christian, and so…

< POI-4242-𐤀 pauses and makes counting gestures. >

POI-4242-𐤀: It has been about 10,000 years. 10,000 years… That is a good long time. So much growth, so much change. Long time, long travels. Humanity has done well.

< POI-4242-𐤀 wipes away a tear and clears his nose. >

POI-4242-𐤀: I started out from… I spoke with your colleagues 200 years ago, we looked maps over. It is a place now called Tassili n'Ajjer, mountains and valleys in the Sahara… Sahara desert, now, I suppose.

Dr. Scarpelli: Yes, I have heard of it, but have never been there. Would your people still exist somewhere?

POI-4242-𐤀: I am certain we disappeared when the desert arrived. When I am home, the mountain valleys are lush and the rivers are full. It is amazing to see the land change beneath your feet when you travel far enough in time.

Dr. Scarpelli: I can imagine. How do you know Latin?

POI-4242-𐤀: There has always been a learned speaker of Latin over the past 2,000 years in Europe. It is a good language to know. Someone 50 years ago suggested English, but that tongue has only mattered for the past century, maybe two. I also know Chinese and Sanskrit, if needed.

Dr. Scarpelli: Latin is good. If what you're saying is accurate, if you are from 10,000 years ago, about 8,000 years before Christ, then you are the farthest back in history we have ever encountered.

POI-4242-𐤀: Yes, that makes sense. Our tribe built this temple, to see into the future. There would be none further back.

Dr. Scarpelli: Your tribe built this temple? How did you accomplish that?

POI-4242-𐤀: Do forgive me, I do not understand the ways and powers of the gods well enough to explain the process, but you are welcome to come back home to speak with those who do, yourself. I would be happy to guide you back. We have met with many priests and leaders from the future. You would be particularly welcome. We would love the chance to see how far we have come.

Dr. Scarpelli: Yes, we will want to visit you. Thank you for your generous offer. We must ask, however, why did your people build this temple in the first place?

POI-4242-𐤀: We have found things, creatures, words that exist beyond the realms of men or gods. We do our best to hide them, bury them, keep our homes and families safe from the threats they raise. Yet as each generation has the knowledge of the one before, and learns to add to it, our methods improve, but so do the challenges adapt and grow to threaten us again. We realized that if we look ahead, far ahead, our children and their children will have new ways to protect themselves. And so, we built this temple to allow us to meet with the people dedicated to protecting their brethren from these insanities in the future, so that we all may be strengthened by our knowledge. So that is why we come.

Dr. Scarpelli: Understood. We would be more than happy to assist you in your efforts to protect the world. Since you have traveled through time so extensively, perhaps you can help us with a puzzle we have encountered.

< POI-4242-𐤀 laughs. >

POI-4242-𐤀: I'm sure your learned men know far more about puzzles than I do, but I gladly offer my services. What is this puzzle?

Dr. Scarpelli: We have managed to explore a number of ages from ours, but they all lead to the past. Other ages have been able to access their futures through the temple, but not us. You've traveled so far; how would we be able to use the temple to explore our future?

< POI-4242-𐤀 remains silent. >

Dr. Scarpelli: I'm sorry, do you have anything to say?

< POI-4242-𐤀 remains impassive. Tears begin to fall down his cheeks. >

POI-4242-𐤀: I cannot lead you to your future. I am sorry.

Dr. Scarpelli: Why? Are you or your people unwilling to share your knowledge?

< POI-4242-𐤀 reaches out and holds Dr. Scarpelli's hands in his. >

POI-4242-𐤀: No. I cannot lead you to your future because this is the last age. I am sorry.

< END LOG >