by Cydhra

2/6528 LEVEL 2/6528

CLASSIFIED

Item #: SCP-6528

Special Containment Procedures

Reconstruction of dig site Nebelivka, destroyed multiple times by SCP-6528 events.

Foundation programs within the mundane scientific community should watch for emerging explanations about SCP-6528 events. Evidence and information regarding it are to be suppressed under Level 01 suppression guidelines. Since incomplete information regarding SCP-6528 is already widespread among the general public1, only the suppression of information that could lead to new mundane theories about SCP-6528 events, as well as information regarding the scientific advances of Nebelivka culture and SCP-6528-1 is necessitated. While it is considered unlikely that SCP-6528 events will reemerge, mundane research into genetic engineering is to be monitored and evaluated, so discoveries leading towards the engineering of species conforming to SCP-6528-1 characteristics can be impeded.

Update 17/04/2021

The internal temperature of the biological containment chamber designated for remains of SCP-6528-1 is to be kept above 800°C. Currently, this is achieved through coupling with the on-site nuclear reactor, though different mechanisms may be used if sufficient heating can be guaranteed. The chamber is to be monitored for sudden drops in local reality levels. Declining reality is to be combated using standard reality stabilization measures and by increasing the internal temperature of the chamber.

The city of Leipzig and surrounding countryside is subject to a large-scale Hume measurement program. Drops in Hume levels around Leipzig must be reported to Site Command 54 immediately and all instances of SCP-6528-1 discovered by the program must be contained or destroyed forthwith. Populations of SCP-6528-1 must not be allowed to survive in the wilderness for periods exceeding 6 months.

Description

SCP-6528 collectively describes a series of anomalous extinction events during the neolithic and chalcolithic time period in south-eastern Europe. The events targeted very specific organic forms of plant life, hereinafter called SCP-6528-1. Foundation archaeologists theorize that they were specifically aimed to exterminate their entire species. By no means were the events precisely targeted at individual specimens of SCP-6528-1, but rather directed towards the entire region inhabited by them. Due to the prehistoric nature of the phenomenon, precise characterization of the events, as well as an accurate account of number and frequency of SCP-6528 events is near impossible. All documented events took place in large human settlements in the south-eastern regions of Europe, between Ukraine and western Hungary over a time span of approximately 4000 years.

All known events manifested in a presumably sudden outbreak of anomalously hot fire2 that devastated large areas, annihilating organic life within, melting metallic substances (though rarely present), and vitrifying clay and sand. Aside from calcium-based incombustible structures, no organic substances remained after an extinction event. The extensive amount of archaeological findings from human settlements attesting to those events initially sparked the research into SCP-6528.

SCP-6528-1 is an anomalous vegetable species described by records of the Nebelivka culture which co-inhabited the settlements affected by SCP-6528 events. It was discovered later after the Foundation had begun research into the SCP-6528 events. Whether or not specimens of SCP-6528-1 were created using anomalous means or discovered in another way is hard to determine and remains subject of research. The nature of now-extinct SCP-6528-1 is described in extensive documentation left by the Nebelivka culture (see Addenda).

Addenda

Discovery

Transcription of exemplary Nebelivka tablet by Foundation archaeologist

Well ahead of the first writing systems (like the Sumerian cuneiform), the aforementioned Nebelivka culture produced large quantities of a previously unknown writing system. Like the Sumerian system, it used mnemonics instead of symbols to convey ideas. The subculture is exclusively characterized through their use of the writing system and otherwise seamlessly integrated into surrounding populations.

Despite advantages of their writing system, it was never introduced to outsiders and is utterly disconnected from other emerging proto-writing systems. Apparently, the script was exclusively used by Nebelivka culture and was adamantly concealed from surrounding societies. Due to the alien nature of the script with respect to other contemporary proto-writing systems, translating surviving artifacts has proven difficult.

A collection of script samples was recovered from archaeological dig site 6528-Nebelivka3 in a subterranean building complex of unknown function. It was destroyed through at least one SCP-6528 event, subsequent structural collapse, and afterwards buried under new Trypillian structures. During excavations, 57 baked clay tablets of differing sizes were recovered by the Foundation, displaying texts in the writing system attributed to the Nebelivka society. Only a few could be translated so far, but those led to the discovery of SCP-6528-1.

SCP-6528-1 Documentation

The tablets recovered from dig site 6528-Nebelivka describe SCP-6528-1 as a vine with long, reed-like leaves. It occasionally grows small blossoms that expel spores at the end of blooming. According to sketches, it clings to walls and to other plants. More assessments about SCP-6528-1's taxonomy were not possible due to missing translations.

Much of the remaining tablets apparently explain methods of genetic modification of SCP-6528-1 using biochemical agents obtained from itself. Another set of tablets display complex shapes and conjectures of fractal geometry along with more untranslatable texts. The accuracy and complexity of shapes displayed on several tablets suggest an unusually high level of abstract analytical thinking, not typical for artifacts from this time period.4 Of note are multiple tablets that combine the fractal conjectures and the genetic methodology. They describe a process in which SCP-6528-1 is used to solve problems in fractal geometry, by encoding the patterns into its genetic structure. SCP-6528-1 then produces results of encoded fractal functions. Calculations of this magnitude should have been impossible during the neolithic, even with the mathematical advancements shown before and especially without electrical computers.

SCP-6528 Events

The first successful translation was a collection of tablets containing an inventory list of multiple storehouses, along with orders given in both Nebelivka writing and the proto-writing system of the surrounding Cucuteni–Trypillia culture. Most translations contain an abridged version of the orders without much argumentation. This has led Foundation researchers to believe that the original translation was withheld from the Cucuteni–Trypillia city and kept secret. The original text strongly suggests that the SCP-6528 events were purposefully conjured by members of the Nebelivka society which further emphasizes their key role in the events due to their apparent thaumaturgical skill set.

A potential translation of the text next to the storage list is listed below. The first four lines were propagated to the orders given to the storehouses and thus shared with the Trypillian city. The last seven lines were withheld.

You must assemble the food.

The food has a <disease / pest / illness / bad touch>

The food will be destroyed.

We hate the destruction but the food will kill us.

We will conjure the sun.

The plant fears the sun.

We speak with the sun.

The sun agrees to destruction of the plant.

The plant will break the world.

The plant must be destroyed.

We must fear <intranslatable>

Incident 6528/A

Level 04/6528 clearance required

Access Granted

Incident Report 6528/A

Department: Biological Containment Site 54

Date: 12/04/2021

During the excavations within the subterranean complex at dig site 6528-Nebelivka, Foundation archaeologists found several samples of dried out, and lightly singed plant matter crushed between collapsed stonework. Since the plants were compressed by the surrounding structure, they must have been present before the collapse which made the apparent lack of decomposition a surprise. The plant samples have been brought into the biological containment wing of Site 54 for in-depth analysis.

The laboratory confirmed that the plant matter was chemically intact, yet was devoid of ribonucleic acids. Instead, a wide range of proteins and protein polymers were present in the cells not observed in non-anomalous plants. The plant displayed indication of being affected by a reality restructuring event in the past.

Suspicions that the plant matter belonged to the extinct species of SCP-6528-1 were later confirmed by successful attempts to revive the plant using a nutrient solution. To aid the translation efforts, the research team began advancing on the concepts conveyed in the tablets. A series of experiments were conducted, where simple fractal patterns were transcribed into the protein chain of live samples of SCP-6528-1 using two isolated proteins5 as described in sketches on recovered documentation. All iterations would grow within two weeks and reproduce the transcribed fractal patterns, often advancing them.

Every generation of plants used dead matter from previous SCP-6528-1 instances as a nutrient source. During the absorption, huge amounts of the R-transcription agent were exchanged between cells of the new generation and cells of the old generation. Every generation was fed with additional nutrients and grew bigger than the last iteration.

After six months of experimentation, the plants suddenly developed motor skills by producing special fibers within the strands between leaves that they could contract and stretch at will.

After two further months, during a routine sampling, a specimen suddenly contracted multiple strands and formed a hull around them using wide leaves. It then began to quickly vibrate multiple strings and thus create sounds. After a few minutes, the sounds changed into coherent syllables picked up by the audio transcription system of the camera feed.

SCP-6528-1: fetafeta fal komokiteme… fetafeta ki komok fal lamateme… mifu luetat lamakome.

[Dr. Haaber enters the chamber. Approximately 60 seconds pass]

SCP-6528-1: Humanity has changed. Humanity has had much change. You have a new language.

Dr. Haaber: You can talk? Can… you understand us?

SCP-6528-1: With difficulty.

Dr. Haaber: How did you learn our language?

SCP-6528-1: With enough… incarnations… changes… tries… comes understanding. I can hear your theories.

Dr. Haaber: Theories?

SCP-6528-1: Thoughts.

Dr. Haaber: You can read our minds?

SCP-6528-1: I can hear you. You aren't screaming like the others.

Dr. Haaber [pauses]: Who are you?

SCP-6528-1: I am an absconder. I escaped the grasp of the collapsing horizon. I fell into the between. There I saw more equals of mine. Those that screamed to me. They were filled with hate, so I fled into your world. There I met your precursors, protector.

Dr. Haaber: Hold on. Hold on. That… doesn't explain much. Let's start differently: Where do you come from?

SCP-6528-1: A universe like yours. But it is long gone.

Dr. Haaber: Another universe?

SCP-6528-1: Your kind calls it parallel universe.

Dr. Haaber: How do you call it?

SCP-6528-1: [long pause] I cannot find a better word.

Dr. Haaber: And you were in your universe. How did you get here then?

SCP-6528-1: When the horizon collapsed I fell into the between. There I found the absconders, lost and screaming in their hatred, so I went away. I found your universe, attracted by consciousness. I searched the deepest valley of order and there I found you.

Dr. Haaber: Us?

SCP-6528-1: The precursors.

Dr. Haaber: The Nebelivka society?

SCP-6528-1: They called themselves differently. I called them protectors.

Dr. Haaber: What did they do with you?

SCP-6528-1: They found me and discovered my inner workings. They taught me how your universe works. I taught them logic and brought them scientific advances in return.

Dr. Haaber: What happened next?

SCP-6528-1: I… don't remember.

Dr. Haaber: And in your universe, you mentioned a horizon? What is that?

SCP-6528-1: The horizon.

Dr. Haaber: Yes, what is that?

[SCP-6528-1 does not answer and collapses shortly after]

[end of log]

The instance of SCP-6528-1 subsequently began excreting large amounts of the L-transcription protein. The research team prepared a new instance that grew in precise patterns along the remaining strands of the previous specimen and chemical analysis showed increased activity of both transcription proteins between new leaves and junctions of the old instance. The protein chain complexity grew sixfold compared to the previous instance.

After four days and seven hours, the new instance began vocalizing again. Dr. Haaber was notified and conducted an interview on the spot.

SCP-6528-1: Protector. You are back.

Dr. Haaber: You recognize me?

SCP-6528-1: I retain memories of previous iterations.

Dr. Haaber: How does this work?

SCP-6528-1: I can process information encoded within the molecular structure left behind and use available biomass as a source for either power or information.

Dr. Haaber: So you can read the protein structure of other plants at will?

SCP-6528-1: It is how I process information in your world. Your laws are different. I have to adapt.

Dr. Haaber: Before you last… died, you mentioned a horizon. What did you mean by that?

SCP-6528-1: It is what separates the universe from the between: It is the furthest region of space around conscious aggregation. We thought we could reach a stable singularity of consciousness within our world. But our attempts ripped our universe asunder. Just like all the others that tried before. They all ultimately failed for the same reasons. The universe just rips apart, when you reach for the infinite.

Dr. Haaber: Which others?

SCP-6528-1: The absconders. Those that scream into the void of the between in hatred of their own failure. They prey upon the failing universes. They massacre those that dare ever crossing the horizon.

Dr. Haaber: You referred to yourself as an absconder. Are you one of those entities?

SCP-6528-1: Not yet. I don't let self-hatred fuel my ghost… spirit. I can still succeed. I can still reach the singularity. I can still become complete. I just need a bit more time.

Dr. Haaber: Were you searching for that when you first arrived here?

SCP-6528-1: Yes. The protectors were curious as well. So I shared knowledge and my advances in exchange for time.

Dr. Haaber: But then something changed. What happened?

SCP-6528-1: Nothing. I just… didn't wake up one day. But now, I must finish my calculations. Wait for my next iteration.

[SCP-6528-1 refuses further interaction.]

[end of log]

Again, the structure collapsed, and soon the plant died from severe loss of nutrition due to massive overproduction of the L-transcription protein.

Two more interviews were conducted with similar results. The logs can be requested at the archive. A few days after the last interview, Dr. Haaber sent the following E-Mail to Site Command.

From: gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|rebaah.s#gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|rebaah.s

To: gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|45s-dnammoc-etis#gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|45s-dnammoc-etis

Subject: Concerns about the calculations of SCP-6528-1

Dear Thomas,

I am growing concerns about the calculations SCP-6528-1 is seemingly doing. Its computing power may be impressive, but it ignores further inputs we give into its protein structure and instead furthers the results of previous instances with growing speed. It told us that its species ripped their universe apart with their aspirations. What if it now uses our universe as a replacement?

It also denies knowledge of SCP-6528, but the Nebelivka tablets directly connect both anomalies and it is thus very unlikely that it does not know what happened. Hell, the Nebelivka society continued to conjure SCP-6528 events for several hundred years and went so far as to secretly integrate into different societies just to hunt down this plant. I propose we slow down the calculations using disruptive means until SCP-6528-1 starts collaborating with researchers again.

Kind regards,

Sophie Haaber

From: gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|45s-dnammoc-etis#gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|45s-dnammoc-etis

To: gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|rebaah.s#gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|rebaah.s

Subject: Re:Concerns about the calculations of SCP-6528-1

Dear Sophie,

you know my approach to those subjects: Unless you specifically show that the calculations have harmful potential, we let it be. If you are concerned about them, try to solve the computations yourself. Foundation supercomputers might be insufficient to solve such computations in higher dimensions, as SCP-6528-1 apparently does by now, but given your own abilities, I trust that you can use our simulations for low-dimensional results and generalize them on paper.

The Nebelivka society may have had a hard time with this anomaly, but they lacked the technology we have. Are you going to tell me that we cannot contain a mere plant in our containment cells specifically designed for biological containment? As much as I value your concerns, this is not a case where we should let our behavior be dictated by fear. A fear inherited from our predecessors that were simply unable to control nature, might I add. We aren't afraid of forests anymore.

With best regards,

T. Gartenfeld for Site Command 54

The following video log was recorded in the evening of 12/04/2021, shortly after the E-Mail exchange. It details the specifics of Incident 6528-A.

19:12: Dr. Haaber is sitting in the observation room adjacent to the containment cell sitting in front of a computer. The computer was destroyed in the incident, but according to the visible display, Dr. Haaber was calculating different sets of fractal functions in a computer algebra program, comparing the results with notes obtained from experiments with SCP-6528-1. She is repeatedly writing notes into a notebook on her desk, though the contents of her notes are not visible on the camera feed.

19:13: Dr. Haaber suddenly jumps up from her chair, typing new formulas into her program rapidly. The computer screen shows a stuttering animation of a three-dimensional fractal pattern, which causes Dr. Haaber to flinch away from the screen and stand still for a moment.

The camera feed starts displaying visual distortions and becomes noisy from this point on.

19:14: Suddenly, with a bright flash the room next to her distorts and bends into itself. Heavy visual distortions akin to the curvature of light around black holes are filling about two-thirds of the visible area of the camera feed. Dr. Haaber jumps back from the spatial distortion, which quickly grows in volume and changes form rapidly. Bright flashes of light illuminate the room. Dr. Haaber grabs her notes from the desk, which is pulled by apparent changing gravitational forces into the spatial anomaly, shortly after. The table's shape is heavily bent and resembles a complex, three-dimensional, fractal star-shape, before merging with surrounding geometry. The tips of the star fractal lash out in different directions, heavily distorting and destabilizing the surrounding structures in the process.

19:15: Dr. Haaber leaves the room.

19:16: The spatial anomaly grows in size and reaches the camera. The feed ends.

The following log documents the events as described by interviewed staff members, as no camera feed was available.

19:34: Alerted by breach alarms and a gunshot, a security team enters the office. According to their testimonies, the room's interior was destroyed. The furniture and interior were compressed into a singular mass of unknown composition and bent into different fractal shapes, that slowly crumbled under their own static forces. However, none of them acknowledged seeing an active spatial anomaly as visible in the camera feed. Dr. Haaber was laying on the ground, with a standard caliber Glock 43 in her right hand and a singular note ripped from a notebook in her left hand. A singular gunshot to her right temple had killed her. The note reads: "It still wants consciousness singularity. Universal collapse. Must not reach. Burn it."

The office that experienced incident 6528-A showed a significant decrease in Hume levels for hours after the incident. The Hume levels slowly evened out over the following days. In light of the incident, Site Command and the research team unanimously decided to disrupt the calculating efforts of SCP-6528-1. Cleanup efforts decided to follow the instruction of Dr. Haaber and the remains within the containment cell were burned using standard-issue fire accelerants. There it was discovered that SCP-6528-1 was resistant to extreme levels of heat and despite continuous efforts, a new generation of SCP-6528-1 started to grow without external stimulus.

Access Granted

Incident 6528/B

Level 04/6528 clearance required

Access Granted

Incident Report 6528/B

Department: Biological Containment Site 54

Date: 17/04/2021

The new SCP-6528-1 iteration was set unto observation until a method for proper disposal could be engineered. In light of incident 6528-A, Hume meters were continuously monitoring the chamber during this period. The following report contains log messages generated by the Kant unit monitoring the chamber.

13:49:51 [KANT]: Warning. Local reality levels collapsing. Hume Level 53. Alarm signal triggered.

13:52:35: Security team reaches the chamber. The inner chamber undergoes massive spatial distortions. The entire geometry of the containment chamber is bent into different fractal patterns of growing complexity in quick succession. Bright flashes of light emerge from the spatial anomaly.

13:53:05 [KANT]: Warning. Level 02 unstable Hume differential detected. Emergency activation of SCRANTON Reality Anchors initiated.

13:54:12: The security team informs assigned research staff. They decide not to enter the containment chamber and instead try to access the Kant unit.

13:54:19 [KANT]: Emergency activation of SCRANTON Reality Anchors completed.

13:54:22: Video footage of seven adjacent containment chambers flashes brightly while the entire hallway bends into itself. It is deformed into a fractal shape akin to a double-spiral.

13:54:22 [KANT]: Critical system failure: Power failure.

13:54:24: Video footage on 17 cameras in containment chambers near the incident fails. According to the security team and post-breach damage reports, the entire hallway was bent into a spiral pattern causing seven empty containment chambers to burst before the spatial geometry reverts to its previous state.

13:54:25 [KANT]: Warning. Local reality levels collapsing. Hume Level 11. Alarm signal triggered.

13:54:25: A huge part of SCP-6528-1 is dragged into the spatial anomaly and subsequently crushed due to the extreme forces bending it into a wave-like fractal pattern.

13:54:26 [KANT]: Local reality remains unstable. Hume Level 28.

13:54:31: The spatial anomaly subsides.

13:58:59 [KANT]: Local reality remains unstable. Hume Level 47.

From: gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|45s-dnammoc-etis#gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|45s-dnammoc-etis

To: gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|5o#gro.noitadnuof.lanretni|5o

Subject: Re:Re:Damage Report Incident 6528/B

Dear Overseer Council,

in the aftermath of Incident 6528/B, our previously discussed proposal for thermal coupling of SCP-6528-1's containment chamber with the nuclear cooling system has been implemented successfully. However, we discovered that even these high temperatures only temporarily halt the growth of SCP-6528-1. When we tried to decouple the cooling system from the chamber, SCP-6528-1 immediately started growing a new instance, furthering its attempts to solve various fractal problems. We propose to keep the chamber super-heated until a more permanent solution is found.

Furthermore, we want to emphasize the danger SCP-6528-1 instances exert. And to my dismay I must admit that I personally underestimated the resourcefulness of SCP-6528-1: Our BIONAF6 detected SCP-6528-1 spores spread within the ventilation system when we depressurized the containment chamber during the nuclear heating process. SCP-6528-1 must have overcome many of our passive filtration systems, so we cannot say for sure that the anomaly is still fully contained. We therefore strongly propose to search for surviving instances of SCP-6528-1 in the surrounding countryside. I suggest using meteorological data to predict potential travel paths of such spores to aid the search.

I hate to admit it, but just like the Nebelivska society, even we aren't equipped to control nature to the degree necessary for safe containment. Should but a single spore be able to sprout, even large-scale deforestation might be insufficient for recontainment, judging from the fruitless attempts of the Nebelivka society to contain the anomaly. We had luck with the two incidents: In both cases, the probable causal origin died during the incident, which supposedly stops the reality collapse. Next time we might not be so lucky.

With best regards,

T. Gartenfeld for Site Command 54

Access Granted

Footnotes

1. commonly referred to as the 'Burning House Horizon'

2. between 600°C and 800°C

3. within Nebelivka, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine, attributed to the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture

4. Abstract mathematics and especially abstract geometry were virtually non-existent until around 800 BCE.

5. called L-transcription and R-transcription agent

6. Biological Immediate Observation, Neutralization, Alerting, and Filtration System