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Article: SCP-137-IT — No Place Like Rome

Author: Mainardo

Original: SCP-137-IT

Translator: Roberto Turati

Item #: SCP-137-IT

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Given the nature of SCP-137-IT, it is currently impossible to contain it in any way. However, Foundation personnel are called upon to monitor the presence of anomalous events related to it within the affected area, and to conceal its effects from the public; all monitoring and screening operations are coordinated by Site Virtus and handled by SIR-I ("Aureæ Notitiæ").

Description: SCP-137-IT refers to a particular phenomenon involving certain objects brought into the area matching the administrative boundaries of the municipality of Rome of the special local authority Roma Capitale. When brought into the aforementioned area, said objects risk undergoing an immediate dematerialization process, thus becoming irretrievable. Notably, however, this phenomenon acts on a probabilistic scale: every object at risk has a 0.0001% probability of being affected. These odds apply to all objects which may be used as back supports (e.g. beds, hammocks, sleeping bags, and so on). The percentage rises to 0.001% for all objects meant to be used as seats for multiple people, and to 0.01% when they are meant to be single seats.

Timeline: The Italian Branch has been aware of SCP-137-IT since its founding. The exact point in time where it was first discovered is unknown, but it is known that the Royal Institute of Italian Anomalies (RIDIA) was aware of it, as well as the Confraternity of Saint George's Knights (CCSG) and Janus' Order (OI), all groups historically present in Rome and related to the city.

The Foundation was able to better understand the reach of SCP-137-IT especially thanks to the latter's documentation. Among the most ancient records of the Order mentioning the anomaly, it was learnt how it seems to have originated in the founding myth of Rome, though in a slightly modified version. A letter reporting the above is attached below.

Letter to the SCP Foundation from Janus' Order, 194█

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01

INGIRUMIMUSNOCTE

ETCONSUMIMURIGNI

ΑΩ

Salutem dicit plurimam1

We heeded your request for explanations about what is happening in Rome.

It is a great, unsolved mystery, one our sacred Order was never able to fully comprehend, as murky as the waters it lies in are. But over the centuries, like an experienced helmsman, we have gathered the knowledge needed to navigate such a matt reflecting pool.

Lost knowledge. Knowledge unwittingly forgotten by men, like in this case.

The story of how Rome was born is written in an ancient tome2 kept in our dēlūbrum3, the sacred library, but differently from what is known nowadays.

For your purposes, you only need know this. After the fratricidal clash, when the sacred pomerium was crossed, a vanquished Remus cast an imprecationem4 on his brother, before passing away.

He swore there would be no time for the inhabitants of the new city to sit down and rest, for war would forever keep them away from the hearth; however, before he could finish uttering his perjury, Romulus struck his fatal blow, interrupting his brother's speech.

If this story is true, then Rome would be under quite the terrible curse, if it was not for the divine Quirinus.

That is all we know. Your Missĭo dictates you learn more than it already is, and we respect that, although the Gods do not share this Proposĭtum. This is what they decreed, and we obey their will. We shall remain available to you either way, should you deem it necessary.

Etiam atque etiam5

Vale6

Sacerdos Magnus Ordinis Iani7

More documents provided by the Order state that SCP-137-IT seems to have expanded over the centuries, as new wall circles were built around the city; how that was possible remains unknown. The historical validity of what was stated has been proven by several letters and complaints retrieved over the years, both from ancient history and the Middle Ages onward. In these documents, several members of the Roman and non-Roman populace complained about their goods disappearing, especially furniture such as chairs and armchairs, as soon as they crossed the boundaries of the city.8

Footnotes

1. "Cordial greetings".

2. The version of the founding myth referenced here is included in the anthology Convivium Domitiani from the Severan age, a compilation of alternative versions of the founding myths from the ancient world, only known to scholars of the Order.

3. "Sanctuary".

4. "Curse".

5. "Again and again [take care]".

6. "Farewell".

7. "High Priest of Janus' Order".

8. One of the latest cases involved a shipment of ██ armchairs, ordered by the cardinal T███████ B███████; this is the only documented case where all the seats disappeared, without taking into account the odds noted so far.