Item#: 7050

Containment Class: keter

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: vlam

Risk Class: caution

Proxima Centauri b.

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the nature of SCP-7050, containment is unfeasible. Knowledge of SCP-7050 is to be limited to a select few international and governmental organizations for the purpose of disarmament. Should there be an SCP-7050-1 instance all embedded Foundation agents within national space agencies and astronomical associations are to be alerted and directed to prevent knowledge of the event from spreading. Should any organization receive data and imagery of an SCP-7050-1 instance, Foundation agents are to prevent its publication and doctor all relevant data on the event. All events leading up to a York Incident are to be recorded and analyzed for the purposes of further preservation of human civilization. Exploration of an SCP-7050-1 instance is to be conducted through the Foundation's Anomalous Aeronautical and Space Research Association, also known internally as AASRA. To date, there have been 11 confirmed SCP-7050-1 instances with a further 4 exoplanets slated for exploration by AASRA.

Description: SCP-7050 refers to the continued survival of the human race. In the event that an exoplanet's atmosphere rapidly becomes toxic due to a burst of nuclear energy, it is to be explored via a Magellan Drone Swarm to determine if a York Incident has occurred. Should the drone swarm determine that a York Incident did occur, the exoplanet will be designated as an SCP-7050-1 instance and will be cataloged. As of 2035, all known extraterrestrial civilizations have experienced a York Incident and, subsequently, extinction.

Addendum.1: First SCP-7050-1 Instance's

Astronomical chart showing the location of Alpha Centauri (bottom middle left). Proxima Centauri is circled in red.

On January 9th, 2009 a sudden burst of nuclear energy was detected in the Alpha Centauri trinary star system by Foundation Space Observatory Scylax. Further observations subsequently revealed the origin of the nuclear energy burst to have been from Proxima Centauri b.1 After failing to find a natural explanation for the event, it was given the designation Anomalous Event-13020 and the task of investigating the anomaly was given to AASRA. Shortly after, a request was approved by the O5 Council for AASRA to begin constructing a drone swarm that would conduct an exploratory mission to Proxima Centauri b. On March 7th, 2011 the construction of the Eudoxus Drone Swarm2 was completed and launched later that month towards Proxima Centauri b. Utilizing both standard and anomalous technology, the goal of the mission was to determine the cause of the nuclear energy burst.

The drone swarm arrived at Proxima Centauri b on June 3rd, 2015 where it began to document and log its discoveries on the planet. Over the next few months, the drone swarm orbited the planet and began to collect atmospheric samples, and conducted planetary surface exploration. Over the course of its exploration, the drone swarm discovered ruined cities all across the planet. After an extensive exploration of the surface, the drone swarm found what appeared to be an archive in one of the more preserved ruins. After all of the archive's files were scanned and logged, it was immediately sent back to the Foundation on Earth. The Foundation received this data in 2019 and AASRA immediately commissioned the Foundation's linguistics department to aid in deciphering the language on the files. On May 11th, 2021 AASRA was able to translate the Centauri language enough to an extent where a timeline of events leading up to the nuclear energy burst was able to be made. It is as follows:

▷ Event Log

▽ Event Log

Time3
Description of Event
Additional Information

Day 1, 12:07
Talks between the nations of "Black Rock" and "Serene" break down. Military Readiness between the two was raised.
Inferring from the documents recovered, these two nations have been at odds for approximately 5 Earth years.

Day 1, 13:10
"Black Rock" launches an invasion of "Serene". The military of "Serene" was prepared and began counterattacks
Within hours the "Black Rock" offensive reaches a stalemate.

Day 1, 18:25
"Black Rock" begins losing its positions in "Serene", however, their 'warriors' are told to hold.
The "Black Rock" 'Uruok'shalu'ko'4 is debriefed on the situation.

Day 1, 18:50
"Black Rock" begins deploying tactical missiles to the frontline. Spys within "Black Rock" inform "Serene" of this development and they respond in kind.
At this point large-scale aerial battles are taking place above the front.

Day 1, 20:12-20:18
First tactical missiles are launched from "Black Rock" towards strategic "Serene" positions.
Nearby cities are now beginning evacuation as more are deployed to the front line.

Day 1, 20:15-20:21
"Serene" responds in kind and begins launching tactical missiles at "Black Rock" positions.
Some missiles overshoot their targets, with some hitting civilian infrastructure.

Day 1, 20:25
"Black Rock" retaliates by launching tactical missiles at "Serene" civilian targets
A number of both civilian and military targets are destroyed by this point.

Day 1, 20:31-20:33
Both nations activate their nuclear arsenals in the event the other launches their own.
According to the documents, "Black Rock" and "Serene" were the two largest and most powerful nations on Proxima Centauri b. Their combined nuclear warheads numbered roughly 9,000.

Day 1, 20:54
"Serene" launches another wave of tactical missiles at "Black Rock" military installations. "Black Rock" launches three nuclear missiles in response
The exact reason why could not be determined, however, it is assumed that this may have been due to a false positive.

Day 1, 20:56-21:03
After minutes of deliberating, "Serene" launches its own nuclear missiles in response.
N/A.

Day 2, 21:06
"Black Rock" further retaliates and launches more of its nuclear arsenal, some towards civilian targets.
"Serene" declares a state of emergency.

Day 2, 21:11
"Serene" responds by sending multiple nuclear missiles to the largest cities within "Black Rock." In response, "Black Rock" does the same.
By this point the main frontline has died down, with only sporadic fighting continuing.

Day 2, 21:20
Multiple cities are reported to have been leveled by "Black Rock" nuclear missiles.
The final transmission from "Serene's" military headquarters is received.

Day 2, 23:18
By this point the majority of "Serene's" nuclear arsenal has been deployed, targeting "Black Rock" installations around Proxima Centauri b. "Black Rock" responded in kind
The last transmission from any major "Serene" military facility is also received.

Day 3, 01:45
The final of "Serene's" nuclear weapons are launched, with an unknown target.
It is assumed by this point most life on Proxima Centaur b has died out as this is the last event recorded.

Examples of the language documented on Proxima Centauri b

In September and November of 2014, while the Eudoxus Drone Swarm was en route to Proxima Centauri b, F.S.O Scylax observed two further nuclear energy bursts coming from the Ross 128 and Luten's Star systems. AASRA was able to determine that, once again, the origin of the energy bursts came from exoplanets within their respective star systems. Due to the similarities between Anomalous Event-13020 and these events, AASRA was approved to construct two further drone swarms to explore these star systems. Discoveries in 2015 and 2016 in anomalous technology allowed AASRA to construct drone swarms that could arrive at Ross 128 and Luyten's Star within 5 years.5

Both of these drone swarms, referred to as the 1st and 2nd Magellan Drone Swarms, were launched on July 23rd, 2017. Between 2017 and 2019 the F.S.O Scylax, and later the F.S.O Herodotus,6 discovered 3 further nuclear energy bursts. Three further drone swarms were constructed and, in March 2019, October 2019, and August 2020, each were respectively launched in the direction of these star systems.

Shortly after the timeline of events on Proxima Centauri b was established, on June 25th, 2021, data from the 1st Magellan Drone Swarm was received. Its target exoplanet, Ross 128 b, showed similar features on its surface compared to Proxima Centauri b. Once again files transcribed in an extraterrestrial language were sent along with the planetary data. As Foundation linguists and AASRA were deciphering the Rossi language, data from the 2nd Magellan Drone Swarm in Luyten b was received. As with the previous two, further files were sent for AASRA to decrypt.

Addendum.2: Report Summary

On December 5th, 2023 AASRA submitted its report to the O5 Council. The report, written by the head of AASRA, details their findings on Ross 128 b and Luyten b. The relevant section of the report relating to SCP-7050 is as follows:

▷ Report

▽ Report

Based on our findings in Ross 128 b and Luyten b, as well as preliminary data received from the third through fifth Magellan Drone Swarms, the Anomalous Aeronautical and Space Research Association has come to the conclusion that all of these events were caused by large-scale nuclear weapons exchange resulting in the host civilization's utter annihilation. A further two nuclear energy burst events have been detected since 2021 and, although observations have yet to be conducted, it is likely that these events were caused by similar circumstances related to the previous five. The exact cause and reason do vary between cases, such as the result of a conflict escalation or false positive readings, but the end result is always the same.

Due to these findings, it is in our opinion that Humanity may be an outlier. All files recovered on these exoplanets do not indicate that there were prior crises or "close calls" before the nuclear weapons exchange, henceforth designated as a 'York Incident'. In contrast, Humanity has had multiple incidents, crises, and "close calls" but never has it resulted in a nuclear war. Because of this, AASRA has come to the conclusion that human civilization is an anomaly in the universal norm. Given previous incidents and current crises, we recommend that the Foundation begins cooperating with intergovernmental and governmental organizations for the purpose of preserving human civilization. However, we also recommend that full cooperation be held off until further data can be collected from more sources.

Humanity may or may not stand alone, but it is our responsibility to tirelessly ensure that we wake up to another tomorrow to discover if we truly are. We shall venture forth into the light to discover if we truly are alone in the dark.

Footnotes

1. Proxima Centauri b is an exoplanet orbiting around the star Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf that is a part of the triple star system Alpha Centauri, that is located 4.2 light years away.

2. The precursor to the current Magellan-class, prior to the discovery of new anomalous technology.

3. Proxima Centauri b orbits its host star in approximately 11 Earth days. As such, time is converted to UTC.

4. Exact translation could not be determined but is assumed to either mean 'General' or 'President.'

5. This is done utilizing the gravitational anomalies found by AASRA during [[REDACTED]] near Uranus.

6. A Foundation space observatory launched in late 2018 with the purpose of fulfilling Scylax's role, which was to be phased out in 2020 but now both observatories operate in tandem to find further SCP-7050-1 instances.