Item #: SCP-1348

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the impossibility of transport, SCP-1348 is contained on-site at the Site 87 Archaeological Containment Unit, 81 kilometers southeast of El Taebah, Syria, in the Jabal al-Druze mountains. Compartmentalized containment duties are assigned to C-1348-A ("Team A") and C-1348-B ("Team B"). With the exception of biweekly containment review meetings between Site Director Binyamin Kahn and Team B Director █████ ██████, communications between Teams A and B are to occur only in Conference Room 2a. To minimize the risk of cross-contamination, all inter-team communications related to ritual standards and performances must be conducted via a staff member belonging to Y-chromosomal haplotype CMH-6.

Containment Team A shall be comprised of Foundation employees recommended by Class 4 site supervisory personnel, subject to disqualification for the following reasons:

Present membership in a religious faith.

Prior exposure to a registered memetic agent.

Fluency in Amharic, Ge'ez, Aramaic, or any Southern Semitic language.

Prior exposure to transmissions from SCP-████.

Team A duties include providing ritual supplies necessary to perform SCP-1348-02, monitoring Team B and civilian celebrants for compliance, selecting celebrants for participation in ritual containment, providing updated protocols for daily performances of SCP-1348-02, monitoring members of Team B during furloughs from the containment area, and developing and executing Protocol 228-MELECHAH. At no time shall personnel involved in 228-MELECHAH be exposed to recordings or transcripts of SCP-1348-02, enter SCP-1348-03, or be permitted to view the remains of SCP-1348-01-E.

Candidates for Containment Team B shall be selected from individuals matrilineally descended from Druze, Mandean, and Mizrahi Jewish populations. Membership in Y-chromosomal haplotype CMH-6 is strictly disqualifying. Due to practical difficulties in locating suitable candidates in Foundation employment, Class Omega civilian celebrants with appropriate genealogy may be substituted for Foundation personnel with approval of the Site Director. At dawn, noon, and dusk, selected celebrants are to perform SCP-1348-02 according to present ritual protocols.

At all times, ritual celebrants are to behave according to the prescribed ritual purity codes specified in documents 742-KITAB and 983-RASA'IL, as well as additional protocols instituted by Team A. To the extent that such purity codes conflict by mandating the forbidden or forbidding the mandatory, celebrants may register individual ethical preferences with the Site Director. To avoid inadvertent ingestion of ritually impure substances, celebrants belonging to Team B are to receive parenteral nutrition only, delivered under ritual supervision by Director █████ ██████. Due to ongoing risk of memetic transference, performance of SCP-1348-02 is authorized only when necessary for the containment of SCP-1348-03.

Members of Team B and civilian celebrants are permitted to exit the inner containment area, contact family members, or access classified Foundation documents only upon written permission from the Site Director. Violation of central containment protocols constitutes grounds for immediate implementation of Protocol 228-MELECHAH and transfer of primary containment responsibilities to the 228-MELECHAH team.

Description: SCP-1348 is a modified cave complex located 81 kilometers from El Taebah, Syria, in the Jabal al-Druze mountains. Upon initial discovery by IAEA monitors on 03/06/2006, the complex was believed to house a Syrian reactor. Subsequent Israeli air strikes on the site resulted in the discovery of three unknown chambers. Per intergovernmental compact with the Israeli and Syrian governments, Foundation agents responded, containing SCP-1348-01, 02, and 03 and constructing the Site 87 Containment Unit.

DETAIL: SCP-1348-03, interior chamber bas-relief.

SCP-1348-01-E is an anomalous humanoid originally observed performing the ritual practice now designated as SCP-1348-02 inside the SCP-1348 ritual complex. On ██/██/████, three weeks after initial containment, the subject entered status epilepticus and died. During containment, subject produced three utterances in an unknown Southern Semitic language, but otherwise made no attempts to communicate with Foundation staff. Food, water, and bedding were declined. Intravenous nutrition proved impossible. Subject otherwise exhibited no anomalous behavior. For autopsy results, consult Document SCP-1348-SMR-9.

SCP-1348-02 is a ritual practice of unknown provenance. Spoken portions of SCP-1348-02 are performed in an unknown Southern Semitic language. When adequately performed by individuals meeting unclear ritual criteria, SCP-1348-02 prevents full retraction of the veil surrounding SCP-1348-03, an obligatory precursor event in scenarios XK-734, XK-918, and XK-337. At present, details of the religious faith underlying SCP-1348-02, ritual criteria necessary for adequate participation in SCP-1348-02, and the causal mechanism connecting SCP-1348-02 with the retraction of the veil are speculative or unknown.

When performed by appropriate celebrants, adequate performances of SCP-1348-02 are memetically virulent, inducing suggestibility, religious mania, and desire to perform the ritual practice in 38% of exposures. Repeated exposure results in ritually-themed obsessive compulsion. The memetic transmission rate of SCP-1348-02 appears to increase as successive revisions approach the ideal state. For unknown reasons, members of haplotype CMH-6 appear to be immune to the adverse effects of this memetic transference. While present transcripts and recordings of SCP-1348-02 are not believed to be virulent, existing containment guidelines require certified Foundation linguists to minimize active exposure to full ritual recordings.

SCP-1348-03 is the central chamber of the SCP-1348 complex. Due to high neutron flux, the chamber was originally believed to be a storage site for high-grade radioactive waste or an unshielded reactor core. Initial investigation of the chamber by remote drone revealed an elaborate rectangular chamber, decorated in a proto-Semitic style. Repeated motifs include rams, serpents, slaughtered bulls, wounded lions, hawks, and depictions of ritual practices similar to SCP-1348-02. In the center of the room is a raised platform with a 9 meter radius, surrounded by cylindrical sheath constructed of beryllium bronze. At dawn, noon, and dusk, the sheath retracts, causing neutron flux inside SCP-1348-03 to increase to lethal levels. Performance of SCP-1348-02 appears to provide celebrants with substantial protection against radiation poisoning, and results in complete closure of the outer sheath.

Attempts to view the area within the sheath, except by celebrants during performances of SCP-1348-02, have been unsuccessful. Celebrants, including Foundation staff, are unable or unwilling to disclose the inner region's contents. For certified information concerning the veiled region of SCP-1348-03, Class 4 staff may consult Document SCP-1348-SMR-11.

Addenda:

+ DOCUMENT SCP-1348-SMR-9: POSTMORTEM SUMMARY, SCP-1348-01-D, ██/██/████

-DOCUMENT SCP-1348-SMR-9: POSTMORTEM SUMMARY, SCP-1348-01-D, ██/██/████

DOCUMENT SCP-1348-SMR-9: POSTMORTEM SUMMARY, SCP-1348-01-D

SUBJECT: SCP-1348-01-E

EXTERNAL EXAMINATION: Body is of a taxonomically anomalous humanoid with premortem history of severe injury. Of the ten external limbs originally present, three — both legs, one wing — show signs of amputation by avulsion below the second joint. Head is presumed to have been generally humanoid prior to injury, with the exception of a bilaterally symmetric third orbit located 1.2cm above the frontal prominence. Eyes missing, presumed due to injury: optic canal is present in two grossly normal orbits. Analogous structure present in anomalous frontal orbit. Crushing injuries to frontal sinuses preclude reconstruction of original contours of facial bones. No external genitalia are visible. Injuries show signs of abnormal keloid formation, indicating complete healing process. External injuries nonfatal.

INTERNAL EXAMINATION: Structures equivalent to liver, lungs, heart, and brain are present. Kidneys are absent. Gross anatomical investigation revealed a simple blind gut terminating in a rudimentary caecum. Urinary tract and anus absent. As no stomach or caecum contents were apparent at the time of autopsy, gut is presumed vestigial. Majority of lower abdominal cavity occupied by a segmented organ or tumor of unclear function and histology. On histologic examination, muscle and organ tissue displayed signs of catabolism and macrophage infiltration consistent with severe malnutrition.

CAUSE OF DEATH: Malnutrition.

ADDENDUM ATP-9: For complete histologic and gross anatomical data, consult Document SCP-1348-ATP-9, FULL AUTOPSY, SCP-1348-01-D.

+ DOCUMENT SCP-1348-CTL-4: CONTAINMENT REVIEW MEETING MINUTES, ██/██/████

- DOCUMENT SCP-1348-CTL-4: CONTAINMENT REVIEW MEETING MINUTES, ██/██/████

<Begin recording, 9:13 AM, ██/██/████>

Dr. Kahn: This is the biweekly containment meeting, cycle 3, ritual revision 8. It is now 9:13 AM. Present at this meeting are Dr. Binyamin Kahn, head of Team A, and Dr. █████ ██████, head of Team B. Ready to begin?

Dr. ██████: [Inaudible].

Dr. Kahn: You'll have to speak up, █████. I don't think the microphone caught that.

Dr. Kahn: First on the agenda are revisions to the containment protocol. Just to catch everyone up, we received O5 approval last week to pass the veil and conduct the hypothetical interior portions of the ritual. We're obviously not quite there on the containment procedures — some of Team B is suffering from radiation poisoning, including Dr. ██████ — but we don't expect any fatalities.

Dr. ██████: Two Omegas botched the ritual. We're going to need to rotate them offline for three weeks of chelation. Do we have agents in line as replacements? As you know, Ben, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of doing this with Omegas. Not just because they're hard to train.

Dr. Kahn: We've got some feelers out with Herev — uh, I think we have two — it looks like we have two prospects. I think we should be able to move in new agents as soon as ███. So, no. Not yet. We've got four Sabian Omega candidates queued up. We've just got to get them trained in the ritual.

Dr. ██████: It's getting bad in there. See if you can speed that along.

Dr. Kahn: I mean, I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise. Next order of business: we're going to need a report on what's inside the veil. As you know, we can't get instrumentation in there, so —

Dr. ██████: That's not happening. Put it in KITAB: Team B can't tell you what's beyond the veil.

Dr. Kahn: I told you, █████: that's unacceptable. Direct from O5. We've got to have some sort of read on exactly what it is we're containing in there. Unless this a ritual protocol, we can't… [CROSSTALK]

Dr. ██████: No. It's not ritual. No, it's not. Ben, you need to trust me on this. Put it in KITAB.

Dr. Kahn: Moshe, we're going off the record for a minute. Be a mensch and turn the tape off.

Request denied. Per O5-07, monitoring of SCP-1348 containment review meetings is mandatory.

Dr. Kahn: We need to know. Direct from O5-07: they're threatening to shut you down. How are we supposed to protect civilians from what's in there if we don't know what it is?

Dr. ██████: [H]e's not dangerous.

Dr. Kahn: Look at yourself, █████. The sores? And your teeth, they're falling out. And you tell me now that it's not dangerous? How do you tell me that it's not dangerous?

Dr. ██████: It's the ritual, Ben; the ritual. It's not intentionally.

Dr. ██████: And we're not protecting the world from [h]im. We're protecting [h]im from the world.

Dr. Kahn: You keep telling me that the memetics aren't affecting you. But listen to yourself, █████. Think about it. You were out here — with me. We worked together. You saw what I saw. How can you still have faith, with all that we both know?

Dr. ██████: It was hard to have it, before. I used to think that there was some mistake. Then I passed the veil. Now I know it's all for the best.

Dr. Kahn: Listen to what you're saying. Just listen. It's all for the best?

Dr. ██████: Do you know what it means for me to say that to you? That it is all for the best? That this is the best of all possible worlds? That this is?

Dr. ██████: You know what we saw at Ain Dara. And I am telling you that all this, everything, is the best we could ever hope for.

Dr. Kahn: Please. Please, ██████. Please don't be hysterical. I know it's hard for you. Tell us what you saw. You know what the protocol is if O5 shuts down Team B.

Dr. Kahn: You need to tell us. Tell us, or what happens to you is going to be out of my hands.

Dr. ██████: You don't understand. When you first came here, you asked me: why do you think these people gave up on their faith? Ben, I know. It's because [h]e thought it best that we not know the truth. And it's true. Ya Allah, Ben, it's true. No one can ever know that we owe [h]im so much.

Dr. Kahn: Please. At least think about it. I can tell O5 you've got radiation poisoning. I can tell them that you're working on the report.

Dr. Kahn: I can't hold them off forever.

<End recording, 9:20 AM, ██/██/████>

+ DOCUMENT SCP-1348-SMR-11: INTERVIEW, CENTRAL REGION, SCP-1348-03, ██/██/████

- DOCUMENT SCP-1348-SMR-11: INTERVIEW, CENTRAL REGION, SCP-1348-03, ██/██/████

Background: On December 5, 2011, ████ ██████, the director of C-1348-B, was found unresponsive in quarters, suffering from severe radiation poisoning. Upon O5 authorization, C-1348-A instructed an Omega-class celebrant to deviate from ritual protocols and enter the central region of SCP-1348-03. After emerging from the central region, subject was unresponsive. The interview appended below was conducted during a brief period of lucidity three days after initial exposure.

Dr. Kahn: Good morning, O-9142. The doctors tell me that you've been up and around. Do you know who I am?

O-9142: You are Doctor Kahn. Ben Kahn. You live in the cave outside the door.

Dr. Kahn: That's right. I have a few questions. Can you answer a few questions for me?

O-9142: They told me I should trust you.

Dr. Kahn: Let's start with the ritual. Do you remember what you did?

O-9142: Yes. They told me I should stand with my back to the veil. That I should say the words. And when the words were over and I had said all of them, I shouldn't look, no matter what I heard.

Dr. Kahn: And what did you do?

O-9142: I looked. Like you told me.

Dr. Kahn: And what did you see?

O-9142: He is very old. He is hurting very badly. He is underwater, in space, and everywhere else. He cannot get off his chair. He is stuck there forever because he is so badly hurt.

Dr. Kahn: I'm sorry, O-9142. I don't understand. What did you see in there?

O-9142: I can't remember very well anymore, because of the accident. But I remember one time I saw this old lion on television. On a nature special. He was badly hurt. The other lions ate him. I think the lion from the television is in there. I think that lion is your uncle.

Dr. Kahn: You've got to think hard, O-9142. Can you tell me how it got hurt?

O-9142: I don't know. I think we did something bad. The song is about how bad we are. No, that's wrong. We didn't do anything bad. We weren't supposed to happen. We happened. It wasn't our fault that we happened.

Dr. Kahn: I'm having a hard time understanding.

O-9142: Okay. Okay. The song goes like this: "iné esal peseh, ma Yehom ahallam." It means he did something wrong. What he did saved us. Now [h]e has to be punished. Now [h]e has to stay behind the veil.

Dr. Kahn: What was he doing when you saw him?

O-9142: He was looking out. I saw that he saw us. We saw him. Others saw him. They weren't in the circle with us. They were standing outside the circle. Then we had to sing about how much he hurts because of us. To make the veil close. So the others don't see him back. They are very angry. They don't remember things for very long. Less well than me, I guess.

Dr. Kahn: Is [h]e dangerous?

O-9142: Dr. Ben, I'm very tired. Can I go back to sleep?

Dr. Kahn: You've almost done your job. I just need some more information.

O-9142: He says he wants you to come home. He misses you. But I think he's talking about your father, not you. So you don't have to, if you don't want to.

Dr. Kahn: I think we're done. You can sleep now.

Dr. Kahn: Anna? Turn up his morphine drip. Let him have as much as he wants.

+ DOCUMENT SCP-1348-ICL-8: INCIDENT LOG, ██/██/████

- DOCUMENT SCP-1348-ICL-8: INCIDENT LOG, ██/██/████

Background: On ██/██/████, three days after his interview with O-9142 and five days after the death of Director ██████, Site Director Kahn compiled a new instance of SCP-1348-02 and entered the inner containment area. After performing external portions of SCP-1348-02, Dr. Kahn entered the central region of SCP-1348-03. He has not been seen since, and the veil has failed to retract. Per O5-07, C-1348-B containment procedures are suspended; upon retraction of the veil, C-1348-A is to immediately execute Protocol 228-MELECHAH.

O5 ACCESS REQUIRED: FINAL INCIDENT REVIEW, SCP-1348-ICL-8