0:00 - [Text is displayed reading "MCM _," 
roman numeral notation for 19 ] 

0:05 - [Text is displayed in German, translated 
as follows] Stay calm. The machine starts now. 
Be sure that all settings are correct. Please do 
not introduce the patient after activation or the 
process may be desynchronized. 

0:24 - [Further text is displayed, read out by an 
elderly German-speaking male] The machine 
is now relaxing you. Stay calm. You may be 
tired. That is normal. This process will take a 
few minutes. 

0:45 - [The text fades and is replaced, read out 
as above] The machine is going to find the 
regions of the brain that are the least active. 
Please follow the instructions to ensure that 
the machine is successful. 

1:03 - [The text fades] 

2:10 - [The voice-over speaks, not 
accompanied by text] You should now be 
relaxed. Look at the following pictures. Please 
try to stay focused on them. 

~[From 2:17 to 4:25 a series of 18 
photographs are displayed, redacted for 
brevity. Photographs include: an Alsatian dog 
in a grassy area with trees visible in the 
background, a building identified by 
researchers and located in , Berlin, a 
closeup of a bush of aster alpinus flowers in 
bloom. All photographs found not to exhibit 
anomalous properties. ] 

4:25 - Raise your right hand when you hear 
the first note. 


4:39 - [A 623.40 Hz tone plays for 2 seconds] 
4:46 - Raise your left hand when you hear the 
second note. 

4:53 - [A 630.55 Hz tone plays for 2 seconds] 
5:00 - [Indecipherable due to film damage. 
Literal translation as follows] The machine (is/ 
will?) now (dat/the dat?)[Audio degrades] 
~[From 5:04 to 7:47 audio is damaged and 
consists of garbled noise] 

7:47 - [Audio stabilizes] (ren?) the least active 
regions of the brains 

7:54 - [Text is shown onscreen, read out by 
the voice-over] The machine should now be 
finished. Please deactivate the machine. 

8:22 - If the machine is not yet finished, please 
check the machine. Please check the settings. 
Removing the patient from the machine is 
recommended. 

9:32 - [The onscreen text is replaced with 
"MCM "| 

10:07 - [End of film] 


[END OF TRANSCRIPT] 


Footnotes 

1. An anomalous form of radiation with apparent "spacial memory." 
Research ongoing. 

2. Originally: "Die Maschine wird jetzt die dat-" 

3. Originally: "-ren die am wenigsten aktiven Bereiche des Gehirns." 


« SCP-2655 | SCP-2656 | SCP-2657 » 


SCP-2657: Puppet Master 


Item #: SCP-2657 
Object Class: Euclid 


Special Containment Procedures: SCP-2657 is to be contained 
within a soundproofed Arthropod containment cell. All surfaces are 
to be reinforced with 1.5 cm steel plating. Climate-control is to be set 
to standard-temperate, with corresponding environment to replicate 
a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion, similar to that of 
the New England-Acadian forests. 


Illumination levels are to be maintained at approximately 10 ftcd, or 
100 lux. During cleaning or possible containment breach scenario 
illumination is to be increased to 1000 ftcd, or 11,000 lux. 


Once per month two D-class personnel, employee numbers selected 
randomly by Site lottery program, are designated for removal of 
waste, lures, excess silk, etc. from containment cell. 


Description: SCP-2657 is an arachnid closely resembling a 
member of the Araneidae family (orb-weaving spiders). 


SCP-2657 has a leg span of 2.7 m, a body length of .9 m, and 
weighs 28.4 kg. The cuticle of chitin covering its cephalothorax is 
black with silver striations that extend throughout the leg segments. 
There is silver and yellow mottling along the eyes, pedipalps and 
abdomen. 


SCP-2657 has a pair of jackknife chelicerae that are capable of 
delivering a potent neuromuscular-blocking venom. After injection of 
the venom, SCP-2657 further immobilizes its prey with swathing 
bands, and over the next 1-12 hours will saturate its prey with 
digestive enzymes. Once organic material dissolves into a semi- 
consumable state, SCP-2657 further breaks the material down with 
chelicerae and pedipalps and ingests the resulting "soup". If 


transferred to microscope slide. Video record lasts approximately 5 
hours. 

Details: Visible scene consists of a rural farm. Size of wheat plants 
visible in scene indicate late summer time period. A family consisting 
of two adults and three children of varying age are periodically 
visible in various areas of the farm, performing chores. Clothing of 
family consistent with previously established time period. 


Date: //19 

Procedure: A single drop (approximately 0.07 cc) of SCP-300-2 
transferred to microscope slide. Video record lasts approximately 2 
hours. 

Details: Visible scene consists of the interior of a well-furnished 
residence. Within the visible area are a lit fireplace and several 
armchairs. Three well-dressed individuals, two men and one 
woman, are seen conversing while enjoying a bottle of what is 
presumably red wine. Lip-reading analysis of their conversation is 
incomplete, but fragments developed so far indicate a casual 
political discussion regarding issues appropriate for the year 18 , 
again in Victorian England. 


Date: / /19 

Procedure: Two drops (approximately 0.15 cc) of SCP-300-2 
transferred to microscope slide for experimentation. Video record 
lasts approximately 3 hours. 

Details: Video record is blurry and indecipherable. Although a few 
fragments of video have been analyzed, no useful information is 
gathered. Further experimentation is to be limited to a single drop of 
SCP-300-2. 


Addendum 300-2: Incident 300-012 


On //19 , Dr. was found dead in Laboratory C, with cause of 
death being self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Laboratory 
video surveillance showed Dr. obsessively viewing a recent 
recording from a SCP-300 experiment and becoming increasingly 
agitated until he pulled out his sidearm and took his own life. 


Upon investigation, the recording was identified and analyzed as a 
3-hour long recording made during an experiment on //19 . The 
recording shows a young woman of approximately years of age, 


necessary, SCP-2657 will continue to administer venom during this 
consumption period. 


SCP-2657 utilizes several hunting strategies, including silk bolas 
and web traps. The most common hunting strategy is vocal mimicry 
of intended prey coupled with a lure. SCP-2657 can imitate a variety 
of animals, including human speech patterns in the English 
language. Dissections and vivisections of the spawn of SCP-2657 
have revealed no manner of articulation or other anatomical features 
capable of producing such vocalizations, and the presence of book 
lungs further supports an anomalous origin. 


The corresponding lure is manufactured by SCP-2657 out of silk and 
available detritus, and typically forms a simulacrum of the species 
being vocally imitated. In order to attract prey, SCP-2657 will 
conceal itself while manipulating the lure via silk threads and engage 
in vocal mimicry. 


The most common lure produced is that of a distressed human child 
approximately six years of age. This hunting behavior has only been 
observed at night or during low-light conditions.2 


SCP-2657 has failed all sapient testing. 
Addendum 16192 - 12A 


Foreword: Excerpt of Interview 16192-12A regarding the 
capture of SCP-2657 in [Data Redacted]. 


Interviewed: Captain Andrew Baker, CO MTF Eta- 
Seven, "Creepy Crawlies" 


Interviewer: Researcher Isaac Dafoe 
<Begin Log, 0651 EST, 07/10/2016 > 


Cpt. Baker: ...we tracked the skip through the sewers to 
a factory on the edge of town. We established a 
perimeter ‘bout half a klick out. The factory had been 
abandoned — ten, twenty years — there wasn't even a 
front door to the place anymore. | ordered an aerial 
drone inside for recon. 


Dafoe: And what did you find? 


Cpt. Baker: Nothing unusual at first. It was pretty dark. 
Broken beer bottles, fast food containers, a soiled 
mattress, a bindle stick. About what you'd expect. Maybe 
thirty feet into the factory we had to switch to thermal and 
night vision it was so dark... 


Cpt. Baker: ...that's when we saw them. The bodies. 
Scattered along the factory floor, three of 'em, 
desiccated, looked like they'd been shrink-wrapped. 


Dafoe: Had there been any recent reports of missing 
persons? 


Cpt. Baker: Nobody'd been reported missing in town 
except the little girl. We're still reviewing the data, none 
of this has been confirmed, but there seems to have 
been a coinciding spike in missing pets recently, and the 
rat population is nonexistent in the downtown area. 


Dafoe: How didn't we catch that? | thought we flag that 
sort of thing. 


Cpt. Baker: Sure, it's an alert trigger, but you've got to 
keep in mind this isn't Boston or New York. It's not really 
a city, and most of the surrounding area is rural. And rat 
populations are notoriously fluid. A colony can seesaw 
over the course of a single year. That, combined with 
human nature — we tend not to report the absence of a 
rat — caused us to miss it. 


Dafoe: And the bodies? 


Cpt. Baker: There's a commercial train yard a short walk 
from the factory. My guess is that they all come back as 
transients. 


Dafoe: Why was it so dark inside? | thought the final 
stages of capture took place yesterday afternoon. 


Cpt. Baker: Yeah, it was around thirteen hundred local, 


but all the factory windows — those steel casements you 
only see nowadays in old mills they convert into condos 
and lofts — were covered in webbing. There was no 
glass, it was just the frames, and so there was a draft, 
and these web...curtains, | guess you could call 'em... 
were moving in and out, like the whole building was 
breathing. When a strong wind came the webs would 
billow and snap. It was like being on a sailboat. 


Dafoe: Can you describe the web architecture? 


Cpt. Baker: It just looked like sheets blowing ona 
clothesline. No real pattern; like cobwebs. As the drone 
moved further into the factory we found a pile of puppets 
on the floor, like the one in the 


Dafoe: Can we please clarify puppets? You mean the 
lures, correct? 


Cpt. Baker: Yeah, the lures. There were different 
animals, mostly dogs and cats, and | think | saw a frog 
and a bird, too. Some of them you couldn't tell what they 
were supposed to be, but you could see the evolution as 
the skip kept practicing. It was getting better. 


Dafoe: You believe the specimen was practicing? 
Learning through trial and error? 


Cpt. Baker: It was obvious. The initial designs were 
crude, something your kid would bring home from 
school. And you could tell they were older ‘cause they 
were on the bottom of the pile. And dirtier. The higher 
you went the better the puppets got, this one more like 
an animal balloon, this one papier-maché. You could 
actually see the progression like strata in a rock. On the 
top layer were the humans, these child-sized 
marionettes. The most realistic even had hair and eyes 
and bits of clothing. They looked like patchwork 
Frankenstein dolls. 


Cpt. Baker: Beyond the dolls, at the rear of the building, 


the floor had collapsed, through the basement and into a 
subbasement. There was a hole, ‘bout twenty feet deep, 
maybe ten feet across and double-that wide. The hole 
was lined with more webbing. We flew the drone down 
and found hundreds, maybe thousands of eggs, each the 
size of a marble. 


Dafoe: Did the drone take meteorological readings? 
Umm...atmospheric? 


Cpt. Baker: Why? Gonna try to hatch the ones we 
collected, huh doc? 


Dafoe: I'm sorry, Captain. I'm not authorized to — 


Cpt. Baker: Yeah, | know. Forget | asked. | think it did. 
I'll send you the data. 


Dafoe: Is that when you issued the order to enter? 


Cpt. Baker: That's right. After we located the clutch we 
flew the drone up to the factory ceiling and set it to 
patrol, scanning with all hardware. Still no contact with 
the skip, but | gave the order to go in anyway, flame- 
throwers on point. It was unlikely the eggs were going to 
hatch that minute, but | couldn't afford the risk. For all | 
knew some had hatched already. That's when we heard 
it — faint but no question what it was. 


Dafoe: What'd you hear? 
Cpt. Baker: Singing. The damn thing was singing. 
+ Communication Test 16195 - 07E 


Test 16195: Attempt at communication 
conducted by Researcher Isaac Dafoe via cell 
intercom system. 


Subject: SCP-2657 
<Begin Log, 2100 EST, 07/13/2016 > 


SCP-2657 is scratching the bottom of the cell 
door with its tarsus as it vocally imitates a Felis 
catus (domestic cat). 


Dafoe: Move away from the door, please. 
SCP-2657: Please! Help! 


Dafoe: I'm Dr. Dafoe and I'm going to help 
you, but in order to do that | need your 
cooperation. Do you understand? 


SCP-2657 approaches and locates speaker in 
ceiling. 


SCP-2657: Please! 
Dafoe: Can you tell me your name? 
SCP-2657: Please! | hurt my leg. Help me. 


SCP-2657 climbs the wall and inspects the 
speaker, probing it with its pedipalps. 


Dafoe: Your leg is hurt? | can take a look at it 
for you, but I'm going to need you to do 
something for me. What's your name? 


SCP-2657: My name's Rachel, what's yours? 


Dafoe: Rachel, my name is...you can call me 
Isaac. My name is Isaac. It's very nice to meet 
you, Rachel. Can you say Isaac? 


SCP-2657: No, you come over here, silly. 


Dafoe: Rachel, can you say Isaac? Count to 
ten? Numbers? One, two, three...do you know 
what comes next? 


SCP-2657: My name's Rachel. | hurt my leg! 
Help! Mommy! Please! 


Dafoe: I'm going to help you, but | need you to 
answer some questions first. Can you count to 
ten, Rachel? Numbers? One, two, three...do 
you know what comes next? 


SCP-2657: Hurt my leg. Please! Come here! 
Help! 


Dafoe: I'm trying to help — 


SCP-2657: Grab some Keystones on your way 
back. Where are you? [singing] While the sun 
is bright, or in the darkest night... 


Dafoe: Rachel — that's a pretty name. Who 
gave you that name? Did your mommy give it 
to you, Rachel? 


SCP-2657 paces around the speaker. 


SCP-2657: Mommy! Rachel. This isn't real. Do 
you want to play? 


SCP-2657 rears up and stomps its two front 
legs on the speaker. 


Dafoe: I'm trying to help you, Rachel, but 
you've got to talk to me. Tell me how | can 
help you, please. 


SCP-2657: Twisted my foot on a freighter hop 
back in Boston. Hurt my leg. Come here. 
Please! Get away from me! Mommy! 


Result: SCP-2657 destroys the intercom 
speaker with a pneumatic foot thrust, its claw 
passing through the speaker and puncturing 
the cell wall to a depth of 5 centimeters. 


Analysis: SCP-2657 lacks the ability to 
verbally communicate. Although SCP-2657 
has displayed a vocabulary of over 500 words 


in the English language, this is an imitation of 
speech, and the subject cannot respond to 
simple questions or engage in conversation 
with any degree of accuracy. Initial positive 
responses in testing have since been 
dismissed as echolalia. The mimicry is 
comparable to "talking birds", such as the 
African grey parrot, and seems to have 
developed as a hunting strategy. The 
frequency of certain words and phrases, such 
as "Please" and "Help me" may have a higher 
occurrence rate than others due to past 
success in predation. 


Footnotes 

1. Injections and length of consumption vary depending on size, 
health, and temperament of pabulum. 

2. Approximate FTCD 0.1 


3. Rachel disappeared from on at 
approximately _ . It was presumed by local authorities that she had 
fallen and drowned in , though her body has not yet 


been recovered. 


« SCP-2656 | SCP-2657 | SCP-2658 » 


SCP-2658: A Convincing Proxy 


Item #: SCP-2658 
Object Class: Safe