SCP-008 V1

**Item #:** SCP-008

**Object Class:** Safe

**Special Containment Procedures**: SCP-008 is to be kept in its lock-box with its receiver resting on the base unit, and fastened securely in place with cable ties to prevent accidental 'activation' should the box get knocked or damaged.

**Description:** SCP-008 is a 1974 Lacquer Red GPO Telephone 746. It was first discovered by self-professed 'Urban Explorers', exploring the mothballed ███████ Distillery in the Scottish Highlands. Its only physical difference from a normal phone of the same make and model is that its connecting wires have been cut at 2" from the base unit.

When the receiver is picked up, any of an as-yet-unknown number of voices begins to talk immediately, with short pauses of no more than a few seconds between each. This continues until the receiver is replaced on the base unit, with the voices frequently changing to be that of men and women of a variety of ages, often people known to the listener. They often discuss seemingly nonsense subjects, and frequently begin mid-sentence. When the voices heard are of people known to the listener, they regularly convey sinister messages or act as if some accident or attack is happening to them at the time. Topics that have appeared numerous times during testing include; 'Perpetual Light', 'Alkaest (Alkahest?)', 'The Spindlemen' and 'The Pendulums of the Sea'.

The language of the voices spoken changes to be that of the home language of the listener, regardless of whether they themselves speak the language, as in the case of Technician █████, born in Romania but having lived with adoptive English-speaking parents in the US since early childhood.

When a microphone is placed by the receiver, and the noise broadcast through speakers, the voices and their monologues are heard to be different by all simultaneous listeners, implying that the sounds effect the human brain in an unknown way.

While the sounds from SCP-008 can be broadcast directly live, they've proven impossible to record on all devices tried, including digital format, magnetic tape and phonograph cylinder. As such, all transcripts have to be taken by individual listeners during each testing session.
From preliminary testing, it was made apparent that what the listener says has no effect on what the voices say, and subsequent testing has involved listening only.

After approximately 1.5 minutes of continued speech, SCP-008's secondary effect becomes apparent. All listeners present for longer than this time have reported the same hallucination. Analysis of the phone and audio output at this point reveal a new, 18hz vibration along with the voices, and Dr. Hayes theorizes that this sound, being the resonant frequency of the human eye, is the cause of the illusion, but the substantial nature of them make this unlikely. The voices continue throughout the duration of the hallucination, though are barely audible at points by the listener(s) due to moving away from the receiver. This seems to have no effect on the intensity, duration or 'reality' of it.
It's always described by listeners in the same way; the room gets very dark very quickly, and its dimensions change to always be that of a short corridor with 3 doors in one wall. The walls and floor are made of a dark wood, and lighting is provided by 2 naphtha lamps hung between the doors. The victims of the hallucination report feeling compelled to open the left-most door first (termed 'Room 1') when facing the wall.

The walls, the lamps, the doors and their handles are tactile and all can be both grasped and struck, producing sounds as would be expected from touching or striking physical objects.

Within is a small bedroom, built from the same wood as the hallway but with no light sources, and with a single bed in each corner. They're composed of a rusted metal frame, raising the bed around one foot above the floor on metal legs, and a hard mattress. No sheets, duvet, blanket or pillows are present.

Starting at the foot of the bed a long length of brass coloured metal, not unlike a curtain pole or steel railing, emerges from the framework and has been bent around so it folds to curve beneath the bed. It then wraps around the bed numerous times to form a tight primitive coil shape, the bends in the metal crude and disjointed. After a number of coils, it turns once more under the frame so as to emerge below the head of the bed, where it curls round 180 degrees to then travel down the bed in the direction a sleeper would lie, from head to foot.

At around the point where the bottom of a pillow would be if present, the pole enters the bodies of what have been termed the 'sleepers'. In the first room, the sleepers are a male and female child, approx. 9 years of age. The sleepers are missing their head, the pole disappearing into their neck, where the flesh and skin is stretched and twisted around it in a cone shape, forming a near point at around where the top of their heads would be estimated to be, where the pole enters. Their bodies are unblemished and fully clothed in 1850's attire, their arms tight by their sides and legs together as they lie suspended around 40cm above the bed.

In Room 2 the sleepers share a double bed, of similar simplicity and deterioration. These are an adult male and female of approx. 35 years of age, found in the same positions and physical state as the children, and are suspected to be their parents. Rooms 1 and 2 are always given a priority by the listeners, for reasons they cannot explain after the experience. The hallucination always fades after the listeners exit Room 2 and close the door, and because of this Room 3 has yet to be explored. Though the talking continues indefinitely, the receiver has to be replaced and picked up once more to restart the process and allow for the hallucination to manifest again.

Although considered 'distressing' by most, no staff members have been found to show any ill effects from being exposed to the voices or hallucinations of SCP-008, and testing is considered low-risk.