JohnLocke4815_3

Item # XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX-1 through SCP-XXXX-18 are to be kept face down in a Standard Anomalous Item Chamber in Site-16. By orders of Dr. Richards, no members of personnel are to view the faces of any instance of SCP-XXXX, unless approved for testing. No pictures or videos of instances of SCP-XXXX are to be taken, and sharing said pictures and/or videos will result in immediate termination. Field agents are to attend auctions around the world in an effort to recover the lost SCP-XXXX-19 and SCP-XXXX-20.

Description: SCP-XXXX is the designation of twenty (20) porcelain plates, each measuring twenty (20) centimeters in diameter. Each displays a scene of life in various parts of Europe, drawn in meticulous detail with Scheele’s green paint, along with a caption explaining the year and place. Each instance of SCP-XXXX was drawn by 19th century German artist Torsten Trausch. When one views at any instance of SCP-XXXX for fifteen (15) seconds, they are transported into the scene in question, and their image is added to said scene. Thus far, 852 people have been transported into various instances of SCP-XXXX over the course of 119 years.

For several years after SCP-XXXX-1 through SCP-XXXX-18 were contained, Foundation researchers believed that those who viewed SCP-XXXX instances were physically trapped inside of the anomalies, but this perspective was changed when a letter dated 01/17/1884 fell into Foundation hands. The letter was written by a former researcher at Site-16 whom had unfortunately looked at SCP-XXXX-7, and explained that those who viewed instances of SCP-XXXX were taken back in time and space to the location depicted on said instance. Dr. [REDACTED] has unrelentingly vied for a transfer to Site-99 on account of the temporal attributes.

The scenes depicted by each instance of SCP-XXXX in Foundation custody are as follows:

• SCP-XXXX-1: Brandenburg Gate, 1839. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-1: 74
• SCP-XXXX-2: Marienplatz, 1827. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-2: 54
• SCP-XXXX-3: Uwe-Düne, 1801. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-3: 4
• SCP-XXXX-4: Amalienborg, 1847. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-4: 86
• SCP-XXXX-5: Dam Square, 1800. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-5: 33
• SCP-XXXX-6: Prague Castle, 1852. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-6: 33
• SCP-XXXX-7: St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1847. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-7: 62
• SCP-XXXX-8: Oxford University, 1884. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-8: 23
• SCP-XXXX-9: Buda Castle, 1839. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-9: 86
• SCP-XXXX-10: Schönbrunn Palace, 1885. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-10: 34
• SCP-XXXX-11: Devín Castle, 1819. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-11: 28
• SCP-XXXX-12: The Cathedral of Bern, 1829. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-12: 64
• SCP-XXXX-13: St. Peter’s Basilica, 1887. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-13: 64
• SCP-XXXX-14: Arc de Triomphe, 1834. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-14: 13
• SCP-XXXX-15: Montjuïc, 1878. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-15: 77
• SCP-XXXX-16: Grand Place, 1852. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-16: 97
• SCP-XXXX-17: St. Basil’s Cathedral, 1879. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-17: 16
• SCP-XXXX-18: Akershus Fortress, 1839. Number of subjects teleported by SCP-XXXX-18: 4

Interview-XXXX-A: The following interview was conducted between Dr. Richards and Leon Schärer, a professor of anthropology at the University of Bern. Agent Deshaies met Professor Schärer at said university, and when Agent Deshaies learned of Schärer’s knowledge of SCP-XXXX, Schärer was flown into Site-16 within two days. A Foundation-employed interpreter was present at the interview to translate between the parties.

<Begin Log>
Prof. Schärer: So you want to know about the Trausch Plates?

Dr. Richards: Is that what they're called?

Prof. Schärer: Yes. They were made between autumn of 1899 and early summer of 1900 by Torsten Trausch, a pig farmer by trade and painter by hobby. They’re quite renowned in the art world. I know a dozen people who would sell their right hand to even see them. Can I?

Dr. Richards: No. You need special clearance to see the Trausch Plates.

Prof. Schärer: What is that supposed to mean?

Dr. Richards: I apologize, Professor Schärer. I cannot divulge that information.

Prof. Schärer: Come on, Dr. Richards. You brought me here all the way from Switzerland, disrupting my plans for three or four days, just so I can give you a Wikipedia synopsis on the Trausch Plates?

Dr. Richards: That isn’t the case, Professor Schärer. Myself and my associates would like to know everything we can about these artifacts. You may not believe it, but these plates pose a considerable risk to anyone who encounters them.

Prof. Schärer: You mean the arsenic?

Dr. Richards: Excuse me?

Prof. Schärer: Trausch drew the scenery with Scheele’s green, a pigment made of copper, hydrogen, and arsenic. Are you worried that I’ll get arsenic poisoning?

Dr. Richards: [Hesitates] Yes. Yes, that's right.

Prof. Schärer: Well, in that case, if you give me a pair of gloves, I can safely take a look at them.

Dr. Richards: It’s our strict policy that we cannot give you these plates, even for a second. I'm sorry, Professor; I don’t make the rules.

Prof. Schärer: Alright then. Can I see any pictures?

Dr. Richards: The plates are very sensitive. We refrain from photographing them here.

Prof. Schärer: Really? That's a crying shame.

Dr. Richards: It really is.

Prof. Schärer: Do you have any more questions for me, or is the interview done?

Dr. Richards: We're not done quite yet. What can you tell me about Trausch?

Prof. Schärer: [Chuckles] Not much, I’m afraid. The man was a total recluse. He was born sometime in the 1840s, and was found dead on Christmas Day 1902. He lived in a backwater village in Bavaria, farmed pigs when his father died in the late 1860s, and had few friends. Some say that he never left his childhood home, although that’s quite absurd, considering the fabled immense detail in each plate. Those twenty plates were really the only thing that put him on the map.

Dr. Richards: [Surprised] Twenty?

Prof. Schärer: Yes. According to most accounts of the plates and Trausch himself, twenty plates were made. Do you not have the complete set?

Dr. Richards: We have eighteen plates. Do you know where the other two are?

Prof. Schärer: [Laughs] If I did, I would be sitting on sixty million francs! I’ve been looking for them since the early nineties.

Dr. Richards: Do you have any idea as to what scenery the other plates depict?

Prof. Schärer: I’ve heard a lot of accounts. Some say they show Angkor Wat, the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, the Parthenon, the White House, or even Trausch’s humble cottage. I guess we’ll have to find out.

Dr. Richards: Alright. Thank you, Professor. You're free to go now.

<End Log>

Following this interview, the practice of visiting auctions was implemented.

Incident-XXXX-A: On 02/24/2016, a janitor cleaning the chamber containing SCP-XXXX knocked over the anomalies on accident, prompting him to flee whilst covering his eyes with his hands. The janitor could not be found, and Dr. Powell cleaned up the mess himself. In the process, he found himself staring at SCP-XXXX-7 for the allotted time of an SCP-XXXX event, and was teleported out of the chamber.

Three days following the incident, his wife and fellow researcher Dr. Smith-Powell, described as distraught following her husband’s supposed passing, entered the chamber, stared at SCP-XXXX-7, and vanished. Two weeks after the event, a letter addressed to Dr. Richards detailed the experiences of Dr. Smith in the nineteenth century came into the possession of the Foundation, dispelling the then current ideas of the capabilities of SCP-XXXX. The contents of the letter are enclosed here.

Document-XXXX-A-1

Seventeenth of January, 1884

Harrow, London, United Kingdom

Dear Dr. Matthew Richards;

Never in a million years would I have expected to legitimately write to that name. I’ve been thinking about the Foundation for decades now, and I even tried finding the first couple sites, but we’re so covert, I got lost. But now, as I write to you and Jackson and Isabelle and the others, I feel the closest to you I have ever felt in my life. I still distinctly and vividly remember you all, even D Class personnel, and the odd researcher from Site-19 or Site-15 coming to see things. I would give my soul to any anomalous monster out there just for a chance to say goodbye, but I’ll be joining so many brave personnel soon, and I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for you and the others.

I am currently seventy-one, although it seems like just a few minutes ago I was thirty-four, just as it was for you. Life is fast, and this one was unforgettable. One minute I was in a breakroom hundreds of feet beneath Lake Champlain, and the next I’m trying to avoid getting run over by a horse and buggy. Please don’t take what you have for granted, my friends. Enjoy life to the nth degree. And if you make mistakes, overcome them and be the best you can be. I did that. My daughter is sitting in the room nextdoor. She and Ava would have been best friends. I also had two sons, strong beautiful boys, although one was felled in the Crimean War. If you find a list of casualties from that war, make sure to look for Michael Powell.

In case you have not yet realized, shortly after going back in time, I found my dearest husband once more. We even found others: an archaeologist employed by the Bard College of Berlin, a farmer from southern Poland, a few D-Class (all of whom were less than thrilled to see the two of us!), and a host of other poor, unfortunate Europeans and antique collectors. We formed a group called the Society of Chronologically-displaced People, or for brevity’s sake, SCP. And yes, friends, I know how stupid the name is. Jacob and I would internally groan every time it was spoken. Regardless of the cringe-inducing name, the group helped everyone afflicted come to terms with what had happened to them. We saved every chronologically-displaced person from living on the streets, or even committing suicide. It was the most fulfilling work I have ever done.

Jacob died five years ago. If you go to Highgate Cemetery, you can find his gravestone easily. It was not a bullet or a knife that killed him, but instead it was a case of measles. It pains me so much to see misery caused by these feeble illnesses, when I know for a fact that in fifty years time, they’ll be cured, and killed off forever. Life has never been the same since Jacob passed. He was my anchor in this world, and he motivated me to keep going. I still feel happy with my two surviving children, and I have many friends in London, both from the future and not. While I would not have looked at SCP-XXXX-7 if I had the chance again, I have absolutely no regrets in this life I now lead and have lead for so many years.

As for Ava, I want you, Dr. Richards, to tell her of my fate. I think it would comfort her that I was not trapped in a porcelain prison, but instead lived a peaceful life in the past. I cannot think of a way to safely tell her about her sister and brothers from so long ago without offending her or making her feel unloved, but if you can tell her that, tell her the best you can. But whatever you say, tell her that her parents love her very much, more than any parent could love any child.

I could tell you all of my trips to Paris, Edinburgh, Rome, and so many other wonderful places, and my witnessing of amazing events you only know of due to photographs and records, but my strength is waning. I feel the allure of sleep, and I fear that the long sleep is not far ahead.

Goodbye, dearest friends.

With great sincerity,

Katrina Smith-Powell

Foundation agents in Site-22 confirmed the placement of Dr. Powell’s grave, as well as Dr. Powell-Smith’s, claiming she died on 01/19/1884. The Special Containment Procedures for SCP-XXXX were change accordingly to these new revelations.