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Note Prior to Foundation containment in 1953, SCP-XXXX was held by The Covent Garden Antiquarian Society. The following file includes transcripts or copies of documentation dating to that period.
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be stored in a standard locked container at the Site-04 valuable artifacts repository. No testing of its anomalous qualities is authorised at this time.
Description: SCP-XXXX is a necklace consisting of a single gold chain embellished with two bronze coiled serpents. Although SCP-XXXX was originally thought to have been manufactured during the late 17th century, subsequent analysis has dated it to the Greek Geometric Period.1
When worn, SCP-XXXX has three distinct but simultaneous effects:
- The wearer will cease to age, both visibly and genetically.
- Anyone who observes the wearer in person will believe them to have become - subjectively - more beautiful. Objectively, the wearer's appearance does not undergo any quantifiable changes, and individuals familiar with the wearer will be able to identify them without any difficulties. This effect does not extend to images such as photographs.
- The wearer will be involved in accidents of increasing severity, typically culminating in a fatal incident.
SCP-XXXX was recovered by the Covent Garden Antiquarian Society in January 1882 following their inquiries into reports by The Illustrated London News. Based on witness descriptions, these incidents2 happened to a single victim and occurred within a six week period in the Greater London area. Further investigation verified these reports and the individual involved, identified as Lady Anna Cutting, was detained. SCP-XXXX was taken for analysis along with several other items in Lady Cutting's possession, the remainder of which proved to be non-anomalous.
SCP-XXXX
Initial Interview - SCP-XXXX
Date: 12/01/1882
Interviewed: Lady Anna Cutting
Interviewer: Mister Marcus Meeks
Please note that the following interrogation was carried out prior to Foundation containment and has been transcribed from non-Foundation documentation.
[BEGIN LOG]
Lady Cutting: This is absurd! I - I demand that you release me this instant!
Mr. Meeks: Madam, if you will just answer a few questions nothing would give me more pleasure than to -
Lady Cutting: I assure you, sir, your pleasure is my very least concern.
Mr. Meeks: I -
Lady Cutting: Or are you keeping me here for a ransom? Return me to my grandfather and I will see that you are suitably rewarded for your troubles.
Mr. Meeks: Madam, if you would allow me to speak - we believe that your necklace -
Lady Cutting: You are kidnapper and a thief, then. A gentleman of all the nefarious trades!
Mr. Meeks: Augh!
[Irrelevant Data Omitted For Brevity]
[END LOG]
Note: Due to an inability to obtain relevant or usable information, Mr. Meeks terminated the interview after approximately 25 minutes.
SCP-XXXX
Interview 12 - SCP-XXXX
Date: 18/03/1882
Interviewed: Lady Anna Cutting
Interviewer: Mr. Marcus Meeks
Please note that the following interrogation was carried out prior to Foundation containment and has been transcribed from non-Foundation documentation.
Note: Following several failed interview attempts, Lady Cutting had been held at The Covent Garden Repository3 for a period of two months.
[BEGIN LOG]
Mr. Meeks: Good morning, Madam.
Lady Cutting: Oh, you've come to try me further. To glory in my latest great misfortune.
Mr. Meeks: Madam please! If you would just answer our questions -
Lady Cutting: About that dratted necklace? Keep it! Have it all, for all the good it ever did anyone - but let me go!
Mr. Meeks: Please - we only want to know -
Lady Cutting: Its value? Oh I assure you that the gold is real, Sir. Go away. I won't answer any more of your ridiculous questions. Is it not enough that I have to sit here in this… foulsome, rat-infested warehouse? Though the vermin make for better company than you do. I'd rather you slit my throat and ended my misery than have to listen to you for one more day.
[END LOG]
SCP-XXXX
Transcript: Personal note associated with original SCP-XXXX documentation.
Note: The original document was destroyed following the digitisation of Site-04 records.
David, be reasonable! After three long months, we still have nothing to show for this but bruised eardrums. Find some other means to complete your records. Our budget - and my patience - for this matter have reached their limits!
I kindly remind you that I am a collector not a jailor. Charming as her face may be, we possess no cabinet or container suitable for the delightful Lady Cutting - nor are our staff equipped to meet her long-term needs.
We humbly request that alternate arrangements be made - and with suitable haste.
Regards
Mr. Marcus Meeks
On 04/04/1882, Lady Cutting was rendered unconscious and transported to an alleyway in Upper Clapton, London. Once there, she was met by Operative Christopher Daniels - posing as an officer of the law - who escorted her to her family home.
By claiming to be investigating Lady Cutting's kidnapping, Operative Daniels then attempted to acquire further information about both the origins of SCP-XXXX and events leading to its containment.
SCP-XXXX
Interview 14 - SCP-XXXX
Date: 09/04/1882
Interviewed: Baronet Victor Cutting
Interviewer: Operative Christopher Daniels
Please note that the following interrogation was carried out prior to Foundation containment and has been transcribed from non-Foundation documentation.
[BEGIN LOG]
Sir Cutting: My thanks again for returning my granddaughter to us safely. Emma! Fetch the good gentleman a brandy!
Operative Daniels: Thank you, but I couldn't possibly -
Sir Cutting: Nonsense, my friend. The man who brought our Anna safely home deserves to indulge in a snifter or two - I won't tell if you don't!
Operative Daniels: Well…
[Irrelevant Data Omitted For Brevity]
Sir Cutting: She's very taken by you, you know? If you were inclined to, you could -
Operative Daniels: Perhaps we should return to -
Sir Cutting: Of course! Of course! Although, if you should ever change your mind…
Operative Daniels: Indeed. Now, the necklace -
Sir Cutting: Let them have it! Gaudy eyesore that it is - or was, by now, I hope. My late wife was quite fond of it. As for myself… no. Too many bittersweet memories. When I saw it at Anna's neck… Oh, my friend - she looked the very image of her grandmother.
Operative Daniels: Was it your wife's, then?
Sir Cutting: Yes. A gift to mark our engagement. Before that, it belonged to my dear departed mother.
Operative Daniels: And before?
Sir Cutting: Aaah, therein lies a tale, my friend.
Operative Daniels: Then please, do tell.
Sir Cutting: My Grandfather - now there was an intolerable rogue! A nobleman by name - though not by nature I am sad to say. A gambling man, who would have bet the skin off his back if he could find a man to match it.
When he departed on the Tour, I think the family hoped he would return a better man - but no. He was a few hours outside of Dresden when his father died. The sole heir of the family fortune…
Operative Daniels: The necklace too?
Sir Cutting: Oh no! The necklace was a souvenir. He claimed he won it from an old Corinthian merchant, though who knows if that's true. A treasure - and it came close to being his only treasure. The moment his ship docked at Dover he was at the tables and gambling away the rest.
But aha! I am rambling.
Operative Daniels: Not at all.
Sir Cutting: Let's speak of happier things! My granddaughter is safe - so let them have the jewels for all I care. Here - let Emma top your glass.
[END LOG]
Given the success of his visit, Operative Daniels was assigned to obtain further information about SCP-XXXX and to find and secure any further anomalous items. Unfortunately, Operative Daniels was only able to obtain minimal intel during his assignment. Following his retirement, no further operatives were assigned to the family.
SCP-XXXX Addendum 1:
SCP-XXXX
Field Journal Extracts: Operative Christopher Daniels
Note: During the mass digitisation of Site-04 records, archivists discovered a journal belonging to Operative Christopher Daniels with a number of letters inserted between the pages. Selected extracts have been appended to this file.
Dear Sir,
Again, I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. Please do not trouble yourself too much over the jewellery - although if you are able to bring my captors to justice, you will earn my gratitude for a second time!
I apologise for my grandfather's presumptuousness - his intentions are good, but his methods can be somewhat heavy-handed. Nevertheless, you are more than welcome to visit with us again soon.
Yours respectfully and forever in your debt
Lady Anna Cutting
Wednesday 3rd May, 1882
Today, with much encouragement from irrepressible Sir Cutting, I met with the Lady to enjoy the grounds. The Lady I walked with bore little resemblance to the harridan Mister Meeks described. In fact, I found myself wishing all of my assignments could be so pleasant! In honesty, I almost forgot the reason for my visit until we reached the lower gate.
We have agreed to take tea together next week - perhaps then, I will have more to report.
Wednesday 12th July, 1882
Lady Cutting - she insists that I call her Anna - is truly a delight! Although as graceless as a new-born deer (which the tea-stains on my suit sleeve will attest to) she is more than charming. I will have to send the cleaning bill with my report.
After tea, Sir Cutting joined us in the parlour to regale us with his tales. His late wife… he speaks of her with such enviable fondness. She died long before her time, struck down by crumbling masonry - and, I suspect, the curse. If only we had acquired the necklace sooner… I would have enjoyed the chance to meet her, though at least her charming temperament and ageless beauty have been passed on to her granddaughter.
As yet, I have had little chance to explore the manor unaccompanied. That said, I suspect that the family possess little else to interest us. Sir Cutting's passions lean more towards game trophies and fine whiskies. What few curios the family possess seem both modern and mundane - little more than dust-gatherers and gaudy fancies. I will, of course, continue to investigate; no delightful stone will be left unturned.
Dearest Mister Daniels,
I must apologise again for my mishap at tea - though you were most gracious at the time, I hope that a less forgiving mood has not set in with the stain! Since I am already mortified by my clumsiness, allow me to risk embarrassment once more -
Come back to visit us - me - Christopher. Soon. I look forward to seeing you again.
Yours
Anna
Saturday 28th October, 1882
Today, my darling would not meet me. Sir Cutting tells me her face is bruised - a chance misstep on the atrium stairs.
Nevertheless, I stayed a while. Sir Cutting is always glad of the company - and, perhaps, the willing audience for his tales. We talked more about his wife. His daughter. Before I left, I asked him whether there were images of the necklace I could take for a reference - a painting, perhaps, or perhaps a daguerreotype.
I'll see, my friend. I'll see. She wore it often for the first years of our marriage but so rarely after that…
His words are weights around my soul.
Darling Christopher,
My heart is heavy to have missed you - and that missing has bruised me almost as much as my inelegant misstep! Though I know you would look upon me kindly, I could not bring myself to be seen.
It seems that my clumsiness - like my devotion to you - grows ever greater. Is love the cause? If so, away with you dear one! (I am teasing of course…) Oh, the curse of clumsiness… I only hope that you can come to tolerate it as you do my poor disposition - and poorer sense of humour.
You will return to me soon, I hope. When you are with me, I feel safe. More than that - I feel loved.
Yours devotedly - despite all slips and trips which may befall me!
Anna
Thursday 2nd November 1882
I should not have
I cannot
Who would it harm except ourselves if I did not tell them? There is no infection. No deadly phantasm or midnight horror. She is just one girl…
She has spoken to me of her confinement only once since we met, and only briefly. The memory of it made her shudder. I held her, then. I promised her -
We have no rooms to hold treasures people such as her - only items. I do not know what we - they - would do with her. Back to the warehouse? Leave her be? Or else -
I cannot risk
I must.
My Darling,
Already, I am counting down the days of our engagement with growing excitement. To share all of my days with you will be the greatest honour and the purest pleasure.
My world is made brighter for having you in it. When I can finally wake by your side as your loving wife - nothing will bring me greater joy.
Yours devotedly
Anna
Saturday 2nd December, 1882
My report is filed. The omission… if it is a sin then I have suffered for it already. Even if they tried their hardest, what more could they do to keep her safe than I will? And if not that - their dusty shelves and boxes could not hold her. No. Though they would most likely care little about her, it is best to avoid the risk.
This report shall be my last - my resignation was appended to it. In this house, I have found something more valuable than any necklace.
On 03/11/1883 a fire caused extensive damage to the West Wing of Cutting Manor, trapping Lady Cutting-Daniels and Former Operative Daniels were preparing for their wedding reception. Although Baronet Cutting and various guests reported only minor injuries, rescuers were unable to reach the couple. Their bodies were recovered the following morning.
Spoiler:
InGreek mythology, the Necklace of Harmonia was made by Hephaestus to punish Aphrodite for her infidelity. The necklace was given to Aphrodite and Ares' daughter, cursing her and subsequent wearers with both ageless beauty and terrible misfortune.
