The Desk of ProfessorStyro

Lithograph of SCP-XXXX-004, dated to 1871. This image was apparently created prior to any major deterioration.

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: All specimens affected by SCP-XXXX should be stored in cool, dry conditions with a relative humidity no higher than 30%. Deoxygenated conditions may also be necessary for specimens in the latter stages of infection. Suggested general instructions regarding cabinetry design, sterilization procedures, etc. can be found in Document 97A4209-088 ("SCP Foundation General Collection Procedures Vol. 88: Integrated Pest Management"). Prolonged contact of any kind with SCP-XXXX is not permitted without prior authorization from the Level 3 supervisor on-site.

Currently, confirmed or suspected examples of SCP-XXXX are housed at Site-98, although special exceptions can be made given written clearance from senior staff members. Refer to the Leidy Protocol for the standard specimen recovery process from public collections.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a phenomenon that affects fossils, superficially similar to the non-anomalous process of pyrite oxidation: when exposed to humidities greater than 45%, pyrite crystals within the fossils begin to gradually oxidize according to the following chemical reaction¹:

(4FeS₂+ 13O₂ + 2H₂O) → (4FeSO₄+ 2H₂SO₄+ 2SO₂)

However, SCP-XXXX has never been observed to occur in inorganic mineral specimens. Permineralized, carbonized, and replacement fossil specimens are all potentially susceptible, and higher ambient humidity or oxygen concentrations will speed up the process.

Prolonged exposure to SCP-XXXX will result in an "infection" of nearby organic matter. Within a few days to several weeks of exposure, tiny crystals of pyrite will begin to precipitate within the living tissues of the subject. Although these crystals are often undetectable at this stage of infection, they are accompanied by minor auditory and olfactory hallucinations.

As crystals of SCP-XXXX continue to grow over time, hallucinations will become more intense and start to express themselves visually. Observed phenomena vary, but typically correspond with the fossil specimen(s) that the subject was initially exposed to: reported scenes include that of the original fossil organism as it appeared in life, as well as a variety of presumably prehistoric environments.

Eventually, the first SCP-XXXX crystals formed in a subject will start to oxidize, although new crystals will continue to precipitate internally over the course of the infection - and in rare cases, even start to appear in the skin and hair. Typically, the death of the subject occurs either due to internal sulfuric acid damage or blockages caused by crystal growth/decay in vital tissues such as the brain, lungs, or arteries. The processes of precipitation and oxidation continue to occur even after its host matter is deceased.

Selected vertebrate² specimens of SCP-XXXX are listed below.

+ Open attached file: XXXX-INVENTORYVERT19

Designation	Identification	Location of Recovery	Material	Notes
SCP-XXXX-003	Hadrosaurus foulkii	Philadelphia, PA, USA	1 incomplete skeleton3	Formerly cataloged as ████ █████. See Incident Log XXXX-01.
SCP-XXXX-004	Dryptosaurus aquilunguis	Philadelphia, PA, USA	1 incomplete skeleton4	Formerly cataloged as ████ ████. Listed under most institutional documentation as Laelaps. See Incident Log XXXX-01.
SCP-XXXX-005	Cimoliasaurus magnus	Philadelphia, PA, USA	1 partial axial skeleton (13 cervicals)	Formerly cataloged as ████ ████. See Incident Log XXXX-01.
SCP-XXXX-018	Triceratops horridus	[REDACTED]	1 composite skeleton	Formerly cataloged as ████ ███ ██████. Due to the nature of composite SCP-XXXX specimens, [REDACTED] and caution is advised.
SCP-XXXX-041 to -071	Iguanodon bernissartensis	Brussels, Belgium	28 complete skeletons, mostly adults	Formerly cataloged as █████ ████ through ████. Institutional records indicate up to 10 infected specimens are currently unaccounted for. [REDACTED]
SCP-XXXX-098	Plagiosauroidea indet.	Seattle, WA, USA	3 partial skeletons (part of a single slab)	Formerly cataloged as ███ ███. Sedimentological analysis indicates the slab originated in South Africa, and institutional documentation confirms it was stored there for ~20 years before being shipped to America.
SCP-XXXX-276	Amphicoelias fragillimus	[REDACTED]	[REDACTED]	[REDACTED]

Experimentation with SCP-XXXX has revealed that it can affect a multitude of different subjects, including plants and fungi. Bacterial tests are pending.

Currently, it is unknown if a living subject affected by SCP-XXXX can transmit the infection to other organisms, or if the phenomenon is solely transmitted via fossil.

Photographs of SCP-XXXX-003, taken during Incident XXXX-01. Sensitive information has been redacted.

Addendum - Incident Log XXXX-01: On ██/██/████, Foundation operatives arrived at [REDACTED] following reports of an accident in the research collections. Upon arrival, an individual exhibiting late-stage symptoms of SCP-XXXX (identified as [REDACTED], a senior curator at the museum) was found deceased in the vertebrate paleontology collections. The collections themselves were discovered to house a large number of infected fossil specimens, all of which were removed as per now-standard Leidy Protocol under the guise of inter-institutional loan. Amicable negotiations with the museum are ongoing.

A research journal recovered during the incident was cataloged as Document XXXX-████████. Relevant excerpts are presented below:

█/██/████
This is the best goddamn dim sum I've ever had. 11th and Race. Come back here someday.

Headaches are still pretty bad, but nothing the pork noodles+dumplings can't help. Drizzly weather this afternoon.

Quick summ. -
-Prep stuff for lab meet this week
-make arrangements for new HVAC talk to ornitho dept. first about specs
-email Stamkos re:Burmese sauropterygia
-donor event this thurs - fix suit

█/██/████
It's going to be a late night again tonight. The crew downstairs are saying that this year's Wyoming dig is stacked and they're "expecting at least two dozen jackets" and a few that take up a whole trailer solo. We don't have the room.

I'll be honest with myself — I'm worried about all the Jersey types. They're falling apart. Beeswax and shellac used to cut it back in the day but definitely not anymore, and even the pb002 [sic] is starting to flake off. The Haddy femur has a hairline crack running straight down the middle and we're all scared to even suggest moving it, even for extra casting.

They lived such wonderful, unknowable lives and they deserve better than this.

Reminder: get dumplings to cheer myself up tomorrow

██/██/████
The therapist isn't helping. I know this stuff is hard for most people to understand but she can't see what I see.
It feels like I'm underwater and everything is black and cold and deep and the pressure of the water is crushing down on me.

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+ ADDITIONAL DRAFTS DO NOT OPEN PLS

Drafts, ideas, and files stored on Sandbox 2 may be transferred over here if there's a serious chance I might actually turn them into something.

http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-style-resource

The Arsonist Manifesto

Founding SCP for a potential GOI - basically they're fire fetishists dedicated to the infinite spread of entropy. They started way back in the day as rather traditional arsonists but as the world evolved around them it became necessary to find new and innovative ways of spreading the flame - in one notable case, they kickstarted the Industrial Revolution and to this day some senior members still retain executive positions at fossil fuel companies such as Exxon.

Their "leader" was the Fire Witch, who literally self-immolated herself out of existence to the point where she never existed at all. 1400s

WHEREAS certain unfortunate, unnatural Truths about our universe
cleanse the unclean
12th edition (circa 1989)
antinatalism
Thaumatology?

Rough timeline, unwritten and unexplained:

• 1451, rural Italy. Some dude is burned at the stake for magic balderdashery but a sixteen-year-old girl (whom we'll call Beatrix for lack of a better name because she does not exist) gets ahold of his possessions. She and a small band of cohorts realize the world's a bit fucked up with anomalies, so they decide to destroy them all with the best way they know how. Along the way, it becomes clear that some of these anomalies will accelerate destruction and can be used to their advantage.
• 1453: tie the Fall of Constantinople into this somehow?
• 1492: kapoof

Gold Fever (current draft)

BTS: Pyrite disease but with people too. A curator gets "infected", plenty of hallucinations of the fossils' past lives, and the woman in gold at the end.

The Woods

A parcel of forest located in the New Jersey Piedmont. Easily definable dimensions from the exterior but much larger when observed from within (aka "bigger on the inside"). Inhabited by a number of strange and wonderful anomalous species as well as local wildlife. A Foundation research outpost has been set up in the nearby farmhouse. This is the story of the site director who is utterly fascinated by this place, documenting his observations, sketches, photographs, journal accounts - and his own life's struggles: increasing anxiety in the face of the anthropogenic climate crisis, apathy from the nameless and faceless of the Foundation bureaucracy, the exploits of the closely-knit research team on site, and his emotional relationship with his partner.

Starless and Bible-Black

{$caption}

Item #: SCP-████

Object Class: n/a

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-████ is not to be contained.

Description: n/a

Dr. Virgil's Snake Venom
Man of the Fabric - pattern screamer that was birthed into physical reality and went "hey this stuff is pretty neat actually" (juggles) Jul. 11
Keter Bells, manufactured and distributed by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry before they went up in flames, anomalous human blood in affected bells, ringing them causes major ontokinetic effects
Phoenix, big blue ticks

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Footnotes

1. Newman, A. 1998. Pyrite oxidation and museum collections: a review of theory and conservation treatments. The Geological Curator, 6(10): 363−371.

2. Invertebrate and plant fossil examples of SCP-XXXX are listed in separate documents.

3. Refer to Document XXXX-003 for full skeletal inventory.

4. Refer to Document XXXX-004 for full skeletal inventory.