SpyglassRealms

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be contained under the guise of an Australian Fisheries Management Authority research station. The compound containing SCP-XXXX, henceforth designated Site 283, must be patrolled by lightly armed security personnel, with perimeter patrols on a 10-minute dispatch cycle and internal sweeps every hour. The perimeter fence and all buildings within Site 283 must be monitored by night-vision security cameras. No further security is necessary.
SCP-XXXX’s highly specific anomalous properties render it safe for occupation and storage outside of live aquatic specimens. SCP-XXXX should not be entered outside of authorized testing times, nor should the building be used to store Foundation or personal property.
If any entities manifest within SCP-XXXX, observers are to contact Dr. Barry (project lead) immediately.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a large, rectangular, concrete-and-steel building, approx. 930 square meters, designed and formerly used as a commercial aquaculture facility. Located ██ km south of Cairns, Australia, SCP-XXXX was formerly owned by ██████ ██████ and exhibited no anomalous properties prior to June of 1988. The structure and its associated compound were acquired by the Foundation the following month.
When SCP-XXXX is evacuated of all sapient entities for a length of time exceeding five minutes, any aquatic vertebrates placed inside the building appear to vanish completely and irretrievably. It is currently unknown where the specimens are transported to, if transported at all, as attempts to track GPS-tagged animals in tests have uniformly failed.¹ The mechanism by which the organisms vanish is not understood either.
The effects of SCP-XXXX do not extend to aquatic invertebrates or terrestrial organisms, with some exceptions. Nor do the specimens disappear if left unattended for less than five minutes. Observation by remote cameras, both sedentarily mounted and aboard aerial drones, shows that there is no warning nor special nature of the organisms’ disappearance.²
A company incident report dated 25/06/1988 records the first apparent manifestation of SCP-XXXX’s anomalous properties as discovered by the early morning staff, who entered the building to perform routine morning checks on all stock and promptly encountered a warehouse of mostly empty tanks.³ There were no signs of a break-in; all entrances were locked and no equipment was displaced.⁴
Initially suspecting mass theft, which could feasibly have taken place overnight, company staff contacted authorities and filed the appropriate paperwork. The following morning, the same incident occurred, inciting an increase in security in and around the building. Security was present for 12 hours overnight and reported no activity whatsoever, and the issue was assumed to be resolved. However, one week later, SCP-XXXX was left unoccupied for a mere 5.5 minutes during the predawn shift, and security forces returned to a complete lack of fish once again. This event incited Foundation contacts inside the AFMA to begin investigation. Once the building’s anomalous properties were confirmed, the Foundation entered an agreement to acquire SCP-XXXX and the surrounding compound. All involved civilian personnel were administered Class-B amnestics and redistributed to other ██████ ██████ company sites.

+ Testing Logs

Testing Log 17/07/1988
SUBJECT: One tank of approximately 43 Mugil cephalus⁵
ISOLATION PERIOD: Exactly 3.5 minutes
RESULT: No change in existential status.

Testing Log 17/07/1988
SUBJECT: One tank of approximately 43 Mugil cephalus
ISOLATION PERIOD: Exactly 5 minutes and 1 second
RESULT: All specimens vanished.

Testing Log 19/07/1988
SUBJECT: One tank of 9 Maccullochella peelii⁶
ISOLATION PERIOD: Exactly 5 minutes
RESULT: Fish “flickered” but remained extant.

Testing Log 22/07/1988
SUBJECT: One tank of 9 Maccullochella peelii
ISOLATION PERIOD: Exactly 4 minutes and 59 seconds
RESULT: No change in existential status.
NOTES: Five minutes is the cutoff, it looks like. Good to know. - Dr. Barry

Testing Log 22/07/1988
SUBJECT: One tank of 9 Maccullochella peelii
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 7 minutes
MONITOR: High-speed camera mounted on table facing tank
RESULT: Frame-by-frame analysis of high-speed video indicates no transitional phase from existence to nonexistence; specimens are present and healthy in all frames before the five-minute mark and completely absent from all frames after the five-minute mark.
NOTES: That’s odd, even for an SCP. These things usually have some sort of flair to them. The lack of decor makes the vanishing act even more disturbing. - Dr. Barry

Testing Log 28/07/1988
SUBJECT: One tank of approximately 60 Retropinna semoni⁷, with one individual tagged with a GPS microchip
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 15 minutes
MONITOR: High-speed camera mounted on aerial drone in hover position above tank
RESULT: Identical to the previous test. Echo of the tracking signal increased exponentially between 4:50:00 and 4:59:99. At exactly the five-minute mark, the tracking signal from the microchipped individual completely ceased transmission. Attempts were made to reestablish contact, but all attempts failed.

Testing Log 3/08/1988
SUBJECT: One tank of 17 Nototodarus gouldi⁸
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 8 minutes
MONITOR: High-speed camera mounted on table facing tank
RESULT: No change in existential status.

Testing Log 14/08/1988
SUBJECT: One specimen of Caretta caretta⁹
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 10 minutes
MONITOR: High-speed camera mounted on table facing tank
RESULT: High-speed video shows [DATA EXPUNGED], possibly indicating some level of sapience inherent in SCP-XXXX’s anomalous properties. Regardless of the implications, results severely discourage planned testing with platypi and marine mammals.
NOTES: Let’s not do turtles again. The tank and everything near it is irreparable, and it took the cleanup team two hours and a whole bottle of 0.3 mol HCl to get those shell fragments out of the wall. - Dr. Barry

Testing Log 15/04/1990
SUBJECT: D-XXXX-9, equipped with SCUBA, submerged in 2m x 3m x 5m tank
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 5.5 minutes
MONITOR: High-speed camera mounted on table facing tank and on aerial drone in hover position above tank
RESULT: High-speed video shows D-XXXX-9 to “flicker” profusely for approximately 12 seconds following the five-minute mark. However, the subject ultimately remained extant. Subject’s post-trial psychological evaluation revealed nothing abnormal, though analysis of diving equipment reveals the waterproof watch D-XXXX-9 had been wearing trailed standard atomic clocks by 11.2 seconds after the test was complete.
NOTES: Looks like SCP-XXXX “decided” D-9 wasn’t a fish. That bodes well… I think. But in the video, every time he flickers the bubbles from the respirator stop moving for a moment. I’ll ask █████ to look at this, see what she makes of it. - Dr. Barry

Testing Log 21/09/1992*
*Cross-test with SCP-1839
SUBJECT: D-XXXX-21, with prior exposure to SCP-1839
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 6 minutes
MONITOR: High-speed camera mounted above doorway
RESULT: High-speed video shows an event similar to the turtle trial but far worse. Analysis of video and remains suggest that SCP-XXXX may have been “confused” and attempted to [DATA EXPUNGED], raising considerable alarm. Dr. Barry has suspended all testing proposals and all on-site cross-testing with SCP-XXXX is indefinitely prohibited.
NOTES: Oh, boy. We’ve pissed it off, I think. D-21 thought he was a fish, so SCP-XXXX thought he was a fish too, and then… then he wasn’t a fish or a human; no, then he just… wasn’t. I’m calling off testing. We aren’t going to poke this bear anymore, not for a while. - Dr. Barry

Testing Log 05/05/2005
SUBJECT: One specimen of Mola Mola¹⁰ with the question “Can you understand us?” written on its side in English, binary, and several local Australian Aboriginal languages
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 7 minutes
RESULT: Specimen vanished as expected. A Hawaiian phrase was discovered on the south wall, written in fish blood. Message read Mai ho'āʻoʻoe iaʻu.¹¹
NOTES: Hawaiian, eh? Wasn't expecting that. The message itself is pretty ominous too. Maybe we shouldn't have resumed testing after all. …We'll ask it one more question and then leave it be. - Dr. Barry

Testing Log 15/06/2005
SUBJECT: One specimen of Carnax ignobilis¹² with “Who are you?” written on it in English
ISOLATION PERIOD: Approximately 6 minutes
RESULT: Specimen vanished as predicted. Another message was discovered on the south wall, written in fish blood. Message read: ʻO wauʻo Ukupanipo. ʻAʻole ponoʻoe kēia mau iʻa. Mai nīnau hou.¹³
NOTES: Had Dr. ███████ look at the message, since they’re familiar with Pacific Islander mythos for some reason. Apparently there is a Hawaiian deity by that name. Some sort of shark god who regulates fishing, or at least that’s my understanding of it. Explains a lot, but that presents a new issue: we’re dealing with an actual god over here, or at least something that’s very good at imitating one. And when has that ever gone well for us? - Dr. Barry

Addendum 01/07/2005: Reclassification from Safe to Euclid approved, based on recent results.

Footnotes

1. Possible link between disappearances in SCP-XXXX and manifestations in SCP-1329 have been investigated; none were found.

2. See testing logs.

3. Except for those containing invertebrates; specifically, crustaceans and cephalopods.

4. A note was discovered taped to the door which read, “So long, and thanks for all the fish!” in reference to the fourth book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. No DNA or fingerprints were discovered on the note, nor was the handwriting matched to any known person.

5. Gray flathead mullet.

6. Murray cod.

7. Australian smelt.

8. Gould's squid.

9. Loggerhead sea turtle.

10. Giant sunfish.

11. lit. "Don't try me"

12. Giant trevally.

13. lit. "I am Ukupanipo. You do not deserve these fish. No more questions."