Per 
Item #: SCP-5555
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures:
A microscopic sample of SCP-5555 is suspended in vacuo within a magnetic bottle so as to prevent its interaction with solid matter. It is currently being studied by the Anomalous Materials Laboratory at Site [REDACTED]under the supervision of Dr. [REDACTED] and Dr. [REDACTED]. When not undergoing laboratory testing, SCP-5555 is to be kept in a cryogenic refrigeration unit and cooled to a temperature not to exceed -4 Kelvin (-270° Celsius) using liquid helium. Its primary containment unit is a vacuum sealed, lead-lined, ceramic cylindrical container 25.4 cm in length and 12.7 cm in diameter. Two electromagnets cap both ends, their fields arranged in such a way that particles of SCP-5555 are kept trapped inside a spherical area of less than 120 micrometers in the center of the container. The container is powered by a Type-4 thermophotovoltaic nuclear battery with an estimated lifespan of 5,000 years. Access to SCP-5555 is restricted to laboratory and security personnel only. Any additional access requests must be vetted and approved by the O5 council. In the event of a containment breach, the Neutron Havoc protocol is to be implemented immediately (see Addendum 1 for details).
Description:
SCP-5555 is a self-replicating swarm of particulate nanomachinery. Unlike other von Neumann machines currently contained and/or being observed by the SCP Foundation (see SCP-1941 and SCP-064) SCP-5555 is capable of assembling and animating a wide variety of non-indigenous organic lifeforms in addition to making copies of itself. SCP-5555 was recovered from [REDACTED] Mountain, approximately 55km east of [REDACTED], California on 29 June 2011 following the detection of a traversable Einstein-Wheeler singularity, colloquially known as a wormhole.
A high-energy lepton burst consistent with traversable wormholes was detected by SCP reconnaissance satellite Alpha-[REDACTED], and response team Studebaker-6 (codename “the X-Rays”) was dispatched to counter a possible foothold situation. Instead, Studebaker-6 reported the presence of SCP-5555, which was described as an expanding puddle of silvery fluid. One member of Studebaker-6 attempted to collect a sample of the fluid but was “cannibalized” by SCP-5555 when the two accidentally came into physical contact, and the puddle quickly tripled in size.
Team leader Lt. Colonel [REDACTED] radioed nearby Site [REDACTED] and requested a backup containment team armed with thermite plasma explosives be dispatched to supplement Studebaker-6. Backup team Quicksilver-3 arrived twenty minutes later, but by that time, SCP-5555 had grown to encompass an area of 12 square meters.
Included below is an excerpt from the transcript of the Post Action Debriefing with Team Leader [REDACTED] of Studebaker-6.
Interviewer: Dr. Axel Pendergast
Interviewee: Lt. Col. [REDACTED]
Post Action Debriefing
<Begin Log>
Dr. Pendergast: What happened to Corporal Mendez?
Lt. Col. [REDACTED]: The damn thing ate him, that’s what happened.
Dr. Pendergast: How did Mendez come into contact with the fluid?
Lt. Col. [REDACTED]: He was our collection specialist. He was taking a sample. The stuff ate through the test tube like acid. Some of it must’ve got on Mendez’s hand. He screamed. He <sigh> he tried to wipe it off, but it spread all over: up his arms, up his neck, down his chest. It was everywhere, and it was quick! That silver goop covered him from head to toe in less than a minute, and he was screaming, begging for help, the whole time. So I <interviewee begins to weep> I put a bullet in him.
(one minute elapses while Lt. Col. [REDACTED] weeps and then collects himself)
Lt. Col. [REDACTED]: <clears throat> I’m good. I’m good now.
Dr. Pendergast: Can you describe the process? How did the fluid eat Corporal Mendez?
Lt. Col. [REDACTED]: I don’t know how the hell it works! That’s your department. All I know is, there was a body, then there wasn’t. Just more of that fluid. And more of it kept forming. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was eating stuff—the dirt, the rocks, plants…people—to grow itself.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Following psychological evaluation, Lt. Col. [REDACTED] returned to full-time active duty as Team Leader of Studebaker-6.
The use of thermite plasma was ineffective against SCP-5555. The intense thermal reaction provided energy which accelerated its growth, and it formed a large pool 20 meters in diameter. At this point, SCP-5555 ceased expanding and entered what appeared to be an inert state. Since SCP-5555 seemed to feed on thermal energy sources, cryogenic containment protocols were implemented and with positive results. Liquid helium was used to freeze SCP-5555, forming a metallic solid which was then excavated and transported to the Anomalous Materials Laboratory for study. The resulting crater left by SCP-5555 was 1.2 meters deep at its lowest point. Based on its dimensions upon recovery and calculation of SCP-5555’s density and volume, it was concluded that the silver fluid was indeed using the surrounding matter to make more of itself.
Note: further experimentation revealed that, while extreme cold slows down SCP-5555 processes, it does not completely halt them. The only way to contain SCP-5555 nanoparticles is to deprive them of matter which can be used for replication.
Experiment Log: 30 June 2011
The silver fluid, designated SCP-5555, remains immersed in a liquid helium bath, and is currently in a solid state. A 10 microgram sample was obtained from the mass and placed inside a scanning electron microscope. The image revealed that the silver fluid is composed primarily of spherical nanoparticles, ranging in size between # nanometers and ## nanometers in diameter. Four more samples of equal mass were obtained from SCP-5555 and placed inside separate ceramic containers. Various materials were added to each container (steel, sand, aluminum, and water respectively) and the samples were allowed to reach room temperature before liquid helium was used to arrest the replication process. Further electron microscopy revealed the nanoparticles disassembling the sample materials at the atomic level and producing more nanoparticles through a process similar to cellular mitosis. It was also revealed that this process continues even at temperatures close to absolute zero, but at a significantly slow pace. The ceramic containers also showed signs of “nanoscopic cannibalization.”
Conclusions: The nanoparticles are a type of automata, capable of rearranging matter to replicate itself, and they collectively behave like a non-Newtonian fluid. It is systematically similar to a von Neumann machine, and it seems able to cannibalize any solid matter it comes into contact with. Although cryogenics slows down the fluid’s replication process, extreme cold is, at best, a stopgap measure. Future research should focus on better understanding the replication mechanism and on methods of directly destroying SCP-5555 nanoparticles.
Researcher’s note: It can probably cannibalize liquid helium, too. We should test to be sure, even though it’ll probably take several days to observe whether or not that hypothesis is correct.
