Item #: SCP-029-IT
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-029-IT is kept in a large area of 100 m2 6 kilometers far from Monte Orsario Nature Reserve, fenced and monitored by three security guards in place disguised as state forest rangers. Currently, both SCP-029-IT-1 and SCP-029-IT-2 are kept in a natural cave in the area. Every month a ton of combustible materials must be sent to the containment area. In case SCP-029-IT-1 happens to be hostile the usage of tranquillizers are allowed.
Description: SCP-029-IT-1 is a caucasic woman standing 1,73 m in height and appearing old and issued; she wears a purple toga and speaks in an archaic latin dialect, possibly spoken in the nearby area during Roman age. SCP-029-IT-1 is always willing to talk if she's not fueling SCP-029-IT-2; during most conversations SCP-029-IT-2 is described as an almighty being, the only one who can save the world from "the cold disease waiting for the silent Fire to rest".
SCP-029-IT-2 is a cluster of brambles, logs and twigs always on fire placed in the middle of the cave. SCP-029-IT-2's fire cannot be extinguished, though its light dims if it's not supplied with sufficient fuel. SCP-029-IT-2 can convert in light energy all the matter it burns with an efficiency of 1.6%, while a normal fire can only convert 0.006% of the burnt mass; in addition, SCP-029-IT-2 cannot burn any material that isn't brought by SCP-029-IT-1: if one insists on fueling SCP-029-IT-2 with it, this will get rejected by an unknown force.
Because of their nature, SCP-029-IT-1 and SCP-029-IT-2 must not be separated, unless the life of SCP-029-IT-1 is in danger.
Foreword: The following interwiew has been conducted using a Sumire Mk-II Neural Translator because of the dialect spoken by SCP-029-IT-1. (Since the simultaneous translation is not reliable, the translator's program highlighted in green several words to which it couldn't attribute a precise meaning)
Interwiewer: Dr. Petro Gianfranco
Interwiewed: SCP-029-IT-1
Dr. Petro Gianfranco: Very well SCP-029-IT-1, what can you say about SCP-029-IT-2?SCP-029-IT-1: I told you already, don't call me that way… tsk, fine. I don't even remember my name, Fire is powerful [big, strong, invincible], he is like a lighthouse that scares Cold. He has a lot of brothers, they also keep Cold away. But Fire is the strongest among his brothers. He is wise [sage, omniscent, clever], he knows a lot.
D: What's this "Cold Disease" that you mentioned?
SCP-029-IT-1: Cold like illness [Pestilence, sickness, disease] spreading on the grass. Everything gray, cold…
D: So, if SCP-029-IT-2 goes out everything will go gray?
SCP-029-IT-1: Exactly, but I don't understand why you call him that way…
D: Umm, whatever. Have you always been here with Fire?
SCP-029-IT-1: No, I've been born in Aquileia, daughter of Publius Scipio Nasica. One of the three founders [Creators, boss, superintendent, governor] of the city. He loved me as only a father would love. He decided to make me join the order of the Vestal Virgins. I didn't want to, but I had to obey my Pater Familias.
D: So, you went in the end.
SCP-029-IT-1: Exactly, I prepared to leave and after three days of travel we arrived in a nearby cave which sheltered me and my sisters; unfortunately this sacred place has been destroyed.
D: So, were there other Vestals there? (Writes down in a notebook)
SCP-029-IT-1: Oh yeah, other sisters of the Order. Many moons ago they left this place for supplies and to ask Rome for more followers. I stayed here to take care of fire… they never came back: the barbarians got them!
D: Did you also use to make the mola salsa?1
SCP-029-IT-1: Oh, mola salsa… yes, we made them, too. They left to ask for ingridients, spelt [wheat, flour] didn't arrive in here for a while, therefore we gave up on the holy bread.
D: How did you survive this long?
SCP-029-IT-1: Fire gave me power and inspiration to continue. After Rome stopped giving supplies I started to eat edible plants, I also started to coltivate and grow them. I then learned how to befriend several animals [beasts, creatures]. Every once in a while a dog came here to give me a plant or a slice of meat; Fire made sure I didn't get sick and that I could countinue on helping him in his eternal job.
D: Well. Do you know the real nature of SCP-029-IT-2? How was he born? Who fueled him before your sisters' arrival?
SCP-029-IT-1: I know that fire has been here for a very long time before I got here. There was also a legend… but I can't remember it very well, and I don't think you want to hear it.
D: All right, I think this is all for today. End of interwiew.
Interwiewer Note: If what she says is true and she's really Publius Scipio's daughter, than SCP-029-IT-1 would be 2200-years-old. Was it SCP-029-IT-2 to keep her alive for this long? Or did SCP-029-IT-1 come in contact with another anomaly? If SCP-029-IT-2 is really capable of curing illnesses and it is really something sacred or divine, using CCSG's terms, it might have recognised SCP-029-IT-1 as the last one in charge for his maintainance and managed to make live longer. Furthermore, every once in a while I heard several words at once, which prevented me from concentrating on the conversation. I'll ask the Vucano guys to make some improvements on this translator.
<Please wait…>
<Biometric access credentials evaluation in progress…>
<Level 4 Authorization Recognised.>
<Log access allowed. >
On 19/10/20██ SCP-029-IT-1 experienced abdominal pain, nausea and fatigue, making a transport to Site Asclepio necessary. Before departure SCP-029-IT-1 started to act aggresively and attepted to escape, making a sedation necessary in order to proceed with the transport. Clinical examinations resulted in an infection of Taenia solium and cysticercosis which could have developed in spinal cord and eyes complications. After four days of intensive treatments and two surgeries, SCP-029-IT-1 was dismissed and sent back to the containment area.
While gone, SCP-029-IT-2 has shrunk to a few embers; moreover, soil and plants around it (an area of approximately 23 m2) assumed an unique grayish colouring. After several attempts, SCP-029-IT-1 managed to reactivate SCP-029-IT-2 and restore the area to normal within 24 hours.
Below are all known data of this abnormal phenomenon designed henceforth as SCP-029-IT-3.
SCP-029-IT-3's effects on the surrounding area.
Item #: SCP-029-IT-3
Object Class: Keter Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Currently, keeping SCP-029-IT-2 burning seems to be the only way to prevent the onset of SCP-029-IT-3; hence SCP-029-IT-2 must be kept alive since she is currently the only one able to fuel SCP-029-IT-2. Research of additional methods to avoid the occurence of SCP-029-IT-3 is ongoing with a Carna priority.
Description: SCP-029-IT-3 is an extremely virulent illness (Decription revised after examination of samples at Site Asclepio) SCP-029-IT-3 is an anomaly which manifests only when SCP-029-IT-2 ceases to burn. Objects and living beings near SCP-029-IT-2 assume a unique grayish colouring and become very fragile, with structural failures caused by even the minimal of forces. The area of influence of SCP-029-IT-3 expands gradually, at a speed of ██ m2 per day. If SCP-029-IT-2 was to die, it would start a Terra-Alba-Class end-of-the-world scenario.
SCP-029-IT-3's effects are reversible and can be nullified by leaving its area of influence; damages inflicted on infected clothing of living beings won't restore and will remain grayish and extremely fragile.
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Foreword: On 23/10/20██, two of the three guards on perimeter supervision of the containment area have been infected by SCP-029-IT-3; one deceased, the other has been hospitalized to Site Asclepio.
Interwiewer Dr. J████ A████████.
Interwiewed: Security manager Emilio Barese
Dr. J████ A████████: All right Mr. Barese, what were you doing yesterday at 8 pm?Security Manager, Emilio Barese: I was doing an evening reconnaissance around the fences, same routine; I got out for a couple of hours.
D: Keep going.
R: As you already know, we worked with shifts. I was awake while they slept inside the prefab near SCP-029-IT-1's cave. After a stroll around the fence I got to the checkpoint, the entrance of the containment area; every two hours I did the same thing. But I always came back there. I guess the other two had the same working routine.
D: Didn't you check SCP-029-IT-2?
R: We did check this "Fire" for the first two days, nothing strange happened thus we didn't pay any more attention; we were more focused on monitoring the area, since we catched a bunch of punks trying to cut the fence some days before.
D: What happened then?
R: After midnight I fell asleep inside the checkpoint, nothing strange happened and Ettore's turn was soon to arrive. This morning I woke up and I went to the bakery in the next town to get something for breakfast.
D: Please proceed, what happened after you came back to the containment area?
R: When I got back to the containment area, I didn't find anything strange in the beginning, it was still quite dark and I couldn't see much. I got inside and crossed those fifty meters between the entrance and the prefab. I felt something strange, but I didn't know what.
D: Why were you disturbed?
R: It was too quiet, too much for me.
D: Please continue.
R: I put the breakfast bag on a table and went to the cots. The first thing I noticed was Ettore lying on his bed. He became a dust sculpture, something that could be destroyed with a breeze; gray and lifeless, he wasn't breathing. Firstly I thought it was a sort of prank, so I said "Uh, nice prank… Now get up and get to work, its your turn.".
The doctor keeps writing on his notebook.
R: Once I said that sentence I tapped him on his shoulder but I couldn't feel him. As I touched it a cloud of smoke rose.
D: What about the other guard? How was he when you found him?
R: The other cot was behind me, I was still processing what just happened when I felt something grabbing my leg. I turned around and I saw Bruto lying on the floor covered in that gray thing; he was barely breahing and he couldn't speak. I helped him to sit on the cot and got out, I had to know what was going on; it was just before I entered the cave that I noticed it".
D: What did you notice?
R: Grass, leaves and even tree logs were gray; I don't know how, but it was slowly going forward. I noticed that my left hand has also started to present a kind of gray aura, or stain, that was slowly spreading; maybe it was throbbing, I didn't check very well. Furthermore SCP-029-IT-2 was out.
D: According to the tests they did on you, you didn't appear to be infected, how did you recover from this sort of illness?
R: I'm getting there, just wait… Shortly after the old woman came back followed by the Mater Morbi, which seemed to be in charge of the transport. Soon after they saw what happened, the agents wore those big suits, they took some samples from the vegetation and Ettore, they put them in the truck and took Bruto away, covering him with a towel. I think that right now he is in an oven, or at the Asclepio. They were so busy they didn't even notice me.
D: Go on, what did you do when Mater Morbi left?
R: I tried to think of a way to save myself from this thing, maybe cutting my hand off, then I noticed that the old woman lighted the fire. As I got closer I noticed the grayish thing slowly fading away and the grass and trees started to return green and normal. I was speechless and, when that halo on my hand disappeared, I went to the prefab hoping Ettore was still alive, but nothing… he kept being gray and still, he was irrecoverable. Maybe this kind of infection is reversible only during early stages, or maybe I was just lucky.
D: How did you feel when you were "ill"?
R: My hand was numbed, and if I touched something I felt it cold. But when I touched the "infected" limb with my other hand, I still felt the blood flowing and its heat. This is is all I can tell you.
D: I think that's enough; end of interwiew.
Post-Interview Note: I'm filling these notes one hour after the interwiew. We administered class-C amnestics and reassigned the survivor to the surveillance of Site Vesta to make him forget what just happened, since everything is now classified to be wiewed by Level 4 staff only. We managed to find substitutes for those guards who got accidentaly killed or injured by SCP-029-IT-3; harvested samples are right now under analysis at Site Asclepio.Agent Bruto Lucchese has been quarantined and he's recovering from the illness in an absurd rate. The medics who monitored him informed me that approximately 9% of the infected mass has returned to normal in a matter of a few hours; just to be sure they'll keep him quarantined for another few weeks, but I'm confident in a full recovery. It's not clear if SCP-029-IT-3's effects are fading because SCP-029-IT-2 is burning or because he got out of its area of effect.
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Foreword: Just before SCP-029-IT-1 fueled SCP-029-IT-2, SSM-VI "Mater Morbi" gathered samples from the flora and the remainings of Ettore █████ to study SCP-029-IT-3 and run some tests to try to understand his nature better.
SCP-029-IT-3 samples didn't revert to thier original aspect and they haven't reproduced in laboratory; first analysis under the microscope didn't give any expected results.Researcher Petro Gianfranco presented a sample of SCP-029-IT-3 to Rowsannah system hoping that the artificial intelligence could be able to discover new details about SCP-029-IT-3.
ROWSANNAH:/> Biometric scan in progress…………………… COMPLETED
ROWSANNAH:/> Good morning Dr. Gianfranco. How can I help you?Dr_Gianfra_:/> Rowsannah I need you to check these samples. The microscope guys are busy, my analisys turned out to be unsuccessful and James wants the samples to be analized in a hour.
ROWSANNAH:/> Enter the samples in the open compartment, please…
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Samples in the compartment. Now what?
ROWSANNAH:/> Please wait. I'm analyzing the samples…
ROWSANNAH:/> Dr. Gianfranco, are you sure you entered the right samples?
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Yeah, of course, what do you mean?
ROWSANNAH:/> According to my analysis this material is generally made of carbonates and sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron oxides and flint.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> In simple terms?
ROWSANNAH:/> These are ashes, a residual solid of combustion.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Ashes?
ROWSANNAH:/> Affermative.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> So these are ashes? How the hell didn't I realize it before?
ROWSANNAH:/> Causes can be multiple, maybe you were distracted or you didn't expect this.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Anything else?
ROWSANNAH:/> The exact chemical composition changes depending on fuel and temperature of the combustion.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> So can we understand the source or the origin of the anomaly?
ROWSANNAH:/> Negative, we can discover which plants made these ashes. At most we can conduct an investigation to find where plants were more numerous, but it would be a long reserch that wuold cost time, money and would hardly lead to expected results.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Start studying the chemical composition, if you find any matching datas on a particular plant please write it down.
ROWSANNAH:/> Of course Dr. Gianfranco, I'll proceed immediatly…
ROWSANNAH:/> Doctor? Are you still there?
ROWSANNAH:/> Doctor?Dr_Gianfra_:/> Here I am, I left for a glass of water. I thought you would take longer.
ROWSANNAH:/> I analyzed the samples, here's a list of the content of the ashes… 4 different species of Pteridophytes,Hedera helix, Canis lupus lupus, Triticum monococcum, Quercus pubescens and what seems to be a Felis catus2.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Jeez, all of these in a bundle of ash?
ROWSANNAH:/> Affermative.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Is it possible for the samples to be alterated? I mean, ashes are not living beings, they don't reproduce; the sample might actually be "dead".
ROWSANNAH:/> I find this theoretically possible, but there are no enzymes or microorganisms that could trigger an incineration, thus I don't think the sample is altered.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Fine. Thanks Rowsannah, I'll be more careful from now on… If James comes to know all of this he'll be looking for my head; I'll keep on trying to understand what actually happened to the samples by myself. Thanks again.
ROWSANNAH:/> You're welcome, I'm programmed for this.
Dr_Gianfra_:/> Goodbye.
ROWSANNAH:/> Goodbye Dr. Gianfranco. Have a nice day.
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