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Credits
Title: SCP-1898-JP - We've Got That Taciturn Statue Properly Contained And It Knows Nothing
Author: ©︎highbriku
Year: 2019
Item #: SCP-1898-JP
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1898-JP is to be kept in a containment chamber at Site-76, where motion sensors and directional microphones are to be installed. In case the motion sensors detect movement of SCP-1898-JP, the system is to automatically notify the assigned personnel and security guards are to be dispatched to the containment chamber.
Audio data from the directional microphones is to be automatically archived.
SCP-1898-JP
Description: SCP-1898-JP is a bronze statue of an angel weighing 4.2 tons and standing 3.1 meters tall. It is in the posture of two hands on a sword thrust into the ground.
SCP-1898-JP is sentient and capable of communicating through conversation. By actively speaking to it, SCP-1898-JP is expected to provide fragmented responses in American English.1 It should be noted, however, that it does not always respond.2
SCP-1898-JP was discovered and recovered from Warnanthan Village, South Dakota in 1951. The residents of Warnanthan apparently viewed SCP-1898-JP as an object of prayer to God, and jointly maintained it by the entire community. A field agent who became aware of this custom during his visit reported it, and an investigation team was promptly organized.
The following is an excerpt from the transcript of an interview with Field Agent Ballman, who discovered SCP-1898-JP, about the circumstances at the time.
Warnanthan was an idyllic rural town. The area I was assigned to included about fifteen towns, and compared to them, there was nothing remarkable about that place.
When I drink with my fellow agents, we often talk about one thing — when you've been on duty for a long time, you develop a certain special skill. You become able to sense the creepiness that pervades the town. Especially when there are cults and churches taking root. There was no such smell in that town. To be honest, I felt like I was on vacation.
It wasn't really a big town, so the statue was quite noticeable. At first I thought it was just some big sculpture and didn't pay much attention to it. It was only after a while that I noticed its anomalous nature.
I stayed in Warnanthan for a few days under the guise of a geological survey and learned that the residents apparently cherished the statue. No, it was nothing serious. I could assume that there are communities where the residents stop for a moment in front of the statue when passing by on their way to the farm, or clean it on a rotational basis. I don't remember what triggered the conversation, but I casually remarked to Danny, a middle-aged guy with whom I happened to have many chances to talk, that the residents here must really care about that statue.
"We hear the words of God coming from it every once in a while, maybe you will too," Danny said with a smile. I couldn't tell at the time whether this was a figurative expression of faith or some extraordinary phenomenon. At least it caught my attention.
Things went smoothly from there. Once I had ascertained from interviews with the residents and my own experience that the statue was likely sentient, I wrote up a report and sent it off. Then I waited for the specialist team to arrive while continuing to pretend to do geological research, and handed over the work to them. My task was over.
It was no ordinary statue. But nor was it doing anything special to Warnanthan. The residents there were just average human beings. Danny was a nice, jovial guy. Was what I did the right thing? If something had been different… I still think about it somewhere in my mind.
After negotiating with and obtaining permission from the mayor of Warnanthan, the research team conducted various tests to confirm the unique properties of SCP-1898-JP. The following are audio recordings during a communication attempt. The residents were provided with a cover story prior to the test.
Audio Log Transcript
Date: 1951/05/22
Test Subject: SCP-1898-JP
Personnel in Charge: Researcher Storkman
Operator: Dr. Ullman
[Begin Log]
(Researcher Storkman asks several questions to SCP-1898-JP, but does not receive any response from it.)
Researcher Storkman: Question number six3. Are you a messenger of God?
SCP-1898-JP: No. This is the construct.
Researcher Storkman: (Gasps) I got an answer. Can you hear that?
Dr. Ullman: I hear that. Please continue with your normal procedure from here.
Researcher Storkman: Roger that. Excuse me, by construct, do you mean that there is your creator?
SCP-1898-JP: Assumption. This design cannot be attributed to nature.
Researcher Storkman: What kind of person is your creator?
SCP-1898-JP: Unknown.
Researcher Storkman: I see. Let me change the question. How long have you been here?
SCP-1898-JP: For a great long time. Originally there were no humans here.
Dr. Ullman: Apparently so. Records indicate that this town was founded upon the discovery of the statue. No mention of anomalous properties, though.
Researcher Storkman: Okay. Let me ask you a few more. The residents of this town seem to be offering prayers to you, what is the significance of them to you?
SCP-1898-JP: Unknown.
Researcher Storkman: Unknown?
SCP-1898-JP: Assumption. Meaningless.
(Although the questioning continues, there is no further response from SCP-1898-JP.)
[End Log]
Audio Log Transcript
Date: 1951/06/03
Test Subject: SCP-1898-JP
Personnel in Charge: Researcher Storkman
Operator: Dr. Ullman
Note: Following the first test, several attempts were made to further communicate with SCP-1898-JP, to which SCP-1898-JP did not react. The following is a transcript of the second confirmed response.
[Begin Log]
Researcher Storkman: Hello. I would like to talk to you again today.
(SCP-1898-JP does not respond.)
Dr. Ullman: Please continue.
Researcher Storkman: Could you please elaborate on the "meaningless" statement you made the other day?
SCP-1898-JP: Meaningless is meaningless.
Researcher Storkman: (Pause for a few seconds) Are you saying that prayer has no effect on you?
SCP-1898-JP: Yes. Metal is not catalyzed by prayer. This is the construct.
Dr. Ullman: (Groans a bit) Change the question.
Researcher Storkman: Thank you very much, I understand it very well. What else can you do besides receiving prayers and conversing in this way?
SCP-1898-JP: The construct.
Researcher Storkman: I'm sorry, could you be more specific?
SCP-1898-JP: The construct exists. It can exist.
Dr. Ullman: Ask the statue if it has any concerns about us interacting directly with it for further study.
Researcher Storkman: My colleagues and I would like to understand you better. May we touch you directly to research your nature?
SCP-1898-JP: This demands to be the construct.
Researcher Storkman: I promise not to damage you.
SCP-1898-JP: Yes. This is the construct.
[End Log]
The investigation of SCP-1898-JP and Warnanthan Village was conducted with great caution. After almost a month of research, which concluded that SCP-1898-JP possessed no other noteworthy anomalous properties and that Warnanthan was essentially a standard town in South Dakota, Dr. Ullman, the leader of the research team, arranged for SCP-1898-JP to be transported and contained.
The research team's conclusions and containment procedures were re-examined in O5 Council Case #2746 and have since proven to be sufficiently logical. The following email and attachment have been archived in the Foundation database as an important record.
DATE: 1951/06/30
SUBJECT: Field Research Report - 04
FROM: <c4-u83r2t@███████>
TO: <c5-h1a04@███████>
FILE: report-MQ19510630.███Director Harban,
We have conducted every possible research and it appears to be nothing more than a sentient statue. In addition, the population of Warnanthan Village is quite small, and there are countless options for cover-up. It would not be a problem to transfer the statue to one of the neighboring sites. This is just a quick report before I make a formal proposal.
Ullman
On July 31, 1951, SCP-1898-JP was transferred to Site-76, where current Special Containment Procedures were put into effect. The residents of Warnanthan Village were administered amnestics, and the research team completely withdrew from the town the following day.
Update (1951/09/10): In September 1951, Warnanthan Village was designated Nx-14. It is unclear whether the environmental changes at Warnanthan Village were due to the containment of SCP-1898-JP.
