SCP-ES-181
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Item #: SCP-ES-181

Object Class: Keter Neutralized

Special Containment Procedures: The containment protocols of SCP-ES-181 are obsolete and have been removed from this document.

The current containment of the subject is reduced to the maintained supervision of Dr. Richard Barnard, who will rest exclusively in a room equipped entirely with fireproof padded material with a fireproof mattress and will receive fireproof clothing for his periods of sleep. It has also been recommended that Dr. Barnard receive additional supervision and psychological support to avert his emotional toll; although Dr. Barnard has declined, Area-08 Management considers minimal psychological follow-up to be essential.

Description: SCP-ES-181 was a humanoid entity residing inside a 2nd century palace complex in Puerto Isabel (Area-08-C administrative district). Although many architectural and decorative elements of this complex indicate that it is a Secite construction,1 SCP-ES-181 repeated on multiple occasions that he came from a culture much later than that of the Secites themselves. It claimed noble and royal titles of which obscure but consistent references have been found in several of the Palacian Incunabula, of which the most common is the "King Icarus" or the "King Who Burnt".

SCP-ES-181 had the appearance of a humanoid being equipped with a metallic mask, which according to eyewitnesses would be made of calcined cast iron and which covered almost all of his face, except for both eye sockets. The skin of the eye sockets, including eyelids, lower eyebrows and both eyes,2 were fully vitalized and often bled with the object's facial gesticulation. The remainder of SCP-ES-181's body was that of an adult male, one meter and eighty-five centimeters tall, completely charred.

Despite its condition, SCP-ES-181 was able to move and speak as a human being would. SCP-ES-181's mask emitted flames with no obvious fuel of varying brightness, heat and volume from the moment it was discovered by the Foundation. These flames formed a kind of flaming disk that SCP-ES-181 defined as "its crown" or "its mane" around its mask. In exceptional moments of inactivity, the fire would dwindle until only a candle-like flame remained on the subject's forehead; during times of increased activity, anxiety or agitation, the flames would become violent and voluminous.

SCP-ES-181 was extremely dangerous to any human being with whom it came in contact. SCP-ES-181 was capable of communicating in several anomalous languages, including emphytic languages,3 fact that it took advantage of in all its contacts with the Foundation's staff to issue offers of servitude, threats, insults and claims of other anomalies. SCP-ES-181 coerced several Foundation staff members to act on its behalf, forcing them to pledge their allegiance on its terms.

The moment any subject who had sworn allegiance to SCP-ES-181 failed to obey it, regardless of distance or separation by physical barriers, SCP-ES-181 would raise an arm and clench a corresponding fist. The chest cavity of the subject in question would burn from within, and the subject would survive conscious and able to feel the corresponding pain until death. Heart and face were the only parts of these subjects that did not burn.

Should they refuse to obey it, SCP-ES-181 could cause the same effect on those subjects inside the space in which it used to reside, a west-facing audience hall with a throne of a carved metamorphic rock whose provenance is unclear. All surfaces of the hall are charred and any pictographic markings on its surfaces have been lost, but abundant traces of organic remains that could belong to humanoid corpses and combustible furnishings have been detected.

Addendum SCP-ES-181-01 ; First Contact, on 05/02/2018.

SCP-ES-181 was identified on 08/02/2018. E-44510-08-3, Agent Molly Arellano, entered the containment environment of SCP-ES-181 as part of the systematic exploration effort of Puerto Isabel (having begun exploration of this particular building thirteen days earlier with the rest of her squad from the Esoteric Mobile Containment Task Force ϱ-4 ("Red Net")). A transcript of the events follows.

Video camera transcription (headset) E-44510-08-03

Agent Arellano: (…) and I don't know what you want us to do… okay, fifth door of the sixth north corridor, third floor. The door is made of metal, about three meters high and carved… well, carved. The inscriptions are vandalized, chiseled from top to bottom… doctor, I've got a door here that's been turned into a cat scratching post. The door is made of iron, I believe. (The Agent leans with one hand on it) Sturdy. Very sturdy.

Mission Command: Roger that, Molly. Proceed.

Agent Arellano: Órale.

(The Agent leans against the door, pushing it open with a creak. She enters an empty room, with a central atrium open to the sky over what could be an empty swimming pool. Piles of sand or ash are visible inside. The back of the room, some thirty meters, is not open to the sky and is left in shadows except for a single unsteady light source.)

Agent Arellano: It's a kind of inner courtyard, but… it's not a tenement house, let's say. Something burned here for a long time, Dr. Farcaster. Do we know what happened here?

Mission Command: Same as in [REDACTED] (Note: residence in another building in Puerto Isabel, doubt it's the same event), maybe? I don't know. Drop a drone, have it mapped and let's continue….

Agent Arellano: Um, doctor.

(The Agent turns to the light source, which is flaring up.)

SCP-ES-181: (speaking in High Palacian; slowly, raspy sound at first, more powerful later) A supplicant? Here. Here, with me… how good, how wonderful, how late it has become and after so, so long…

Agente Arellano: Doctor?

Mission Command: Hold position, Arellano. I'm calling the rest of the squad. Stay where you are.

Agent Arellano: Aye, aye.

(The Agent aims her weapon — standard submachine gun — at the entity. It reacts by illuminating its face with progressively larger and brighter flames. The Agent holds her position.)

SCP-ES-181: (High Palacian) Hello, half-breed daughter from East and West. Hello, little mouse, skin of clay, soul of fire. Hello, and welcome. (Tilts head) Your attire is of black night and your weapon… is that the arm of a handmaiden serving the Silver Goddess? What a black glow, what an evil oil. But what a weak weapon, in the end. What became of the men with muskets? Of the holy men and the crusaders? Have they all fled?

Agent Arellano: Don't move. (turns to Mission Command) Doctor, let the heavy weapons come, but let's get some f-

(The entity rises up, covering the distance between his throne and the Agent in less than three seconds. It takes three shots from a burst of five, with no serious damage that can be confirmed on the recording. From the sounds and the relative position of the camera, the entity has suspended the Agent in mid-air holding her by her right wrist).)

SCP-ES-181: Weapons are no good. Lead is no good. Hate is no good. But you are a good servant… I call you Clay. If you serve me, if you swear subservience to me… what you are will be better, and when you shall be, it will be glory in my name.

Agent Arellano: (shouting) Doctor! Request immediate backup!

SCP-ES-181: Leave your wooden icons. They will burn. (the entity holds in its hand a wooden cross, confirmed by EMCTF ϱ-4 members as a personal property of the Agent; the object burns spontaneously, SCP-ES-181's flames now measure over a meter long and do not seem to harm its own body) Let your loyalties burn with the same fire, for I am ICARUS KING and I stole my fire from the hair of a god. Aid me in my ascent and I will grant you the privilege of life, for it is not yours. Now it is mine. I am greater than you, greater and more beautiful, and from you I shall demand it all.

Agent Arellano: Fuck you so much, you little snout.

SCP-ES-181: Too bad. Thanks for waking me up. And now, burn.

(The entity raises his free hand and clenches its fist.).

Agent Arellano: (screams) It burns…. it-[UNINTELLIGIBLE]!

SCP-ES-181: (sound corrupted by ambient noise; flames, liquid crackling, bony crunching, popping, tearing) Let my crown be this fire-(Agent Arellano screams) [UNINTELLIGIBLE]

CONTACT LOST

It is suspected that the Agent died a few minutes later, like the other cases observed after the fact. The other members of her squad attempted to contact the entity against the orders of Dr. Helena Farcaster, recently assigned to EMCTF ϱ-4; all died without managing to cause perceptible damage to the entity and refused to serve it, with no further information of relevance obtained.

Addendum SCP-ES-181-33 ; 08/14/2018 Incident.

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