| Moth |
|---|
| Byㅤ |
| Published on 19 Sep 2024 14:20 |
1994
Kaleb ran across the backyard, laughing as he ran towards the forest's edge. His father watched from the porch with a smile. The mountain house was a bit remote, but he trusted the surrounding area enough for Kaleb to play by himself outside. He shook his empty mug and called out to his son, "I'm gonna run inside for some more coffee! Don't wander too far!"
"Ok, Dad!" Kaleb shouted back, grabbing a stick and swordfighting the air.
His father chuckled and walked back indoors. Kaleb's mother sat at the dinner table, tending to the youngest child. She smiled warmly at the father as he walked over to the coffee maker, pouring himself a new cup.
"And Kaleb?" she asked.
"Just outside, playing-"
| ITEM: SCP-XXXX | LEVEL 4/XXXX |
| CLASS: euclid | secret |
SPECIAL CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES
Reported sightings of wild SCP-XXXX instances are to be redirected to Site-321 and Area-34. Investigations are to be conducted to confirm or deny these sightings and, if possible, capture the reported instance. Captured instances are to be transferred to Site-321 for processing.
The Department of Anomalous Weapons Development, Site-321, and MTF Phi-27 ("Wizard Wranglers") are responsible for controlling and managing SCP-XXXX-W. Other Departments, Facilities, and Mobile Task Forces can request to lease SCP-XXXX-W, which must be approved by the Research Head of SCP-XXXX, the Director of Site-321, and the Regional Director of AWD.
DESCRIPTION
SCP-XXXX is an artificial species (Prometheum custodire) designed by Prometheus Labs, Inc., in the mid-1980s. SCP-XXXX instances are humanoid in appearance with some insectoid features (compound eyes, antenna) and are covered in a thick coat of grey fur. SCP-XXXX possess a pair of wings in the place of arms, which usually reach wingspans of up to 3.5 meters. SCP-XXXX instances are generally around 0.8 meters in height.
SCP-XXXX possess the ability to passively siphon E.V.E.Elan-Vital Energy. A fundamental element of thaumaturgy. from those it comes into contact with. SCP-XXXX instances only siphon enough to temporally neutralize the abilities of thaumaturges. SCP-XXXX seems to subsist on the E.V.E it absorbs, processing it in an organ located in the lower neck.
Kaleb awoke in a cold, sterile room on a hard bed. The ceiling's bright lights blinded him. A gasp came from his! right, and the faces of his parents blocked out the light.
"Oh, Kaleb, honey, I was so scared," his!? mother said, through tears. She reached down and pulled him into a tight hug.
Another voice spoke up, one Kaleb didn't recognize. "Dr. Summers, your child seems to be healthy, but… their readings are far lower than before. What happe—"
"My son is fine," his? father replied. "And I'm sure the readings are just a fluke. As long as he's breathing, it doesn't matter. And those amnestics I ordered?"
"Sir, I can't just order amnestics if you aren't going to tell me what happened. The system won't let—"
"Wait for me here," his… father said, stepping away from the bed. He heard footsteps and the slam of a heavy door.
ADDENDUM.XXXX.1
CREATION
Prometheus Labs, Inc. created the first known SCP-XXXX instances in 1986 in response to a recent string of armed robberies committed on Prometheus facilities. The following grant request was filed for the project:
GRANT REQUEST FOR THE DESIGN OF A GUARD ORGANISM TO SECURE PROMETHEUS FACILITIES
PROBLEM
In recent years, with the increasing amount of active thaumaturges in the world, Prometheus Labs has found it increasingly difficult to secure our facilities from magic-wielding individuals attempting to steal our project. As the field of thaumaturgy continues to be expanded by the general anomalous community, these thieves are capable of wielding continually more powerful spells to break into our facilities. The continued robbery of our technologies and designs before they are able to enter the market will only lead to our bankruptcy and must be dealt with swiftly and fully.
SOLUTION
The Biotechnology Division of Prometheus Labs has begun developing the framework for an artificial organism that could directly counteract the thaumaturgic abilities of these criminals.
All thaumaturgy, by definition, relies on Elan-Vital Energy, or EVE, to operate. Every thaumaturgic process requires the user to input at least a little bit of E.V.E from their reservoir to make it work. Lacking the proper amount of E.V.E to make a process work can wear out or in some cases outright kill, a practitioner. E.V.E also functions as a sort of vitality of living things, having been found in trace amounts in every known living organism to date. Of course, some organisms have more E.V.E than others do, which is what allows them to conduct thaumaturgy in the first place, but it is still a common element in all known life.[1]
The organism the Biotech Division is designing — which we have tentatively named "MothGuard" — will have the ability to siphon E.V.E from its victims, removing their ability to generate enough E.V.E to conduct thaumaturgy. It will only remove enough E.V.E to inhibit their ability and not outright kill them. The organism will also have the ability to subsist on the E.V.E it takes from targets, removing any potential costs that may be incurred from purchasing food or water for the organisms.
BUSINESS CASE
The MothGuard will not be sold as a commercial product; instead, it will protect our pre-existing products. Installing MothGuards at Prometheus warehouses to guard our wares from potential robbers will greatly improve our overall profit margin, ensuring that any products we do make will hit the market on our own terms.
In the last year alone, Prometheus Labs has lost a projected $2,000,000 from lost, stolen, or damaged products. Having a dedicated, anti-thaumaturgic defence system such as this will protect Prometheus Labs from any further loss of this scale and magnitude.
USE OF FUNDING
We request a $20 million USD grant toward designing and developing these organisms. The funds will be used as follows:
(All prices are in USD.)
- $2M for species design, broken down into:
- $800k for 5 full-time bioengineering personnel for 12 months.
- $1.2m for prototype design.
- $17m for creation of artificial species using in-house incubators.
- This figure also includes the costs of predicted failures during the incubation process.
- $1m for construction of a proper housing unit.
A series of prototype MothGuards will be developed and deployed for testing in a select few Prometheus Labs facilities before being pushed out to all Prometheus facilities.
KNOWN ISSUES
Prometheus Labs' Biotechnology Division has, in the past, had a spotty record with creating artificial life. Of the 50 projects they have worked on involving artificial organisms, only 5 of them have resulted in viable lifeforms. As such, there is a very real chance that any organisms we make will end up stillborn, regardless of the effort we put in.
There also exists the issue of controlling the MothGuards. Currently, the plan is to raise them from birth to be obedient to individuals with certain characteristics (i.e. individuals wearing Prometheus Labs uniforms), but we have no way of knowing if this method will prove viable or not.
The project proved to be a partial success. 53 SCP-XXXX specimens were successfully created from 1986 to 1990. However, due to some issues in the training process of SCP-XXXX — instead of responding to all individuals wearing Prometheus Labs, Inc. uniforms, they responded solely to those who raised them - they were only ever utilized in the facility where they were made. A few specimens also escaped custody during the early years of the project.
With the dissolution of the Prometheus Labs conglomerate in 1998, the Biotechnology Division of the organisation was purchased by and incorporated into the Foundation. During the process of moving assets, most of the extant instances of SCP-XXXX were lost, fleeing into the Appalachian mountain range their home facility was constructed in. By the time the Foundation had fully moved into the facility and rechristened it as Site-321, only one SCP-XXXX instance was left in containment. This instance eventually died during a containment breach in 2011. With no sightings of the ~30 wild instances, SCP-XXXX was declared Neutralized in 2013.
ADDENDUM.XXXX.2
SCP-XXXX-W
On 11/09/2017, Foundation recieved a request for aid from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Unusual Incidents Unit. From 2021 to 2024, a string of attacks on thaumaturges across the United States was being investigated by the UIU. Documents pertaining to the investigation were shared with the Foundation, among them the following eyewitness accounts:
FBI UIU — EVIDENCE
Casefile: 2021-056
A. Testimony of Cam Addams, 2021
Me and my pa were out by the forests behind his home in Virginia. It was late at night, but I was itching to go and look for some herbs, so my pa took me. We were looking for about an hour or so — I didn't manage to find anything, but my pa found some — when it happened. I was standing in front of him, just chitchatting about the day's happenings, when I saw a flash of black rush towards him. It grabbed him and lifted him up into the air and I just stood there, watching. I remember seeing something, looked like a person, somewhere in the forest, but it was too dark to really see. He was up there writhing and screaming, looking like he was getting exorcised by a priest. After a bit, he just… stopped. Went limp and dead silent. The creature dropped his body like trash, and I ran up to check on him, he was drier than a raisin. He barely looked like himself. I still don't know why the Mothman didn't grab me as well.
B. Testimony of Anonymous, 2022
Overheard Manny and Icky talking about it one of these nights. Supposedly, during our visit to Oregon, one of them ended up hitching a ride with us without our consent. We didn't find out about it till our performance at Colombo. During one of our night shows, it tried to attack one of our guests outside of the Big Top. Lucky for them — and our reputation — Mr. Noodles was nearby and heard the guest screaming. Came over and just smacked it out of the sky like it was nothing. Stomped on it a few times for good measure. I would offer to send the body, but it just turned to dust after an hour.
C. Testimony of June Weathers, 2023
I was heading to 3Ports when I saw it. I'd heard stories of some people getting attacked by Mothmen out East, but I never expected for them to be here as well. I was traveling with my partner, coming back from the Olive Garden in Portland, Oregon. We were close to the Way back home when I realised that I left my wallet at the restaurant. Told them to head home without me, and that I wouldn't take long. Grabbed my wallet from the place with no trouble, but it was on the way back that it happened. Just outside of the Way, I saw my wife — Veronica, up in the air, getting the life sucked out of her by one of those beasts. I tried to throw rocks at it, I tried screaming at it, but it wouldn't let go. It just looked at me with those ugly fly eyes as it killed my wife. It dropped her dried-out body on the asphalt with a horrifying crunch and flew off. She must've been waiting for me.
D. Testimony of Katelina Torrez, 2023
[attack in 3ports, ask mint?]
A connection was made between the assailants and SCP-XXXX, leading to the Foundation taking over the investigation. As the attacks seemed to be approaching Portland, Oregon, several Foundation thaumaturges were deployed in Portland and Three Portlands to act as lures for the attackers. [rewrite, feels awkward]
On 02/13/2024, Foundation thaumaturge Dennis McLamb was attacked by an assailant. His partner, Ryan Yughes, was able to fend off the assailant and identified it as an SCP-XXXX instance. McLamb and Yughes followed it after it fled the scene. [rewrite, flows weird]
deltarune
[BEGIN LOG]
Agent Yughes: We tracked the instance to this warehouse. It entered through a skylight. Permission to investigate, Command?
COMMAND: Depends. How is Agent McLamb?
Agent McLamb: I'll manage.
COMMAND: Alright, permission granted. We alerted the other Agents in Portland in case you need backup.
//[Agents McLamb and Yughes cross the street to the warehouse