SCP-2162
… as normal as blueberry pie
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: Mobile Task Force Theta-5 ("The Bigger Boat") is to continue tracking SCP-2162 and advise the containment supervisor immediately of any change in heading. Two MTF θ-5 patrol craft are to remain 10km ahead of SCP-2162, and are to escort any commercial or passenger vessels out of the anomaly's path, on the pretext of naval exercises. If, based on its heading, SCP-2162 is forecast to make landfall on any inhabited island, local residents are to be evacuated from its path and a cover story is to be circulated of unseasonal cyclonic activity. Current calculations predict late 2021 as the likely date of arrival of SCP-2162 in densely populated areas - determination of effective containment measures before that date is a priority.
Description: SCP-2162 is a mobile anomalous construct, which consists of a volume of highly concentrated Nitrogen (N2) gas. Testing has shown that the interior of the construct has a pressure of approximately 101kPa (similar to atmospheric pressure at sea level), but with N2 concentrations significantly in excess of normal atmospheric conditions, potentially as high as 100% Nitrogen.
The construct does not behave in the manner expected of a body of gas - for example, it is not affected by surrounding air pressure or weather patterns and is not impeded by buildings or other structures. Instead, SCP-2162 maintains a constant shape and speed, and the atmosphere within the boundaries of the contruct is spontaneously replaced with N2, returning to its previous composition once SCP-2162 has passed.
Incident SCP-2162-A revealed that SCP-2162 is comprised of three shapes, moving in formation:
- an arc 16km in length, 2km in width and 750m in height. The arc is convex, with the centre bending towards the direction of travel of the construct.
- two wide cylinders 2km in diameter and 750m in height. The cylinders are 4km apart, aligned on either side of the mid-point of the arc. They follow the arc at a distance of 6km.
The construct's shape has been verified by atmospheric testing. Ionised air-glow at the leading edge of the construct, which has become visible at night as SCP-2162 has moved away from artificial light sources, has provided further evidence of its shape.
SCP-2162 moves at a constant rate of 0.25km/hr, travelling in a fixed direction along a particular longitude or latitude. From 25 June 2013, SCP-2162 travelled South along longitude 118.25°W from its point of origin near Los Angeles, CA. On 24 August 2015, the construct reached latitude 8.65°S and changed course, turning 90° and travelling West along that latitude.
Addendum 1: Post-Incident Interview - SCP-2162-A/Green/01
Re-secure data
Post-Incident Interview SCP-2162-A/Green/01
Interviewed: Agent
██████Green
Interviewer: Assistant-Director Griffiths, Head of Site-15 Disciplinary Committee
Date: 28 June 2013Foreword: Incident SCP-2162-A involved the initial discovery of the anomaly, which developed in the area West of Los Angeles, CA on 25 June 2013. Amnestics were dispensed across the affected area, and the event attributed to a gas leak from a nearby chemical plant. 758 civilian and 19 Foundation casualties are believed to have resulted from the incident.
A-D Griffiths: Thank you for your time, Agent Green. We're just trying to understand the part you played in resolving this incident.
Agent Green: No problem. Mind if I smoke?
A-D Griffiths: I guess not. Could you start by explaining why you were in Los Angeles when the incident occurred.
Agent Green: Not to be difficult, but if I tell you, you'll just have to redact it all in the report. Can we say I was on Foundation business unrelated to SCP-2162, and leave it at that?
A-D Griffiths: Uh. Yes, I believe so. Right. So our communications department requested that you leave your assignment, and you drove towards Thousand Oaks. What were your first impressions?
Agent Green: Frankly, it was chaos. Pi-1[1] was still hours away. There were a few teams from Site-15 that had been scrambled, but no-one there knew how to deal with an anomaly like this. No offence - it's just not your usual scene.
A-D Griffiths: None taken.
Agent Green: From the initial observation point it looked like the goddamn angel of death had touched down. Cars had run into ditches, through houses and stores. You could see bodies had collapsed on the pavement, but no obvious injuries - they were just dead. It was eerie. There was no sign of what had caused it - no sight, no sound, no nothing. Just death.
A-D Griffiths: And once you arrived at the observation point, what did you do?
Agent Green: I went up to the guy in charge to get some instructions. Carter. He was your head of security?
A-D Griffiths: Yes.
Agent Green: I'm sorry. He gathered everyone up, stood in front of us on the top of the rise. He told us they had the site cordoned off, any civilians still alive had been evacuated. Said our job was to ensure no-one else went into the area, sit tight and wait for back-up. Then he asked for any questions, and ten seconds later, he collapsed. Unlucky bastard, he hadn't realised the skip was moving.
A-D Griffiths: And what happened then?
Agent Green: Well, all hell broke loose. Carter was convulsing, a couple of security guards went over to help him, and suddenly they collapsed as well. The rest of the group started yelling and running in every direction - some of them fell too. Me and a few of the others started backing away from where Carter had been. It was pretty bad - we had an idea where it had come from, but not what it was, or how fast it could move.A-D Griffiths: According to your report, you and the remainder of the Site-15 team returned to your vehicles and left the scene.
Agent Green: We hauled ass, yes. I ended up with one of your crew in my car. A young researcher.
A-D Griffiths: Doctor Zhen. Where did you drive to?
Agent Green: South. South, away from the invisible wave of death. And towards the twelve thousand citizens of Malibu, who had no clue what was coming. We got on comms, and decided the vehicles would fan out and try to warn as many people as possible, cut the roads off, get an orderly evacuation going. Pi-1 had a bird on the way to help.
A-D Griffiths: And which part of Malibu did you cover?
Agent Green: You already know I changed course. I just kept thinking about those guards collapsing. I mean, it was like they had suffocated, but one of them was in a hazmat suit with SCBA tanks. And I started wondering - what if they weren't breathing it in? What if all the air in their lungs - all the air in their tanks - was just gone? But it wasn't hunting behaviour, it was just constant arbitrary movement. It felt like… well you don't hunt reality benders for as long as I have without a sense of when an anomaly is manmade. And that's why I drove to the warehouse.
A-D Griffiths: This is the hazardous materials storage warehouse in Norwalk?
Agent Green: Right - Zhen told me about it. By the time we were halfway there, Pi-1 had managed to reestablish a perimeter, and they had realised how slowly the thing was moving. We knew we had some time, but we needed some way to see it, and I had an idea how.
A-D Griffiths: Could you please elaborate?
Agent Green: <silence, 4 seconds> You see that smoke ring? You know that you can do the same thing without the smoke, right?
A-D Griffiths: Please Agent Green, for the benefit of the recording.
Agent Green: Okay then, did you ever use invisible ink as a kid? No? You write in starch, or lemon juice, and then it turns visible when you wash the page with iodine. I had an invisible anomaly, and what I needed was the right type of wash. Zhen was the one who came up with nitrosyl chloride.
A-D Griffiths: Which you knew to be hazardous, and commandeered without orders.
Agent Green: Which was less hazardous than an invisible killer gas. And anyway, there were no orders - Site-15 had no command left, and Pi-1 were trying to convince half of Malibu to cancel their parties. The team leader thanked me afterwards - not to mention we probably gave them the idea for using 'gas leak' as the cover story.
A-D Griffiths: Agent Green, we're trying to establish why you released thousands of litres of gas - a highly toxic mucosal irritant - near a major population center!
Agent Green: Population centre? It was in the State Park by then, and the gas dispersed pretty quickly. And it worked, right? Coloured gas everywhere the anomaly wasn't - damn thing showed up clear as day. The Pi-1 bird could work out the dimensions and see how much of Malibu to evacuate - once they stopped laughing, of course. Funny that no-one had thought about what it would look like from above. I mean, Zhen said the gas would be coloured - he hadn't told me it was yellow. Kinda appropriate, don't you think?
A-D Griffiths: What I think is that we're done.
<recording ends>
Footnotes
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Mobile Task Force Pi-1 ("City Slickers") ↖