| Item #: SCP-4997 |
Level 3/4997 |
| Object Class: Keter |
Classified |
Site-72's Madison Junction monitoring station in Yellowstone National Park.
Special Containment Procedures: Direct containment of SCP-4997 is not presently feasible. Secondary containment methods are limited to studying SCP-4997 to gain a better understanding of its behavior while developing methods to permanently contain it or neutralize it. Research to these ends is to be conducted from Site-72, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and its sub-locations throughout the Yellowstone region. The latter are to be maintained under guise of National Parks Service monitoring stations.
Removal of civilians from SCP-4997's potential area of effect has been deemed unnecessary for the time being. Detection of the subject by public entities is considered unlikely, and no Groups of Interest are known to have knowledge of SCP-4997's existence either. Such discoveries are to be acted upon as necessary if they should occur.
Long-term containment or neutralization of SCP-4997 is of extreme priority due to its potential to induce a series of large scale natural disasters, as well as a global anomalous event (see below). Per these factors, SCP-4997 breaching from its current location would likely constitute an ßK-Class "Lifted Veil" scenario if not immediately neutralized.
In the event that SCP-4997 should successfully breach, all personnel and civilians within 75 kilometers of the point of exit are to be considered lost. Thereafter, SCP-4997 and its surroundings are to be sealed off from as much outside attention as possible through any means necessary. All Foundation assets available are to be utilized to neutralize the subject and contain the fallout of its emergence; the use of anomalous weaponry to such ends is pending approval. Per the nature of SCP-4997's immediate environment (see below), the application of nuclear armaments is strictly forbidden.
Should containment and neutralization efforts fail, all Foundation personnel worldwide are to prepare for the onset of an ßK-Class "Lifted Veil" scenario and await further instruction.
Description: SCP-4997 is a massive organism currently located in the magma chambers beneath the Yellowstone caldera in Wyoming, United States. SCP-4997 is thought to resemble a large reptilian with estimates placing its size at approximately one to three kilometers in length with an indeterminate but narrow width. Additional data suggests SCP-4997 to possess several hundred limbs along its body that would theoretically enable terrestrial locomotion in a surface environment. SCP-4997 is believed to be at least 16 million years old and to have primarily resided somewhere within the asthenosphere beneath the North American tectonic plate for all of its known history.
SCP-4997's historical breaching locations and volcanically-affected areas. Hold click to enlarge.
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SCP-4997 is believed to undergo a cycle of dormancy and awakening. Per this model, SCP-4997 will remain in the asthenosphere for upwards of millions of years before breaching through the Earth's crust, and then returning to its interior shortly thereafter. Breach events induce catastrophic damage and generate anomalously increased volcanic activity in the surrounding areas, which invariably obliterates local surface ecosystems.
New breaches occur within 200 kilometers of the previous emergence point, and SCP-4997 is not thought to have ever emerged from a previously breached site. As the subject is theorized to have evolved to feed via chemo- or thaumo-synthesis due to a lack of any other potential nutrient in the Earth's interior, SCP-4997's breach behavior is not thought to be feeding-driven. Studies into potential reasons are being conducted for application in containment.
Supplemental Documentation: Historical Activity
The following is a condensed log of SCP-4997’s historical activity in the Snake River Plane and related areas over the course of its identified breach events.
| Breach Point |
Notes |
Approximate Occurrence |
| Owyhee-Humboldt Caldera |
First known site of SCP-4997 activity. |
16 MYA |
| Bruneau-Jarbridge Caldera |
Ensuing eruption terminates all surface life within a 160km radius. Unusually high, possibly anomalous amounts of silicate-rich, rhyolitic magma detected in pyroclastic flow beds, suggesting high explosivity. |
15-13 MYA |
| Twin Falls Caldera |
Very similar to the Bruneau-Jarbridge eruption, in addition to fine ashfall spreading to distances greater than 1,000 kilometers away. |
12-10 MYA |
| Hagerman Caldera |
Occurred within an extremely short time of the breach at the Picabo Caldera, which would be formed soon after; motivation for SCP-4997’s apparent early breaching remains unknown. |
12-8 MYA |
| Picabo Caldera |
Occurred within an extremely short time of the breach at the Hagerman Caldera; motivation for SCP-4997’s apparent early breaching remains unknown. |
10-8 MYA |
| Heise Caldera |
Occurred much earlier than anticipated based on previous breaching patterns. Could indicate an acceleration of time between dormant and active periods. |
6-4 MYA |
| Yellowstone Plateau |
The most recent breaching event to date. Taking the possible breaching pattern’s acceleration and recent geological activity into consideration, an SCP-4997 breach event could occur within a highly variable timeframe from the present. |
2.1 MYA-600,000 YA |
Addendum 4997.1: Breach Site Analysis:
Pseudofractals detected in volcanic deposits from the Twin Falls Caldera. Hold click to enlarge.
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Examination of SCP-4997's previous breach sites was conducted shortly after the establishment of Site-72, with investigations being focused on the topography and mineral composition of each site. Mineral examination revealed the presence of anomalous configurations in the rock throughout each location. While the exact nature of configurations varied across different areas sampled, each site possessed microscopic thaumaturgical symbols embedded into the crystalline structure of present geology. Trillions of these symbols are present at each location.
When sequenced in chronological order of each SCP-4997 emergence, these implements appear to constitute part of a large-scale thaumaturgical ritual. Collaboration between the Geological Division and MTF-Beta-777 ("Hecate's Spear") have determined that while the exact nature of the ritual remains unclear, the implements present across each of the sites do not constitute a full composition, and thusly are incomplete. A single stanza is believed to be missing from the overall ritual.
It is thought that if SCP-4997 should breach the Earth's surface once more, in addition to the catastrophic damage resulting from a supervolcanic event, the final stanza will become embedded in the geology of the Yellowstone Caldera, thereby completing the ritual.
The thaumaturgical consequences of a completed SCP-4997 ritual remain unclear. Research remains ongoing.
Notice: The remainder of this document is restricted to Security Clearance Level 4/4997
Addendum 4997.2: Thaumatology Report:
The following is a transcript of MTF-Beta-777's presentation to the Geological Division regarding the former's thaumalogical analysis of SCP-4997 activity.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
SUBJECT: SCP-4997 Thaumatology Report
PERSONS IN ATTENDANCE: Dr. Miguel Jaskes [SCPF Geological Division], Tron Aakre [MTF-Beta-777 Lead Researcher], misc. Department personnel
[BEGIN EXCERPT]
Jaskes:
Aakre: We wondered as to why SCP-4997's next projected breach point is located so close to its last emergence site, so we once again consulted the glyphs. That's when we noticed something peculiar, specifically regarding the thaumatology around the youngest site, at the present-day Yellowstone caldera. (He changes the slide on screen.) Ms. Nystrom, if you would.
Nystrom: Thank you, sir. As seen here, these glyphic analyses show scans of each location's composition. Across every site, the repetition of the stanzas imprinted in the geology remains generally uniform. With each intonation completed, the imbued energies therein were then released to induce anomalously amplified volcanism. (The slide changes again.) These samples were taken from the Yellowstone Plateau site, the latest eruption. Compared to the other calderas, the stanza in Yellowstone still retains vast energies. As far as we can determine, unlike each location before it, the ritual at this site was never actually completed.
(A wave of whispers rises from seated personnel. Jaskes clears his throat loudly.)
Jaskes: Everyone, please. Continue.
Nystrom: Thank you. But yes, from what we are able to tell, SCP-4997's execution of the final stanza was… interrupted. Given the nature of the anomaly, we may assume that the creature likely did not halt the ritual of its own volition.
(A member of the Geological Department hesitantly prompts a question.)
Member: Maybe it ran out of energy and had to rest up? Punching six and a half holes through the Earth's crust even over millions of years would take an unbelievable amount of power, whether magical or biological.
Nystrom: We considered the possibility, but we don't think that's it. We'll cover this later in the presentation, but of the fifteen identified leylines worldwide, three intersect within the vicinity of the Yellowstone caldera. This provides the area with a incredible abundance of vital forces, like a colossal, magical battery which 4997 could easily siphon off. That considered, all signs point to an external cause of interruption.
Jaskes: A cause, no less, of such severity or potency that it not only interrupted the ritual, but also necessitated SCP-4997's retreat into the Earth's interior for upwards of a million years.
(Aakre rises, motioning for Nystrom to take a seat.)
Aakre: Correct. Though, what exactly that something was, we are still working to identify.
Jaskes: There weren't any signs of interruption at the other sites?
Aakre: None. The gaping craters the beast left behind are telling enough.
Jaskes:
[END LOG]
Title and header stuff
SCPF GEOLOGICAL DIVISION INTERNAL MEMO
Note From Project Director Dr. Miguel Jaskes
Just decades ago, humanity had been so ignorant as to think of a place like the bottom of the ocean to be nothing but an uninhabitable waste. The discovery of deep-sea thermal vents obliterated this concept. Not only was there life down there, but it was abundant. An entire ecosystem was thriving beyond most biologists' wildest dreams, and every part of it stemmed from the meager output of just a few seafloor hydrothermal vents. Yet even these oases of the deep were but the tip of the tip of the iceberg compared to the immensity of the molten interior from which they flowed.
If just a speck of that immensity below could nurture such vibrant and teeming life, what might be born within that immensity itself?
The answer is SCP-4997. Massive beyond mass, enduring beyond endurance, virtually immortal; vitality dialed up to eleven. It is what will happen when you leave a chemosynthetic organism in a vat of infinite chemical, thermal, and magical energy. You get an ecological cancer that will grow, and grow, and grow until it finds a good reason to stop or God Himself reaches down from heaven and decides He's seen enough.
I've heard it referred to as countless things now. SCP-4997. Tephradon. Anomaly. Cauldros. God. End of the World. None of those titles matter. Yet do not make the mistake of believing that this is beyond our capabilities. We are far from helpless, even in the face of a force as daunting as this.
We secure. We contain. We protect. As we always have, and always will.
— Dr. Miguel Jaskes, Geological Division Director
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