SCP-4094
rating: +12+x

Item #: SCP-4094

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-4094 is to be contained within a standard reinforced steel container, submerged in a liquid oxygen pool inside at a constant temperature of 25 K. If SCP-4094 is to be removed, it is to be packed into a container of spent uranium from decommissioned fuel rods in a standard lead lined container. All materials that come into contact with active SCP-4094 instances are to be destroyed within 1-4 hours of their exposure. Removal of instances of SCP-4094 from Site 94 at any time is strictly prohibited.

In the event of a containment breach, automated systems onsite will send out a distress signal to personnel stationed at Airstrip 40, 50 kilometers from Site 94. Modified air tankers equipped with a “slurry” mixture of supercooled oxygen and ice crystals will be sent to disperse these payloads over the site; all personnel onsite are to be considered lost due to the nature of SCP-4094. In the event of a wider scale containment breach, a rotating schedule of air tankers will attempt to keep the expansion rate of SCP-4094 in check until further assistance arrives.

Description: SCP-4094 is a designation for multiple anomalous instances of a single-celled organism of unknown origin. Ranging from 8 to 22 micrometers in size, instances of SCP-4094 share many characteristics with nano-robotic systems previously encountered and researched by the Foundation. However, analysis of SCP-4094 instances have revealed them to be purely organic entities, entering a dormant state of suspended animation at temperatures less than -223.15° C. At temperatures higher than that, SCP-4094 will emerge from this dormant state and begin to rapidly consume all matter for the sake of both its reproduction and environmental conversion. A short list of some of the byproducts from this process have revealed amino acid sequences, unknown vegetation and flora seeds, and conversion of atmospheric gases. This state will accelerate with rising temperatures until it plateaus at 150° C where it reaches maximum output.

The potential origins of SCP-4094 are currently unknown. Since its discovery in 19██ in Antarctica by a USSR research team conducting ice core drillings of the subglacial Lake Vostok, efforts of research into SCP-4094 in attempts to classify it have failed to concretely state what it might be. Despite being a single-celled organism, instances of it have been shown to work together with no known method of communication, and will not compete with each other for resources. It has alternated description of prokaryotic, eukaryotic, viral, or even bacterial, with further hypotheses including SCP-4094 being a motile environmental prion, an “enviro-phage”, or a non-terrestrial colonizer. It is currently unknown if SCP-4094 is sentient or not; attempts at testing this have been discontinued due to the risks that an active instance of SCP-4094 possesses.

At its active threshold, a single instance of SCP-4094 will consume a 1m x 1m x 1m cube of organic matter in approximately 4 hours, and produce 256 other instances during that time. Non-organic materials will take 2-3 times longer to be consumed and converted. Although new instances of SCP-4094 will take 24 hours to maturate, they will increase their potential consumptive capacity until they reach their full potential. Non-maturated SCP-4094 instances are capable of asexual reproduction within 30 minutes of their creation. Given the exponential growth rate of even the mere threshold of its active state, an uncontrolled SCP-4094 containment breach can poses an XK-class end of the world scenario if not properly contained.

The risks of SCP-4094 containment failure (further detailed by 'Project Grenadier') are immense. Attempts to destroy or neutralize SCP-4094 instances to a manageable level have been met with moderate success, though SCP-4094 has shown a heightened resiliency to many common forms of neutralization. Submersion in hydrochloric acid and similar substances has been shown to curtail the growth rate of SCP-4094 instances at temperatures above 10° C, allowing for further neutralization efforts to take place. Subjection of SCP-4094 instances to temperatures in excess of 2350° C will cause their structure to break down and rupture, neutralizing it completely. Freezing instances of SCP-4094 at temperatures in the dormant range and then subjecting them to intense pressure has been shown capable of destroying them and remains the most effective way of disposing of small-scale outbreaks of SCP-4094. However, this method is inefficient for large scale cleanup operations of potential containment breaches.

As of the containment breach of April 21st, 199█, any testing of SCP-4094 with living multicellular organisms is discontinued.

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