A cute mug that somehow lets water behave whimsically to tell your fortune~
SCP-8040 filled with coffee.
Item #: SCP-8040
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-8040 is stored in a standard storage unit for low-risk anomalous items. Tests regarding SCP-8040 require written approval from the research team; all tests should be logged in detail within this document. Due to its fragile nature, SCP-8040 must be handled with discretion to prevent damage.
Description: SCP-8040 is a white mug made of typical ceramics with a thin glaze, which is approximately 10 cm in height and 8 cm in diameter, and has an oval handle able to be gripped with ease. It was first recovered from a civilian's possession, who claimed to have purchased SCP-8040 from a local retail store, and afterward spotted its "unusual water leakage" when using it, and hence sold it online, titled it as a "divination cup".
Upon retrieval, a sticker was found on one side of SCP-8040, with a simple graphic instruction depicting the way to use it. It shows a step-by-step guide to first fill SCP-8040 with water, then use a teaspoon to scoop a sip of water out from it onto flat surfaces, and finally observe the shape of the spill. Four different shapes of spill were illustrated on the guide, indicating how to interpret the results as auguries for the thing one wish to query by SCP-8040.
The illustration's scanned version.
When SCP-8040 is filled with water or some types of other liquids (see Experiment Log 1 below for further references) and handled by a human subject, who then verbally states an event that will presumably happen in the future, then either scoops the liquid by spoons or directly pours it out from SCP-8040 onto a flat surface (e.g., a tabletop), the liquid spill will morph and shift to fit its shape loosely into the four aforementioned categories of the "auspices" to represent a predicted outcome for the subject's question. The shape can vary in a small range, yet is still distinctly identifiable. The predictions of SCP-8040 were proved to be relatively accurate.
The sticker was later unglued and dropped off from the mug due to water drench, but this does not seem to affect the anomalous property of SCP-8040.
Time: Feb 14, 2021.
Procedures: A coin was placed on the table alongside with SCP-8040, which was half-full with potable water. Dr. Alexis Talcite picked the cup up, and then said "Will the coin succeed in being head up?", then used a metal spoon to scoop water. Right after that, the spoon accidentally fell onto the desk. Dr. Talcite denied mishandling, commented this was weird, and repeated the procedure, but this time changed the question to "Will I succeed in seeing the coin's head up?".
Result: The water was prudently shed onto the table in a fairly slow motion. At first, the large drip remained as a whole, but then quickly self-splitted into two separate drips within four seconds, representing the "Failure" result, and finally stopped moving.
Dr. Talcite tossed the coin and got its tail up.
Time: Feb 15, 2021.
Procedures: Researcher Milo Norris filled in SCP-8040 with 75% alcohol and put it on a glass table. After drinking a small sip out of it through a straw, Norris started the procedure by asking "Can I be the first one to leave the site today?", then used the straw to transfer a small amount of alcohol out of SCP-8040 to the glass tabletop.
Result: The bead remained still as a whole droplet for about one minute until it slowly vaporized away. Researcher Norris then left and locked the lab, descended to the first floor to the main gate, and then came back to the containment center after half an hour. She repeated the procedure.
This time, the droplet began to transpose unstably once after it touched the glass table. It shifted around for a dozen of centimeters before it stopped, unresponsive to Norris touching it with the metal straw. Finally, it settled into an irregular shape, denoting the "out of expectation" result, then vaporized at an uncommonly high speed.
Time: Mar 3, 2021.
Procedures: ~100 cc of gasoline was used to fill up SCP-8040 to investigate whether impotable liquids could work on it. Researcher Norris queried "Can we succeed in facilitating the new AI system to ensure it works well in the upcoming year?".
Result: The oil spill was totally inert. After Norris doubted if she had to prove she could drink the diesel to trigger its reaction, a versatile carriage powered by a diesel engine was utilized by Dr. Talcite to grasp SCP-8040 and dictate the same request by its mechanical voice. It was still seen to be unresponsive. SCP-8040 was later cleaned up thoroughly.
It appears that SCP-8040 only accepts human-potable liquids.
Time: Mar 31, 2021.
Procedures: Agent Iris Thompson applied for a test on SCP-8040 and made a cup of coffee using the public coffee machine located in the cafeteria of Site-17. She finished the coffee, left a little in SCP-8040, then spoke up the query "Will it be possible for me to meet them again anymore?" in a vague tone. It is unknown whom "they" refers to; Agent Thompson did not state it in the record. A metal spoon was then used to scoop some coffee out from SCP-8040.
Result: The spill didn't seem to react at first. Since Thompson had placed her phone next to SCP-8040, some bits of coffee accidentally splashed onto the screen and lit the screen up. The larger blob beside it shrank to an apparently irregular shape, while suddenly, the virtual typing keyboard on Thompson's phone popped up without being touched at all. The keys were activated by scattered sprinkles of coffee, which were sliding and flowing automatically on the screen. It gradually typed a sentence out by this method in the message input area. The text read as "idk but maybe on ur next mission". No further actions of SCP-8040 were noticed afterward.
Addendum 8040.1: Inspired by the last experiment log above, testing on SCP-8040's potential to interact with electronics was arranged.
Time: Mar 31, 2021.
Procedures: Agent Holan Wessel proposed for a test of SCP-8040 under the assistance of Dr. Talcite. A tablet computer was placed horizontally on the desk next to SCP-8040 before Wessel introduced his question "Can all of those people in my team complete this task and return safely?". Some bits of warm water was then intentionally dripped onto the screen from SCP-8040.
Result: At first the screen didn't activate, and the water drops did not move. Next, it was decided that it needed to be manually turned on, and the keyboard window was pinned upfront to allow water from SCP-8040 to conduct capacitance on the screen. The water drops stayed silent for a short while, but then drew near to each other, coalesced, and fused into a whole. The merged water drop then started to glide on the keyboard. A single word of "fine" was typed in the text box in this way. After this, the water remained on the position of the space button and no longer moved.
Time: Apr 1, 2021.
Procedures: Dr. Talcite dispensed coffee from a self-made coffee machine into SCP-8040. SCP-8040 was tested on a workstation computer. Before testing, an empty draft in a drawing software along with an emulated keyboard window was opened on a touch terminal. Talcite started by asking SCP-8040 the same question that Researcher Norris brought up but didn't get answered in Log 1 ("Can we succeed in facilitating the new AI system to ensure it works well in the upcoming year?"), then sprinkled coffee onto the screen with a ceramic teaspoon.
Result: The liquid drop quickly dispersed into numerous tiny droplets, while not generating any text or stroke. Dr. Talcite wiped it off and started the test over again, this time going by another prompt: "Do you believe that AIs need something more than logic and rationality?". This time, the droplet produced by SCP-8040 stayed as a rounded whole, and glided smoothly over the white space of the drawing canvas, leaving a black trace behind in the perfect shape of a heart.
Time: Apr 3, 2021.
Procedures: Dr. Skyler Estinteco dripped distilled water from SCP-8040 to their phone screen after asking "Will we get better and find the serenity and content of our lives?".
Result: The water drop contracted into a radial pattern on the screen, and then typed "only if u r here" into the blank memo before it halted and eventually dried out.
