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| SCP-C456-B as of 2018-06-17 |
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Item #: SCP-C456
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-C456-A's containment unit is located in the center of a standard high-security containment chamber at Area-0083, with provisions for air-tightness and enhanced kinetic resistance; no exposed metal may be present in the chamber. Pressure sensors on the floor, ceiling, and walls of the chamber are crucial for alerting security personnel to an imminent containment breach; as such, no personnel are allowed inside SCP-C456-A's containment chamber unless strictly necessary.
SCP-C456-A's inner containment unit (ICU) is a 3cm-thick case measuring no more than 15cm x 15cm x 15cm made of diamond. The ICU is placed in the center of the outer containment unit (OCU), a block of granite measuring no less than 1.0 meters per side. The aperture used to insert SCP-C456-A into the ICU, and the ICU into the OCU, must be sealed with the appropriate material as precisely as possible, with any remaining space filled with a high-strength epoxy. No less than two backup copies of SCP-C456-A's containment unit, as well as equipment for moving them, are to be made available at all times.
Should SCP-C456-A escape its containment unit, about 1kg of metal (any kind) should be introduced to the containment chamber. When SCP-C456-A is immobilized, SCP-C456-A should be retrieved and placed inside of a backup containment unit that is present on-site, which must be sealed moved to the center of the containment chamber in no less than 45 minutes. Afterwards, all available information on the breach should be reviewed, and any physical or tactical weaknesses exploited by SCP-C456-A must be addressed as soon as possible.
SCP-C456-B is kept in a climate-controlled storage locker at Site-43. It should be photographed daily, with any substantial changes being reported without delay.
Description: SCP-C456-A is a colony of nanobots weighing about 2.3 kilograms. SCP-C456-A consists primarily of various metals, with small amounts of silicon-based compounds. It exhibits a great deal of control over its shape, consistency, and motion, allowing it to flow through apertures as small as 0.1mm in diameter, move up to 43 kph, and become sufficiently rigid to climb vertical surfaces.
Examination of SCP-C456-A on the scale of individual nanobots is limited, as SCP-C456-A will strongly resist attempts to remove any amount of it from the primary mass. During a 2007 containment breach, about 50 micrograms of SCP-C456-A were separated from it by an explosion and damaged to the point of inactivity; this is the only useful sample to date. While the principles of its operation are largely unknown to the Foundation, SCP-C456-A is noted to have the facilities necessary for self-replication, a behavior that has not been observed.
SCP-C456-A's behavior is clearly indicative of advanced intelligence. It is adept at identifying and exploiting flaws in its containment, both in terms of its physical container and in the Foundation's containment tactics. SCP-C456-A will attempt to escape containment whenever possible, exploiting detailed knowledge of human anatomy and technology to avoid recapture. SCP-C456-A has not made or responded to any attempt at communication, nor has it demonstrated any awareness of human psychology or social structure.
When not under a direct external threat, SCP-C456-A will seek out metallic objects, spread itself over their surfaces, and break them down into microscopic particles via grinding. After about 14 seconds of this behavior, SCP-C456-A will cease activity for a period of 1-3 hours, moving only to avoid receiving damage and remain contiguous. Allowing this behavior to progress is the only known reliable method of disabling SCP-C456-A.
SCP-C456-B is an oil painting of uncertain provenance dated to the 1920's. It currently depicts an immense humanoid robot destroying a building while onlookers flee in terror. SCP-C456-B's appearance changes during periods where SCP-C456-A is inert; specifically, the robot will increase in size and apparent destructive ability as long as SCP-C456-A is immobile and in contact with metal it has degraded.
When SCP-C456-A and -B were first discovered in 1983, the robot was about 0.2 meters tall and located indoors, knocking glasses and silverware out of a cabinet. Prior to the implementation of reliable containment procedures in 1994, SCP-C456-A was kept in check by regularly providing it with generous quantities of metal, allowing the robot in SCP-C456-B to grow to about 4 meters in height and destroy several houses. Several prolonged containment breaches in the late 1990s and early 2000s allowed the robot to grow to its current size.
SCP-C456-A has consistently attempted to destroy any visually convincing reproduction of SCP-C456-B presented to it, and would presumably react the same way to the real painting.
