Item #: SCP-914
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-914 is to be kept in a large, secure chamber at Site-19. No personnel are to be admitted to either of the two chambers comprising SCP-914 while it is in operation. Operation of SCP-914 requires Level 2/914 clearance or above. Requests to use SCP-914 for testing purposes must be submitted to the Site Director at least 48 hours in advance. No biological material of any kind is to be placed in SCP-914's intake booth without explicit written authorization from at least two Level 4 personnel.
Unauthorized use of SCP-914 is grounds for immediate termination of employment and potential reclassification.
Description: SCP-914 is a large clockwork device roughly 18 meters square by 3.5 meters tall, consisting of a single "Intake Booth," a large central mechanism housing, and an "Output Booth." The intake and output booths are connected to the mechanism via a series of interlocking brass pipes and gears. The entire assembly appears to be hand-crafted, with no manufacturer markings of any kind. The mechanism is constructed primarily of brass, copper, and steel, with springs, escapements, and geared wheels of extraordinary precision.
The central dial of SCP-914 has five settings:
Rough — Items placed in the intake booth emerge from the output booth significantly degraded. Complex objects are disassembled into component materials. A working clock placed in on Rough emerged as a pile of metal shavings and glass fragments.
Coarse — Items emerge in a degraded but partially recognizable state. The clock example emerged as a non-functioning clock with missing parts and bent hands, but structurally intact.
1:1 — Items emerge apparently unchanged. No alteration in mass, composition, or function has been detected on this setting. However, long-term study suggests subtle changes that cannot be immediately identified.
Fine — Items emerge enhanced or upgraded. The clock emerged running several seconds per day faster than any clock of its type and with an additional complication on the dial that had not previously been present, appearing to measure an unknown interval.
Very Fine — Items emerge radically transformed in a manner consistent with high-level refinement of their fundamental nature. A pocket dictionary placed in on Very Fine emerged as a leather-bound volume in an unknown language that researchers have been unable to fully translate. What has been translated suggests it contains information that should not exist.
Addendum 914-A: Testing Log (Selected Entries)
Test #914-7: One (1) standard ballpoint pen placed in on Fine setting. Output: A pen that writes in a fluid that is invisible under normal light but legible under UV illumination. Fluid composition unknown.
Test #914-23: One (1) standard D-Class personnel photograph placed in on Very Fine setting. Output: A photograph of a location that does not match any known place on Earth. The individual in the photograph is not visible, but a shadow is present where they should be standing.
Test #914-41: One (1) live mouse placed in on Fine setting, with written authorization. Output: A mouse with no apparent physical modification. However, the mouse refused to enter any enclosed space and, upon dissection, was found to have developed a secondary neural cluster in the brainstem with no identified function. The mouse survived the procedure and lived for three years, the longest recorded lifespan for its species.
Test #914-67: One (1) SCP Foundation keycard (Level 1 clearance) placed in on Very Fine setting. Output: A keycard that grants access to every door at Site-19, including those the keycard system indicates do not exist. Incident 914-67-Alpha was the result of a D-Class using the output card to access Sub-Basement 7. Sub-Basement 7 is not in Site-19's architectural plans. D-Class did not return.
Note: Testing of SCP-914 continues to produce useful outputs and presents minimal risk on Rough and Coarse settings. Very Fine setting is to be considered high-risk until the full scope of its outputs can be characterized. — Dr. ████
The machine has been operating continuously since its discovery. It has never required maintenance. It has never produced an output that failed to correspond, however obliquely, to its dial setting. Whatever built it understood transformation at a level we have not reached.