SCP-4204

rating: +128+x

Containment Procedures: All instances of SCP-4204 are to remain in the safe deposit box located at Site-12 when not being utilized for testing. Removal of SCP-4204 from storage requires the authorization of the project's Research Head. Sites using SCP-4204 must meet the standards for lightning rod equipment outlined in Foundation Technical Document 4204-1.1

No personnel used in tests of SCP-4204 are permitted to leave Site-12 under any circumstance, effective April 2007.

Description: SCP-4204 is a collection of 55 coins measuring 6 cm in diameter with a thickness of .75 cm. Chemical analysis of the coins has determined they are a lead-iron pyrite alloy with a thin coating of 24 karat gold leaf. Carbon dating has placed the creation of SCP-4204 at approximately 2000 B.C.E.

Side A of SCP-4204 is embossed with a stylized image of a full moon and the words "Said the thief to the moon," while Side B bears the image of a Waning Crescent with the text "I'll extinguish your light soon." This text is always perceived in the viewer's native language.

SCP-4204 displays several anomalous properties when activated as described in Procedure-4204.

  • The light reflected from the Moon will be completely obscured within a 25-kilometer radius of SCP-4204’s user.
  • All incandescent and fluorescent lighting in a room entered or occupied by the user will shut off completely and are unable to be powered on until approximately 28 minutes after the user has exited the room. Natural lighting such as fire will be extinguished, while bioluminescent light sources will be reduced by a factor of 10.
  • All security cameras within a 700-meter radius, including those equipped with infrared thermography or low light capabilities, will be unable to detect SCP-4204’s user.
  • Electronics capable of emitting sound within 200 meters begin to play The Thief and the Moon by Shawn James2 at 25 decibels.
  • Electronic and conventional safeguards such as locks will fail in a radius of 2 meters around the user. Simple mechanisms, like a boarded-up door, will be unaffected.

SCP-4204’s effects will remain active until such time as the coin is removed from the user's person or the sun has risen in the user's location. SCP-4204 can only be activated at night and attempts to use it during the day have resulted in failure.

Discovery: SCP-4204 was discovered when a person attempting to break into Fort Knox failed to exit the vault before sunrise. The aspiring bank robber, one Jesse Horton, aged 26, was discovered by the site's security officers, banging on the vault doors. After a review of the security footage, Horton was transferred to the FBI's Unusual Incidents Unit's custody.

During Horton's transportation to the main UIU holding site, the armored vehicle was struck several times by lightning and overturned in a field. Several agents were incapacitated by the crash and Horton attempted to make a bid for freedom in the confusion. According to several conscious agents, Horton ran approximately 25 meters before being immolated by 12 consecutive bolts of lightning. At the location when he was reportedly struck, no body was found and a ring of charred grass surrounded a patch of freshly disturbed earth.

Two years later in April 2000, SCP-4204 and its related files came into the Foundation ownership in exchange for information pertaining to an ongoing UIU investigation. A Foundation Recovery Task Force performed a sweep of Jesse Horton's family farm and discovered a small chest containing 55 additional instances of SCP-4204 buried .5 m under an ash tree surrounded by Aconitum variegatum. Agents reported seeing a large creature following them from a distance through the woods but were unequipped to engage or document it.

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