Water. It’s one of the core building blocks of
life, takes up a majority of the earth’s surface, and makes up most of the human body’s mass. It’s
essential for life, and when uncontaminated has a clear appearance often with a green or
blue tint due to the way it absorbs light. But there’s one instance of water found in Alaska
that has a very different look to it all together. SCP-009 is a specimen that appears to resemble
standard H2O with a big difference - it has a bright red tint that persists no matter what is
done to it - be it solid, liquid, or gas. Also unlike regular water, SCP-009 is in a liquid
state at temperatures between zero and negative one hundred degrees celsius. When above zero
degrees, which is the normal melting point of water, SCP-009 becomes a solid. And when the
temperature of the substance drops below negative one hundred degrees celsius, it vaporizes into a
gas. And that’s where it becomes most dangerous. That’s because SCP-009 isn’t just a strangely
colored liquid with its freezing and melting points all mixed up. Despite its chemical
properties mostly resembling standard H2O, it has a unique and deadly property -
it can assimilate any standard water and convert it to more of its own substance. In
other words, SCP-009 turns any regular water it comes into contact with into more of itself,
and the impact this could have on living beings containing water - including humans
- is what concerns the foundation the most. And the first encounter with SCP-009 soon
proved just how deadly this substance could be. Members of a local Alaskan tribe reported finding
the bodies of a group of seal hunters near their village, and there was something very off
about them. The Foundation learned of these reports and deployed a team of three, Agents
Hewes, Whitmore, and Cassidy, to investigate. What they found was shocking. The seal hunters’
bodies were completely encased in solid red ice. The investigation initially found that
they had died from internal bleeding, but later testing indicated the process by
which SCP-009 kills is much more complicated. Things were looking bleak enough, but it
was when they discovered a nearby cave, that the threat level escalated even more.
It was a narrow opening, only a meter tall, but inside they found a body. A young man
with a spear gun, frozen like he was trying to crawl away from something. He looked like
he had been stabbed - but there was no knife, instead the weapon was a spike of
red ice growing from his chest. The control agent directing the mission told
them to proceed into the cave, ready to fire in the event of hostiles - and the team could swear
that an unknown shuffling noise could be heard. As they progressed deeper into the cave they
discovered a large chamber filled with red ice, approximately six meters in diameter. In the
middle, was a pool with the red liquid. The team soon realized they weren’t alone in the chamber -
but they were the only things that were actually alive. Surrounding them was an assortment of
local wildlife… and all of them were frozen solid. A fox, seals, a polar bear - even a giant spider
which was likely an unknown occurrence of SCP-3023 - a Keter-class threat where a random object will
develop an aggressive and deadly arachnid form. Control ordered the team not to investigate
the spider further, and Hewes ordered Cassidy to sweep the perimeter and look for side
tunnels, as Hewes investigated the pool. It seemed bottomless, with agents comparing
its appearance to SCP-354 - the Blood Pool. They retrieved a spear found in the
frozen spider to measure the pool’s depth - and were surprised that it
only appeared to be a meter deep. Just then Cassidy called out, she had found
something. It was another tunnel in the ice, about a meter across, covered
in the mysterious red substance. But when the rest of the agents moved to join
her, Agent Cassidy was nowhere to be found. She had disappeared, and the only thing the
remaining agents could detect was a faint light coming from the tunnel - possibly Cassidy’s torch.
Everything in the tunnel was wet - the walls and the floor, and about a meter further down was a
puddle, and it was red. Hewes wanted to go deeper into the tunnel, but Control made it clear - the
exploration was over. D-class personnel would be deployed to continue exploring and to search for
the unfortunate Agent Cassidy. The Foundation still didn’t know what they had on their
hands, but whatever it was, it was dangerous. A D-Class team was deployed, and a sample of
the strange ice was found. No reports of Agent Cassidy’s fate are available, but extensive
testing was done on the strange red liquid. It soon became clear that whatever liquid
made contact with it became another instance of SCP-009, including ice, steam, tea,
juice, seawater, and even human blood. This conversion can happen in as little as three
minutes or up to several hours in some cases. But what about assimilating more
complex objects… like humans? It was determined that testing on
D-Class personnel needed to begin, in order to understand the process that
led to the hunters being frozen solid. Initial exposure begins with the sample of
SCP-009 assimilating any moisture present on the exposure area. This can include sweat or any
other liquid on human skin. At this point, SCP-009 doesn’t seem to pose any threat and the subject
reports that it feels slightly warm on the skin. That changes quickly in phase two. As the surface conversion begins, frost
starts to form on the exposed area and the natural heat raises the substance’s
temperature above zero degrees celsius. This can take only a minute or
several hours, but once it begins the process is irreversible. This is also when
the process becomes painful for the subject, as red ice crystals start to emerge from the skin,
which is a prelude to deep tissue conversion. Stage three starts as the temperature of SCP-009 increases rapidly and the conversion
speeds up. Ice crystals form quickly, which actually prevent massive blood loss and
keep the subject from dying quickly - with some staying alive for many hours. Data for
end-stage conversion is currently restricted, and after the results were examined further,
testing on D-Class Personnel was suspended. But that wasn’t the end of all SCP-009 testing.
Tests were performed involving fusing the substance with liquid nitrogen and potential
for its use in cold fusion were explored, but both were ultimately suspended due to the
risks. More worrying, are the reports of a test using SCP-107 which were found due to a convenient
shift from the dimension-hopping specimen SCP-507. While not performed in this reality, we now have
an indication of how SCP-009 would interact with 107 - a turtle shell that can generate rain when
exposed to any liquid. When exposed to SCP-009, it caused a red snow-like substance to fall
in the test area for twenty-seven minutes which affected any organic matter that was
exposed. All grass and other plants in the area turned red, and the entire area was frozen solid.
Other mutations emerged, such as large tentacles that generated tiny beads of SCP-009. This
indicates that the plant wasn’t just infected, but converted into a form that would spread
SCP-009 independently. Whether this same result would be replicated in our universe is
unknown, and it is probably for the best that it remains so. But regardless, it was becoming
clear that SCP-009 posed an existential threat. Because the red ice could assimilate any moisture
it touched, and it was deadly to any living being that it made contact with, the safety of the
water supply on Earth depended on keeping SCP-009 isolated. Its initial location in the Alaskan
cave was remote enough that Foundation scientists believed there had been no contamination outside
this area. But tests indicated that once exposed to a foreign object, it would convert it fully and
never stop - which meant even one drop of SCP-009 in the ocean could render virtually all saltwater
on earth deadly. Many agents in the Foundation argued for re-classifying SCP-009 as Keter, but it
was determined that it was manageable to contain and the site where it was found became one of
the SCP Foundation’s most closely guarded bases. The source of SCP-009 is kept in a sealed storage
tank of heat-resistant alloy metal at least two meters on each side. It is imperative to make
sure that SCP-009 is never exposed to temperatures above zero degrees celsius, and any water-based
compounds are prohibited within thirty meters of the containment area. The area is surrounded
by temperature sensors with monitors, and the refrigeration system keeping SCP-009 in a solid
state is given at least two backups at all times. At even the slightest sign of trouble,
the Foundation springs into action. If the temperature fluctuates significantly,
the chamber is immediately locked down and pumped with coolant until it’s secure. Once
testing resumes, the containment area is placed under a total vacuum and anyone involved in
the test must wear secure protective gear. All material exposed to the substance undergoes
dehydration and is quarantined for at least twelve hours. Any objects showing signs of conversion
are permanently kept in the containment area. It is important to note that once conversion
of organic material begins, it is irreversible and any contaminated organisms are to be
terminated and dehydrated for future study. SCP-009 resembles water in every way except its
color, but functions as a contagion hostile to human life. It doesn’t seem to occur anywhere
else on Earth but in that pool in Alaska, but the Foundation will be quick to contain
any other occurrences located around the world should they emerge. No research has drawn
any concrete evidence of SCP-009’s origins, be they man-made or natural, which has led some in
the Foundation’s Xenospatial Physics department to speculate that it may have come from another
world - one where this is the natural form of water. If it is an incursion from another world,
the way SCP-009 interacts with organic matter indicates there’s a good chance anything from that
world would pose an existential threat to our own. Research is continuing, but under a controlled
environment with minimal chance of exposure. No answers have been found on
reversing the contamination process, which means the focus is on ensuring zero
spread of the specimen - especially to any larger bodies of water where it could spread
uncontrolled. Scientists believe that the spread of SCP-009 could be an extinction-level
event, but for now, it is safely contained at its site in Alaska - frozen solid along with the
unfortunate specimens trapped with it forever.
