An SCP Foundation researcher is monitoring
the salt content of a large tank filled with water. Inside the tank just under the surface is
a huge mass of rusted metal, though a few pieces have a couple specks of their original
shiny surface visible through the dark red exterior. The researcher suddenly looks up from his
task though, does anyone else hear that noise? It’s a terrible noise, like metal pieces
scraping and scratching against each other. But the heap of metal in the tank isn’t
moving. Still the noises continue though, and as the
researcher keeps staring at the unmoving hunk of metal in the tank, all he can think about
is diving in and letting his body become a part of it… Kept submerged in a big saltwater tank at
the SCP Foundation, is an object, but perhaps a more accurate way to describe it would be
as a machine. Referred to as SCP-882, the machine’s containment
tank is required, according to containment procedures, to be filled with at least forty
percent pure sea water, direct from the ocean. If, at any point, the rusty surface of SCP
882 begins to show signs of becoming more like shiny metal, then the percentage of sea
water must be raised to 100% until the metal is completely covered in rust. Trying to keep metal rusted? That might sound like a strange concept, but
you’ll see why it’s so necessary soon. SCP-882 looks like little more than a collection
of seemingly random pieces of metal, all fused together as if they had been welded. Gears, cables, pulleys, screws and belts,
all different shapes and sizes, all made of different metals. All of these various components do not appear
to be uniform, or to have been made to fit each other, and are instead all stuck together
in one big, unstructured mass of metal objects. But SCP-882 wasn’t built to be like this. Instead, this seems to be the result of one
of SCP-882’s latent anomalous properties: the absorption of metal. Any metal that comes into contact with SCP-882
will become permanently attached to it, and after a few days, will be a new part of SCP-882. That means that any metal that touches that
new piece will also become a part of SCP-882, and on and on. Because of this strange property, absolutely
no metal is allowed to be brought near SCP-882, and only organic materials are permitted to
come into direct contact with it. That includes using non-metal alternatives
to keep the machine securely contained. SCP-882 is suspended in its salt water tank
by organic cotton fiber lines, which also require changing on a daily basis. Any and all researchers that the SCP Foundation
has interacting with the metallic mass are required to wear thick cotton gloves at all
times. You might think that this sounds pretty easy
to contain. Just don’t let it touch metal? No problem. Organic materials only? No removal of rust allowed? No sweat. The Foundation staff working with 882 probably
felt the same way. Until they started hearing SCP-882 make noise. While SCP-882 is usually silent, personnel
that spend an extended period of time close to the machine have reported intense grinding
or clicking noises coming from somewhere in the mess of metal components. While they start out low and are almost unnoticeable,
these sounds get gradually louder until eventually, they become completely unbearable for human
beings to withstand. So then why don’t these sounds show up on
audio recordings? Because the grinding or clicking noises from
SCP 882 are, in actuality, extreme auditory hallucinations, but even though they aren’t
real, these sounds are more than capable of driving anyone who hears them into a state
of psychosis. And here’s where things get tricky. The only way to make the noises stop… is
to offer SCP 882 more metal. As mentioned, any object that is made of any
type of metal that comes into contact with the machine becomes a part of its mass. Allowing new objects to become fused to the
surface of SCP-882 will cause the grinding noises to subside, but will increase SCP-882’s
mass permanently. If the noises aren’t stopped though, then
the mental state of those afflicted by them only grows worse, and some victims of SCP-882’s
auditory hallucinations have gone so far as to throw themselves into the tank containing
it, where they were killed almost immediately, their bodies crushed to death by anomalous
forces and becoming unrecoverable from the tangle of gears and random metal objects. The SCP Foundation now requires any of its
personnel that work directly with SCP-882 to report any instances of noise coming from
the machine. Additionally, whoever reports hearing strange
sounds in the vicinity of SCP-882 must turn themselves in for a full psychological evaluation. Depending on the results, the researcher will
either be free to return to their work, or will face containment themselves at an undisclosed
Foundation facility. The surface of SCP-882 exhibits an extreme
resistance to damage. According to the Foundation’s testing, the
metal structure has a tensile strength and toughness stronger than aircraft grade titanium
alloy. Despite this, the machine seems to still be
constructed of weaker metals like tin, iron, gold and many others still yet to be identified. It takes extreme heat, and several hours of
exposure at that, to cut even the smallest portion of metal from the main bulk of SCP-882. But where did it come from? The SCP Foundation first recovered SCP-882
near an island community on the north east coast of Banks Island, one of the larger islands
in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Strangely, not a single scrap of metal, not
even underground metallic ore was found within a one mile radius of where the machine was
discovered. Stranger still, the small town located nearby
seemed to be abandoned, with signs that it had been devoid of any human life for quite
a number of years. The collection of fused metal components,
later designated SCP-882, was found submerged in sea water. The machine was coated in rust, and the Foundation
has chosen to keep it in in this same rusty state the whole time it has been kept in since
its containment. Why? Because when Foundation personnel first attempted
to remove SCP-882 from the water, and the rust began to flake away from SCP-882’s
metal surface, its gears and cogs started to turn. Foundation personnel on site were unsure of
what the machine’s purpose was, but wanted to halt it in case it proved deadly. A number of ill-fated attempts at containment
occurred soon after, with any person getting too close to SCP-882 finding themselves pulled
into its mass and crushed to death between turning cogs. After multiple accidents that resulted in
the demise of Foundation personnel, Doctor Charles Gears, authorized the use of SCP-2519
to help stop the movement of SCP-882’s gears. SCP-2519 is an audio file titled ‘Babylon.mp3’,
which features the song ‘By the waters of Babylon’ by Philip Hayes and text from the
biblical Psalm 137. Playing this file can cause malfunctions to
occur in various electronic and mechanical devices, normally reducing the speed at which
they can operate, or causing a complete cessation of a machine’s function. In SCP-882’s case, the sound of Babylon.mp3
successfully slowed the machine’s moving parts, allowing Foundation personnel to safely
get closer to it. Teams then cut the mass of metal down to a
more manageable size with extreme heat, and it was finally contained. However, another question arises. Surely, if SCP-882 is a machine, then it must
have a purpose, right? And, perhaps more importantly, what is its
connection to the infamous machine loving group of interest, The Church of the Broken
God? Both of these questions might have have one
easy answer. To put it plain and simple: SCP 882 may just
be the heart of The Broken God. The Church of The Broken God is a religious
organization that the SCP Foundation has had a number of encounters with over the years. Members of the Church share in the belief
that life, specifically biological flesh based life, is inherently wrong, even evil. This group worships mechanization, the process
of making something, or someone, more mechanical in nature. According to the beliefs of the Church, there
were two gods: Yaldabaoth and Mekhane, who created humanity together. Yaldabaoth was the god of flesh and animal
instinct, granting humans their bodies, while Mekhane, the god of machine and intellect,
blessed man with the power of free thought. As humankind developed and its civilizations
began building machines, Yaldabaoth became enraged that they were ignoring the instincts
she had bestowed upon them. She endeavored to destroy the creations of
man, in an attempt to revert them to the animals she had intended them to be. As the legend goes, Mekhane acted as humanity’s
savior, and intervened to stop Yaldabaoth. The god of machines shattered himself, transforming
his body into a number of pieces to form a cage for his fellow god. Fragments of Mekhane rained down on planet
Earth. Fragments that the Church of the Broken God
believe it is their duty to recover. There could potentially be hundreds of pieces
needed to rebuild Mekhane so he can lead the Church to glory and defeat Yaldabaoth once
and for all. However, a number of these pieces are catalogued
SCPs that the Foundation is either aware of, or has in containment. They are SCP-882, or ‘His Broken Heart’
to the Church, SCP-271, “His Broken Gift”, SCP-813, “His Broken Eyes”, SCP-1139,
“His Broken Tongue”, SCP-635, “His Broken Mind”, and finally His Broken Blood, which
refers to SCP-217. Often using anomalous technology, members
of the Church of The Broken God intend to uncover or steal these various components. The Church’s ultimate goal is to bring the
correct pieces together and completely restore Mekhane’s form. It is their hope that he will guide them to
intellectual enlightenment, and bless them with new, mechanical forms so that they can
discard their current, flesh and blood bodies. However, the Foundation and the Church are
certainly not the only groups to have a fascination with SCP-882. Near the Banks Island site where the machine
was first discovered, Foundation personnel encountered a man, the sole survivor of the
nearby town. This individual, by the name of Richard Wright,
was apprehended, and brought in for questioning with Doctor Gears. During their interview, Richard revealed a
number of details about the townsfolk who had first uncovered SCP-882, and what ultimately
became of them. According to his account, the community formed
a cult around SCP-882 after a man named Allen found it. The machine’s parts had begun to turn and
move, but with no clear indication as to what was powering it. Soon, a local priest, Father Pat, also took
an interest in SCP-882. Both he and Allen seemed to share a belief
that the machine had been built by God for a higher purpose, and encouraged residents
of the nearby town to come and offer metal to it. Richard explained that the locals were plagued
by the auditory hallucinations typical of long term exposure to SCP-882, kept awake
at all hours of the night by clanking, grinding, and the screaming of metal. Before long, Richard noticed more and more
metal items being fed to the machine, with many local residents content to just sit and
stare at the mass. He also noted that Father Pat and Allen both
seemed to be acting strangely around the machine, insisting that all the metal that had been
added to it still wasn’t enough. Then one night, during a communion before
SCP-882, Father Pat took a pair of pliers and began tearing out townspeople’s metal
fillings. Richard watched in horror as the priest wrenched
teeth from the mouths of ordinary people and threw them into SCP-882, but still claiming
it wasn’t enough. Then, he turned on Allen, accusing him of
hiding metal from the great machine inside his body. The townsfolk turned on Allen, the first one
to find SCP-882, and threw him and his metal hip into the machine, his body breaking under
its moving parts. Luckily, SCP-882 remains contained, at least
for now until the members of the Church of the Broken God find a way to reunite the heart
of their god with the other pieces of its scattered body and Mekhane can rise again
- an outcome that his worshippers are eager to bring to fruition sooner rather than later... Now check out “SCP-055 - Anti Meme / Unknown”
and “SCP-1981 - Ronald Reagan Cut Up While Talking & SCP-095” for more SCP Foundation
rabbit holes from SCP Explained!
