Item #: SCP-227
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-227 is to be kept in a climate-controlled room, at a temperature of 21-24°C and humidity no higher than 10%. Anyone touching the object is required to wear surgical gloves; a supply of these is to be kept with SCP-227 at all times. Food, drink, cigarettes, or any other sources of contamination are not allowed inside of the containment area. Loose clothing, hair, or other adornment is not recommended. Only personnel with Level 3 clearance or higher are allowed access to SCP-227, although lower ranking staff are allowed to use the object while under supervision. If SCP-227 needs to be transported to another location, it should be sealed in an insulated, airtight container filled with an inert gas.
Description: SCP-227 is a bronze clockwork device measuring 10 cm x 16 cm x 26 cm and weighing 5 kg. SCP-227 is somewhat similar in appearance to reconstructions of the "Antikythera Mechanism", an incomplete and heavily corroded Greek artifact thought to date from approximately 100 BCE. Unlike that artifact, SCP-227 was found intact and apparently fully functional. This is partly because SCP-227 was found on land at ██████, █████, instead of at the bottom of the Mediterranean, but the lack of significant damage is remarkable. Preliminary testing of SCP-227 shows that it may have some ability to repair itself over time. Further testing is pending approval from O5 level staff.
SCP-227 has one major dial with three hands on the front face; this dial has several concentric rings which rotate independently. The rear face has two major dials with two hands each; these dials are surrounded by a spiral groove, through which some of the internal gearing is visible. A number of smaller dials are arranged around the rest of the object. The total number of these minor dials visible at once varies when the object is in use, as does the number of hands on each dial. There are three small cranks on the right side of SCP-227. Turning any of these sets the moving parts of SCP-227 into action. The top crank causes the most rapid change; some of the smaller hands have been observed moving at speeds of over ████ RPM. Extended use of the top crank causes SCP-227 to heat up significantly. Personnel are advised to use caution when turning the top crank, to avoid damaging SCP-227 or injuring themselves. The middle and bottom crank are used for medium and fine adjustments, respectively.
The object is covered in a large number of inscriptions. The majority of these are in Attic Greek; however, some are in various writing systems that have yet to be deciphered. These include Linear A, Cretan hieroglyphs, and one or more unknown languages. The translatable text is essentially a manual of operation for SCP-227, with the exception of one passage which states [DATA EXPUNGED]. The full significance of this passage is under investigation.
Early indications are that SCP-227 is an incredibly accurate astronomical computer. Symbols corresponding to the Sun, Moon, and planets are prominently placed on the front major dial, along with many other symbols of unknown meaning. The rear major dials have markings consistent with several ancient calendar systems. These include the Callippic, Metonic, Saros, and Sothic cycles. There are also at least two more previously unknown calendar systems present.
Addendum SCP-227-01: Further study has revealed that SCP-227 is able to compute the locations of bodies that were only recently discovered by modern astronomers. For example, one set of hands and markings corresponds to the Kuiper belt object 50000 Quaoar. Quaoar is difficult to detect even with the Hubble Space Telescope; how the designer of SCP-227 was able to predict its orbit is unknown.
Addendum SCP-227-02: SCP-227 has demonstrated an ability to predict even aperiodic astronomical events. One researcher was turning the top crank and happened to notice a minor dial appear very briefly. Fine tuning revealed that the minor dial first appears on a date corresponding to 23 Feb 1987. This is the date that the supernova SN 1987A was first observed on Earth.
Addendum SCP-227-03: Advancing SCP-227 past the date corresponding to ██ ███ 2███ is not possible. A force of up to 100 N applied to the bottom crank is unable to produce any movement past this date. Testing with additional force has not been authorized due to the risk of damaging SCP-227. When the object is set to this date, a large number of dials and symbols appear which are not seen at any other setting. The meaning of this final setting is unknown. Some researchers believe that this may represent an XK class end-of-the-world scenario, such as a wandering brown dwarf (the so-called “Nemesis hypothesis”), a gamma ray burst, or [DATA EXPUNGED].
Addendum SCP-227-04: The date of the final setting on SCP-227 was observed to change once, to a time ██ years later than the previous date. The symbols that appeared at this new final setting were somewhat different from the previous one, but their meaning remains unknown. Research into what may have caused this change is underway.
