Supernova Bead

SCP-XXXX

Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX must be contained within an ampule of appropriate size full of argon (or another noble gas of similar characteristics). An infrared thermometer is to monitor temperature changes within the ampule. If a gas leak is detected, the room must be sealed off and pumped full of argon. Someome will then have to go into the room via an airlock and place SCP-XXXX in another ampule. During the extremely high temperature phases of SCP-XXXX, the bead must be immediately transferred to a highly pressurized container full of liquid argon. That container must be submerged in a circulating vat of liquid nitrogen, such that the bead will cool off and the reaction will stop.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a blue ceramic bead with a diameter of 2.3mm. The bead itself is made of a special compound containing [REDACTED], carbon filaments, silicates and small traces of aluminum. The compound's structure is similar to that of a ceramic bearing, except there are thousands of holes (around 0.060mm in diamter) across the bead's surfaces. It has been hypothesized that these holes are connected to SCP-XXXX's anomalous properties.

SCP-XXXX's anomalous properties emerge when it is exposed to at least 0.003M of oxygen gas (liquid oxygen does not trigger the bead's behavior). The primary behavior consists of spontaneous ignition. Analysis of the flame and its spectrum has shown that the bead somehow burns many types of fuel at once, ranging from synthetic explosives to [DATA EXPUNGED]. It is not known where the fuel is actually located. During this reaction, the oxygen content of the room does not drop. The fire has another oxidizer, most likely coming from the same place the fuel does.

The flame coming from the bead increases in temperature quadratically (temperatures spike when the fuel changes) compared to the amount of time the bead has been exposed to oxygen, and therefore burning. Given enough time, the bead will eventually begin burning less reactive materials. Once the flame reaches a temperature required for hydrogen fusion to occur, the bead is said to have entered its "Extremely High Temperture Phase", or EHTP. Once this occurs, the flame will go out and will be instead replaced by plasmodified hydrogen and helium. EHTP starts with a dip in the total luminosity of the bead, from followed by a bright flash across the entire E/M spectrum. It is speculated that EHTP will lead to the fusion of materials such as iron and nickel, which are some of the heaviest elements that can exist within an active star. After this, the bead will probably move on to heavier elements. Eventually, the bead will reach a point at which the emitted material will consist primarily of quark-gluon matter due to the extreme temperatures involved. Containment beyond this point is infeasible given current technology. Attempts are being made to utilize other SCP's to study the bead at its more dangerous states.

Recovery: SCP-XXXX was found at the destroyed site of [REDACTED] High Energy Labs' primary testing facility in Antarctica. The lab had kept the object in a sealed container full of some kind of oil. After a few months of research into a potential radio-anomaly emminating from this location, an unmarked Foundation plane landed nearby under the guise that they were there to deliver supplies. The agents on board the plane wore suits capable of protecting them from moderate radiation and heat, as well as high pressures and certain types of high-velocity rounds. The area around the testing facility was essentially a lake upon arrival. The bead was so hot at this point that the team present was actually able to find it by using long range FLIR equipment. It was at the bottom of the "lake" still melting through some permafrost. The sheer cold of the area had made the rate of temperature change stayed low, however the bead was still quite hot (~1400 C) and was emitting a flame of unknown composition. The team managed to swim down and contain the bead within a graphite crucible. Upon bringing the crucible the surface, the water in the crucible began to rapidly boil and evaporate, which ended up exposing SCP-XXXX to the atmosphere, and therefore a lot of oxygen gas. The bead was eventually "extinguished" by usage of about a liter of an argon and helium mixture. The item was placed onto the plane and flown back to site-[DATA EXPUNGED] for further study. The cover story was that an experimental cyclotron the lab was building malfunctioned and essentially nuked the area, leaving nothing behind.

Experiment Log:

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Exp. 1:

Purpose: To test what SCP-XXXX does.

Method: The bead was placed in a glass box full of argon gas. An exchange pump then transferred some air (21% oxygen) into the container. As soon as this happened, the bead ignited and stayed lit until more argon was added to displace the air.

Result: SCP-XXXX ignites under the presence of air.

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Exp. 2:

Purpose: To test what element(s) activated SCP-XXXX

Method: Same as experiment 1, except the exchange pump was made to pump N2, O2, CO2, CO and H at different times.

Result: SCP-XXXX was ignited when the O2, CO2 and CO was pumped in. The item stripped away the carbon from the CO2 and CO, leaving behind a powder. The powder ignited after around 40 minutes of burning.

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Exp. 3:

Purpose: To test how much oxygen is required to activate SCP-XXXX

Method: A device was created to insert oxygen molecules by, at the least, the thousands. After each emmision, the container was to be purged of as much oxygen as possible and the rate was to be increased by a factor of 10. Once the bead ignited, this rate was to be fine-tuned by a factor of 0.010. This rate was eventually raised to 1.0 * 10^24 molecules per emmision. At this point, the bead ignited. After fine tuning the device, the bead was found to ignite when exposed to at least 3.0 * 10^23 molecules of oxygen gas, or 0.003 mol O2.

Results: 0.003 mol O2 was found to be the lower limit of oxygen exposure.

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Exp. 4:

[DATA EXPUNGED BY ORDER OF O5 COUNCIL]

Note: Don't bother trying to find an upper limit of this thing for the time being. Until we can learn how to deal with temperatures a few orders of magnitude above [REDACTDED], avoid this type of testing.

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Exp. 5:

Purpose: To see the structure of the bead.

Method: A vacuum sealed container was hooked up to a scanning electron microscope. The scans revealed that the structure of SCP-XXXX resembled that of [DATA EXPUNGED], an expensive ceramic used in high pressure ball bearings; however, there were also microscopic holes all over the item. To examine the holes in detail, a special laser was used to observe the vibrations caused by another, more powerful laser. The vibrations allowed the special laser to "see depth" and therefore find out how deep the holes may be. A control to ensure the accuracy of the depth readings was observed. A small needle (0.50mm) was pushed 1.0cm into a block of wood.

Results: The bead appears to be a ball bearing that has somehow become a source of, as far as one can tell, unlimited thermal energy. The holes were around .35cm deep. This is not an error. The control returned a correct value of 1.0cm, and the whole experiment was repeated numerous times. This indicates one of two things: One is that the bead is a spatial anomaly and contains some type of fuel source; the other is that the bead itself is not capable of being measured with this type of test.

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