SCP-216: The Safe

SCP-216: The Safe SCP-216 is a small iron safe with seven numbered dials. Changing the combination changes the compartment behind the door. The door can always be opened, so remembering the combination is about returning to the right space rather than finding the one code that unlocks it. Early testing makes it look useful. Researchers put a notebook and pencil in one compartment, change the number, and find an empty interior. Returning to the original combination brings the notebook and pencil back. The file speculates that millions of separate compartments may be available, although the total has not been established. There is an engraving on the bottom that reads 3/4. Researchers suspect it may be one of four safes connected to the same storage spaces. The weight tests support that possibility: putting something inside increases this safe's weight by only about a quarter of the object's mass. That would make sense if the load were shared across four devices, but the other three have not been located or confirmed in the entry. The contents soon make the proposed connection much less reassuring. A sequence of compartments contains the dismembered remains of a missing woman. Another holds a live wolverine that attacks as soon as the door opens, killing a researcher and injuring two other people. Examination finds nothing anomalous about the animal itself. One compartment contains a loaded handgun and an ice cream bar. The ice cream remains cold and intact while stored. Once removed, it begins melting. Returning it to the safe preserves the partly melted state rather than restoring it. That suggests the compartments can hold something in its current condition, which also raises questions about how long the animal and other contents had been there. The remains are removed for identification and destroyed. Later, researchers recheck those same compartments and find another body, this time an unidentified man, divided and arranged in the same order. Traces left by the earlier remains have also been cleaned away. Under instructions from above, the researchers return the new remains to the compartments. Someone or something appears able to use storage the Foundation has already searched. The proposed additional safes offer one explanation, but the report never identifies who is on the other end. The Foundation has a door into these spaces without exclusive control over what comes through them. Recording the interior creates further problems. A camera records itself being placed inside and then immediately being removed, omitting the interval during which researchers opened another compartment. Several internal components are found damaged, and the researcher viewing the footage suffers a transient ischemic attack. A later audio recording is associated with severe physical and psychological reactions. Recording devices now require O5 approval. The safe begins as a compact storage system and becomes evidence of activity the researchers cannot observe directly. Every new combination might reveal something harmless, something dangerous, or something another user has left for them. Even a compartment they checked yesterday may no longer be empty today. Original Entry: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-216