Midnight Radio

The Radio

Item #: SCP-####

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-#### is to be kept in a soundproof room, contained in a box that works as a Faraday cage. The object must be kept in the box at all times, except during experiments. The room must not contain any devices capable of transmitting a radio signal. The object should not come within 2 meters of a source of electricity except for experimentation purposes. All experimentation should be conducted in a soundproof room with a Faraday cage lining. The personnel conducting the experiments should not have any strong musical preference, nor affinity towards soothing, slow music. There should also be no propensity for addictive behavior.

The personnel conducting experiments should be rotated on 2-month basis. Personnel should observe 1 week waiting period between being exposed to the object in its activated state. If any personnel start exhibiting obsessive thoughts or developing a different taste in music, they should be administered with a class D amnesiac and rotated out of the facility.

Description: SCP-#### has the appearance of a small portable radio with no discernible markings or company logo. The object activates at semi-random intervals, usually no longer than 40 hours after last activation. There is a clear preference of activating at precisely 00:00 local time, with more than half of activation events occurring at this time. It is therefore the recommended time for all experiments. There is currently no known way of manually activating the object. Object can activate only if there is an electricity source within 2 meters, and a device capable of radio transmission within 10 km (see addendum 2).

When activated, the radio starts playing music for a random length of time between 30 and 125 minutes. Subjects that have heard this music describe it as other-wordly beautiful and incredibly soothing. The music appears to be an instrumental piece utilizing an unknown number of instruments, some of them not recognizable. Every person exposed to this music describes it being a different genre, even if they listened to it together. They also report the music being close to their favorite genre, if any. The pieces never repeat. All attempts to record this music had failed, only recording other sounds from the room.

Subjects exposed to the music can not recall nor reproduce any melodies that they heard. However, they describe a strong urge to hear the music again. This urge lessens with time, although it never disappears completely. If a subject is exposed to activated object multiple times in a short interval, they start exhibiting signs of addiction, including irritation and obsessive behavior. This addiction can be cured using standard treatment methods.

Addendum 1: SCP-#### had been located after a series of reports indicating a cult-like society forming in the city ███████. MTF ████-██ had been dispatched. After a brief skirmish with cultists they were able to secure the object and apprehend all individuals involved. After a background check they were revealed to be reported missing for time periods ranging from 1 week to 15 years. After an interrogation session (see incident report ████████████) they had been administered a class-E amnesic and assigned as D-████ to D-████ at site ██. There are no observable signs of long-term damage. They are not to be allowed any interaction with SCP-####

Addendum 2: ██-██-████ a note from Dr. ████: We have been able to determine the mechanism through which SCP-#### activates. At the time of activation a random device capable of radio transmission (e.g. a cell phone) within 10 km radius starts broadcasting a signal at frequency █████. Any device receiving at this frequency are able to catch the signal, but not decode it. In a regular radio it sounds like static. If SCP-#### is close to a power source (e.g. a battery or a cable connected to power grid) it activates. Note that physical contact is not required. The radio signal can be observed even when SCP-#### is not able to receive it.