SCP-457 - Burning Man - YouTube

In the Summer of 2007, in the heart of a forest in Northern California, hundreds of people

were gathered for a yearly art and music festival.

It was meant to be a celebration, a weekend filled with creative expression, dancing,

and, sure, probably some illegal substances.

But it was all set to be a mostly wholesome affair and one that the attendees had been

looking forward to all year.

On the evening of the festival’s first night, after a day of painting, performance art,

interpretive dance, and folk-pop fusion, the organizers put together a massive bonfire.

Everyone gathered around, roasting marshmallows and vegan hot dogs, and breaking out their

acoustic guitars for a sing-along.

It was all going well, and they were heading into the third refrain of Kumbaya, when a

group of friends adding logs to the fire noticed something odd.

Some of the flames at the edge of the fire pit were moving in a different direction than

the rest.

While most of the flames flickered upward, some tilting slightly with the direction of

the wind, these flames were moving sideways against the wind, stretching themselves out

toward the grass.

It seemed bizarre, impossible, and they wondered at first if perhaps the brownies they had

eaten earlier had more than just chocolate in them.

But then, the flames kept moving, taking on a familiar shape.

They were dancing orange and yellow flames, there was no doubt about that, but they also

seemed almost like…fingers.

The fingers extended outward, grasping for something.

Attached to the fingers was a hand, then an arm.

Another hand joined it, fingers twisting into the grass, which dried and crackled at its

touch.

One of the friends, a young woman named Flower, attempted to alert one of the event staff,

but they were too busy trying to get their marshmallow to the perfect shade of golden

brown.

Unable to get any help, she watched helplessly as the fiery hands dragged a head, a torso,

and the rest of a humanoid body behind them.

It looked like the shape of an ordinary man, with the glaring exception that it was made

entirely out of fire.

It stepped out of the fire pit, and began to take slow, halting strides toward the gathered

crowd.

Now, everyone took notice of what was happening.

First, they froze in shock, staring at this being of pure flame, unbearable heat radiating

off of him as he moved closer and closer.

When he reached out a hand toward Flower, and the arm of Flower’s dress ignited in

flames on contact, the first scream broke through the silence.

When they marketed this year’s event as “Burning Man in the woods” this was not

what they had in mind.

But there he was, just the same, a man made of flames tearing through what was meant to

be a peaceful and happy event with no dangers beyond exhaustion, dehydration, and maybe

a noise complaint or two.

Instead, the crowd scattered in every possible direction, running for their lives.

It was already late for poor Flower, who fell to the ground shrieking in agony as the fire

engulfed the organic material of her dress, and the flaming man pulled her into its deadly

arms.

Her screams went quiet, drowned out by the crackling roar of the fire as it fed on her

flammable body.

Once Flower was nothing but a pile of bones and ashes, the entity began to walk slowly,

purposefully, through the woods with its arms outstretched.

It brushed its fingertips over everything it passed, every tree, every stump, every

plant or scrap of fabric torn off on a branch.

The fire began to spread like, well, wildfire.

By the time the first festival-goers made it out of the forest and into the nearest

town to get help, dozens of acres of forest were ablaze and over 50 people were dead.

The fire department was deployed to the forest, where they were able to contain the blaze

after hours of work.

Meanwhile, word of the man made of fire that destroyed the art and music festival reached

the only people qualified to deal with such a creature: The SCP Foundation.

They deployed operatives embedded in the local police force, who joined the fire department

under the guise of providing reinforcements.

Once the blaze was contained and the area was largely safe to enter, they followed the

path of the fire and tracked the being responsible for all of the destruction.

They found it, shrunk to the size of a small child, huddled in the fire pit where it all

began as if it was hiding from the fire hoses.

Then, they apprehended the being later designated SCP-457.

SCP-457 is comprised of unknown materials, though obviously it is made up of something

flammable.

Whatever it is, it is made up of something invisible and impossible to detect by any

known scientific means.

The only visible aspect of the entity is the flames it produces, which tend to make up

a humanoid shape as long as it has enough fuel to reach that size.

If it does not have enough fuel, it shrinks in size, becoming as small as the single flame

atop a lit match.

In its smallest form, it is indistinguishable from any other small flame, except for the

occasional display of independence such as jumping to other fires or flammable materials,

which it can then use to grow larger.

When it is large enough to take on a human form, SCP-457 displays human-like intelligence

and is capable of communicating through writing - which it does by burning letters into surfaces

with its flames - or even through speech.

Though it lacks the anatomy to produce a traditional voice, it produces coherent sounds via pressurized,

superheated air as well as the crackle of its flames.

If provided with enough fuel to grow beyond humanoid size, the entity can split into two

or more beings, depending on how much fuel it is given.

However, this split state does not last, as the separate instances of SCP-457 will attempt

to attack each other until they are the only one left standing.

SCP-457 seems to want nothing more than to consume more and more fuel and spread as far

as it can.

It has shown a troubling ability to learn and adapt, purposefully breaking and interfering

with sprinkler systems in the building and setting up elaborate traps for personnel it

does not like.

Dr. Smythe, head of the research team assigned to SCP-457, conducted an interview with the

subject on a rare day when it was feeling cooperative, in order to better assess its

psychology and motivations.

Dr. Smythe entered SCP-457’s containment chamber, carrying a fire extinguisher in case

of any hostility on the part of the entity.

He stood on the other side of the blast shielded window, for extra protection.

It crackled pleasantly in the corner, seeming to welcome him inside.

He asked if it was capable of, or willing to speak.

It answered yes.

He asked it how it felt about being confined.

It responded plainly: “Dislike.

No fuel.

No Air.”

When Dr. Smythe reminded the entity that it had enough air and fuel to survive, it argued

that it could not burn, and had no fuel.

To clarify, Dr. Smythe asked, “Are you saying that you cannot grow?”

At this question, SCP-457 moved back and forth through a small section of the room, as if

pacing and looking for something.

It said, “Grow.

Need.

Must grow,” and when asked how it felt, it simply said: “Hungry.”

As the questioning continued, the entity approached the window and stretched a hand made of flame

toward the glass.

For a moment, it stopped responding to Dr. Smythe.

In order to get the being’s attention back, he casually brought up the subject of water.

At the very mention of it, SCP-457 let out a high-pitched scream and pressed itself against

the window in a threatening gesture.

Dr. Smythe warned that it must move away from the window, or it would be doused in water.

It moved back, but screamed and hissed for several more minutes, offended and upset.

SCP-457 resumed its pacing, at a more aggressive speed and intensity.

All the while, it repeated: “Want fuel.

Want air.

Want burn.

Want to burn.

Want to burn.”

Again and again, getting louder and louder as it moved.

Dr. Smythe was perplexed by this behavior, noting that there was no way out and wondering

what it could be trying to accomplish.

At this point, the interview took a turn for the disastrous.

Somehow, SCP-457 was able to damage the sprinkler system and a section of the fuel injector

that had been providing it with a small stream of fuel.

With the nozzle broken open, several gallons of gasoline came flooding out, allowing the

entity to grow to an incredible size in a sudden, massively destructive blast.

Exploiting a weakness in the blast shielding, SCP-457 was able to escape its containment

for several minutes, burning its way down the hall of the facility until the larger

sprinkler system activated, sending it hissing back to its cell.

There, it was apprehended by a team of guards and herded into a new, higher-security cell.

It is unknown how exactly the entity became aware of the weaknesses in its containment

chamber, but this incident revealed that it is a highly intelligent being capable of problem-solving.

However it learned this information, and figured out how to exploit it, the Foundation realized

that more extensive measures would have to be taken to keep it locked down and keep the

general population safe.

Due to the dangerous nature of SCP-457’s corporeal form, highly specialized containment

procedures have been put in place to keep the flame from spreading.

The entity is kept in a 5 by 5-meter chamber with at least nine inches of fireproofing

in place, including asbestos and perlite.

The observation window is blast-proof and resistant to extremely high temperatures.

The room’s opening is made up of temperature-controlled and airtight chambers that can be sealed in

the event of an escape attempt.

The room itself is kept at a high humidity level and has a drain installed on the floor,

with a sprinkler system in the ceiling and emergency hoses that can be operated if additional

water is needed.

A small portion of the room is free from water, but only enough so that SCP-457 can maintain

its shape and protect itself from moisture.

Any personnel that enter SCP-457’s containment unit must wear Class-A temperature-controlled

and flame-resistant suits, and must enter in groups of three.

Two of the three members of each group must be armed with blast shields and fire extinguishers.

Personnel are not permitted to enter the containment chamber for any reason other than providing

daily fuel or fixing any issues with the room or its sprinkler system.

In some ways, its containment procedures are reminiscent of a particularly spicy variant

of SCP-173.

If the entity attempts to attack any personnel, it can be deterred via the application of

fire extinguishers or hoses until it backs down.

If it escapes from containment, further sprinkler systems will be activated throughout the facility

in order to contain the fire.

The highest priority, aside from keeping the entity contained, is keeping it fed.

Because it needs constant fuel in order to survive, the Foundation is currently prioritizing

finding an infinitely renewable source of fuel.

Though many have been proposed, including the use of other SCPs such as SCP-2689 and

SCP-124, no source has been officially approved yet.

In the meantime, they keep the burning being fed and happy, or as happy as it can be.

It will never be truly satisfied until a day arrives when it can be permitted to spread

as far and wide as it wishes, to burn and feed and engulf everything in sight.

Let’s all hope that day never comes, but if you start to feel unusually hot, if the

walls seem to suddenly blacken around you, and you hear the final crackles before the

hissing tongues of flame lick at your bubbling skin...Well, by that point, it’ll already

be too late.

Now go check out “THIS SCP DOES NOT EXIST - SCP-3930 - The Pattern Screamer” and “SCP-173

Origin Story - How 173 Got to Site-19” for more strange and usual SCP’s!