Blasphemous Monkey

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**Item #:** SCP-XXXX

**Object Class:** Safe

**Special Containment Procedures:** SCP-XXXX is held in a chamber in the underground bunker of the Vatican Secret Archives in Vatican City. Under no circumstances is SCP-XXXX permitted to leave this chamber.

Feeding and care of SCP-XXXX is undertaken primarily by Vatican staff (in accordance with Foundation/Vatican City Co-Containment Agreement XXXX/CVI). A level 2 Foundation staff member is to remain in the Archives to observe and assist, where necessary, with this containment. SCP-XXXXs feeding and care requirements are as normal for a member of its species.

24-hour video monitoring of the chamber must be carried out to assist in the analysis of SCP-XXXXs vocalizations for any unusual or noteworthy content, with any vocalizations recorded with apparent prophetic content up-chained to Site-407's Director (copied to the Cardinal Archivist in accordance with Foundation/Vatican City Information Sharing Agreement XXXX/CVI). In the event that any of SCP-XXXX's prophetic vocalizations can be shown to be accurate and not due to chance or coincidence, SCP-XXXX is to be reclassified to Euclid.

**Description:** SCP-XXXX is a male mantled howler monkey (//Alouatta palliata//) which produces vocalizations interpretable as human speech, specifically of Biblical and pseudo-Biblical verses. SCP-XXXX has been continually in containment by the Holy See since the 16th Century, and hence is either immortal or has much extended longevity compared to a non-anomalous member of its species.

In place of the expected "howling" vocalizations of its species, SCP-XXXX produces sounds interpretable as human speech in a number of languages, including Latin, English, Italian and a dialect of late medieval Castilian Spanish.[[footnote]]It is hypothesised SCP-XXXX is capable of vocalizing in additional languages dependent on its containment context, but this has not been verified; proposals to test this theory have thus far been rejected by the Holy See.[[/footnote]] The vocalizations consist exclusively of Biblical or pseudo-Biblical verses.

Despite the apparently original and non-imitative nature of many of the vocalizations of SCP-XXXX, it is not considered to be sapient and does not appear to possess any degree of intelligence that would be considered exceptional for a non-anomalous member of its species.

SCP-XXXX was originally recovered by Spanish //conquistadors// during the subjugation of Maya peoples during the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula in 1542. Documents from the period suggest it was considered an amusing zoological curiosity by the conquistadors, and was caged and sent back to Spain to be presented as a gift to King Philip II. SCP-XXXX's first vocalizations of Biblical texts are not recorded, but is believed to have taken place during the voyage back to the European mainland.

**Addendum 1:**

INSERT WEIRD BIBLICAL VERSES HERE AS DICTATED BY A NORMALLY BEHAVING HOWLER MONKEY

**Addendum 2:**

**Transcript of interview with Vatican Secret Archives containment team member, ██/██/20██**

> **Interviewed:** Assistant Archivist Ramón Enrico de Gorgoza, Vatican Secret Archives
>
> **Interviewer:** Dr. █████ █████, Level 3 Senior Psychological Researcher, Site-407
>
> **Foreword:** Vatican containment staff are monitored biannually by the Foundation in accordance with the Co-Containment Agreement for any sign of anomalous psychological reactions.
>
> **<Begin Log>**
>
> **Dr. █████:** Please describe your duties as part of the containment for SCP-XXXX.
>
> **Ramón Enrico:** It is not what I expected when I was first called to serve. The Archives wanted a zoology expert, and I was found to possess the appropriate credentials, but when I heard I thought I was wanted to assist in the interpretation of an old biology text or some such. Instead, well, I care for the animal, much as I used to as a young man in the zoos. I feed him - he is fond of young ficus leaves - I clean his enclosure, check him for any signs of ill health - of which there is none, //mirable dictu//, even though they tell me he is many centuries old.
>
> **Dr. █████:** What is your assessment of the entity's psychological state?
>
> **Ramón Enrico:** He is a happy monkey, I think. Lonely, yes, but well looked after. What else could he be? There is no true intelligence in him. Just the voice, the voice of God.
>
> **Dr. █████:** Yes, the vocalizations. What have your reactions been to those?
>
> **Ramón Enrico:** (crosses himself) It is a true miracle, to be sure. The very word of God is spoken through a humble vessel. I feel privileged to witness it, though much of what he actually says is of course so very wrong. But then he is merely a monkey.
>
> **Dr. █████:** That's what I never quite understood. You're keeping this thing alive down here like it's some holy relic, but all it's giving you is blasphemy. Forgive me, but wouldn't you expect the Holy See to, well, destroy something like that? Why keep it around?
>
> **Ramón Enrico:** How could it be otherwise? What he says is terrible, to be sure, but it is also proof of the divine. How, then, could we destroy him?
>
> **<End Log>**
>
> **Closing Statement:** Containment of SCP-XXXX by the Vatican Secret Archives continues to be adequate and in accordance with all relevant agreements. Psychological monitoring and observation of Vatican containment staff has revealed no anomalies except a higher than expected score on assessments of religious fervour; however this cannot be unambiguously attributed to an anomalous mind-affecting property of SCP-XXXX's vocalizations, as opposed to a non-anomalous psychological reaction for a religious person being exposed to SCP-XXXX's behaviour. Recommendation is to continue current containment arrangements and programme of psychological monitoring.