"Some men just want to watch the world burn". It seems hard to believe that such a phrase came from something as trivial as a movie... but that doesn't diminish its impact. The Foundation has... several specimens in its facilities with that characteristic. We could call them basic, elemental, primordial, and even then, behind that supposed simplicity lies a brutal purity that makes them extremely dangerous. There is no diplomacy, no reasoning. They only want one thing, and they won't stop until they get it...
All we know is that the Foundation first encountered it in the summer of 2007. The wildfire season was harsher than usual, and after analyzing multiple hotspots, agents concluded that there was something anomalous behind them. They keep it in a 5x5 cell, reinforced with fireproof material and automatic sprinklers. Its only privilege is a small space to maintain its basic form and escape the humidity, nothing more than that. Once a day it receives its quota of fuel, and the guys who go in there are protected from head to toe. They look like robots, you should see them.
The Nature of a Sentient Flame
We don't know where it comes from. Somehow it has managed to evade all our detection systems, and the only thing that gives away its presence is the flames. From the most basic point of view, SCP-457 is... fire. An intelligent fire, that reacts with speed and determination as soon as it finds a new fuel source... any fuel. Doors, walls, pipes, the floor. You and me. Fire that recognizes its nature, and has no intention of moderating or containing its advance.
In its minimal form, SCP-457 is no bigger than a match flame. The difference is that it constantly tries to "jump" to a more abundant fuel source. Hands, clothing, hair. Everything that can be burned is consumed and assimilated, increasing its size. But the flames are not the only thing that grows. SCP-457 becomes more intelligent, more cunning with every thing it consumes. For some reason, whenever it reaches a size similar to that of a human body, it adopts our general shape. It knows what we are.
Communication and the Risk of Division
And it can communicate in that state. Sometimes it draws letters with its own fire on the walls. And other times... it speaks. That should be impossible because it has no vocal cords, but it uses superheated air and the sound of the flames to create words. I suppose you want to know what happens if it gets too big. The Foundation has not managed to identify the "threshold" so to speak, but there comes a point where SCP-457 divides into two, and those two become four... can you see the risk? Only one detail separates us from an XK Event: The instances of SCP-457 hate each other, and always try to consume each other, especially when there is little fuel available.
A Predictable Behavior (For Now)
Its behavior is predictable... for now. All it seeks is to acquire more fuel and spread. But it is learning, and very quickly. It has sabotaged sprinklers, set traps for personnel, and even tried to reason with them to release it or deliver more fuel. On the surface, SCP-457 should be very easy to contain... but nothing is further from the truth. It is not "a flame", it is not "a controlled fire". It is fire, alive and conscious, wishing to escape at every moment. A fire that wants to see the world burn so it can keep growing.
Now, imagine if one day the instances of SCP-457 stop fighting. Imagine if one day... they agree.
