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Item #: SCP-3247
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3247 must be kept in a cell made of perfectly white plastic. No form of refined iron, such as steel, can be used to contain it, nor can any form of refined iron be used for structure in the cage. Nourishment in the form of low-grade steel as well as water must be provided daily. No form of visual two-dimensional art is allowed to be brought into its enclosure, and all personnel that is to interact with it must not be wearing any graphic tees or art on their clothing, and cannot have any tattoos. To be safe, all personnel must wear plain white clothing when entering the enclosure. SCP-3247 is currently being kept in Site 19.
Description: SCP-3247 is an abnormally large gastropod that is approximately 4m in height and 7m in length. It appears cartoonish to a human onlooker, with a permanent grin and vibrant body and shell colors. It can change its colors; however, these colors are almost always pastel and somewhat saturated. Its diet consists entirely of steel, and it refuses to eat other food. Steel is far less nourishing if it has less impurities; the most nutritious steel is steel that has been made according to the technology of 13th to 14th century England. Modern stainless steel does almost nothing to SCP-3247's body, and has about the nutritional value of pure carbohydrates.
SCP-3247 has the ability to "tunnel" into artwork by touching it, including drawings, paintings or even tattoos. Once within a piece of art, everything happening within it is animated, including the people it portrays. To SCP-3247, this is an alternate reality. SCP-3247 is able to gather nutrients from these paintings if a depiction of steel exists within them, and in fact, prefers eating something from within a painting rather than in the outside world. SCP-3247 is particularly attracted to depictions of men wearing steel of some sort. If in possession of a weapon such as a sword, these armored men will typically battle the snail, and if they lose, their armor is digested by SCP-3247. If they win, the snail will leave the art and the painting will become still again. On occasion when this happens, an "imprint" of the snail is left in the art, typically with the armored man rearing up to fight SCP-3247. The effects of this happening have been shown in many old English illustrated texts, with pictures of knights fighting SCP-3247 appearing in many examples of English literature. Historians have noticed many examples of these texts, but assume that the snails have been drawn by a human; they have many theories about how this has become a recurring theme, but none have prevailed.
SCP-3247 has been tested with many styles of art, but it seems to be most comfortable with primitive art that has little shading; more advanced art techniques were used in some examples, but SCP-3247 refuses to go in without being guided to them, and once it is inside, it seems to quiver in pain. The more realistic the drawing, the more pain it appears SCP-3247 is experiencing. It has also been tested with a tattooed class-D personnel member, in which the snail tunneled into his arm. During this process, the subject became unconscious and died shortly after SCP-3247 left his arm. SCP-3247 has not been able to enter abstract modern art without any depictions of physical matter in them; this was tested using a painting consisting of a series of squares.
