Per 
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: XXXX-1 is to be kept in a hermetically sealed mortuary drawer in Site 19’s high security specimen storage area and treated as bio-hazardous material. It’s drawer is kept in an airlock sealed room with security cameras and audio monitoring equipment inside to log people coming in and out. It’s drawer is not to be opened outside of a BSL4 laboratory and accessible only by level 3 clearance personnel. The mortuary drawer can be detached and moved without breaking the seal and used as a transport capsule. To do so, you must scan your access card into the security system. A computerized system will log when the drawer is removed or returned, and will lock in the event of a containment breach, security breach, or loss of power. An emergency system can flood the drawer with hydrofluoric acid and the outer containment room with a fine napalm mist intended to incinerate its entire contents. (handwritten here is a comment - it's not overkill, it's a booby trap.) Staff working on XXXX-1 are to undergo monthly screenings for bacterial infection or signs of a compromised immune system.
It is to be in the care of MTF Beta-7 Maz Hatters, however, its existence is not classified. A resin based reproduction is available for personnel who do not meet qualification for access to the real thing.
XXXX-2 is a humanoid entity which is to be kept in a standard humanoid euclid containment cell modified to maintain humidity and temperature identical to that of summer in Northern Siberia. XXXX-2 is allowed out of its chamber to meditate on the rooftop at sunrise, which is a reward for good behavior.
It requires a variety of botanical waste materials to survive, including but not limited to compost, composted manure, straw, leaves, woodchips, hardwood logs, scrap paper and cardboard, coffee grounds, sawdust, and even mushrooms. A misting nozzle attached to a switch is located in its containment chamber for XXXX-2’s comfort. The mister should be attached to both a primary tank and a backup tank filled with dechlorinated and defluorinated, filtered water. The mister must be on its own independent power supply, fueled by a system of backup batteries and solar panels capable of sustaining it for up to two weeks without electricity or maintenance. XXXX-2 is allowed to farm and study specimens of common (non anomalous) edible and medicinal mushrooms in its quarters, and is to be regularly supplied with the means to do so. Mushrooms grown by XXXX-2 are of exceptional quality and the medicinal ones are of exceptional potency, well above that of wild or farmed specimens of their species. Medicinal compounds distilled from these mushrooms are authorized for use by Foundation medical. Culinary mushrooms produced by XXXX-2 are high in vitamin D, and can be shipped to bases where duties are mostly performed underground, with little access to sunlight.
In the event of a breach of SCP XXXX-1, SCP XXXX-2 is to be escorted to the mortuary drawer it is located in and allowed whatever it asks for. It will then use the materials provided to cover the chamber and XXXX-1 in mycelium from spores in its body. This will neutralize infectious material inside XXXX-1 for a period of one week allowing easy recontainment. If this fails, the emergency measures previously stated are to be activated.
XXXX-3 is a cave in northern Siberia and said cave’s contents. The lower tunnels come within three days' walk of the Lake Bikal high security containment zone, with a number of blocked off side tunnels. However, they do not open to the surface at that point. Past a certain point in the deep tunnels it appears that primitive attempts have been made to block passage deeper into the cave by attempting to create a rockfall. The entrance to the caves is to be kept under armed guard at all times, including three officers from MTF Epsilon 9 Fire Eaters and three officers from MTF Beta 7 Maz Hatters. No Foundation staff, agents or officers are to enter the cave without being escorted by a Fire Eaters officer armed with a high capacity personal flame unit and are to carry the small arm of their choice armed with incendiary ammunition. All persons going into the cave are to leave a trail via emergency road flares and to keep a supply on their person.
The species that XXXX-2 comes from inhabit the nearby woods, and the cave bears religious and historical significance to their culture. Therefore they are allowed unfettered access to the cave and its contents. However staff are not to allow them access to their quarters, sensitive materials, or notes unless authorized to do so by their superiors. Their numbers are quite low, qualifying as endangered by modern conservation standards. However, they are long lived, and in wet weather reproduce quickly. Work by the Foundation Mycologists in helping them increase their fertility, to bring their numbers up, is ongoing. Climate change is causing the forests to dry out for longer during the year, making their reproduction difficult. Because of the pharmacological value their species can offer, extraordinary measures are authorized to preserve them.
The following statement is from Maz Hatters command,
Although no sign of viable SCP 610 has been found on XXXX-1 or inside of XXXX-3, staff working on XXXX are to be on the alert for signs of SCP 610 attempting to breach containment via this route. We do not believe these specimens pose a danger at this time, but are acting out of an abundance of caution and paranoia. There is also concern that this scp may have to be protected from attack by Sarkic cultists. As a result we are keeping unclassified copies of all research data as well as secured backups and severely restricting access to the genuine article. We believe leaving this information open to interested researchers and hiding multiple copies in restricted areas will constitute a redundancy should sabotage occur. This find is too valuable to lose, representing a possible control measure for SCP 610 in future.
Archeology staff assigned to XXXX-3 must be thoroughly vetted and the location of their excavation is heavily classified and guarded. Further security apparatus is requested to secure the entrance to XXXX-3 as well as reserves of personal flame fuel and multiple calibers of incendiary ammo so that there is NO chance of running out and being caught unaware. Ideally I would like something small with a large caliber to be available to dig staff, I’ve heard the desert eagle can use fifty caliber.
And for heaven's sake, NEVER let the GoC know this place exists! We can’t let them destroy it!
Description: SCP XXXX-1 is a mummified skeleton of a man dating from the late bronze age. His right arm is heavily deformed in a pattern consistent with infection by SCP 610. His body is laced through with desiccated fungal mycelium, which is thickest around his right arm. Traces of a large number of antibacterial and antiviral compounds are found throughout his body, but are most concentrated in his right arm. The man was dressed in furs, wearing shoes and a hat, and carrying a bag, made from amadou cloth and decorated in a number of sarkic and local shamanic blessings. He carries a small carved flint knife with a bone handle, a bone flute, bone sewing needle, a small carved shell of an unknown mollusk with traces of ash and horsehoof (tinder) fungus inside, and a number of tools covered in pigment that are believed to be for mixing primitive paints. Pouches on his person contained both dried dyes and herbal powders made from medicinal mushrooms. Trace evidence collected from his clothing and skin show that he died of severe mycotoxin poisoning but was terminally ill from SCP 610. Isotope analysis of his bones and hair indicate that he initially came from the far northeastern coast of Russia, but migrated south. He lived on the shores of Lake Bikal for most of his life. Because of the containment perimeter, and ongoing danger of infection by SCP 610, attempting to locate signs of his tribe is impossible. Food, water, ornaments, medicinal plants and primitive oil lamps had been placed next to him as funerary offerings.
SCP XXXX-2 is a humanoid entity belonging to the kingdom fungi, though it has a very similar body structure to humans it is not a human. The individual in containment is an ambassador and shaman of its tribe, one of an entire species. Its DNA contains genes from a wide variety of medicinal and edible fungi, with the agarikon and ganoderma (reishi or lingshi) mushrooms being the most prominent. Sections of its head will fluoresce under a black light forming ornate swirl and spiral patterns unique to each individual of his species, as will markings on the tip of its nose and cheekbones. Its back is covered in woody segmented armor plates, protecting it from ambush from behind and which resemble the agarikon mushroom. Its head is covered by a “cap” like crest that resembles the cap of a mushroom but has the coloration and texture of a dried ganoderma (reishi) mushroom. It dresses in primitive hide, fur, and amadou cloth robes and carries a solid staff of oak taller than its body. The oak staff has a small chaga mushroom growing out of its top, which is desiccated, dense, and able to act as a weighted mace should self defense become necessary. It has been decorated with a number of carvings in an oak leaf motif. Though hunchbacked, it is quite strong.
XXXX-2 enjoys playing hand drums and meditating. It possesses an instinctive knowledge of fungi, plants and soil, able to discern information about its surroundings simply by touching a mushroom or the soil surface, including climate, possible toxins, recent forest fires, pollutants in air, soil and water, and pest insects or unhealthy soil. It is able to smell airborne pollutants and plant and insect pheromones on the breeze, as well as detect spores from varying fungi and bacteria species. XXXX-2 is from a shamanic culture, and often experiences difficulty understanding modern technology and culture shock in response to modern society. It may experience severe social anxiety, and in the field or in testing it may require time back in its containment cell to calm down.
XXXX-3 is the cave where -2 and -1 were initially found. The cave is both a shrine, historical monument, and funerary complex for XXXX-2’s species and a number of local tribes who received medical services from XXXX-2’s people, as recently as 300 years ago. Remains found in this cave even include three members of SCP 1000, and human skeletons found there seem to be from all walks of life in the anomalous community of three centuries previous. Many proto-sarkic skeletons, as well as old Mekanite skeletons have already been unearthed there, as well as a skeleton identified as being from northern France carrying a small sketchbook containing a number of anomalous drawings, believed to be an anartist. All of the skeletons contained within had some form of terminal mundane or anomalous disease. All skeletons found to have been infected with some form of communicable disease have been shot through with dessicated mycelium. In one case, a female skeleton whose teeth bore the marks of having been born with syphilis had had the characteristic ruts in her incisors filled in with mycelium that appears to have simply grown into position through the tooth root into the gap. Careful analysis has shown that said mycelium formed a protective barrier around the roots of the teeth of affected persons, protecting it from cavities, breaks, disease or wear.
The cave walls are decorated with several thousand years of cave paintings depicting a species of XXXX-2 living as lone individuals in the nearby forest and using the cave as a social gathering ground. They used primitive tools common to human hunter gatherer tribes, but were also capable of growing tools from mycelium and mushrooms custom fit for a job. They frequently used horse hoof (tinder) mushrooms to produce amadou cloth, which was their primary textile. They could also “grow” flexible textile-like coverings with the same texture as heavy canvas for the purposes of making shelter for sleeping or to create burial “shrouds” to shelter the dead and dying.
Among the cave paintings are a number of scenes of the early Sarkic cults and early Mekanite religions seen from the point of view of the mushroom tribe watching from the north. Painting subjects appear to depict SCP 610 and 217 having appeared in the local area at some point. However no trace of 217 has been found in the nearby area. The paintings depict the two plagues competing for dominance including individuals infected with both. The mushroom men are depicted as protecting their forests and caves by entangling the victims in mycelium. XXXX-2 has elaborated on how his people combat incursions by 610 see interview logs.
As the cave goes further and further back, and paintings and funerary alcoves become sparser, mycelium covers the walls more and more thickly the deeper you go into the tunnels, eventually creating heavy spongy material that is difficult to damage with impact force. The floors become sandy, almost powdery with spores, rock dust, and dead mycelium. Water flows into the cave in a number of places from above, providing an emergency water source for its inhabitants.
XXXX-2 are dependent upon a mycelium network for communication with each other over long distances. Young are born from spores, just as non anomalous mushrooms are. The parents affix themselves to the forest floor for two or three months, and the young sprout from their base. XXXX-2 are capable of neutralizing a number of dangerous and/or anomalous diseases, including SCP 610, by inserting mycelium into the bodies of the sickened. This mycelium feeds on pathogenic bacteria and protozoa, and occasionally other fungi. They also release a wide variety of medicinal compounds, which the Foundation would like to study.
Addendum: Climate change has caused XXXX-2’s people reproductive stress. The siberian forests are drying with the thawing of the permafrost. Several of his people have attempted to make moves into SCP 610’s territory because of the proximity to Lake Bikal. Lake Bikal represents a source of water, and SCP 610 represents a source of protein and nitrogen, two of the nutrients fungi need for growth. Containment crews that find individuals attempting to enter the Lake Bikal containment zone are to attempt to dissuade them from entering peacefully and to warn them that the Foundation may not be able to protect them from the consequences. Ground transportation may be called to take them back to their home territory.
The Ethics committee has greenlighted attempts to assist XXXX-2’s people in reproductive efforts due to their numbers in the wild becoming dangerously low. Spores can be retrieved from long dead instances or produced artificially from samples of deceased instances, and germinated artificially using standard fungal culturing techniques for soil borne rhizomorphic fungi. Spores are also found in large numbers in the caves below.
The concern is that their mycelium may be preventing SCP 610 Migration north. If Climate change causes their numbers to become smaller and their mycelium to weaken, it might contribute to future attempts by SCP 610 to breach containment and migrate out of the Lake Bikal Secure Zone.
Interviewed: SCP XXXX-2, acting as diplomat and shaman of his people
Interviewer: Marie Howard Lt. MTF Beta-7 Maz Hatters
Foreword: Interview takes place the morning after the subject has been transported to current containment. Subject knows fluent Russian, Korean and Chinese and is speaking through a translator.
<Begin Log, [optional time info]>
Marie: My name is Marie Howard, I’m a lieutenant with MTF Beta 7, Maz Hatters. I’d like to begin with a short statement about yourself and your species.
XXXX-2: I am Amatti, Shaman for my people. We do not have a proper name for our species. We live to the north of the Lake you call Bikal, approximately a three or four day’s ride by horseback. We have lived there in spite of the Red Death for over four thousand years and had sporadic contact with your people over that time frame. We have also hosted guests from the Children of the Night on occasion, though it has been several centuries since the last one came through our territory. The Red Death has repeatedly attempted to encroach upon our territory, only to be consumed by our mycelial network.
Marie: I notice you have quite the shrine in your cave, can you tell me about the patients there? Where do they come from, what were they treated for, do some recover or were they all terminal?
XXXX-2: The ones that survive do not remain for long, returning to their tribes. The ones that die are taken into the network. Their failing bodies give new life to our people. They may choose to die, or they may let their illness take its course. The mycelial network is allowed to permeate their systems as part of their treatment, administering healing medicine that our bodies create and reinforcing broken bones and damaged tissue. When their treatment is done, if they were suffering from broken bones or soft tissue damage, their body will cover and slowly remove the mycelium sealing the wound. The mycelium prevents the blackskin infection from settling in.
Marie: Blackskin, is that like gangrene?
XXXX-2: That may be your word for it, if it means an illness where the skin dies, turns black, and is eaten by bacteria. We treat blackskin by letting the mycelium consume the dead tissue and invading bacteria.
Marie: Your people have no microscopes, so how are you able to recognize bacteria?
XXXX-2: We know that certain diseases smell differently from others. Smallpox, cowpox, and chicken pox all smell similar, and our mycelium picks up destroyed tissue but no other entities. Bacteria however smell very different, and our mycelium picks up and consumes something in the wound when it makes contact, something that is not part of the body of the patient. As a result, we know smallpox from anthrax or bubonic plague. And yes, we have gotten anthrax patients before.
Marie: And the modern names for these diseases, where did you learn those?
XXXX-2: Many years ago men bearing a red hammer and sickle came to our tribe seriously sickened. One so badly he lost his voice. But he had books, and notebooks, and he was able to compare notes in his language to words in ours. When I asked where he was from, that we may contact his tribe, he wrote this…
At this point XXXX-2 writes the russian characters for GRU-P.
XXXX-2: He gave us a device he called a “flare gun” and told us to fire it if loud thumping noises and a metal object came over head. One of our number performing medical treatment on him fired the flare gun, and escorted him to his home via the metal object that landed. He has not returned, however he has communicated to us via the network and is slowly moving his way back in our direction. It will take several decades to do so, but the network will spread as he moves, telling us of the wider world he experiences. We cannot, however, reproduce via that network, as multiple individuals are required to be sporulating at once.
Marie: So did you ever hear what happened to him?
XXXX-2: The man from Gru? No. We never heard from them directly again. The one administering his treatment however did send word back of his well being, and many of the words he learned for diseases we simply named by their most visible symptom.
Marie: This question has been burning since we started but… this man… (places photograph and file of scp XXXX-1 in front of him) I have to know… SCP 610 normally takes people in minutes to days. How did he end up in your care? His bones and body show signs of protracted illness.
XXXX-2: (studies the photo and diagrams) I did not treat this man, and was not alive when he came. I only know my people’s ways and oral history… I can guess as to how he came to us, for Lake Bikal is not far to the south. See this spot here on what should be his wrist? Teeth have sunk into the bone. Something infected with the Red Death may have bitten him. If the weather was cold, he may have lingered for days. Siberia is one of the coldest places on Earth after all. If he made it to our cave, our network and our medicines could hold back the infection. It considers the Red Death a prime food source and will eagerly consume it.
It can exude compounds that kill disease, injecting them straight into the body. But it is incredibly painful, the body would begin to swell the both from the infection and the mycelium. So we must suppress the body’s innate defenses. This alone can cause someone to die from our treatment when the mycelium are removed. His suffering would have been great, but he could have survived. If he had decided it was his time to die, knowing his fate, then our people would have performed one last ceremony. Make him comfortable, paint his skin, give him fragrant herbs to soothe his mind, then sing him to his sleep as we take his life ourselves.
Marie: (solemnly) And after death?
XXXX-2: We tell his story on the walls, we give him to the network, which will take some part of him into itself, and from his remains one of us is born. We treat that individual as a reincarnation of the deceased. Coming back as part of us, and he is treated with ceremony as his new life proceeds.
Marie: I see, that was quite helpful XXXX-2. The guards will see you to your quarters, and a liaison from the Ethics committee will be with you shortly. We don’t get many diplomats at 19. You may later be moved to another base, but for now this is home.
<End Log, [optional time info]>
Experiment XXXX A - Under strict BSL4 conditions, cultures were taken of XXXX-1 and checked for the presence of SCP 610. Negative for live cells, however desiccated dead pieces of cells were detected. Mass spectrometer results indicate heavy concentrations of mycotoxin in brain, heart and liver of deceased. Multiple compounds isolated from subject’s right arm to be used for further testing.
Experiment XXXX B - Artificially synthesized versions of compounds from right arm tested on rats infected with Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. Compound designated Alpha killed 90% of bacteria. Compound designated Beta caused severe suppression of subject’s immune system leading to rapid death from infection. Compound designated Theta turned out to be from SCP 610, causing necrosis at injection site followed several days later by heart attack, stroke or other clotting related death.
Experiment XXXX C - Herbal brews from XXXX-1’s personal possessions sequenced in mass spectrometer and artificially synthesized. Used on rats infected with multi drug resistant tuberculosis, resulting in a slowing of bacterial growth. Upon further scrutiny, compound originates by feeding Penicillium mold to XXXX-2’s mycelial network at a point located nearby an individual of XXXX-2’s species. XXXX-2 states that compound is part of a ritual to make SCP 610 “sleep.” Method used with penicillium mold creates a very weak version, chaga or agarikon mushrooms recommended for this process instead. Compound is filed as a medium to low research priority in favor of outright disease killing compounds. Other herbal brews show similar low or weak potency levels, believed to be a palliative rather than an out and out cure.
Experiment XXXX D - A group of D-class had become infected with multi drug resistant tuberculosis after a single individual had come in exposed with mild symptoms, hence the previous experiments. Compound Alpha was administered to one third of cases, a placebo to another third, and the final third was given standard antibiotic cocktails. Compound Alpha destroyed 90% of tuberculosis bacteria as expected. Severe nausea, thrush and diarrhea were noted as side effects in approximately 10% of cases. Probiotic treatments and foods were required to rebalance the symbiotic microbiomes of affected individuals. Subjects’ immune systems successfully fought off the remaining 10% of tuberculosis bacteria versus the control and placebo groups.
Experiment XXXX E - Compound Beta administered to rats genetically engineered to have severe autoimmune disease. Beta produced a massive remission in symptoms at the cost of frequent secondary or opportunistic infections. Test redone with rats engineered to have various inflammatory and immune disorders, and cancers. In each case, immune suppression was at critically low levels. Compound Beta extremely effective at treating Leukemia, but at similar damage costs. However, this trial helped us narrow down Compound Beta’s mechanism of action. We now believe it kills cells in the bone marrow. As such its use for immunosuppression may be heavily limited.
Incident Report XXXX A - During a containment breach of SCP (Redacted) XXXX-2 joined Foundation emergency medical staff tending to the sick, where he used his mycelium network to assist in reattachment of Agent (Redacted)’s right arm. Agent is under heavy medical scrutiny, and will likely need therepy to restore his immune system after treatment.
Scans show that his body is growing new cells on the mycelium attaching his arm to his body, using it as a scaffold. Tissue growth is enhanced via several compounds later isolated for further research. Agent’s skin is hot to the touch at the reattachment site. SCP XXXX-2 does not go far from Agent during this time, spends most of day meditating, appearing to be asleep. Mycelium has begun to appear out of its feet, rooting it to the spot and to the bed. Occasionally XXXX-2 will stir and ask for materials needed to produce medicinal compounds or to sustain himself.
Agent later recalls that he could sense and communicate with SCP XXXX-2 telepathically during the healing process. This process ceased as the mycelium disappeared post healing. After brief detainment to determine no ill effects had occured Agent was temporarily reassigned at the Duck Pond for spiritual and mental parts of recovery. Agent regained full use of his arm afterwards.
Closing Statement: Study of SCP XXXX-2 is ongoing. We believe its healing capabilities and ability to formulate medicinal compounds is worth much further scrutiny. The Ethics committee has greenlighted building a small climate controlled facility for XXXX-2’s people to use as specialized breeding ground. Attempts to prevent his people from entering Lake Bikal Secure Containment Zone are mostly effective. Command has greenlighted testing and eventual patent of Compound Alpha through Foundation Front Company as a new antibiotic. XXXX-3’s location is kept highly classified and heavily armed. Though there was concern that SCP 610 may attempt to breach containment via the tunnels, no such incident has yet occurred.
Handwritten under closing statement, then crossed out: And if the GoC or MCD cause problems for this skip, we’ll fuck up their faces! - Marie
Handwritten under closing statement: Doctor Bright is not allowed to make poop jokes when experiment side effects cause a rush on the bathroom. Not even if it's a rush of D-class. In fact… let’s just make it no poop jokes period.
