Novomagocha

Item #: SCP-4863

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Containment of instances of SCP-4863 is ongoing. Upon discovery, SCP-4863 instances are to be extracted from adult hosts via neurosurgery. Following extraction, human hosts should be administered amnestic treatment and animal hosts may be set free or euthanized. If discovered in infant hosts the entire population of larval and egg SCP-4863 instances are to be extracted. Once extracted, SCP-4863 instances are to be kept in Biological Containment Site-66 in small steel containers, half-filled with water. These are to be kept at 3 degrees Celsius, rendering SCP-4863 dormant.

All studying of SCP-4863 is to be performed in a Biosafety Level-3 laboratory by experienced parasitologists. The use of a positive pressure suit when interacting with SCP-4863 is recommended. While kept active, SCP-4863 instances are to be given pregnant mice, which will be replenished 7 days following childbirth.

Description: SCP-4863 is a species of neurological parasitic nematode, about 3 cm long and pale green. SCP-4863 has been given the Scientific name Cervedus filicidum and the common name “Eraserhead Worm“. Its habitat is cool and moist, usually in temperate regions, and it has been found from Eastern Canada to as far Southwest as Colorado. SCP-4863 demonstrates extraordinary reason and sense, leading researchers to question its sapience. SCP-4863 larvae only feed on the flesh and organs of newborn mammals, resulting in a unique life cycle.

Adult SCP-4863 are transmitted via water, blood, saliva, and consumption of infected meat, grasses, or seeds. Once in an adult mammalian host, SCP-4863 will travel through the bloodstream to the brain, where it will burrow into the motor cortex. Here it will secrete a protective peptidoglycan shell, allowing it to lie dormant and undetected for an undetermined amount of time. Activation occurs following the adult host’s discovery of forthcoming parenthood, usually at about 90% of the mother’s gestation period. SCP-4863 can function regardless of the sex of the adult host.

Upon activation, SCP-4863 will wait until the birth of the adult host’s child. From the moment of birth, it will begin to control the emotions and motor functions of the adult host. The host will develop what has been dubbed “Eraserhead Syndrome,” in reference to the David Lynch movie with related subject matter. The syndrome is characterized by intense anxiety surrounding parenthood and resentment of their child. Hosts experiencing Eraserhead Syndrome often describe delusions of being replaced by their child, resentment of their partner/spouse, desire to engage in an affair, and painful discomfort upon hearing the cries of the infant. Over the days following the birth of the host’s child, the host will look for opportunities to be alone with the child for a long period of time.

Once alone with the infant, the host will cover its mouth with one hand and holding down its body with the other. At this moment, SCP-4863 will begin the process of reproduction. SCP-4863 is hermaphroditic and will fertilize its own eggs. Following fertilization, thousands of eggs are deposited out of the brain and make their way to the host's mouth, incorporating themselves into the host’s saliva. The host begins to mutilate the infant by lacerating its dermis dentally, drawing blood with each laceration, across the entire body of the infant. The eggs are transferred from the adult host’s saliva into the infant host’s bloodstream. If the infant has not died from asphyxiation, it will via exsanguination. The adult host will then bury the cadaver near a body of water and the original SCP-4863 instance in its brain will dislodge and dissolve. It is common for the adult host to commit suicide following the exiting of the parasite, unaware of their innocence in the situation and consumed by guilt.

Once in the infant’s corpse, the SCP-4863 eggs will hatch after about 3 days. The larvae will grow and mature as they eat the flesh and organs of the infant host’s corpse, beginning with the dermis, and progressing to the muscles, lungs, liver, stomach, and finally, heart. This process usually takes 3 weeks. The mature larvae will exit the decomposed corpse and move towards the body of water, where it can be transmitted again.

Addendum 4863-01: SCP-4863 was first discovered following a series of 10 infanticide-suicides in BLOCK, Maine in BLOCK, BLOCK. Foundation agents were sent to investigate the occurrence and found a series of buried infants with similar causes of death, and high quantities of the worm larvae. Similarly buried animal newborns were also found. This was the highest recorded concentration of SCP-4863 cases in a single area at a single time.

Addendum 4863-02: SCP-4863 is most commonly found and extracted from infant hosts while in the larval stage, due to their quantity and ease of detection. It can be found in the brain of an adult host using an fMRI scan, but this is rare and highly difficult. Only to people who are aware of its existence seem to be able to detect SCP-4863 instances in an fMRI scan. Unaware doctors who look at a scan of an adult host do not seem to be able to identify anything unusual about the scan.