Quinn Red

Item# :SCP- blank blank blank

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Specimens to be kept in container filled with preservative fluids. Specimens may only be released into observational aquariums for testing purposes.
If specimen is to escape containment, handling specimens is permitted, though skin to skin contact is not recommended. Specimens are verily capable of movement on land, leaving collection of stranded specimens very simple.
If contamination is imminent, incineration and acidic purification are viable methods of destruction. Alternatively, if data is to be preserved, soaking specimen in a brine solution and applying an electric current will cause immediate cellular suicide and leave the rod core intact for research.

Description: Initial specimens were discovered by fishermen who accidentally dredged them up from the -REDACTED- area of the Antarctic sea. Later specimens were discovered in the Gulf of Mexico via deep sea submersible, revealing the origin point of these organisms to be massive brine pools scattered upon the ocean floor. Investigations of these brine pools have been attempted, but do to the nature of such an intense concentration of brine, all submersible vehicles and drones are unable to penetrate the surface. These pools are far too dangerous for direct human entry, with toxic shock being the cause of death of nearly any living thing entering the brine, excluding extremophile organisms.

Organism is cephalopod like in structure, with a bulbous body and boneless extremity that appears to be multiple tendrils spun and fused into a single tail or flagellum. Only two sensory organs are apparent on it’s body, a pink and whiskery proboscis on the front of the organism, and a single eye which may sprout and shrivel on nearly any part of the body. The eye’s migrational behavior was quite apparent during autopsies, often avoiding removal or simply observing the performer of the autopsy.
Organism’s skin is pale and rubbery in texture, it’s surface bumped with a multitude of veins and fine hairs. Bodily structure of organism is more sleek and solid in deep sea pressures, but loses such structure when taken to lower pressures.
It’s appearance has lead to the affectionate nickname “Unopus” amongst research staff, though others prefer noting its similar appearance to a sperm cell.

The organism is technically a non living thing, being entirely constructed from detritus material, primarily gathered from marine snow. Both animal and human tissue has been recorded within the makeup of the organism.
The only inorganic part of the organism is an object held within the center of it’s body, appearing as an obsidian black rod with intricate carvings resembling the wrinkles of a brain. The rod is seemingly constructed from a multitude of minerals, contents varying from individual to individual.
The genetic structure of the organism is incredibly complex, holding significantly more chromosomes than the host bodies used in it’s construction. The rod itself holds further data, from genetic to binary, but researchers have yet to parse through it all.

Upon being damaged, the organism will seek any dead material in order to repair itself. This was observed upon initial capture, as apprehended specimens rubbed themselves against any exposed skin of the fishermen who handled them, gathering dead skin for regeneration.
If too much damage has been done, or organism has encountered a significant amount of deceased matter, it will begin a reproductive procedure to manufacture more of itself. The organism will insert it’s proboscis into the body, and begin fusing to the host. Over time all biomass will be converted into a number of the organism depending on how much mass is available. If process is performed upon a full or mostly intact cadaver, the body will temporarily reanimate for a time.
Behavior of reanimated bodies is dependent upon host condition, the more intact the host the more capable and intelligible they are.
Multiple test have been performed with cadavers at Site -REDACTED- to study this unique occurrence, either with supplied bodies kept in the on site morgue, or preparing Class-D personal for such event. Test subjects begin reanimation in a minute of initial organism introduction, their body going under a short spasm for 30 seconds. Afterward the host body will calm, and cognitive functions will restart. It is speculated that the organism first intertwines with basic nervous function, causing the spasms, then begins interaction with more advanced nervous function, until reactivating the cognitive parts of the brain.
If not strapped down or made immobile through other means, host will attempt movement, but mobility is sluggish at best for reanimated bodies. Those capable of communication are almost drunken in speech pattern, verily aware of their surroundings. Often they’ll focus on inconsequential things from memories of their past, but in half an hour of organism insertion, host will describe visions not belonging to them, but the organism itself.

Through analysis of every interview of reanimated subjects thus far, common elements have been noticed and documented. Host have seemingly described details of the organism’s origin and nature, noting that a message must be sent to “Receiver”. What the message is has yet to be worded in anything remotely understandable, likely being inconceivable to the human brain. Generally host will babble unintelligibly until the conversion process is over. Host and organism seem unaware of what “Receiver” looks like, only that it is the end of the destination. If asked about who or what the sender is, they are also unable to describe it. When asked about how these beings see humanity, Host reply “They don’t.” Some Host have pieced together that the Sender and Receiver are unaware of living things, that they have only encountered dead matter and only see such things as building materials.
After the first two hours, the host body will gradually absorb it’s extremities until only a bloated torso is left. After three hours, the torso begins to loose bone mass and becomes more spherical in shape. Four hours in, the body begins to resemble a morula cellular cluster. In the final hour, only an orb of is left, surrounded by a thin membrane, the bulging organism writhing within. The organisms will slowly pop out, one by one. As they emerge, the umbilical tendrils attaching them to the organ will twist together and form a strong flagellum, giving it the strength to eject itself.

Through study under the context of organism being a messenger, genetic research has revealed that their DNA maybe constructed as an address, while the rod core is the contents of the message. Research is still being done as to how the address may be deciphered, but it’s speculated to lead to one of the Brine Pools of which these organisms were found. The rods will likely take centuries to ever decipher, but breakthroughs have been made in how to unlock such information.
In an attempt to recreate the brine pools, organisms were placed within a highly pressurized and salinated aquarium. The Organisms tend to swim in specific directions, always facing their intended destination, but upon introduction to this aquarium, they became extremely frantic, bumping against the aquarium’s walls and even damaging each other. A shock was applied in an attempt to paralyze them and keep the aquarium from breaking, but instead it caused them to commit cellular suicide and decay immediately, leaving only the rod cores.
It is theorized that this is likely how the Receiver would retrieve the rod and read the message. Test are still undergoing to see if any other results can be discovered.