Item #: SCP-5209
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5209 is to be contained digitally on a simulation maintained at Site-15, with at least two backup power generators operating at all times. Newly-discovered SCP-5209 populations are to be recorded in Addendum 5209-B: Evolutionary History. Any non-Foundation website found to be infested with SCP-5209 is to be purchased, and all instances are to be neutralized following Procedure 5209-TSN or uploaded to the existing simulation, at the discretion of Site Command. Following this, the website may be restored to public operations using the cover story of "foreign malware".
Description: SCP-5209 are heterotrophic organisms that consume computerized life-forms. While the definition of "alive" is somewhat ambiguous in the context of digital media, all SCP-5209 discovered to-date have fed on programs designed with the appearance of living organisms, regardless of whether the "organism" has a real-world counterpart, or whether it accurately models any biological processes. This does not apply to characters controlled by human users; SCP-5209 can only feed on autonomous or decorative entities.
SCP-5209 spreads when a file from a website with an infestation is uploaded onto an uninfested one. When this occurs, a single instance is removed from the original site and added to the new one. This property functions across all file types and programming languages. It also extends to images taken as screenshots, text from forums and in-site chatrooms, and other information not found in a website's source code but with a direct connection to its content.
Approximately 80% of recorded transmissions result in the extinction of introduced instances due to a lack of adaptation for the new ecosystem. However, if a suitable habitat presents itself, a permanent population may become established. Instances vary greatly in appearance and behavior, depending on the particular adaptations that have been acquired over the generations. This generally includes an apparatus to "consume" available resources, appendages to interact with a website's environment, and a design that blends into its host site's aesthetic. In extreme cases, infestations have gone unnoticed for up to three years, with users assuming they were intended as features.
No traces of SCP-5209 itself have been found in the code of any infected websites or files. Thus, it is impossible to delete instances directly or to study them genetically. However, they can be killed within the website they infest, either by other instances, events within the host website or by user actions.
Discovery: Beginning in early March of 2017, images of plant-based anomalies began disappearing from the Site-66 Secure Communications Network. By chance, a researcher observed an instance while it was consuming a photograph of a non-anomalous pine tree. All images on the Network were then copied to a separate database in an attempt to preserve them. However, this backup was immediately infested, resulting in a loss of approximately 37,500 unique images.
The anomaly was given its SCP designation and the first containment procedures were enacted. It was given the object class of Euclid. Researchers then began tracing the infestation, finding it to have originated in a science education website, from which a member of Site personnel had apparently copied three paragraphs of text for use in training materials. The infestation could not be traced beyond this point, although by this time 11 other websites had been discovered with SCP-5209 instances present.
Test A - 22/8/2017
Goal: Use SCP-5209's infectious capabilities to contain an instance.
Procedure: A screenshot was taken of an infested website. This file was inserted into a Foundation-made website, at which time an instance appeared in the website's interface. In its previous host, it had eaten the decorative plants in the website's background. It had the appearance of a small rodent. The image was deleted from the website, leaving only the SCP-5209 instance on a white field. After 30 seconds, a crude leaf was drawn in front of the instance.
Results: The drawing was "consumed", slowly disappearing as the instance showed an "eating" animation. After a further 46 seconds, it gave birth to three smaller instances with appearances similar to itself.
Test B - 22/8/2017
Goal: Establish a contained breeding colony of SCP-5209 for further study.
Procedure: A simple program was added to the simulation which created a "leaf" at a random point on the screen once per second.
Results: Population increased to 600, collapsed to 120, and eventually stabilized around 400. After three hours, a subset of the population became predatory, consuming other instances.
Test C - 6/10/2017
Goal: Determine if predatory SCP-5209 instances can be used to neutralize infestations.
Procedure: An instance from the predatory subspecies was introduced to an infested non-Foundation website containing a population of approximately 3,500 herbivorous instances.
Results: Predators neutralized 96% of herbivorous instances, before becoming extinct due to prey shortage. Herbivore population rebounded within two hours. The infested website was permanently deleted.
Test D - 6/12/2017
Goal: Determine if toxic SCP-5209 instances can be used to neutralize infestations.
Procedure: Contained instances were selectively bred to be toxic to other instances, producing a particle effect that rendered any individual without immunity immobile, at which point it could be consumed by the toxic instance. A population of this strain was introduced to an infested non-Foundation website containing approximately 11,000 instances, none of which had any immunity to the toxin.
Results: Toxin rapidly spread across the environment, killing all instances before enough time had passed for them to acquire resistance. Toxic instances then became extinct due to prey shortage. The website was returned to normal operations.
Note: This process was later modified to become Procedure 5209-TSN. Upon confirmation that SCP-5209 could be engineered for containment purposes, its object class was updated to Safe.
Note: all species documented in this addendum evolved outside containment. To date, 652 websites have been discovered with an SCP-5209 infestation, each with one or more unique species. The instances found in a given website are designated SCP-5209-#. If multiple species exist in a single website, they are designated SCP-5209-#A, -#B, -#C, etc.
Species: SCP-5209-1A
Date Discovered: 6/5/2017
Environment: A children's' gaming website in which players could purchase decorations for their homes, including both virtual plants and animals.
Description: An instance would follow a user's character to its "home", and proceed to consume decorative ferns, trees, houseplants, etc. It would then give birth to between 3 and 7 offspring, which would migrate to the server's common area to begin their life cycle again.
History: SCP-5209 was apparently introduced to the website through the in-game chat, where a user entered a seemingly-random string of characters that carried an instance. Infestation lasted approximately three months before discovery. After numerous parents reported the website for "disturbing imagery" (later identified as SCP-5209-1B), the infestation was neutralized using Procedure 5209-TSN. As the incident ruined the reputation of the website, it was permanently shut down.
Species: SCP-5209-1B
Date Discovered: 6/5/2017
Environment: See entry for SCP-5209-1A
Description: An instance would follow a user's character to its "home", and proceed to consume in-game "pets", including fish, cats, dogs, and several species of mythical animals. It would then give birth to between 1 and 3 offspring, which would migrate to the server's common area to begin their life cycle again.
History: SCP-5209-1B is a close relative of SCP-5209-1A, with the two diverging almost immediately after introduction to their host website. However, the two are visually very different, with many of the site's young users describing -1B instances as "monsters". This led to the shutdown of the website. However, while the -1A species was neutralized, 15 SCP-5209-1B were introduced to the Site-15 simulated ecosystem, where their descendants altered their strategy to feed on small, herbivorous instances.
Genus: SCP-5209-31
Date Discovered: 30/10/2017
Environment: An online open-world adventure game.
Description: Formerly encompassed three closely-related species, SCP-5209-31A, -31B and -31C. The first, and smallest, lived at the banks of rivers, eating mosses, ferns and other plant life. The second were browsers, eating from the trees in the game's forests. The third species were large grazers, forming herds of up to 5,000 instances.
History: Introduced to the website after an update which added a 150-second soundtrack from an unknown source containing an instance. Players assumed instances were part of the update as their deer-like appearance fit the game's design. After six weeks, instances had consumed more than 30% of in-game vegetation. A Foundation front company purchased the website, eliminated all instances under Procedure 5209-TSN, and brought the game back online after seven days without detecting any surviving instances. All further profits from the website have been directed to the Site-15 treasury.
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