Per 
Item #: SCP- 5748 (Place holder number)
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: Due to the anomalous properties of SCP-5748, any requests to transport it to a more secure facility are to be denied until a safe method of transportation can be established. SCP-5748 is to be surrounded by 10x10 square feet of chain-link fencing measuring at 2 meters in height. No more than two foundation personnel are to monitor the designated area at a time, and will do so in rotating shifts that will encompass a full 24 hours, with two new personnel coming in at the end of the week. Furthermore, due to SCP-5748s proximity to a populated area, Foundation personnel posing as park rangers must insure that any civilians travelling in the direction SCP-5748 be rerouted away from the area in which the object is contained.
These personnel must not come into physical contact with SCP-5748 at any time, but are otherwise free to engage with each other in ways that do not go against foundation code of conduct. If any unauthorized personnel and/or civilians enter or are found to have entered SCP-5748s designated area, these personnel will be immediately placed under quarantine and designated as SCP-5748-1.
If said personnel does not show the effects of SCP-5748 in the established time frame, they will be released from quarantine and punished accordingly for violating Foundation protocols, with any civilians being given Class A amnestics before being removed from the site. If said individuals are found to exhibit the effects of SCP-5748, they are to be referred to as SCP-5748-1 indefinitely, and will remain in quarantine until the effects of SCP-5748 are confirmed to have ceased, following which the area where SCP-5748-1 was quarantined will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, with the remains of SCP-5748-1 cremated on site.
Description: SCP-5748 is an oak tree stump located within █████ ████, which is located in ███████, Canada. SCP-5748 is 1 meter (3 feet) in height and possesses a diameter of 14 inches (35.56 cm) with the sides being completely devoid of bark. SCP-5748 possesses no physical abnormalities aside from a small opening located in the center of the stump, which, due to the risk associated with with coming into contact with SCP-5748, will not be investigated for the foreseeable future.
If physical contact is made with SCP-5748, the individual, now designated as SCP-5748-1, will begin to go through escalating symptoms over a period of seven hours, during which SCP-5748-1 will retain all cognitive function throughout all infection stages, which will invariably lead to the death of SCP-5748-1. These symptoms are, in order of appearance:
- Excessive sweating
- Dry mouth
- Lethargy and Fatigue
- A rash similar to one caused by contact with Toxicodendron Radicans (Poison Ivy), which will quickly spread to fully encompass the entirety of SCP-5748-1s upper body, which includes the hair, teeth, and eyes, as well as all of the subjects innards.
- Following the above, all of the skin encompassed by the rash will begin to "flake" off, a process shown to be hastened by any amount of physical force, such as scratching oneself. This stage can last from anywhere up to 2 hours, after which 100% of the upper body of SCP-5748-1 will be reduced to a multitude of dead skin shavings, with the lower body being left intact.
Physical contact is the only known method through which these symptoms can be contacted, including contact with the dead skin that has "flaked" off of SCP-5748-1.
SCP-5748 was brought to the attention of the foundation following the disappearance of a local construction worker, whose remains were found next to SCP-5748 by a member of the foundation who was participating in the search party.
Interview Log-5748-1
Interviewed: Agent Jansen
Interviewer: Dr. Ghiray
Foreword: Agent Jansen, who was not assigned to SCP-5748, was allowed near it's containment area due to his familial ties to one of the personnel assigned to guard duty, where he would proceed to willingly scale the fencing around SCP-5748 before coming into physical contact with the object. Going into the interview, Agent Jansen is currently at the final stage of infection. Dr. Ghiray and Agent Jansen, now designated as SCP-5748-1, are separated via a panel of glass.
<Begin Log, 12:45 pm, EST>
Dr. Ghiray: Hello, my name is Dr. Ghiray, today I will be conducting an interview with you so that the foundation can better understand the effects of SCP-5748. Are you ready to begin?
Agent Jansen: [Vigorously scratching his left arm] Yeah, yeah, sure. Long as it gets this goddamn rash off me.
Dr. Ghiray: Very well, now, before we get to discussing the effects of SCP-5748, would you be willing to explain how you were able to come into contact with it?
Agent Jansen: Well, uh, I was just coming in for my shift, y'see.Dr. Ghiray: I see, and you are aware that you SCP-5748 is to be monitored in teams of two, yes?
Agent Jansen: [Jansen pauses briefly before continuing] No one ever, uh, told me that. Someone must have changed the, uh, containment procedures.
Dr. Ghiray: The containment proc- [Dr. Emerson stops himself before continuing] regardless of how you came into contact with SCP-5748, I need you to tell me if anything happened to you in the immediate aftermath of said contact.
Agent Jansen: [Vigorously scratching his arm as he speaks] I mean, nothing really happened right after I touched it, It just felt like a regular tree, y'know? The rash only started after, like, an hour I think. Ah, god damnit!
Dr. Ghiray: Is something the matter?
Agent Jansen: It's so [EXPLETIVE REDACTED] itchy! It's like the poison ivy from summer camp. This is [EXPLETIVE REDACTED]
Dr. Ghiray: Agent Jansen, I need you to calm down. Can you please tell me why you decided to touch SCP-5748?
Agent Jansen: [While scratching a large portion of his left tricep off] I, uh, I don't know what you mean.
(Dr. Ghiray and Agent Jansen would proceed to sit in silence for 23 seconds as Agent Jansen continues to scratch chunks of his skin off]
Agent Jansen: Ok, fine! I didn't know what it would do, so I decided to find out, there! Are you happy now?
Dr. Ghiray: So, your decision to make physical contact with the SCP was entirely your own?
Agent Jansen: Yes.
Dr. Ghiray: With the knowledge that doing so presented the possibility of injuries up to and including death occurring because of said action?
Agent Jansen: Yes.
Dr. Ghiray: You weren't manipulated in anyway by the SCP or either of the two researchers?
Agent Jansen: No.
Dr. Ghiray: Well, this is certainly… useful information, thank you Agent Jansen.
Agent Jansen: You're welcome Doc, and, while you're here, can you tell me when I'm gonna be getting out of here?Dr. Ghiray: Agent Jansen, I had assumed you were informed of th-
Agent Jansen: Yeah, yeah, they told me about that, but they didn't tell me when I'm getting out of here.
Dr. Ghiray: Wha- I-I'm not sure what you mean.
Agent Jansen: Doctor, all I'm asking is at what point in my recovery will I be allowed back on duty. It's not a hard question.
Dr. Ghiray: (after a moment of hesitation) Agent Jansen, I am trying to tell you, very clearly, that you are not going to be able to recover and return to duty. SCP-5748s effects have proven to be fatal in all cases.
Agent Jansen: Yeah, that's great, but I need you to tell me what my recovery period is gonna look like, because I really want to get back to work.
Dr. Ghiray: (Visibly agitated) Agent Jansen, I need you to realize that-
Agent Jansen: No, I need you to realize that I'm bored out of my mind in here, and want to know when I can get back to work.
Dr. Ghiray: AGENT JANSEN, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!
Agent Jansen: OK, BUT WHEN AM I GOING TO GET TO LEAVE THIS ROOM?!
(By this point, Dr. Ghiray has risen from his chair so as to aggressively pace around the room, muttering several inaudible statements while pulling at his hair. Agent Jansen observes this as he begins scratching his neck. After several minutes, Dr. Ghiray sits back down at his chair.)
Dr. Ghiray: Agent Jansen, I don't know who has informed you that you are going to be able to leave this room, but I must inform you that this will not happen. The effects of SCP-5748 have no cure, can not be mitigated, and will, without fail, cause the death of whoever is infected. Do you understand?
(Agent Jansen and Dr. Ghiray sit in silence for a brief period of time, before Agent Jansen begins to speak again)
Agent Jansen: (now scratching his jaw) Well then… now that you got that out of your system, can you please tell me when I can leave the room?
Dr. Ghiray: (Slams the table, startling Jansen) ARE YOU (EXPLETIVE REDACTED) STUPID?!
Agent Jansen: Hey, up yours man! I'm not stupid, I'm just asking a perfectly reasonable question and you're getting aggressive for no reason.
Dr. Ghiray: I have answered your question, multiple times already and yet you continue to ask it. That leaves two possibilities, one, that you are somehow not hearing me, which I doubt sincerely, and two, that you are (EXPLETIVE REDACTED) stupid.
Agent Jansen: Well newsflash mister science boy, both of those things are wrong. I make mistakes, sure, but I am not stu- (inarticulate groaning)
Dr. Ghiray: What's your problem now?
Agent Jansen: (EXPLETIVE REDACTED), my (EXPLETIVE REDACTED) tongue is itchy! Goddamnit!
Dr. Ghiray: Well, I suppose that means this interview has concluded. Goodbye Agent Jansen.
[As Dr. Ghiray leaves, Agent Jansen than proceeds to remove any clothing he had on his upper body in order to more thoroughly scratch himself, causing a multitude of dead skin flakes to fly off as he makes several incoherent shouts and groans.]<End Log, 1:00 pm EST>
Closing Statement: Agent Jansen would succumb to the effects of SCP-5748, following which the area where he was quarantined was disinfected and his remains cremated. The staff members who allowed Jansen to enter SCP-5748s containment area were promptly demoted to janitorial duty. Dr. Ghiray was formally reprimanded for unprofessional conduct, and has requested an extended leave of absence due to, in his words, a "splitting headache".
