UndeadHippo

3/XXXX LEVEL 3/XXXX

CLASSIFIED

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

First known photograph of a human-bred SCP-XXXX. Taken in the Brigham Caverns. July 18, 1917

Special Containment Procedures: Host instances are to be kept in standard containment cells. No fewer than three personnel are to be used when directly interacting with a human. If the host is not human, then personnel trained in handling dangerous animal life should be used. Drone instances should have six or more armed personnel used when handling them, doubled if they are born of any animal other than human. Queen hives should be detonated and collapsed in order to incapacitate it beneath the weight of the debris. Containment facilities should be two hundred kilometers on all axis both above and below the den's location. The site must house excavation equipment as well as explosive ordnances.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a species of anthropoidal organisms first discovered in the Northwestern area of Oregon. The species procreates through the secretion of a viscous substance resembling the color, flavor, and consistency of honey produced by bees. This substance carries within it the genetic sample of the species that once consumed by other animal life, impregnates it with a parasitic offspring, gestating within a living host over the course of three months. Their skin begins to yellow, their eyes expand in size, and a hard, dense, porous shell resembling a honeycomb begins to form over patches of the host's body. Concurrently, embryos of SCP-XXXX larvae grow as eggs resembling large pustules on the host's back. Once hatched, the host dies from a combination of blood loss and shock. The newborn instances of SCP-XXXX (hereby referred to as drones) then proceed to consume the remains of their former host for immediate sustenance before attempting to unite with other instances of its species found deep within a subterranean hive.

Early embryonic stages of SCP-XXXX

Drones bear physical traits which are a combination of constants found in all instances of the species as well as variable traits dictated by the species of their host. Traits found in all instances of drones include four arachnoid legs, a set of arms with pincers on both appendages, antennae, insectoid eyes, skin made entirely of the same honeycomb substance found in hosts, and a set of mandibles. Traits determined by the species of their host includes head shape, torso structure, a set of two legs and two arms resembling their host's, growing to one and a half the size of the host, having a strength nearly double of what is typical of their host's, and inheriting the same level of intelligence as is typical of the adult stages of the species. These drones are subservient to a queen of their species.

First thermal image of a queen.

No queen has been born within Foundation captivity. Queens reach a height of seventy meters, a width of thirty-eight meters, and weight of thirty-six metric tons. Their bodies are akin to a millipede, with an estimated two thousand, five hundred fifty-six legs. They have the same mandibles and eyes as drones. The queen regurgitates the genetic honey substance which creates more instances of SCP-XXXX. The age of these queens is estimated as being from the Paleogene period, possibly the Paleocene epoch. Queen hives are anomalous in nature, being unnaturally large, around two-hundred kilometers in all dimensional axis along with signs of other pre-existing anomalies (See L-3 for more details).

SCP-XXXX communicate via a combined consciousness, coordinating and sharing information in a way that makes them behave as one unit spread across a large area. Drones and queens assimilate other species, linking them to their network through the dispersal of an aerosol gas generated within pods on their backs.¹ When initially inhaled, the victim may show signs of free will, but after prolonged exposure will lose autonomy.² The more of this chemical that is within a creature's body, the more control over the individual and at greater range.³

Addendum:

+ L-1: First Contact

- Close

<Begin Log [June 4, 1917 7:38 pm]>
Interviewer:[So Mr. O'Malley, I've been informed that you encountered a rather harrowing sight. Some kind of "monster" I believe was what you told the sheriff?]
O'Malley: [Yes sir, it happened when I was out hunting in the woods out near Brigham. It's not a place I ever really hunted before. But I figured since it's kind of remote that maybe I'd have a better chance at finding something good out there. Buck maybe.]

Interviewer: [I'm not familiar with Brigham.]

O'Malley: [Not surprised. It's not on a lot of maps. None I've seen anyways. And they like it that way.]

Interviewer: [Oh? And why is that?]
O'Malley: [Because they're a cult. Got kicked out of the local Mormon church for being too weird for their liking. I'm not of the faith myself, but I have some in-laws that are. Nice, good, people. But the ones in Brigham, something's not right with them.]
Interviewer: [Have you met any of them?]
O'Malley: [A couple of years back. My wife and I were going to camp there. I guess we got too close to town and some locals hassled us. Told us to go back home or else they'd have to get their local constable out here to "re-instruct us". Now, what the hell does that mean? Weird looking to. All yellow, eyes glazed over, one of them was a hunchback.]
Interviewer: [Why go back to the woods then?]
O'Malley: [I didn't go nearly as far in this time and I kept off the beaten trail. Plus, last time I didn't have my gun with me. This time I did. If they wanted to start something, I'd be ready.]
Interviewer: [I see. Now about the creature. This report says that you encountered it around 6 AM and it appeared to be a deer?]

Brigham Woods

O'Malley: [I saw the outline of it in the distance. Big one. Antlers like you wouldn't believe. It was eating something. I got in closer so I could get a better shot. And that's when I saw what it was eating. Black bear, decent size as well. Had its guts torn and stretched everywhere other than where it should have been. And then I actually looked at the thing. It had these giant boils on its back and sides. About the size of like a cat or something. They twitched now and then. Had patches of its fur missing. Some of it had skin showing, but it was all yellow, sick. Never seen a deer have that before. And the other hairless spots had this weird, brown hard shell on it, little holes in them. Despite all that extra weight that thing had on him, he carried himself like it wasn't a problem. What kind of deer eats meat? Did it kill that bear? Why would it do that?]
Interviewer: [And you decided to fire at this deer?]
O'Malley: [I started to back away from it, quiet as I could. But it heard me and charged. Growled at me, bared its teeth like…like I don't even know what. I fired at it. The buckshot grazed the boils and it screeched. That slowed it down and I kept running until I got to the car. It caught up to me as I was starting the engine. Antlers got caught on my back bumper. I pressed against the pedal as hard as I could until I broke free, it ripped the bumper off. I went to the police as soon as I could. They acted like there was something wrong with me.]
Interviewer: [Well if it is any consolation, I believe you, Mr. O'Malley. I'll make sure it's taken care of, I assure you.]
O'Malley: [Was it sick? Is it contagious? Is that going to happen to me too?]
Interviewer: [I don't think so Mr. O'Malley. Your medical examination showed nothing out of the ordinary. It seems unlikely that the malady is airborne.]
O'Malley: [Wait, how did you get my medical information? I thought you just wanted to hear my testimony.]
Interviewer: [Goodbye Mr. O'Malley. Take care.]

<End Log>

Closing Statement: [Personnel managed to acquire SCP-XXXX-1 in the woods, as well as that of SCP-XXX-2, its mate prior to infection. Bodies of other wildlife with injuries specifically on their backs were found further in, just outside the town of Brigham. Upon further investigation, a number of occurrences were found to have been reported on which pointed to further suspicious activities. Shortly after the United States entered the war, three officers sent to enforce the draft went missing upon entering the village of Brigham. This, along with two more instances of SCP-XXXX being reported in the woods and even closer to the village, prompted the Foundation towards officially recognizing Brigham as an Area of Interest. ]

+ L-2: Infiltration

- Close

From the journal of Douglas Thompkins. Dr. Thompkins was a medical professional and field agent for the Foundation. Shortly after the discovery of SCP-XXXX, Thompkins was sent to study and report on the village of Brigham and find any connection between them and the incidents taking place within their neighboring forestry.

June 24, 1917:

It was fortunate my family had good standing and are fairly well known in the Mormon community. More fortunate was that these Brighamites were in desperate need of a doctor. Their former one passed away a little over half a year ago.

Odd that no one gave me a time to attend church services since today was a Sunday, but honestly I'm kind of dreading that anyways. I left the faith years ago and now I have to listen to a cult talk about it. Still, everyone in town is friendly to each other. The community seems to have welcomed me with open arms. They even gave me a pot of fresh honey that they produced themselves. Best I've ever had.

June 25

Good god. You should have seen the people I had in my clinic today. Christ.

While there were basic things I took a look at such as cuts, rashes, and some allergic rhinitis, there were by far more instances of what appears to be the preliminary stages of SCP-XXXX, as well as patients which seem to be almost as far along as that of SCP-XXXX-1 and 2.

It starts with the severe yellowing of the skin and eyes, akin to pronounced jaundice. Which of course leads me to believe that something in the food or water adversely affected the citizens' livers. But there were a few peculiar symptoms that I couldn't immediately identify. Patients complain of intense physical pain. I asked where the pain was and oddly enough, mostly their backs, but not where the primary organs I suspected of being at risk are located. There were pronounced lumps on many of the patients. I asked these patients to remove their coats so that I could have a better look, but all of them refused to do so. When asked why they would not do so, each of them replied:

"You're still a newcomer to Brigham. There are things you aren't yet ready to understand." Whatever the hell that means.

Patients with larger, more pronounced lumps adopted a posture resembling someone with kyphosis⁴. These patients had to have members of their family accompany them. They had difficulty speaking and maintaining focus as I attempted to converse with them. This is due to the intense pain. Their caretakers had to do most of the communicating.

These more pronounced sufferers also have developed a hard, porous substance on patches where their skin used to be. One patient had a significant portion of his lower calf peel off as I was examining him, to reveal more of this substance having grown underneath it. I acquired this sample, so when I return it can be properly analyzed.

The only issue these patients want treatment for is their pain. The rest of these conditions seem to be something they are willing to bear. I've no idea how this plague is contracted yet. I may need to be quarantined for the rest of my life if I come back. Damn it, why was I the one sent out here? I am glad that at least according to the report Adams gave me, the preliminary testing does not lead him to think this disease is spread by physical contact or through airborne means. I must be sure to disinfect my station as best I can to reduce the chances of fluid contact.

I tried to chip a piece of the porous substance off of a patient. The substance was too durable to be broken with such delicate tools. He spotted me doing this and knocked me flat with a speed and force I've seen only from the clinically insane and the anomalous. Thought I cracked a rib for a minute. The man's wife apologized profusely as she dragged her husband out of my home. She dropped by a few hours later with a peace offering of a sort, more honey, and freshly baked bread. Got to take the small victories where I can I suppose.

June 29

Saw one of my female patients out and about today. One in the pronounced stages. She was incapable of walking a straight line. All of a sudden she started screaming and the large masses on her back began to move violently. I tried to get the people to get her over to my place so I could treat her. I was ignored. It took five men to get a hold of her and throw her onto the cart. They took her off towards the caverns. Looking at the place where she stood, copious amounts of blood and pus splattered against the dirt road, presumably from those growths. There was also a substance I could not identify and could not get a sample of.

July 1

Attended church. Honestly, with what I've seen so far, a little faith did me a lot of good. It was a thrilling sermon. I found myself more active and ready to participate than I normally would. I may be agnostic, but it hit home in a way that I needed.

Oddly enough, not once did Pastor Roberts quote a specific book of the Bible, nor mention Brigham Young. I still don't have an answer as to why they broke from the Church. Roberts may not have quoted the word of God, but the spirit of God was certainly in him. If there is such a thing. These are good and simple people. They don't deserve whatever is happening to them. I'm more inclined to start believing in God again because with what I've seen here, the Devil is clearly at work, and we need all the help we can get.

Brigham Site. The official story is that there are dangerous levels of carbon monoxide within the surrounding area.

July 4

I miss the fireworks in the city. The people of Brigham do not celebrate Independence Day, believing that not even for one day should we put our country before God. Fair enough I suppose.

I've been seeing fewer and fewer of my patients. Do they think I'm blind? Or just stupid? Maybe they just know that there is no point in trying to treat this anymore? These people aren't getting better, so they are carted away to be abandoned and forgotten perhaps? When I feel capable, I'll take a look near the caves.

July 8

I'm infected. I don't know how it happened. The food probably. I can't eat anything other than meat. The taste of water makes me retch. In order to keep hydrated, I've resorted to putting honey in the water to make it palatable. My skin's turning yellow and I'm suffering intense pain in my back. No lumps or crust yet.

I should have done this earlier, but I sent the distress signal for you guys to extract me. I fear I'm already too late. If I am not alive by the time I'm found, burn this place to the ground. Take only what you need to try to find a cure for this and leave nothing left. Tell my wife and son I love them, and that I'm sorry. Sorry for not being around as much as I should have been, and sorry for, well…they'll understand. I hope.

I'm going to see what's in those caverns tonight. The best I can do now is document things as best I can. I have the gun you guys provided me.

July 9

I saw them in the caves. Whatever they are. The missing Brighamites, the ones too far gone, are taken to join the community of whatever the hell was down there. They must not have wanted me to see things yet, I had not earned their trust.

SCP-XXXX is not a disease. It's a goddamn parasite. It was that honey. Do not eat it. They burst from the host, as big as a cat or a small dog. It gets to a point where nearly three to five of them are across the hosts' bodies. The host appears to die instantaneously. The offspring then eat the former host.

I saw what they grow into as well. Horrible, awful things. I can't describe them. Not right now. My head is a mess. One of them found me.

It crept up on me, and something on it's back opened up and expelled this purple cloud. It has some disorienting effect. A mix of inebriation and cannabinoid in feeling. If there are any other adverse effects to the haze, I'll know soon enough. It's in my lungs now, no avoiding it. I managed to get away from it. I don't think any more of them saw me. I don't think any Brighamites saw me either.

I'm sending a new distress signal, one to warn you guys that you are in need of some masks and even more guns. I'm going to try to reach the safe point so I can hide and camp out until backup arrives. Fuck you Adams.

During Field Researcher Thompkins' time away, SCP-XXXX-1 and 2's (Later designated as SCP-XXXX-H-1 and 2 respectively) true nature was discovered. This resulted in Dr. Thompkins transition into becoming XXXX-H-3. Had Dr. Nicolas Adams, the former head researcher observed and followed the mandatory waiting and observation period, this would have been avoided. Dr. Adams was removed from his position and prosecuted for ignoring procedure, endangering personnel, manslaughter, and several minor but equally criminally incompetent behavior and activity. Dr. Bernard Sanders took over in Dr. Adams' stead.

+ Host Symptoms Over Three Months

- Close

SCP-XXXX-H-3	The subject is Douglas Wilbur Thompkins, former field agent and medical doctor tasked with examining the village of Brigham Oregon for signs of anomalous activity. During his infiltration, Dr. Thompkins was implanted with SCP-XXXX (for more information, see L-2). Dr. Thompkins became the first human subject hosting SCP-XXXX to be observed. The subject has not been compliant with personnel, becoming violent when approached. Three D Class personnel are required to subdue Thompkins for sedation. The subject has no interest in communicating with his former peers and has no interest in regards to his wife and son, despite never showing signs of animosity until now.
Month One
Week 1	Host's skin begins to yellow, giving the false impression of liver failure which resembles severe jaundice.
Week 2	Eyes begin to enlarge as well as general, mild back pain. Subject is incapable of eating anything other than raw to rare meat and can only drink sugar water to keep hydrated.
Week 3	Back pain intensifies. Skin begins to itch, flake, and peel off.
Week 4	Lumps begin to form on the subject's back. The skin the subject has shed has not grown back. Instead, brown scaley patches have started to form over the areas. Porous in nature, but as dense as human bone.

Month Two
Week 1	Lumps have turned to boils. Boils occasionally pulsate. Eyes have enlarged to the point of occasionally popping of cappilaries. Scaled patches are beginning to appear hexagonal, akin to a honeycomb. Larger hexagons on the subject's back surround the boils.
Week 2	Embryos are beginning to form within the pustules. Personnel was tasked with obtaining a fluid sample from one of the boils. The subject became even more hostile than is typical of him. Subject began screaming that he could hear the embryos talking to him. In the subject's words, they spoke in a "musical humming". The subject had to be given twice the recommended dosage of sedative before becoming incapacitated. The fluid sample indicated that the boils were made of pus, blood, and an amniotic fluid with the consistency of honey.
Week 3	The scales have spread to thirty-percent of the subject's body. Eyes have begun to protrude at an even faster rate. It is likely that by next month that the eyes will risk damage to the eye sockets themselves.
Week 4	The embryos show signs of humanoid characteristics, as well as that of certain anthropoidal life. Multiple appendages including pincers are apparent. These embryonic sacs have grown to the height of twelve centimeters and width of twenty-two centimeters.

Month Three
Week 1	Hypothesis has proven correct, eyes have protruded to a size that is causing damage to the sockets. This along with several factors, has made the subject nearly blind. Subject has stated that he sees visions provided to him by SCP-XXXX. It is unclear if this is coming from the larvae developing on his person, a different instance of SCP-XXXX, or if they are merely delusions. The subject's descriptions are largely contradictory and incoherent.
Week 2	Subject is under so much pain that he can no longer communicate. The growths on his back are of a size nearly twice that of last month's.
Week 3	The subject's larvae should hatch any day now. Containment cells have been prepared for their arrival.
Week 4	Subject XXXX-H-3 is now deceased. The newborns hatched, all three of them. They averaged to a size of twenty-four centimeters in height and forty-five centimeters in length and weigh three-point six kilograms. The host died immediately after the newborns hatched, from blood loss and shock. The amount of blood generated by the subject during this entire process was seven and a quarter times more than the average human being of his age, size, and weight. The newborns immediately attempted to eat the subject's corpse and had to be forcibly removed by personnel.

+ L-3: First Containment

- Close

Interviewed: [Lieutenant James Collins]

Interviewer: [Doctor Bernard Sanders]

<Begin Log, [July 20,1917]>

Sanders: [The number of casualties of MTF forces along with the citizens of Brigham is of a scale above either estimated or acceptable levels. That, in addition to not following the specified containment procedure as given, has led many in the Foundation cause for concern. Mr. Collins, I need you to tell me exactly what happened in those caves. Leave nothing out. Is this understood Mr. Collins?]

Collins: [Yes sir.]

Sanders: [When you entered the caves was First Lieutenant Phillips still alive?]

Collins: [Yes sir. We arrived with thirty-eight of forty men. Two from our unit were killed during our time in the village. After helping Zeta-5 with securing Brigham, we proceeded to rendezvous with Sigma-9 and Eta-3 in the caves.]

Sanders: [Were there any surviving Sigma and Eta members by the time you entered?]

Collins: [Yes. We met up with the remaining members of Sigma and Eta.]

Sanders: [They suffered casualties from SCP-XXXX within the caves?]

Collins: [Methane. One shot in that little pocket ended up blowing that corner of the cave and crushed them.]

Sanders: [I see. Please continue.]

Collins: [That meant that we couldn’t use our guns in the actual tunnels, not safely anyway. It was a disadvantage, but Phillips felt that we had the upper hand in actual combat prowess. He reasoned that if the villagers came down on us than that’d mean they couldn’t use guns either. And if they had guns out and began to fire, that would mean it would be safe for us to do so as well. Due to the personnel Sigma and Eta lost, Phillips was now in charge.]

Sanders: [How many were left?]

Collins: [Counting us, ninety-eight.]

Brigham Caverns, 1917.

Sanders: [Continue.]

Collins: [We pressed on. We started finding more evidence of life as we went further. Wheelbarrows, barrels, crates, lanterns. As we traveled, there were less and less visible stone formations in the cave. It looked more like the shells that were growing over SCP-XXXX-1. Occasionally in-between these surfaces, large and strangely curved whitish pillars were starting to show up. The frequency of these objects was almost routine, evenly spaced between each other. It had a slight yellowed tinge to it, but it wasn't limestone or anything like that. They were too smooth, consistent, and perfectly formed.Signposts were finally being put up, pointing to which ways were safe, which were dangerous, and what the danger was.]
Sanders: [Did anyone take samples?]

Collins: [We weren’t really equipped for an impromptu archaeology expedition. We were sent to contain the threat, not to study it.]

Sanders: [Proceed.]

Collins: [The halls finally started to widen out. We stopped for a headcount. We were short six men. Nobody yelled for help to signal that they were lost. That’s when we noticed drops of blood on Phillips’ shoulder. We looked behind him and aimed our lights upwards. The ceiling was twitching, moving. Crawling. There were small glints of something black and smooth in-between. Eyes. But not like ours. Something…]

Sanders: [Something not human?]
Collins: [They screamed at us. They lifted Phillips up and just…tore him apart, one of these things, these creatures held him in place while another grabbed and pulled at his arms until he was split in half. More of them started picking some of the others off and began eating them. I knew I was the next senior officer, so I yelled at the top of my lungs to run on ahead into the wider space so we had a better chance to fight them. There was a light ahead of us. I wasn’t really thinking, I just felt that we had to reach that light. Light at the end of the tunnel I guess?]

Sanders: [What happened when you reached this light?]

Collins: [The place was massive. It had to have gone for miles and I could not see the ceiling. The Brighamites, the ones not left behind in the village were in this large canyon. The pillars from before, they were bones. And the ones in here were at least half as tall as the cave itself. Infected creatures were everywhere. They had boils on their backs that started bursting and miniature versions of whatever was on the ceiling hatched out, they started eating the people they came out of. There were even more of the bigger ones. There had to be thousands of them. And then, then there was something else.]
Sanders: [What? What did you see?]

Collins: [I don’t know what I saw. All I know is that it was big. Seventy-five, seventy-eight kilometers maybe? A lot of it was resting on its stomach. It had the same eyes as the smaller ones and the same mandibles on its mouth. But it didn’t have the top arms of a man or anything like what a lot of the smaller ones had. It was more like, I don’t know, worm-like? Like a caterpillar? It moved by slithering around, but it had thousands of legs and the same sets of claws the smaller ones had. We fired at it, threw explosives at it. No real signs of it doing any good. All of these creatures, including the big one opened up some kind of bulb on their backs and the air was covered in a cloud of violet haze. Our respiratory masks I think stopped whatever it was supposed to do from happening. I saw it’s shadow coming towards us and people started getting plucked away.]
Sanders: [What happened next?]

Collins:[I had everyone retreat. Didn’t know where we were running to. Anywhere but here right? And that’s where I saw it. Gunpowder, dynamite, explosives. Maybe left behind by some miners? Maybe the Brighamites were planning an attack or an invasion? But I had some men grab wheelbarrows full of the stuff and poked a hole in the bags of gunpowder. As we kept running, we pushed them down a tunnel that had a gas warning sign over it. Then I ordered our men to fire at the trail we left behind. The whole damn cave shook. I don’t know what kind of gas or whatever else was down those tunnels, but it shouldn’t have blown like that. Not that much. The force of the blast pushed a lot of us forward and rocks started falling, crushing some of our own. We kept moving until we found an exit on the other side. There were only twelve of us left that made it out of there. I urged the commanding officers of Alpha and Zeta to send some men away from securing the perimeter and to set explosives near the tunnel where Sigma and Eta first found that gas leak. I did what I felt would keep us safest at the time. I couldn’t risk any of those things coming out. You didn’t see how many of them there were.]
<End Log>

Closing Statement: [The investigation team has finished assessing the situation. Lieutenant Collins' story appears to be corroborated with the remaining evidence. Given the size of the canyon he mentioned, it was quite simple to locate. Given what else they found, I highly advise in raising the priority for the construction of SCP-XXXX-Q's containment facility. The debris on top of it has apparently been shaking from time to time. It appears that the honey-substance is still leaking through the rubble.- Dr. Bernard Sanders]

Footnotes

+Photo credits

SCP Sandbox III

Sandbox III: Revenge of the Sandbox

3/XXXX LEVEL 3/XXXX

CLASSIFIED

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid