Xtoverus

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Samples of SCP-XXXX are to be stored in a Class III Biological Safety Cabinet, which must be located in a negative-pressure room equipped with an incinerator, to be used for the destruction of organic material exposed to the object, and UV-C lamps, to be used to prevent the spread of fungal material in the event of a breach. All experimentation on SCP-XXXX is to take place under Biosafety Level 4 protocols. Any organic matter brought into the experimentation room is to be incinerated within the room, regardless of whether it was knowingly exposed to SCP-XXXX. Under no circumstances is any organic material containing or displaying information of any kind (i.e. paper books, printed documents, sticky notes, etc.) to be brought into the room, save for for experimental purposes; such instances must be directly authorized by the Site Director and other relevant personnel with Level 4 security clearance or higher.

Instances of SCP-XXXX-A are to be contained within negative-pressure cells, constructed from mold-resistant materials. All such cells are to be climate controlled, with humidity maintained between 30% and 60%. Adjacent to the containment cell is to be a second negative-pressure room, similarly constructed from mold-resistant material, equipped with an incinerator and UV-C lamps. Any organic material brought into and later removed from the containment cell must be incinerated in this room, and, much like with samples of SCP-XXXX, no organic material containing or displaying information of any kind is to be brought into either room, save for a single book at any given time, to be selected from a pre-approved list. All other instances must be directly authorized by the Site Director and other relevant personnel with Level 4 security clearance or higher. All personnel who enter either the cell or the adjacent room must be wearing positive pressure protective suits, equipped with UV-filtering masksas well as goggles to prevent eye damage from the UV-C lights.

All personnel who interact with any instance of SCP-XXXX or SCP-XXXX-A must be tested for exposure to fungal matter immediately afterwards. In the event that a fungal infection is discovered, the infected personnel are to be immediately treated with anti-fungal medication in order to cure the infection, as well as rigorous amnestic treatments to eliminate any knowledge of the Foundation or its operations. In the event that anti-fungal treatments are unsuccessful, the infected personnel is to be terminated prior to becoming an instance of SCP-XXXX-A.

Description: SCP-XXXX is an unidentified species of mold most commonly found growing on materials with high cellulose content, especially on paper and paper product, but is able to grow on most other forms of organic matter if its preferred material is not available. SCP-XXXX has displayed a preference for growing on books, documents, and other organic material that contains written, or visual information; in experiments, growth was consistently far higher on such materials than on others, including identicalsimilar materials that did not contain any information. Furthermore, once sufficient growth has occurred on such a material to cause it to decompose, further introduction of SCP-XXXX to material containing the same information have shown far slower growth than on initial exposure. Such behavior suggests that SCP-XXXX is capable of some degree of sentience, and appears not only to be able to identify information, but to distinguish between new information and information that has already been encountered.

Inhalation of spores emitted by SCP-XXXX can result in systemic mycosis, with rates of infection much higher than those of non-anomalous species of mold. Initial exposure to spores of SCP-XXXX manifest as a typical reaction to inhaled allergensallergic reaction, with the infected individual suffering minor respiratory and sinus problems, as well as fits of coughing and sneezing. If not treated, the second stage of infection presents similarly to aas a similarly non-anomalous case of fungal meningitis, as spores begin to permeate the blood-brain barrier of the infected individual. This second stage of infection lasts approximately two weeks, during which the infected individual will experience headaches and fevers. A brief third stage of infection, lasting only a few days, occurs as SCP-XXXX begins to grow from spores located in the infected indvidual’s brain matter; during this stage of infection, the individual suffers from headache, fever, neck stiffness, confusion, altered consciousness, and the inability to tolerate light or sound. The rate of growth is highest in this stage. During any of the first three stages of infection, the systemic mycosis can be cured with standard anti-fungal medications and procedures, although likelihood of success is lower than for non-anomalous forms of mycosis.

If infection is allowed to progress past the third stage, growth of SCP-XXXX in the brain matter of the infected individual begins to significantly affect the behavior of said individual. At this stage, the individual begins to refuse and actively resist treatment; experimentation suggests that treatment with standard anti-fungal techniques at this stage is impossible regardless, but has yet to definitively conclude such. The infected individual will beginsimilarly begins attempting to infect other individuals with spores of SCP-XXXX, and like SCP-XXXX, will begin to attempt to access information, either through SCP-XXXX’s standard method of decomposing organic matter containing such information or through non-anomalous methods such as through the Internet, television, books, and newspapers. Curiously, growth of SCP-XXXX within instances of the infected individual drops off dramatically soon after the fourth stage of infection begins, and all symptoms of fungal meningitis, save for photophobia and the appearances of small fungal patches on the skin, appear to cease. Individuals in this stage of infection will from here on be labelledreferred to collectively as SCP-XXXX-A.

Examinations of instances of SCP-XXXX-A in Foundation custody, as well as documents seized along with SCP-XXXX and SCP-XXXX-A from the Soviet GRU-P, suggest that while instances of SCP-XXXX-A retain their former personality, they not longer identify as human for purposes other than evading discovery. Instances of SCP-XXXX-A appear to be fully capable of impersonating the previously infected individuals, and, outside of a compulsion to acquire new knowledge and to infect other organisms, act as though they were human beings. Of high concern to the Foundation is SCP-XXXX-A’s ability to access information acquired by any existing instances of SCP-XXXX-A and by SCP-XXXX. In tests in which SCP-XXXX was introduced to scraps of paper with randomly generated alphanumeric sequences, all instances of SCP-XXXX-A proved able to recite the exact sequences without error. The same proved true of sequences shown to some instances of SCP-XXXX-A but not to others. Given this information sharing ability, and the possibility that other instances of SCP-XXXX and SCP-XXXX-A exist outside of containment, it is of the utmost importance that neither SCP-XXXX nor SCP-XXXX-A is exposed to any information regarding the Foundation, its operations, its facilities, or its personnel.

For as of yet unspecified reasons, SCP-XXXX-A has insisted on communicating with Foundation personnel through only one of its instances at any given time; since ██/██/20██, its preferred instance has been SCP-XXXX-A-12, a caucasian male of _ origin approximately 12 years of age acquired following an SCP-XXXX outbreak on ██/██/20██ in █████, ████████, United States of America. SCP-XXXX-A has also requested that interviews be conducted primarily by Dr. Haswari, revealed by captured GRU-P documents to have been its primary researcher while in GRU-P custody; this request was approved by Site Director █████ ███████ on ██/██/20██ in the interest of ensuring SCP-XXXX-A’s cooperation.

At present, SCP-XXXX-A is known to be able to communicate in approximately twenty modern languages, as well as Vulgar and Classical Latin, Koine Greek, Aramaic, and two as of yet unidentified languages. SCP-XXXX-A has shown a preference for communicating through American English and Russian with Foundation staff, and through Lebanese Arabic in interviews.

Addendum XXXX-1: Translated documents referencing SCP-XXXX and SCP-XXXX-A, recovered from abandoned GRU-P base in ██████, ████████ Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. All redactions made after acquisition.

+ GRU-P Documentation

Addendum XXXX-3: Transcripts of interviews between SCP-XXXX-A and Foundation personnel, conducted at Site-██.

+ Interview Report XXXX-1
+ Interview Report XXXX-2