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| SCP-XXXX, seven months after Expedition 003; one manifestation of SCP-XXXX-1 circled in red |
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Item #: SCP-XXXX GONNA REWRITE THIS SHIT AND TURN IT INTO ANTS
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: A zone with radius of two (2) kilometers must be maintained surrounding SCP-XXXX; any roads or paths leading to the building are to be diverted or obstructed. The perimeter of this zone is to be guarded by a set of armed patrolmen. Those entering SCP-XXXX shall not be given body armor or weaponry. Any presence outside the building that is not confirmed to be a member of an expedition team is to be shot until dead.
As of Expedition 002, under no circumstances is anyone to be allowed entry into SCP-XXXX until all identified manifestations of SCP-XXXX-1 pertinent to the previous entrant have been destroyed, or until such time has elapsed that all manifestations can be expected to have starved to death.
The official report concerning Expedition 003 is to be accessed only by the original researchers and their superiors. All copies of the report have been destroyed.
Description: SCP-XXXX is an early 20th-century hotel and converted mansion located in ██████████, █████. As of Expedition 003, the eastern side of the building has sunk into the ground; it is still traversable, but additional safety precautions are necessary. From the outside, SCP-XXXX looks much as it did when it was first built; on the inside, however, the building is massively decrepit and looks like it has been abandoned since its creation. Many floorboards and ceilings are rotten or absent entirely, and various forms of damage [e.g.: burn marks, water damage, collapsed debris] cover much of the interior.
Entry of the hotel by a human results in the appearance of a number of humanoid beings throughout the building, resembling the subject and wearing and carrying anything the subject possesses with them on arrival. These manifestations [collectively labeled SCP-XXXX-1] typically vary from the original in a number of physical aspects.
Observed variations between subjects and counterparts include the following:
- Lack of body hair
- Patches of skin discoloration
- Variance in limb/digit length
- Disfigurement of the mouth
- Missing eyelid(s)
- Sealed eyelid(s)
- Sealed nostrils
- Perforations of various sizes in skin
- Elongated/deformed jaw structure
It is hypothesized that SCP-XXXX-1 is responsible for the decrepit state of the building, as individuals have been recorded upending furniture, tearing out floorboards, damaging pipes, and otherwise causing small-scale destruction. While their goal in doing this, if it exists, is unclear, three (3) manifestations to date have broken through doors and windows to the outside and exited the building through them.
All observed creatures labeled SCP-XXXX-1 have behaved in a similar manner. Individually, they act aggressively with or without provocation, attempting to damage objects and structures at random. Recordings demonstrate individuals expressing hostile tendencies toward seemingly arbitrary targets, most commonly parts of the mansion itself. They also demonstrate a marked increase in hostility once they locate the subject who enters SCP-XXXX (see Expedition Logs 001, 002, 004). This behavior, however, seems not to extend to each other; rather, they are predisposed to form large, coordinated groups upon encountering more of their kind. The largest observed group thus far contained ██ members and was responsible for the annihilation of the prior members of Task Force Tau-11 ("Youth Hostiles").
As a whole, SCP-XXXX-1 appears to exhibit a swarm intelligence akin to that typical of an ant colony. While it is yet unknown how they communicate, they have proven to be able to do so quickly and nonverbally. The prevailing theory is that something in their anatomy allows them to send and receive signals via pheromones; the fact that killing or wounding one, even out of the presence of others, attracts all within an estimated 12-meter radius directly toward the one injured serves as evidence in support of this hypothesis.
Addendum XXXX-01
As of Expedition 002, it has come to the Foundation's attention that an object located inside the building is most likely responsible for the creation of all observed instances of SCP-XXXX-1. The new primary objective of all efforts concerning the SCP is the identification, retrieval, and containment of said article.
Addendum XXXX-02
[DATA EXPUNGED]
No further exploration is to be conducted with weapons of any sort.
Addendum XXXX-03
Expedition 004 saw SCP-XXXX-1 cause only one immediate fatality among TF Tau-11. The rest of the task force was met with disfigurement similar to the injuries afflicting the facsimiles of themselves that the hotel produced. Video footage suggests that this change in behavior was deliberate and not the result of successful self-defense. ███ █████████, ████ █████, ██████ █████, and ███████ ████ succumbed to their injuries within a week of leaving the building; their eyelids [DATA EXPUNGED].
Expedition Log 001 (transcript of video)
R1: Dr. Brooks, head researcher assigned to SCP-XXXX
C1: Dr. Sillitoe, communications chair at Site ██ (sound only)
C2: ████ █████, former head, TF Tau-11, "Youth Hostiles" (deceased) (sound only)
C1: What are you doing? The front door not opening?
R1: It was either locked or stuck. The windows I've tried weren't working, either, and I'm hesitant to break any of them before I even get inside.
C1: Try the side entrance. Or the back, if that doesn't work.
R1: Understood.
(Dr. Brooks spends the next three minutes walking around to the side of the house, scanning his surroundings with his flashlight. When he arrives at the main western entrance, he pulls the handle and the door opens.)
R1: Looks like we're in luck. Think the place is air conditioned?
C2: Doubtful. It was built sometime around 1910. Air conditioning had been invented, but it wasn't common in buildings at that point.
R1: Can you process humor?
C2: Sorry, couldn't copy that. Please repeat.
R1: Didn't say a thing.
(R1 closes the door to SCP-XXXX behind him. As it clicks shut, the microphone either picks up or generates a high-pitched whistle that quickly fades.)
C1: Dr. Brooks, are you hearing that? What's that noise?
R1: What noise? All I'm hearing is my own footsteps in here.
C2: It's stopped. Disregard it and proceed.
R1: Understood, I guess.
(The beam of the flashlight lands on an assortment of dismantled and dilapidated pieces of furniture before alighting on a tattered portrait of a young woman. Much of the canvas has been shredded, but the missing parts are not seen to be anywhere near the picture.)
C1: Move in nearer to the painting, please. I want to see something.
(Shallow grooves are visible on the surface of the wall. They cover much of it, crossing each other in rows of three or four.)
R1: You seeing these scratches? They're all over the place in here, it looks like.
C1: They almost look like—
R1: (in a whisper) SHIT. (He rounds a corner and audibly presses his back to the wall.)
C2: What's wrong?
(The flashlight is suddenly extinguished. Dr. Brooks' breathing can be heard to increase in speed.)
C2: Dr. Brooks, what's happening?
R1: I don't think I'm alone in here.
C2: Why not? Did you see somebody else?
R1: Something like that.
(He slowly leans the camera around the corner. At the end of the long hallway is a beam of light, bobbing erratically and switching on and off at odd intervals. There is a faint sound of labored breathing, not coming from Dr. Brooks.)
R1: What should I do? Who could that possibly be? We've got armed guards outside, they couldn't have gotten in here within the past month—
C1: It is not recommended that you approach him. …It. Your current priority is now to evacuate the—
(The microphone can be heard being forced out of Dr. Sillitoe's grasp.)
C2: Disregard previous instruction. If what you saw is a part of the SCP, which we can suspect it is, you have a duty to investigate it. Stay at a safe distance and get it on video.
C1: █████, you have no right—
C2: Proceed, Doctor. It might just be some teenagers getting high or something, anyway.
(Dr. Brooks stands up and peeks into the other hallway again. The strange flashlight has disappeared, and the sound of breathing from seconds before has gone faint. Dr. Brooks takes a tentative step into the dark of the corridor.)
C2: We can't see anything.
(Dr. Brooks makes no indication of having heard.)
C2: Please turn on your flashlight.
(There is no response.)
C2: Dr. Brooks, turn on your flashlight.
(The light immediately lands on clean white fabric, causing the camera's contrast settings to obscure the video.)
R1: NO!
(Dr. Brooks starts to run, switching his light off.)
C1: What was that? What did you see?
R1: I don't… I don't…
C1: Why are you running? What are you running from? Answer me!
R1: It was me, I don't… it was me!
C2: What? What do you mean?
(Dr. Brooks trips over something in the dark, falling forward and dropping the video camera so that it points down the hall toward his unseen follower. Footsteps approach him from behind. He turns himself over, scrambling away on his back while facing whatever is pursuing him.)
R1: NO! NO, NO, NO!
C1: What's going on? Stand up! Get out of there! Can you move?
(A beam of light illuminates Dr. Brooks from the end of the hallway he has not reached. Another follows it, and then another; all three shake and flicker as more footfalls approach the camera. As the lights pass over him, they land upon a white shirt and a malformed hand before the face of Dr. Brooks comes into view. It is missing its eyelids, and its lips look to be fused shut and at a 45-degree angle. Regardless, Dr. Brooks can be heard screaming off-camera.)
C1: Doctor?
(Sounds of tearing begin from behind the camera. Dr. Brooks goes silent.)
