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| One of fourteen individuals comprising SCP-410 |
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Item #: SCP-410
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-410 is currently held at Site 19, maintained in a 1 x 1 x 1m transparent acrylic glass container in the office of the Archives Manager. The top of the container is perforated with thirty-three (33) 1mm holes to allow for ventilation and features a small, hinged, lockable hatch in its center measuring 5 x 5 cm. The hatch utilizes a simple cylinder lock which is to be re-keyed every three (3) months, with the sole key held by the Archives Manager of Site 19. The hatch is to remain locked unless SCP-410 is actively being fed or constituent members of SCP-410 are being removed for/returned from research applications.
Every four (4) hours, a visual inspection and inventory of SCP-410 and its constituent members is to be performed and logged according to Level IV SCP Archival Standards by designated observational staff. Any increase or decrease in the number of constituent members of SCP-410 should be reported to the Archives Manager immediately.
Every twelve (12) hours, a document containing no fewer than five thousand (5000) words in any language, but possessing a minimum syntactical, orthographical and/or grammatical error ratio of 1% (50 errors/5000 words) is to be placed inside the container. The document should be removed after one (1) hour, reviewed by a staff linguist with a specialty in the language the document was composed in, and subsequently filed in the SCP-410 Feeding Archive. "Food" documents should be composed specifically for the purpose of sustaining the SCP-410 colony. No existing archival materials or official SCP records should be given to the entire SCP-410 colony under any circumstances.
A single individual from the 14-member colony that comprises SCP-410 may be removed for research and functional application for a single two (2) hour activity period daily with approval from the Archives Manager. No more than four (4) members of the colony are to be removed at any given time. Transport of a single SCP-410 colony member should be facilitated by no fewer than two (2) Class 2 archival staff using only an approved SCP-410 transport module to do so. The current SCP-410 transport modules are 20 x 20 x 20cm transparent acrylic glass containers perforated with twelve (12) 1mm ventilation holes and each featuring a hinged lid equipped with a simple latch.
Description: SCP-410 is a colony of fourteen (14) individual beetles (designated Scarabaeus scriptor by staff coleopterist Dr. ██████ ), each measuring approximately 5cm and possessing a carapace color variation from light blue to deep emerald green. A visual examination reveals nothing distinctive from other members of the genus Scarabaeus with regards to their appearance (number of legs, wings, eyes, etc). Dissection of a single member of the colony by a trained coleopterist showed no discernible anomalies in internal morphology with the exception of a small additional organ (designated the "scriptorgan" by Dr. ██████ ) capable of producing a variety of fluids both caustic and inert. It is worth noting that following the death and dissection of this member of the colony, a "replacement" beetle larvae was seen fourteen (14) days later and grew to full maturity within one month.
Members of SCP-410 appear to subsist entirely on inscribed language; more specifically, on syntactical, orthographical, and grammatical errors found in any form of writing physically inscribed on any surface by any currently available method. SCP-410 has no effect on electronic displays or digitized data. Consumed writing actually disappears from the surface of whatever material it has been inscribed upon. Between eighteen (18) and twenty-two (22) minutes following a feeding, SCP-410 will excrete "corrected" writing; inscribing it by unknown means back upon the surface from which the errors were consumed. To date, all corrections made by SCP-410 have been evaluated as 100% accurate by both staff and independent orthographers and linguists.
Individually, members of SCP-410 each seem to be able to consume and correct an approximate maximum of twenty-five thousand (25000) characters worth of errors daily and appear healthy and active with as few as five (5). Lack of sustenance for a period in excess of one day results in increasing lethargy until SCP-410 becomes completely inert, entering an apparent state of hibernation. SCP-410 can be roused from this state with a minimum of fifty (50) errors placed within its proximity. In groups of three (3) or more, SCP-410 will not only correct grammatical and orthographic errors, but begin to alter the style of the original text slightly; often using a somewhat expanded vocabulary and incorporating more complex narrative methods. When the entire colony is applied to a single document, all linguistic errors are corrected and the document is "perfected" in clarity, style, word choice, and rhetorical technique to such an extent that the original author's voice is nearly non-existent. Although the central thesis of a document always remains, the arguments supporting it may be vastly more complex or compelling in the case of research writing. In the case of basic lists of short statements or simple observational reports, enhanced correction may be in the form of layout alterations to provide greater clarity. See archival files 410-A44.2 through 410-A59888.6 for examples of editing.
There appear to be few limitations on the languages or materials that SCP-410 can interpret and harvest sustenance from. Hieroglyphs from the 31st century BCE Narmer Palette were successfully corrected by SCP-410 just as easily as errors created in the modern constructed language Esperanto. Excreted corrections match the original colors, method and medium of the errors with near-perfect accuracy. Graphites, inks, engravings, acid etchings, and high-energy laser inscriptions have all been successfully replicated in appearance by SCP-410's corrections. The only anomaly found within excreted corrections appears to be an inability to replicate aged materials. Errors inscribed in ink on a 14th century CE illuminated manuscript were ingested by SCP-410 and while corrections were excreted in a matching color, they possessed the vibrant intensity of new ink. Staff experts were easily able to spot the corrections in the manuscript visually, and spectrographic analysis confirmed the excreted inks were modern while the surrounding text dated from the time of the original manuscript.
SCP-410 has successfully harvested error sustenance from and excreted corrections onto the following materials:
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Wood
- Ice
- Human Skin (see Experiment 410-7.9)
- Granite
- Limestone
- Marble
- Steel
- Aluminum
- Titanium
- Beta Carbon Nitride
Discovery:
SCP research staff utilizing resources at Alexandria University and conducting an investigation into anomalous reptilian phenomenon (see SCP Archives document HR-99873, the "Snake Charmer Hoax") discovered SCP-410 when conferring with a faculty member at the university's Institute of Graduate Studies and Research. SCP-410 was, at that time, contained in an ornately carved wooden box featuring the likeness of the Egyptian scribe god Thoth on the faculty member's desk. During a meeting between the box's owner, Dr. ████████████, and SCP personnel, a graduate student (debriefed, acquired for Archives staff 9/9/█) entered the office unannounced and ran directly for the box. The student apologized, saying "I know you're busy, Professor, but this grant is due in 45 minutes. I need to use them." The student proceeded to place a several pages-long document into the box and shut the lid. The student apologized again and quickly left the room. SCP staff immediately began inquiring about the box and made movements towards opening it. Dr. ████████████ became verbally and then physically violent in his opposition to the box's scrutiny and eventually had to be subdued and detained by the SCP staff. SCP-410 was acquired and shipped immediately for review and classification.
Experiment 410-7.9:
One (1) heavily-tattooed Class D staff member from Site 19 exposed to one (1) constituent member of SCP-410. Class D staff member (hereafter "Subject D") possessed a prison-created tattoo with the words "Foerever Your's Babey" on her left forearm.
15 seconds: SCP-410 removed from transport unit and placed on Subject D's left arm. Subject D resists contact with SCP-410, shouting various obscenities and "I didn't sign up for no bugs, you bastards!"
49 seconds: Subject D strapped into motion-restricting harness, hooked up to a pulse rate monitor. SCP-410 begins walking around the perimeter of the tattoo.
122 seconds: SCP-410 begins consuming the tattoo's error, beginning with the first extraneous "e" in "Foerever". Subject D begins screaming. Pulse rate 106.
149 seconds: SCP-410 finishes consuming the first extraneous "e". It no longer appears on the subject, revealing a bare patch of slightly reddened skin. Subject D reports pain has ceased. Describes the pain "like putting my goddamn arm in a blender." Pulse rate 94.
224 seconds: SCP-410 finishes consuming errors in the tattoo, appears to fall asleep. Tattoo now reads "Fo ever Your Bab " Subject D experienced pulse rate fluctuations between 102 and 144. Reports intense pain throughout the experience. Subject D requests painkillers. Request denied.
1226 seconds: SCP-410 rouses, begins excretion/correction process. Subject D's pulse rate 113; reports moderate pain akin to being tattooed.
1494 seconds: SCP-410 completes excretion/correction process. Tattoo reads "Forever Yours, Baby", with corrected lettering's colors significantly more vibrant than unedited counterparts.
1669 seconds: Subject D removed from harness, monitoring equipment to examine tattoo, attempts to crush SCP-410. Subject D subdued by security.
