Item #: SCP-C542
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-C542 is kept in an Oversized Humanoid Containment Cell at Site-37 with standard amenities. SCP-C542 may not be provided with any cutting, piercing, or writing implements except those authorized by its HMCL supervisor.
Staff may not interact with SCP-C542 except in groups of three or more; likewise, SCP-C542 may not be removed from its cell without the presence of a full security detail. Additionally, staff must take care not to engage with any statements made by SCP-C542 that are hypothetical, rhetorical, fictitious, or dishonest in nature. Staff who may have been affected by SCP-C542's mind-altering abilities will be subject to psychological evaluation and potential reassignment.
SCP-C542 has been granted enhanced library privileges (two books per week, without content restrictions) in exchange for assisting Site-37's surgical department in an advisory capacity. In addition, it is permitted access to a single desktop computer with read-only internet access, subject to established security and censorship protocols, in exchange for cooperation with medical research performed on itself. These privileges may be revoked in response to any misbehavior on SCP-C542's part.
Twice per month, SCP-C542 should be provided with 0.25 kilograms of tissue from a recently deceased cadaver from Site-37's morgue. SCP-C542 must submit a detailed plan of how it intends to use these materials, subject to approval from its HMCL supervisor, to receive the materials. During this time, SCP-C542 may be loaned tools needed to perform any necessary alterations and attachments. Current protocols dictate that SCP receive materials from feet and legs, though other limbs are permitted in the event of a shortage.
Description: SCP-C542 is a human of indeterminate age who has had numerous functional limbs and appendages grafted to its body at various points. Its most notable features are as follows:
- SCP-C542's arms, legs, hands, and feet are elongated by 80-120% and contain 1-3 extra joints each. Four additional hearts are located in its 'primary' elbows and knees, apparently to ensure consistent blood flow to SCP-C542's appendages.
- Three separate forearms, with associated hands, are attached to each of SCP-C542's distal elbows. Each of these hands has six fingers and two toes. SCP-C542 uses its three right hands for most tasks; its three left hands translate all of SCP-C542's vocalizations into written German, written English, and an idiosyncratic sign language.
- SCP-C542's tailbone terminates in a knee attached to an additional leg and foot, which extends 0.6 meters outwards. SCP-C542 prefers to rest on this limb, rather than on chairs or other furniture, except when sleeping.
- A cavity in SCP-C542's jaw tongue contains two nine-jointed fingers that can be extended from an opening under SCP-C542's tongue. These have been observed performing oral hygiene tasks, removing choking hazards, and assisting in surgical modifications to SCP-C542's jaw and neck.
- SCP-C542's middle toe on its right foot is extended with material from 398 other toes, totaling 3.6 meters in length. SCP-C542 uses this appendage primarily to interact with objects outside of its immediate vicinity, leaving it coiled tightly when not in use.
- 137 fingers are attached directly to SCP-C542's back. SCP-C542 cannot consciously control these fingers; they will move sporadically in response to physical stimuli (heat, contact, etc.) and heightened emotional states.
In total, SCP-C542's weight ranges between 275 and 325 kg, depending on its exact configuration of limbs. A detailed account of SCP-C542's anatomy is available in Appendix C.
SCP-C542 is a skilled surgeon, particularly with respect to itself — it is responsible for performing all of its own bodily alterations with little apparent difficulty. This is aided by SCP-C542's ability to slow or stop blood flow to different parts of its body at will, as well as its lack of a pain response.
When SCP-C542 is injured, cells near the wound will revert to pluripotent stem cells, which will quickly reproduce and differentiate into other cell types as necessary to heal it completely. If recently dead or severed human body parts are held in contact with tissue undergoing this process, SCP-C542's cells will invade the foreign tissue and incorporate that material into SCP-C542's body, making changes to SCP-C542's existing body as necessary. It generally takes 1-3 days for these cells to form all connections necessary (neural, vascular, muscular, etc.) to render the added tissues functional.
SCP-C542 experiences a compulsion to graft human limbs and appendages onto its body, and will invariably do so when provided with appropriate body parts. If SCP-C542 does not do so regularly, teratomas1 will begin to develop in its extremities, which must then be amputated. Generally, 5-10kg of tissue must be removed for each month that SCP-C542 goes without receiving new material.
Genetically, SCP-C542 is a chimera of at least 430 separate humans, with genetically distinct cells mixing freely. When SCP-C542 acquires new flesh, cells from it will diffuse through SCP-C542's body over the course of several years. SCP-C542's immune system, while normally functional, does not react negatively to the presence of foreign human tissues. It is believed that SCP-C542's ability to fully integrate foreign tissue contributes to its enhanced longevity.
SCP-C542 possesses highly elevated linguistic, social, and spatial intelligence; in particular, SCP-C542 is highly adept at tasks related to storytelling. SCP-C542 is fluent in Dutch, English, Frisian, German, Greek, Spanish, Welsh, and Yiddish, as well as the constructed languages Esperanto, Klingon, Láadan, Quenya, Sindarin, Volapük, and at least three languages devised by SCP-C542 itself.
SCP-C542 is capable of low-level hypnosis through collaborative storytelling — any person who works with SCP-C542 to create a fictional narrative, and is exposed to material produced by SCP-C542 in the process, is susceptible to this effect. This has been established to occur whether the collaboration is carried out in person or remotely; likewise, both synchronous and asynchronous collaborations are affected.
SCP-C542 can adjust the worldview of its collaborators by rendering a story's setting or characters in a manner slightly different than what the subject would consider 'realistic'. Subjects affected this way will view the changes as plausible and desirable, adjusting their own thought processes to match. While this effect is minor, it is cumulative, allowing SCP-C542 to shape a victim's perception of reality drastically over the course of an extended collaboration. The victim will remain unaware of how SCP-C542 is affecting them and are difficult to convince of the matter. Speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.) is much more effective than other genres, as SCP-C542 can use the fantastic setting to justify more dramatic deviations from reality.
SCP-C542 will routinely attempt to acquire new limbs by convincing its collaborators to amputate their own limbs or those of others. It will vary its exact method of doing so to suit its victims' pre-existing personality and beliefs, though it will usually induce delusions of a conspiratorial, religious, and/or medical nature.
History: SCP-C542 reports being born as a human male to a central European noble family sometime in the 1500s or 1600s; the exact time and location have not been determined. SCP-C542's written works, aliases, and collaborators all number in the hundreds; its 1987 autobiography, as well as the results of the Foundation's own investigation, are available upon request.
SCP-C542's most extensive collaboration in terms of volume was with horror and weird fiction author H. P. Lovecraft; the pair exchanged 3,718 letters over the course of eighteen years, focusing on matters of race, science, and literary technique. SCP-C542's contributions to Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" allowed it to convince Lovecraft and several of his contemporaries that their non-dominant hands posed an impediment to their writing abilities, thus inducing them to remove the offending appendages. SCP-C542 claims to still use Lovecraft's left hand to transcribe its speech into English.
SCP-C542's longest-lasting interpersonal relationship, ranging from 1933 to 1972, was with fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien. SCP-C542 and Tolkien's discussions typically focused on linguistics; in particular, SCP-C542 assisted Tolkien in the development of several constructed languages, including several that would later appear in Lord of the Rings. SCP-C542 claims that it made no effort to affect Tolkien's mind, describing their relationship as "strictly for the sake of mutual enlightenment".
SCP-C542 came to the Foundation's attention in 1976, following its involvement in the "Pepper Pike D&D Murders". SCP-C542 had become involved with four teenagers in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and convinced them to join it in a campaign of the recently-published Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game; the campaign lasted for eight months, with SCP-C542 as the group's "dungeon master".
Over time, SCP-C542 was able to convince its victims that their family members had been replaced by malicious homunculi which could only be destroyed through a particular Satanic ritual. SCP-C542 provided assistance in exchange for the limbs that would be amputated during the ritual. On August 23rd, the teenagers murdered nine of their close family members in a ritualistic fashion; the events received international media coverage due to their scale and gruesome nature. The actions of the victims were popularly attributed to an obsession with Dungeons & Dragons.
SCP-C542 successfully avoided scrutiny from media or law enforcement in the aftermath of the murders, but a Foundation-led inquiry was able to locate SCP-C542, which was contained without incident. While the Pepper Pike D&D Murders were successfully erased from the historical record and popular memory, many civilians continued to subconsciously associate Dungeons and Dragons with delusions and ritualistic murder, fueling unrelated controversies regarding the game.
In the thirty-two years since its containment, SCP-C542 has written seven novels and completed forty-one short stories in various genres of speculative fiction. These documents have been shown to have no anomalous properties, and have since been published under various aliases as an additional source of revenue for the Foundation.