An endoscopy picture showing ulceration in SCP-3690.

Item #: SCP-3690

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: 1 D-class host is to be maintained for SCP-3690's continued survival. Meals should consist primarily of liquid substitutions rather than solid food, due to the pain of attempting to digest solid food. While flares are not occuring, the host should be treated with 5-10mg of colchicine and 145-290mcg of linaclotide, depending on their weight. During flares, analgesia and NSAIDs should be added to the medication regime. When host requires administration of life support systems, suicide watch is to be implemented. 24-hour surveillance of the host is to be implemented following the events of 09/██02.

A population of Ixodes scapularis is to be kept on-site to implement efficient infection of a new host after the current one expires. Areas which the black-legged tick inhabits are to be monitored for unknown autoimmune conditions. Any parasites that are found in the wild are to be surgically removed and incinerated, and a cover story explaining the death of the host is to be disseminated to the next of kin. Due to the medical complications inherent in SCP-3690 infection, and the specific criteria for infection, infections are easily spotted and contained before they become pandemic.

Description: SCP-3690 is a parasitic organism that replaces the human large intestine. Outside of the human body, an instance of SCP-3690 most closely resembles a human large intestine, suffering from varying severity of inflammation. 13 pairs of prolegs on the underside of the body permit limited movement of the parasite, and allow it to attach itself to the inside of the coelum. Fleshy inclusions in the faux-intestinal lining occur at random intervals along the parasite's body, which serve to store excess host blood which the parasite absorbs. When these are full, SCP-3690 can survive for up to 6 months without a host before expiring from starvation. Surgical removal of the parasite is possible, but always fatal to the host. The human autoimmune system reacts unfavorably to the presence of SCP-3690, causing periodic flares, usually once every month. Additionally, T-cells attack the parasite itself, resulting in ulceration within the parasite. This autoimmune response damages SCP-3690's ability to replace the functions of the large intestine, and can even kill the parasite if not properly treated.

The primary symptoms of the active parasite are moderate to severe abdominal pain, ulcers in the small intestine, diarrhea mixed with blood and mucus, lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting1, weight loss, anemia2, and a mild fever measured at 38 to 39 °C. Occasionally, SCP-3690 will slightly change position within the body; this is not painful, but often causes distress in the host. These symptoms are continually present even outside of flares. With proper maintenance, hosts can survive for as long as healthy, non-anomalous humans, although the quality of life is greatly reduced. Colchicine treatment slightly improves these symptoms, along with suppressing attacks. The exact way in which colchicine suppresses flares is unclear, but the improvement of symptoms along with flare suppression markedly improves quality of life. Even with colchicine treatment, however, the quality of life will continue to worsen over time until they require constant medical attention. Even with proper maintenance, the host may spend several decades confined to the bed before they finally expire.

Flares develop over 2–4 hours and can last anywhere from 6 hours to 2 weeks. During a flare, the entire abdomen is affected with all signs of peritonitis, acute inflammation of the small intestine, and acute abdominal pain. Additionally, bowel movements are accompanied by painful abdominal cramping. Prolonged parasitic exposure causes flares to also induce pleuritis; pre-existing conditions can reduce the exposure time necessary for pleuritis to occur. The fleshy inclusions on SCP-3690 break the outer layer of its skin during flares, releasing the stored blood into the coelum. The purpose of this is unclear. These flares are by their nature self-limiting, but require analgesia and NSAIDs3 to treat the resulting symptoms. Left untreated, the chronic flares will cause the patient to weaken and expire over a long period of time as their joints and digestive system incur more damage than the body is capable of healing.

The parasite is transmitted through the observation of tick bites, specifically the bites of Ixodes scapularis, but only after an instance has fed on a host already infected with the parasite. Due to the relative inconspicuousness of tick bites when not affected by Lyme disease, SCP-3690 is often transmitted by a bite which displays the characteristics of Lyme disease. During the next REM sleep cycle, an instance of SCP-3690 will manifest in the coelum of the new host. It consumes the entirety of the large intestine, and attaches itself by its mouthparts to the ileocecal valve, where it feeds off of the host's blood while acting as a non-anomalous large intestine. It will continue to do so until the host expires. Once SCP-3690 can no longer feed, it will detach itself, exit the host through the digestive system, and attempt to locate a new host. However, due to the fact that SCP-3690 has no way to enter the coelum of a new host, it can only attach itself to the outside of the human body. After 36 hours outside of a host, or after the blood reserves have been depleted, SCP-3690 will vanish completely. It is unknown as to where SCP-3690 departs to, or where it manifests from upon infection.

The first instance of SCP-3690 was discovered in ██████,████████, after routine record-checking of the state hospitals uncovered a patient suffering from an unknown autoimmune condition. Medical scanning revealed the presence of SCP-3690, and the host was quarantined pending SCP designation. When the host's child began displaying similar symptoms, the entire family was brought into containment. Surgical intervention on the younger host proved unsuccessful, but provided new information about the parasite. The removed parasite survived for 6 months before finally vanishing. An analysis of the symptoms displayed by the host of SCP-3690 compared with lists of patients with unidentified autoimmune disorders revealed several other infectees, with a statistical imbalance towards doctors and families in areas where Lyme disease is common. Interviews revealed that the infectees had not necessarily been infected with Lyme themselves, but had observed the bite of someone who had.

Prolonged D-class testing was approved on 01/██/██97.

+ Host Interview 11/██/██01

- D-15756 Interview 11/██/██01

Interviewed: D-15756

Interviewer: Dr. Bradley

<Begin Log>

Dr. Bradley: On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain level, D-15756?

D-15756: Eleven.

Dr. Bradley: Please take this seriously, D-15756.

D-15756: I'm the one being murdered by my intestines. I hurt. I'm fucking tired of hurting. If this interview is going to convince you bastards to help us stop hurting, I'll take it as seriously as a death sentence. It's an eleven. Go on, write that down.

Dr. Bradley: If you continue to be hostile, we will move on to the next D-class.

D-15756: You want to know what this is like? You want to fucking know what this is like? It's hell. I throw up blood. I shit out blood. I think I bleed more than is in my actual fucking body! I-

[D-15756 begins retching]

Dr. Bradley: Please calm down, D-15756.

[D-15756 manages to get himself under control, and takes a deep breath]

D-15756: Fuck you. And fuck you for telling me to calm down. You don't get to fucking look down your nose and condescend at me because I dared to tell you that I'm in fucking pain all the time. You're not the one in pain all the time.

[D-15756 suppresses a sob]

Dr. Bradley: D-15656, please-

D-15756: You don't wallow in your own blood and shit and vomit until someone comes around to clean you up. You don't smell like the backside of a morgue. You don't look in the fucking mirror and barely recognize yourself because you're dying too slowly to actually die. You don't cry every time you have to get up to take a piss because your legs feel like they're from some porcelain fucking doll. You don't bawl your eyes out because you're shitting out blood, you've been shitting out clumps of blood and mucus and nothing else for years now, and you're going to keep shitting out blood and mucus in the most painful way possible until it fucking kills you.

[D-15756 begins shouting]

D-15756: You don't get pitied one moment and then treated like shit the next because how dare I be unable to do things when my fucking intestines are trying to fucking kill me! How dare I ever tell one of you fuckers that I hurt! How dare I-!

Dr. Bradley: I believe we're done here. Security! Please take this one away, and bring in the next host.

<End Log>

+ Research Program Log

- Research Program Log

01/██/██97: ██ D-class subjects infected by having them observe an infected tick bite.

06/██/██97: D-15756 attempts suicide. Containment procedures updated to include suicide prevention procedures.

07/██/██97: NSAIDS tested for their usage in reduction of pain and inflammation. This is the first successful medication regimen to alleviate some of the symptoms of SCP-3690 infection.

09/██/██97: Therapy sessions deemed ineffective in reducing suicide attempts or host distress. Therapy discontinued.

03/██/██98: D-14925 suffers from septic shock caused by prolonged inflammation of the small intestine trapping intestinal contents in close proximity to intestinal ulcers. SCP-3690 released a chemical similar in structure to vancomycin as soon as sepsis occurred. Septic shock was not prevented; however, the host did not expire. Hosts are now to be medicated with linaclotide to prevent sepsis during flares.

05/██/██98: D-16742, a vegan, expires due to malnutrition. It is discovered that SCP-3690 is less effective than a non-anomalous large intestine at properly absorbing the nutrients of vegetable proteins. Host diets altered to maximize parasite health.

04/██/██99: Multivitamin regimen started, due to poor nutrient absorption while recovering from flares. Liquid dietary replacements tested.

05/██/██99: Liquid dietary replacements discovered to be easier on SCP-3690 and hosts, but not currently able to replace a full diet. However, as the liquid replacements were less likely to induce vomiting or other gastrointestinal distress, they were cleared for use in combination with an increased multivitamin regimen.

11/██/██99: D-15756 attempts suicide by medication overdose. The SCP-3690 instance induces vomiting immediately. Careful testing reveals that ingested poisons are vomited back up again, or neutralized if vomiting cannot be induced. Testing on poisoning ended due to increased host distress. Suicide prevention protocols adjusted.

05/██/██00: All hosts permanently bedridden. Suicide prevention protocols adjusted.

07/██/██01: Suicide attempts prevented by current protocols breaks the triple-digits. D-15756 alone has made ██ attempts.

09/██/██02: D-15756 used eating utensils to commit murder-suicide of himself and the rest of the bedridden subjects in the 3690 containment area. Security increased and stricter suicide prevention protocols implemented. New hosts infected with SCP-3690.

11/██/██05: Colchicine treatment was discovered to increase quality of life in D-class subjects. Colchicine approved for use in the research program.

01/██/██15: It was determined that the excess of hosts was unnecessary to containment and research. D-class program downsized to 1 host, and excess parasites incinerated.

04/██/██17: D-18213, the host of the contained instance of SCP-3690 at that time, was found to have expired during the night. A post-mortem autopsy discovered that SCP-3690 was no longer in the host's digestive system, and that the cause of death was shock and internal bleeding caused by the sudden lack of a large intestine. A search of Site-██ was conducted, and after 18 hours, SCP-3690 was found in the crawlspace accessing the plumbing system, having gotten trapped in a roach motel during its escape. SCP-3690 was recovered and incinerated, and a new host infected. It is unclear at this time as to what motivated SCP-3690 to attempt to relocate itself.

Footnotes

1. To the point where long periods of time may go between the host consuming any substantial solid food.

2. Anemia induced by the parasite does not require blood transfusions unless other disorders are present.

3. Such as diclofenac.