Item #: SCP-3488

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Foundation web-crawlers are to monitor the Internet for sightings or postings of large amounts of reptiles eating off of a singular plant. Once a sighting has been confirmed, Foundation personnel will be embedded in nearby institutions, and Foundation front companies will take over landscaping duties for the location. If an SCP-3488 instance becomes damaged, an appropriate cover story is to be dispersed to local officials and media outlets, and the instance is to be closely monitored by Foundation personnel under the guise of research/preservation teams.

A 10-kilometer perimeter has been established around SCP-3488-T and Provisional Site-43. Guards are to be stationed at equidistant points along this perimeter, and have orders to apprehend any persons not certified to access SCP-3488-T that attempt to cross into the excluded zone.

A small team of trained Foundation personnel are to be stationed within SCP-3488-V to monitor the condition of the SCP-3488 instances along the outer wall of SCP-3488-V. If SCP-3488-L appears, the team is to open fire on it immediately, call for reinforcements from Provisional Site-43, and send a Foundation-wide alert to activate the Nidhogg Protocol. At this point, all Foundation Sites are to perform correspondence checks on their internal databases, and immediately report any discrepancies found between those databases and the anomalies they contain.

Description: SCP-3488 refers to a phenomenon known to affect individuals of several plant species. Lining the vascular structure, and present to some degree in the sap itself, is a layer of myelin1. The plants show accelerated responses to environmental stimulus, and regenerative properties. Aside from this, the instances appear to be structurally and genetically within the limits of normal variation for a plant of corresponding species, and will belong to a species of plant native to the location in which they are found.

SCP-3488 affected plants appear most frequently in and surrounding areas of human civilization which contain large amounts of knowledge or information. Examples include libraries, universities, museums, government archives, and server farms. Samples taken, and local records, indicate that their age of these plants roughly correspond with the age of the information repository with which they are associated2.

A secondary anomalous effect of SCP-3488 is its ability to attract animals in class reptilia. Individuals of several species of reptile native to the area in which an SCP-3488 tree is located will co-habitate in and around said plant, which they will proceed to feed on exclusively, regardless of normal dietary requirements. Specimens of these reptiles have been captured and examined, and all have demonstrated the ability to produce digestive enzymes that allow them to consume SCP-3488 and continue to thrive.

Addendum 1: Notable Manifestation Log

Designation
Species
Location
Notes

SCP-3488-1
Cherry Blossom (Prunus serrulata)
████-██ Data Firm, Tokyo, Japan
The first instance of SCP-3488 found and documented. Instance had grown into the server farm within the establishment. A civilian set the outside portion of SCP-3488-1 on fire, which spread to the inside portion, causing a substantial amount of damage to the servers inside. SCP-3488-1 has since reduced in size significantly.

SCP-3488-6
Key Lime Tree (Citrus aurantifolia)
██████ Public Library, ███████, Florida
Instance has been contained, and disguised as an exhibit on unique inter-species interactions in nature.

SCP-3488-13
Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)
█████ University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Instance was contained and experimented on by professors in the Biology department of ██████ University before the Foundation was notified. Professors were offered Level-0 positions to continue research on SCP-3488. Those who refused were amnesticised and transferred to another institution.

SCP-3488-19
European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
█████ Conference Hall, █████, Switzerland
Instance had grown into the wall of Conference Room A, which was located on the outer edge of the building. Tree was removed without incident, structural repairs are still ongoing, and Cover Story 32-B ("Chemical Leak") was given to local media for dispersal.

SCP-3488-29
Tanzanian Baobab Tree (Adansonia digitata)
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Instance was found on the southern legal border of the Olduvai Gorge3. See Addendum 2 for more details.

Addendum 2: SCP-3488-T and Provisional Site-43

SCP-3488-T is the designation for an extremely large instance of SCP-3488, resembling a Tanzanian Baobab Tree, located in the geographical center of the Olduvai Gorge. SCP-3488-T is approximately 3 kilometers tall, with its most distal branches reaching 1.25 kilometers outwards, and roots extending nearly 5 kilometers outwards. Given the low amount of water and nutrients present within the Olduvai Gorge, it is unknown how SCP-3488-T has been able to survive.

A 10-kilometer perimeter has been set up around SCP-3488-T, and Provisional Site-43 has been established within. Provisional Site-43 is to research SCP-3488-T, and figure out how it managed to evade any form of detection through any means available. If possible, this effect is to be replicated and used in further Foundation operations.

Addendum 3: SCP-3488-V

Underneath the northernmost roots of SCP-3488-T is a roughly circular opening in the ground, and a tunnel running in the direction of the trunk, which leads into a cave approximately 10 meters below the surface. This cave extends approximately 4 kilometers before narrowing into another tunnel that slopes upward into another opening. The distance and direction of this system would place the opening approximately underneath the center of the trunk of SCP-3488-T, however past this opening is a large valley, designated SCP-3488-V, extending approximately 3 kilometers out from the opening in all directions, filled with a forest of SCP-3488 instances.

Through further examination, it has been concluded that each of the SCP-3488 instances in this forest is an exact copy of an existing instance of SCP-3488, including an identical reptile population. These SCP-3488 instances possess identical markings and "injuries" from being eaten by said reptiles, along with other identifying characteristics. The reptiles also share this quality, with each of them having an identical appearance and location relative to their outside counterparts. When a reptile is removed from a copy of an SCP-3488 instance, the corresponding reptile on the SCP-3488-V copy is likewise removed and vice versa. Biological testing on the SCP-3488-V copy of a reptile reveals no anomalous properties beyond the same ability to digest standard SCP-3488 instances.

Along the outer wall of SCP-3488-V are 43 large instances of SCP-3488 that do not have known counterparts; these 43 trees, designated S1-S43, are of varying species. These instances do not demonstrate a tendency to attract reptiles and seem to be in good condition. The singular exception, SCP-3488-S44, is a shriveled stump, with some evidence of regrowth in the form of large shoots. However, the majority of these large shoots have been torn off near the surface of the stump. Markings on the shoots and surrounding areas of the stump resemble bite marks, possibly from a large reptile. Despite the resemblance, no known reptiles have a large enough bite radius to create such marks. See Addendum 4.

Addendum 4: SCP-3488-L and High-Risk Site-21 Incident-███

At 12:21 AM local time on December 21, 20██, Foundation personnel stationed within SCP-3488-V noticed that SCP-3488-S44 had started to grow new shoots. Researchers went to investigate, but were deterred by an extremely large quadrupedal reptile (estimated to be about 250 meters long) that appeared from within the forest. Personnel did not notice the reptile approaching until it broke the forest cover. This reptile, designated SCP-3488-L, seems to possess moderate antimemetic properties. During debriefing, MTF personnel could not agree on a description, beyond that it appeared to be a quadrupedal lizard with a wound on its left foreleg, causing it to limp slightly.

SCP-3488-L made its way from the forest to SCP-3488-S44, seeming to avoid stepping on as many small SCP-3488 instances as possible. This slowed its travel time significantly, which allowed personnel stationed at Provisional Site-43 time to mobilize.

Once at SCP-3488-S44, SCP-3488-L gnawed at the growing shoots, seemingly trying to bite them off. Foundation personnel proceeded to fire at SCP-3488-L, driving it away from SCP-3488-S44. SCP-3488-L fell back for a moment, and then charged SCP-3488-S17, under which Foundation forces had deployed, forcing them to disperse. SCP-3488-L bit at a small limb of SCP-3488-17 and thrashed its head wildly, significantly damaging it, then retreated into the forest. Attempts to find SCP-3488-L have been unsuccessful.

At 12:45 AM, the damaged limb of SCP-3488-17 broke off of the tree and fell to the ground. This occurred at the exact same time as a large containment breach at High-Risk Site-21, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. Nearly all of Site-21’s Keter-class SCP objects breached containment, resulting in the destruction of nearly half of the site, and the deaths of 25% of its staff. The re-containment process took an extended period of time and resulted in several more casualties. Upon debriefing it was discovered that none of the staff on site retained any knowledge of several of the anomalies contained at the site, even those for which they were ostensibly responsible. The database was also found to be corrupted, with no record of several of the anomalies, and no physical records were able to be located.

Footnotes

1. Myelin is a substance made of lipids and proteins found in the nervous systems of animals. It forms an insulating layer around nerves allowing electrical impulses to transmit quickly and efficiently, and comprises the white matter of the brain.

2. The size and health of the plant also appear to correspond with the condition and standing of the associated information repository. See Notable Manifestations.

3. A large gorge near the northern Tanzanian border. It is theorized that the earliest known human-like species, Homo habilis, originally evolved and emigrated from this location approximately 1.9 million years ago.