SCP-6449: I miss my cat :(

⚠️ Note: This article deals with pet death. ⚠️

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Item #: SCP-6449

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6449 is to be held in a standard humanoid containment cell. Drawing materials are to be provided once per day, upon request. Supervised free time around the Site is allowable with authorization from Head Researcher Ronald Annarumma.

Each copy of SCP-6449-A is to be stored in a separate envelope in a single Site-22 document storage locker, save for one instance, which is to be kept in SCP-6449's cell. This instance is to be changed a minimum of once per month to reduce wear.

Description: SCP-6449 is a male human, age 29 as of 01/01/1999, of German nationality. SCP-6449 is fluent in English, German and Italian. SCP-6449 is in all ways a baseline human being, save for the ability to produce SCP-6449-A.

SCP-6449-A-011

SCP-6449-A describes a collection of 2381 drawings of cats. Each cat depicted displays the same fur patterns. These drawings demonstrate rudimentary drawing skill and a limited understanding of color theory2, though individual instances display variation in both pose and scene, as well as slight improvements in ability over time.

Instances of SCP-6449-A will become animate while in the same room as SCP-64493. The legs, head, tail, eyes and mouth of the drawing will move similarly to those of real cats, though transposed to a 2-dimensional form. The paper on which the instance of SCP-6449-A is drawn will also animate, typically standing upright on one edge and moving via lengthwise undulations. SCP-6449-A do not produce sound, despite their mouths moving in a manner that simulates such attempts.

Testing has determined that SCP-6449 cannot produce animate drawings of anything but the cat depicted in SCP-6449-A.

Addendum: Interview 6449.04

Interviewed: SCP-6449

Interviewer: Dr. Lisa Kay Seni, Site-22 Parapsychologist

<Begin Log, 13:18>

Dr. Seni: I wanted to ask you today about the subject of your drawings. It is the same cat every time, correct?

SCP-6449: Ah, yes. Schatzi is [winces] Was my cat.

Dr. Seni: I see. I'm sorry for your loss.

SCP-6449: Thank you. His death, it [exhales] It still hurts. In the emotions, you know? I still miss him.

Dr. Seni: Would you be willing to tell me a little about him?

SCP-6449: [Pauses.] Yes, but [pause for 15 seconds] You must understand what life was like for me back then.

SCP-6449: I was still young, a child really, paying more attention to parties than university studies. Then I was told my father had died. We were not particularly close, but it was still a blow, as you can probably imagine. It also meant I inherited my family's Gutshaus4 in Westfalen. That was [waves hand in air] It was not the life I had wanted for myself. I went away to university to escape the path my family had determined for me, not to mention the political troubles of the time.

Dr. Seni: Understandable.

SCP-6449: I quickly learned I had been right to leave the landed life behind. That house, good God, it was so empty, my footsteps echoed when I walked the halls. Of course, the staff had been retained, but they had a [pause] Familiarity with my father that they lacked with me. Other than cleaning help, I had little desire to keep servants in the first place, so I urged the rest to seek new employment.

SCP-6449: Around this time, my scholarship dried up and I was unable to complete my studies, so I retired to my family's home to live a life of quiet indolence while I decided upon my next move. That was when Schatzi entered my life.

Dr. Seni: Why "Schatzi"?

SCP-6449: [laugh] I am not very good at naming cats, I suppose. But it fit. He was small, unassuming, pathetic really, but such a bright spark in the night when I needed one most [pauses for 20 seconds] Ah, you must forgive me, the memories are still strong.

Dr. Seni: Of course.

SCP-6449: At first, I told one of the servants to leave some food out. Winter was coming, and I did not like the thought of leaving a poor animal to starve in the cold. Soon, I started feeding him myself. I would sit outside to watch him eat and get him used to my presence. And eventually, I invited him inside, and that was it, really.

Dr. Seni: That was what, exactly?

SCP-6449: Destiny, I suppose. Ours, intertwined. There was no escaping the instantaneous bond we had made. Schatzi and I were inseparable. He was so friendly, so loving. To him, I was caregiver and affection provider. To me, he was company, to wait out the long, desolate winter.

SCP-6449: I apologize, I fear I am growing poetic. You'll want to know how the story ends, yes?

Dr. Seni: Yes, whatever you're comfortable telling me about for now.

[Lengthy pause]

SCP-6449: Feline leukemia. Two short years, and Schatzi was taken from me by a disease I could have prevented had I owned an automobile. We were out in the country, far away from the nearest veterinarian, and by the time I realized he was sick, I [sharp inhalation] It was too [pause]

SCP-6449: Have you ever lost a pet, doctor? A creature who wanders into your life and bonds to you, only to leave again in a painfully short time?

Dr. Seni: Ah, my family kept a lot of dogs when I was young. You, you never really get used to losing them.

SCP-6449: No, I suppose you do not. I [head lowers] The worst part [sobs]

Dr. Seni: We don't have to continue if you don't want

SCP-6449: No! Forgive me, but no. I need to tell this to someone. I need to confess that [clenches and relaxes hands three times] To watch Schatzi waste away to that virus, it was the worst feeling I have ever felt. He was in so much pain. He would look at me, and I could see it in his eyes, his wonder at why I would not make the pain go away.

[Sobbing]

SCP-6449: I failed him, doctor. I would have done anything for him, but I let my closest friend die, and I could do nothing to stop it, and he couldn't understand why [sobbing resumes]

Dr. Seni: That's enough. We're done for today. We're done.

<End Log>

Closing Statement: A request that SCP-6449 be allowed one copy of SCP-6449-A in its room when not undergoing testing was granted on a temporary basis by Dr. Annarumma. Due to the positive improvement of SCP-6449's mood and overall condition following this change, it was instated as a permanent addition to SCP-6449's containment procedures as of 08/03/1997.

Addendum: Video Log 6449.08 (07/11/1998)

[BEGIN LOG]

[00:00] SCP-6449 is seated at the desk in its containment chamber, engaged in sketching with a pencil on a drawing pad. SCP-6449-A-145, currently the designated in-chamber instance, lies flat and motionless atop the bed. Its upper surface can be seen slowly rising and falling.

[00:15] SCP-6449-A-145 rights itself via surface undulations. It slides on one edge toward the end of the bed before fluttering off onto the floor.

[00:18] After undulating across the floor, SCP-6449-A-145 runs into SCP-6449's right ankle and proceeds to tap its front edge against the subject's leg for two minutes before subject notices. Note, camera angle is not adequate to determine status of any other movements on the part of the instance.

[00:20] Smiling, SCP-6449 reaches down and lifts SCP-6449-A-145 gently by its dorsal edge and places it atop the desk. Subject spends the next three minutes rubbing a hand along the instance's dorsal edge and sometimes the upper surface of the paper. Instance occupies this time by rubbing itself against the subject's hand.

[00:25] SCP-6449 gathers a clean sheet of paper and resumes drawing, now seeming more focused than previously. SCP-6449-A-145 lays itself down on the upper edge of the desk. Activity continues in this manner for 15 minutes. Subject occasionally reaches out to stroke the upper surface of the instance.

[00:41] SCP-6449 stretches and leans back in its chair. Paper upends itself and begins normal SCP-6449-A behavior. Instance designated SCP-6449-A-238. Notably, SCP-6449-A-145 does not appear to react to this, though it is still animate. Subject presses a hand to its head and laughs.

[00:43] SCP-6449 wraps its arms around SCP-6449-A-238 and remains in this position for the next ten minutes. Instance is notably unharmed by being held so tightly, able to regain its shape afterward. Moisture present on the upper surface evaporates over the next 8 minutes.

[END LOG]

Addendum 23/06/1999: A request has been made to provide SCP-6449 with drawing classes to help improve its artistic ability. Approval currently pending.

Footnotes

1. As of 01/01/1999.

2. SCP-6449 has admitted in previous interviews that it is "not an artist."

3. As of this writing, only one instance of SCP-6449-A has been seen to animate at a time under these circumstances.

4. Manor house.