Item #: SCP-4409

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-4409 is to be kept in a standard low-security residential containment chamber at Site-66. In addition to its rations (which are to be under 3000 calories a day and include foods high in vitamin C and low-fat dairy products), SCP-4409 is to receive daily medication for gout and metabolic syndrome.

SCP-4409 is to have access to both a cane and a walker with a built-in seat capable of supporting at least 140 kg to aid it in its movement about its containment wing. When transporting SCP-4409 outside of its containment wing, it is to be placed in a wheelchair, gurney, or similar device as SCP-4409 is unable to walk even moderate distances.

Description: SCP-4409 is an elderly, obese human male of African ancestry, exhibiting numerous elephantine traits. Most prominently, its nose and upper lip have been fused together and extended to a length of 30 cm, forming a semi-prehensile proboscis. This proboscis has had four ivory valves surgically installed on its upper portion, allowing SCP-4409 to produce music from it in a matter similar to a brass instrument.

Additionally, SCP-4409 possesses flappable ears over four times larger than average, modified upper canines that grow outwards in a manner similar to tusks, and a grey pallor to its skin. SCP-4409 suffers from gout, most notably in its lower extremities, that have become enlarged to the point of resembling the feet of an elephant. This greatly restricts SCP-4409's mobility and is a contributing factor in its obesity.

Recovery: SCP-4409 was originally recovered after it was arrested for panhandling in downtown St. Louis, USA, with the Foundation being made aware of its presence through standard monitoring of law enforcement agencies for potential anomalies. SCP-4409 was transferred to Site-66 and Class A amnestics were administered to all relevant parties.

Entry Interview for SCP-4409

Interviewer: Dr. Simon Crossley

<Begin Log>

Dr. Crossley: Good afternoon, SCP-4409, and welcome to Site-66. I'm Dr. Crossley, and I'll be conducting both your initial interview and medical exam. Let's see, my boss gave me a list of questions I'm supposed to ask you -

SCP-4409: Is the first one why do I look like an elephant?

Dr. Crossley: Ah, it's worded a bit more generically than that, but yes. How long has your anomaly been present? Since birth?

SCP-4409: No, I was born as normal as normal can be. This here was done to me, a long time ago. It's not something I relish contemplating, but if you need to hear it I suppose I don't have a choice.

Dr. Crossley: I'm all ears. (SCP-4409 glares at Dr. Crossley for several seconds) Ah, my apologies. I'm not supposed to antagonize you unnecessarily. Please, tell me what happened to you?

SCP-4409: Ever hear of Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting?

Dr. Crossley: I'm afraid I haven't.

SCP-4409: There are days I wish I'd never heard of it either. Fuller hired me as a labourer when I was still young and the Circus even younger. Despite all the weird exhibits Fuller had, life was pretty normal for me. That all changed when he heard of Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. He takes one good look at the photo in the newspaper and says 'Why, he barely looks like an elephant at all! I can do better than that!'.

Dr. Crossley: Pardon the interruption, but I would just like to clarify something. Are you implying this happened in the 1880's?

SCP-4409: I suppose I am.

Dr. Crossley: How old are you?

SCP-4409: That depends on what world you're counting from, I suppose, but either way I'm older than I have any right to be. One of many dubious gifts bestowed upon me by the illustrious Herman Fuller.

Dr. Crossley: That's interesting. I'm sorry, please continue.

SCP-4409: Fuller had a couple of his goons drag me into the Ringmaster's tent and strap me down to an operating table. I struggled and screamed as hard as I could, but it didn't matter. Fuller just smiled at me and said 'Don't worry my boy, I'm going to make you a star!'. Somehow, he was able to mould the flesh on my face like it was clay. Said something about it being an old family secret. He squeezed my lip and nose together and pulled them out into a foot-long trunk. Hurt like hell, though not as much as when he used the hand-drill to put these valves in my nose. He stretched my ears out too, and that didn't hurt too bad on its own, but it made 'em sharp enough that my own screaming made them bleed. To top it all off, he changed my skin from black to grey and declared me a success.

Dr. Crossley: That's - I mean, what about your other anomalies?

SCP-4409: I take it you mean my tusks and feet? Yeah, that was more gradual. The tusks just grew, and I kept putting on weight until I came down with the gout. Fuller not only mutilated me, he hobbled me, rendered me incapable of earning a living as anything other than a Freak, his Freak, all so that he could have an attraction that outshone Joseph Merrick. Spent the rest of my life in the Den of Freaks. I played music with my trunk, drew paintings with it, stuff like that. I've travelled all over the worlds, yet hardly ever saw anything outside the Circus.

Dr. Crossley: How did you escape?

SCP-4409: I didn't. They let me go. Seems like wishful thinking to say that Fuller's dead, but he's not running the Circus any more. His successors are determined to make the Circus a better place and said any of us that wanted to go was free to do so. Most stayed since they had nowhere else to go. I didn't have anywhere to go either, but I still left. Now, given the state of things I admit that may not have been the wisest decision, but I did it anyway. Because I could. After having to do what I was told for so long, I wanted to do something just because I could. They said the Essie P would nab me before long, and I didn't really doubt you would, but it was nice to have that brief period when I was free.

Dr. Crossley: Well, it sounds like you've had a rough and unusual life. I think you covered all my basic questions, so we can move onto the medical exam now. Have you ever seen a real doctor about your condition before?

SCP-4409: Does a quack who got his degree from a literal Clown College count?

Dr. Crossley: (chuckles) Only if that Clown College was accredited by a National Education Board of some kind.

SCP-4409: …Then yes.

<End Log>