Advertisement produced by subject affected by SCP-3276, removed from social media during containment.

Item #: SCP-3276

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Foundation web crawlers have been trained to detect and take down mentions of and advertisements for The Healing Company on social media websites. Posts made by personal or business accounts are to be tracked, and the poster, as well as their extended family and social circle, are to be investigated for instances of SCP-3276-1.

Upon finding a subject, or a group of subjects, affected by SCP-3276 and pregnant with SCP-3276-1, Foundation operatives are to cut off all access to communication between subjects and SCP-3276. Traditional amnestic techniques have been found to be harmful to pregnant and postpartum subjects1; instead, Foundation operatives are to form a support group under the cover of being fellow victims of multi-level-marketing schemes and offer civilian therapy techniques until SCP-3276's effects have mitigated such that subjects may make a conscious decision on SCP-3276-1. Survival rate for SCP-3276-1 subjects treated with this technique is upwards of 80% in the early months of pregnancy; however, survival rate rapidly worsens after the 8th month of pregnancy due to time constraints, lowering to 9% in subjects discovered at their 10th month of pregnancy.

Since SCP-3276-1 instances display no further anomalous properties after being birthed, subjects are allowed to keep the instance as they see fit. Cover stories regarding sexual encounters are to be disseminated across friends and relatives of the subject; in the case of pregnancy that would have been anatomically impossible without SCP-3276, friends and relatives of the subject are to be convinced to attend support group family meetings, then surreptitiously amnesticized.

Description: SCP-3276 is a multi-level marketing company by the name of The Healing Company. SCP-3276 sells a variety of ostensibly health-oriented products, many of which have little to no scientific evidence to support their claims of health benefits. Examples include bottled alkaline water, essential oil diffusers for aromatherapy, and meal replacement shakes with a variety of plant extracts.

SCP-3276's anomalous effect manifests within a variable amount of the subject's initial purchases of bulk product from The Healing Company, sometimes as early as their first purchase. Upon completion of the order, the subject becomes pregnant (the corresponding fetus is hereby dubbed SCP-3276-1). If the subject does not have a uterus, they will manifest a uterus-like organ which SCP-3276-1 will inhabit, receive sustenance through and grow in. SCP-3276-1 is an identical genetic clone of the subject. Pregnancy with SCP-3276-1 proceeds normally until the approximate date of birth, upon which point SCP-3276-1 will not undergo the process of natural childbirth at any point, regardless of whether or not the subject possesses the necessary anatomy.

As SCP-3276-1 continues to grow within the subject's body, it damages them according to the increase in SCP-3276-1's size and nutrition requirements. Death will occur if subject is left unattended for an extended period of time under the effects of SCP-3276; the most common cause of death is malnutrition. When confronted with proof of the pregnancy's anomalous length and negative effects upon their health, subjects will insist that it is a consequence of lack of a variety of pseudoscientific supplements. Subjects will then attempt to compensate this perceived issue by purchasing more product from SCP-3276, while continuing to market the virtues of said products and attempting to sell them as far as their condition will allow them to. If forced to undergo surgical childbirth or abortion, and/or upon being separated from SCP-3276 products, subjects become depressed and despondent to the point of lacking the energy to perform basic self-maintenance routines; this depression, though potentially lethal, has been found to be largely mitigated if the subject is allowed to make a decision regarding SCP-3276-1 upon being separated from SCP-3276 products for a lengthy period of time.

SCP-3276 spreads by both word-of-mouth and aggressive marketing campaigns on social media websites. This marketing contains no anomalous propagation properties, and primarily targets widowers, divorcees, spouses of military personnel and young women in the United States of America with an income averaging $12,500 a year. Attempts to communicate with the contact information provided in SCP-3276's advertisements have proven unfruitful, with all queries except explicit interest in becoming a contractor being summarily ignored. Interrogation with subjects of SCP-3276's effects have so far revealed that none of them have met an executive for The Healing Company in person, and all referrals, when provided, have only led to other subjects affected by SCP-3276.

Recovery Log 3276:

SCP-3276 was initially detected by Agent Rodríguez in March of 2015 in █████, Kansas, as it affected her acquaintances accrued during her deployment in a civilian cover. Initial containment was established under the belief that SCP-3276 propagated memetically.

Nine civilian subjects were found to be affected by SCP-3276-1, with pregnancy terms varying from eight to eleven months. All subjects' homes were in a state of varying disrepair due to most of their daily routine being comprised of self-maintenance through the utilization of products from The Healing Company. Subjects universally suffered from malnutrition, chronic fatigue, irritability and had become isolated from their friends and family. Subjects pregnant from nine months onward had difficulties moving and presented muscle mass atrophy from carrying pregnancy weight without satisfying the corresponding nutritional requirements; subject at eleven months of pregnancy was incapable of moving on her own, and presented a constant state of distress from the resulting lack of capability to self-apply The Healing Company products.

Civilians were treated with standard antimemetics and a series of cesarean surgeries; only two of the affected subjects survived the treatment. Agent Rodríguez was initially quarantined with the two survivors due to symptoms associated with isolation from SCP-3276, but was later released after it was determined that SCP-3276 lacks anomalous memetic capabilities.

Agent Rodríguez requested a short leave upon exiting quarantine, citing the loss of her civilian acquaintances to SCP-3276 as grounds for bereavement. Upon examination by on-site therapists, she was determined to be suffering from major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and was instead granted extended medical leave on the condition that she attend a weekly therapy session.

Footnotes

1. Variants on amnestic treatments currently pend authorization for research by a Foundation and civilian joint research team.