Item #: SCP-217

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Containment area is to be kept behind two reverse-pressure airlocks. Chemical shower sterilization, full contained-atmosphere haz-mat suits, and 24-hour post-interaction quarantine and testing are mandatory for all personnel entering containment area. Should containment be breached, the blast door for the containment and research area will seal, and chemical agent ZEER-217-11 will be pumped into the air.

Any humans exposed to SCP-217 are to be contained and held for observation. Any items touched by those affected by SCP-217 must be sterilized.

Description: SCP-217 is a virus, incurable by current means, with a rate of infectivity at 100%. It affects all organisms in the kingdom Animalia, and can be spread via touch or contact with bodily fluid. SCP-217 is very hardy, and can survive for years outside the host body. The progress of the infection is very slow, with some subjects going several years before manifesting any symptoms.

SCP-217 alters the biochemistry of organic tissue, causing organic matter to re-arrange into a form of “organic metal”. The processes involved with this change are not yet fully understood, but the advanced stages are well documented. A subject will begin to turn into a complex arrangement of gears and clockwork, these taking over for the former biological functions. Advanced-stage infection is reported to be very painful, but earlier stages are oftentimes unnoticed, with only vague feelings of confusion, insomnia, and joint stiffness. Hearts are replaced by gears and small tubes, joints by gear networks, eyes by structures not unlike primitive “hand-crank” film cameras, etc.

SCP-217 shows first on the outside of the body in all creatures except mammals. In mammals, it first converts the internal structure before manifesting outside the body. This can cause those infected to go for very long periods of time without knowing of infection. SCP-217 has even been shown to totally convert the inside of the body before showing any externally-visible symptoms. SCP-217 has infected several major metropolitan areas in the past, most notably ████████████.

The mental state of those in middle to advanced stages of infection has been shown to be much diminished. Subjects respond in a repetitive fashion, are very dull and mechanical in action, are easily distracted and confused, and appear generally irritable when faced with new problems. In addition, research on a fully “converted” brain has [DATA EXPUNGED]

Document #217-6: Notes on symptoms

Subjects infected by SCP-217 have, at early stages, reported no major symptoms, aside from increased lethargy, and a general lack of emotional response. Some have reported a feeling of “fluttering” or “moving” under the skin, coupled with a persistent “ticking” noise. This noise seems most prominent when SCP-217 infects the shoulders, neck, and head; however, it is inaudible if recording equipment is pressed against an affected area.

Initial infection of SCP-217 is, as has been already stated, almost undetectable. As the infection advances, subjects will begin to feel sharp, “tearing” pain in areas that are being “converted”. It has been compared to a knife wound or a deep muscle tear, and can persist for hours, or several days, depending on both the subject and the area affected. The new clockwork organs appear to tear and rip at tissue for a short time, before becoming fully integrated and settling into the surrounding tissue, and this is believed to account for the pain.

Areas infected appear to be metal, mainly brass, steel, and iron. Other substances have been reported, appearing to be leather, rubber, glass, wood, and other basic materials. Despite appearances, it is purely organic material, and even carries the subject’s DNA. Organs and tissues affected appear more resilient than normal, carrying the same strength and density as the materials they resemble, instead of normal tissue density. Areas damaged repair over time, but is much slower than standard human regeneration.

Damaged areas can be instantly “repaired” by replacing damaged areas with new parts of the same type. Testing has shown that there are no ill effects if parts made from normal materials (steel, wood, leather) replace the existing bio-mechanical clockworks.

Most alarming, people infected with SCP-217 can continue for months, even years, without being detected. With infection so easy to spread, hundreds could be affected before proper containment could be enforced. Infection appears to spread most quickly in large offices, malls, and other large concentrations of people.

Note: Anything or anyone suspected or confirmed to be infected with SCP-217 is NOT to be allowed near SCP-882.

Addendum: At this time, cross-experimentation between SCP-229 and SCP-217 is allowed only with O5 approval.