Item#: 5597

Containment Class: keter

Secondary Class: {$secondary-class}

Disruption Class: vlam

Risk Class: caution

SCP-5597-2 upon recovery.

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the nature of SCP-5597, containment is predominately focused on early identification and acquisition of SCP-5597 manifestations. To this end, Mobile Task Force Theta-8 ("Whale Watchers") has been established to monitor for and intercept potential SCP-5597 manifestations.

In addition to operating within established national, provincial, and academic groups likely to respond to beached cetaceans, MTF Theta-8 is to undertake a variety of duties concerning the containment of SCP-5597-5. These include monitoring SCP-5597-5's movement in and around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Bay of Fundy. Should SCP-5597-5 travel more than 50 kilometers from the local coastline, members of MTF Theta-8 are to embark upon the SCPS Nansen, an oceanographic research vessel, and follow SCP-5597-5 movement. At present, the physical containment of SCP-5597-5 within a Foundation site has been deemed unnecessary. Upon death, the corpse of SCP-5597-5 is to be acquired and transferred to Site-184's Aquatic Anomalies department and stored alongside the corpses of SCP-5597-1-4.

Description: SCP-5597 refers to the collective manifestations of entities visually resembling members of the Eubalaena glacialis species,1 found to contain living humans within anomalous bodily cavities.

At present, there are five known SCP-5597 manifestations, designated SCP-5597-1-5:

SCP-5597-1-4 were recovered deceased and contained a comatose humanoid specimen attached to the entity via an umbilical cord within an atypical abdominal cavity. When removed from the entity, these individuals: a woman, aged 38, and three children, aged 3, 4, and 6, became conscious.2

SCP-5597-5 appears to be a living, active Eubalaena glacialis specimen. Ultrasonic imaging of SCP-5597-5 revealed the presence of an enlarged cranial cavity and the body of an adolescent male child partially grafted onto the tissue of the entity's frontopolar cortex. SCP-5597-5 has demonstrated a willingness to approach Foundation vessels at sea and engaged in migratory behaviour: traveling repeatedly between the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy.

Arield photograph of SCP-5597-5 interacting with a pod of Delphinidaes.

Discovery: SCP-5597-1-4 were discovered by a marine biology research team on 14/08/2020 during the dissection of, what appeared to be, four stranded whales along the Southern Shore region of Nova Scotia, Canada. The civilian researchers contacted local authorities after discovering a living human child within one of the corpses. The Foundation was subsequently notified and deployed a field-research team from Site-184's Aquatic Anomaly Department.

Foundation personnel discovered the presence of anomalous abdominal cavities containing a human specimen within each entity. When the umbilical cords connecting the individuals to the deceased corpses of the entities were severed, each human awoke. The individuals began demonstrating symptoms of shock and extreme distress, and attempted to communicate in a foreign language. These individuals were offered thermal blankets and water before being subsequently taken into Foundation custody.

Shortly afterward, Foundation personnel noticed the presence of SCP-5597-5. Due to its size and mobile nature, it was impractical to contain at the time and was tagged for future acquisition.

Addendum - A1: Interview with human recovered from SCP-5597-4.

Following their arrival at Site-184, the language spoken by those recovered from SCP-5597-1-4 was identified as Russian. As attempting to separate the individuals resulted in displays of distress, they were permitted to remain together while the eldest individual, henceforth SCP-5597-4_A, was interviewed.

AUDIO LOG

DATE: 14/08/2020

NOTE: Interview was initially conducted in Russian. Dr. Ivanon conducted the interview, due to his knowledge of the language. Comments from the children accompanying SCP-5597-4_A have been removed for clarity.

SCP-5597-4_A: Hush, Irina, it is okay. We are safe now. It will be okay. Mama needs to speak to the nice man, now. Kostya, come and hold your sister's hand. Thank you.

SCP-5597-4_A's hands are seen to shake as she moves one of the children off her lap. She extends them to Dr. Ivanon, who shakes them before sitting.

Dr. Ivanon: Hello, I'm sure you have many questions. My name is Doctor Henry Ivanon. Myself and my colleagues are here to help you, but we will need to ask you some questions first. Is there anything we could bring you and your, sorry, are these your children?

SCP-5597-4_A: Yes, thank you, doctor. These are my children. I do not wish to trouble you, but we are all very hungry. Do you have any food perhaps?

Dr. Ivanon: Yes, one moment.

Dr. Ivanon relays the request through his earpiece.

Dr. Ivanon: I'm being told that they'll be bringing something shortly. Now, would you mind telling me your name?

SCP-5597-4_A: T- Tasha, doctor. Tasha Lebedev. And this is Kostya, Irina, and Katja. Say hello to the nice man, Kostya.

Dr. Ivanon: Tasha, I'm not sure how aware of your situation you were. My colleagues have informed me that you and your children were recovered from within the corpses of several whales that had washed ashore. Is there anything you recall about this you can share with me?

SCP-5597-4_A: Yes, doctor. We were to be brought somewhere safe. I know some of what happened. I will try to explain, but I fear you will not trust me.

Dr. Ivanon: You can relax, Tasha. I assure you, there are many strange things in this world.

SCP-5597-4_A rests her head in her hands for a few moments before responding. Her breathing is seen to slow slightly during this time.

SCP-5597-4_A: The children were put to sleep first; I had asked them to keep me awake, to see them put into the beasts. I needed to be sure it was safe. I do not know by what magics it was done. A man, he pulled the bellies of the creatures open and smoothed the walls as though he were a potter shaping clay. He drew a pink cord from within and attached it to their bellies. It was unnatural; he mocked the birth I gave to them. But thank the lord it worked. That we are safe now.

Dr. Ivanon: Safe from what, Tasha?

SCP-5597-4_A: From the war, doctor. They had promised to take me far away, but surely even here - where you are speaking our tongue - you must know.

Dr. Ivanon: Perhaps you could elaborate more. We need to have all the information we can, you must understand, for our records.

SCP-5597-4_A: We were fleeing the Germans, doctor. I know it was unpatriotic, and perhaps I was a coward, but I needed to keep the children safe. My husband had been called to the fighting, and I was the only one there to protect our children. We knew they were creeping closer to the city, only days away. Even if Stalingrad surrendered, they would have taken me from my children, and Peter would have been killed. They'd have thought him old enough. When I was offered a way out I took it. I feel no shame. We are here now, and the children are safe.

Dr. Ivanon: Who was it that assisted you? Are these the same individuals who put you and your children in the whales?

SCP-5597-4_A: I do not know their names. They came in the night to my door and spoke with me to offer safe passage for us. I could scarcely believe it - I thought it was a trap! When I agreed they took us to the truck. We drove for hours, through the night and the day. We took only a little with us, scraps of food and some photos. We had to leave those behind when we reached the shore.

Dr. Ivanon: You mentioned needing to agree. What were the terms of this arrangement - did they want anything from you?

SCP-5597-4_A: My father was a sailor. We didn't live near the coast growing up, but each spring he would make his way to the ports and find work. He'd send money to my mother and I. When he returned he would bring me a gift: polished pieces of sea glass, carved wooden ships, once a pearl on a string. When I was ten, he was gone longer than we expected and we feared the worst. He came back, at night in the middle of a storm. He was soaked to the bone, with a wild look in his eyes. His mustache had grown out over his mouth, which I knew was odd. He had always taken great care of it before, I can still remember the smell of the wax he used.

SCP-5597-4_A: That night he took me into our kitchen and told me he had a special gift, one that I mustn't tell anyone about, not even my mother. It was a metal key - bronze, I think. I had never seen one like it: the prongs split off on all sides and curled like vines. He pressed it into my hand - I can feel the weight when I think about it, its cold heft upon my palm. He sent me to bed and in the morning it was like it never happened; we never spoke of it.

SCP-5597-4_A: When he left the next Spring, he never came back.

SCP-5597-4_A: That was what they asked of me: the key. I don't know how they knew of it, but I gave it to them. For the lives of my children and I.

Dr. Ivanon: I see, if there's anything more you can recall about this item, I'm sure one of my colleagues will want to speak to you about it. Were you aware that there was an additional whale that didn't make landfall?

SCP-5597-4_A appears to speak under her breath for a moment and take the hand of the nearby child before responding.

SCP-5597-4_A: Yes, doctor. That is my eldest, Peter. We were told we'd need a shepherd, to help us through the dark of the ocean's night. I do not wish to speak more of it, not in front of the children.

Dr. Ivanon: Is there anything more you recall about the people who came to you? Any names or methods of identification?

At this point a tray with food and drinks from the site cafeteria arrives and is set on the table.

SCP-5597-4_A: It was dark, doctor, and they spoke a different language to one another. But I saw something on the truck when they came to get us, an insignia of sorts. If I may borrow your paper, I will try and draw it for you.

Dr. Ivanon: That would be appreciated. I'll leave this here for you. Thank you for your time, Tasha. Please enjoy the meal.

SCP-5597-4_A produced the following image after the interview:

This symbol matches known iconography employed by Jean & Jean Transtemporal Shipping. Due to the atemporal nature of this organization, when this symbol was first used is currently indeterminable. The use of living Cetaceas for trans-temporal travel is a divergence from the known modus operandi of this organization, which has typically employed osteomantic, thaumaturgic rituals involving the bones of deceased Cetaceas for such purposes.

In addition to the above image, SCP-5597-4_A wrote an accompanying message in Russian:

My dear son, my sweet boy.

You have given us the greatest gift and at such a cost.

I wish I could hold your hand in mine again. See you sing with father as he plays the balalaika, and your sisters dance.

You have led us such a distance, but we must make the way now on our own. I cannot imagine you will forgive me for this. I would not want it if you did; I do not deserve forgiveness for it.

I will think of you always my son - when Irina cries, when Kostya asks for his brother, as Katja learns this new tongue I hear them speak, when the sun sets and when the day comes, I will think of you - I promise you this.

I will tell you a truth I've kept from them, and from myself for I cannot bear it. Your father had died before we left. And now you, I must lose as well. Your loss is the worse to hold in my heart, for it was my fault and my choice. It will gnaw upon me each day. The shepherd is not to die to save his flock and the mother is not to leave her son. What a cruel world we have made my boy. Will this new one we have found be different? I do not know.

I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you.

Goodbye, my son.

As SCP-5597-1-4_A did not possess any anomalous abilities or properties, they were interviewed and administered amnestics and memory-suppressing memetic agents over a period of three weeks. During which, they were additionally gradually exposed to modern technological advances. After confirming the successful repression of veil-threatening knowledge, SCP-5597-1-4_A were subsequently integrated into Russian immigrant communities in Toronto.3 No further containment procedures are required at this moment.

While SCP-5597-5 has demonstrated an unusual level of engagement with Foundation research teams, no reliable way to communicate with the entity has thus far been established.

Footnotes

1. North Atlantic right whale.

2. See Addendum - A1: Interview with individual recovered from SCP-5597-4.

3. Ontario, Canada.