A major component of SCP-3048's diet

Item #: SCP-3048

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3048 is to reside in a standard humanoid containment cell. Approved reading materials and entertainment devices are to be provided and may be rotated out on a monthly basis. To better accommodate the anomaly's diet, a small refrigeration unit should be maintained within the containment room. The entity is currently housed at Site-06-3.

Meals containing 3-5 items named in Document #3048-03 should be provided three times daily. Dietary supplements must be provided with these rations. No beverages or unapproved edible substances should accompany any meal. The entity may request certain items to be included in its next meal; these must be approved by the senior researcher in charge of its case, currently Dr. Florence Daley.

As the entity is incapable of consuming beverages, it must be provided hydration via intravenous line. Authorized medical personnel may enter the containment cell to perform tasks related to the maintenance of this several times per day.

Description: SCP-3048 is a middle-aged human male of European descent possessing ginger hair and gray eyes. Its height has been measured at 1.64 meters and its mass most recently at 46.3 kilograms. The entity has expressed preference for the name "Reuben Moretti", but it is equally responsive to the designation SCP-3048.

Upon initial recovery, the anomaly was described as moderately emaciated. It has since regained 10 kg of body mass under the prolonged care of the Foundation. Medical examiners now consider the entity slightly malnourished.

The entity's primary anomalous trait is its inability to imbibe most forms of food and beverage. Drinkable liquids, when brought near the entity's mouth, spontaneously evaporate. No change in temperature or pressure surrounding this event has been observed. Edible substances not listed under document #3048-03 exhibit a variety of anomalous characteristics when within a 20-30 cm radius of the anomaly's mouth. The most common characteristics of these substances, as noted by Foundation researchers, are spontaneous combustion and temporary loss of the properties of friction.

SCP-3048 was recovered 18/01/2017 on a partially-developed Mediterranean island 90 km off the coast of Turkey. It is believed that the anomalous entity remained the sole resident there between the years of 1602 and 2005. With additional investigation, it has been determined that the island itself is non-anomalous.

Foundation operatives first noticed the entity while it was in the employ of a health resort venture on the island. The health resort had been established there in 2005 by a Greek tourism company. When pressed to explain how it came to speak fluent modern English, the anomaly claimed to have been taught the language by ████ McLoughlin, its shift manager at the resort hotel.

The anomaly has asserted that it arrived on the island after becoming shipwrecked. Historical records and recent diving expeditions have verified the existence of a shipwreck in the location and of the name given. A list of 53 persons who departed from Venice in late 1601 on the lost ship ███████ was recovered from a museum in Northern Ireland.

Two persons listed on the ship manifest are of current interest to Foundation researchers. One is a 41 year old man by the name of Reuben Moretti, who was hired as the vessel's cook. The other is a 17 year old boy listed as Teo-Carlo Moretti. SCP-3048 has not previously mentioned relatives accompanying it on its shipwrecked voyage.

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Document #3048-01: Transcript of an interview with SCP-3048 shortly after its arrival at Site-06-3

Interviewed: SCP-3048

Interviewer: Senior researcher Dr. Florence Daley, licensed medical practitioner and nutritionist

Foreword: Transportation of SCP-3048 to the facility was delayed three hours due to inclement weather. Near the end of this delay, the anomaly discovered its ability to consume highly processed foods. It is believed that SCP-3048 did not have the opportunity to interact with processed foods prior to this as a result of its employment in the kitchen of a hotel that used only whole ingredients.

Due to the distress exhibited by the entity when personnel confiscated its snacks, SCP-3048 was permitted to continue eating during its interview.

<Begin Log, 18/01/2017 at 4:34 pm>

Dr. Daley: Good afternoon, SCP-3048. My name is Dr. Daley. I'll be overseeing your case.

[The anomaly pauses while chewing.]

SCP-3048: 'm sorry, what? My name's Reuben Moretti.

Dr. Daley: Your designation here at the Foundation is SCP-3048. I don't mean to sound threatening, but your stay will be much more pleasant if you decide to cooperate with us.

SCP-3048: Oh. Sure, whatever.

Dr. Daley: Alright. Could you tell me how long—?

[The anomaly grabs a can of Cheez Whiz from the table and squirts approximately 0.2 liters into its mouth. Dr. Daley wears an expression of disgust.]

SCP-3048: Mmm! Good Lord, I love the 21st century!

[The anomaly proceeds to consume between six and twelve large marshmallows.]

Dr. Daley: Pardon me, but do you realize how unhealthy that is?

SCP-3048: [Unintelligible response]

Dr. Daley: I understand you're suffering from severe malnutrition, but eating this much high-calorie content at once… you won't be able to stomach it!

[The anomaly chews and swallows.]

SCP-3048: Doc, I've been starving since 1602. I don't give a damn right now.

Dr. Daley: Since… 1602? But the island you were on had fresh water and a variety of edible fruit. And you've been employed in a kitchen for the past decade.

[The anomaly reaches for a glass of water. The water vanishes from the glass as it is brought to the anomaly's mouth. Sensors indicate that the humidity inside the room increases simultaneously. SCP-3048 appears disappointed.]

SCP-3048: Yeah. Between the lake and the groves, the island had everything. But the water receded whenever I tried to take a drink… and the fruit was always just out of reach.

Dr. Daley: You mean like Tantalus?

SCP-3048: And I was cooking for goddamn whole-food health nuts at the resort. This processed stuff? Now this is where it's at.

Dr. Daley: But what you're eating is barely even food.

SCP-3048: Exactly!

[The anomaly opens a second package and consumes the contents of a lime Jell-O cup. It offers another to Dr. Daley.]

SCP-3048: Oh, I'm in heaven. Want one?

[Dr. Daley sighs.]

Dr. Daley: No, thank you.

[She turns to face security personnel and addresses them]

Dr. Daley: Let's end this here for now. Bring over that wastebasket and stay with the anomaly. I need to prepare an IV line and saline drip for after he vomits everything he's been eating in the past two hours.

<End Log, 18/01/2017 at 4:40 pm>

Closing Statement: SCP-3048 regurgitated 1.35 L of partially digested gelatin-based foods and Cheez Whiz. The entity did not resist Dr. Daley's insertion of an intravenous line in its left arm.

Document #3048-02: Transcript of second interview with SCP-3048

Interviewed: SCP-3048

Interviewer: Senior researcher Dr. Florence Daley

Foreword: Dr. Daley volunteered to change the entity's IV bag while conducting a second interview simultaneously.

<Begin Log, 19/01/2017 at 9:48 am>

Dr. Daley: Hello again, SCP-3048. I'm here to start your first saline drip of the day. We've got to get you re-hydrated as much as we need to get you fed.

SCP-3048: … Hey. Daley, right?

Dr. Daley: It's Doctor Daley.

SCP-3048: Yeah, well, the last doctor I took anything from got chased outta town because boiled sheep urine didn't cure the pox.

Dr. Daley: Yes, well, medical science has come a long way since the 17th century. It's a science now, for one thing. Did you sleep well in your new accommodations?

SCP-3048: I slept blah. This place is boring. Can I at least get a room with windows?

Dr. Daley: Good behavior might earn you a chamber at ground level.

SCP-3048: What? Is this a hospital or a prison?

Dr. Daley: It's a lot of both and neither.

SCP-3048: … You know what? I don't really care. For the first time in 400 years, my mouth doesn't feel like sandpaper. And those suits from yesterday gave me stuff I can actually eat. I'm down with whatever you guys want me to do.

Dr. Daley: So we have your cooperation?

SCP-3048: I s'pose so.

Dr. Daley: I'm glad to hear that.

<End Log, 19/01/2017 at 9:52 am>

Closing Statement: SCP-3048 has readily cooperated with the Foundation in most cases and has proven highly amenable to Dr. Daley in particular. Its transfer from subterranean holdings to a ground-level containment cell is currently pending.

Document #3048-03: A list of foods which SCP-3048 is capable of consuming. For a record of how the contents of this document were determined, see Experiment Log #3048-1.

Meat1 and dairy products:

Cheez Whiz and variations thereof

Some forms of nacho cheese sauce

Most brands of whipped cream

Very thick protein shakes

Fruit and vegetable products:

Maraschino cherries

Carbohydrates:

Pop-tarts

Cheetos

Cheesy poofs

Other:

Jell-O

Artificially-flavored fruit snacks

Gummy candies

Marshmallows2

Dietary supplements in the form of pills or capsules

+ Show excerpt from Experiment Log #3048-1

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TEST LOG FORMAT

Edible substance:

Method of consumption:

Result:

Notes:

Test 1

Edible substances: Cheez Whiz, marshmallows, and Jell-O

Method of consumption: Standard

Result: Success

Notes: This was a natural experiment that occurred after the anomaly was taken into Foundation custody but prior to its arrival at Site-06-3.

Test 2

Edible substance: Fried pork skins

Method of consumption: Standard

Result: Spontaneous combustion

Notes: This was a natural experiment that occurred after the anomaly was taken into Foundation custody but prior to its arrival at Site-06-3.

My word, Agent Matthews has terrible eating habits. — Dr. Daley

Test 4

Edible substance: Fruit snacks labeled organic

Method of consumption: Standard

Result: Loss of friction

Notes: The fruit snacks handled normally until they were brought within about 25 cm of its mouth. Then they started sliding like they were made of squishy ice. It didn't matter whether it was the anomaly trying to feed itself or us trying to feed it, the laws of physics stopped working for the fruit snacks while they were within range. Everyone kept dropping them. — Dr. Daley

Intent doesn't have anything to do with it either. Trying to stick fruit snacks in the anomaly's ears doesn't work any better than trying to stick them in its mouth. — Dr. Daley

Test 5

Edible substance: Fruit snacks labeled organic

Method of consumption: 40 cm drop

Result: Spontaneous combustion

Notes: This experiment was recorded with a slow-motion capture camera. Playback of the recording revealed that combustion began at 30 cm from the anomaly's mouth. The tested substance was wholly incinerated by the time it reached 20 cm.

Addendum #3048-1: SCP-3048 has been highly compliant to the Foundation's wishes since its arrival. I find myself disinclined to gamble this willing cooperation by questioning the entity about a teenager's name on a 400 year old manifest. Yes, we know the myth of Tantalus and what he did to merit his punishment; however, any parallels that the myth may share with the entity's history hardly have any bearing on our current research. This having been said, if anyone absolutely has to interrogate the anomaly about that aspect of its past, please do so with low-grade amnestics on hand. — Dr. Daley

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Proposal: Experiment #3048-2

Message Recipients: O5 Council; Ethics Committee; Site-06-3 Director

Date: 13/02/2017

Details: Medical examination, genetic sequencing, and tissue sampling over the course of the past two weeks have revealed nothing anomalous in SCP-3048's physiology. Whatever lies behind the entity's longevity and its capacity to survive without nutrition and hydration remains as of yet unknown.

It may better benefit the Foundation's research to see SCP-3048 returned to a state of health before continuing tests. I propose a long-term experiment with the following investigation plan:

Establish a healthy weight and lack of nutrient deficiencies as the control state for SCP-3048.

Begin regular medical examinations and tissue sampling.

Test the effects of a single independent variable at a time.

Record observations over a period long enough that symptoms become static.

Allow SCP-3048 to return to control state prior to start of next trial.

Some variables to investigate in this experiment may include water, vitamin C, iodine, and other vital nutrients. I believe these variables to be preferable for two reasons, one being the well-documented symptoms a non-anomalous human body experiences when deprived of such substances. The other reason is the ease with which we are able to manipulate the contents of SCP-3048's dietary supplements without its knowledge.

From the desk of Dr. Florence Daley.

Secure. Contain. Protect.

██/02/2017: Experiment #3048-2 has been approved. — O5-██.

Footnotes

1. Researchers have yet to identify any form of meat product, excluding gelatin, which SCP-3048 is capable of consuming.

2. SCP-3048 is unable to consume the granulated sugar coating of Peeps and similar sweets. Foundation personnel and SCP-3048 alike have expressed distaste for the task of cleaning the resulting mess. Sugar-coated foods should not be included among the entity's rations.