Item #: SCP-3451

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-3451 is to be secured in a locker of its own dimensions. This locker is to be located in the Site-██ Containment Vault and access restricted to Level-3 personnel. During testing, this locker is to be placed in an indentation at the end of a 15-meter hallway, limiting exposure to as much of its surface area as possible, to prevent uncontrolled contamination.

SCP-3451 is to be monitored at weekly intervals for evidence of behavior previously unrecorded by Foundation personnel. Following the events of Interview Log- 3451-1, SCP-3451 is to have 25 30kg of live fish inserted in its interior every 72 hours. Suitable lighting is to be provided to ensure that the shadows of the fish are to be cast on SCP-3451's interior. Should SCP-3451 produce a creaking sound with no visible source, an additional 10 kg of live fish are to be provided, and the incident reported and logged.

Description: SCP-3451 is a wardrobe constructed of mahogany. The exterior contains various scratch and claw marks, as well as additional signs of physical trauma. The twin doors of the cabinet are not attached to SCP-3451 and their location is unknown. Despite physical trauma, structural integrity remains high.

SCP-3451’s anomalous properties manifest when exposed to the shadow of any living creature. Shadows cast partially on SCP-3451 will slowly extend and expand onto SCP-3451, until a duplicate shadow of identical proportions to the original is produced. Should this occur, any shadow cast on SCP-3451’s exterior will begin to behave in an independent manner to its original caster. During this time, the shadows may move about the surface area of SCP-3451 freely, but appear incapable of moving on any other surfaces. Six hours after exposure, both shadows and subjects will exhibit signs of declination and continue to deteriorate at an accelerated rate until they expire from malnutrition. Human subjects report a feeling of overwhelming sluggishness, and eventually fall unconscious within five hours. Attempts to combat this deterioration with food and water in human subjects have yielded negligible results. Upon the expiration of the physical subject, the corresponding shadow will fade from SCP-3451 within two minutes.

Discovery Log: The item was recovered from a waste disposal plant in ████████, Ireland. Agents were alerted to a possible anomaly following reports by local law enforcement of a string of unusual deaths of workers in the plant, relating to malnutrition. SCP-3451 was successfully contained without incident and amnestics were administered to all relevant parties. According to the testimonies of two employees, SCP-3451 had been brought to the plant by an unknown civilian party, two days before the first deaths had occurred. Attempts to locate the original owners of SCP-3451 are currently ongoing.

+ Access Addendum-3451-1

- Close Addendum-3451-1

Cooperation with local law enforcement has resulted in the detainment of Andrew B████████, who later confirmed himself to be the previous owner of SCP-3451. Suspicions were raised when B████████, reportedly a normally docile neighbor, evacuated his family from his home on 09/11/20██, resulting in many neighbors believing a domestic dispute had taken place. Foundation agents were dispatched when mention of a wardrobe that matched SCP-3451's description was recorded in his testimony weeks later. Its anomalous properties were not referenced. It was also noted that Mr B████████'s abode resided within a 5km radius of SCP-3451's recovery site. An interview was shortly arranged to determine the history of SCP-3451.

Interviewed: Andrew B████████

Interviewer: Agent Cr█████

<Begin Log>

Interviewer: Sir, my name is Agent Cr█████, and I'm just here to ask you a few questions. The more cooperative you are, the faster you can be on your merry way back to your family. Sound fair?

Andrew: [Interviewee glumly nods, and straightens to attention]

Agent Cr█████: So first, how did you come to be in the possession of the wardrobe?

Andrew: Well, I inherited it. It's not exactly the type of thing I'd own o' my own will, y'know. Especially with the kids. T..That's why I got rid of it in the way that I did, see? I don't want nothin' to do with that thing anymore.

Agent Cr█████: Inherited, you say? From whom?

Andrew: Me granddad. And listen, before I go on, y'know, Granddad was a bit of a nut job. Not a dangerous one, mind you, but the evil eye was his default expression. Didn't much care for no one. So one lazy summer afternoon, me ma has the grand idea of letting her youngest little monstrosity spend some quality time with the oldest monstrosity in the neighborhood for a day. "Bonding" was the word she used (rolls eyes). Anyway, both of us are sitting there, completely in sync with how uncomfortable we were, sittin' in the livin' room armchairs, silently beggin' for the ordeal to be over. For whatever reason, Granddad decided to take the initiative. "Y'like weird stuff, kid?" he asked.

Agent Cr█████: I take it the wardrobe entered the equation soon after?

Andrew: (grimaces) You bet. Most kids chat or go fishin' with their granddads. I got to throw live rats into a haunted wardrobe in the attic with mine.

Agent Cr█████: Rats, you say?

Andrew: Probably shoulda started with that. Yeah, small crate of 'em, poor bastards. I just went along with the "exercise", his words, 'cause I thought if I didn't, I'd be very shortly making that damn wardrobe my new abode, earthly or otherwise. The arsehole never said it, but his eyes sure did.

Agent Cr█████: Did your grandfather ever make any reference to how the wardrobe came into his possession? Bought it, build it, found it in a haunted house maybe?

Andrew: Would you believe me if I told ye that the thought never occurred to me? I was eight at the time. It could have been possessed by a Venus goddamn flytrap, for all I cared to know about it!

Agent Cr█████: Was this the first time you had been made aware of the wardrobe and its anomalous properties?

Andrew: I knew he went into the attic a lot. I never really questioned that part. I mean, what kid doesn't want to live in an attic? But, yeah, that was the first I saw it in action like that. It was also the first time I had ever seen him happy like that. Well, maybe "happy" isn't the word. "Fascinated", more like. That's positive, right? Seein' that thing suck up the shadows like a really slow hoover? Never seen anything like it before or since.

Agent Cr█████: There were no subsequent visits or experiments?

Andrew: (Subject shifts uncomfortably, then shakes his head) If tha' were the end o' it, I don't think I'd be sittin' here. (Subject pauses for several seconds) We kinda' made a habit of goin' to the attic every second visit, so…. four times a year? On the condition that he be the one clean up the rats when it was finished with dem'. He didn't seem to mind. I sure as sin wasn't goin' to get my hands dirty for his curiosity, with nothin' to show for it.

Agent Cr█████: Did your grandfather reveal anything else about the wardrobe during your time together?

Andrew: Well, I don't know if it was just me, but the thing had a wee bit of a personality, I reckon. Not a malicious or evil one, I should add. It just acted like a fungus, taking whatever was thrown at it, bugs, me' leftovers, and' as it turns out, bloody micorobes. He tested a coupla swabs an' everthin'. Tha' attic mighta been the most sterile in all the world. Anyway, eventually, the auld geezer struck a deal with me. We'd start making a log o' things we'd throw into the wardrobe and see what it liked best. I'd get a good coupla' bob for bringing back anything bigger than a rat. He'd record the data, and "see what it found most comfortable".

Agent Cr█████: What sort of things did you need to find?

Andrew: Roadkill, mostly. Those years were a bit of a mixed bag. One the one hand, I was makin' money while everyone else made do with whatever they dared steal from their parents wallets. On the other hand, (Subject leans in) do you have any idea how awkward it is to explain to your privacy-hatin' mother why you have a decomposing badger tucked away under your bed?

Agent Cr█████: Can't say that I have, no.

Andrew: At least "public service" was a good enough excuse when I was caught by a Garda one time with a bloody shovel and a rancid bag on the side o' the road. As it unfortunately turned out, if it wasn't still kickin', it didn't do any good. We settled on him feedin' it rats, and me, fish I'd catch upstream. I remember salmon not lasting more than a minute, while trout lasted a good half hour. Savouring its meals, I suppose.

Agent Cr█████: Did the visits become more frequent?

Andrew: I won't deny I was gettin' just the teensiest bit fond of the visits. I never met me gran, but I haven't heard anything but saintly visions of her. He told me that when he found the wardrobe, wherever he did, he was in a very bad place at the time. Figured there was a reason Ma tried to get away and marry me Dad as early as she did. I guess having a pet gave him a reason to keep going, y'know.

Agent Cr█████: Were you scared of the wardrobe by this point?

Andrew: I was scared of it in the same way you'd be scared of a chainsaw. If you were sloppy with it, you'd regret it. If you were careful with it, you don't pay it much mind no more. Sure what it did was a little…macabre, but it felt like we both had a special connection to (six second pause) ..whatever the opposite of normal is, I guess. Things that potentially no one else might know. Because of tha’, I saw sides of my Grandda that might as well have been urban myths. Happier sides.

Agent Cr█████: When did you inherit the wardrobe?

Andrew: Can't say I really started regretting our comraderie till he died coupla' years back. At that point, I hadn't made much of an effort to visit much more after I got my first job. Funny how the amazing can become so mundane if you do it enough times. I wasn't too sure 'bout inheriting it, 'cause laws are the sort o' things you start thinkin' 'bout when you grow up. Is it illegal to own somethin' like a "balanormal" thing like that?

Agent Cr█████: Thankfully, that's not really my jurisdiction. Continue.

Andrew: Righto. So Granddad plugs it 'bout two months ago, an' I get the wardrobe. It goes in the attic, and I don't give it much thought after havin' a coupla "experiments" for old times sakes.

Agent Cr█████: Why didn't you try to dispose of it then?

Andrew: Honestly, weird thing like that, thought I could make a few bob off it. Sell it to someone whose into tha' sort o' stuff. That dream came to an end real quick 'bout a week ago. My daughter woke me up one night, said she heard some scratchin' in the attic. At tha' point, I had stopped feedin' the wardrobe, 'cause of the dirty looks I was gettin' from Deirdre every time I went up there. She was probably expecting a drug bust any day back then. Took a torch up there, made sure the lights were working, inspected the place and….

Agent Cr█████: It's alright. Take your time.

Andrew: I, uh, went to the wardrobe, took off the sheet, stood well back and…there he was. It had that unmistakable wiry hair, with … things writhing all over his shape, the size of rats, clawin' an'… I guess I shoulda known that dyin' in his sleep was too good to be true. But tha' wasn't the end of it, though. Oh no, it went real Midnight Zone after tha'.

Agent Cr█████: Would you care to elaborate?

Andrew: Well, let's see. I'm standing there frozen, it's the first time I've seen it really fired up like tha'. But I get a grip and try to get a closer look at the thing. I notice it looks a lot worse off than the last I saw it, like it had taken a dip in a septic tank infested with termites. And Granddad…. he wasn't alone.

Agent Cr█████: There was more than one individual shadow present on the wardrobe?

Andrew: My mind probably… wasn't in the right place at the time, but there were definitely other hands and heads on the edges o' the thing. And to top the whole night off, one of em' came flyin' at me.

Agent Cr█████: I beg your pardon?

Andrew: Right, skipped ahead a bit. Uhhh, I'm staring at the thing, yeah, and the shadows seemed to drawn to the attic door, now tha' they had a clear view of it. So, they start to… what's the word…combine, coalesce, maybe, and edges to the side. The whole mass seems to be pushin' against itself, so much that the wood starts creakin'. It's like it's fightin' the bloody things. It musta lost, 'cause the next thing I know, this… limb starts makin' its way out, tryin' to grab hold o' something. It managed to get a grip on the Christmas box, I mean, really grabs hold of it! At that point, I was moving so fast, neighbours were tellin' me afterwards that they'd been hearin' the Doppler effect! I knew I hadn't fed it, so I…. took Buddy upstairs, our Bichon. All it took were a coupla' seconds with the torch to do the deed. The wardrobe healed over the next coupla' days and the dog just wasted away not even a day after. Still can't look my daughter in the eye for …(Subject wipes tears from his eyes)

Agent Cr█████: Did you ever see this entity you just described, the limb, in the following days?

Andrew: (shakes head) Not so much as a whisper upstairs. Bought some goldfish to keep it happy, but I knew it couldn't stay.

Agent Cr█████: I see. After this, I suppose you took it upon yourself to destroy the wardrobe.

Andrew: (Interviewee nods weakly) Tried to, ma'am, but it took a stronger man than I. The hatchet didn't exactly give me the effect I was lookin' for. It put up too much of a fight. By the looks of it, I wasn't the first to try that approach. Other lads musta had chainsaws or somethin'. At the very least, it definitely looked worse for wear than I ever remember. At that point, I didn't care. I just wanted that thing as far away from my family as humanly possible. (Interviewee suddenly stiffens) Christ, it didn't get anyone else, did it!? Is that why I'm here!?

Agent Cr█████: Not to worry, sir. That wardrobe will not be of concern to you for much longer.

<End Log>

Closing Statement: [Following this interview, agents were deployed to investigate the B████████ households attic. An abnormally large crevice in the rafters was detected, though it is unknown whether the entity referenced by Mr B████████ was responsible. Local law enforcement were advised to report any further anomalous activity in the area. Andrew B████████ and his family were administered amnestics and relocated. Containment procedures have been summarily updated.]

+ Access Addendum-3451-2

- Close Addendum-3451-2

Two months after the recording of Interview Log-3451-1, a controlled feeding hiatus was established to determine whether the events described in Interview Log-3451-1 yielded similar results. During the 72-hour observation period, SCP-3451 was observed to visibly rot at an accelerated rate and began sagging under its own weight. After 46 hours of observation, SCP-3451 was observed to produce a three dimensional black mass approximately 50cm in length and 30cm in height, dubbed SCP-3451-1. Upon being ejected from SCP-3451, SCP-3451-1 then proceeded to attempt to escape from containment, without success. SCP-3451-1 was summarily captured and placed in an isolation cell for further study. Behavioural analysis of SCP-3451-1 has since revealed the entity behaves in a manner consistent with that of a non-anomalous housecat.

However, SCP-3451 then proceeded to release two more entities before containment personnel could properly re-contain SCP-3451. SCP-3451-2 was observed to resemble a small flightless avian form, while SCP-3451-3 resembled an unusually large canid figure. SCP-3451-3 proceeded to pounce on and consume SCP-3451-2 before attacking containment personnel. SCP-3451-3 was terminated after killing one researcher and severely injuring two other personnel. SCP-3451-3 then dissolved into an unidentified substance within 45 seconds of expiration.

Later investigation of SCP-3451 revealed it had undergone extensive deterioration, with various pieces of rotten debris visible in the interior of SCP-3451. Furthermore, since SCP-3451 has had its feeding routine re-established, the item has proven incapable of regenerating to its original state, being unable to reproduce more than 60% of its original mass, despite increases in rationing. Further testing on SCP-3451 has been discontinued, while research into alternative means of restoring SCP-3451 are currently being investigated.