It closely resembles a human cardiovascular system.
MRI scan of SCP-8938 tendrils in the brain
Item #: 8938
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: The effects of SCP-8938 are generally not obvious to mundane authorities, but morgue records must be altered to ensure no pattern is found among discarded hosts. When SCP-8938 are found in the wild, they are to be placed under surveillance and isolated towards the end of their lifespan. Reproduction can be avoided indefinitely through isolation, allowing the host to live a relatively healthy life so long as they are not allowed close to another individual.
Description: SCP-8938 is a semi-sessile anthropophagic parasitoid, resembling a cross between a mollusc and an exotic form of anemone. Its central soft body is surrounded by layers of branching tendrils (see figure). It closely resembles a human cardiovascular system, but possesses a hidden beak/oviduct within the aortal chamber.
Any one instance of SCP-8938 has a lifespan of between 5 and 7 years after it has been implanted into the thoracic cavity. During this period, it slowly grows filamental structures into and through the existing cardiovascular system, taking on the role of natural blood vessels in mediating oxygen exchange. Simultaneously, its main body will engulf and digest the heart of its host. This process is slow, and continues for the entirety of an instance’s lifespan.
Eventually, blood will no longer be the primary vehicle of oxygen exchange through the body, and will be superceded by SCP-8938’s own hemolymph. The blood of the host will typically pool in the extremities, lending them a livid colour, and leaving the rest of the skin pallid and cool to the touch. Progressive damage and mineral leaching will eat away at the ribs and torso musculature. As the instance grows, the host will experience disinhibition, and spates of public emotional dysregulation. Socially, hosts will often compulsively seek private meetings with acquaintances. As its lifespan ends, SCP-8938 will engage in reproductive activity, after which the host and instance will both perish of acute hypoxia.
Discovery:
SCP-8938 and its reproductive mechanism were first documented on June 22, 2011, following Foundation interception of a viral video file uploaded to Facebook by David Park, a 39-year-old, six days before his death. The file, titled whatthiswas.mp4, is an edited amateur documentary which details the last decade of his life.
Over the course of the video, Park recalls that he was parasitised at age 33 by a romantic partner, Elena Voss, who expired shortly afterward. He is reluctant to explicitly detail the experience, but claims that she became “intense” towards the end of her life. He reportedly spent the years after her death in a deep depression, finding his attempts to connect with his family rebuffed harshly. He attempts to explain how he sought connection, revealing a preoccupation with traditional notions of romance, especially with “finding the right person”. These explanations are interspersed with video and photography of himself, in which he exhibits an increasingly sickly appearance, with bruising across the face and neck often visible.
In the final year of his life, Park developed a relationship with Foundation Agent Miranda Torres, unaware of her organisational affiliation. Torres was similarly unaware of Park’s condition. Recovered correspondence between Park and Torres reveals a pattern of escalating emotional disclosure on Park's part. Early messages contain standard romantic overtures, but by the sixth month Park was sending multiple daily messages describing his feelings in exhaustive detail, often apologising for his inability to restrain himself. Torres's responses occasionally expressed concern, but mostly accepted this behavior.
Torres's personal journal from this period indicates she found Park's lack of emotional regulation simultaneously offputting and sympathetic. She often expressed appreciation at his willingness to speak frankly, though the actual content of his messages does not feature heavily. Her writing drew a sharp contrast between his behaviour and the coldness to which she was apparently accustomed.
The second half of the video focuses on the final weeks of Park’s life. His messages become increasingly frantic and distressed, and he speaks frequently of a need to reveal himself to Torres. Torres seems dismayed at his declining mental state. On June 16, 2011, Park films himself sending a final message, in which he requests the chance to “give [Torres] something really special.”
The final segment of video films SCP-8938’s reproduction directly. Torres returns from work to meet Park in the living room of their domicile, where he moved in some months ago. After requesting the chance to speak with her, he begins to tug at the skin of his chest, which pulls apart easily. Torres is extremely discomfited, but does not leave, as Park pleads with her to watch him. As he tears away strips of muscular tissue to reveal his ribs, he moves to embrace Torres, weeping openly.
The two maintain an embrace for several minutes, during which Torres remains unnaturally still. Park jerks spasmodically. As they break apart, Torres’ shirt has torn open, and a layer of bloody mucus coats the skin. Park thanks her profusely and the video ends.
Park’s cadaver was found in the shared residence, with no sign of injury, apparently dead of a heart attack. Torres spent the following days occupied by her mourning, and did not mention the incident to her Foundation contacts initially. When pressed after the discovery of the file, she admitted some recollection, but described the event as “dreamlike”, doubting its reality.
Under an MRI scan, Torres’ heart chambers were found to contain a clutch of natal SCP-8938. She has been placed under isolation; staff are reminded not to acknowledge her monologues.