I like the idea, but being a stickler for science I just have to mention one thing. The fossils in museums aren't bone matter any more. In all fossils the original organic material has been replaces with inorganic elements, which is why they can last so long. So if it can animate the Dinosaur skeleton, it would have to act on things that it thinks are bone matter rather than just bones. That not only implies that the virus might be somewhat sentient, but that it could be tricked into animating other things as long as they look like skeletons.
Actually, that gives me an idea.
What if the Dinosaur skeleton was infected before it had been found, and SCP-250's properties is what kept it so impossibly intact?
i like this, and it seams being covered in rock as opposed to made of it mite have led the discoverers to assume it was fossilized and the bones being exposed to air by an accident (ie the one listed in the report) caused it to animate.
also the reason it became dormant is it just got stuck in the mud.
Another science stickle: viruses fundamentally can't affect dead tissue, irrespective of complexity. All viruses are completely dependent on the machinery and metabolism of a living host cell (thx Wikipedia). Viruses have no moving parts, no sensory organs, no neural structures, in fact, no ability to react to stimulus in any way. They're essentially a piece of harmful genetic programming code wrapped in a crunchy protien shell and nothing more, and so can't interact with dead cells in any way. Yes, Resident Evil lied to you.
The picture up top is not a Tyrannosaurus, it looks more like an Allosaurus, or a relative. Could someone correct this? I don't mean to be a stickler.
Yeah, it's an Allosaurid. That was bugging me too. Changed it.
This is really, really, really incompatible with how fossilization works.
Therefore, the obvious solution is that, at the time SCP-250-1 was discovered, it had only been dead for between 50 and 100 years. (William of Occam can go fuck himself; the options I see are time travel, alternate timelines, genetic engineering, and a hidden population of carnosaurs that somehow survived until the modern day).
Cross-contamination with SCP-008 is to be avoided.
Just noting that this links to an article that no longer exists, this should probably be fixed.
Done. For future reference, if you're a member of the wiki, you can do that yourself. Just kindly mention that you are, of course. But as I understand, this is not only a writing community, but there's always a need for readers and editors.
I know I appreciate such things for the things I've written here.
Take care!
I'm assuming that was a typo.
I'm hoping that was a typo.
I know I'm guilty of stretching pseudo-science as well (SCP-532), but this just fails on so many levels. Did the person who wrote this even know what a virus does, or how fossils work, or, hell, how much 20 meters is? Downvoted so hard - which is sad, because I'd like to see something that reanimates dinosaur fossils. But this certainly isn't it.
Oh, look, Kondraki made this. This just makes me even sadder.
What if it was just one reanimated dinosaur fossil? Forget the virus, just have one fossilized allosaur skeleton that has somehow started to move around. It was in a museum for 30 years, and then one day it started moving around.
It tries to eat things — and it does chew them up and try to swallow them, but their mangled flesh falls through the gaps between its throat bones.
The really annoying thing is that we know it's an incomplete skeleton — some of its component bones are actually plaster reconstructions.
I'd take a shot at rewriting this if it drops below 0.
This really shouldn't be a virus, but rather something else with the same effect.
Once this condition is fulfilled, the subject’s skeleton will violently tear itself free from the remainder of the corpse
I have to admit I like this part quite a bit. Voct's suggestion earlier would kill that part, though I like it besides that.
Maybe the effect is contagious, though not a literal virus?
Not voting for now, because I like it and don't know if a rewrite would improve on it, but the virus element is just so silly.
Go for it, sabit. Otherwise it's likely to just suffer a slow drift towards -5.
No! Wait!
I'm doing a rewrite in notepad right this minute!
Can I do it instead, please, can I, I've already proposed my idea!
Oh, sure, go ahead, Voct. I didn't realize you had a WIP already.
Rewrite is better and removes the silly virus stuff, but on the other hand, the effect that I liked in the original is gone (victim's skeletons animating and removing themselves). So… unsure.
you mean "Bonus Eruptus" - "a rare disorder in which the skeleton tries to jump out of the mouth and leave the body" - which was first described by Doctor Nick Riviera, and can only be treated by trans-dental electromicide?
That actually sounds like a good idea for a new SCP. Unless I'm missing something and it already is. Although if "bonus eruptus" lasts longer than 4 hours you should probably call your doctor….
So I'd recommend a less boner sounding name