A 20th century painting focusing on SCP-5610.
Item #: 5610
Containment Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5610 events are to be minimally monitored.
Meanwhile, a study of all cultures with a particular focus on shame and facades1 is to be initiated for any relations with SCP-5610. All historical documents related to felines are to be also investigated.
Description: SCP-5610 is an anomalous entity that is only observable by individuals with a cognitive resistance value of 5.6 and above. Approximately 56 percent of Japan's population has been found to have an instance of SCP-5610 resting atop of their head. However, no discomfort is felt by the subject these instances are resting on.
As a subject's behavior in public becomes more congruent to their behavior in private, the instance of SCP-5610 becomes increasingly detailed. This continues until it produces one of two results: either the instance would vanish, or in approximately six percent of all cases, it transforms into a non-anomalous cat(Felis catus) and jumps off the subject's head.
SCP-5610 is prominently featured in haikus; living authors, when questioned, remember it. Notable ones are translated below.
It is humankind
To put a cat on the head2
To love and hate swords
-Oda Nobunaga, 1580
When a child suckles,
The cat inside him also does,
Partnered on rough paths
-Basho, 1672
Are we not all cats
On heads of weak, chatting mice
Or hardened tigers?
-Emiri Takagata, 1923
To the barrack bed,
An old cat jumps from my head
Meowing with pity
-Jou Takamiki, 1944
Bored, Oneko3 sighs,
Telling me to cry for him
Yet I save face, tears
-Deo Takamiki, 1944
Banging the weak wall,
From my rotten, though shined crown
A cat skitters through
-Aiko Torikatsu, 1976
The cat leaves haughty,
My thoughts, like leaves on a pond
Float in unison
-Moeka Horinami, 1980
Reflections of mine
A cat claws back from the top
I smile sadly now
-Haruki Murakami, 1998
Update: Several historical records in Egypt, dating as far back as 3500 B.C. have been noted for indicating manifestations of SCP-5610.
