Item #: SCP-3273
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: All recovered instances of SCP-3273 are currently in storage at Site-128 in Locker 5-54. No personnel are to handle the packaging or individual tablets of SCP-3273 to prevent accidental inhaling of residual dust from the tablets.
By order of the Ethics Committee, all instances of SCP-3273-1 are to be immediately destroyed.
Description: SCP-3273 (referring to a single instance) is a plain container of prescription painkiller tablets for swallowing and ingestion. Chemical analysis reveals that SCP-3273 is a form of opioid drug. Packaging of all instances is printed with dosage information which refers to SCP-3273 as the "self-performed brain editing manual", and advises the user to only take if they "have a drill".
Anomalous effects of SCP-3273 occur approximately 35 minutes following ingestion, hereby referred to as 'exposure', to an instance of SCP-3273. The affected individual (designated SCP-3273-1) will begin to experience a gradual loss in all physical sensations of pain. Distress from physical injuries, lacerations and burns will become increasingly difficult for SCP-3273-1 to notice or register. The rate of this process is determined predominantly by dosage size - a single tablet from SCP-3273 should be capable of preventing an adult male SCP-3273-1 from recognising any form of injury within 2 hours.
SCP-3273 is proven to be a highly-addictive substance, with significantly higher addiction rate when compared to similar substances such as heroin. Most instances of SCP-3273-1 commit to overdosing in SCP-3273 within approximately 3 days following initial exposure.
Instances of SCP-3273-1 who overdose in SCP-3273 will experience a gradual inversion of pain lasting 24 hours. At an indefinite point in this period, instances will discover that the experience of pain now induces sensations of emotional calm and satisfaction. Once SCP-3273-1 is aware of their state, SCP-3273-1 may come to enjoy physical injuries, and gradually inflict intended harm upon themselves. The effects of an overdose of SCP-3273-1 appear to be irreversible, unlike regular intake of the substance. Most instances of SCP-3273-1 are observed to expire from injuries inflicted by themselves, and deaths from SCP-3273-1 are frequently abandoned as cases of suicide.
SCP-3273 is suspected to influence its subjects through chemical editing of the brain, and severe alteration of opioid receptors in the peripheral nervous system. This has been observed to interrupt specifically the line of communication between the thalamus and the cerebral cortex. Analysis of chemical composition of SCP-3273 samples reveal that the object is a form of opioid drug similar to heroin, containing an unidentifiable biological material which acts as a blocking agent, disrupting or preventing nerve signals from passing.
Distribution of SCP-3273 is widespread, having infiltrated all areas of drug use including hospital surgery, prescription painkillers, sedatives and narcotics. SCP-3273's primary method of entering these markets is through imitation of other opioid substances. It is unknown where SCP-3273 is entering the pharmaceutical network or the narcotics trade, but investigation is ongoing. Due to this, SCP-3273 stands as officially uncontained.
Addendum 3273-a | Evidence File 3273-1
Some of the most extreme capabilities of SCP-3273 were first demonstrated by Dr. Rayt Dividsky (54); a renowned Russian dentist and retired practitioner. He was exposed to SCP-3273 presumably due to the handling of several variants of dentistry painkiller while applying them to patients. Most notably, SCP-3273 was suspected to be a pre-packaged syringe for injection of the substance, imitating morphine.
The Foundation was first notified of Dr. Dividsky's behaviour after reports from neighbours to the local police that they had witnessed him mutilating himself through a window in his study.
[START EXTRACT 00:00:00]
(00:00:05) Dispatcher: "Yerinkat Police Department."
(00:00:13) Caller: "Hey, err- I don't know if I should be calling you directly but my Mr. Dividsky from next door is in his bathroom- I think, and he's… [pause] …I don't know, but he looks like he's cutting himself or something."
(00:00:25) Dispatcher: "Ok… could you, expand on that."
(00:00:34) Caller: "I don't know what he's doing. I just noticed it through the window this morning, and I stopped and looked and he's still there with a knife or something- he's doing something with his face and his mouth- I don't know. I think he may be bleeding or something."
(00:00:45) Dispatcher: "Did you go into the house to speak to him?"
(00:00:51) Caller: "I tried. His door was locked. He wasn't making any noise."
(00:01:55) Dispatcher: "Did you call for him?"
(00:02:02) Caller: "Yes, I tried- Christ- there's… [pause] …blood on… what's he doing?"
[Pause.]
(00:02:13) Dispatcher: "Well… we've sent someone. Stay on the line for a minute with us."
[END OF EXTRACT 00:02:20]
When police arrived they reported finding some of Dr. Dividsky's teeth and hair in a bowl of milk downstairs. Upon heading upstairs to confront Dr. Dividsky, he attacked and killed both armed officers with a fire extinguisher. Dr. Dividsky by this point had managed to survive a total of 15 days after exposure to at least 27 individual tablets from SCP-3273. When Foundation staff were notified, the house was again breached and Dr. Dividsky was neutralised.
Dr. Dividsky was found after 13 days of self-mutilation, having removed two fingers and all the fingernails on his left hand using a masonry chisel, a large section of his hair by force, sections of his tongue with a pair of scissors, 18 of his teeth with a dentistry scalpel and was only discovered by neighbours while cutting into the back of his head with an angle grinder. He also suffered numerous lacerations.
Addendum 3273-b | Evidence File 3273-2
Ryan Ellis (66 years), a retired scaffolder from Scotland was prescribed with SCP-3273 after complaints about recurring back-ache and arthritis. SCP-3273 was prescribed as an ingestible tablet pack, imitating a well-known brand of tramadol. Due to his condition, he was advised to take SCP-3273 once every five hours.
Approximately 59 hours after initial exposure, Ryan Ellis was found dead by his son (43 years) in his own home. Medical inspection of Ryan Ellis revealed 27 individual 5.5cm nails embedded inside his skull, presumed to be fired from a nailgun. It is currently unknown how he survived long enough to unload all 27 nails, due to the damaging path of impact that many followed. 3 individual nails were observed to have passed through the frontal lobe and stopped halfway through the amygdala.
Further inspection of Ryan Ellis proves that his situation was not uncoordinated and unprovoked. It appears that, due to his positioning in front of a mirror, and relative focus of all projectiles fired from the nailgun towards roughly the centre of his brain, Ryan Ellis was aiming at something within his head.
Addendum 3273-c | Evidence File 3273-3
Jason Lister (48 years), an arable farmer from rural Arizona, was prescribed SCP-3273 after suffering third-degree burns from an electrical accident, in which the ploughing tractor he was driving caught on overhead power lines. SCP-3273 was prescribed in the form of general anaesthetic imitating heroin while used in skin surgery, exposed in a nebulised state for controlled inhaling of the substance.
Jason was found dead 68 hours after exposure with a large perforation through his forehead. Initially, those who discovered his body assumed that this was an act of suicide, and that Jason Lister had fired a handgun at his own head. Later inspection by pathologists and medical staff revealed that the hole through Jason Lister's head had been inflicted not by a bullet but by an electric drill, and concluded that the death was not caused by suicide but by attempted trepanning, for unknown causes.
When the Foundation gained Jason Lister's body for analysis, the perforation was observed to extend 15cm into his head - much further than the depth used while trepanning through the outer-skull. The cavity caused by the drill was aimed directly through the brain, removing parts of the frontal lobe and the entire amygdala.
Jason Lister was suspected to have become aware of his condition after burning himself on a kettle shortly before his death. Inspection of the scene and his body indicates that Jason, shortly after discovering this, poured the entire contents of the kettle over his left arm.
Addendum 3273-d | Evidence File 3273-4
Elise Rachmel (23), found homeless due to narcotics abuse, presumably gained access to an injectable form of SCP-3273 imitating heroin through illegal drug trade. It is suspected that due to the nature and obscurity of her death she may have also been operating on psychoactive or hallucinogenic agents at the time.
Elise was stopped by police while caught repeatedly striking her exposed forehead against the entrance wall of a public library while in a hallucinogenic state. Witnesses report seeing her hit the wall 'at least fifteen times'. Elise was hospitalised after falling unconscious and later expired from massive bleeding in the brain. Observation of her injuries note the complete crushing of the upper-nose, and direction of impacts towards the centre of the forehead.
Addendum 3273-e | Evidence File 3273-5
████ █████ Wildlife Sanctuary, Ethiopia, documented extensively the effects of tranquilisation of a large adult male barbary lion. It is suspected that the tranquiliser substance applied contained SCP-3273, imitating a widely-distributed form of carfentanil.
Staff at the preserve report observing the adult lion "tearing at the skin on [it's] scalp, like [it] was trying to open its own head". These effects were observed almost immediately after the lion regained consciousness. This is suspected to be because of the extreme overdose of SCP-3273 the lion experienced while the substance was applied as a tranquiliser. The adult male lion died from blood-loss as staff at the sanctuary failed to intervene.
Addendum 3273-f | Notice & References
Request Note from Dr. Foster addressing Dr. White
Christ, this is fucked-up, Ryan. This isn't some fucking indestructible lizard or inter-dimensional paedophile - these people are doing this to themselves. SCP-3273 isn't a psychoactive; and it doesn't seem to display any manipulative qualities, so what the fuck is going on?
And why are they calling it 'enlightenment'? This isn't a religious cult. I haven't seen any of them gather to burn any crosses, but they're still trepanning themselves like there's no tomorrow.
Jesus Christ, Ryan. I think we need to pay more attention to this one.
Notice from Dr. White addressing Dr. Foster
They're connected. We've been getting it wrong the entire time.
SCP-3273 isn't the manual; it's the tool to do so. God knows what monster they will make if they remove the amygdala.
I've enacted neutralisation of all instances of SCP-3273-1. What we're seeing is just the first step - they'll continue until they've cut everything that hurts out of them. Can you imagine what they will become? Christ- they can't even argue because they can't hate me. They can't fear death so they don't bother living. What's next? What else do they no longer want to feel? I'm not acting out of spite for the troubles they have caused us - this is pity.