SCP-6942
rating: +81+x

Item#: 6942
Level2
Containment Class:
euclid
Secondary Class:
{$secondary-class}
Disruption Class:
vlam
Risk Class:
warning

640px-Jewel_Beetle_(Buprestidae)_(7921854922).jpg

An instance of SCP-6942 prior to containment. Cognitohazardous elytra markings have been filtered for safety purposes.

Special Containment Procedures: ████ National Park has been claimed by the Foundation and integrated into Foundation Outpost-443. All instances of SCP-6942 are to be separately contained in medium-sized Arthropod Terrarium Units at Foundation Outpost-443. SCP-6942 instances are not to be contained within the same terrarium or brought together for long periods of time outside of testing. Unauthorised civilians who have come into contact with SCP-6942 instances are to be administered Class-C amnestics.

Description: SCP-6942 collectively refers to members of the order Coleoptera found within ████ National Park in Papua New Guinea. It is estimated that nearly 40% of the population of Coleoptera members in the National Park constitute SCP-6942.

Instances of SCP-6942 exhibit signs of numerous anomalous and baseline teratogenesis1, including, but not limited to, abnormally high strength-to-weight ratios, altered intrinsic Hume levels, elytra2 markings with minor cognitohazardous and/or antimemetic properties, and psychokinetic3 abilities. A full list of SCP-6942 instances and details pertaining to their anomalous traits may be retrieved here.


Addendum 6942-A
Discovery


SCP-6942 was first identified by Dr. W. Tamarua on 05/04/2008 after a series of encounters with several instances in the vicinity of his tent. Dr. Tamarua managed to contain 6 instances of SCP-6942 before returning from his camping trip. The following is a description of a video log recorded by Dr. Tamarua after containing one such instance.

Subsequent investigations and expeditions revealed that SCP-6942 was not limited to the 6 recovered beetles, leading to the commissioning of Foundation Outpost-433 within the vicinity of ████ National Park, Papua New Guinea to contain and conduct further study on SCP-6942 instances.


Addendum 6942-B
Initial Containment and Testing


It was initially hypothesized that SCP-6942 is derived from a secondary anomaly within ████ National Park, however investigations found no evidence of any such anomaly. Despite this, SCP-6942 instances have continued to appear within the area, and efforts were redirected towards more direct testing with SCP-6942.

Cross-testing between SCP-6942 instances of the same species have produced results inconsistent with predicted outcomes derived from the laws of both Mendelian and non-Mendelian genetics, with at least 4 instances developing entirely new unrelated anomalous traits in the process.

In addition to testing with SCP-6942 instances, baseline beetles sourced within the vicinity of Foundation Outpost-443 have successfully bred with each other and SCP-6942 instances to produce anomalous offspring on several occasions, suggesting that the anomalous traits present within SCP-6942 instances may be derived from recessive or latent genes. At time of writing, Dr. Blom of the Department of Genetics has been reassigned to SCP-6942 to assist with genomic analysis.

The containment of SCP-6942 has proven to be difficult at times, due to the challenges that come with accommodating several hundred insects with varying anomalous traits, as well as ensuring that the more skillful instances remain securely contained. Several containment breaches have occurred since the creation of Foundation Outpost-443, and proposals to transfer disruptive instances of SCP-6942 to more secure facilities are being considered.

Update 27/08/2011:
Genomic analysis of SCP-6942 instances was carried out to verify if the anomaly truly is genetic, with negative results. SCP-6942 instances do not possess any outstanding genetic variation compared to their baseline counterparts.

Note: It is quite clear that SCP-6942 instances may pass down their "anomality", so to speak, to a fraction of their offspring. The only problem is that any vehicle of inheritance is, for all intents and purposes, non-genetic. It is not an aberrant chromosome, it is not a recessive genotype, the genetic variation between instances of the same species are effectively negligible, and that's inclusive of the beetles that can shapeshift.

There must be something we're not seeing here.
- Dr. Blom

Following numerous containment breaches at Foundation Outpost-443, as well as a notable increase in hazardous anomalous traits being displayed by newer SCP-6942 instances, the facility has been upgraded and redesignated as Site-443.


Addendum 6942-C
Paragenetic Research


On 14/03/2014, a proposal regarding the creation of a Department of Paragenetics was submitted to the O5 Council for their consideration. The proposal was drafted by Drs. Blom, Koppel, Nazaryan, and Lim, from the Department of Genetics. A number of studies and journals have also been published and/or co-authored by these personnel prior to the drafting of the proposal.

Despite the implication that anomalous traits and properties may be genetically inherited, genomic analysis and testing conducted on several SCP-6942 instances reveal that there exists no discernable nor predictable vehicle for the inheritance of most, if not all recorded anomalous traits. Due to this, the Paragenetics Department was formed to identify the laws of inheritance vis-à-vis anomalous traits. An excerpt of Dr. Blom's speech during the opening ceremony of the Department of Paragenetics is attached below.

Update 10/11/2016:
Paragenetic analysis has confirmed that numerous anomalous traits present in SCP-6942 instances can be attributed to the presence of complex paragenes within their genome. A number of these bear strong resemblances to those found in SCP-239, SCP-4778, and SCP-████. However, markers for paragenes within the gene pool of SCP-6942 suggest that unlike most biological anomalies, which have static paragenomes, the anomalous traits of SCP-6942 have origins in the gradual ongoing variation of specific paragenes. It is believed a combination of mutation and paragenetic drift prompted the sudden increase in anomalous biodiversity within SCP-6942.

Update 24/01/2017:
Paragenetic tests and analysis conducted on recently discovered populations of anomalous arthropods and fish return similar results to that found in SCP-6942.

Note: It took quite a bit of time for us to notice this, since we can't be monitoring every single organism in the Pacific Ocean 24/7. Believe me, we've tried. As for whether these populations have any relation with SCP-6942, anyone's guess is as good as mine. We've already ruled out paragenetic transmission via vector, viral or otherwise, and last I checked, fish and beetles cannot breed with each other to produce viable offspring, so as of now the leading theory is independent mutation.

If these populations really have independently mutated anomalous paragenes into existence under entirely different environments, how many more SCP-6942s could have gone unnoticed?

- Dr. Lim

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