SCP-8156
Item#: 8156
Level2
Containment Class:
keter
Secondary Class:
none
Disruption Class:
caution
Risk Class:
vlam

SPECIAL CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES: Assets of Mobile Task Forces Gamma-6 "Deep Feeders" (Squad Atlantic-Eleven, 9 personnel) and Iota-10 "Damn Feds" (Squad India-Four, 16 personnel) are operating on field to ensure containment. SCP-8156 has been disclosed with additional staff stationed in the United States East Coast area and encouraged to report incidents with SCP-8156 to assigned personnel. Any isolated reports of persons riding whales or other marine fauna are to be forwarded to the current head of either MTF squads.

For naval deployment, MTF Gamma-6 ATL-11 is provided with two medium response boats (SCPS Angie II, SCPS Esspy Sea) and standard boating equipment, with addition of hydroponic microphones, deep-pressure suits, and physical and digital topographic maps of the North American Basin.

As of 3/11/2024, seventy-three (73) SCP-8156-A instances have been convinced into wearing geolocating tags and remain extant and located. Amphibious long-range tracking darts as an alternative are currently under development. (See Site-98 Project File: Taucherhund for further information.)

8156-Aphotic Protocol

During regular SCP-8156 migratory activity, one medium response boat is to be deployed for active tracking of SCP-8156 and its projected course. Vessels are to be staffed by three personnel minimum. Assigned personnel may be deployed for up to seven (7) days contiguously before change of shift with other response boat. New vessel and crew must assume position over SCP-8156 before the seceding vessel can be relieved of duty.

In addition to tracking, deployed ATL-11 vessels serve as escort for SCP-8156 with the purpose of avoiding encounter with civilian vessels. Recreational, transport, and naval vessels are to be redirected under the pretense of one or more scenarios detailed in Cover Stories Indices USCG§1 "Environmental Hazards", USCG§3 "Marine Wildlife", & USCG§4 "Marine Traffic" where deemed applicable. In event of noncompliance by addressed vessels, ATL-11 has preemptive authorization for forceful non-lethal seizure of the offending vessel and may request reinforcements by additional Gamma-6 squads if necessary.

If visual, auditory, or radio tracking of SCP-8156 is lost, both SCP-8156-assigned vessels are authorized simultaneous deployment to relocate SCP-8156.

As of 7/9/2021, Dr. Candace Abraves (Lvl. 3 Clearance) is the Head of SCP-8156 Research and Containment. Concerns regarding SCP-8156, its handling, or its assigned staff are to be direct to her via complaint forms. Assigned personnel are allowed and encouraged to report discomfort at inappropriate behavior SCP-8156-A instances conduct with them.


DESCRIPTION: SCP-8156 is a series of marine phenomena broadly localized to the northwest Atlantic Ocean, primarily within the North American Basin, with infrequent incursions upon the United States' eastern seaboard.

Ⅱ-Appendix 8156.Phy.6

Physiology
SCP-8156-A is the collective designation for approximately three hundred (300) humanoid entities ostensibly an infantry affiliating with the Union-era United States Army. Insignia and testimonies identify SCP-8156-A as the 3rd Eastern Shore Infantry Regiment, Army of the Potomac.1 Each instance is unique in appearance due to genetic traits, wardrobe, and physical trauma. Instances' clothing (consistent with United States Army uniform of 1860s) are of weathered quality, but the damage fared is lesser than what would be expected of their apparent age and exposure to the environment.

SCP-8156-A are considered reanimated life under the pretense that they are unimpacted by what would otherwise be hinderances to biological functions. All instances' lungs and respiratory tracts are full of water. Respiration is emulated to conduct speech, but oxygenation of the blood is either not performed or unnecessary. All instances experience palpitations of the heart, with arrhythmia prevalent in most instances.2 Instances circulate either blood or (in the case of several instances who have exsanguinated) ocean water drawn in from open wounds. Blood samples taken from SCP-8156-A are invariably contaminated. Wounds inflicted upon SCP-8156-A retaining blood heal and scar at a rate that is expected of non-anomalous humans when not irritated by ocean currents. In all instances, the tissue of open wounds are observed to not experience infection or necrosis. Instances commonly have some form of epibionts3 or parasites present on their bodies, clothing, and equipment.

It is presumed that if an SCP-8156-A instance is removed from water, animation of the instance will cease permanently. (See documents pertaining to Incident 8156-2017-R.)

Examples of instances
Below is an abridged list of notable SCP-8156-A instances. (See SCP-8156-A Infantry Archive for full record.)
Designation Identification Distinguishing Features
SCP-8156-A001 Col. Homer Brighton Cavalry. Coextensive with SCP-8156-D1. Tagged.
SCP-8156-A002 Lt. Col. Joseph Yates Leather scabbard occupied by unidentified feather duster worm specimen (provisionally Eugladius yatesii). Tagged.
SCP-8156-A003 Lt. Col. David Pullen Cavalry. Caretaker and "owner" of SCP-8156-E. MIA 11/25/1996.
SCP-8156-A018 Maj. Herbert Nulty Germaphobe. Absent of epibionts. Skinned. Claims to "keep [him]self clean of ticks." MIA 11/25/1996.
SCP-8156-A043 Mus. "Nephew Sam" Conductor. Blind in both eyes. Left eye scarred, apparently from prior parasitism from copepods. Right eye, cheekbone, corner of mouth covered by barnacles, preventing the mouth from fully opening. Tagged.
SCP-8156-A076 2nd Lt. "Tack" Gruff voice and demeanor. Forbes sea star (Asterias forbesi) affixed to face, obscuring right eye. Possesses a very limited but notable comprehension of SCP-8156's nature.
SCP-8156-A127 Mus. Henry Welldewitt Drummer. Upper left arm fused to torso by coralline algae. Bullet wound in forehead sustained by 8/30/1992.
SCP-8156-A166 Unidentified Jacket unaccounted for. Mute. Right forearm dismembered. Tourniquet of dulse (Palmaria palmata). MIA 9/22/2004.
SCP-8156-A182 Mus. Andy Guniss Left ring finger, right eye, cheekbone missing. Claimed he was bitten by a non-poisonous snake. Tagged. MIA 4/24/2003, last detected 8/1/2003 by ATL-2 in Mediterranean Sea.
SCP-8156-A230 Pvt. Adam Batons Pair of Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) residing in both nostrils. Claims "[he] grew it out as a joke, but [his] company found that it suited [him]."
SCP-8156-A243 Pvt. "President" Inconsistently identifies himself with the names of presidents and vice presidents preceding Andrew Johnson. Most commonly uses and responds to "Adams", "Dallas", and "Van Buren". Tagged.

HISTORY: The 3rd Eastern Shore Infantry Regiment (3rd ESIR, officially the 3rd Regiment Eastern Shore Maryland Volunteer Infantry) was organized November 1861 in Salisbury, Maryland. Along with the 1st and 2nd ESIRs, the 3rd ESIR was attached to the Army of the Potomac initially under the division of Maj. Gen. John Adams Dix. Position of colonel was appointed to Homer Brighton, who had served in Salisbury as a firefighter since 1853. The 3rd ESIR saw several transfers during the American Civil War, including transfer to the Army of the Tennessee for the Atlanta campaign.

The entirety of the regiment was last seen May 10th, 1864, departing to regroup with the XVI Corps in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The regiment's failure to report under Brig. Gen. James C. Veatch led the regiment to be declared deserters by Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson. Due to the circumstances of their absence, President Abraham Lincoln pardoned the regiment and issued the Pinkerton Detective Agency to launch an investigation into the 3rd ESIR's disappearance, which was closed in 1867 without any findings. All members of the 3rd ESIR have officially been ruled dead in absentia by the United States federal government. (See PNDA Case#1259 "Disappearance of 3rd Eastern Shore Infantry Regiment" for further detail.)

When SCP-8156 became active or if it definitively is the 3rd ESIR is unverifiable. The earliest activity of SCP-8156 is presumed to have been the "Cowrie Boys killing"; a 1901 murder case wherein two children from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia were found dead on a beach. Local media and coroners reported several wounds that had the bullets removed and replaced with cowrie shells. Across the following fifty years, at least five newspaper mentions were made of similar incidents across the eastern seaboard involving the death of seabirds, and in one instance, a vagrant in Georgia.

SCP-8156 was not recognized by the SCP Foundation or given SCP designation until 1963. On June 27th, 1963, a squad of Mobile Task Force Gamma-6 was dispatched 40 miles off the coast of Wilmington, Virginia, to investigate claims from civilian scuba divers of finding underwater footprints. SCP-8156 was encountered without casualty. (See Incident Report IR-8156-1963-A and related documentation for further detail.)

The SCP-8156 pattern of activity was adequately identified following a three-year observation period, prolonged due to limited maritime resources by the Foundation and now antiquated technology from the era. SCP-8156 has retained classification as Keter since assignment on October 1st, 1963, as well as Caution Disruption and Vlam Risk since the implementation of the ACS System.

Use of geopostioning technology for tracking SCP-8156 began in 1978 following the launch of the CLS/Argos satellite system. While quality of tracking devices have improved over time, difficulties in keeping SCP-8156-A from removing trackers off their persons have been constant. Development of trackers for SCP-8156 has prioritized being of reliable range, unintrusive for SCP-8156-A, and cost effective. Use of darts in other Special Containment Procedures show prospect, but have not been conducted for SCP-8156 outside of tracking for SCP-8156-C2; there are recognized challenges of isolating and embedding darts into SCP-8156-A so as to not draw hostility from numbers that could overwhelm personnel or ruin relations with SCP-8156-A as a whole.

Since cataloging of SCP-8156-A began, a total of 34 instances have been lost and not recovered in an extant state. Only one neutralized instance has ever been recovered. (See Incident Report IR-8156-2017-R and related documentation for further detail.)


ADDENDUM:

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