SCP-ES-070 instance in adult state.
Item #: SCP-ES-070
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Any population of SCP-ES-070 should be transported to the Biological Containment section of Site-37 to a 400 m2 space where the climatic and vegetational conditions of the Suðurland region of Iceland are replicated. Any change in site conditions could result in the demise of a large number of the contained instances, so priority must be given to site maintenance. 10 kg of beef will be provided monthly to each of the populations. With the exception of test subjects, all subjects entering the space will be required to wear NBC suits and a sterilization process will be performed on the suits upon completion.
All cadavers infected by SCP-ES-070 instances will be properly incinerated. Any live subject infected by SCP-ES-070 instances will be made surgically available for subsequent disposal.
Description: SCP-ES-070 is a lepidopteran species with typical features of the Papilionidae family. Specimens of SCP-ES-070 tend to cluster in populations of less than 200 individuals and the number of individuals of the species is usually unchanged (at the time of writing 2197 specimens have been counted in containment). The only area where a population of SCP-ES-070 is able to thrive is in an esplanade of approximately 4200 m 2 in the Suðurland region of Iceland. Although they have demonstrated survival in captive conditions, they perish suddenly within 5-8 days if staked in any other region.
SCP-ES-070 instances can reach 8 cm from wing to tail and 4 cm wingspan. Their wings are mostly white with irregularly distributed black speckles. They have two tails that occupy half of their length, which serve as a defense against potential predators, mainly small birds, as well as a main element for the distribution of their eggs. If endangered by a predator, populations will gather around it and strike the area around the eyeballs with their tails. As a last resort, they are able to shed these tails as a method of distraction.
The feeding of SCP-ES-070 specimens is ambiguously parasitic and saprotrophic, the latter employing resources similar to those of the family Muscidae, applying different digestive enzymes to liquefy animal matter, and subsequently absorbing it through its maxilla.
The life cycles of SCP-ES-070 instances are extremely different from those of any other species of the same family. Their wings, as well as their tails, are coated with an adhesive as well as impermeable substance, into which some of their eggs are incorporated in both males and females. At the same time, they produce different volatile pheromones, which in the absence of wind are able to spread several hundred meters. If perceived by their potential hosts (all ruminants, especially cervids; canids; swine; felids; and some apes, including humans), they tend to approach the place of origin of the substance, thus locating the SCP-ES-070 population in question. When this happens, different specimens of SCP-ES-070 shed their eggs, which adhere to the face of the future host1, lin order to be inhaled by it.
Within 20-30 hours of this event, the eggs hatch and the larvae instinctively move from the lungs of the host to the stomach, where they feed on ingested products, stomach walls or secreted juices. It should be noted that the highly impermeable substance of the instances in the adult stage is preserved in its larval state, and manages to repel any of the host's digestive enzymes, blood plasma, water, lymph, etc.. At this point, nor at any other point in the infection, the host, in the case of humans, claims to feel any pain. Instead he feels a slight tingling in the abdominal area at specific times.
At the moment of chrysalis formation, these are incorporated into the stomach walls, and their appearance develops the first behavioral variations in the subject: abnormally high levels of endorphins develop in the blood, as well as the secretion of a large amount of sex hormones and other factors which, in females, produce a state of perpetual estrus. In humans, this causes the subject to suffer from an increased libido, making it a priority to find a partner in accordance with their sexuality.
The pupae may remain dormant indefinitely, emerging when the host has found a mate. To date, it is not known how SCP-ES-070 instances are able to detect this, or how this affects their metabolism in order for the adult instance to emerge from the chrysalis. SCP-ES-070 instances in this state reproduce abnormally, producing large numbers of eggs in short periods of time, 10 to 20 minutes, which they will distribute to different parts of the host organism (rectum, oral cavity and urethra) via the bloodstream. Frequently, many of these eggs end up in other areas such as the liver, lungs or even the brain, in which they do not produce a major effect. Only those that end up in the lungs will hatch.
The infection will spread to the subject's partner by means of orifices contact, that is, either by direct contact between the oral cavities or during sexual intercourse. The infection of the new host will produce the same effects as the initial host. The condition of the infected subject will produce a strong desire to perform the sexual act repeatedly, a desire that will be maintained throughout the infection and will also be transmitted to the other subject.
Finally, for unknown reasons, both members, after approximately 2 weeks of infection, acquire identical behaviors in all cases. Both hosts go to the site of infection of the first host and will proceed to bury themselves alive in that place on the plain, finally covering their bodies with soil. Before perishing from hypoxia, the affected subjects will suffer a cardiovascular attack produced by the accumulation of SCP-ES-070 eggs in the walls of the atria and ventricles, resulting in death.
Adult instances will emerge from the cadavers and join the previous population, producing the population regulation mechanisms necessary to maintain regular specimen numbers. The corpses of the subjects will serve both for the rearing of new instances and for feeding the population. In human subjects, these cadavers will serve for feeding up to 13 generations of that SCP-ES-070 population.
Addendum 070-1: On 11/02/19██, during the initial exploration of the areas affected by SCP-ES-070, the body of an individual identified as ███████ Rose ███████2 was found buried. Subsequent excavations failed to find another body in the vicinity.
The autopsy conducted suggests that the individual died during February 1946, suggesting that he was the first subject infected by SCP-ES-070 instances. Notably, the corpse was anomalously preserved, allowing us to observe that:
- Its interior is covered with eggs and hatched SCP-ES-070 instances. The total number of these has been estimated at 1,300. Other non-anomalous butterflies have been identified.
- The blood circuit of the carcass contained numerous hatched eggs of non-anomalous butterflies. It is believed that these would have been forcibly introduced.
- Several of the internal organs were ruptured in life, possibly due to the simultaneous hatching of a large number of SCP-ES-070 instances.
- The individual appears to have been smiling before his death.
A bronze framed hand mirror may have been recovered next to the corpse, with the initials "E.C.H.O." inscribed.