Photo of SCP-774-KO taken by URSUS-III
Special Containment Procedures: The Foundation Astronomy Department is to track the number and behaviour of SCP-774-KO-A instances and tracks the location of rogue SCP-774-KO-A that escaped SCP-774-KO. Civilian space probes must be diverted as far away from SCP-774-KO and -A instances as possible. Information about SCP-774-KO must be kept secret from biological and astronomical academic circles outside the Foundation. If SCP-774-KO or -A instances are observed by outside researchers, or relevant information is leaked, involved individuals are to be treated with amnestics, and the Foundation is to confiscate all outside documents regarding SCP-774-KO.
Description: SCP-774-KO(commonly known as "Indra" in the academic community) is a gaseous planet that orbits the main sequence star "Humulus" from an average distance of 2.4 AU and is slightly bigger than Saturn. Spectrum analysis revealed that its atmosphere contained large quantities of nitrogen and carbohydrate compounds. Based on this analysis, the Foundation Astronomy Department suggested the possibility of extraterrestrial life on the planet and sent the space probe URSUS I to analyse the planet's orbit and atmosphere. Video logs and atmosphere samples taken by the probe's crash pod showed various lifeforms.
Afterwards, the Foundation noticed that Indra harbours life despite being outside of the habitable zone and sent URSUS II and III for deeper analysis of the organisms. Results revealed that SCP-774-KO-A's anomalous behaviour made it possible to sustain life on Indra. The Foundation concluded that there was much potential with further ecological research of Indra's anomalous ecosystem and designated planet Indra and its inhabiting species as an SCP object.
SCP-777-KO-A is a debris-like organism sized three to six centimetres long that floats around in Indra's atmosphere. It inhales the nitrogen and carbohydrates in the atmosphere for nutrition. SCP-774-KO-A's lifecycle is anomalous and similar to Earth's sea pineapple.
- Fertilisation and Conception: SCP-774-KO-A's adults dwell at a relatively lower altitude than Indra's other organisms. The pregnant female synthesises hydrogen gas and uses it to float to Indra's surface and lays its younglings. After labour, the female releases the hydrogen gas and sinks down again.
- Growth: The newborn drifts around in Indra's surface until it is flung into orbit by the surface storm. Then, it attracts gas and dust particles around itself to form a hard "shell" that ranges from a few metres to a few kilometres. Bigger shells are thought to be the result of several juveniles merging. Most of Indra's rings are made up of these juveniles.
- Emergence: After being a juvenile, SCP-774-KO-A moves, deorbits its shell and reenters the planet. While doing so, the shell is shed due to friction with the atmosphere, resulting in the adult instance's "emergence".
The seemingly inefficient lifecycle actually plays a vital role in Indra's ecosystem. Indra orbits Humulus outside of its habitable zone. The heat that SCP-774-KO-A releases during its emergence serves as Indra's important energy source, along with the tidal force that Indra's satellites generate, making life on the planet possible.
This peculiar life cycle is also beneficial to SCP-774-KO-A itself. During emergence, the crash sometimes launches SCP-774-KO-A newborns into orbit. Also, the shell allows the instances to reach lower altitudes, where there is a thick atmosphere for ample nutrition and a lack of competitors.
How the juveniles apply physical force to its shell vastly larger than it is is still under investigation. Research to crack the shell and observe its interior is under planning. Apart from this, the instance inside dies when the shell is broken over a certain threshold. The shell of dead instances cannot move on its own.
Rarely, some instances die or go out of orbit due to moving the wrong way. These erratic movements are more prevalent when there are fluctuations in gravity, such as a comet passing by or Indra's satellites being especially close to the instances. On this fact, Dr Ken Lee hypothesised that instances respond to gravity when emergence is imminent.
Addendum 1: Event Logs
Event Log 774-KO-20██████
On ██/██/20██, Indra's satellite Airavata approached Indra abnormally close, to about 650,000 kilometres, the closest distance on record that Airavata has been to Indra. Parts of Indra's ring were affected by the satellite's gravity, and some SCP-774-KO-A instances crashed into Airtavata.