SCP-3253
A Prison of Ink and Flesh
Object Class: Esoteric
SCP-3253-A
Special Containment Procedures
SCP-3253-A is to be kept in a standard humanoid containment cell and provided with adequate enrichment according to established Ethics Committee Protocol. SCP-3253-A is not permitted to come into contact with SCP-3253-C. SCP-3253-A may come into contact with SCP-3253-B under supervision and for no longer than 60 minutes at a time. SCP-3253-A is not permitted any object that can be sharpened to the point of cutting or damaging skin. SCP-3253-A is to undergo quarterly psychological profiling to avert the formation of suicidal tendencies. SCP-3253-A's fingernails are to be kept short to prevent obsessive scratching of its skin.
SCP-3253-B is to be kept in a standard humanoid containment cell on life support. Medical personnel assigned to tend to SCP-3253-B are to be kept under supervision during treatment. SCP-3253-B is not permitted to come into contact with SCP-3253-C.
SCP-3253-C is to be kept in a standard Secure Storage Locker and may only be removed for testing.
Description
SCP-3253 is a phenomenon which manifests only when SCP-3253-B tattoos an image onto SCP-3253-A's skin using SCP-3253-C (hereafter referred to as 'A', 'B' and 'C' for brevity). The image tattooed must resemble in some way an object, person, time, place or phenomenon with which A has come into contact and which A can recall without the aid of mnestics or veritants.
Once B considers the tattooed image to be completed, the object of the tattoo will spontaneously cease to exist as an independent object, and will instead become part of A. Destroying the image physically returns the object to existence (see Experiments 08, 10 and 11). Subjects returned in this fashion appear to suffer a sympathetic effect related to the method used to destroy the image.
SCP-3253-A, previously D-4423, is an Asian male of mixed American and Japanese descent in its mid-forties identifying as Kimotsuki Tadahashi. 87% of A's body is covered in tattoos of varying design. A claims to have obtained the majority of these tattoos during its time as an operative of the 任侠団体 (Ninkyo Dantai, or Yakuza), working for the 住吉会 (Sumiyoshi-kai) group in Tokyo. A came into Foundation custody after its arrest in Tokyo in 20██ for the murder of a local businessman and his family.
SCP-3253-B, previously D-8779, is an Asian male of Japanese descent in its late forties identifying as Takuji Matsuda. B has been in a comatose state and under necessary life support since Incident 3253-4. B is known to have previously been a tattoo artist in Tokyo, and came into Foundation custody in 20██ after a sting operation conducted by the Japanese police implicated B in a series of murders.
SCP-3253-C
SCP-3253-C is a crudely manufactured tattooing needle created by B during its time as D-Class personnel. C is constructed from a wooden peg, a sharpened bone needle of animal origin, and twine obtained from Foundation stationary.
SCP-3253 was first noticed by the Foundation after Incident 3253-2, in which SCP-████ vanished from containment at Site ██ on ██/██/20██. SCP-3253 was then retroactively identified as the cause of Incident 3253-1, in which [REDACTED] similarly vanished from containment at Site ██. The inquiry into Incident 3253-2 found that the only connection between the two incidents, other than the method of containment breach, was that A had been recently subjected to testing with both objects.
A was removed from D-Class habitation and interviewed. Relevant sections of the interview logs are reprinted here.
After further interviews with A and B, and preliminary analytical testing on SCP-3253-C Researcher Yuji submitted his initial report, concluding that none of the three objects were themselves inherently anomalous, but only became anomalous when brought together. The phenomenon was granted classification SCP-3253 and permission was granted for further testing. Extracts from the testing logs are reproduced below.
Further testing was suspended after Experiment 11. Researcher Yuji's proposal for a series of tests that would enable SCP-3253 to be utilized in the containment of objects classified Safe was under consideration by senior staff until the occurrence of Incident 3253-3 on ██/██/20██. A summary of the key events is included below.
After A had recovered, Site-██ Administration decided that the continued safe containment of SCP-████ was of paramount importance, and requested that its image be once again tattooed onto A, as a safeguard in case its severed forearm was no longer sufficient means of containment. The proceedings form Incident 3253-4.
B has not recovered consciousness since Incident 3253-4 and remains on life support. A's mental state was observed to rapidly degrade following Incident 3253-4 and it now remains mostly non-responsive to site personnel. A is kept under constant watch for the formation of nervous behaviours.
The Ethics Committee deliberated on 20/05/20██ that A be allowed weekly visitation with B, provided the visitation time does not exceed one hour and that both are kept under constant supervision.
As B remains in a coma and is considered unlikely to awake in the immediate future, Site-██ Administration have reclassified SCP-3253 as Safe.