SCP-337

Description

SCP-337 is a large conglomeration of human hair weighing approximately 60 kg at last measure. The object’s shape and dimensions are tremendously variable. SCP-337 is fully animate, capable of a wide range of locomotion, and can exert force in excess of 18 kN. It also seems to possess some level of sentience, although attempts at communication have thus far met with limited success (see Incident 337-B).

The object is able to manipulate any hair directly connected to its central mass, with precision down to the individual strand. The method by which SCP-337 mobilizes its components is still under investigation. Analysis of filaments attached to the object has shown them to be identical to regular human hair, and strands that are periodically shed from the object are similarly normal, aside from being drained of pigmentation. Filaments display typical tensile strength and can be easily damaged by fire, blades, or consumer-grade chemical clog remover.

Although it displays no obvious sensory organs, SCP-337 is highly aware of its surroundings, and may even possess perceptive abilities exceeding those of humans. For the most part, these senses are tuned toward detecting and acquiring its principal form of sustenance: fresh, human hair.

When a human being with any hair measuring longer than 5 cm comes within approximately 30 m of SCP-337, it enters what could be described as a "predatory" state, rapidly braiding together several dense tendrils of hair in the direction of its prey. The object's range of perception seems to be unhindered by the walls of its containment chamber.

The object will then close in on its target at great speed, attempting to overtake and envelop it. When successful, SCP-337 restrains the subject's limbs and begins to "harvest" all hair of sufficient length from the body. Hair is painlessly removed from the dermis at the base (root included), and is immediately incorporated into the object’s mass via knotting or weaving. Patterns of bruising, bleeding, and sebaceous eruption on subjects following feedings suggest follicles are partially loosened from the inner sheath prior to extraction. This appears to sometimes accelerate hair regrowth even in regions where it is typically stunted; to date, researchers have failed to replicate this effect artificially.

While SCP-337 was found in a filthy state at time of recovery (See Addendum), it has since demonstrated a preference for cleanliness. Not long after initial containment, the object managed to escape its temporary enclosure through a narrow (2 cm diameter) wiring duct. It was discovered on site several hours later in the fourth floor women’s washroom, where it emerged from a drain and consumed the hair of two showering researchers. A security team arrived shortly thereafter to find SCP-337 under a running shower tap, lathering itself with shampoo left behind by the women. Once containment was reestablished, SCP-337’s enclosure was fitted with its present bathing accomodations and a supply of hair conditioning product. The object’s rate of shedding has since decreased dramatically.

Note: SCP-337 may seem to prefer "live feedings", but it will still readily consume hair that has already been removed from a human host, provided the follicle is intact and the root has only been detached for a few minutes. We have established a means of accomplishing this extraction just as effectively, if not as painlessly, as the object's method. To limit risk of cross-contamination, Class D personnel should only be exposed to SCP-337 for approved testing purposes. Requests by personnel to be deliberately exposed for feeding are preemptively denied. –Dr. ████

Addendum: SCP-337 has demonstrated the ability to grow well beyond its present mass through the accumulation of additional hair. It was discovered in the plumbing system of a large nursing home facility in ████████, Pennsylvania in 19██, after Agent █████ noticed a story entitled “Sewer Snakes” Scalp Senior Citizens in a local newspaper. A team was dispatched to investigate under the guise of a fumigation contracting company. After evacuating residents to another facility, agents cut off all water and sewage lines in the building, monitoring sink and shower drains for any sign of the object.

When a portion of SCP-337 finally emerged, it attempted to couple with Agent ██████’s cranium, only to be intercepted by his weapon’s bayonet. The tendril immediately retracted into the drain, after which time the object was not sighted again for more than forty-five minutes. Coordinated deployment of chemical clog remover forced the object to exit through pipes in the facility’s basement level utility room, where several agents were on hand to apprehend it with portable flamethrowers. However, the agents were unprepared for the sheer size of the object, which quickly filled the lower level of the building. In the confusion, a sizable portion of SCP-337 was ignited.

The resulting blaze spread quickly throughout the facility. Most on the upper floors were able to flee the structure before it collapsed, but █ agents did not escape in time. SCP-337 managed to extricate its remaining mass through the building’s ventilation system, shedding burning components as it went. When it finally amassed in the facility’s parking lot, it was estimated to be over ██ m (██ ft) tall. Surviving members of the intervention team converged around the object and successfully corralled it within the lot using flame propellant until support arrived. By the time SCP-337 was contained, it had lost more than 90 percent of its original mass.

The fire and subsequent destruction of the nursing home was officially blamed on faulty wiring, and damages were settled out of court. Displaced residents were transferred to a Foundation-operated nursing facility, where amnestics were administered as required and [DATA EXPUNGED] without incident.