SCP-020

SCP-020 SCP-020 is a fungus that can cover a house, grow on the people living there, and remain invisible to anyone looking directly at it. A microscope doesn't solve the problem. Photographs and video do: a camera can show the growth that direct observation misses. That alone would make an infestation difficult to identify, but this Keter-class organism also changes the behavior of people exposed to its spores. Affected residents increase the temperature and humidity in their homes, creating better conditions for the fungus. Many become more sociable and start inviting acquaintances over. Those visits give the organism opportunities to spread into other households. The early signs can therefore look fairly ordinary from the outside. Someone changes the conditions in their home or becomes more interested in having company. Meanwhile, a photographic record could show that the same home is heavily contaminated. The infestation can even grow directly on its residents without their seeing it. As the concentration of mold and spores increases, the occupants' health rapidly deteriorates, eventually resulting in death. That doesn't end the chain of exposure. Emergency responders, medical workers, and the people moving bodies to a morgue can carry the outbreak further. The ordinary response to an unexplained death creates more contact with the source. The Foundation first discovers SCP-020 after an undercover agent notices major personality changes among hospital personnel. Investigation reveals that much of the surrounding town is already affected. The response is to kill the civilian population and burn the town, disguising its destruction as a forest fire. The entry records more than twelve outbreaks, with their source still under investigation. The final mission transcript brings the description down to one doorway. A woman holding a kitchen knife invites the containment team inside. Their video shows mold covering almost two-thirds of her face. She continues asking them to visit while they order her to drop the weapon. The record suggests she notices an incendiary weapon before lunging at the team, and the encounter ends in gunfire. That scene puts the behavioral change from the earlier description into context. Inviting someone home has become part of the organism's spread, and the team has to interpret the encounter through its equipment. Even the laboratory precautions depend on sealed cameras being checked regularly. Throughout the entry, recognizing what is happening requires a recorded image that contradicts what a person can see for themselves. Original entry: https://t.co/o4939wJsZZ Based on SCP-020 by Aelanna, SCP Wiki. Original and this adaptation: CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://t.co/TI86Yhe2FC