SCP-023: Black Shuck

SCP-023: Black Shuck Object Class: Euclid SCP-023 is a shaggy black canine standing 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder. It has no identifiable sex, prominent teeth, and bright orange-red eyes. Anyone who makes eye contact with it places either themselves or a member of their immediate family at risk. Exactly one year after that eye contact ends, one of those people dies. Researchers have not established how the victim is selected. The available evidence suggests that people with larger immediate families are less likely to be the person who dies. No consistent preference among potential victims has been found, and the file leaves open whether the selection happens at the beginning or end of the year. Autopsies show bodies that appear unharmed externally but contain densely compacted ash throughout their internal systems. Muscle, bone, and brain tissue show evidence of exposure to extreme heat. The Foundation first investigated SCP-023 after it attacked a church during a service. Some people died in the attack, while others later died because of eye contact. Surviving witnesses received amnestics, and the incident was publicly explained as arson. An ordinary cell proved insufficient. SCP-023 passed through a wall and was subsequently found at an intersection of two corridors. Researchers established that its enclosure must at least resemble a crossroads. Without that arrangement, it moves through walls toward the nearest suitable location, burning through the materials it crosses. Its current enclosure is a sealed corridor intersection with at least three meters of space in each direction. Three ends have false doors, and the fourth has the real entrance. Cameras monitor all four. The eye sockets must remain filled with hard rubber spheres. These inserts gradually degrade, and staff monitor the brightness of the burning effect through camera footage. If it exceeds 12 candela, replacement is required within 12 hours. Inserts must be changed one at a time, only after sunset. Staff must never look directly into the sockets. Incident 023-27 explains an additional restriction. During that test, glass eyes were inserted into the sockets. They began glowing, then melting. Within minutes, an expunged phenomenon appeared across the site's lenses, windows, mirrors, monitors, and other glass surfaces. The facility was evacuated. At sunrise, personnel found a burned area of floor and a puddle of colored glass. One year after the incident, a redacted number of personnel were buried in a mass grave outside the site. Reflective surfaces, including eyewear and camera monitors, are now prohibited within 30 meters of the enclosure. Experimentation has been suspended indefinitely. The main file still classifies SCP-023 as Euclid. A request to reclassify it as Keter remains pending. A possible connection to SCP-1111-1 is under investigation, based on their canine appearance, destructive effects, and attachment to particular locations. https://t.co/oZTBLsrQGX