SCP-151: The Painting

SCP-151: The Painting Object Class: Euclid SCP-151 is an oil painting showing a view from underwater. Looking at the original starts a drowning process that follows the viewer away from the canvas. There are no immediate symptoms. Breathing becomes progressively harder over roughly twenty-four hours, until the person dies. Autopsies find seawater in their lungs, even though they never entered the ocean. Medical intervention can extend someone's life, but the recorded attempts haven't stopped or reversed the effect. A photograph of the painting doesn't carry the same danger, which is why the file can show a digital reproduction. Containment is straightforward: keep the original covered and locked away. That prevents exposure; it doesn't provide a cure after someone has already looked. The Foundation found it in an antique shop while investigating unexplained drownings in a landlocked location. The victims had been discovered on dry land. There is no signature, but names on the back belong to students interested in art who vanished during a study-abroad trip. Their disappearance remains under investigation. The entry leaves the connection unresolved rather than explaining who painted it or what happened to them. Original entry: https://t.co/wfhnJtUJ6Q By Agent Thornsmith. CC BY-SA 3.0: https://t.co/TI86YheAva