SCP-638 Rewrite
rating: 0+x

Item #: SCP-638

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: All known instances of SCP-638 are contained in Containment Zone 638 in the Autonomous Monastic State of Mount Athos, under the supervision of Reliquary Site-37. No female mammals (including personnel who were assigned female at birth) are to enter Containment Zone 638, except as needed to maintain the SCP-638 population. SCP-638 instances located outside of Foundation containment are to be relocated to Containment Zone 638; non-human SCP-638-A instances are to be terminated, and human SCP-638-A instances are to be treated with Class-C amnestics and returned to their closest living relatives with standard cover stories 06A ("brain damage"), 06B ("trauma-induced amnesia"), 09B ("cult indoctrination"), and/or 13C ("human trafficking"), as appropriate.

Description: SCP-638 is a species of anomalous hominid indigenous to Greece, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. Adult SCP-638 instances are similar in appearance to adult male humans, although slightly smaller, with an average height of 1.6m and average weight of 60 kg; despite this, SCP-638 instances tend to be notably stronger than humans of similar build. Juvenile SCP-638 instances are covered in coarse dark brown or black hair, which is thickest on their legs and heads; beginning at around nine years of age, juvenile instances steadily lose their hair in regular periods of shedding, and by the time they reach sexual maturity around twelve years of age, almost all of this hair is gone save for patches on their head, chest, and groin.

SCP-638 instances display a level of intelligence similar to other contemporary primates. They are capable of understanding and mimicking human speech to some degree, and individual SCP-638 instances that are regularly exposed to humans tend to develop a vocabulary of 50-100 words, which they use to communicate with humans and other SCP-638 instances; wild instances will little or no exposure to humans will mimic the vocalizations of other animals.

SCP-638 instances are able to emit pheromones that cause significant behavioral changes in female mammals. Affected mammals, designated SCP-638-A, view the instance whose pheromones they were first exposed to as an object of reverence; human SCP-638-A instances describe a combination of romantic love and religious devotion, and non-human instances exhibit pack- or herd-bonding behaviors. SCP-638-A instances will gather food and hunt prey for their bonded SCP-638 instance, and will occasionally engage in sexual contact with it; if their bonded SCP-638 instance is threatened, SCP-638-A instances will defend it without concern for their own safety. SCP-638-A instances display reduced inhibitions, impaired judgement, and a lack of fine motor control, and human SCP-638-A instances have consistently compared the effects of SCP-638's pheromones with the effects of alcohol. The effects of SCP-638's pheromones fade over time, with total recovery after 6 days without exposure observed in all recorded cases.

SCP-638 instances reproduce by implanting SCP-638-A instances with a fertilized gamete. The implanted gamete attaches to the SCP-638-A instance's uterine wall, and mimics a normal pregnancy; after approximately twenty weeks, however, the SCP-638-A instance will enter labor, and will give birth to the still relatively-undeveloped fetus. At this point, the SCP-638 instance will place the fetus into a marsupial-like pouch located in its groin, where it will live for six to nine months, feeding from the parent instance's nipples as it develops fully. After this point, the juvenile will be weaned onto a solid diet by its parent, until it is able to gather food and hunt on its own or alongside its parent's pack of SCP-638-A instances.

In the wild, SCP-638 live in small packs consisting of a single adult instance and some number of juveniles and SCP-638-A instances, which hunt prey and gather fruit for the adult. Adult SCP-638 instances are highly territorial; when a juvenile reaches maturity, it will leave its parent's pack with some number of SCP-638-A instances, usually including the instance that birthed it. If territory or SCP-638-A instances are scarce, the juvenile may instead challenge its parent for control of the pack; these fights are almost always to the death.

SCP-638-2.jpg

SCP-638-1 at time of recovery.

Addendum 638-1: Discovery and Initial Containment: SCP-638 was first contained in 1953, after the Hellenic Gendarmerie received reports of a cult leader with the ability to control women's minds from a census taker investigating a remote mountain village in the Citheraeon range. By the time Foundation personnel responded, a local militia had already set fire to the cult's compound and were searching for the individual in question; Foundation personnel located the supposed cult leader in a cave several miles from the compound, covered in severe burns from the fire. The properties of its anomalous pheromones were confirmed when several Foundation personnel became SCP-638-A instances, and it was contained as SCP-638 (this initial instance is now designated SCP-638-1) .

SCP-638-1 had a vocabulary composed primarily of the archaic Boeotian dialect of Greek; it is currently hypothesized that its lineage had been an object of devotion in the area since the 4th or 5th century BCE, and that Boeotian was preserved by its worshipers as a liturgical language. The cult centered around SCP-638-1 was composed primarily of human SCP-638-A instances, with several male priests who controlled the SCP-638-A instances' access to SCP-638-1; many of the cult's practices involved ritual sexual activity with both the priests and SCP-638-1, and the sacrifice of animals whose meat would be fed to SCP-638-1.

It was initially believed that SCP-638-1 was sapient, and simply refused to speak except to give one- or two-word commands. Interrogation of SCP-638-1 to determine the source of its anomalous abilities continued until a second pack of SCP-638 was discovered in the Elâzığ province of Turkey in 1972 and it was realized that SCP-638 was not sapient. Current containment procedures were instituted in 1973.

Addendum 638-2: Interview Log, 1 May 2009

In early 2009, another cult centered around an SCP-638 pack was encountered in the village of Duf, North Macedonia. The cult's practices were similar to those of the cult that venerated SCP-638-1, although the Macedonian dialect of Greek was used rather than Boeotian; the cult had controlled the town since the early 20th century, when they took it over by force in the aftermath of the First World War. Mobile Task Force Epsilon-6 ("Village Idiots") was dispatched, and all SCP-638 instances were contained with no Foundation casualties. Most of the village's population was amnesticized; the cult's high priest, Dimitar Gjorgiev, was taken into custody and held in a police station in the nearby city of Gostivar pending amnesticization or transfer to a Foundation facility for long-term internment.

Date & Time: 01/05/2009, 1335 CET

Subject: PoI 638-32, Dimitar Gjorgiev

Interviewer(s): MTF E-6 Balkan Regional Commander Andrey Zlatkov, MTF E-6 Sergeant Marija Brajković (translator)

Interview was conducted in Macedonian; Cmdr. Zlatkov and Sgt. Brajković communicated in English. Sgt. Brajković's translation has been omitted except where otherwise noted.


Sgt Brajković (MB): Good afternoon, Mr. Gjorgiev. My name is Ms. Brajković, and this is my colleague, Mr. Zlatkov. We have a few questions to ask you.

PoI 638-32 (DG): Interpol? UBK1? Maybe CIA, yeah?

MB: Something like that, yes. Do you speak English or Russian?

DG: A little Russian, I learned some when I left the village for school. But that was many years ago, and it's not so good now. (In Russian) My name is Dmitri. I live in Yugoslavia. The tractor is in the barn. Not enough for a CIA interrogation, no?

MB: Alright. Mr. Zlatkov will ask the questions, and I will translate for him. Is there anything you would like before we begin? Some water?

DG: A bottle of wine, a rare steak, and a beautiful woman. One out of three isn't too bad though, huh?

Cmdr. Zlatkov (AZ): (To Sgt. Brajković) I understood that one. Want me to get another translator?

MB Don't worry, I've dealt with worse. (To PoI-638-32) If there's nothing you want, we can get started.

DG: Fine by me.

AZ: Alright. Could you please state your name for the record?

DG: Dimitar Gjorgiev. But my friends call me Dimi.

AZ: Any other names you might be known by?

DG: Ah! Of course. (In Greek) Ecclesiarch Demetrios son of Georgios, Herald of Dionysos, Favored Servant of the Drunken Lord, at your service.

MB: (To Cmdr. Zlatkov) I think that was Greek—could you understand it2?

AZ: (To Sgt. Brajković) Sort of. He's claiming to be the high priest of Dionysus, I think. (To PoI 638-32) So you worship Dionysus?

DG: Of course! Like my father, and his father before him, and so on.

AZ: Do you know how long your village has worshipped Dionysus?

DG: The village, maybe 60 years. After the war, my grandfather moved there from deeper in the mountains. Inducted the whole village into worship of our lord. My family? (He shrugs.) Thousands of years, as far as I know.

AZ: And what is the relationship of your god to the… Creatures we found in your temple?

DG: Ah, I see where you are going. You think the pseudandroi3 were the inspiration for Dionysus, yeah? Everyone always does! The historians, the sociologists, the scientists, they all think this!

AZ: Wait, historians and sociologists? Who else knows about the creatures?

DG: It doesn't matter, it was a long time ago, they were old men, I am sure they are dead now. The point I am making is that you all have it backwards, no?

AZ: What do you mean by "backwards"?

DG: Chicks come from chickens, saplings come from trees, and the bromiskoi4 come from Bromios5.

AZ: So you believe that these creatures were created by your god?

DG: I believe that they were birthed by Dionysos. And, of course, that they will grow up to become him.

AZ: What do you mean by that?

DG: Please, allow an old man his secrets.

AZ: (To Sgt. Brajković) They'll have to get that out of him at 77, I guess. Make sure to note that he'll need a real interrogation. (To PoI-638-32) Alright, we'll let that go for now. Were you in contact with any other cults like your own?


PoI-638-32 continued to avoid answering Cmdr. Zlatkov's questions, and a full interrogation session was scheduled pending his transfer to Site-77 for indefinite detainment.

Addendum 638-3: Incident Report, 638-2009.05.02.A

On 2 May 2009, prior to his transfer to Site-77 for further interrogation, PoI-638-32 used previously-undetected thaumaturgical abilities to escape from captivity, injuring five Foundation personnel and several civilians. A transcript of the surveillance logs is reproduced below.

Date: 02/05/2009, 0920 CET

Location: Gostivar Police Station, Republic of North Macedonia

Relevant Person(s) of Interest: PoI 638-32, "Dimitar Gjorgiev".


PoI 638-32 is alone in the police station's interrogation room, handcuffed to the table. He has a disposable paper cup of water in front of him.

PoI 638-32 : Evoe, Akrataphoros!6

The water is transmuted into a red liquid; post-incident examination of the cup revealed it to be red wine. PoI 638-32 drinks the wine.

PoI 638-32: Evoe, Eleutherios!7

PoI 638-32's handcuffs and leg irons unlock and fall off, and the door to the interrogation room swings open. PoI-638-32 stands, and steps towards the door. Two MTF E-6 personnel move to investigate.

PoI 638-32: Evoe, Briseos!8

PoI 638-32 reaches into his jacket and produces a thyrsus, a ceremonial staff topped with a pinecone. He waits beside the door for the MTF E-6 personnel to enter, and strikes them in the head and groin with the thyrsus, incapacitating them. He steps out into the hallway, and heads for the front entrance of the police station. Three Foundation agents are standing in the station's front room, and draw their firearms when they notice PoI 638-32.

PoI 638-32: Evoe, Bromios!9

The volume of PoI 638-32's voice increases significantly in volume, to the point that it overloads all recording devices in the immediate vicinity; it is estimated that the ambient volume in the station's entryway was around 160 dB, well beyond the human threshold of pain. All Foundation and civilian personnel in the station are incapacitated by the noise, and PoI 638-32 is able to leave the station unimpeded. After leaving the station, he does not appear on any surveillance footage, although eyewitness accounts indicate that he walked westward into the forest outside of town.

Following Incident 638-27.5.2011, several adult instances of SCP-638 displayed some of the anomalous abilities used by PoI 638-32, including the ability to transmute water into wine and shout at volumes that are dangerous to human hearing. Containment procedures are currently under review.


tags: alive animal compulsion humanoid sentient sexual species religious reproductive omnivorous scp euclid


This is a rewrite of the original SCP-638, written by Skali SharpnoseSkali Sharpnose. The core of the concept was "an anomalous entity that inspired the myth of Dionysus"; I took the last paragraph about there being more instances of this thing out there and just ran with it. this treats the original 638 as the initial containment documentation, and then asks the question "wait what if this guy is more like a chimp that can mimic speech than a human". it's sort of an in-universe rewrite.

image is public domain from wikimedia commons.

crit from RounderhouseRounderhouse, Modern_ErasmusModern_Erasmus, probably some other people but it's been a while

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License