Item #: SCP-604
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-604 consists of a set of objects which all exhibit the same properties, and are contained together. Access is restricted to authorized personnel, and anyone attempting to access the containment area without authorization will be immediately detained. All interaction and testing must be cleared with Site Command.
Any staff interacting with SCP-604 must submit to psychological testing before and after interaction. Requests for reports on testing events, subject reactions, and audio/video recordings must be cleared with Central Records, and may not be removed from the record reviewing area.
Description: SCP-604 is a set of tableware and dishes, consisting of 19 plates of various sizes and designs, and 21 goblets, champagne flutes, and other wineglasses. Several are ornately gilded, studded with diamonds and rubies, or made out of fine materials such as porcelain, china, and crystal. Most are extremely heavy, because of the weight of the rich metals. The cutlery, cloth, chairs, table, and other items that made up the banquet where SCP-604 was discovered have no anomalous properties, and are not contained.
Whenever an edible solid is placed onto one of the plates or a liquid is poured into one of the drink vessels, the food will transform into human flesh, or the nearest equivalent organ, body part, or fluid. The change from one product to another seems to be based on similarities between color, smell, and composition, although vague symbolism and mental associations seem to be occasionally involved as well. For example, fleshy steaks will turn into cuts from the thigh, and red wine or juices into human blood. This can vary between subjects, and the process as to how a change is determined is still under investigation.
Because most of the plates are not large enough in diameter and circumference to create the entire form, most pieces manifest as human infant parts; chicken wings as tiny burnt infant arms, chicken breasts as filleted infant pectoral muscle or tissue from the buttocks, and so forth. However, tissues from adults do appear occasionally, often when the meat is placed vertically, sticking into the air. Based on analysis on the captured videos and logs, this is how longer, more mature parts were designed, although the plate's products seem only to be able to project beyond the surface straight up at a limit of one meter (around 3 feet).
Vegetable and non animal matter can be affected, however this is often “selective”, and will only affect the “main dish”. This means prepared meat will retain the herbs, spices, topping, sauces, and garnishes as it is transformed into human flesh. More than one piece of meat can be placed on SCP-604, but the results are varied; either creating separate pieces, incorporating them all together into one body system based on similarities in appearance (eggs and thin slices of beef turning into a female reproductive system, a pile of pig intestines and a cow stomach melding together to form a human digestive system), or choosing one to “focus” on, and leaving all the others untouched (duck stuffed with Kobe beef becoming an infant torso stuffed with Kobe beef).
The other unique ability that SCP-604 possesses is any living creature placed on its surface or submerged inside liquid contained within a goblet will metamorphose into a moving human body part. It will be capable of kinetic activity, such as flexing, as in the case of a starfish that turned into a six-fingered baby's hand that opened and closed, and grasped at touch, or locomotion, no matter how awkward and slow it is. Severed areas do not bleed, and tendons and muscles still function in normal ways, regardless of damage.
Tissues will move by whatever means is available, such as inching and crawling forward by curling and extending their "body", as the moving finger with an extremely long nail generated from a lobster did, or the floating penis in a large goblet did to "swim"; its tip jerking up and down to allow it to propel forward. If no form of locomotion is possible, the flesh will simply squirm and jiggle, remaining slightly warm to the touch. A pulse can be detected, even when the object in question is not attached to a heart.
Transformed items will continue existing as human tissue until consumed, removed from the plate for a long period of time, or expiring from shock and pain, as many seem to freeze and go into a catatonic state similar to shock when stabbed or bitten into, in the case of “living” tissues. Testing of stomach contents shows that transformed items remain “human” if consumed.
Acquisition: SCP-604 was acquired by Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd. operatives on ██/██/██. According to seized records it was removed from a secluded abbey in the ███████ ████ countryside. The monastery and the surrounding village practiced the rites of communion with SCP-604, and consumed human flesh and blood (said by priests to be that of Jesus of Nazareth) by placing wafers onto the plates situated on the main altar, and drinking blood from the goblets. The wafers were described to have a "light spongy taste" and both manifestations caused “extreme religious ecstasy” when eaten and hallucinations of the smiling Christian God lovingly offering his body, quoting relative scripture pertaining to the event, and speaking intimately of their sins and tribulations. It is believed that this experience is based on the individuals, as testing with identical properties has not reproduced this effect.
Addendum 01: See Supporting Document SCP-604-XCH
Extract from Document SCP-604-XCH Page 9
Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd. employed SCP-604 at some of their more exotic auctions, performances, functions and dinners, during the meal portion. The likely reasoning behind it, supported by direct quotes, was that it was "a once-in-a-lifetime event" and those attending were urged to partake in the cannibalism "for experience's sake; to safely test the waters of the forbidden" in much the same manner that adventure clubs offered bizarre meals such as caramelized insects. The taste and novelty of the flesh was so popular that it was declared an "exhibit" by the Directors of Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd., and installed in a subsidiary restaurant, in the “Members Only” section. The highly exclusive restaurant where it was located was called "The Cannibal's Banquet" and [DATA EXPUNGED]
Excerpt from Supporting Document SCP-604-XCH Page 32
As living foods were in great demand, Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd. owned many specialized cooking and zoological facilities. Kittens, puppies, and breeds of tiny monkeys were used for child tissue creation. When larger parts were desired, guillotines were situated directly over SCP-604, as most parts continue vital signs a few seconds after removal. Certain specimens were also raised from birth in special cages, causing their bones to grow in a certain way, and kept alive while crushed in specific outlines, and fed via feeding tubes so Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd. could dictate exactly what size and shape the results would be.
Addendum 02: See Log SCP-604-02
Log SCP-604-02
(a camera is pointing at a long table, in a dim, crowded room)
(a waiter brings in a pig's head on a platter and then slides it onto SCP-604-04)
(the pig's head turns into a human's, that of an approximately fifty year old man, with pinkish skin, fatty cheeks, thick lips, and an apple in his mouth)
[DATA REDACTED]
Male 1: ███, it tastes like pork. Why does it taste like pork? Just because they used a swine? Well this isn't really official, is it-
Head Server: No sir, I assure you that is what human flesh tastes like.
Male 1: But are you sure? Maybe it’s just being… contaminated, or mimicking the flavor or something.
Female 2: Honey, don't whine.
Male 1: I just mean, how do you know what human flesh actually tastes like? This could be completely wrong. Has anyone actually tried real-
Head Server: Don't worry… we have… specialists…
Male 3: (to women) Besides, all those penises you've been eating would taste like cucumbers then!
(raucous laughter)
Addendum 03: see Log SCP-604-03
Log SCP-604-03
(recovered from a handheld recorder)
(man wearing cook whites) This is █████ ████ and I am performing test 12 on Curio B-26. Several guests find the resemblance between the food's original form and its final human product repulsive, and I have been tasked to find a way to make the flesh look as appealing and realistic as possible, avoiding the bloody or red hue that it occasionally acquires. To do this, I have chosen several foods that can be easily colored and sculpted to look like a head. Test 12 will consist of me baking a cake and carving into the aforementioned shape, and then frosting it with a hairstyle and skin tone-
[DATA REDACTED]
Cook: █████████ bring it over. (focuses camera on the cake) Well, there we go.
Man in suit: The eyes are especially excellent, █████
Cook: Well thank you. I used a dropper to get the blue just centered- ahem. Okay, place it on the plate.
(the cake is placed on the plate. Automatically it sags and appears to melt, covering it and dripping off the sides)
Cook: Well, what the bloody hell just happened?
Man in suit: If I were to venture a guess, I would say it turned into a pile of fats and sugars. Yup (pokes) you can see some soluble lipids right there, and the yellow-
Addendum 04: See Log SCP-604-04
Log SCP-604-04
(audio and video)
Cook 1: Okay, sausages wrapped around the front, and the other slabs of steak are held together with gristle.
(three cooks have put together some sort of meat sculpture in the shape of a human head)
Cook 2: (dabs at blood running down raw meat parts with handkerchief)
Cook 3: Lets just cover the ear area with the baloney.
Cook 2: Are you sure a thin slice of turkey pastrami wouldn't be better?
Cook 3: Positive. (Gestures with knife) Pastrami would have to be pinned here…this way, it lets me slice off the top like this, so I can pour the brains in.
Cook 2: It's the attention to little details that can make the difference.
[DATA REDACTED]
Cook 1: Okay, one, two, three! (they lift up the meat sculpture, and place it one one of the plates)
(it turns into a perfect replica of a human head)
Cook 2: Nice!
Cook 1: Yeah, great work guys.
Cook 3: … Needs hair though. Guests like to see that, rip it off. Maybe put some tendrils of…
Cook 2: Bloody hell ██████, leave it be man, it’s fine! (chuckles)
Addendum 05: See Log SCP-604-05
Log SCP-604-05
Man in suit: Test 32 on Curio B-26. We've shoved various slugs together into a wireframe of a human head. Couple keep falling out, but let's see what happens.
(places slugs on plate along with cook)
(slugs all drop at once)
Cook: Bloody Hell!
Man in Suit: Seem to be little twitching gall bladders. And I would say that's an appendix.
Cook: That one looks fucking gross… it’s oozing…
Man in Suit: Um, duodenum I believe. But yes, I don't think it should be bursting like that.
Addendum 06: See Log SCP-604-07 (only audio, on a tape cassette)
Log SCP-604-07
Unidentified voice: Note: it is unknown if Curio B-26 could create sapient creatures. When we finally successfully do get a living head, the mouth and eyes could simply start opening and closing randomly, and it would drool all over itself, or maybe, just maybe it would be perfectly intelligent. I know some of our clients are definitely hoping for the second option, and I have been instructed by the Directors to bring it about as best as I can. I would like to remark that when we placed a snake, upright on plate seven, it did manifest as a human throat and the bottom part of a mouth, tongue intact and began screaming and shrieking. But it was all incoherent, even though extremely loud and piercing, could hear it all across the building, so I just don't-
Addendum 07: See Log SCP-604-10 (only audio)
Log SCP-604-10
Cook 1: (voice sounds strained and upset) The pile of leeches did not completely turn into a human head. The surface remained the same- but deeper down a human head was generated. Underneath the first two layers…
Cook 2: Help me get these things off it before it scares a guest…
Head: Oh jesus! Oh god! gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! GAAAAAAAAAAAH! They're all over! They're AHHHHH! GET THEM OFF! FUCK! JESUS! GET THE- (it has been determined by analysis that at this point the head either began choking on some of the leeches, or its tongue was covered and drained of blood)
Addendum 08: See Log SCP-604-21
Log SCP-604-21
(a waiter comes in pushing a cart with a wooden box on top. The box has several slots and holes opened in it, and tubes trail out, connecting to IV bags and tiny batteries. A mewling comes from within)
(The box is lifted up over a plate, put on it, and then pulled off. There is a flash of some kind of twisted, shaved animal, but then a human head appears.)
(the human head is that of a man around thirty five, with thick black hair and sideburns. He has extremely pale skin and dark circles under his eyes. He is severed at the neck, which reveals muscle and a bloody hole.)
Head: Where am I? Who am I?! What the hell is going- (Begins looking around and turning up, down, and to the sides) Everything seems at a weird angl- hey, what are you doing! Get that knife away from me!
Waiter: Bon appétit, gentlemen.
Head: (begins screaming)
