SCP-1658 : Textual Mold

SCP-1658 is a fungal organism related to Stachybotrys chartarum, or black mold. When visible, SCP-1658 superficially resembles dried ink. Like most molds, SCP-1658 prefers damp environments, but can live in a state of suspended animation in arid environments as well, surviving for up to 70 years without exposure to water.

SCP-1658 is capable of living on several materials, such as wood and plaster; however, the preferred habitat of SCP-1658 is paper, particularly printed matter. When a suitable habitat is found and colonized, SCP-1658 takes on the appearance of printed characters from various alphabets. SCP-1658 generates a hallucinatory effect; "text" created by SCP-1658 appears to "shift" appearances depending on the individual(s) viewing it. The effect is apparently random; for example, a native of Brazil may find an instance of SCP-1658 imitating Portuguese, while an individual fluent in both English and Spanish may find himself encountering text printed in Aramaic in the same instance. Photography has shown that the "actual" appearance of SCP-1658 resembles several languages, the most common including Binary, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, and English. Most texts generated by SCP-1658 are gibberish, with few coherent instances identified.

The spores of SCP-1658 produce a powerful trichothecene mycotoxin similar to that produced by S. charatarum. When inhaled, SCP-1658's spores cause coughing, sneezing, nausea, and dizziness; if not treated, exposure can lead to chronic respiratory problems and other symptoms (See Addendum). Spores are capable of surviving in a human respiratory tract for up to 5 days, giving ample time for exposure to new material.

Addendum: Incident 1658-05

Test#: 1658-05
Test Subject: D-5832, Caucasian male, age 57, chosen due to a strong immune system.
Procedures: D-5832 was purposefully exposed to spores of SCP-1658 in order to test symptoms of resultant fungal infection. Subject developed fungal pneumonia as well as a form of foot fungus resembling tinea pedis (athlete's foot), but more severe. Symptoms developed over the course of 16 days, during which the subject was denied fungicidal medicine, instead given placebo. Subject reported chronic coughing and difficulty breathing, as well as black, ink-like mucous discharge.

20 days after infection, fungal growths on skin resembled the word "ALEX" printed several times in at least 6 distinct languages. Subject discharged mucus almost constantly, and required respiratory system to be drained via tubing. Testing showed that 1mL of mucus contained several billion SCP-1658 spores.

Exposure of spores to several tissues used by subject produced over a dozen colonies of SCP-1658 all of which display the same message, in English:

"IS THIS OUR FATE"

All materials subsequently burned. Following burning, an outbreak of SCP-1658 was found in the Foundation Archives, contaminating over █████ original documents with the message "WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS". Documents have since been destroyed; replacements were made from digital copies.

Following Incident 1658-05, uncontained instances of SCP-1658 has shown increased levels of resistance to BMK. In addition, in the event of burning SCP-1658 contaminated materials, there is a chance that some spores of SCP-1658 will scatter before ignition, and attempt to enter the respiratory system of any human within a █km radius. It is unknown if the events of Incident 1658-05 and this new behavior have any correlation.