Special Containment Procedures: According to the "Mycelium" Protocol, each branch of the Foundation shall create a special team "Enoki Mushrooms" to cooperate with the Polish Anomalous Mushroom Picking Association (PZGA) in controlling SCP-CN-2345 in the wild and conducting research on applications of artificial cultivation of SCP-CN-2345. It has been confirmed that 99% of all samples in the wild have been contained.
"Enoki Mushrooms" and PZGA are to provide specialists to develop research of the anomaly; all for-profit usage rights of the results of this research are granted to PZGA; however, PZGA must inform the Foundation of all activity relating to SCP-CN-2345, including but not limited to quantity, cultivation, usage, and sale; in addition, PZGA is to hand over a part of each product to the Foundation.
The Foundation is currently using SCP-CN-2345 in the production of mnestics for the Antimemetics Department and information gathering. In addition, if any member of personnel is discovered to be infested with the anomaly, the infestation is to be removed by surgery or targeted medication as soon as possible.
Description: SCP-CN-2345 is a type of mushroom that grows on the human head; the PZGA has given it the binomial name Flammulina memoriae. Its external appearance is similar to that of enoki mushrooms, but is only 1~2mm in size; it presents a bitter taste upon consumption.
The spores of the mushroom can spread throughout the atmosphere and can live for over a thousand years; in addition, upon landing on a human head, they will sprout mycelium and begin to grow. It will typically grow to maturity over a few days, after which it can live for over 30 years, during which it will continuously produce spores. Once the mushroom has attached to its host, it will tightly join to the hair follicles on its head, and washing with hot water, using an electric razor and standard hair-washing techniques are unable to remove the mushrooms. As such, in order to remove the mushrooms, surgically removing the affected cells together with the mushrooms themselves is necessary; alternatively, washing with specialized medication achieves the same effect. These methods will cause irreversible damage to the scalp and lead to baldness.
Newborn babies are particularly prone to SCP-CN-2345 infestation; if the infestation is spread from their parents, the descendants will easily become infested, leading to infestation in the whole family.
SCP-CN-2345 has a weak antimemetic effect; in addition to its size, this leads to the subject being unable to detect its presence. The mushrooms will use the host's nutritional intake and memories to grow, leading to a decrease in physical development, memory loss, and balding. As it tends to infest entire families at a time, it is commonly mistaken for a genetic disorder.
The anomaly was first discovered and investigated by an ethnic Chinese agent of the PZGA, Dai Si, after which the collaborative research involving the "Enoki Mushrooms" team began. The collaborative research team discovered that consuming the mushrooms could lead to recovering or gaining the memories it had taken; its specific makeup also strengthens the memory. As such, research is proceeding in these two directions.
The process by which memories are extracted from SCP-CN-2345 is as follows:
- The user ingests medication derived from the object or directly consumes the object.
- The subject loses consciousness for 5 min ~ 4 h.
- When the subject awakens, they report to have experienced some or all of the memories in a first-person view in their dream.
Addendum CN-2345-A:PZGA Information Leaflet
Memory-Carrying Enoki
Flammulina memoriae
Non-poisonous | Medicinal | Bad taste | Parasitic
Appearance: Agaric, convex top, gill-shaped lamella, bare stem, entirely white, very small, spore print is cream-colored.
Anomalous properties: Antimemetic, draws memories from host as nutrition; other people can retrieve these memories through consumption.
Distribution: Parasitically attached to small number of human populations around the world, including polar regions
Use history: Memory-carrying enoki was first discovered by Agent Dai Si on the head of his eldest daughter, who was suffering physical developmental delays; tentatively considered the X strain. Following that, he discovered the same mushrooms growing on the head of his wife and her other children. Initially Agent Dai Si attempted to carry out research on the X strain on his own, but due to his inexperience with antimemetics and his other research responsibilities, research has proceeded extremely slowly.
In 2020, due to the "Explosive Pleurotus" incident, the Association and the SCP Foundation signed the "Mycelium" Protocol, and both sides began to make a breakthrough. As such, the Foundation provided Dai Si's team with antimemetics experts, leading to rapid and groundbreaking results. Dai Si named this mushroom "Memory-Carrying Enoki", and has begun to use it to create various medical products.
Suggestion: Using medication to remove the mushrooms will remove their effects; if the mushrooms themselves are desired, only surgery is possible.