SCP-1655 - Sorrow Tick

Item #: SCP-1655

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1655 is to be kept in a 5 x 5 x 5 cm plexiglass

container. Any handling of SCP-1655 that requires opening its container is to be
performed by D-class personnel only.

Description: SCP-1655 is a small arachnid of the order Ixodida, bearing a strong

resemblance to the common tick. SCP-1655 does not appear to share the common
development cycle of non-anomalous members of the order Ixodida, nor to require any
physical sustenance.

SCP-1655 was found latched to the neck of ██████ ██████, a patient in the ███████
asylum for the criminally insane, by Dr.████ █████. Dr.████ █████, employed by the
Foundation, contacted his superiors as a result of a series of interviews with
██████ ██████.

The specimen is extremely aggressive, and will attempt to latch onto and bite any
mammal with which it comes into contact . If the specimen is able to bite someone,
the following phenomena will occur:

1. Any living being the affected subject held any degree of affection for will
immediately lose all memory of the subject's existence and will be unable to
acquire any new memories concerning him/her/it.

2. Said beings will not be able to sense the subject in any manner. Any physical
contact with the subject will cause mild discomfort and disgust, which will
increase in intensity the longer contact is held.

3. If the subject begins to feel affection to any other living being, they will
also be affected. It appears SCP-1655 is able to extract information from its
victims and alter its effects in order to maintain complete emotional isolation .

4. The subject will ignore SCP-1655's existence.

These effects appear to be permanent, and will endure even if the parasite is
removed. Beings the subject bears no affection to are unaffected. Because of this,
and the effects of the suffering of its victims on SCP-1655 (See Test Log), it is
hypothesized the parasite keeps a mental link with its victims, and feeds on the
negative emotions the effects of its bite incurred in them.

Test Log SCP-1655

Subject: A female house cat and its kitten.

Test: SCP-1655 introduced to kitten.

Result: Mother cat no longer acknowledges the kitten's existence. Kitten's

attempts to feed are met with resistance from mother, until eventual starvation of
the kitten. A plasma-like substance appears in SCP-1655's blood sack.

Subject: D-236

Test: SCP-1655 introduced to to D-236. He is asked to contact his grandmother,

Mrs.██████, who raised him.
 Result: Mrs.██████ does not appear to hear D-236's voice. When questioned about
her grandson by Agent █████, she shows no recollection of him. When a meeting is
arranged she ignores his existence entirely, and when D-236's is asked to touch
her, she expresses a feeling of uneasiness, "something spooky", in her words. D-
236's is removed from the meeting due to signs of extreme emotional distress. SCP-
1655 appears engorged, as if filled with blood.

Addendum#1655-A:
A diary was found next to the body of ██████ ██████, after his suicide. The
following extract is of particular note:

All alone. Always alone. She couldn't see me, no matter what I did. She
couldn't care. I gave up everything for her- I left my wife and kids, my job, my
entire life just to run away with her. I thought we were happy. Then one day, I
come back home and all of my stuff in out on the pavement, and when I go inside she
acts like I don't even exists. I shout at her, and I shake her, but nothing works.
She just walks around me like I'm not there. I scream at her for hours. Hours! and
she just ignores me. Every time I touch her she gets that fucking disgusted look on
her face, like I'm some scum. So I took it off forever. That backstabbing, lying
cunt. She had it coming. She got what she deserved.
Why didn't she love me anymore?

Addendum#1655-B: Tests of the specimen's saliva have produced results: though tests
were unable to identify all of the different components, trace evidence of hormones
affecting the Hippocampus, as well as powerful depressants, were found. While
physiological examinations proved incapable of confirming how the specimen uses the
information it retrieves from the Hippocampus to affect others, it is now clear it
is actively causing mental anguish to its subjects, most likely in order to hasten
its feeding process.

Addendum#1655-C: Closer examination of the specimen found feminine reproductive

organs, implying additional members of the species may exist in the wild. Further
investigation is recommended.