Item #: SCP-444
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Object is to be kept in Cordon 19 storage when not in use for procedures SCP-444-A or SCP-444-B. HAZMAT suits with fine particulate filters must be used when handling the object. Personnel effected by SCP-444 must be immediately treated with procedure SCP-444-B by trained staff. If treatment is ineffective due to exposure level then personnel will be remitted to the SCP-444 Recruitment Program's Class-D pool. Material collected from the object, after being processed, must be kept in hermetically sealed, double locked containers to prevent accidental exposure.
Description: SCP-444 is a "vodou" (voodoo) doll, 15.95cm (6.28) long, constructed of brown burlap cloth made from the fibers of an unknown plant. The "head" of the doll is styled after a skull face, carved from a dark ebony wood, with two "eyes" of red/black opal set in it's sockets. On the top of the head, secured through holes in the carving are several tufts of brown human hair. Alleles recovered from follicles of these hairs revealed they originate from a young (under seven (7) years of age estimated based on analysis of recovered mitochondrial DNA) female of West African of Sub-Sahara African origin. Red markings of unknown meaning are inscribed in the head and body of the doll. Analysis of the red markings reveals they are made of dried blood from another young female, but a different individual that was used for the hair. Sewn to the middle of the body is the C1 vertebrae of yet another young female. The stitching of the right leg has been opened allowing material to be inserted and collected from the inside cavity of the doll.
When beach sand is used to fill in the cavity in the doll and the [REDACTED] sacrifice is performed the sand is imbued with the ability to induce a kind of "zombification" in people that are exposed to even minuscule amounts of it, with different outcomes depending on the dose administered. Additionally the sand can be ground very fine to be put in solution for injection, or even released in the air, although this later method makes it quite difficult to administer a controlled dose.
When under the influence of the sand the subject enters a state of suspended animation, with almost all of their cellular processes stopped for a certain period of time. While this state is observed damage to the brain and other bodily tissues can occur from the interruption of body processes, leading to both desirable and undesirable effects.
Up to fifty (50) micrograms the subject loses consciousness, existing in a state almost indisguishable from dead (heart rate stopped, brain activity stopped, digestion stopped, cellular ATP synthase greatly inhibited), and cannot be revived for one to thirty six (1-36) hours (depending on dosage level), after which time they will wake up of their own accord, with no ill effects but a headache.
Up to two hundred and fifty (250) micrograms the subject will revive after one to five (1-5) days with various neurological effects. On the lower end a marked disassociation can be observed, and on the higher end complete catatonia.
Experimentation has revealed that an optimum dose of one hundred and thirty (130) micrograms leaves the subject with no memory of their former life or events, but with most reasoning facilities and some language skills intact (although subjects exhibit a propensity to groan) but are left in an almost totally suggestible state, executing commands when instructed up that can be quite complex.
Starting at approximately six hundred (600) micrograms when the subject is revived after one to four (1-4) weeks significant brain and bodily atrophy has occurred, and when revived the subject is usually in a blind rage, attacking unrelentingly with animalistic instincts (attacking the neck, throat, and head). Dosages ranging in the milligram can be administered with the subject becoming ambulatory in months to possibly even years with very previously mentioned propensity to attack and extreme decomposition commensurate with the length of time the subject was "deceased." Although the damage is quite significant and the abilities limited (it appears though that muscular strength might actually slightly increase) due to decay, the subject can sustain injury that would normally kill an undosed human (in fact, there is no way a normal human could survive with the amount of degradation of the body tissues)
Document SCP-444-A (Recruitment program): The use of SCP-444's properties to aid in the recruiting of Class D personnel from prison executions has been implemented. See associated documentation or protocol and recruitment procedures.
Addendum 1 to SCP-444-A dated [REDACTED]: Use of SCP-444 for recruitment of Class D personnel from the wider populace (not prisoners) has been authorized.