post #4244522

SCP-262 is an article of living clothing from the mythos of the SCP Foundation website. Its debut story, SCP-262 — A Coat of Many Arms was posted in September 2008 by a writer known as FritzWillie, the original admin of the Wikidot. SCP-262 is a pun on a coat of arms, a heraldic visual design.

SCP-262 is a woolen European military-style trenchcoat of unidentified manufacture and classified origin. It is constructed in a style used from late 16th century to early 20th century yet is made of wool carbon dated to the 4th millennium BC. The coat is devoid of any distinguishing features but is speculated to have been a prototype military uniform. The history of SCP-262 is known to the Administrator of the SCP Foundation, as he was the one to bring it into Foundation custody but, due to his position, has the privilege to remain silent on his activities with SCP-262 prior to its containment as a Euclid-class SCP and how he came into acquisition of it in the first place.

When SCP-262 is worn in an open state, multiple limbs will emerge via hammerspace from within the dark inner lining. The random limbs that extrude out of SCP-262 are often humanoid arms varying in skin tone, yet may manifest as more esoteric limbs such as a 4-meter-long scaled tentacle; four 10-meter cellulose-based translucent arms with 4 fingers, two elbows, and no wrists; a pantherine paw of a mountain lion or similar; and even just legs and feet. These limbs may have been sourced at least in part by past wearers, as a D-class subject that put SCP-262 over his head disappeared as it fell down over him and his fingerprints were identified on a subsequent manifestation. Not only do SCP-262's arms vary wildly in a size, shape, and color, but appear to have some level of sapience and independence. A wearer of SCP-262 may have limited control over some limbs, but said limbs have been observed to fight one another, assist or annoy the wearer, or exhibit talents such as playing music that the wearer does not possess.