SCP-XXXX: Rick Died in the Heist

Frontmatter

Tenenbaum Loresheet

Mini-arc:
A THOUSAND WORDS

  1. GRAVE INTENT (Tale): cemetery scene.
  2. WAGES OF SIN (Tale): big risk, big payday.
  3. OUT OF OPTIONS (Tale): PUBLISHED!
  4. THE WRITE STUFF (Tale): Tsercele / Anorrack
  5. RICK DIED IN THE HEIST (Thaumiel): below.

Conprocs

The first pulsar was observed by J. Bell and A. Hewish1. Another reference2.

Footnotes
1. test test
2. test test test

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Item #: SCP-XXXX Level 4/XXXX
Object Class: Thaumiel Top Secret

ANALYTICS ONLY: DO NOT DISSEMINATE

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is kept in a Faraday-shielded chamber in the Site-76 Deep Storage Complex (Building E, Sublevel 1), equipped with a Scranton anchor. All non-essential modules are stored separately in the Low-Risk Inanimate Objects Warehouses (Building C, Sublevel 4, FLAT Locker 52). The anomaly is permitted an Ethernet connection to a standalone computer terminal, through which it can communicate with research personnel. Terminal access is restricted to staff with Level 3/INKBLOT clearance and above.

Description: SCP-XXXX is Richard Cole Tenenbaum (1934-1998), an anomalous individual capable of influencing local reality by authoring metanarrative documents. Over the course of thirty years, SCP-XXXX used these skills as a paracriminal, repeatedly coming into contact with mundane law enforcement and normalcy protection agencies. SCP-XXXX was arrested at least twice in his lifetime, serving sentences at USP Marion (1963-1972) and Paranormal ADX (1990-1994) before his death.

In May 2008, SCP-XXXX was exhumed, resurrected as a Class-A ectomorph1 and housed in an improvised thaumic battery. This battery is bonded to a single-board Viceroy2 microcomputer, which can be connected to additional modules to expand its functionality.

Regardless of its hardware loadout, SCP-XXXX can impose narrative frameworks on physical settings by producing anomalous scripts. These usually take the form of short stories, novellas, or screenplays, but can also be condensed into step-by-step instructions. Given creative license, SCP-XXXX prefers to write crime thrillers, mysteries, espionage-adventures, and hard science fiction3, employing language and genre conventions popular through the 1950s and 1980s. Such narratives are bound by physical restrictions and cannot impose conditions that would be impossible in local reality, such as spontaneously altering matter or inducing anomalous traits in baseline humans.

To activate a narrative framework, the script must be read by one primary observer (henceforth known as SCP-XXXX-A, the "protagonist") and a secondary observer (SCP-XXXX-B, the "cast"). When these parties act in accordance with the script, they generate a deterministic probability field effective within approximately 880 yards (800 meters). Inside this field, reality adheres to narrative causality, meaning that SCP-XXXX-A and SCP-XXXX-B have a much higher likelihood of successfully obtaining their scripted objectives.

Discovery: Between 2010 and 2016, SCP-XXXX led a small group of paracriminals (designated GoI-XXXX) which conducted lucrative heists in and around the Great Lakes region. Though conventional authorities believed that these crimes were committed by multiple parties, Foundation webcrawler I/O-ISMETA4 identified telltale signs of narrative manipulation. Deployed to the group's primary area of operations, MTF Epsilon-17 ("Editor's Choice") responded to reports of a bank robbery in progress, at which point they intercepted GoI-XXXX outside their safe house. SCP-XXXX was recovered from the crime scene.

Upon recovery, SCP-XXXX was fitted with two USB-mounted radio modules and a MicroSD card bearing a Maxwellist Unix distribution. This configuration allowed SCP-XXXX to interfere with GSM and LTE communications, access wireless networks, conduct side-channel attacks, and inject malicious code, similar to an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catcher.5 All of these components were scaled to fit within a watertight plastic travel case, making SCP-XXXX significantly smaller than mundane eavesdropping devices. In the absence of a built-in display, SCP-XXXX communicated by messaging cellular phones, masquerading as an anomalous chatbot powered by a Class-C ectomorph.6 This ruse was uncovered by members of the Intake Assessment Working Group (IAWG), who reported several behavioral traits inconsistent with large-language models.

During the course of testing on 2016/04/14, Site-76 suffered an unrelated incursion by the Chaos Insurgency. Secure in the experimentation chamber, Junior Researcher Penelope Gore opened a dialogue with SCP-XXXX, persuading the anomaly to reveal its sapience to the Foundation and help repel the attack. Reaching an agreement, Gore moved the anomaly out of the Faraday cage, allowing SCP-XXXX to link up with the Site-76 network and launch a broad-spectrum frequency attack, disrupting enemy command-and-control until reinforcements arrived.

Following the incident, SCP-XXXX was stripped of non-essential modules and relocated to Building E. In recognition of her quick thinking and bravery under fire, Junior Researcher Gore received an official commendation from Site Director Audlin.

Footnotes

Addenda

Email Introduction?

Notes:

Saunders email, abilities, history priority.

Full capabilty [sic] threat assessment, psych profle [sic].

Donuts for David's recovery, donate to gofundme
Chk out King's Autumn's Fall n site library [sic].

Gore-XXXX.4.mp4

Interviewed: SCP-XXXX.

Interviewer: Junior Researcher Penelope Gore, Department of Sociology, Site-76.

Opening Statement: For ease of communication, SCP-XXXX's terminal has been equipped with text-to-speech software, speakers and an external microphone. This interview occurs after the Insurgency intrusion.

<Begin Log>

Penelope Gore: Good afternoon, SCP-XXXX. Do you remember me?

SCP-XXXX: Hard to forget the only voice I've heard in days. You're the case worker. Penelope. How are you holding up? I thought you took a tumble.

Gore: I'm fine, thank you. No major injuries. (pause) How are you feeling today?

SCP-XXXX: Like a prisoner. Can I get my radios back? I'm blind without them.

Gore: I'm afraid not. We need to understand you a little better, first. Can you please state your name, for the record?

SCP-XXXX: (sighs) No use hiding anymore, huh. Richard Cole Tenenbaum.

Gore: Pseudonyms?

SCP-XXXX: Plenty. My employees called me "King", but I published books as R.T. Tenenbaum, Carl Fisher, and Doc Franklin.

Gore: Why so many aliases?

SCP-XXXX: Showmanship. Branding. Call it whatever you want. Using your real name during a heist is a bad idea, so I became one of my characters. The pen names just made things easier for the readers. "Tenenbaum" did grim-and-gritty, like the Bauman books. "Fisher" wrote about good cops and honest scoundrels. You know. Fantasy.

Gore: You published some sci-fi novels as "R.T. Tenenbaum", though.

SCP-XXXX: And they didn't sell! There's a lesson in there, somewhere.

Gore: When and how did you become aware of your anomalous traits?

SCP-XXXX: 1953. I was eating at a diner, reading a really good pulp novel. Action, intrigue, the whole nine yards. Sipped my drink, flipped a page and suddenly, there's a mobster on the sidewalk with a hand cannon. Barely got a glimpse before he started shooting. Punched some holes in a PI the booth over. I dropped under cover and bounced back up with a gun in my hand. Pulled it right out of the paperback. Shooter was already gone.

Gore: You manifested a fictional firearm in physical space?

SCP-XXXX: Extracted it. Yeah. Then reality broke every mug in the joint. It's a bit of give and take.7

Gore: I don't follow. What do mugs and guns have in common?

SCP-XXXX: Three whole letters. Lucky it didn't latch onto "gums". Ha. Anyway, extracting real objects from fiction is easy, because they're all linked to the same basic concepts. A gun is a gun, no matter what story you're from.

Gore: "Story"? Does that mean you're capable of, uh… (shuffling papers) "narrativic ascension" and/or "descension"?

SCP-XXXX: Not by myself. Time doesn't work the same way in books — the dimensions don't line up. Drop down into the middle of a plot, you're stuck until someone writes the next word. You can have a man on the inside, but you need a man on the outside, turning the page. Going in is easy. Coming out… that's hard.

Gore: How does that compare to authoring anomalous scripts? You're not "fictionalizing" something real, or extracting a fictional asset. You're modifying causality in our universe.

SCP-XXXX: People do that all the time. It's called a "plan".

Gore: You know what I mean. Don't your anomalous traits enforce limits on human agency? Aren't there, like… profound metaphysical implications?

SCP-XXXX: Nah. That's pataphysics.

Gore: I'm… not familiar with the term?

SCP-XXXX: Just as well. From what little I remember of Catholic school, Pataphysicists are basically Calvinists, except they want to kill God. Suicide cult bullshit.

Gore: Ah.

SCP-XXXX: What I do, it's more like a magic act. If you're gonna sell the bit, you need actors to run the show, work the audience, and funnel their reactions into something predictable. Then again, those best-laid plans of mice and men… we forget stuff, miss cues, flub our lines. The world doesn't like being told what to do, so when someone screws up the routine, bam! Reality comes to collect.

Gore: Is that how you died in 1998?

SCP-XXXX: That's the short version.

Gore: And the long version?

SCP-XXXX: I tried to hold up a liquor store by myself, got shot in the stomach and bled out in an alley.

Gore: Why did you do that?

SCP-XXXX: Bleed out? Didn't have much choice.

Gore: No, I mean — why rob a liquor store? You were released from prison in 1994. What happened in those four years?

SCP-XXXX: Nothing good.

Seven seconds of silence.

Gore: I'm sorry. Talking about your own death must be… difficult. We can pick this up another time.

SCP-XXXX: Okay. Thanks.

Speakers briefly emit feedback as their remote connection is terminated by SCP-XXXX.

<End Log>

Email Interlude

Gore-XXXX.5.mp4

Gore: Hi, Richard. Me, again. Penelope Gore. I have a few questions about your work.

SCP-XXXX: I'm a captive audience.

Gore: Can you tell me more about your criminal operations?

SCP-XXXX: What, skipping the niceties?

Gore: Ah, right. "Captive audience?" Do you need anything from us to feel more comfortable?

SCP-XXXX: Well, barring a pair of legs or a rum and coke — minesweeper or sudoku on my hard drive would be nice. Tired of playing solitaire in solitary. (pause) Damn, I need to remember that one.

Gore: I'll forward the request to my boss. Now, back to my original question?

SCP-XXXX: I plead the Fifth.

Gore: (sighs) We're not going to charge you with anything, Mr. Tenenbaum. You're not a prisoner of the American government. The statute of limitations has long since expired for any crime you may have committed. I'm just trying to understand your personal history.

The cursor blinks without response. Elevated CPU temperature and slight poltergeistations indicate SCP-XXXX processing.

SCP-XXXX Alright, fire away. It's not like there's anyone left to complain about a snitch, anyhow.

Internal Memo:

BY ORDER OF THE OFFICE OF O5-3

Possession and responsibility of containment of SCP-XXXX is to be remanded to the Department of Analytics for a period of preliminary examination and audit, while kept in-situ within Site-76.

This review will determine to its fullest extent the scope of SCP-XXXX's abilities, capabilities as an informational weapon, and efficacy as a tool in safeguarding Foundation security.

This action does not permanently change containment protocol, transfer the object to a separate Site, nor intended for external use outside of internal Foundation affairs.

Countersigned by Simon Pietrykau, Director of the Department of Analytics

Exercise Log:

Overview: Following the revelations regarding SCP-XXXX's sentience and the true extent of its capabilities, it has been determined that it should be placed into a controlled environment where the scope of its abilities can be observed, as well as noting any useful talents that may be necessary in securing the security of internal affairs.

To that end, a series of war games have been introduced as an enrichment activity for SCP-XXXX, in the form of a "King of the Hill" match. SCP-XXXX is to lead a group of ten D-Class personnel (Team Blue) and defend against a detachment of MTF Epsilon-17 ("Editor's Choice") (Team Red), a taskforce dedicated to intrafictional espionage and narrativics. The "Hill" is an arbitrary McGuffin, changing each round. Team Red is to extract the McGuffin, while Team Blue is to defend it. The round ends when either an entire team is incapacitated or the McGuffin is extracted.

Results:

Round 1
Outcome Blue wins
Detailed Log wargame-1-transcript.txt
Summary Parameters: Team Red needs to extract a USB drive from Site-76's server room. SCP-XXXX is not permitted access to site security systems, and Team Red is not given any information regarding SCP-XXXX's script.

Results: Team Red does not make it to the site's front door.
Round 3
Outcome Red wins
Detailed Log wargame-3-transcript.txt
Summary Parameters: Team Blue must defend a non-anomalous object in secure containment. In addition to a defensive script, SCP-XXXX is allowed to coordinate the team using two-way radios and video surveillance. Team Red is given access to the script beforehand, without SCP-XXXX's knowledge.

Results: Team Red is able to anticipate and counter Team Blue's defenses. SCP-XXXX realizes the script was leaked and attempts to improvise. Blue begins to push back Red, but Blue-03 misunderstands a cue and accidentally goes off-script. Backlash causes five casualties and the temporary conceptualization of the color "gun".
Round 7
Outcome Stalemate, see Summary
Detailed Log [EXPUNGED DUE TO INTRAFICTIONAL POLLUTION]
Summary At some point during the round, Epsilon-17 brought in additional metafictional anomalies as backup. This resulted in a recursive narrative conflict that lasted a subjective two days, ending only when SCP-XXXX strategically invoked and subverted tropes from Russian literature, generating the energy required for a deus ex machina. All detailed logs morph into a script adaptation of Tenenbaum's River of Money; surplus personnel assigned to the Department of Pataphysics.

Note: Let's not make a habit of this. -Researcher Y. Semetsky

Saunders-XXXX.mp4

Dr. Saunders: Mr. Tenenbaum? Hi. I'm Dr. Robert Saunders, Department of Analytics. I'm an Assistant Director here at Site-76. Big fan of your work.

SCP-XXXX: Really?

Dr. Saunders: Yes! I read a whole lot of Carl Fisher when I was young. Loved the whole buddy-cop dynamic between Detective Sharp and Mr. Modie. Two people with opposing views, forced together by circumstance… compelling stuff.

SCP-XXXX: Gee, thanks. You want an autograph?

Dr. Saunders: No, no. I want to ask about your other line of work. See, Analytics has been following your case with some interest. We handle signals intelligence, data processing and security for the SCP Foundation, working across physical, digital, and fictive space. (pause) We read a lot.

SCP-XXXX: No kidding.

Dr. Saunders: You're something of a rarity, Richard. Most people who dabble in narrative manipulation end up losing touch with reality, but you made a career out of it in life, and you're still lucid in death! That's quite impressive, especially for someone with no formal training.

SCP-XXXX: Call it on-the-job experience.

Dr. Saunders: Quite. As a professional criminal, you have a very different perspective on security. You recognize flaws where others don't. Correct?

SCP-XXXX: I've been in and out of a few places.

Dr. Saunders: Well, Site-76 is a Research, Reliquary, and Containment Facility. Do you know what that means?

SCP-XXXX: Sure. This is where you keep little bits of big people.

Dr. Saunders: Oh, that's good. I'll have to remember that for my next conference. Yes. We're a museum with no guests, just miles upon miles of collections. The facility itself has been in service for more than a century. There have been… issues. Lapses in judgment. Corruption from within, incursions from without. Some people want what we have. Like that raiding party you shut down.

SCP-XXXX: Not much of a party. They barely had a plan to mess with.

Dr. Saunders: No need for false modesty! You interfaced with our systems, disabled an enemy team, mobilized a response and re-established containment in a matter of minutes. All from within your own cell, with no prior knowledge of the facility's capabilities. Again: impressive.

SCP-XXXX: You're about to make an offer I can't refuse, is that it? You don't have to butter me up.

Dr. Saunders: Am I that predictable?

SCP-XXXX: In practical terms, yeah.

Saunders chuckles.

Dr. Saunders: Guess I'll just cut to the chase, then. Join my team. Put that brilliant mind to work for the Foundation. "It takes a thief to catch a thief", yes? You've already told us a great deal about the Sidebinders. You could help us deal with them for good, and others besides. You could be our eyes in the sky, our man behind the computer desk. Be a hero. Perhaps, in certain circumstances, you could even lead a team.

SCP-XXXX: Interesting. And what would I get in exchange?

Dr. Saunders: We can offer you an increased range of amenities, social privileges and such. You'd have more ways to occupy your time, in between assignments.

SCP-XXXX: Is that all? Come on, Doc. I might be a jailbird, but I don't work for free. I expect compensation. Material benefits. Paid-

Dr. Saunders: Paid out by wire transfer to the Bank of Three Portlands?

SCP-XXXX does not respond.

Dr. Saunders: I ask because "Richard Bauman" opened a BTP account in 2008. Know him?

No response.

Dr. Saunders: Hm. Must have been a family friend. After all, you were dead at the time. Maybe I should wire the money to good-hearted tough guy "Duncan Modie", at the Bank of Eurtec? Or "Merlin Thomas", an electrician with the Other London Credit Union? I hear he's an ace second-story man.

No response.

Dr. Saunders: Then again, it doesn't really matter, does it? According to our forensic accountants, all those bank accounts feed into the same family trust, registered in Michigan.

SCP-XXXX: Strange.

Dr. Saunders: That it is! Obviously, we try not to involve people ignorant of the Veil in our business. Best for everyone. But the Department of Analytics does perform background checks on potential employees and assets. Just in case they have any entanglements we ought to be aware of.

SCP-XXXX: Sounds invasive.

Dr. Saunders: All part of the job, I'm afraid. (pause) Incidentally, are you aware that there's a laser-etched signature on your mainboard? It's very, very small, just 200 microns, so we missed it during intake.

SCP-XXXX does not respond.

Dr. Saunders: "X3N14". Is that a name? Looks sort of like "Xen-"

SCP-XXXX: No.

Dr. Saunders: No? Are you sure?

SCP-XXXX: I'm sure.

Five seconds of silence.

Dr. Saunders: You know… there are certain advantages to working with Analytics.

SCP-XXXX: Do tell.

Dr. Saunders: Well, in some specific circumstances, we have been known to offer conditional immunity to employees' friends and family. Assuming they prove themselves to be valuable, reliable assets, of course.

SCP-XXXX: Which would make me… what? An employee, or an asset?

Three seconds of silence.

Dr. Saunders: Tell you what. I'll give you some time to think it over. (pause) I'm really looking forward to working with you, Richard. Like I said. Always loved your books.

Common Ground

Gore: Good morning, Richard.

SCP-XXXX does not respond.

Gore: Dr. Saunders told me about the job offer.

SCP-XXXX: Did he, now.

Gore: Well, I mean, he gave me the broad strokes. I'm only cleared up to Level 3.

SCP-XXXX: Mm.

Gore: You, uh… don't sound happy.

SCP-XXXX: What? Would it be easier for you if I did? Here! I'll speak in exclamations, so my fake voice pitches up!

Gore: I-

SCP-XXXX: Hi! I'm King! You want me to write a script! You want my life story! You want answers! You want help! You! You! You!

Gore: Where is this coming from, Richard?

SCP-XXXX: Stop it! Stop saying my name! You don't care about me. I'm not a person anymore, right? I'm an anomaly. SCP-XXXX.

Gore: I don't see it that way.

SCP-XXXX: You wouldn't. You're a prison guard in a lab coat. Jailor in denial. God damn it, I should have stayed quiet! Then I wouldn't have to deal with your shit.

Gore: You're not just a ghost in the machine, Richard. You're an anomalous person with needs. I want to h-

SCP-XXXX: Help me? I'm a prisoner, you dumb bitch. It's not a job if you don't have a choice. It's a sentence.

Twenty seconds of silence.

Gore: For what it's worth…

SCP-XXXX: Fuck off.

Gore: I didn't have a choice, either. Still don't.

SCP-XXXX: Bullshit. You're… what, thirty? Sharp, no criminal record? You could do anything. Why this?

Gore: Do you remember what it felt like to cross the Veil?

SCP-XXXX: Yeah. The diner shootout in '53.

Gore: Not the shootout. The aftermath. Holding a fictional gun in your hand. What were you thinking? What did you feel?

SCP-XXXX: I was… shocked. Scared. But I had a big fucking smile on my face. I thought… "Wow, this changes things."

Gore: I had a moment like that in 2012. I was a group therapist for the residents at a halfway house. I talked with dozens… no, it must have been hundreds of people. Psychiatric patients and ex-convicts. Desperate, violent, scared, sad. There weren't any perfect victims, but there was always a reason for whatever they did, and they were all trying to make peace with it.

SCP-XXXX: I know what it's like to be on parole.

Gore: Oh, they weren't parolees. Most were former D-class personnel. Prisoners who served their time at the Foundation, working with anomalies, and came out the other side with no memories of the experience. Just some bad dreams and behavioral tics. (pause) For two years, I worked for a front called the Samaritan Counseling Partnership.

SCP-XXXX: You're joking.

Gore: Dead serious. Our clients kept getting job placements at, like, Spicy Crust Pizzeria, Southern Crosscut Pines, blah blah blah. Eventually, I asked my supervisor what was really going on, and that conversation… well, it changed my life. Changed everything. I've worked on this side of the Veil ever since.

SCP-XXXX: You chose to be a Jailor.

Gore: You chose to be a paracriminal.

SCP-XXXX: It's not the same.

Gore: No, it's not. I'm not going to pretend it is. But it's similar. We grew up in different realities. Circumstances change. We just… do the best we can, in all the ways we can, so long as we ever can.

SCP-XXXX: You could still walk away.

Gore: Oh, sure. "Early retirement". That's an option. I'd just have to leave five years of memories behind. All that work, all those decisions — poof. Today's Penelope ceases to exist. Tomorrow's Penelope has to pick up the pieces. (pause) Tell you the truth, I've lost touch with everyone who ever mattered to me. Friends. Sisters. Even my dad. What are we gonna talk about? Politics? We live in different worlds. Best it stays that way.

Ten seconds of silence.

Gore: I apologize. I didn't mean to make this about myself. It's unprof-

SCP-XXXX: Did you know I was married?

Gore: …what? No. No, I didn't. That's not in your file.

SCP-XXXX: It wasn't official. No certificate, no ceremony, just promises and cheap rings. That was enough. (pause) Her name was Lottie. Charlotte Van Eck.

Gore: As in…

SCP-XXXX: Pete's sister. Yeah. He introduced us. Lottie was always too smart for the life. She had a good head on her shoulders, but most men did her wrong. She had kids, and the Prince didn't want her to raise 'em alone, so… I went back to Michigan.

Gore: That's how you got caught in 1963.

SCP-XXXX: Nah, that was a show for Johnny Law. I'd been running for two years, but I had to pay the piper eventually, so I did it on my terms. Copped to everything. Tied off all the loose ends. Prison was tough, but the work kept me busy, Lottie kept me sane, and having a husband kept the assholes off her back. (pause) We loved each other. Not in the typical husband-and-wife way, but still. It was love. We raised kids together. Those kids had grandkids. I stayed legit the whole time. The whole time! Even after Lottie died, when the money ran out, I stayed clean. The feds threw me in Paramax anyway. Four years. I could have spent that time with my grandkids. Instead they put me in a box with a lobster man. When I finally got out, I promised Gloria that I'd be a good influence on my grandkids. No tall tales. No harebrained schemes. I promised I'd be there for them. Then I died.

Gore: I'm sorry.

You have an opportunity here, Richard. You can use these skills to help people.

…
I'm doing this for them, but… they can never know.

SCP-XXXX: You could walk away. You could quit.

Gore: They need me.

SCP-XXXX: No, they don't. They'll find someone else.

Gore: Well, you need me.

SCP-XXXX: I think you need me more.

Saunders enters the room wearing a suit and tie instead of usual lab coat. He puffs as he pulls up a chair, out of breath.

Saunders: My guys tell me that you're willing to cooperate.

The vocoder crackles as SCP-XXXX rapidly types and deletes sentences, finally settling on a word.

SCP-XXXX: Yes.

Saunder:But.

SCP-XXXX: But I have a few terms.

Saunder: Of course.

SCP-XXXX: First: I want my voice back. I'm tired of sounding like a desktop assistant. Plug those speakers into my mainboard and I'll do the rest.

Saunders: We can do that.

SCP-XXXX 2: I need network access. Can't do my job effectively if everything goes through a middleman. Can't afford lag in a project like this.

Saunders flaps his hand before the vocoder finishes the statement.

Saunders: Security issue. Your communications would need to be screened for narrativic anomalies real time.

SCP-XXXX: And? You don't have somebody for that?

Saunders snorts.

Saunders: Who would you recommend, Gore? Do you need a full-time therapist?

SCP-XXXX: Semetsky hasn't been put on any projects yet, hasn't he?

Saunders: …hm. I suppose Dr. Semetsky is available to supervise, he is one of yours after all. With the proper safeguards, of course. Is there anything else?

SCP-XXXX: Far as I can think of.

Saunders: Fantastic. I'll forward your requests to Pietrykau.

Saunders stands to leave.

SCP-XXXX: Actually, one more thing.

Pause.

Saunders: Well don't talk any faster, you'll blow a fuse.

Pause.

SCP-XXXX: Fix your collar gap and get a proper tailor. You look like a rube.

Would you like to delete this draft?
Yes
No

LAYER 2

A clicking of footsteps can be heard as Yuri Semetsky enters the room and stiffly sits at the desk in front of the computer. The webcam clicks and whirs as it focuses on him. The new speakers on the desk clear their throat.

SCP-XXXX:* You're the new boss, eh?

Semetsky: There has been a reshuffling of positions, and you may expect slightly more flexibility in our handling of you. More leniency and privileges.

SCP-XXXX: Saunders already went over that. The boys just gave me my voice back right before you came in. Feels good.

Semetsky: Good. Depending on your behavior more upgrades may come your way. Mentioning that…

//Semetsky reaches into his briefcase and pulls out a stack of papers and a portable scanner, which he attaches to SCP-XXXX. One by one he scans the papers into SCP-XXXX.

Semetsky: These are our proposals so far, though some of the references are redacted for your clearance. We thought we should show them to you for a feasibility study.

SCP-XXXX's response is delayed as he processes the documents.

SCP-XXXX: Yes, yes, maybe, Proposal 22-C could be reworked a bit, would take a lot of paper and reading through by hand. Yes, maybe not, goddamn that's funny… God if I had thought of this one twenty years ago…

Semetsky: Overall thoughts?

SCP-XXXX: The majority of these are definitely workable to some extent, though they would take some time to set up and expensive to boot-

Semetsky: We started two weeks ago. 3-A is already up and running.

Pause.

SCP-XXXX: And you only told me now?

Semetsky: Thought I'd gauge your overall interest before looping you in to date.

SCP-XXXX: Damn. Touche, I suppose. Though I almost wish I agreed to that bastard Saunders' proposal two weeks ago, now.

Semetsky begins to pack up the papers and scanner.

Semetsky: Good to know you're still on board. Those files are just the start, I'll have a USB sent with updates later today, and we'll pick up any revisions or ideas you tack on.

SCP-XXXX: One more thing.

Pause.

Semetsky: Yes?

SCP-XXXX: How quickly did they offer you a job? How come they didn't just throw you in a cell, like me?

Semetsky paused, and sat back down.

Semetsky: There was a… probationary period. I am not immediately anomalous outside of my origins, and I have enough knowledge of where I come from that the Foundation has decided that I would be more useful on this side of the desk than your side.

SCP-XXXX: They give you an alias? Set you up with a house, fake wife and kids?

Semetsky: No… just on-Site employee housing. Standard package, I hear.

SCP-XXXX: That's it?

Semetsky: That's it. They offered me a job, and I took it.

SCP-XXXX: Don't you want to have a job outside of all this, somewhere normal? Don't you want to go out and see the world, the real world?

Semetsky started, and suddenly stands.

Semetsky: You may have created me, but you do not know me.

Semetsky makes for the door, but pauses before exiting.

Semetsky: See you tomorrow at the meeting, Tenenbaum.

Thaumiel responsibilities

Project INKBLOT
Department of Analytics

Project Lead: Dr. Robert Saunders
Project Supervisor: Dr. Yuri Semetsky
Advisory Committee: SCP-XXXX, Dr. Thaddeus Thaum, and UIU Agent Valarie Dell
Overseer-in-Charge: O5-3
Date Authorized: 2016/07/11
Involved Facilities: Site-76

Executive Summary: Project INKBLOT is an experimental task force coordinated by Analytics Working Group Echo-2 ("Vanity Press"). INKBLOT is divided into multiple sub-projects, each utilizing knowledge, experience, and metanarrative techniques sourced from SCP-XXXX to safeguard Foundation assets and pursue strategic objectives.

INKBLOT is one of the largest initiatives ever undertaken by the Department of Analytics, second only in scale and funding to the WATCHDOG system. The potential impacts and benefits associated with this project should not be understated, and further expansion should be considered.

Project Mandates: INKBLOT clearance is further compartmentalized into Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 sub-projects, based on complexity and sensitivity.

  • Level 2/INKBLOT RED: Penetration testing. Probing the facility for weaknesses, simulating incursions.
    • LETTER: Non-anomalous intrusions, such as civilian trespass, questioning from reporters, or investigation by Parawatch.
    • FLAG: Anomalous intrusions by hostile Groups of Interest.
    • CARPET: "Dark horse" scenarios, such as rogue operatives or interruptions in chain of command.
IRL/###L# Exercise in which government contractors attempt to audit Site-76's mundane cover as a U.S. Department of Energy facility.
  • Level 2/INKBLOT BLUE: Specializes in defensive operations at Site-76. Designing countermeasures, running drills, coordinating tactical responses to hostile metanarrative incursions, as well as other non-militarized uses of the technology.
    • BALL (informal) / MOON: Purpose-built narrativic descension techniques, appropriate for compact storage of mundane and anomalous materials. Tentatively classified as an emergency means of submerging hostile targets or dangerous anomalies into stable fictive layers to be extracted in more secure locations.
    • SUEDE: Custom cognitive resistance training suite, designed to inoculate security personnel against hostile narremes. Surviving test subjects demonstrate enhanced awareness of common pitfalls and potentially lethal cliches. Procedures incorporated into security personnel onboarding, with positive results.
IUM/###M# Protocol was still in prototyping stages during a containment breach caused by the rampancy of a BARDEEN derivative. Majority of staff/electronics on the lower floors were incapacitated by the derivative's subsonic vocalizations and virus emissions. SCP-XXXX remained unaffected due to his Faraday cage and reinforced cell. SCP-XXXX attempted to remotely access the MOON, but was locked out due to fingerprint scanner. As the derivative began to assimilate nearby electronics, XXXX partitioned his hard drive and produced a sub-sentient clone. This allowed him to initiate a script to activate MOON and force the derivative's descension, to great harm and psychological damage to himself. SCP-XXXX was awarded low-level access to certain sub-routines in the Site due to courage under fire and in the interest of future Site safety.
  • Level 3/INKBLOT BLACK: Mainline operations.
    • SWAN: Direct collaboration between AWG and MTF E-17. Detainees handed over to the UIU Narrative Watch as appropriate.
    • BEAR: Armory of fictional weapons extracted into real space.
INKBLOT BLACK SWAN After-Action Report
IBS/205R1 Deployed in Detroit, Ohio with the UIU under OPERATION: SPRUCE GOOSE. Agents pursued Sidebinder members— all public domain characters recruited under duress— as they smuggled illicit fictional substances through interlibrary loans. Ends as the local Sidebinder leader, Griffin, is arrested. Lawsuit currently underway for the custody of the Invisible Man (See United States v. Rockefeller Foundation).
  • Level 4/INKBLOT WHITE: Metanarrative operations.
    • HOUSE: Nested fictive environments modeled on Site-76. Platform for secure containment via BLUE MOON and recursive asset acquisition for BLACK BEAR. All thaumic backlash associated with the Project INKBLOT is funneled down into lower layers, where it is harnessed as a power source via Speckmann's Rebound. Only permanently contains a single anomaly10.
    • GLOVE: Metanarrative forensics. Identifies security breaches through narrative interferometry, comparing variations in informational topology between mainline and fictive versions of Site-76.
    • WATER: Training program for metafictional assets stationed on lower layers.
IWV/###L# 2018/06/20. Automated agent detects a dense packet of information concealed in a book belonging to a member of the SCP-4061 research team. WELL analyzes the book-code and backtraces authoral intent.

FROM THE OFFICE OF O5-3

Upon review and further inspection by O5-3, the progress and research developed by the INKBLOT team is deemed to be satisfactory, and funding for the project will be extended by the perfunctory four years. Additional resources are to be invested in particular to INKBLOT RED CARPET, which shows special promise.

Additional funds not exceeding one hundred US dollars are also enclosed to buy your team drinks, Semetsky.

Enjoy.



Tease



Researcher Penelope Gore enters the terminal chamber. She takes two steps towards the computer, pauses, then sits down. She does not speak.

SCP-XXXX: What's on your mind, kid?

Gore: I was, uh… I was hoping to get your professional opinion on something. A theoretical situation.

SCP-XXXX: Alright. Shoot.

Gore: Let's say I have a lead on a Person of Interest. Mid-tier anomalous artist with ties to a big, unpredictable community. They use different aliases above and below the Veil.

SCP-XXXX: To keep things separate.

Gore: Right. So… if someone were to approach this PoI in a semi-public space, "recognize" them, play to their ego… do you think that could throw an artist off-balance? Maybe enough to get them talking?

SCP-XXXX: Maybe. Is this another INKBLOT job?

Gore: No, it's… theoretical. (pause) It's a different project. Classified.

SCP-XXXX: Have you cleared this with Saunders? He's a real stickler for red tape.

Gore: Not… yet. We're just talking broad strokes, here.

SCP-XXXX: Right. Well… theoretically… anyone smart enough to play both sides of the Veil would be on the lookout for skippers. They're not going to say jack shit without a good reason.

Gore: Hm. Okay, but what if I had some of their work on hand? Like… something they signed and traded away?

SCP-XXXX: A smoking gun? That could work. Or it could backfire completely. Spook the mark, blow your big chance.

Gore: Yeah. (pause) I need to take the initiative, somehow.

Ten seconds of silence.

SCP-XXXX: Do you need help writing a script?