Per 
Elenjepo Publishing AI
Special Containment Procedures: Undercover Foundation agents have been embedded in multiple news publication firms in order to track and report instances of SCP-5120. The Foundation webcrawler I/O-PAPERBOY is to monitor major social media and news websites for any mentions of SCP-5120. Discovered instances of SCP-5120 are to be replaced with the original text, and witnesses, as well as affected subjects, are to be amnesticized. Investigation into the exact source of SCP-5120 is a high priority.
Description: SCP-5120 is an anomalous phenomenon affecting the headlines of various printed and digital news publications, primarily within the United States of America. Headlines affected by SCP-5120 are subtly altered to exhibit exclusively one of two memetic triggers, designated SCP-5120-A, and SCP-5120-B. When viewed, SCP-5120-A induces an overt urge to read the article corresponding to the affected headline as well as a compulsion to read other articles published by the firm. SCP-5120-B is a dual-type memetic/antimemetic trigger, inducing a combination of minor anterograde amnesia and intense disinterest in reading the news article in viewers.
The creation of predictive models concerning SCP-5120 has been significantly impeded due to its irregular behavior; additionally, the frequency of its activities is progressing at a sporadic but constant rate. To date, it is estimated that approximately 17,000 individuals have been exposed to SCP-5120 instances. An excerpt of current SCP-5120 activity logs is attached below.
| Instance | Headline | Results |
|---|---|---|
| A-120 | Elenjepo Publishing | The stock value of Elenjepo Publishing increased greatly. |
| A-121 | The Daily Astorian | A group of tourists passing by a house in Astoria, Oregon all entered, collected several visible issues of The Daily Astorian, and immediately exited. |
| B-184 | Backdoor SoHo Daily Pamphlet | An art exhibition advertised in the pamphlet had fewer than 3 people attend. |
| B-185 | LA Opinión | A large decline in Spanish-speaking voters in Los Angelos was observed. |
| A-122 | New York Times | The New York Times website crashed from an abnormally high amount of requests. |
| A-123 | Elenjepo Publishing | The stock value of Elenjepo Publishing increased greatly. |
| B-186 | Washington Post | Approximately 1,000 civilians who had voted when possible all previous years did not vote. |
| A-124 | Elenjepo Publishing | The stock value of Elenjepo Publishing increased greatly. |
Discovery: SCP-5120 was accidentally discovered after Foundation webcrawler I/O-SOLOMON flagged several headlines of prominent news publications as containing memetic hazards. This occurrence was initially recorded as an extranormal event; however, further instances were shortly discovered and designated SCP-5120.
Addendum 5120.01: The headlines of articles published by Elenjepo Publishing, a minor news firm, have been noted to contain an abnormally high proportion of SCP-5120-A instances in comparison to SCP-5120-B instances. Due to this, it is theorized that Elenjepo Publishing is associated with SCP-5120; Foundation investigations into this possible connection are ongoing. An interview between Dr. George Wensibo and Lester Lerwenz, a representative of Elenjepo Publishing, is attached below.
Interviewed: Lestor Lerwenz
Interviewer: Dr. George Wensibo
Foreword: Mr. Lerwenz was issued temporary Level 0 security clearance and briefed on SCP-5120 with the intent of subsequent amnesticization prior to the following interview.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Wensibo: Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Mr. Lerwenz. We understand your workplace has strenuous rules regarding time off.
Lerwenz: It's nothing, really, I'm glad to help.
Dr. Wensibo: Let us begin, then. Are you aware of your recent rise in profits, and its relation to the phenomenon you were briefed on?
Lerwenz: I knew about the extra profits, yeah, but truth be told, I didn't even know the other thing was happening 'til you told me. I thought the rise in readers was just because of that JEP thing Ollirun brought in a while back. Biggest thing that happened since the converter was installed.
Dr. Wensibo: JEP? Could you elaborate?
Lerwenz: Some sort of machine learning thing, I dunno the specifics. Probably stands for something. No idea what.
Dr. Wensibo: Noted. What is the purpose of JEP, exactly? Do you know?
Lerwenz: Well, uh, you didn't hear this from me, but it was supposed to be like the future-proofed ink, getting us more readers and reducing our workloads by automatically writing eyecatching headlines for us. Last I heard, it wasn't making typos every other word anymore. Guess that's progress, huh? (He laughs.)
Dr. Wensibo: I see.
(Lerwenz goes silent as Dr. Wensibo takes notes for twenty seconds.)
Dr. Wensibo: Well, thank you for your time. You've been very helpful, Mr. Lerwenz.
Lerwenz: Ah, don't mention it. I mean really, don't go spreading this around, the brass might not be too happy with even me for telling you.
Dr. Wensibo: We'll keep that in mind.
<End Log>
Afterword: Following the conclusion of the above interview, Lestor Lerwenz was amnesticized and returned to his workplace.
Addendum 5120.02: Based on information from the above interview, Elenjepo Publishing is currently theorized to have anomalously created or otherwise manifested SCP-5120 in order to maximize their own profits, and has been designated GoI-4557 accordingly. A more thorough investigation into GoI-4557 activity is underway.
i would say talk about where they’re finding these, how many people are affected by each, what the headlines are about, maybe include an interview with an elenjepo representative and an ominous hint that the number of headlines affected by XXXX is rising
maybe even say an investigation into the source is ongoing and make it link to an updated version of the documentation where the AI itself is correctly identified as the scp
ooh that could be a way to start the investigation- the foundation eventually realizes the ones with the compulsory effect are all being published by elenjepo and the antimeme’d ones are from competitor publishing firms
Overall, I like this. The anomaly itself and the story here is good and catching in my opinion and the quality of writing is solid. I do think however, that you should show more about how the anomaly is actually affecting people, and showing and personifying the firm more might work in your favor by making it a more memorable entity for the reader. I saw that you have a rough outline of some events you haven't written yet and I don't know if you're gonna fit it there, but you could also try to expand the interview a little.
Consider what would be the consequences of large-scale disinterest in news publications.
Increase the number of people affected from "at least 10000".
I don't think it needs to be inherently anomolous. I like the idea of a neural network stumbling onto memetic hazards, and using them further due to seeing more success with them.
<Tanhony> Bench: i like it
<Tanhony> the idea of a normal neural network naturally becoming anomalous over time is really interesting
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<BoomerTheStar47_2> "… it was shortly assigned an official SCP designation." Shortly feels like the wrong word here. How about promptly?
<BoomerTheStar47_2> "SCP-XXXX-A-1 - SCP-XXXX-A-133" So you're telling me they had 133 occurrences IN A ROW? I feel like this would need to be set to a smaller value, like 38 or something similar. Just me tho.
<BoomerTheStar47_2> Needs to be a line between "Team Members: A4-1 / A4-2 / A4-3" and "<Begin Log>"
<BoomerTheStar47_2> "((A4-1 attempts to open the door.)" 2x (
<BoomerTheStar47_2> Missing line between "A4-1: Really? We came out here for nothing?" and "A4-Cap: Wait. Check the papers."
<BoomerTheStar47_2> Also, shouldn't the names be bolded?
<BoomerTheStar47_2> I think the scraps in Addendum 2 could use a little bit of [bracketing] so you can still see the full word, like [R]esult and [PRO]METHEUS
<BoomerTheStar47_2> Other than the grammar errors, +1. Well done!
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<RedofPaw> Bench: "Discovered instances of SCP-XXXX-A and -B are to be purged and replaced with replications of previously existing text, and witnesses and/or affected subjects are to be amnesticized."
<RedofPaw> Feels like a long sentence.
<RedofPaw> the /or is probably redundant as well
<DrFullham> "purged" is also not a very scientific term
<Bench> Replications of the news articles, unaffected by the anomoly.
<Bench> Would "removed be better"?
<RedofPaw> just replaced i think
<RedofPaw> "SCP-XXXX is hypothesized to have subsequently become anomalous as a result of long-term exposure to, and partial digital integration with, severe cognitohazardous vectors."
<RedofPaw> This feels a bit long, Maybe split in two and expand the 'digital integration;
<RedofPaw> Bench: The rest is good up to the Swords, Seberys part
<RedofPaw> I'm a little unclear as to why the AI cannot be found and shut down?
<RedofPaw> Bench: should it be clear where the AI is at this time?
<Bench> RedofPaw: They are unable to find it due to it being in the interior of the Elenjepo Publishing building, which disappeared when the Foundation tried to enter it.
<RedofPaw> Ah I see, yes, that seemed to be right - where did it go? Is it still 'out there'?
<Bench> RedofPaw: Yes.
<RedofPaw> Bench: so it's a sort of cat and mouse. They try to shut it down, but can't, so they do their best to limit it
<Bench> RedofPaw: Yeah.
<RedofPaw> what would happen if they tried to shut down the newspaper publishers?
<Bench> Well, they were also in the interior, so they'd have to find them first.
<RedofPaw> Bench: How do 'sales' increase? Where is the money sent etc
<Bench> I have not thought that out yet. Apologies.
<RedofPaw> No worries - just trying to think of the avenues the Foundation might take to shut down the operations.
<Bench> Is the draft ok besides the grammatical errors, if I may ask?
<RedofPaw> It looked good so far, yes. I think it has the opportunity for more detail and content - which is good :)
<RedofPaw> It is anomolous, but it would be good to know what the dangers are of this going unchecked. Perhaps it's an escalation. Every attempt to stop it makes it more serious.
<RedofPaw> So they find the publishers and try to shut them down, but they vanish, so they go after the money, and now the papers just… appear…
<RedofPaw> So they go after the outlets, and the papers arrive at houses
<RedofPaw> But now the headlines have changed…. and it's no longer just propegating itself, but attempting to get the people it is sent to to frustrate the efforts of containment
<RedofPaw> (By all means ignore the ideas - just thoughts)
<Bench> RedofPaw: Thanks! I'll see if I can try to work some of these ideas in.
<RedofPaw> Mostly it's why this threat may escalate if unchecked. Otherwise it's just an irritation
<RedofPaw> Bench: in any case, glad I could help! Feel free to DM for anything else
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I think my biggest concern is that there's a tendency for this to overexplain stuff? The biggest offender is the second description, which feels like it heavily retreads a bunch of things we already know, and adds a bunch of information which doesn't quite feel necessary? Like it really goes into a lot of detail as to how exactly it works and it feels…unnecessary?
The initial investigation video log transcript is…technically good but the investigation feels so perfunctory that it doesn't quite do enough? Especially considering they decide to leave as soon as they figure out something is going on when it really feels like you send an MTF team in because there is something going on? It might be worth having a few of the shorter Addendum 5120.02 notes be read out and then the longer ones left as a final addendum?
The Lerwenz interview feels a tad odd too. He feels…like he knows way too little about what's going on for it to be a good idea to interview him so I'm not sure why they chose him and not someone more important? Unless the implication was that the Foundation were all 'Hey Elenjepo, we'd like to talk to someone you work with' and they sent him? It might be worth making that interaction more explicit if so.
In the current state, I'd probably upvote this even if I feel like it could be polished up some to be even better.
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