DrSekora2 - SCP Sandbox III

DrSekora2

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: The studio apartment containing SCP-XXXX has been rented by the Foundation, along with the other two apartments on the same floor. Apartment management has been informed that the renter is a high-profile client and is not to be disturbed.

SCP-XXXX is to be monitored weekly for any changes in the size or shape of the affected region. Personnel assigned to SCP-XXXX must have an Anomalous Impulse Resistance Index of 40 or greater.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a seemingly impenetrable spatial distortion present within the former apartment of painter Anton Zorkin. The affected region extends ~2 meters from Zorkin's eyes in two intersecting narrow cone-like shapes. Attempts to enter SCP-XXXX, or to insert objects into it, have been met with failure, as have attempts to move the region or Zorkin's head¹. Light seems to be unaffected, as SCP-XXXX was essentially invisible to the naked eye until agents covered the outline of it with paint².

While in the apartment, several personnel have reported an unusual desire to look towards the part of SCP-XXXX furthest from Zorkin. Few have acted on this impulse, although one researcher (since removed from the project) went so far as to push his face into Zorkin's in an attempt to "get the angle right". This is speculated to be the result of a mild compulsion effect.

Addendum: Discovery Notes

Zorkin was placed under Level 1 surveillance following his attendance of the PAINt anartist conference. After he failed to leave his apartment for two weeks, a team was sent in to investigate.

Zorkin's corpse was discovered on the floor of his apartment. His head was suspended ~0.4m above the ground, partially supporting his dangling body. Signs of struggle were present, along with severe trauma to Zorkin's neck. Despite this, an autopsy found dehydration to be the primary cause of death.

A sketchbook was found on Zorkin's desk, containing unfinished sketches, newspaper clippings³, and short handwritten notes. A transcription of selected page contents can be found in the following table:

Page	Sketch Subject	Clipping	Note
1	A meadow	"one-note"	"Next time will be better"
7	A woman holding a baby	"hollow"	"Why don't they get it?"
17	An abstract collection of shapes	"missing something"	"Nothing works"
18	Blank	None	"They have to see it the way I do"

A can of OraCola, the flagship product of the Oracle Soda Company

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: All components of SCP-XXXX are to be stored at the former headquarters of the Oracle Soda Company, now designated Site-358. The facility is to be patrolled by two armed guards at all times. SCP-XXXX is to be kept in a powered-off state, except for during approved testing windows. No components of SCP-XXXX are to be disconnected or modified until its safeguards and mechanisms of operation are better understood.

Class C amnestics have been administered to all Oracle employees determined to have known of the existence and nature of SCP-XXXX. Oracle headquarters have been permanently relocated. Falsified documentation has been produced detailing plans for the relocation, as well as a series of contracts with a Foundation-run market research firm⁴; memories have been implanted accordingly.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a machine of unknown origin, the components of which are embedded throughout much of Site-358⁵. An accompanying operations manual, now designated Document XXXX.001, was recovered at the time of acquisition, and has informed much of the writing of this file.

SCP-XXXX appears to be able to simulate universes. A number of configuration options are available, although the configuration SCP-XXXX was found in at the time of acquisition (labeled "test14") produces universes similar⁶ to baseline.

A switch in the main control room for SCP-XXXX allows the operator to select between either Interactive Mode or Batch Mode. Excerpts from Document XXXX.001:

In Interactive Mode, one simulation is produced at a time. The attached headset and control console allow for live observation and manipulation of the simulation at various degrees of spatial and temporal granularity.

In Batch Mode, multiple simulations can be run concurrently, and a series of simulation batches can be queued up for convenience. Configuration options (including variance bounds and target demographics) are customizable for each batch.

Current experimentation with SCP-XXXX is primarily focused around Interactive Mode - see Addendum XXXX.1 for experiment logs.

SCP-XXXX appears to have been created for the purpose of conducting market research in simulated universes, here designated as SCP-XXXX-1 instances. Each SCP-XXXX-1 instance is focused around the generation and surveillance of one or more "targets", with the goal of extracting a set of "data points". An SCP-XXXX-1 instance runs until all desired data points are collected or rendered uncollectable⁷, after which point the instance rapidly collapses into a singularity. In ~95% of recorded cases, this process is centered around one of the targets.

No adverse physical effects have been observed around SCP-XXXX at any point during its operation. The shielding and isolation apparatus is currently being studied for potential future containment applications.

SCP-XXXX and Document XXXX.001 contain no branding or contact information, but no current Oracle employees expressed awareness of the internal workings of SCP-XXXX during pre-amnestic interrogation⁸. Therefore, it is not currently known whether SCP-XXXX was constructed internally to Oracle or by a third party, nor if SCP-XXXX is the only machine of its kind.

Discovery: SCP-XXXX was discovered during a raid on the headquarters of the Oracle Soda Company, after reports from the Foundation Economics Department indicated that the company was gaining market share at an anomalous rate.

Addendum XXXX.1: Testing Log

Test #: 0001
Mode: Interactive
Configuration preset: test14
Target(s): 1 male, 25-34, midwestern United States
Recipe: Standard
Result: Simulation ran at a greatly accelerated rate for ~13 billion years (~7 minutes of real-time) before gradually slowing pace. Universe generated has a high degree of similarity to baseline, with direct analogues of Earth, humanity, and several notable locations and landmarks being observed near the end of the viewfinder's automated zoom-in process. Speed approaches real-time as the view centers on a man (labeled "Target") entering a grocery store with his head down. Target is engaged by a staff member (wearing a name tag reading "Juniper") upon nearing a sample display; transcript follows.

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Juniper: Hi there! Would you like to try a sample of OraCo-?

Target (interrupting): No thanks, not really into pop.

Target resumes walking. Juniper appears discouraged.

Juniper: O-okay. But… it's the new and improved formula!

Target continues walking.

Juniper: Wait! Please! It's my first day, and my boss told me I need to give out 30 of these by the end of my shift, but it's scary and so many people have headphones in, but I finally worked up the courage and you weren't wearing headphones and you looked kind, and I only have an hour left, and I need this job, and my sister….

Juniper begins crying. Target stops, sighs visibly, walks back to the sample display, and lifts a plastic cup.

Juniper (wiping away tears): Really? You'll take one?

Target grunts.

Juniper: Thank you so much! I'm… I'm sorry you had to witness that, I don't know what came over me, it's just so stressful when nobody will even - wait, you're going to try it, right?

Target sighs again and takes a small sip. Juniper smiles.

Juniper: Yay! Well? How was it?

Target: Uh. It's fine, I guess?

Immediately following the previous utterance, the image warps and objects begin to stretch towards the sample display from all directions. Target and Juniper both scream unintelligibly for the final 5 seconds before total universal collapse.

Test #: 0002
Mode: Interactive
Configuration preset: test05
Target(s): 1 male, 25-34, midwestern United States
Recipe: Standard
Result: Simulation ran for a much longer period of time than in the previous test, with the viewfinder erratically jumping through large expanses of empty space. After ~1 trillion simulated years, universe is terminated; SCP-XXXX prints out a message reading "ERROR 34171-1: No suitable Earth analogue found."

Test #: 0017
Mode: Interactive
Configuration preset: test14
Target(s): 1 male, 25-34, midwestern United States
Recipe: Standard
Result: Similar results to Test #0001, but with a different Target. Shortly after the point where the speed slows to real-time, researchers use control console to pause simulation and shift view focus to headquarters of Oracle Soda Company. Presence of a machine matching the outward appearance of SCP-XXXX confirmed. Further testing of SCP-XXXX suspended indefinitely, per Ethics Committee ruling XXXX.003; update to SCP-XXXX documentation pending review.

The rest of this file is restricted to personnel with Level 4/XXXX clearance or above.

Input Level 4/XXXX Credentials

Authorized

Addendum XXXX.2: Excerpt from SCP-001 proposal draft by Senior Researcher Edward Black, former Site-358 director

Item #: SCP-001

Object Class: Apollyon

Special Containment Procedures: A majority stake in the Oracle Soda Company is to be purchased by the Foundation, after which all products are to be recalled with appropriate monetary incentives. Class-action lawsuits against Oracle are to be initiated and advertised in all distribution regions to increase awareness of the recall.

Research into the negative health effects of soda is to be aggressively funded and promoted. A cultural aversion to commenting on food and drink is to be cultivated via campaigns on both social and conventional media.

Description: SCP-001 is the machine that simulates our universe; it is the equivalent to SCP-XXXX in our parent universe, and all documentation for SCP-XXXX can be considered pertinent to SCP-001. While the existence of SCP-001 is technically unconfirmed, the ability of SCP-XXXX to simulate itself means that the probability of our reality being the "original" or "prime" reality is essentially 0.

SCP-001-1 instances are the individuals designated as "Targets" by SCP-001. The number of Targets is unknown, as are their identities and demographics; determining this information is a top-level priority for the Foundation.

SCP-001-2 is the collective designation given to all carbonated beverages produced by the Oracle Soda Company. Individual instances⁹ of SCP-001-2 have not been observed to be themselves anomalous.

When all SCP-001-1 instances have tried SCP-001-2 and commented on the experience, or have been permanently prevented from doing so¹⁰, SCP-001 will initiate an XK-Class End-of-the-World Scenario.

Addendum XXXX.3: Archived SCiPnet correspondence

From: edblack
To: jdegraff
Sent: 2:47 AM, October 26, 2019
Subject: No solution

John,

The end is coming, and I can't see any way to stop it. We don't know who the Targets are, and even if we did, what are we supposed to do? If we let them all try the fucking soda, the world ends. If we don't, then eventually they'll die or get too old, and the world will end anyway.

Maybe our creators had the benevolence to pick a lot of Targets and some wide ranges, but looking at what we did doesn't give me much hope.

-Ed

From: jdegraff
To: edblack
Sent: 8:23 AM, October 26, 2019
Subject: RE: No solution

Hey Ed,

Don't lose hope. We don't even know for sure if the Targets are picked in advance. It looks like targets get marked a few minutes before a data collection event, but for that to work then as far as I can figure either:

A) The machine can tell the future,

B) The machine can manipulate events to force data collection, or

C) We're not seeing a live feed.

I admit it, the first two look pretty bad, but in those cases I'm not sure we have that much free will anyway, so what's the sense worrying? If it's C, then we just might have a shot.

Best,
-J

From: edblack
To: jdegraff
Sent: 8:54 AM, October 26, 2019
Subject: RE: No solution

It doesn't matter. Say you're right - then anybody could be a Target. Ok, no big deal, we just need to stop everybody from drinking Deploracle. Then what? We spend untold resources rounding up every last drop of soda on the planet and destroying all record of the formula, and then the machine decides we've done such a good fucking job securing, containing, and protecting that our universe is no longer viable.

I've already thought through every angle, John. The Sodapocalypse is coming, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

-Ed

Addendum XXXX.4: Site-358 Internal Memo, dated 02/03/2020

Phase 2 of Project COLAPSE starts tomorrow. The cryo-chambers are loaded and ready to go, and the new experimentation schedule for SCP-XXXX has been finalized thanks to the tireless work of Dr. Miyakawa and her team.

What we're doing to these simulated universes may seem cruel, but remember: we're not just doing this for ourselves. Our work here could very well be the salvation of untold numbers of universes above. We do it for them, because they would do it for us. Because they are us.

Secure. Contain. Protect. For Ed.
—
Dr. John Falstaff
Director, Site-358

Footnotes

‡ Licensing / Citation

SCP Sandbox III

Sandbox III: Revenge of the Sandbox