The "Computer Mouse" in a dormant state
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: The "Computer Mouse" will go into a dormant state after about one hour off of a wired power source. Its diet comprises images - be it printed copies or images right from the database - of things typically associated with the diet of the Mus musculus. The "Computer Mouse" is to be fed twice a day, once upon waking up, and once upon going to rest. It is to be kept in a 76.2 x 76.2 x 76.2 centimetre insulated cage with transparent walls for observation.
The anomaly's wireless adapter is to act as a sort of tracking chip, as it is quite small and thus can fit through the small nooks and crannies between the doors and walls.
Description: [At rest, the "Computer Mouse" will don the appearance of a typical wired computer mouse. It has a grey main frame, with sapphire blue buttons. Dr Jezebel Cohlson has reported that the anomaly has also taken the form of a grey track pad with a sapphire blue control sphere.
When active, the anomaly will take the form of a tetrapod rodent with a grey body and sapphire blue ears. If the anomaly is connected to a system such as a laptop or computer tower, its tail will be longer. If it is wandering the facility wireless, its tail will shrink, and its adapter will be attached to its back.
The anomaly measures in at roughly 8.636 centimetres in length, and weighing in at about 19.2777 grams. ]
Interviewed: [Dr. Jezebel Cohlson]
Interviewer: [Dr. ██████]
Foreword: [Dr. Jezebel Cohlson, researcher for the "Computer Mouse" anomaly, is asked to describe how she discovered the anomaly, and to elaborate on the classification.]
<Begin Log, 18:49 ██/██/███>
Dr. ██████: Welcome, Dr. Cohlson. I am glad you could make it today.
Dr. Cohlson: Thank you, and I'm likewise glad that you could make time for this.
Dr. ██████: Our documents state you recently discovered the nature of the "Computer Mouse" anomaly. Is this correct?
Dr. Cohlson: Yes, that is correct. I had always thought it was a regular computer mouse. I mean, I'd been using it as one since I got here. You and I both know I'm not exactly a stranger to discovering and containing anomalies. So you can imagine my shock when my assistant and I discovered it.
Dr. ██████: I am quite aware. So, tell me. How did you discover its nature?
Dr. Cohlson: I was completing a report on SCP-237, when the battery in my wireless mouse died. I had misplaced my spare at home, so I couldn't bring it that day. I asked my assistant if they could hand me the extra track pad I had on the counter they were sitting at. They informed me there was not a track pad, but rather a wired mouse with blue buttons. I reiterated that there should have been a track pad with a blue mouse sphere, as I always kept one on the back counter.
Dr. ██████: And what transpired after that?
Dr. Cohlson: My assistant looked around for a good few minutes, and I tried to help them. I started to think that maybe someone picked it up and didn't tell me, which happens more often than one would think. Suddenly I heard my assistant start yelling every obscenity in the book and jumping back as if they just saw The Old Man move in its cell. I rushed over and I saw a little mouse just staring back at them. But it had big pointed blue ears, and a rather long tail attached to their monitor.
Dr. ██████: So it was your assistant who had the initial discovery?
Dr. Cohlson: Yes, ██. If you don't mind my asking, how long has it been at the Foundation? I've been here for almost my entire career, and I hadn't ever heard of it, much less seen it.
Dr. ██████: The "Computer Mouse" as we call it, is a rather new discovery to the Foundation. We started to receive reports from ██████ that someone's household computer mouse kept disappearing at random, along with disrupting sounds in the middle of the night. Mobile Task Force Mu-4 was dispatched, and they brought the anomaly to the Foundation.
Dr. Cohlson: So when it was brought to the Foundation, did you have any idea when it would wake up?
Dr. ██████: No, we did not. I'd imagine it remained dormant for, at the very least, a few weeks before it was placed in your laboratory. We had an idea of how it worked from eyewitnesses, and from Mu-7. Civilian witnesses were administered proper amnestics, as I'm sure you are aware by now.
Dr. Cohlson: But why my laboratory? Our motto is Secure, Contain, Protect. Just placing it in my lab doesn't seem like a sound containment procedure to me. I mean, I do have little cages and such to keep it in-
Dr. ██████: Which is precisely why the anomaly was place in your lab specifically. You have the necessary resources on hand.
Dr. Cohlson: You mean to tell me, out of all the researchers and interns in the entire Foundation… that I was the first one you thought of who had a mouse cage… I must ask for your pardon, but I have quite the hard time believing that. How many other mouse anomalies are here, and you came to me of all people first?
Dr. ██████: I understand your confusion, Dr. Cohlson. But I assure you, it is a temporary measure while we sort its long-term containment out, and while we determine a Head Researcher.
Dr. Cohlson: So you just need me to keep an eye on it while you do that? It's already been here for a few weeks.
Dr. ██████: In a dormant state. We just need you to take note of its active behavior, and we can proceed from there. Understood?
Dr. Cohlson: Understood, Dr. ██████
<End Log, 19:22>
Closing Statement: [Dr Cohlson watched over the anomaly with her assistant for the next two weeks until Head Researcher Dr. ████ was elected into the position.]
What is Impossible?
"How many anomalies are here now? I know it's in the thousands. I used to think such a number was impossible to grasp. But now, that notion is so far away. Now I'm left to wonder, what's it like for someone new in this time?"
The quiet hum of the fluorescent lights lights in the corridors felt to be almost deafening. The grey-scale surfaces reflected light in a manner that could give the unprepared a headache. But this was hardly out of the ordinary.
The sound of quiet footsteps cut through the hum of the lights as if they were the edges of the best-crafted knives. Much more timid footsteps followed them, sounding like they belonged to a lost child, following a guide through the forest so they may find their way safely home. The striking footsteps belonged to a tall woman in a lab coat, carrying a clipboard with a sidearm holstered on her right hip. The timid footsteps belonged to her intern.
The woman kept her eyes fixated on her clipboard, writing notes as she looked by each door along the way. Accounting for the anomalies contained through lighter procedures was a task simple enough. She hardly found herself loosing energy over the task. It mostly just included marking if the anomalies were in their containment or not. If they were not, she wasn't exactly a stranger to the re-containment process, but other personnel were usually already in the process before she could start.
Anomalies under heavier containment procedures were a different story. But that wasn't in her duties that day. Her duties for the day involved her showing her intern how to check for anomalies that had breached containment, as well as recording the ones who hadn't. She would periodically ask them questions or make statements to test their knowledge.
She spoke in a stern and collected voice.
"Nova, name one anomaly within the Euclid classification we have seen today, that is not sentient."
Nova shifted slightly in their shoes as they took a moment to themselves to think.
"SCP-018."
The woman nodded, still keeping her gaze fixated on her clipboard, now looking at a different page.
"Please describe the anomaly to the best of your abilities."
Nova started to dig through their notes, but they decided not to. They wouldn't exactly have notes to look off of in a large-scale breach.
"Yes, Dr. Cohlson. SCP-018 is a red ball that when bounced will gain momentum at an exponential rate. If left idle enough, the force can become deadly."
Dr. Cohlson nodded and marked on her papers again. She stopped by a door, noticing it was ajar. She started to mark it as breached, before she saw the title by the door. Dr. Cohlson looked at her watch and then marked it as contained. Nova tilted their head, confused. They didn't see the sign from their angle.
"Why mark it as contained, Dr. Cohlson? The door is open, and nothing seems to be inside, so doesn't that mean it's breached?"
"Oh. This one may roam freely, and is one of the few sentient anomalies to be designated the Safe classification. Surely you've heard of it before; SCP-999. It's not currently 8PM, so it does not need to be in its pen to rest right now."
Dr. Cohlson continued on down the corridor, adjusting her eyeglasses. Not that they needed to be adjusted. Something practically bound them to her face. Nova continued to follow her, looking at the door as they passed. They decided to try and strike a conversation to pass the time.
"This all seems unreal in a way…it's nothing like the other site I was at."
"Which site would that be, Nova?"
"I was at Site-77, ma'am."
"So you were at a Storage site…makes sense then that this would seem like unfamiliar territory. This one happens to be a Research and Containment site, so we have our work cut out for us."
Dr. Cohlson continued to lead her intern through the corridors of site. Although they were few and far between, they did take turns down different hallways. Nova couldn't help but keep looking at the sidearm on her side. They hadn't seen many- if any scientists at all bearing them.
"If you don't mind my asking, why do you have the pistol on your hip?"
Dr. Cohlson sighed.
"I've been with the foundation for quite some time now, and I wasn't always a researcher of this rank. I had firearm experience before I came here, so after time, I was authorized to carry a means of defense with me."
"How long have you been with the Foundation, ma'am?"
"Like I just said, quite some time. Now I haven't been here for as long as say, Dr. Bright. But I've been here longer than you have. And that's all you really need to know. At least at your clearance level."
Dr Cohlson stopped at a door with a scanner to the side. She presented her ID badge, and then her security card. It made a cheerful tone of beeps.
"Welcome, Dr. Jezebel Cohlson."
The door clicked open and she stepped inside with Nova. A computer terminal powered on as she set her clipboard on her desk. Nova wanted to ask her a lot of questions, but they didn't know if they were appropriate. He soon got his answer, in the form of a question.
"Do you have any questions about what you saw today, or questions in general about the Foundation, Nova?"
Nova wanted to blur out question after question, but they knew it would come off as unprofessional. They tried to think of their most recent inquiry.
"You mentioned Dr. Bright. I've heard that name before, is it true he's immortal?"
Jezebel looked at her notes for a moment before sighing.
"I'm not entirely sure how you found that out, but, yes. He is, in a way, immortal."
Nova suddenly had a feeling of dread. Were they not supposed to know? What was going to happen to them since they did know?
"I-I'd just heard in in passing conversations at Site-77. I worked with a few other researchers who talked about Dr. Bright doing some of his cross-testings, and I rhetorically asked how he hadn't died, and they told me that he couldn't die."
Dr. Cholson clicked her pen and turned her attention back to her notes, writing a few sentences down.
"I see."
Nova shifted in their shoes, and looked around the office. It was neatly kept with another door in the back. They pondered what it could be for, but they felt that asking about it would make them a target of something. Nova instead stated what else was on their mind.
"The whole cross-testing and the immortality thing…it just seems impossible, don't you think?"
At that point, Dr. Cohlson forceably set her clipboard down with a loud "thwack!" as she looked at Nova over the rim of her glasses. Nova knew that they'd asked a wrong question, but they weren't sure how. Dr. Cohlson spoke with an irritated growl in her voice.
"Nova. How long have you been at the Foundation for?"
"I-I've only been working with you for about a week now."
"That wasn't my question. I asked you, "how long have you been with the Foundation"; meaning, how long have you been employed under the SCP Foundation - at any Site or Area; with any researcher; doing anything?"
"A-about three months now, ma'am."
"So you've been here more than long enough."
"I'm…afraid I don't understand what you're trying to get at, Dr. Cohlson."
Dr. Cohlson let out an irritated sigh as she held her forehead with her thumb and index finger.
"Right then, what's the best way I can dumb it down to you, because you somehow don't understand what it is we do here. This is the SCP Foundation. This isn't NASA. This isn't Harvard. This is the SCP Foundation. We contain anomalous objects and and anomalous creatures. We have literal thousands of anomalies that we Secure to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands; thousands of anomalies that we Contain to prevent their influence from spreading and causing harm; thousands of anomalies that are kept here, so we may Protect those outside. We fight in the dark, so they can thrive in the light. From something as simple and tame as a set of EXIT signs, to anomalies that can can snap your neck the moment you allow yourself to blink, to anomalies that can trigger the complete end of the world as we know it. "
Nova stood still and silent as they let the last sentence ring in their mind. Dr. Cohlson took a moment to collect herself with a sigh.
"The point is, Nova, that with everything we have seen so far, and what we will continue to see, the notion of something being 'impossible', becomes less and less likely. Do you at least understand that much?"
"Yes ma'am."
Dr. Cohlson rubbed her forehead with a shake. She decided to give them an example.
"What is the nickname for SCP-682?"
"It's…the Hard-to-Destroy Reptile, correct?"
"Yes. And why do you think we call it the 'Hard-to-Destroy Reptile', and not the 'Impossible-to-Destroy Reptile', Nova?"
"I'm not sure, ma'am. From what I've heard, all of the Foundation attempts so far to destroy or neutralize if have failed. Haven't they?"
"The key words you used there are 'so far'. All of our attempts so far have failed. We have theories that we are looking to test. Until we exhaust every possible method, we can't say for certain that SCP-682 is 'impossible' to destroy. Likewise, we don't know for certain if there is or isn't a way to completely stop certain XK-Class scenarios. The notion of something being 'impossible' can come in many forms. Many say it's 'impossible' to stop one thing, but I tend to say it's 'impossible' for there not to be a way to stop that thing. Impossible is a word you need to use extremely carefully here."
Nova nodded. They understood a bit more, now.
"Let me say it in a few simple words, Nova. At the SCP Foundation, the only thing that is truly impossible, is something being impossible."
Per 
