Database error? / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page Database error?.

Thanks, Attribution and Other Matters

MrWrong 10 Dec 2015 01:30

Firstly, let me extend thanks to reviewers such as WrongJohnSilver, sirpudding, GreenWolf and Eekium.

Secondly, this Tale involves SCP-2140 (Retroconverter) by sirpudding.

Thirdly, well… this Tale was made out of a need to fill up the many implications behind SCP-2140 and its existence. This is one of them; as sirpudding said, it is the "path of least resistance" taken to its most logical conclusion.

Regarding General Reading, my headcanon is that there are a few SCPs that will be known by all Foundation members. The "chair" referenced is actually SCP-2950, which is contained by making everyone think it is a harmless chair. I am certain that Able will be widely spoken of by Foundation members as a reason why they refuse all and any SCP weaponisation program.

Re: Thanks, Attribution and Other Matters

Decibelles 10 Dec 2015 01:58

The "chair" referenced is actually SCP-2950

For a second, I thought it also meant SCP-1609, as a lesson in why the Foundation generally doesn't destroy anomalies.

Re: Thanks, Attribution and Other Matters

MrWrong 10 Dec 2015 02:12

Oh yes, that too.

RJB_R 10 Dec 2015 01:59

I like what's here, but this feels incomplete. Like the first third of a story instead of something complete.

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Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!

sirpudding 10 Dec 2015 02:46

I upvoted, but I actually preferred the earlier version with the ambiguity about whether he killed his father and just wasn't caught in the altered timeline.

I do love the researchers totally misinterpreting what "no record exists" means.

Also is the email the same all three times it is repeated, or is there some subtle thing there that I am missing?

MrWrong 10 Dec 2015 05:57

The latter two e-mails are meant to be identical, but they're under different contexts. The first is Rosen sending it out, and the second is Jameson receiving it.

The first e-mail is Jameson asking Rosen. If you count the template, let's just say that Rosen got tired of typing the same stuff to a lot of people.

sirpudding 10 Dec 2015 06:31

Yeah, it seems like an odd artistic choice for you to repeat the same material two and a half times, so I suspected some subtle changes. As it is, I feel it is just a bit repetitive (although not enough to change my vote!).

MrWrong 10 Dec 2015 06:45

Indeed. Originally, I wanted Jameson to read the e-mail he sent and the reply together, but why would someone re-read his own e-mail (since one would already know its contents, but not the out-of-universe reader).

As an aside, I had a fondness for the part with Rosen so much (and I could not resist the implication that everyone in the Foundation is cleared for 2/2140). It is the very first concept of the piece, and it was a good way to show off the many implications of SCP-2140 that could unravel the Foundation.

sirpudding 10 Dec 2015 07:05

+ show block

Indeed. Originally, I wanted Jameson to read the e-mail he sent and the reply together, but why would someone re-read his own e-mail (since one would already know its contents, but not the out-of-universe reader).

Well, I suppose you could have just included the threaded quote on the bottom, but really I think all you need to say is that Jameson reads the email without repeating the text; we already know what's in it.

As an aside, I had a fondness for the part with Rosen so much

Yes, this is about the most amusingly exasperated (without cartoonishness) Rosen that I have read.

(and I could not resist the implication that everyone in the Foundation is cleared for 2/2140). It is the very first concept of the piece,

I never envisioned widespread deployment because it is still Thaumiel, and therfeore supposed to be, in the words of Object Classes:

Even the mere existence of Thaumiel-class objects is classified at the highest levels of the Foundation

However, this is probably one of the first things to break if this happens, and due to the nature of the beast, to slip by completely undetected. With SCP-2140, you don't even get to know what you got when it has gone.

many implications of SCP-2140 that could unravel the Foundation.

Yes, exactly, this story is in a timeline that is starting to become highly improbable…

Last edited on 10 Dec 2015 07:17 by sirpudding Show more

MrWrong 10 Dec 2015 13:13

+ show block

Even the mere existence of Thaumiel-class objects is classified at the highest levels of the Foundation

In retrospect, SCP-2140 is in itself a security breach by revealing that Thaumiel is a thing.

I never envisioned widespread deployment

Damn, I suppose we have different interpretations of the situation. I would imagine that it spiralled out of control.

sirpudding 10 Dec 2015 21:15

In retrospect, SCP-2140 is in itself a security breach by revealing that Thaumiel is a thing.

The solution is to amnestize people after they are exposed, such that they retain their current loyalty and personal history, but forget about SCP-2140. Hence the conclusion of project Kallininkos.

Damn, I suppose we have different interpretations of the situation. I would imagine that it spiralled out of control.

Well, yeah, I thought that was the point. This is how SCP-2140 starts to break the world. The first thing that has to go is the status of Thaumiel secrecy. That now probably never existed or was rescinded for some reason by the 05, in this timeline. At least that's my read.

Nebukadnezzer 10 Dec 2015 03:37

Son of a bitch. I guess if they ever have a particularly gifted D-class come through their doors, they'll send up there instead of testing SCP's with em. I first thought it's what they did with all their D-class instead of monthly termination, but then it's be retro'd and no D-class would ever exist.

sirpudding 10 Dec 2015 04:06

My read is that all of these researchers in this office were D-Class that 2140 was tested on in their original timelines.

Last edited on 10 Dec 2015 04:08 by sirpudding Show more

TL333s 10 Dec 2015 23:25

I dunno, this didn't blow my mind at all. It feels like a pretty "Well, yeah" kind of application of 2140. That, combined with a lot of editing errors, gets a -1 from me.

LordMetalton 11 Dec 2015 00:55

The story here didn't grab me, and the dialogue felt really stale.

Steeltitan 11 Dec 2015 02:57

Seems like an okay story, but there are some grammar issues.

"What do I got to do with Dad's death?"

"See, no inappropriate person was tested this SCP before."

MrWrong 11 Dec 2015 03:04

In all fairness, people don't always necessarily speak in a manner that is always grammatically correct. Speech only needs to be comprehended. If that is achieved, it doesn't really matter if it were grammatically flawed.

Given that the two quoted examples are speech lines from the characters, to put them through hyper-correction, I feel it diminishes the feel of real people talking.

sirpudding 16 Dec 2015 21:13

Is the second one Malaysian accented English? I know that you are more local, so I definitely defer to your knowledge, if that's the case. The first definitely reads like normal speech to me, but the second's missing "on" just doesn't.

Last edited on 16 Dec 2015 21:14 by sirpudding Show more

MrWrong 17 Dec 2015 01:55

Well, it's a matter of dialect rather than accent (since pronunciation does not work out in writing). The Singaporean-Malaysian variants of English are more of a continuum, going all the way from "nearly indistinguishable from Standard English" to "utterly incoherent to most English speakers".

In this case, it's more or less what certain government officials call "broken English".

Breezeblock 16 Dec 2015 20:50

There are multiple errors here but mainly in the dialogue, I thought I'd just ask if that was intentional before I bother pointing them all out.