She's one evil chimp. I especially liked the interview at the end, as it sums up the previous description nicely.
SCP-397 / Discussion
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This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-397.
OK. Apparently, I'm again misunderstanding the classification system. A swarm of unusual but mostly ordinary mites confined to a clearly delimited area is a Keter class threat, but a superintelligent chimp whose life goal is to destroy human civilization is counted safe? What am I missing here?
The classification levels aren't based solely on how unexplainable and/or dangerous the item is, but on how hard/resource-consuming they are to contain as well.
I believe you're referring to SCP-165 with the mites. While a swarm of flesh-eating mites could be a Safe or Euclid class based on their properties alone, SCP-165 is classified as Keter because the nearly-microscopic mites have disguised themselves as sand in the middle of a desert, making it nearly impossible to contain them, or even determine how many of them there are.
On the reverse side of this particular coin, SCP-397, while entirely malicious in intent and ability, is easily contained within a guarded chimp habitat, making its total threat level negligible and giving it a classification of Safe.
That sound about right, son?
Not a problem, eh. It is mentioned on the classifications page, after all.
In Larry Niven's works, there was this thing called a Protector, a kind of third-stage primate, after child and adult (what he called "breeder"). They were super fast, super strong, and above all incredibly smart. That's what this reminds me of, minus the strengh/speed boost, the beak, and the knobby joints. Also, like her, they were extremely xenophobic, and quite eugenic, culling mutations in their descendants.
As I recall, chimp language experiments have shown that they don't have the laryngeal structures necessary for human speech. Should we posit some sort of genetic or surgical modification?
Presumably, this particular chimp has a mutation that gives it human laryngeal structures.
Maybe you should have the chimp give examples of what exactly she dislikes about our society. And she should be corrected when she said that we saw her society and destroyed it. We didn't destroy it because it was a different society, we destroyed it because the members of that society were actively killing members of ours.
Researchers generally don't engage in philosophical debates with the SCPs if they can avoid it. In the example the researcher is trying to determine things about 397's mental state, not prove 397 wrong or convince it of humanity's worth. That's exactly why he deflects the question about what happened to the chimps… he wants to do an interview, not get drawn into a dialog.
For an example, watch Red Dragon sometime. You'll notice that Will very rarely converses with Hannibal directly. He makes statements or he asks questions and tries his best to avoid getting drawn into conversation, because conversation is what Hannibal excels at… it's how he utterly devastates Christine in Silence of the Lambs, because she let herself get drawn into a personal discussion.
The chimp's smart, and it's mean, and it's charismatic. Comparing it to Hannibal Lecter is not far off. (Especially if, like a lot of wild chimps, it finds humans a tasty dish if it can get them.) Conversation is how it's implied to influence the D-class, getting drawn into feeling like you had to defend humanity would be just what it would use to twist your head all around and have you trying to let it out.
Y'know the thing is, knowing a (very little) bit about primate behavior, this is entirely in-character for just about any chimpanzee. This one's just further ahead on the curve than the rest. They're mean little bastards.
That thing is malicious and intelligent. Surely it's Euclid, not "Safe". Do I have permission to change it?
I know this is destined to be a dead letter, but I have to register my concurrence with those questioning the classification. It's sapient, hostile, and actively attempting to break containment. How is it not Euclid?
Maybe SCP-1845 could get some sense into this chimp? Nah.
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page revision: 2, last edited: 15 Jan 2023 15:06
