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Huh.
At first glance, this seems gimmicky and lacking. A negative mass weight? Seemed boring. It was like the sack of holding potatoes.
But then I read more, and I realized, "wow, this actually is written very well and has some cool, in-depth effects" and then the interview log really did it for me.
+1
If I wanted to move it forward, I had to simultaneously push it backward and walk myself forward, as well as pushing it upwards so it didn't fall into the sky, but not so much that it pushed my hand out of the way… if that makes any sense.
This really is a pain to read, by the way. Why would he push it up so that it doesn't go up? Why push it backwards? It's possible I'm just missing it, but please explain.
It has negative inertial mass, so as well as falling upwards it will move in the opposite direction of any forces applied to it. Pushing it left will make it go right, etc. Hope this helped.
Ah, that explains it. I think I was looking at it as having reversed gravity, not negative inertial mass. Thanks.
In physics class one day I asked myself what an object with negative inertial mass would do in reality, thinking through that for a while led to this. I waffled back and forth for a while as to whether or not it would work at all as an SCP, but I think it came out pretty well, considering.
Thanks for reading!
Edit: I screwed up the timing of this comment a bit. Thanks, guys! I do appreciate quick responses - I was just incompetent here.
Edit 2: Image is from Wikimedia Commons at the following location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2kg_Gewicht.jpg
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.
SCP-2917. I'd appreciate any feedback on that one, too, as (comparatively) old as it is!
I might be cutting in here, but I followed your link to SCP-2917, and it's pretty good. I gave it a +1. I found the concept of what is essentially a two-item two-way portal to some other world to be very interesting, and I think you explored it well with the entry. Moreover, I like 2597 as well, though it does seem superficially similar to SCP-018: a red rubber ball that gains velocity with every bounce.
I do love me some physics-breaking SCPs. +1, nicely done.
Thanks! I just got done reading Red Reality - so let me be perfectly, 100% clear when I say that you enjoying my skip here is a massive honor. Thanks!
I was into this up until the agents final statement. The whole 'I have no reason to know what I'm talking about, but I conveniently know exactly how it can snowball *nudge-nudge wink-wink* killed immersion hard. It seems contrived and unbelievable, and immediately took me out of the story.
That's a solid criticism. How do you think I should fix that? Just drop that passage, or change it somehow?
I'm not sure he has no idea what he's talking about though. I have no advanced degrees, but I know that if something got moving fast enough it'd fuse with air particles.
Edit: Made him say less about how exactly it would snowball - I wanted the mention of fusion with the air, but having some random agent explain the whole thing so explicitly was bad. I hope it's better now!
It's even worse now, because he seemingly jumps to a conclusion for no discernible reason and offers no explanation.
It's completely fine for them to know, but because they explicitly state they have no reason to know, and immediately state how it would work, it reads like basic exposition sans character.
Even OmniscientSnail's point below is a better solution. 'Something they read on XKCD' is a valid reason as any, and it could also serve to characterize them a bit further. It'd help to give them some valid knowledge or experience rather than intrinsically knowing how it works just because it's convenient for the plot.
That's actually a good idea. There's no rule that says just because it's the Foundation they can't mention stuff from the real world, like XKCD. I'll work it in!
Edit: Better?
Awesome. I would think about tweaking the interview to allow yourself to weave any personal history/background/etc throughout the log, as opposed to simply appending it to the end.
I'd check out the exploration logs in 1730 and 2935 - the characters there feel much more vivid because they're using their history, knowledge, and expertise to tackle issues as they come across them. The interview as a whole here needs touching up in this regard, it'll make it markedly better.
ETA: A little, I suppose. I would honestly rework the whole interview.
Overall, there isn't anything in the way of story. He shows up, knows just what to do, does it, and knows what could happen, and I'm not getting anything out of it. This might be alright, if you could fall back on character - but they don't feel organic because they're spouting almost pure exposition throughout the log. It doesn't feel like an event or experience from a person, it feels like a synopsis from the author.
I don't think that's super unreasonable. It's a concept that's generally applicable to objects moving at relativistic speeds through the atmosphere. It might be something that's more commonly discussed in the Foundation than in the general population, and if not, I think XKCD mentioned it once, so maybe he just reads XKCD.
See, this is the sort of extra thinking I love to see in an SCP. Yeah, negative mass. But then there's the fact that anything pushing against it suddenly has to push harder… I hadn't thought of that, but yes, that's exactly what would happen.
Easy +1. Well done.
These are one of my favorite kind of skips. Interesting item, with a unique, creative, and very well thought out effect. You've clearly done your research, so the physics are fun and grounded, without being too esoteric or dry. The XKCD reference sealed the deal.
+1, and I'm looking forward to more stuff from you.
EDIT: And holy hell, +100 already. You're gonna go far, kid.
