SCP-3096 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-3096.

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CannedBread 04 Jun 2017 23:14

My fifth SCP, and my first crack at a Keter.
The diagrams are my own (As you can tell, ~graphic design is my passion~); the magnet image is taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bar_magnet.jpg
Creator: Aney

Thanks to MrWrong and laserman for helping untangle this a bit in the forums.

If you have questions about this, I'm happy to answer (provided I know the answer).

Decibelles 04 Jun 2017 23:18

This is my shit.

Well

(account deleted) 04 Jun 2017 23:23

So, it's a magnet that attracts time? Or reality? Or something like that.

I mean the idea itself is pretty cool. But I feel like the description is a bit lacking; maybe I'm just missing something, but I feel like a bit more explanation about the actual anomaly is needed. Like, what is the magnet actually doing. Or something. Like I said, I'm probably just missing something.

EDIT: Turns out I might have missed something. So, it's a magnet that is attracted to its future self? I mean I think I actually get it now, but I still think that this should also be explained in the description, which I still think is kinda lacking.

Still, I like it. +1.

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(V) (;,,;) (V)

Last edited on 04 Jun 2017 23:26 by (account deleted) Show more

Re: Well

CannedBread 04 Jun 2017 23:26

Nah, it just attracts itself from different times. I'm not sure I actually can explain it better than with the diagrams; basically, it would tie time into a loop, which is, you know, bad. Like the present day just kinda flops over into the past once the past and present magnets meet.

Oh?

(account deleted) 04 Jun 2017 23:30

I think I see now…kinda. I dunno, I'll figure it out.

Still upvoted. And judging by the influx of upvotes, I have a feeling you've just made your first attempt at a Keter a success.

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(V) (;,,;) (V)

Scorpion451 04 Jun 2017 23:29

At any given time, SCP-3096 was initially contained approximately ten years ago by Agent Graeme.

…and upvoted.

Those diagrams are great, too.

jjone 05 Jun 2017 00:13

Temporal magnetism? I'm down for that. But what is this one-stop time device the Foundation constantly cooks up to send the good Agent into the past? That's a whole other deal - although definitely not as interesting at the main anomaly here.

CannedBread 05 Jun 2017 00:23

Details about the exact nature of this object were withheld by the older Agent Graeme.

I think, for this to work, the Foundation isn't allowed to know exactly what it is. But don't worry, I've figured it out. Here's what it is and how they get ahold of it:

+ potential spoiler

It's literally just a time machine. There's a related detail that I think is similarly important:

In case you didn't catch it, Agent Graeme doesn't age.

Here's how it happened:

0. The 'single-use' time machine is not really single-use. Agent Graeme just hid it from the Foundation.

1. In each iteration of the loop, he spends some time fixing it. (Gap between ten years, four months ago and ten years, one month ago in the timeline)

2. He stole one of the EPTF generators from the containment area. (Six years, one week ago)

3. He travelled back in time to before his own birth with the time machine. (Six years ago; this is why he disappears)

4. Using the EPTF generator, he manipulated the timeframe of his own birth, making it slightly later with each iteration of the loop.

5. Finally, he travelled forward in time to relinquish the time machine to the Foundation, at exactly the time they needed it. (Five months from now)

I do slightly regret just making it basically a rule-free time machine, but it is basically linked to the loop of this anomaly; the Foundation can't just use it willy-nilly. And yes, its very existence is another bootstrap paradox.

Last edited on 05 Jun 2017 00:26 by CannedBread Show more

jjone 05 Jun 2017 00:41

Seems like a convoluted way of doing things, although I guess it makes sense in the context of the containment procedures.

CannedBread 05 Jun 2017 00:46

Yeah, this whole thing is probably more complicated than it needs to be, tbh. But I do think I've managed to tie up any loose ends that come from logical implications of the anomaly!

Musuko 08 Jun 2017 09:45

When it comes to time travel and paradoxes, I'd say that being complicated and confusing gives things the ring of truth.

+1!

th4nkyoub3n 07 Jun 2017 06:23

How much later is slightly later?

CannedBread 07 Jun 2017 13:49

Well, the title implies that it's one day, but honestly I think it's less than that, like a few minutes for each loop. I figure the object moves only a very tiny bit faster than regular time/causality and he just has to keep himself young for each loop (as replacing him might risk disrupting the series of events that constitute containment).

MrWrong 05 Jun 2017 01:55

Just saying, the diagram helps a lot more in the understanding of the timey wimey.

CannedBread 05 Jun 2017 02:06

Yeah, honestly I don't know why I didn't include the diagrams in even the earliest drafts; just drawing the anomaly helped me sort out the logic quite a bit, and that's even in the writing of the thing.

TL333s 05 Jun 2017 12:26

This is considerably more than I expected from a time loop article. :D How cool!

RJB_R 06 Jun 2017 03:19

This broke my brain a little bit, and I like that. You have a lot going on but it doesn't feel at all overwhelming. It's brief where it needs to be and uses illustration to its advantage. Well done.

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

Buttfranklin 08 Jun 2017 03:51

"Pálsdóttir" instead of "Pálsdottir", please!

CannedBread 08 Jun 2017 13:44

Fixed! Takk fyrir!

(What an embarrassing mistake!)

FaustoV 08 Jun 2017 05:35

So, in t end is the older agent forced to keep the loop over and over again for all eternity? Because that'd be the second time some has managed to that totally awesome.

CannedBread 08 Jun 2017 13:45

Yes, sort of. The agent keeps the loop for what looks like forever to outside observers, but after each loop he is free to live out the rest of his life after the age of 40 or so.

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