SCP-3843
rating: +158+x

Item #: SCP-3843

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Scherbius-Decker Learning Computer Psi-22 ("ASA") is to search gaming forums and websites for keywords1 indicating the presence of an SCP-3843-1 instance. Occurrences of these keywords are to be investigated by Foundation personnel. If an instance of SCP-3843-1 is confirmed at the reported location, it is to be delivered to Site-11 immediately and its owner administered a Class-A amnestic.

Foundation elements placed within major game manufacturers are to search outgoing products for the presence of SCP-3843-created code. If the presence of this code is confirmed, the located instance of SCP-3843-1 is to be pulled immediately and replaced with an unaffected copy. All games that have come into contact with the instance of SCP-3843-1 are to be searched and dealt with similarly.

All testing involving SCP-3843 must be approved by at least one member of Level 3 personnel. Testing is to be performed by a member of D-Class personnel in a sealed chamber featuring one television and chair. Research personnel are to observe via an adjoining chamber. No personnel other than this D-Class are to enter the sealed chamber during testing.

In order to maintain the SCP-3843 currently in containment, it is to be allowed to periodically infect a new instance of SCP-3843-1. After this is done, the original instance of SCP-3843-1 is to be destroyed.

Description: SCP-3843 is a non-player character present in an as-of-yet unknown number of video games which is capable of physically and mentally altering players. A game inhabited by SCP-3843, hereafter referred to as SCP-3843-1, is capable of passing SCP-3843 onto other games in its physical vicinity2. Infection of an SCP-3843-1 instance by SCP-3843 does not appear to be permanent, as SCP-3843 has been observed to disappear from instances of SCP-3843-1 after a period of five to ten years.

The range necessary for infection to occur is inconsistent, with some games becoming infected even while in neighboring buildings, while others require direct physical contact. SCP-3843 does not appear to be able to infect games that are solely multiplayer by means of an online connection. It will also not appear in an SCP-3843-1 instance with both multiplayer and single-player aspects if that instance is connected to the internet.

SCP-3843 will appear in an SCP-3843-1 instance as a non-player character suited to the game's setting, almost always identified as 'Sam', 'Sammy', or some other variation of the name. While SCP-3843 will adapt its appearance and basic gameplay role to suit the game it is inhabiting, its dialogue (in the cases where it has any) is usually either unsuited to the game setting entirely or wholly incoherent.

The primary anomalous effects of SCP-3843 become activated when either, in-game, the player character interacts with it or it interacts with the player character. At this point, the player will begin to undergo permanent alterations in order to reflect the character they are controlling. No alterations will occur if the player simply ignores SCP-3843.

SCP-3843's mental alterations usually manifest as the player receiving skills and knowledge their player character would feasibly possess. Testing has shown examples of players, for example, receiving knowledge regarding the proper use of firearms while playing action games where they are prominent. Although physical alterations made to a player by SCP-3843 are usually relatively minor and not especially dangerous, this is not the case if the instance of SCP-3843-1 features a non-human player character. In that event, the alterations made to the player to cause them to resemble said character are physically traumatic and often result in death during or shortly after the process.

SCP-3843 appears to have a significant effect on the perceptions of its victims while the instance of SCP-3843-1 is being played in that victims of SCP-3843 are unable to register the alterations they are going through until they stop playing the game.

SCP-3843 is believed to be the creation of Indigo Games, a small anomalous games company which was active from the years 1980 to 1983. (See Interview 3843-1.)

Addendum 3843-1 (Retrieved Instances Log):

The following is a list and summary of SCP-3843 containment breaches which have occurred since its classification as an SCP on 10/04/1983. In all cases, Agents were dispatched, successfully retrieved the instance of SCP-3843-1 and administered amnestics to witnesses as appropriate. All possible infected games in the vicinity of the recovered instance were safely disposed of.

Game: Super Mario Bros (1985), Nintendo Entertainment System
Date: 12/21/1985
SCP-3843 Role:3 SCP-3843 appears as a 'koopa' enemy with a white shell in World 1-1. Alterations begin when the player kills this enemy.

Incident Summary: Andrew Calhoun, 22, writes to tabloid Weekly World News, claiming that he had instantly grown a substantial mustache after playing the game Super Mario Bros. A reporter sent by the paper, while investigating the game, also instantly grows a mustache reminiscent of the game's titular character. Foundation elements within Weekly World News report anomalous activity at this point and a dispatched Agent retrieves the SCP-3843-1 instance. Both Calhoun and the reporter are thoroughly shaved and dosed with a Class-B amnestic.

Game: Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990), MSX2
Date: 12/20/1990
SCP-3843 Role: SCP-3843 appears as a boss character encountered halfway through the game, identified as 'Salty Sam', a pirate-themed former KGB agent who uses a water cutter as a weapon. Before fighting the player character, he engages in a lengthy monologue regarding 'Salt and Meats [sic]' and food shortages in the enemy base. Alterations begin when the boss fight is initiated.

Incident Summary: Daryl McKenzie, 24, is shot and killed while attempting to break into a secure military installation near his hometown of ██████. Analysis of security footage from the incident shows Mr. McKenzie using both advanced stealth tactics and firearms in which he had never received any training. Subsequent search of his home by the UIU revealed the presence of the SCP-3843-1 instance, which was recovered during transit by Agent Cobb and brought into Foundation custody.

Game: Pac-Man (1990), Game Boy
Date: 04/11/1995
SCP-3843 Role: SCP-3843 appears as a fifth 'ghost' enemy, identified as 'Sammy', which chases the player character through the map. Alterations begin when either SCP-3843 kills the player character or the player character eats SCP-3843.

Incident Summary: Alan Carver, 35, is arrested by police and taken to a local hospital after a passerby witnesses him eating a neighborhood cat in his backyard. Victim dies shortly before arriving at hospital. Later analysis of the body shows the cause of death to be apparent starvation. Victim had suffered significant yellowing of the skin and expansion of the skull, causing damage to their neck due to increased weight. Additionally, skin had grown over both ears, both nostrils and one eye.

Agents dispatched to deal with the situation recover the SCP-3843-1 instance at the victims home.

Game: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (2002), GameCube
Date: 07/06/2003
SCP-3843 Role: SCP-3843 appears as a non-playable boss character identified as 'Samutenshi', a colossal white avian monster. Notably, the original Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee did not feature any non-playable boss characters. Alterations begin either when the player first attacks SCP-3843, or SCP-3843 first attacks the player.

Incident Summary: Foundation Agents in the city of █████ are dispatched to the site of an apartment building which spontaneously collapsed with no apparent cause. Inspection of the debris reveals the corpse of Aarav Kapoor, 20, which had expanded to fill an entire floor of the apartment building and caused the collapse in the process. Notably, while Mr. Kapoor's skin and muscles expanded during alteration, his skeleton and other internal organs did not.

All witnesses and survivors were dosed with Class-A amnestics and a cover story centered around sub-standard construction was produced to account for the building's collapse. The remains of the SCP-3843-1 instance were recovered on site and its nature as formerly containing SCP-3843 was confirmed through analysis of its reconstructed code.

Game: Mass Effect 2 (2010), PlayStation 3
Date: 02/04/2010
SCP-3843 Role: SCP-3843 appears as a blind supply officer named Samuel Belkira aboard the player character's ship. When interacted with, SCP-3843 rants at length regarding food shortages above the ship, especially regarding 'salt and meats [sic]', before giving the player a quest to solve said food shortages4. Alterations begin upon initiation of dialogue.

Incident Summary: Foundation is alerted when the home of Catherine Herrera, 32, violently explodes in a flash of blue light. Agents investigating the debris recover both Ms. Herrera's charred corpse and the remains of the SCP-3843-1 instance. A suitable cover story involving a gas explosion is provided to the public.

Due to the fact that Ms. Herrera maintained an active blog in which she detailed her playthroughs of various games, researchers have been able to build a theory regarding exactly what caused the explosion during the alteration process. In-game, Ms. Herrera was playing as an 'Adept' character class, centered around using 'mass effect fields' to fling enemies and objects via an implant in the player character's body. When SCP-3843 attempted to translate these fictional scientific concepts, and the implant that utilizes them, into the real world, the resulting incompatibility with standard reality caused a violent rejection of its container - which, in this case, was Ms. Herrera's body.

Game: Nier: Automata (2017), PlayStation 4
Date: 09/22/2017
SCP-3843 Role: SCP-3843 appears as a merchant character within the game's factory area, identified as 7H6. As a merchant, SCP-3843 has two hundred of an item called 'Meats [sic]' in stock. Said item is non-functional. SCP-3843's dialogue consists of a lengthy speech primarily centered around how, as an android, it is unable to eat meat, and the distress this causes it.

Incident Summary: Sightings of a 'robot' in Moscow, Russia attract Foundation attention due to the consistency between reports and photographic evidence of the entity. Foundation Agents track the entity to an apartment shared by Alexander Teterev, 18, Vadim Fokim, 20, and Timur Chuprin, 21, where it escapes initial pursuit. The bodies of Vadim Fokim and Timur Chuprin are found at the scene. Autopsy reveals the cause of death to be the sudden appearance of various mechanical implants within their bodies, causing severe internal bleeding.

The robotic entity, currently believed to be Alexander Teterev, has not yet been located. Writings found in the shared apartment suggests that the three were aware of SCP-3843's effects, and hoped to utilize them in order to improve their physical capabilities8.

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