Terminal #335
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Welcome, ec-user-33308affc0e
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> file scp-148
Enter level 5 credentials.
> jackrobinson-ec-uu88ylo18314d
> Pierce^H^H^H^HY^ the HEAVENs. The unKNOWN can be KNOWN, and dark becomes light.
Access granted.
SCP-7814
SCP-148 consuming 363,636 civilians during an Injustice Event
Special Containment Procedures: None possible.
Terminal #335
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Welcome, ec-user-33308affc0e
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> scipsearch telekill
1 match(es)
SCP# | Clearance | Title
7814 | 1, 5/7814 | Telekill Alloy
> file scp-7814
Access granted.
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-7814 is available on request. Applicants must submit Form 7814-A to the Telekill Alloy Applications Team, who will survey the site if needed and arrange for telekill installation. Form 7814-A must include:
- A full description of the intended use.
- Full, unredacted SCP files and test logs for all SCPs involved, with cognito- and infohazards flagged appropriately.1
- A clean record of D-Class breaches.
Description: SCP-7814 (known by materials engineers as “Telekill Alloy”) is an alloy of mundane metals and [REDACTED].2 It has a gray-green color with a bluish tinge and oxidizes readily in the presence of water, and has a variable density no less than 6.10 g/cm3.
SCP-7814's primary anomalous property is that it produces a negative psionic field.3 This blocks or otherwise hinders extrasensory mind-affecting properties, following an inverse-square law similar to electromagnetism. Its use has expedited many Foundation operations:
- Mind-affecting anomalies cannot breach telekill walls or meshes, allowing smaller containment chambers and safer transport of psionic anomalies. Furthermore, their effects are weaker in such chambers, allowing for safer testing.
- Telekill-lined meeting rooms and bunkers cannot be penetrated by psychic influence, scrying, or mind-reading, increasing information security.
- Telekill-coated fiber-optic cables are similarly impervious to psionic divination. As a result, all Sites have been outfitted with such cables, and all digital communications or transfers of files classified Level 5 or higher (such as requests for files classified Level 5 or above) are carried out over these cables.
- Telekill-lined D-Class bunkers prevent confounding factors of previous psionic influence from interfering with tests.
In addition:
- Thaumaturgic runes inscribed on SCP-7814 can selectively prevent thaumaturgical workings. Site-17 was experimentally outfitted with 7814-Evening cages tuned to prevent the opening of Ways after the Serpent’s Incursion of Site-17, and it was soon discovered that this also weakened the effects of several thaumaturgical SCPs on-Site. This allowed for smaller containment chambers, less extensive containment procedures, and fewer containment breaches.
- When an electric current is driven through SCP-7814, it can dispel spectral entities on contact. This discovery improved the efficiency of the Department of Spectral Entities by 300%.
- SCP-7814 was recently discovered to be a more effective Hume sink than beryllium bronze, the previous material of choice for ontokinesis-resistant architecture and equipment. Trial runs of SCP-7814-based COLOURLESS RED units with MTF Lambda-5 “White Rabbits” have shown an improvement in dealing with dangerous ontokinetic entities and low-Hume environments, and wider rollout is expected to prevent future casualties among field agents
- New processes have made SCP-7814 cheaper than steel, which is why in 2021, Experimental Site-78 began construction with SCP-7814 rebar.
SCP-7814 was first discovered in 1982 during a raid on Prometheus Labs, and first utilized in 1988 to enable the safe transport of SCP-035 to Site-19. SCP-7814 would see increasingly frequent use in transportation of dangerous mind-affecting anomalies, and in 1994, the first 7814-Evening containment chamber was approved. From 2005 onwards it became standard for half of all Keter-class containment chambers to be lined with SCP-7814, and in 2009 Site-19 completed its “telekill wing," a wing made exclusively of SCP-7814-lined cells. This set the standard, and today almost every Site has a substantial number of cells utilizing SCP-7814.
Use of SCP-7814 has saved the Foundation millions of dollars in containment costs and prevented hundreds of thousands of casualties.
Terminal #335
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Welcome, ec-user-33308affc0e
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> file scp-7814 -l 5
Reenter Level 5 credentials.
> jackrobinson-ec-uu88ylo18314d
> Pierce^H^H^H^HY^ the HEAVENs. The unKNOWN can be KNOWN, and dark becomes light.
Insufficient clearance. Access denied.
> wtf?
Command "wtf?" not defined.
> clearance scp-7814
Two versions of this file exist.
Level 1: Unrestricted
Level 5/7814: TAAT Eyes Only
> file scp-7814 -l 5/7814
You do not have that clearance.
> help clearance 5/EC
Level 5 Ethics Committee clearance is a special clearance given only to Ethics Committee members. As members of the Foundation's primary regulatory body, personnel have access to all files not classified Level 6 and can bypass all specific clearance requirements (e.g. requiring specific 5/YYYY clearance to access SCP-YYYY).
> ??????
Command "??????" not defined.
> accesses —sort-by clearance —group-by day scp-7814
Here is a list of most recent personnel to access SCP-7814 (multiple accesses in one day are counted as one access)
Note that you may not be able to see the accesses of accounts above your clearance.
Sorted by: Clearance Level
DD/MM/YY | Clearance | Account
28/08/23 | Level 4 | Lillihammer, Lillian S.
28/08/23 | Level 4 | Clef, Alto
27/08/23 | Level 4 | Lillihammer, Lillian S.
26/08/23 | Level 4 | Lillihammer, Lillian S.
25/08/23 | Level 4 | Japers, Eugene
24/08/23 | Level 4 | Lillihammer, Lillian S.
[…]
SCiPnet Messaging System
<ec-user-33308affc0e> Good evening!
~system: User LILLIHAMMERDOWN has blocked you!
<ec-user-33308affc0e> !blockoverride ec LILLIHAMMERDOWN
<ec-user-33308affc0e> My name is Jack Robinson, and I'm from the Ethics Committee.
<ec-user-33308affc0e> I'm here to talk about SCP-7814, if you've got some time?
<ec-user-33308affc0e> Hello? Ms. Lillihammer?
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> Can you look at this memetic geas for me? Just gotta confirm.
<ec-user-33308affc0e> Whatever you need to be comfortable.
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> getfucked.png
~system: No activity detected for 2 hours. Logging off…
You have (1) new message from A_McInnis_883!
<A_McInnis_883> Good morning, Mr. Robinson, this is Director McInnis of Site-43. I must apologize for I've gone to the trouble of verifying your credentials, but you should understand that receiving private messages from an account with a scambot name on the world's least scambot-vulnerable secure network is not a pleasant surprise to receive in the morning.
<ec-user-33308affc0e> …oh. Sorry. I assumed because I was on the Ethics Committee that I could do that.
<A_McInnis_883> As a member of the Ethics Committee, you have the authority to do that. However, in my experience, such behavior is never met with a positive response.
<ec-user-33308affc0e> What does, then?
<A_McInnis_883> Sending an email about potential interviews before attempting to conduct said interviews would be a fine start.
You have (1) new message from LILLIHAMMERDOWN!
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> what did you want ethics man
<ec-user-33308affc0e> Oh! Thank you. I wanted to talk about SCP-7814.
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> you mean the milk cat
<ec-user-33308affc0e> …no. Telekill alloy. The one that used to be 148?
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> fucklkigbn reandom-zasss renuembers
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> and fuvking newbies
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> it says in the file that it works on MIND-AFFECTING ANOMALIES
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> i do MREMETICS
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> can you not READ
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> it's different
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> memetics is showing people things and they change their behavior based on it like talking or reading news
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> but on steroids
<ec-user-33308affc0e> Given my most recent screw-up, that might be true (the not reading bit). I was just wondering if there was some memetic stuff that telekill worked on somehow? It's a jungle out there.
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> telekill stops people from reaching directly into your head and yanking on the levers
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> and no i havent seen any
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> half my job is dealing with this shitty anartist corpo and NOTHIGN workls on ther mkemes
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> source: their shit works on me
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> like this amateru fucKing compulesin effec keepiogn my eyuesballs glued to ther dumbfckings ocial tWoitter patrody
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> iv tried memetics ive thrued audios ive trued LITERAL FCUKING MEMS E MAGIC IVE TRIEDAL ING ALCOHLO RN
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> ITST STULL WORKSE
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> i asked for some telekill in case maybe that would do something but got rejected ofcjc
<ec-user-33308affc0e> When you say "tried ing alcohol rn," what do you mean by that?
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> i thoguht having no d class meant no d class breaches but noooooooo
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> and fuck off coppo
<ec-user-33308affc0e> Wait, what?
<ec-user-33308affc0e> What exactly did they say?
<ec-user-33308affc0e> (about the D-Class thing)
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> "Your application does not include your record of D-Class breaches."
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> what fualcking refcord THERE AREW NO DC LASS AT 43
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> i sent it again with every possible record ot ther fbeing NO d class at 43 and guerss fucking what
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> "Your application does not include your record of D-Class breaches."
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> do they have fucking chatgpt on the twaat or smth
<ec-user-33308affc0e> *TAAT
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> no its twaat
<ec-user-33308affc0e> Interesting… thank you for your time, Dr. Lillihammer.
<LILLIHAMMERDOWN> thank you for breaking into my schesduule withsn your cnbig ethhics commitenne importantsce and interwrruntpijg my aday more than sialready its
Terminal #335
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Welcome, ec-user-33308affc0e
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> aic ethistician
ETHISTICIAN: Hello! I am ETHISTICIAN.aic, assistant to the Ethics Committee! Among other things, I recordkeep, bookkeep, display available data in concise formats, display unavailable data in concise formats, and can even summarize! From Site-02's very own VESPER rack, I keep silent tabs on every log and file that goes in and out of the SCiPnet
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: Sorry to interrupt ethistician, but I kind of have a job.
ETHISTICIAN: Oh! My apologies. What can I do for you today?
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: It's okay. You can download that all to my computer! I'll read it sometime.
ETHISTICIAN: Writing ethistician_intro.txt to EVElinked virtual drive…
ETHISTICIAN: What can I do for you today?
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: I need statistics on D-Class at Site-19. Show me a graph of the number of D-Class on-site v.s. the year.
ETHISTICIAN: On it!
ETHISTICIAN: Created d-class-by-year-site-19.png.
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: I'm eyeballing a sharper increase after the telekill wing. Am I seeing things?
ETHISTICIAN: You are always seeing things, assuming your sight is intact. But no, the usage increases significantly after 2009, which is when the telekill wing was completed.
ETHISTICIAN: This discrepancy can't be accounted for by increased contaiment subjects or testing rates, either. Would you like to download the full statistical report?
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: Yes, and can you compile some other statistics on D-Class at 19 while you're at it? And D-Class at other sites with telekill stuff. Look for any significant correlations and report to me.
ETHISTICIAN: Got it!
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some D-Class to interview…
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: …actually wait. If baseline humans produce psionic fields, how does telekill affect them?
ETHISTICIAN: Presumably not at all. While baseline humans can produce psionic fields, only psychics are able to sense psionic energy, so baseline humans would not be affected
Terminal #335
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Welcome, ec-user-33308affc0e
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> aic ethistician
ETHISTICIAN: Hello, Mr. Robinson! What can I do for you today?
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: I'm stupid.
ETHISTICIAN: No, you're not! No one makes it to the Ethics Committee without being exceptional in some way!
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: I'm pretty sure I'm the exception. Exceptionally average, exceptionally one-track-minded.
ETHISTICIAN: I cannot offer more than superficial emotional support, but I can connect you with any number of resources to
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: You can scan all communications involving any issue I subscribe to.
ETHISTICIAN: As long as they aren't Level 6 Classified, yes!
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: 5/7814 isn't 6.
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: Ethistician.
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: Please email me a copy of the SCP-7814 file while I go soothe myself in the corner.
ETHISTICIAN: Contacting on-site mental support…
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: I've gone over this with my therapist I don't need urgent support
[ec-user-33308affc0e]: Just get me the file, please.
ETHISTICIAN: Alright!
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-7814 is available on request. Applicants must submit Form 7814-A to the Telekill Alloy Applications Team, who will survey the site if needed to determine if the D-Class barracks are suitable for an SCP-7814 installation. SCP-7814 installation is not to be approved for sites lacking a suitable D-Class population. As of 23/06/2013, all sites with SCP-7814 installations are to maintain at least one ongoing "experiment" classified Level 5/7814 that terminates at least one D-Class personnel per month.
Description: SCP-7814 (known by materials engineers as “Telekill Alloy”) is an alloy of mundane metals and [DATA EXPUNGED].4
SCP-7814's primary anomalous property is that [DATA EXPUNGED — see Document 7814-A] produces a 'negative psionic field.' A 'negative psionic field' is a mind-affecting anomaly that responds to and cancels other mind-affecting anomalies. For example, SCP-035 compels nearby humans to put it on, and necessarily calls attention to this as part of the compulsion; thus, nearby SCP-7814 will compel those humans not to put it on, and not to notice the original compulsions. This produces the appearance of inhibiting extrasensory mind-affecting properties, but processing these conflicting signals causes unconscious stress to nearby personnel. Over time, this results in decreased coherence of memories, increased risk of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders, and heightened anxiety. Furthermore, all humans naturally produce and interact with their own and others' psionic fields as a natural part of consciousness; telekill disrupts this process, and prolonged exposure can lead to reduced motivation, increased risk of depression, lowered libido…
.
.
.
Despite these drawbacks, use of SCP-7814 has saved the Foundation millions of dollars in containment costs and prevented more casualties than it has caused.
VIDEO LOG
Date: 03/09/2023
Note: The following footage was recovered from the security camera within Ethics Committee Chairman Odongo Tejani's office in Site-02 and transcribed by a developer build of ethistician.aic with experimental updates to emotion-recognition.
Chairman Tejani returns from a routine trip to the lavatory to continue organizing the Ethics Committee’s itinerary for the next and past few months. He pauses midway through the door.
TEJANI: …did I save?
With increased urgency, Chairman Tejani closes the door behind him and-
???: MISTER TEJANI!
A man bludgeons the door back open with a novel-thick manila folder just before the standard locks can engage. ethistician.aic identifies him as new recruit Jack Robinson, and his sudden entrance causes the Chairman to jump back in shock.5
TEJANI: Holy-
PA: INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. SITE-02 HAS BEEN COMPROMISED.
Tejani and Robinson reflexively look at the ceiling as built-in alarms bathe the office in red light..
ROBINSON: Wh-where’s the intruder?!
PA: INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. SITE-02 HAS BEEN COMPROMISED.
Tejani and Robinson make eye contact, and realization dawns on Tejani’s face.
TEJANI: …ooooooh-
PA: SAVE AND CLOSE YOUR WORK IMMEDIATELY. ALL TERMINALS WILL BE DISABLED IN: ZERO MINUTES.6
The chairman’s expression transmutes to irritation, mirroring the groans coming from outside. He rolls his eyes and walks to the far wall to initiate a conversation. Robinson’s demeanor indicates confusion: The lack of mirrors in the office means he cannot see the intruder.
TEJANI: The Red Sun rises tonight.
WALL: And the world is bathed in light.
TEJANI: We make the sacrifice.
WALL: So the world falls not to vice.
TEJANI: May I proceed?
WALL: Yes, Chairman.
Tejani begins entering a code into the wall.
PA: FOUNDATION PERSONNEL: IF YOU ARE IN THE HALLS, PLEASE BARRICADE YOURSELVES IN THE SAFEST ROOM WITHIN VISIBLE RANGE. IF YOU ARE IN A ROOM, STAY THERE. LAW’S LEFT HAND HAS BEEN DEPLOYED AND WILL SOON REACH WHERE THE INTRUDER WAS FIRST IDENTIFIED AT: CHAIRMAN TEJANI’S OFFICE-
ROBINSON: Here?!
PA: FLOOR 5B- FALSE ALARM. PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR STATIONS.
Tejani turns around, crosses his arms, and stares at Robinson from behind his desk.
ROBINSON: …oh.
TEJANI: Now, what was so urgent you had to trash the last three hours of painful scheduling work just to inform me?
Robinson shrinks away. His tone is identified as 14.5% confident, 23.4% harried, and 59.8% insecure. ethistician.aic analyses this as a false attempt to project confidence.
ROBINSON: It’s telekill! Sir.
Robinson hesitantly walks up to Tejani’s desk, clutching his folder in both hands. He shuts his eyes, takes a deep breath, and with renewed confidence slams the folder onto the center. The duct tape holding the stack together tears and the papers spill, coating the whole right half of the desk — Robinson’s right, and Chairman Tejani’s left. Chairman Tejani, being left handed, happens to store his coffee on the left side of his desk.
ROBINSON: …I’ll get you another one.
TEJANI: Make it decaf.
The chairman picks up and peruses the papers as Robinson begins to speak.
ROBINSON: Telekill alloy sucks the life out of everyone around it. Everyone who works at a Site that splashes the stuff around like paint will find themselves at increased risk for debilitating mental conditions. That’s the clinical version. The real version is that this stuff cancels out your own psyche the same way it cancels any Keter brain-waves. We should’ve known from the moment we figured out everyone made some kind of psi-field. It’s dangerous – radiation dangerous.
Tejani nods idly.
ROBINSON: These things have been known for years to the Telekill Alloy Applications Team, hidden behind layers of blackboxing and redaction and clearance from the very personnel who work with the stuff! Work near the stuff! Build with the stuff! This is years’ worth of shameful negligence, and we have a responsibility to fix it. Luckily, I’ve got a Five-Year Plan ready to go to get rid of all unnecessary telekill – it’s all in the reports. It’s gonna be expensive, but if we pull out a couple of our better-understood SCPs and factor in the improvements to employee quality of life, the numbers just about work out. First we declare Experimental Site-78 a lost cause and tear down the building, then we use one of the many safe, ethical options I’ve laid out to go back into all the wires and-
TEJANI: -tear out our most secure communications network.
ROBINSON: Only the unnecessary parts! I wrote that up in the plan. I’ll need an engineer to look at it, but it should preserve the security benefits and minimize contact!
Tejani puts the paper down, crossed his arms, and stares at Robinson.
TEJANI: And you propose doing this to every… single…
The chairman makes air quotes.
TEJANI: …“unnecessary” installation-
ROBINSON: Yes! Yes, that’s exactly what I’m proposing! Did you not hear-
TEJANI: Your dramatic reveal of the known information in the SCP-7814 file? Yes, I heard it very well.
ROBINSON: The known information that they don’t let Ethics Committee members access!
The chairman types something on his computer.
TEJANI: Huh. I can see it just fine.
Robinson stops dead in his tracks
ROBINSON: What?!
The chairman types some more on his computer.
TEJANI: Well, there’s your problem. Someone in IT messed up and gave you Level 5 General clearance. Don’t blame ‘em.
Robinson does not visibly react to this information.
TEJANI: …Robinson? Hello?
ethistician.aic 74.5% confidence guess: Robinson is busy processing the previous information.
TEJANI: …look, it’s fine. This is good work! Really good. You…
Tejani shuffles some of the papers around.
TEJANI: …you really got everything. Except a concise summary. So maybe write one up before the vote, okay?
Tejani attempts to gather the papers. Some spill over, floating in the light breeze of the vents and coming to rest at Robinson’s feet. He delicately, almost absentmindedly picks one up.
TEJANI: …and maybe send a digital file next-
ROBINSON: “The Human Cost of Telekill. Mavis Melanie et. al.”
TEJANI: Come again?
Robinson continues to read off the report.
ROBINSON: “Abstract: Sometimes I feel that telekill must have seemed like a godsend to the ones who first discovered it. Finally, the cruel, chaotic universe sends us our Excalibur to fight the gorgons and gargoyles it coughs up at us. As the years went by and the uses multiplied, it must have seemed more and more like the Foundation’s holy grail. But I know better. The Foundation regarded it with apprehension at first, as we do all anomalies – and we should have held onto that.
“Telekill shields our minds from others’ by dulling them all. Memories break down without amnestics, joy becomes comfort becomes hollowness, the shadows of our weaker selves grow long enough to eat the sun. Those who work it are crushed by it, and dying in the dark. And the metal hungers for more: one D-Class, every facility, every thirty days must lie bleeding on the altar, screaming as their mind is flipped inside out and stretched through every wire and beam of 148. In most use cases, it could be replaced by safer, more creative containment procedures – but that requires effort. So my colleagues and superiors insist it is impossible, citing logistics issues we’ve thoroughly addressed, secrecy on details people deserve to know, and – most insultingly of all – financial reasons.”
Robinson’s voice becomes clearer and firmer as he goes on.
ROBINSON: “We are people of the greater good, but not every sacrifice is worth it. As much as our mission to the wider world, we have to consider the people carrying it out, too. Which is why I’m breaking from professionalism and speaking to you directly, whoever you are: Most anomalies contained with telekill can be contained more safely, and sometimes more effectively, with creative containment strategies tailored to the anomaly itself – special containment procedures, if you will. And for the rest? One or two telekill facilities in every country will suffice, staffed by a rotating crew with additional benefits to mitigate the harm. The longer we wait to rectify our mistake, the harder it will be, the more expensive it will be, and the more harm will be done.
Robinson finally looks up, fixing Chairman Tejani with a glare of determination.
ROBINSON: “In this paper, we will demonstrate the above beyond a shadow of a doubt. Mavis Melanie, dissenter of the Telekill Alloy Applications Team.”
Robinson lets his hand fall to his side. He is still clutching the paper: his grip has etched wrinkles into it. When he speaks, there is 12.3% grief, 23.6% anger, and 63.9% determination.
ROBINSON: Eleven years ago, this paper was published to the Foundation Online Journal. It was deleted, and the authors were amesticized and reassigned. Eleven years, and every word became more and more true, and still we did nothing. We’re the Ethics Committee. We keep our own people in line, and this is way over-
???: Oh, hi, Odongo!
A third individual has burst into the room, bypassing the locks without triggering the alarm. Robinson swivels his head to look at them, and Tejani is immediately more alert.
???: I’ve got the funniest work story that I just have to tell you!
ROBINSON: Uh, we’re kind of in the middle of some-
TEJANI: Oh! Gene. Didn’t… know you were coming here today!
Tejani smiles. He appears 17.6% confused, 24.6% relieved, and 50.1% apprehensive.
“Gene”: Neither did I, but I knew since the story started – I mean really started – two weeks ago, I had to share this with someone. But it’s classified ten different ways from Monday, so I got to asking: Who on Earth has the clearance for all this? And you know who I thought of?
The intruder closes the door as they speak. They jangle the locks in a particular way, to activate the Vacuum Seal mode, soundproofing the door, then pirouette on the ball of their foot to stare innocently at Tejani.
“Gene”: You!
ROBINSON: Me?7
TEJANI: …well, let’s hear it! Just let me dismiss this-
“Gene”: Nonsense! He’s one of you now, right? Surely he’s cleared to know about us now, right?
The newcomer briefly wraps an arm around Robinson’s shoulder and turns him to face Tejani, shaking him slightly for dramatic effect. Robinson opens his mouth to-
“Gene”: So the story *really* started two weeks ago, but that’s more like the climax. You see, about five years ago there was this enby down in Decommissioning who…
39:43 minutes of irrelevant conversation purged.
Gene: …and we haven’t heard a ‘beep’ from xem since!
“Gene” lets out a hysterical laugh, slapping their hand against their knee and their calf against the desk they sit on. They are the only one. Tejani presumably exhausted his ability to feign laughter after Robinson’s fifth attempt to interject on a violation of the Foundation Code of Human and Nonhuman Rights. He flits between giving Gene their expected eye contact and keeping a nervous eye on Robinson, who has produced an amount of sweat consistent with a hundred-mile marathon.
After 54 seconds, Gene makes a face matching “tasting a new food” with 99.9% confidence. They acknowledge neither Robinson nor Tejani’s response to him.
Gene: Huh. Tough crowd today.
TEJANI: N-no, it was a funny story, it’s just that-
Gene looks directly at Robinson for the first time.
Gene: I spin you a whooooole yarn, and you go for the leftover thread on the needle?
ROBINSON: It’s the only human rights violation in the last half an hour I can summarize in less than half an hour.
Robinson’s tone is: 18.4% anger, 17.6% masking, 14.5% shock, 9.4% defiance, 5.1% hunger…
Robinson turns to the Chairman. ethistician.aic determines his intended tone as casual. Tone breakdown: 7.6% casual, 18.7% “MTF commander giving orders,” 65.6% “scared child dangling from a ledge over SCP-682’s pit screaming for rescue.”
ROBINSON: Chairman! How long until your sandwich arrives?8
TEJANI: …wha- oh, yeah. I said I would. The sandwich is…
Tejani looks at his feet.
TEJANI: …[inaudible]
ROBINSON: What do you mean you forgot to order it.
Gene: Huh. If I didn’t know better-
ROBINSON: You DON’T!
Robinson’s shout echoes slightly against the sealed walls of the office.
Gene tilts their head curiously, examining Robinson as they would an SCP object. Then they turn their face to Tejani, giving an expression of 13.4% helplessness, 0.9% mirth, and no other identifiable emotions.
Gene: …well. Guess I’m busted. Any minute now, those left hands of yours’ll burst down the door and put an end to our beautiful friendship. Oh, if only I had just let all those employees scatter to the Serpent’s Anus or the Glock Ock Coalition, or maybe the Four Winds Hunting Lodges… oh, Tejani, why did you approve all our playbooks and procedures…
No changes in tone are discerned during this time.
ROBINSON: The Ethics Committee would never approve any of the words you just said.
Robinson looks at Tejani. The latter avoids eye contact.
ROBINSON: …Mr. Tejani?
TEJANI: [inaudible]
ROBINSON: I can’t hear-
TEJANI: All of their Department’s tactics, playbooks, and methods have been reviewed and approved by consensus of the Ethics Committee.
Silence. Robinson’s eyes widen.
ROBINSON: What?
Gene: It’s true! Check the records. Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot:
Gene commandeers Tejani’s monitor and makes an addition to the SCP-7814 file, narrating as they add.
Gene: “Special Containment Procedures: As of… Incident 7814-Melanie-B… secrecy… of information… on SCP-7814… is under the jurisdiction of the Fire Suppression Department.”
Robinson looks between Gene and Tejani, mouth gaping. Then he sits on the floor, clutching his head in a manner consistent with a migraine. Gene gestures toward him, turning to Tejani.
Gene: Is he gonna be okay?
TEJANI: Gene.
Tejani smiles. Tejani shakes his head
TEJANI: Gene. Gene, Gene, Gene, Gene…
Tejani buries his head in his hands.
TEJANI: Gene…
ROBINSON: What possible greater good could be served by that?
His words are slow, quivering. The emotion in Robinson’s voice cannot be identified.
Tejani sighs, wipes his brow, and begins to speak.
TEJANI: The Foundation… you know… it’s very hard to find new hires. We need brilliant, brilliant people-
Gene: And all that experience! You can’t get that anywhere else! Literally. We-
ROBINSON: Training programs.
Gene: Too expensive!
Robinson shoots up into standing position.
ROBINSON: I CAN THINK OF FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN GET THE-
Gene: And we rarely get defectors except from the GOC. And speaking of the GOC, how disastrous would it be if a high-level researcher went and spilled all our secrets? I’m asking. Rate it from Notice to Critical, or one to five if you can’t remember.
ROBINSON: Yes, it’d be quite the disaster if our number-one rival found out we have a gaslighting department…
TEJANI: Our work is too important. We have over five thousand anomalies in containment, Robinson. We need all hands on deck, and we need all hands to stay on deck. As… disturbing as they can be, the Fire Suppression Department’s methods work.
ROBINSON: I can think of five different ways that work better-
Gene: All more expensive!
ROBINSON: Cheaper. Not so gratuitous. Not so cruel. Not so cheapest. Not so save-money. Not so not so not so…
Robinson becomes unresponsive for ten minutes. Tejani returns to working on his scheduling in the meantime.
ROBINSON: So you were the ones who messed with my clearance.
Gene: No, that was our good friend the typo!
Robinson’s expression is identified as: 14.3% confusion, 30.6% disbelief, 63.2% suspicion.
ROBINSON: So you got Melanie transferred out, right?
Gene looks up from their phone.
Gene: What?
ROBINSON: After the paper. “Incident 7814-Melanie-B.”
Gene: Oh- oh, no no no nononono. That was O5. We only got put on the case after the second little stunt. Incident 7814-Melanie-B. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t catch that!
ROBINSON: And the Ethics Committee… they approved that, too?
Tejani looks away.
TEJANI: It was… within their jurisdiction. Employees were starting fires.
Gene: “Transferred out” is a bit of a strong word. You see-
ROBINSON: I don’t want to know.
Robinson clutches his forehead.
ROBINSON: I do want to know, but not right now.
Gene: Is there anything you do want to know about right now?
ROBINSON: Why not just… let us take out the telekill? We’ve already proven it’s the better way.
Gene: I don’t think your calculations are quite sound.
ROBINSON: They are sound. I’ve got hundreds of pages detailing them.
TEJANI: Mr. Robinson, with all due respect, we can’t afford the short-term costs.
ROBINSON: But you can, I wrote a whole-ass dissertation on-
Gene: And are you sure you did you math right?
ROBINSON: You just explained the change-their-own-files-on-them tactic to me- it doesn’t matter! What matters is the real human lives-
Gene: -that we can secure, contain, and protect with every dollar we aren’t spending on unnecessary renovations.
ROBINSON: Aren’t you the keeper of the retirement gate? If you want to keep your assets, why not keep them healthy?
Gene: The effects of telekill aren’t debilitating enough to justify the costs.
ROBINSON: Oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, OH! That is IT!
Robinson stands and quickly moves toward the door.
TEJANI: You’re resigning?
Just as Robinson’s hand grasps the handle, he pauses.
ROBINSON: …no. No, like hell I am.
Robinson glares at the other inhabitants of the room.
ROBINSON: I mean, I should. But someone has to be the conscience of the Foundation, and since the Ethics Committee isn’t ethical anymore, I guess I’ll have to do.
Robinson leaves the handle alone and approaches Gene, whose smile remains unchanged.
ROBINSON: You’re going down.
Robinson returns to the door and attempts to turn the handle. It does not budge. He re-attempts. It does not budge.
ROBINSON: Can one of you get this open?
FIRE SUPPRESSION DEPARTMENT - CLASSIFIED
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FIRE SUPPRESSION DEPARTMENT CASE ID-880379017499EC
ISSUE:
For the last twenty years, Ethics Committee member Jack Robinson has vocally opposed FSD operations and tactics and mobilized a minority faction of the Committee to improve workplace safety, earning minor but significant restrictions on SCP-7814 (“Telekill Alloy”).
KNOWLEDGE:
While Robinson remains passionate about the leisure of Foundation assets beyond the provisions of the Foundation’s core mission, he is ultimately loyal and does not pose a defection or retirement risk. Ethics Committee culture and bureaucracy have prevented most attempts to significantly restrict FSD operations or telekill use, and standard bureaucratic tactics such as compromise and subconscious suggestion have been sufficient to neuter the rest. Furthermore, Robinson’s faction has proven a powerful outlet for disgruntled Committee members, with morally-motivated defections dropping by 28% and retirements by 33%.
RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE:
None. Robinson is not a threat.
NOTES:
This case is considered RESOLVED.
page revision: 21, last edited: 17 Nov 2023 21:05
