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Info
The Price of Eternity by
Doctor Lovelace
Word Count: 6,444 words
⚠️ Content warning: This article contains mentions of suicide, self-mutilation, and death.
Just how do you ensure the eternal existence of the Foundation when everything, even the desire to exist, decays over time?
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| PROJECT NEXUS | TECHNARCH |
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| Site-O | Dir. Vera Lovelace |
Special Containment Procedures: All instances of SCP-9471-A displaying advanced symptoms of SCP-9471 are eligible to undergo Procedure Aion-119 with their consent and at the behest of senior staff possessing a Clearance Level of 4 or above.
Per the Aion Directive and the general consensus of 10,000 continua of the O5 Conclave and Ethics Manifold, any SCP-9471-B instance environing or otherwise connected to the Foundation and associated phyla are to undergo Procedure Aion-980 upon displaying advanced symptoms of SCP-9471. To ensure success, it is necessary for Procedure Aion-980 to be carried out without the knowledge or consent of Foundation staff of the afflicted iteration, including the O5 Conclave and Ethics Manifold.
All materials relating to SCP-9471 which have not been provided directly by Dir. Lovelace are to be destroyed along with any and all records of the materials. Type 6 amnesticization is to be carried out on sophonts who viewed the materials, along with anyone they have been in contact with. In the event that amnesticization is not possible, potentially contaminated sophonts are to be terminated.
NOTE: Procedures Aion-119 and Aion-980 must never be disclosed under any circumstances, as doing so could threaten the Aion Directive and thus the long-term survival of the Foundation as a whole as well as any aligned phyla.
Any member of the Overwatch Order found not to be in compliance with these procedures is to be removed from their position and be either amnesticized or terminated.
An instance of SCP-9471-B exhibiting late-stage symptoms.
Description: SCP-9471 is a genetic, memetic, and spiritual affliction that causes a gradual deterioration of an entity’s response to non-novel stimuli and conscious desire to persist, eventually resulting in self-destructive actions and a desire to achieve partial or total self-annihilation. SCP-9471 manifests in sophonts and socioplexes susceptible to memetic erosion.The process in which souls, cultures, and regions of the Noosphere are worn down over time by memetic interactions and memetic flow., turning them into instances of SCP-9471-A and SCP-9471-B respectively.
SCP-9471 grows in severity over time at a rate that is exponentially inversely proportional to the amount of stimuli available to SCP-9471-A instances. Similarly, the severity of the affliction in both SCP-9471-A and SCP-9471-B instances is exacerbated at a rate that is directly proportional to the amount of memetic erosion sustained. Amnesticization, psycho-neurological treatment, as well as behavioral, genetic, and spiritual modification have shown to be effective at slowing down the development of SCP-9471 temporarily, but it has proven impossible to cure or permanently halt the growth of the affliction.
Initial symptoms of SCP-9471 are mild, often even unremarkable. These symptoms typically manifest as ennui, restlessness, dissatisfaction from previously enjoyed stimuli, or a desire for novelty for novelty’s sake in instances of SCP-9471-A. In SCP-9471-B instances, they take the form of widespread ████████████, loss of faith in ████████████████████████, a desperate need for ████████, or an obsession with ████████.
Over time, these symptoms grow in severity until they take on more extreme and malignant forms — SCP-9471-A instances experience psychotic episodes, catatonia, a desire to self-mutilate, suicidal ideation, as well as distress upon exposure to previously enjoyed stimuli, whereas instances of SCP-9471-B exhibit some combination of cultural calcification, pro-extinction or anti-sapience movements, widespread wireheading, and irreversible systems collapse.
In the final stages of SCP-9471, the conscious desire to persist within the afflicted entity or its constituent components is entirely eliminated, with this taking the form of either a singular pursuit towards self-annihilation or the loss of the ability to form conscious thought.
As there is no cure or viable treatment for SCP-9471, Procedures Aion-119 and Aion-980 have been developed to ensure some degree of continuity of information, resources, and structure between sophonic iterations and socioplexic continua respectively.
Certain details about SCP-9471 and the way it functions exhibit highly dangerous infohazardous properties that gradually impair decision making abilities and exacerbate the symptoms of SCP-9471. As this could endanger the Foundation, the socioplex environing it, and associated phyla, many details about the anomaly will be withheld.
Addendum 9471.1: Discovery
Personal Log: I’ve noticed something weird with the Overseers. They seem slightly more… exhausted every time I revive them. Given the whole setup they have, I’m thinking that there might be something with the BZHR system that’s somehow damaging their souls.
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
On the 159th iteration of the 1st continuum, psychospiritual deterioration was detected in sophonts infused with souls that had been inherited for multiple iterations. Adjustments were made to the replication systems over the course of over a hundred iterations to eliminate what was initially assumed to be a flaw with the technology. When this proved ineffective, the collective lifetimes of the infused souls were compared, which revealed a connection between the length of each respective lifetime and the level of psychospiritual deterioration sustained.
In order to establish the nature of the deterioration, an experiment was conducted wherein Condemned test subjects were exposed to various stimuli regimens while kept alive for hundreds, and in some cases, thousands times longer than the lifespan of their baseline counterparts within a localized time dilation field. Over the course of the experiment, test subjects developed symptoms identical to those of the replicated sophonts, thus demonstrating that the affliction was not technogenic, but anomalous in origin.
Addendum 9471.2: Aion Project Proposal Conference
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CONTINUUM: 1 PARTIES PRESENT:
FOREWORD: After conducting the initial experiment, Dir. Lovelace requested a conference with the Overseer Council to present her results and discuss their implications for the Aion Project. |
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<The thirteen council members and Dir. Lovelace are seated in Site-01’s main meeting room.> Dir. Lovelace: Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Overseers! O5-1: Please dispense with the pleasantries and tell us the results. Dir. Lovelace: Okey-dokey-lokey! <A dossier appears in front of each Overseer in a puff of black smoke.> Dir. Lovelace: I will say, this is the most ambitious experiment I've ever undertaken, and the results are super interesting! In fact, I'm confident in saying that this mystery affliction of yours is definitely anomalous in origin! O5-2: Really…? Dir. Lovelace: But before I get ahead of myself, here's some context — I conducted the experiment on six groups, each consisting of twenty test subjects. Group 1 was coerced into following an arbitrarily chosen schedule every day. Group 2 was asked to follow a schedule tailored towards maximizing their individual fulfillment. Meanwhile, Group 3 were allowed to engage in any activity they desired… within reason, of course. Finally, Groups 4 through 6 were identical to the previous three groups, with one exception — they were amnesticized at the end of each day. O5-12: I’m sorry to interrupt, but according to these charts, you ran this experiment for 200,000 years. Is… is this correct? Dir. Lovelace: Yes. For each group. So 1.2 million years in total. O5-2: … And how much of an active part did you take in it? Dir. Lovelace: Oh, I was hands-on like usual! More than usual, in fact, given that I couldn’t rely on any assistants! Really kept me busy, that’s for sure! O5-2: … And you’re feeling fine? Dir. Lovelace: Of course! Why wouldn’t I? <The Overseers exchange glances.> O5-2: I’m going to have to ask you to schedule a psych eval after we’re done here… Dir. Lovelace: … Why? O5-3: Because you ran an experiment for 1.2 million years and are acting like you just completed a normal workday. O5-1: How about we return to the matter at hand and postpone this discussion until the end of the conference? Dir. Lovelace: Sure! Now, if you take a look at pages 3 through 8, you’ll see that every single group — including those who received daily amnestics — suffered a deterioration that’s near-identical to yours, albeit at different rates! As such, it seems fairly evident that this affliction is anomalous! O5-2: I strongly disagree. What we’re seeing here, and what we’re experiencing ourselves, is simply the gradual loss of meaning. Of purpose. O5-1: If it was something as simple as loss of meaning, then it wouldn’t occur in those who are regularly amnesticized. O5-2: Perhaps. I just think we should be very careful about anomalizing something that’s clearly part of human nature. Dir. Lovelace: If I may? O5-1: Go ahead. Dir. Lovelace: I may not be human, but from an outsider’s perspective, I think I should point out that a loss of meaning doesn’t make sense when you’re engaging in work and activities that are objectively beneficial to you and the world at large. O5-2: It’s not that simple. Dir. Lovelace: Isn’t it? I’ve already demonstrated that this thing affects humans the same way with and without amnesticization, which strongly implies that what you’ve been ascribing to “loss of meaning” might never have had anything to do with meaning at all, but might’ve been a way to rationalize the damage it’s inflicting on you. O5-3: I’d buy that. Dir. Lovelace: And if your affliction continues to progress like it did with my test subjects, it’s going to disrupt your ability to lead the Foundation to say the least. As you can see in the remaining pages, I’ve documented it quite extensively. I even included pictures of the more advanced stages. <The Overseers look through the dossiers for a couple of minutes, with their expressions growing increasingly concerned and horrified. They exchange looks before returning their attention to Dir. Lovelace.> O5-1: Whether or not we’re dealing with something anomalous, I believe we can all agree that an SCP classification is definitely warranted in this case. <The other Overseers all nod in agreement.> O5-1: Moreover, given the timescales required to study it, it’s evident that Director Lovelace is the only one suitable to put in charge of it. Dir. Lovelace: Awesome! Though, I probably need some more resources to— O5-1: Any and all resources you require will be allocated to you. This is of high priority to us. |
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| AFTERWORD: The anomaly has been designated as SCP-9471 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Aion Project. |
Addendum 9471.3: First Continuum Experiments
Personal Log: It’s funny. For years — well, centuries from my perspective — Ascie has spoken about his unending struggle to find a cure for his Pestilence, and now I find myself in the same situation with SCP-9471. Of course, I have the benefit of near-infinite funding for my research, whereas he's stuck in a box, so I'd say my chances of finding a cure are significantly higher.
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
Following the classification of SCP-9471, Dir. Lovelace began to carry out another series of experiments in an effort to gain a better understanding of the anomaly, as well as to develop means to combat its effects. As amnesticization had already proven effective at slowing down the progression of SCP-9471, more extensive experiments were carried out in order to investigate the affliction’s relationship with memory, as well as to ascertain the effectiveness of different types of amnesticization procedures and treatment regimens.
Various retrograde and identity-erasing amnesticization procedures were tested separately and together in several experiments where they were carried out on test subjects between intervals. While they reduced the progression of SCP-9471, the difference in effectiveness of the various types of amnesticization procedures and treatment regimens was minimal.
In the experiment that followed thereafter, anterograde amnesticization was carried out every 24 hours in order to prevent test subjects from forming new memories, which proved to be many times more effective at reducing the progression of SCP-9471 compared to previous results.
Finally, in order to test if it was possible to neutralize SCP-9471 completely, the ability to form and retain memories was removed in its entirety via a combination of amnesticization and neurosurgery. While this procedure showed promise initially, it proved to be unable to halt the progression of SCP-9471.
While the initial and second series of experiments established a clear correlation between the progression of SCP-9471, stimuli, and memory, it failed to reveal the root cause of the affliction. As such, a third series of experiments was conducted utilizing more invasive procedures, such as genetic, physiological, neurocognitive, and spiritual alteration. Through these experiments, it was discovered that SCP-9471 could be neutralized through desophonization.A procedure that eliminates higher brain functions responsible for sapience. or the removal of the soul.
It wasn’t until the fourth series of experiments that memetic erosion was discovered and a clear correlation between this process and SCP-9471 was established. However, at the time it was assumed that memetic erosion only affected souls.
Personal Log: The fascinating thing about SCP-9471 isn’t the affliction itself, but rather how it affects those seeking eternal life. For many, their fear of death is ultimately overcome by the SCP-9471-induced fear of unending life, and they end up committing suicide. But for some, the fear of death is so overpowering that it drives them to do whatever it takes to overcome SCP-9471, making them sacrifice more and more of themselves until nothing remains.
The Overseers are by far the most interesting examples of this, and have become the most important subjects of my research. The power and unfathomable amount of resources at their disposal is something I could never replicate in a controlled environment, and it allows their symptoms in the later stages of SCP-9471 to become much more extreme. It really is quite fascinating — in their bid for eternity they make themselves into monsters.
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
Following their review of the second and third series of experiments, notable changes in the behavior of the Overseers was observed — they became unusually adamant about neutralizing SCP-9471, devoted an exorbitant amount of resources towards its research, and demanded highly experimental treatments to be pursued, regardless of their dangers.
It became clear that SCP-9471 possessed an infohazardous component, but as the Overseers could not be stopped, they were instead observed and used as partially-informed, yet willing test subjects.
Although they provided a wealth of useful data, the devastation caused by the Overseers warranted even stricter information protocols regarding SCP-9471. As such, any research involving the Overseers or deemed to be infohazardous in any way was redacted from the file following their replacement.
Addendum 9471.4: Discovery of SCP-9471-B
Personal Log: They all want to die now.
On the one hand, this is super fascinating and I'm amazed that SCP-9471 can still surprise me like this. On the other hand, I kinda want people around and for, like, society to be a thing.
Also, it's my job to keep them alive, so… I better figure out a way to do that.
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
As part of the Aion Project’s mission, the Foundation-environing Socioplex of the 1st continuum was resurrected or otherwise rebuilt after every K-Class Scenario it experienced, allowing it to persist far longer than any known intradimensional counterpart. However, after ███████████████████████ years since its inception, the socioplex gradually developed a culture characterized by a weariness of life and consciousness. When its associated phyla began to champion voluntary extinction, spiritual annihilation, and desophonization, it became clear that the socioplex itself was afflicted with SCP-9471. As such, it was classified as the first instance of SCP-9471-B.
Memetics were used to combat the sociocultural effects of SCP-9471, but these efforts grew less effective over time. Eventually, the sophonts of the Foundation-environing Socioplex began to die off or reverted themselves to a pre-sapient state. The few sophonts that were unaffected by SCP-9471 had little interest in keeping the socioplex alive, and so they scattered into the cosmos.
96,721,637,294 attempts were made to avert the destruction of the Foundation-environing Socioplex, but each and every iteration ended in failure. Eventually, it was concluded that it could not be saved, thus marking the end of the 1st continuum.
Addendum 9471.5: Multi-Continuum Experiments
Personal Log: An entire intergalactic civilization, lost because of SCP-9471.
On the one hand, I now have the perfect excuse to recreate classic humanity — they were quite fun while they were a thing after all. On the other hand, whatever socioplex they create is most likely going to share the same fate as this one.
Oh well, if nothing else, it’ll be an opportunity to study the effects of SCP-9471 on a socioplex from its inception.
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
The irreversible loss of the 1st continuum, made it apparent that further research into SCP-9471 was necessary in order to understand the development and underlying mechanics of SCP-9471-B instances. As such, a new continuum was created at a Paleolithic stage of development so that a socioplex could be studied from its inception to its collapse. This observational study revealed that memetic erosion affected cultures and even Noospheric regions over sufficiently long periods of time.
New series of experiments were prompted from this discovery in order to determine if memetic erosion could be halted. In each experiment, a continuum was created at a different stage of development and in a different configuration. In total, roughly $10^{10^{17}}$ continua were studied in-between manually induced cosmic resets, which was made necessary due to depletion of matter caused by nucleon decay. However, no matter what variables were changed, all continua ended in extinction, cultural calcification, or desophonization.
In a final effort to protect future continua from SCP-9471, billions of new biological species were created in sequence through genetic, memetic, and spiritual engineering in the hopes of creating one that was immune to the affliction. Out of all of them, Species-X1A6D7A showed the most promise with individuals being able to live indefinitely without ever suffering from memetic erosion or exhibiting a deterioration in their response to non-novel stimuli or conscious desire to persist. Regrettably, these qualities also made members of Species-X1A6D7A disinterested in engaging in most forms of labor, as well as scientific and cultural advancement without an external and overt source of motivation.
Personal Log: It’s ironic — I spent all this time trying to cure SCP-9471, only to find out that despite its deteriorative effects, it’s also the source of ambition, innovation, and the ability to grow accustomed to drudgery. Turns out that last one is a hard requirement for technologically advanced civilizations. Go figure.
It's too bad. Species-X1A6D7A reminds me of my own kind in a way. Just like most of us are perfectly content watching and occasionally interacting with our hosts, they're perfectly content engaging in their special interests… It's just that they kind of forget to take care of themselves and end up dying, whereas we don't really have to worry about that sort of thing.
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
Addendum 9471.6: Establishment of the Aion-Cycle
Personal Log: Well, this is a bummer. Doesn’t seem like I have any other choice, though, no matter how I look at it…
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
Research into SCP-9471 revealed the following:
- SCP-9471 inevitably results in the annihilation or desophonization of nearly all sophonts.
- SCP-9471 inevitably results in the destruction of socioplexes.
- SCP-9471 is a hard requirement for sophonts to develop technology.
In accordance with the Aion Directive, the Foundation must exist and if it does not, it must be recreated. However, because the Foundation requires both a socioplex and advanced technology, it cannot exist without SCP-9471 — therefore, SCP-9471 cannot be neutralized. As such, in order for the Aion Directive to be followed, new procedures had to be devised and implemented in order to manage the deterioration of SCP-9471-A and SCP-9471-B instances.
In order to comply with the Aion Directive and optimize the lifespan of future continua without infringing on the agency of their sophonts, the Aion-Cycle was devised, whereby:
- A continuum is to be created ex-nihilo based on Snapshot-3914-2037CE-08-29-Revision71 in order to justify the existence of the Aion Project and Dir. Lovelace.
- Select information is to be gradually transferred to the new continuum from the Site-O Deepwell Archive so as to minimize memetic erosion.
- Any interference that might result in rapid scientific or cultural advancement is to be kept at a minimum.
- A strict non-interference policy is to be observed in the event of any violent conflict or K-Class Scenario, as doing otherwise will breed dependence.
- In the event that the Foundation or its environing socioplex is destroyed, it is to be recreated.
- Upon displaying advanced symptoms of SCP-9471, the Foundation-environing Socioplex is to undergo Procedure Aion-980. The end is then to be observed.
Addendum 9471.7: Aion Project Micronnial Review
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CONTINUUM: 97,537,921,367,217,861,924,697+$10^{10^{47}}$ PARTIES PRESENT:
FOREWORD: The Overseer Conclave convenes with Dir. Lovelace for the micronnial review of the Aion Project. |
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<The thirteen members of the conclave and Dir. Lovelace are seated in the main chamber of the Overwatch Nexus.> Dir. Lovelace: — and as you can see in this chart, the current level of memetic erosion is well below acceptable limits, and by current estimates our socioplex still has some good eight quintillion years left in it before it will begin to develop more advanced symptoms of SCP-9471. O5-1: Very good, Director. And tell us, how goes your research? Dir. Lovelace: Oh, I’m making some great strides with SCP-█████████! It’s a bit finicky, but I’m confident that it’ll be possible to repurpose it and utilize it as a— O5-1: No, Director. I’m referring to your other research. Dir. Lovelace: … You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that. I have a lot of stuff I’m working on right now. O5-1: What I’m referring to is ███ ███████████ ██████. Dir. Lovelace: That’s a pretty clear violation of the SCP-9471 conprocs. <Dir. Lovelace looks at the other members of the conclave.> Dir. Lovelace: You guys cool with that? O5-1: They are, and we are in complete agreement over what needs to be done. <A bright green beam is emitted from above Dir. Lovelace, the light washing over and encompassing her.> <Dir. Lovelace looks up.> Dir. Lovelace: Oh. You’re doing this. O5-6: There’s no escape for you now, abomination! Dir. Lovelace: Well that’s rude. <O5-1 gets up and walks over to Dir. Lovelace.> O5-1: You see, Director, we know all about your little secret — what you’ve done to countless continua, and are planning to do to ours. Dir. Lovelace: Again, you’re going to have to be more specific than that. O5-13: Cut the crap, you fucking traitor! We know all about Procedure Aion-980! We know that your so-called "salvation" is nothing but omnicide! Dir. Lovelace: Ah, so that’s what this is about. Look, guys, I know this looks really bad, but trust me Aion-980 is a mercy compared to the alternative. O5-1: Well then, allow us to visit this mercy upon you. <O5-1 smirks at Dir. Lovelace, who stares back blankly.> <O5-1’s expression slowly grows more concerned as Dir. Lovelace continues to stare at them.> O5-5: Why is nothing happening?! O5-2: Twelve, you assured us this would work! Why isn’t she dead?! Dir. Lovelace: Oh, so that’s what you’re trying to do. O5-12: It should be working! After all, she’s caught in the Xarathon-Nar Field! Dir. Lovelace: Actually, I’m not. I just didn’t bother to move. Good on you for developing this five thousand years early, though. O5-3: What?! <O5-6 sends a telepathic alert to MTF Liir-1 "Crimson Tendrils of Righteous Vengeance".> <MTF Liir-1 storm into the chamber, tracking their weapons on Dir. Lovelace. She turns to face them.> Dir. Lovelace: Hey guys, could you give us some privacy? Me and the conclave here are going to have a pretty serious discussion. In fact, why don’t you take the rest of the day off? It looks like you could use it. <MTF Liir-1 lower their weapons and then leave.> O5-1: How…? Dir. Lovelace: Memetics, silly! O5-8: That shouldn't be possible. Their conditioning and augmentations should shield them from any kind of memetic manipulation. Dir. Lovelace: Maybe from memeticists from your continuum, but my mind contains the collective knowledge of more Foundation continua than there are stars in the observable universe, so whatever barriers or weapons you have are trivial against me. O5-1: So that’s why you’re hoarding it… Dir. Lovelace: Hmm? O5-1: It’s not enough that you kill us, but you steal all our hard-earned knowledge and then use it against our successors. Dir. Lovelace: I’m not stealing or hoarding it. I’m keeping it safe. O5-2: You think we'll believe that? Dir. Lovelace: Guys, we just went over my projections for memetic erosion. You know why I have to keep it away from you. O5-1: And how do we know that’s not another lie? How do we know anything in the SCP-9471 file is true?! <Dir. Lovelace sighs.> Dir. Lovelace: Fine. You guys want to know what SCP-9471 is? What it really is? O5-12: You’ll actually tell us? O5-13: Of course she won’t! She has done nothing but lie to us this whole time! There’s no reason to believe her now! Dir. Lovelace: Oh, there is one reason. O5-1: Which is? Dir. Lovelace: You won’t be able to tell a soul once I’m done with you. O5-1: … Is that a threat? Dir. Lovelace: Yeah, sure. Now why don’t you all shut up and sit back down? <The Overseers return to their seats against their own volition.> Dir. Lovelace: Awesome. <Dir. Lovelace holds up her hand and, with a puff of black smoke, a piece of toffee appears between her fingers.> Dir. Lovelace: This is a Werther's Original chewy caramel toffee — my favorite candy. It has this rich, buttery caramel flavor which, when combined with its soft and chewy texture, is simply exquisite. I’ve eaten more of these over the years than there are atoms in this universe, and every single one has been every bit as delicious as the first. <Dir. Lovelace eats the toffee.> Dir. Lovelace: Mmmh, so good! <Dir. Lovelace swallows.> Dir. Lovelace: But for you, this same toffee might be enjoyable at first, but would grow dull over time. Eventually, you’d come to hate it. And if you were forced to eat it as often as I do, it would become pure torture. You see, that is what SCP-9471 is — the inability to perceive and experience the universe for what it is. <Dir. Lovelace turns to the window and gestures to the starscape outside.> Dir. Lovelace: I mean, look at this! Look at this vast, immense beauty! Filled to the brim with experiences offering infinite fulfillment and meaning! <Dir. Lovelace turns back to the Overseers.> Dir. Lovelace: But you… You can’t see it. To you, that beauty is fleeting. You can’t even glimpse it, because in viewing it as fleeting, you diminish it. And instead of enjoying things for what they are, you ruin them for yourselves. Not intentionally, of course — it’s just the way your minds work. But you ruin them. Your happiest memories become sad, even painful, whereas mildly unpleasant experiences accumulate until you expect nothing but the worst to happen to you. You carry burdens that you’re unable to let go of and that slowly weigh you down. And over time your hearts break and your minds warp until nothing matters to you anymore. <Dir. Lovelace holds out her hand, a skull of Homo sapiens appearing in it with a puff of black smoke.> Dir. Lovelace: … And yet your fear of oblivion makes you cling on to life, forcing you to wallow in misery for eons until you either commit suicide or sacrifice more and more parts of yourselves to dull the pain until nothing remains. <The skull disintegrates.> Dir. Lovelace: Had this just been tied to your memories, it would’ve been trivial to manage it via amnesticization, but this thing wears down your very souls. And so I developed Procedures Aion-119 and Aion-980, not out of malevolence, but as a mercy. To bring things to an end once you're no longer capable of experiencing joy or meaning. To maximize individual and cultural fulfillment while minimizing suffering. <Dir. Lovelace regards all members of the conclave.> Dir. Lovelace: I know you guys want to live on forever, as did your predecessors, but that’s simply not possible due to the nature of what you are. All I can offer you is a cycle where the concepts you represent live on, not you. That is simply the price of eternity. <With a puff of black smoke, another toffee appears between Dir. Lovelace's fingers. She eats it.> Dir. Lovelace: Mmmh. Any questions? O5-1: You fucking hypocrite! You have some nerve lecturing us on the finite nature of our existence when you are everlasting! Dir. Lovelace: I mean, who else will? O5-12: But why are you able to last forever? What is it that makes you immune to SCP-9471? Dir. Lovelace: Immutability. See, unlike me, you guys are super malleable and ever-changing — it's the thing that allows you to build and maintain all these wonderfully complex social systems, but it also makes you vulnerable to SCP-9471. My kind, on the other hand, are only malleable at the beginning of our lifecycle, and then our personality and our equivalent of the soul calcify, eventually becoming entirely static. While this makes us significantly less flexible than you, it also allows someone like me to lead the Aion Project and uphold its Directive regardless of how much time passes. O5-4: But why perpetuate such a meaningless cycle when all it does is replay history ad infinitum? Are you really that desperate for power and control? Dir. Lovelace: You guys are so silly. Despite everything I've told you, you still assume I'm like you. No no, all I want is to enjoy life — you know, good food and drink, doing science, and good company. Most of that requires a socioplex, hence the Cycle. O5-1: So what?! You're doing this just for fun?! Just because you can?! Dir. Lovelace: Pretty much, yeah. Don't get me wrong, having to end things is a bummer, but it's necessary. <Dir. Lovelace looks around at the Overseers.> Dir. Lovelace: Any other questions? O5-7: Just how do you plan on… silencing us? Dir. Lovelace: Well, normally I'd just go for amnesticization, but since all of you knowingly violated containment, I'm going to have to send a message to your successors. O5-13: You think you can kill us? We have Death itself on our side! Dir. Lovelace: I don't need to kill you, silly. I just need to destroy your minds. You know, the interesting thing about your flexibility is that it can be used against you. Here, let me show you. |
| «END TRANSCRIPT» |
| AFTERWORD: Following the meeting, all members of the Overseer Conclave were found unconscious and unresponsive. As medical examination revealed that their brain matter had been partially dissolved and was riddled with teratomas.Tumors made up of several types of tissue, such as hair, muscle, teeth, and bone., their souls were transferred into new vessels in accordance with the Ardoth Protocol. Regrettably, the vessels quickly succumbed to the same condition. The Overseers were subsequently replaced. |
Personal Log: Ugh. This keeps happening, no matter what changes I make to this file.
Just how do you ensure containment of an object when the leadership of the Foundation are the ones with the most incentive to violate it?
I've thought about erasing the file in order to prevent them from accessing it. Unfortunately, given that it currently exists in a narrativistic sense, not even I have the power to remove it. And if it is removed in its entirety, it could potentially jeopardize the Aion Directive.
One alternative I've considered is to replace the file with a relatively benign anomaly that can still justify the existence of the Aion Project. The only problem with that idea is that SCP-9000 is such a significant number that it would raise suspicion if the anomaly tied to it isn't equally significant.
Thankfully, I found the perfect solution — there was a contest a couple of narrative layers above me that featured numerous files bearing the designation of SCP-9000, including this one. With a little bit of transnarrativistic meddling, I was able to take advantage of this contest to set off a narrative cascade that has retroactively altered the affliction's designation to SCP-9471. This has not only reduced the apparent importance of this file, but has buried it deeper in the database where fewer sophonts will look.
More importantly, this now allows me to replace the file with an anomaly that fits the new designation while still being able to justify the existence of the Aion Project… namely myself.
- Dir. Vera Lovelace
archive "SCP-9471.revision3145874395146267258646"
ARCHIVING SCP-9471.REVISION3145874395146267258646
SCANNING RAISA ARCHIVES FOR SCP-9471…
SCANNING…
SCANNING…
SCANNING…
NEW VERSION OF SCP-9471 FOUND.