Today (day 4 5 6 of the 2-week-writing challenge), I'd like to try something different finishing yesterday's entry a little more. Something I've been meaning forgotten to do for a while nearly 24 hours since I finished the last entry. Glad I remembered in time for today's entry. Wouldn't want to lose the bet -- (or fail to set up the punchline).
Ever By now you've heard of I've kind of been forcing the SCP Foundation series down your throat?,Why has this whole writing challenge turned into some kind of weird text-editing experiment surrounding a wikipedia-like hub of articles and stories documenting paranormal, abnormal and otherwise weird stuff. It has things like redacted information or entries that, by their amendments, tell a story again and on top of that of the original SCP entry. Sometimes they have layers that can only be unlocked by higher-level Foundation personnel. This function fulfills a number of narrative roles, such as shielding the majority of the Foundation population from a terrible truth, allowing 2 or 3 senior personalities to duke it in their amendments, or simply revealing information that is, for lack of a better word, sensitive. Parts of the entry become visible as clickable links, input fields, and other, more clever solutions which usually resolve into CLEARANCE LEVEL ACCEPTED-type messages, revealing the entry's secrets to the reader. Finding these hidden trails, reading into innovative concepts as storytelling devices and sifting through the sheer creativity of the ideas are just a few of the reasons that I've become hooked on the genre. I'm not sure that anyone has defined it as a genre before, but there's no better word for it. It's that large and complex.
I've been reading voraciously through the whole SCP database for a while now, and as with my Reddit account, I've largely been a lurker. Yet this year, I've begun I've begun to seek a greater sense of participation, to mixed results. I keep coming back, and my confidence toward the idea is growing, so I'm making to follow the scent to the end. venturing into helping others on Reddit, so maybe it's time for that SCP entry I've been meaning to write to make an appearance as well. One needs a registered account to post new SCP entries (or skips, as they're sometimes called), so I'm not sure just when/if this might make it on to the site until I get to the big stage, For now, it can live I'll hone my craft here. It's no One day I'd like to write an entry as inspiring as Here's hoping that I'm more fortunate in my exploration than those spelunkers of that bag of potatoes. but few of us are deep enough souls for that kind of worldbuilding, especially right here at the start.
The practicing step tool of today is playing with the use of version edits that show not only the history, such as changes to the entry added after the SCP's initial write-up, but also some kind of implied cover-up, information restricted to a higher clearance level. Especially with these limited, bold means. The only editing tools available are bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, fonts and punctuation. It's a wild west for simple coded messages. Let's see what happens.
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SCP 5837 - Caveat Monetæ Emptor
Item #: SCP-5837
Object Class: Euclid Safe Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5837 is to be stored at Site-32 in the small-size artifact storage lockers. The locker number designated to SCP-5837 is to be changed every 9 days and SCP-5837 is to remain in its currently-designated locker at all times when not in testing, transit, or undergoing procedure ████. SCP-5837 is to undergo procedure ████ at least twice every 22 days. Intervals between procedures are not to exceed 15 days, though the spacing between procedures need not be regulated to the day beyond this point. Access is limited to Level 2 3 personnel and all personnel handling SCP-5837 must ██████████ once each lunar cycle. Personnel assigned to SCP-5837 who do not report for duty for a period extending of more than three (3) days in row without prior consent from their manager regardless of the reason given are to have their credentials and assets frozen immediately, with Task Force Cache-Omega deployed to track down and return SCP-5837 to Site-32. Personnel found absent from their stations in this manner, regardless of the reason for their absence, are to be administered Class A amnestics and monitored for one week before being reintroduced to their station. will be assigned to Dr. Schreiber for observation.
All testing of SCP-5837 is to take place within sub-basement four six. Personnel entering the testing chamber are to be searched prior to entry, with all paper-made or paper-like items removed and returned to said personnel following testing. Personnel found attempting to smuggle paper or paper products of any kind into the testing chamber will be administered class Q amnestics and relocated outside of the jurisdiction of the United States and all of its trading partners. Attempts to modify this constriction or solicit for real-world testing, regardless of intent or purpose, for the present date or future, are grounds for immediate dismissal ██████, pending Dr. Schreiber's release. reassignment and administration of level-5 amnestics.
Description: SCP-5837, at present, when within the economic borders of the United States of America, appears to be a U.S. one dollar bill, folded and mildly crumpled, of indeterminate year U.S. dollar bill. Testing personnel who view the printing date on SCP-5837 unanimously claim it to be of 20th-century manufacture, but are unable to name the exact date printed on the bill when pressed. Efforts by Level 5 members of the anti-memetics division have determined the most commonly visible printing date, although technically not a distinct date of any kind, to be from the decade of the 1980's. Members of the amnestics team have recently recruited Professor Greenback from the University of Cleveland to assist in ongoing research surrounding SCP-5837.
SCP-5837 displays no immediately observable effect when undergoing procedure ██████ so long as it changes hands without attachment to a service, product, experience or promise, and so long as it does not sit idle for a period of more than at least twice every 15-22 days., SCP-5837 does not impact the individuals who exchange it without motive negatively, nor does it exhibit effects on the outside world or global economy so long as all exchangers of SCP-5837 are not seeking any financial gain or recompense at the moment of exchange. Continued study of SCP-5837 has determined that, in the event that a single individual takes possession of SCP-5837 but does not spend or otherwise exchange SCP-5837, the individual is statistically more likely to have positive chance encounters dealing with financial matters. Positive encounters include, but are not limited to, the tendency of any paper product in the possession of SCP-5837's holder to convert into viable currency. In addition, long-term holders of SCP-5837 have experienced financial windfalls such as receiving an inheritance from a distant and unknown relative, finding large sums of unclaimed money in the street, and receiving dividends from stock options which, prior to the subject's interaction with SCP-5837, lay stagnant for years. The extent of this increase in positive encounters is currently under further study. with research priority escalated by O5-11.
When SCP-5837 is exchanged as a form of commerce, however, its effects will increase exponentially with each successive "pass," exchange in the form of adverse circumstance to the exchanger and, eventually, to human commercial exchange at large. The extent of this reach on commerce was erroneously believed to fade over time, but further research has confirmed that SCP-5837's impact, while lessening over time, can have further implications far from the initial exchange event. See reconstructed historical timeline in Appendix A.1-5.
Discovery: SCP-5837 first came to the Foundation's attention in 1997 following the collapse of the Santa Monica Pier and midway. Foundation agents secured SCP-5837 through protracted efforts from alongside Bobby Graham, who was found amid the wreckage of the ring-toss stand clutching SCP-5837, crouched next to his father, who had been crushed by the recently-fallen arm of one of the ferris wheel carriages. Bobby was eventually convinced to relinquish SCP-5837 on the condition that the bill be torn up or otherwise destroyed. Foundation agents were successfully able to interview Bobby regarding the circumstances of his encounter with SCP-5837 without the knowledge of SCP-5837's continued existence coming to light (see Interview Log A1). However, Bobby's subsequent escape and creation of the sect now known popularly as Moneytheism, in addition to the interview conducted shortly before his death, indicate that an unknown member or members of Foundation staff shared the fact of SCP-5837's continued existence with Bobby in exchange for an unknown price. Some Foundation personnel have classified this exchange event as the first visible node of a potential $K-class scenario, which may result in a complete collapse of the global economy as all means of human and conceptual-biological exchange become unviable. The Foundation does not recognize these speculations as fact, nor has the viability of a $K-class global failure been confirmed. Further investigation is underway. Any Foundation personnel found perpetuating rumors of an impending $K-class scenario are to be placed under observation by Dr. Schreiber.
The following represents the most up-to-date understanding of SCP-5837's adverse effects:
The extent of the damage caused by SCP-5837 is directly correlated to how many "passes" exchanges of SCP-5837 take place in a given period of time. Accordingly, effects that go beyond the individual are recorded have been observed only when SCP-5837 is passed exchanged a minimum of three (3) times in a 24-hour period. Notably, this window of time is measured not by atomic units of time, but is instead impacted by any human interpretation of time that might impact affect usual commercial operations. Research has confirmed that the window governing SCP-5837's effect is subject to time zones, the operating hours of major corporations, and schizophrenia. The impacts of SCP-5837 on the global economy are not well understood at this time.
Individuals suffering from the effects of having exchanged SCP-5837, in addition to their material losses (see Interview Log A2 for examples), report a feeling of internal loss that Foundation researchers have been unable to identify. This feeling increases with each successive exchange, such that those who have traded SCP-5837 once report being bothered by this loss as by a persistent mosquito, or by the sensation that they have skipped lunch, with most reporting an ability to "tune out" the feeling to some degree of success with some dedicated practice. Those who exchange SCP-5837 two to three times indicate a deeper feeling of loss. Foundation researchers interviewing such individuals have reported an increasing disinterest in conducting their own interviews, with the repeated comment that completing the round of questioning "wasn't worth it." Foundation personnel expressing such sentiments have been disciplined, with individuals of greater seniority and clearance assigned to conduct interviews of personnel testing SCP-5837. Foundation records indicate that those subjects recorded on the testing schedules to for individuals exchangeing SCP-5837 more than three times never completed their testing. No logs exist for these tests and no individuals slated for testing are present in Foundation custody, nor are any records for these individuals beyond their names on the testing schedule. Further investigations into this matter are ongoing.
In addition to its individual effects, SCP-5837 displays global effects on the national economy of the United States and, by virtue of the United States's role in the global economy, also worldwide. The extent of these effects are not yet well understood. Research into the global impact of SCP-5837 is to take priority over individual and sentimental testing as of August 28, 2018 by orders of Dr. Schreiber.
Time is also a factor in calculating SCP-5837's effects. An individual who has exchanged SCP-5837 once will continue to suffer its effects with a half-life consistent with the inverse of the inflation rate of the U.S. dollar. SCP-5837 exchanges that impact more than one individual scale exponentially if SCP-5837 is exchanged multiple times in under a 24-hour period, but exchanges which are spaced out increase only linearly. Speculation into the exact rates and tables governing SCP-5837 exchange have been forbidden by Dr. Schreiber until more can be learned about SCP-5837's properties.
...entry to be continued tomorrow. More developments tomorrow, again.