Today (day 4 of the 2-week-writing challenge), I'd like to try something different. Something I've been meaning to do for a while.
Ever heard of the SCP Foundation series?
I've been reading for a while now, and as with my Reddit account, I've largely been a lurker. Yet this year, I've begun 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. For now, it can live here. It's no bag of potatoes, but few of us are deep enough souls for
SCP 5837 - Caveat Monetæ Emptor
Item #: SCP-5837
Object Class: 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 personnel and all personnel handling SCP-5837 must submit to full bloodwork once each lunar cycle. Personnel assigned to SCP-5837 who do not report for duty for a period extending three (3) days in row without prior consent from their manager 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.
All testing of SCP-5837 is to take place within sub-basement four. 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 and administration of level-5 amnestics.
Description: SCP-5837, at present, appears to be a folded and mildly crumpled 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 an exact date 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.
SCP-5837 displays no effect when undergoing procedure ██████. When SCP-5837 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 15-22 days, SCP-5837 does not impact the individuals who exchange it, nor does it exhibit effects on the outside world or global economy.
When SCP-5837 is exchanged as a form of commerce, however, its effects will increase exponentially with each successive "pass," in the form of adverse circumstance to the exchanger and, eventually, to human commercial exchange at large.
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 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 knowlege of SCP-5837's continued existence coming to light (see Interview log A1).
The extent of the damage caused by SCP-5837 is directly correlated to how many "passes" take place in a given period of time. Accordingly, effects that go beyond the individual are recorded only when SCP-5837 is passed 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 may is impacted by any human interpretation of time that might impact usual commercial operations.
...entry to be continued tomorrow.