Containment Reassessment

Link to article: Containment Reassessment.

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**Containment Reassessment** by [[*user Doctor Lovelace]]
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+ ETHICS COMMITTEE CONFERENCE ON THE CONTAINMENT REASSESSMENT OF DOCTOR VERA LOVELACE
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++ MINUTES FROM CONFERENCE
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**DATE:** October 20, 2021

**PARTIES PRESENT:**
* Ethics Committee
 * ##0096ff|Rupert Stern##, Chairperson of the Ethics Committee
 * ##0096ff|Miles Pierson##, Vice-Chairperson of the Ethics Committee
 * ##0096ff|Reid Whittaker##, Sitting Member of the Ethics Committee
 * ##0096ff|Dr. Vivian Jackson##, Sitting Member of the Ethics Committee
 * ##0096ff|Carlton Moss##, Sitting Member of the Ethics Committee
* Advisory Participants
 * ##a70c00|O5-7##
 * ##ff7e00|Brennan Eccleston##, Containment Committee Liaison
 * ##86cd48|Dr. Rosaline Seeger##, MalO Project, Project Lead
 * ##86cd48|Dr. Stanley Langston##, MalO Project, Chief Containment Specialist
 * ##8e3bb9|Dr. Arnold Blackburn##, Department of Anomalous Psychology, Comparative Psychologist

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**«BEGIN LOG»**
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**##0096ff|Stern:##** We are now recording.

Since her transfer to Site-19, [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/target-audience Doctor Vera Lovelace] has knowingly and repeatedly violated Foundation regulations and ethical guidelines. These violations include intentional breach of containment, intentional exposure to SCP object, fraternization with SCP object, purposeful emotional manipulation of SCP object, introduction of unauthorized substance to SCP object, reckless endangerment of personnel, and disobeying direct orders. Given the severity of these violations, Doctor Lovelace's status as both an SCP object and a member of personnel, and her unwillingness to cooperate, this conference has been called to evaluate her actions and reassess her containment procedures going forward.

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** With all due respect, this should’ve been a matter for the Containment Committee, not you.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** I agree. Unfortunately, Seven’s direct involvement has complicated matters.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** I had good reasons for doing so.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And we will discuss them in due time. As for your concerns, Mister Eccleston, the reason we’re handling this matter is because the Ethics Committee is the only department with the power to overrule a direct order made by an Overseer. Now, you and Doctor Langston have both been asked to attend so that we may draw upon your expertise with regard to containment.

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** And I appreciate that. I just think this could’ve been handled in a better way.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Perhaps. But proper procedures have to be observed. You should know that more than anyone.

Now, I’m going to direct our first line of inquiry towards you, Seven. Since you were responsible for Doctor Lovelace’s onboarding and for establishing her current containment procedures, we would ask you to explain your reasoning for doing so.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Very well. Before we realized what she was, Lovelace was in the process of being hired as a researcher. Given the anomalous capabilities she displayed to the recruiter, we deemed it necessary to maintain the pretense of granting her employment in order to secure her cooperation.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** Sorry to interrupt, but how did we not know what she was? I mean, she studied at //Harvard//, for crying out loud.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Yes, at a distance, so no one knew what she looked like at the time. Not only that, but given that Lovelace is an instance of [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1471 SCP-1471-A], she's //near impossible// to detect with [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-5900 PANOPTICON]’s sensory array.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Doctor Langston, is this true?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Yes. Although they are technically reality benders, their alterations are so minimal that they’re indistinguishable from natural Hume fluctuations. The only exception to that is when they teleport people or objects.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** And that kind of thing would've also been near impossible to detect given that she lived in Cambridge, which is full of anahumans and thaumaturges that we can’t lay a finger on due to certain agreements we’ve made with several PoIs and GoIs — most notably the GOC.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** What about her cover story? It’s hard to believe that it didn’t raise any alarms whatsoever.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** It did, but those in charge of running her background check looked for the wrong things and ended up giving her the all clear.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** So we’re in this mess because of workplace complacency?

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** That is correct, but I would argue that it’s worked out in our favor.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Seven. You still haven’t explained //why// you decided to grant her employment and such lax containment procedures.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** There’s really not much to it. After bringing her in, we discovered that there were no means of containing her against her will. As such, we had to act quickly before she caught on to our deception, and so we devised her current containment procedures to allow us to contain her through social means by granting her the position that had been promised to her.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And have other containment measures been devised since then?

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** No.

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** I’m sorry, I find that a little hard to believe. You’re telling me that despite everything we have at our disposal, there’s no way of actually containing this thing?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** You’d be surprised. See, MalOs aren’t—

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Doctor Langston, I would ask you to refer to them by their official designation.

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** With all due respect, if all of us have to refer to Lovelace and others of her kind as ‘instances of SCP-1471-A’, it’s going to make this whole conversation way more cumbersome than it has to be.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** I agree. And it’s an unnecessary distraction given the severity of this matter.

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** I suggest we just refer to them as ‘dash As’ for the sake of brevity.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Very well, I will allow it. Doctor Langston, please continue.

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Right, as I was saying, dash As are not like most other anomalies — they don’t break reality, they’re so fundamentally alien that they can’t even exist within it. What you think of as a dash A is just its holographic projection, which is unable to interact with anything without exerting a great deal of effort.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** If she's a hologram, how is she able to physically interact with anything at all?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Same way we do. Take this table — it's solid and I can touch and interact with it, but it's really just a dense cloud of particles, same as me. The reason why I'm able to touch it instead of my hand phasing right through it is because the electrons of each and every atom making up my body generate an electromagnetic field that repels the electromagnetic fields of the atoms of the table. The same effect can be observed on a macro scale if you take two dipole magnets, have their poles facing each other, and then try to push them together. A dash A can simulate these electromagnetic forces through its projection. However, doing so requires conscious effort on their part.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** So can they similarly repel or attract magnetic objects?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** No. The magnetic field of even a simple refrigerator magnet is orders of magnitude more powerful than the electromagnetic fields of the atoms, and it takes a dash A a //significant// amount of effort to simulate the latter.

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** Couldn't you just use a reality anchor to keep it in that state?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Do you seriously think we haven’t tried that? We’ve experimented extensively with SRAs. We even developed our own variant called an Obelisk Device that is able to force a dash A projection into what we call a materialized state — a state where it can interact with physics to such a degree that we’re able to forcibly contain it. The only problem is that if it remains in that state for too long, it will die.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Are you saying that a dash A instance is killed when its projection is destroyed?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** That is our current understanding of how they work, yes. It would be the equivalent of disintegrating someone’s face — survival is next to nil.

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** Surely there must be a way to keep it in that state without killing it?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** No, that’s not physically possible. It’s the equivalent of boiling water without turning it into steam — you can only do it for short periods of time, not indefinitely. We typically use it when we need to recapture dash As or as punishment for bad behavior.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** That last one doesn’t sound very ethical. Has it been approved by us?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Obelisk Devices don't hurt them unless they’re exposed to them for prolonged periods of time. When used properly, they allow us to put a dash A in time-out instead of torturing it to death. Given that their cooperation is needed to make their containment manageable, we’re very careful not to hurt the dash As in our care.

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** And how exactly do they experience harm inflicted upon themselves? The reason I ask is because Lovelace's file mentions that she can't feel pain or fear.

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** She's a relatively rare subtype of dash A that's incapable of feeling pain. About twenty percent of them are like that. As for fear, it's something they can learn to feel through socialization early in their development, but Lovelace is well past that point. As such, while she and others like her can't feel these things, they can still register any damage inflicted upon their projections.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Interesting. But doctor, may I ask why you've been able to contain those other dash As but not Lovelace?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Well, normally we hook them up to a cyberspectral adapter and use it to edit their code, which in turn allows us to halt their development and permanently attach a containment collar to them. The latter makes it possible to track their projections and alter their tangibility, which is vital for their containment.

When it comes to Lovelace, however… it seems she had developed to the point where her code was no longer accessible, meaning that we couldn’t contain her the way we do the other dash As.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** You keep mentioning ‘development’. What exactly do you mean by that?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** I think Doctor Seeger is the one most qualified to answer that question.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Okay, so when we talk about the ‘development’ or ‘stage’ of a dash A, we’re referring to the way it is connected to and interacts with its hosts.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** ‘Hosts’? Are you saying a dash A has more than one?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** That’s correct. You see, as a dash A develops, it piggybacks off of its main host in order to infect a new host possessing a greater degree of complexity. For example, at Stage 1 the main host of a dash A is a mobile device infected with SCP-1471, and it uses this to infect a human — typically the one who downloaded SCP-1471 in the first place. This human then becomes the main host at Stage 2, but the dash A still retains a connection to the mobile device, albeit one that gradually weakens. Then, at Stage 3, the dash A uses its human host to infect our universe, allowing it to visually manifest its projection at Stage 4.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** In her file, it states that Lovelace is a Stage 7 instance. Could you clarify to us what that means?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Well, prior to our discovery of Lovelace, we had only encountered dash As that were at Stage 5 or less. At that particular point of its development, it’s able to materialize its projection. However, its human host is still its main host and it retains a vestigial connection to its previous host — the mobile device infected with SCP-1471. This vestigial connection is what allows us to access their code via a cyberspectral adapter, and their strong connection to their human hosts also provide us with more options when it comes to their containment.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Such as?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Holding the human host hostage. You see, a dash A’s life is tied to its main host, so if the latter dies, so does the dash A. Mind you, we would only threaten termination in such a way in extreme circumstances, but it’s important to have that as an option, and them being aware of that vulnerability makes them more motivated to cooperate with us.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** So if the most advanced instances prior to Lovelace’s discovery were only Stage 5, what was your reasoning for designating her as a Stage 7?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Because with each stage of development, a dash A’s connection to its previous host — or hosts, in this case — is diminished to a certain degree. Not only has Lovelace made our universe her main host, but our analysis of her connections to her previous hosts indicate that she has progressed two significant steps beyond Stage 5. Firstly, she’s lost her connection to her first host entirely — this is why the cyberspectral adapter couldn’t connect to her — and secondly, her connection to her human host has diminished significantly.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Are you sure about that? From the reports, Lovelace still seems to be quite close with Doctor Bertram.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Oh, their emotional connection may be as strong as ever, but that is not what I’m referring to. I’m referring to something that’s more like an anomalous bond. Let me give you an example. A dash A between Stages 2 and 5 always knows the location of its human host. A Stage 1 instance, on the other hand, only has a vague idea of where its human host is — this is because it is one step removed from it. And then there’s Lovelace, who is unable to tell where her human host is at all, indicating that she’s two steps removed from him.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And because of this, Lovelace can no longer be contained against her will?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Yes, exactly. The only thing we can use to hold her is an Obelisk Device, but that only works temporarily.

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** Well then, since it still has such a strong emotional connection to its human host but can’t pinpoint his location, maybe we can just take him and hold him hostage?

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** No. That’s a terrible idea.

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** I beg your pardon, Overseer, but I don’t see how it is.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Doctor Seeger, how long can Lovelace potentially live?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** I mean, there’s no limit aside from the lifespan of her main host. Dash As aren’t biological, or even material beings, so they don’t really deteriorate in any way, shape, or form. As such, given everything we know about her kind, she'll most likely live until the universe ceases to exist.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** You see, Mister Eccleston, //that//’s why it’s a terrible idea. Not only is it impossible for us to maintain a credible threat of harming Bertram indefinitely, but the very act of taking him hostage is going to sour her relationship with the Foundation. Forced compliance like that only works in the short term, whereas for an immortal being like her, we are better off cultivating trust and loyalty.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Be that as it may, we still need to get her to comply with Foundation regulations and ethical guidelines. Doctor Seeger, do you have any suggestions on how this might be accomplished?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Right… There are a lot of difficulties with that, with the main problem being how she was socialized. See, Lovelace spent her formative years alone in a house with her human host, who allowed her to do pretty much whatever she wanted, and she only ever socialized with others online on her own terms. While her remote college education and scientific endeavors provided some structure that’s comparable to her current workplace at Site-19, strict adherence to rules and ethics isn’t something she’s used to.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** Well then, she’ll just have to adapt.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** That’s… a lot easier said than done, especially for a dash A. See, their minds are not even remotely like ours. Their personality starts off malleable, but eventually solidifies, becoming entirely immutable.

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** That’s… fascinating! Though, I’ll admit that I also find it to be a little hard to believe. If their personalities are static, then how are they able to exist within and interact with a changing world?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** That’s due to another aspect of their minds — they’re highly compartmentalized. The personality of a dash A is entirely separated from its memories and knowledge. It informs the dash A how to act based on a variety of factors, but it doesn’t actually change itself.

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** So it’s like a non-adaptive algorithm capable of generating complex and highly dynamic outputs?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** That’s a pretty apt comparison. Now imagine each mental compartment serving as a module that can be plugged into that algorithm as needed.

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** So what exactly are the implications of Lovelace’s mind working like that?

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** It means that the kind of things we take for granted such as classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and susceptibility to psychological trauma, are not applicable to her. And that, in turn, means that our current incentive structures are wholly inadequate in dealing with her.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And what about amnestics? Is she susceptible to them?

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Take it from me — don’t even try it. You’ll spare yourself a lot of headaches.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** What my colleague is alluding to is the fact that dash As are not just unaffected by most mind-affecting anomalies, but that they’ve shown themselves to be quite adept at utilizing whatever memes, antimemes, or infohazards they’ve been exposed to.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And why is that?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Okay, so… the way our minds work is that we absorb information, integrate it directly into ourselves, and are to some extent transformed by it. Dash As do not work like that. When they take in information, they simply put it in a compartment, from which they’re able to view it as nothing but harmless data.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Elaborate, please. Why wouldn’t they be affected?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Because of the degree of separation. Like… Okay, let me give you an example. Imagine that you’re a robot hooked up to the internet. Now imagine that you got infected by a computer virus. That affects and endangers you personally, right? That’s effectively how memes interact with us. Now, instead of being a robot, imagine being a human browsing the internet on a computer. If the computer gets infected by a virus, that only affects it, not you personally. That’s how memes, cognitohazards, infohazards, and — to a lesser extent — antimemes interact with dash As.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** So antimemes do affect them to some degree?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Yes. Due to the nature of what antimemes are, they’re capable of self-censoring themselves and potentially erasing the contents of whatever compartment they enter. However, once inside, they would be unable to spread to other compartments. Moreover, we know from experimentation that once a dash A has been exposed to antimemes a couple of times, it learns to redirect and contain all future antimemes to the same compartment.

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** And they can figure out how to use those antimemes on other people too, so exposing a dash A to antimemetics will essentially provide it with an arsenal of antimemes that it can deploy on anyone anytime it wants.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Is that so?

//Stern glances in O5-7’s direction.//

**##0096ff|Stern:##** I find that //deeply// troubling.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** I feel like I should note that we have no records of any dash A acting in a way that can be described as ‘malevolent’, so it shouldn’t cause you too much concern.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** I appreciate your opinion on this matter, Doctor Seeger, but you still haven’t answered my original question — how do we get Lovelace to comply with Foundation regulations and ethical guidelines?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Right. Sorry about that. So, uh, to put it simply, you’ll have to incentivize her with rewards instead of punishment. Though, even then she’s bound to break the rules, regulations, and guidelines on occasion. That carefree spirit of hers is simply too ingrained in her personality.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** That’s not particularly reassuring, doctor.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** //That said//, dash As are fairly predictable. Similar to people with autism, they develop special interests that they devote most of their time to. In Lovelace's case, her special interests are science and the multimedial obtainment of knowledge.

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** The //what//?

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** It means that Lovelace has a strong preference for obtaining knowledge through multiple different means. For example, if we dropped her in the Wanderer's Library, she'd read some books but would eventually grow bored and leave. However, if she was //solely// interested in obtaining knowledge, she'd spend the rest of eternity in there.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** It has to do with the way she spent her formative years. Her host was a Harvard professor who used a wide range of methods and tools to teach her, and that reflects her current approach to learning and obtaining knowledge.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** The important takeaway here is that we can use research opportunities and security level promotions as carrots to incentivize her to cooperate and behave.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And yet, according to Doctor Seeger, that still won't be enough for her to adhere to the standards we expect of any other researcher.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** But she's //not// like any other researcher — she’s an immortal, cross-disciplinary genius who can teleport and make herself immune to most anomalies! The only notable exception being reality benders.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** Hold on, I thought Lovelace wasn’t affected by reality anchors.

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** You misunderstand — SRAs and reality benders can’t be used to contain her, but they very much //do// affect her projection. See, typically, when you alter the Hume count in a space occupied by a dash A’s projection, it causes it to demanifest and then remanifest elsewhere. Now a particularly adept reality bender or carefully attuned SRA — like an Obelisk Device — can change the Hume count in a way that makes a dash A’s projection more tangible. However, as I mentioned before, you can’t do that for a prolonged period of time without harming it.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** So yes, behavioral issues aside, she does still have some limitations. Even so, she’s a boon to the Foundation. Just take a look at the survival rate of the D-Class she has worked with — it is over twelve hundred percent higher than the average thanks to her ability to teleport them out of harm’s way.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** That //is// quite considerable.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And yet she behaves in a reckless and extemporaneous fashion whenever she conducts experiments, and she //completely ignores// the reprimands she's received and disciplinary hearings she's been called to because of it.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** And how many of her experiments have caused any sort of lasting harm?

**##0096ff|Stern:##** That is not the point.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** I disagree.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** We cannot have a researcher take so many risks with such little regard for safety.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Doctor Blackburn, can you shed some light on why Lovelace is behaving this way?

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** Yes, it has to do with embodied cognition. You see, the way any sapient being thinks is shaped by the structure of its body, its capabilities, and its sensory systems. It informs the way we plan actions, solve problems, make judgements, design tools and architecture, and so forth. More pertinent to this conversation, it informs the way we design regulations and safety protocols.

To put it in another way, the basis of what we consider to be safe is based on what we can be exposed to without suffering harm and the actions we can reliably perform without mishap. For instance, we require eye protection to be worn in certain environments because we have sensitive eyes that can easily suffer irreparable damage. Similarly, our safety protocols and guidelines have built-in assumptions that it takes a certain amount of time to move from Point A to Point B, and that some actions might be required to move between these points — opening and closing a door, for instance.

Lovelace, by comparison, has an entirely different conception of what is and isn't safe, as well as what is and isn't intuitive by virtue of what she is and what she can do. She thinks about and approaches problems in ways we do not because she can solve them in ways we're unable to.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** So what you're saying is that we need to rethink our approach to safety with regard to Lovelace?

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** Precisely.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Out of the question!

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Why? I mean, think about it — if Lovelace is truly as reckless as you say, then something should've gone wrong by now, yet she always seems to have things under control.

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** I'm inclined to agree with Pierson on this one.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** As am I. Though, I would suggest we create a set of safety guidelines for Lovelace specifically so we can minimize any actual risks.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Very well, but what about the harm she’s directly causing to the people around her? Take the guard from Incident 8, for example. She casually exposed him to harm, and for what? A cheap laugh?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Uh, actually, she didn't.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And how do you come to that conclusion, doctor?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** I’ve worked with dash As long enough to know that what she did during that incident wasn’t a prank, it was an invitation. Her offer of drinking wine with her and [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-049 049] was genuine.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Be that as it may, she still exposed him to harm.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** It may seem that way to us, but not to her. She put that guard where 049 couldn’t get to him without her teleporting him out. He was never in any real danger.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Is that your expert opinion, doctor? After all, the decision we make here today could cost lives if you’re wrong.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** I’m quite confident, sir. I’d stake my life on it.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** I wish I shared your confidence, doctor, but I still have my doubts. After all, can we truly trust her not to cause harm when her file states that she’s incapable of experiencing or comprehending pain or negative emotions?

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** Just because you can’t personally experience or understand something doesn’t mean you can’t identify and respond to it.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** Exactly. Like, um, imagine someone who’s born deaf — they may not be able to hear music themself, but they can still understand how music affects other people.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** I see. And what of her tendency to engage in purposeful emotional manipulation of other anomalies?

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Yeah, reading about that made my skin crawl. I mean, she likened Site-19 to a candy store, for crying out loud.

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** Your reactions are understandable, but there’s very little cause for concern. Parasitic empaths like Lovelace are driven to instill positive emotions in others in order to feed off of them, but it’s not as nefarious as it seems. Unlike other forms of emotional manipulation, there’s no ulterior motive — the love bombing is an end unto itself.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** I have a hard time parsing that with wanting to keep her — for lack of a better word — victims trapped in containment.

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** Well, strip your mind of all sense of morality and imagine wanting to make others happy because it makes you feel good. If you just make them happy and let them go, you’ll get your fix every now and then. But if you keep people in a controlled environment and cultivate your relationship with them, you’ll get your fix whenever you want.

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** A kind of psychopathic amicability, basically.

**##8e3bb9|Dr. Blackburn:##** Not really. Not only is psychopathy not a real disorder — you may be thinking of antisocial personality disorder — but it’s quite different from parasitic empathy. Recklessness and impulsivity are defining traits of ASPD, whereas Lovelace clearly exhibits the opposite — calculated intentionality to such a degree that she views every action as some form of manipulation. The very idea that someone would do something unintentionally is completely alien to her.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** But if she’s so focused on cultivating friendships with contained anomalies, how can we rely on her to perform all of the duties expected of a researcher? It requires impartiality, after all.

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** That is a problem a human would have, not a dash A. Our brains can’t really handle conflicting ideas or relationships without causing some level of cognitive dissonance. Their highly compartmentalized minds, on the other hand, can do it without issue.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** But then how do they handle situations where these things come into conflict?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** They just pick whichever one they prefer in the given situation. And in the case of Lovelace, who’s shown an aptitude for long-term thinking, she would more than likely pick the one that benefits her in the long run.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** And given our research capabilities and vast collection of anomalies, she knows that it would benefit her to benefit us.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** And by “us”, do you refer to the Foundation as a whole or just the O5 Council?

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** The former, naturally.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** I’m not so convinced. You’ve taken an //unusual// amount of interest in her, Seven, and I find that //deeply// concerning. Yes, her abilities certainly make her useful, but her apparent amorality makes her too useful of a tool for you and the rest of the O5 Council.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** She’s a useful tool for //all of us//. Look, we all know that we sometimes have to do some unsavory things for the sake of our mission — things that break normal minds. Lovelace is //ideal// for that kind of work, and it would be foolish not to take advantage of that.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** All you’re doing is confirm my worst fears, Seven.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** What do you mean?

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Everyone, consider what we have learned here during this meeting. One, Lovelace cannot be contained by any means other than employing her as a scientist. Two, her anomalous capabilities make her an exceptional researcher. Three, she’s devoid of any sense of morality and incapable of understanding pain or negative emotions. Four, she can only be incentivized by reward, not punishment. And five, she will do whatever benefits her in the long run.

Now consider which department is most likely to hold sway over her — the O5 Council, who can provide her with endless research opportunities, or the Ethics Committee, whose duty it is to restrict what she is allowed to do. I believe you’ll agree that the answer is an obvious one.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Rupert, you’re seeing this all wrong.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** I’ve never seen as clearly as I do now, and if //you// can’t see it, then you’re //far// more naïve than I thought.

Everyone, what Lovelace represents is an //existential threat// to the Foundation. If we allow her to continue to work for us, she’s going to destroy the balance of power between the O5 Council and the Ethics Committee.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Come now, you’re being overdramatic.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Doctor Seeger, is there a range limitation to Lovelace’s ability to teleport?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** No. She just needs to know how to get to her destination. A map will typically suffice.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** So if given sufficient resources, she could theoretically set up a secret facility anywhere in the universe, allowing her to conduct experiments without any oversight?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** I mean, it would take her quite a bit of time— Well… //unless// she uses some kind of anomaly to—

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Is it //possible//, yes or no?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** … It is.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** That kind of power //cannot// be allowed to be in the hands of the O5 Council. All of you //do// realize that?

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Rupert…

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Aside from Pierson, I suppose. Therefore, and I do not say this lightly, I propose that we terminate Lovelace.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Are you insane???

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Rupert, you //cannot// throw away an asset like this!

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Yeah, and //killing// her goes way too far!

**##0096ff|Moss:##** Do //you// have any other suggestions? After all, we can’t contain her against her will, and we sure as hell can’t let her go.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** You don’t have the power to do this!

**##0096ff|Stern:##** As a matter of fact, we do. Section 3.11 of the Foundation charter states that the Ethics Committee is empowered to make executive decisions on matters that present a conflict of interest for the O5 Council. I believe most of you would agree that this qualifies.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** That doesn’t give us the right to kill a highly beneficial anomaly that hasn’t hurt anyone!

**##0096ff|Stern:##** We don’t do what’s //right//, we do what is //acceptable//, what we //must// in order to safeguard our mission.

Now, let’s put this to a vote.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Rupert, for fuck’s sake, don’t do this!

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Stern, I’m warning you — //do not// go through with this!

**##0096ff|Stern:##** You have no power here, Seven.

//Stern looks at the other Committee members.//

**##0096ff|Stern:##** All in favor of Lovelace’s termination?

//Stern raises his hand, followed by Moss and Dr. Jackson.//

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Motion passed by a majority vote. Seven, I regret it had to come to this.

//O5-7 and Pierson exchange glances. O5-7 then returns her attention to Stern.//

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** So do I.

//MTF Omega-1 (“Law's Left Hand”) burst through the door and track their weapons on everyone but O5-7 and Pierson.//

**##ff7e00|Eccleston:##** What the hell???

**##0096ff|Stern:##** What’s the meaning of this???

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** I’m sorry, Rupert. I couldn’t allow you to go through with it.

//Stern stares at Pierson in disbelief.//

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Did you really think I wouldn't see through your machinations? I //knew// you were going to stack this conference against me, so I reached out to your underlings and as it turned out, most sitting members of the Ethics Committee saw things //my// way.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** We see what you sadly don’t — that Lovelace will be a boon to the Foundation as a whole, and killing her off isn’t just a waste of an incredibly valuable resource, it’s a breach of ethics.

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Miles, Seven’s manipulating you.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** No, I see things //very// clearly. More clearly than you ever did. And we’re not going to let you continue to poison the Committee.

//Pierson gives the MTF commander a nod.//

**##0096ff|Stern:##** Miles, don’t—!

//The MTF commander shoots Stern in the head and his body falls to the ground.//

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Oh my god!

**##86cd48|Dr. Langston:##** Jesus!

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** Miles, have you lost your goddamn mind???

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Don’t test me, Vivian. Not now.

//Pierson looks at the other attendants of the meeting.//

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Now, I’m sorry you all had to see that, but it had to be done. Given the current situation, I will be taking over as the head of this conference so that we may resume our agenda.

**##0096ff|Moss:##** “Resume our agenda”? Are you serious???

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Deadly serious.

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** So what? Are you going to kill us too if we don't play along? How the hell are you going to explain that to the rest of the Committee? How are you going to explain //any// of this?

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** The majority of the Committee is in agreement over what needs to be done, so yes, if you refuse to abide by the will of the majority, you //will// be dealt with accordingly.

//Whittaker, Dr. Jackson, and Moss exchange glances and then look at the MTF Omega-1 operatives surrounding them.//

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** All I'm asking is for you to give an affirmative vote on two reasonable proposals. After that, you can all forget about this and go on with your lives.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Look, we'll do whatever you say! Just please don't kill us!

**##0096ff|Moss:##** It sure as hell doesn't seem like we have much of a choice.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** ... Vivian?

**##0096ff|Dr. Jackson:##** Fine. Let's just get this over with.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Excellent. Now, seeing as we no longer have a quorum, I’m going to have to co-opt one of our advisory participants. How about you, Doctor Seeger?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** W-w-what?

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Just go along with it. Things don’t need to get any messier than they already are.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Well, what do you say, Doctor Seeger?

**##86cd48|Dr. Seeger:##** S-s-sure…?

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Great. Now, show of hands — all in favor of overturning Lovelace’s termination?

//All conference members raise their hands.//

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Passed unanimously.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Next, I wish to propose that a rewards-based system be appended to Lovelace’s containment procedures for the purpose of incentivizing her to better adhere to Foundation rules and ethical guidelines. All in favor?

//All conference members raise their hands again.//

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Passed unanimously. Good. And with that, I call this meeting to a close.

**##0096ff|Whittaker:##** Thank god.

//Pierson turns to the MTF commander.//

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Commander, please take them outside and amnesticize them.

**MTF Omega-1 Commander:** Yes sir.

//Everyone aside from O5-7 and Pierson are escorted out of the room.//

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** “Majority of the Committee,” huh?

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** It's a lot easier to get people to go along with you if they think you represent the will of the majority. Rupert taught me that.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** I'm sure the guns help too. Anyway, allow me to be the first to congratulate you on the promotion.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Thank you, though I wish I could’ve gotten this position under better circumstances.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** It was an unfortunate necessity. Some problems just can’t be dealt with through deliberation alone.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** I agree, so I would suggest you avoid becoming a problem for me and the rest of the Committee.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** And here I thought we were getting along.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you on Lovelace, but Rupert had a point — it’s going to be way too easy and tempting for you to use her for your own ends, and if you do it could threaten the balance of power between our departments. As such, I’m going to do everything in my power to keep an eye on her and on you.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Make sure to keep an eye on the other Overseers as well. Think what you want of me, but some of the others might be tempted to use her in worse ways.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Noted.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Oh, and if I could ask for one small favor — seeing as I helped you get promoted and all — if you ever see the others move against me, let me know.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** Will do.

**##a70c00|O5-7:##** Until next time, then. For the Foundation.

**##0096ff|Pierson:##** For the Foundation.

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> **Filename:** Ethics Committee Logo
> **Author:** [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/desk-of-junior-designer-s-yvonne Estrella]
> **License:** CC BY-SA 3.0

[[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box-end]]

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