Link to article: Iteration E.
You don't know who's more bored right now, you or the kid in front of you. On the one hand, you don't want to be here. On the other hand, she doesn't really want to be tutored either, and she's not getting paid for it. But she's being way, way more annoying about it. You start again. "Item number?" you ask, hoping she gets it right this time. She looks up at the ceiling, as if the answer is up there, then down at her notes. "SCP-1893," she says...after a half-minute pause. Good enough. "Object class?" you continue, hoping she has that written down somewhere too. "Um...Keter? No, no...Euclid. Object class: Euclid," she responds. Again, good enough. You get paid whether she passes the damn class or not. "Special containment procedures?" You didn't figure she'd have a chance at this one, but she surprised you. "All stories containing or referencing SCP-1893 are to be contained in the tertiary mainframe at Site 38 until such time as Foundation researchers discover a method of transferring them without risking contamination to other computer systems." She paused to think a moment. "Multiple redundant stories are to be kept on the mainframe at all times. Should SCP-1893 begin displaying aggressive or otherwise unusual behavior, additional new stories written in the style used by SCP-1893 are to be downloaded onto the computer. Hard copies of all stories before and after SCP-1893 infestation are to be kept in the director's office in a triple-locked safe; no other copies are to be kept in any other location in any other form to avoid possible contamination. To whatever extent possible, discussion of SCP-1893 is to be restricted to non-electronic means, and references to item number SCP-1893 are to be prohibited on any Foundation server or computer other than the one mentioned above." By god, she might have a chance after all. Let's see if she could keep the streak running. "Description?" She was off to a good start at first. "SCP-1893 is an incompletely understood phenomenon, believed to be electronic or digital in nature. The phenomenon has demonstrated at least a primitive sort of intelligence, in the form of adapting to new environments and avoiding inhospitable ones and a rudimentary ability to communicate with Foundation researchers, albeit indirectly. It is not known whether the entity is sapient or even...um...sensational?" "Sentient," you say, but it's too late; she's lost. A knock at the door distracts her completely; her baseball coach was there, calls her into the hall for a minute. You hear him yelling at her about something, probably baseball related and thus virtually incomprehensible. It sounds like he's tapping (or ramming, from how loud it is) his bat against the wall again; it's what he does whenever he's mad. Old Bull, they called him, half from his size, half because of the tattoos. Your tutee comes back into the room, sits down, and sulks. You wait for her to calm down a bit, then prompt her to continue from where she left off. "SCP-1893's principal trait is its memetic quality; it is impossible to perceive, interact with, or discuss the entity except through fictional narratives. Specifically, any electronic message referring to SCP-1893 will be altered by the entity into a prose passage of variable length, tone, or content. However, messages altered by SCP-1893 will always have certain constant qualities." You could tell she was struggling, so you help out. "First, the content of the original message will be--" ''--will be left intact, replacing any dialogue between characters in the story," she continues. "Second, stories will often contain between two to three characters; while the dialogue between them will remain constant, the setting and tone of the characters and their surroundings are believed to often reflect SCP-1893's "mood" at the time of access. Third, components of the story's plot may change depending on whether or not SCP-1893 can determine the identity of the reader, though researchers have been unable to detect a pattern in the modifications to date." "And finally," you start, "all instances of stories altered by SCP-1893--" "--will contain an unknown character, described as being unusually tall and muscular, often said to have tattoos of bull's horns on or near the face. The extent to which this character interacts with the others is often indicative of SCP-1893's level of aggression at that moment; when the entity is calm, the character will barely be referenced or discussed. When SCP-1893 feels threatened or is prepared to attack, the character will display an increasingly important or central role to the story's plot," she finished. [[module ListUsers users="."]] Something felt strange about that last passage, something about the way she repeated it. Something both familiar and unfamiliar about it. Before you can think much more about it, you hear a whispering sound. It's coming from the student in front of you. She's holding herself very erect, very still, barely moving her lips. You can hardly hear the words. "He's out there, %%title%%. I'm scared. He's out there." You know it's true, but there's nothing else you can do but carry on. [[/module]] Just one more section left, anyway. Then you'd both be able to leave. "Addendum 1893-A," you prompt. She seems distracted, but you prod her into carrying out the rest of it. "Though no effort undertaken to date has succeeded in fully containing SCP-1893, all evidence suggests that the Foundation's decision to classify the entity as such has caused it to adopt this as its 'name' and react specifically to any mention of that item number in electronic media." Tapping. No, more like pounding. Aluminum against concrete. Coming down the hall. He's coming back. You finish for her. "Assuming this to be true, a theoretical plan has been devised in the event that termination of SCP-1893 should become necessary. According to this plan, Foundation personnel would first—" The pounding was right outside the door when the lights went out. You both scream as long as you can. [[module ListUsers users="."]] ,,Do you know what I did to them, %%title%%? I didn't write about it.,, [[/module]]