SCP-9903

Link to article: SCP-9903.
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    caption=Foundation radio telescope Trujillo-1, where signal SCP-9903-1 was first detected.|
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**Special Containment Procedures:** No attempt is to be made to remove SCP-9903 at this time. Foundation craft operating outside SCP-9903 are to minimise all usage of the frequencies absorbed by the anomaly. A review of humanity’s readiness for the removal of SCP-9903 is to be made in 2045.

**Description:** SCP-9903 is a spherical barrier surrounding the Sun at a radius of 1,940 AU. Though it has no effect on electromagnetic radiation entering our solar system, it absorbs all outwards emissions between the frequencies of 0.4-10.4 GHz, which constitute a large fraction of the Terrestrial Microwave Window [[footnote]] A band of radio frequencies widely used by humanity due to their ability to penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere, allowing signals to propagate between Earth’s surface and space. [[/footnote]]. It has no effect on the movement of physical matter.

**Discovery:** Foundation scientists were unaware that outward radio transmissions were being blocked until 2022/05/13, when probe OORT-16 attempted to perform a radar scan of 2014 SQ,,453,,, a comet-like Trans-Neptunian Object on a highly eccentric orbit with orbital features that were believed to be of possibly anomalous origin. OORT-16 received no radar returns until passing through SCP-9903 on 2023/03/30, at which point radar began functioning as normal. Further experimentation involving probes OORT-16, OORT-20, and OORT-23 established the scope of the barrier.

On 2024/11/27, Foundation radio telescopes detected a signal coming from the direction of the Hyades cluster. It was discovered to be a message in the English language using the 7-bit ASCII character encoding standard.

> **SIGNAL LOG 9903-1 - Received Transmission**
> 
> This is an official warning. We have detected transmissions in violation of your suspension 607, 412, 380, and 214 days ago as of the date this message will be received. You are reminded that attempted evasion of a communications filter may result in a permanent ban. If you wish to appeal your suspension, please visit your local administrator at Epsilon Eridani c and submit an appeal form. A wormhole link has been provided at your Earth-Sun L4 point[[footnote]] A stable point in space about 1.5 million km from Earth, where the gravitational forces of the Earth-Sun system and the orbital motion of Earth are balanced sufficiently for small objects to maintain a stable position in relation to the Earth and the Sun. [[/footnote]].

In response to this signal, O5-8 ordered the commencement of OPERATION HANDSHAKE, in which Foundation experimental vessel SCPS //Bracewell// would travel to the L4 Lagrangian point and attempt to make contact in order to learn more about the anomaly and any danger it posed to the human species. The mission was led by Captain Eve Laughton, with Senior Technician Harold Zhang as Chief Scientific Officer.

SCPS //Bracewell// successfully arrived at the L4 Lagrangian point on 2025/08/12. At this point, a wormhole mouth opened around the vessel and communication was lost.

> **PERSONAL LOG: OPERATION-HANDSHAKE-03**
> **Date:** 2025/08/12
> **Timestamp:** T+00:03:11 Post-Transit
> **Author:** Captain Eve Laughton
> 
> According to our ship’s clock, only a few minutes have passed since the wormhole opened. The evidence is overwhelming, however, that we are now around ten and a half light years from our previous position at L4. It’s clear from the arrangement of stars in the sky, the furious young sun to our starboard, and the purple- and grey-hued planet just below us, complete with a faint set of rings.
> 
> Along with this new star system comes the evidence of a vast extraterrestrial civilisation. We’re detecting space stations, cities, and strange craft whose propulsion system we can’t figure out.
> 
> We are now hailing the central station via tightbeam. I feel a great weight of responsibility upon my shoulders in this, our first contact with a new alien species.

> **[COMMUNICATIONS LOG: 2025/08/12, T+00:04:30 Post-Transit]**
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** Greetings from Earth, fellow star-farer. How should we address--
> 
> **Unknown:** Whoa, hold up, newfriend. You shouldn't be messaging the admin channel directly. Did you even read the guides?
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** Excuse me?
> 
> **Unknown:** I guess not. Well, I'm the region mod. I assume you're here to whine about the mute.
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** We would like to know why we've been quarantined from the rest of the universe, yes. There must have been some kind of misunderstanding. Our species intends no harm.
> 
> **Unknown:** Yeah, yeah, I hear that one a lot. 'We come in peace', 'we got hacked by AGI', 'we let one of our domesticate species use the transmitter'. I'll check your strike history.
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** Our strike history?
> 
> **Unknown:** Uh-huh. Looks like you started getting complaints around 60 years ago, by your calendar. Continuous 470-860 MHz spam, right in the standard galactic communication bands. Sound familiar?
> 
> **Sr. Tech. Zhang:** Those could be the carrier wave transmissions from our earliest megawatt TV transmitters. Our TV signals might not have been strong enough to reach the stars, but their carrier waves did.
> 
> **Unknown:** Strike one: 42 years ago, when you sent untagged drawings of naked sapient and non-sapient animals to the Altair system[[footnote]]This is believed to refer to the 1983 'Message to Altair' broadcast, also known as 'CALL to the COSMOS'83'. This broadcast was a collaboration between Stanford University and the manga anthology magazine //Weekly Shonen Jump//. The message featured a mixture of audio recordings and a set of 13 images intended to depict humanity and the human understanding of the universe drawn by Professor Masaki Morimoto and Hisashi Hirabayashi.[[/footnote]]. Unsolicited nudity is a TOS violation. Strike two, four counts of spam and untagged nudity targeted at specific star systems, for which you received a nine year suspension[[footnote]]Believed to refer to the 1999 'Cosmic Call 1' broadcast, transmitted from the RT-70 telescope in Yevpatoria, Ukraine.[[/footnote]]. And then the final straw came shortly after your suspension was lifted in 2008.
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** 2008? What happened in 2008?
> 
> **Unknown:** Don't act coy, we have the logs right here. You sent an unskippable high-definition video towards Ursa Major which we've tagged as "Extreme violence, ritual sacrifice, gore". Multiple violations, permanent mute.
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** I have absolutely no idea what you mean.
> 
> **Sr. Tech. Zhang:** Oh God. That would be the Doritos ad. 
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** The what?
> 
> **Sr. Tech. Zhang:** It was a publicity stunt run by the company. They held a competition in the UK to create a 30 second advertisement they would transmit into space.
> 
> **Unknown:** I'll note that down. Broadcasting advertisements on general frequencies without permission from the mods is against TOS.
> 
>  **Cpt. Laughton:** But what on Earth does that have to do with gore, or //ritual sacrifice//?
> 
> **Sr. Tech. Zhang:** Well. The winning entry was a video showing a tribal community of corn chips escaping from a bag and reverting to a Lord of the Flies-style existence, including sacrificing one of their own members to the God of Salsa.
> 
> **Unknown:** Agricultural deities and ritual sacrifice are not uncommon in civilisations of your tier, to be fair.
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** And the aliens received this? 
> 
> **Sr. Tech. Zhang:** They muted us for sending it.
> 
> **Unknown:** Yadda, yadda. You gonna submit an appeal or not?
> 
> **Sr. Tech. Zhang:** Captain, they haven't even seen our internet yet. 
> 
> **Cpt. Laughton:** Yeah... if it's alright, we'll be back in a few decades.
> 
> **Unknown:** I'll be here.

The SCPS //Bracewell// returned to the wormhole co-ordinates and successfully made the return trip to L4. Following a debriefing by O5-8, the current special containment procedures were devised and implemented.

> //As of 2025/12/01, seventeen separate commercial entities have announced plans to broadcast product advertisements, cryptocurrency promotions, or "messages to aliens" using radio telescopes this coming year. SCP-9903's continued existence may represent the single most important protective measure currently in place for humanity's reputation, if nothing else. Leave the barrier be. We will review this again when humanity has better radio hygiene.// -**O5-8**

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SCP-9903

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