A Broken Machine - SCP Foundation

A heap of papers falls onto the desk. The shift begins. God, the headache. The pen… where's the pen? Where's the goddamn pen? Ah… here it is. Time to calm down. Hand's shaking again. Harder than usual. Must be those pills? Did I take too many? At least I don't feel guilty for that girl. How old was she, again? I don't… I don't remember. Does anyone care?

So… The papers? Ah, yes, the work. Hard to concentrate… I must have overdone it with those pills. Well, now.

Requesting a Class D subject, eunuch. The Foundation does not possess a Class D subject conforming to given parameters. Permit forced castration? Yes/No

What for, I wonder? They won't tell me anyway, my access level is not high enough. The Committee has a hierarchy of its own.

Requesting permission to use three (3) class D employees for testing with SCP-081. Grant permission? Yes/No

They forgot to mention what this SCP of theirs does. A bureaucratic formality. If they tell me my access level is not high enough, I'll forward them upwards. Let them try their luck there.

Requesting permission to conduct an experiment with Ethics Committee employees and one (1) light bulb. Grant permission? Yes/No

Another idiotic joke. I wonder who is it this time? Looks like the science guys. Arrogant pricks.

Requesting permission to use animals in an experiment with a memetically dangerous object. Grant permission? Yes/No

Plainly laughable. Who cares about these animals?

Requesting permission to forcibly euthanize a Class D subject. Grant permission? Yes/No

Is it still common practice to ask about things like that? Odd thing is, they keep describing the same thing differently in different requests. How stupid can they be? We've made a unified system for this, why can't they just maintain order? Anyway, it shouldn't be my concern. I should be concerned about my job.

Requesting permission to vivisect a Class D subject in order to extract his liver which has mutated into a sentient and multiplying organism. Grant permission? Yes/No

I don't even want to know what happens where these guys are at. I just don't want to know…

Requesting permission to terminate a Doctor for divulging classified information to an outsider (daughter). See attached file EPI-14x for details.

Grant permission? Yes/No

Tired. But maybe a respectable man's life depends on my decision.

+ EPI-14x.

- EPI-14x.

Insufficient access level.

Grant permission? Yes/No

I'm afraid I was lying when I said I can forward them above. I didn't exactly lie, but the consequences… Who am I? I'm so tired. Yesterday I sent a twelve-ye… That's it, she was twelve. What's next?

Requesting permission for use of a chil…

No. Just no. I'll throw this fucking piece of paper away. Tell them I never received it. When it comes here the second time, I'll have to sign it. What can I do?

Oh, it's thawing. The heap of requests is thawing. I'm looking at the last request. Moral principles are worn so thin here. What am I thinking? Settle your mind, Greg. The last request. Yes, yes.

Requesting permission to vivisect a Class D subject…

…

Yes/No

The end. The shift is over. Maybe someday I'll become a chairperson. I'm good at my job. A mechanism finely tuned. Foundation ethics, right. Now I must sleep. Maybe take some of those pills? I used to be morally sound. That was the term written in my psychological profile. Probably.

A heap of papers falls onto the desk. Oh how I want to delegate this responsibility to someone else. Where's the pen? In my pocket, right. Have to clean the suit. Hand's not shaking. Guess that decision not to take any pills has paid off. Hmm… whom did I kill yesterday? A mutant liver? Fair enough. Who cares. Real decisions are made by chairmen and their assistant. I have a small-time, quiet but tiresome piece of a job. So, what's the agenda for today?

Requesting permission for use of a chil…

Breathe in deep, breathe out. Don't get nervous. Don't read it through. What if I say "no"? What if I don't? Will my conscience haunt me if I never know what I'm dooming a child to? So frightful. And the day was starting just fine.

Yes/No

Hand's shaking again. Eyelid is trembling for some reason. Maybe I'm having a neurotic disorder, or whatever it's called. Stay on topic, Greg, you can't escape this. You just can't. What ethics is in it?

Yes/No

Come on. Just highlight the goddamn word. I have a daughter too…

Yes/No

I don't give a fuck. I just… I just don't give a fuck about those scumbags that send children to the s… The phone is calling. Yes? Stalling? A Keter? Yes, excuse me. I understand. Please excuse me, this won't happen again.

Yes/No

Damn you, damn you all. I did not want to… Did not want to. Where are my pills? At home… Home… No! There's a shitload of requests here! I hate, just how I hate it all. They turned me into a simple data processing mechanism. And I wanted to be a judge. Dear Lord, if you do exist, please forgive those who take up this burden. How do they say? Amen?

Whew! A break!