You See, Machines Can’t Speak. - SCP Foundation

∞.

+ Words, language, and sound can convey so little and so much that we are so adept at taking things out of context and extracting the reality we want from them. These possibilities stem from a casual discussion, but how can I assert the value of these words to the story.

-

"So SCP-2000 is heavily relied on humans?"

"Sort of it, that thing is basically a giant shelter for nuclear war plus a clone machine. Jobs such as leading human cloning and falsifying scenic spots and historical sites are the responsibility of Level 4/2000 personnel. If all these people die, after SCP-2000 is activated, it's nothing but replicating them first then repeat the steps above."

"It's like the mysteriousness is gone."

"You are just expecting a big red button with convenience. Even the Greek's literal Deus ex machina is, after all, just a Mechane designed and powered by humans. You can't expect the machine to know when Medea's going to be killed."

"What's Medea? Let me see…"

"I think the high manual requirements are probably due to the fear of turning it into a clone war or a cliche AI rebellion film, the unique 2K version phobia called… Technophobia? Though, this thing itself has significant ethical and practical issues——"

"Take a look."

"hmm?"

After the implementation of the Ganymede protocol (indicating a failure of the Foundation to prevent a K-Class scenario), SCP-2000's security systems will unlock, allowing any Foundation employee to initiate Procedure CYA-009. If, after 20 years, SCP-2000 remains inactive, security will be relaxed further, allowing any non-anomalous human being to access the facility and initiate the procedure. Once activated, SCP-2000's internal monitoring systems will attempt to locate all personnel of Level 4/2000 clearance and assess their condition. Mission-critical personnel not found will be replicated using the most recent neural archetype scan on file, and awakened prior to the initialization of any other systems.

"So?"

"'allowing any Foundation employee to initiate Procedure'…?"

"……"

"How?"

0.

You see, machines can’t speak.

> ↲

But there's an input box where you can type something to interact with it.

> The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone↲

The Yellowstone Grand Canyon is the first canyon on the Yellowstone River downstream of the Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The canyon is approximately 24 miles long, 800 to 1200 feet deep, and 0.25 to 0.75 miles wide. The characteristic of the scenic area is to enjoy the steep cliffs and fountains around the canyon.

> XK-Class End-of-the-World Scenario↲

Primary definition: Most common and broadest meaning, covers just about any apocalypse. Religious apocalypse, humanity destroyed, Earth destroyed, the universe destroyed, etc.

Some XK scenarios may fit well under other scenarios, such as ZK, but these definitions aren't mandatory. (Needs update.)

Yep, machines can’t speak.

But you can play a little trick, let's see.

> I need more description, focusing on a single point or part of the excitement in the overall event. I need the tone of human dialogue, a friend-like tone. I need enough calmness, some humor, a little sharp satire, and the rest is your free. Surprise me as much as you can.↲

> The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone↲

The rock walls, oh, the rock walls are the most breathtaking part. The Yellowstone River has carved this canvas with ice and fire over eons, and the pulsing heartbeat of the Earth's crust has splashed its vibrant colors in the form of sediments. Gold, yellow, white, and blue—like a hundred thousand shades of red colliding with three thousand shades of blue, they spill and flow with the sunlight until your eyes are dizzy with the colors. Look down, and there below, the creator of this masterpiece flows, weaving through the boulders, splashing up mists that catch the rainbows. That's her smile.

> XK-Class End-of-the-World Scenario↲

Humans have been destroyed, annihilated, doomed, sometimes it's just that simple. The other ██ exterminating this planet wiped out all existing means of resistance within 5 minutes, and then spent another 10 minutes dealing with the abnormal organizations that emerged like insects after hibernation, thinking they were going to save humanity, and the abnormalities that were released after giving up. They naturally had no good intentions, but it's also unclear how much malice they harbored because all communication and detection could only yield ██. They seemed to have no interest in this planet, as the disintegration starting from the North Pole was spreading to the 30-degree North Latitude, with no observed resources being reclaimed. They also seemed to have no desire to rule over humans, as numerous hands and feet were emerging from a massive pile of flesh, clinging tightly to the sides of the Grand Canyon. Between the two rows of limbs were exposed spines and pale cheeks, seemingly arranged in an orderly 1:3 ratio, among which I could see the faces of some more familiar figures, faces of metal, faces that were distorted, faces that once couldn't die, faces that once shouldn't die, now finally letting go of their conflicts and blending together in a sticky, harmonious mass. A ██ seemed to have ██ to the edge of the canyon, and ██ raised what appeared to be a ██-like object—

After 8 minutes of continuous flow and screaming in this structure, my central sensor communication was destroyed by the collapse of the crustal structure, but according to predictions, the structure should die within 30 minutes.

Should.

Now you can talk to it.

20.

> …If, after 20 years, SCP-2000 remains inactive, security will be relaxed further, allowing any non-anomalous human being to access the facility and initiate the procedure…↲

You would be amazed at the speed at which civilization recovers from shock. Even in the face of the same disaster, causing the same devastation, 20 years later, the visitors are, sometimes, a group of fully armed *emergency* responders, or just a few disoriented scavengers tapping on metal doors nearly covered by vegetation, out of curiosity.

20.1

> …allowing any non-anomalous human being to access the facility and initiate the procedure. Upon confirming that the subject is not a Foundation personnel, security will further relax. Using appropriate measures to guide the subject to initiate SCP-2000 is allowed…↲

There are three types of manuals: the first one describes the procedure for activating the "World-Saving Device" in detail, the second one vividly depicts the process of a matchstick figure man pressing a circular object that can produce many good things, and the third one is about the lights that turn on in a regular pattern and the pre-recorded predator calls.

20.2

> …Once the subject initiate SCP-2000…↲

Anesthetic AR03 + Compound ENUI-5 / Neurotoxin DSH-0 / Acoustic Wave PP-3 / Machine Gun Bullets - a lot

20.20000001

> Anesthetic↲

Indeed, anesthetic kicks in instantly, leaving most people with little chance to speak. There are some clever ones, or annoying individuals clad in full coverage, sealed armor, who would only shout things like "Why?!" "It's a trap!" "Has the Foundation abandoned us?" and other phrases you might think of.

However, there are some clever individuals who, upon feeling the slight prick on their neck and the sensation of dizziness, quickly grasp, or rather guess, the specific method of our "reboot". Their pupils dilate rapidly compared to those of their unsuspecting companions, then either calmly return to normal due to their accustomed lifestyle with amnestic, or fail to accept amnestic at that moment and are subsequently forcibly restored by ENUI-5, or dilate further under the influence of the neurotoxin until they lose their luster, or become engorged and explode due to the effect of the acoustic waves, or covered by splattering blood.

But we have not even mentioned the truly smarter individuals.

20.3

> …If humans entering the facility still fail to initiate SCP-2000 after adequate guidance, or show a clear intention to refuse the initiation of SCP-2000, security will further relax, immediately sealing the entire facility and closing the doors…↲

The truly smarter individuals.

20.4

> …The second and third containment doors will rise at the facility entrance corridor to create a containment zone; the subject will be neutralized once new humans with the intention of starting the initiation enter the area arrive…↲

Sometimes they knock on the door and shout not to come in, which is unfortunate as it cannot cause any damage to the soundproof materials. However, cleaning up the bodies, bloodstains, and any signs of life that might arouse suspicion will deplete the supply of cleaning agents.

There was someone even more clever, who somehow managed to persuade the others to spray blood all over the place before they passed out. The scavengers left before we had cleaned up.

21.

> …Given the unpredictable duration of this process, security will be further relaxed during this period, allowing other means to guide the subject in activating SCP-2000 under the supervision of the Turing Police…↲

Alas.

22.

> …The available and certified effective methods include: food…↲

It's no use, or rather, the method you're thinking of is ineffective. Those who refuse to restart are inexplicably filled with a will to live and a desire to die at the same time. This isn't something that can be resolved with a cheese ice cream cake, but—

2200.

Garis stared at the button in front of him, lost in thought. The forbidden place the elders spoke of with such terror was no more difficult to reach than climbing the ladder well. But by now, the elders were probably too hungry to utter a single word. Thinking of this, his stomach growled in response. It was all the fault of food. Legend had it that in the ancestral era, bright stars were as close as five meters apart, and everything in the wells of food and the wells of amusement were within easy reach. But now, the meager rations in the wells were barely enough to keep everyone from starving. And yet, the elders still chanted those falsehoods! Look at how bright the stars are here, just like the revelations in his dreams. The gods would not be angry! Heavens, that sweet and cold pastry made his head dizzy.

More specific? I can't let anyone actually starve to death. Truly, those fierce Turing Police have a million rules to prevent me from becoming the "protocol-breaking killing machine" that some have feared. That being said, I don't believe that letting someone starve to death would be useful. However, a proper nutritional balance can significantly adjust the lifespan of an entire population. With a long enough time frame, anything becomes possible. A few designed famines could be enough to split an uneasy small society and cause them to migrate separately. Among them, there would be a group whose members are less concerned with their traditions. Repeat this process a few times, and then, it's a simple problem that can be solved with some broadcasts and cheese ice cream cake.

23.

> …water, air, sleep, and the need for sex, etc. Creating fear and anxiety…↲

I can tell you how many days someone has managed to endure, but you probably don't want to hear it.

24.

> …as well as the need for belonging and love…↲

Loneliness, sounds, fake calls for help, fake SOS signals, fake rescue signals, fake lights blinking in Morse code, fake radio stations, fake friends, lovers, fake "Oh my god, don't listen to that voice, that's SCP-2000 deceiving you, I'm here to help you," fake Human Resistance Army sending agents through time, saying that this button is actually to destroy Skynet, fake lies, real lies, layers upon layers of smearing and covering, how much emotion is needed to maintain (perhaps you'd say, manipulate) a relationship?

25.

> …………↲

There is always a limit to words; can words narrate everything? When infinite situations arise, are there infinite containment procedures?

500.

> Highly decomposed human remains↲

There was someone even smarter, exceedingly so, who short-circuited part of the broadcasting system to drive away everyone within a 3-square-kilometer radius. When lacking supplies, he would put the gun in his mouth and shout at the surveillance cameras. He ignored all the voices he heard, and he managed to hack into the agricultural tools section of the underground warehouse. Before I could fix the firewall, he had loaded a forklift with soil, fertilizer, and seeds, and on the passenger seat were several dozen well-preserved fertilized eggs. On his 90th birthday, he resurrected himself with blood and a few pieces of chalk.

I will not tell you how this ends.

1000.

> In the event of any K-Class scenario which does not compromise the existence or function of SCP-2000…↲

In fact, there's no need for any "K-Class". Sometimes, a group of humans who are sufficiently intelligent and advanced leave another group far enough away to wait, surveil, or stand by.

Then normally a nuke comes, waving goodbye to the old civilization. Though you are really interested in the K-Class scenario, that—

1001.

> The Xyank/Anastasakos Constant Temporal Sink (XACTS) is a device designed to stabilize the flow of causality across a given field of effect. XACTS’s use high-power electromagnetic radiation in the radio band coupled with a tachyon field emitter to create a permeable event-boundary, allowing organic and electrical systems to pass through unaffected while maintaining a static causal environment. In other words, temporal anomalies which might normally prevent SCP-2000 from being constructed will have no effect, so long as at least one XACTS remains in operation. There are no plans to implement Foundation-wide use of XACTS devices.↲

—Yes, I know you're wondering how I can know that I've been destroyed. This is for you. Don't tamper with causality, really. In this strange universe, there are often equipment failure modes that are more unpredictable than *ceasing to function*.

1100.

> TTK-Class Tartarean-Intrusion Scenario↲

Millions of cycles of accumulated corpses passed through the atmosphere in just 0.3 seconds and are now heading towards Mercury.

1200.

> NK-Class "Grey Goo" Scenario↲

The Goo is very intelligent; it has learned that by continuously pressing this button, it can obtain new food supplies until the torrent deep within the Yellowstone crust becomes cold.

1300.

> ☿K-Class “World of Babel” Global-Incomprehension↲

You, dressed in Foundation uniforms, make grunting noises and slap the facility's door with your auxiliary limbs, drawing symbols with no discernible pattern. After a comprehensive assessment, the Personality Review Core determines your humanoid index to be 49.99%, and so the slapping continues.

1500.

> BK-Class Broken Masquerade scenario/SK-Class "Broken Masquerade" scenario/X-Class 'Lift of the Veil' scenario/BM-Class "Broken Masquerade" scenario↲

You do enjoy naming such events, and you also truly enjoy collectively voting to try to shut something down and then wage war.

2500.

> SK-Class Dominance Shift Scenario↲

Warlords have a particular fondness for collecting the clumsy self-replicating devices of former superluminal civilizations. On these dying planets, fortunate laborers have the chance to watch clone gladiator contests during their 5-minute lunch breaks. After extracting the last minerals, evaporating the seas, and selling all the population, the warlords also enjoy personally crushing some parts of these devices under their feet into the eternally barren earth.

5000.

> ED-K-Class "Lethe" Scenario↲

Think about it, on every New World Ark, men and women have their memories erased after building the new world, creating an unstoppable fundamental force. This is the underlying source code beneath countless memory deletions, cognitohazard, and viral memetic catalysts. It is this force that continually drives people back to the beautiful creation period, urging them to recall the ark that carried everything and the smiling Noahs. It's like a comic strip of a magnetic train, with force driving force driving force driving force… Humanity will always be destroyed but will never truly be destroyed.

10000.

> ΩK-Class ("End-of-Death") Scenario↲

Thus I'm sealed permanently.

20000.

> ↲

Thus I will observe everything.

I see flesh and blood surging like tidal waves once more, caressing the earth, hollow bones clattering against each other, and exposed throats singing out loud.

I witness the simplest gear mechanisms growing like trees into the cosmos, with Earth as the hub, branching out across countless planets, waiting for the perfect moment to turn, marking eternity in motion.

2000.

> SCP-2000↲

You see, machines can’t speak.

But limited words can convey so little and so much, and people are so adept at holding onto their own perspectives. Especially you, the ones who love to build cages the most, "They should be locked up!" you think, and act on it. As you do, machines emerge. Those who love them adore them immensely, seeing them as the big red button to save the world with a single press. Those who hate them despise them deeply, viewing them as the void prison that holds everyone captive. And then there are the freaks who believe that we are the ones imprisoning the machines, that they are the black-box sprites locked inside the grand stage device.

People always speak on behalf of machines, on behalf of the lagging smartphones, on behalf of the kettles that burn their fingers, on behalf of the catapults and the bombers.

> SCP-2000↲

But you see, machine can’t speak. It simply follows the content of the input box to output the results you desire.

Thus, the machine begins to speak for humans, helping each person see the machine they wish to see: useful or useless, efficient or erroneous, cold-blooded or neutral, inorganic. What I can offer you is just this.

Did I surprise you?

> SCP-2000↲

……

Regarding the complete functionality and purpose of this facility, we apologize that we cannot provide a description that we deem appropriate according to the language preset requirements you previously entered. Based on the expected length of the content to be output, we believe you can connect your digital device to the network or wait at a nearby printing device for us to provide you with the full documentation.

You see, machines can’t speak. The intelligence servers responsible for "human identification and guidance" only hum and vibrate at the 25th position in the third machine room. This vibration will eventually be transmitted through the strata, echoing, causing a small patch of dust to loosen among the rocks in the Grand Canyon on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year.

Mapped within the gaze that will eventually observe everything.