Location of SCP-8083 on a star map.

Item #: SCP-8083

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: At this time, effective containment of SCP-8083 is not feasible. Research into the nature of SCP-8083-A and any means of shielding the human population from its effects is underway and is to be considered high priority.

Individuals showing symptoms of SCP-8083-B are to be detained and examined by means of interview and, if results are inconclusive, full brain imaging at a Foundation medical facility. Individuals whose results show no abnormal alterations may be released after administration of Class-C amnestics to erase any recollection of confirmed exposure to SCP-8083-A. Instances of SCP-8083-C are to be held separately in standard humanoid containment cells at the nearest Foundation site. Any contact or communication between instances of SCP-8083-C must be pre-approved by Level 3 research personnel and monitored via CCTV with audio capture. All instances of SCP-8083-C are to be prevented from directly viewing the sky at all times.

Attempts to conduct any scientific studies of SCP-8083 by civilian organizations are to be monitored and discouraged by Foundation scientists embedded within the responsible organizations. Sabotage operations are permissible pending approval of the O5 Council.

Description: SCP-8083 is a pulsar located within the Cassiopeia constellation approximately 4700 light-years from Earth, provisionally named PSR J0041+5846, with a relatively slow rotation period of 1.322 seconds. SCP-8083 was discovered on 2021/04/19 by the Foundation orbital radio telescope Rubin-MR-2 while monitoring a previously well documented stellar region. At 04:31 UTC, the first electromagnetic flash from SCP-8083 was captured. It is not currently understood why the pulsar was not detected at a prior time.1

SCP-8083's rotating poles emit an electromagnetic signal designated SCP-8083-A. The signal has an abnormally well defined, limited frequency band, with low intensity gamma rays and negligible output in the visible light spectrum but powerful amplitudinal peaks of [REDACTED]. It is hypothesized that SCP-8083-A encodes some form of data transmission. Project 8083-KLEIS is underway as of 2021/05/24 to investigate this possibility through cryptoanalysis and differential spectral analysis of the signal. For this purpose, all of SCP-8083-A's transmission history is to be recorded and archived in digital form. Orbital radio telescope Rubin-MR-2 is now exclusively assigned to this task for as long as necessary.

In spite of its weak visible light component, SCP-8083-A appears to be perceptible by human beings through the visual sensory system.2 When observing the precise location of SCP-8083 in the Cassiopeia constellation for extended periods of time, the brain is able to detect SCP-8083-A through unknown means and triggers an anomalous neurological condition designated SCP-8083-B. This effect is cumulative and permanent. Irreversible effects have been observed after exceeding 3 minutes of cumulative exposure. Individuals confirmed to have sustained more than 3 minutes of exposure to SCP-8083-A in total are designated SCP-8083-C. Notably, common protective eyewear does not provide adequate protection against SCP-8083-A.

The most recognizable symptom of SCP-8083-B is synchronized blinking. After exceeding the danger threshold of exposure, SCP-8083-C instances begin blinking in precise intervals equal to the interval between SCP-8083-A pulses.3 Although subjects are still able to close their eyes at will, attempts to induce irregular blinking by irritation of the eye have no effect.

Other known symptoms include, but are not limited to:

conscious contraction of muscles in the face, neck, throat and arms in regular patterns (sometimes accompanied by subtle clearing of the throat or the nasal passageway),

other minor voluntary and involuntary muscle spasms,

the desire to repeat certain actions a set number of times.

No SCP-8083-C instances have shown any signs of awareness of their unusual behavior and, with the exception of the aforementioned symptoms, appear to behave normally. Captured SCP-8083-C instances generally assert they feel normal and healthy, frequently expressing confusion and desire to return to their family and occupation.

+ Addendum 8083-1: Interview Log 8083-1

- Close Addendum 8083-1

INTERVIEW LOG 8083-1

DATE: 2021/04/28, 08:30

INTERVIEWEE: SCP-8083-C-1 (formerly Level 2 Researcher ███████ ████, Department of Astronomy), first identified and contained SCP-8083-C instance

INTERVIEWER: Dr. ██████

[BEGIN INTERVIEW]

Interviewer: And we're rolling. Good morning, C-1.

SCP-8083-C-1 remains silent. Body language shows agitation. Eyes are constantly blinking at a regular interval of approximately 1.3 seconds.

Interviewer: Look, ███████, I'm going to break protocol just this once and say this. I'm really sorry that we have to do this, okay, but please understand we're concerned about your well-being and we need your help to figure out what's going on here. You're not being punished for anything, we just want to make this as quick and painless for all of us as possible. Alright?

SCP-8083-C-1 relaxes slightly and leans back in its chair.

SCP-8083-C-1: I don't know what you mean, I feel fine.

Interviewer: Why do you keep blinking like that? You're doing it right now. Your colleagues said you started doing it after you finished analyzing those new Rubin transmissions. Do you have something in your eye?

SCP-8083-C-1: No, I don't have anything in my eye. I really don't know what you're talking about, my blinking feels totally normal.

Interviewer: Let's start from the beginning. We've heard the satellite Rubin-MR-2 has discovered a strange object recently. Tell me about it.

SCP-8083-C-1: Well, the satellite was pointed in the same direction for weeks, just doing some idle monitoring—we'd been working on a new observation schedule for a while—when one day it started picking up some signal we'd never seen before.

SCP-8083-C-1 flexes a muscle underneath its right jaw four times.

Interviewer: What was it?

SCP-8083-C-1: Well, it resembles a pulsar, but a rather strange one. For starters, we've been trying to figure out why it suddenly popped up out of nowhere. That doesn't just happen. I wanted to think I'd witnessed the birth of a new pulsar, but it spins pretty slowly, which essentially rules that out.

Interviewer: How slow is that?

SCP-8083-C-1: One point thirty-two second period, ish.

Interviewer: Funny, that's about as fast as you've been blinking this whole time.

SCP-8083-C-1: What the… Is this some kind of joke? I told you I'm blinking like normal. What does my blinking have to do with the damn star, anyway?

Interviewer: Let's continue. What else can you tell me about the pulsar?

SCP-8083-C-1: The EM signature is weird. [REDACTED] is all over the place, then there's a cutoff just before the visible spectrum, and barely any gamma rays at all.

SCP-8083-C-1 shifts its right shoulder three times.

Interviewer: Why do you think that is?

SCP-8083-C-1: You tell me. I thought it might be a glitch in the readings, but it's consistent. So far I've never seen anything like it.

Interviewer: What did you do after you discovered this?

SCP-8083-C-1: Well, there's not much to be done. █████ told me to report it as a potential object of interest, so I did, and that was the end of it. I tried to observe it on my own outside of work one time, but that's it.

Interviewer: Tell me about that.

SCP-8083-C-1: Well, I drove out of town one night and brought my two telescopes… I do that pretty often, it does my brain so much good. I keep a whole backlog of stuff to try to capture when I'm out there. And while I was waiting to get a good shot with the big gun, I pointed the small one at Cassiopeia, in the direction of the pulsar. I didn't really expect to see anything, but I was curious, and I still remembered the exact coordinates.

Interviewer: And did you see it?

SCP-8083-C-1: No, of course not. It was a one in a million chance. This star is just way too dim. But I couldn't help but just stand there and look for a while, with my own eyes. I thought maybe a miracle would happen and I'd see something, but no.

Interviewer: I see. How much time did you spend trying to observe it?

SCP-8083-C-1 makes two quiet snorting noises and clears its throat twice.

SCP-8083-C-1: How much? Well… not too much. Gave it about fifteen minutes with the telescope and when I saw that wasn't going anywhere, I gave up.

Interviewer: Okay. You said you tried to see it with your own eyes as well. How long did you look at it?

SCP-8083-C-1: But I didn't see anything. It's just not visible, plain and simple.

Interviewer: Please answer the question.

SCP-8083-C-1: Uh… about five minutes? I don't know. I was a bit spaced out, just waiting to take the big shot with the other telescope.

SCP-8083-C-1 rotates its left wrist until the crack of a joint is heard, then its right wrist, and then repeats both motions a second time.

Interviewer: Very well. Are you still feeling alright?

SCP-8083-C-1: Yeah, of course. Doc, can I-

Interviewer: We'll do everything we can for you, C-1, you have my word. This interview is over.

SCP-8083-C-1 closes its mouth and frowns at the camera, still blinking in regular intervals.

[END INTERVIEW]

- Close Addendum 8083-1

+ [LEVEL 3 CLASSIFIED] Addendum 8083-2: Autopsy Report 2623-199

- Close Addendum 8083-2

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING FILE IS LEVEL 3/8083 CLASSIFIED

ANY ATTEMPT TO ACCESS THIS FILE WITHOUT LEVEL 3/8083 AUTHORIZATION WILL BE LOGGED AND WILL LEAD TO IMMEDIATE DISCIPLINARY ACTION.

AUTOPSY REPORT

REPORT #:
2623-199

SUBJECT:
SCP-8083-C-14, formerly D-8124

TIME STARTED:
2021/05/23, 22:14

TIME FINISHED:
2021/05/24, 02:55

TIME OF DEATH:
T-5 hours

CAUSE OF DEATH:
Heart failure caused by lethal injection

INTAKE NOTES:
Subject exposed to SCP-8083-A for one (1) hour. Subject was experiencing symptoms of SCP-8083-B but claimed to feel perfectly well and acted as normal until death. Brain scans showed unclear but extensive alterations to brain anatomy.

FINDINGS:

Brain extracted from subject. Approximately 20% reduction in mass compared to healthy specimen. Interhemispheric fissure partially fused in several spots. Temporal and parietal lobes diminished but appearing normal. Significant decrease in number of cerebral folds on frontal lobe. Unknown spongy cellular growth found stemming from occipital lobe in extensive contact with surface of cerebellum.

Removed temporal and parietal lobes from cortex. Further cross-section of the brain shows increased porosity in most brain tissue. Amygdalae found enlarged by ~35%. Progressive brown discoloration of inner brain tissue. Ventricles enlarged and connected, forming a central chamber filled with viscous brown fluid.

190 ml of brown substance drained from ventrical chamber. Additional highly porous tissue found which serves no clear purpose in any neuroanatomical structure. Inner surface of ventrical chamber lined with exposed nerve endings. Bottom of chamber contains more foreign cellular growth connecting directly to spinal cord via brain stem. Minor portion of spinal nerves branch out freely into the chamber. Pineal gland not present. Black spherical object with hardened outer shell found in place of hypothalamus, approx. 35 mm in diameter. Unable to bisect object using available lab tools.

All samples preserved for further study where possible. Contact with air found to cause rapid decay in porous tissue.

Dr. █████████

Chief Surgeon, Site-██

- Close Addendum 8083-2

+ [NEW] [LEVEL 4 CLASSIFIED] Addendum 8083-3: Project 8083-KLEIS Preliminary Findings Report

- Close Addendum 8083-3

BY ORDER OF THE OVERSEER COUNCIL

The following file is Level 4/8083 classified. Unauthorized access is forbidden.

Your access has been logged and will be subject to audit.

PROJECT 8083-KLEIS

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS REPORT

Date: 2021/06/12

To O5-██ and anyone else concerned,

As you know, Project 8083-KLEIS has been occupying some of the Foundation's top cryptoanalysts around the clock for several weeks now. I'm no medical doctor and personally haven't the stomach to read that autopsy report in full, but rest assured I fully understand the gravity of the situation we're in.

For the most part, the transmission is still completely opaque to us, particularly the mechanics of its effect on people. We have good reason to assume there is a digital data stream encoded within [REDACTED PER ORDER OF O5-██] containing seemingly random data, and we have not been able to crack the code yet. Given that its contents affect humans, I believe humans have some kind of innate ability to decrypt and understand this code. For this kind of transmission, the most reasonable encryption scheme to choose would be a symmetrical stream cipher, meaning the key expands into a long, randomized and unique key stream pattern used to mask the plain data, and it would seem this key lies within us all. Dr. ██████, who conducted the interview with 8083-C-1 and is also a liaison with the Project, is convinced this is somehow related to the symptoms.

More importantly, we have found something concerning regarding the beginning of this transmission, which may answer the Astronomy Department's burning question regarding how this object came to be. The very first transmission we received from Cassiopeia was not, in fact, the initial pulsar flash caught by Rubin-MR-2. One day prior, on 2021/04/18, Rubin received a one-off signal from the same direction, barely distinguishable from the cosmic radiation background. It was very short and highly condensed, like a machine language. Some of it is still incomprehensible, but there are a few pieces of plain analog data we were able to extract. Namely a short burst resembling a word, followed by the number three, followed by another short burst and three decimal numbers.

Sol III and what we presume to be its coordinates.

Pardon the conjecture, but at this point I have a sinking feeling. Whatever SCP-8083 is, it isn't a star, and it certainly didn't pop into existence on April 19. Someone out there can control it and they pointed it right at us. Please advise.

Dr. ██████

Project Lead

Footnotes

1. It is believed that the angle of a pulsar's polar beam relative to its axis of rotation may drift over time similarly to the drift of Earth's magnetic poles. However, this change is gradual and occurs over hundreds of thousands of years.

2. Experiments mapping brain activity during exposure to SCP-8083-A show consistent spikes in activity in the occipital lobe, associated with vision.

3. 1.322 seconds.