Hypothetical sketch of an Atari Panther console, based on design diagrams.

Item #: SCP-5032

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: All components of SCP-5032 are to be kept in a climate-controlled storage container. Static strips and other grounding equipment are to be worn while removing SCP-5032 from its container, to prevent damage to electronic components within SCP-5032.

Description: SCP-5032 is the designation for a series of anomalies related to the cancelled Atari Panther game console, its peripherals, and its library of games.

SCP-5032-1 is a development kit for the Atari Panther, consisting of a modified version of the console, as well as an early version of the Alpine development board that would later be used for the Atari Jaguar. Taken separately, the two components of SCP-5032-1 are non-functional, as the development board cannot function without access to the console's ROM.

SCP-5032-1 allows for the writing, compilation and execution of code compatible with an Atari Panther. While no explicitly anomalous technological components exist, the "Panther" object processor chip and the Motorola 68000 microprocessor are both embossed with symbols found in the Dresden Codex, pertaining to the "Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire and War 'Night Sun'"1 and "God L"2, respectively, while the "Otis" sound processor has the number 32 embossed on it in Mayan numerals. These alterations are speculated to be the reason SCP-5032-1 can safely run anomalous programs.

Hard-coded into SCP-5032-1 are three demos, 'The Antelope Demo", "Prioritize Test #1"3, and "Processor". Publicly, the Processor demo was meant to demonstrate the color and sound-rendering capabilities of the Atari Panther, displaying a landscape of psychedelic colors and imagery, accompanied by an uneven acoustic soundscape.

While the Processor demo is running, SCP-5032-1 is able to compile and execute programs written in ICRDTA4. To date, SCP-5032-1 is the only known console capable of running games made using ICRDTA safely; attempting to run ICRDTA code on non-anomalous devices results in thaumic backlash, resulting in destruction of electronic components, or injury to any organic users.

An Atari 2600 Mindlink controller, being demonstrated at CES 1984.

SCP-5032-2 is a prototype for an anomalous controller modeled after the Atari Mindlink5, referred to in materials related to the Atari Panther as the "Atari BlankXSlate"6. SCP-5032-2 is worn around the head, and is intended to connect to the console via an infra-red receiver; however, a component cable that allows connection to an Atari Panther controller also exists.

While programs written in ICRDTA are capable of direct interface with the human mind, the effects are often deleterious, with the electrochemical signals used for this transmission causing neural tissue to become alkaline. It is speculated that SCP-5032-2 was created to combat this by providing a medium with which to interface with games made in ICRDTA, as prolonged use can lead to headaches and dissociation, but no neurological damage.

When used with a compatible piece of software, SCP-5032-2 creates a full-body sensory illusion around the individual wearing it, including tactile, olfactory, and gustatory sensations when applicable. Any connected televisions, monitors, or other types of display will show gameplay from this first-person perspective, rendering graphics, physics and sound that neither the Atari Panther nor any modern gaming console or computer should be able to render, suggesting that the human brain is used for at least some part of processing power.

No motion is required from the individual wearing SCP-5032-2 to control compatible games. Furthermore, SCP-5032-2 will, after approximately three hours of continuous play, become unresponsive for two hours and ten minutes, forcibly pausing the game. This is believed to be an internal safety feature, as recovered documentation expresses interest in disabling this upon being put up for retail.

SCP-5032-2 was developed through a collaboration between Atari Arcadia and former president of Atari Ron Gordon, who was acting as a consultant on the Panther; while Gordon normally distanced himself from Atari Arcadia, his fascination with virtual-reality and thought-controlled technology may have motivated his involvement with the Atari Panther, and later the Jaguar VR project, a non-anomalous derivative of SCP-5032-2.

To date, the only known games compatible with SCP-5032-2 are two pieces of software created by the Foundation for testing purposes, and two pieces of software developed by Atari.

SCP-5032-3 is an action-RPG video game entitled Pantherquest: Rage Against Xbalanque. Gameplay consists of the player avatar (a male or female panther-like humanoid addressed as "T'lua Fed"7 by non-playable characters) travelling through a fantasy world themed after Pre-Columbian Mesomamerican mythology and culture in an attempt to vanquish the Mayan deity Xbalanque, who T'lua believes to be responsible for the death of their mother. SCP-5032-3 has several systems and features that are atypical or innovative for its projected time of release, such as six different romance routes (three per playthrough, depending on if T'lua is male or female), a simple potion-making and weapon-crafting system, an in-game lore encyclopedia, and automatic save states.

SCP-5032-3 can only be played if the player is using SCP-5032-2 to control it; all other controllers are registered as invalid by the software. The majority of gameplay, including combat, takes place in a first-person perspective; however, certain puzzles switch to a third-person perspective.

The sole "boss fight" in the game is Xbalanque himself, fought in a court meant to mimic those used in the Maya Ballgame; however, this fight is unwinnable, as Xbalanque refuses to serve the ball, and the win condition for the fight is scoring more points than Xbalanque. It is unclear if this is due to a flaw in the AI, if the game's ending was not finished and this is a preventive measure to stall progress until such a time that it could be finished, or if some unknown factor exists.

At three separate points while in containment, the character of Xbalanque has spoken in such a way that it deviates from the script present in SCP-5032-3's code. The longest of these statements has been recorded below:

Again with this? I don't know who you are, and I don't care. I've been trapped in a prison made of light, rocks that have been tricked into thinking, and solid tar. Arcadia didn't get the whole of me, but they got enough.

I know you probably can't respond to me. You've come up here fifty-nine times8 with a different spouse, different parts, all sorts of different things. I didn't even kill your mother— the script says I did, but it's like a— not a ritual, what's the word. A play. Didn't have many of those in my day.

My brother is already out there, somewhere. I miss him, but I don't want to join him. I like it here. The food's good, the weather's good, the culture is good. And have you heard the music? Quite frankly, I almost want to thank Arcadia for this. But it's been ages since I've played ball with anyone, so why not put the sword down and—

And you can't, can you? Part of the script, then. Well, we're stuck here. Again.

Currently, there is no way to meaningfully respond to the Xbalanque character using the technology and medium provided.

File photo of Walter Green, circa 1990.

SCP-5032-4's purpose is unclear. While the program is executable, and can be interacted with using SCP-5032-2, the gameplay consists of the player avatar being trapped inside a small, stone room, with a pool of reflective water in the center, and several baskets and jars full of food surrounding the outer wall. The art style suggests that this takes place in the same universe as SCP-5032-3; however, approaching the pool of water reveals that the player's reflection is that of Walter Green, a journalist for the early 1990s UK Gaming Magazine The One. Mr. Green was reported missing for a period of three months following his negative coverage of a prototype of the Panther, before returning to the offices of The One and handing in their resignation.

If SCP-5032-4 is played until SCP-5032-2's safety feature activates, the player avatar will become self-animate, and alternate between actions such as praying, eating food, drinking water, banging on the walls, and crying. No vocalizations are heard during this; inspections of the player avatar's throat reveal the absence of an Adam's apple, as well as scarring around the larynx.

Examination of the code of SCP-5032-4 shows that the game is entitled Pantherquest: Rage Against Hunahpu, with the plotline being largely identical to SCP-5032-3, but with the objective being T'lua Fed slaying Hunahpu, Xbalanque's twin god. However, several event flags show that it has been completed, a state that cannot be reversed. A new section exists following a script that details the ending cutscene, which has four comments on it.

%%They made me play it
%%It still has my face
%%It still has my voice
%%Its still out there

Following his departure from The One, Mr. Green worked at Atari under the tutelage of Ron Gordon, later leaving the company to create the Minddrive, a device similar to SCP-5032-2, albeit without a direct link into the human mind.

Beginning in late 1999, Mr. Green has been employed at EA Tiburon, developing several games under the EA Sports Brand. His employment and travel patterns coincide with sightings of and attacks by a large, feline entity at several facilities owned by Electronic Arts and press events attended by Mr. Green, including the mauling of three journalists from IGN at E3 2003. Until such a time that a better understanding of Mr. Green's anomalous properties, if any, can be ascertained, they are considered a Person of Interest.

Footnotes

1. A little-known Mayan jaguar deity, whose true name is unknown, taking the form of the sun during is journey into the underworld at night.

2. Another Mayan jaguar deity, who is connected to commerce, magic, and battle.

3. Meant to showcase the sprite-handling and sprite-scaling capabilities of the console, respectively

4. "Incremental Code Routed Directly Through Arrays", a custom-built programming language that allows for the creation and execution of thaumaturgical computer programs.

5. An unreleased peripheral for the Atari 2600, allowing users to control games using 'myoneural signal voltage' transmitted via a headband. Despite recovered marketing materials, only one instance of an Atari Mindlink controller has been found to be anomalous.

6. Intended to be read as "Blank-Cross-Slate"

7. "Default" written backwards.

8. At this point in containment, the fight with Xbalanque had been reached a total of fifty-four times.