A diagram of the standard arena used in SCP-6104.

Item #: SCP-6104

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6104 is to be placed in a surge-proof containment chamber and plugged in at all times on standby power. SCP-6104 must routinely be powered on for maintenance and inspection every 120 hours for maintenance and inspection. Tampering with SCP-6104's hardware without express permission is to be met with swift disciplinary action.

Description: SCP-6104 is a Toshiba L9300 Ultra HD 4K Television. When powered, it will only display the channel for "Ice Skating… TO THE DEATH!", an apparent variation of ice skating which takes the form of a combat sport. No other channels are available, and the TV itself is missing hardware to receive radio frequencies to access such channels. Further investigation is ongoing on the source of SCP-6104's source of the channel.

When the show begins, it displays over 15 minutes of perpetual advertisements and introduction flair. The advertisements have an anomalous effect of inducing hunger, thirst, and the desire to leave the vicinity of the television out of "striking boredom"

Following the introduction, the rules are announced. They are as follows:

Audience members may not put their limbs into the arena as a safety precaution.

Each team must bring an assistant with a medical background. Injuries, casualties and fatalities are not to be reported or the reporter will be denied access to future events.

Skaters are expected to use the blades on their feet as weapons - and as such, cannot modify them with the exception of the weight of the blade for the purposes of comfort or anatomical limits.

See addendum 1

As of ██/██/2016, 4 amendments have been made.

Firearms are prohibited to the players, coaches, spectators, insiders, Zamboni driver, medical-malpractioner, deus-ex machinas, protagonists, and plot-enhancers.1

The affliction of unnecessary and/or excruciating pain to teammates is prohibited.

Arsenic based lifeforms are banned.

Rotisserie chicken shall not be a concession in any games.

The base game used as an example was recorded on ██/05/2017. The basic events are listed in the script below.

"The Bladedancers vs. Omnice!"

0:21 The teams each enter the rink, lined up in different formations. The Bladedancers appear to have a charge lined up. The "Bladedancers" appear to have a surgeon as their medical assistant, while the "Omnices" has a druid claiming to be from the "Western Bone Tribes of Yan-Gzer'ath".

0:45 The announcer gives a countdown and then allows the teams to clash. The Bladedancer skaters start a charge into the Omnice captain. The Omnice skaters form into a common skating technique used to combat skating-charges. However, the formation is interrupted as a masque is held by Omnice to the 15th century song "Danse Macabre" by Saint Saens.

1:20 The Bladedancers have gathered enough momentum to charge, and charge through the center of the Omnice masque. The Bladedancers have their feet facing outwards in an offensive manuever. The announcer berates the Bladedancers for using such a "common tactic instead of switching it up" [sic].

1:40 The Bladedancers shed first blood, and the injured Omnice player is escorted back to the medic by the Omnice Captain and two skaters. Several Bladedancer skirmishers strike at the Omnice skater-cade, but the strikes are parried away with the sides of the ice-skates.

1:50 The skater-cade delivers the injured player successfully to the team's surgeon. The surgeon begins to stitch the wound. The skater-cade breaks up, and they return to counter the charge.

2:07 The charge is successfully split with the "Diffusion" strategy, and Omnice encircles the Bladedancer formation.

2:35 The Bladedancer captain yells a codeword in an unknown language, and a trap becomes apparent. The Bladedancer skaters break formation into a flank, decimating the Omnice.

2:50 All Omnice are injured or deceased. A victory is declared for the Bladedancers.

Addendum 1:

On ██/██/2010, a containment breach occurred at the site currently housing SCP-6104. During this breach, Senior Researcher Keynes locked himself in SCP-6104's containment cell with 2 other security personnel. While taking refuge in this cell, the three faculty made a unanimous decision to neutralize SCP-6104 via bludgeoning. Following this incident, SCP-6104 ceased anomalous activity and was declared neutralized.

Although SCP-6104 was declared neutralized, the former Foundation staff members assigned to SCP-6104 continued experimentation, and attempted to repair the entity using a combination of its original hardware and ordinary hardware. Since the completion of these repairs, SCP-6104 displays unusual properties, and has seemingly changed anomalous effects. It is uncertain whether an error during repairs or the nature of the neutralization caused these changes.

Further testing on SCP-6104 reveals abridged rules from the standard, often deviating in the core ruleset of the game. These rules vary with each activation of the anomaly, and notable results have been recorded below.

+ Experimental Log

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Subject: Researcher Ang

Procedure: The device was powered after 48 hours of standby power.

Results: The normal content continued as usual until the presentation. At the presentation of the players, a humanoid entity in standard soccer equipment appeared on both sides of play, designated the "Soccerer", was given a standard white soccer-ball. The game proceeds as usual, although in variation from previous games, the "Soccerer" had the role of kicking the soccer ball towards enemy skaters.

Analysis: This behavior is unusual and appears to be a variation of "Protect the President", with the Soccerer being a high-value target. However, the word "Soccerer" itself seems to be a play on "Sorcerer", despite no thaumaturgical properties manifesting within the Soccerers.

Subject: Janitor Pidersen

Procedure: The device was powered without any input at 13:04 during Researcher Ang's scheduled lunch break. Janitor Pidersen was in the vicinity of the device at the time, and observed the anomaly.

Results: Each skater started with abnormally small blades on their ice-skates. Each injury or fatality a skater inflicted increased the size of the blade by 0.5 inches in length. The game ended upon a skater reaching a 13-inch blade.

Analysis: SCP-6104 appeared to have reacted to Janitor Pidersen's self-proclaimed "Grandmaster Rank" in the popular First-Person-Shooter "Counter Strike: Global Offensive" as a parody on the "Gun Game" gamemode, in which you achieve victory by obtaining weaponry for each elimination made in game. However, Janitor Pidersen's claim to be in the "Grandmaster Rank" is false, and the rank in question does not exist in game. Although this is the first time SCP-6104 has shown capacity to react to audio stimuli, it does not appear to be able to discern lies.

Subject: Agent Davitsky

Procedure: The device was powered as stated by the instructional manual after 40 minutes of standby power. Agent Davitsky was chosen due to his former involvement in ice-skating.

Results: Rather than the cameras focusing on the main rink and players, the cameras instead focused on a table in a partition in the audience stands. The game did not track points for the regular combat, and instead displayed the remaining money of the audience members who were gambling. Gamblers spontaneously combusted upon having no remaining money to spend.

Analysis: The game completely deviated from its original combative focus. It is not clear whether this change was a reaction or coincidence in relation to Agent Davitsky losing two USD in a bet made previously that day. The entity did not react to his previous involvement with ice-skating, however.

Subject: D-11014

Procedure: The device was powered as stated in the instruction manual after 30 hours of standby power.

Results: The skating rink usually present in the film was replaced by an urban landscape consisting of only "Starbangs Cafangs", a fictional coffee chain only present in this constructed landscape. The chain appears to be a parody of the popular coffee chain "Starbucks". The purpose of these buildings are unknown, as the skaters were not mobile enough to reach neither the buildings nor the enemy team. The match concluded in a tie as the game reached overtime, due to the lack of ice or other materials suitable for ice-skating.

Analysis: The alteration to the gameplay was completely irrelevant and prevented the game from functioning. The device does not seem to possess a desire to hold audience retention, although upon inspection of further games the changes were potentially linked to a sponsorship deal.

Subject: Researcher Ang

Procedure: The device was powered while submerged in 15L of tap water via D-9081 after 40 minutes of standby power.

Results: The skaters proceeded as normal through their game until 2:24, where it is revealed that all skaters were chosen because of their fear of water. At this point, the rink began to melt as all a large fish approximately 15mx6mx9m with cyan scales began to bite and swallow contestants alive. The game ended when all skaters from a team were devoured.

Analysis: SCP-6104 appears capable of irony. Additionally SCP-6104 has been shown to be functional even while in the presence of water, although the build quality and materials used in its repairs should not have displayed such resilience to liquids.

Subject: Researcher Ang

Procedure: The device was powered by Researcher Ang while ice-skating in place with standard 8-inch bladed ice-skates in an artificial patch of ice after 120 hours of standby power.

Results: Each skater acted as standard, although appeared to act in mockery of Researcher Ang, often skating in place and falling flamboyantly to the ground. This mockery is present throughout the entire recording, although it is never explicitly mentioned by any entity in the recording.

Analysis: The device appears to exhibit signs of elitism, especially with ice-skating form.

Subject: Researcher Ang

Procedure: The device was powered by Researcher Ang after 40 hours of standby power while ice-skating in a proper ice rink, in addition to having taken formal ice-skating classes during the weeks prior.

Results: Although the game proceeded as normal, the commentator had a mock British accent and was extremely critical of the skaters' form. The commentator swore excessively. Whenever a fatality occurred, the audience began a posh laughter rather than cheering.

Analysis: The device appears to be creating a satirical parody of celebrity chef "Gordan Ramsey", and often implied that the criticism was of Researcher Ang's form.

Subject: Researcher Ang

Procedure: The device was powered as stated in the instruction manual after 30 hours of standby power.

Results: The game proceeds as standard. At the 4:00 mark, a two minute news break begins, despite the game not pausing. During the first 21 seconds of the news break, a humanoid news anchor with black tentacles protruding from his head discusses the political relevancy of ice-skating. During the remaining 99 seconds, he tells a joke describing a turkey entering a bar. The joke itself has no punchline, and the entirety of the time was spent setting up the joke.

Analysis: The next three following tests also had a news break at 4:00. However, the news anchor only told punchlines for two minutes in each one. Additionally, in the third test, the news anchor procured a lute from behind the desk and began to play B8 De desconfort, a late medieval ballade composed by Guillaume de Machaut.

Subject: Researcher Ang

Procedure: The device was powered as stated in the instruction manual after 50 hours of standby power.

Results: Skaters wore different hats, indicating a "class"2. The classes seemingly only varied by the nature of the hat, such as those with a propeller hat being able to fly.

Analysis: The hats worn by the skaters were seen in every following test, up until the 27th test.

Subject: D-11017

Procedure: The device was powered as stated in the instruction manual after 130 hours of standby power.

Results: The game proceeded as standard, although was described as "eerily quiet" by D-11017, with the exception of noises produced by the combatants. No commercials or introduction were present. When a winning team was decided, the audience began to applause in unison, and special video effects were used to display curtains closing.

Analysis: It is unknown if the lack of extraneous audio in the test resulted from an error originating in the episode's production or was an intentional variation of the program.

Subject: Researcher Ang

Procedure: The device was powered by Researcher Ang after 30 hours of standby power.

Results: The song "Sonata in F" plays by classical composer George Frideric Handel as the introduction announces "High-Arts Combat-Skating". Skaters are much more benign and elegant as their attacks become much more calculated, such as what may be typical in fencing. The coaches are dressed in flamboyant dress by clothiers.

Analysis: Further testing reveals it considers combat ice-skating "beneath it" as it prefers the "classiness and sophisticated" form of "High-Arts Combat-Skating".

Addendum 2:

As of ██/██/2023, SCP-6104 no longer varies in rules from game to game. All further recordings show "High-Arts Combat Skating", and only mildly vary in which teams compete. Researchers have been unable to coerce SCP-6104 into creating variations of ice-skating via audio, video, and electrical stimuli.

Footnotes

1. Firearms are usually carried by the team's designated medical staff as a form of euthanasia.

2. A character class is a commonly seen set of archetypes in many digital games and role-playing games.