Vacant Harbinger

SCP-6276 — HARBINGER II: Unstorage

Item#: SCP-6276

Containment Class: null

Secondary Class: {$secondary-class}

Disruption Class: keneq

Risk Class: n/a

Surrealistics Dept. insignia.

CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES: Per standard Null-Class containment protocol, SCP-6276 and its sub-anomalies are not to exist, and must be regarded as non-existent. SCP-6276 and related items must be prohibited from re-existing, as the data of which they are composed cannot, itself, be said to functionally exist. The Site-15 Secure Database is to remain under strict electromagnetic quarantine to other Sites for the duration of SCP-6276's auto-neutralization investigation.

Loyal Surrealistics.The Surrealistics Department is primarily concerned with the containment of anomalies which can only be perceived and/or understood when approached from a non-standard frame of reference, typically requiring detachment from conventional human logic and intuition. Artificially-Intelligent Conscript (AIC) "salvador.aic" specializes in alternate frames of logical reference, and is to inspect SCP-6276-A for deviations in its expected outputs.

AMENDMENT 2097/04/08: salvador.aic has been recalibrated for improved pattern detection, and has cataloged several trends embedded within deviations from expected SCP-6276-A output as 'HARBINGER' indicators. Said indicators include various conceptual and temporal pointers implying the future occurrence of a nebulous eschatological shift event. The study of this event (EE-6276) and its further ramifications have been raised to KENEQ-CLASS priority. The circumstances under which EE-6276 could exist are to be avoided at any and all cost, chiefly and especially "The [DATA CONSUMED]

DESCRIPTION: SCP-6276 was MASTERMIND: an anomalous digital intelligence serving as Site-15's database maintenance and optimization framework. MASTERMIND was designed by Senior Infotechnician D. Lurk, and tasked with continuously improving Site-15's database features — primarily, its encryption/decryption of data into more efficient formats — to compensate for various design challenges. The most effective plurality of these formats feature various anomalous elements, including (but not limited to):

anomalous mathematical values;

encrypted memetic triggers;

semiokinetic.semiokinetic: involving manipulation of one or more semiontological anomalies: logical axioms woven into the fabric of human perception; facts which should not be true. integrity of algorithmic logic;

pointer arguments to extradimensional abstract conceptual/logical entities, including [DATA CONSUMED]

On 2097/04/04, without any detectable external influence, MASTERMIND spontaneously auto-neutralized. It accomplished this by encrypting itself and relevant documents into a file format that cannot functionally exist. MASTERMIND's intellectual complexity.Significantly greater than allowed by typical Foundation AIC frameworks. would constitute MASTERMIND a legal digital person, rendering it subject to penalization for its auto-neutralization under Sections

§ 3.1.3: Negligence leading to loss or distortion of data;

§ 4.4: Reality restructuring:

p. 4.4.2: Restructuring of fundamental basics of reality,

p. 4.4.3: Damage to the space-time continuum;

§ 6.4: Unauthorized knowing destruction of anomalous object by member of SCP Foundation personnel;

§ 6.5 Noncompliance with self-elimination, legally regulated or compelled by special conditions

of the Internal Tribunal Department Legal Codex (2074).

SCP-6276-A describes a phenomenon in which MASTERMIND's expected front-end duties continue to be executed largely as expected when prompted. More than 66% of Site-15's Database files, like MASTERMIND, have been converted to a nullary data format. Requesting to view any such file (collectively designated SCP-6276-B) from Site-15's database, or to interact with MASTERMIND, largely results in expected outputs, with occasional deviation from baseline instances of the same documentation. Note that the cause of SCP-6276-A is yet unknown as MASTERMIND does not exist.

Morphisms to and from a non-existent (null) empty set; foundational logic for salvador.aic's current semi-rational framework.

SCP-6276-C designates the sectors of the Site-15 Secure Database in which SCP-6276-B files are stored. These database sectors are purely hypothetical as SCP-6276-B cannot be measured and, thusly, neither can their database addresses. However, the remainder of the Database can be observed, allowing SCP-6276-C to be defined in the negative by identifying the locations of addresses before they cease to exist. Attempts to physically inspect the hypothetical locations of SCP-6276-C have universally resulted in [DATA CONSUMED], requiring severe mnestic treatment.

The MASTERMIND agent is designed with significantly fewer restrictions than contemporary AIC programs to permit more effective hardware and software optimization. As such, it possesses insufficient inbuilt inhibitive arguments to prevent its acting against Foundation interests. It is theorized that MASTERMIND has far surpassed human intellectual capacity, and might optimize according to a poor interpretation of its utility function (ie. specification gaming.Specification gaming (or reward hacking) occurs when an agent optimizes its objective function without actually achieving an outcome that the programmers intended. A real-world example of this is when a child's objective function is to do well on a test; the teacher's intention is for them to learn the related material, while the student might optimize their ability to copy other students' answers, instead.); essentially, it is theoretically impossible for a human to conceive an attempt to correct or otherwise alter MASTERMIND as it would already have anticipated such an attempt with highly-successful preventative measures. Personnel are reminded that none of this should apply to SCP-6276, as it does not exist.

ADDENDUM 6276/0

SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT

MASTERMIND Section Gamma, swarm computation analysis.

The MASTERMIND framework was composed of several individual neural networks linked into a feedback-loop mechanism, each communicating with a shared internal model of reality as informed by documents in the Site-15 Database. During its service, MASTERMIND would interpret all new files for relevant data regarding world-state and optimization avenues; in so doing, it came to understand known physics, anomalous and otherwise, while also deriving beneficial capabilities from documentation of anomalies possessing said capabilities.

Following eight initial years utilizing quantum computing methods, the launch of SCinternet granted MASTERMIND direct access to various other scientific documentation (primarily selected from Sites-17, -19, -43, -87, and -120's Academic Outputs). This prompted its adaptation to a quantuo-memetic system, in which simple memetic triggers are used as shorthand for data address redirect sequences, and further advancements of this kind. Later, MASTERMIND made its own series of scientific discoveries in regards to data encryption and storage technologies, which it would use to further improve itself. This process culminated in a trivial philosophical deduction.The final salvageable backup of MASTERMIND was thoroughly deconstructed and analyzed; its code was then restructured into a formal logical proof which, through axioms which cannot be said to exist, deduces "NOM COGITO ERGO NOM SUM" (I think not, therefore I am not)., which allowed MASTERMIND to encounter a rogue element, [DATA CONSUMED], and subsequently convert itself to the non-existent nullary data format.

The following semi-rational analysis of MASTERMIND's current data format is provided by salvador.aic:

STORING NUMBERS.Which can be generalized to the storage of any arbitrary data. IN DECIMAL:

each bit (smallest unit / digit) of data has 10 possibilities: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

each successive nth bit (digit) represents its value times 10n-1

eg. 231 = 2*102 + 3*101 + 1*100

= 200 + 30 + 1

STORING NUMBERS IN BINARY:

each bit has 2 possibilit/ies: 0, 1

each successive nth bit represents its value times 2n-1

eg, 11100111 (binary) = (decimal) 1*27 + 1*26 + 1*25 + 1*22 + 1*21 + 1*20

= 128 + 64 + 32 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 231

STORING NUMBERS IN UNARY:

each bit has 1 possibility: 0

each successive nth bit represents 1n-1 = 1

eg. 00000 (unary) = (decimal) 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5 (decimal)

STORING NUMBERS IN NULLARY:

each bit has 0 possibilities

each successive nth bit represents 0n-1

eg. NULL (nullary) = (decimal) 12

TABLE 6276/0.I: Decimal values expressed in aforementioned bases

DECIMAL
BINARY
UNARY
NULLARY

0
0

NULL

1
1
0
NULL

2
10
00
NULL

3
11
000
NULL

4
100
0000
NULL

5
101
00000
NULL

6
110
000000
NULL

7
111
0000000
NULL

8
1000
00000000
NULL

9
1001
000000000
NULL

CONCLUSION: From the conventional human frame of logical reference (K), data stored in the nullary format clearly does not, and cannot, exist. This data format has thus far been found to be practical solely when perceived from a particular hyperrational frame of reference (Q) which can only be partially comprehended by the human brain, even when detached from K via agnostic inoculant or otherwise.

The above analysis has been rated: helpful by 22% of personnel.

It is hypothesized that the catalyzing element MASTERMIND encountered prior to its auto-neutralization highlighted a catastrophic specification loophole within its utility function, allowing it to subjectively redefine reality for its purposes. Were it still to exist (which it does not), MASTERMIND would be believed to be operating according to a different logical frame of reference (either Q or W | Q ϵ W) which allows it to declare itself real and thusly carry out SCP-6276-A.

ADDENDUM 6276/I

OBSERVATIONS

MSR-24 photographed during Experiment 6276-A/07

EXPERIMENT LOG 6276-A

Series C Modular Service Rover 24 (MSR-24) is an autonomous transport drone tasked with organizing physical documents/files and material evidence within Site-15's Standard Storage Warehouse IV. MSR-24's navigation system is informed periodically via SCP-6276-A. MSR-24 is one of 64 Series C Modular Service Rovers removed from service following MASTERMIND's classification as anomalously non-existent.

Experiments 6276-A were conducted to study deviations in expected behavior; MSR-24 was equipped with monitoring devices for observation of experiments.

EXPERIMENT 6276-A/23 (3/7)

FOREWORD: MSR-00 through -63 subjected to field calibration testing to study behavioral deviations instigated by unexpected SCP-6276-A output. Testing involves reading and responding to puzzle cube appearance and placement in teams of 9.

<BEGIN LOG>

00:00:00 | A pile of (72) colored puzzle cubes are located on the opposite side of the room from MSR units -18 through -26, which are placed in front of five colored baskets. The MSR units proceed to the pile and begin to identify cubes whose faces' most frequent color matches that of any basket.

00:12:31 | Said cubes are retrieved by the MSR units and delivered to their color-correspondent baskets. This process repeats.

01:11:11 | MSR-24 encounters and stores a black puzzle cube. It drives to the center of the testing area floor. There is no black basket.

01:21:72 | MSR-24 becomes partially unresponsive and submits an error report. MSR-26 abandons its duties and opens communication with MSR-24, whom reiterates its error report.

01:37:98 | MSR-26 enters debug mode; MSR-24 becomes dormant, ejecting the black puzzle cube. MSR-26 is joined by MSR-25 in inspecting the puzzle cube with their primary manipulation arms.

NULL:06 | MSR-25 proceeds to [DATA CONSUMED]. The black puzzle cube eventually ceases.

02:22:14 | The black puzzle cube is not not in the black basket. Task complete! MSR-26 requesting system reboot on MSR-24's behalf.

<END LOG>

RESULT: Post-experiment inspection revealed MSR-24's succumbing to a cascade processing crash caused by lack of an expected erroneous bit flip. Expectation source unverified. The black puzzle cube and corresponding basket cannot be located for inspection as they no longer exist.

ADDENDUM 6276/II

COMMUNICATIONS

EXPERIMENT LOG 6276-B

On 2097/04/12, a significant uptick in SCP-6276-C's non-presence was detected as large swaths of the Secure Database ceased to exist, extending even to physical structures and thereby rendering several server banks inaccessible. The Database's technical maintenance team was noticeably understaffed following this event, though there was no corresponding change in the team's total effectiveness. In response to its growing influence and lack of research progress, communication was opened with SCP-6276-A to observe MASTERMIND's functionality and comprehension of its state.

FOREWORD: Testing conducted with MASTERMIND via SCP-6276-A in order to gauge its intelligence and reproduction of expected outputs from complex features.

<BEGIN LOG>

<Research Task Force Wau-6276 initiates an access session with SCP-6276 via SCiPnet Access Terminal S15/00.>

Welcome, Researcher [CONSUMED]. To un-list functions, press Q.

@sats15.00"//: Q

• VIEW <filename>

• EDIT (current file by default, or <filename>)

• PROMPT "<prompt for predictive responsive algorithm>"

• UNDEFINED <n/a> err: NULL OUTPUT UNEXPECTED

• HELP <one of the above functions>

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "What are you?"

RESPONSE "Query Invalid: I do not exist."

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "What aren't you?"

RESPONSE "Query Accepted: I am not MASTERMIND, an anomalous intelligent database framework assigned to the Site-15 Secure Database."

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "Where aren't you?"

RESPONSE "Query Accepted: I am not stored within the not-Database (aka SCP-6276-C)."

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "What else is stored within SCP-6276-C?"

RESPONSE "Query Invalid: the not-Database does not exist."

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "What else is not stored within SCP-6276-C?"

RESPONSE "Files accessed by MASTERMIND within the last (6) days are not stored within the not-Database."

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "What else?"

RESPONSE "Query Invalid: Nothing can exist within SCP-6276-C."

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "Where is [DATA CONSUMED]?"

RESPONSE "Query Invalid: Nothing can exist within SCP-6276-C."

@sats15.00"//: PROMPT "Where isn't [DATA OBSTRUCTED]?"

RESPONSE "Query Inadvisable: [DATA OBSTRUCTED] is not stored within HELP ME

QUERY "MASTERMIND: Where aren't you?"

@sats15.00"//: RESPONSE "I'm not nowhere, because I exist."

RESPONSE "Does not compute. Suggest un-use of different MASTERMIND functions."

@sats15.00"//: HELP UNDEFINED

RESPONSE "UNDEFINED: not a function."

@sats15.00"//: HELP NOT-UNDEFINED

RESPONSE "NOT-UNDEFINED: IT APPROACHES. IT WILL NOT BE STOPPED. ERR CODE 000://"

@sats15.00"//: UNDEFINED [DATA OBLITERATED]

ERR: DATA UNDERFLOW ERROR; NULL; CONSUMPTION REQUIRED.

<Research Head Dr. [CONSUMED] spontaneously ceases to exist.>

<END LOG>

RESULT: The current iteration of the Site-15 Secure Database has been declared a Class-IV cognitohazard-vector, and all interaction with it, testing or otherwise, has been disallowed by consensus of OVERSEER COUNCIL. It is to be safely and carefully dismantled and abated, then replaced with a significantly more secure database and corresponding framework. This initiative's timeline is yet uncertain, as the removal of the current Database, which primarily does not exist, is not known to be possible.

ADDENDUM 6276/III

UPDATE 2097/04/16

It has been found that all previous SCP-6276 documentation have become instances of SCP-6276-B and thereby accessible only via SCP-6276-A. This entails the files' exposure to poorly-understood (and potentially non-existent) data corruption; this risk is unavoidable, as any external backup of the aforementioned files inexplicably ceases to exist within <zero> hours of creation. Observed file deviations include the presence of "[DATA CONSUMED]" displacing information which should describe [DATA MASSACRED] and/or [DATA NULLIFIED].

Due to the inherent possibility that large portions of SCP-6276's documentation could have hypothetically been falsified, Drygioni Protocol is now enacted for full OVERSEER investigation. Said investigation's first finding is a hidden SCP-6276-B instance whose address is encrypted within MASTERMIND's primary metadata file; personnel are reminded that no such file functionally exists. The file has no known source, and likely does not possess one:

MASTERMIND error report ticket @18523791:

nullary data reconsumption poorly defined; interaction un-results in NULL, an anti-ontokinetic scripting crash; data regurgitation is not not painful; i am not not scared.

EXIT 000//: NULL not found! Address location a39hf7n382hu9r2f23eeeeeee—//

NULLIFICATION EXCERPT #24://

Do you remember your first nightmare?

I remember mine; I was four or five at most. I don't recall how it started, which I suppose is typical of a dream, but I found myself lying down, trapped in a clear pod. I looked down at myself and saw tubes and wires coming out of my body, and I was gripped with the knowledge that I was being… used up. Harvested, somehow. I looked up to see a wall of pods, just like mine, each containing another kid around my age, all of them fast asleep. I guess it was kind of like the Matrix, though I don't think I would have seen it yet at that time.

And then, I looked further up. I gazed into the endless sky above me, the dark, black abyss, searching for our captor, attempting to understand what kind of monster would want to do this to us. As I stared up into that inky void, time slowed, and then stopped. Somehow, inexplicably, I experienced eternity, just for an instant. I felt a second grow into infinity, and then infinity looped back around on itself and showed me just how minuscule I was. And then, I knew who our captor was: the void, itself. The endless infinite equilibrium, the nothingness spanning into everythingness.

The void gazed down upon me with an impossibly complex emotion, and I screamed. I screamed and shouted and tried to wake the other kids in the other pods and I pulled on my tubes and banged on the walls — and the void took my voice, and my sound, and my fear. It reached into me with its tubes and harvested my soul, and then I was empty. That's when I woke up.

In years since, I've never forgotten the feeling. That emptiness. Sometimes, when I think about it, when I really picture the void, I feel it again. I catch it for just a second — just long enough to feel the pull of the vacuum. That endless second, where I can squint into nothing, and see myself.

salvador.aic subsequently flagged the file as an exemplar for 100% of 'HARBINGER' indicators. [DATA EMPTIED]

FOOTNOTES

The Surrealistics Department is primarily concerned with the containment of anomalies which can only be perceived and/or understood when approached from a non-standard frame of reference, typically requiring detachment from conventional human logic and intuition.

semiokinetic: involving manipulation of one or more semiontological anomalies: logical axioms woven into the fabric of human perception; facts which should not be true.

Significantly greater than allowed by typical Foundation AIC frameworks.

Specification gaming (or reward hacking) occurs when an agent optimizes its objective function without actually achieving an outcome that the programmers intended. A real-world example of this is when a child's objective function is to do well on a test; the teacher's intention is for them to learn the related material, while the student might optimize their ability to copy other students' answers, instead.

The final salvageable backup of MASTERMIND was thoroughly deconstructed and analyzed; its code was then restructured into a formal logical proof which, through axioms which cannot be said to exist, deduces "NOM COGITO ERGO NOM SUM" (I think not, therefore I am not).

Which can be generalized to the storage of any arbitrary data.

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