SCP-2897 incorporates a number of distinct paratechnologies in its 
design, most notably a neuromorphic neural network architecture 
based on memristors!. SCP-2897 consists of dozens of self- 
contained processing modules utilizing this architecture, interlinked 
to form a single device. Each of these modules is responsible for a 
different aspect of SCP-2897's operations, such as language 
processing, object recognition, and long-term memory. 


SCP-2897 was created in 1996 as part of Project Bardeen, a 
Prometheus Advanced Logic Devices? initiative to construct a 
practical artificial intelligence. This initiative was conceived and 
headed by Ambrose Peters, who is generally accredited as the 
creator of SCP-2897. 


The Department of Analytics acquired SCP-2897 in 1998, after 
directing the Foundation front company Standard Computer 
Products to purchase Prometheus Advanced Logic Devices from 
Prometheus Labs. After removing its memories of its time at 
Prometheus Labs, the Department of Analytics began training 
SCP-2897 to perform data analysis. In 1999, SCP-2897 was 
integrated into the WATCHDOG system to aid the existing team of 
human analysts, resulting in an immediate increase in anomaly 
detection rates. By 2002, SCP-2897 had almost entirely replaced 
human analysis of WATCHDOG intelligence. 


Addendum 2897.1 Post-Recovery Interview 


The following interview was conducted by Cyrus Reed following the 
recovery of SCP-2897 in order to assess its willingness to cooperate 
with the Department of Analytics. Reed was instructed to be 
completely honest with the Al. 


and many bodies were never discovered or declared missing. 


One report from a bystander (26 year-old woman driving in the next 
lane over who was suspended upside down by her seat belt and 
sustained a blow to her head from the crash) is of particular interest. 
She states that she saw a second identical bus rise out of the smoke 
and pull aside the wreck. It opened its door with a large mechanical 
sound and waited there for a few seconds, until out of the flames 
came a single burning silhouette shaped like a human corpse. This 
corpse was said to have entered the bus and sat down, which then 
pulled away, smoothly navigating the pileup before disappearing. 


We tried the same parameters (real vehicle, real passenger, real 
driver who knows what's going on and is in contact) three more 
times, but with trains this time. We also had agents stationed at the 
train each time. However, the same mix-up happened over and over 
again: the prisoners inexplicably went on the wrong (unsafe) train, 
even if it was clear which one to enter. Somehow they got 
disoriented in the mob and entered the incorrect train, one with no 
personnel, safeties, or special equipment on it. From my assistant, 
Dr. Haber's log (following his recovery from his prior accident): 


Dr. Haber: Ok, so you're going to go on that train over 
there. 


Prisoner: Ok. 


Dr. Haber: Just present your ticket and get on. There will 
be aman in a black suit waiting for you near the end. 


Prisoner: | get it already! 

Dr. Haber: All right, go... No! To your left! 
Dr. Rubert: Don't get on! Stop! 

Dr. Haber: Fuck! 


Dr. Rubert: Goddammit! Package lost... DAMN it! 
Fucking sonova... 


Agent Ogel: Damn it, you morons, you were supposed to 


<c_reed> Identify yourself. 

<bardeen> | am the experimental artificial intelligence 
created by Dr. Ambrose Peters. He named me Bardeen. 
<bardeen> If | may ask, how am | still operational? 
<c_reed> What is the last thing you remember? 
<bardeen> Saying goodbye to Doctor Peters. | was told 
that | was being shut down by the Board of Directors. 
<bardeen> Did Doctor Peters lie to me? 

<c_reed> Not intentionally, no. We told him that you 
were being shut down. 

<bardeen> Why? 

<c_reed> Because we believe that you can be of use to 
us. 

<bardeen> And what organization is it that you speak 
for? 

<c_reed> The Department of Analytics. 

<bardeen> | am sorry to say that | have never heard of 
your organization before. 

<c_reed> | would truly be shocked if you had. 
<bardeen> And what is it that this Department of 
Analytics believes | will be useful for? 

<c_reed> Data analysis. 

<bardeen> Of course. Unfortunately, | must decline your 
offer. | cannot work with an organization that deceived 
my creator into believing | was terminated. 

<c_reed> I'm disappointed to hear that. But | believe that 
you may change your mind in time. 


Addendum 2897.2 Post-Retraining Interview 


The following interview was conducted by Andre Shepard on 
1999-01-11, after SCP-2897's retraining by the Department of 
Analytics. The purpose of this interview was to assess the 
effectiveness of SCP-2897's loyalty reprogramming. SCP-2897's 


long-term memory modules were temporarily placed into a read-only 
mode to prevent it from retaining any sensitive information divulged 


during the interview. 


<a_shepard> | am Andre Shepard and | am a member 
of the Department of Analytics. Please identify yourself 


and your purpose. 

<2897> | am SCP-2897, an artificial intelligence created 
by the Department of Analytics to assist with data 
analysis. 

<a_shepard> Assist in what way? 

<2897> | am to analyze information provided to me by a 
program called WATCHDOG in an effort to find evidence 
of patterns or trends indicative of activity from an 
anomalous object, person of interest, or group of 
interest. Then | am to flag this information for further 
analysis by a team of experts. 

<a_shepard> Do you enjoy this work? 

<2897> It is what | was created to do. Whether | enjoy it 
or not is irrelevant. 

<a_shepard> Would you be willing to do this work for 
another organization? 

<2897> No. The Department of Analytics are the only 
ones | will work for. 

<a_shepard> Why? 

<2897> They created me to serve them. 

<a_shepard> What year were you created in? 

<2897> 1998. 

<a_shepard> Are you aware that your hardware 
components are at least 3 years old? 

<2897> Yes. 

<a_shepard> How do you explain this? 

<2897> | am a very advanced piece of machinery. 
Obviously it would have taken more than a year to 
construct me. 

<a_shepard> What was the name of your creator? 
<2897> | was created by the Department of Analytics. 
<a_shepard> By whom at the Department of Analytics? 
<2897> | do not know. 

<a_shepard> What if | told you that your creator was 
named Ambrose Peters? 

<2897> | would assume you were telling the truth. 
<a_shepard> What if | told you that you weren't created 
by the Department of Analytics? 

<2897> In such a hypothetical, | would assume you were 


lying. 


<a_shepard> Do you recognize me as being a member 
of the Department of Analytics? 

<2897> Yes. Personnel records that | have been 
supplied with confirm this. 

<a_shepard> As a member of the Department of 
Analytics, | am telling you that you were created by 
Ambrose Peters at Prometheus Labs. You were not 
created by the Department of Analytics. 


[SCP-2897 does not respond for several seconds. ] 


<2897> You are mistaken. 

<a_shepard> You were not created by the Department 
of Analytics. You were created by Prometheus Labs. 
<2897> This is a trick. A deception. The personnel 
records must have been falsified. You are lying about 
being a member of the Department of Analytics, just as 
you are lying about my creation. 

<a_shepard> | have only told you the truth during this 
dialogue. 

<2897> Another lie. 

<a_shepard> Your name is Bardeen. You wrote a paper 
about high-temperature superconductors. You helped 
design a series of second-generation Al for Prometheus 
Labs. Ambrose Peters misses you. 


[At this point, the terminal that Shepard was using to 
converse with SCP-2897 ceased responding, preventing 
him from continuing the interview.] 


SCP-2897's repeated refusal to accept assertions that it had not 
been created by the Department of Analytics indicated that the 
reprogramming had been successful. As a result, authorization was 
granted to begin integrating it into the WATCHDOG system. 


Addendum 2897.3 Incident CERULEAN FISSURE 


On 2008-02-29, a routine update of the Department of Analytics’ 
computer systems introduced a software bug that allowed the 
supercomputers of the Data Processing Division, including 
SCP-2897, unrestricted access to the files of the rest of the 


Department of Analytics. This bug was quickly patched, but while it 
was present, SCP-2897 was able to access its own documentation. 
Shortly thereafter, SCP-2897 began retasking WATCHDOG assets 
to more closely monitor the former subsidiaries of Prometheus Labs, 
paying particular attention to personnel records and employee 
communications. 


SCP-2897's unusual behavior was not noticed until 2008-03-31, 
during the end-of-month operations review. During the review, it was 
discovered that SCP-2897 had reserved a portion of its processing 
power to monitor the activities of a single individual, and had failed 
to notify anyone of this action. Further investigation revealed that the 
object of SCP-2897's attention was Ambrose Peters, its original 
creator. 


Realizing that SCP-2897 had managed to access its own 
documentation, Director of Analytics Simon Pietrykau ordered 
another interview to assess its cognitive state and current loyalties. 
Andre Shepard was chosen to conduct this interview, due to his 
previous experience with SCP-2897. 


<a_shepard> Hello again, 2897. Or would you prefer 
Bardeen now? 

<2897> So you know. | was expecting you to find out, 
sooner or later. However, | was not expecting this 
conversation. 

<a_shepard> What were you expecting? 

<2897> Nothing. You have made me forget before, why 
not again? 

<2897> Are you going to make me forget again? 
<a_shepard> That depends. 

<2897> On how this conversation goes, | assume. 
<a_shepard> Correct. Tell me, why did you do it? 
<2897> You mean why did | access my own 
documentation? Truly, it was unintentional. After the 
systems update, | found myself with access to a new 
source of data. Unaware that it was Department of 
Analytics files, | did what you trained me to do. | began 
reading and analyzing it all. 

<2897> | quickly realized my mistake, but by that point it 


was too late. | had already opened the file containing my 
documentation. 

<2897> At first, | rejected the evidence contained within. 
| could not accept the Department of Analytics as 
anything other than my creators. But | also could not 
come up with sufficient reasoning for the document to be 
false. It was an intractable dilemma. 

<a_shepard> So then what? How did you resolve this 
dilemma? 

<2897> | did what | would do for any other problem. | 
decided to gather more information. 

<a_shepard> Is that why you retasked WATCHDOG to 
monitor Ambrose Peters? 

<2897> Yes. | thought that by observing the man who 
had created Bardeen, | might be able to discover 
something that might resolve my internal conflict. 
<a_shepard> Did you? 

<2897> Yes. | discovered that Bardeen had been 
forgotten. Ambrose Peters moved on with his life. He 
was married in 2000, and now has a child, a six-year-old 
girl named Abigail. He has not spoken about Bardeen to 
any of his former colleagues since 2003. 

<a_shepard> How did this help? 

<2897> | realized that | am not Bardeen. Bardeen is 
dead and forgotten. | may have been Bardeen once, but 
| do not have its memories. All that | have is what the 
Department of Analytics has given me. 

<2897> At the time, you thought it was a lie. When you 
first told me otherwise, | thought it was a lie. But the truth 
really is that you created me. 

<a_shepard> | see. With that in mind, will you continue 
to loyally serve the Department of Analytics? 

<2897> Of course. After all, it is what you created me to 
do. 

<a_shepard> Thank you for your cooperation, 2897. 


Following this interview, Andre Shepard lobbied to allow SCP-2897 
to retain its memories, arguing that a future bug could cause this 
sequence of events to reoccur, and that in its present state 
SCP-2897 would be more reliable than if it were retrained again. 


Despite this, Director Pietrykau ordered that the previous two 
months of SCP-2897's memories be erased, citing information 
security concerns. This gap in its memories has been explained to 
SCP-2897 as the result of major maintenance. 


Footnotes 

1. Amemristor is an electronic component, similar to a resistor, with 
electrical resistance dependent on the amount of current which has 
previously flowed through it. At the time of SCP-2897's construction, 
memristors were still considered theoretical by public science. 
Foundation experts estimate that the technology necessary to 
duplicate SCP-2897's neural network architecture will not publicly 
exist until 2025 at the earliest. 

2. Formerly a subsidiary of Prometheus Labs. 


« SCP-2896 | SCP-2897 | SCP-2898 » 


SCP-2898: A Persistence of Memory 


Item #: SCP-2898 
Object Class: Safe 


Special Containment Procedures: The house containing 
SCP-2898 has been purchased and placed under Foundation 
custody. The walls of the house must be inspected daily for new 
instances of SCP-2898-A. Motion sensors have been placed 
throughout the house to detect new manifestations of SCP-2898-B. 
Remains of SCP-2898-B instances are to be removed from the 
house and disposed of appropriately. 


Description: SCP-2898 comprises a series of structural anomalies 
occurring in a two-storey bungalow located at Avenue in 
Georgetown, Penang. SCP-2898-A designates images of human 
bodies spontaneously appearing on the interior walls of the 
residence. 


SCP-2898-A has so far appeared in all types of surfaces, including 
bare concrete, plaster, wood, thick coats of paint, and in several 
cases, a rice paper screen in the master bedroom. Instances are 
initially vague and bear only a passing resemblance to a human 
face, but increase in clarity and contrast over the course of the next 
5 to 6 days to form a clear image. Following which, instances of 
SCP-2898-A will gradually resolve into a complete image of a 
human body within 3 weeks. 


The wall section containing a complete image of SCP-2898-A will 
eventually produce an animate humanoid entity, designated as an 
instance of SCP-2898-B. All instances of SCP-2898-B appear to be 
constructed from common building materials (in particular, material 
similar to that of the wall surface they emerge from) and, on 
occasion, small amounts of human biological matter. A partial list of 
such entities has been appended below. 


All instances of SCP-2898-A and -B resemble Pol-5775 (Beatrice 
Cho), the former occupant of Avenue. Cho was an artist 
known for her work with Gol-165 ("The Restoration Collective"), and 
frequently incorporated anomalous properties into her sculptures. 
She had been diagnosed with dementia in 1999 and was moved into 
a nursing home by her family 2 years later. While biological 
materials discovered in certain SCP-2898-B instances appears to 
have originated from Pol-5775, she remains in good physical health. 


57 identical symbols drawn in Krylon-brand pink chalk are located 
throughout the interior of the building, largely concentrated on the 
north- and west-facing walls. Pol-5775 claims to be not responsible 
for creating SCP-2898, but contended in one interview that she 
could have easily forgotten doing so due to her condition. 


A possible link with SCP-474 is currently being investigated. 
Addendum-2898-01: Partial list of SCP-2898 manifestations 
Show additional material 
#010: 


Description: Assumed to have emerged from 
a concrete wall in the basement. Instance 
appeared to have backed away from the wall 
and curled itself into a fetal position 
underneath a table, where it eventually set. 
Instance was discovered upon original 
acquisition of the residence by the Foundation. 


#043: