hungrypossum

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Item#: 6169

Level2

Containment Class:
euclid

Secondary Class:
none

Disruption Class:
vlam

Risk Class:
notice

link to memo

SCP-6169 in containment

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6169 is to be contained 50 km north of Site-19 on a farm owned by Stanley's Produce1. Documents which contain redacted information, or information requiring specific clearance to access, are not to be brought within 2 km of this enclosure. Test proposals may be submitted to the Head Researcher on site (currently Head Researcher Charlotte Weber).
Update 18/03/2009: Personnel assigned to SCP-6169 are encouraged to interact with it on a daily basis. Acceptable forms of interaction include, but are not limited to: feeding, grooming, medical examinations, testing etc.
Update 27/03/2014: Daily interactions are to be of a playful manner, and to be carried out for a total of one hour per day at minimum.
Description: SCP-6169 is a brown male alpaca (Vicugna pacos) physically indistinguishable from non-anomalous specimens. Its behaviour, when not in the presence of humans, does not deviate from the norm for its species. However, if a human is within a 20 meter line of sight from SCP-6169 and not maintaining visual contact, it will exhibit a series of activities designed to attract the person's attention2. For as long as visual and/or physical contact is maintained, SCP-6169 adopts an amicable behaviour.
SCP-6169's anomalous effect manifests when censored material is brought within 1 km 300 m 100 m 15 m of it (see Addendum 2), which causes said material to have all of its redacted information uncensored. The anomaly seems to be able to recognise the intent to obfuscate information; for instance, text that has had sections intentionally hidden or expunged will return to its uncensored state, but writing upon which ink has been accidentally spilled will be left unaltered; falsified information is, likewise, unaffected by SCP-6169. All affected materials return to their censored state once removed from the anomaly's area of effect.
SCP-6169 has been noted to affect digital and physical text, as well as audio and video media; copies of censored materials are also affected. Furthermore, in the case of electronic text documents, information requiring a certain clearance level to access is also considered censored. In this case, any input prompt awaiting appropriate credentials will be rendered inactive, and a symbol depicting an alpaca displayed alongside it.
Recovery: On 11/03/2009 Foundation agents embedded in several television service providers received reports of an evening comedy show containing uncensored strong language, while being rated as TV-PG. While such events are not unheard of, reports originated exclusively in the town of Mount Pleasant, NY, with the program being broadcast nationally. After ascertaining that profanity was indeed censored in the original recording, the Foundation was notified of a potential anomaly within the area.
At the scene, SCP-6169 was located atop a chalk drawing of a person apparently participating in a protest. Said person's eyes and mouth were obscured by black bars, and they were holding a pancard featuring what appeared to be similarly obscured text. Preliminary on-site testing determined that the anomalous traits originated from the alpaca, with the drawing being completely ordinary. Interviews with locals revealed no eyewitnesses, and the location where the drawing and the object were found was not covered by any security cameras. As such, the drawing was removed and SCP-6169 set to be transported to Site-19. Due to the low number of people exposed to affected TV media, a cover story stating negligence in selecting the broadcast version was deemed a sufficient follow-up measure.
En route to Site-19, its ability to affect text documents was made apparent by reports of restricted information being accesible to personnel lacking appropriate clearance. As such, containment at Site-19 was deemed unfeasible, and a nearby farm was purchased by a Foundation front company for the purpose of containing SCP-6169.
Addendum 1: Several days after initial containment, during which time SCP-6169 has not interacted with personnel, the object displayed loss of appetite and generally poor vitality. During a medical examination, these symptoms were partially alleviated, with health improving gradually as the procedure carried on. Due to these circumstances, as well as its highly social behaviour, it was theorised that SCP-6169 requires human attention as a secondary form of sustenance. This theory has been proven by daily interactions between personnel and the object, which kept its health at consistently improved levels. Containment procedures have been updated accordingly.

+ Addendum 2 - Project Lumos - Level 4 clearance required

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Input credentials 🦙🦙🦙
A proposal was made by Researcher Weber to use SCP-6169 as a means of acquiring information from documents recovered from certain Groups of Interest. The following e-mail exchange occured:

Date: 02/04/2012
From: Researcher Charlotte Weber
To: Dr. Tilda D. Moose, Site 19 Director
Subject: SCP-6169 proposal
Director Moose,
During its long years of activity, the Foundation has contained numerous world-ending threats, eldritch horrors and, perhaps unsurprisingly, even gods. Looking at them, some of the most risky, but at the same time crucial operations are carried out to learn more about the anomalies, so that we can contain them more reliably. In this regard, every bit of extra information can save valuable resources, including human lives.
Before working with SCP-6169, I was assigned to an artifact recovered from a certain group of interest. While the object itself was simple enough, the recovered documentation was nearly useless because of all the expunged information. This is to be expected, after all the Foundation is using the same mechanism because it's effective, but I believe we can avoid further such difficulties.
I propose using SCP-6169 to extract information from documents recovered from groups of interest. Its anomalous effect has been shown to also apply to copies, so there is no need to risk the original documents. The provided information could save us days, if not weeks of experimenting to find out proper containment procedures, not to mention diminishing the risk undercover Foundation agents are exposed to. I hope these potential benefits are enough to make this worth considering.
Regards,
Researcher Charlotte Weber

Date: 02/04/2012
From: Dr. Tilda D. Moose, Site 19 Director
To: Researcher Charlotte Weber
Subject: Re: SCP-6169 proposal
Researcher Weber,
The suggestion sounds promising, but unless there's a significant benefit, risks posed by using anomalies are too high. In this case, however, the potential benefits warrant at least a trial; as providence would have it, we just got our hands on something that we could test on. I will approve one experiment in this regard. Depending on the results, we might move forward with your proposal.
Site Dir. Tilda Moose

The experiment was approved by Site Director Moose on 05/04/2012. En-route to the anomaly's containment site, agents have noted that the anomalous effect's radius had been reduced to 300 m, 30% of the initially observed affected radius.3
The object of the experiment was a copy of a document acquired in a raid on a Chaos Insurgency base, featuring heavy redaction to the point of rendering 90% of the information illegible. Upon exposure to SCP-6169's effect, all redacted information became legible; however, two personnel were incapacitated by the effects of an embedded memetic agent. The additional text retrieved, however, provided vital information on a raid planned by CI operatives on a Foundation site, giving security personnel ample time to prepare for interception. Researcher Weber has been commended for her proposal, appointed Head Researcher in charge of SCP-6169 and given 4/6169 clearance.
In light of this event, security has been strengthened around SCP-6169, as it would pose a significant informational risk should it be acquired by other Groups of Interest. Further such procedures may be undertaken, should the need arise, with Site Director Moose's approval under codename Project Lumos. Decodified documents are to be viewed only by personnel with high memetic resistance, in order to avoid further casualties.

+ Addendum 3 - Project Lumos updates - Level 4 clearance required

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Input credentials ‘(◕('人') ◕)'
Starting with 2013, Project Lumos operations increased in frequency, reaching five procedures per week. At this stage, SCP-6169 began to show signs of fatigue for extended periods of time, as well as decreased appetite. These symptoms were averted by performing the Lumos operations in the entity's immediate vicinity, accounting for the entity's need for human attention.
On 24/03/2014, following a particularly extensive Project Lumos operation, SCP-6169 collapsed in its enclosure. An emergency medical examination indicated stable vitals, and attributed the event to stress and exhaustion. Despite following previous interaction guidelines, the specimen did not regain consciousness until three days later. The increased stress was attributed to the overuse of its anomalous effect; thus, Head Researcher Weber contacted Site Director Moose regarding possible improvements on Project Lumos:

Date: 25/03/2014
From: Head Researcher Charlotte Weber
To: Dr. Tilda D. Moose, Site 19 Director
Subject: Project Lumos concerns
Director Moose,
Throughout the last two years, Project Lumos has grown from a simple proposal made by a small-time researcher, to an important component of the Foundation's information network, and for this I must express my gratitude towards you, Site Director. Without your faith in my idea, I couldn't have contributed to the Foundation in such a significant way. All this being said, I do have some concerns related to our key instrument: SCP-6169 itself.
As you have probably heard by now, the object has collapsed during the last operation, seemingly due to stress and exhaustion. As the direct overseer of everything SCP-6169-related, I can confirm that its health has gradually worsened as Lumos operations increased in frequency: decreased vitality, occasionally missing its feeding times, irregular sleeping schedule etc. If we keep going like this, I fear we might eventually lose the one thing that makes all of this work, which would be, to say the least, unfortunate.
It is therefore my recommendation that we space out such activities to approximately one per week, with regular medical checkups.
Regards,
H. Res. Charlotte Weber

Date: 25/03/2014
From: Dr. Tilda D. Moose, Site 19 Director
To: Head Researcher Charlotte Weber
Subject: Re: Project Lumos concerns
Head Researcher Weber,
I appreciate the kind words, but don't forget that this was your proposal, meaning you should take responsibility for its consequences.
One Lumos operation per week means 52 per year. Considering the amount of documents we retrieve from other groups, this is not enough. Yes, it is better than none at all, but looking at the pace the Foundation has been moving, we need at least three times as many operations in the same timeframe. I understand your concerns, and losing this object would certainly hurt the Foundation, but we need to do better. You need to do better.
You're a competent Head Researcher, Charlotte. I trusted you with this project then, and I trust you'll find a solution now, but I cannot approve of this suggestion. Find a better option. Don't make me regret my decision.
Site Dir. Tilda Moose

Date: 27/03/2014
From: Head Researcher Charlotte Weber
To: Dr. Tilda D. Moose, Site 19 Director
Subject: Re: Project Lumos concerns
Director Moose,
You're right, in hindsight that was a poor suggestion, especially coming from me. In an attempt to remedy this, I have spent the past days trying to find the mechanism behind SCP-6169's energy intake, hoping to be able to compensate for its fatigue and stress. I cannot say I uncovered everything there is to know about it, but I found something we can make use of, at least.
Studying the timeframe around its recovery date, I stumbled upon a surge in alpaca-related internet memes on social media platforms. Most of these were part of an online anti-censorship movement, criticising policies adopted by certain countries that limited the citizens' freedom of speech. This, along with the circumstances of its recovery, is why I think the movement itself has some connection to our anomaly. As these posts dropped in frequency, so did the anomalous effect's range diminish, furthering the connection between the two.
My theory is that SCP-6169 feeds on positive attention. More specifically, as we found out during its containment at our facility, its health depends on the attention it physically receives, while the radius of its effect depends on the attention it receives as an online phenomenon. The latter is easily taken care of: since the wave of alpaca-related memes has mostly died off, printing a few relevant social media posts and displaying them around its containment site would provide sufficient attention to the anomaly's conceptual aspect. With that out of the way, I will focus on the physical aspect.
When we first contained this object, we noticed that it needed human interaction, and we adapted. We thought any kind of attention would be acceptable, so we decided to stay emotionally detached, as we normally do. Everything went as expected after that, until we started working on Project Lumos, or rather until the Project grew to the scale of multiple operations per week. We kept the daily interactions between operations, but we soon found out we were giving the anomaly the "wrong food". It needed positive attention, pleasant feelings, not just emotionless proximity to humans. This is where we can improve, if we want to keep the alpaca alive.
My new proposal is as follows: operations related to Project Lumos should be carried out at most three times per week, and daily interactions are to be explicitly of a pleasant, occasionally playful manner. I realise this is in contradiction with the Foundation's usual, colder methods, but we cannot afford to lose SCP-6169 and this project.
Regards,
H. Res. Charlotte Weber

Date: 27/03/2014
From: Dr. Tilda D. Moose, Site 19 Director
To: Head Researcher Charlotte Weber
Subject: Re: Project Lumos concerns
Head Researcher Weber,
If you believe this to be the best course of action we can take, then so be it. Updates approved.
Site Dir. Tilda Moose

Following Site Director Moose's approval, the containment procedures and Project Lumos protocol have been updated accordingly. Post-update, SCP-6169's physical health and range of effect have remained stable.

Footnotes
1. A Foundation front company.
2. Most common such actions are jumping, running and making vocalisations indicative of joy.
3. Further tests have revealed a steady decline in the affected radius, albeit at a slower rate. For the current theory concerning SCP-6169's origin, as well as the weakening of its effect, consult Addendum 3.

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