David J Prokopetz

Item #: SCP-1980

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Three reference copies of SCP-1980 on archival-quality DVD-R media are kept on file at sites 37, 192, and 248. Each disk is to be kept in a standard-issue document safe when not in use. The passcode for each safe is to be rotated as per site policy, and may be issued on a need-to-know basis to any cleared personnel. When a reference copy of SCP-1980 is removed from its safe, standard containment and transport procedures for non-contact-hazardous, non-self-directed SCP objects are to be observed at all times.

Copies of SCP-1980 and SCP-1980-1 are to be kept on disposable storage media and destroyed by incineration when no longer in use. While they are retained, such copies are subject to the the containment and transport protocols outlined above.

SCP-1980 should not be run on any terminal within three hundred (300) metres of any other SCP object, or any Foundation documentation or personnel above clearance level 1 without prior authorisation. If this procedure is not observed, any resulting instances of SCP-1980-1 are to be classified as sensitive documentation with a clearance level equal to that of the highest-clearance documentation or personnel that was present within the stated radius at run time, to a minimum of level 3 if any non-Keter SCP objects were within range, or level 5 in the case of Keter level objects.

Description: SCP-1980 is an electronic file 380kB in size. Upon initial recovery, it was named "tkadv.z7"; this naming convention is retained for all reference copies, though renaming the file does not appear to have any effect upon its properties. Except as outlined below, the file exhibits no unusual behaviour, and can be copied, renamed, and deleted normally, with any copies retaining identical properties to the original.

SCP-1980 can be run on any Z-machine interpreter of version 7 or later, operating as text-driven interactive fiction (i.e., a "text adventure"). SCP-1980's parser is exceptionally robust, understanding most common synonyms and alternative phrasings, but exhibits no faculties of comprehension not found in ordinary examples of its type. The game has no title banner or authorial attribution, and proceeds directly to the first room of the game (see below) when run.

The game's starting room mirrors the physical location of the player at the moment that play is initiated, including any people or objects present. The output of the command "EXAMINE ME" is consistent with the player's physical and mental state at the start of play, and the player character's inventory contains representations of any objects carried or worn by the player. Exploration reveals an environment consistent with actual surroundings at run time. The player character can move approximately three hundred (300) metres from their initial location before an error message bars further progress.

Representations of people other than the player (hereafter "NPCs") are generally nonresponsive, but can be engaged in conversation. Conversational responses may include personal or sensitive information, including information known only to the real person upon whom the NPC is based. Examining documents within the game environment produces short summaries rather than detailed contents, but these summaries may likewise contain pertinent information previously unknown to the player. How SCP-1980 determines which pieces of information to present is unknown; accordingly, it must be assumed that any information known to any person or contained in any document within three hundred metres of SCP-1980 when play is initiated may be present and discoverable within the game environment.

Any attempt by the player to engage in violent, sexual, or otherwise uncouth behaviour is met with a parser-generated admonition and a refusal to carry out the command. These constraints are not enforced upon NPCs; in three recorded tests, the player successfully induced an NPC to kill the player character. This appears to have no effect on the player character's real counterpart.

Once play has been initiated, subsequent real-world changes to the player or the environment are not reflected by SCP-1980 unless the "RESTART" command is issued. The "SAVE" command functions as expected, producing a file named "tkadv.sav". Save files produced by SCP-1980 are collectively referred to as SCP-1980-1. Due to the properties outlined above, all instances of SCP-1980-1 are considered sensitive documentation, with clearance levels determined according to the sensitivity of the mirrored environment. Note that the player themselves is to be considered a potential source of information contained within SCP-1980-1.

SCP-1980's status bar initially indicates a score of zero out of one hundred (0/100) points. The first use of the "EXAMINE ME" command yields a score increase of one point. No other scoring actions have been discovered at this time.

Addendum: When SCP-1980 is run for the first time on any given terminal, the following messages appear:

Flag TK_EPISTM not supported. Some features may be disabled.
Flag TK_MORTCL not supported. Some features may be disabled.
Flag TK_RNDEVO not supported. Some features may be disabled.

It is unknown whether these messages refer to features of SCP-1980 itself, or features of SCP-1980's intended interpreter. The nature and effects of the disabled features (if any) are undetermined at this time.

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