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Item #: SCP-712
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-712 is stored fully assembled in a secure storage room at Research Site-14. The room's air is to be HEPA filtered and anyone entering must wear a clean room suit to minimize introduction of dust that could interfere with the optics of SCP-712. Anyone making adjustments to the components of SCP-712 must wear non-powdered nitrile gloves; latex gloves are not permitted as Dr. ███████ is severely allergic. The vibration-absorbing base of SCP-712 is attached securely to a 1.5 meter high table that is securely bolted to the floor of the room. The layout of this secure storage room is an "L" shape with the apparatus aimed at the far wall perpendicular to the door. No video recording devices are permitted in the room and all cameras viewing the entrance are to be fitted with one Wratten #90 filter and one linear polarizing filter with the axis of polarization oriented horizontally.
The emitting lens of SCP-712 is aimed at the rear wall and optical targets should be kept behind the apparatus except during testing. A SWNT forest panel is in place in front of the emitting lens of SCP-712 as a component of the fail-secure system. The rear wall of the room is tiled with SWNT Forest light absorbing panels. 10 (ten) standard 300 watt metal halide floodlights are aimed at the target wall and are to be turned on no less than one hour before SCP-712 is connected to a power supply to ensure that the color temperature has stabilized at 5000K. These floodlights are shuttered as a component of the fail-secure system.
A fail secure system is installed in the room. During operation, the floodlights will be shuttered and the panel in front of emitting the lens will retract. The researcher conducting an experiment must maintain constant pressure on a thumbswtich, and a bite plate will detect jaw clenching that may indicate a seizure. If pressure on the thumb switch is released, pressure on the bite plate exceeds normal limits, or power to the system is lost, the shutters covering the floodlights will drop away and the light absorbing panel will drop into place in front of SCP-712's emitting lens. An emergency power shutoff switch that will disconnect power to SCP-712 is mounted in the observation area.
All personnel and test subjects who are present when SCP-712 is powered are to be administered vision tests to measure distance vision, near vision, and color perception before entering the room and immediately after leaving. Unless authorized by Dr. ███████ in writing and approved by a Level 4 staff member, no individual who exhibits any degree of colorblindness is permitted to enter the room. Individuals who exhibit diminished visual ability after an experiment will be held for observation for 24 hours and tested before being released. Any individual who continues to exhibit diminished visual ability after the 24 hour observation period will be prohibited from working with SCP-712 and reassigned to a non-research position for an additional 30 days. Individuals exhibiting diminished visual ability after 30 days will be permanently reassigned. No individual who exhibits any diminished visual ability after 24 hours may be assigned to experiment further on SCP-712.
Research on SCP-712 is coordinated by Dr. ███████.
Description: SCP-712 is an apparatus that emits electromagnetic radiation at one of two frequencies defined by the formulae [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. The wavelength and frequency of both emitted frequencies are expressed as complex numbers and therefore do not fall within the conventional electromagnetic spectrum. When the radiation emitted by SCP-712 illuminates most objects capable of reflecting visible light, the target object will phosphoresce and emit one of two "Impossible Colors." [See Addendum A.]
The radiation emitted by SCP-712 is has been designated SCP-712-1, and the colors produced by target materials have been designated SCP-712-a and SCP-712-b.
While prior published research into impossible colors had achieved limited success by projecting one of two component colors into each eye of participants, SCP-712-a and SCP-712-b are each discrete colors. While the colors of SCP-712 can be perceived by human subjects, their wavelengths are expressed as complex numbers rather than wavelengths found in the visible spectrum. Specific information can be found in Dr. ███████'s research notes.
Subjects who view these colors report feelings of unease or awe, with neither corresponding to particular post-exposure effects. Approximately 26% of subjects experience no effects after viewing SCP-712a or SCP-712-b. Approximately 74% of subjects experience diminished visual ability after viewing SCP-712a and SCP-712-b; approximately 95% of subjects who initially display diminished visual ability recover within 24 hours. Approximately 1% of subjects who experienced diminished visual ability after 24 hours did not recover.
SCP-712 is a light-emitting apparatus that was removed from the laboratory of Dr. ██████ ███████████ at █████████ University.
SCP-712 is mounted on a vibration damping base. Components are labeled with stamped metal plates, and a plate at the front of the apparatus is stamped "f=9907mm." A cord with four wires protrudes from the power supply, which is labeled in permanent marker "220v." The apparatus consists of a LASER emitter, a series of fiber optic tubes, and modulating elements consisting of [DATA EXPUNGED]. The emitting lens is an optically transparent lens composed of an unknown material with a refractive index of .0003
Each of SCP-712's variable elements is mounted on a keyed base that fits into one of two slots labeled "A" and "B." An interlock system prevents the power supply from providing power to SCP-712 unless all elements and switches are set to either "A" or "B."
Do not make any adjustments to SCP-712-1 unless you have verified that power is disconnected. If you feel that basic safety rules do not apply to you, I will be more than happy to reassign you to a position in which your risk of injury will be limited to papercuts and writer's cramp. - Dr. ███████
Common Effects of SCP-712:
The following effects have been observed in subjects exposed to SCP-712:
— Perceived desaturation when viewing colors in the visible spectrum. After viewing SCP-712-1a, subjects perceive desaturation of yellow and blue colors; after viewing SCP-712-1b, subjects perceive desaturation of red and green colors. This is the most commonly reported effect.
— Viewing SCP-712-a and SCP-712-b has triggered severe migraine headaches with visual aura in subjects predisposed to migraines on several occasions.
— Diminished ability of the subject's eyes to focus visible wavelengths of light while retaining the ability to focus SCP-712 wavelengths.
— Temporary complete blindness to the visible spectrum has been observed in two subjects. Both subjects recovered within the 30 day observation period.
— Grand Mal seizures. Before the recovery of SCP-712, Dr. ██████ ███████████ appeared to have suffered a Grand Mal seizure. During initial experimentation, two subjects diagnosed with epiliepsy suffered seizures.
Recovery of SCP-712:
//The Foundation was alerted to a possible anomalous object when Dr. ██████ ███████████, a respected professor of Physics at █████████ University was institutionalized following a reported nervous breakdown resulting in a fugue state lasting several days. Dr. ███████████ is a highly respected expert in sensitometry and had been expanding on Crane and Piantinaida's research into human perception of "impossible colors" for three years prior to the recovery of SCP-712.
Research assistants studying under Dr. ███████████ found him unconsicous in his optics laboratory on July 02, 2009 after apparently having ripped the power cord of SCP-712 from a bench power supply during a grand mal seizure. Foundation investigators posing as doctors with the state's Department of Mental Health interviewed Dr. ███████████'s assistants and found that Dr. ███████████ "had always been obsessive about his work," often working long hours, a tendency that was also reported by former colleagues. Research assistants reported that Dr. ███████████ had recently begun to exhibit signs of severe stress, working around the clock and sleeping for short periods of time in his lab so as to devote more time to his work. Several interviewees noted that Dr. ███████████ had recently begun to make remarks about "doing the impossible" and discovering "the next level of human perception," but that he was secretive about his work and refused to allow colleagues and research staff into his laboratory beginning three weeks prior to his seizure and breakdown.
Foundation staff searched Dr. ███████████'s laboratory and found SCP-712 mounted to a table with the emitting lens aimed at an 18% grey optical target placed 9907mm from the emitting lens. On a desk behind SCP-712 were a single page of handwritten calculations describing the two output wavelengths of SCP-712, and a journal of notes. SCP-712 is referred to simply as "The Machine." The contents of the second page detailed observations of SCP-712's effects and Dr. ███████████'s personal notes. The content of the pages are transcribed as follows
Page 1: [Data EXPUNGED]
Journal: [Data EXPUNGED]
Dr. ███████████'s handwriting becomes progressively less legible toward the end of the journal as he describes growing effects of observing SCP-712. He makes several mentions of protecting others and keeping them away from SCP-712
After reviewing Dr. ███████████'s writings, Foundation personnel recovered SCP-712. A cover story was presented to Dr. ███████████'s colleagues and researchers explaining that his research into LASER technology had been classified as a matter of national security. All individuals agreed to sign nondisclosure agreements and were subsequently administered Class A amnesiacs and implanted with false memories; research assistants were paid stipends as compensation. SCP-712-1 was removed and transported to Site-19.
Personal notes of Dr. ███████:
09-August-2008
I've run the calculations a dozen times, but I still can't figure out where ███████████ got these variables. Bypass the safety on the magnets and the beams cancel each other at the emitting lens. Rotate the lens to the wrong position and you get nothing. The magnet is epoxied in place and I can't remove it without damaging it irreparably. As close as I can approximate, the beam it generates is [REDACTED] oscillating cleanly from positive to negative at [REDACTED]. It shouldn't be emitting anything, but point it at a target and it lights up. I'm submitting a request for human testing, I'm at my wit's end.
13-August-2008
I've made no progress on the math and neither have any of the Foundation's other physicists. The emitting lens seems to have a refractive index that varies significantly across the visible spectrum and the plot is asymptotic at certain points. It sounds crazy, but I'm inclined to trust Dr. ███████████'s research; [REDACTED]
14-August-2008
We carried out the first test today.
"Assume that everything I've told you is true.
"What's the worst case scenario?"
It's my job to answer that question; it's been my job for the past 22 years. I've been asked that same question by everyone from tobacco company executives to defense contractors. My life and livelihood depended on giving them the right answers. This one had degraded into nonsense; this "doctor" was screwing around and I couldn't understand why. The situation he had laid out was absurd — the whole interview was absurd — but I was once more being paid good money to answer that question even if the question and consequent answers didn't make a lot of sense.
"Doctor, at that point things would be bad. You would have lost containment entirely, everyone who could stop the spread would be dead, and over the next 24 hours everyone within a hundred miles would be at risk. But at that point, the worst case scenario is that reestablishing containment is the least of your worries because a previously undiscovered deep space object was just detected coming out of our observational blind spot behind the sun on a collision course with earth, leaving us only a few hours to come to terms with our inevitable destruction. That's always the worst case scenario."
You know what they say - garbage in, garbage out.
"It's been done. September 1992. One of my junior researchers assigned to the L3 observatory spotted it with a good two weeks' notice. That was the day the observatory paid for itself. It could have been bad, but we took a few notes for next time and went about our business.
"If you'll excuse me for a minute, I'll be right back with something for you."
He had to be screwing with me. But nobody with the security clearance he had provided would bring me in just to screw around. The nondisclosure agreements he had signed to get me in here had been drawn up by some of the world's best lawyers, this wasn't for anyone else's amusement. Bits and pieces of memories in the back of my mind started to come together. I tried to remember what I had heard on the news, 1994, mass casualty incident at Mill Cove, officials blamed an outbreak of a strain of Avian flu that was thought to have been extinct.
I have to giver him credit, he's planted enough doubt in my mind that I was starting to question what I knew to have happened.But my imagination was running wild and I had broken into a cold sweat by the time he came back.. He slid three folders over to me and asked me to read each one carefully and let him know when I was done. I took about ten minutes poring over details of each. For what they were paying me, I'd figured I'd play along. I looked back up and he spoke again, "Same question. Assuming these files are true, what's the worst case scenario?"
I handed him the first of the folders and said, "This one is easy. Don't let anyone touch it without gloves. Put it in a locker somewhere and don't let people have the key. That's it, it can't do anything if it's locked in a box. Your worst case scenario is that someone doesn't think it's dangerous and tries to play with it."
I thumbed through the second folder again and handed it to him. I responded, "This one's a bit more touchy. Keep it away from people, and require people assigned to it run any decisions by someone off-site. The worst case is that you let people start to empathize and let it out."
I slid the third folder across the desk and managed to keep a straight face. This one was a stupid joke, some kind of test that a psychology degree dropout would come up with to make sure you're thinking outside the box. "Doctor, this is not something you're prepared to deal with; it's an out-of-context problem straight out of a science fiction writer's mind. You can't contain it because it figures out what you're doing and breaks out. Every time you try to do something about it, it gets stronger. One day you're going to try something outrageous and it's going to outsmart you, then it's going to kill you. Then it's going to kill everything else it can. Then someday a few billion years from now, when lighting strikes a pool of mud and some sort of primitive self-replicating molecule forms, it's going to find and destroy that. This thing is the worst case scenario.
"Do you have any more questions?"
"No, Mr. Hanford,I'd like to offer you a job with the foundation."