Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be stored in a standard storage locker when not in testing. During testing procedures, it should be wall-mounted, and should be plugged in only by testing personnel. When in use, care should be taken to keep non-testing personnel from seeing it either directly or indirectly; rooms used for testing must have no camera monitoring, and any windows must not provide a direct line of sight to SCP-XXXX.
Description: SCP-XXXX is a small flat-screen television with a diagonal of approximately .5 meters which, when used, reduces an individual's perception to a continuous stream of events which the subject perceives as important. This manifests as extreme retrograde and anterograde amnesia, and up to 98% of events cannot be recalled. The content displayed on the television is not anomalous or altered from the expected output. Affected memories usually include mundane activities such as eating, driving and sleeping, and any other tasks which for that individual are routine, though these are not the only events which are affected. Almost all remembered events are things with great personal significance to the viewer.
Those affected are unaware that events occur which they do not recall; they perceive the passage of time during events they recall as being completely normal, even though this frequently involves skipping large portions of time. For instance, someone whose memories jump directly from day to night believe that this is totally consistent with the normal passage of time. When in the middle of anything which will not be remembered, affected individuals become extremely lethargic; while their ability to complete tasks is not hindered, their attention becomes nearly impossible to hold more than momentarily. The moment an experience which will be remembered begins, though, they immediately become lively and active. While any stressful occurrence (such as assault or battery) can be used to force an individual to enter this active state, the most effective method seems to be questioning the subject about the effects SCP-XXXX has on them; however, this has a secondary side effect of inducing anxiety and sometimes violence in the subject.
Approximately 2-6% of waking hours are typically recalled regardless of what exactly occurs during those hours; this corresponds to roughly 20 to 60 minutes per day, and each affected person seems to have a stable percentage of their life they recall. For this reason, interviews performed for research purposes have tended to be extremely limited, and must be carefully planned around days when presumably few significant events will occur. During these interviews, subjects frequently refer to the events they recall as "episodes", leading to speculation that they comprehend their lives as television series, with each day's memories composing an episode.
Interview Log:
Interviewed: D-8063
Interviewer: Dr. █████
Foreword: D-8063 has been exposed to SCP-XXXX and is currently tasked with daily maintenance activities with SCP-████. These activities take approximately 40 minutes, and the rest of D-8063's day is spent in D-class living quarters or the D-class dining area.
Dr. █████: Can you please tell me what you've done each day over the past week, and approximately how long each thing you've done has taken?
D-8063: I've just been taking care of the animal thing they assigned me to; I fill a container with feed and carry it into the room where they keep it and then record all the numbers on the machine they have outside its room. I guess it usually takes about 30 minutes; it's a pretty long walk from the place where I collect the food. In today's episode, that didn't take quite as long; the walk there wasn't quite as long this time.
Dr. █████: Do you do anything else? For instance, do you eat meals in the dining hall, or spend time in your living quarters?
D-8063: No, I can't say that I do. I guess I must just be in good shape. I think I've only had a couple meals since I started working here; I had one the first day that I was here, and then I had another one later. A fight broke out at that one, so I guess I've avoided going there again.
Dr. █████: Can you tell me what your favorite food is? Do you have a favorite meal you recall from the past?
D-8063: Before I went to prison I had birthday cake with my family. That was the last thing I ate before I went to prison, which was a few weeks later. So I guess that's probably my favorite.
Dr. █████: Do you recall the last time you used the restroom? Or the last time you took a shower? What about the last time you were bored?
D-8063: I guess all of those things are pretty distant memories. It's probably been at least years since I did any of that.
Dr. █████: Don't you find all of that strange? Why aren't you malnourished? How can you go years without things like showering or using the restroom? And regardless of the circumstances, how could you go literally years without being bored? I'm just trying to understand how you can see all of this as normal.
At this point, D-8063 became agitated and refused to answer. Upon hearing the question repeated, she became angry and began to respond only with growling. The interview was brought to a close and her mood returned to normal almost immediately.
Addendum 1: Studies into the long-term effects of SCP-XXXX involving D-5926 have demonstrated an additional effect which seems to manifest over time. After approximately 8 months under the effects of SCP-XXXX, D-5926 began to spend extended periods of time completely motionless seemingly at random, often lasting hours. In interviews, he described how he would occasionally experience "flashbacks" in which events which he recalled from his past would be replayed in his mind, though with heavily muted colors and with much greater brightness than the rest of his life. Chronologically, compared to other events he recalled, these flashbacks seemed to take place during these periods of immobility. The frequency and duration of these increased to the point where frequently several weeks would pass between points of consciousness for him, and after a three-month period in which he remained completely motionless in a lab setting, he was determined to no longer be of research value and was terminated. Additional studies into these effects with other individuals are pending.