"The Voice Thief"
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| SCP-XXXX in containment. |
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Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be contained in low-security locker 12-R in Storage Site-23. Testing may be carried out with the written permission of Dr. █████; a guitar amplifier and dictation recorder are both available in locker 12-A for testing purposes.
Description: SCP-XXXX is a guitar effects pedal superficially resembling a ███████-brand chorus pedal; a label on its underside identifies it as a "Telmi 40-B "Voice Thief" Vocal Synthesizer". On the pedal's lower panel are twenty small white buttons, each one marked with a particular letter or group of letters, as well as one red button labelled "Record", and a black button labelled "Random". The upper panel has three knobs labelled "Gender", "Pitch" and "Emotion", four buttons labelled "1", "2", "3" and "4", and two red buttons labelled "load" and "save".
SCP-XXXX can be plugged into any standard amplifier or guitar/amplifier setup. Any of the twenty lettered keys may then be pressed to produce the sound of a human voice. Each key corresponds to a single vocal sound; for example, pressing the "H", "EH", "LL", and "OH" buttons in quick succession would produce the word "hello". SCP-XXXX's output is highly realistic; in many cases, D-Class personnel were unable to tell the difference between recordings human voices and recordings of voices generated by SCP-XXXX.
SCP-XXXX has the capability to record and reproduce strings of speech using the "record", "load" and "save" buttons. Testing has revealed that up to 10 minutes of speech can be recorded. Modification of the voice is possible via the three knobs; "Gender" alters the timbre of the voice to create a more masculine or feminine sound, "Pitch" changes the pitch of the voice by up to two octaves, and "Emotion" adds random variations in pitch and timbre to the voice.
When the "Random" button is pressed, SCP-XXXX will automatically generate speech strings. It is believed that each string corresponds to the spoken dialogue of a currently alive human being. After one minute of dialogue, the speech will change to another string. The "Gender", "Warmth" and "Emotion" settings are automatically adapted for each string; if any of the knobs are adapted whilst a random string is being spoken, SCP-XXXX will stop producing voices and fall silent. To date, over 3000 separate dialogues of note have been recorded by Foundation personnel.
SCP-XXXX was recovered from the house of ████████ ███████, a musician living in Bristol, England, in late 1984. Mr. ██████ had earlier reported the item to the police after believing it to be a radio transmitter; he claimed to have brought it from the ██████ music shop in central Bristol. The owner of the shop, ███ ██████, claimed not to remember where the item had been purchased from. Class-A amnesiacs were admitted to Mr. ███████ and Mr. ██████.
Addendum SCP-XXXX-1: Notable Voice Strings
Date: 11/14/1984
Description: Dialogue indicates a political speech or party broadcast, with several references to "the opposition" and "our party". Voice is male, speaking in French.
Notes: Dr. ███████ identified the speaker as █████ ████████, the leader of the Belgian ███████ Party; comparison of recent footage of Mr ████████ with the recorded audio appeared to suggest this was the case.
Date: 12/1/1987
Description: Dialogue consisted of several long repetitions of the "ah" sound, with occasional "doo wop" style vocal interjections.
Notes: Six months after the recording, the song "████████ ██ ████" by rock singer █████ ██████ was released. Researchers noted that the backing vocals were very similar to the recorded output from SCP-XXXX.
Date: 5/4/1990
Description: Dialogue consisted of a description of the fall of the Berlin Wall as seen from the Brandenburg Gate. Voice was male, speaking in Arabic.
Notes:
Date: 3/25/1995
Description: Dialogue consisted of mainly laboured breathing, with two interjections of "I don't want to go like this" and "Where was my priest?". Voice was in Italian. The last 19 seconds of the recording were silent.
Notes: As of 2013, the speaker has not been positively identified.
Date: 7/16/1997
Description: The whole minute consisted of the "AA" sound, briefly punctuated with silence.
Date: 1/5/2001
Description: Dialogue consisted of the speech of Dr. ██████, the researcher testing SCP-XXXX at the time.
Notes: Dr. ██████ noted that the delay between his voice and the recorded output from SCP-XXXX was less than half a second.
Addendum SCP-XXXX-2