SCP-5295

Item#: SCP-5295
Level4
Containment Class:
esoteric
Secondary Class:
continua
Disruption Class:
dark
Risk Class:
notice

LCIII.jpg

SCP-5295-A, deactivated.

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5295-A has been rendered permanently non-functional via disconnection from SCP-5295-B. It has been remanded to the custody of the Chief of Identity and Technocryptography at Site-43.

As the file structure of both SCP-5295-A and -B is thaumaturgical in nature, no files originating from either may be transferred to any device except under strict supervision by I&T personnel.

Research into the origins or functionality of SCP-5295-A is forbidden by order of the O5 Council.


Description: SCP-5295-A is a 1993 Apple Macintosh LC III personal computer formerly used by the Identity and Technocryptography Section of Site-43 between 1993 and 1996. After a series of costly hard disk failures, I&T Chief Rudolph Marroquin arranged the upgrade of the Site's network of computers with a mass purchase of LC III models in the year of their release, heavily customized by I&T personnel to suit Foundation needs. SCP-5295-A was Chief Marroquin's own personal computer.

SCP-5295-B is a model M0135 Apple Macintosh 20MB external hard disk containing files previously associated with SCP-5295-A. It was received by Chief Marroquin as a Christmas gift from junior technician Eileen Veiksaar in 1994.

SCP-5295-A behaves as a typical machine of its model. Its anomalous properties are most apparent when an application entitled "Total Area Network," or "TAN," is activated. This application presents the user with a series of prompts, appearing one after the other until a sufficient level of granular detail is achieved to proceed:

  • Device ID
  • Country
  • Region
  • Subregion
  • Municipality
  • Street Address
  • Room

Completing this prompt chain enables the user to access any Macintosh LC III computer anywhere on Earth, so long as it is presently active. After selecting their preferred machine, the user must wait for that machine's owner to deactivate it. The owner will be confronted with the following modified version of their device's shutdown screen; the alterations will typically escape their notice.

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Message received by devices pending access by SCP-5295-A.

Once its target is deactivated, SCP-5295-A will restart, and TAN will then allow it to access the target's file structure as though the two machines were connected by a local area network. TAN functions even when SCP-5295-A is not itself connected to any network, and even when the target device is completely disconnected from all power sources.

Any files accessed by SCP-5295-A will become heavily corrupted on the target machine. This corruption entails the insertion of a series of junk values into said files, rendering them unreadable.


Addendum 5295-1, Incident Report: The following document describes the circumstances leading to the Foundation's discovery and containment of SCP-5295.

Final Report: SCP-5295

Noor Zaman
Chief, Hiring and Regulation Section
SCP Foundation Lake Huron Research and Containment Site-43

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Preface: This report was prepared at the behest and under the auspices of the SCP Foundation Ethics Committee.

Summary: The Identity and Technocryptography Section of Site-43 has evolved, to all outward appearances, into a tightly-knit and clannish enclave not inconsistent with cabals of computer programmers and information technology personnel the world over. However, covert investigation has revealed a far less pleasant explanation for this Section's high esprit de corps.

I&T was a relatively small Section when Chief Marroquin took over in 1985 during the personal computer boom. As the Foundation's computing needs increased, particularly in this case to service the vast historical database housed at Site-43, Chief Marroquin's responsibilities expanded significantly and he hand-picked a group of talented technicians to help him with his work. Hiring and Regulation reviews of his staff from this period describe the Chief as a detached, cold, and laser-focused individual with a reputation for harsh discipline.

Eight years later, coinciding with the replacement of most personal computers in the Site with Macintosh LC III models, Chief Marroquin's staff described him as warm, paternal, and fostering a positive work environment at I&T. I recall flagging this dramatic shift for review in the H&R database; no record of this flag now exists, following critical corruption of said database in early 1994.

The only exception to this trend of positivity was the suicide of Chief Marroquin's executive assistant, Arnold Villis, in July of 1994. Villis broke into Marroquin's office, attempted to gain access to the Chief's personal computer, and then hanged himself. Security and Containment Section review detected no irregularities in the conduct of I&T's personnel, and Villis' death was ruled the product of snapping under stress.

In early 1996 junior technician Eileen Veiksaar approached me with a request to seize Chief Marroquin's personal computer and search it for sensitive and confidential material which she claimed he had been acquiring from his staff since 1993. She specifically requested that her accusation be logged in the H&R database, and that both Chief Marroquin and herself be named. This was done, and after brief consultation with the Site Director and All-Sections Chief, I proceeded to Chief Marroquin's office to confiscate the offending device.

Chief Marroquin was found frantically attempting to activate his personal computer. When I arrived with two security agents, he briefly attempted to escape by remotely deactivating the lights in his office through unclear means. He was successfully detained, however, because technician Veiksaar had remained in the outer hallway and struck his spectacles hard enough to break the glass.

After treatment at Health and Pathology, Chief Marroquin consented to the following interview.

Date: 6 January 1996

Investigating Officer: N. Zaman (Chief, Hiring and Regulation)


Chief Zaman: Do you know why we've detained you?

Chief Marroquin: Because I got lens glass in my ocular implants.

Chief Zaman: You know, we weren't aware that you had ocular implants.

Chief Marroquin: I don't know how to respond to that politely.

Chief Zaman: Yes, I've heard you're quite impolite. Until 1993, when you apparently became the sweetest boss in the world. Care to explain that?

Chief Marroquin: I read one of those management handbooks. Really changed my outlook.

Chief Zaman: Things will go more smoothly for you if you cooperate.

Chief Marroquin: I haven't done anything wrong. That little bitch Veiksaar, however, somehow destroyed a valuable piece of I&T equipment. She's going to find herself fee—

Chief Zaman: She's been promoted to full technician, actually.

Chief Marroquin: What?!

Chief Zaman: For capturing a Maxwellist agent, and recovering almost fifty megabytes of stolen confidential data.

Silence on recording.

Chief Zaman: I'm surprised you didn't make a full-on artificial intelligence. An anomalous computer seems so low-key for you people.

Chief Marroquin: You wouldn't say that if you'd had to make an operating system operating on thaumaturgical principles that still looks like it's running Mac System 7 at a glance.

Chief Zaman: Hmm. Perhaps. Well, one thing bothers me.

Chief Marroquin: Only one? Somebody's cynical.

Chief Zaman: Why did you include a "tell" in the Total Area Network application?

Chief Marroquin: A what? A "tell"?

Chief Zaman: "You may not switch off your Macintosh safely."

Chief Marroquin stares at Zaman for a moment, then bursts into laughter.

Chief Marroquin: So that's what old Villis was up to in my office, before he put on his necktie. I didn't notice any code changes, but that's such a tiny one… he helped me with the magic, you know? Of course you don't know, he's not even on record as a thaumaturge with you idiots. Anyway, I'd had him in my pocket for years before I dreamed up this scheme with the LC IIIs.

Chief Zaman: We're the idiots, but you missed the altered code?

Chief Marroquin: Guess I'm not as detail-oriented as I thought.

Chief Zaman: That would explain your present circumstances.

Chief Marroquin: Fair play. So, how did you get the machine working again?

Chief Zaman: Why would I tell you that?

Chief Marroquin grunts.

Chief Marroquin: Because even if you can turn the thing on, you don't know how to decrypt my files.

Chief Zaman: Are you offering a trade?

Chief Marroquin: Yeah. Don't feed me to the lizard, or whatever it is you do to traitors, and tell me how some snot-nosed script kiddie was able to fuck me over this bad, and I'll give you enough intel to fill two LC III hard disks.

Chief Zaman rises from the table, walks to the door, and opens it.

Chief Zaman: Come on in.

Technician Veiksaar enters the room. She does not sit down.

Chief Marroquin: Afraid I'll bite?

Technician Veiksaar: Can't be too careful with a Hummer, they tell me.

Chief Marroquin: And yet you crossed me.

Technician Veiksaar: Can't be a hacker without a code, boss. I went with the "don't fuck people over" one.

Chief Marroquin: I always liked the other one better. So, how did you do it?

Technician Veiksaar laughs.

Technician Veiksaar: I figured you'd be scanning the database for any mention of you, in case one of your blackmail targets bit back, so I had Chief Zaman namedrop us both. Figured you'd then try to access the Site's security system and make good your escape; of course, that anomalous program of yours would require you to restart your computer. Didn't turn back on, though, did it?

Technician Veiksaar grins.

Technician Veiksaar: I got one of those LC IIIs for my birthday in '93, along with a bunch of floppies. Do you know, if you copy the System folder onto one, then delete it from the hard disk, you can't boot the machine afterwards without the floppy? I figured well, why not shove a few of your spooky weird files onto that external drive, see if the same principle applies. You always keep it plugged in anyway, I figured you'd never notice.

Technician Veiksaar brandishes SCP-5295-B.

Technician Veiksaar: I guess this is part of the anomaly now, so I'd better go turn it over. Merry Christmas and a happy new year, Rudy!

Technician Veiksaar surrendered SCP-5295-B to Security and Containment. On the condition that he be permanently remanded to the custody of Area-06, Chief Marroquin provided decryption keys allowing access to the locked files on SCP-5295-A. Representative excerpts from his extensive diaries follow.

Michaels
Lucky break with this guy. Checked out the Site-01 database on a whim — turns out he came to Canada from Chicago on witness protection. Pissed off some anomalous gangsters. Didn't even know they still had those! Anyway, great leverage.

Horn
I don't know where he got those images, but they're the kind of illegal even the Foundation doesn't forgive you for. I own him now.

Iqbal
Took a gander in the GOC's files. They think he's dead! He will be, if I tell them. Agent, you're going to make this job go much smoother.

Villis
Too bad, great hacker. Couldn't have built this baby without him; guess he felt guilty. Surprised somebody who was already selling info to the Hand would suddenly develop a moral compass! I wonder what he thought they'd do to him. Something worse than a death by hanging, apparently. Wish he'd done the deed in his own office.

Turlough
The moment, the moment I gave this idiot network access, he tried to use it to look up files above his clearance level. I'll bet he thought he was so clever, unplugging his computer every night. Magic computer don't care, Turlough!

Avelina
The lady wants to be a Maxwellist herself! And guess who has the only computer in the Site that can access the Church's holy databases? Tit-for-tat, Cassandra.

Veiksaar
She's got a boyfriend off-Site, and she's teaching him crypto shit. What an idiot! She'll fold like a card table rather than report that to the Director, I'll wager. I own you too, beautiful..Technician Veiksaar allowed Chief Marroquin to believe he had successfully blackmailed her, but immediately reported her extracurricular activities to Site Director Scout instead. In light of her honesty, no action was taken.

It was found that Chief Marroquin had compromised more than half of the technicians in his Section by either accumulating blackmail material or providing them with anomalously-sourced benefits, all through the use of SCP-5295-A. He refused to reveal the means by which he had accomplished this feat, and was transferred to Site-06 as agreed upon along with seven members of his team. Of the remaining twenty-nine, eighteen were considered security risks and amnesticized, greatly reducing the effectiveness of I&T.

A comprehensive overview of the Site's security protocols, and attempts to judge the severity of Chief Marroquin's information breach, took over seven months. It was found that as the TAN application is unable to write anything but junk data to its targets, Marroquin had not yet transmitted his cache of information to the Church of Maxwellism.

During this time technician Veiksaar submitted the following request to Chief Nancy Briggs, Marroquin's successor:

Sir,

SCP-5295-A and -B must be decommissioned. Chief Marroquin's actions, enabled by this device, almost supplied detailed tactical information to a hostile Group of Interest and were nearly enough to completely wipe out our Section.

Even in the hands of a trustworthy operative, SCP-5295 represents too great a security risk and too serious a moral temptation. We're better than this.

— Eileen Veiksaar, technician, Site-43

While decommissioning was not approved, Briggs secured O5 approval to render SCP-5295-A inoperative by instead destroying SCP-5295-B. The computer no longer boots, and three months of sustained study by I&T were unable to devise a workaround. The anomaly was therefore classified Continua, and the present Special Containment Procedures put in place.


Addendum 5295-2, Final Update: As of 2021 the present Chief of Identity and Technocryptography, Eileen Veiksaar, has custody of this anomaly and is fully briefed on all duties relating thereto.


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