Collab: Several Nights at ShowBiz Pizza Place
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Info
Author(s): JakdragonX
Title: SCP-5987 - "One Night at Chuck E. Cheese"
Other Works:
Concept:
Anomalous 8-bit game (possibly the entire arcade/restaurant) which utilizes children's souls as a precursor to A.I. (six separate recorded entities).
Concerns:
- How do these children become entrapped? Were they just the first ones to play the games, or were they possibly marked somehow?
- How can we flush out the characterization of these entities? I think we could take a Panopticon or even SCP-1926 approach and use exploration logs. But should we try to implement all of them? One or two instances?
- We still need to discuss how the Foundation interacts with the anomaly. I'll try to define this in the outline section though.
Any thoughts?
Alright, so I was thinking they were just coincidentally chosen? You know how when you play a claw machine and there's a yellow bax inside of it saying how much money must be put in before you win? Its sort of like that, but instead of the bax (Yes I spell bax weird. I know its wrong hush.) The machine kind of malfunctioned as in the fact that people would play, people would play, but nobody was taken until these kids played? I dunno.
Also!!! This is still a Foundation article despite being heavily Arcadia right? Not exactly sure how to start lmao
That's okay! I'll help us get started. (Now that I'm thinking about it, I dont think this detail is really necessary :P)
Wait! I had an idea. What if the manager of our little restaurant was the killer? And he acted like the "Purple Guy," deceiving people around him while also taking the lives of random children as he saw fit? (Well, in this circumstance he would choose what children had their souls sucked out of them and used in the machine :P). That could be another option?
Like he leads them to the game? Like, he works for Arcadia but like in secret! Then he leads the kids to the game, tinkers with it a little, then the kids play?
I like that a lot. However, I dont think theres a reason why his affiliation with Arcadia should be a secret. Thematically speaking, it would make sense if the Foundation was aware of his ties to the GoI, since then it would make sense how Arcadia and Chuck E. Cheese are involved (of course neglecting the known fact that Nolan started Chuck E. Cheese :P). I think his affiliation with the occult should be left secret though. That way, he can deceive the Foundation into believing that he was just a harmless employee trying to helps a previously boss out.
Yes! That was what I was trying to get at lol.
Oooh gotcha! My bad! (Let me go ahead and get started on a rough Description)
Narrative:
- Nolan founds Chuck E. Cheese (in case we want to structure the concept around Chuck E. Cheese)
- A mysterious corporation producing high-quality works and video game products with some sort of anomalous twist - good or bad.
- Somewhere in between for the silent years (1986 - 1990).
- In 1986, Arcadia returned to the look it had when it was a powerhouse. It was anything but. Arcadia had no real objective past survival, grasping at straws and odd job offers from companies looking to make a cheap buck. Deprived of their empire, their equipment, their funding, and their place of prominence, Arcadia would never again be able to dictate the terms. They would be lucky to survive at all.
- Kicking into gear in 1967, Arcadia quickly appropriated connections in order to make their first original product; the Dabney-Syzygy Inhibitor. Partnering with Nutting Associates under the guise of developing a commercial computer game, the Inhibitor inside what would become "Computer Space" allowed them to refine their technique on half-drunk pinball players who didn't understand the ramifications of trading their souls for quarters.
- Looking for more funding now that he didn't have the limitless funds of the men in black, Bushnell grew tired under the self-imposed limitations of Arcadia, and left in 1969 to pursue his own projects. His little cabal left with him. Arcadia was thrust into the hands of Dan "Wolf" Dunn, a recently-hired visual designer and story-writer.
- Arcadia as a whole was totally unprepared for the video game market crash of 1983. This Arcadian shock zapped the market to a fraction of its former value, resulting in the rough and dirty death throes of the company.
- Dunn finally realized in mid-1985 the severity of the losses that Arcadia had taken during their drug-filled stupors. He had also been tiring of the near twenty years of demonic influences upon Arcadia.
TO SUMMARIZE:
Before we actually begin establishing a narrative, theres a few contextual things we need to establish with Arcadia.
- I think our best course of action is to set our narrative around 1987, during a period of decline for Arcadia. In other words, this is the time frame in which Arcadia is leaderless, no stable income, and living in a shadow of its former self. I think this could also add for motivation to our story.
- Arcadia is an occult, and it's well established for interacting/dealing with demonic activity. Arcadia may also be a front for some organized crime? (???) which could be an interesting tie-in.
- I dont think it's in our best interests to tie this narrative into animatronic characters. I think utilizing the 8-bit style games, and tying it into the soul-capturing aspect of Arcadia (lost souls of children! Perfect!) could be very interesting.
I think we also need to establish a mood/theme before sitting down and discussing lore. I do have a few ideas for mood/tone, but nothing really for theme? Heres my idea:
- Mood/Tone: I think having a classic horror-esque/lonely outlook would be fantastic for this concept. Trying to tackle the emotions behind the lost souls (and maybe even for the people interacting with these souls?) will really make this anomaly stand out.
- Theme: ???
Once we figure this out, then we can really begin outlining a narrative.
I agree with this. Maybe go with more of a horror tone for the beginning but as the reader uncovers things it goes from horror to emotional, like a gradient. Possibly adding in some statements from the families like an old news cast? Mirroring the story from the 8-bit mini games (in fnaf) as you had said. Instead of say a murder we go with the idea of 6 children were playing a game, they got their souls stolen leaving no trace of them. There was a panic, and the arcade they were playing at shutting down due to the "abduction" of the kids. Later, maybe something with a researcher being interested in the game, playing it, and meeting the souls. Who then were trying to save the researcher?
I like that! Here, let's boil down what we have so far to this:
A series of children (six?) gets trapped in an 8-bit style game and cannot escape.
I think we could also tie this into:
These children later express regret for entering said game, reminiscing on how much sorrow they share for not being able to grow up or become human again. They're lonely, but are unable to express it through the games code.
I wonder how we could tie this to the demonic/occult side of Arcadia? Perhaps, in a one-off attempt to rekindle their previous glory, they somehow use these souls as a precursor for procedurally-generated style games? (I.E., they used the children's souls as a sort of A.I.) (OH! This could also tie into the animatronics! If the game was connected into Chuck E. Cheeses systems. Maybe whenever the animatronics begin to act erratically it's a sign that the children are active in-game? However, that may be a bit too much. Lets focus on the bare-bones before adding on. :P).
Side note: the setting for this is obviously in Chuck E. Cheese
YES! I like that. The main anomaly being the game that takes souls? (original was in a chuck e cheese) The game was made to make Arcadia become great again (possibly to sell the souls? but being unable to get the souls out.) The Chuck e Cheese goes under heavy scrutiny for the abduction of the children. That location gets shut down due to lack of service. The arcade game falls into the hands of a few people. Then some how we get to the kids regretting entering the game, reminiscing on how much sorrow they share for not being able to grow up or become human again. Though? Maybe do it as if someone was playing and the game broke giving way to the children? I'm a lot better at the story telling side of these things, not so much the tone and other stuff lol.
Alright! Heres our one sentence little pitch:
Several children get trapped into a Chuck E. Cheese 8-bit arcade game and then later reminisce on their regrets after the Foundation discovers them.
Let's expand it out into a paragraph:
In 1986, shortly after the leave of Arcadia's previously leader, several agents from the company begin a Chuck E. Cheese franchise located at [TBD]. In a one-off attempt to help Arcadia, the Chuck E. Cheese franchise agrees to collaborate, which ends with the installation of six dedicated 8-bit games at the restaurant. After a series of children disappear nearby the restaurant, the Foundation later discover that their souls are being used as a A.I. within the games, all of them being shared between systems. The article ends after dedicated explorations uncover how these children interact and handle their new environments, and how much they regret.
How does this sound so far?
FUCK YEAH! FUCK YEAH DUDE!!! That sounds great =D
Perfect! Let me go ahead and make the appropriate changes to our current outline. (Also, "Cursing Jerry" is great 😂)
Outline:
Heres where we can figure out the pacing and the layout of information given to the reader! So far, with the information we've discussed, I think this is going to become a pretty hefty article. So, we need to make sure we keep the central idea throughout, and to also be careful of giving too much or too little information. As such, I propose we implement the following outline for our narrative:
[[span style="color:green"]]Special Containment Procedures/Description: Our primary concern with these two is to establish the beginning tone. We need to make the reader feel the horror. I also think we need to limit the wordcount to as little as possible so the Addendums are more significant. Withholding information is our friend here.
Addendum 1: I think we should use this Addendum in order to reveal both the initial discovery of the anomaly, as well as the Foundations initial response. I think using a Headline snippet to reveal the missing children, and then having the Foundation interview the manager of the restaurant is the way to go. It will also establish our initial conflict, which will be vital for the pacing. (Also can be used to establish exposition!)
Addendum 2: This can be the segment where the Foundation begins playing with the arcade games, interacting with the anomaly. Our primary concern is to establish vermisiltude, or the belief that what they're doing is real. This could also be used to bring out that horror, as well as hint towards the more sad/regretful aspect of the children who are entrapped?
Addendum 3: I think having one or two of the A.I.'s suddenly go haywire would create a satisfying twist/ending for the article. Maybe during an experiment, the children begin to cry in-game, screaming at the researchers that they are sad? This would devolve the previous horror element, and establish that feeling of loneliness and worry that we want our readers to feel. [[/span]
This outline is definitely not final. It needs to be worked on a lot, and we need to actually write down what segments are going to be involved in the article itself. Any suggestions would be immensely appreciated!
Yeah, what if we did something like that, but they start glitching out and screaming in pain? Crying, almost bringing back a horror-esq aspect back to the end? Going back up to Addendum 2, we could do a research log of the researcher playing, having minor glitches like the characters start breaking dialogue that was programmed trying to help the researcher through this. Like lines of "Keep go— What are you doing? You have to fight them, don't let them hit you!" that way it hints to something more going on, but we don't yet know beyond dude is playing the game, and now these characters are yelling at him to get him to do what they want. With the last line of Addendum 2 (after maybe loosing?) One of the kids say "It hurts!" Or something similar to that? Almost as if when you loose it hurts the children.
with addendum one, what if we did the headline half way through or at the end of the addendum? Like we have the exposition of where the machine came from, then we have the headline, and then a snippet from the news article? then the Foundations interview? Unless thats what you were talking about.
I like those ideas! Let's work on getting some of those on paper tomorrow. If you have any concerns, questions, or anything else let me know!
Final Notes:
The web style format being used is not final. I solely used this to better help outline our article. I find this web format a bit jarring, especially since our article is going to date back to 1987. When it comes time to actually post, I'll be removing these elements and using the traditional Sigma-9 layout.
Collab Chat: Ft. KaraKatt, JakdragonX
Hey Kara! I'm going to be reading through some Arcadia things. Let me know if you have questions, ideas, or other comments! I'll try to walk you through the process so you can learn how to use the SCP format. I'm glad to collab with you!
Hey Jak! I can edit the page and I am going to read through some Arcadia as well! I will be sure to contact you if I have any questions. Thank you so much for this opportunity!!
My goal is to establish Arcadia, as well as hint towards FNAF as much as possible without it sounding cheap or copied (this is a challenge after all). I'm going to get us started with a concept, as well as a small foundation for a narrative (pun intended). I'm going to have you work on the majority of the narrative alongside me, since you're pretty adept at crafting stories. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know!
EDIT: if you have any ideas for the concept, do not hesitate to say it. I dont want you to think that your input isnt needed on any part of this. It's a joint effort after all!
Just heavily hint to the murder of 6 children inside of a chuck e cheese. Imeanwott. But no, maybe try and take some of the more hidden concepts of the games and hide them in the article? Then we can work upon a similar side story to our main story.
I like that! The first thought that comes to my mind is the 8-bit minigames that would appear throughout the games. I think we should use those (obviously as inspiration) to help fit that into the Arcadia aspect. I also know that Nolan (main antagonist of Arcadia GoI I believe) establishes Chuck E. Cheese. I think we should use that to our advantage.
But let's take a step back and think. We shouldnt plan a narrative without understanding Arcadia. If you look at the "NARRATIVE" section, you'll see some small facts/details about Arcadia that could be beneficial to our story. Let's try to list some things out and construct a narrative (which is what you should always do before figuring out a concept!)
Of course, of course! I just got done with the translation over on the Japanese branch, so I'm now getting into SCP writing mode (back to English, since I'm not fast when in the switch between) Give me a minute to read over some Arcadia stuff now that I'm back to English land and we can work from there!! Nolan, the man behind the slaughter.
I think it may be interesting to frame Nolan slightly less as a "pure antagonist." But, I'm not sure how to structure that. Time to read then!
What if he just bore witness to the murders? He didn't murder but he also didn't report it? Then he wouldn't be the antagonist, but he also isn't a saint.
Notes:
Jak original crit of the newspaper: You have all of the elements for this section, but I think its lacking in just a few small areas. As it stands, it kind of feels like this news snippet is less of a snippet and more of a "convenient information for the reader!" You have all of the elements, but I think adding some fake quotes and whatnot could add that small amount of detail needed to make this seem a little more realistic. As it stands, it doesnt really feel like a media piece.
REMOVED FROM DESCRIPTION:
When active, SCP-5963-(A-F) can perform the following operations:
- Directly interact with physical objects, such as lighting fixtures or inter-communication devices, despite having no access to these systems.
- Actively engage and communicate with players via the usage of an interactive keyboard and message prompt. Players can typically use the joystick and action buttons to select and enter letters.
- Manipulate or alter the behavior of the animatronic characters stationed throughout the premises.
- Edit or gain control over separate characters or entities in-game.
Item #: SCP-5963
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5963 is contained within a replicated ShowBiz Pizza Place located on the northern periphery of Site-119’s Anomalous Technology Containment Unit (ATCU). Foundation personnel, hereby referred to as "employees," are required to manage and operate this facility between the hours of 11:30 A.M. and 8:00 P.M. Other personnel, hereby referred to as "customers," are requested to periodically attend scheduled special events, occasions, or birthday parties within the new facility.
Inspections of SCP-5963-1 are to occur in Arcade Room every Tuesday and Thursday. In the event that any SCP-5963-1 instance is damaged or begins to emit any odor during operating hours, employees are required to repair and clean them as soon as possible. Employees may contact Senior Researcher Devin Collins for documentation, materials, or assistance concerning the regular inspection, cleaning, and maintenance of SCP-5963.
One D-Class personnel is granted access to SCP-5963-1 once per monthly basis. This is only to occur after the facility "closes" at 8:00 P.M. in order to minimize potential risks to other personnel. Researchers may continue physical or remote observations of these interactions.
Description: SCP-5963 refers to a series of anomalous events that manifest within a previously abandoned ShowBiz Pizza Place, located in Marionette, Wisconsin. These anomalous events can occur throughout the entirety of the premises; however, they appear to be centralized to a series of six arcade units, hereby collectively referred to as SCP-5963-1, that were recovered from the room of the same name.
Retrieved SCP-5963-1C instance recovered from ShowBiz Pizza Place in 1987.
Whenever SCP-5963-1 is in operation, a series of anomalous events can manifest during conventional playtime. These events are dictated by SCP-5963-(A-F).
SCP-5963-(A-F) is the collective designation given to six sapient entities that can manifest within any SCP-5963-1 instance. However, only one entity can appear between playthroughs. When active, SCP-5963-(A-F) can perform a series of physical and technical interactions with objects and players despite the limitations of its host SCP-5963-1 instance.
Recovered documents indicates that all SCP-5963-1 instances were directly purchased in-bulk from Arcadia, which correlates to several graphics of the company logo that appear on the exterior of the arcade units. No other information could be gathered from these sources.
Addendum 5963.1 - Discovery:
Local, Trustworthy, Reliable.
June 7th, 1987 |
PAGE 4 - Outdoor Sports Fest on June 14th |
25¢ - NO REFUNDS |
LOCAL RESTAURANT UNDER SCRUTINY?
SHOWBIZ PIZZA PLACE UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER THE ABDUCTION OF SIX CHILDREN.
MARIONETTE, WISCONSIN - ShowBiz Pizza Place has temporarily closed after the abduction of six children: Christopher Holems, Emily Hunt, William Duncan, Harper Reed, Justin Reed, and Mathew Gardiner, all of whom have not been seen since early last month. Eyewitnesses present at the time of these abductions, which occurred roughly between May 1st through May 7th, all recall a strange figure who reportedly led these children to the property of ShowBiz Pizza Place, currently operated by Michael Warren of Marionette County. One anonymous witness stated that they saw a child "completely disappear into thin air." These claims remain unverified due to a malfunctioning security system around the premises and a lack of suspects.
"This is a disaster," says Raina Holems, the distraught mother of Christopher Holems. "It feels like he's been erased from the world. It's terrible, I've lost my home, my job, and now my son. I just don't know what to do anymore." Holems was not the only one to vocalize their worries. Pleading for his childrens return Marcus Reed has this to say: “Please, if you have our children, please! Bring them back. If you’re listening, Justin and Harper, we love you. Please, come home.” No traces of these children have been found yet.
"We work very hard to maintain the safety and integrity of ShowBiz Pizza Place. To prevent further issues security will be updated and heavily monitored," says Michael Warren, current manager of ShowBiz Pizza Place, shortly after issuing a public statement on the matter (Page 6, "Security and ShowBiz, Warrens Statement").
Local authorities believe that a more thorough investigation of the restaurant may uncover the clues necessary to begin revealing key suspects. Unfortunately, no more information has been provided concerning the missing children. Authorities have reported that current investigations are halted due to unforeseen events. If you have any information on these missing children please contact…
Interviewed: Michael Warren
Interviewer: Dr. Jackson Cohen
Foreword: Dr. Cohen has been directed to evaluate and question Manager Michael Warren in order to ascertain enough evidence to validate the Foundation's involvement and the likelihood of anomalous influences surrounding ShowBiz Pizza Place.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Cohen: (Dr. Cohen walks into the room, taking a seat across from Michael Warren) Evening, Mr. Warren. I'm with the MCPD. I'm sure you know why I'm here?
Michael Warren: Of course.
Dr. Cohen: All right then. (Cohen pauses, looking down at his clipboard) What is your affiliation with Arcadia? I noticed some of their company logos on a few of your arcade games.
Michael Warren: I used to work for them several years ago. The only thing I have left of theirs are those arcade units I purchased from their headquarters in Irving. That was… when was it? Almost 2 or 3 years back? They were for our Arcade room back there. (Michael points past Cohen's right shoulder.)
Dr. Cohen: Is that all? I couldn't help but notice that photo up there of you and Nolan Bushnell. (Cohen glances upwards.) Were you two close?
Michael Warren: Nolan? Yeah, he and I were close. He hired me a few spots down the corporate ladder at Arcadia, when it first started. (Michael pauses.) It was a weird place. Sometimes, even when I worked for them, we got to see innovation. Other times we were dealing with some, uh, interesting customers. What about him?
Dr. Cohen: Are you aware of his current whereabouts?
Michael Warren: You mean where he's at now? Not anymore. We got out of touch a few years before I left. I only just talked to him shortly before I started here. Why, is he in trouble or somethin'?
Dr. Cohen: Not that I'm aware of. But then again, it's not my job to know. I just ask the questions. (Cohen writes briefly.) Can you tell me what you do know about him? Nolan, I mean.
Michael Warren: Nothing you don't probably already know. When I spoke with him, he told me that he knew about Arcadia's situation, when they were suffering from a harsh decline. The company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and I think he wanted to help 'em out, so he asked me to start this franchise. Of course, I accepted his offer, only 'cause I was afraid of being put out of a job once they went under. Later he asked if I could purchase some of their units for this place. I guess he was trying to work out some deal between ShowBiz and Arcadia that would help them out with their money situation.
Dr. Cohen: I see. So what about those games back there?
Michael Warren: Those junk heaps? What about them?
Dr. Cohen: They seem like fairly new additions. Can you tell me about them?
Michael Warren: They’re just normal games. We've had those since we opened, which didn't happen not too long ago. The opening, that is. Don't think they've ever been played before though.
Dr. Cohen: Are all of your machines from Arcadia? Or just those few back there?
Michael Warren: Just those ones.
Dr. Cohen: (Cohen scribbles on a notepad.) Interesting. And you said they were working well?
Michael Warren: Of course. The only hiccup I've had with 'em was when Nadia Patelle tried to clean them all off. She's our in-house employee, in charge of making the place look good. I guess she must've bumped into one a little too hard before we opened. It, uh, caused the screens to go a bit haywire. (He leans back in his chair.)
Dr. Cohen: That's not good. (Cohen pauses.) I'll have a few people come in and take those then. For investigation reasons, of course.
Michael Warren: (Michael momentarily grimaces before smiling.) I'm not quite sure why you would need them, but feel free. All though, you may have some trouble turning them on. The only place they seem to work at is here. Trust me, I've tried. But if you still need them, I have a few more units I can use as backups until you can safely return 'em. They're quite unique.
Dr. Cohen: I see. Well, in that case, we'll have to figure out something else. That's all the questions I had. Thank you again, Mr. Warren.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Local authorities currently suspect Michael Warren as a prime perpetrator of the missing children. It should be further noted that due to the involvement of Arcadia technologies, the authorization of a recovery operation from the Foundation has been deemed appropriate to minimize the risk of anomalous influence.
Addendum 5963.2 - Exploration & Analysis:
Event N°: 5963-01
Anomalous Instance: SCP-5963-1C (Asteroids)
Personnel Involved: Dr. Jackson Cohen
Synopsis: Dr. Cohen, whilst investigating SCP-5963-1C, discovered that after gaining a score of approximately 2500, smaller asteroids slowly began to align themselves along the center of the screen. Closer inspection of this alignment revealed the message "STOP," which remained visible on-screen for a period lasting up to 2 minutes. Further gameplay revealed the manifestation of a new sprite, closely resembling Dr. Cohen's interactable "ship" and hereby designated as SCP-5963-C, that would continuously collide with objects (or asteroids) near the player. These collisions would end with a brief death animation, followed shortly by the sound of a loud, human-like scream that would last several seconds. Later inspections of SCP-5963-1C revealed that no audio file resembling the aforementioned scream has ever existed.
Prior to the experiments termination, Dr. Cohen reported hearing the phrase, "please come back" from SCP-5983-1A. He later stated that he was unsure of what he had heard, and assured personnel that he had likely not heard anything at all.
Event N°: 5963-02
Anomalous Instance: SCP-5963-1B (Missile Command)
Personnel Involved: D-199834, Dr. Jackson Cohen
Synopsis: Subject D-199834 was directed to interact with SCP-5963-1B for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, Dr. Cohen reported drastic behavioral altercations with some of the animatronic characters that were active within ShowBiz Pizza Place, which included "several fits of apparent rage" and "random and incoherent chants of a seemingly Satanic background" per his original statement. This behavior abruptly ended after D-199834 stopped interacting with SCP-5963-1B.
Active on-screen instance of SCP-5963-B.
D-199834 also reported the presence of SCP-5963-B, which manifested as a large pixelated face that covered the majority of SCP-5963-1B's background. Whenever D-199834 successfully destroyed an incoming projectile, SCP-5963-B would begin to weep slowly, distorting its face. This was subsequently amplified until SCP-5963-B's face became entirely indiscernible. Once D-199834 failed at destroying an incoming projectile, however, SCP-5963-B would revert to its initial state before emitting a "laugh" at the subject. This remained until D-199834 was removed from the premises.
3 redundant logs have been removed.
Event N°: 5963-06
Anomalous Instance: SCP-5963-1E (Centipede)
Personnel Involved: D-573910, Dr. Ryan Phillips
Synopsis: During D-573910's playthrough, Dr. Phillips reported a series of strange malfunctions concerning a series of light fixtures above the vicinity of SCP-5963-1E. Further analysis shows that these fixtures were connected within close proximity to SCP-5963-1E itself.
Subject D-573910 was unable to detect SCP-5963-E during its playthrough. However, D-573910 did report a brief loss of control over his playable entity, in which it quickly flashed off the screen. Upon its return, D-573910 reported a drastic increase of difficultly, as well as expressing slight discomfort with the erratic behavior of the hostile non-playable characters (NPCs). The subject later stated to Dr. Philip that the NPC's were "incredibly realistic, and they all shared the same crying faces." The experiment was later terminated by Dr. Phillips.
Event N°: 5963-07
Anomalous Instance: SCP-5963-1D (Lunar Landing)
Personnel Involved: Dr. Ryan Phillips
Synopsis: Dr. Phillip's reported that, during the first level of SCP-5963-1D, the platform in which the player is supposed to land disappeared entirely, causing him to continuously fall downward. As this occurred, a pop-up window displaying the text "they constantly haunt me" appeared, despite SCP-5893-1D being unable to perform this task prior. The prompt remained on-screen for the duration of Dr. Phillips's playthrough.
4 redundant logs have been removed.
Event N°: 5963-12
Anomalous Instance: SCP-5963-1A (Pong)
Personnel Involved: Dr. Jackon Cohen, Dr. Ryan Phillips, Sr. Researcher Devin Collins
Synopsis: SCP-5963-A manifested as Player 2 after several minutes, gaining control of the right side of the screen. During brief moments, SCP-5963-1A would cease functionality. During this period, SCP-5963-A could be seen moving horizontally towards the left side of the screen. Once SCP-5963-1A became operational, SCP-5963 would revert back to its initial state, playing against Player 1 (Dr. Jackson Cohen) as intended. During the playthrough, Dr. Jackson commented on the fluidity and the increasing difficulty of playing against SCP-5963-A. The experiment was later terminated at Dr. Cohen's request.
Researcher's Note: The interactions between players and the SCP-5963-(A-F) instances have led me to believe that perhaps their intended purpose was primarily in overcoming the technological difficulties of artificial intelligence during the initial rise of mainstream interactive media. All though it seems that these experiments ultimately failed, it does appear that, in very few circumstances, Arcadia was somewhat successful after all. Why they chose to do this now, and their reason behind using ShowBiz Pizza as a front is still a mystery, however.
- Sr. Researcher Devin Collins
Addendum 5963.3 - Incident Event:
Opening Statement: Sr. Researcher Devin Collins reported that, during an experiment involving SCP-5963-1A (Pong) and one D-Class personnel, an interactable keyboard appeared on-screen. This keyboard was later followed by the message. "who are you. please stop [sic]," which was presumably sent by SCP-5963-A. During this period, Sr. Researcher Collins was successfully able to communicate with the anomaly, with logs of the event added below:
Message Sent: WHO ARE YOU
Response: we do not remember. forgotten.
Message Sent: HOW ARE YOU HERE
Response: lied. led away from home. pain.
Message Sent: WHO LED YOU
Response: a liar. do not trust.
Message Sent: EXPLAIN
Response: not man. dark. told us it was angel. haunts us.
Message Sent: WHAT HAUNTS YOU
Response we want to go home.
Message Sent: PLEASE RESPOND. WHAT HAUNTS YOU
Response: it says we chose this. we do not remember choosing. pain. pain. pain.
Message Sent: EXPLAIN
Response: it sees us. horns. evil smile. reminds us that we are gone.
Message Sent: WHAT IS IT
Response: No response recorded.
Message Sent: ARE YOU THERE
Response: it makes us suffer. it lies behind us.
Message Sent: WHAT DO YOU MEAN
Response: we just want to go back home. please. no more pain.
Message Sent: WHO DID THIS
Response it brought us here. but it was you who made us.
Closing Statement: Further communication attempts with SCP-5963-A have failed. After this event, SCP-5963-1A ceased functionality for several hours before rebooting entirely. More research may be required before Foundation personnel can fully analyze and evaluate the information provided by SCP-5963-A.
The "Arcade" image utilized in this article has been licensed under CC SA-BY 3.0. It has been provided by Coenter of Wikimedia Commons. No substantial edits have been made, only minor cropping of the background. Original link: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tilt_byte_-_1.jpeg#mw-jump-to-license
The "Instance" image utilized in Addendum 5963.2 was created by user JackalRelated, who has given the authors of this piece, JakdragonX and KaraKatt, explicit permission to use it. If you wish to contact the original creator, please utilize Wikidot's PM to contact any of the aforementioned users. Logs can be given on request.