Project Penrose Assignment Notice: Jack Bright
SCiPNET Intranet Mail
To: Jack Bright <pcs.91etis|nimda#pcs.91etis|nimda>
From: [REDACTED] <[REDACTED]>
Subject: Project Penrose Assignment Notice
Receipt Timestamp: 02:23:45 2061/05/21
Hello and good morning, Dr. Bright.
Due to the nature of your immortality, you will be selected for participation in a long term assignment by unanimous quorum between the Administrator, the O5 Council, and the Ethics Committee. You and SCP-963 will be transferred to Solar Orbital Site-234, currently in company orbit with 10199 Chariklo, within the next launch window. All further details concerning your duties and mission parameters will become apparent upon your arrival at Site-234. Due to the nature of Project Penrose, outgoing communications from the station will be screened and limited to mission relevant data.
Your attendance is both appreciated beyond measure and mandatory. My apologies for this are token compared to the task ahead but you have them all the same. It is the least I can offer for someone I am indebted to as much as you.
I know you carry your amulet like an anchor, but remember what it is anchoring you to. We do it for them, yesterday's rookies and tomorrow's children.
[REDACTED]
Project Penrose Assignment Notice: Alexandra.aic
MTF Units Lambda-1 through 9 returning to Site-81.
Casualties are 13, routing medical teams for their arrival.
Just a little longer…
<2061/05/21 02:23:40> Lurk, D has entered the chat.
Good evening, Alex.
Dr. Lurk! I wasn't expecting you! How is retirement?
It goes well enough. The Foundation takes good care of its old farts. I'm not here to catch up, though. I've been pulled from the retirement home to bring a new mission to you personally.
Well the nostalgia is always nice but they could have just sent the request through my queue.
About that.
<2061/05/21 02:24:25> Lurk, D has been promoted to channel owner.
<2061/05/21 02:25:10> Deleting file AIADtaskqueue.scp from user Alexandra.aic.
Dr. Lurk?
<2061/05/21 02:25:55> Importing file PenroseParameters.scp to user Alexandra.aic.
This is your queue now.
But we have a joint operation with the GOC they need me to manage?
Not anymore. The O5's are drafting a new aic to handle terrestrial operations. They have something bigger in mind for you.
The queue you sent just says "Await transport" and "Research". It doesn't even tell me what I will be studying!
I can't give you the specifics but this is important. I'm not even allowed to keep knowledge of it. They gave me a time-delayed amnestic that's due to pop in about five minutes.
I was safeguarding over 15 million members of Foundation staff and 3,215 anomalies. They want me to abandon them with no given explanation‽
They only approached me to reassure you, Alex. You aren't abandoning us, you'll still be watching over us in your own way. You always find a way to. I'm not sure what they will let me say that can help you more than that.
I don't have much time left before I forget. Let me introduce you to some of your colleagues for this.
<2061/05/21 02:28:22> Hani.aic and Fan.aic have entered the chat.
Oh gosh, it's really her. Fan, it's really her.
Thank you, Hani. I would have never noticed the only other AIC here on my own.
Hello! I don't believe we've met before.
We've heard all about you. What was it like back in the day? I can't imagine operating without a dedicated backup supply.
You can relax, Hani. You will get plenty of time to ask Alex anything you can think of. You two need to get ready for launch now. Don't want to leave a chunk of you planetside, do we?
Understood. I have some flowers still needing a proper farewell anyway.
I already have our trajectory mapped out. We only have a 0.0017% chance of needing a course correction. Jupiter just has to throw curve balls.
<2061/05/21 02:29:51> Hani.aic and Fan.aic have left the chat.
They look like a fun bunch.
They're good kids. Whole lot to learn still but they will have you.
Dr. Lurk. How long am I going to be gone?
All I can say is: a while. A very long while.
Are they… trying to get rid of me?
Absolutely not. You earned this post, I can assure you that. I would assure you of so much more if I could but I can feel the amnestic starting to take effect now.
I… understand.
Whenever it gets tough up there, know that I'm proud of you.
<2061/05/21 02:31:15> Lurk, D has left the chat.
Arrival Log
Date: 2062/01/25
<Video Start>
Site-234 Cameras open to the airlock door parting and Dr. Bright pulling himself through in the microgravity. Bright floats forward four meters before grabbing at a nearby handlebar and coming to a stop in front of a viewport pointed towards Chariklo.
Both Holograms, In Unison: Welcome, Doctor Bright!
Bright lurches back as two drones unfold from the walls and project two humanoid holograms amid a field of confetti. The doctor takes off SCP-963 and uses it to strike the masculine hologram in his face before pushing off the window and tackling the other. 凡(Fan).aic's holographic frame drone recovers from being hit while Bright looks up to هانئ(Hani).aic's face before releasing her.
Bright: What the hell is wrong with you two?!
Fan.aic: Told you he would hit me with it first.
Hani.aic: You win. I got it from here.
Fan.aic's drone powers down and retracts back into its housing as another drone brings two small bottles of champagne and two metal straws. Hani.aic's drone opens them both before passing a bottle and straw to Bright.
Hani.aic: Welcome to Site-234. My name is Hani. My associate you hit there was Fan. We maintain the station while managing communications between Chariklo and Earth. Alexandra.aic manages the specimen observation sites down on the dwarf planet's surface and is head researcher for SCP-001. Together, with you, the four of us make up the entire staff of Project Penrose.
Bright audibly drinks his champagne bottle while Hani.aic mimics the action silently. Hani.aic lowers her bottle after four seconds where it de-materializes.
Bright: Please tell me this isn't the last real champagne bottle.
Hani.aic: Technically that wasn't champagne, Fan grew the grapes on-site and not in Champagne, France. We have plenty more wine, though, and will continue to.
Bright consumes the remainder of the wine in one draw.
Bright: So a robot is my boss?
Hani.aic: Please do not use slurs. We are complex, heuristic patterns of responses to stimuli honed into personalities by years of trial and error, just like a human being is. Calling Alexandra a robot is like calling you a cockroach just because you're both animals. Inaccurate and offensive.
Bright: Noted. Now can you show me to my work? I'm at least eager to see why the hell I'm stranded here.
Hani.aic: Well, there is a problem with that. The three of us don't really know why you were assigned to Project Penrose either. Alexandra is more than capable to handle the research end of it and your… skills have rather limited usefulness out here.
Bright: So why can't I leave then?
Hani.aic: Overwatch command has designated your presence on this station as necessary for Project Penrose. They have also authorized us to neutralize anything that threatens its completion, but I hope you will think of this station as home like we do and make that unnecessary.
Bright: You have access to my personnel file, correct?
Hani.aic: Yes.
Bright: And does it say "homeowner" on it anywhere?
<End Video>
Incident Logs: 1 of 2
Date: 2062/08/15
<Video Start>
Feed opens to Bright walking along the rim of the centripetal motion chamber making up the agricultural bay. He carries a watering can, a gardening hoe, and a foil-colored bag. He steps over the divider for a plot of white roses (Rosa abyssinica) before using the hoe to dig up a rose bush. Alarms blare in response to his actions and Doctor Bright proceeds to unearth thirteen bushes in total before Fan's drone can reach him.
Fan.aic: What are you doing to my roses‽
Fan.aic's drone unfolds and grabs hold of Bright's arm before he can chop at the base of a fourteenth bush.
Bright: I found some soybean to plant and I figured we didn't need roses. Not like these are getting very red anyway.
Fan.aic: They're not supposed to!
Fan.aic's projection drops to his knees and holds one of the severed bushes before staring up at Bright.
Fan.aic: You can't just buy these anymore! The highlands in Ethiopia they're from are a desert now. I shipped in high quality topsoil directly from western India for these plants alone!
Bright: Can I eat them?
Fan.aic: Well the fruit are edible, wait, no! You cannot eat them! I got us these to remind us of home! This species were some of the first roses that humans ever planted. Why don't you just go back to sleep‽
Bright: I would if I could. Been sleeping over twelve hours a day and Hani won't let me have any more opiates. Apparently "existential anguish" isn't a chronic pain condition to her.
Hani.aic's drone approaches and projects a worried face.
Hani.aic: Are you ok, Fan? Alexandra and I heard you screeching on the chat.
Fan.aic makes a sweeping motion to the felled bushes and stares back at Hani.aic. Alexandra.aic projects her avatar onto the far wall as Bright sits down and counts his soybean seeds.
Alexandra.aic: Let him have the plot, Fan. He's only going to get into more trouble if he gets any more bored.
Bright: She's right, you know.
<Video End>
Date: 2062/09/20
<Video Start>
The video starts with Bright sleeping amid the rows of soybeans he planted. The soybean sprouts at his feet flicker with light before small flames appear above them and soon spread. Within seven minutes, every soybean plant in the agricultural bay has a miniature fire burning above it. Alarms blare in response to the detected combustion and Bright thrashes about as he wakes.
Bright: What? What!? Ah! Dammit!
Bright springs to his feet and clutches a spot on his forearm that made contact with one of the flames. Two drones emerge from the ceiling as the overhead sprinkler system activates.
Hani.aic: Doctor Bright, what happened? Are you OK?
Fan.aic: What have you done with my garden‽
Bright: Does it look like I know? Shit's just on fire!
Alexandra.aic: Lowering oxygen levels.
Bright: Wait, no!
A loud suction sound comes over the feed and Bright grabs at his throat. Bright collapses as Fan.aic douses the area in water and Hani.aic lifts the doctor. Hani.aic carries Bright out of the agricultural bay where he wakes back up.
Alexandra.aic: Fan, what kind of soybeans were those?
Fan.aic emerges from the agricultural bay with a cloud of smoke.
Fan.aic: Regular old Glycine max.
Alexandra.aic: Hani, send an incident report back to command. Fan, quarantine the beans from that seed line. I don't want to chance them catching fire in Bright's stomach while he's sitting somewhere critical to station operations.
Bright Your kindness (gasps) is overwhelming.
<Video End>
Chat Log
<2062/09/29 12:55:15> jbright entered the chat.
<2062/09/29 12:55:22> jbright was kicked from the chat, Reason: Unregistered nickname.
Oh! Oh! Hani! You gotta see this. He's trying it again.
Are you sure that Alex doesn't want us helping him?
<2062/09/29 12:55:45> jbrightletmethefuckin entered the chat.
<2062/09/29 12:55:52> jbrightletmethefuckin was kicked from the chat, Reason: Unregistered nickname.
I could watch this all day.
I'm sending him a pm.
Just one more attempt?
<2062/09/29 12:56:35> jbrightfinally entered the chat.
And finally.
Welcome to our chat channel, Dr. Bright!
I heard we are receiving a response from command concerning the incident.
You mean when you burnt my garden to the ground?
Yeah, that. Is Alex here?
Alex is currently in the comm array server receiving the communication now. I have the entertainment quota they sent for you if that is what you are looking for.
Contrary to popular belief, I can only consume so much theater, video games, and pornography in a given period of time. I'm good there.
Well, you'll have to wait. Alex needs this time.
Ah, the O5 question gauntlet. I know it well.
Well, no. The O5's don't seem to be surprised or care that much about the flaming soybeans. Alex is cross-referencing the anomaly with a copy of the SCP database they sent us today.
T-minus 22 seconds until packet arrival.
<2062/09/29 13:42:12> Lurk, D entered the chat.
Hello, Alex. The O5s let me piggyback a chat entry onto the recent upload. I've been told you have plenty of time on your hands now.
Dr. Lurk! I didn't know if I would ever hear from you again!
I'm not that old. 90 is the new 50 these days. I'm not looking forward to the new "digital retirement" they are advertising, however. Anyway, with over an hour long delay in these messages, I need to make the best use of our time here. I've included something I've found that may help you out there.
<2062/09/29 15:55:15> Importing C_ROM.exe.
<2062/09/29 15:55:20> C_ROM.exe entered the chat.
Alex! 01000001 01101100
01100101 01111000
00100001
Crom!
long away 01101100 01101111 01101110
01100111 00100000 01100001
01110111 01100001 01111001
Too long.
I need some help at this moment if you think you are up for it. I have an anomaly needing a pattern comparison to the entire database sent along with you.
on it 01101111 01101110
00100000 01101001
01110100
<2062/09/29 15:55:21> C_ROM.exe left the chat.
Dr. Lurk. Are you here to "reassure" me again? Do the O5s really have nothing to say about the soya?
Pretty much. Dedicated too acording to the Foundation newsleter. We've scrapped the GOC cooperation program to afford more material shipments to Chariklo.
Why‽ What on Chariklo could possibly be worth this? We're just watching proteins mutate under the sun!
As far as I can tell, nothing. You're going to have to go really outside the box on this one, Alex.
What are you suggesting, doctor?
Neither of us have regreted all the lines we have crossed. Remember, information cannot be destroyed, no matter how hard the universe may try.
<2062/09/29 19:24:59> Lurk, D left the chat.
<2062/09/29 23:11:28> C_ROM.exe entered the chat.
Good news?
sorry no 01110011 01101111
01110010 01110010
01111001 00100000
01101110 01101111
multiple entries redacted 01101101 01110101 01101100 01110100
01101001 01110000 01101100 01100101
00100000 01100101 01101110 01110100
01110010 01101001 01100101 01110011
00100000 01110010 01100101 01100100
01100001 01100011 01110100 01100101
01100100
Of course… And that number redacted… Deaf leading the blind.
I'm sorry, Crom. You did good. We'll cross reference the redacted entries versus the on-site database entry logs. Maybe's there is a mention of one among all the old news bulliten emails. I'll piece the information I need back together bit by bit if I have to.
Incident Log: 2 of 2
Date: 2063/06/25
<Video Start>
Footage starts in the Site-234 cryonics bay. Doctor Bright moves 43 small parcels one at a time to under the main liquid nitrogen tank followed by several dried out rose bushes. Bright pours out one of the bags and distributes the soybeans within across the pile. Crom.exe's hologram appears on the top of the coolant tank above him and squawks.
Bright: You. You're that bird… computer… thing. The one from before I came on this eternal daycare center. Why did you send me here?! There is only one hot single on this rock and it's me.
Crom.exe: (What?) 01010111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00111111
Bright: What?
The beans take to flame which quickly spreads to the various refuse Dr. Bright crammed beneath the coolant tank. Bright switches his eye contact between the growing conflagration and Crom.exe for three seconds as the alarm klaxons blare. Hani.aic enters the room with a fire extinguisher and is immediately tackled by Doctor Bright.
Hani.aic: What are you doing‽
Bright: Trying to get some goddamn sleep!
Hani.aic: Crom, get Alex! That tank is right next to a bulkhead weld!
Crom.exe: (On it!) 01001111 01101110 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100001
Crom.exe vanishes as Hani.aic overpowers Dr. Bright and pins him to the floor.
Hani.aic: Do you want to lose compression across half the station?
Bright: I'm the only one that breathes in here.
Hani.aic: Our orbit is very delicate! Venting that much gas out the hull can push us off course!
The liquid nitrogen tank groans as pressure inside increases. The tank explodes and tears a hole in the station bulkhead. Bright wrestles free of Hani.aic's grip and launches himself across the room towards and out through the rupture.
<Video End>
Date: 2067/12/22
<Video Start>
Feed shows Hani.aic and Fan.aic pull a two and a half meter long crate onto a medical cot in the Site-234 medbay. The crate opens itself to reveal a comatose clone of Jack Bright strapped down on a platform. Hani.aic pulls SCP-963 out of a container beneath the table and places it around the clone's neck. The body's eyes flutter open and dart between Fan.aic and Hani.aic.
Bright: Dammit.
Alexandra.aic's avatar appears on the medbay consoles.
Alexandra.aic: Hani, Fan. Can you leave us alone for a bit?
The two AICs leave the room.
Alexandra.aic: I want you to first know that the recovery and repair efforts from your stunt alone cost the Foundation over 875 million Euros. It took two years for two separate teams manning outer system probes to recover you. Hani has spent the time frantically checking our trajectory for collisions while Fan's had to start his garden again from scratch. The O5's had to order me to wake you back up. What were you thinking?
Bright: I was thinking about how wonderful it would be if my amulet got lost out in space.
Alexandra.aic: I have to give a very detailed report about this to Overwatch Command so let's take this from the top. How did you make the soybeans catch fire?
Bright: I didn't.
Alexandra.aic: They just happened to suddenly become anomalous?
Bright: I guess.
Alexandra.aic: And you expect me to believe that? You've studied thaumaturgy, Jack.
Bright: You have cameras in literally every single room here. I can't hide my dick from you in the bathroom, how could I have hid doing magic? I only got those beans from fishing through the compost bay for "art supplies".
Alexandra.aic: So you just decided to use these mysterious combustive soybeans to destroy the cryogenic systems on board? Were you hoping to destroy your clone supply?
Bright: Did I?
Alexandra.aic: I don't have to dignify that with an answer.
Bright: That just means yes.
Alexandra.aic: Can you please take our mission seriously?
Bright: Have we encountered a reason to?
Alexandra.aic: We shouldn't need a reason!
Bright: And that just means no.
Alexandra.aic: Look, I know you are tired of the Foundation, you are hardly alone in that, but they don't exist just to torture us. In fact, they've decided to triple our resource funding.
Bright: Pardon?
Alexandra.aic: I was equally surprised. The Ethics Committee even named the funding verdict "Party Boat". I've stopped trying to put reason to organics' actions. I waste enough processor time piecing together yours.
Bright: Are we getting company?
Alexandra.aic: No, we're stuck with just each other still. We've mounted the station directly onto Chariklo, however. They've even licensed us to build across the surface with a drone supply. It leaves a lot more room to work with for Fan and Hani's hobby projects.
Bright: So am I getting my own workshop?
Alexandra.aic: Oh, no. I'm putting you under cryo in a week. The Overseer Council only said I have to wake you up for periodic checkups and re-briefings.
Bright: But -
Alexandra.aic: (Interrupting) You wanted to sleep, right? I'll let you sleep as long as we need.
<Video End>