SCP-1214
Anomalous Random Number Generator
SCP-1214 during Phase 2
Special Containment Procedures
The laptop computer containing SCP-1214 (designated 1214-L1), and all its peripherals are to be kept in a standard laptop case in a secure locker in the Computer Science Department of Site-33. No testing is to be performed on SCP-1214 without the authorization of the Senior CSD Administrator, Dr G. Wilson.
As per Standard Anomalous Computer Equipment Regulation 4324-B, 1214-L1 must under no circumstances be connected to a network of any kind.
Description
1214-L1 is a standard Dell XPS Ultrabook laptop computer including power supply and mouse. Software installed includes the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system and Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.
Several coding projects can be found in the "Documents" folder of user █████. Most of these are programming exercises in the C# programming language. SCP-1214 is a project, also written in C#, with the name "random_number_test".
The program consists of approximately 60 lines of code. The program generates random numbers in the range 48-90, which are then interpreted as ASCII character codes. This gives the possibility of generating the characters in Table 1, below.
| Table 1, possible characters generated by SCP-1214 algorithm |
|---|
| 0-9, A-Z (alphanumeric, upper case) |
| colon (:) |
| semicolon (;) |
| less-than(<) |
| equals (=) |
| greater-than (>) |
| question mark (?) |
| at sign (@) |
The characters are assembled into lines of 50 characters each. One (1) such line is printed to a text window every second while the program is running.
The anomalous properties of SCP-1214 can be hard to detect at first. However, running the program output through a stochastic analyzer will show that while the output begins by following the expected pseudo-random distribution used by modern computers, this will gradually change the longer the program is allowed to run. Eventually patterns with an unexpectedly low probability will begin to emerge.
Approximately ██ hours, ██ minutes after program start, what appears to be semi-coherent sentences start appearing in the output. This point in time is designated "T". Periods before and after T are designated Phase 1 and Phase 2, respectively.
At ██ +/- 3 hours after start of Phase 2, the frequency of identifiable words starts to drop. At the same time bias towards long strings of the same character starts to slowly increase. Additionally, the number of different characters in the output begins to diminish, as if the probability of them appearing has dramatically decreased. This is designated Phase 3.
Phase 3 continues as described with no further variances. The longest test to date has been 1214-TR27, where SCP-1214 was run for ██ days, and showed a ██ percent reduction in the character set during Phase 3.
Stopping and restarting the SCP-1214 program results in a repetition of phases 1 through 3, with slight variations in program output as well as the lengths of the respective phases.
The current theory is that the diminishing probabilities observed during Phase 3 will continue until only one (1) character remains in the output. Calculations show that such a result would require the program to run for somewhere between ███ and ███ days.
Additional: After the occurrence described in Addendum 1214-3, SCSDA G. Wilson ordered testing of SCP-1214 to be suspended until further notice.
Addendum 1214-1:
Standard Electronic Contamination Tests (SECT) have proved negative. SCP-1214 does not appear to be able to infect other computers, and copies of the SCP-1214 program will not exhibit anomalous properties.
Addendum 1214-2, acquisition log:
1214-L1 was retrieved by Agent █████ from the campus dorm of ██████ ████ University, after a persistent rumor had circulated among the students that there existed an experimental program that "behaved funny" if executed over a period of several days. The rumors were exaggerated and ranged from speculations about "rogue government AIs" to "impossible patterns seen in 'The Game of Life'".
Fortunately, the owner of 1214-L1 appears to have shunned the attention this was generating, and exposure was therefore kept to a minimum. After acquiring the item, Agent █████ deployed a Class-IV Worm in the university network to monitor data traffic for further indications of SCP-1214, or similar activity. So far none has been detected.
Addendum 1214-3