SCP-656

Description

SCP-656 appears to be a board game box labeled “████ ██████ Home Edition”, where ████ ██████ is presumably the name of a game show. No such game show is known to have existed, although the host, █████ ███████, is an established personality and host of a number of other game shows. SCP-656 was purchased from the ███ ██ ███ thrift store by Agent █████ while off-duty.

Contained inside SCP-656 is a recordable VHS tape with “████ ██████ Home Edition” written on the label in black marker (SCP-656-1). The box contains nothing else.

When SCP-656-1 is inserted into a VCR attached to a television, it plays a taped episode of ████ ██████, which appears to be from the mid-1980's. The recording begins during the theme music, cutting off an unknown amount of time. The show follows a quiz show format, where three contestants answer trivia questions to win money. All of the contestants are confirmed to be living, although none have records suggesting that they competed on a game show.

If all viewers remain silent, the recording will proceed as expected. The third player, █████ █████████, will win with a sum of $██,███. However, if at any point any viewer vocally answers a question before a contestant, the contestant will give the same answer as the viewer.

SCP-656-1 appears to be able to distinguish between attempts to answer and discussion between viewers. Playing a recording of an answer will not cause the contestant to give the answer specified in the recording. The contestants will give anything as an answer if properly prompted, regardless of whether they could know the answer given, or content of the answer. The contestants, host, and audience will have no visible reaction to profanity, vulgarity, or racial slurs given as an answer.

The questions appear to be randomly selected, and are different every time. Questions can be about any topic, and from any time period, even information from after the apparent recording of the show. The only apparent limitation on the questions is that the answer must be known by at least one person viewing the tape. Questions will occasionally be of a deeply personal nature; questions have in the past revealed extramarital affairs, illegitimate children, drug addiction, and [DATA EXPUNGED]. Anything known to any viewer can become a question.

Copies of SCP-656 do not share its unique properties. Any copy of SCP-656 will play the recording as it appears when no viewers speak during play. Once a playthrough of SCP-656 has begun, it cannot be paused, rewound, or fast-forwarded.

Three (3) commercial breaks occur during the show, all advertising known products with the correct advertisements. After a commercial break, the camera view sweeps over the audience. Upon closer analysis, the audience consists entirely of people who have viewed the tape, as well as those currently viewing it. In addition to the Foundation personnel known to have viewed the tape, six (6) unknown people appear in the audience. At the end of the taping, after the host announces the winner of the three contestants, the "Audience Winner" is announced, and a member of the audience comes forward and is given a copy of SCP-656. The "Audience Winner" always corresponds with the current viewer who answered the most questions correctly. The tape cuts off soon after this point, during a disclaimer regarding the awarding of prizes. The disclaimer contains nothing of note. The recording runs for a total of 20 minutes, 3 seconds. There is an additional five (5) hours and forty (40) minutes of blank tape after the disclaimer cuts off. No anomalies have been detected within the blank portion of the tape.

Addendum: All "winners" are to be monitored in the event of a change in conditions. Refer to Document 656-█ for a complete list of "winners". It is now known that any person who wins the game will receive, after a number of days equal to the number of questions answered, a copy of SCP-656 in the mail. All copies received by Foundation personnel have displayed the address of Site-██ (the only Foundation facility where testing on SCP-656 has occurred) as the return address. All copies received by winners are fully functional. The Foundation is currently in possession of ██ additional instances of SCP-656.