Oversimplified SCP - Ch. 134 - SCP-711

[MangaDex]

 

[GoodWorld]

So they know they will last until the time the message is sent since there would be a need for someone to send it, but they know something will come because they needed to use the machine to send the message?

 

[nachtness]

neat, scp based on bootstrap paradox

 

[the_one_who_waits]

Nice concept, the time paradox used in reversal

 

[ISingTheBodyElectric]

Is this the reverse of the old laptop SCP that destroys an alternative universe ?

 

[Kurbo]

So basically, string 17 is proof that at some point in the future the foundation will need to send warn itself in the past of a massive threat. But the fact that string 17 exist means that the foundation will not be able solve the crisis, because the foundation needed to send the message in the first place.

 

[ShayGuy]

@Kurbo We don't even know that it's a warning. Just that at some point in the future, a Foundation agent sends it into the past. As long as that fact remains true, whatever crisis may face the Foundation, there's a guarantee that it'll continue to exist and to have agents. Like how in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, there's a scene where it looks like Ted might die -- but we already know he'll at least live long enough to go back to the Circle K with Bill and meet their several-hours-younger selves. Or more explicitly, the fifth Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, where Arthur knows that at the very least, he'll live long enough to cause someone's death at a place called Stavromula Beta.

What's not clear is why anyone WOULD send String 17 -- what would possibly justify the loss of that guarantee. (The original version of the article had a suggestion that it could be random noise, rather than something someone had actually sent.)

 

[DeathDonut]

Does anyone remember gintama's "Jugem"?

This string looks like it was taken from there.

The end of jugem's name is:
"ゆうていみやおうきむこうぺぺぺぺぺぺぺぺぺぺぺぺビチグソ丸"
Which seems to be similar to the string on the screen....

 

[alannondarklord]

Too much about this SCP relies on the contents of the message. If they know that a duly-authorized agent sent it, why do they not know what the contents of the message are? Presumably, the machine sends the message back to a specific date/time. So why would you encrypt a transmission in a cypher that you know that the Foundation at that time does not use?
For all we know, duly-authorized agent XX was drunk and accidentally sent his lunch order back in time.

 

[Scrwd]

Theres so much information to pry out from an unreadable message here. Assuming that message was intentionally sent, that means that
1. The foundation survives any and all end of the world events, basically rendering any timed end-of-the-world catastrophy nullified.
2. The foundation is in a situation serious enough to send a message to the back, hinting that theres a case deadly enough to warrant time travel to fix it.
3. The message was sent in a language that was not decipherable at that time. Why wasnt it sent any time when the new language was readable? Why didnt they keep a record of past languages to be able to send messages like these?
4. The message was not sent to the time the machine was actually created, when messages to the past could actually be sent.
From point 3 and 4,it could be assumed that the time frame it was sent to is important, and the foundation needs to make a change soon or else the future will come to pass. Also the encoded message means either the foundation was compromised and needed to encode the message, or the foundation in the future or even humankind has lost all knowledge of the past and adopted a new language, something that could happen due to scp2000.

Then watch as this message was just a shitpost by a D-boy after getting a black card

 

[Ceiye]

Not being able to send messages into the future sounds like some reasonable sci fi limitation, but then you think about it for like a second longer and realize that's just scheduled messages. We can do that now. Shameful, SCP-711. Can't even do scheduled messages.

 

[Kuratenshi]

Thank you for translating these. They continue to be really good

 

[wymar]

Tinfoil hat time: the message may have been sent long after the foundation's collapse, entirely by coincidence, and the contents aren't actually encrypted, just random garbage created by, say, some animal walking over the keyboard, monkeys on a typewriter style. String 17 only ensures that the device will endure until the message is sent.

 

[Shade]

El Psy Congroo

 

[KeiosKod]

@ShayGuy
You misunderstand. The message being sent IS the guarantee. The Foundation works on the assumption that the future cannot be changed, so they’re guaranteed to survive for sure until that message is sent and they assume the message will only be sent once they’ve reached the point their organization is about to fail.

Course, then you follow the links in the article and that assumption is turned around. Basically, the people who found that message ARE fucked, but so long as the time travel department of the Foundation does their job and ensures the prevention of the calamity that caused that message to be sent, then they will have never received the message in the first place. Apparently, paradoxes are fine on an individual basis. This article explains it:
http://www.scp-wiki.net/document-1780-wl

 

[TaintedAardvark]

That's a really cool idea!

 

[Waymastah]

@wymar But wouldn't the computer need human infrastructure to function? At the very least it needs a sapient civilization to work, though not necessarily us.

 

[KreamPunk]

...What?

 

[Doutei-Sama]

Timey wimey wibbly wobbly...

 

[GoblinGuy]

@Scrwd
One possible theory is that the cipher used in the message was only invented by spending years trying to break it's use in this message. It was sent to that moment because if it was sent to later, they wouldn't have enough time to crack the encryption before needing the contents to prevent whatever caused them to send it.