Oversimplified SCP - Ch. 134 - SCP-711

[VarkAndDjelyl]

Wow
This is prime book concept material

 

[naeon]

SCP 711, is basically a gateway to a rabbit hole that is time traveling/anomaly in the scp universe.

Here's the TL;DR of almost all of the sorrounding "history" of SCP 711. SCP 711 is a machine that was made based on the blueprint found in an office that may or may not exist belonging to a departement that may or may not exist. This departement, whose sole job is to save the million of lives from time anomalies that may or may not happen, may or may not be responsible for sending string 17. Why send string 17 in the first place? Why do i insist on using "may or may not"? to put it simply, Schrödinger's cat. To put it not so simply, time is a confusing subject that is not only a physical phenomenon but also meta-physical.

confused? good.

honestly though, go and read the rabbit hole that is RCT-ΔT. It's a fun, albeit confusing, reading material.

 

[libbies]

the fact that they got the message means they couldn't stop the message from being sent (or otherwise could not avoid the cause for sending it) and thus the future in which the message was sent is unavoidable.

 

[Meijin]

>Get to the room to declare SCP is Cancelled
>A message pops in just as you get to the keyboard
>"String 17 will not be sent today. Turn around and put your hands up."
> Turn around and no one's there
>Turn back and the machine's gone too

 

[wakka02]

But what did String-17 actually contain? Was it never decrypted?

 

[es_kan]

hahaha homestuck

 

[Kampfarsch]

"Cannot receive messages that it will never send"
Well...duh? Thats like the most basic paradox imaginable
Why do they even need to mention that

 

[Keledor]

@Kampfarsch
Some SCPs are paradoxal in nature or can create one. So yes, this should be mentioned.

 

[HeliaXDemoN]

Maybe one of the monster send the string 17 in future after destroy the SCP

 

[reishiki]

FYI the message appeared here was a reference to Dragonquest 2 game on Famicom.
It's a password for starting new game with OP character, if I remembered correctly.

 

[Venoltar]

1) There are several techniques to tell the difference between encrypted data and random noise(like a pet walking on a keyboard), some of them are surprisingly simple, like simply matching up the ratios of repeated patterns to an expected curve.

2) A message sent back in time providing instruction on how to avert a catastrophe does not necessarily create a paradox, since the people who take action to avert said catastrophe will likely be aware that they still need to send the same message that they received back to the past, i.e. the original sender may cease to exist, but that doesn't prevent a new sender carrying out the originals's task. This is a fairly simple 1 cycle loop with a valid entry and exit point, so no paradox is necessarily created.

3) Depending on exactly what flavour of time travel is being used (parallel worlds, diverging/branch timelines, single collapsing timeline, etc) The original communication has many potential origins and the potential effect it has on future events could even be completely meaningless to either the ones who sent it, the ones who received it, or even both parties. i.e. the recipients are not subject to the same disaster that the sender experienced. The recipients are subject to said disaster but the actions after being warned actually cause said disaster, or a different even worse one (perhaps the sender even had malicious intentions?). The sender successfully saves the recipient but are themselves not saved as their own disastrous timeline continues on, etc.

 

[sssr]

Let's not forget that the identity cipher included in String 17 belongs to Xyank. That means the string was not sent by a random Foundation member. Both the blueprint for SCP-711 and its most ominous output came from the same guy. That means there may be no paradox at play because like Xyank himself explains alternate timelines don't actually exist and paradoxes are individually self-contained. There ARE alternate realities, but they aren't branches from divergent timelines. String 17 is NOT self-contained by nature, so it doesn't satisfy the criterion for a paradox. Since the Temp Dept exists in its own Schrodinger timeline of probabilities separate from the perceived timeline of the SCP Foundation whose stories we are reading, the best explanation for String 17 is that something in the future will force Temp to break its veil inside the Foundation.

 

[sotokouya]

seems like this one got the wrong fanbox page image?

 

[ILuvHotdog]

pretty similar to "The World's Gone Beautiful" SCP-001 proposal