SCP-033: The Missing Number

SCP-033: The Missing Number A missing number sounds like a mathematician’s problem. SCP-033 makes it a containment problem for everyone who owns a computer. Its symbols produce an integer humanity somehow overlooked. Our systems were built without it. Introduce it into those systems and their numerical integrity starts breaking down, followed by their physical structure. One test puts the formula on ordinary paper near another sheet. The symbols appear on the second sheet by themselves. Both pages eventually turn into a wet, pulpy mess and disappear. Keeping it contained involves handmade material with deliberately irregular edges. No equal sides, parallel borders or right angles. Electronics and ordinary paper have to stay well away, because it has already managed to jump between surfaces. Researchers still don't know whether their precautions actually stop the damage or just delay it. Its researcher suspects the formula is trying to fit itself into mathematics that can't accommodate it. His warning about what could happen if it reached the internet is pretty grim. It's a clever use of something we usually trust without thinking. The Foundation has a number on a piece of paper, and even keeping research notes becomes risky. https://t.co/RPpkKv7PNA