SCP-142: One-Armed Bandit

SCP-142: One-Armed Bandit Object Class: Safe SCP-142 looks like an old slot machine, except you can gamble almost anything small enough to fit its modified input. Win, and it produces between two and 200 identical copies. Lose, and whatever you put in is gone. The duplication makes it tempting. The effect on the person playing makes it dangerous. Contact with the lever, even indirectly, starts the first stage: mild excitement and a badly distorted sense of time. After roughly half an hour of continued play, subjects start wagering larger portions of whatever they have left. They believe this strategy is improving their odds, even though payouts seem to become less frequent. When their betting material runs out, the reaction flips. They become strongly averse to the machine and develop a fear of moving things through openings. That can include doorways, clothing, drains and eating. Around 62 percent of third-stage subjects die from starvation or malnutrition without intervention. Removing someone during the first stage allows recovery within an hour. Removing them during the second stage pushes them into the third, whose effects have been permanent in testing. Containment includes restricted access, a visible clock and prohibiting staff contact. Researchers found that the detached lever doesn't cause the effect. Despite the risks, the final addendum still permits approved materials to be submitted for possible multiplication. That last detail leaves the Foundation with the same temptation as anyone else: the machine really can produce something valuable. There's a practical use sitting right beside an irreversible human cost. The initial payout is easy to understand. The consequences aren't obvious to the person pulling the lever, especially once they've lost track of how long they've been there. Original entry: https://t.co/M9NV0RUiUe By Lumancer. CC BY-SA 3.0: https://t.co/TI86Yhe2FC