Experiment Log for SCP-423
Approved by O5-█
Monitored by O5-█, O5-██, O5-█
Project Head: Dr. E. Mann
All researchers working with SCP-423 are encouraged to append their results to this experiment log in the following format:
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material:Results:
Notes:
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
Results: A character named Fred is mentioned at several points in the story, largely as an onlooker. No change to the story is noticed.
Notes: "This will serve as a baseline for future effects of SCP-423." - Dr. E. Mann
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Results: A 14th dwarf named Feredor is a member of the party. The narrative is largely the same, except that there are no references to a "lucky number." Feredor is mentioned as surviving the Battle of Five Armies, but Oin is killed.
Notes: "SCP-423's role is larger in this work, allowing a better look at its effects. The dialog written for the character is similar to that written for the other dwarves. Other differences in text match Tolkien's writing style as used in the rest of the book." -Dr. E. Mann
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Plain Journal
Results: There was no result for some time, until one of the researchers wrote his name on the cover. The words "Hi, there" appeared underneath. A conversation was held, during which it was established that SCP-423 possessed both the ability and desire to communicate.
Notes: "This proves that SCP-423 is sentient. If it can be controlled, it could be useful in dealing with certain text-based SCPs. This bears further research." -Dr. E. Mann
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Dragonquest, by Anne McCaffrey
Results: A minor blue rider named F'Red appears in the story. No other changes are noted.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
Results: A wizard named Fred appeared. Very few changes in the story are noted, except one scene in which SCP-423 is confused with an existing character in the series.
Notes: "SCP-423 displayed paranormal abilities in the narrative, though nothing out of note for the fictional universe. However, when returned to the journal, SCP-423 said that it couldn't duplicate them outside of that particular narrative universe." - Dr. E. Mann
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Ulysses, by James Joyce
Results: SCP-423 immediately returned to the journal, where it wrote out "Ow, ow, bad idea."
Notes: "Note this as a potential punishment for SCP-423 if it misbehaves." - Dr. E. Mann
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: The Draco Tavern, by Larry Niven
Results: A new regular employee of the Draco Tavern showed up, named Fred. Only mentioned in passing save in the story "Cruel and Unusual", where he expressed sympathy for the Chirpsithra view.
Notes: "Either he's not completely human in outlook, or only acts that way when dealing with stories of aliens. We should probably test this further." - Dr D. Vettir
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", by Julia Ward Howe.
Results: verse 2, lines 1 and 3 altered. Rather than "I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps" and "I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps", the lines now state "Fred has seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps" and "Fred can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps". Upon returning to the journal, SCP-423 wrote "that was… interesting, but I don't think I want to try it again."
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: "Mary Had A Little Lamb" (verses 1 and 2 only), by Sarah Josepha Hale.
Results: References to "Mary" in verse 1 are now references to "Freddy"; references to "her" in verse 2 are now references to "him".
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: "Mary Had A Little Lamb" (full version), by Sarah Josepha Hale.
Results: Verses 1 and 2 are now unaltered; a reference to "the eager children" in verse 4 is now a reference to "Fred and the children".
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: House of Leaves (color version), by Mark Z. Danielewski.
Results: A mailman named Fred delivers a letter to Will Navidson in page ███. Fred also appears as a bartender that attends Johnny, and one of the orderlies caring for Pelafina. SCP-423 expressed profound confusion after leaving this work. Of note is that all instances of "Fred" in the text were written in green.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Gadsby: Champion of Youth, by Ernest Vincent Wright. Gadsby is known for being an extended lipogram: a 50,110-word story written without any 'e's.
Results: A minor character named Ford appeared in the novel.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: A (non-pornographic) limerick about a man from Nantucket.
Results: No change. SCP-423 subsequently explained that the given limerick was "too small and too tight", with insufficient "flexibility".
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: A book of 365 haiku.
Results: Third line of thirteen separate haiku replaced with a five-syllable phrase mentioning Fred ("Fred watched silently", "Fred is also here", "Only Fred remains", etc).
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: The Frogs Who Desired A King, by Aesop, written using plastic letters with a magnetic backing applied to a metallic surface.
Results: The penultimate sentence became, "a big Stork that soon set to work gobbling them all up, except for one named Fred who hid." The "new" letters appeared to be of the same material and design of the original ones, and the weight of the complete setup remained the same.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy.
Results: In the introductory scene where Holden incites a mob to murder the Reverend by falsely accusing the Reverend of rape and bestiality, a bystander named Frederick is present in the mob; however, instead of participating, the bystander leaves in disgust. The narrator comments that "The weak coward Frederick was never seen again."
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: ████████ Telephone Directory (2003).
Results: No change.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: 12 Angry Men, by Reginald Rose.
Results: The list of characters specifies that the courthouse guard is named Fred; he is described as "disappointed that he will be excluded from the jurors' deliberations".
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler (German original)
Results: No change for the first minutes, followed by an insertion of multiple brief references to a distant, skeptical colleague named Friedrich into autobiographical fragments of chapters 2 to 8 of book. The inserts were in German, roughly consistent with the original style but containing a number of grammar and stylistic mistakes. Upon returning to the journal, SCP-423 remarked "whew, that was hard!"
Notes: I am not sure what is more significant here: that 423 appears to possess a native tongue or that it was apparently able to obtain fairly good knowledge of German from the contents of a single book, even as long as this one. We should look deeper into its possible application to translating hitherto-undecipherable scripts — Dr Despair
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Odyssey, by Homer (English Braille edition)
Results: No change. SCP-423 left the book after 5 minutes, saying "interesting but I think I'll leave this one for when I'm really bored".
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: A hardcopy of this experiment log
Results: Identical, except for the insertion of the words "ruggedly handsome" in several sections of the log.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: The Kugelmass Episode, by Woody Allen, a story about a man who is able to travel into fiction.
Results: Testing forbidden by O5-█.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: A Canadian five-dollar bill (2008 issue); the reverse of the Canadian five-dollar bill (2008 issue) contains a two-sentence passage from "The Hockey Sweater", by Roch Carrier, in French and in English.
Results: First sentence remained intact. Second sentence, which describes how important skating rinks were in Carrier's childhood, now mentions life "on the skating rink, with Fred" (as well as "sur la patinoire, avec Fred").
Notes: The bill was first tested in a change machine and accepted as legitimate. After SCP-423 left the bill, it was tested in the same change machine and rejected as counterfeit.
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Results: Halfway through the book, Sam-I-Am asks the protagonist "Would you eat them here with Fred? Would you eat them with some bread?". The protagonist refuses. No edited nor additional illustrations were included.
Notes: After returning to his journal, SCP-423 noted "That was fun."
Date: ██/██/████
Test Material: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Results: A hobbit named Fredegar Burrowes, noted as a friend of Samwise Gamgee, accompanies Frodo Baggins and his party throughout the book.
Notes: Of particular note is that Oin, noted as having been killed in 423's version of the Hobbit, is mentioned as surviving in this book.
