SCP-1733 - Season Opener
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CLEARANCE GRANTED… WELCOME, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL…
SCRIPT BASED ON ORIGINAL ENTRY BY bbaztek [CC BY-SA 3.0].
The voice of the Database was provided by Joshua Alan Lindsay.
Item #: SCP-1733
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: The DVR containing SCP-1733 is to be kept in a secure video archive at Site-██. Playback of SCP-1733 is strictly forbidden unless required for research. Personnel must contact Dr. Geller for permission to study SCP-1733.
Description: SCP-1733 is a digital recording of the 2010-2011 NBA season opening game played at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on 10/26/2010 between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat. Agents monitoring social networking sites were alerted to SCP-1733 when Boston native █████ ██████ complained in a Facebook thread on 10/27 about a technical foul in the third quarter involving players Ray Allen and Chris Bosh that never occurred in the original broadcast. When confronted, █████ ██████ uploaded the relevant segment much to the confusion of his derogators. Foundation agents embedded in Facebook's moderator team deleted the thread and procured the IP addresses of all individuals present at the chat at this time to locate and administer Class-A amnestics. The Motorola brand DVR containing SCP-1733 was recovered for study.
Study of the footage has since revealed the nature of the recording's anomalous properties. Although initially diverging from the original broadcast only negligibly, such as quarter point totals and occurrences of fouls, SCP-1733 has begun to markedly digress from the content of its earlier playbacks. Recorded entities have been observed to retain memory of previous playings, and as such have developed a burgeoning awareness of their existence. It is hypothesized that playbacks impart an unquantifiable measure of cognizance to the entities inhabiting SCP-1733, with consecutive playings greatly expanding recall of previous events. This effect is cumulative and extends to all persons in the arena. Quality of awareness has progressed from reported feelings of intense déjà vu by commentator personalities Mike & Tommy to a near-eidetic memory of preceding playbacks. However, to note, no entities inside SCP-1733 have ever addressed the viewer directly, or shown awareness that they reside in a digital recording.
The individuals in the recording are virtually indistinguishable from their real life counterparts in talent, behavior, and mannerisms on court. Fans in the crowd also appear to be real human beings in all respects, and Foundation inquiries into the current status of these persons has found nothing of note. For all intents and purposes, recorded entities appear to be the actual individuals but somehow abiding in a digital medium. TD Garden records have put the number of people in attendance on 10/26/2010 at ██████.
It was initially thought the purpose of SCP-1733 was to depict an infinite number of game outcomes, since players were able to modify offensive and defensive strategies during every playback. By playback 034, players and coaches became so keenly adapted to the opposing team's playbook that the score remained 0-0 until 3:34 in the first quarter. As quality of recall was still weak in early stage iterations, memory of preceding playbacks likely manifested as a vague intuition felt by players, fans, and team personnel alike, interfering with their ability to grasp the full scope of their situation.
By playback 045, however, comprehension of their predicament had reached such a point that players declined to play altogether and assembled with the rest of those in attendance to formulate possible escape plans. It is the conclusion of Foundation researchers that the inhabitants of SCP-1733 are imprisoned in the setting of the recording, as they have been unable to exit by any means. Doors leading out of the arena have not yielded to an estimated force in excess of █████ N. The assembly has also been unable to exit from locker rooms, player facilities, and skyboxes. Waiting for patrons arriving in at scripted points prior to the start of the first quarter has also been unsuccessful: individuals leave by where patrons entered and are then unable to navigate an escape from the adjacent corridors that girdle the main arena. Escape attempts have since grown more desperate, and have included failed attempts at constructing makeshift explosives, all-out rioting, the fracturing of the assembly into three opposing factions, and by playback ███ the ritualistic murder and disembowelment of players in the hopes of appeasing whatever it is that confines them (see Timeline Document 001 for details). However, upon the beginning of a new playback, all persons are returned to their pre-game status unharmed.
Researchers have been unable to duplicate the effects of SCP-1733 with other recordings made by the DVR, confirming the device is not the source of SCP-1733's aberrant properties. Due to the distress visited upon inhabitants of SCP-1733, testing has been suspended indefinitely.
Partial Timeline - Document 001
Playback 002: First recorded deviation from recorded broadcast. TD Garden crowd boos the Miami Heat during entrance. Miami Heat forward LeBron James observed to have scowled and shaken his head dismissively at the crowd.
Playback 015: Score remains 0-0 for eight consecutive possessions. Fans appear noticeably subdued when displayed on the facility's HD scoreboard screen. Celtics power forward Glen Davis is able to execute a crucial block late in the fourth quarter on LeBron James he could not complete during the original broadcast, securing the Celtics' lead. Commentators note Glen Davis's dedication to performing well on both sides of the court in spite of the "Big Three's blistering ball movement on offensive plays". A nascent awareness of previously played games has begun to form.
Playback 026: First Miami Heat victory, 112-85. Crowd becomes aggressive, shouting obscenities and hurling foodstuffs at the Celtics. Color commentator Tom Heinsohn understood the frustration, criticizing the Celtics' coaching staff for becoming so complacent after having "cracked the code of the Miami Heat offense". As this was the first game together for the Miami "Big Three", it is unlikely any coaching personnel would have become so adjusted to an unfamiliar offense in a single game.
Playback 027: Commentators Mike & Tommy note a feeling of déjà vu during the Heat's grandiose entrance. Crowd remains subdued during key Celtics plays. Celtics emerge the victors, prompting Tom Heinsohn to remark "the Celtics have come a long way winning back the hearts of their fans". When asked to elaborate by Mike Gorman, Heinsohn could only respond that he felt the team had an embarrassment to atone for, but could not specify further.
Playback 044: Teams emerge disoriented and confused. Game is suspended. Majority of time is spent by medical professionals assessing the mental state of players, who remain convinced they had dreamt playing the season opener frequently the previous night. When informed of the situation by team staff, commentators Mike & Tommy affirm the same feeling. Crowd is also afflicted. Recording ends with court-side correspondents interviewing members of the crowd on the nature of their dreams.
Playback 045: Players refuse to play. Cameramen, facility personnel, players, commentators, and crowd members gather in the court to appraise the situation. All persons are convinced they are reliving the same game repeatedly. Doors are tested but cannot be budged. Recording closes as crowd begins to fashion makeshift weapons to pry open doors. Last instance of camera being manipulated by the camera crew. All following playbacks are seen through a single static shot of a broadcast view camera.
Playback 051: No attempts to exit the building have succeeded. All exits in the arena and adjacent areas remain sealed. A physical altercation in balcony section 318 between an inebriated group of college-aged males and one older male leaves the older male concussed on the floor and unconscious. As broadcast camera is unable to pick up audible voices on opposite side of the arena, presumably the dispute occurred over the group of males not assisting with escape plans. First recorded violent incident.
Playback 052: The man knocked unconscious in previous playback is returned to previous state unharmed upon the beginning of current recording. The man ambushes and bludgeons one of his attackers to death at 34:12 mark.
Playback 055: Cognitization has progressed to such a point that the crowd is now able to remember the events of that week, as well as friends and family members outside the facility. Attempts to contact outside for help are met with failure.
Playback 065: Crowd is unable to exit the facility. Congregation has since dissolved into the following groups and "factions": players, coaches, and all involved team personnel have presumably barricaded themselves in off-screen player facilities. The infirm and parents accompanied by their children have retreated to the northeast corner of the balcony rise and have elected to wait out playbacks as they occur, marking their territory with a Celtics championship flag draped over Section 320. ██ individuals henceforth referred to as the "Faithkeepers" have proselytized to multiple gatherings that they believe being confined to the TD Garden is a punishment for rampant consumerism of the post-industrial world, and have burned "offerings" of mobile phones, car keys, handbags, and wallets in center court for the past four playbacks. The group comprises Boston churchgoers and [REDACTED]. A notable portion of adults numbering approximately ████ individuals, however, remain diligent in formulating escape plans.
Playback 073: The "Faithkeepers" grow in number after previous playback incident, where three males were severely injured by an improvised explosive fastened to an exit door. No damage to the door is visible.
Playback 095: Hedonistic displays of sex and violence have sufficiently curbed the efforts of proselytizers. Makeshift curtains are hung around the site of an orgy at loge 8 at the urging of Section 320 members.
Playback 112: Conditions have deteriorated considerably. ██ individuals leapt from balcony section in opening ten minutes of playback 112.
Playback ███: Faithkeepers storm player facilities to retrieve Paul Pierce and LeBron James. The players are ritually sacrificed and their bodies are subsequently displayed on the arena's "Jumbo-tron". The murder of players seems to have no effect on the recording.
Playback ███: Proselytizers have begun to call for the sacrifice of children. Adults have formed a wall between Group 320 and the Faithkeepers.
Playback ███: First recorded deviation in arena light to a deep red color. [DATA EXPUNGED].
