We just got a potential hit on a PoI you entered into the system. MTF U-20 is spinning up for a catch-and-release operation right this second. Given your history with SCP-4581, I thought you might be able to extract some valuable information from this individual; please let us know if you have the time and workload capacity for a secondary assignment.

On 2018/05/23, Foundation webcrawler I/O-GASNIER flagged a non-anomalous swap meet in Sudbury, Ontario, where an undercover member of MTF Upsilon-20 reported an attendee wearing a "MxMasters" name tag. The target was apprehended when they left the venue and brought in for interrogation.

Interviewed: Wren Masterson, suspected PoI-6966 ("steakshift", "mxm")

Interviewer: Researcher Penelope Gore, Site-76

<Begin Log>

Masterson: Finally. Is my lawyer on the way?

Gore: No, I'm afraid not.

M: Figures. Your boys just laughed when I asked about that. Are you a cop, "Tipper"? You have to tell me if you're a cop.

G: No. Please don't call me that. I'm Researcher Penelope Gore, and I have some questions for you.

M: I'm not going to answer any… Wait. Those guys said… (pause) They call you "Tipper Gore"? Like the censor? (laughing)

G: (pause) Yes, Ms. Masterson.

M: Mx. Masterson. I'm a they, not a she.

G: Apologies. Can you guess why they call me "Tipper", Mx. Masterson?

M: I'm assuming you're a prude.

G: Not exactly. Do you like Dead Kennedys, Wren?

M: Uh, yes. (pause) Oh. (pause) Oh shit. (laughing) This is… awkward.

G: Yes. Well. Suffice it to say that I contained your "project", but my coworkers enjoy rubbing it in my face. (pause) Forgive me if I'm somewhat terse.

M: Forgiven. Reap what you sow and all that. How'd y'all get the tape?

G: That's classified. Are you identifying yourself as the original owner and/or creator of SCP-4581?

M: (pause) Uh… no?

G: Then why is your name on it? "MxMasters", "mxm"? Not the most subtle alias.

M: (pause) Is this is what you humans call… "hubris"?

G: Are you implying that you are non-human?

M: No, I was just… (pause) Trying to be funny. Fuck. Well. Janitors aren't cops, technically, so I'll indulge you. I'm not going to remember this, am I?

G: That's not my department.

M: Well that's… (inaudible) handy. (whistles dejectedly) Alright, Researcher Penelope Gore. Ask your questions.

G: How long have you been able to create these anomalies?

M: Since, uh, high school I guess. 2003, 2004-ish.

G: Was there a precipitating event?

M: I watched "The Ring". (laughing) Always liked movies — wore out my VHS Disney classics and Original Trilogy, just watching and rewatching — but I'd never thought about making my own until I saw "The Ring".

G: Could you expound on that?

M: Sure. Uh, bottom-line, the big bad is an unwanted little girl who makes spirit photographs. She gets pissed, thinks about stuff, it appears on film, and it hurts people, even after she dies. (pause) The first time I saw it, I was alone at home, and I thought it was stupid. I thought, "that's not how pictures work. That's not how movies are made. Ghosts don't call you on the phone." But I watched all the way to the end…

G: Go on.

M: …and then my fucking phone rang. I almost pissed myself. It wasn't a ghost on the other end, it was just a fluke, freak timing. But when it scared me, that fear sorta… jumped out. When I went back into the living room, there was this screaming, shimmering white face on the television screen. Fading, indistinct, but it was my face. I could tell.

G: And this inspired you?

M: It terrified me. At first I thought my soul had, like, fucked off through the TV set. (laughing) But yeah, I tried again a few weeks later. I thought really hard at some Polaroids and it didn't do shit. Eventually I realized that I didn't know enough about the medium. I would listen to my favorite bands, but didn't really understand music. I took photos and watched movies but I didn't understand film. I was seeing the world through a pinhole, and I didn't even realize. Turns out, bouncing energy off a CRT is easy. Thought photography? Tough, for rookies. Mentally compositing a datastream, then laying it down through an arrangement of metallic particles, in a machine-readable format? That's a fucking challenge, and I live for it.

G: Did you model yourself on the girl in the movie? Did you set out to do people harm?

M: What? No. God, no. Imagine having that sort of power and using it to torture randos. No, that's never been cool. Art can be grim and punishing but it shouldn't be, like… pointlessly hostile. I grew out of that mindset a long time ago, found my real voice, my real self. Eventually I even found some like-minded people. We're not into random violence.

G: Then why make SCP-4581?

M: I mean, I thought the label was pretty self-explanatory.

G: You don't consider SCP-4581-∞ "random" or "violent"?

M: (pause) What is "SCP-4581-infinite"?

G: Your infohazard.

M: Oh, you mean the Loop. It's the Loop and the Jam. (pause) Let me ask you a question, Researcher Gore: do you think that building a gun is a violent act?

G: Yes. A gun is a killing implement. Its design and construction is shaped by intent.

M: Okay. What about a camera?

G: (pause) I'm not sure I follow.

M: Guns, cameras, cassettes - to me, all tools. Good or bad, it's people who put them to work.

G: Are you saying "guns don't kill people"?

M: No, guns are designed for killing. But with training and safeguards you can use a rifle to hunt game, feed a family, protect a community. It's all responsibility and intent. Mundane cameras kill people too, when they misrepresent or escalate a situation. Propaganda is the bedrock of genocide. Yet whoever's behind the lens is always read as neutral. When they're obviously not.

G: That's an absurd reduction. There are extremes, yes, but there is such a thing as an objective, scientific view. A mundane object doesn't blow someone's eardrums out and then wipe them off the Internet. That was you. You built a bomb, and then you sent it to a child.

M: "An objective, scientific view", what horseshit. Janitors. You run tests and collapse everything into reports and pretend you're not influencing the results. We all change things just by observing, and we decide how to observe. That's why there's a choice built into the Loop… uh, the thing. (snaps fingers) SCP-4581-whatever. You don't have to share that salacious gossip, or that video of a dude getting his head kicked in. You don't have to profit from their pain. You can just… scrap that take. Move on. Everyone will be better for it.

G: I have a printout here… chat logs describing your use of SCP-4581-∞ against unidentified "right-wing propagandists".

M: That… may have happened.

G: Will you tell us more about that?

M: I would prefer not to.

G: Why?

M: The circumstances don't matter anymore. It's done. Closed Loop. You don't need to worry about that guy.

G: What makes you so sure "the Loop" is closed? SCP-4581-∞ could be lingering around your target, or a derivative-

M: Because I'm a responsible human being, Tipper. When I built this weapon, and yes I acknowledge it's a weapon, thank you, I included a safety. When the Mysterious Mr. Fucko's channel got yanked, I drove by his house playing the Jam. I knocked on his door and asked for directions and he said fuck off, he didn't have time for dykes, his business was collapsing. So I went home. Mission complete.

G: You think you changed your target's outlook by… destroying their livelihood?

M: Doubt it. I could have played that tape while screaming, "stop harassing brown people for money", and he'd still be racist. That doesn't matter, though, because "hearts and minds" isn't the point. It's about power and affect. Y'all are about containment and protection, right? He used his platform to hurt people. Now he can't. If you actually cared about normies, you'd appreciate my public service. (pause) Can I please have my tape back?

G: No. Why?

M: It has sentimental value. Plus, I'm an indie librarian of sorts. I prefer it when my loans are returned. No fees, mind you, that defeats the purpose of mutual aid, but folks typically respect the quid pro quo. (pause) What did the tape play for you? What did it leave behind?

G: I'm not at liberty to discuss our investigation.

M: Really? Shit, not even a consolation prize. Janitors really can't take a joke.

G: (pause) It trolled me with Lady Gaga and Rick Astley.

M: (laughing)

G: I've always hated pop music. (pause) SCP-4581-∞ overwrote files with Rage Against The Machine.

M: Interesting. (pause) You should quit your job.

G: Excuse me?

M: I mean, not to tell you your business, but "SCP-4581-∞" is a reflection of the operator. It's based on the circumstances that led you to make the mistake of uploading it. If I were to guess, I'd say you were… conflicted, about your place in a bigger system?

G: (pause) No offence, "steakshift", but I'm not about to take career advice from someone in their thirties who thinks a name like "Gamers Against Weed" is funny.

M: Again, fair. My sense of humor is terrible. Want to hear a joke?

G: Not particularly.

M: Two Oscar Meyer guys are on the highway in the Wienermobile. Been out there for hours, mile after mile, on and on and on. Driver asks his buddy to take the wheel. Passenger says, "no, I can't." Driver says, "I'm dyin' here, take the wheel, I need a nap." Passenger shakes his head. Driver flips out. "What the hell is wrong with you? This is part of the job! I've been driving for hours. It's your turn!" Passenger just… collapses in on himself. He says, "I'm sorry to let you down, man. I drive an automatic. I can't handle a steak-shift." (pause)

G: (inaudible) Are you done?

M: Yep.

G: (pause) Will you answer additional questions about your history, education, anomalous abilities, projects, personal enterprises and affiliations, particularly your relationship with GoI-5869, "Gamers Against Weed", and the members thereof?

M: Nope.

G: (pause) You were mostly compliant, before. What changed?

M: (clears throat) "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me."

G: Alright then. Goodbye, Mx. Masterson.

M: (whistles dejectedly)

<End Log>

Closing Statement: Wren Masterson (PoI-6966) was amnesticized and released from Foundation custody in Sudbury. The surveillance team lost contact shortly thereafter. Tracking their whereabouts is considered a low priority.