SCP-CN-440 on initial discovery
Item #: SCP-CN-440
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-CN-440 is contained in a High-Value Item Locker in Site-CN-71. Access to the item is restricted to Level 3/CN-440 personnel only.
When conducting testing, SCP-CN-440 and a set of standard Guangdong mahjong tiles are to be placed in a Standard Temporary Humanoid Containment Chamber at Site-CN-71, and at least one member of personnel with 2/CN-440 clearance and 3 members of personnel with at least Level 2 clearance are to play a round of mahjong on the table. As there are currently sufficient personnel for testing, all requests to use SCP-CN-440 for non-research purposes will be rejected.
When using SCP-CN-440, aside from a region with a radius of 50 cm around SCP-CN-440 itself, the rest of the room is to be kept below a light level of 50 lm.
All personnel who have reported seeing SCP-CN-440-A instances while playing mahjong using SCP-CN-440 and have passed psychological evaluation can be granted 2/CN-440 clearance. Arrangements will be made for these personnel to carry out testing involving communication with SCP-CN-440-A instances.
In order to prevent the recurrence of Incident CN-440, a maximum of two personnel with 2/CN-440 clearance may use SCP-CN-440 at one time.
Description: SCP-CN-440 is a traditional-style mahjong table, discovered by the Foundation in a flat in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong, after reports of a "haunted mahjong table" surfaced. Under most conditions, besides the marker signifying the East player being fixed on one side of the table, SCP-CN-440 has no significant differences from a standard mahjong table. However, when the table is placed in a room with light level under 50 lm and four players play a game of Hong Kong style mahjong on it, all players will claim to be able to see four pairs of translucent hands, one at each corner of SCP-CN-440; these hands cannot be recorded on video. These hands cannot be physically touched, but will substitute the players in receiving chips or money and shuffle the tiles at the beginning of each round.
Out of the players who have used SCP-CN-440, approximately 15% have been able to see these hands connected to four feminine entities wearing Hong Shing Hang Tan College uniforms, designated SCP-CN-440-A-1 through SCP-CN-440-A-4, and activate the SCP-CN-440-A instance corresponding to the seat they are using. Each SCP-CN-440-A occupies one side of the table, and each stand behind the players, with both hands extended to participate in the game. No rule has been determined for which subjects are capable of seeing these entities.
According to the descriptions provided by players who can see SCP-CN-440-A, their bodies and clothes are in a severe state of decomposition and damage, and similarly to the hands appearing on the tables, they are translucent and incorporeal. Of note is that these four entities do not have heads; the section where their heads would connect to their necks appear to be a non-translucent black.
Activated SCP-CN-440-A instances are capable of fluent communication in Cantonese, English and Mandarin and will interact with players in the seat they are standing behind who are capable of seeing them, providing them with suggestions as to what tiles to discard and whether to call chows or pungs. They are also seemingly capable of hearing external sounds, but their speech can only be heard by the person they are standing behind. Although the other players cannot converse with these entities, recording devices are fully capable of recording their speech. Playing according to SCP-CN-440-A's suggestions allows players to more easily win; however, their style of play differs between each entity.
SCP-CN-440-A entities appear to be capable of communicating with each other; however, no recording of this has been successfully taken.
Addendum CN-440:
Note: Irrelevant discussion pertaining to the game has been excised.
Position: East
Height: ~139cm
Effect on player: Affected player will win with higher-scoring hands in the first few rounds of the game; the effect will slowly fade as time goes on.
Interview Log:
Interviewer: Dr. █████
[Begin Recording]
Dr. █████: Hello, SCP-CN-440-A-1.
SCP-CN-440-A-1: Hello there… wait! That's not my name!
Dr. █████: Then how should I refer to you?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: Uh… um… well, call me whatever you like, then…
Dr. █████: Do you not know your own name?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: I can't remember. I can remember everything, just not my own name.
Dr. █████: Then do you remember why you manifest at this table?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: Of course! We are spirits of mahjong who live in this table!
Dr. █████: Spirits of mahjong?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: Yes, that's right. We accompany you in playing the game, chat with you, help you make this boring game a little less boring — that's what the Boss said.
Dr. █████: Wait, who's this Boss of yours? Did he turn you into what you are now?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: The Boss is the Boss! A very good boss! Don't talk about him like some villain… Ah, ah! Pung, pung, pung! Quickly, grab that tile!
[Omitted.]
SCP-CN-440-A-1: After that… throw the three… no, the seven of characters…
Dr. █████: What happened? Seems to me like you're tired.
SCP-CN-440-A-1: I'm hungry, so I can't focus.
Dr. █████: Do you even need to eat?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: No, we don't need food, but having an empty stomach is so hard to bear. If we had burritos, that would be great, I'd be back at my best in a bit.
Dr. █████: You like burritos?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: Yes, they're my favorite! I first saw them in the comics, and after having one I just wanted to keep going! You know? I started playing mahjong because of that comic, too!
Dr. █████: Really? Hasn't anyone come to bring you food?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: No one… most people run away screaming when they see me and my sisters, I don't even have time to ask them for food!
Dr. █████: Then next time I'll bring you a burrito, alright?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: Really? Thank you!
Dr. █████: But, well, how are you going to eat it?
SCP-CN-440-A-1: In a single bite, of course! Is there a problem?
[End Recording]
Note: Following this, Dr. █████ requested to provide SCP-CN-440-A-1 a burrito in the next test to determine SCP-CN-440-A-1's ability to influence the player; this was rejected for safety reasons.
Position: South
Height: ~156cm
Effect on player: Affected player will more often wait on dandiao or zhongdong when waiting for tiles to win the game.
Interview Log:
Interviewer:Agent ████
[Begin Recording]
Agent ████: Hello, SCP-CN-440-A-2.
SCP-CN-440-A-2: Please, call me Ms. Chairperson.
Agent ████: This is the company's rule. I seek your understanding.
SCP-CN-440-A-2: I know you have many questions to ask me. Call me Ms. Chairperson, or I will not answer.
Agent ████: Alright, Ms. Chairperson, could you tell me how you became a "spirit of mahjong"?
SCP-CN-440-A-2: "Spirit of mahjong"? Do you mean "immortal of the table"?
Agent ████: CN-440-A-1 said you were "spirits of mahjong"; plus, "immortal of the table" makes me think you're one of those spirits that shows up when you do a ritual
SCP-CN-440-A-2: Are you talking about the girl on the East side? She always forgets the right names. Don't worry about her. As for the ritual, I've never heard of any such thing, but our Boss always said we are the immortals of this mahjong table, that I definitely know.
Agent ████: CN-440-A-1 also mentioned a Boss. Could you tell me more about this Boss?
SCP-CN-440-A-2: Ah, Boss… He wears grey, like a worn-out gangster… And he looked like he hadn't stopped to freshen up in years. But in the darkness, he shines like a light.
Agent ████: In the darkness? Where were you then?
SCP-CN-440-A-2: At that time I was already dead, so I can't say where I was. I didn't go to heaven, and I didn't go to hell. I went to this dark place, with nothing there. It was so boring.
Agent ████: And then you met this Boss?
SCP-CN-440-A-2: That's right. He found me and asked me "are you searching for a good time?" How else was I to respond? I had been waiting for a long time.
Agent ████: You were waiting for this for a long time?
SCP-CN-440-A-2: My precognition has always been on point. Why else do you think I always wait for dandiao and zhongdong?
[End Recording]
Position: West
Height: ~145cm
Effect on player: Affected player will show a preference for kongs, and will achieve gangshang zimo more often than the average.
Interview Log:
Interviewer: Researcher ██████
[Begin Recording]
Note: When Researcher ██████ began the game, he noticed a book with illegible title and similar qualities to SCP-CN-440-A entities floating in front of SCP-CN-440-A-3, whose pages flipped once every 12 seconds on average.
Researcher ██████: Hello, SCP-CN-440-A-3.
SCP-CN-440-A-3: Hello, sir.
Researcher ██████: Do you still remember what your… last moments were?
SCP-CN-440-A-3: Sir, actually, you don't have to be so euphemistic. I am very aware that I am dead. You want to ask me how I died and came here, yes?
Researcher ██████: Yes.
SCP-CN-440-A-3: It was after school. Me, my sister and our best friends were waiting for the bus. Something happened and a bus crashed into the bus stop. I only managed to push my sister out of the bus stop, and after that I got crushed. In the end, besides all of us screaming and the kind of horrible sound you hear when mincing meat, I couldn't hear anything else. After that I found myself in the darkness. The rest, well, your people heard it from the South lady.
Researcher ██████: And did you recognize the other three "immortals of the table" while you were alive?
SCP-CN-440-A-3: Actually, they were my three sisters, who were waiting at the bus stop with me. We're like old friends.
Researcher ██████: In that case, before we came, were there any people you talked to?
SCP-CN-440-A-3: Most people got scared off the second they saw our hands, not even considering the people who could see the rest of us. But there was this one time four really scary priests came to see us. They were the only people I talked to before you came.
Researcher ██████: Which is to say, you were scared of those priests?
SCP-CN-440-A-3: Yes, as soon as they approached we felt like we were being suppressed. Since we're bound to this table, we can't go too far from it. At that time, I was scared, so scared I couldn't speak.
Researcher ██████: So what did they tell you?
SCP-CN-440-A-3: They said they were from the Orthodox Kuiyang Sect, and were here to investigate a haunting in this area. The priest by my side even said he wanted to have me exorcised.
Researcher ██████: And then?
SCP-CN-440-A-3: Luckily my sister on the North seat managed to persuade what looked like their leader. They didn't want to exorcise us any more, so they played another round and left. A few days later you took the table here.
Researcher ██████: Thank you for your cooperation. The information you provided is of great help to us.
SCP-CN-440-A-3: You don't have to thank me. As long as you keep playing mahjong with us, I think that's enough.
[End Recording]
Position: North
Height: ~152cm
Effect on player: Affected player will collect tiles of the same suit, often producing hunyise or qingyise wins.
Interview Log:
Interviwer: Agent ███
[記錄開始]
Agent ███: Hello, SCP-CN-440-A-4.
SCP-CN-440-A-4: Just call me A4, that designation is far too long.
Agent ███: Alright, A4, according to what CN-440-A-3 said, you managed to convince some priests of the Kuiyang sect not to exorcise you, is that correct?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: Yes. We're not demons, after all, we are only "immortals of the table" who help people feel satisfied when they play mahjong. Convincing them wasn't hard.
Agent ███: So besides these, what else did those priests say?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: Um… they said, before they left, that they wanted to take us to a more suitable place. Three days later you came and took us here.
Agent ███: Was there anything else they said?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: They told us to tell our supervisor the following: "Immortals of the table manifest, two is beautiful, three is dangerous, four will be stopped quickly. Too much is just as bad as too little. Remember this at all costs." What do you think this means, sir?
Agent ███: Hm… I think this means there shouldn't be three people like me sitting here playing?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: Is that saying the four of us sisters can't play together? That's so boring.
Agent ███: Do you not normally compare notes with each other on how to play?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: We can't. Besides shuffling, we cannot directly interfere with the game, and can only feel the joy of playing mahjong through making suggestions to you, the players. If nobody sees us, there's nothing we can do.
Agent ███: In that case, have you ever had a game where more than one player could see you?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: Only that time with the priests. The one sitting with me, and the one sitting on the South chair, those two could see us. Ah, it's been so long since I traded tips with the Chairperson. That was possibly the most refreshing game I've played.
Agent ███: Are you close to CN-440-A-2?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: Yes. The glasses I'm wearing were from a shop she introduced to me.
Agent ███: But… you don't have a head? How do you wear glasses?
SCP-CN-440-A-4: Lies! Our heads have always been here! How could you say something like that? I'm not talking to you any more.
Until the game ended, SCP-CN-440-A-4 refused any attempts at conversation.
[End Recording]
Note: Of note is that after SCP-CN-440-A-4 refused to talk to Agent ███, he did not manage to win a single round, and often discarded tiles that allowed other players to win. Agent ███ is currently not to participate in further SCP-CN-440-related testing.
Following the interview with SCP-CN-440-A-3, Researcher ██████ reported hearing a female voice not belonging to any SCP-CN-440-A requesting that he stand in the West position when "no one is playing" and the lights are dimmed in order to contact it. After completing all interviews, Researcher ██████ was arranged to stand alone on the West position of SCP-CN-440 under testing conditions. Following this, Researcher ██████ reported the upper half of an SCP-CN-440-A instance, with a height estimated at 158 cm, appearing directly above SCP-CN-440; this instance proceeded to converse with Researcher ██████. This entity has been designated SCP-CN-440-A-5.
Interview Log:
Interviewer: Researcher ██████
[Begin Recording]
SCP-CN-440-A-5: Thank you for hearing my voice and agreeing to meet with me, A-xi's user.
Researcher ██████: A-xi, is that SCP-CN-440-A-3's name when she was alive?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: Dong-meiSister Winter, Lan-jieSister Orchid, Bei-jieSister North, and A-xi… The master has wiped away their names, but I will carry on their memory until I am but ashes and smoke.
Researcher ██████: Is this "master" the same as the "Boss" the 440-A entities have mentioned?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: Yes, that "Boss"… this man, for his selfish purposes, has turned us sisters into beings neither human nor demon.
Researcher ██████:Could you tell me more?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: After I was crushed under that car, I already knew we would soon meet our fates. But the end result was not like that. We were in an expanse of darkness; just like Lan-jie told you, there was nothing. A darkness, the utmost boredom.
Researcher ██████: And after that your "Boss" appeared?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: He appeared, but he was not what you heard from Dong-mei and Lan-jie. He… all I can say is he was thick with a demonic aura. That… that demon, he said "Young ones whose names match the four winds, and were born on days and months of yin, how fortituous…" That kind of stuff, and after that he sucked up Dong-mei and the others one by one in a gourd. Their screams I can still hear in my ears, I can't shake it off.
Researcher ██████: So how did you avoid this unpleasant fate?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: Avoid? If I could avoid it, I wouldn't be here. When that bastard tried to suck me in, the talisman on my body blocked the power of the gourd. When I think about it, a few days before the accident, my mother took me to the Buddhist temple to receive it, and even then it protected me. But I couldn't escape, even I was sucked into this table. He said he would deal with me after my talisman broke.
Note: Researcher ██████ claimed that he could see a corroded talisman around SCP-CN-440-A-5's neck, identical in appearance to those at Hong Kong's Hung Hom Kwun Yam Temple.
Researcher ██████: In that case, why do your sisters not have heads?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: I don't quite remember, but I saw something relating to the concept of "three immortal souls and seven mortal forms" in A-xi's book. I can only imagine during their transformation process something went wrong, but I don't know if it's that demon's work.
Researcher ██████: So do you know why your master made this table?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: Before we found this table, he would sometimes bring around various kinds of monsters I can't really describe to play mahjong; I didn't know it would be us playing!
Researcher ██████: Have you tried to talk to your sisters or anyone else?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: I've tried, countless times, but they can't hear me. And as for other people, if they're not wearing Taoist robes, they're that demon's friends — how can I from help from them?
Researcher ██████: So, why did you ask me to meet with you? Do you want this table disassembled?
SCP-CN-440-A-5: I will not ask you or the people behind you to take apart this table. That will only hurt my sisters. But, please, please think of a way to bring back their heads, and give us rest. And don't let those priests steal this table. Before you came, I heard the priests wanted to sell us. I don't trust them. And you don't seem like the kind of person to treat my sisters as mere time-wasters. In other words, you are my last hope.
Researcher ██████: To contain you is most rightly our job. As for your request, i will report this to my superiors.
SCP-CN-440-A-5: Be careful. That demon will not just let things that belong to him just fall into other people's hands.
[End Recording]
After this interview, no means of contacting SCP-CN-440-A-5 were provided, and SCP-CN-440-A-5 has not requested another interview. In order to address the risk of a raid, the containment procedures have been strengthened. Currently, SCP-CN-440 has been moved to a High-Value Locker, and as sufficient information has been gathered, all testing on SCP-CN-440 has been temporarily put on hold.
Incident CN-440:
In order to test the effects of activating multiple SCP-CN-440-A, four members of staff with 2/CN-440 clearance were arranged to play mahjong using SCP-CN-440. After the beginning of the game, all personnel claimed that they lost control of their bodies, and continued to play not of their own volition. Audio recording revealed the sounds of SCP-CN-440-A entities playing mahjong. Strong winds manifested in the interior of the room, with speeds reaching up to Category 10 and higher. When Foundation personnel attempted to activate the lights in the room, a strong sonic boom was heard from above SCP-CN-440, causing heavy, difficult-to-repair damage to the containment unit. Foundation personnel quickly secured the safety of the object and the testing personnel.
During the incident, SCP-CN-440 did not suffer any damage; all personnel involved in the test suffered mild cerebral concussions and lost their memories of the game, but were otherwise unaffected. Following interview with SCP-CN-440-A, it was determined that they had become extremely engrossed in the game and could not restrain themselves, and expressed their apologies for the incident. Testing involving multiple personnel with 2/CN-440 clearance simultaneously using SCP-CN-440 has been put on hold.