"Tabula Veritatis" (MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45)

MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Status	For Rent
Demand	Average
Value	$ 4,000/day, $ 100,000/month
Availability	Current Inventory (500)
Identifier	Tabula Veritatis
Description	A 1 x 1.6 m ebony wood frame carved with intricate esoteric patterns on both sides, for use as a table or other surfaces. People using or leaning on this frame will be unable to lie or omit information at will.
Marshall, Carter & Dark, LLP

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Initial Report
Author	Brad M. Omentis	Date	January 19, 1988
Interest	Medium	Identifier	Tabula Veritatis
During a Coalition raid on to a Factory's branch on Friday, January 8 of this year in the jungle of Tioman Island in Malaysia, I received a message from a contact there eager to sell a container full of "interesting objects" at a low price. His offer was desperate, he clearly hoped to liquidate everything before it was confiscated/destroyed. The vast majority of items were mere bric-a-bracs for the collector's market, but there was a box of 500 ebony plates, all beautifully hand-carved. When I had them checked by the antiques team, it was concluded that it was impossible to lie while they were being used. We have identified several niche markets among normality preservation agencies, as well as psychological research on individuals. As we still do not know their mechanism of action, it would be best to rent them until they can replicate their operation, to ensure initial market penetration and maximize short-term profits.
Open File Under:		MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Marshall, Carter & Dark, LLP

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Inventory Information (updated to 4Q 1989)
MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Owner	Quantity	Comments
Marshall, Carter and Dark LLP	13	Available at the request of the Supplier.
R&D Department	1	Use for study and replication of the phenomenon.
The Foundation	115	20 units to the Ethics Committee, 8 units for Site Directors, 60 units to the Regional Council of Latin America and Lusophone, 27 for other uses.
Deer College	50	Use for interviews and intake filters.
Circus of the Disquieting	8	Articles for staging and interaction with the public.
Are We Cool Yet?	22	Base for canvases and criticism.
Unusual Incidents Unit	14	Use in interrogation.
Clients	267	Various uses, for job interviews, psychological tests, obtaining secrets, etc.
Others	10	Internal use for targeted advertising.
Marshall, Carter & Dark, LLP

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Memo 01
MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Issuer	Pedro Descartes	Receiver	Brad M. Omentis
Subject	Two important things
Greetings Brad, I have good news and bad news. The good news: those frames are providing us with a not inconsiderable amount of income, and in this line of work, that's saying a lot. I've seen to it that you receive your well-deserved compensation for taking the initiative and interceding with The Factory before the Coalition guys screw up their assets. It was worth this risk, a thousand times over. The problem is that we are not coping. I have at least a waiting list of 200 customers requesting one of those tables to, what do I know, check if their partners are cheating on them or to satisfy their personal curiosity with gossip. They are starting to get impatient, and I would not want such an important portfolio to lose interest in our operations. Please let me know about any progress on the replication of the article. I have several contacts willing to help us maintain a stable supply chain.
Marshall, Carter & Dark, LLP

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Memo 02
MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Issuer	Minerva Domínguez	Receiver	Brad M. Omentis
Subject	Advances in the Tabula Veritatis
Good morning, Mr. Omentis. I am sending this letter to inform you of our progress on the article sent a few months ago. Through microscopic observations, we have distinguished that each frame contains thousands and thousands of confessions, in different languages, of defendants in some court in history. The calligraphic and detail work is unprecedented, and it helped us observe the second element. Using ethereal magnetic scanners, we have identified that Tabula Veritatis are actually psychophagus1, and contain the soul of a confessed criminal, usually of crimes of passion and homicides, based on his Vital Elan signals. They produce alterations in thought patterns through manipulation of the prefrontal cortex, preventing the machination of things outside of reality. Despite everything, the souls are particularly docile and seem at ease in their psychophagus, serving the truth where lies are potential. We have contacted some anomalous criminal execution agencies in Latin America and they could provide some of them for insertion in graphene fiber plates, the only ones that could be 3D printed with the detail required for their operation. I have learned that Facility-20 is somewhat overwhelmed by the waves of crimes of recent times, surely we can have some of those sentenced to capital punishment transferred to us; they will rather live in a junk than await its execution. We will have the first prototype in about three weeks for testing. We will notify you of any progress in replication.
Marshall, Carter & Dark, LLP

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Incident Report 01
MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Audiovisual Gallery Record Lacedaemonia:	February 10, 1990, during an exhibition where the artist [IDENTITY RESERVED] was comfortably seated at a table with a copy of Tabula Veritatis, with another chair on the other side.
Time	Footage
17:05	[RESERVED] moved to one side of the table, explaining that her exhibition, titled "My Truth" is a personal exercise in self-knowledge to express, openly, her opinions on current affairs and the Hispanic anart scene in general.
17:15	Long discussion with a local political figure, who is surprised at the opinion of his campaign.
17:21	Appearance of the brother of [RESERVED] who receives a harsh monologue from him, to conclude with thanks and a brotherly hug.
17:27	[RESERVED] offers her assistants to sit next to her to "help them get to know each other" from her unbiased perspective. Several volunteer.
17:34	One of the attendees is confused and annoyed during the conversation, wanting to end it abruptly.
17:35	[RESERVED] yells "coward" at him as he leaves, generating a violent response from the assistant, who tries to kick her. As he does so, he dislodges the frame, with the Tabula Veritatis falling to the ground and splitting.
17:38	[RESERVED] ends her presentation early and withdraws the copy. There are no observations of interest for 23 minutes.
18:01	Diners in dining rooms begin to realize their inability to lie. Three assistants confess "not having paid their entrance" at the pool table.
18:03	The organizers affirm that "although they wish to call to order, they do not know what is happening and they are nervous." A fight breaks out over the bar, and two men confess to counting cards at the poker tables.
18:06	An event escalation ends with a general brawl, with the organizers, artists, and guests included.
18:09	Members of the Foundation's Mobile Task Force Omega-3 ("Low In Cholesterol") arrive at the scene, monitoring the situation.
18:15	All people attending the exhibition were amnesticized. The specimen of Tabula Veritatis found and withdrawn.
Note	Three hours after this incident, the Latin American Regional Council of the Foundation canceled the rental of all its Tabula Veritatis instances except one, apparently classified as SCP-ES-███.
End Log.

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Memo 03
MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Issuer	Brad M. Omentis	Receiver	Pedro Descartes
Subject	Two other important things
Greetings Pedro, I have good news and a… well… The good news: the R&D guys have already managed to develop a prototype of the Tabulas, made with a material derived from graphene that gives them a modern look and allows us to also sell them as decoration for walls and ceiling, as well as other specific uses. It also makes them more resistant and we have been able to register our own patent for this line for micrometric engravings on their surfaces. Unfortunately, the incident at the exhibition created a problem for us. There were several clients there, and although the Foundation's performance was clean, some anartists with some immunity to amnestics, still affected by the Tabula, spoke about what happened to everyone. Several customers asked to return their parts, considering them unsafe. However, all is not lost. You know how things are, people forget, and the losing streak is over. Let's let this cool down a bit before trying again to grab this business niche. At least we will have time to refine the prototype and sell it even more expensive, with more features. Regarding the Tabulas, I would advise you to place one in your office on the floor. I am sure that you are interested in knowing the opinion of your coworkers about you. Maybe that will encourage you to change areas.
Marshall, Carter & Dark, LLP

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Memo 04
MG5P8/RF33G/7UL45
Issuer	Pedro Descartes	Receiver	Brad M. Omentis
Subject	RE: Two other important things
Greetings Brad, Don't worry about the incident. We know where the exhibition was, we also know the data of all the attendees, including the anartists who spoke out on the nature of the Tabulas. They were still affected by it; not that they had a choice. Through some information brokers, we managed to reach each of these assistants. We gather several of them at different conventions of their choice, and we leave some decoys there. The Foundation went to those places, and amnesticized them all. Anartists are more difficult to handle, but by knowing their customer profiles, you can track down their buying patterns and see if they are doing dangerous things. It takes time, but eventually you will also attract the Foundation and receive a memory erasure. They are not entirely immune, they just need to increase the doses. In short, thanks to the tough guys at The Foundation, our markets never reach the decline stage. Innovating is a classic strategy, but when people forget their desired products against their will, you can repeat with similar products; it is much cheaper and the economic impact is just as effective. There is not a single government in Latin America regulating something that nobody can remember, right? The Foundation surely has far more important business to attend to in these tumultuous lands. Take your time with the new prototypes and ignore the red numbers; they will eventually turn a pretty emerald color. Enjoy the luck that my colleagues at the office did not share. By the way, I still have tremendous envy for how you interceded in Malaysia. How did it not occur to me?
Marshall, Carter & Dark, LLP

Footnotes

1. Analogous to sarcophagus. From ancient Greek ψῡχῆς-, "psūkhês", "of the soul/mind" and - φάγος, "phágos", "devourer".