 Item number. SCP-769. Object Class. Safe. Special Containment Procedures. SCP-769 must be kept inside a secure waterproof vault whenever it is not in use. No fluid is to come in contact with the bowl outside of approved experiment protocols. Description. SCP-769 is a cup, 10 centimeters tall and 12 centimeters across. It is made of pottery with a golden glaze. It is covered with a white residue. Several preserved parts from cephalopods and other sea creatures are stuck in the residue. A pattern is carved into its rim. However, the pattern is obscured by the residue. It has been decided not to attempt removal of this residue or the items stuck within it, as efforts to restore SCP-769 may hamper its effects even further. SCP-769 is an artifact of the world civilization that existed years ago in modern day water from the object alters the memories of those who drink it. When a subject drinks from the cup, or water that has been poured from the cup, new information is written directly into the subject's brain. However, they lose memories they already possess, much like a computer's storage being overwritten. The memories lost are unpredictable, though usually comparable to the information gained. All water from the bowl must be drunk, or else the subject gains fragmented, unreliable information. The information given is seemingly random, coming from a repository of information from the it includes cultural, technological, and military information. It appears that it was intended as an encyclopedia. However, so far no method has been found to retrieve specific information from the goblet. Whether this is due to problems inherent in the storage method, or to the degradation of the cup over time, is unknown at present. Full debriefing of the subjects takes approximately one week, though it can't take longer depending on the information gained. Subject D-769-32 has been useful in translating information, and has therefore been removed from the regular termination schedule, until such a time as she can teach the language to others. Addendum 769-1 The results from Subject D-769-37 have raised this object from a mild curiosity to a priority. Recreating the power source for that engine would prove invaluable to the foundation. Addendum 769-2 Per the administrator's instructions, Subject D-769-71 was given multiple exposures to SCP-769. However, the results have proven unsatisfactory due to the possibility of losing valuable information. Addendum 769-3 Reports will move from a weekly to a monthly basis. Addendum 769-4 Future reports to the administrator will no longer contain a listing of all findings. Only those of strategic importance will be passed on. The administrator does not want to know about courtship rituals, unless they involve lasers, zero-point generators, or flying cars, and how to build them. Addendum 769-5 Reports will move from a monthly to a bimonthly basis. Addendum 769-6 Due to stronger demand in other areas, resources for this project are being cut by 80%. Addendum 769-7 Reports will move from a bimonthly to a semi-annual basis. Addendum 769-8 After 10 years, several thousand test subjects, and nothing to show for it but a handful of fascinating but ultimately useless technical schematics, results from SCP-769 have begun to repeat themselves. Perhaps the encyclopedia is damaged and has lost other information, as well as any indexing system. Perhaps this was all that was ever on it. In any event, it is now advised that the project be shelved until such a time as the information can be more efficiently catalogued. Partial Test Log Subject D769-1 Learned the name of the stars in the language, as well as their positions. However, she lost all memory of other names, including her own. Subject D769-7 Milk was substituted for water. Subject convulsed once and became comatose. He expired several days later. Subject D769-13 Learned several songs in the r**d language. It could not be determined what he lost. Subject D769-18 Learned the history of r**d, a politician from r**d, lost all memory from his sixth birthday to halfway through seventh grade. Subject D769-25 Gained a tactical assessment of several other civilizations. Only the r**d were determined to be a threat. Suspected capabilities were listed, but are difficult to decipher without knowing the size of listed units or the abilities of vehicles. Subject D769-30 Learned the rules to a children's game involving sticks and discs. Lost all memory of American politics. Subject D769-32 Learned the r**d language, but forgot how to paint her former career. Subject D769-37 Gained schematics for an engine capable of generating far more thrust than any we currently possess, which could explain the r**d spaceflight capabilities. However, they call for an onboard power source, generating over a thousand megawatts, with only two cubic feet allotted for it. It is hoped that designs for the generator can eventually be found. The subject lost all memories of his mother. Subject D769-41 Gained schematics for an antique internal combustion engine. The design is inferior to those in use today, although the alloys it calls for are of strong interest to the foundation. Subject D769-54 Learned the history of the Temple of R**d. Subject broke down while describing it, and, when left unattended for a short period, took his own life. The guards were severely reprimanded. Subject D769-71 After 058 reprimanded Dr. R**d for gross waste of class D personnel, Subject D769-71 was given doses several times. The first time, he gained a novel, but forgot how to ride a bicycle. The second time, he learned a form of martial arts, but lost all memory of his faith. The third time, he learned the life cycle of the mammoth, but lost all memory of his childhood. The final time, it could not be determined what he gained, as he seemed to lose all ability to communicate. Subject D769-71 was terminated several days later. It appears repeated exposures have a point of diminishing returns, taking more memory than previous exposures. Subject D769-105 Learned the names of all the X-Arcs of R**d and their families, going back several hundred years. He forgot how to operate any technology made in the last ten years. Subject D769-2045 Learned the history of R**d Dance Lost all memory of sports Subject D769-2070 Learned the names of the stars in the R**d language Lost all memories of the past three years Interview log 769-43 Because of you, because of what you have done, I know now. I am told I was a murderer. I do not remember my victims anymore. I am told that I was a proud father of two children before I was incarcerated. I've been shown pictures of them. They have the faces of strangers. I am like this because I was escorted into a room and told to drink from a cup. I am like this because I know now. You ask me questions about weaponry, propulsion, metallurgy. I cannot tell you these things. I can only tell you of the culture that made them, and you have no use for that information. I could speak to you for days about the X-Arcs, their histories, the long wars they fought, the sacrifices they made, and the name of a greater good than their people could ever know. My words would fall on deaf ears. You will destroy yourselves. I know this. I can see the fear in your eyes, fear of things beyond your comprehension. The X-Arcs knew such fear, and it led them to burn their cities, kill their people, and salt the ashes. They were better men than you, and their enemies were no less terrible. I wonder now if someday there will be another like me recounting your history, trying in vain to explain to his captors that they too will fall. I wonder how far that is from here, how much time will pass before you too are desperate enough to try and save your history, your failures and triumphs. It amazes me how foolish you are, searching for weapons. The society which made this history, the society which I know now, prized their culture above all else. If they had weaponry, it did not help them against what was to come, and neither will yours. You refuse to acknowledge this, of course. It is beneath you to even ponder my words. Your arrogance will not permit it. In a way, you deserve what is coming. How many did you throw away like garbage before you got to me? How many were sacrificed in vain, looking for weapons and technology that does not exist anymore? And when they only learned of songs which have not been sung in millennia, of the steps of a dance to thank the gods for a successful childbirth, did you consider for a second the value of this knowledge? Or was it like the memories you sacrificed? So much useless data. I know you will kill me, not today or even tomorrow, but soon enough. The fear I see is deep enough that one dead man is no great loss. No, the fact is that most likely the loss of your humanity is by now something you can no longer remember. Am I right? Yes, it appears you and I have something in common then, except your humanity wasn't given away. It wasn't sold for a dream of ancient schematics. You weren't thrust into a room at gunpoint. And you do not know. I shall be silent now. The memories of what once was shall comfort me until you kill me. And then they and I will be gone. Another body on the pile. End log. Lesson complete. If you missed the previous orientation, go watch SCP-768, Long Range Alarm Clock, right now. Or for the complete course, watch this playlist.