Altered Item

“	The exact process of how an Altered Item is born eludes us. We find them in the aftermath of Altered World Events. They take the form of everyday objects - ever-present in our lives, constantly evoked in the thoughts of millions of people. Now infused with unpredictable energies, they're altered.	”
— Casper Darling, FBC Presentation 12.1

File:Her majesty.png

The Arctic Queen, an example of an Altered Item.

Altered Items are ordinary objects which have been acted upon by paranatural forces during Altered World Events, resulting in the development of unique and sometimes dangerous properties. They are distinguished from Objects of Power in that they lack an inherent connection to the Board, or the ability for parautilitarians to bind to them and wield their abilities. Altered Items are studied and contained by the Federal Bureau of Control in the Panopticon, in the Containment Sector, as well as in other areas of the Oldest House.

The term "Altered Item" is modern FBC terminology. Prior to the death of Director Theodore Ash, Sr. in 1964, the FBC employed the term "Possessed Object" instead, which reflected the organization's origins in occultism.

Nature

Altered Items are ordinary objects acted upon by paranatural forces during Altered World Events, resulting in these items being infused with unpredictable energies (i.e. resonance). Like Objects of Power, Altered Items represent archetypes in the human collective unconscious - symbols and imagery given psychological significance through daily rituals, culture, and urban legends. The inception of Altered Items is in their representation of these archetypes. Because of this, there is a clear connection between the forces affecting Altered Items and the human mind. It is possible that the archetypes in the human collective unconscious determine the nature and perhaps the behavior of Altered Items.

While they are not sentient, Altered Items do possess inherent "programming" or fixations that compel them to cause certain events to occur repeatedly. These behaviors cannot be controlled, but Altered Items can be influenced or "tamed" through ritualistic processes similar to totem worship, as the Altered Items are used to being "worshiped" by humanity. The Federal Bureau of Control gathers Altered Items discovered in Altered World Events and contains them in the Panopticon and elsewhere in shrine-like cells, adapting to their needs and volatile natures.

The connection between Altered Items and their inferred archetypal origins is not clear. Based on their nature, it is possible that the paranatural properties of Altered Items always correlate to the archetypes they represent. While their distinction from Objects of Power lies largely in the fact that Altered Items are not connected to the Board, they can be influenced or controlled by other paranatural entities, such as the Hiss or the Former. Altered Items also cannot be bound by parautilitarians to wield their special abilities. Theodore Ash, Jr. theorized that Altered Items become Objects of Power when a connection is created by the Board.

Classification

Altered Items, like Objects of Power, are classified into five known categories, designated by the letters at the end of their IDs. Altered Item IDs follow the template "AI##-?E," with "##" being the number of the Altered Item (based on its chronological date of acquisition relative to other AIs), and "?E" being one of the five known AI/OoP categories: KE, PE, UE, AE, and BE. Of these categories, by far the most AIs fall under the KE category. The meaning of these designations is not known. General observations are as follows:

• KE-class Altered Items all possess a direct physical effect, whether on themselves or on their surroundings. 14 Altered Items and 6 Objects of Power are listed as KE-class.
• PE-class Altered Items all possess a psychological or psychic effect on living beings, such as hypnosis or mood alteration. 3 Altered Items and 1 Object of Power are listed as PE-class.
• UE-class Altered Items vary in their effects, with no clear similarities. 4 Altered Items and 2 Objects of Power are listed as UE.
• Two AE-class Altered Items exists (Holiday Memories Tree, AI14-AE), which possesses the ability to repeat what is spoken to it, and (Rubber Duck, AI52-AE) which possesses the abilities to quack and to travel short distances surprisingly fast.
• Only one BE-class Altered Item exists (Game Hammer, AI5-BE), which possesses the ability to spread an unidentified pathogen. As its Altered Item file was from farther back in the Bureau's history, the terminology in it is outdated, and it is possible the BE classification is antiquated and no longer in use, or is a classification that rarely occurs.

List of Altered Items

27 Altered Items can be found in Control, for a total of 36 if Objects of Power are included. The exact amount possessed by the FBC is not known, but is likely around 83, given that the most recent Altered Item - the Typewritten Page (AI83-KE) - was acquired only two months before the Hiss invasion.

Item	ID	Acquisition Date	Containment Location
The Oscillator	AI3-KE	07/28/1954	Panopticon - Floor 01, Unit 15
Game Hammer	AI5-BE	11/02/1959	Panopticon - Floor 01, Unit 16
Waist Mannequin	AI7-KE	12/23/1967	Panopticon - Floor 04, Unit 11
Arctic Queen	AI10-KE	11/18/1974	Panopticon - Floor 04, Unit 15
Ocelot's Anchor	AI11-UE	09/28/1976	Panopticon - Floor 03, Unit 07
VHS Cassette Tape	AI12-PE	11/17/1978	[REDACTED]
Smoking Pram	AI13-KE	08/05/1979	Panopticon - Floor 02, Unit 11
Holiday Memories Tree	AI14-AE	06/02/1980	Panopticon - Floor 02, Unit 06
Swan Boat	AI19-KE	06/24/1983	Panopticon - Floor 05, Unit 10
Jasper Post Box	AI31-PE	06/15/1986	Panopticon - Floor 01, Unit 13
SHÜM Arcade Cabinets	AI40-PE	02/23/1992	Investigations Sector (processing underway)
Guru Surfboard	AI43-PE	07/03/1994	Panopticon - Floor 03, Unit 05
Pink Flamingo	AI46-KE	08/12/1997	Panopticon - Floor 04, Unit 16
Maneki-neko Statue(s)	AI48-PE	03/21/1999	Foundation - Firebreak
Red Light	AI49-KE	05/16/1999	Panopticon - Floor 04, Unit 10
Rubber Duck	AI52-AE	01/02/2001	Panopticon - Floor 03, Unit 06
Simulacrum	AI53-KE	09/03/2001	Panopticon - Floor 05, Unit 11
Bremen Basket	AI54-UE	04/23/2002	Panopticon - Floor 01, Unit 14
”Get Well Soon” Balloon	AI58-KE	03/22/2004	Panopticon - Floor 05, Unit 09
Victorian Mirror	AI60-UE	07/15/2005	Synchronicity Lab, Research Sector
Human Hand Chair	AI63-KE	02/10/2006	Panopticon - Floor 04, Unit 12
Ramen Lantern	AI69-KE	03/01/2008	Panopticon - Floor 04, Unit 13
Wolff Globe	AI72-PE	04/12/2010	Panopticon - Floor 02, Unit 09
Oh Deer Diner Coffee Thermos	AI73-UE	09/20/2010	Panopticon - Floor 05, Unit 05
Moving Letters	AI77-KE	10/13/2014	Panopticon - Floor 04, Unit 09
Eagle Limited Train Car	AI78-UE	05/25/2015	Investigations Sector (processing underway)
ActionMaxx Camera	AI80-UE	09/14/2016	In transit
Vending Machine	AI81-KE	06/11/2017	Investigations Sector (processing underway)
Cowboy Boot	AI85-	09/23/2017	N/A
Burrough Tractor	AI82-KE	04/21/2019 (seen)	N/A
Typewritten Page	AI83-KE	08/27/2019	Panopticon - Floor 05, Unit 06
Crowbar	N/A	N/A	Panopticon - Floor 05, Unit 12
Chain Letter Post Box	N/A	N/A	N/A

Trivia

• The formatting for Altered Item containment files is directly inspired by the SCP Foundation, a fictional organization also responsible for containing objects which defy the laws of reality. The formatting, particularly the "containment procedures" followed by a description of the object in question, is extremely similar to the formatting of the SCP Foundation's SCP files.