Chapter 130: Big bids -126
Once again, what came in seemed to confuse everyone—or well, everyone but Alex, who was very aware of what this was. SCP-294, also known as the Coffee Machine, was a large vending machine that could dispense anything asked for.
This wasn't just limited to every type of coffee on the Starbucks menu. Oh no, it could give you anything it was asked for as long as it was on Earth, maybe even further than that. It was truly a powerful object.
It could even be used to steal the waters from SCP-006. Something that every member of the O5 council was well aware of and was strictly forbidden. But it could also be used for far more dangerous things since it could also steal the very marrow of your bones if you asked for a cup of that.
It could kill and steal, and it was impossible to prevent it, which meant that its use had to have some rules and that it was another must-have for the Foundation!
Though it didn't take long for the auction ear to silence the whispers of doubt and confusion as he started to explain this next item for sale."
The auctioneer's voice echoed through the hall as he began to detail the capabilities of SCP-249, the Coffee Machine. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, his tone infused with a mix of awe and caution, "what we have here is not merely a machine, but a gateway to the fulfillment of your deepest desires and needs, limited only by your imagination."
The room quieted down as the attendees processed the implications of such an item. Wealthy collectors and influential figures leaned forward, their interest piqued by the promise of an artifact that could procure anything from a simple espresso to items of unimaginable value and rarity.
Alexandra Ricci, already reeling from the shock and outrage of the earlier auction of the factory porn DVD, now focused intently on the Coffee Machine. She understood the potential dangers and opportunities it represented better than anyone else in the room. This was not just a collector's item or a novelty; it was an artifact of significant power, one that the SCP Foundation needed to secure.
The auctioneer continued, "To demonstrate, I will take a few requests from our esteemed guests. Please, be considerate and think of something simple for the sake of demonstration." A few hands shot up, and a well-known tech billionaire was chosen.
He asked for a cup of Kopi Luwak, one of the most expensive coffees in the world. The machine whirred and hummed, and within seconds, it dispensed a steaming cup of the requested brew. The billionaire tasted it, nodding in approval at the authenticity and quality.
The crowd murmured in excitement and disbelief. The implications were staggering. If this machine could indeed provide anything—as long as it was liquid or fit into a cup—it would be worth a fortune.
Tony was sceptical about the claim that he could produce anything, but he did admit that so far, the demonstration had been impressive. He was sure it was some kind of advanced technology that allowed it, and a carefully selected crowd who was asked to choose an item, but still, a live coffee machine could dispense liquid gold, suffered no apparent damage to its instruments, and could dispense expertly brewed beverages.
Depending on how much of that beverage and whatnot was made within the machine or carefully placed behind the stage, its value and interest could vary greatly. In the end, it was, at most, a novelty to him.
"All right, I believe it is time for auction item 294. The starting bid is $10 million," the auctioneer announced soon after finishing the few demonstrations.
The crowd was somewhat hesitant, and thoughts similar to those of Tony Stark were undoubtedly mirrored. While surprised and amazed, they were also highly suspicious. After all, everything so far could indeed spin tricks and forgeries.
Adult entertainment could have been merely a trick to extort money from some of them, and it had clearly worked, going for $100 million. Not to mention, it damaged the reputations of a few people immensely.
And while the coffee machine seemed impressive. Nothing had truly proven it to be an impossibility, rather than a clever trick or advanced piece of machinery.
"100 million dollars." The voice of Alexandra Ricci called out loudly as she stood once again at the window of the VIP booth.
Her offer of 10 times the asking price drew attention, and many saw her expression, which was filled with anger and resignation.
What they saw next seemed to explain everything to them. From behind her, Tony Stark came up and asked her a question in a low voice. They couldn't hear it, but seeing her there as the date of Tony Stark, they suddenly realized that the porn movie had at least been half true.
And now she was forced to make outrageous bits in order to save her reputation. This was naturally all untrue, but it was exactly what Alex wanted them to think. She didn't want them to think that she actually believed the item was worth this much no no no that would mean she might have competition, so instead, she pretended to be forced.
And clearly, much to the auctioneer's dismay, it seemed to have worked for a while. The price for the factory porn DVD was high, 100 million for this, with an extremely low than-expected price in the billions.
He realized immediately that their demonstration hadn't been enough and that they had not proven without a doubt the value and abilities of the item. At this point, there was little they could do. There was a bit, and they couldn't refuse to sell it now that of reputation to uphold.
And so, with a sigh, he announced. "Auction item 294 has been sold for the price of $100 million. Congratulations."
He couldn't help but pronounce the congratulations differently than the DVD. After all, that had been a fine price this time. He really didn't want to say it since they had suffered a massive loss, but to the gathering of guests, this mistake of his was a clear confirmation that he was mocking her for having spent so much money on something not worth it.
Alexandra's heart pounded as the gavel struck, signaling the end of the auction for the SCP-249 Coffee Machine. She had played her part perfectly, bluffing through an outrageously high bid to discourage any competition, and it had worked. The machine was hers, but the cost was not just financial; her public facade had taken a hit, manipulated to appear as a desperate attempt to salvage her reputation. However, only she knew the true value of what she had just secured.
As the crowd murmured and the auctioneer moved on to the next item, Tony leaned in, his expression a mix of concern and curiosity. "Alexandra, a hundred million... You sure that thing's worth it?" he whispered, glancing at the machine now being wheeled off stage.
He, after all, knew that the porn video wasn't real; he would have well remembered doing something like that with this pretty bird, and after seeing it on the screen, he couldn't help but curse the fact that he hadn't done it yet.
"Maybe not, but I felt like it was worth far more… which meant I just ripped them off if that is indeed the case." She said and sent him a smile as she sat back down. Feeling rather happy with having gotten that particular SCP.
Tony nodded and sat down, looking impressed at the woman who had just tricked a room filled with some of the most wealthy and powerful people in the world. Even more impressive was the fact that she was willing to risk her own reputation for it.
Alexander herself didn't care too much about her public persona. After all, it could be sacrificed and even abandoned if need be, compared to the mission of securing, containing, and protecting anything and everything that could be given up.
Soon enough, it was time for the next item hunt. Alex guessed that it would be another SCP object, though she did not know whether it was another summoned one or just something native to the Marvel Universe.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce the next item for you all." He began as he waved in his assistant. This time, they brought in an ancient-looking computer, and Alex knew right away what it was. SCP-079, the old AI.
"This might just look like an ancient relic, an old computer, and that is because it is an old computer. But it is not the hardware that is impressive; it is instead the software. On this machine were a few lines of code written decades ago, and then the crater. We will not mention his name, but he forgot about it and just left the machine plugged in in a luck room behind some boxes."
The auctioneer began to weave a tale, this time taking his sweet time to ensure that the extraordinary nature of the art on sale was fully understood by the crowd so that there would be no further accidents.
"That code was thought to be advanced for his time. Perhaps he attempted to do as many would have done to create an AI. Which were rather popular in fiction back then, though, of course, we know today that the technology of that age could never support something as advanced and hardware-heavy as an AI."
He paused for dramatic effect.
"Yet what if I told you that the code he wrote was supposed to be a self-learning AI and that he had actually succeeded? What if I told you that decades ago, someone created a very primitive self-improving self-learning AI that then began to do that to learn and to improve, and they did so for decades."
"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's exactly what this computer is. It is the world's most advanced AI code trapped on hardware that can barely support its very existence. You can take this code, slap it onto a supervisor, and you will have the world's most advanced AI assistant at your disposal decades ahead of current times. Bring about a new future with this impossibility of technology."
His speech was far better than when he explained the cover machine, but it still was a hard thing to swallow for the many tech billionaires around the room, who very much knew the difficulties of making an AI.
Tony Stark, for one, the owner of the world's currently only AI Jarvis, knew firsthand how damn right difficult it was to make such code, not to mention the hardware required to run it.
He had great difficulty believing that this piece of hardware could run anything other than a basic calculator program.
The auctioneer clearly knew this and spent the next hour testing its ability, inviting anyone who wanted to interact with it to do so, including Tony himself, who, after having tested it a little, was impressed and enormously intrigued.
"I believe then that it is time to start the bidding. Something that can change the very sight of the world and the future in an instant. The bidding starts at $100 million!" He said and was met with complete silence.
This wasn't too strange, given that $100 million was a lot of money. Of course, the tech geniuses in that room knew very well that it was nothing compared to the cost of developing such an AI. Almost immediately after the silence descended, it was broken again as bid after bid after bid started to sound out. Within the first minute, it had already breached the $1 billion mark.
Alexandra had so far, the frame from bidding on this and, instead, looked at the other as they engaged in a bidding war. However, she was also very aware that she could not allow some idiot to get this object and upload this potentially enormously hostile super AI into a supercomputer and give it access to the Internet.
Which meant that she had to get it either by bit or by bullet.
Yet her thoughts were interrupted by a call from beside her. "All I want to see what this can possibly do next to my own AI I bid $10 billion."
And with that bit, the price rose instantly from 2.9 to $10 billion. And more than that, everyone suddenly became aware that this was not the only world that it appeared that Stark had one himself, which greatly decreased the value of this as it would instantly have a possible competitor on the market if they attempted to commercialize it in some way.
This also put Alex in a bit of a dilemma, as Tony was someone she couldn't easily extort or steal from, much less kill him and take it from his damp, dead hands. Yet bidding against Tony would also be difficult, as the amount of liquid funds available was tight due to the recent acquisition of stocks, and this was, after all, only the penultimate item.
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