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, Altered Items

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 were 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.

In Layman's terms, an altered item is an item that has been touched by the Astral Plane dimension which connects reality to the collective unconscious. As a result of the break in the space time continuum, these items become changed as they are infused with thoughts from the collective unconscious causing it be shaped by whatever thoughts flow into it while also giving it the ability to alter reality to some degree. While some of the abilities these objects develop are seemingly random & without meaning (such as AI13-KE, which is an antique baby carriage that constantly produces smoke),others are clearly influenced by people's thoughts, feelings and perceptions of the item. For example, the ActionMaxx Camera causes reality to warped into that of a dramatic action movie, while the Eagle Limited train car (which was involved in a horrible, paranatural, fatal crash) seems to have taken on the emotions, memory & trauma of the victims of the crash, constantly replaying the events over and over again.

While they are not necessarily sentient, Altered Items do seem develop an odd form of a personality that takes shape in what can only be described as inherent "programming" or fixations that compel them to cause certain events to occur repeatedly. These behaviors cannot be controlled, but many Altered Items appear to be influenced or "tamed" through certain 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.

Many Altered Items also appear to develop "likes" & "dislikes", for example a certain action or trying to forcefully control an item might cause it's power's to act more violently & maliciously then normal. A Fridge Altered item notably required it be looked at constantly or it would cause pain even death to all around it.

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 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 exist and seem to present an auditory effect.
  • The Holiday Memories Tree (AI14-AE) possesses the ability to repeat what is spoken to it.
  • The Rubber Duck (AI52-AE) 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 that affects biological matter. 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

32 Altered Items make appearances or are mentioned in Control, for a total of 41 if Objects of Power are included. The exact amount possessed by the FBC is not known. However, the highest known item number is AI85, belonging to a cowboy boot recovered in 2017. Note that the cowboy boot has a higher item number than the two Altered Items found after it in 2019, the Burrough Tractor and the Typewritten Page with designations AI82 and AI83, respectively.

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" 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
Mailbox	N/A	N/A	N/A

List of Possible Altered Items/Objects of Power

Throughout the game, several Collectibles and recordings allude to other potential Altered Items/Objects of Power. The items below have not been officially catalogued within the FBC's case files, nor seen within the Oldest House (save for the Roulette Table); the current locations of most are unknown, as are their exact paranatural properties (if any).

Item	Information source(s)	Containment Location
Cat Clock	See Cat Clock collectible.
Salt Lamp	Implied by America Overnight Ep.367 and Green Dead Letters collectibles.
Singing Fish	See Singing Fish collectible.
Scissors	Implied by Urban Legends collectible. See Willow AWE for other circumstantial evidence.
Roulette Table	Seen in a case file photo that did not make it to the released game.	Luck and Probability section of the Research Sector.
Whiskey Flask	Glimpsed on document during opening credits.	Ranger Training Grounds

Trivia

• The formatting for Altered Item containment files (like the Federal Bureau of Control itself) is directly inspired by the SCP Foundation, a fictional secretive organization that is also responsible for containing and studying objects which defy the laws of reality. The formatting, particularly the "containment procedures" followed by a description and background history of the object in question, is extremely similar to the layout of the SCP Foundation's SCP files.
• The Whiskey Flask is only known due to a brief glimpse of a document during the opening credits, where it is listed as an "Altered Object".

Gallery

The roulette table at Luck & Probability was presumably meant to be an Altered Item, but a connected case file did not make it into the released version of the game

Document glimpsed during opening credits cinematic.

Edited for legibility.