It was a beautiful morning in New York. People were going about their business and hurrying to work and school all around. The city was buzzing with sound and life. Truly, this place was the beating heart of the modern world.
In the affluent area of town, nestled within a grand mansion, lived a young, handsome Italian man. The mansion was abuzz with activity, including the distinct sound of a sleek, black, high-tech stealth jet taking off.
Their destination was San Juan, where Alex intended to oversee containment efforts for a significant SCP. This endeavor piqued Alex's interest, as containing such a dangerous anomaly in total secrecy presented a formidable challenge.
As they touched down, Alex was escorted to an unassuming house that had been converted into a class-2 facility.
"Welcome to the temporary SITE-12555, sir." The man in charge said as Alex stepped foot into the building.
"The SCP here is dangerous, sir. Due to this, there are certain precautions you need to be made aware of. First, you are not allowed to enter into SCP-12555 yourself. It is simply too dangerous." The man said both towards Alex and his guards, who all nodded.
""Secondly, only Foundation personnel with a security clearance of level 2 or lower are permitted near SCP-12555. And thirdly, no advanced Foundation equipment is allowed inside," the man explained, leading them to a room filled with monitoring equipment and diagrams.
"As you're likely aware, SCP-12555 is an underground city of unknown origin exhibiting anomalous properties. Given its underwater location and limited entry points, gaining access to the city was challenging. However, by using powerful drilling equipment we were able to create an entrance."
Alex examined the maps and pictures displayed during the briefing, nodding slowly as he absorbed the information. He harbored a keen interest in understanding the inner workings of the Foundation. While he could access the finished product through the database provided by the system, he also desired insight into the process leading to that point.
"After establishing entry, our primary focus was on securing the object and mapping out the interior. This task presented challenges, particularly due to the large size of the object, meaning that its entirely possible that other entrances exist" the man continued.
Alex was well aware of the potential difficulties with this SCP object. After all not only was the size and scale massive, but so too did it just happen to sit under a city, meaning that all work had to be done in total secrecy.
Once more, Alex was reminded of the critical need for additional undercover agents. 'Do I truly need to recruit agents independently? Acquiring the allegiance of low-level individuals will undoubtedly be costly. Training high-level operatives from the ground up seems inevitable.'
The temptation to summon more SCPs to bolster Foundation personnel grew within him once again. However, he recognized the inherent risks associated with such actions. Some SCP objects might require more personnel than he could secure through summoning, not to mention the inherent dangers involved.
"After establishing the outer perimeter, we arranged for the shipment of equipment and personnel, including a contingent of class-D personnel, generously permitted for our use. Our initial efforts involved deploying probes and surveillance equipment into the area," the man concluded.
"All attempts using electronic equipment proved futile, as the SCP interfered with all such devices," the man explained, presenting a detailed list of tests and equipment used in those failed attempts.
"Subsequently, we had to rely on class-D personnel, which presented additional challenges since we couldn't utilize remote-controlled explosive collars for control. Nonetheless, we adapted, resorting to firearms, which proved effective," he continued, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
Alex couldn't help but think that such an approach was dangerous, after all unless they sent in guards armed with those guns, the only way they could have used them was from the top of the entrance.
Should there be another exit somewhere, it was entirely possible that the D-class would be able to escape with knowledge of the Foundation. Yet he didn't interrupt, willing to find out the details before taking any actions himself.
"The initial group of class-D subjects we sent in didn't last long. Within moments, we heard loud screams and promptly retrieved them from the hole," he pointed to a monitor displaying a large, deep cavity sealed with a thick steel lid.
"Of the initial five, three became unresponsive, screaming as if in extreme agony. After a brief period, the screams ceased, and their eyes turned a deep red," the man explained, displaying images of individuals clad in the classic orange jumpsuits with crimson eyes.
"Following the cessation of their screams, they became aggressive and unresponsive, we classified these as SCP-12555-1. These individuals appeared to have lost their sanity while gaining heightened strength and endurance. We are currently investigating the extent of these enhancements," he elaborated, handing over a file containing documentation of what could only be described as inhumane experiments for Alex to review.
"We dispatched several instances of SCP-12555-1 to SITE-014, the facility overseeing operations here. Fortunately, the remaining two class-D personnel helped us establish a correlation between contact with SCP-12555's interior and the transformation into SCP-12555-1 instances."
"Five additional class-D personnel were lost in verifying this correlation," he continued, detailing the process further. Alex made note of the distance between this location and SITE-014, highlighting the lack of facilities in the area.
"After any level of contact with SCP-12555, ranging from a fingertip to exposure of over 30% of the body, subjects experienced intense pain lasting precisely one minute and twenty-seven seconds before undergoing a complete transformation," the man concluded, leaving Alex increasingly impressed with the Foundation's meticulous approach to containment.
"All instances were subsequently terminated and transferred to SITE-014 for further analysis. Following this, a new group of D-class personnel was dispatched to map and explore the area," the man continued, presenting a series of maps to Alex, some of which were rudimentary while others showed significant improvement.
"It took considerable time to fully explore the entire exterior, and we installed chemically powered lights to illuminate the structure. We also delineated it into an outer and inner section. However, exploring the inner portion proved challenging, as all D-class personnel perished upon crossing the threshold," he explained, acknowledging the limitations faced.
"While we cannot claim to have entirely mapped the outer region due to certain areas remaining submerged, we are reasonably confident in our understanding of the general layout," he added.
"Now, regarding the inner area, our inability to deploy personnel or remote-controlled equipment limited our exploration. Instead, we resorted to throwing flares and utilizing binoculars for observation.
The inner chamber comprises a single large room with a central semi-structure, featuring a raised platform or altar, which appears to be empty," he described, outlining their efforts to study the site despite the challenges.
"Given the constraints, we redirected our attention to studying the outer area comprehensively and delving into the mechanics behind SCP-12555-1 instances. We allowed for the formation of an additional three instances using D-class personnel, leaving them within the structure for observation," he concluded, highlighting their adaptive approach to research and containment.
"They would stand still or move to patrol the area. We believe they are turning into a form of guards for SCP-12555. They will attack anyone entering unless they begin the transformation."
Alex nodded along as he listened carefully while looking at the provided material in the form of pictures and video taken from outside the SCP, showing the area immediately inside the opening.
"Now, one of the most interesting finds we had during this period of testing was that a single member of D-class was not attacked by instances of SCP-12555-1," he said, sliding a folder containing the information about this D-class - a Mexican woman who kidnapped children and sold them off.
"Furthermore, this D-class had the ability to order the instances around to a limited degree. She did attempt to use this to escape Foundation control, but we dealt with all the SCP-12555-1 instances and moved to confine the D-class, now assigned as SCP-12555-2."
"We didn't want to risk her by using her to check if she could enter the inner part. Instead, we sent her to SITE-014 for a thorough examination to find out what made her unique. Results on that are currently pending."
"So we are currently waiting for that report before we continue with tests. If possible, we would next try to identify more instances of SCP-12555-2 to test out if they can enter the inner part."
Alex leaned back and nodded his head as the report came to an end. He knew that the woman must have the inhuman gene, which is why that happened. He was also both surprised and happy that an inhuman had been found doing this. Since it would push the research further along.
"How close are we to being able to declare this SCP contained? I'm prepared to allow for a Class-2 SITE to be built here in San Juan, even a Class-3 if needed. With the SCP object seemingly being this dangerous and being so close to a major population center, I want this dealt with properly," Alex finally said after a short pause to think.
"Well, that depends on a few things, sir. The results of the tests done on the one member of D-class. We also don't know if there are any clues out there leading to the location of SCP-12555 that others might follow. "
"A Class-2 facility should do for now. As long as the results are not too dire, we should be able to have the SCP declared as contained Euclid class in a month."
Alex could accept that timeframe and promised to authorize the needed equipment and manpower to be transferred over and for SITE-12555 to become operational. Though he might assign a different number for the permanent SITE.
Alex would have liked to spend the rest of the week in San Juan, seeing the sights and having a short vacation, but he simply had too much work to do to be able to do it. Just coming all the way down here to see the Kree city in person and get the report in person had been a frivolous use of time.
Yet one he had willingly accepted due to his own desires. Still, he did know that he couldn't continue acting like that for now. So, with that being the case, he quickly returned back home as soon as his meeting was over.
--------------------
Back home in New York, he took the chance to set up a few meetings. One was with Norman Osborn, and the other was with Tony Stark. With Tony, all he could do was send a message proposing a challenge to the genius, hoping he would accept.
Alex desired a way to bring technologies down into the Kree city, so he needed some kind of shielding. He presented it to them as a unique underground chamber where the metallic composition of the walls would create an EMP field when introduced to a current.
"Such shielding could come in handy in many cases," he mused. "And I remember that many smart people would come out of Oscorp, so getting a chance to recruit them might be good as well. Not to mention more advanced tech is needed in the future as more SCPs come over."
He spent most of his time either working on the Ricci family or the Foundation. When not, he would plan for the future. It was easy to get ahead of himself, and he often had to slow down. "Acting too fast could be dangerous. SHIELD is out there and watching."
Plans had been drawn up and scrapped again and again as the timing was off, or the objective would be more successful if he waited longer. There were so many people he wanted to meet and bring into the Foundation, yet doing so was damn difficult since they were all occupied with other endeavors, under the watchful eye of SHIELD, or simply hesitant to join a shady super organization.
Still, he refused to believe that the nearly all-mighty Foundation, which could acquire and contain gods, couldn't recruit a few arrogant scientists and researchers as well. It was all a matter of time, and having enough SCPs in containment that he could use to demonstrate the value the Foundation brought to humanity would be helpful.
"Still, SCP-1555 should be enough to persuade Banner to come on board. He wouldn't need much proof as long as I promise him a better life than he has now, which should be easy since he is on the run and offer him a chance to work on curing the Hulk."
"Though I need him to fail there. The Hulk is important for the future. Yeah, the Hulk will remain, but I can bring him and Banner closer so we won't have problems. Not to mention, it should count as at least an Euclid class SCP being contained," Alex mused to himself as he slowly left his bunker after finishing his work.
Poor Bruce Banner had no idea that his already chaotic life would soon undergo a huge change as a new person schemed to get his hands on him.