Chereads / Marvel: The Foundation / Chapter 296 - Impressive wards indeed -291

Chapter 296 - Impressive wards indeed -291

 

As soon as their report came in, the Foundation immediately spun up in gear and went to work. They forced their way through all the red tape, not afraid to overpay or even just kill if someone didn't want to cooperate.

 

Soon enough, the entire place was teeming with Foundation personnel, yet it was also eerily quiet, as everyone did everything they could to limit sounds. There wasn't the person that wasn't afraid of breathing too loudly.

 

The situation was critical. SCP-469's size was far beyond acceptable levels, and the massive underground cave it sat within was horrible due to how it amplified sounds. This put the Foundation in a bit of a bind.

 

It was impossible to move the object out of the cave, yet attempting to construct proper soundproofing down there would create an unacceptable amount of sound. This would further increase the size of the SCP object, forcing them to build a bigger containment cell, which would, in turn, cause more sound.

 

A team of engineers, thaumaturgists, and high-ranking containment specialists gathered in an emergency planning session deep within the site. Ideas bounced around the table—some proposed using specialized sound-dampening fields generated by anomalous technology, others suggested trying to freeze SCP-469 in place, rendering it dormant long enough to build a proper containment chamber.

 

Finally, they decided that they needed to build a proper containment chamber and then place the object inside it. They would force them to also remove the object, which would force them to dig up half the mountain.

 

And while they did consider the use of the Pym Particul, they were still in the early testing phase on that, and it was considered too risky. Instead of using it to make the object smaller, they would use it to transport a temporary containment chamber down and place it around the object.

 

With a potential XK-Class scenario on the horizon, the entire Foundation brought its full might to bare and just as its military force was enough to bring the most advanced nation on earth to its knees in hours, so was its ability to construct containment sites unparalleled.

 

In record time, a massive amount of Vibranium was extracted from Wakanda, and a temporary cage was built and placed around SCP-469. Once they could limit its growth somewhat, they began digging.

 

The dug a massive hole in the ground, and began building a truly massive underground containment chamber, using every possible technique in the book, and plenty they themselves came up with to build something that could block sounds from even a nuclear war.

 

Once the SITE itself was built, then came the time to build the Containment chamber itself, a truly impossible task had it not been for them already having Wakanda in its pocket. As once again, they relied heavily on the vibration absorbing properties of Vibranium.

 

Today, the work on the Containment cell was finally completed, and as such, Alexander wanted to see what they had done with all of the Foundation's available Vibranium, which included all the ready to use stuff Wakanda had laying around.

 

Naturally, there was no way Alexander, as a member of the O5 council, would be allowed to visit the place in person, not with such a dangerous Keter class object being so close. And as such, he would simply be projecting himself there.

 

With a handful of members of Alpha-1 standing ready to serve as his physical presence. After all, he might be able to walk through doors, but it would be a bit too much for the normal member of the Foundation to see such a thing.

 

This is why he reached up and gently touched the pin on his chest, which covered him with a pitch black Vibranium nanosuit from head to toe. After all, even if he wasn't going to be there in person, he still had to ensure that his identity remained a secret.

 

Taking a deep breath, Alexander closed his eyes and focused on the location he wanted to be at. Which wasn't as easy as it might sound.

 

After all, the ability he used for this allowed him to know all Foundation locations, to feel them all, and to see and hear everything that happened there. which was a challenge given how vast an area that covered.

 

He felt himself being in tens of millions of places all at once before finally locking onto a single target, and by focusing there, he could blur out the rest and then use a mix of other abilities to make an illusion of himself and see through its eyes.

 

The human brain wasn't meant to be stretched outside the body, and as such he by far preferred to trick his own mind into thinking he was there in his body, since spying on places always left him with a headache.

 

Which meant that whenever he spied on Tony Stark, he was left feeling a double headache, one from using the ability, and the other from being around Tony Stark.

 

"Sir! Welcome to SITE-496!" One of the Alpha-1 members greeted him with a salute as he appeared inside the car.

 

Nodding to his guard, Alexander said, "Is everything ready? If so, let's not waste any time."

 

"Everything is ready; we will escort you in to see the director of this SITE, who will then show you around." The guard replied as he reached over and knocked on the door.

 

In response to the knock, another guard standing ready outside opened the door. Letting Alexander out. He didn't need help; he wasn't truly there after all, but the normal personnel didn't know that, and he wanted to keep it like that.

 

Stepping out of the car, he was quickly surrounded by his guards and escorted into the facility itself where the Director and some of his personnel stood ready to greet them.

 

As Alexander was escorted deeper into SITE-496, the atmosphere inside the facility was tense but quiet. The personnel here were well aware of the monumental task they had just completed in constructing the new containment chamber for SCP-469.

 

They were professionals, used to dealing with anomalous entities that could wipe out entire cities or alter reality itself, but even they felt the weight of what they had accomplished. Alexander's presence only reinforced the gravity of the situation.

 

The director of SITE-496, Dr. Helena Ruiz, stood at the entrance of the control room, her sharp eyes betraying the fatigue of overseeing such an intense operation. She greeted Alexander with a professional nod. "Councilman," she said, her voice low, "it's an honor to have you here. Everything is ready for your inspection."

 

Alexander inclined his head, scanning the room. Monitors displayed every angle of the massive containment chamber, a fortress of vibranium and soundproofing that had taken countless hours of labor and resources to create.

 

Despite the many layers of protection, the aura of danger still radiated from the live feeds. SCP-469 might have been dormant for now, but everyone here knew that could change in an instant if even the slightest mistake was made.

 

"Show me," Alexander said.

 

Dr. Ruiz gestured for the group to follow her down a long corridor that led to the containment cell itself. As they walked, she explained, "We've installed multiple redundancies in the chamber. The walls are reinforced with the vibranium you provided, which absorbs almost all vibration and sound. We've also layered thaumaturgical wards to dampen any unforeseen events."

 

They reached a set of heavily fortified doors which the SITE director quickly unlocked and they went down a small corridor before another heavily fortified room stood ready. "This is the standard entrance, meant for personnel and researchers." She introduced.

 

"The entire chamber is built from reinforced steel and a layer of Vibranium on the inside. Making the room both strong and silent." She continued as she opened the doors and led them inside.

 

"Welcome Sir, to the single most expensive Anechoic chamber in the world, and the quietest place as well, once the doors close, this room will be 99.99998% as quiet as outer space." She spoke with a hint of pride in her voice, though Alexander was honestly having trouble hearing her; even with the door held open, the room already absorbed plenty of her voice.

 

As the group stepped further into the chamber, Alexander could feel the pressure building in his ears, a subtle reminder of just how extreme the environment was. The walls, crafted with precision, were lined with complex thaumaturgic symbols that pulsed faintly, their magic reinforcing the vibranium's natural properties.

 

Dr. Ruiz continued, her words growing softer as they approached the core of the chamber. "This is where SCP-469 will be placed permanently. We've taken every precaution possible, but we know this isn't a guarantee of safety. The growth has been halted for now, but if any error is made—any sound allowed to leak through—it could spiral out of control."

 

Alexander turned to her, his expression unreadable behind the vibranium nanosuit's mask. "It looks impressive," he said quietly, the acoustics making even his voice sound distant. "But we both know that no containment is foolproof. You've done well to get this far, Dr. Ruiz. I trust you will continue to oversee the operation personally?"

 

Dr. Ruiz nodded. "I will, Councilman. We have teams monitoring every aspect of the chamber 24/7. Any fluctuation in sound levels will trigger immediate containment protocols. We've also enlisted some of the best thaumaturgists to maintain the wards."

 

Alexander didn't respond immediately. His thoughts turned to the potential repercussions if SCP-469 ever managed to break free again. The Foundation had faced XK-Class end-of-the-world scenarios before, and they couldn't afford another one—especially not with something as unpredictable as this anomaly.

 

"Make sure you do," Alexander said after a moment, his voice low. "Failure isn't an option here. If this thing grows beyond our control, we're looking at a disaster on a scale even we may not be able to handle."

 

Dr. Ruiz swallowed, understanding the weight of his words. "Understood, sir. We'll do everything in our power to ensure SCP-469 remains contained."

 

Alexander gave a final nod, then gestured to his Alpha-1 guards. "Let's move on. I've seen enough."

 

As they exited the chamber, the sound of their footsteps seemed unnaturally loud in contrast to the dead silence they had just left behind. Alexander's mind was already racing with other priorities, but he allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction.

 

"Impressive wards indeed."