Chapter 55 "Welcome To The Pandora's Box"

Secretary Noah accommodated their transportation as William and Grace were given a direct order to the new team. They were heading to Site-19, where they would begin work on the new building.

Officer Clint, a subordinate of Secretary Noah's who they had previously encountered when they were given the assignment to secure SCP-2331, was in charge of the entire trip. He was given the order to drive both of them to Site-19.

But he wasn't traveling alone; another guard was with them as well. Despite Grace being there to serve as his primary supervisor, it was made sure that everything was secure knowing that William was an SCP.

They traveled to Site-19 for a few hours because the location was extremely secure and confidential, preventing any other outside parties from learning about it and organizing an infiltration plan.

Through the window, William could see as they traveled along a long road that was surrounded by nothing but woodlands. It was impossible to see any adjacent settlements or buildings from a distance.

This made sense, given that a Foundation facility the size of Site-19 would have to be situated as far away from human civilization as possible. There wouldn't be many deaths in case of the worst-case scenarios happened.

Other than a straight, lengthy asphalt road, there was nothing in the way. Although there weren't any Site-19 facility buildings visible, it appeared as though they were about to arrive at Site-19.

A few minutes later, their car began to pass through and through some sort of invisible projection layer. As a result, Grace and William could now see where they were going.

From a distance, the magnificent Site-19 can be seen, along with all of the buildings, the security tower, and numerous other infrastructure. There was no doubt that this was the location where hundreds of SCPs were contained, and it was larger than William had anticipated.

William noticed a dome-shaped beacon projecting through the sky, and he deduced that it was the projection used to hide Site-19's whole exterior and hide its whereabouts from the general public.

Even after only briefly exploring the frontwork of the Foundation's largest site, he was astonished by how well everything ran. He was eager to witness all of the activities taking place within site.

Before entering Site-19's area, they arrived at the front gate and checkpoint. A few guards were waiting for them there, and they requested their credentials before allowing them to proceed. Officer Clint showed his ID, at which point they let the group in.

William noticed that several guards were patrolling the area at Site-19 once they had finally reached there. As he had expected, the whole site looked strict, making sure that nothing went in or out while they were watching.

They all then moved to the building's underground areas, where they entered an elevator that was large enough for an entire military truck to fit inside.

It scanned them for a while to ensure there were no intruders and everything was safe. After that, the elevator automatically descended to take them where they needed to go.

A short while later, the elevator door opened, revealing a spacious indoor space populated by numerous Foundation military operators who were engaged in various forms of training. Some of them were engaged at the firing range, while others were busy pounding a punching bag.

Officer Clint parked the car to the side and observed that none of them appeared to be perturbed by their arrival and carried on with their training.

"We have arrived. Time to meet the others since both of you are here now." said Officer Clint.

Grace and William exited the car and looked at their surroundings. Everyone seemed to be busy training on their own, which was to be expected given that Pandora's Box's Head Project handpicked the personnel who were placed here.

Officer Clint said to both of them, "Wait here. I'll try to find Secretary Noah first. Informing that both of you had arrived here."

William appeared to be the first SCP to arrive here, as he encountered no recognizable faces. In fact, the majority of those in the training area were military personnel.

A tiny explosion can be heard from the firing range, and a dark-skinned man with white hair in a robe can be seen from there. Several other operators were looking at him, confused about what the man had done.

He had hit one of the moving targets, which was now engulfed in flames. With a small amount of fire in his hand, he began to shoot fireballs in the direction of another moving target at the firing range.

It didn't touch all of them, but it did leave minor scorches of fire within range. In that firing range, an automatic fire extinguishing system activated, extinguishing all of the fire.

"Agent Navarro, tone down a bit. You might catch this place on fire if you weren't careful enough controlling your magic there." said Secretary Noah as he walked through the area.

The man who was called Agent Navarro looked at him and bowed down, "My apology. It has been a while since I've done this. I need to adapt myself since I have been called here."

Secretary Noah waved his hand to him, "No need. You just need to be careful about it. I don't mind if you're honing your senses for later. But just be careful with it, okay?"

Secretary Noah walked away from Agent Navarro as he nodded. He was walking in the direction where Grace and William were standing. He smiled when the two of them finally arrived at Site-19.

"Welcome to the Pandora's Box Training Grounds. Commissioned by General Bowe himself, I'm in charge of this place when he isn't around and busy with other affairs. The General himself isn't available at the moment, but worry not. I have informed him about your arrival."

Grace looked at him and bowed, "Thank you for preparing our need regarding the transfer to this site."

Secretary Noah chuckled, "Don't mention it. Everything was arranged for all of the Pandora's Box personnel. Looking forward to our cooperation in the future on this site."

Both William and Grace were still unfamiliar with the area; they had arrived at Site-19 with no knowledge of it. While William only knew about Site-19 from articles he read, Grace had never visited one.

Grace then asked, "Where's the other? Is this the entirety of the whole Pandora's Box squad or what?"

"The remaining members of Pandora's Box are still on their way here and should arrive soon. Meanwhile, get acquainted with your new surroundings because you'll be living here starting today." Secretary Noah answered.

He then continued, "Oh, don't worry, we had prepared Alpha One's own room for him to stay. Of course, since his status is still an SCP, he will be put in a standard containment cell under Foundation's surveillance. Just standard procedures. As for you, Captain Grace. You will be living in the personnel dormitory located there."

Just as they were talking about the situation, the elevator door opened, and there was another vehicle coming into the training grounds. It was a military vehicle, and the car was parked next to William and Grace's car.

Some of the military personnel walked out of the car, followed by a teenage girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, with a long-neck black sweater and a blue jacket. She looked around the area for a few seconds.

"Looks like we have finally arrived at our destination. This place seemed like an interesting one." said the blonde girl.