Chapter 29 " A Task From The Site Director"

"You said who?"

Grace was a bit stunned by what Dr. Erik had just said, and she wanted to confirm that what she heard was not a mistake. The man in the black suit didn't say anything to Dr. Erik while he spoke to her through the intercom.

Dr. Erik replied, "Site Director Stanford is here, and he wanted to talk to both of you in private."

They were both shocked by this information because they had never imagined the Site-199 Site Director contacting them at these times to speak with them privately. Something important must've happened.

"The Director is here? Why did the Director want to talk to us? Particularly given the site's urgent status." Grace wondered as he stared puzzledly into William's eyes.

"That's exactly the reason for it." Dr. Erik looked to Site Director Stanford again and then continued, "It might be best if both of you heard it directly from the Director."

Dr. Erik then turned his back on the table-mounted microphone and allowed Site Director Stanford some room. Before Site Director Stanford spoke, he ordered some of the guards who were inside the room to leave for a short while.

Site Director Stanford then leaned his body towards the microphone and said, "Good evening, Captain Grace and Alpha One."

Grace and William were both shocked by this because they had never spoken to the Site Director directly and had only heard some of what he had to say through an order or from a few Head Personnel.

She didn't know how to respond, she replied, "Good evening, Director, both me and Alpha One are all ears to what you have to say."

"Excellent, as exactly I wanted to hear." Director Stanford then coughed for a moment to clear his throat, "Could you tell me about the status quo within the Keter containment area?"

Grace then informed Director Stanford of the situation in the Keter containment area, noting that there had been numerous casualties on the side of the Foundation and that they had not encountered a single survivor along their path.

Not to mention that someone appeared to have tampered with the SCP's containment room, leading to the appearance that some of them were roaming the area and causing further havoc.

Director Stanford hummed and thought about it for a moment, then continued, "Have you seen Head Researcher Felix around? He should be the one who was in charge of the situation in that area."

"No, I do-" before she could even finish her sentence, William bumped his elbow into her and pointed to the ID card on the table, which belonged to Head Researcher Felix, "Unfortunately, Head Researcher Felix was already deceased when we found him."

"By an unknown party?" Director Stanford asked.

"Affirmative, the wounds we found on his head were the same as the bullet markings that were scattered around the area."

Director Stanford raised an eye to the wall of monitors in the control room; some of them were blank from a lack of signal, while others showed Foundation employees scurrying back and forth to deal with the situation.

He was aware that the enemy had carefully planned the infiltration and that it had been carried out because they had not only blocked the Foundation's movement but also their eyes in order to avoid being seen while carrying out the mission.

There was no other choice. Director Stanford took a deep breath and said through the line, "Captain Grace, Alpha One, what you are about to receive is confidential information that is for your ears only. This mission should only be carried out by both of you and shall refrain from leaking any information about it in the future. Is that clear?"

Grace gulped since this was the first time she had ever received a direct order from the Site Director. However, despite not having met or known this person, William could tell from the hoarse voice coming through the speaker that this was not a person to mess with.

"Understood." Grace replied.

"Good. The Foundation had been infiltrated by some of the Chaos Insurgency members and caused a lot of damage to a few areas on the site. This was done because they were trying to minimize our contact with the other department and task forces to handle the situation."

He then looked at the wall of monitors again, "As a result, we were unable to communicate with various parts of the site, particularly the Keter containment area. Since we believed they were blocking access to the Keter containment area, we haven't discovered any Insurgency members. You did say that some of the personnel's deaths occur for reasons other than accidents or SCPs, correct?"

Without a moment, Grace answered, "Yes, that is correct."

"This leads to the speculation that the rest of these Chaos Insurgency members were trying to get into that area to retrieve something, an SCP object that they could use in order to benefit them in the long run."

Dr. Erik approached Director Stanford while he was giving them an explanation and handed him a file with details about an SCP item. He then began to turn the pages of the file after it was opened.

"The Item was SCP-582, a Keter Class Object. We believe that this is the item they were looking for in the Keter containment area, which explains why they would go to such lengths to find and steal it. Take a look at your screen."

There was a pause, and Grace looked a little perplexed because she had never heard of the object or acknowledged the SCP's presence on the site. William had some familiarity with it. Therefore he was able to comprehend the Chaos Insurgency's desire to take it.

"A binder of files?" Grace was puzzled.

"It is not just a typical file binder. It contains all the necessary details about SCP-582 so that anyone can learn about it and utilize it as they see fit. We managed to keep it safe so that no one—not even I—knew what was inside. It is essential that no one shares or is aware of any information about it. Now, it is your mission to obtain that information and secure it before they do."

William interrupted her session without letting Grace speak and asked, "Director Stanford, where could we find the containment room for the files? The Keter containment area is big, and we certainly are just blind guessing where we should go."

"The route to the containment room for the two of you as well as the area's entire floor plan will be sent to you. Do any of you have a means of communication that would allow us to keep tabs on your whereabouts?"

William pulled out the walkie-talkie that he found earlier and answered, "Yes, we have a walkie-talkie that could be used. Although, it doesn't seem to be in a working frequency right now."

"That is more than enough. We will send you a new channel for both of you to tune in and connect to us so that no one would hijack or disturb our means of communication." said Director Stanford as he waved his hand, commanding Dr. Erik to carry out the preparation.

Knowing that they had prepared everything they needed, he replied, "Understood, Director Stanford."

"Remember. I have high hopes that you will carry out the task and don't let them gain the upper hand because this is a crucial mission that could only be accomplished by the two of you. Godspeed, Alpha One, and Captain Grace." said Director Stanford as he looked at the watch on his wrist.