“Note that today is Pizza Day, all foundation staff except for those incarcerated can head on down to the Cafeteria after 1100 to get a hot steaming slice.” The intercom buzzed to life and Doctor Maynard wasn’t having it. This job, despite being considered one of the most dangerous jobs and one that he couldn’t even tell his family about was getting boring.

  Far too boring for a man like him to accept. He used to be with the Chaos Insurgency, and alongside Agent Skinner, they were in charge of ensuring the Foundation eventually ran out of options; especially with this new Modular Site Project Maynard was in command of.

  And of course, he had another meeting to follow through with it. He’d probably never become a site director with his level 4 access, but it could work that way. After all, this modular site would help in the event of any emergency. Especially if say a Chaos Insurgency raid occurred upon Site 19.

  It would also work with other paper-pushing sites, especially if they just had the architecture to contain all sorts of anomalies. Maybe this site could be more than just ‘the one 970-13 is at.’ Maynard still had his own site’s interests in mind… for now.

  It was an odd location to be sure, but just because of that damned repeating room, which they couldn’t even work on thanks to most of them being done on the instances in Sector 19 of some other god-forsaken site, they’re main anomaly wasn’t of any use to keep contained. It was worthless. And Dr. Jung decided further testing wouldn’t figure anything else out, probably due to the risk of the psychotic breaks those researchers went through.

  But the sigh he let out before entering the conference room let off all of his anxiety. This was to the Ethics Committee this time around, and he was pretty damn certain after working in the Foundation for a few years that they weren’t just gonna play into actual ethics or morals.

  He walked into the meeting room and found all sorts of people, one of which, standing at the top of the table was an awfully buff man, and looked kinda like Security Director Franklin. He was different though, and potentially younger.

  “Dr. Maynard, we are glad you weren’t late.” The Director glared at Maynard with a glint in his eyes, a terrible one. He wished he had the only other person who did anything on this site here with him. “Now then, about that Modular Site Project you held ideas for?”

  “Yes, the Modular Site Project, hereby referred to as the MSP in this document and others referring to it after this meeting at hour 1000 on November 15th, is a project that attempts to solve problems with the infrastructure of emergency sites.”

  The rest of the Ethics Committee that flew in was still silent. And he was going to keep talking to this newfound audience. “This issue is primarily in that the emergency sites can be taken out as well, and are way too close to the main sites and unable to hold if, say, a situation similar to Site 13 were to occur with Site 19, or worse a scenario such as Site-41.”

  A few of them were silent, but some dared speak up. “You keep saying ‘if’ this Dr. Maynard, ‘if’ that, but that doesn’t prove necessity and rather just fills in another redundancy.”

  Dr. Maynard was expecting this however. “And redundancies are the very thing that prevents the populace from knowing of the anomalies. We have redundancies inside redundancies through the D-Class system of demotion, and we have more in how we execute them after a month or reamnesticize them.”

  Maynard shut the complaints up with that statement, but he continued on anyways. “Besides, this redundancy is kind of important, because these facilities are staffed to practical full even when there is only one anomaly-” Maynard catches himself before he went on another tangent regarding the pointlessness of this site, “This facility has the faculty to contain say, SCP-173 or even SCP-079, just not the architecture. And that is what the MSP solves. It may go into your systems as Project-some jumble of numbers that lead you to forget it. And the necessity problem is solved with the Fracturing Raids from the Insurgency. We’ll need sites capable of storing all sorts of anomalies.”

  The ethics committee thought on this, and conversed like he wasn’t even there. He thought of the documents he spread out among the people here, and some of them were interested enough to file them into personal manilla folders, while others ignored the document and chattered about unreasonable things.

  Maynard was left to wonder about what the other people in this site were doing when the lead Ethics Committee member caught his attention once more. “Alright, we’ll see what we can do. This is quite expensive, but the O5 council has the final say in the matter. You know we would’ve shot it down if it was truly unworthy.”

  Maynard nodded at this. “Thank you for your time, I will be returning to work.” Dr. Maynard’s final words as he placed his card against the conference room door left the room speechless for a moment, and then he went back to his office.

  It wasn’t too nice to share it with Dr. Walker, the only other Level 4 researcher in this site. Also the only other working member. Dr. Walker was typing something into laptop when the door access panel said “ACCESS GRANTED” in its awful font.

  “How was the conference?” Benjamin Walker was writing another report on that damned newest anomaly; which is odd because there weren’t any instances at this location. And that gave George Maynard an idea.

  “It went better than I thought.” Dr. Maynard said, and he was just about to tell Dr. Walker that idea before the security radios rang out with some average guard chatter. “Don’t those damned guards know the security channel is for manners that even the lowliest of the people at this site are meant to be brought in on?”

  “Hey, they’ll get a stern talking to from Franklin, that’s for sure.” Maynard tore the batteries out from his own radio, but Walker just kept working with the chatter in the background. Then another beep alongside Franklin’s voice.

  “You’ve got plenty of nerve you two. This isn’t a public access point for needless chatter and I know you both are stationed at the exact same station as well. You should have no reason to even be using the radio right now.”

  Walker let out a light laugh, but Maynard wanted to talk business. He looks over at the screen and sees that it’s just a compilation of everything everyone else figured out. “Hey, I have an idea, fellow Researcher.”

  Walker looked up from his ‘report’ if one could even call it that. “Hm? What may that be?” Walker pushes out with his feet to get his office chair away from his desk, an odd habit he uses to show he’s paying attention.

  “Doesn’t 970 connect to parallel dimensions?” Maynard begins, before elaborating further without any input from Walker. “And that newer anomaly, you call it the System if I’m not mistaken…”

  “Sure I do, but what’s that got to do with 970?” Walker interrupted Maynard, but Maynard was able to continue further. “Didn’t that anomaly come from another world, dragged in by SCP-507 in one of his… ‘journeys’ that he hates so much?”

  “You can’t be…” Walker stood up, which Maynard just put his hand up to. Walker continued speaking however. “That’ll get us both demoted to Class D’s for even suggesting! Maybe even just sent straight to 682 for a terrible experiment that everyone knows is just a ploy for euthanization! Or just shot. That one’s more likely and is cheaper.”

  “While it is a risk, yes,” Maynard was walking along this carefully. Those two guards that were chattering over the facility were kinda worthless, especially since they guarded their personal instance of 970-13. “It’s also a chance for you to finally get to Level 5, or be the main Dr on an SCP documentation. I’m sure you want that, don’t you?”

  The way Walker was biting his tongue showed Maynard that he was on the right track. “It’ll still get us killed if we get caught, and we don’t even have a D-Class to send in for it. The existence of the System we aren’t even on the clearance for! That requires Level 5 clearance minimum, and you know the odds that I get that!”

  “But if you find a new instance for it-” Maynard begins speaking, and his speech is speeding up as well. “And if my MSP goes through, we could very well get these experiments taken care of quickly. We may even see how this ‘System’ affects other anomalies.”

  What Maynard was laying down clearly didn’t fully make it to Walker. Walker’d never agree if he did know what it was implying. But his agreement was much better for this anyways, especially since Agent Skinner was technically not even on payroll. Understandable to not want to be a double-agent.

  But Maynard caught Walker on the ropes, and now they’ll be richer than ever as long as his project went through. All he had to do was have Agent Skinner fail his job for the first time in the 2 years he’d been at this site and push someone else through 970-13 enough times.

  And now it was time to wait. Bide his time, despite the lack of research. The modular site project was all that was left for this job to be complete.

  ******

  It was a nice job bein’ just a janitor. Didn’t have ta deal with the politics, wasn’t nearly as fucked as Class D, and while ya did have ta clean some spills nobody else would appreciate cleaning, there were still differences between a janitor, researcher, doctor, amnesticist, and even any of the hundreds of roles on the security team.

  Speakin’ of, Senior Janitor Silas was a friend with most agents in this site. Supposedly they were only there to prevent accidental go throughs of this strange SCP-970-13. Silas accepted being sent to this site since it wasn’t anything like Site 19 or anythin’ else with actually important anomalies. Death wasn’t too common here.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  And that’s when he heard the damned news of the site taking in anomalies from a Site 19 raid combined with this place being more like a labyrinth. It’s a terrible idea, especially for cleaning this damned place up.

  He found an odd room he’d never really been in before, part of a hallway, while mopping. The mop ensured the resin flooring was perfectly clean, with the metallic area beneath. The Light Containment Zone which was what it was now called under Dr. Maynard’s bullshittery.

  “Ugh, this place seems to go on forever.” Silas growned as he mopped and mopped, the fast drying nature of the mop being unable to let him tell if he was going in a circle or not. He kept on going through this hallway. “Fuckin’ hell, how long is this bullshit?” He puts his mop up in a corner somewhere nearby to not cause tripping, and he started just walking.

  Around room number 45..? stuff seemed kinda off. The site was still the same, but he could’ve sworn that the sign read “Storage Chamber 2A” not “Storage Chamber 1B.” And his mop was there as well.

  He simply looked at his mop for the first time in this loop. “Damn, guess I was going in a circle…” Silas laughs at his own stupidity as he snaps his fingers. Then he thinks for a second. “But that ain’t right, this is a straight line.”

  He rolls his eyes before continuing forward. “Damn it Silas, you got a geometry degree, this shit’s weird as high hell.” Eventually he marches forward far enough such that he sees a weird ass terminal in front of him.

  [Booting System for User 289ae033]

  “Well damn, ain’t that a shocker.” He tried to just push the obscenely light blue message off to the side, but it didn’t budge. Silas sighed as he talked to one of the guards that definitively wasn’t there before. “Alright, what the fuck is this System shit?”

  “You aren’t aware of SCP-78332?” The guard speaks back, and that ain’t one o’ the guards Silas knew. Yeah, he probably went through 970. He mutters under his own breath a few obscenities. And on top of that, now there was a whole new SCP he had to clean up after. Maybe.

  Silas grabs his mop and just turns around and walks back. He feels like he walked for miles, and he notices the room repeat right back where he was, with the same guard standing still. “Oh well fuck me in the ass.”

  ******

  “Hey, uhhh… Agent Tanner here-” The squeaky voice spoke over the emergency channel, and Walker laughed at it. Maynard didn’t quite appreciate the interruption with the conversation. “So, I think Silas went through SCP-970-13.” That statement cut Walker’s laughter short. It also cut Maynard’s depreciation of it.

  “Well, looks like an accident had occurred and now we’re stuck with a new Senior Janitor.” Maynard speaks like it was inevitable to occur, not because he believed that to be the case but rather because he believed the opposite. He’s just as surprised as Walker.

  “He’s talkin’ bout some SCP-72232, but like, he ain’t even got a Level 2 Security Clearance right?” The radio kept talking, and it’d appear that it’s even a version of Silas with that anomaly. Interesting. “Like seriously he shouldn’t even know the SCPs outside o’ 970 right?”

  The kid talking on the radio seemed a little delirious, but Security Director Franklin finally responded. “Yes, that’d be correct. I suppose we have a potential other SCP on our hands. Set up Testing Chamber 2B for containment of this unknown anomaly. We will be applying that new Modular Site Project soon as well, this is terrible timing.”

  Dr. Maynard couldn’t help but laugh at this great timing. The facility was practically his after those 23 years stuck at this terrible foundation. And now, his plan could finally be done with the Site 19 attacks…

  *******

  It sucked to be locked in a box. Didn’t help that apparently nobody knew what the hell SCP-78332 was. And the system was quiet as always for good ‘ol Senior Janitor Silas. For a few minutes at least. Then the System decided to ruin his nice peaceful moment.

  [System Message: Well, this is quite a predicament you find yourself in.]

  Silas looked up at this new window, and was really confused. This was definitely unprecedented as far as he knew; but he did hear Agent Tanner talking about some kinda conversation between the O5 council and this system…

  Maybe Level 0 Clearance wasn’t too good to have. Oh well. “Oh, fuck off, yer the reason I’m in this box.” He spoke aloud to the system message, unsure if he could hear anything about it. He’d been stuck in there for a few days; maybe a few weeks? He lost count of time and had been spending most of his time reading.

  [System Message: I could also be your way out.]

  Now that was absolute Bullshit, Silas was sure of that. The system, being his way out of this damned box? Yeah, sure. If Senior Janitor Silas was sure of anything, it was that SCP-78332 didn’t give a shit about him.

  But… It seemed nice to hear that. “Unknown Anomaly Silas, please do exit your cell.” He heard a familiar voice, kind of the only person he could talk to for the time he hadn’t been spoken to for ages. He was stuck in a D-class uniform too.

  But, now he was finally time to be transferred to a proper cell. Great. More bullshit. Silas got up off his bed, and placed the magazine on the bedside table. They at least made the place kinda comfortable.

  When Agent Tanner opened the door with a keycard clearly loaned from one of the higher clearance researchers, Silas coulda hugged the security guard. But he refrained from it. “Yeah, sorry Silas, I thought they’d be more clear with what was going on to ya.” Agent Tanner’s voice was muffled beneath the ballistic helmet and cloth mask that covered his mouth.

  But it was perfectly audible, especially since it wasn’t set up before then. This facility was more and more of a maze with the changes they made. They walked through what was probably light containment zone.

  “So, where are you taking me?” Silas asked, he was handcuffed with the satisfying clicks and now he was being walked along this maze of concrete walls. It was kinda fucked up with how much concrete there was in here.

  “The D-Class cells; you’re being technically demoted…” Agent Tanner’s voice just dripped with sorrow for him. “But, also you’ll be safer in there in case of a Breach.”

  Silas laughed in response to that, but quit laughing when Agent Tanner just glared at him through the ballistic helmet’s yellow visor. “Dude, Site-19 was attacked by the Chaos Insurgency. We’re holding a majority of their anomalies now.”

  “What?” Silas’s voice from incredulity; and just genuine shock. Of course, these were regular hand cuffs, and the System reminded him constantly that he was strong enough to break out of them… Or maybe it was mocking his low power stat.

  [System Message: Oh, right; SCP-106 is about to breach.]

  “What?” Silas said reading the System message, as an alarm let out within the building. The lights grew dimmer, and the intercomms sparked to life. “Warning, SCP-106 has breached containment. Stay in your area, as we are working to get it back under control.”

  Agent Tanner pulled Silas closer to him, and unlocked the handcuffs. He handed Silas his sidearm. “This is for your safety Silas, I’m certain you know how to use one of these?” Silas examined the M9 he was handed, and Tanner raised his own P-90.

  “Of course I do.” Silas looks through the sights of them, avoiding pointing it at Tanner. The System messages continued flowing, and it seemed to be counting down to something. It was kinda annoying.

  The system messages finally stopped as another alert wrought throughout the entire facility. This one definitely was a far less human one. “Facility under control. To fall is what you are left to do.”

  Many doors surrounding them opened then closed. The sirens blared ever louder. “Warning to all personnel. Site-wide containment breach has occurred, make it to an underground bunker as soon as humanly possible and stay there.”

  As the lights flickered; the site seemed to fall in chaos and was actively burning. But there was no fire, it’s an underground facility made of stone and metal. “Excuse me, but who in their right fuckin mind thought we could handle this many SCPs?” Silas asked Tanner, glaring at him through the yellow visor.

  Silas was a little pissed off, and almost missed the System Message for it.

  [System Message: Initiating Class…]

  Silas was shocked to see the class choices presented to him. This too was highly unprecedented, and he felt his stats somehow fill in automatically as he leveled up to Level One.

  [One Star Class: Blacksmith]

  [Zero Star Class: Artist]

  [Two Star Class: Ranger]

  [Zero Star Class: Farmer]

  [Zero Star Class: Scribe]

  [Error! Cannot load Personal Dungeon!]

  Silas was left looking at the five options, and the lack of excess information was sort of confusing to him, but he just clicked on the highest star class available to him.

  [Loading Class: Ranger…]

  [Trait Gained; Natural Bow]

  Tanner looked at the blue screen in front of Silas, and was aiming his gun right at Silas. Silas raised his hands in surrender, holding the M9 properly, finger not on the trigger. The barrel faced upwards, and he stared at his friend.

  Tanner’s eyes were slimmed, probably in suspicion or just general anger. Understandable anger for Silas. “Put the gun down.” Silas had spoken first, still staring into the ballistic visor. The alarm was going off still, and it was getting on his nerves.

  [System Message: Well, you may as well shoot him first.]

  Silas ignored the system. He wouldn’t shoot his only damned friend in this entire facility. “And why should I do that?” Tanner kept his gun trained right on Silas’s head. And it simply hurt his heart more than it would hurt him to be shot down.

  “We can escape this damned place together.” Silas said, keeping his mental state composed albeit barely. He was just a senior janitor, and now he had to escape this place to even think of returning to a normal life.

  “...And why would I escape with you?” Tanner said, finally lowering his gun. “Listen, we may be close friends, but I’m not just…” Tanner paused for a second, looking at the concrete walls of the hallway. “I’m not just going to abandon my job.”

  “Mhm… I get it.” Silas said, lowering his arms. “But can you at least help me get out? This containment breach ain’t gettin cleared up any time soon, and I help you, you help me, right?”

  The silence afterwards consumed everything, but Tanner sighed. “Fine. I’ll help you get to the Heavy Containment Zone at least. This is the only area of Light Containment they hadn’t moved closer to the Entrance Zone so far.”

  “Thanks, Tanner.” Silas was really grateful to his best friend, it was unfortunate how only he’d get to leave the facility. “I hope you stay safe when you send me off to Heavy Containment.” Tanner’s nod stated all there needed to be.