Lt. Samantha Carter slowly walks through the large metal door at 504 Battery Drive and into a long room. The wall to her right was dominated by the enormous blades of a tunnel air intake vent. Opposite the vent in the center of the room sits an old rent-a-cop security guard on a folding metal chair reading a comic book.
"Help you?" he asks looking at her with a bored expression.
"Um. I hope so, sir," Sam tells him. A week ago she'd graduated from the Air Force Academy, and this was her first posting. "I have orders to report to the address on this card," she explains holding up both her written orders and the card that had accompanied them.
"Elevator," the guard tells her as he turns his attention back to his comic book. "Press the 'call' button."
Sam quietly crosses the room with the sound of her heels on clicking against the hard marble floor echoing in the large room. The door to the elevator swish open even before she reaches it. Over her shoulder she throws the security guard a puzzled look before stepping into the elevator. The door to the elevator quickly closes behind her as she turns around. Noting the "call" button the guard referred to, Sam pushes the button. Nothing. Just as she's about to push the button again, someone behind her clears their throat. She whirls around, startled. "Oh!" she exclaims.
The room into which she steps is stark white. The man standing at the front of the room looks to be in his fifties to Sam. He's wearing a black suit with all the confidence of someone with a great deal of power. "You're late," the man tells her. "Sit down." It's only then that she looks past him to the six men sitting in egg-shaped chairs at the opposite end of the room and notices that there is one chair empty. "My name is Zed. You're all here because you're the best of the best. Marines, Navy SEALS, Army Rangers...Air Force," he explains.
Each of the men sitting in the egg-shaped chairs turns to look at Sam a little smugly, but she's used to this (being a woman in the ultimate boy's club) and cocks an eyebrow back at them just to let them know she's not intimidated.
"And we're looking for one of you. Just one," Zed tells them. "What will follow is a series of simple tests designed to quantify motor skills, hand-eye coordination, concentration, stamina. Let's get going."