SCP-1428 – "Cortexichildren"
Chapter 22: The Chaos Insurgency
Disclaimers: When I began writing Cortexichildren, SCP-1428 was vacant. It is no longer vacant, but I have no intentions of publishing this on the wiki. This is mainly a crossover fic, not a SCP event log that will go on the site.
Forever reminder that I do not own anything. Fringe belongs to J.J. & co. Each SCP belongs to their respective individual author. The SCP universe belongs to that collective on that site. I do not own anything. I am a fan.
Forever reminder of how I handle alt!characters: Over There: Bob. Over Somewhere Else: Bob.
Author's Notes: Expect longer chapters all the way through to the end. No mercy.
Again, I apologize for such a long hiatus. That was rude of me. Feel free to slap me next time. No seriously go yell me over on tumblr [ tealrallythong] & slap me.
ALSO FUCK IT I WILL ADD SOME SMALL SHIP SCENES IN HERE I DO WHAT I WANT.
The Chaos Insurgency
The Chaos Insurgency is a splinter group of the Foundation, created by a rogue cell that went A.W.O.L. with several highly useful SCPs in 1924. Since then, the Insurgency has become a major player on the world stage, using the SCPs that it obtains for its own personal benefit and to consolidate its global power base. The Insurgency not only deals in SCPs, but also in weapons running and intelligence gathering.
It makes use of dictator regimes in Third World countries, often using their populations in the same manner as the Foundation does D-Class personnel. Because of this, it helps to maintain the extreme poverty and war that is suffered by these countries, so that it can continue its radical experimentation, easy conscription of forces, and lucrative business deals with rebel factions.
The main base of operations of the Insurgency is unknown, as are its leaders. This organization is directly antagonistic to the Foundation, coming to clash over SCP items several times. Personnel are made to be aware of possible raids, terrorist attempts, and spies from the Insurgency, and to notify command about any strange behavior of fellow personnel.
The Master Key certainly was small. Peter smirked; he could perform the little coin trick with the thing, flipping it between his knuckles, watching it dance over and under. Months ago, his spirits were completely down. Peter hadn't thought of doing anything drastic, but it was hard to find meaning in the small things. He could barely bring himself to shave or get out of bed, let alone summon the strength to comb through the universe for Olivia. But ever since September had arrived, and ever since he had moved to the Other Side, his love for life had been ignited again.
After so many months of waiting, Olivia was finally coming home. He would have her in his arms once more. He could taste it now. It was all within his grasp, just like The Master Key. This tiny thing in his hands would bring her home.
Operation Viridian was fast approaching. He could barely sleep, but he knew he had to. He felt like a little kid again, playing with his toys instead of turning the lights out. Or a teenager, too anxious to go to sleep, fretting over some test and equating failure with the end of the world. Who knew how long the operation would be. They planned to get in and out in three hours, but that seemed too far-fetched of a goal. Sure Astrid had said it was possible, but the likelihood of that was still less than 37%. And their likelihood of success was even lower.
Peter turned over on his side, placing The Master Key back in its locking box – activated only by Peter's touch [a nice feature added by September]. He turned onto his back and gave a large huff. Tomorrow he would be in another universe. Tomorrow… anything could happen.
Peter finally closed his eyes. He needed his strength. He needed his Olivia.
'Soon. Soon.'
D-Day. The ready room was bursting with life. The four rows of benches and lockers were usually empty most days, but now all four were occupied with agents. All 35 [excluding Aruna and those who had come from the Other Side] united under her leadership. But she didn't have the heart to join them just yet. Not yet.
Olivia passed by Astrid and the rest of the Fringe team who would stay behind. Astrid gave her a salute, something that puzzled Olivia. She wasn't used to getting such a direct gesture from her, but today was a special occasion – at least, for those with the clearance to know. Those without were being fed, directly by Broyles, that the joint-universe task force had been assembled for a high-level amber project. And it was kept at that. All other matters were classified.
Olivia passed into the main locker room. She shut the door behind her, sat down, and held her head in her hands. The blues of the locker room usually calmed her. She usually felt safe here. This was her escape when the days got tough. But today… this gave her no such solace. She had barely slept last night. She could barely eat. She managed to swallow a few almonds, but everything else made her stomach turn.
Her hands were shaking. She was close to hyperventilating. 'I… I don't know if I can do this. What if they picked the wrong person to be in charge? What if I'm leading them all into a trap, right to their deaths? I'm not sure I can do this.'
She felt a hand on her shoulder. She tensed in response, but soon relaxed when she saw that it was Lincoln. She turned the other way, embarrassed that he had to see her like this. But it's not like this was the first time.
"Hey." He sat down next to her and gave her a gentle smile. In that moment, she wished that he was going with her, or possibly instead of her. But she knew that his responsibility remained here, keeping their universe safe from other threats. He outranked her, so obviously he was much more important to keep safe. Because if anything were to go wrong during the rescue mission… he would still remain. Their universe would still be safe. The Fringe Division would still operate. "What's all this?" He gestured to her shaking hands. And took one of them in his. "What are you shaking for? Don't tell me you're finally scared? When's the last time you were really scared? Five years ago? Toronto?"
"Sh-shut up." But his teasing helped ease her edge. That damn Lincoln always knew what to say. "And… maybe."
Lincoln waved off her remark with his hand and his response. "You're going to be fine out there."
He sounded a lot more like Charlie than himself. She wasn't used to hearing that kind of a statement from him. And just like that, she started to unravel again. "I… I haven't trained for this." Her hands started shaking again.
"We haven't trained for most of the shit we face out there. But I can't think of anyone better to lead that team to That Other Side." He gripped her hand tight, then tighter. "Don't you dare think that you can't, Liv. You were given this honor. You deserve it – because you can deliver."
"I'm… not so sure."
"Agent Dunham, I don't want to hear another word of this." Lincoln had never used such an authoritative tone with her, or at least not in a long time. "You are qualified and you are proven. Believe me when I say that you are the best suited for this task. And you were in it from the beginning. Peter Bishop approached you; the Observer approached you; and all those agents will follow you." He put his hands on her shoulders and held her tight, "It's not like you to be doubting yourself this way. I don't like it."
"I just… I've never been involved in something this important before. I… I'm saving me, practically, in some new world." Olivia couldn't help but laugh now. "I guess I've come a long way. If Peter Bishop approached me with this mission five months ago I would have kneed him in the groin. But now… I hope to God I bring her back."
Lincoln smiled. "You will." The smile turned into a smirk. "As you know I won't be coming with you, so I might as well give you a parting gift."
Olivia's eyes widened. He was leaning closer to her. Her heart caught in her throat. What was this? This had never happened between them before. They had been intimate, but never… never like this. Just as she shut her eyes, readying herself for contact, Lincoln froze. He coughed. "I… I don't know what came over me." He coughed again, "That was highly unprofessional. I'm sorry."
His face was pink. He straightened out his jacket and started to leave.
Olivia grinned. "Y'know what?"
He stopped, but didn't look back at her. "What?"
"If I come back-"
"What do you mean if?" Lincoln spun to look at her now. His face was scrunched into many wrinkles, in deep thought, turning the contents of the 'if' over and over in his mind… and not liking it.
She didn't want to say it. She didn't have to say it. She knew that Lincoln had read the report. The figures for success dropped lower and lower every hour. Agent Dunham honestly wasn't sure if they would all make it back. She repeated, just above a small whisper, "You know what I mean."
"When you make it back," he quietly corrected her. And Lincoln leaned in again. Their noses touched. "Then I'll…"
She laughed. "I'll look forward to it, Lee."
She was a little ashamed to admit it, but her time with Lincoln gave her just the spark she needed. She was finally ready to face her squads. Olivia was greeted with a chorus of cheers and slaps to the back. Most of her troops were ready, but there was one straggling behind.
She sat next to the man, fiddling with his armor. He looked like a boy amongst all the men. "I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, but I have no idea what I'm doing." Peter gave her a sheepish grin.
Olivia couldn't help but grin back at the man. "Perfectly understandable. You're much more the brains than you are the muscle."
"Hey!" Peter's grin morphed instantly into a pout. "I can hold my own out there."
"I'm sure you can." But her words sounded a lot more sarcastic than she had planned. It sounded too much like the old her, and just when she thought she had been making progress. She fumbled with the buckles of his vest and ducked her head, so he wouldn't see her turn red with shame. "I mean that's why you're here." She probably matched her hair at this point.
Peter's grin was back, even if she couldn't see it under all that red. "I meant what I said."
"What?" She was still buckling his vest and then patting it to make sure it fit him correctly.
"You always do the right thing."
She smirked, hiding the fact that she was touched, speechless, stunned. No one believed in her more than Peter Bishop, even when he had every reason not to – at least, in her mind. She had stolen his Olivia's life and had infiltrated their operation. She had betrayed their trust. She had especially betrayed his trust, pretending to be the love of his life when she was far from it; she was a despicable thing. And yet… he stood up for her when no one else would. He stood up for her in front of his father, his Fringe team, and would probably do so in front of his Olivia. He saw the good in her before anyone else did – before she even saw it in herself. He truly was an incredible man. "Thanks."
The two put on their black boots, helmets, and gun holsters in silence. Olivia attempted to put her hair in a bun, but the strands kept slipping in between her fingers. Her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't help but think of her alternate counterpart she was tasked to save. Her conversation with Lincoln echoed in her mind. She gave a huff and eased her arms down, "We're going to get her back, Peter."
Peter looked down at his boots and swallowed. He nodded once, then he kept nodding as Olivia continued talking. He nodded to keep from crying.
"I'm not one to make promises lightly, but I promise you this: I'm going to get her back for you and Walter. I'm not going to fail. I refuse to fail."
She was surprised to hear Peter laugh in response. She could have slapped him. Her upper lip twitched, along with her left cheek, as she snarled, "What's so funny? I'm serious!"
"I know, I know." Peter calmed himself down. "Just sometimes… the two of you are more alike than you think."
Olivia liked to call this room The Pit. It was the place for "pep rallies" right before teams were sent out to tackle serious Fringe cases. Olivia had given many encouraging remarks and speeches in her time here, but none more important than this. This was the most important case in her life, if she could even call it a case. She only had to save two people, but they were two very important people. She had promises to keep and she had redemption to earn. Olivia, despite the tension between them, would have done the same for her. They were far from friends, but through this… Olivia couldn't help but feel more respect toward her counterpart. She had to do this for her and for herself.
"I'm not going to bullshit you on this one: this will be hard. And some of you… you aren't going to make it back." She felt all their hardened eyes glaring at her, piercing right through her armor. "But I hope to hell we prove those calculations wrong. You've all seen them. The odds keep stacking against us. But y'know what? It's actually fitting." She turned to face Lincoln Lee. "Operation Viridian should have never happened in the first place. But one man dared to cross over, just to see if our Astrid could make some calculations. And another man," she turned to Peter Bishop, "turned to Secretary Bishop for help. None of this should have happened. Our universes are still tense with each other, and yet… here we are." She looked at everyone. "Both universes here, united together, ready to go into yet another to retrieve two civilians. The machine that we're using to cross over shouldn't even exist. It was created with technology we can scarcely even comprehend – again using a team consisting of people from both universes. None of this should have happened. And yet here we are."
She paced around the small room. "Those men on That Other Side… we don't know who they are. We don't know how they act or who they look like. It's very possible… that you might be shooting at yourselves. But do hesitate." She punched the wall behind her, causing the SCP logo projected onto it to ripple. "We do not have the luxury to hesitate. Agent Olivia Dunham and Civilian Nick Lane have been gone for too long. They have survived, but we don't know how long they have left. Operation Viridian is more than a simple rescue mission. This is now or never. This is kill or be killed. This is desperation street."
Olivia softened. "This may be the last time that I'll see some of your faces, and if it is, it was an honor serving this universe with you. But I hope that we'll see each other again, back in this very room, for a routine job. I hope that you'll be able to return to your families, from either universe, knowing that you've done… the unthinkable. The two universes will never know this mission existed. But this mission, if we succeed, will have a lasting legacy." Olivia meshed her fingers together, "They'll know that we can work together for the greater good. They'll know that one day… there can be lasting peace between our worlds."
Peter Bishop erupted in thunderous applause, and the rest of the agents followed with him.
"Our sources say that they have struggled to contain two very dangerous subjects, capable of terminating the Hard-to-Destroy reptile."
"They've labeled them the Cortexichildren. Human vessels for the chemical substance 'Cortexiphan.' There have been many humanoids that've crossed the Foundation before, but none like this."
"WE SHOULD SEE FOR OURSELVES."
"We should. Collect a team. I'll even go myself. I'd like to be the man who gets the first glimpse of our future."
"All you need to do is walk through the shimmering light. No harm will come to you!" Walter Bishop was leading the dual universe task force on how to enter the machine's portal to Over Somewhere Else. "Don't stare directly into the lights that you see; avert your gaze. For those of you who are prone to nausea and migraines, you might experience those symptoms when passing through the portal; this will pass. You will not be caught between worlds for long; keep moving." Walter had been sporadically running back and forth, trying to make eye contact with every agent that had to go through his device's field. "If the portal appears to fluctuate – if it is a rippling and moving surface, as opposed to something that looks more like glass – do not enter it. If you enter the portal while it is in flux, I cannot guarantee your safety." He pointed to Peter, "Peter here has his correcting device on him. The Secretary and I will be manning the machine from this side. Hopefully fatal fluctuations will not occur." He clapped his hands together. "Great! Do we have any questions?"
"How long will it take for us to pass through?" asked an agent from the back.
"That," Walter's smile disappeared, "I do not know. I have not traveled to this universe myself. But it can't be more than a few seconds, surely. You have nothing to worry about."
"Who'll be going in first?" asked another.
"Me." Agent Dunham stepped forward. "The Alpha and Omega squads will enter first, followed by the Delta squad. The Beta squad will pass last, as they will be staying behind at the rendezvous point."
When Olivia approached Walter, she couldn't help but continue the usual banter. "You better not kill me before I even get there, Bishop."
He smirked, "You vipers are a hearty lot; you'll be fine. I shall promise that to you."
Before she could say anything else [a thank you, most likely, because in that moment, Walter had promised to protect her – something she had never thought possible from him, or thought that she deserved from him; it was a momentous occasion, and proved that her speech in The Pit hadn't been merely empty words of encouragement], Walter rushed to take his place next to his suited counterpart.
When they activated the machine, chills went up and down Olivia's spine. And soon her chills started to rush through her, in time with the humming of the machine. She took a deep breath. If her counterpart could cross over, so could she. They were all depending on her.
Olivia, and those 12 agents behind her, now approached the shining space between them and the black panels that made up the lab's walls. "Ready when you are."
"Proceed," Secretary Bishop ordered.
"Let's do this." Olivia flipped the visor of her helmet down and charged into the field. She disappeared into the energy in front of her. The rest of her squad followed. Then they were gone.
Agent Aruna cracked her knuckles and approached the field with the Alpha team. They entered. They disappeared.
Next it was Astrid and her small team. Astrid struggled with the decision to make eye contact with Walter – sending her off like this was probably eating him up inside. But she did, tentatively.
Walter was holding back tears, but he managed to give her a thumbs up and a shaking, but encouraging, smile.
When Astrid passed through the portal, she too was crying.
"Has the device been prepared? Excellent. Proceed as planned." The scarred man grinned. "They'll never know we're coming."
It was Peter's turn. He was the last of the Beta team to approach the field. He was the last man of the entire operation to approach the field. Yet something was holding him back. He looked back at his father, lost. Here he was, stepping into the unknown, practically blind. He couldn't peer through the portal to that Other Side. He had to trust that the device would take him where he needed to go, if it didn't rip him to shreds and kill him first.
He was frightened. It was so out of his control. But then his thoughts raced guiltily to Olivia. Her entire situation was out of her control, how DARE he have such thoughts. But he couldn't help it. He was only human, after all.
Walter nodded to him. "Go on, Peter. She's waiting for you. They're all waiting for you."
He nodded back. "See you, Walter." He didn't hear his father's response. He had already stepped into the energy.
It was fitting that they had called it Project Viridian. Because the colors he saw going through the universe were just that. They were faint glimmers, almost what looked like the northern lights. It was almost… calming.
Then a huge flash and a jolt. He was in the maintenance tunnels. The weight of the guns on his back seemed heavier here.
This was it. He had arrived.
The scarred man wore a scarred grin. "Once we pass through the teleporter, initiate path Sigma 12. Proceed through tunnels G and H to sub-room 44B. From our intel, the camera stationed there has a 10 second blind period; exploit it. The two targets aren't far from there. Shoot all personnel." He fingered one of the teleporter's panels with his gloved hand. "Today… we make history, gentlemen. This will be the greatest raid ever recorded. In one swoop, we will have both the keys to universal transportation and the destruction of SCP-682. The Foundation will have no choice but to submit. And afterward, the domino effect; all other Groups of Interest will surrender, one after the other. We will succeed and it. Will. Be. Glorious."
The scarred man turned to his team of 50 men. "Now, which of you will take the first step?"
"This is the moment you've trained for. Some of you have completed the simulation training of the complex, but this is no simulation. This is real – possibly with variables we haven't accounted for yet. We don't have much time left, and we don't know how our enemy will react. So far, they don't know we're here; let's keep it that way. Stay in contact with each other. Remember your squad's directive. Go." Olivia's words rung in Astrid's ears.
This was real. Astrid had thought she had mentally prepared herself for this… but in all honesty, she hadn't. When Olivia had spoken about the simulation training, she felt pangs of guilt wash over her. She was probably the only person who hadn't gone through with it. She had assumed, and this was foolish of her, that because she was on the stealth squad, with their directive to shy away from combat and to interfere with the Foundation's technology, she shouldn't have to submit herself to additional stressors. But those stressors would have helped her out here.
She had expected the maintenance tunnels to be better lit, but they had an unnervingly dirty red glow to them. But the green glow of their night vision [provided by the helmet's visor, as well as infrared and x-ray vision] wasn't much better either. And with each footfall she made a deafeningly loud clank, which was made ever worse by her other four companions. Her heart beat in her throat. She was scared that they would get caught, right here in the tunnels, before they could ever begin.
Her mind ran blank. She had no idea where they were going. But luckily, and this was also foolish, she could rely on the more experienced members in front and behind of her.
Agent Gonzalez peeked back, "How are you holding up, Farnsworth?" She wished she could see her fellow squad member's face, as opposed to the cold glimmer of his visor.
"I'll… I'll manage."
Agent Lee, also heading up the front with his other half, halted in front of a doorway. "This is our stop. I'll go in first, scout ahead a bit, and then I'll come back to you."
The squad nodded.
Agent Lee disappeared through the door's contents, which were pitch black. Astrid's grip on her gun [a model she didn't know, because no such models existed in her universe, but it did resemble an AK with… added features] tightened and tightened. She had successfully completed FBI training; she was a junior agent; she had been in the field a number of times, but nothing… nothing like this. And she was ashamed to admit that she was scared. And she guiltily thought, 'I shouldn't be here. I should be back there with Walter… inputting data values and twiddling my thumbs. Lincoln should be here instead. He's smarter than he knows with computers and he's a much better shot. And he has a leveler head on his shoulders. I… I'm way in over mine here. I'm… I'm going to make a mistake, I just know it. I-'
But her thoughts were snapped by a tap to the left shoulder from Agent Gonzalez. "Farnsworth? We're heading in. Are you alright?"
"Yes," she lied.
But Gonzalez knew better. "There's nothing wrong with a little fear, but you need to control it." He rested his hand on her armored shoulder. "Don't clam up on me. Don't endanger us, or more importantly yourself. You're the brains of this operation. None of us can hack into the system like you can."
She heaved a heavy sigh, "O-okay."
"I mean it. You were chosen for a reason. Don't psyche yourself out. You're ready and you can do this."
But she shook her head, "I didn't do any simula-"
From the tone of his voice, Astrid guessed that Agent Gonzalez was smirking. "Neither did I."
It seemed to get darker and darker the further they advanced into this Foundation. They had moved out of the dark and metallic tunnels, only to be greeted with metal bridges and black smoke pouring from every direction. Their footfalls were loud, but the opening and closing of the automatic doors, activated by red buttons, were even louder. And Astrid's anxiety appeared again.
"How far away are we?" she asked Agent Lee, who was holding a mapping device programed with September's information.
"Not much farther now."
Astrid heaved a sigh of relief when a metal door finally opened to a room with white walls. But she knew that that relief would be short-lived. In the darkness, they were hidden. Now in the light, they were obviously out of place.
"Unfortunately we'll have to turn through three hallways before we can make it into a ventilation shaft." Agent Lee handed Astrid the map. "Unless you can find another more suitable route."
Astrid looked around them futilely; there didn't seem to be any better alternatives. "I say we stick to the already programmed route."
"I'm not sure we're going to make it through three hallways completely in the open like this," Agent Gonzalez admitted. "We'll be spotted. Is there any other way, even if it's longer, through the maintenance tunnels? Maybe we weld our way through?"
"That metal is much too thick. It would be a waste of our time and resources." Astrid kept flipping through the program. "I don't see much else, but September couldn't account for every possibility. But… unless I was already in the Foundation's database, I wouldn't be able to help us either. Unless-"
"We have Foundation personnel at 3:00," interrupted Agent Park.
Agent Gonzalez readied his gun, "I can take the shot from here. And he's by himself. We can easily clear the-"
Astrid pushed his gun down and shook her head, "You might not be in the line of the camera from here, but he is. It would be obvious."
"Then what do you suggest we do? Retreat?"
"No." She started walking toward the agent. "He's coming from where we need to go. I say we test out our disguises."
"Are you crazy?" Agent Gonzalez hissed, "Agent Farnsworth, what did I just say about endangering yourself, your team, and the mission?"
"Relax, or you'll draw attention." The rest of the task force members reluctantly followed suit.
In all honesty, her squad didn't look too different from the lone guard walking down the aisle. He gave one quick look at them and nodded. Astrid was quick to nod back. And then he was gone.
"I can't believe that worked," Astrid muttered.
Agent Lee shook his head, "Neither can I. That was too bizarre."
"Sir, what was the number of personnel that exited the complex?"
"50, excluding myself. Why do you ask, Agent Trager?"
"There are personnel in the complex that belong neither to the Foundation nor us. Five of them."
"Follow them and observe. If their interests aren't conflicting with ours, they might be able to help us. The more of us united against the Foundation… the better both our chances will be. But if they're after the same assets we are, terminate them."
"I understand, sir."
Crawling through the air shaft was a lot harder than Astrid expected it to be, given all of their bulky equipment. And, like all of her experiences thus far in the SCP Foundation complex, proved to be quite loud. Again, she hoped and prayed that they wouldn't be caught because of their clanging symphony. But unlike her other experiences, she found herself at the head of the squad, dictating their pace and where they were going.
"It should be… right here," she pointed down to the panel.
Agent Sanders nodded and kicked it in. He was the first to drop, followed by Agents Park and Lee. As the three of them proceeded to take out the personnel stationed to man the security center, Astrid couldn't help but jerk at each shot she heard from below.
Gonzalez noticed. He put his hand on her shoulder again, "You're doing fine. You're doing great. Steady yourself." She was very thankful for Agent Gonzalez's constant support. Astrid wasn't sure where her mental state would be without him. And the jerking finally came to a halt.
"All clear," Agent Sanders called up to them.
Astrid pressed a button on her visor, "Agent Dunham: we have successfully infiltrated the security center. I'll be patching in soon. Over."
"Excellent. Keep me posted on any developments you make. Over."
Astrid dropped down and sat at the chair near the console. She shivered, because blood was splattered all over the many keyboards and screens in front of her. She wiped as much as she could off with one of her sleeves, shivering again. She guiltily thought of Agent Gonzalez, and how weak she probably looked in his eyes, as well as the rest of the squad's. Her voice was shaking, along with the rest of her body. She thought back to his encouragement in the air shaft, and managed to steady her body and her breath.
"I'll be starting now," she announced to her squad. "Agents Park and Sanders you'll-"
Agent Park nodded, "We'll position ourselves outside the complex, Agent Farnsworth. Good luck."
"Thank you." Astrid was smiling back at him, but of course he couldn't see it. She decided to flip up her visor. She didn't need it in such a well-lit room.
As Park and Sanders exited through the automatic doors, and Lee and Gonzalez swept the dead bodies and surrounding structures for any additional information, Astrid plugged September's device into one of the ports provided by the Foundation. September had pulled her aside shortly after completing The Device. She was exhausted [they all were], but she was still conscious enough to retain information. This small thing, which doubled as a map, would provide her the stepping stones into the Foundation's database without triggering any fail safes. Astrid [or someone with more experience, she had thought at the time] could take it from there.
September's perk seemed to be working like a charm. The device was bypassing the clearance requests and identity confirmations seamlessly. Astrid remembered that the case number or numerical designation for Nick and Olivia had been "SCP-1428." Unfortunately, the majority of their files required "Level 4 clearance."
She turned behind her, "Do you see any access codes on any of the bodies?"
Agent Lee pulled up a few cards, "They're key cards, but I'm not sure these are the ones that you're looking for."
They were only Level 2. Astrid heaved a frustrated sigh. "But wait – what's this?" She scrolled down to find; "Scheduled for transit [DATA REDACTED]? Oh no. Are we too late?" She pressed her radio function on her visor again, "Agent Farnsworth again, Agent Dunham. Be on the lookout for Nick and Olivia outside of their designated holding cell. According to their database, they might be moving to another location. Over."
"Great…" Static. "Thank you, Agent Farnsworth." Heavy static. "Over."
"A-Agent Farnsworth?" Agent Gonzalez sounded surprisingly tentative, and possibly even scared.
"What is it?"
He pointed to one of the many monitors in front of them. "Do you recognize those agents?"
Astrid enlarged the footage on one of the larger screens close to her. "No. No I don't." She pulled up footage of known SCP operatives. While the two types of personnel looked similar, they weren't the same. There were small variations in their helmets, boots, even their gloves. But what really gave it away was the choice of weapons. There were various insignias on one group's weapons, ranging from a jagged circle that came to a multitude of points, to a stamped CI. "Oh no."
Agents Lee and Gonzalez crowded around her as Astrid kept pulling up more and more contrasting footage. She pointed to a force stationed outside a cell labeled SCP-173, "These are the men September gave us information on. But these men," she pointed to another cell, moving swiftly on a bridge Astrid swore the five of them had crossed, "are an entirely different group altogether."
"How do you know that they're not from the Foundation?" Gonzalez pointed to two groups of Foundation guards. "There are already variations between the guards stationed at SCP-173, and the guards making their rounds outside the complex. They obviously have different functions. What if this "CI" squad is coming after us? What if they're the 'seek and destroy' security team?"
But when Astrid flipped to another feed, she shook her head. "I don't think so."
The footage showed SCP task forces engaging in heavy fire with CI operatives. And not long after Astrid had accessed the footage, sirens screamed around them; a few of the monitors turned red; and a few others flashed that same insignia Astrid had spotted on the agents' guns.
"What does this mean?" Agent Lee gripped his gun tight as he watched the two groups battle for supremacy.
"This means that there are three groups, all likely vying for Nick and Olivia." Astrid started searching for where they might be, moving fast [but not fast enough] through the probable thousands of rooms in the Foundation's complex. "This means it's an all-out war."