Five months after the SCP Foundation took over the Async building.

Pulling up into the parking lot of the once-Async building. James would bring his car to a stop, looking out the window towards it. "Alright then... I did not think they were for real with getting this place up and running." After seeing what had happened to the staff that once worked within. On top of the hostile encounters with the monster that made it their home before they removed them, checking his 1911 on his side, making sure a round was chambered, and closing the car door behind him, he walked towards the entrance. They have not done any full-scale remolding or repairing, just enough to make things easier to work with. "Good morning." In front of the door were two guards who nodded their heads towards him. "Good morning, sir; they have been waiting on you." A new door and security system have been installed, and by swiping his card, the doors will open.

Walking into the building, much of the lighting and other systems have been replaced or repaired. A few people walked about the lobby, and down the hallway, stepping towards the front desk, he flashed his ID card. "Where am I needed? I got a report that said I was needed here." A woman was seated behind the desk, typing on a keyboard, looking at the card. "Ah yes." Typing a few more commands on the keyboard. "They had made a request for you within the main office. I think, if I recall, there are plans to get the "gateway" back online." Putting his ID card back on his shirt, he would step away from the desk and make his way down the hallway. He recalled where the main office was located from his last visit; he was feeling uneasy trying to reach the other side. "Hmm. We are different than what this company is doing, yet at the same time, it could blow up in our face." He spoke with what was on his mind, mumbling the words so they would not be heard.

After a few more steps, he stood before the double wooden door and knocked on it. "Come on in." A male voice could be heard from the other side as he opened one of the doors and stepped into the room. Sitting behind the desk in the room, a middle-aged man was looking over a set of papers. The computer, just like the one in the lobby, has been replaced. "It's good you are here. I have been looking over a few things. We have probably made many requests at this time after we got the machines within the main chamber repaired." Taking a seat in one of the empty chairs at the front, he had a feeling of where this was going. "I have a feeling you are going to ask of me. I have done this before. But could we not use D-class? That is what they are for, are they not?" The request he had made and, so far, has not come through is the need for D-class, yet not a single one could be sent here.

James has had experience exploring places that are unusual or deadly to the human body and mind. "So, what are the full details? Have you sent anything through, or is it still shut down?" The first thing was finding out everything that they knew so far. "At the moment, we have what we all found here. For starters, you will be wearing a level A hazmat suit from what we gathered. On the other side, it is not safe for unprotected exploration. You will also be fitted with a harness and guide rope. Along with this, you will have a transponder and radio, and as for weapons, two flashes, two hand grenades, and a FN P90." It was a setup he was used to, but he never liked having to wear a hazmat suit for long periods of time." What will I be looking for if, going by the report from Tyler, the place is like a maze? No two rooms or locations are alike in any way, as we understand them. I do recall that his team found a door that seemed to lead somewhere else that was much different than the place they came from." Another thing he needed to look for was where any old equipment was left.

Moving over to the computer, he would type in a few commands, bring up an image, and turn the screen towards him. "I say this is not 100% reliable, but we did find this within the archives. It seems it was a mapping attempt of the place, from our best guess. The door is somewhere within the direction that would be north-east if there is anything left behind or if it is still there to begin with. That will be your best chance to find it. If anything were to happen, we will pull you back; if need be, do you need a brief on the location?" James would shake his head as he read over the report about what was on the other side and what it was like, like buzzing lights, wet carpets, and, at times, hallucinations. Something that makes it hard to concentrate if there is something deadly roaming about, but it seems largely lifeless. "Know, if this goes well and you can find this door, you are to unstrap the extra tether with you. I forgot to mention you will also be bringing with you some tools, one to drill into the floor and an extra tether to place on it; this will be our guide back to that location." Yet it could not work based on the reports. Async teams did the same with no problems, but from what records they found, that was not always the case.

"Do you have any further questions?"

"No, I know what I must do. Is one of the preparation rooms ready?"

One good thing about this place was that the set-up was largely unaffected when the monster attacked in mass. That was still a concern because it is unknown what caused them to swarm and attack the theory they are working on. Is it like an immune system responding to an infection? It could also be due to the fact that they kept the gate wide open for long periods of time. "I do have one question before we go through with this: if, say, I am attacked or something is blocking my way back. Will a team be sent in to help, or will I be on my own? I would rather not risk more people if it comes to it, but I would like to know beforehand." The man looked at James, turning the computer screen back around. "Zeta-9 is your backup; they will be on standby in the event something happens to you, depending on how far you are. There is a high chance they will not reach you in time. I am being honest here on this matter." It was part of the deal with this kind of operation, and it could very well end in his death or worse.

Standing up from the chair, he turned and made his way towards the door. "James, good luck. We will be waiting for your return." Not saying a word, he made his way through the door and kept on walking down the hallway, making his way to the doors that were open by keycard. A lot of things were on his mind at this moment; he paid no attention to the people who walked by him up and down the hallway. Reaching the preparation room, there was a line of lockers hanging on the wall near the end of the room. His hazmat suit and equipment. Looking it over, he would take hold of it and start slipping it on, checking everything as he went. Once he was equipped, he made his way towards the door leading towards the gate, stepping forward and rubbing a few areas that were uncomfortable under the suit. "Here is our man." Standing near the tether that was attached to the floor in a large bundle, one of the Moles Rats greeted him. "Good to see you again." Walking towards the tether, the mole rat would attach it to his harness.

"Everything looks good here; the air tanks are good as well." Pulling on the tether attached to the harness, making sure it was securely attached, and doing a double check on the suit. "Alright, my team did some looking around at the entrance to this place, and to be frank, it was freaky. I can't give you a good idea of where to go; senses of direction are quite hard to make out within, and I say it gets worse the deeper you go on." James looked at him, nodding his head. "Got you. If anything comes up, I will send out an SOS if I can't make it back. All I ask is to wish me luck." The mole rat would wave his hand to the people in the booth above as a few of them looked through the window that allowed observation of the chamber. A sound like an engine starting up could be heard as, before his eyes, the doorway would slowly slide open, going upwards, and before his eyes, rows and rows of randomly segmented walls were before him. "Into wounder land..." Walking forward, James would pass through the gate, and beyond the gate was a huge room with walls of yellow wallpaper. Another thing that would be noticed was the buzzing coming from the lights; it seemed that it was muffled within the chamber.

Picking a direction that would be an analog of north-east, he started to walk within that direction, moving past the walls that were placed in random locations with countless blind spots. "Command, do you read me? I am in, and I am going to say that they were not wrong; this place is like a maze." He carefully made his way deeper into the place, making sure his tether was not hung or damaged as he moved forward. "I read you loud and clear. It seems radios work without problems so far. Have you seen anything that was left behind by the last group that made their way into that area?" James stopped for a moment, getting his bearing the best he could, seeing if there was anything that stood out for him to follow. "Nothing so far; everything is just the same without anything that stands out." Giving the tether one last tug, he started to move again as he got deeper into the buzzing of the lights, which seemed to get louder.

"Command, are you hearing this?" The buzzing kept on getting louder and louder before dying down, but to a more normal level as it was before rubbing the side of the suit where his left ear is located. "We heard nothing. What was it you heard?" Looking around, he got his weapon ready as he did so in the event that this could be part of an attack or ambush. "The buzzing increased in volume and got very loud, and it hurt my ears. It's how I say back to normal, but I think it could be some kind of effect, unknown what kind." There was a huge list of things that could affect a person that the SCP Foundation dealt with, from cognitive hazards to memetic effects. "Understand that if it happens again or anything else happens, then get back to the door." With that, James would keep on moving forward, checking behind every corner as he went. Not too long afterwards, he found the first clue that he was heading in the right direction.

"Command I found something of interest... It seems to be some kind of yellow and black line tap on the floor. It seems like it has not aged a day; it could be that time does not flow as it would outside local reality." Reaching down, he rubbed his hand over it, and then, looking in the direction, it went curving along the carpet and around the walls. "Got a way, I think, to that door, but it could be for somewhere else." Having a direction to follow, James would walk along the tap on the floor, keeping his weapon trained forward as he took each step slowly and carefully.

And very soon, he would find much more than a door.