The searchlights of a helicopter slicing through the blizzard began to illuminate the peak of a remote Antarctic mountain.
There was a reason the helicopter had appeared in this desolate area where snowstorms raged every day of the year.
When the helicopter landed on a white patch on the side of the mountain—exactly the size needed for a chopper to touch down—the lighting system hidden in the snowy mountain suddenly lit the aircraft up.
As the helicopter was illuminated, the hidden cameras on the mountain recorded the huge logo on its hull.
A logo, triple-arrow seal, and, beneath it in large capitals, the letters "S.C.P."
After the helicopter touched down, two soldiers wearing snow-camouflage coats stepped out first. Then a man in his forties or fifties wearing a thick coat and smiling moved out, followed by a suited man in his fifties or sixties who seemed unfazed by the cold air.
The man in the suit had the kind of seriousness on his face that comes from years of guarding others.
After they climbed down, the violent wind blew some strands of the suited man's gray hair down over his hunter-like eyes, but the man didn't seem bothered at all.
The smiling man took the suited man by the shoulder and turned to the soldiers.
"Come on, give us your presentation. Let's see if we can impress Mr. Albertoz. After all, this is your first and last chance to present to him."
The suited man frowned when he heard that introduction.
"Since I'm now the oversight officer of the SCP Foundation, please stop using my name, Mr. 04."
Mr. 04's green eyes flashed an approving look as he apologized.
"Hahaha, you're right. From now on it would be more correct to call you Mr. 05. Please forgive my rudeness."
Hearing the exchange, the soldiers realized it was their turn and began the presentation they had prepared.
"Sir, our current position lies outside the nuclear strike range of every country on Earth. After China and North Korea joined the SCP Foundation project last month, this site was chosen in line with the agreement; it is also set up in a highly secure location—Facility 0-1."
The suited man did not look surprised by that.
At that moment Mr. 05 noticed Mr. Albertoz's earlobes had gone a little red.
"Come inside, I'm starting to freeze."
After receiving orders, the soldiers spaced themselves five meters apart and stepped onto hidden plates at the same time.
Immediately after, the mountain split open to reveal a concealed passage.
This time the man named Albertoz actually looked surprised.
He had expected the hidden passage to open without technology or by remote control, and he had prepared criticism for both possibilities—but when he saw the secret passage activate in a semi-autonomous way, he fell silent.
Because this kind of technology runs without signals, it couldn't be accidentally discovered by some foolish hacker kid watching satellites. And since it wasn't fully manual, it wasn't exhausting to operate either.
After entering the secret tunnel, the soldiers encountered a number of additional security measures: eye scans, key access, fingerprint readers...
After every security checkpoint they took a few more steps and then met another layer of security.
Both men looked at these safeguards with resigned expressions, but they couldn't criticize them. Criticizing too little security is one thing, but criticizing too much security is nothing more than making an enemy of the council member responsible for security.
Once all the security checkpoints were finally behind them, both men were struck by the sight of a massive ant-nest-like structure carved into the mountain's interior.
Because the central area of the multi-layered facility was hollow, everything happening inside the Institute could be seen at a glance.
Doors embedded in the walls opened, people wearing different outfits stepped out, and they chatted among themselves.
Seeing this, Mr. Albertoz turned to the man beside him, his eyebrows full of question marks.
"The actual Institute is buried underground. This place is the living area for the families of Foundation personnel."
"This entire enormous space is just for the workers' families?"
"Hmm, yes. It's a bit strange, but indispensable. After all, the entire Institute here needs plenty of manpower to function, and we can't just send these people back into the outside world with all this information. So we built our own ecosystem here."
"It feels like all of this is a little exaggerated. We're not an organization devoted to wiping out enemy nations, after all."
"I agree with you on that, but it looks like our council member in charge of security isn't open to any discussion. He insists we must be prepared for everything until we find the source of the changes happening in the world."
While the two men continued talking in a somewhat gossipy mood, a soldier approached them and informed them that the first council meeting would begin in five minutes.
After that, the two men entered a passage next to them and went through an identity check. Once the verification was complete, they took an elevator and began descending toward the underground heart of the facility.
Five minutes later, they entered a dimly lit room arranged with a round table meant for twelve people.
At the moment, only three seats were occupied.
The person in the first seat was an elderly but extremely solid-built man with long white beard, wearing military attire. The look in his eyes seemed as if the very word "authority" had taken physical form.
He was the founder of the SCP Foundation and Council Member Number 01. His duty was to protect the security of the SCP Foundation and its members.
Even though he was Member 01, he did not hold a superior position over the other council members.
The individual in the second seat looked as if he had walked straight out of a hacker movie— a young man wearing a hooded outfit, deliberately hiding his face.
His main duty was overseeing the internet. In other words, he was the leader of an army that prevented anomalous events from leaking online.
The third seat was taken by a woman wearing a lab coat and a mask—white and devoid of any facial features or organs.
She was responsible for research.
After looking at all of them with mild surprise, Mr. Albertoz sat in the place he assumed belonged to him.
Thus, the very first council meeting of the SCP Foundation—established through the participation of all nations—began.