Per 
It happened in the middle of August.
The onslaught of the summer heat, coupled with the continual lack of rain, brought about remorseless suffering to the unfortunate people who were forced to stay outside without sufficient ways to cool themselves.
"Haaahhh…"
In the surveillance room located at Site-08, Timothy Langford sat back in his plastic chair and desperately tried to fan himself with his hand as he watched the security footage from within the site. His feet were immersed in a water bucket full of lukewarm water.
Perhaps by sheer misfortune or just plain coincidence, at that period of time, the air conditioning in Site-08 was malfunctioning, forcing the researchers, janitors, and the rest of the staff to desperately find other ways to cool themselves, some of which were more than a little extreme.
"Damn it. This job was boring enough already, and now I have to face this fucking heat?" Langford grumbled to himself as he popped open a bottle of mineral water.
As he gulped down the mercifully cool water, one of the screens in front of him beeped, catching his attention.
As soon as he saw what was displayed on the screen, he froze.
The beeping screen was from a device connected to all the other sites and was used for primary communication between the Sites. Normally, the device would be used by Site Directors or researchers to spread important information such as a site breach or an incident occurring over at their respective sites. The other sites would then be able to respond accordingly to the threat.
However, the message was different from usual.
Instead of being sent from normal site directors or lower middlemen, the message had been sent by the Administrator. The message they sent was relatively simple, as it only contained three words, written in large block letters.
"RED ZERO PROTOCOL."
After Langford had gotten over the fact that the Administrator, of all people, had sent the message, he began to scrutinise it.
"The Red Zero Protocol? I haven't heard that before."
Although he had been in surveillance for numerous years, he had not come across any protocol titled as 'Red Zero'. There was 'Red One', which was used for massive breaches in multiple sites occurring at the same time, or 'Red Two', which was only used for large security breaches such as the MTF Alpha-1 rebellion, but they were only ever activated only once or twice in the Foundation's history.
"Maybe the guidebook would have any clue as to what it is," Langford muttered. He stood up and rifled through the papers stacked on the shelf behind him with a sweaty hand, pulling out a small blue book from the mass of white and yellow reminders and notes.
"Let's see, do's and don'ts, reminders, surveillance procedures…protocols!" he exclaimed as he flipped the book to an intrinsically-detailed page and traced through the list with his finger.
"Red Zero, Red Zero…"
His finger stopped on the protocol written on the page that matched what he was looking for. With hesitation, he removed the finger from the description and read it.
"…you're fucking kidding me, right?"
The description, the ugly truth, continued to stare at him as his hands began to shake and a cold sweat began to run down his back.
"And here I thought this day couldn't get any worse."
He put the small blue book aside and rushed to the microphone that controlled the Public Announcement System in the site. Clearing his throat, he spoke into the microphone with a slight shake in his voice.
"Site-08 researchers, janitors and other residents…the Administrator has activated the Red Zero Protocol. This means that…all testing on all anomalies in the site is to cease immediately, and all researchers are to move to the Site Bunkers, where they are to remain for an indefinite period of time until the protocol is lifted. Site-08, along with the other sites, will be placed under lockdown. No one will be allowed to leave the site until the situation has been resolved. Thank you for your kind attention."
He ended the announcement and took another glance at the page of the book lying on the table.
"…"
There was no mistake. The words printed in the book were the truth.
Red Zero Protocol
Description: This protocol will only be activated by the Administrator in the event that several, if not all 13, of the current 05 Council members are deemed unfit to oversee Foundation operations owing to the circumstance that they have been corrupted or possessed by hostile elements, and as a result are classified as anomalies and threats to the Foundation as a whole.
Threat Level: Extremely Lethal, owing to the fact that the possession of 05 Council members is is nearly impossible due to their abilities.
"Please evacuate-"
"-until the protocol has been lifted-"
"-stay in your bunkers."
The ominous warning was played in various sites all over the world, in every corner of the globe, in the most remote areas.
One by one, the important researchers of every site moved to their respective site bunkers.
Clef, Bright, Kondraki, Kiryu.
One by one, all the sites went quiet.
Only one group did not move to the bunker. Instead, they were in Site-01, overlooking the executive sector where loud ominous noises emanated from.
"Is everyone ready?"
They were operatives of the most powerful Mobile Task Group in the Foundation, tasked with protecting the Administrator and the 05 Council.
"Remember our objective. Save as many as we can. If all attempts at salvation have been lost, we have to eliminate the threats at all costs. Everyone clear on that?"
"Roger!"
They were the Red Right Hand.
"Then let's get to work."
