We all share stories about the strange things that we experience
in the workplace, but some things we choose not to share. Things we just can't talk
about. But I've decided it's time to reveal the truth. A story of horror and survival.
I was working security at a Freeport storage facility and if you don't know what a Freeport is,
it's a place where a lot of valuable collections such as artwork and antiques are stored
usually for the purpose of not having to declare them
thus avoiding any kind of tax which makes it extremely appealing to elite collectors.
For obvious reasons, the security measures at the facility were state of the art.
However, the facility was recently found to be complicit
regarding the theft of some valuable items so security had to be outsourced a few months back
and a lot of the employees were laid off and replaced with fewer, less experienced personnel.
To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was my job to keep the inventory
safe, or babysit the rookies and make sure they didn't screw anything up.
Either way, I had a job to do which was mostly overseeing the arrival of new inventory.
There was one recent arrival though that had me and the rest of the staff rather baffled.
We were approached by a foundation of sorts that urgently required high-priority storage
for just a few days while they arranged safe air travel for it and since the Freeport was
located conveniently next to an international airport, it seemed like the obvious choice.
It was mandatory to have security cameras in each of the storage units, however, the foundation
required all cameras for that particular unit to be disabled citing confidentiality.
This was highly uncommon but they claimed to be from the government
so, at our discretion, an exception was made.
Despite transparency being on the agenda in light of recent events,
we had no idea what was inside the container but we still imposed the required security protocols
before transferring it to one of the larger storage units which was located directly
opposite the control room and was deemed to be one of the most secure units on site.
Unfortunately, the full extent of security protocols could not all be performed at the same
time due to the reduction of staff so a digital security brief was compiled throughout the day
for all new arrivals and incidents that would then be cross-examined later by whoever was
working the night shift which fortunately was not me and my shift was almost over.
Usually, I would wait until the other security guard arrived at the control room
before clocking out but the other guy was running late
so I reluctantly left my post and headed to the locker room to find out what was up.
Upon arrival, I noticed that the door to the locker room had been left open and there was
no light. My co-worker was not the kind of person to fool around and he had never been late before.
To make matter worse, this time of night always gave me the creeps since the rest of the personnel
already left and there was something eerie about being alone in a large storage facility.
I cautiously progressed to the entrance of the locker room and tried to make sense of
the dark and murky interior. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my co-worker arrived behind me.
He apologized for being late,
citing that he got distracted by the new coffee machine in the lobby upstairs.
I told him to hurry up and pay special attention to the security brief but he laughed it off and
headed to the control room before letting me know that the light to the locker room was busted.
As I sat down in the locker room alone in the dark, I began to think more about the
contents of the large storage unit and why the cameras needed to be disabled.
Obviously, it was something that those spooks from the foundation didn't want us to see.
Hopefully, the results of the security brief might shed some light on what they were up to.
After hearing a noise like I've never heard before, I felt conflicted with fear
and the instinctive desire to be fully aware of what was going on.
Security breach detected. Initiating lockdown.
With the initiation of the lockdown protocols, I knew it was serious
and there was no escape until backup arrived who were at least 45 minutes out.
I peaked down the long corridor from where the noise originated
but there was no sign of any disturbance.
I wanted to stay put but wondered if my colleague was in trouble and needed my.
In any other situation, I would have probably pulled a gun at this point but
since security was so tight upstairs, weapons were deemed unnecessary on the lower floors.
As I reached the end of the corridor,
I was shocked to realize that the large storage unit had been breached,
from the inside. I couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of strength required to punch
through solid steel and it made me wonder what other dirty secrets the foundation was hiding.
it looked like he was in the middle of analyzing the digital security brief when
it happened and when I looked at the monitors, I saw something that shook me to the core which
was quickly proceeded by another strange sound coming from the large storage unit behind me.
I quickly engaged the security door in the small hope it would buy me enough time to
manually override the lockdown but after confining myself inside the control room,
I noticed a strange interference with the cameras.
Hey folks. So what is your theory on what they saw on the monitors
despite having the cameras disabled? Would you like to know how the story
ends? Let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for more.