[ WP ] Describe the Labyrinth , a place so deep underground the air is toxic .

The sergeant stopped, turning around in the tunnel's narrow confines despite his heavily insulated, closed-circuit ToxinSuit, or TS. I saw his lips moving behind the thick, shatter-resistant visor, and his voice crackled through my intercom. `` Remember to check your gauges every once in a while, private. The temperature increases at about three degrees centigrade every hundred meters vertical.'' 
 
 I checked the monitors on my suit's wrist. Sure enough, the air temperature already indicated 58 degrees. Our dehumidifiers were whirring loudly to prevent our visors from fogging over. `` How much farther?'' I inquired. 
 
 He laughed humorlessly, resuming the descent. `` Who knows, private? The farthest any of our technicians have been measured a whopping 140 degrees. You do the math.'' 
 
 *140 degrees. * I did a quick calculation. That was 284 degrees fahrenheit. If any of our equipment failed, we'd roast. Our weapons had been specially modified so the rounds would n't spontaneously combust. Our respirators were designed to last for three to five hours, depending upon heart rate and breathing levels. The sergeant's headlamp illuminated roughly hewn walls. They were streaked with soot and scorch marks. More disconcerting were the occasional bullet holes and long gouges carved through the rock. 
 
 My quick briefing up on the surface did n't do much to settle my nerves. Captain Andrews had looked at me gravely. `` You're in for a ride, marine,'' he'd said. `` We do n't know much. We know the Koreans sent a party of about 15 miners and 8 armed guards. We also know they did n't come out. Your job is to infiltrate the facility and find out what they were looking for.'' 
 
 What *were* the Northerners looking for? I would n't put it past Kim Jong-un to send 23 men to their deaths based on nothing but a hunch. President Park's advisors felt that they had discovered something... sinister. She'd asked for some aid, and of course I ended up being selected for the first descent. Just me. No team at my back. `` Whatever they found down there,'' Andrews had said, `` they did n't come back. Sergeant Bader will take you to the Labyrinth's entrance. Then it's on you. One man is more likely to go unnoticed.'' 
 
 I tightened my grip on the MP7. It fired armor piercing DM11 rounds at over 700 meters per second. Anything in front of it would be shredded in less than a second. But that was assuming I saw the danger before it saw me. My gauge read 83 degrees. Still a long way to go. 
 
 `` You know that Andrews chose you for a reason, right?'' Bader said, stepping over a large stone embedded in the ground. 
 
 I lifted my thick, armor-plated boot over the obstacle. `` Expendability?'' 
 
 `` You wish,'' he laughed. `` Then you'd die and have no more responsibilities. No, you do n't get off that easy.'' 
 
 `` What do you mean?'' 
 
 `` Andrews knows that most of our men are a little rattled. You're new to the post and have demonstrated an impressive resilience already.'' 
 
 *What is that supposed to mean? * `` So, basically, that means I can handle lethal air compositions, boiling temperatures, and whatever the hell the North Koreans woke up down here?'' 
 
 `` It means Andrews has faith that you can do all that *without* dying. Speaking of air compositions, we're at about 40 % carbon monoxide right now. You'd better keep an eye on your O2 meter.'' 
 
 Just as he spoke, the ceiling and walls fell away. We'd emerged into a long, twisting cavern, littered with dark chasms and twisted stalactites. Our headlamps threw out bright beams of light, but the darkness absorbed them like a sponge. 
 
 I saw Bader point with a gloved finger. `` See those footsteps? We think the miners went that way. Either they're dead or they found something a little too interesting for our liking.'' 
 
 He looked at me, clapping me on the shoulder. `` We'll stay in constant radio contact. You see anything you do n't like, you can always come back up. Just remember you always have your cloaking and night vision. We do n't want to start World War 3 because they spot you.'' 
 
 *If they're even alive. * I nodded, feeling my pulse start to quicken. *Calm down. Breathe. Relaxing means more air. More air means more time. * 
 
 I raised my MP7 and set foot into the Labyrinth, following the footsteps of the vanished North Korean party.
