Radioactive canisters were routinely smuggled into the Soviets's secret base beneath Starcourt Mall. Hidden inside innocuous-looking cardboard boxes, and transported via an elevator disguised as a shipping room, the canisters were used to refuel the Key, a machine that could open a gate to the Upside Down.[2]
Description[]
Upon being delivered to the machine room, the fresh canisters were installed by personnel in hazmat suits. The refuelling sequence could then begin. Used canisters were later sanitized and re-used.[3]
Storage[]
A storage room - likely connected to the base's experimental laboratory - was used to safely house the canisters.[1][4]
History[]
1985[]
Russian agents, disguised as workers for 'Lynx Transportation', secretly delivered the radioactive canisters to the secret Soviet base underneath Starcourt Mall. They did this under the pretence of making deliveries to Starcourt's Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes. The canisters, hidden within Starcourt-themed cardboard boxes, were off-loaded at the elevator to the base, an area disguised to appear like a regular shipping room.
The floor after the liquid leaked onto it.
When the Scoops Troop - Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica - discovered the Russian presence, they found one of the canisters after breaking into the secret room. Before they could leave, they got trapped in the elevator and were sent hurtling down to the hidden base. After reaching the bottom, the four were stuck inside the elevator for a number of hours, leaving them hungry and fatigued. A dehydrated Erica mulled over drinking the strange substance inside the canister, but Robin advised against it.
The group later hid atop the elevator roof while Russian workers seized the boxes, leaving the door momentarily open, and giving them an opportunity to escape. As the elevator door began to close, Steve placed the stolen canister beneath, forcing the mechanism open a few seconds longer. Once the four were freed, the door finally crushed the canister; the liquid spilled across the floor and started to burn through it, revealing its corrosive nature.
Later, the Troop watched from a distance as the Soviets used the canisters to refuel the Key.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The inventory from Windows 1.11 lists four units of "RM" being transported to the base's experimental laboratory. This likely refers to the radioactive canisters; 'RM' is an acronym used by some nuclear authorities, which can denote either "Refuelling Machine" or "Radioactive Material".[1]