My story plays on some conspiracy theories surrounding Archuleta Mesa, the inspiration for the Black Mesa of the video game Half-Life. Some conspiracy theorists believe there is an underground facility where experiments are done on alien DNA and such. In my story, the truth is less far-fetched, but only just. In fact, there is an underground facility, but one with cloned scientists. In the world of the story, human clones are commonplace, since the science to successfully create them is "perfected." They can be customized, which means a healthier human race that can eventually weed out human weaknesses. Society has largely gotten over its debates on the subject, like some cultures have gotten over the debate about whether women should vote or wear pants instead of dresses. Clones exist, have families, and fill every role natural humans fill, but clones live longer and generally perform better than their natural counterparts. My problem is currently one of scale for my facility. I've got a hundred cloned scientists, tailored to be brilliant workaholics, raised to be without morals. They don't want to go around killing people at random, but if that were to happen, it wouldn't register on any emotional level for them. They work fine together, but the misfortune of one does nothing to create empathy nor sympathy in another. They live in the underground facility, and are well aware of it. They would need sleeping quarters, bathrooms, laundry facilities, a cafeteria with a full-time kitchen, possibly recreational areas, offices, and laboratories. There would need to be a custodial staff, maid service, cooks, and security. I started with a hundred people, and suddenly I need a small army to meet their needs. Also, unless someone routinely resupplies the facility, I'd need a place for food production. I need this facility to be completely self-sufficient. I could use robots for cleaning and maintenence, and possibly even for preparing and cooking food, but that still leaves security. For a hundred scientists, how big does the security force need to be? And how big does the facility itself need to be? That's what I can't figure out, but it's essential to know, because it determines the strategy and tactics of my infiltration team, and the size of the crater they leave behind.
Try looking into Vivos underground survival shelters, for research purposes. Vivos builds large-scale self-sufficient underground shelters designed to comfortably house hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people for years at a time. Doing some research into these shelters may be able to give you a good idea on what your underground facility will need, how it will function, its size, and maybe even give you a rough idea on staff numbers. Wikipedia article Official Vivos website
