Level 276 - "The Hive"

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⚠️ Content Warnings ⤴

Info

Original concept and article written by Reddit user u/Nerdykiddo4844. Rewritten by Praetor3005 and Nikuchan .

Big thanks to Abdallah Amr for the fading block css!

Thanks to Spectre48 and Sky3 for the generel thoughts as well!

Both music tracks have been made by the awesome music composer Dapper Husky. Make sure to check his youtube channel! He made a lot of great OSTs for the Backrooms.

Glossary:

Huvvat - Post-corruption Lost name for the Hive
Mundus - Lost name for the Blue Channel, and everything within it
Nihil - Lost name for the Grave
Paradeos - Pre-corruption Lost name for the Hive

SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:

Class deadzone

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Entity Presence

Generalities and Structure

Level 274, usually called The Hive by Backrooms citizens and factions, is an anomalous physical level known to birth entity species, only recently being explored by the M.E.G. You're quite cocky to send your draft to me out of all people. I'm sending this to Somalia, don't talk to me unless it's to apologize. - Kat

With no photo available, paintings from a distant era are the only way to visualize the level without risking one's life there.

The landscape of the Hive is a biological hell, an environment composed of bones, muscles, flesh and tissues, all amalgamated without any logic or point. I see your style has evolved since your first draft, but isn't that too fancy? - Somalia The areas are varied, ranging from mountains to hills, sometimes even cut apart by rivers of blood or bile. The only feature linking all of them to each other is their decayed state, although all organs nonetheless seem to work flawlessly despite being completely rotten.

The environmental hazards are as numerous as the biomes the Hive can offer. One needn't to worry about infections due to the surrounding rot, for the leaking corrosive acid, sharp bones protruding from walls and pulsating environment will get the better of the untrained wanderer far quicker than any bacterium. I've seen the Hollow Nest Infirmary report. You two are lucky you got out alive let alone in good shape. - Somalia

Cosmology and Properties

The Hive's nature is unique among levels, physically existing in The Backrooms, yet also connected to the astral plane.

As such, the Hive works as a threshold between the two, capable of manifesting not only the thoughts of the living, in typical Liminal fashion, but also the bodies of the dead. The ideas, emotions, thoughts, and sometimes even souls can linger away from the immaterial, getting caught in the Hive's very flesh to be given physical form through eggs.

However, the decayed state of the Hive got the better of these immaterial concepts. Only able to shape with its own rot, every creature born from the Hive is but a monstrous shadow of what they were supposed to represent. Companion turned Predator, squirmish turned gigantic, life turned undeath. Whether they came out of hope or despair, the thoughts given form are twisted I know you didn't mean to but I don't think she'd like to be referred to as twisted. - Somalia by the Hive, not only strengthening the danger of the level in itself but also the entire Backrooms due to the many no-clipping points present within it.

Despite this apparent wickedness, the Hive holds the faint yet real possibility to find one's way back to their deceased loved ones. Indeed, the threshold between the Backrooms and the Grave still holds, meaning the process of revival spoken about by the Lost still holds true. While the journey is dangerous, the possibility to discuss with or even revive dead wanderers is a real possibility, currently being researched by the M.E.G. You would think PTSD would stop you from having these kinds of ideas. I'm removing this part, you know Olivia would hate it. - Somalia

History and Cultural Impact

The Hive hasn't always been the biological hell it is today. Centuries ago, during the Lost Era, the Hive was known as Paradeos, a lush, idyllic threshold between the body and mind, bearing the same properties without an ounce of corruption.

Yet, some time after the end of the Lost era, when their Capital fell, a malevolent, restless human soul found its way to the level from the Grave. There, its hatred kept it active, fusing with the hive mind of Paradeos, slowly corrupting it Wasn't Leo supposed to not know that in detail? How much more is he keeping secret from us? - Somalia.

Over the centuries, the name of Zephyr, the Hive Queen of a malevolent living hell releasing its spawn to torment the living, became engraved in backborn culture. Huvvat, its new name, was a lurking nightmare for every culture at the time.

The continuous flow of entities fueled many stories from the unfortunate explorers who fell into it, whether using the Level 8 entrance Your demand to unseal it is rejected, by the way. Being an overseer doesn't give you the power to play with forces beyond our capabilities. - Somalia or by an unfortunate no-clipping. Hegemonous factions all, in their time, sealed and guarded the only known smooth threshold in Level 8, with the M.E.G. keeping and guarding the barricade created by The Lost and guarding it at all times.

Survival Advice

Still trying to help people the best you can, I see, but I'm not sure if one exploration is enough to confirm these pieces of advice. - Somalia
Despite its nature as an entity nest, both old testimonies and recent explorations There won't be more than yours. - Somalia confirmed that the Hive isn't as swarmed as the tales and gossip might say. As such, the most important tip for you is to watch the environment at all times. Cracks and holes in the ground are common, while the ceiling can feature bone shards regularly falling down. Any fluid present there is also a lethal danger, strengthening the need for you to watch every step.

While rarer than expected, entities are still a threat for you to keep in mind. In such encounter, the only realistic way to put distance between you and them is to no-clip through one of the walls of the level, the clippable surfaces usually bearing unnatural shades or shadows onto them.

In the event of meeting the Hive Queen in itself, the entire Hive will be turned against you. Unless you manage to get one of its children against her, Not everyone wanders around with a godly corpse on their shoulders, Justin. - Somalia no-clipping is the only viable solution, as long as you're fast enough. Why aren't you talking about that Hive Queen here, by the way? - Somalia

Entrances and Exits

The only reliable way to enter the Hive is through a tight, long cave corridor on Level 8 near M.E.G. Outpost Hollow Nest, although it is currently closed and guarded by operatives from the base.

No-clippable surfaces, while unreliable, can also serve as both entrances and exits to and from the Hive. Entrances are usually present in levels with high entity counts, while exits can be found more rarely in the Hive, often near entity swarms using it to leave the level.

Okay, this isn't about your draft, but… are you okay, Justin? I understand this journey must have been very traumatic, and I also understand you and Olivia have some things to settle privately. But I can't help but notice you've been feeling very… distant since you came back. We haven't seen you at the last meeting, and to my knowledge you've never missed any since the Oversight Council was created.

I can't force you to discuss your feelings but… remember that I'm here if you need anything, okay? We may be mad at you for risking your life like this, but we still care. - Somalia