Info
Like the philosopher, I think that nothing is communicable by the art of writing. Bothersome and trivial details have no place in my spirit, which is prepared for all that is vast and grand.
Sources/Inspirations:
- Through The Labyrinth: A Guide to Navigating Chaos by Eternalized
- How Ancient Megaliths gave us The Backrooms by Paths Seldom Trod
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
- The House of Asterion by Jorge Luis Borges
- Greek Mythology
- Level 611 by
Sariastuff
- Level c-1900 by
Ambersight
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Name: Level 611 - Name Pending
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Name: CLASSIFIED INTERNAL DOCUMENT
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Date: 03/08/2024
Involved personnel:
Field Explorers Emma Robbins, Anna Wyatt, Ava Ryan, Bianca Malone, Blake Hammond, Daniel Sherman, James Campos, Lauren Silva, Lewis Cortez, Lucas West, Noah Porter, Sophia Mendoza, William Mccarthy, Zoe Thompson — Data collectors
Chief Expeditions Supervisor Chinmay Aarush — Supervising Agent
Equipment used:
- Body cameras with attached microphones.
- Standard-issue protective gear and weaponry
Purposes:
Supervisor Aarush specified the need to assemble a team specifically consisting of fourteen operatives — seven males and seven females. The original aim of the expedition was to explore the labyrinth of Level 611 and journey towards its center, with the hopes of discovering significant information related to the nature of The Backrooms. However, things did not go as planned, as the expedition quickly turned to horrific tragedy.
<BEGIN LOG>
[Log begins, feeds come to life on the bodycams of each individual operative, showing them all standing before the passageway previously blocked by the threshold stone; the stone is now moved aside, exposing the gaping doorway into darkness.]
Chinmay: [over radio] Team Crete, this is Supervisor Aarush — do you copy?
Lucas: Team Crete to Supervisor Aarush, we hear you loud and clear.
Chinmay: Perfect. I take it you are all standing in at the entrance, correct?
Sophia: Correct, we have a visual on the entrance.
Chinmay: Good. Proceed with entry.
[The team enters through the dark passageway, shortly turning on their flashlights to illuminate their surroundings better.]
Noah: [whispering] Oh, god, we better- better make this quick… [gagging] fuck, the smell…
[Team Crete makes their way through Level 611's corridors in silence, before making some small talk.]
Ava: So, what do you think we'll find at the center of this maze? Maybe treasure?
Blake: 'Dunno, but I'd be more worried about finding the Minotaur…
Lucas: [scoffs] Oh, come on. You don't really believe any of that horseshit, do you? The Lost weren’t wise; they were ignorant and superstitious. They lacked a proper understanding of this world, so they attributed it to some bullshit mystical forces. Haven't you ever watched Ancient Aliens?
Daniel: Dude, you have no right to be ridiculing The Lost if you seriously believe in Ancient Aliens. Besides, they've gotten some things right, after all. A lot of their gods were real entities.
Lucas: Maybe they were real, but that doesn't mean they were gods…
[Team Crete ventures further into the maze, but suddenly stops. Claw marks gashed across the maze walls are visible.]
Zoe: Chinmay, you getting this?
Chinmay: Yeah, looks like claw marks. Probably from a long-dead entity or something, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Proceed with caution.
Zoe: Copy.
[The footage distorts slightly as the team proceeds further, but shortly stabilizes once more. The team begins slowing down as a deep, groaning growl echoes through the passageways. Operative Mccarthy raises his fist, halting everyone in place.]
William: Shh…did you all hear that?
[Some of the other teammates nod uneasily.]
Bianca: Yeah, this place is giving me major heebie-jeebies.
Chinmay: Those sounds are nothing to worry about. It's likely the maze shifting.
[Cautiously, the team proceeds further, maneuvering through the hallways. They pass through a long sewer tunnel, before passing into a section where the hallways narrow slightly and begin to resemble the walls of a factory. Their progress is halted yet again as a faint, dull thudding sound echoes from afar.]
James: [sarcastically] That the maze shifting too, Chinmay?
Chinmay: I'm…not sure.
[The group exchanges glances, visibly concerned. Some begin loading their firesalt weapons.]
Lewis: Guys, chill out, it's just us here. There's no monster!
[The thudding becomes louder, more frequent.]]
Ava: You sure about that?
Lewis: Ha, I dare something to attack us! I bet it doesn't have the cojones to-
[A bloodcurdling shriek cuts through the air, followed by the visceral sounds of flesh tearing, bones snapping, and blood spraying, as operative Cortez is instantly reduced to a literal bloody pulp smeared across the wall in a crimson streak.]
Blake: Holy fuck!
Anna: Oh my god!
[All Hell breaks loose as the explorers scatter in hysteria, some shooting their firesalt rounds blindly in every direction. One person seems to be struck by a stray shot, a cry of agony audible. From here, the footage splits into multiple perspectives as the group disperses throughout the labyrinth in different directions.]
Chinmay: Everyone, stay calm! Stay together!
[Chinmay's words are of little use, as the entire team has become too far separated by now.]
[William and Sophia are grouped together in one portion of the maze, with the unseen entity seemingly in pursuit. Sophia runs until being cornered in a dead-end, as William draws his firearm, shooting all three of his bullets at the offscreen entity1. One misses, instead lodging into the nearby wall. The two seemingly successful shots do little to impede the entity's approach, as its shadowy figure lunges forth to gore William upon its horns, ramming him into the wall with brutal force. Before Sophia even has time to scream, it is already too late for her.]]
[As Daniel takes a deep breath, the entity cuts around the corner from whence Daniel came earlier, and begins hurtling towards him at full speed. Daniel loads and fires the Firesalt at it with astonishing dexterity and accuracy, which seems to damage the creature and halt its advent towards him. By the time Daniel has finished using all his crystals however, the creature is still alive, and begins another dash towards Daniel, although it is visibly stunted.]
Daniel: Shit, God no, please- I- I don't want to die, fuck this man.
[Daniel unsheathes a long army knife from his bag, and steadies it. Seeing this, the entity pauses suddenly, grabbing onto the walls (and subsequently causing damage to them) to stop its momentum from acting on its body. Once it stops moving, it unwraps a chain with a massive blade at its end from itself, and begins spinning it around rapidly. It throws it at Daniel, who had stood frozen with fear up until this point. He sidesteps and dodges the blade with great swiftness, but twists his ankle in the process. The blade wedges itself in the wall, smashing a fair bit of tiles off of it.]
Daniel: Nono, nonono, mhux hekk-
[Daniel begins hyperventilating as he struggles to get up. The entity, which has retracted the blade back to itself in one swift motion, wraps it around itself once more, and begins charging towards Daniel. As it nears him, it reals back a fist, and strikes his face with such force that it knocks the camera off his head and sends him tumbling backwards. Noticeable bone cracking is picked up by the microphone.]
Daniel: [muffled whimpering] Mo… p-pwease…
[The entity shambles towards him, and raises him up with its left hand. It is heard to breathe rapid, heavy, and raspy breaths, and a black substance can be seen leaking from its helmet. Moving a screaming Daniel to have his back on the wall, it begins pummeling his face with its other hand, a view captured all too well by the camera (which was strewn on the ground at the time). His face caves in with the second punch, and his weeping and wailing dies - but the entity is relentless with its beating, and does not stop the onslaught. It keeps repeatedly punching the same area, shattering his skull to bits as flesh and brain matter begin to fall off of his face in large, meaty dollops. After his innards have been removed from his head, the entity drops him on the floor with a pathetic thump, and runs off back from where it came from, unknowingly crushing the camera beneath its foot as it does so.]
//[Elsewhere in the Labyrinth,
Ava,
Blake,
James,
and
Anna
are all picked off one by one, each falling prey to the Labyrinth and its monster as they plummet into the maw of infinite darkness swallowing them whole.]//
[Noah, Lauren, Lucas and Bianca remain as the last living teammates, venturing deeper into the heart of the labyrinth as the environment transitions into something more alien. All surfaces lose any form of texture or architectural style, becoming naught but blank ashen walls. The only light comes from the flashlights of their bodycams, and radio contact with Chinmay has long since been lost by now.]
Lucas: C-come on guys, just a bit more to go. We're almost at the center…
Lauren: What if there's no exit at the center, Lucas?! We could just be walking into a death trap!
Lucas: Well going back isn't any safer, is it?! [he snaps back.]
[Before anyone even realizes, a massive chain-cleaver hurls towards the group from around the corner and strikes Lauren, impaling her straight through the chest. Shock hits as her face contorts into a deathly, terrified expression, and she vomits out a heap of blood before being yanked into the darkness. Shortly after, her severed head is spat back out from the darkness, her dead-eyed face a visage of terror as it lifelessly stares at the rest of the teammates. All of the remaining members scream, and they begin to frantically flail about. Lucas runs in the opposite direction, and Noah hides behind Bianca, who takes out her Firesalt pouch, and prepares herself to run at the entity. The moment the unseen force begins running towards her, she bolts, throwing her remaining Firesalt at it as it gets close to her. But the monster, completely unphased, ensnares Bianca and Noah into its clutches.]
[Lucas, the final remaining team member, frantically runs for his life as he hears the screaming and gurgling of his teammates demise echo behind him. The maze grows darker and darker and he plunges deeper and deeper. The camera begins glitching and distorting as Lucas flees. The whole place keeps shuddering and shaking, walls
[Sometime later, Lucas' bodycam turns back on. The lens is now fractured, the battery is low, and the footage glitches slightly every once in a while, due to the damage it had sustained. Lucas is visibly injured, clutching onto a bleeding arm at is side as he limps through the corridors with broken ankle, agonizingly dragging it behind him. He suddenly stops before a large door, bearing the insignia of The Lost's religion.]
Lucas: I…I think I made it. This must be the center of the maze…
[Mustering his last reserves of strength, Lucas pushes the heavy door open with great effort, stumbling into what appears to be a ceremonial chamber. After catching himself and steadying his balance, he finds none other than Supervisor Chinmay Aarush standing in the center of the chamber.]
Lucas: Chinmay?! What the fuck?!
[Chinmay turns to face Lucas, a content smile faintly present on his face.]
Chinmay: Operative West. You must be the last remaining sacrifice…truth be told, I am secretly happy that you made it here. I have been wishing to share my vision with others for so long. It is the least you are owed before fulfilling your purpose…
Lucas: S-sacrifice?!
[Instinctively, Lucas reaches for a weapon, only to realize that he has none — they had all already been used or lost in the prior bloodbath. Chinmay chuckles with amusement at Lucas' reaction.]
Chinmay: Ah, no matter. Killing me would make no difference, anyways. What has been set into motion cannot be undone.
Lucas: What the fuck have you done?! What is the purpose of all this?!
[Chinmay begins pacing back and forth across the chamber.]
Chinmay: You see, I never lied when I claimed to descend from a lineage rooted in The lost. However, I've never specified my actual age…
[He stops pacing, folding his arms behind his back and turning towards Lucas.]
Chinmay: I was there, Operative Lucas — for all of it. I witnessed firsthand the rise and fall of civilizations, of our entire Pantheon of Gods.
[Chinmay glances up at a series of murals on the walls, all depicting heinous and grotesque scenes of a minotaur eviscerating its victims.]
Chinmay: And, of course, I was there to witness the might and terror of my lord, Asterion.
Lucas: Bullshit! Gods don't exist!
Chinmay: [scoffs] Even now, in the face of your inventible demise at the hands of one, you deny the existence of divinity. Though I suppose I cannot blame your ignorance. Our Gods have abandoned us, and so we must honor the old ways in order to placate those which remain; lest the beast’s hunger grows beyond the boundaries of this labyrinth. And for that, a sacrifice was required. Fourteen humans — seven males, seven females.
[Chinmay removes his shirt, revealing his upper body to be a canvas of esoteric tattoos, with a mazelike pattern underlying them all.]
Chinmay: As I said, you are the final sacrifice. And as your reward, it shall be the most sacred of them all…
[Chinmay stands in the center of the chamber before an altar, hands raised above him as he begins chanting words of prayer.]
Chinmay: In the name of Lord Asterion, I bestow upon you today an honor, and a glimpse of what is to come.
[A thudding begins to emanate from the darkness. Lucas looks all around, trying to find a way to escape, but there is no way out — the door through which he entered the chamber has inexplicably disappeared.]
Chinmay: Drive into flesh blades of piety. Tear flesh from sinew, sinew from bone, and bone from bone until but dust is left. My lord, allow me, your most humble subject, to repent for the sin of my being, by aiding you in the restoration your own to its former glory and divinity…
[Lucas turns, at that instant catching sight of some tremendous beast crouched off in the shadows, muscles a twitch from firing its great mass forward, ragged claws slowly extending, digging into the stone, the fiery sparks in its empty eye sockets dilating with primordial wrath. It slowly arises, towering high above Lucas, above Chinmay, and far above any human. It approaches, slowly, patiently, as if having all the time in the world to savor this moment. Each step rocks the chamber, dust falling from the ceiling.]
Chinmay: And now, I call unto you — descend from your throne, pass your judgement upon my wrongful kin!
[The being emerges from the shadows, yet the footage distorts heavily whenever it is on-camera, making more specific details of its appearance difficult to discern. What is clear, however, is the abject terror which Lucas feels in this moment. He falls back onto the floor, scrambling backwards as the entity stalks towards him.]
Lucas: I'm sorry– I’m so fucking sorry! I-I believe in you now, you really are a God! P-please, don't kill me!
[Chinmay's prayer rises to a fever pitch, as the entity poises its chained blades to strike.]
Chinmay: Expurgate him, show him perfection. Show him why you have been dubbed by all beneath you as LORD, why I and many have dedicated our very lives to welcoming your hold over the worlds. Envelop him in your crushing vice, give his soul purpose in the embrace of your maw. Nothing more need be said; let there be perfection NOW-
[Chinmay's fanatical rantings are cut short by a deafening 'bang', causing the entity to pause just before striking. Lucas turns in the direction of the sound, seeing a gaping hole left in Chinmay's head with blood, brain matter and skull splinters splattered on the walls beside him. He limply falls to his knees and slumps forward onto the floor, revealing a masked U.E.C. soldier with a smoking gun surrounded by a squad of other soldiers.]
U.E.C. Soldier: Go! Get out of here! We'll handle this fucker!
[Lucas spares no hesitation, immediately running through the chamber that the U.E.C. soldiers emerged from as they begin rapidly firing their guns at the entity offscreen. The camera promptly dies.]
<END LOG>
Aftermath:
Operative Lucas West was the sole survivor of this ordeal. Miraculously, he successfully escaped Level 611 and made his way back to the nearest M.E.G. outpost. He was found in critical condition, but after some time in intensive care, he made a full physical recovery.
A follow-up expedition found the remains of the U.E.C. soldiers in the ceremony chamber, indicating that they did not survive their confrontation with the entity.
A thorough review of M.E.G. personnel files revealed that Chinmay Aarush simply did not exist within the group until the discovery of Level 611. It is unknown how he successfully infiltrated the ranks of the M.E.G., though his rather lax promotion to Supervisor by Overseer A certainly did not help to mitigate security risks. Promotion protocols have been made clear to him once again, alongside a formal warning. Leo Castellos, for his part, has chosen to take a temporary leave of absence from M.E.G. assistance, blaming himself for failing to detect Chinmay's true nature and intentions.
As one may notice, visual anomalies are present in this entry. Numerous attempts have been made to correct the formatting, but all have failed.
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