Level 906 : "The Cygnus Archive"

Level 906 is a massive, seemingly endless library, extensively decorated with elements of gothic, victorian and baroque architecture found in the Frontrooms. All attempts to take pictures, videos, or audio recordings of this level have failed, as cameras and recording equipment inexplicably malfunction in this level.

Most of the library's wooden shelves are full of books, notebooks, folders and a myriad of documents written in various languages, most of them incomprehensible. Some of these shelves are unaffected by gravity, floating in place, and require the use of wooden ladders to be reached without aid. The library is lit by candelabras that, despite hanging down from the impossibly high ceiling, are capable of providing the entire library with proper illumination. The ceiling itself is ornamented with stained glass and painted landscapes. Reaching the ceiling is impossible, as the closer one gets, the farther it seems to be. The wooden floor features blue velvet carpets with golden ornaments.

It is a common occurence to see books, folders, scrolls or notes spawning in or clipping out of the level. These range from ordinary books in various languages, to ancient scrolls in forgotten alphabets and everything in-between, though they all carry Blanche's signature.

The Cygnus Archive houses a unique entity who seems to have full control over the library itself. This entity has the appearance of a short pale human woman, with long blonde hair and light blue eyes. She usually wears an intricate tea gown, though she's been seen wearing various other dresses and suits, from ball gowns to butler suits and maid dresses, and calls herself "Blanche". She's very welcoming of visitors, and will invite any who visit her library for tea. If the visitor is impolite, they will first be warned, then called out by Blanche on their lack of manners. If they refuse to change their behavior, they will be lectured in proper etiquette. Hostile visitors are immobilized by telekinetic force. If the visitor continues to show hostile behavior, they will be kicked out of the library and teleported back to the level they came from.

Additionally, Light Guides are often found floating through the level. These have been reported to disappear spontaneously, flicker, and to move in seemingly random patterns, behaviors that are atypical when compared to instances of the same entity observed in other levels.

Blanche’s Office:

The entry point for any and all who visit Level 906. Blanche’s office is a small area in the center of the level. This is where Blanche spends most of her time writing, reading, or waiting for guests. It contains a desk, various tables, chairs, and shelves with Blanche’s favourite books and unfinished works. Some of the objects found in this room include:

• A portrait of Blanche, drawn and signed by A.River.

• An unfinished book, titled "Blanche's Guide To Comfort Food."

• Two ancient scrolls titled "The Book Of The Moon - Verse 1" and "The Scroll of Azkhari", respectively.

• Several books on human philosophy.

• A folder containing several music sheets, ranging from the 14th century to the 1950's, most of them written for harpsichord, organ and piano.

• Various books of religious nature, written in several languages.

• A life-sized plushie of Captain with a sign around it's neck that reads: "Free hugs."

• A plethora of books on botany.

• A Colombina Mask.

Additionally, the following books were found on a shelf labelled "To-read list." According to Blanche, these books were gifted or recommended to her by guests.

• A full set of the "Inkheart" trilogy by Cornelia Funke, written in an unknown language.

• A Swedish copy of "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov.

• A Portuguese, two-volume edition of "Dune" by Frank Herbert.

• English editions of "Neuromancer", "Count Zero", "Mona Lisa Overdrive" and "Burning Chrome" by William Gibson.

• An English edition of "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline.

• An English edition of "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeleine L’Engle. It has been reported to "glitch", "flicker", or be distorted in other ways.

• Several "Warrior Cats" books in various languages, all written by Erin Hunter.

• An English copy of "What If" by Randall Munroe.

• A French translation of "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.

• An English edition of "Lego Minifigure: Year By Year Visual Dictionary.", by Gregory Farshtey and Daniel Lipkowitz.

• A collection of books by J.R.R Tolkien, such as "The Hobbit", "The Silmarillion", and the "Lord Of The Rings" series, all written in English.

• Stephen King's "It", translated to Romanian.

• A copy of "Noli Me Tángere" by José Rizal, written in Tagalog.

• An English edition of “Magyk” by Angie Sage.

• A French edition of "Tobie Lolness" by Timothée de Fombelle.

• An English edition of "Cinder", by Marissa Meyer, with a few loose notes inside it, written in Tagalog.

• An English edition of "Noughts & Crosses" by Malorie Blackman.

• A Maltese copy of "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury.

The Tea Room:

The Tea Room is composed of a small kitchen area in the middle of the library. It contains a working oven and stove, various cabinets with several types of tea, and a cupboard full of porcelain cups and plates, as well as silver tableware and a vast amount of cooking books. This is where Blanche prepares her tea and biscuits, and sometimes, full meals for her guests. Her tea sessions tend to last one to two hours. During said sessions, Blanche will attempt to chat with her guests, inquiring about various topics, ranging from their lives, to their interests and fields of expertise.

The Guest Rooms:

Level 906 has an unknown number of empty bedrooms destined to Blanche's guests. Blanche has shown to be capable to freely change and manipulate these rooms to better accommodate her guests and suit their needs. As such, the variable nature of these rooms makes objective descriptions impossible. Injured guests will be taken to one of the guest rooms while Blanche tends to their wounds. One of these rooms seems to be permanently occupied by her butler and protégé, Tom Von Haderach.

Witnessing the Beyond

It is rumoured that prolonged exposure to Level 906 may result in a phenomenon colloquially known as "Witnessing the Beyond." While there are no eyewitness accounts, factual reports, or any other sort of confirmation, the rumour is too prevalent to ignore. It is said this phenomenon may cause severe damage to the nervous system, resulting in loss of memory, sense of identity, cognitive abillity, and in some cases, death. There is reason to believe that these rumours originated within the U.E.C. and were exacerbated by their frequent propaganda campaigns.

There are no Bases, Communities or Outposts on this level, but some visitors spend weeks, or even months living in one of the library's guest rooms.

Entrances

The only known way to enter the Cygnus Archive is to be teleported into it by dragging your index finger through Blanche's signature, from left to right, in one of her books or documents scattered throughout the Backrooms, although in some cases a mere touch is enough. All attempts to recreate this with pictures, copies, printings, or photocopies of the signature have yielded no results.

Exits

In order to exit Level 906, politely ask Blanche to leave. She will guide you to an exit to the level of your choosing, provided it is a safe level.
It is also possible to leave Level 906 by displaying excessively rude or hostile behaviour. In that case, you will be forcefully teleported out of the level, back to where you were when you entered, if it was a safe level, or to a safe level, if not.

Written by SnomWriting and Blanche
"File:Trinity College Old Library ‘Long Room’ — Dublin (12890323213).jpg" by Hiku2 is marked under CC-BY 2.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en.
"Glasgow City Chambers Staircase" by michael_d_beckwith is marked under CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/cc0/1.0/ (Kudos to Orion64 for finding the image for me!) Redrawn by doctrinator!
"Tea room with interior decoration, Shantytown Historical Park, New Zealand" by Ulrich Lange, Bochum Germany is licensed with CC BY-SA 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en.
"Blanche's Signature" by SnomWriting is licensed with CC-BY-SA 3.0.
~ SnomWriting
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