Level 940 : "Lost and Forgotten" (Trimmed; Open for Rewrite)

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Level 940 is the 941st Level of the Backrooms. The level appears to be built on the childhood experience of being lost, and exhibits severely non-Euclidian geometry which presents a significant navigational hazard. The level contains unknown entities. Exploring the parking lot outside the garage is not recommended under any circumstances.

Safety in Level 940 depends on following the instructions in this document. The level begins in an infinite, 30 ft. by 30 ft. garage in the center of an infinite parking lot. The garage has unfinished wood walls and a sheet metal roof, with a rough concrete floor. The parking lot outside is a featureless flat plain with identical lampposts at regular intervals; it is highly dangerous and should not be explored. It is unknown if the level has a sun as its unorthodox geometry obscures the majority of the sky.

There are no known communities or outposts.

Level 940 Discovery Log Segment 1

Team Albert no-clips into a previously undiscovered level from Level 22. Their immediate surroundings appear to be a poorly constructed garage made from unfinished wood boards and sheet metal.

Henson: Is everyone here? Anyone hurt?

Robinson: I don’t see anyone missing.

Larson: We’re all here, wherever that is.

Henson: Has anyone been to this level?

Turner: I’ve never heard of this place.

Trent: It doesn’t match with any levels I know of, we must be in a new one.

Henson: We’ve still got Wi-Fi, I’ll call this in. Everyone else, make sure the area is secure.

The team moves outside the garage into an infinite parking lot area under perpetual darkness, lit by an infinite number of street lamps.

Larson: The place looks empty, no entities as far as I can see.

Henson: Our first priority is exploration.

Robinson: Actually, my first priority is rest.

Trent: I second the motion.

Henson: Fine, we can explore in the morning.

Turner: If there is one.

Henson: If there is one, or once everyone has rested. Get a camp set up, then I’ll take first watch with Larson.

Heavy equipment is set down outside the garage and supplies are unpacked. Robinson begins removing an electrical access plate from one of the lamps to charge their equipment.

Robinson (Screaming): My hand! My hand!

Robinson continues screaming and runs off into the parking lot. Henson begins to run after Robinson but stops when Robinson seems to disappear after running behind one of the lamps.

Turner: He’s gone!

Trent: What the hell just happened?!

Henson: I can still hear him, he’s just disappeared from view.

Larson: I’m not going in there after him.

Henson (running into the parking lot): You don’t have a choice. Follow the blood!

Trent: That’s a lot of blood.

Larson: What happened to him?

Trent: It looks like he cut open an artery.

Turner: More than that, his whole hand was cut in half!

Trent: The blood trail just stops up ahead behind that lamp.

Henson: That’s where Robinson disappeared, it must go where he went.

Larson: Am I the only one thinking going where Robinson disappeared might be a bad idea?

Trent: You aren't the only one.

Henson (reaching the turn in the trail): It continues on, there’s another section we couldn’t see from the garage.

Turner: I don’t see it.

Henson follows the bend in the trail behind a lamp and seems to disappear from view.

Turner: Where’d he go?

Henson: I’m still here, where’d you go.

Larson: We can’t see you.

Henson: I can’t see you from here either, try coming around the bend.

Larson (aside to Trent): You first.

Trent (to Larson): Robinson could be dying, come on you coward!

Trent reaches the bend in the trail.

Henson: There you are I can see you.

Trent (To Larson and Turner): I can see him he’s just around the bend beyond the lamp.

Turner: You can see us and him at the same time?

Trent: Yes, I can see everyone.

Turner: So much for it being teleportation.

Larson: Must be something weird with the geometry here.

Henson: Something in these lamps seems to bend space. Stay on the path I don’t know what will happen if you leave it.

Larson: We’ll disappear, that’s what will happen.

Turner: But we’d be able to walk right back to the path the way we came.

Larson: If you knew which way was the way you came.

Trent: Might as well be blind in this level, everything looks the same and you disappear whenever you go around a corner.

Larson and Turner follow Trent and Henson around the bend.

Level 940 Discovery Log Segment 2

Larson: I can’t see the garage anymore.

Trent: What did you expect, if we can’t be seen from the garage here, then we can’t see the garage from here either.

Henson: We’ve got a blood trail marking the way back, we’re in no danger of getting lost.

The team follows the blood trail around several more turns. The sound of screaming grows louder as they get closer.

Henson: We’re getting closer, I can hear him a lot more clearly now.

Larson: Unless I’m mistaken, the screaming is coming from our side, not up ahead.

Turner: He must have made more turns after this, he’s probably to the side of us now.

Larson: If we follow the sound of the screaming we can take a shortcut to him.

Henson: No, the path is our only way back.

Larson: If I find him I’ll find his blood trail, I’ll just be farther along.

Henson: Stay on the path.

Larson (Leaving the path): I’ll see you up ahead!

Henson: Why is he acting so rash all of the sudden?

Trent: I snapped at him when he stalled us earlier, called him a coward.

Turner: Yeah he’s probably trying to compensate for being so scared.

Larson (a distance off the trail): The sound is coming from my side now, he must have moved again!

Henson: Come back now!

Larson (Out of site around a turn): I can’t now you’ve disappeared! I’ll meet you up ahead.

Trent: Do we keep following the path?

Henson: No we wait here until we get him back.

Larson: I can hear the screaming a lot louder, I keep following it but the direction it’s coming from keeps changing, like it’s leading me on a path!

Henson: Get back here that is an order!

Larson: I don’t know where you are, I’ll meet you up ahead.

Henson: Follow the sound of my voice like you followed the screams.

Larson: Your voice is behind me, I can try following it but it’s weird like the screaming.

Henson: In what way?

Larson: When I was following the screaming, your voice was always behind me, no matter which way I was heading.

Henson: Just keep following my voice.

Larson: You’ll have to keep talking for me to do that.

Henson: Is the screaming behind you now?

Larson: Yes, I’m heading away from the screams towards your voice.

Henson: Have you made it around turns on your way back?

Larson: Yes.

Henson: And the screaming is behind you the whole time?

Larson: Yes it is.

Henson: I think it’s the geometry of this place. Going left and right around the posts seems to take you to different places, that’s why someone standing behind a post can only be seen from the side they walked around and not from the other side.

Larson: I'm sorry, what? I don't understand.

Henson: This level is stitched together out of tiles of Euclidian space in a non-Euclidian pattern, which is why we can't see any distortion of perspective, despite the space exhibiting an effective curvature-

Larson: Okay, I know I told you to keep talking so I could home in on your voice, but that is really boring. Could you talk about something else, or maybe just make an aaaaaaaaa sound?

Henson: It's those problems professor Pendragon keeps handing out, I've had to learn a lot about non-Euclidian geometries not to disappoint him.

Larson: You actually do those things? I just throw them away like everyone else does.

Henson: I would too, but he think's I'm his "star pupil" and checks in on my work.

Larson: Why play along with it, though? Just tell him you're not one of his students, and for that matter, none of us are.

Henson: The man's 81, if he wants to think that he's still at his university in the Frontrooms I'll let him think that.

Larson: I never knew you were such a bleeding heart.

Larson walks out from behind a lamp post and becomes visible to the rest of the group.

Turner: There you are!

Henson: Now we can find Robinson.

Trent (up ahead at the next turn): Uh… Henson?

Henson: What?

Trent: I can see Robinson, he’s - dead, sir.

Henson: Can you see the cause of death?

Turner (worried): Henson?

Trent: From all the blood he’s lost, and the state of his hand, I’m guessing he bled to death.

Turner (Anxious): Henson!

Henson: What is it?

Turner: If Robinson is dead, then what’s screaming?

Henson pauses and the screaming grows louder.

Henson: Everyone follow the trail back to the garage, move move move!

The surviving members of Team Albert sprint back along the trail.

Larson (looking over his shoulder): Can you see it? Is it behind us?!

Henson: Don’t look back, just keep running!

Larson: I remember this the path goes left up ahead.

Larson peels off from the group and runs off into the parking lot to the left.

Henson: Where are you going?!

Larson (out of view): Shortcut!

Trent: Didn’t you say going around the left and right sides of a lamp take you to different places?

Henson: Yes, but there’s no time to go back for him, just keep running.

The screaming behind them grows significantly louder and is now audibly inhuman.

Henson: Whatever is in those lamps bends space like paper and tore Robinson’s hands to shreds, do not leave the trail!

Turner: I’ll take my chances with getting lost over monsters any day!

Turner splits off from the others and runs to the left.

Henson: Come back, that is an order Turner!

Trent: It’s down to just two of us and we haven't even encountered the entity yet.

Henson: Just stick to the trail and we’ll make it to the garage.

Trent: Are you sure running from the entity was a good idea?

Henson: It’s too late to fight it, there’s just two of us now.

The garage becomes visible as they round the last turn.

Level 940 Discovery Log Segment 3

Henson: Almost there!

The remaining members reach the garage and close the garage door behind them.

Trent: This garage doesn’t look too strong.

Henson: No it doesn’t.

Trent: Do you think it can keep that thing out?

Henson: No I don’t think so. At least it gives us cover.

Trent: So we’re down two team members and we have to fight it regardless.

Henson: I underestimated the danger of running in this level.

Henson unholsters his gun.

Henson: You take the front; I’ll take the back.

Trent takes up a shooting position by a gap between the boards in the back wall; Henson Stands ready by the garage door.

Trent (glancing back at Henson): Sir? There’s something odd about this garage.

Henson: What is it?

Trent: On the right I can see the garage is closed, but on the left of the post it’s open.

Henson (Glancing behind him): What?

Henson walks counterclockwise around the post.

Henson: I don’t see you.

Trent: You disappeared from view when you walked behind the post, just like the lamps.

Henson: Just like the lamps…

Henson walks clockwise around the post until he reaches Trent.

Henson: We’ve been thinking about this place all wrong?

Trent: What do you mean sir?

Henson: It’s not a garage.

Trent: In what way?

Henson: It’s a hallway!

Trent: A… hallway?

Henson: Space curves around this post, like it does around the lamps, and the hallway curves with it. It only looks like a room to us because we’re not used to things curving more than 360 degrees.

Trent: How far does it curve?

Henson: Forever, I think. Come on, let’s follow it.

Ternt: Follow it?

Henson: Walk around the post.

Trent: How would that do any good?

Henson: Because it’s not a post, it’s the other wall!

Trent: I don’t understand, sir.

Henson: You don’t have to, just keep walking around it.

Trent: I don’t think we’re getting anywhere and that thing is getting closer.

Henson: Is it? Are its screams still as loud?

Trent: No, they’ve gotten quieter.

Henson: It’s because we’ve gone around the post several times, the sound has to turn several corners to reach us.

Trent: Like how going left and right around the lamps takes you to different places.

Henson: Exactly, and going around it once takes you to a different place than going around it twice, or three times.

Trent: So it’s like we’re climbing down a spiral staircase.

Henson: I called it a hallway but I suppose that works too.

Trent: Larson and turner are never going to find their way back, are they. By going around the lamps they’ve been going down different staircases, taking them to different places. The farther they go the deeper into the parking lot they’ll get.

Henson: There was no way we could have gotten them to come back, even if there hadn’t been anything chasing us.

Trent: I think I see a door.

Henson: You’re right, there’s a door on that wall.

Trent: And we had to walk in circles to get to it.

Henson: The shape of this place is messed up, at least we should finally be getting out of here.

Henson and Trent proceed through the door and appear back in Level 22. Larson and Turner are presumed deceased. The level they discovered has since been categorized as Level 940.

Level 940 Exit Procedure

Walk in a circle around the post in the center of the garage
Maintain the same direction of motion
Once a door appears on one of the walls, exit through it.

The box contains an excerpt from a text written on the level by Prof. Pendragon.

The level exhibits an infinite array of one-dimensional conical singularities of infinitely negative curvature, analogous to the geometry of a space filled with cosmic strings of infinite negative mass, although lacking the gravitational or relativistic effects and arranged at right angles rather than the minimum energy state of 60 degree angles. The space takes the form of translational space, although the application of the term is questionable considering the infinite curvature prevents holonomy from being observed because a translation about one of the singularities can never be completed due to the curvature about that point being negative infinity. Each singularity borders an infinite number of neighboring singularities, and shares exactly one border with each. The spatial manifold cannot be oriented in any finite dimensional space, as every singularity can be likened to being its own unique dimension along which one could travel. Looking into this structure one might begin to divine the reason that tree diagrams are sometimes referred to as having infinitely negative curvature.

If you are reading this it can only be assumed you have chosen to violate multiple clear warnings and to explore the parking lot area. Your blood is upon your own head.

Do not make any turns and keep the garage in sight at all times. If the garage passes out of sight, immediately backtrack until it is visible again. Wi-Fi originates from the garage and radiates outwards along straight lines, so breaking line of sight with the garage will result in an immediate communications blackout as well as losing track of the only navigable landmark in the level. Keep track of any turns you may have unwisely made and the number of lampposts passed after each one. Remember to retrace your exact steps and not to attempt any form of shortcut when returning.

Entrances

• The level can be entered by no-clipping in Level 22.

Exits

• Exits to other levels appear as doors on the insides of some of the walls of the garage.