Level 153 is the 154th level of the Backrooms. 
• Properties Affected by Time • Fluctuating Time • Unknown Entity Presence «• GENERAL DESCRIPTION •»
The most infamous image of Level 153. Level 153, known colloquially as "Antique Workspace," lives coexistent within an indoor office building of indeterminate size, curiously lacking any outdoor openings such as windows. The Level's architecture visually resembles the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, comprised of peeling dull-colored wallpaper, generally addorned by a variety of wall decor emergent from the same period, antiquated drop ceilings, evenly adorned with a myriad of yellowing ceiling lights, and worn, dusty carpeting, on occasion interrupted by cracked porcelain tiles. Evenly spread across Level 153, as its name denotes, are diverse work site offices' standards. Such areas typically embody an office chair, a variedly-sized work desk, various office supplies adorning its top, and antiquated computer terminals prevalent during the 1990s. Due to the pervasive terminals & related appliances, wanderers has been theorizing Level 153 to have once belonged to a firm specializing in software development. Furthermore, despite the Level's computer terminals being in moderately good condition, they are known to be prone to file corruption; consequently, they are infrequently used, with colonies instead opting to import BACK-NET terminals from external levels. The Level's original terminals connect to an incognito location for the mainframe.
Given the notable lack of entities nor an outwardly dangerous environment, Level 153 is generally regarded as safe to explore & wander. However, once supplies are deficient at a Level, colonies need importation from others to keep operating. Nevertheless, the heavy influx of supplies, the moderately large population of the Level, and its proximity to Level 154 have instead assembled for Level 153 to become one of the Backrooms' more continuous extant trade hubs, with many groups seeking to establish outposts within Level 153 to carry advantage of such.
Another photo of Level 153. While electrical wiring is prevailing functional at the Level, it is notoriously inaccurate & unreliable, resulting in outages & circuit trips being all the more common throughout the Level; however, these are rarely Level-wide & only seem to affect determined sectors. Moreover, exposed wires are a suitable uniform sight across Level 153. Many are known to cause electrical fires when retained in improper environments. Luckily for Level 153's inhabitants, nevertheless, the Level has a myriad of fire extinguishers & functional fire sprinklers, driving fires hardly ever deadly. However, to make cases worse, occasionally, sprinklers also appear to be faulty & behave abruptly, naturally delivering too broadly or less water, and as such, due to the periodic excess water produced, minor flooding & the damaging of unkept objects, consequently enclosing groups stationed in Level 153 prefer to rather store belongings in proper storage items such as impromptu shelves and drawers.
» The Library of Time_ []
A Library of Time during a blackout. Wandering via Level 153 may infrequently lead to elusive large libraries furnished with bookshelves retaining multiple chronologically ordered manuscripts and travelers' journals, dubbed as a "Library of Time." Akin to the name, the books detail periods ranging from the prehistoric past to the distant future, giving discernment into events that have yet to happen or when there is yet to be documentation. Wanderers once thought it could predict the future based on the events described within these books, given the detail they can go into. However, owing to some predictions later being proven to be inaccurate or totally false, many have formed to theorize the information about the future instead of narrating events that have happened in completely alternate timelines, considering how, on occasion, they can also reference entirely obscure concepts or ideas.
Furthermore, as aforementioned, the journals of wanderers all over the Backrooms have been observed to appear on the library's shelves, having no limit to whose they may display. Therefore, this property has led to "The Library of Time" being considered an admiringly valuable resource to the Database, as it can supply critical information about treacherous Levels without having to investigate them or even provide perspicuity into possible undiscovered ones. However, similarly to the books, some journals have been reported to contain blatantly false information, although this seems an irregular occurrence in journals.
» The Break Rooms_ []
An unowned Break Room. Another location that can be seen intermittently ubicated around Level 153 is "The Break Room." As its name implies, the Break Room resembles a break room of an office, fully furnished in a similar style to the rest of the Level. The visual appearance, layout, & kind of furnishing seem to vary widely from instance, but they generally share wood-paneled walls & unusually dim lighting, sometimes lacking any. As predicted, Break Rooms usually furnish helpful supplies for wanderers; functional vending machines, water coolers, coffee machines, and cabinets stocked with food are all ordinary elements within a Break Room.
Moreover, the kinds of food found within the cabinets are usually heavily processed and originate from various parts of both The Frontrooms & The Backrooms, although fresh fruit, vegetables, & many kinds of meat coexist within the Level. Vending machines or large, outdated freezers can dispense snacks of various brands, such as chocolate bars or bags of chips, or they can also hold unmarked metal soda cans comprising a liquid: a mixture of an unidentified carbonated drink and Almond Water, reportedly increasing one's mental sanity by a small amount. Contributing to its anomalous safety, food, & drinks within the rooms seem to be seamlessly supplied once every month, making Break Rooms a popular hotspot to refuge or settle base in. Despite this, Break Rooms are highly valued spots by the innumerable inhabitants of Level 153, as they are the Level's only abundant source of non-imported food, producing conflicts over ownership of one frequent & the lookout for an unexplored one constant.
«• ANOMALIES & EVENTS •» » Temporal Fluctuations_ []
Frequent fluctuations in Level 153's space-time cause the Level's time to flow differently close to other Levels, rendering time-telling devices useless. While this phenomenon isn't sole to Level 153, with many Levels having time move at a slightly inconsistent rate relative to others, the way it functions is unique in having its altered flow of time not constant, as in it being in a constantly differing state most of the time. While time movement in Level 153 is usually about 0.5 to 1.5 times faster or slower than Frontrooms time[1], time has been recorded to have been moving up to 16 times faster and slower, in one case making weeks in The Frontrooms just several days in Level 153. One cannot perceive these oscillations naturally, making them only measurable with communication between Level 153 and another Level.
» Time Stop_ []
The Time Stop is an event within Level 153 in which time in the Level will plummet to a standstill, where the environment will be seemingly "frozen" and cannot be interacted with. While there does not seem to be a consistent pattern or sign to when Time Stops occur, time in the Level tends to be less and less fluctuant for around a week before it happens. The event appears to start with wanderers reporting a strange ear ringing, similar to the symptom indicating a damaged auditory system. After this occurs, time will noticeably decrease its movement, causing actions such as falling objects and movements to be sluggish & in slow motion. This continuous slowing of time will proceed for the next 30 minutes, although it would feel like several hours to those experiencing the event. At the end of those 30 minutes, time would've come to a complete stop, reportedly indicated by the sound of a record scratch. This stopping of time would last for another 30 minutes, relative to baseline time; however, one will instead perceive the restarting of time as if it took place immediately after its stopping. The reason is that one's brain signals will also appear to stop all motion during the event.
» Distortions_ []
During periods of heavy temporal fluctuation, space-time distortions may occasionally appear, acting as transport rifts between two or more alternate locations within Level 153 or even other Levels, as has been reported. These visually manifest as blurry patches floating in mid-air or circular distortions upon walls or flat surfaces, similar to a wormhole. When something passes through one of these rifts, it will end up at the end of a corresponding distortion in another region of Level 153, yet many reports have a chance to send one to a completely different Level, typically a heavily glitched one or even the The Void. Due to Level 153's notorious time anomalies, if one were to step through a rift that led to another Level, one would likely enter the Level during a period in the far future or even the past. Due to the dangers, avoid distortions at all costs and stay in one place during periods of heavy fluctuations.
«• COLONIES & OUTPOSTS •»Several colonies and outposts have been established in Level 153 ever since its discovery, both to study its perplexing properties and take advantage of its economic value.
» Republic of Level 153_ []
The Republic of Level 153 is a self-declared sovereign state founded in 1982 and so far is the largest colony in Level 153, with an approximate population of 5000 members in their central base and 8000 members situated around the level. The group narrowly avoided destruction during The Flicker by evacuating its population into Level 154, although 1/4th of the group's population perished during the event. After the end of the event, the Republic began to flourish, taking advantage of the increasing amount of trade flowing into Level 153 from Level 154 & the overall rising popularity of their level.
» The Backroom Colonists (Vintage Sect)_ []
Possessing around 100 members, this outpost belongs to The Backroom Colonists, a relatively large & well-known group thriving through countless Levels across the Backrooms. The colonists have since improved relations and are currently in good terms with various neighboring colonies.
» Backrooms Trade Outpost #012_ []
An outpost belonging to the Backrooms Trade Group formed by around 10-20 members, created solely to enrich themselves from trading amongst other known colonies within Level 153. Recently got in a moderately-large scandal due to many attempts to exploit the Backrooms Stock Market using the Level's time-distorting proprties just for their own benefit.
» Kauer Temporal Research Site_ []
An outpost set up by the Kauer Research Organization to study the functionality of the Levels' many time distortions & fluctuative behaviour. Much of their work is kept secret, with their location and member count unknown.
«• DOCUMENTED ENTITIES •»For the time being, no discernible entities have been discovered to reside within Level 153. However, there have been a multitude of similar reports of changes invisibly being done to the surroundings during the Time Stop event, such as objects being moved to different spots and files on computers being partially or entirely altered. Pervasive rumors around the Level state this is the work of an unknown entity, referred to by many as "The Anomaly," becoming an ellusive urban legend around Level 153.
«• RECOVERED NOTES •»«• ENTRANCES & EXITS •» » Entrances []
- There is a rare chance to no-clip into this level from Level 8 instead of no-clipping into Level 9.
- Long staircases with varying lengths in Level 4 can lead wanderers here.
- Did you know that certain doorways and stairwells on Level 47 may lead here?
- An Orange Line train from Level 154 has a chance to end up here.
- Running certain programs on computers around the Backrooms may send one here.
» Exits []
- Going through an elevator has a chance to send one to Level 3, Level 5 orLevel 130.
- Level 4 may be entered via sections that appear more modernized.
- No-clipping through yellow wallpaper similar to Level 0 has a chance to send one there or to one of its Sub-Levels.
- Walking through a neon-colored doorframe into nothingness leads to Level 154.
- Noclipping through a flickering dark blue wall sends one to The Blue Space.
> Open Author & Licensing Information > Close Author & Licensing Information Original Author: AndromedaMapping1
Rewriter: CanineAnnoyer
Wikitexter: Xanth
Partially inspired by an unfinished rewrite from Xanth
Images: 1st image taken from Superliminal, 2nd image from a still from Family Ties, 3rd image from R/liminalspace.
Music: Libet's Delay by The Caretaker.
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