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Level 2: "Pipe Dreams"

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2
2
Threat Index: Class 2
»⠀Unsafe
»⠀Stable
»⠀Low Entity Count

Although the vast majority of wanderers report entering the Backrooms in Level 0, and occasionally Level 1, there are various accounts of Level 2 being initially entered into by wanderers. At present, it is the furthest-known level directly accessible from baseline reality.

An image of Level 2.


A new section of Level 2.

⤳ Description

Level 2 is a vast network of interconnected utility tunnels, maintenance shafts, and rusting pipes. Unlike the typically inconstant level environments of the Backrooms, space in Level 2 does not physically shift live, lending much of the level a relative ease to navigate through. The level’s architecture, which can differ from one place to another, remains largely uniform without alteration in its diversity and appearance for each given area. Its layout, however, reportedly becomes more complex the farther one travels from their entrance point, with corridors going up and down that may impede travel or cause injury, especially in dark areas. Fortunately, however, there have been no reports of entities lurking around these areas, most likely due to the heat and extreme humidity.

The supply of provisions and hydration is heavily limited in Level 2 despite the number of water pipes in the level. Because no machinery or boiler rooms required for these pipes to function have been discovered as well as the humid temperatures in various areas of the level, rust, bacteria, and other pathogens overwhelm its insides that may contain Almond Water. Unknown diseases, mutated bacteria, and viruses have been discovered within these networks, meaning the source for most epidemics within the Backrooms is usually Level 2. These pathogens typically spread through direct contact or the consumption of liquids present in pipes. These are to be avoided, either from ingesting or even being near them to avoid accidental exposure.

Recorded ambience of the level.

Geological activity in Level 2 is prevalent, and earthquakes occur as often as in regions on the Ring of Fire in the Frontrooms. Any powerful enough tremors can demolish and therefore render parts of the level inaccessible due to the lack of maintenance work, although most do not have enough intensity to inflict severe damage on the level's structure. The circumstances behind these earthquakes presumably originate from cracks within Level 2’s giant concrete mass. Chunks of them may push against each other, and with these theorized crevices within, one of them may slip from stress buildup, thereafter releasing an outburst of energy.

An early image of Level 2.

The level's temperature differs depending on where one is at, and escaping extreme areas often ends unfruitful. Those concentrated with steam pipes can rise to 60–100 degrees Celsius, and areas where air vents are prevalent have colder temperatures. Snow may also form in certain months, but it is not known how it can enter in the first place.[1] Exiting the level through these passageways should not be considered, as it is rare to find a system large enough to crawl through for hours. Exiting the level through this method is not advised, as it is rare to find a system big enough to crawl through for hours. Chipping away the concrete is also futile, as the distance between cracks within the level’s matrix can be greater than that of tectonic plates in the Frontrooms, which otherwise could be used to easily traverse through the level.

Instances of changing layouts are also common, but the anomaly has yet to be captured by a video camera despite many stating that they were able to touch the seemingly hallucinatory objects. Exploring Level 2 while simultaneously recording would not prevent the changes from still occurring, and more often than not, the recording would show the person filming to be experiencing the anomaly in real-time as attested by the cameramen themselves. Therefore, the phenomenon is mainly thought to be purely an effect of being exposed to geometrical anomalies that are prominent in earlier levels. The only solid corroboration of the theory, a window outlooking what appears to be the Whole, seems to be taken in a vacated attic that is partly or mostly constructed out of wood. However, no location/level has matched the description other than Level 2 itself. Although the level is mostly constructed with concrete, certain, older areas of the level are constructed out of wood, though cobwebs cannot form given that the environment is highly unsuitable for invertebrates.

A brightly lit area of Level 2.

While there are at times signs of human activity, encounters with outside parties of wanderers as of currently have never been confirmed. Additionally, communication devices such as radios and walkie-talkies completely malfunction on the level. The circumstances are unknown, as linear space in Level 2 does not alter drastically nor even a slight bit unlike Level 0. However, the possibly infinite concrete space of Level 2 is theorized to be the perpetrator.

There are no doors that can be found, and recollections of similar fixtures, such as windows, trapdoors, and scuttle doors, are mostly identified as cases of paramnesia. Exits are instead found in the level's few crawlspaces, sometimes crowded by extensive and inoperative amassments of wires due to possible punctures that cause them to flood into the claustrophobic stretch. Moreover, these wires do still hold electrical charge, and could often result in serious injury.

Although still speculative, there is a possibility that Level 2 contains an anomaly that directly influences wanderers in the level. Recent Level 2 entrants have been tested to use up more energy than the average person, as well as producing unnatural amounts of adrenaline when the body is active (e.g. running). Furthermore, most who enter Level 2 also report either being more energetic upon arrival, but more exhausted as they exit; entities or subjects (human/animals) born in the Backrooms are not affected, however, and it seems only Earthlings experience the anomalous spasm. Escaping from entities, while made easier, can increase risks of dying from exhaustion or further entity attacks in the long run.

⮡ㅤAdditional Information ⮢

Recovered Diary:


My Findings No. 7



Found in 2007, the diary was the first record of Level 2. Written in 1762 by an unidentified explorer, Arthur T., whose surname is unidentifiable due to a lacuna, was found slipped in between two pipelines.

AN ODYSSEY


To pristine, white rocks! I wondered what Zechariah would have said to me. Would he have called me Ishmael? Perhaps the pettifogging was too much for when the crumbling marble that surrounded the Ingleton-esque caves spoke to me like I was Belshazzar. The future was telling me to go thither. Something's been flowing through me during these times of hardship;—even I reminisced about my matrimony back home.

And how have I not mentioned the woven cannon barrels that line up the walls? Spheroids of bees inside and clouds not contrasted by the blues. The cramped and unreasonably elongated attic rained from a not-so-great height and the stench of rotten cattle from a thousand brittle skeletons underground of Paris. Persons in their towering periwigs and their shoulder caps with peacock feathers foliaged in the fitted bodices like stars on the sky.

Thenceforth I end this for today and you will be expecting a second handful of paper in one fortnight. As dull as the advances have made my home—as they say—"L'habit ne fait pas le moine." The folks, the wanderers, as they say on the carvings on the walls, and I've sworn I could catch up to them, catch on their ways. Have I spelled it out correctly?



⮡ㅤGallery ⮢

Putrid
Unpolluted
Kneaded

Putrid

Unpolluted

Kneaded

Putrid
Unpolluted
Kneaded

An image of Level 2, with ice sheets forming on the floor.

⤳ Entities & Anomalies

While mild compared to other levels of the Backrooms, Level 2's position as a starter location for many leaves much vulnerability, as most entrants are not accustomed to the presence of entities. Hotspots for entity activity have only been hardly mapped, and even finding one in the first place is made impossible by the level's significant size.

⮡ㅤEntities ⮢

Entities within Level 2 (i.e. Clumps, Hounds, Smilers, Skin-Stealers) have adapted to scurry headlong and mitigate the need to retain their energy like their counterparts in other levels. Uniquely for Windows, however, rather than showing a void behind them, a hollowed-out section of the level seems to lie behind the glass. The shadowy figures that appear behind them look to have a more physical form rather than being confined to the second dimension. Recognize that the reach of their contorted arms is more extended, possibly because of the level's layout.

The Biological Pipeline

Found in certain junctions of crawlspaces, sometimes lying behind sufficiently sizable pipes to hide their openings, these organisms can often stretch up to 20–200 kilometers from their "mouth" to the ends of the digestive tract. Descriptions of their physical bodies are divisive, ranging from their internal organs using the space in the cleavages to protect them to have their "pipelines" being their entire body. However, the former bear more evidence than the latter, as inflicting serious damage either through stabbings, gunshots, and grenades has resulted in them bleeding out.

The inside of the entity's digestive tract.

Going through these organic pipelines is often necessary, and fortunately would rarely lead to death as the process of digestion would only occur if the things they consume do not move after a few hours. Most of their diet comes from discarded pieces of food; and weirdly, debris; waste products, such as sewage, feces (presumably), scavenged organs and viscera, etc.; including junk, especially ones made out of plastic, glass, metal, and rubber. Using entryways to their insides can be an effective way to escape entities, however, as they generally avoid these pipeline networks in fear of an uncertain detail.

Alternative to using acids as the means to digest their food, they secrete a base referred to as the DuPont–Bayer solution.[2] This is quite likely due to their "pipeline" being constructed out of aluminum, which the solution they produce does not dissolve, to presumably reduce the weight of the digestive tract their theoretical bodies are holding up. Besides, most of what they consume may contain sharp edges that could pierce them if it was made out of flesh instead of metal, and if an organism were to end up being digested, its stomach acid would be immediately neutralized by the alkaline, with the byproduct being their source of water and ions. The solution can dissolve an adult human within a matter of seconds.

⮡ㅤThe Clockwork Theory, a.k.a. Hallucinatory Spatial Fluctuations ⮢

Unlike Level 0 and Level 1, the geometry in Level 2 does not have a concrete category: constant or fluctuating.[3] Most seasoned explorers believe that, despite being one of the three foundational levels, the total size of Level 2's accessible areas (which excludes the outer regions of the level, as it is contemporarily assumed to be an expanse of pipeline networks lying in a Void-like space) can theoretically be calculated if enough manpower and more developed technology are available. This has never been attempted, however, and it remains as a theorem with conflicting accounts on the subject.

The first report of such occurrences has been lost in time, perhaps appearing since human documentation reached the Backrooms. Individuals who experience this anomaly/hallucination are typically novices and intermediate travelers, with the reason being still under speculation. Ranging from the presence of furniture or areas that are officially known to be absent from Level 2, to the level's layout drastically shifting more frequently than that of Level 0. Details that show most often in these cases include, but not limited to:

  • Locked doors on walls and in dead ends of hallways;
  • Blank windows, sometimes even placed on the floor, either looking at a concrete wall, the Void, or the Whole;
  • Small chairs and coffee tables, sometimes with expensive cigars, narcotics, and/or a few already drunken alcoholic beverages on them;
  • Paintings, particularly ones that depict bright, outdoor landscapes;
  • Fully furnished bedrooms akin to the ones in Level 5 within the rooms that connect the main corridors of the level;
  • Staircases that either directly lead to a wall or another corridor of higher elevation.

The Clockwork Theory suggests that the entirety of Level 2 is a monumental clockwork with its inner mechanisms hidden behind the walls, suggesting that there is machinery instead of pure concrete. The moving parts, which are the furniture and small parts of the level, rotate instantaneously and subtly to disorient wanderers. This theory does not apply to Level 0 or Level 1, as the former does not possess the required space for such equipment, and the latter has significantly differing rooms that it is simply not possible to alter without cutting into an edge. Digging the concrete walls enough to assumingly reach these theorized machineries is not possible due to the instrument needed not being able to fit nor be brought within given the limited space.

A false entrance to Level 2, located in Level 3.[4]

⮡ㅤFalse Entrances ⮢

In levels that are numerically not far from Level 2, including the ones that are known to not bear an entrance to the level, there may appear locations that seemingly lead to Level 2. Usually, some signs and drawings indicate likewise near the supposed entrances, with the identities of the persons responsible for graffiti or hand-drawn markings being unknown. The quantity of these indications, and the false entrances bearing said markings, suggests that their placement was not coincidental.

These locations might arise due to Level 2's semblance to a utility tunnel, albeit with unconventional proportions in some areas of the level. As most levels appear to occur within commercial buildings, institutions, and industrial plants, where utility tunnels are often present, parts of their edifice may look similar to Level 2. Distinguishing the legitimate ones with these anomalies is done by turning in the direction one has entered immediately after passing through the entrance. Suppose the passageway does not disappear, replaced by an obstacle such as a wall or revealing a whole different section that would otherwise be "behind" one upon entering. In that case, it means that it is a false entrance.

However, there are a few cases in which the entryway is a door, where one may be trapped inside the corridor that is still located within their location due to it being automatically locked after it is closed. In levels with entity presence, it is especially advised against entering these masquerades as one may be liquidated by the entity within the corridor without an adequate weapon. These areas are relatively small and only consist of one corridor of approximately 20 meters on average.

⤳ Colonies & Outposts

Due to the nature of Level 2, no major bases have been established. Small groups tend to use explosives to carve out makeshift bunker-like living areas for temporary housing or storage.

An entrance in Level 11 located under a manhole cover.

⤳ Entrances & Exits

⮡ㅤEntrances ⮢

  • Level 2 is the final level one could access by noclipping out of normal reality.
  • No-clipping out of and/or entering maintenance areas of certain levels may lead to Level 2.
  • A variety of factors causes Level 1 to fade into Level 2, in addition to ordinary doors and stairwells which could grant one access to Level 2.
  • Entering vents that are sometimes found in Level 8 leads here.
  • Removing a manhole cover in Level 11 and descending downward.
  • No-clipping into the pipes in the corridors in Level 17.
  • Bunkers in Level 41 may lead here.
  • The green door located in Level 111 has a chance of transporting one here, including a myriad of other levels.
  • Fire exit doors in Level 154 lead to Level 2.
  • No-clipping through a painting with a setting that resembles Level 2 in Level 264.
  • Entering a door in Level -1 has a chance of leading to Level 2.
  • Exiting through the Lobby of Level -115, though it may lead to other levels as well.

⮡ㅤExits ⮢

  • Executing certain tasks and entering parts of the level may lead to its sub-levels.
  • Fire exits could lead one back to Level 1 or forward to either Level 3 or Level 477
  • Entering a golden door marked with the symbol "Φ" will lead one to Level Phi.
  • Certain hallways of Level 2 possess a chance of leading to Level 4 or Level 27.
  • Coming across a sewer tunnel leads to Level 34.
  • The gradual increase of neon lighting signifies that an exit to Level 699 is near.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The snowfall in the level can be filled with debris, but it is relatively safe to consume when boiled.
  2. ↑ The name of the solution originates from the companies DuPont de Nemours, Inc. and Bayer AG, where the two individuals who managed to reverse engineer the base previously worked.
  3. ↑ The level is Euclidean, supported by witness accounts of how the level's layout alters itself, which would not be possible if it was non-Euclidean.
  4. ↑ In this image, the false entrance appears to be an ordinary hallway instead of a fire exit.

> Open Author & Licensing Information
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Author: SherlsF
Editor: Egglord1
Images:
Previous version of Level 2 is linked here.


The article is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0, excluding other content such as images, code, additional information, etc. which are licensed under the same licenses determined by their respective authors, meaning you may or may not include them in your own work. Others may share and adapt the work(e.g. translations), though it is required to credit all of the authors above including applying the same license to your derivative work.
Recommended Pages Made by the Author
Canons Winter's Butterfly
Levels Megalophobia │ A Child's Abnormality │ White Torture │ Roads to Abyss │ Haphazard Remnants │
Saturation
│ Terror Basins │ Innocent Ball Pit │ Day Zero │ Vitrum Madness │ The Last Snow │ The Unit │ Antiquated Perpetuity │ Indigence │ Niagara of Iron(ic) Fists: The Contra-Pulp Fiction Theme, Vol. I & Vol. II │ Ain't All Blood Red │ Pipe Dreams │ The Worm in the Fruit │ Vienesse Sunday │ Old Mister Staircase │ Thalassophobia │ Toko Kelontong
Entities Mandela Disease │ The Death Locomotive │ Rainbows │ Count the Stars! │ The Thing on Level 7
Tales The Temporal Yellow │ The Ladybug Heart of a Génocidaire
Joke Em Dash Island │ Meggies


<<‏‏‎ ‎Level 1‏‏‎ ‎| Level 2 |‏‏‎ ‎Level 3‏‏‎ ‎>>

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