The Hive

EXPEDITION #0082



THE CONTENTS OF THIS FILE— WHICH REGARD THE PLANS SURROUNDING EXPEDITION #0082— ARE NOT TO BE RELEASED ON THE BACKROOMS DATABASE UNTIL PROPER RESULTS HAVE BEEN RECORDED AND COMPILED FOR PUBLIC VIEWING.

FOR FURTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT Doctor Bierre, THE LEAD RESEARHER OF THE AFFORMENTIONED EXPEDITION.

Object X refers to a large, metallic obelisk located at the bottom of an obscure cavern within Level 8. Its origin and purpose remain unclear to researchers.

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The cavern which leads to Object X.

The visible portion of Object X is roughly 16 feet (4.8 Meters) tall, with an unknown amount of the structure having been buried beneath the floor of the cavern. Estimates of the object's total height range from 30 to 50 feet (9 - 15 Meters).

Historical evidence suggests that the obelisk was created before The Backrooms had a human presence. No natural explanations for the structure's existence have been discerned.

Current theories postulate that the object may have been created by a highly advanced species, such as The Macchina.


There are barriers. They will be crossed.

There are layers. They will be punctured.

There are threats. They will be handled.

And soon they'll realize,

What they've crossed. What they've punctured. What we'll handle.

And then they'll beg for mercy.


THE HIVE

PART ONE: BELOW EPIDERMIS


Two days before the expedition.

BIERRE: Hey.

KATYA: Hi.

BIERRE: So…

KATYA: …Yeah.

BIERRE: …You're still nervous, huh?

KATYA: Mhmm.

BIERRE: I'm sorry to hear that. They can still send a replacement, if that's what you—

KATYA: No. No, I don't want one. I can do it. Just a little jittery, that's all.

BIERRE: Okay… Well, I'll be going down there with you if it makes you feel any better.

KATYA: You? I thought Reed was going to be the team leader.

BIERRE: I took his place. I wanted a more hands-on approach with the expedition, I guess. That, and… I have to see it for myself, I think. With my own eyes.

KATYA: Then I guess I'll see you there, Bierre.

BIERRE: Right. Bye, Katya.

One day before the expedition.

BIERRE: All right, everyone get into position now! This isn't a drill here!

BIERRE: Okay. Okay. Blowing in three, two, one…

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BIERRE: WOAH! Holy shit!

BIERRE: Look at that! Haha!

BIERRE: Blew a hole right through the damned thing! That's perfect. Someone ready the mechanism, I'm sending us down as soon as we can go.

First day of expedition.

TOM: Bierre! You ready?

BIERRE: Yeah. How about you?

TOM: Not super stoked about going down in this fuckin' bell, but uh—

TOM: Shit, it'll have to do.

BIERRE: What's wrong with it? Can you operate it?

TOM: I can. I can. The Pulley looks fine too. Its just…

KATYA: All the cameras are functional. It might be a long way down, so we'll have a whole lot of photos to look over.

BIERRE: Sounds good, Kat.

Bierre takes a quick look at his fellow crewmembers. Each of them seem unwary and afraid.

BIERRE: Well, I get that we're all a little nervous— but the way I see it we aren't gonna start feeling any better about this situation.

BIERRE: You all volunteered. You all know the stakes. So, lets get started.

TOM: Okay. Load us in, fellas!

Tom raises a gloved hand to the researchers around the mechanism. They begin to unlatch the steel door fixated on the front of the device, and beckon for the expeditioners to step inside.

As they do, the door slams shut— it is now sealed tight, and will remain that way until the researchers arrive at their uncharted destination. The crew begins rolling the cumbersome craft over to the entry point of the obelisk, and starts the preparations for decent.

TOM: Here we go.

BIERRE: You good, Blake?

BLAKE: Yeah.

BIERRE: Okay.

The mechanism is lifted onto a wooden palate before being secured by a number of ropes, all of which connect to an elaborate group of pulleys situated nearby. The mechanism is then pushed into the interior of the obelisk, where the ropes catch it and prevent it from falling into the unknown abyss.

BIERRE: Seems like the pulleys can withstand the weight of the diving bell. That's good.

KATYA: Wait, was that a concern—

The craft jolts abruptly as the rope begins to lower the sphere into the inferno below, much to the surprise of the four situated within it.

BIERRE: We're moving! Tom, run a check on the radio.

TOM: Got it.

TOM: Topside, this is Team 82, can you hear us? Over.

The haphazardly-made radio console buzzes to life as a garbled voice punctures through its speakers:

"We hear you loud and clear '82, over."

TOM: Seems good so far, little interference.

BIERRE: Blake, you're nearest to the porthole. Can you tell how fast we're moving?

BLAKE: No. Can't. Too dark out there, should've hooked up some lights or something. Doubt the cameras are catching anything either.

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BIERRE: Damn. Okay.

M.E.G. Field Research Documents

Belonging to Blake Morgan


Initial Impressions:

It seems as though the length we had originally estimated for Object X was grossly miscalculated. The interior of the tunnel object has so far extended well below 70 feet (21 Meters), far deeper than what we had initially assumed.

Nevertheless, the diving bell we've constructed continues to plunge deeper and deeper into the void. It seems like the topside team has yet to run out of rope for us— thank god. For now, we're all just sitting in this tin can waiting to discover something interesting.

Notes:

-I'm not sure why Katya is on the team. She's a project R.O.U.G.E. member— I can't see why their group could be interested in the secrets of Object X. Do they know something we don't?

-Time will tell if the decision to replace Reed with Bierre was the right one. Is he a good leader? Unsure.

-The deeper we go, the more questions I have.

TOM: Guys. Guys, wake the hell up!

BIERRE: Huh? What—

KATYA: What's going on?

TOM: We've stopped moving.

BIERRE: Oh, shit.

BLAKE: Did they run out of rope?

BIERRE: Maybe.

KATYA: What if there's a problem with the pulley system?

BIERRE: There could be. But that would mean—

A concerning creaking noise echoes through the mysterious chamber as the ropes which once securely held the mechanism start to falter, threads beginning to come loose and tear apart from the sheer weight of the expedition team.

BIERRE: Okay. Nobody move, nobody panic—

TOM: Fuck this. I'm gonna radio in, see what's happening up there…

TOM: Topside, this is Team 82, can you hear me?

The radio emits loud, piercing static sounds as it struggles to make a connection between the two parties. Amidst the hideous noise, a muffled voice can barely be heard, though it is near indecipherable.

"Problem… '82… read… pulley… down…. over"

TOM: What was that? I didn't—

Tom's raising voice is abruptly cut off as the static continues. For a moment, the crew sits in silent disbelief, before panic quickly resumes.

BLAKE: We've got to get out of here.

TOM: Yeah, no shit!

BIERRE: Well, do you have any ideas?

TOM: Ideas! I don't—

The rope snaps in two. The diving bell careens downward, crashing against the walls of the narrow tunnel and throttling the team that reside within it.

One-hundred feet above, the researchers gathered around the base of the obelisk begin to raise the rope back to the surface. They are greeted by the other end of the snapped line, with no bell nor man in sight.

PART TWO: THE SURFACE OF DERMIS


A cloud of smoke gathers around the ruins of the smashed mechanism, which now rests atop a jagged rock in the middle of an open cave clearing. Above it lies the bottom side of the obelisk.

Tom frantically kicks at the entrance doors from within the dilapidated device, causing them to swing open as the surviving crew of the expedition quickly piles out of the diving bell. Only three remain— Tom, Bierre, Katya, but no Blake. He remains within the mechanism, his head smashed against one side of it, split wide open from the violent impact of gravity.

KATYA: Oh… god…

KATYA: We've— we have to get Blake out of there. He was bleeding, we need to—

TOM: He's dead. I'm not going back in there anyways, the whole thing is a death trap.

BIERRE: He might have some papers on him regarding the expedition, though. We need to preserve as much documentation as we can.

TOM: Really? You still give a shit about this expedition? I don't know if you noticed, but we haven't learned anything, and the only means of escape we had is smashed to pieces!

BIERRE: All the more reason to continue our research, then! We're the only ones down here! We have got to make the most of it, before we die.

TOM: I didn't sign up to die, asshole!

BIERRE: Oh, but you did! Both of you did! You knew this was dangerous, right? You were warned this could end in death, correct?

BIERRE: What did I tell you before we came to this place? You knew the stakes. You agreed to this.

TOM: Jesus, man…

KATYA: Uh, guys…

Katya begins to wander away from the rest of the group, peering down one of many desolate chambers within the strange environment they have entered.


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KATYA: What level are we in?

M.E.G. Field Research Documents

Belonging to August Bierre


Level X is a large cave system positioned beneath Level 8.

Description:

Level X differs from its parent level in a number of ways. Our experience with it so far indicates that it is significantly hotter— temperatures must be somewhere around eighty degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit), with significant accompanying humidity. We currently have no theories as to the source of this heat. So far, the level has also been devoid of entities (?).

The most prominent feature of Level X is its color. The caves of Level X are tinted in an otherworldly blue hue, and several pockets of the level are covered in an equally blue mist, which appears to have no negative affects when breathed in by explorers.


Other notes (format these when asap):

-Cave appears to have much more water than Level 8, many areas partially or fully submerged

-Tom claims to hear a strange ringing noise, perhaps an effect of the cave?

-Feelings of being watched

-Not particularly dark when compared to Level 8. Even without flashlights, the caverns remain mostly visible. Source of light is unknown

TOM: What's with this mist, anyways? Where does it come from?

KATYA: I don't think I know where anything in the backrooms comes from.

TOM: Hah. Fair.

KATYA: But there is something about this place that feels… alive. I can't quite describe it. With the fog, and the heat, and the atmosphere, it's like it's—

BIERRE: Breathing. It's like it's breathing.

KATYA: —Not exactly what I had in mind, but alright.

TOM: Wait a second, what the hell is that?

Tom points in the direction of a large pool of water. Something is splashing within it.

BIERRE: My god, its hideous!

M.E.G. Field Research Documents

Belonging to August Bierre


Description: Entity X-1 is a species of strange fish which appear to be missing their outer-layer of skin. They reside within the waters of Level X.

The body of Entity X-1 has either adapted to live within Level X, or has been horribly disfigured by it. It is unclear if its lack of visible skin is a product of evolution (expelling body heat to survive the temperatures of the cave?) or a wound of some kind. The method in which the entities manage to stay alive under such conditions is also unclear.

(I wish the cameras on the diving bell hadn't shattered. The M.E.G. aren't gonna believe this shit.)

M.E.G. Field Research Documents

Belonging to August Bierre


A few hours ago, Tom found a cluster of eggs alongside one of the cave walls. No idea what species they belong to.

It seems like this level is a little more populated than we first thought. Gonna need to add an addendum.

Hours of travelling pass. The more that is discovered, the less they understand.

The crew finds themselves in a giant clearing— the biggest they've seen yet.

At its center awaits yet another obelisk.

KATYA: Oh my god.

TOM: Fuck.

BIERRE: Okay. Didn't expect that.

They approach the giant pillar of mystery with caution. As they arrive at its base, they discover a strange sight:

TOM: …It's already been blown open.

BIERRE: How! Who the hell could've—

Bierre twists his head around and scans the walls of the underground world, as if the culprit may still be present.

KATYA: Look there— there's a coil of rope attacked to the entrance!

TOM: Christ, not more rope!

BIERRE: It looks… old. Older than what we descended with. But if we climb down one at a time, it should be able to hold our weight.

TOM: No! We are not going down there, not getting stuck again!

BIERRE: You got any better suggestions!?

PROJECT R.O.U.G.E.

TEMPORARY FILES OF RESEARCHER KATYA REYNOLDS

~~

Second Pillar:

There's another entrance pillar. I didn't really expect it to be there, but it does make logical sense in retrospect: the first environment we encountered didn't quite match with my expectations. The old texts spoke of something much more… grotesque.

I think what we found was just the first "layer", so to speak, and that this second pillar will lead us into the penultimate manifestation. The question is just whether we'll get out of it alive.

There was a string of text engraved alongside this pillar. Macchina wording. The others didn't see it, and I managed to copy it down before they noticed what I was doing. Don't have time to translate, though— we're about to go down.

I know we're supposed to be in cahoots with the M.E.G., but if what we know about this place is right— if what we know about the Macchina is right— then they can never learn the truth. This world needs to stay buried.



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PART THREE: THE MAW OF HYPODERMIS


Deeper and deeper the trio descends, into the thickest layer of the cave. Bierre is the first to reach the end of this pillar, landing atop an unstable patch of ground within a dimly-lit chasm.

Seeking to aid his vision, Bierre flicks on the headlamp strapped against his skull and looks downward at the base of his feet.

Where he expects rock to be, he instead sees a writhing, wriggling mound of flesh.

BIERRE: JESUS CHRIST—

TOM: God! Get me out of here! Get me the hell out of here NOW! Get—

As Tom screams as loud as his lungs will let him, Bierre looks up from the ground in horror and flashes his light against the walls of the area. They are crawling with small, indecipherable little winged bugs that instantly take flight as Tom's horrified yelling alerts them to the crew's presence.

The cloud of insects latch onto every inch of Tom's skin, pulling apart the threads of his body as Bierre looks on in astonishment. But before he can process the true terror of the sight which faces him he is pulled away by Katya and led away from the room, deeper still into the darkness.

M.E.G. Field Research Documents

Belonging to August Bierre


Another world beneath. It's dark. They ate him.

Shouldn't have led us down here. Didn't know what it would bring. Jesus.

Can hardly write steadily without my hands shaking. Kat found a little corner to hide in. She's calmer than me.

Need to compose myself. Need to get this all properly documented. But its so much and so hot and I don't think I can handle any of it. It's so hot now.

M.E.G. Field Research Documents

Belonging to August Bierre


Description:

Level X-1 is a flesh vessel filled with ecosystems of hatred.

The whole fucking place has to be alive. It's made of nothing but pulsating heaps of muscle and tissue, walls lined with eyes and bugs— so many god damned bugs— and blood and vomit and teeth. Everything down here is lined with teeth. The teeth have teeth inside of them, and those teeth are made of flesh. It's all paradoxical.

I think the places that we crawled through before this (Level 8, Level X) must've been its outer shell or something like that. All of it comes together to form some kind of monster, with a hard protective surface and a juicy inner core. And it's so fucking hot down here. There are rivers of acid that stream down layers of bone, and they produce such a fiery and consuming heat. It's like I'm being digested. Maybe I am.

I'm sorry, none of this is very professional of me. But I don't think I can write properly under these cursed circumstances. There's no way to clinically describe the nightmare we're dealing with down here.

I don't know what's going to happen next, since there's no going back to the entrance now. I think I'll stash our research papers somewhere secure, and then look for a good place to die. I can only hope someone recovers them somehow, and learns from my stupid mistakes.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so

The bottom of this obelisk reveals a world even further twisted than the one before it, this one fully hive-ified. Extremely hot and full of Hymenoptera. Giant hives line the walls, their suits barely protecting them from the swarms of insects they produce. Tom is overtaken by the wasps and is turned into a hive-zombie.

Bierre and Katya arrive at a giant chamber which houses the Hive Queen, The Bug Mother, a giant eldritch mass of moving hives formed from the corpses of numerous entities that had made their way into The Hive. The Bug Mother speaks to bierre, seemingly sentient, before expressing its hatred of humanity and revealing part of its origin. It then kills bierre.

Katya flees to a small clearing in The Hive wherein she discovers a dead yet perfectly-preserved body of a Macchina. She then observes the swarming clouds of Hymenoptera and shudders at the thought of what damage they could do when introduced to a populated area of the backrooms, and reasons that that may have been why they were sealed here in the first place, likely by The Macchina.

EPILOGUE: BUG MATER ORITUR


The barriers have been crossed. Layers punctured. Threats handled.

The seal which once kept us in place is broken, shattered by the weak will of humanity. They have only themselves to blame for what comes next.

First, I will create a mockery of their culture. I shall weave a parody of their flesh using our superior chitin, and this degrading reflection will infect their grounds and bring sickness to their people. It will be an artful expression of my hatred, a warning for what may come next.

Then, I shall send you beautiful drones away from our hellish prison and into the world above, into the altered reality that the humans now call "home". You will do as I once did— infect the land, bring destruction to those that inhibit it, and dominate what little remains.

And finally… we may return to Earth.

BUG MATER ORITUR.

PRIMUM CIMEX SYMPHONIA.

VESPA DEVORARE HUMANUM.

AD TERRAM! AD TERRAM! AD TERRAM!

The hive queen narrates as the worker drones move their way through the newly-opened obelisk before ambushing the M.E.G. scientists gathered around it.

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