"Pan-Dimensional Highway"
G is for Gap
Terminal-3 |
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| The Pan-Dimensional Highway is an unintended man-made entrance to the Backrooms. | |
General Information |
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| Name: | Pan-Dimensional Highway (Common name) |
| Type: | Singular, unstable, stationary. |
| Prevalence: | Darién, Panama |
| Survivability: | ★★★★☆ |
| Destination: | level 69 |
After a decade of meticulous and tedious planning, construction finally commenced on closing the Darién Gap in the early 1990s. It was realized that despite the construction, labor and land costs, ecological and cultural impacts, and public backlash, the return on investment would be abundant, especially due to economic growth in the local region.
The project employed extensive use of viaduct bridges supporting a four-lane expressway, with a lower layer for train traffic. The new plan for the project has raised the expected costs of the project, now known as the Viaducto de Adán.1 Contractors considered backing out of the project, but after the discovery of several oil fields in Venezuela and even Colombia, the economic prospect from the project skyrocketed.
In the spring of 1993, the viaduct's construction commenced. It started all the way from Panama City and ended in a town in Colombia named Chigorodó. Both ends of the viaduct were the easiest to build, so construction began on both sides. However, both sides only reached the dense rainforest in 1994, and once they got there, things started to act strangely.
They were prepared for the elements waiting for them deep in the jungle, but there was an unexpected one which was not accounted for. Rarely, workers would just randomly "clip" through the structure that they were standing on, be it the bridge itself or on some scaffolding, and they would fall to their demise. As the months went by, incidents of these ghostly phenomena would rise in frequency. In 1995, another phenomena befell the Viaducto de Adán, in which workers would suddenly became nauseous onsite, which would render them incapable of performing construction work for 36 hours. It went on to afflict large swathes of the workers, plaguing two-thirds of the construction's workforce at one point.
Before the end of 1995, despite there being 25 kilometers2 of the viaduct left to build, the project was suddenly abandoned. This was due to the construction teams realizing the sheer difficulty of erecting such a feat of engineering in such a hostile and unwelcoming environment. However, the the true reason for its abandonment was kept secret from the public, which involved a third and final phenomenon assailing the construction project. During nighttime, things or beings traveling along the bridge's length suddenly vanished out of existence. This included large construction equipment and machinery, which were vital to the construction of the project and were taxing to replace.
Such a phenomenon slowed construction and increased costs drastically, and dealing with an otherworldly force was the last thing anyone would want during a construction project, which led to its cancellation in the end. World governments and construction teams even tried to conceal any evidence of the phenomena, but due to the losses that resulted from its onslaught, word managed to spread even before the project's cancellation. Eventually, governments were able to keep it classified under the guise of a lack of funds and contractors backing out, which only raised suspicion amongst the masses who were already skeptical about the disappearances.
12/2/2002
Status: Unknown
Possible Location(s): Unknown
Known Affiliation(s): None
Last Seen: Panama, Earth, The Frontrooms
I remember when they were building the great Viaducto de Adán, finally bridging both of the Americas by land. I remember being a freshman at the time with interests in infrastructure and architecture, and knowing the multitude of predicaments that such a project would entail, I was initially skeptical about the project, especially since there was minimal benefit. However, as time went on, as the highway's construction unfurled, and as nearby Colombian communities became richer thanks to the black gold, I eventually trusted for the project to be completed and for it to benefit our region's economy.
Because of that, I was abuzz about the Viaducto de Adán. I discussed about the highway with my peers from school, some family members, and even random people on the street. However, in the mid nineties, it was with one of these conversations with these random people which made me rethink my views on the Viaducto de Adán entirely. It seemed like a regular conversation at first, until he told me that we should hide in a nearby alley so that our talks are private. As soon as we reached a corner in that alley, he started talking about these anomalies at the construction site, saying they must not spill the beans. These anomalies, he stated, were of supernatural origin and would bring on major ramifications for society if leaked.
The conversation between me and this random person lasted fifteen minutes, and with each passing second of his alert tone of voice and convincing statements against my defenseless arguments, my enthusiasm for the project wilted into skepticism once more. It was almost like I could see beyond a grand illusion, almost like one of those dreams where you discover a new room in your house, a room which led to its darkest secrets. When I stopped talking about the Viaducto de Adán among my peers, they noticed that something is off, and when they mentioned it themselves, I would slightly panic and quickly try to shift the topic. Fortunately they never pressured or provoked me to talk about it, so for the next few years it just faded into obscurity for me.
That year I had to head off to college, which demanded my utmost effort to push through, brushing off any thoughts of the Viaducto de Adán especially since the project was cancelled later that year. After college I still worked a rudimentary job paying just above minimum wage. Fortunately, my parents were supporting me all the way. After 2 years I was able to get a proper and sustainable job and the next year I finally was able to move out of my childhood home. This included learning how to drive, so I practiced driving around my hometown of Panama City. One day I decided to try crossing through the Panama Canal, and so I did.
And that's when it hit me.
I was driving my car through a four-lane bridge which connects North and South America - isn't that exactly what the Viaducto de Adán was supposed to be? I pulled over at a convenient parking lot at the end of the bridge to gather my thoughts for a second. Remembering that entire phase of my life right in front of me felt trancelike. I then started to think about how that highway looks like right now and if anyone else may be buzzing about those crackhead's conspiracy theories from seven years ago. It was like I opened Pandora's Box, and now the curiosity has gotten the better of me. Even if there may not be much about it anywhere, it dawned on me to unravel the anomalies that shroud the Viaducto de Adán. I've got nothing better to do, for there still was a month before I move out.
After scouring as much of the Internet on my family computer for any answers on the anomalous highway, I was out of luck. I could only use the computer for only a couple of hours, so it would be better off if I had just planned to visit it myself, for it was just a five hour drive away. I'll have two weeks to prepare. The hardest part was to convince my parents that I have to drive to such a distant location. It was a long battle which almost made me reconsider all my decisions from the last few days, but fortunately we were somehow able to reach an agreement and I was given the go to leave the house for what was essentially an entire day.
Today is the day.
It was time to leave for the great adventure. I checked everything from the tires, the battery, oil, water, gas, everything I could. I even had a survival kit which included food and water, various emergency equipment for both the car and surviving a dense jungle. It was heavy, but I kept it in the passenger seat at all times.
I waved goodbye to my parents, with my mom pursing her lips and my dad biting his. Shortly, I stopped at a restaurant and spent $6.903 on a heavy meal which would hopefully sustain me throughout the trip. Before I went back to the car, I prayed to God for safety, especially since I'm still a new driver and many things can still happen.
When the suburbs turned into plains and the plains into forest, the highway was still open to motorists and there was no sign of sudden closure even after a couple hours. Even when I reached Darién Province, where there were only small, disconnected towns with hardly any infrastructure and modern technology, the highway still continued without any barriers stopping me and there were still a couple of cars that would pass by once in a while.
Something was definitely off. There's this massive freeway, in the middle of nowhere, that is open for anyone to drive. Not to mention they stopped maintaining this road for a long time, as clear signs of damage taint its surfaces. How come I haven't encountered a barrier yet? Nevertheless, I have reached the point of no return, and I cannot just pull a U-turn in a road like this. When I have made it this far in my journey already, the only way is forward.
The monotony of the roadways also concealed the passing of time, and before I knew it, the sun started to set. The road lacked any light, not even reflective surfaces. I turned on my high beams to ensure my safety. I could feel the bumps in the road from all the decay. I was entering uncharted territory. Oddly enough, even after I was this deep into the seemingly closed highway, there was still no signs of a barrier, or even a road sign indicating my location.
And then, there it was. A concrete railing suddenly appeared to the road's right side, which didn't seem to end. I have reached the viaduct. There were still no supernatural anomalies to be seen, but in the event that there was, I slowed down my speed to even below the minimum for these big highways. Who knows if I'll reach a dead end plunging me to an untimely demise?
Ten minutes in, I slowly began hearing a silent hum. I ignored it yet still thought that it could be one of those anomalies. It likely was just the sound of my car on the rough roads or some wind blowing, but at the same time the hum didn't sound like either of those two, and also seemingly came from a distant source. I also noticed the lack of a bright night sky which would be unnervingly out of place in an area this uncivilized, but then again it could be due to my high beams.
After ten more minutes, fog started to gather and hinder my vision. Again, I thought this was no anomaly, because weather like this is very common in thick rainforests like this. This could also mean that weather events like this endangering motorists could be one of the reasons why the project was cancelled.
But something truly felt off shortly after. For the past twenty-five minutes I've been driving through a bridge amidst an unending void, until it stopped and transformed into an embankment for a brief moment. While I was back on ground for a minute, I saw that in what was supposed to be a dense jungle, there was no vegetation in sight. There was just a barren plain to my left, and then a rocky mountain to my right. I thought this would not last for much yet the fog still persisted, I'd assume that would dissipate even for just a brief moment. Even when dense jungles get deforested, there would still be some greenery and wooden scraps laying about, but there was just an expansive, barren plain devoid of all but fog.
The highway returns to being a bridge into the void again for around three minutes, and then I see a tunnel, which already felt off since there is no real need to construct a tunnel for a viaduct bridging the Darién Gap considering its geography. While I was in the tunnel, I noticed that all the wear and tear that appeared long before all of this suddenly vanished. After traveling the tunnel for five minutes, there was an easy left turn which revealed light at the end of the tunnel. This would usually symbolize hope, but I knew that it would be impossible because it is currently nighttime. I had to face the fact that I had encountered an anomaly, and that crackhead from nearly a decade ago was likely correct.
Eventually, I reached the end of the tunnel with my heart racing, and for good reason. I didn't see a jungle so dark the Milky Way could be seen in full clarity and a long, worn bridge ahead, but I saw a deserted plain with even more roads and bridges reaching as far as the eye can see. Their streetlights brightened the sky, drenched in dense fog, to where it almost resembles daytime. With whatever that crackhead said from that long ago, I would not even be in shock if I entered a parallel dimension; am I in Hell now? Narnia? Wherever that one sock in the washing machine or where your pen goes when you accidentally drop it? Whatever my current predicament may be, I must always remain calm, and the worst possible ending is to just panic.
After minutes of constant driving, the roadways stretched far and wide and I fought my inner thoughts of taking random exits, for who knows where they would lead me. Eventually my car was running out of juice after fifteen minutes, so I had to pull over. When I got out of my car, I could feel piercing humidity, like a fragment of what should be ever-stretching selva. The hum which I have heard early on in the bridge was as loud and clear as day, and even faint drum sounds could be heard. The immense light drawn from the numerous streetlights, combined with the sheer thickness of the fog, scattered so much light to where it feels fabricated, even.
But after gazing at the overcast skies, I looked back down at my car, only to see that it has vanished. It had my food and water supplies, my emergency equipment along with it, as well as my phone. Seeing its absence got me resorting to wild conclusions such as it just being invisible, or that I am just hallucinating due to my mind having to process everything I've been through for the past hour. Even when it was already running out of gas and could probably only travel for three more minutes, that car still held a lot of value to me. It could have given me adequate shelter and a sense of safety, help me survive for even just a little longer, and I could give a shot at communication with my phone, or could give me a small bout of entertainment from its many installed songs. I stomped the ground which disrupted a nearby streetlight, flickering for a bit and producing some sparks.
Then I remembered one of the specific anomalies that crackhead said. He said that one of the first anomalies to plague the construction project were workers phasing through the bridge and falling to their death. Interestingly he also stated that there were less bodies under the bridge than they expected, so he implied that instead of phasing through that bridge, they went to some higher dimension to never be seen again. In theory, the inverse could be performed here and maybe after some time, I would be able to phase through the surface back into my home universe. I even tried erratic movement, such as running, jumping, and even actions that would result in self harm, but it was to no avail.
After a few minutes of doing all of that, it became clear that I would get seriously injured, with no ambulances to arrive, before I feel my feet pass through the asphalt. Seeing as my only sliver of fractured hope is already gone, I wept. I just stared into the darkness enveloping the barren wastelands ahead, and just cried. I was supposed to be living a happy life, finally enjoying independence from my parents and having a sustainable life of my own, and enjoying my early twenties while it lasts. Now I am just sitting here, in a forsaken land, with no way to go back. I still couldn't come to terms with my fate with just how insane everything that's happened, so I just cried it all out, hoping things will somehow get better.
Finally, I had regained my senses and have started to think normally again. I took a short deep breathing exercise, and have given myself time to relax for a bit. I knew that I had to accept my dire fate, but I have to evaluate things first. I looked back up at the skies for one last time, lying down on the asphalt, gazing at some moving lights up above, and somehow feeling comforted at such a sight.
Let's assume that this is indeed a parallel universe outside of the one I resided in, and that all the anomalies that the guy in that alley told me about were factual. It's best to discard any scientific explanations, as if I did enter another dimension, even the greatest scientists of modern times cannot unravel the mysteries of interdimensional travel, let alone just an Average Joe like me. The anomaly that I've seemingly encountered is the one that was so catastrophic it forced the closure of the project, according to that guy. The one where at night, objects that were traveling along the bridge just suddenly vanished out of nowhere, which included even massive construction equipment.
It is possible that the reverse can be done, where if I travel long enough in this dimension I can come back to Earth to the Colombian side of the bridge. Even after traveling for several minutes with a car that I no longer have with me, I am still stuck in here, and it would not be wrong to think that if I walked on foot for as long as I could before Death could get to me in many ways, my corpse would lie on the asphalt.
As I had tediously tried not long ago, I tried to replicate an anomaly in reverse which included phasing myself through the ground in hopes that somehow, I'd make it back home. Even this too is riddled with many flaws. First of all, if it didn't bring me back to Earth, it would likely send me to a plethora of other horrors this alternate universe may harbor. If I made it back to my universe, who said it would bring me back directly on that viaduct? Most of my home universe is just empty space, and it would almost be a guarantee that I'd be torn to shreds by the vacuum of boundless space. Even if somehow, I make it back to Earth, and make it back to the viaduct, I would die of starvation before reaching civilization, and if I do, they would treat me like crazy and I'll be cast out from society. At the very best, I'd be sent to some mental asylum, but do those even exist in the modern era?
Knowing that even under the wildest miracles that I would still be sentenced to doom, I finally came terms with my fate, with a tiny sliver of hope that my death would be painless, Who knows, maybe death might not even exist in a place like this, for this is a universe outside of my understanding. And so, for the rest of my minutes, hours, days, or God knows what, I just laid down, with my arms behind my head, feeling the coarseness of the asphalt, yet still mesmerized by the dancing lights above, against the oppressive foggy skies.