Level XXX

Info

This took far too long - not because of the actual writing itself but mostly because of all the damn rules of the backrooms wikidot - IE. the discord verification process, the wait period before joining, all that sort of thing.
The main theme was originally extended angst about badly-maintained public infrastructure, as I'm not old enough to drive and have to make my way around walking most of the time and I keep seeing how little the government cares about upkeep on tunnels and paths. As time went on, I decided to put more depth into how the various hazards kill you and the MEG's attempts to allay them. I'm quite proud of the result, given this is my first page.
Created by PrismaticMoose

SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:

Unsafe.
Unsecure.
Moderate Non-Entity Hazards.

A digital photograph of a transition from the underpass to the roadside. Note the spores fogging the camera.

Description

Level XXX, often known as "The Plight of the Pedestrian" consists of two empty areas of roughly equal environmental hazard level.

The Underpass

The underpass is the first are of the level where most wanderers will end up when entering. It appears to be a dingy infinite underpass, with peeling paint and yellowing lights.
The main hazard in this area is the brown mould that spottily covers the walls and floor. This mould, while not individually hazardous, emits large amounts of spores into the air, which when breathed in can cause permanent lung damage within three (3) hours of constant exposure, and death within seven (7) hours. This effect can be slowed down by using a gas mask or wrapping a cloth soaked in Almond Water around your nose and mouth, as Almond Water seems to repel the spores¹. Even with this extra protection, ill effects may start to occur after six (6) hours.
The mould is also thought to have hallucinogenic properties in low dosages but this has not yet been proven.

The Roadside

The roadside is the second area of the level, which can be accessed via simply finding a random exit in the Underpass. The best way to find such exits is to look for areas with less spores and head in the cleanest direction, as mould cannot grow near exits to the roadside².
The roadside is a dirt footpath, worn by many feet, alongside a British dual-carriageway, bordered by boreal forests. The road goes along for 50 kilometers, before getting back to where it started. It uses non-euclidean geometry to achieve this, as it gets back to where it was before without curving in any three-dimensional way.
It is not recommended to try and cross over the road to the other side, as any attempts invariably result in death. Despite no cars being visible in either direction, trying to cross causes a car or other vehicle to appear outside your current view and run you over at speed, before both the vehicle and the wanderer corpse disappearing. All vehicles seen to kill wanderers have license plates which correspond with the cars belonging to missing persons. Any damage caused by hitting wanderers stays on a car if it appears again, although any parts that fall off will disappear with the rest of the car but not be re-attached the next time it appears. The vehicles are assumed to be controlled by the level itself, and not as separate entities, as they do not appear outside the level and cannot leave the dual-carriageway.

Bases, Outposts and Communities

The Cross Coders

The Cross Coders are a neutral group that lives in a ramshackle tent village on the roadside.
They believe that there is a great secret on the opposite side of the dual-carriageway. This "Secret" varies from person to person, some saying it's simply exploitable rare resources to others saying it may be exit to the backrooms. The only commonality is that this secret is extremely important and worth risking their lives for. They work together to find new and ingenious ways to outsmart the hazardous cars in this level and make their way across to the "Secret".
The majority of Cross Coders have some level of lung damage from the spores in the underpass, which may be the reason for their obsession with crossing the road.
Cross Coders can be identified by the green boiler suits they all wear, which according to early members were found in the electrical station next to their outpost.

MEG Investigations

Due to the danger this level presents, the MEG decided to study some of it's effects and how to mitigate them in 2024. The first order of business was to find out how the mould in the underpass kills people and how to mitigate it's effects. The following is a table of autopsies conducted by MEG pathologists on corpses connected with Level XXX:

+ Open Autopsy Data

+ Close Autopsy Data

Date	Test Subject	Exposure Time	Other Information	Cause of Death	Other Damage
21/04/24	XXX-1	~8 hours	Last seen by friends entering underpass on level 11 at 0934 BST, entered Cross Coders camp at 1550 BST. Cross coders noted that they had difficulty walking and were constantly coughing, so directed them towards level 3 exit. Subject collapsed at entrance to MEG base Gamma at 1620 BST.	Heart attack, from mould clogging left semilunar valve	Entire left lung was contaminated with mould culture, and most of the bloodstream had trace amounts of spores.
30/04/24	XXX-2	~3 hours	Noted in diary that they entered level XXX at around 1300 BST. Entered Cross Coders camp at 1612 BST, before asking to be shown to the exit. Coders radioed forwards to base Gamma that they would be on their way. Search party sent out at 1900 when XXX-2 failed to arrive. Located cadaver of subject next to entrance to Level XXX.	Blood loss, likely from Wretch attack	Mould culture had not entered bloodstream but was found in small amounts in what remained of right lung.
09/05/24	XXX-3	~??? hours	Cadaver located in underpass area by scouting party. Asthma inhaler from the frontrooms found in pockets of subject's clothing.	Asthma attack, likely caused by allergy to mould.	Only minuscule amounts of culture were found in subject's lungs, it is assumed they were not in level XXX long before expiring.
09/05/24	XXX-4	~10 hours	Left Cross-Coder base at exactly 1030 BST to search for lost wanderers. Located corpse of XXX-3 and got crew-mate to bring it back to base, while they continued searching. Corpse located at 2100 hours by another search party as they did not get back to the base on time. Subject survived much longer than all previous records due to using their own method of lung protection, that being a sheet of linen soaked in almond water wrapped around their head to cover the nose and mouth.	Oxygen deprivation from blocked trachea.	Despite prolonged exposure, there was no culture worth mentioning in the lungs or bloodstream.

After the end of the mould investigation, the MEG decided to entertain the Cross Coder's idea of their secret in case it did turn out to be an exit to the Backrooms. The Cross Coders were assigned MEG researcher M. Stewart and provided with requested materials at no cost, as long as they were not too rare or hard to transport. The following is the results of said tests.

+ Open Testing Logs

- Hide Testing Logs

Date	Test Procedure	Result	Additional Information	Researcher Note
26/09/24	Two Cross Coders were instructed to watch either direction of the road from safety, while a single test subject walks across.	Failure	Both people watching felt the overwhelming urge to blink and when they did so,two station wagons hit the subject from both sides, before vanishing.	Perhaps we should try more reliable observers?
30/09/24	Same procedures as previous test, but this time with cameras as observers.	Failure	Cameras stopped recording as subject reached halfway across the road, before being struck by two cars at once, similar to the last test.	We need to rethink our strategy. Maybe completely avoiding the road might work?
05/10/24	Zipline is launched from a tree on the Cross Coder's side of the road into a tree on the other side via crossbow. Test Subject is instructed to zip down it and climb to the ground on the other side.	Failure	Coach passed on the opposite side of the road, violently severing the cable as test subject was moving along it. Subject fell into the road and was immediately struck by a car.	Maybe going higher might reduce the chance of structures being destroyed?
23/10/24	Scaffold structure made of wood sourced from the forest is built to 5 meters above the treeline. Zipline is launched from there to the top of a tree on the other side of the road via crossbow.	Failure	Before any test subjects could be assigned, a pickup truck carrying a wooden plank across it's bed in such a way that it stuck out several meters from the vehicle appeared. As it moved forward, past the camp, the plank struck the supports of the scaffold with enough force to knock it down.	So the level can work out when we're preparing to cross even when we're not actively crossing? That complicates things. Next we may want to try an approach that doesn't involve structures.
05/11/24	Glider made of various sourced fabrics and local wood is constructed onsite. Test subject is instructed to climb to the top of a tree wearing glider and then glide across to the other side, attempting to lose as little height as possible.	Failure	The subject was able to start gliding normally, but on every lane in their path a flatbed truck appeared, each carrying a giant pane of glass upright. Subject smashed through every one but lost enough speed in the process that they landed in the fourth lane, at which point one of the trucks reversed over them.	Not content with just killing us, the level is now humiliating us too?
10/11/24	Request submitted for materials to create a powered plane to cross the road.	Rejected	Rejected by the MEG for being too costly and difficult to source.	So they rejected that huh? I guess I'm going to have to source the materials myself…
27/12/24	Makeshift plane made of scrounged materials is constructed by Researcher Stewart and flown from a raised platform some distance from the road by a test subject.	Failure	An army truck carrying an WW2 anti-aircraft gun appears at the furthest lane and downs the plane in a single shot. Both the truck and the plane disappear as soon as the latter touches the ground.	Dammit… That was our last shot… What can we try next? I'm out of options here…

Addendum:
On the 30th of December 2024 the truck carrying an anti-aircraft gun appeared next to the Cross Coder's camp and precisely fired at Researcher Stewart's tent. This resulted in the death of the intended, and large amounts of paperwork loss. Level XXX is now known to be intelligent enough to know who orders attempts to cross it's road, and so henceforth there will be no more MEG researchers posted there. All funding for the Cross Coders is to be withdrawn and all wanderers are advised not to join their ranks - even they have no intention of crossing - due to the risk involved with association.

Entrances And Exits

Entrances

This Level can be entered by taking a tunnel in an underpass that is at 90 degrees from the main passage. This can conceivably be done in any level that contains underpasses but is more common in levels with British-style architecture such as level Level 209. There are several consistent entrances near MEG Base Beta in Level 11, the locations of which are marked on a map inside the base.

Exits

Walking into a small storage room in the singular electric substation next to the Cross Coder base will lead to a set location in Level 3. This exit has been secured with signage pointing to the nearby MEG Base Gamma on the other side. This exit can also be used as an entrance.

Operating one of the emergency telephones located along the path will summon a tow truck on the road. Entering this will lead to Level 69, and is the only way to get any vehicle other than a car in that level.

‡ Licensing / Citation

Backrooms Sandbox 2

Sandbox: Reloaded