The Darkness

rating: +20

34 votes (+27, -7) 3.9★

rating: +20+x

Level Classification

Difficulty 4/5 Zero light, bottomless, dangerous entities, unstable in general.
Entity Count 4/5 Large amounts of aggressive entities.
Chaos Gradient 3/5 Zero natural photons.
Basset-Frazier Index 3.667/5 Remaining in this level for an extended period of time is extremely dangerous and will likely lead to one's death.

Description

dark

fig 1.0 Sonar image of inside of a cooling tower in The Darkness.

The Darkness is an infinite space shrouded in complete darkness, filled with a layered maze of railingless catwalks, pipes, and infinitely tall cooling towers. The temperature hovers around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 degrees Celsius), so warm clothing is advised. The Darkness does not merely lack light - there is no such thing as light in the level; any light source taken into The Darkness will cease to emit light upon entry. The main dangers of The Darkness consist of walking off the edge of a catwalk and falling to your death, freezing from the cold, being attacked by entities, or being accosted by bandits. The Darkness is inhabited by groups of bandits that climb along the pipes in the darkness, having memorized the level's layout. Some bandits are believed to even make use of human echolocation to navigate in the absence of light. The level is also inhabited by long-limbed humanoid entities known as Pipe Dwellers, which are attracted to sound. These entities should be avoided as they are carnivorous; while they lack strength individually, they will easily overpower wanderers, as they hunt in packs.

It is believed that the energy that would typically be emitted as photons in The Darkness is instead emitted as neutrinos. The pipes in The Darkness seem to receive waste heat from levels all across The Backrooms, which is run through the cooling towers. Rather than emitting thermal radiation in the form of infrared light, the towers instead emit neutrinos. Together with the Electrical Station, The Darkness completes The Backrooms' energy cycle, serving as the heat sink. Neutrinos in the level seem to behave mostly as they do in our universe, passing harmlessly through most matter. This allows The Darkness to absorb enormous amounts of waste heat without overheating itself. Very rarely, neutrinos can impact normal matter, energizing it as if struck by a photon. The high concentration of neutrinos in The Darkness makes this relatively common, causing occasional flashes in the eyes when enough neutrinos strike the retina to overcome the minimum detection threshold. The Darkness is not a safe environment in any way, and the UNCB does not recommend spending extended periods of time in it; if possible, it is recommended to avoid the level entirely.


Communities

Due to the difficulty and nature of this level, permanent civilizations are unfeasible and impossible to sustain for lengthy periods of time.


Entrances and Exits

Entrances

The Darkness can be entered by going through shadows in The Boiler Room of The Hotel. All of the level's sub-levels also serve as entrances.

The Darkness can also be entered via holes found in the tiled floor of the Padlock Passways.

Exits

The only exits from The Darkness are pipes and cooling towers. By going through the center of a cooling tower, one will end up underwater in The Flooded City. By going through an open pipe, one will end up inside one of the buildings in The Flooded City. Other exits include The Darkness's sub-levels.

More Levels:

The Office - (+36)

Oxygen Ocean - (+26)

Cramped Caves - (+22)

Padlock Passways - (+17)

Crumbling Dungeons - (+10)

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