Zenith

Information in this article may be purposely falsified for security.

We’ve all had the urge to see our home again. We want to go back, see our friends and loved ones, interact, and lead a normal life. We never knew we’d end up here, our very minds forced to comprehend that we are now victims of a cruel realm, and those who couldn’t, soon fell to insanity. We took our lives for granted, and now we live with the guilt every single day that we should’ve lived a little more. Yet you wonder what’s stopping us from ending it? We held onto a glimmer in our hearts, with our brains telling us that it is illogical and inconceivable, that we will come home and be reunited.

But what would you do if you unexpectedly saw a thing you longed for behind a barrier? How would you react? Would you shed a tear? Would you become embittered? You wouldn't know unless you saw it yourself.

Omega was sighted recently. A scouting operative made it back to one of the UNCB settlements; his face pale, with bags beneath his eyes. He was found trembling with terror at the entrance of the outpost. As the outpost personnel encircled him, he says "Omega" as he slowly lost consciousness. He was slowly loaded into a makeshift stretcher.

Examinations were made on the patient, and it was found that his hands were bruised and swollen. This couldn't have been the result of his falling unconscious.

It was a long and tedious process to discover the truth of what happened. During therapy sessions, the patient would stay silent, looking down on the floor.. almost as if whatever was being said played back in his ear in a muffled tone. He was beyond repair, yet, we tried the best we can to help put the pieces back together.

At the beginning of sessions, it was clear and evident that the patient was lying about his experiences. His stories ranged from having seen smilers to hallucinating the events, simply making up whatever his mind could conjure. We were sure that his first word to us wasn't a fluke, yet we did not inquire further about it.

He recovered well over time. The transcript below highlights one of his sessions, holding evidence that highlights a key event of a potential Omega discovery.

OPEN [RIVERA S54]

CLOSE [RIVERA S54]

DEFINITIONS:

T = THERAPIST
P = PATIENT/RIVERA

BEGIN LOG
T: Rivera, how do you feel today?

P: I'm better.

T: Good to hear… anything you want to talk about?

P: Well, yes, I… have quite a lot on my mind. I think I am ready to talk.

T: We're here to help. You can tell us anything you like.

P: Okay. The patient recoils and pauses for a moment. First, you've gotta understand something. The reason I stayed silent and lied was because I saw something that no human should ever have to experience.

T: Why do you think you lied about what you saw?

P: Because you folks will send out more people to find it! P is seen looking up towards the ceiling light for a brief time.

T: When you arrived at this outpost, you said the word "Omega". What did you mean by that?

A silence fills the room for about ten seconds.

P: I saw Omega.

T: Can you describe how you got there?

P: I can't really wrap my head around it. I was at (removed for safety). I must have lost my consciousness almost immediately because by the time I came to, I was there.

T: There as in, you were on Omega?

P: The patient peevishly sighs I wasn't on Omega, I was above it. When I woke up, I was lying on my back and as I opened my eyes, I saw the stars. That alone made me begin to cry, and when I was putting my hands onto the floor to push myself up… there it was.

T: How exactly were you.. above Omega?

P: I found myself on a clear glass floor that was above the atmosphere. I couldn't see an end to the floor.

T: Did something seem out of place there?

P: Everything was.. normal, I couldn't hear myself though.. but the Sun was there, and so was the Moon! I even saw cities lighting up during the night-time, and satellites.

T: Did you try breaking the floor?

P: Yes, but it couldn't be broken. I ran around frantically like an animal after discovering that. The awful truth that I would never be able to go back again was shoved right into my face. Almost as if something was toying with me like a puppet.

T: Were there any entities?

P: I haven't seen any.

T: And how did you exit the level?

P: I don't know.. everything blacked out suddenly and I was back where I came from. I did not run into any entities while I attempted to find an outpost.
END LOG

Further data below ⬇

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THE UNITED NATIONS AND COLONIES OF THE BACKROOMS HAS FORBIDDEN ENTRY TO THIS LEVEL.

Due to unforeseen fluctuations in the chaos gradient of the level, the UNCB discourages entry to this level. It cannot exhaust all of its resources into preventing entry, but it can give you a reason why.
The following is an archive of the first version pertaining to the article, as well as excerpts written by Adam Myers.

`CLASSIFICATION`

Difficulty	3/5	It is advised to be psychologically prepared before entering this level.
Entity Count	0/5	This level is void of entities.
Chaos Gradient	0/5	No unusual events occur in the level.
Basset-Frazier Index	1/5	This level can be utilized as a safe haven, but unadvised.

fig. 1 Zenith.

Description

Zenith is a vitric megastructure that encompasses the globe of Earth at the exobase. The sun, moon, and the endless stars in the black ocean exist in the level. Physics, however, acts differently from how it would in Baseline.

Gravity

Gravity appears to be akin to Earth's gravity, noting that there is no air resistance; the acceleration of gravity is exactly 9.81 m/s² despite being thousands of meters above the air. Jumping and getting accidentally sucked into the abyss of space is unlikely.

Oxygen

Considering the satellites seen in Zenith, it is easy to place the megastructure to be at the exobase, which would be from 500 or 1000 kilometres above the ground. In Baseline, there would be no oxygen at that height. The level contradicts this however with stable levels of oxygen in its atmosphere.

Sound

Communicating in this level is impossible. Despite the existence of Oxygen, sound is not heard as if it was in an empty vacuum.

fig. 2 Illustration of the level

The Glass Dome

The dome encompasses the entirety of Earth and revolves around the sun in harmony with the planet.
It is seemingly indestructible, having tried destructive class devices like grenades in an attempt to penetrate the glass firmament.

As for the size, we know that the Earth's radius is approximately 6,000 kilometers, and in order to find the radius of the glass dome, we can add the approximate height of the dome above the ground to the radius of Earth, then the radius of the dome would equal from 6,500 to 7,000 kilometers.
With that in mind, there is a very low chance to meet another human due to the sheer size of the dome being even larger than the planet.

Human Activity

Satellites along with the illuminated cities are clear indications of human activity within the globe, but there is an abnormality.
Look upon the location of Poland, the farthest-east country of Europe. When night-time reaches it, the entire European continent turns on its lights.

Considering the gravitational and atmospheric anomalies, it is conclusive that the laws of physics are heavily distorted. Then time would also work differently than it would in actual baseline… however, that is not the case. The revolving of Earth around the Sun is seemingly fine and compasses work as they normally would. The same applies to the unusual human behaviour when night-time hits, as if all continents that approach night-time have the exact same schedule when turning on the lights for their cities. With such irregularities, it is indicated that this is a near-perfect replica of Earth, designed to inflict nostalgic agony on whoever stumbles upon it. An ill informed person wouldn't notice the signs.

With the size of the dome, and the nonexistence of sound, colonization is impossible.

Exits

There is no known exit, not without the severe compromise of your mental health.
Craig Rivera's psychological state was put to near insanity, and UNCB Operatives exited the level almost traumatized despite being mentally trained to withstand it. We speculate that this level has a degree of sentience, because when it senses that you are near insanity, you return from your coma to where you were.

EXCERPT ONE

Myers here.
The UNCB was looking for volunteers to redocument "Zenith", I think I was the only one that volunteered like an idiot because there was nobody else that came with me when I got sent off. Kept telling me that they split us up to find the (removed for safety) faster. Either that was a lie or I'm the first guy to make it here. Not gonna hold onto that thought because it makes me more uncomfortable.

They told me to stay here until I notice anything out of the ordinary happening, I'm going to work on the camp now and try not to look down.

EXCERPT TWO

Done with the camp. I wish I could've spent a little more time with friends and family back home. Maxwell, Tobias, Allen, and Rebecca. I'm reminiscing on the past, and forgetting their voices. There are so many things I wish I'd done, and so many memories of what was. I may be missing those memories, but they'll live forever in my mind.

I can see the glimmering cities below me and imagine what my life would have been like if I was still down there. Would I have been a successful guy with a family or in a much worse place than where I'm at now? Can't know for sure. Anyway, the view's beautiful from up here, below and above.

EXCERPT THREE

So, it's been 2 days since I arrived, mostly staring at the stars, and something's happening to them. So let me visualize this to you:
You are staring at a star for five seconds, and it disappears. You think it's normal, perhaps air pollution or other factors. Then you look to another one, and it fades away after five seconds too. You stare some more, and as you do that, more and more stars disappear.

You think "That's not normal." and it isn't, especially that I'm almost above the atmosphere and there should be absolutely no air pollution at all. Also, UNCB, fuck you, how come I don't see anybody up here with me yet?

EXCERPT FOUR

Hi again. It's been four days now. The guys over at the outpost gave me some fidgeting toys to play with so I manage my anxiety and don't get bored, no idea how they made or found them. Not complaining. One more thing (it's also so seamless that I didn't notice), I don't think you can get hungry or thirsty here. I'm so glad for that because I don't want to take another spoonful of the shit carpet food they gave me.

I decided to start looking back down in the morning, fast forward to night, and..? There are no lights. I don't see ANY lights down there. Could it be an electrical outage affecting four continents? Could be.

EXCERPT FIVE

Okay, so, I thought about travelling over to view the North and South Americas side so I can check if this very unique electrical outage is also happening there. Realized that it would probably take me more than four months, so I sat down. Update, there are very few stars now, and the sun is getting darker. In all honesty, I'm freaking out, but I'm trying to remind myself that this is not real. This place is evil, if it doesn't break you, it destroys everything else.

EXCERPT SIX

Fifth day here. I have some updates. It is pitch black out here now so I'm using a headlamp. The sun has disappeared, and so did everything else except for the dome. I cannot see the Earth below me because, I'm 500 kilometres up.

This is fucking terrifying, and I need to get the fuck out of here as soon as possible.

EXCERPT SEVEN

NOTE: This specific excerpt was mostly written in an incomprehensible manner. This was the only retrieved sentence.
the ground is shaking, i dont know how thefuck and i can see lines allbelwo me.

The journal was found by a Porter traversing one of the levels in the Backrooms. We cannot begin to comprehend the full capability of Zenith, nor the sudden disappearance of Adam Myers. It can be noted that the level begins to deteriorate significantly as time passes, with the deterioration beginning to take full effect on the fourth day.

rating: +11

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