Entity 189 - "The Macchina"

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Ancient depiction of The Macchina drawn by The Lost.

Entity Number: 189

Habitat(s): Extinct (Formerly Level 2)

Description:

The Macchina were an ancient species of partly cybernetic entities which were loosely related to The Lost. Due to circumstances which are as of yet unknown, this species went extinct around two-hundred years ago. Evidence of their culture, interactions, societal behaviors, and subsequently, their existence have been provided by The Lost and other parties.

What we know to be true about The Macchina is actually quite little. They seemed to be the most widely spread out race in The Backrooms previously to humans, having mastered the art of no-clipping to and from a variety of Levels. Their home resided in Level 2, having slowly evolved from an animalistic species into the sentient and highly advanced cybernetic race that they were previous to their extinction.

They made friendly contact with The Lost early in the group's starting years, and they were known to trade resources and share their knowledge about The Backrooms with them.

"The creatures walk lightly, and with elegance. They know much more about this place than we do, although they do not claim to hold such knowledge.

They treat us kindly, for now. As such, it is only just to deliver such kindness in return. I wonder, however, where these beings come from. They seem to be connected with these walls… almost as though they were a part of them before.”

-Ancient Lost text on The Macchina.

Biology:

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A variety of mechanisms that were used in Macchina suits.

The Macchina were vaguely humanoid, but they enclosed themselves in large, metallic suits which they wore for the entirety of their lives. These suits had bulky, elaborate designs which utilized extremely advanced technology, which was not understood by anyone other than themselves. The species also welded small, human-like patterns into the front of their visors so they could share a similar appearance with The Lost, and not seem "off putting”.

The true form of The Macchina is incredibly unclear to modern historians. In the creature's culture, a member of the species was not considered "alive” until they had been put into their suits, and so depictions of their natural forms are exceedingly hard to come across as it was considered taboo to depict dead members of their society. The materials they would use to create these suits were gathered from places like Level 2, and they had almost completely stripped the Level clean of the rare resources which they used to create their cybernetic enhancements with towards the end of their reign of The Backrooms. However, it is unknown whether or not these creatures were "born" naturally, or manufactured in a more robotic sense.

In general, the species housed technology that was revolutionary for its time, and especially hard to replicate even in the modern Backrooms era. Their machinery may have been comparable to that seen in The Frontrooms, but much more alien in nature. It is also believed that The Macchina used rudimentary forms of spears and pikes as weaponry when needed. Although the species had been working on an early version of what could be considered a "gun”— this being a small pipe that could launch flaming projectiles— the species deemed it too resource-heavy to bother using.

They had utilized a language that has yet to be translated into most languages by historians, but when The Lost arrived, they did learn to communicate in a crude form of Latin. Their writing used heavy emphasis on markings and small symbols, not dissimilar to Egyptian hieroglyphics. Blanche has since offered to try and translate the language using the knowledge of Level 906, having been familiar with the race.

Culture:

From what it seemed, The Macchina had a culture completely defined in The Backrooms. The race had never even been outside of The Backrooms itself, Having lived in The Backrooms for the entirety of the time that they were active. As such, when The Lost began to speak of their time in The Frontrooms, they became increasingly fascinated with the concept of this "other world” so to speak. Towards their disappearance, they had begun drawing large and magnificent tapestries of what seemed to be their depiction of environments in The Frontrooms, and would show this to newborn members of the species.

Some time around The Lost's arrival, The Macchina had begun to experience resource fatigue within Level 2, which is theorized to have been a defining factor in the disappearance of The Macchina. At their largest, the group could have had between one thousand and two thousand members. Towards The Lost’s arrival, however, they began to drop into the hundreds.

"They seem to believe that their offspring can only be created within the walls of The Second Area. They have almost entirely relocated there, seeing its resources as almost sacred in nature.

I have consulted with the chiefs of their tribes, and they have expressed doubt over the future of their loved ones. They simply are reproducing at too fast a rate, and have too little equipment to continue creating their machinery. Every third child dies, lacking a suit for it to inhabit.

They have created such wonderful art and worlds with which we are lucky to visit… but at a steep cost. Perhaps, this cost will be too much.”

-The Lost’s document of The Level 2 crisis.

The Great Answer

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A surviving drawing of The Great Answer, drawn by an unknown Macchina.

In the last months of their existence, they began to speak of something they called "The Great Answer”. Scholars had claimed that a "solution" had arrived, solving their wildest questions as to the nature of their existence which had gone unsolved for centuries. They said that this could rescue them from their recent famine, and potentially give them enough resources to create more machinery for centuries. At one point, they even declined resources from The Lost, believing The Great Answer would supply them.

Soon they began to draw art of figures descending from bulbs of light within Level 2, reaching out to them in an almost biblical connotation.1 Only a small amount of time after faith of The Great Answer started to spread, would The Macchina disappear forever.

It is believed that the knowledge of such a place like The Frontrooms was inherently contradictory to everything the species had known up until that point in their lives. Knowing that The Backrooms was simply an imitation of a pre-existing place seemed to cause a species-wide existential hysteria, which may have lead to such a willing acceptance of The Great Answer. It is unknown who or what started spreading The Great Answer, or the exact nature of its knowledge, but it must have had detrimental effects to the species.

Disappearance and impact:

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The remnants of a Macchina household.

The ruins left behind by The Macchina are extremely scarce, but provide a wealth of understanding related to their history. Still, as the backrooms has continued to expand since their disappearance, The Macchina's ruins remain hard to come by. To date, not a single intact settlement has been discovered.

When compared to other major species in The Backrooms, The Macchina disappeared relatively quickly. Some theorize that the group died off as a result of their fleeting resources, unable to adapt to the changes in their environment. Others theorize that The Great Answer did, in fact, ascend them to a higher level of being, perhaps even taking them to The Frontrooms itself.

Either way, their sudden extinction shocked The Lost, and caused the group to have a "non-intervention" policy for years to come.

Interview 1337
Interviewer: Doctor Bierre
Interviewee: Aulus of The Lost


Bierre: So, are you ready to tell us about The Macchina?

Aulus: I have not heard of them in… a long time. What do you wish to know?

Bierre: We've heard from your other historians that they were fairly amicable. What was your personal experience with them?

Aulus smiles to himself.

Aulus: They were scholars, artists, musicians… They created instead of destroyed. They were at times brighter minds than us, but yet they still knew so little of the world with which they inhabited.

Aulus: In time, however, this lack of knowledge consumed them. We came from another world, and it scared them beyond belief. They wanted answers- a god to believe in, some sort of creator to explain such horrors…

Bierre: And what did they find? What was "The Great Answer"?

Aulus: They found one, I suppose. We never did get to see it ourselves. Still, they were good to us… and I wish them well, regardless of where they are now.

Aulus: Perhaps the things we see in this world can scare us. Perhaps there truly is no answer to the nature of our life. My faith has been tested ever since I have arrived here. For some, the only true "answer" is in death itself.


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