SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class 3
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A clear view of the infinite plane of buildings, seen from the window of a building close to the centre of this level.
A smaller sample of the countless buildings in Level 208.
Description
Level 208 resembles an infinite city, one of a greater density than most other city levels. The buildings themselves are rather tall, being no less than seven storeys in height, with buildings at the level’s epicentre being the largest. The buildings themselves are extremely reminiscent of buildings from USA cityscapes, particularly that of the Manhattan area of New York City.1 These structures are, much like their real world counterparts, built out of firmly cemented concrete, brick, and glass, with clearly defined floors on every storey.
Despite Level 208 being an infinite level, it does have a distinct "middle" area where all arriving wanderers enter. The central area, in contrast to the less built-up cityscape, has extremely dense and packed together buildings that reach the heights of traditional skyscrapers. The roads, of what little exist, begin to thin when getting closer to the exact centre of Level 208, gradually shrinking to the point of non-existence between the tallest buildings. This causes skyscrapers to push and wrestle against each other, causing structural damage.
While Level 208 lacks non-Euclidean structures and real world landmarks found in the Frontrooms, Level 208's geography is exceptionally similar to Level 11. This belief led people to believe that, upon its initial discovery, Level 208 was instead just Level 11 itself. However, key differences between Level 208 and Level 11 were discovered which allowed the M.E.G. to recognise the differences between the two cityscapes.
Another image of Level 208, pictured with a singular rooftop and a single access stairway that leads inside of it.
A wide shot of hundreds of buildings.
While Level 208 may initially seem like a fully traversable city, the only accessible areas of the level are the rooftops of each of the buildings, as well as a few floors in said buildings.
The rooftops themselves, depending on the overall uses the building itself would usually fulfill in a real city, are extremely detailed and lived in, possessing numerous details such as air vents, roof access for elevators and stairs, pipes, wires, satellites, ariels, litter, and in some rare cases, even small water towers or solar panels. While none of these items show outright abandonment, items such as the elevators, satellites, and solar panels are permanently deactivated unless rigged up to outside power sources. Tests also show that connecting the electrical appliances to the piping and wiring also does not provide any results, due to them carrying no fluid, gas, or electricity, however it is possible to hook the pipes and wiring to one's own gas or electricity supply if one has the equipment to.
As with cities in The Frontrooms, the rooftops are all at varying heights, often meaning individuals will need to use fire escapes or climb window ledges to successfully traverse from building to building, which—as one would expect—requires a level of agility to be able to properly accomplish. This is especially true when needing to cross from buildings on one street to a building on another, at which point careful planning must be enacted when determining when, how, or even if to jump in the first place.
The sparse furnishings that the buildings in Level 208 may look like on the inside.
A display of the lack of decoration that the lower floors of Level 208 showcase.
Alternatively, travel through Level 208 can be achieved through the various indoor spaces that exist within each and every building. These spaces can be accessed extremely easily, either by using stair access found on every single rooftop, or through windows on fire escape staircases.
Each of these buildings are very sparsely decorated,2 usually having no more than basic and essential furniture for the type of building they're for. Examples include empty bed frames and desks for bedrooms, kitchen counters lacking actual appliances, office cubicles without equipment, and multi-storey car parks without any vehicles.
The further within a building an individual goes down, the more sparse the furnishings become. Progressively, the essential furniture will begin to decrease, starting with the largest objects and gradually diminishing until no form of furniture remains. This transition, depending on the height of the building, will usually happen across three to five storeys before all subsequent floors will become completely empty and devoid of furniture. The remaining few floors are completely empty3 and will begin to show signs of no-clippable geometry, such as being able to noclip through the walls and floor,4 as well as a lack of any interior walls. Eventually, all geometry inside of the floors towards the final three floors will lose any form of euclidean malleability, and those that descend to the lowermost floors will phase through the floors until reaching the bottom.5
These buildings are oftentimes connected together via doors, allowing for an easier alternative to traversing this level than the rooftops. However, not only are these doors rather sparse and do not connect every building to each other, but the differing heights of each building means that these doors can potentially open to the more environmentally dangerous floors of other buildings. Which can, and has on prior occasion, caused people to immediately fall and clip into the floor when passing through from one building to another.
The thin streets of Level 208.
Although a lot sparser than the buildings, Level 208's roads are a constant, existing throughout all of the level. These roads, unlike in actual cities, never have more than two total lanes, only allowing for one lane of traffic in either direction. However, the lack of vehicles on these streets means that the lack of space for traffic is not an issue to any hypothetical commute.
The roads, in addition to the lack of cars, are completely bare of any decorations, people, markings, or even commercial items along the sidewalk like phone booths. The only exception to this are postboxes,6 traffic lights, occasional signs, electrical maintenance boxes, and occasional bus stops.
As to be expected, falling off of the sides of buildings or falling from missed jumps during traversal, are a common and unfortunately likely occurrence. Much like the lowermost floors of the buildings, the streets—as well as all its furnishings—are all made of no-clippable matter. Meaning, should one be unlucky enough to, those who fall off of buildings will fall directly through the floor, instead of colliding against it. Whilst this may be seen as a saviour from death, no individual who has fallen off of the side of these structures has returned from the ordeal. It is unknown if individuals who fall die regardless, end up elsewhere in The Backrooms, or just enter a different section of this level entirely. All attempts to figure out and confirm or deny any theories have not been successful, and it is heavily encouraged that people do not attempt to find out.
A capture of the very centre of Level 208.
A tighter clump of easily traversable rooftops and balconies that begin to build towards the centre area of Level 208.
Level 208, whilst infinite, does contain a centre which is approximately 20-30 buildings wide from end to end, and is a square area where the buildings begin to become taller, as well as more packed together. The height of the buildings stretches from the previous minimum of seven storeys to a new minimum of at least seventeen. These buildings are mostly of the same design to the shorter townhouses and brick structures that are common in the rest of the level, just stretched to realistically impractical heights. However, modern glass skyscrapers begin to become more common and apparent within this middle area. These buildings, unlike the brick and concrete ones, are not built to heights not seen in reality, and take on a more standard and conventional appearance.
The following standard "blocks" begin to dwindle the closer one gets to the epicentre, with buildings occasionally having nothing more than small alleyways of pavement to connect the spaces between them. However, usually the buildings will be paired up directly against one another. The buildings right in the middle of this level, which is only constituted of ten or so structures, are packed together so tightly to the point that the buildings are believed to be pushing against each other. The buildings in the direct epicentre have been measured with spirit levels to be slightly uneven to the ground, more so than the other structures usually are. As well as this, these structures display chipped paint on the exteriors, cracked windows, broken brickwork, and other slight signs of stress on each of their walls.
This condensing of buildings also condenses the roads themselves, which begin to thin into single lane roads, before then shifting into becoming either entirely tarmac or pavement. The condensing of the buildings—as well as the thinning of the streets—would, at least without the presence of entities,7 create an easier method of traversal as it removes the need to jump between streets or small gaps between buildings and risking demise in the process. However, as mentioned above, entities in Level 208 complicate this seemingly easy method of traversal.
Bases, Outposts and Communities
While initially seeming livable, especially due to the sparse decoration in the upper floors of the buildings containing survival supplies, there are no bases, outposts, or communities in this level due to its entities. Though groups have tried in the past, such as the Masked Maidens, M.E.G, U.E.C, and even the F.T.B, all groups have ultimately failed to set up permanent habitation due to this level’s entities.
The Runners
Whilst containing a smattering of the more "usual" entities, such as Clumps, Hounds, Facelings, Skin Stealers, as well as Wretches, Level 208 is also home to an entirely unique entity that is only exclusive to Level 2088 known as "The Runners."
The Runners are, as was described prior, the native entity that inhabits Level 208. These entities are humanoid in appearance, and have a simplistic and genderless body frame entirely coated in a matte black. These creatures, by and large, are similar to that of a basic human silhouette, lacking any form of identifiable clothing, hair, or even differing facial features when their figures are viewed from the side.
The "skin" of these entities, or at least what can be considered as skin, is incredibly dense and oily. Its texture, despite its thickness, is extremely watery, and is easy to leave grease-like residues on any walls, floors, or general surfaces and items that The Runners have interacted with. This makes the entities relatively easy to track, or in a more likely scenario, lets wanderers know which routes to avoid if the oil looks fresh. In said "fresh" states, the oily substance is slippy and thin, which is the natural state it is in when attached to The Runners.
It is unknown if this oily substance is the sole material that makes up their entire form, or if it is instead just the surface layer of a deeper biology. As this substance is so often left around on this level, samples of it have been taken by The M.E.G,9 though a complete lack of any analysis tools and equipment denies any form of identification on what the substance is. From the few examinations that have been done, however, the substance is of an organic and cellular nature, and is theorised to not possess any cell division abilities due to the decaying that the compound displays, which transpires over the course of approximately four days before evaporating into air.
Due to this oily surface, however, Runners are incredibly well adapted to traversal of Level 208. Their slick bodies allow them to easily weave between, as well as push aside, any objects on the rooftops, slide down the sides of buildings, and overall increase their manoeuvrability in jumps, slides, rolls, and other advanced methods of quick travel from rooftop to rooftop. Runners will use the above mentioned manoeuvres to either give chase to, or even ambush, wanderers in groups of around five to six and due to their knowledge of parkour-based travel and quick agility, are almost guaranteed to catch up to any wanderer they spot.
When a group of Runners do eventually catch up to an individual, they are swift to execute, usually being able to eliminate wanderers by tripping them, punching them, or using the sides of their bodies to push their prey into solid objects. Usually, especially if their target is in motion, these singular attacks done by the entities are fatal. Whether they be because of blunt force trauma, or hitting one's head on something sharp or hard, or even being knocked off of a building entirely.
From survivor accounts,10 knocking individuals off of rooftops is the most preferred way of elimination that The Runners indulge in, and if their target is not killed in this fashion, then the entities are frequently witnessed tossing bodies off of the edge of rooftops regardless. For this reason, it is believed that Runners hunt exclusively for sport, and as such should be especially avoided, more so than the more common entities found in Level 208 due to the fact that distractions with other food—or indeed any distractions at all—will prove fruitless due to the motivations of the entities.
Should one be pursued by a runner, the best option is to evade the creature until an exit to the level is found. Runners, despite attempts, cannot be stopped, tamed, or killed, with the best method of evasion being to take complex and tricky routes across the rooftops and building interiors to confuse or even lose The Runners' scent. For this reason, and practically this reason alone, Level 208 is not safe for permanent habitation, and is an incredibly risky level to perform resource scavenges upon, despite attempts in the past from groups that are not of the M.E.G.
Entrances And Exits
Entrances
Level 208 is accessible from a small plethora of levels, with each exit being relatively numerous in every level listed below.
Exits
Level 208's exits, at least for the ones that have been discovered, are all located either within certain anomalously designed rooms, recognisably obscure doors, or rooms of a certain layout that can lead to other levels. Certain patterns have been documented between what rooms/doors lead to what levels, which are listed below: