SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class 1
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Level 299 is the 300th level of The Backrooms. It consists of a single cobblestone road roughly seventy-five meters/two hundred and fifty feet wide and approximately sixteen hundred kilometers/one thousand miles long. Lining the road are an estimated 43,2011 distinct clock towers.
One of the estimated 43,201 Clock Towers present on Level 299, noteworthy for being a near exact replica of the Elizabeth Clock Tower in London, England.
Description:
Level 299, or Westminster Alley, has been named for its estimated 43,201 clock towers, all but one of which play the Westminster Quarters, or Westminster Chimes, every quarter of an hour. Though volume varies, each set of chimes can on average be heard for an approximately eight-kilometer/five-mile radius.
There are no celestial bodies visible on Level 299, and the only source of illumination present are street lamps and the lights on and within the clock towers themselves. It is not known what, if anything, lies in the darkness that encompasses Westminster Alley. Any Wanderers who have ventured far enough past the road that they could no longer be seen have vanished. While the air is breathable, it is also noticeably hazy, suggestive of a nearby or recent fire. Aside from the road, the ground generally appears to be charred, mildly radioactive black sand.
With the exception of the structure known as the Blitzkrieg Tower, the interior of each clock tower on Level 299 can be accessed by a front door. The interiors are typically what one would expect, i.e. a staircase, a clock room, rudimentary living and storage spaces, etc. Books, newspapers, and other documents found within the clock towers appear to be from a reality that had been embroiled in a multi-year-long global conflict, which seems to have ended in mutually assured destruction for all involved.
When walking along Westminster Alley, it is common to see silhouettes staring out through the towers' windows. However, no entities matching these silhouettes have ever been found living within the towers.
Each clock tower varies in height between ninety and a hundred and twenty meters/three and four hundred feet tall and is, on average, spaced approximately seventy-five meters/two hundred and fifty feet from its closest neighbours. Though all clock towers keep perfect time, each is always exactly one second ahead of, or behind, its neighbours. As a result, no two clocks on Level 299 ever read the same, except for when they align with the Blitzkrieg Tower.
At the end of Westminster Alley, there is a one-hundred-and-forty-meter/four-hundred-and-fifty-foot-tall clock tower that appears to have suffered a bombing and/or major fire at some point, and has consequently been nicknamed the Blitzkrieg Tower. It is charred black and no longer keeps time, but on the exterior, someone has written 'Right Twice A Day' in large lettering and red paint. Once every twelve hours, the hands of the clock will be set to a seemingly random time. Who or what is responsible for this is not known. The Blitzkrieg Tower is also the only tower whose clock-face is not illuminated, making it difficult to read with precision.
If someone is inside of a clock tower when its time aligns with the Blitzkrieg Tower they will experience a 'Right Twice A Day' event, and will be trapped within the tower for a total of thirteen days. Leaving the tower during this time period by any means is impossible, as is communicating with anyone on the outside. Clock towers undergoing a 'Right Twice A Day' event are identifiable by the fact that their clock-faces are frozen for the duration of the event. Breaking into a tower during these events is as impossible as breaking out. Upon the completion of a 'Right Twice A Day' event, the clock tower should be evacuated immediately, as there is always a non-zero chance that the next such event is imminent.
The M.E.G. have set up a live stream of the Blitzkrieg Tower which is broadcasted throughout Level 299, along with an alert emphasizing the importance of remaining outside of the clock towers during this time.
At some point during the thirteen-day period of a 'Right Twice A Day' event, those trapped within a tower will witness a procession of spectral entities marching down Westminster Alley in a macabre parade. This procession is not visible to anyone outside the tower, nor does it appear on recording devices. The thirteen-day time period is believed to be the time it takes for the parade to march the entire length of the road.
Comparing accounts of multiple 'Right Twice A Day' events has led M.E.G. researchers to believe that each parade is identical and most likely a replaying of a past event. Anecdotal accounts of spectral entities reacting or responding to those witnessing the parade are considered to be the result of fear-induced confirmation bias.
There is no clock tower at the start of Westminster Alley, only an iron war memorial depicting a World War II-era soldier weeping on his knees. Engraved on the memorial are the words 'IF ONLY WE'D HAD MORE TIME'.
Entities:
The apparitions participating in the parade witnessed during a 'Right Twice A Day' event are estimated to number in the millions and are believed to be the residents of a capitol city who perished during the final bombardment of the war. Despite this, the parade appears to be celebrating the fact that the war is finally over.
While it is not possible to directly interact with these entities2, they can still present a psychological hazard to trapped Wanderers, as the majority of them are hideously deformed from their ghastly deaths. The parade itself takes hours to pass, and many of the 'performances' put on by the entities are extremely morbid.
Multiple attempts to communicate with the silhouettes seen dwelling within the towers have been made, but to date, none have been successful. While these entities have historically been harmless, Wanderers are advised to be mindful of their presence in case that should ever change.
Populations of bats roost in the clock tower's belfries, despite there being no apparent food source to support them. They do, however, seem to be able to fly out of sight of the Westminster Alley without suffering any harm, and they presumably do so to find food. Attempts to electronically track these bats have all failed.
There are intermittent and unconfirmed reports of a male humanoid figure being spotted within the Blitzkrieg Tower, generally referred to as 'The Commander'. His outline suggests he is wearing an SS Officer's uniform, but further details are always obscured by darkness. Witnesses claim that The Commander will approach a window with his hands clasped behind his back, glaring down at them in contempt with a pair of faintly luminescent red eyes. Sometimes he watches Wanderers for as long as he is visible, and other times he will turn away on his own, but like the other silhouettes, he has never responded directly to attempts at communication.
Whether he is in any way responsible for the phenomena on Level 299, merely another victim of it, or is anything more than an urban legend, is all purely speculative at this point.
Bases,Outposts,and Communities:
The M.E.G. maintains an archeological outpost on Level 299, which has the primary purpose of cataloguing and studying the artifacts within the clock towers, observing the silhouettes, and debriefing Wanderers who have experienced a 'Right Twice A Day' event.
There is also a group of Wanderers, dressed in gas masks and WW II-Era Axis military uniforms, who perpetually march up and down Westminister Alley in an effigy of the spectral parade witnessed during 'Right Twice A Day' events. They appear to be survivors of these events who became obsessed with them.
These Marchers can be fanatical at times, and Wanderers are advised to avoid them as much as possible. As a result of multiple past incidences, members of the M.E.G. are not to directly interact with Marchers for any reason, even to offer humanitarian aid.
Entrances and Exits:
All clock towers have trap doors on their ground level, approximately two hundred of which have been opened and shown to lead into other levels. To date, these passages appear to be stable. There does not appear to be any pattern to which towers have working exits.