May 20th, 2021:
This was it. My first ever adventure within the Masked Maidens. It's crazy how I ended up there to begin with. It all felt so fast… Yeah, but this was a mission that I am very fond of. We got to Level 4 like the mission stated and we were heading to the M.E.G. Base Omega.
I was with Janice at the time, just the two of us. I had no idea where Sully was, but he was supposed to meet us there. Level 4 felt very strange to me. Like people were supposed to be there and supposed to be doing things, but it just felt like a ghost town. It's weird how The Backrooms can make an area seem like people had been there all their lives, until they suddenly disappeared in a flash.
While moving towards our destination, I decided to learn more about Janice and ask about how she saw life.
Kyra: So… Janice?
Janice: Yeah?
Kyra: Well I was wondering how you see the world, I guess.
Janice: Well… Hmm… Y'know, I never really thought too much of that.
Kyra: Really? There's no like, way you really see the world? What about after the corruption has been stopped?
Janice: I mean, besides the corruption within multiple factions… I honestly don't know what I'll be doing after all of that. I guess I've just been focusing all of my thinking on my missions. Hm.
Kyra: Well, maybe we could do things together?
Janice: Mmm, maybe. We'll see how this all goes. But you're right I should… think about the world with an outlook of some kind.
Kyra: Yeah, it'll help you get a hold of things if you put it all into retrospect. I personally see the world as… kind of cold. At least in The Backrooms, no one really cares.
Janice: Aww, well, consider me as your friend!
Kyra: Ha! Thanks! That, means a lot.
Janice: If you need anything, I'm here for you… Uhh, Kyra? Is everything alright? You're squeezing your arm a lot.
Kyra: Um… yeah I just, woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.
Janice: You're… sure everything is oka-
Sullivan: C'mon! You guys gotta have something for my liking!
Janice: Aaaaaand he beat us to the entrance.
Kyra: Heh, sounds like 'im.
Janice: Masks on. We'll talk about that later. Time to conceal.
Kyra: Right… Let's begin.
We equipped our masks and prepared to enter Base Omega. Luckily, this mission was chosen because security had been under maintenance for a few days. I honestly don't know how a group could build something like this within something as crazy and unpredictable as The Backrooms.
Speaking of unpredictable, Sully was there distracting the guards. We peeked over the corner to see him use his skills. He is a very efficient killer which can be very scary for our enemies. There were two guards at the entrance way holding spears. Camera systems were down currently from the maintenance. He was then trying to distract them by having the guards tell him a joke.
"Jokes aren't that hard to come up with! Just look at me! I'm a joke in itself!"
The guards seemed to be very aggravated from this.
"Look, we're done here. If you wont leave us alone, then we will remove you by force."
They started to walk towards Sullivan with the intentions on removing him, but before they could do anything Sully slowly walked up to them.
"Okay okay okay, here! Let me show you something funny!"
"The fuck are yo- AUGH!?"
He walk up to one of the guards, and pulled out a switchblade from his sleeve. Punctured the guard's stomach. Stumbling over as if he tripped on something.
"Oh my! Sorry I think I tripped on something that was never there! HAHA!"
The other guard, who was a fair distance away from Sully, started to run towards him, but Sully was faster. He pulled the blade from the bleeding guard and threw it over to the other very quickly, impaling the second guard.
"Oh oh, sorry I have uncontrollable reflexes! Actually I'm just joking I just have bad aim, I meant to go for the head. Heheha!"
He slowly turned his head in a crooked manner towards our position and then called us over.
"You two just gonna watch me pick my ass or do you like that sort of thing?"
We then walked over to the main gate. I for one, was very impressed.
Janice: That was… very gruesome Sullivan. I guess I should say good job but it was all very loud. I'm just hoping you didn't mess it up.
Kyra: Well I was impressed. I assure you I don't normally have skills like that.
Sullivan: Shucks! You guys gave me butterflies… and I gave them wings. Heh.
Janice: Let's not make fun of that and move on.
Kyra: Indeed.
Sullivan: My bad! They are a part of the unseen corruption after all.
Janice: Yes but there has to be some sort of respe-
Kyra: Can we not complain and finish this?
Sullivan: Right! Complaining is your job Kyra! I forgot!
Janice: Sigh… you're right Kyra. We need to finish this.
Sullivan: And while you two are on your honeymoon, I'll be skipping away to the beat of my messy destruction! Cheerio!
Sully then started to skip and hop away, doing the rest of his job for this mission. We needed him to distract any other guards that come our way if they get alerted by our presence. He would be patrolling the base from the outside and inside.
Me and Janice went into Base Omega. We snuck around some Operatives and took out a few guards. Janice grabbed a crowbar that one of them was holding. What we needed to do was get into the main Database Computers in Base Omega. With some Database Admin access, which Janice knew the passcode very well. I don't know how she got it but she had it. We went inside to the room ready to take some of the data.
Janice told me to barricade the door while we searched through the terminals.
Janice: Put this chair here to block the door handle, then move that cabinet in front of the door so no one gets too nosy.
Kyra: Time to be put to use.
Janice: I'm gonna plug in our USB into the terminal system and download any important Entries we find. Let me plug it in.
Kyra: The entrance has been blocked.
Janice: Good. I need to focus here. I need to enter the passcode.
Kyra: Are you sure that no presence can view us?
Janice: Got it! And yes, I am sure tha-
Kyra: There was something in your ear?
Janice: …
Kyra: Janice are you alright?
Janice: What…? No, no I'm fine.
Kyra: But—
Janice: Okay I don't have time for that, take off the mask and look at this! I don't want that mask to start complaining about something.
Kyra: Okay. So… Wait, this is the food shortage that we had back at Camp!
Janice: Hmm, seems like 6.1 is inaccesable and The B.N.T.G. are having some conflict with The M.E.G.. It doesn't sound too good.
Kyra: It seems like… The M.E.G. are really trying though.
Janice: It still doesn't give an apology for what they did to us and many other people.
Kyra: True…
Janice: Now… look at this. Object 24 experiment logs.
Kyra: We found more?
Janice: Yes I need to access that right away. Put in the passwo- No! Nnononono that's the alarm!
Kyra: You got it wrong!?
Janice: They were expecting us!
I was in a panic. I didn't know if we would make it out or not. This was the first time I had seen Janice terrified too. They either changed the password or locked us out. But the alarm was blaring. I was scared. The Database Admins must had have changed the password, as it seems that they have had this happen to them before.
Janice, in a panic, grabbed the crowbar she found from earlier and destroyed the terminal. She smacked the thing around four times, surprisingly breaking the alarm… and her USB key along with it. She was sobbing. I didn't know what to say.
I looked into my pockets and found my own USB Key. It was filled to the max storage limit with images of my family back home… But I knew what I had to do. I deleted all of them after I plugged it in to the second terminal that survived and proceeded to download the Object 24 Experiment Logs.
Janice: Bu- K- Kyra wasn't that your-
Kyra: Yes… it was.
Janice No! No you shouldn't have done that! It's the only thing you have left!
Kyra: The Maidens are what I have left. And if that is my goal I will stop at nothing to complete it.
Janice: You saved our mission… I… Thank you.
Kyra: No need. Thank you! You are like a mentor to me. I thought you were… perfect. That there was nothing you could mess up.
Janice: Really? Heh… nah I suck!
Kyra: No! No you don't. When we went into this mission I saw the things that made you tick. Which made me remember that we are all human. No one is perfect. But it's those imperfections that make you perfect.
Janice: I… I don't now what to say.
Kyra: You can thank me later when we get out of this mess.
Janice: Yeah… Yeah is it, complete?
Kyra: Just a few seconds aaaand… done!
Once the download was complete, I went to take it out of the terminal before Janice attempted the same thing and we touched hands. I froze, but then we quickly apologized. When we left the Database management room, I equipped my mask and we ran through a few halls in the base until we were met by Sully once more.
He was covered in blood, with the bodies of around six guards scattered around. He seemed out of breath, but we had to leave, so we approached to tell him to follow us.
Janice: My god! Is that all blood?
Sullivan: Nah I just got a sun tan! Now what the hell have you two been doing?
Kyra: We were saving the mission. Come with us, we need to leave the stage.
Sullivan: Already!? I was just getting warmed up! Hence the sun tan! Heheh.
Janice: Let's get going. Now.
Sullivan: Okay I see. I guess I'll save round two for later like the leftovers in my fridge! Mmm, that reminded me-
Janice: Not now!
As we ran through Base Omega, we ended up having a few guards chase us. We ran around the corner, and I could see their shadows engulfing the light from the fluorescent lights above. There was furniture scattered around the complex. The halls themselves were somewhat tall. Sully ran up to a couch, running onto the wall then instantly jumping off, throwing three knives at the guards. All missed but one.
"Bullseye! However I am running low on ammo. I can't beat the high-score! Heha!"
One of the guards halted and turned around to assist the wounded guard. As we ran, another guard jumped us from a cubicle. Janice used her crowbar to crack open the guard's poorly-crafted helmet. It had slowed her down, but she was fast, so she caught up.
"We have to keep going! We're being ambushed around every corner!" Janice yelped while reaching us.
I replied with "We must find a different exit!"
"Ah yes! Let's pull a magic door out of thin air! That is surely something we can do!" Sully said while running with us.
As I saw guards run up far away at the end of the hall, spears in hand. I heard a voice from the back of my mind that was not my own. "The wall…". It must have been one of the original users of this mask. I knew there was no other way to escape alive but one. "Take a hold of my hand! I know something we can do!" I shouted while my mind was racing of what could happen to us. Janice grabbed my hand like I asked while grabbing Sullivan and pulling him closer to us. I jumped in head-first to the wall with all my might to try and do something. And it worked. I quickly No-Clipped into the wall successfully.
"Ahahahaha! Yes! Into the rabbit hole we go!" Sully shouted in laughter as he faded through the wall.
We all fell face-first into the into the soft carpet flooring. I rolled over onto my back, in pain from the impact, groaning as I tried to make sense of where we were. I looked up to see a long hall that seemed to stretch on forever… doors on every side.. An ominous piano jingle played miraculously out of nowhere as I stood up. I looked back to see Janice and Sully doing the same.
Sullivan: Oooooooh! Is this heaven!? Ah, nope! Still worse then hell!
Janice: Eaugh… is this… this is Level 287! Kyra you did it!
Kyra: Indeed I have… Phew, it was getting real hot under there.
Janice: Tell me about it… So… There are four ways we can leave this place through these doors. Level -2, Level 0, Level 2 and Level 484.
Sullivan: Let's not enter -2, I found that when I was kicked out of the pool party for being as majestic as myself. Had a lot of slender fellows scream at me. Heh…
Janice: Sure, funny. I suggest we get to Level 2 when we can, but the entrance is really dangerous and rare to find here…
Sullivan: Right! So let's spend an hour or two not doing that! I've heard the weather is pretty nice today!
Kyra: Level 0 is more common here I guess?
Janice: Well that'd be right, same with -2. The most difficult Levels to find are Level 2 and The Whiteout.
Kyra: Well I suppose we could search around for a bit right?
Sullivan: Heh, opening miraculously random doors lead to random results. I leant that the hard way! I once had opened a door and got sucker punched right in the nozzle! And then I woke up an hour later with a sucker in my mouth! Sucker punch!… Or was that a dream…? To be fair I can't make up the difference between realism or fantasy, but I guess that is just the wonders of—
We all heard an impact sound to our left as we saw a few M.E.G. members fall in through the walls and ceiling. "Look! There they are!" I heard one of them shout towards us. Janice opened a door that lead to Level 0. We wanted to find Level 2 but it seemed like we had no choice. We all ran towards the door in a rush. We knew we'd lose each other, but the Maidens know how to find their way back, and so did I. As I hopped into it, I fell on the hard, old, and disgusting carpet of Level 0. I got up and looked behind me to see the blank wall of the yellow repetitive wallpaper.
Normally we would all end up together, but this was Level 0, and no one can stick together in that place. You can't see, feel and hear anyone but yourself. So I equipped my mask and I made my way towards an exit, wherever it was, grasping my left arm, as it used to sting a lot once in a while.
After what felt like hours… a day had passed. I made it into Level 2. I could've found the mirror in Level 0 back to Level 939 but I'd be very lucky to find that on my own. As soon as I stepped in, I heard the sounds of a living creature from the corner to my right. I see it. A beautiful bird full of colorful feathers. It was a Masked Messenger. It flew in gracefully towards me and dropped a small message into the palms of my hand as it proceeded to fly back to its home. I Opened it up to see a small ball of light fly out of it. The note itself read as follows:
Great job Kyra. You and the rest of your team did very well. Even though your team alerted The M.E.G. you all managed to survive and escape successfully with the data provided. We are all very proud and we are enthusiastic about what your team was able to gather. Fallow the small light, they're your friend. We will be sending you and the others on more missions very soon.
You are indeed ready to reveal.
- Amanda Wright
This was so exciting for me. I felt proud of myself that I did something important! I felt like I made my team happy… like Janice. I seemed to made her have a better outlook on herself. And that makes me happy because I kind of have struggles with that myself. And for Sully, he's just Sully. Really nothing can change his mood. Always carefree, skipping around happy. I'm glad he enjoys his purpose with his mask.
Well, the small glowing light started to fly away. Small, and glowing purple. I went to follow it. I had a feeling it would lead back to a mirror in Level 2. So I kept up with the pace. However, something… bothered me the whole time. As I was walking throughout Level 2. I was thinking about our successful mission but I couldn't help thinking… something felt off. Something wasn't right… I kept asking the same question over and over. It all happened so awkwardly and fast I couldn't help myself but to think…
What was in her ear…?