Beneath the Brightburbs

After narrowly escaping the psychotic Barbie, I had entered the Backrooms through a beige concrete bunker beneath the Blueprint Barn in the Brightburbs. 

Having heard about the Backrooms in my own reality, I had always wanted to come here. As I stood on the threshold of a labyrinthine passage, I gazed at the strange liminal space before me. The hum-buzz of the fluorescent lights above me filled my ears with a low-level annoyance. The mono-yellow wallpaper with a repeating chevron pattern mesmerized my eyes. The musty odor of the moist light brown carpet filled my nostrils. 

Behind me was the narrow passageway that led back up to the bunker. I wanted to explore the Backrooms, but I also needed to get my bearings. I doubled back up the passage, and I was back in the beige concrete bunker. The passage ended where two other passages met on either side. I had chosen the middle corridor, and where all three passages met, there was the ladder that led up to the trap door that I bolted shut to prevent the psychotic Barbie from getting me, in case it broke into the Blueprint Barn above me. 

I turned the corner into the passage on the right, which led into a living quarters. There were a couple bunk beds, a kitchen area, a bathroom with a shower room, and an open area with beige couches. The quarters had no decor, and it was evident that no one was living here. 

I went back out, and entered the passage on the left, which led into a large storage room filled with a variety of meal pouches, almond water, medical supplies, and several filing cabinets with old blueprints. I had my turquoise backpack with me, so I stocked up on supplies. Who knows how long I would be lost in the Backrooms. 

Before I returned back down the middle passage, I stopped to listen for any signs of activity coming from the trap door. A moment went by, and I heard nothing. Had the psycho Barbie finally given up on stalking me? Being a grown-ass forty-something-year-old man, I was too chicken shit of a goddam Barbie doll to peek my head up to see if it was gone. Instead, I went back down into the Backrooms. I was ready to move on and explore.

~~~~~~~~

For several hours, I had been wandering around aimlessly through the strange mono-yellow labyrinth of randomly segmented rooms and corridors. 

Any furniture, decor, or other random objects were either very sparse or non-existent in most areas. Any stairwells or other multi-level zones only went downward from this level. 

Was I on the topmost level of the Backrooms, and the Brightburbs was essentially "stacked" above it? 

By now, I was lost, and couldn't remember how to get back to the beige bunker beneath the Blueprint Barn. I decided to push on, hoping I'd find another exit. I avoided going further downward, as I knew I'd become even more lost if I did so. 

Although I enjoyed exploring the strange aesthetic of the Backrooms, I realized I was growing weary. The overhead fluorescent lights and their endless hum-buzz would make it difficult to sleep. 

I managed to find a random shadowy nook that was off to the side, and I curled up there on the floor, facing the wall. As I lay there, waiting to drift off to sleep, I contemplated the similarities and differences between this place and the Brightburbs. 

Both were endlessly lit up. The Brightburbs had endless sun, fixed in the same position in the sky, just as the lights were fixed to the ceiling here in the Backrooms. The Brightburbs were outdoors, with a wide open sky, but here in the Backrooms, it felt limiting and enclosed. Both, however, felt like Purgatory, an endless realm with no clear way of escape or exit back to my reality. 

I was lost, alone, and uncertain. 

~~~~~~~~

After trying to nap for a couple hours, I got up and went around a corner and entered a large room that had an apparent research outpost in the center of it. Various research instruments were strewn about, all powered on, clustered around a few tables with strange turquoise laptop computers with a label that read "D.A.R.B." In one corner of the room was a turquoise porta-potty and a sand-colored capsule-shaped tent that had "D.A.R.B. Sleep Pod" in black lettering on the side. It had a comfortable-looking cot with pillows inside of it, and the tent seemed to be built to keep out the light and noise. 

Wow. My sleep solution had literally been right around the corner. 

There was no one around, and the only sound was the hum-buzz of the lights. I was feeling cute and curious. I decided to fuck around and find out what I could about what or who D.A.R.B. was. 

Sitting at a table, I opened a laptop and began browsing through files. Much of it was data that I didn't understand, but I did come across a report that mentioned a placed called the Lostrooms Apartments. 

As I was scanning the document, I heard a faint giggle come from one of the segmented corridors that converged on the exposed room I was in. My heart about stopped. 

Thinking I was probably just hearing things, I resumed browsing. I found maps of the Backrooms, in the form of floorplans, but they seemed only partially complete. This unknown organization, D.A.R.B., seemed to be in the process of mapping the Backrooms, and possibly doing other research here. 

"TEE-HEE-HEE!!" The giggle sounded much closer this time, and I just about shit myself. OH HELL NAW!! 

In a split second, I snatched the laptop, my backpack, and dashed into the sleep pod and sealed the tent door, as I tried to limit my breathing. Yup. Safe from a psychotic stalker Barbie doll inside a damn tent. Makes sense. 

About a moment later, I could hear the pitter-patter of plastic feet on the carpet. Being as silent as possible, I glanced out the small round transparent window of the tent door. To my shock and horror, I saw a giant, over-sized green Barbie doll awkwardly move by the tent! It was around seven feet tall. I didn't get a good look at it's face, but it giggled with a bit of a gurgle. It stopped briefly, and it seemed to be looking for something, but then it moved on. 

I waited a few moments, and the giggling faded away. The entity was moving away quickly, seemingly unaware I was there. Good. 

~~~~~~~~

It was time to find my way back up to the Brightburbs. Being confined to the Backrooms wasn't ideal for my mindset or motivation, and I had felt much more free up there. 

After getting some decent rest in the D.A.R.B. sleep pod, I returned the laptop to the table I had found it on. I had copied as many files as I could to a USB thumb drive I had with me. I had done the best I could to memorize a map I had seen, which had indicated that there was another Brightburbs bunker nearby. 

I wound my way through the maze of mono-yellow rooms, and I came to a passageway that gave way to a beige concrete hall that led into a bizarre bunker that was similar to the one I had entered the Backrooms through earlier. 

As I had predicted, there was a ladder that led up to a closed trap door. I unlocked it, and peered through the crack, checking for any psychotic Barbies that might be around. 

All was clear, and I climbed up into a melancholic blue contemporary room that had a large blueprint laid out on a table in the center. I stepped outside, and the bright light nearly blinded me at first. As my eyes adjusted, I saw that I had emerged from an all blue bungalow house that had white blueprint drawings all over it. 

Similar to the Blueprint Barn, this structure was isolated, surrounded only by plush, grassy rolling hills under blue skies with puffy white clouds. 

Which direction would I go next? Did it really matter?

All I needed to do was to keep moving.