The Basement
A winding labyrinth of tight corridors and long hallways, its walls, ceilings, and external accessories such as lights, wiring, and piping all sharing a similar tacky off-white. The pungent smell of dust and debris making itself known.
Faux brick lines the walls, plastered over a base presumed to be concrete. The floor forgoes the off-white design, contrasting with its likely original shade of brown.
Electrical wiring and piping run in no sensible way, abruptly stopping and starting at various points, and are covered in thick insulation, along with conduits providing additional electrical support.
The layout is described as Kafkaesque, long hallways lead to dead ends, rooms have no apparent way of entering/exiting, and illogical jutting of ceilings/walls extend to the other side, creating difficulties in visibility and traversal.
Outlet boxes in even pairings and carbon monoxide detectors can be found on the walls; the latter, on inspection, lack any power source. Despite this, a low battery beep can be heard echoing throughout the corridors.
Garbage bags and backpacks can be found leaning on the walls or lying on the ground, usually empty, but have been found to contain pieces of debris and other "junk" items.
Braced wooden doors connect adjacent rooms, needing to be pulled or pushed open directly, as they lack handles. Entryways are occasionally off-centre, being on the far left or far right, or simply stretch absurdly wide or narrow.
Storage rooms, filled with unmarked, variously sized cardboard boxes and sealed plastic containers containing various "junk" items in an unorganized manner, like electronics, clothing, toys, and small furniture, can also be found. These items are coated in a thick layer of dust but remain in usable condition.
Venturing away from the place of origin leads to a gradual change in appearance, described as being "under construction." A more decrepit and derelict look compared to the organized, almost pure white usually seen.
In the intermediary period between the two sectors, the paint on the walls and its faux brick exterior begin to chip and peel off, revealing its true form. Dirt and grime stick to the floor, which is stained with unknown substances, with the pipes becoming coated in an orange rust.
The insulation once clinging to the pipes is messily strewn across the floor, breaking off in chunks. The now exposed sets of piping run without order, layering over themselves and covering the majority of the ceiling.
Loose wiring haphazardly runs across the walls, hanging down to the floor in extreme cases.
Deviations from the norm become more commonplace the further one travels. Entire walls can go missing, with packed dirt taking its place, or, on rarer occasions, red brick walls.
Elevation changes are a common occurrence, with sudden drops or gains of a foot or two posing as tripping hazards.
A thick layer of dust coats the entirety of the hallways; actions as simple as moving around and opening doors kick up large amounts of dust, hindering vision and affecting breathing for those unprepared.
The rapidly increasing amount of dust makes asphyxiation impossible to avoid, and as such, it is unknown if anything lies further out.
The Basement was written by
Ferrante with critique from WhoYouCallinAPinHead,
ArcheNegation and
Light_Nate. This article is a rewrite of The Basement by
Wat9032. The images used inside the article are in order: My Basement Looks Like A Backrooms Level by u/Ian_920 and Help I Think I'm In The Basement Each Doorway Just Leads To A Small Cell With No Other Doors by u/doomridler. The ambience used was created by