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"Amy."

The thought of her was the only thing that kept me from going insane. I had no idea how time worked in… whatever this place was. But I would say I'd probably been in stuck in here for a couple of days at this point. I haven't eaten, and I haven't even gotten any sleep. It's not like I didn't want to, but I'm guessing hunger and drowsiness doesn't affect a person in this place. Still though, I would love to just close my eyes, and forget about all this mess.

"Amy..."

That image of her being taken away kept being played in my head over and over again. I tried not to think about the worst. But how could I not? Y'know? I couldn't stop thinking, "What if she… she… is gone forever…?" Like I said before, I had no idea what that… thing was. I had no idea what place this was. After I lost her, I had to hold on to the hope that she was still alive. I kept running, for what felt like hours, hoping to find her. I was hoping to hear her shout my name. I was hoping to see that familiar pink. In fact, I begged for it. I don't know what I'd do if she was gone forever from my life. I didn't want to think about it.

I had to stay hopeful. I had to believe that there was still a chance for things to be set right for us. In order to do that, I had to step up my game. I couldn't just run around and expect answers to be given to me. Even if it was that simple, it wasn't getting me anywhere. I figured there was more to this puzzle than I realized. So I started paying attention to my surroundings. For the most part, the location I was in still resembled the hotel. There were still long skinny hallways with the usual hotel doors on each side. What's strange about it though, is that they're no specific numbers for these doors. What would usually be, "123," was now, "000". The doors were unnumbered. It was strange, and I didn't stop there.

I studied every detail that I could, so that I could possibly have a sense of direction. I looked down at the patterns of the carpet and compared them with the carpet in other hallways. Still the same. But I wouldn't give up. Yeah, everything seemed to be the same, but my conscious kept telling me to look closer. And that's when I noticed that the lights were different. Call me crazy, but I swear there was something about the lights that was different in each hallway. I thought back to where Amy vanished, and how the lights above her were flickering really fast. After that thing got her, everything went back to normal. The flickering stopped, and the hallway wasn't so dark anymore. "So, a flickering light must mean that something's about to happen."

Like I said, I took note of the lights in different hallways. They weren't flickering, but some of them almost were. It was like they were slowly fading from very bright to just slightly very bright. I know it sounds like I'm going insane, but check this out. These lights started to fade more and more as I moved to my left down the halls. Whenever I saw a door to my left, I would open it, and continue to move that same direction. And I would look up and notice that the lights would keep changing. Finally, I was on to something after what felt like ages of nothing but the same thing. I continued my strategy until eventually, the lights started to flicker, the same way they did when I lost Amy.

The hallway I was walking down started to get darker, and I began holding my breath. I thought I was gonna see that weird yellow cloud again, but as it got to the point where the hallway was almost pitch black, the cloud never came. I stopped for a second, and I leaned against the wall. My heart was pounding out of my chest from anxiety. I'll be honest with you, I'd never been so scared in my life. There was no signs of light from either side of me. It was just darkness. I felt around the wall I was leaning on, and I could still feel the usual crappy hotel wallpaper, so at least I knew I was still in the same setting. It was just the fear of not knowing what would come from this sudden change of the usual pattern. I did something which was probably stupid for me to do, but I was so desperate at this point.

"Amy!"

I shouted her name, and I pleaded for her to respond. I just wanted to see her again so badly. I listened for her voice, but I didn't get any response. Heck, I don't even hear anything at the moment, not even that pesky buzzing. I cursed in my head, and continued to slowly move forward. I was still running my hand along the hotel wallpaper, but then it stopped. At some point, the wallpaper just cut off from the rest of the wall. I felt around and noticed that this new wall had more of a solid texture to it. I still couldn't see anything, but I just kept going. Eventually, I noticed a faint glow of light in the distance. I started jogging closer to the light. It was getting brighter and brighter and brighter. All I hoped to see was Amy. I was so tired of being alone and I had enough of not knowing if she was okay or not. As I continued to jog, I found myself in a totally new setting.

It was pretty different to the hotel hallways. These hallways were much larger, and doors were still there, but didn't repeat themselves as much. Some of them even looked like automatic sliding doors. There were no more carpeted floors. Instead, it was grey porcelain floor tiles. The walls were also bland, but with a little more of a yellowish tint to them. The ceilings were higher and had less fluorescent lights lined across them, giving everything more of a shaded look. If I were to guess where I was, I would say some sort of business complex, like a bank, or convention center, or something like that. I turned back around to get another look from where I came, but I was greeted by a wall. The long dark hallway I just came from, just disappeared, and was replaced with this wall. I shouldn't be surprised. Nothing about this dimension or whatever this is made sense anyway. At this point, I started to feel like I was apart of someone's cruel joke.

Whatever this new place was, it really threw me off my game. It was much larger, and even though I still didn't see any signs of life, I couldn't help but wonder, "Am I in this thing by myself?" I always had hope that Amy would be around the corner. But I started wondering... what if someone else was around the next corner? Whenever I walked, my footsteps would make an echo that sounded pretty loud, because of how big and empty everything was now. It kinda creeped me out. And sometimes, I swear I would hear a footstep that wasn't mine. It put me on edge big time, and I found myself always looking over my shoulder. The rooms in this place was something else. They were sometimes filled with odd objects. Things like clothing hangers, empty shelves, plates, buckets, yadda yadda, you get the idea. Just a bunch of random crap. It started making me angry. I needed something useful. Something that could give me a clue to where I was and how to escape. Like a book, or maybe a newspaper. It seemed like with every room that didn't have anything to help me, I was just a little bit closer to snapping. But eventually, I finally caught a break.

I came across this large dark room, filled with creepy dinosaurs. By "dinosaurs," I mean the oldest computers you would've ever seen. I swear they had to have been from like the seventies or something. Monitors were just stacked up in the back corners of the room, and parts littered the room like confetti. Wires were everywhere; all across the floor, the walls, and even coming from inside the ceiling. It was like some sort of electronic swamp. I shook my head and began heading out. But when I heard a noise, I froze in place. It sounded like a loud *snap* like something clicked on. I slowly turned around and I felt every hair on my back stand up.

One of the monitors in the back corner turned on… It was so strange. The dim light from that one monitor lit up the corner of the room. Man… I thought it was creepy before… but this was pretty extreme. After all the exploring I've done, I've never seen anything like this before. I've never seen a room respond to me like that. I trudged over to the light, stepping over old circuit boards and computer guts on my way. It was like something went on a rampage in here. I went over to the monitor and looked at the screen. It was a blank white screen, with not a single clue or sign or whatever I guess I was hoping for. It's not like I wanted to see Amy on the screen or anything, but I was hoping for something. Just whatever I could to give me hope. I needed it.

I stared at the screen, almost like I was being hypnotized by it, until it suddenly shut off and went black like it was before. The room went dark again. Figures. Must've been some sort of power surge or whatever. If Tails was here, he would've known what to call it. I sighed and began heading back towards the entrance of the room. I made it about halfway towards the door… but the door shut by itself. My heart sank, and I was trapped in complete darkness in the computer graveyard. I started really freaking out. I didn't know what to do. Then the monitor light came back on. The screen started flashing. I hurried back over and took a look at the screen. I nearly fell out from what I saw.

"[Be quiet and remain still. He is right next to this room.]"

That sentence was spelled out on the screen. It went black again, and the only light was from underneath the closed door. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. My heart was nearly close to stopping as I heard footsteps and saw a shadow move where the gap between the floor and the door was. It stopped in the center of the door. I could feel my heart pounding through my throat. I was breathing so hard, I could hear myself. I had to calm myself down so that I wouldn't be heard, but I was terrified. I didn't know what or who was behind the door, and I sure didn't want to find out. The shadow didn't move from under the doorway for a while, and then it continued pass the door. I let out a huge breath. The monitor turned back on, and I looked back into it.

"[You're safe again… for now.]"

I was completely baffled. "What are you?" I asked.

"[It's too dangerous for you to remain in this area. There is a room with an updated computer about a mile down the hall. Go there, and you will be safer. I will also be able to communicate you with easier.]" The computer shut down, leaving me in the dark again.

I gathered my thoughts. I had to get a grip on the situation I was in. What I just experienced in this room, let me know that my life is in way more danger than I realized. I'm thankful that someone was trying to help me survive, but who or what were they trying to protect me from? I didn't want my suspicions to be true. The thought of there actually being other creatures in these weird rooms… it isn't something I really want to think about. But it didn't matter if I didn't want to deal with it or not. I had to find Amy. And nothing or no one in this God forsaken place is gonna get in my way. I carefully opened the door and looked to my right and to my left. There was no sign of 'him.' Whoever 'he' was, he was gone. I hoped it would stay that way. I cautiously made my way to the hallway I was instructed to go to. As I ran, I couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching me. I paused every now and then, making sure I was still alone. I never saw anything, but that unnerving feeling never left. Sure enough, I made it to an office room with a modern computer. It sat on a desk in the corner of the room, next to a printer. I closed the door and sat on the chair in front of the monitor. The computer and the screen turned on.

"What is your name?" It asked me. It had the typical robot voice you would hear from a search engine.

"Whoa, you can talk?"

"Yes. This interface allows me to utilize its audio system. Thus, I am able to communicate with you in this way, opposed to using text on a screen."

"Who are you? What are you? Where am I? Urgh, there's so many questions I need answered."

"Do not worry. I can see that you are new to the Backrooms. I will try to inform you on everything you need to know, so that you may survive. I will start by introducing myself. My name is Atlas. I am an entity that dwells in technical interfaces, such as the computer in front of you right now. In fact, that is how I was able to protect you in the other room. I was able to communicate with the electrical system in the door, and shut it, so that he wouldn't see you."

"You kinda remind me of my friend Tails. I don't understand half of what he says when he starts talking about all this computer stuff. But I get the basic idea of what you're telling me. Name's Sonic by the way. Thanks for saving me. And who is 'he' anyway?"

"Sonic, it is important for you to know that you are not alone in the Backrooms. They are others here as well. There are some that are non-hostile, such as myself. However, they are also the ones that do not take kindly to visitors. These entities want visitors like you gone. It is not important to know who they are. It is only important to make sure that you are always one step ahead of them."

I didn't like what Atlas was telling me, but I listened to every word as if my life depended on it. Because the fact of the matter was, it did. For a while, I sat and took in all the info he was giving me. He told me about the Backrooms, and how it's kinda like an inter-dimensional highway. Lots of different people from places we could never imagine, end up getting stuck here because of something called a "Noclip." Basically, it's like zoning out. I guess Amy and I must've zoned out at the wrong place at the wrong time. He told me that we couldn't just Noclip back into our world. Some people escape the Backrooms in no time at all. For other people, it may take even years for them to escape. As he was telling me all this stuff, I stopped to tell him what was the most important thing on my mind.

"I didn't come here by myself. I lost a very good friend of mine. Her name is Amy. Every time I close my eyes, I see her. 'Cause I feel so bad for what happened to her. Like it was my fault, I couldn't save her in time."

"What happened to her?" Atlas asked.

"It's hard to explain… and to be honest… I really don't want to think about it. She… got taken by this strange, yellow cloud. One minute she was there. The next minute…" I looked down. It was hard to go on talking about it. For a while, everything was quiet. Atlas wasn't speaking anymore. "Uh, Atlas? You still there?"

"I am sorry to tell you, but Amy came in contact with The Mist. The Mist is a substance that is naturally produced by the Backrooms. It travels through the floors, and anything it comes in contact with is taken to Level Two. Level Two is the most dangerous section of the Backrooms. Right now, Sonic, you are in Level One. The section you and your friend arrived in is Level Zero. That is the entry level. Think of The Mist as a scavenger for the Backrooms. It takes anything it comes into contact with, and sends it to Level Two, which is impossible to escape."

It didn't matter to me how dangerous it was. Now, I had a direct lead to where Amy was, and that was all that mattered. "Atlas, can you tell me how get to Level Two?"

"Do you not understand what I told you? Going to Level Two is not an option. What I should help you do now is escape this dimension while you still have a chance."

"Atlas, listen. Amy is someone I care about more than you could ever realize. In fact, I didn't realize how much I care about her until I literally watched her be taken away from me in an instant." I closed my eyes and imagined Amy smiling at me like she's done a million times before. "Y'know, it's funny how they say, 'You don't know what you've got until it's gone.' I never knew how true that was until now." I opened my eyes back up and made my mission crystal clear to Atlas. "You said, 'Going to Level Two isn't an option.' Well, leaving Amy behind isn't an option either. I have to find her. And once I do, I promise I will find a way out of the Backrooms."

"...Very well. I will inform you on the way to get there. But I hope you are prepared for what you are about to do, for your sake and the sake of your friend."