Info
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M.E.G. Interview
Interviewed: Jacob, last name unknown
Interviewer: M.E.G. Agent Connoly
Date: 12/08/2022 19:071
| Agt. Connoly: | Hello, sir. Thank you for coming to us today, your help means a lot to us. Can you start again from the beginning? |
| Jacob: | The beginning? Like, how far back are we talking? |
| Agt. Connoly: | As far back as you feel is relevant, sir. |
| Jacob: | Alright, well, some background before we get properly into it: I'm a graffiti artist, as you're well aware. I've been doing street art for as long as I can remember! The Backrooms are like a canvas for me, really… I can do anything in here without having to worry about private property and the like. I can work in broad daylight, and I get some really interesting structures to work on as well! It's amazing. |
| Agt. Connoly: | You've been painting around the Backrooms? |
| Jacob: | Like hell I have! But… something weird did end up happening. Something I think you all should be aware of. |
| Agt. Connoly: | What kind of thing? |
| Jacob: | Well. Yesterday, I went and tumbled back into Level 0. It had been years, but of course it was just the same. I was almost glad to be back, because this time I had paint and skills. I got to work immediately. |
| Agt. Connoly: | To be clear, you were using spray paint to create murals on the walls of the level? |
| Jacob: | Yeah. It was all pretty normal. Every building was the same, so I really got into the zone and I ended up making some absolutely smashing pieces… (Jacob trails off, leaning on the table and staring into space.) |
| Agt. Connoly: | No kidding. |
| Jacob: | Uh- uh huh. Anyway, the weirdness started when I tried to leave. |
| Agt. Connoly: | When you tried to leave Level 0? |
| Jacob: | No, just the bit where I'd painted. I wanted to take a break and explore, but… I think I ended up creating some sort of sub-level. Level 0 is full of infinitely copy-pasted rooms, right? Individual sections in photos look like the rooms are nearly the same, but when you look close the whole illusion crumbles and the tiny differences are revealed. Walking through, it feels like it would have started with one room and spread out in all directions like yellow heather climbing a tree. |
| Agt. Connoly: | …yes, the architecture of Level 0 is fascinating. But it's always been that way; what kind of sub-level are you talking about? |
| Jacob: | Yeah yeah, I was getting there! When I tried to leave my little painted section of the level, I found that it just… kept going. It went on for a lot longer than I'd painted, that's for sure; I didn't recognise the paintings after a while! Or, well, I did, but they were just… sort of frankensteined out of the things I'd already made. It was unnerving. I started running after a while, it was quite disorienting. |
| Agt. Connoly: | The level… copied your artwork? |
| Jacob: | Seems like it. But that's not the worst of it, not nearly. I ran for what felt like an hour trying to get out of that section, until I suddenly heard what sounded like spray painting coming out from around the next corner. |
| Agt. Connoly: | …spray painting? |
| Jacob: | I thought I'd stumbled on some sort of art scene I'd never heard of, or just another loner like me who liked to paint. Something like that, right? Wrong. |
| Agt. Connoly: | So, what was it? |
| Jacob: | Well, I turned the corner, and there was a faceling there who looked just like me. |
| Agt. Connoly: | A copy of you? |
| Jacob: | Yes! A faceling copy! I was horrified. I don't think it saw me, but I wasn't about to find whether or not my kind disposition survived the reprint. There was more than one, too… It was so unnerving. I no-clipped out after that. |
| Agt. Connoly: | That certainly sounds creepy. |
| Jacob: | It was the fact that it was a faceling that got to me, I think. A version of myself, entirely stripped of my… identity! Can you imagine? |
| Agt. Connoly: | …sir? |
| Jacob: | Yes? |
| Agt. Connoly: | How can your face be part of your “identity,” when you yourself are a faceling? |
POI Info
Status: Alive
Possible Location(s): Any level with solid surfaces that can hold paint.
Known Affiliation(s): The M.E.G.
Last Seen: Level 1
Description
Jacob is a faceling who wears a green hoodie with unreadably jumbled white text printed on it, dark cargo trousers, and black boots. His hair is brown, loosely curly, and cut very short. All of his clothing is usually stained with spray paint, which he is usually seen carrying in a terribly stained canvas bag.
He claims to be a copy of a human of the same name2, reportedly resembling this human exactly except for his lack of a face. Initially, he was under the impression that he was the original human version, but he most likely is not as there is no reason for him to have become a faceling. He has two black lines drawn on his face to simulate eyes3.
The sub-level described in his interview log has not been located, and no other facelings resembling Jacob have appeared. However, the claimed artificial creation of a Level 0 sub-level appears credible due to the existence of Level 0.2, apparently an artificial creation of the Backrooms Remodeling Co.
His self-portrait4.
Behaviors
Jacob is amicable and sociable, and will converse in a friendly manner with anyone who approaches him. He makes a good conversational partner and is willing to draw people things if he's in the right mood. He will trade for spray paint (though he apparently has methods of creating his own from Backrooms resources) in return for drawings or information. Otherwise, he has little to offer.
He is known to make murals on the walls of various levels, which have been sprouting up around the Backrooms since at least 20175, and are difficult to relocate once left behind due to the non-linear nature of most levels.
M.E.G. Directive
A team of explorers is to be sent to Level 0, with the aim of locating the sub-level created by the reported original human Jacob.
This team, working independently due to the isolating effects of the level, will have only 2 weeks to locate this sub-level before they switch directives to the modification of large swathes of rooms in an attempt to recreate and confirm this previously unobserved copying effect of the level.
When this is completed, a revision is to be added to the Level 0 file on the General Public Database, and a separate file created detailing this phenomenon in more detail.
If this is completed, and the effect is repeatable, sizeable manpower is to be allocated to investigating the potential use of this phenomenon for the duplication of resources and personnel.