TEM1.D8.SYS
PROJECT TEM-1: THE EVERYTHING MACHINE
(V0.2E PUBLIC RELEASE VERSION)
PROPERTY OF BACKROOMS ROBOTICS, 1988
CONTEXT: FORCE BOOT (VIA USER)
LOCK: NONE
RETURN: PRIMARY INPUT METHODS (VOICE, TEXT) FUNCTIONAL
INPUT: QUERY
>
TEM.FRONT (VOICE INTERFACE - GUEST USER "XCOOPER")
Uh, how do I do this, Saoirse?
[UNPARSABLE]
Huh, alright.
Everything Machine, run diagnostics.
TEM1.D8.SYS
READING: "EVERYTHINGMACHINE" "RUN", "DIAGNOSTICS", TASK
LOCK: NONE
RETURN:
DIAGONOSTIC REPORT
> HEXCUBE BLOCK A: ACCESSIBLE (99%)
> HEXCUBE BLOCK B: ACCESSIBLE (95%)
> HEXCUBE BLOCK C: ACCESSIBLE (98%)
> HEXCUBE BLOCK D: ACCESSIBLE (100%)
> HEXCUBE BLOCK E: UNKNOWN (0%)
(5/6) CUBES OPERATIONAL, BLOCK PROCESSING MAY PROCEED
> BATCH: 0/0
> TASK: 0/0
> CURRENT USERS: 1
OPERATIONS CLEARED
>
TEM.FRONT (VOICE INTERFACE - GUEST USER "XCOOPER")
Okay, cool.
I have a task: I need the luck to enter the Forgotten Forest.
TEM1.D8.SYS
READING: "TASK" "I" "LUCK", "ENTER" "FORGOTTENFOREST", TASK
LOCK: LOCKED TO GUEST USER "XCOOPER"
REQUEST TYPE: PHYSICAL TRANSMUTATION, PHYSICAL HHD TRANSFER, QUALIA ALTERATION
RETURN: TASK CAN ONLY BE COMPLETED WITH PERMISSION LEVEL: ≥3
REDIRECT: PERMISSION ANALYSIS
GUEST USER "XCOOPER" PERMISSION LEVEL: 1
PERMISSION OVERRIDE REQUIRED TO CONTINUE
> CONTINUE? Y|
[■■■☐☐☐☐☐☐☐] 35%
[■■■■■■■☐☐☐] 70%
[■■■■■■■■■■] 100%
RETURN: INITIATE PERMISSION OVERRIDE
TEM.FRONT (VOICE INTERFACE - USER "SMORGANA")
User ID: Saoirse Morgana
Permission granted. Continue task.
TEM1.D8.SYS
READING: "MORGANA" "GRANTED", "CONTINUE" "TASK", OVERRIDE
USER "SMORGANA" PERMISSION LEVEL: 3
TASK: UNLOCKED
RETURN: PERMISSION ANALYSIS SUCCESSFUL
REDIRECT: QUEUED TASK (1/1)
RESUMING TASK
CACHED INPUT: "TASK" "I" "LUCK", "ENTER" "FORGOTTENFOREST"
LOCK: RESEARCHER (S-BKRSHELL) » GUEST USER "XCOOPER"
READING: ACTIVE INPUT CONDITION IDENTIFIED
READING: ACTIVE INPUT MODIFIER IDENTIFIED
TRANSFER GUEST USER "XCOOPER" TO HHD COORDINATE "FORGOTTENFOREST" (0/10)
CACHED HHD COORDINATES: RETRIEVED
TRANSFERING…
[■☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐] (1/10)
[■■☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐] (2/10)
[■■■■☐☐☐☐☐☐] (4/10)
[■■■■■■■☐☐☐] (7/10)
[■■■■■■■■■☐] (9/10)
TEM.FRONT (VOICE INTERFACE - GUEST USER "XCOOPER")
See you soon.
TEM1.D8.SYS
[■■■■■■■■■■] (10/10)
TRANSFER OF GUEST USER "XCOOPER" COMPLETE
>
And just like that, I lost him.
His body collapsed, lifeless in front of the machine meant to save him.
The sparkle of his eyes extinguished, leaving his corneas to cloud over.
I let out a guttural weep, rushing to his side. As I bent down to greet his closing eyelids, something fell out of my pocket, making a dull clunk as it hit the floor behind me. I turn around to see what I dropped.
My Reality Freshener — turned on.
I stared at the object, my mind racing.
Tears ran down my cheeks, but no sound came out of me.
No, that can't be why— can it?
Can it?
Because if it was, I would be to blame— no. It can't be why. But what other explanation is there? I can't be the reason why this happened. Not me. Not him. I picked up the Reality Freshener, threw it against the wall, and shattered it into a million pieces. My disdain of luck— selfishness of luck destroyed one of the most important people in my life.
I take off my blazer and placed it gently on top of him— he won't have to be cold. His phone was halfway out of his pocket, facing me. I picked it up and turned it on, it greeted me with the download of his blog. I swiped to the bottom, hitting the "Follow" button he begged me to press forever.
— X
Follow saviourxavier?
Connect to the internet to interact with this page.
The glow of his phone glistens through my tears as they fall onto the screen, one of which hits the close button on the pop-up. I scroll through his blog, all of this, oblivious to the fact he would end up in such a situation because of a janky hand mixer. But if it wasn't for that hand mixer, I would have never met him, we would have never found our new home, or friends. From that fateful encounter in Level 2, our lives took a turn neither of us would have expected.
If he could see me now.
As I lay there, he began to move.
"Xavier?" I perk my head up, his head shifting.
"Please, tell me you're okay."
Light begins to pour out of his eyes and mouth. I wasn't sure what to do in that moment. Was he coming back? Did the machine work? It was anybody's guess.
In a way, I can only describe it as supernatural, even by Backrooms standards, an ethereal, contorted, geometric shape leaked through the light, forming above him.
"Xavier! Is that— is that you?" I reached upwards towards the object.
The object did not respond, merely levitating in my hands. I brought it towards me to hug it, but it pulled away with some unseen force.
This act of refusal, whether him or not, caused me to delve even deeper into my sorrow. It has to be him— it's the only way I can live with what I caused.
This is him, it has to be.