Level 605 - "Respite For A Traveller"
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Regardless of reason, to stretch the legs, get a refreshment, or to recalibrate ones direction, a Truckstop is peculiarly inevitable.


The Backrooms are an interconnected, entangled assortment of realities, obtusely intertwining and connecting together in the strangest of ways. With exceptions, these connections are usually miles apart, requiring a mix of topographical knowledge and patience to properly map for those that even know of their existence. While those without such information merely rely on dumb luck and yet more patience, the common thread between all Backrooms travellers remains true.


Long Distances.


Whether it be a commute between communities, a supply run to somewhere valuable, a documentation venture, or even just dumb exploring, individuals spend hours—or even days—traversing between levels. People can become lost and dazed during their travels, or simply become fatigued from their non-stop hopping from realm to realm. Many have never returned due to these afflictions.


For years, this was accepted as a risk—A natural filter and barrier that would swallow the weak and unweary, or at the very least teach caution to amateur explorers. However, any risk can be undermined, any unspoken notion can be revised, and change is especially easy when its potential is put into the right hands.


Previously known as a dark, meagre desert, the Respite Truckstop is a space designed for the needy and lost; it is a shining hope that manifests its entrance wherever it is needed. While far from a place of safety, this paving of asphalt in the deep darkness gives people the chance to recuperate before leaving for whichever plane of non-reality comes next.



. . .





Description

236entrance.jpg

A still from a recording, displaying Level 605's exterior.

Locally known as Level 605, the Respite Truckstop is a small service station situated directly adjacent to a four-lane highway, connected by a simple fork in the road that curves towards the gas pumps and main building. The gas pumps at the front of the building are specifically sized to be for basic civilian cars, though there are only a small handful of them parked at the pumps. These cars, despite coming from the late 20th century, are mostly pristine looking, only having muddy or sandy wheels as if they were driving in the deserts just outside this stop. These cars, whilst not locked, cannot be moved from their permanent and static positions.

More of these cars are parked just left of the fuel dispensers, lined up in rows divided by white lines embossed onto the pavement in neat and organised blocks. Due to the time of day, there is a sparse amount of cars and vans parked in its rows, with most being deep on the open road or parked at their homes far away. Unlike the fuel pumps, which have illuminants built into their structures, this entire area lacks any kind of overhead lighting. Most use reflections off of particularly glossy bonnets and trunks to navigate this area, even if there is not much need to. Beyond this sparse collection of immovable cars is a pitch-black, empty desert that surrounds the road and truck stop itself.

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A small sample of the many parked trucks in Level 605, just in front of the gas pumps for trucks.

Around the side of the building, away from the main petrol pumps and car parks, is a grandly sized patch of asphalt. Though serving the same purposes as the spaces out front, this one is far larger. Dozens upon dozens of rows of large trucks reside in these back lots, stored in much greater quantity than the civilian cars at the front of the truck stop. The first two rows are allotted for gas pumps, of which there are dozens lined up and lit for the many trucks parked idly at them. Behind these pumps, however, is a large and confusing maze of parked trucks and trailers, organised in a mix of neat rows and haphazard placements, that stretches for several yards before descending into the coldd desert beyond.




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A small display area of the otherwise large store.

Despite what the sign out front by the highway describes, the Respite Truckstop has only one all-purpose shop. It has been simplified in its renovation to contain a variety of snacks, travel supplies, camping kits, and a litany of knick-knacks for the more touristy travellers. These items are free for the taking, within modest reason, and wanted items can easily be found in labelled isles, with each shelf, rack, and display case being tightly packed with products. By following these isles towards the far left, one can find a large row of tills and a queue formed of zigzagging belt barriers, which is the place where the employees of the truck stop work. 

Whilst being no more than a formality, the Respite Truckstop employs a small handful of chipper employees to restock the shelves from the inventory in the employee-only sections and to log which items are taken by those passing through. The staff, whilst unsightly to most wanderers due to their obtuse proportions and almost featureless bodies, are friendly to those passing by; utilising their intense knowledge of the Backrooms to aid people in going to their destinations. Unless restocking, these employees are always behind the counter or in the restricted back rooms of the shop. They wear name tags to distinguish themselves, though their oddly shaped, slender, and nearly inhuman bodies make them easy to tell apart.

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A small section of the Truckstop's store from the outside.

A majority of individuals taking rest in the truckstop usually wait out their exhaustion within these walls; using the time to converse and get to know one another for the brief time they are in each other's presence. As individuals at the truckstop come from all walks of life, many people use the time to form brief bonds and learn about other parts of the Backrooms whilst they do, even if many of these attachments fizzle out when folk leave and go on their own separate and vastly different paths. Individuals usually sleep within the building along mattresses or covers gifted by the staff, or even set up sleeping arrangements inside cars or—as is more often the case—sleeper cabins within trucks.

Despite people setting up constant spots of habitation, all created landmarks that are not a part of the natural layout are removed by staff, more often than not out of the view of onlookers. Because of this, to most, it appears as though the truckstop resets periodically. This is done for the sake of keeping a uniform appearance, and to allow all visitors an equal chance at setting up their own temporary habitation to gain respite as easily as possible without having previous and abandoned settlements inhibiting them.


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An image of someone venturing into the wrong parts of Level 605.

Beyond the Respite Truckstop is an endless, sweeping expanse of yellow sand that are trapped in pitch darkness. These dunes possess no form of vegetation or water and are virtually devoid of elevation or divots. While the job of the truck stop's employees is mainly to aid travellers and keep the store in good condition, they also have the incredibly important role of warning individuals about walking too far into the dark dunes. While the truck stop itself has been heavily modified to establish a safe space for travellers, the rolling dunes beyond it have not. They are completely devoid of light, with unknown and invisible threats looming within them. Though folks have returned from wandering into these badlands, a vast majority do not, their last words muffled in the deep darkness.

The only substantial feature within these pitch-black dunes are straight roads that run directly parallel to the Respite Truckstop, divided down the middle by a relatively wide strip of sand. Traversing down this road, given that it is how people arrive at the truck stop, is the only safe way to walk through the darkness. However, this is mainly because wandering down this road for long enough eventually takes them to the next step of their journey, provided that they walk in the right direction. 


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A rare image of Level 605 before modifications.

Decades ago, this truckstop was far from what it was now. It was once a dangerous, and more lively, desert. Whilst its larger quantity of fauna and long-abandoned cars scattered on and off, an infinite highway is its main differentiator from how the truckstop appears today, the dunes were also once populated by a multitude of incredibly hostile creatures. Though pushed back to just the dunes nowadays, these monsters once roamed the entirety of the landscape. These creatures, efficient both on their own and in groups, made habitation and travel impossible due to their swift means of killing.

Come the building of the truckstop and highway, though, times have changed. These creatures were pushed away into the remote corners of the deserts, and have remained in those spaces forever after, only being found by those ignorant enough to try and find them. Though some did escape to other places during construction, the structures erected have ensured safety for its visitors. Now, in the more safe era of the Respite Truckstop, people can pass through it with ease.


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Getting back on the road after visiting the Respite Truckstop.

All who stop at the Respite Truckstop on their travels always arrive at the south of the gas station, with the building facing to their right. Only those going on perilous travels find it, usually spanning days or weeks and across dozens of worlds until finding the start of a highway road. While going back the same way one came from would be ill-advised this late into one's travel, one can do so to return to the same place their adventure started at. Alternatively, as is much more advised, one can resume walking down the highway, at which point they will be deposited at the next leg of their journey. Sometimes, people are dropped off right at their destination upon leaving, almost as if they fell asleep during transit on a long, nighttime drive.






. . .






As quickly as one arrives, any old truck stop becomes left in the dust once its use is fulfilled. Its people and location quickly become oversimplified blurs, tucked into the recesses of one's memory. For as vital as a truck stop is, they are completely forgettable.


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