By Directive 12-9-5-19 from the Overseers, the following file has been locked away from those without the Security Classification: TOP SECRET ranking or higher. Questions regarding this directive must be taken up with any high-ranking M.E.G. staff with access to the file in question.
— Senior Archivist and Chief Researcher Dr. Marcellus A. Fox
⚠ WARNING: DO NOT CONTINUE WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORIZATION ⚠
Looking through the General Public Database, you notice almost immediately how Phenomenon 13 is locked under a high-level clearance, completely unlike any of the other files. You want to know why, so you decide to take matters into your own hands by setting out a plan to obtain access to the file by any means necessary. With the cover of darkness to help conceal your identity and movements, you make a fearless decision and manage to swipe a high-level authorization code from Base Alpha.
Although a number was scratched off during the chaotic heist, you make off mostly unscathed. After fleeing from the base, you run for hours on end until stumbling upon Level 11. A few minutes later, you manage to find a working computer in an abandoned hotel, far from prying eyes, and log in to the device. Before you stands the intimidating terminal, just waiting for you to make one wrong move to alert the M.E.G. of your presence and ruin your whole plan. It's time to find out what's behind the curtain. You take a deep breath, and push the button on the terminal…
Credentials: Temporarily Verified
Description

So Close…
Phenomenon 13, otherwise known as "A Way Out", is an advanced form of meditation that has been refined and perfected by a radicalized religious cult known as "The Egress Brotherhood". It has been shared and taught to those whom The Brotherhood has deemed “worthy” to initiate into its ranks. The Egress Brotherhood has claimed that over the past 3 years, they have been able to successfully re-enter The Frontrooms via this technique. According to multiple sources within The Brotherhood, they have developed "A Way Out" for nearly 3 decades and have only recently been able to develop a 7-step plan that, according to them, is guaranteed to grant anyone who completes the process the ability to no-clip back into The Frontrooms. Investigations overseen by high-ranking M.E.G. officials has been able to confirm the veracity of these rumors."A Way Out" is currently being tested in a highly controlled setting to verify the legitimacy of the methods involved.
Discovery
Informants within The Brotherhood have confirmed that the organization was a highly religious cult that developed over the centuries as part of one of The Lost societies, and broke off following multiple foundational altercations. Records of The Lost archives have provided very little documentation and evidence about the history of The Brotherhood, which indicates a disgraceful and hostile breakup. Following the break-off, The Brotherhood expanded its membership and has developed a strong foothold within several different levels — the most notable of which is Level 63.
On June 15th, 2017, following multiple reports of a religious cult cordoning off sections of meditation points in Level 63, M.E.G. Team "Volunteer Squad" entered the level and was able to subdue nine members of the cult, while the rest fled from the scene. In an apparent vow of silence, 7 of the detained cult members refused to say anything in the subsequent interrogation. Of the remaining 2, 1 merely uttered the words:
"You fools don't realize salvation is right in our hands."
They did not speak again following this statement. The last remaining cult member (assumed to be the most recently indoctrinated) was the only one willing to cooperate, agreeing to divulge what he knew in an interview. The interview has been transcribed below.
Interview
Interviewer: Field researcher “Leaf”.
Interviewee: Brice Bentley, Member of The Egress Brotherhood.
<BEGIN LOG>
Leaf: Please state your name for the interview.
Bentley: Brice Bentley.
Leaf: Okay, good. So let's just jump straight in. Tell me why you are here and your affiliation with The Egress Brotherhood.
Bentley: I was a deeply religious man back in The Frontrooms. The moment I entered this endless purgatory, my mind nearly broke, and my faith wavered. After many months, I was introduced to The Brotherhood. Something inside me turned on the moment I found out about them. As if God himself had arranged for it to happen, I immediately reached out to them and was graciously accepted into their ranks.
Leaf: Hmm… that's all well and good, but I was hoping you would tell us more about what The Brotherhood was planning on doing in Level 63. Preventing access to meditation points at that level is a very serious transgression in the eyes of many wanderers, including The M.E.G.
Bentley: Look, I will be the first to say it. As much as I am devoted to The Brotherhood, I have not been given the most up-to-date information, probably because I am only a recently converted member.
Leaf: Surely, you must have heard something from someone. What information can you give us, then?
Bentley: I've heard a lot of things, some true and some not, but I can't get into the exact details, however, I do know this for certain. They've found it.
Leaf: Found what?
Bentley: A Way Out.
Leaf: A way out…?
Bentley: Yes! Can you believe it? We can finally leave this wretched place. I almost couldn't believe them when they first told me, but I was convinced after seeing the results myself.
Leaf: Are you saying The Brotherhood has found a way to escape The Backrooms and enter back into The Frontrooms?
Bentley: That is exactly what I am saying!
At this point, Researcher Leaf is left in mild annoyance.
Leaf: Oh… you're one of those cults.
Bentley: I can tell you don't believe me.
Leaf: I'm sorry, it's just… we've spent our lives here trying to escape, and it just so happens that this random brotherhood no one's ever heard of has found it. We've dealt with organizations like yours before. Outlandish claims are a dime a dozen here, but this may take the cake.
Bentley: Sometimes you just need a little faith.
Leaf: I'm all ears, then. How on earth did you find a way out?
Bentley: As I said, I'm very low on the hierarchy, but I do know this. There's some kind of written plan. I've never seen it myself, but what I've been told is that it has 7 steps. If you can complete the 7 steps, you can leave The Backrooms.
Leaf: Where is this… plan?
Bentley: That's where your luck ends, my friend. Only the eldest and most loyal members of The Brotherhood have access to the plan.
Leaf: Hmm… I see. Well, we have all the time and resources in the world to find it.
<END LOG>
Follow Up: Owing to Brice Bentley's claims, obtaining either a portion or the entirety of the Brotherhood's 7-Step Plan is now a high-level priority.
Following the interview, a concerted effort was made to track down and obtain any items or objects related to The Brotherhood or information relating to the 7-Step Plan. Initial attempts were frustrated by members of The Brotherhood, who used undocumented objects to evade capture on the verge of apprehension. After a nearly two-year-long investigation involving raids and interrogations, the following document was finally pieced together. It is believed to be the official 7-Step Plan.
The 7-Step Plan
A Way Out
- One must volunteer to remain celibate for the rest of their mortal lives and repeat the words “Non concupiscam”1 7 times into a lit altar.
- One must refuse food and drink 7 times and only utter the phrase “Non Sum Gulosus”2 for 7 days in a row.
- One must forfeit all their material wealth and be left with nothing of value by burning their possessions with a 7-pronged torch.
- One must not sleep or rest for 7 days.
- One must give their most despised enemy any of 7 items or 7 requests that they most desire.
- One must work under those that they are most envious of for 7 weeks.
- One must rid themselves of all personal interactions for 7 months. After the end of each day, the phrase “Non habeo superbia, purus sum”3 will be spoken. These are the only words that one is allowed to use in these 7 months.
Upon the completion of the 7 trials, you will be cleansed of all the sins you have accumulated in your life. Trek to Tranquility and continue your final journey. Immediately after discovering a meditation point, isolate yourself and begin "A Way Out". Close your eyes and envision the moment right before you fell into this endless purgatory4. Visualize every aspect of this moment as hard as you can. Continue this process until you think you have achieved “The True State” and open your eyes. If you succeed in your endeavor, you will return to the exact moment you left the earthly plane.
Factum Est.5
Imagine…
Testing
Soon after The 7-Step Plan was transcribed, testing took place on detained cult members in the middle of their procedure and on volunteer wanderers. Below is a log of the tests that took place over 15 months.
Test Number | Testee Name | Deviations From 7-Step Plan | Results | Additional Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
001 | Father Hynneman | Successfully completed Steps 1-7 without any deviations. | Meditated and disappeared after 2 minutes. | Highest ranking captured member of The Egress Brotherhood. |
002 | Priest Warren | Followed the instructions up until the final day of Step 7 where he accidentally spoke. | Meditated and disappeared after 14 hours. | 4th in Command of The Egress Brotherhood. |
003 | Brother Marks | Replaced every number 7 with the number 6, and followed the modified steps from thereon. | Meditated for 49 hours, with the bottom 6/7ths of the testee's body disappearing. | 2-year member of The Egress Brotherhood. |
004 | Erik Wiggins | Failed to complete Steps 3 & 4. | After 33 hours of meditation, the testee's clothes and eyes disappeared. | First Non-Brotherhood member to partake in test. |
005 | Sallie Lane | Intentionally failed to complete every Step | Details are too appalling to describe. Mrs. Lane's loved ones may be informed of the results. | First Non-M.E.G. aligned member to be tested. |
006 | Nicolas Harmon | Successfully completed Steps 1-7 without any deviations. | It Is Done | First successful test of a Non-Brotherhood member. |
Implementation
After 4 successful tests in a row, M.E.G. researchers announced at a monthly summit that they had found A Way Out of The Backrooms. In order to prevent the chaos and disorganization of a mass exodus, the Overseers initially planned to gradually release information about the 7-Step Plan to multiple waves of wanderers over a set period of time. In the 10 months following, estimates have put the number of wanderers to have escaped The Backrooms to be 7,
[FILE AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED DUE TO POTENTIALLY FRAUDULENT SECURITY AUTHORIZATION. PLEASE INPUT CREDENTIALS BELOW TO CONTINUE.]
Credentials: Invalid
M.E.G. Internal Memo
To those of you who have access to read this far into this file, I think you know why this has been kept so secret for so long from so many people. However, I know one day, someone, somewhere, somehow would get access to this file without the appropriate clearance, and if you are reading this memo, then you are the one. I believe you are owed an apology and an explanation for what is happening.
Your mind is probably filled with hundreds of questions, but one remains front and center. “There is a way home, and M.E.G. is hiding it from us?” The entire goal of The M.E.G. is to find a way home, and preventing anyone from knowing how to go back home is the antithesis of our very foundation. So why did I lock this file so that no regular wanderer could see it? This file doesn’t tell the whole story. Sure, the Egress Brotherhood and their 7-Step "Plan" exist, but their beliefs were… mistaken.
When I saw the first 3 tests on the cultists who seemingly disappeared back into The Frontrooms following the completion of the 7-Step Plan, I could not begin to put into words what I was thinking at that moment. We would no longer have to suffer in this “endless purgatory”. We could start our lives over again, go back home, leaving the past behind us, but it is never that easy here, is it?
If only.
We know the real truth now.
The 7-Step Plan doesn't send you back home. It just sends you deeper into the prison we are trying to escape. The list of all those we sent to their deaths stretches on and on, each more gruesome than the last:
Name | Location | Circumstance Of Death |
---|---|---|
Logan Chang | Level 48 | Impaled via palmtree |
Yousef Webb | Level 126 | Flash-Frozen to death |
Dalton Snyder | Level 8 | Carbon Monoxide poisoning, body desecrated by spiders |
Traci Gould | Level 2 | Fried to a black mass from 60,000 volts of electricity |
Hermann Poole | Level 11 | Buried alive under a highway |
Eli Russo | Level 55 | Chopped up and crudely packaged into a freezer |
Marianne Micheals | Level 176 | 235 baseball cleats implanted into body |
Keira McConnell | Level 63 | Bones replaced wooden boards as bridge steps |
Juan Curtis | Level 78 | Exploded |
Jonathan Hatchett | 127+ Levels | Various body parts recovered throughout multiple levels |
Janet & Bill Sutherland | Level 38 | One with the Backrooms |
Father Hynneman | Hell | F4D3 !NT0 TH3 SH4DY GR3Y |
We found every single body. Every last one. Not one of them got out. This is just one small portion of the list, and trust me when I say that each corpse was more horrifying than the last. Whatever this is, it's certainly not even close to a way home.
We were already about to release this file on the Database when the first bodies started to turn up. Even then, in our hubris, in our desperation… we kept going. By the time we figured out what we'd done, and locked out this file from the public permanently, the body count was in the hundreds. At this point, you might be asking yourself, “If this phenomenon is so dangerous, why not just delete it entirely?" The answer is simple. This document was never meant for you. It is meant for the rest of us.
I lie awake at night thinking about what we did. Sending wave after wave after wave of innocent folks to their demise. Not knowing what we were really doing is our greatest failure — and my greatest burden. Their blood is on our hands, and we cannot atone.
That is what has led us here. This very file… an undying memory of what we have done. What we have caused. Giving away this dangerous information without knowing the whole truth has doomed so many. We cannot forget what happened here, and we cannot forgive ourselves. Too many people have been lost for us to just wipe it off the record books and pretend it never happened. I have failed in my job as an Overseer. I'm guilt-ridden over all those we sent down this path.
Yet, I keep this entire file up as a constant reminder to those that need it most: Never give up. No matter how much suffering this dreaded place causes, Do. Not. Lose. Hope. We will find a way out of here. I swear on it.
— Overseer C, Andrew
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The Man Behind the Slaughter Article:Iqloose
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