Archival Report #824
Written by:
Junior Researcher Elliot Fields
Discovered by:
Exploratory Team 5F, “The Newbies”, led by Junior Explorer Michael Fields
Gateway Status: Unfixed, Locked
Habitability Rating: 4.5 - No food or water present. No sunlight.
Description:
Dimension 824, hereby referred to as “The Burrow” is a bounded dimension containing 2 subterranean caverns and ~5000 feet of tunnels.
The Gateway was discovered in a locker at [----] High School in [----], USA.
The Burrow can be freely accessed through Gateway #1845 at Research Facility Tau in [----], France.
The walls are composed of hard-packed dirt and stone and are not naturally formed, bearing abrasion marks consistent with those made by Entity 8 in Dimension 14, “The Keep”. It is currently believed that Entity 8 originated from The Burrow, but it is unclear how the entity traveled from its home dimension to The Keep as Exploratory Team 5F was unable to locate any nested gateways.
The first chamber, into which the Gateway leads, is roughly circular with a diameter of 200 feet. Its walls are composed entirely of hard-packed dirt and are covered in the withered remains of an as-of-yet unidentified climbing plant or vine. Testing has revealed that the leaves of these plants contain chlorophyll, and the most likely cause of their death is a lack of sunlight. It is currently believed that The Burrow was no longer capable of sustaining life without the presence of Entity 8.
The only exit from Chamber 1, besides the Gateway, is a 300 foot long tunnel that curves in a way as to prevent a direct sight line into the next Chamber. Roughly 200 feet into the tunnel, the walls begin to vary in composition with seams of stone running through the hard-packed dirt seen in Chamber 1.
Chamber 2 is similar in size to Chamber 1 but is composed entirely of stone. Withered vines similar to those in Chamber 1, though of a different species, were at one point growing directly from the stone walls and floors. The mechanism that allows this is unknown. Unlike Chamber 1, a large, semi-circular divot is present in the center of the room. It is currently believed that this depression in the stone was Entity 8’s original position as the unidentified plant-life seems to be emanating outwards from, but is not present within, the divot.
Chamber 2 has five separate exits apart from Chamber 1’s tunnel, each leading into a series of winding tunnels that, eventually, loop back on themselves and return to Chamber 2. The tunnels are filled with the same withered plant found in Chamber 2, though the density greatly diminishes further into the tunnels.
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Further Action:
The Department of Resource Acquisition has attempted to quarry the stone within The Burrow but have so far proven unsuccessful. A request to begin testing other methods of extraction was denied by the Board of Directors, but was allowed to proceed by The Archivist.
The Department of Multiversal Biology has been unable to identify the decayed plant matter found within The Burrow. It does not match with plant life currently surrounding Entity 8’s location, but it is possible they are present nearer to the entity where Exploratory Teams have been unable to reach.
Attached Files:
Audio Log Transcription:
[A faint static can be heard across the radio channel]
Agent Fields: Excursion start time… 2:04 AM. Team 5F is entering the Gateway.
Command: Understood. Proceed.
[The sound of a metal locker can be heard opening. The static intensifies for a moment before returning to normal. The distinct crunch of plant debris can be heard underfoot.]
Agent Fields: We’re through. We’re in a big cave made of dirt. It’s a circle, kind of lumpy though. There’s some sort of plant covering everything. Looks dead.
Command: Collect a sample of the plant matter as well as the dirt that makes up the cave. Are there any other points of interest in the room?
Agent Fields: Mark go get some dirt and plants. Yeah, there’s an opening at the far end of the room. Maybe one hundred and fifty feet away. We’ll go check it out.
Command: Understood.
[This portion of audio has been removed for the sake of brevity. See the Department of Records for the full audio file.]
Agent Fields: Looks like stone.
[The sound of Agent Fields punching the wall can be heard]
Agent Fields: Ow, fuck. Yeah it’s stone.
Agent Daniels: Why would you punch it?
Agent Fields: Shut up, Mark. Let’s just keep walking down the tunnel.
[This portion of audio has been removed for the sake of brevity. See the Department of Records for the full audio file.]
Agent Daniels: I wouldn’t really call it a hole. More of a divot, honestly.
Agent Fields: Divot, hole, same thing. I’m the team leader so it’s a hole.
Agent Abboud: Who gives a shit what it’s called? What I want to know is why the plants just… stop. Maybe you shouldn’t be standing in it, Mike.
Agent Fields: It’s perfectly fine, nothing’s even happening. Maybe the plants just don’t like holes.
Agent Daniels: Divots.
Agent Fields: Dude.
[Agent Abboud can be heard sighing.]
[This portion of audio has been removed for the sake of brevity. See the Department of Records for the full audio file.]
Agent Fields: Wait so they’re all just big fucking loops? That was a waste of time.
Agent Abboud: It wasn’t a waste of time, we gathered valuable information for the Archive. Maybe the plants can be used for something.
Agent Fields: Yeah but it was so fucking boring…
[Agent Abboud sighs.]
Agent Abboud: Let’s just get out of here and go make our report. Maybe next time we’ll get something a little more exciting.
[This portion of audio has been removed for the sake of brevity. See the Department of Records for the full audio file.]
[End of Transcription]
Addendum written by: The Archivist
Level 1 Clearance Required. Please enter your credentials.
Credentials Accepted.
During Exploratory Team 5F’s exploration of the sixth tunnel leading away from Chamber 2, there are four hours of uninterrupted screaming, whimpering, and/or begging coming from all three members of the team. They have no recollection of these events and have not been informed of them. The sixth tunnel has since been sealed by command of the Board of Directors.
End of Report.