Level 181

==Description==
The Analytical Laboratory, or Level 181, at first glance appears to be a typical chemistry lab. This level is one of the smaller levels in the backrooms of approximately 20,000 square feet (1858m^2). This building's floor layout does not change despite having anomalous properties. There are two main sections on level 181: The Admin Area and the Laboratory. This level is void of any entities and wanderers always enter alone, even if they were traveling with someone.
===The Admin Area:===
To this day, wanderers have only ever entered this level via the administration area. Wanderers enter through a door that opens to a small lobby and a desk. This desk has a computer with internet. All computers in this level have internet. Wanderers often notice the cleanliness of this area. Immediately adjacent to this desk is a large conference room. This room has large tables and a projector screen with an attached computer. This room is also spotless. Every room in the admin area is immaculately clean. There are offices lining the main hallway, these each have several computers, and a few have cubicles. One of the offices has a shelf that holds Safety Data Sheets for all the chemicals in the lab and a shelf for some standard Lab Operating Procedures.
Further down the hall is a computer lab, bathrooms, lockers, and a break room. The bathrooms are fully functional and are perfectly clean. The break room is stocked with some food such as snacks, coffee, with a few frozen meals found in the freezer. There is a functioning coffee pot and microwave. The lockers are all locked except one which has safety goggles and a white lab coat.
Adjacent to the break room and computer lab is a small hallway with a door that leads into the main laboratory. The door has 2 signs. One sign shows a US standard chemical placard noting a "3" for health hazards, "4" for flame hazards and "3" for instability hazards. The other sign reads "PPE required beyond this point". Attempting to enter this door without wearing a lab coat and safety glasses will lead the wanderer to level 0.
===The Laboratory:=== 
Wanderers that attempt to enter the laboratory must do so wearing safety goggles and a lab coat. Not doing so results in wanderers being transported to level 0 (this is 100% certain as observed so far). The entrance to the laboratory is a long hallway with different labs on each side. At the end of the hall on either side, there is a door with an EXIT sign, this door will lead you to level 0 in the level's current state.
The level's current state is "pristine" meaning all equipment in all labs are working as intended. Everything is clean. Everything is fully stocked including glassware, PPE (such as gloves, spill kits etc.), chemicals of every common type (caustics, acids, solvents etc.), office supplies (notebooks, pens, binders, sticky notes, etc.). Wanderers using the laboratory in its "pristine shape" are safe and secure. Note that all chemicals and lab equipment still have standard safety hazards and must be used with care.
Each room in the laboratory serves a different purpose. The Stockroom holds all supplies mentioned above (though other labs also contain some basic chemicals such as isopropyl alcohol, benzene, acidic acid, sodium hydroxide, bleach, acetone). This room will also have a wheeled cart as well as spill containment boxes to use. The Cylinder room is stocked with different gasses such as nitrogen, hydrogen, air, acetylene, helium and argon. They are piped all throughout the lab. The Utility room houses the HVAC, water boilers and filter beds for the different fume hoods.
The following are the different types of labs:
<tabber>
|-| Lab Room 001=
An instrument lab for different types of gas chromatography (FPD, MSD) as well as high performance liquid dipole chromatographs. This lab has a fume hood with buckets designated for decontamination purposes and temporary waste containment.
|-| Lab Room 002=
A sample preparation lab. This room is stocked with lab glassware and fume hoods. There are instruments for titrations and flashpoints, there are electronic balances, centrifuges, pH strips, thermometers, pipettors, etc.
|-| Lab Room 003=
Another instrument lab. This lab has mass spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy instruments. This lab also has a fume hood for waste.
|-| Lab Room 004=
The waste storage room. Waste is stored and separated by category. Oxidizers, flammables, acids, caustics all segregated and stored in different containment locations.
</tabber>
Every lab has stocked: gloves, a safety shower, sink with drainpipe, sprinkler system, eyewash station, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and spill kits.
Laboratory states: The reason level 181 is considered unsafe is because any time a wanderer (who has entered the lab section of the level) exits any room (excluding the hallway) the state of the lab changes. For example, a wanderer enters the stockroom in the "Pristine State" and when they exit, the lab will have changed to the "In Use" state. 
The following are the different possible states of the lab:
The "Pristine" State:
This state, everything is in working order. Everything is clean and organized. Everything is stocked.
The "In Use" State:
This state, different glassware has been used, trash and waste are in containers, a few closed containers are properly stored in fume hoods.
The "Overused" State:
This state, trash and waste are overfilled, chemical containers are out on tables and scattered in fume hoods, instruments are slipping out of calibration, glassware is visibly dirty.
The "Critical" State:
This state, instruments are malfunctioning and are virtually not usable without invasive maintenance, glass ware is shattered and is all over the floor, chemicals are spilled on tables and in fume hoods, fume hoods are no longer functioning and are alarming. Spill kits and safety equipment are out of date. The lab in this state will be potentially dangerous from toxic vapors, spilled chemicals and broken glass.
The "Danger" State: 
In this state, main power is out (emergency lights are on), all instruments are out of order, gas lines are severed and spewing vapors. There is a fire in the lab waste room (Room 004) and all the inventory is out of order, expired and in a state of chaos. The lab is super dangerous at this point and evacuation is highly recommended. Access to the admin area is inaccessible in this state.
The "Catastrophic" State:
In this state, the entire lab is consumed with fire, gas bottles are exploding from being super-heated. Death is almost certain in this state. If you survive the initial threat, it is recommended you try to escape through the exits at the end of the main hallway as the admin area is sealed off.
The state of the lab changes instantaneously as one exits a lab room. The state changes are only initiated once a wanderer successfully enters into the Lab section of this level. It is highly recommended that you finish all processes by the "Over Used State" as it is dangerous to continue any further.
==Entities==
There are no entities ever recorded on this level. Wanderers are always alone on this level.
==Outposts==
Due to the nature of this level, there are no outposts on this level. However, the M.E.G. will send researchers with different samples from the backrooms to try and identify their chemical properties. One researcher, a survivor of the "Catastrophic State" described the following in a debrief:
"I had finally isolated a compound that I had suspected from a sample of liquid pain, and I had a really rough go at it. Yeah, the lab was in shambles, but I really wanted to run this sample through the NMR. As soon as I left the wet lab, I heard an explosion. Everything was on fire. I had made a huge mistake, I mean the power was out anyways, how could I even run an NMR? It was hot, I was getting burns and the vapors and smoke was burning my lungs. Thankfully I was familiar enough with the layout that I was able to try and run to the admin area. Of course, the door was sealed. I ran to the end of the hallway. The emergency doors had some weird properties that we didn't fully understand but it was a matter of life and death, so I pushed through."
This researcher was debriefed after weeks of therapy, surviving the torments of Level -40.
==Entrances==
*Going into a white door in level 223 labeled "Analytical Laboratory" has a chance to bring you to level 181.
*Breaking into a locked door in level 28 has a chance to bring you to level 181.
*Finding and donning cap and gown from any school or university in The Backrooms and entering a chemistry classroom could lead you to level 181.
*There is a small chance of finding a building labeled "Analytical Lab" in level 11. Entering this building will bring you level 181.
*The Hub can spawn a white door that reads "Analytical Lab" that will lead you to level 181.
==Exits==
*Entering the Laboratory section of this level without wearing a lab coat and safety glasses will lead you to level 0.
*Using either exit in the Laboratory section of this level in the "Pristine State" will lead you to level 0.
*Using either exit in the Laboratory section of this level in the "In Use" or "Overused" States will lead you to level 1.
*Using either exit in the Laboratory section of this level in the "Critical State" will lead you to the laboratory section of level 43.
*Using either exit in the Laboratory section of this level in the "Danger State" will lead you to level 22.
*Using either exit in the Laboratory section of this level in the "Catastrophic State" will lead you to Level -40. (There is only once instance of this)
*Exiting through the lobby door in the Admin area during the "Critical State" will lead you to The Hub.
*Exiting through the lobby door in the Admin area during the "Pristine", "In Use", or "Overused" States have equal chances to lead you to level 0, level 1, level 11, or The Hub.
Credits
Author:TheDadams
Photos: Free Stock Images or AI generation.
Category:Cluster I
Category:Levels
Category:Class 3
Category:Unconfirmed Levels
Category:Dangerous
Category:Environmental Hazards
Category:Neutral