The Metro

### Description:

The Metro, as a level, resembles a typical underground subway station one would find in a populous city. The Metro's floor is made of grey bricks with two tracks on the sides of the path. Stairs occasionally appear throughout the area, but are always barricaded or walled off. The paths are well lit by long, thin fluorescent lights, along with various lit-up signs in an unknown language.

Upon finding The Metro if the entrance from Level 11 was taken, one will descry a verbose staircase that declines into the station beneath. This dimly-lit stairway is sleek and modern, exhibiting features such as fluourescent lights, quiescent escalators and a mesial, metallic stairway that conducts one down to the station. This is usually the initial entry point to The Metro, being found in manifold levels. Its entrance looks similar to that of the level one was previously in, with matching doors, and if outside, a matching exterior to buildings found within the level; a differentiation between this and a regular building is that the entrance reveals an indefinite radiance beyond its threshold and resonations redolent of those found within an average subway are audible. If a metro station would fit within the level, then it would instead appear as such. This is noticeable for levels including Level 11, in which the wanderer can anticipate a usual subway station to serve as an entrance to The Metro.

After ultimately arriving at the bottom of this extended staircase, one will find themselves within the most salient part of The Metro: the station itself. Within this part, one will find nebulously illuminated platforms, of which trains habitually transpire. These enumerated platforms also present benches that the wanderer may repose while anticipating the next train, which can be ascertained by the elucidated, voltaic signboards, the train maps and timetables, all of which can be periodically located along the different platforms. These also present similar maps of The Metro and the current time as well, both independent, through screens that can be perceived nearby these maps, and consolidated with timetables. Vending machines proffering divergent items of viands and cans of varying beverages can be found scattered amidst the station. Manifesting in variegated tints, they offer its commodities gratuitous, and seem to be renewed every hour through unknown means.

"The Metro", as it's known currently, was originally considered to be an object with strange properties, discovered on Level 7. At that time, what was known was that a strange train existed which could pass through solid matter and travel between levels by unknown means. After further studies were conducted, it was discovered that you could control where The Metro travelled to by expressing interest in traveling to a certain location while inside. This brought up the debate of it possibly being an entity, which it was later reclassified into. After even further studies, a "train station" of sorts was discovered that seems to be "home base" for The Metro, so to speak. It was reclassified again into its current form, which is a level with a group of sentient train cars collectively known as "The Metro".

The discovery of the level mostly confirmed the theory of multiple cars existing, each resembling each other heavily with tweaked details. For example, the cars can have different colored stripes, lights, seats, stickers, etc. Other things such as graffiti, flags from real-life countries, ads in various languages - some unknown - and dialects, and other things of the sort have been documented. It's currently unknown exactly how many cars exist, as two working cars have never been seen at the same time, but at least 5 different kinds have been documented.

On each side of the station's path is a set of tracks where the cars travel. The left side is typically empty, save for when the working cars make a stop there before continuing their trips. The right side is taken up by a dormant train car which seems to stretch endlessly down the entire level. A large amount of the locomotives have been turned into bases for humans, some of which are used as trading outposts or motels, while others are dangerous and hostile towards unwelcome guests.

The Metro, while acting as a bridge of sorts between levels, additionally acts as a safe haven for wanderers, some even considering the level as their permanent living space. Due to the lack of any hostile entities or environmental conditions, The Metro is considered habitable. The Metro is considered a great place to trade with or interact with other wanderers, similar to that of places such as Level 6.1.

How long the subway station is exactly is unknown, however it is presumed that it ranges at least 100 miles long. As previously mentioned, the main portion of the level - the area where the metro cars stop - is the main hub of activity among wanderers. It is considered the second best place for trading, mingling among wanderers, and residence, surpassed only by 6.1. No dangers exist here or anywhere else in the level. Even if one is to fall on the tracks, the wanderer will not be harmed due to its previously mentioned ability to phase through matter.

### Entities:

The Metro is totally devoid of hostile entities, and houses only some peaceful Facelings alongside the humans which travelled to The Metro from Level 11. Other than the Facelings, the only entity here is the Metro Car. The Metro comes down the left track every few hours and waits for approximately 10 minutes before continuing its travels.

The Metro has only ever displayed a neutral sentience, not being hostile towards wanderers nor directly helpful, other than taking destination requests from its passengers. It is unknown if provoking the Metro to hostility is possible due to the lack of documentation. Passengers of The Metro have described the car moving so fast that it's near impossible to exit your seat and study the details. The Metro's speeds have been documented to range anywhere between 60 mph all the way to Mach 3. Despite this, wanderers have never reported symptoms of whiplash, dislocated bones or muscles, or any injuries for that matter despite the unnatural speed of the cars.

### Entrances and Exits:

The only way to enter this level is by boarding The Metro car upon its unannounced arrival. This is very difficult to do due to the unpredictable nature of the Metro when it isn't being controlled via travel requests. Exiting is only possible by boarding the train during its stop, with the exception of noclipping through a neon light, which will lead to Level 154.

*But everyone knows that when the lights go out, the darkness pours in.*