The Hole!

A picture of the Hole!

**The Hole!** is a gigantic hole in the ground located off the coast of Belize on the planet of Nexon. Its appearance has been dated back to the 1989th cycle, having played a major role in the development of many cultures. The Hole presents many dangers and treasures alike nestled within its depths, and countless explorers have devoted their lives to scouring the Hole for riches.

## Layers

The Hole is often categorized into distinct sections known as Layers, each harboring a variety of unique lifeforms and structures. There are 11 layers currently confirmed to exist.

After passing into the eighth Layer of the Hole, one enters a unique non-Euclidean space known as the Hole Dimension. This is believed to be the hole's "event horizon", the point at which nothing can return from the Hole. Efforts to dig around the gateway to the Hole Dimension have shown that the underside of the gateway appears indistinguishable from ordinary crust, suggesting that it can only be entered from above.

The existence of a mysterious layer dubbed the Hole Core has been hypothesized, and it the location in which Jeffery is believed to reside after his disappearance in 2007C.

## Theories

The Hole's nature has been a long-debated topic and has spiked many controversies. There have been various theories proposed in an attempt to explain the Hole's existence.

### A Really Big Man with a Shovel

The most widely believed and earliest known theory, this states that a really big man with a shovel descended from the sky and dug out a large chunk of the ground with his shovel, before vanishing spontaneously. This story originated with folktales from the people of Belize, who describe this origin the best way. The following is an excerpt from *A Brief History of Hole! Time!* by dave, a book which popularized the theory.

> "*Legends tell of the Hole’s appearance, and the very first Hole explorers. One of my personal favourites describes the Hole’s appearance like this: “It was like a huge spade descended from the sky and struck the ground. A huge chunk of the ground shot upwards, and we never saw it again. The area was suddenly flooded with a thick, red fog.”*"
> ― dave[source]
>
>

Some versions of this theory believe that the Nexan moon Arcadia was created from the large mass of land dug out by this process. This is theorized due to the moon's abnormally elongated shape and similar material composition to Nexon's crust.

### Gateway Theory

This theory describes that the holes that branch off into infinitely long paths in layer 7 might actually lead to different versions of the hole, and that layer 7 is just a gateway. Not only this, but layers 1-7 exist in our version of reality, and everything below is just another hole in a different reality, with layer 7 being a gateway to these other realities. This means that the hole can not only be divided into layers, but into sections:

* Layers 1 – 6 is Section 1

* Layer 7 is a path to Section 2

* Layer 8 – ??? is Section 2

* Everything else is unknown as of yet.

* Hole! Core! is within the Final Section.

### Sentient Hole Theory

Sentient Hole Theory says that the Hole is actually a sentient being. The reasoning goes something like this:

1. Why would the shovel create beings along with the hole, if it just digs holes?
2. Layer 1 has no hole beings.
3. Layer 3 does.
4. Later layers have more and more complex beings and seem to be predictable the further down explorers go.
5. So the hole is trying to lead us down there.
6. So there must be something at the bottom.

This theory ties in really well with the Hole! Core!, and now describes that the core is the ‘brain’ or nervous system of the hole. It also works with the Gateway Theory, saying that the Hole is a being that transcends reality and devours anyone who enters it. Layer 7 would be like a throat, which you cannot escape from because the Hole ‘eats’ anything that goes in.