Async Research Institute

Null Zones are areas where the Backrooms and the real world connect to each other. Things and people from the real world (Usually from random locations at random dates) that fall through the ground into the Backrooms do so via Null Zones. The Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System (Threshold) is connected to the Backrooms via a Null Zone. The idea that people and objects can enter the Backrooms through Null Zones was theorized by a scientist working for the Async Research Institute named Miller.

Other variations of Null Zones include a phenomenon discovered within the Backrooms. These zones are only noticeable due to an elevation difference and the distortion they can cause to camera equipment. Some of these distortions allow for electronic broadcasts to be heard from the future, which can be seen in Pitfalls when audio from an interview is heard decades before it happened. How these zones come to be is unknown, with the only explanation provided mentioning "elevation differences". One of these Null Zones, labeled "Null Zone 4", appears to duplicate part of an area to the left of the zone. As of now it is unknown if these 2 areas are distinct rooms, or if entering Null Zone 4 will lead to the room on the left. But that might be a blueprint instead.

The word "null" means two opposing quantities canceling each other out (like two equal waves cancel each other) while the "kx" that appears in the description of Null Zone 4 is likely to make reference to formulas regarding electromagnetic field equations. Due to this and the fact that most known persons who no-clipped into the Backrooms were using devices which emanate electromagnetic waves (including cars) it has been theorized that people no-clip when an electromagnetic wave from the real world encounters and cancels one coming from the Backrooms in a Null Zone, creating a small portal through which people and objects can fall into the alternate dimension.

Entities are different kinds of lifeforms and organisms, but also phenomena like The Green Glow, with contra-natural features found inside the Backrooms, usually by those trapped within the alternate reality.

Still lifes Still Lifes are unpredictable, human-like entities native to the Backrooms. These creatures are the distorted results of the Backrooms attempting to replicate real people from memory.

The Lifeform The Lifeform entities are aimless, hive-like hunters that presumably come from "nests" made of their own tendrils (the Growth) and use the repurposed throats of victims to mimic human cries for help. While they lack clear consciousness, their acute hearing and the labyrinthine terrain make it very difficult to escape.

The Growth The Growth is a type of severely mutated hay bacillus found in the Backrooms. It appears to be same material that the Lifeform is made of in closed-off "nest" areas within the place. Theories suggest that the Growth overtakes any dead organism in the Backrooms, feasting off of its nutrients and growing into a room-sized Lifeform nest.

The Green Glow The Green Glow is another type of matter in the Backrooms. It is theorized to be a form a gamma radiation caused by magnetic and electromagnetic waves. The glow likely correlates with Null Zones, being what was present on the doorway plate of the Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System in order to bridge a Null Zone (create a stable portal) between reality and the Backrooms.

Ronald McCarthy A researcher who took part in the March 1st, 1990 exploration team that Peter disappeared on, and the survey team replacing Aaron, encountering the Captain Clark Still Life and was presumably separated.

Bill A researcher who encountered the Captain Clark Still Life and was presumably separated.

Dr. Aaron Ng A researcher and was apart of the initial survey before being replaced by Ronald.

Unnamed Doctor Performs the autopsy on the corpse found by Async

Miller A researcher who most likely theorized that things and people from the real world can fall into the Backrooms via Null Zones.

Peter Tench A former researcher and cameraman for Async. On March 1st, 1990, he was separated from his exploration team due to time travelling two months into the future to May 8th, 1990. During those two months, however, Async had faked Tench's death in order to mask his disappearance and bring closure to his family, which resulted in him staying in the Async underground facility until he fled back into the Complex due to alleged development of mental illness. Tench was then found by Mark Blume. After taking the shotgun from him, he proceeded to fatally wound him and escape the facility as an armed individual. Before exiting the facility, however, he was disarmed by Kirk Maxwell. While outside, Tench failed to predict a sudden drop in the relief, in which he fell onto a rock and presumably died

George Levy Researcher and camera operator for Async. He was part of several of Marvin's expedition teams, some of which include the ones in Informational Video and Pitfalls. He was the cameraman in Static Dead End, where he recorded the area behind the door in Room 14D, where he discovered a room with objects fused into the walls and floor.

Kim A researcher who was a member of Marvin's exploration team in Pitfalls. She later helps assist Team A with building a walkway across the pitfalls in Room 14D. Just four days later, she also assists George as he explored a new section of the Complex.

Randall Thaci A researcher who worked with Mark and Marvin to perform a layout analysis on Room 14C.

Phill He is an Async Research Institute scientist and researcher into the Backrooms. Phil is first seen among the group of Async scientists watching the recovered footage from Naren Warne.

Naren Warne A researcher who was part of the Everything Must Go analysis team that encountered Captain Clark Still Life. He becomes lost inside the Backrooms and is eventually killed by the Captain Clark Still Life.

Lawrence Altman Founder and director of the Async Research Institute.

Ivan Beck Vice Director of the Async Research Institute, responsible for proposing the idea of the Backrooms and overseeing all KV31 projec

Kirk Maxwell A higher-ranking member of Async (with full clearance). He was able to disarm Peter Tench (although firing some rounds into the ceiling) prior to Peter boarding the elevator in the Maintenance Wing and his subsequent deat

Anthony Dawkins Another high-ranking member of Async (with level 09 clearance). He meets Marvin and the other researchers when they return with the footage of the Lifeform.

Clyde A prominent member of Async who watches the footage that Marvin E. Leigh recorded in Pitfalls. He also assists the teams in Reunion with surveying Room 14D using a rover and building a walkway across the pitfalls in the room.

Mark Blume Member of Marvin's exploration teams. He successfully crossed the pits in Room 14D and went through the door in Pitfalls. In Reunion, he was shot by Peter Tench with his own shotgun while conducting a layout analysis of Room 14C, which left him in critical condition. It is left unclear whether he survived or not.

Marvin E. Leigh Camera operator for Async. While exploring with a team he fell into one of the pitfalls in Room 14D, and became the first researcher to record an encounter with the Lifeform, on May 6, 1990.

Async stumble upon Mary, who passes out shortly after. The researchers bring Mary to the Async Research Facility through the Threshold, with Phil interviewing Mary for clarification on Async's part, managing to confirm that Mary ended up in the Complex after walking through a wall in the basement of Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire while searching for Clark.

Later, on May 6th, 1990, an expedition team consisting of Marvin E. Leigh, Mark, George and Kim found Room 14D, a room made of pits (the Pitfalls). When trying to get the camera across, Marvin fell down into a pit. Down there, he encountered a monster mimicking a human voice and managed to get out alive. The team would later present the footage to the rest of Async. The way to Room 14D got sealed away and many new safety precautions were set up.

Between the 7th and 10th, 1990. scientists from the United States Department of Energy went on tour inside the Backrooms to secure Async's funding. Although the funding was secured, the meeting where Async was doing negotiations with DOE president James Watkins was interrupted by Peter Tench entering the Observation Room and activating the security system after having disappeared for more than two months.

On May 25th, 1990, the wooden wall sealing the area of Room 14D got deconstructed and a rover was sent to the pits to check if the area was safe for further exploration, after which a team of researchers armed with a shotgun was sent to Room 14C to do a layout analysis. Following the reclaiming of the area, a vehicle with building materials was sent to Room 14D to construct a safe walkway across the room and into the door on the other side.

By May 29th, 1990, the walkway in Room 14D had been finished, with researchers installing both a metal frame and winch above the pit to the Underground Neighborhood. After convincing Marvin Leigh to take some time off, George Levy operated the camera and documented the progress in Room 14D, as well as a section behind the room's door with distorted wallpaper and a room similar to 14D, which had miscellaneous objects fused into the floor and walls.

On June 19th, 1990, Naren Warne, an Async researcher, gets separated from the rest of his team, and gets ambushed by an unknown entity, with the footage being found and viewed by Async scientists.

On November 14th, an unnamed researcher goes in The Complex to disassemble one of the ceiling tiles and examine what is above the ceiling. on November 15th Dr. Julia Meisner talks about lamps and mentions some codes and years on the lamp bulbs. The video ends with Julia Meisner talking and her voice fading, and as the camera gets closer to the ceiling, the sound of the fluorescent lights gets louder.

Soon after opening the Threshold, members of Async started exploring and documenting the Backrooms. On February 2nd, 1990, A research team found a decomposing corpse with mold growing around it, which most likely was Nicolas Bolton, which an autopsy is performed on two days later. The doctor, who didn't know about the Backrooms, was baffled by the unnatural decay. There was also a mutated strain of hay bacillus inside the corpse.

On March 1st, 1990, a researcher of the institute, Peter Tench went to investigate sounds of people chattering coming from a corner of the Backrooms, but then got seemingly teleported a few months into the future and became lost, with Peter appearing to have simply disappeared to Async, resulting in an emergency return to standard and several days of searching for Peter, to no avail. They couldn't disclose Peter's disappearance to the public, so they made a cover up story for Peter's disappearance, claiming that Peter had died in a car accident, and a funeral for Peter was held.

undetermined sound and a strange creature crawling on the ceiling, giving Async the first clue of the dangers of the Backrooms. Async would construct the Observation Room in the Complex around the Threshold, and on March 11th, discovers several new places inside of the Backrooms.

July 2, 1988, Async has developed the Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System for use in opening the doorway to the Backrooms, with the third test of the Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System in opening the doorway resulting in failure, with the information about the results of the experiment being withheld from the public. The sixth test of the Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System, on October 17, 1989, was successful. Two scientists argued whether to shut down the machine or not. Some form of obstruction was also detected. The experiment was not shut down and after the machine almost broke, the Threshold to the Backrooms was finally opened. But the opening of the Threshold is theorized to have caused an earthquake that knocked out all electricity in the building and killed 63 people. Following the opening of the Threshold, the number of people reported missing also drastically increased, with Async at some point becoming aware that portals to the Backrooms, most likely being named Null Zones by the researcher Miller, have started opening at varying locations with no knowledge on how to stop it.

Async was originally created in 1983[1] by a physicist named Lawrence Altman to make MRI Machines for use in hospitals. However, at an unspecified time in the 1980s, Async started an experiment on opening a doorway into the Backrooms based on a prototype by Oak Ridge National Laboratory six years prior. The experiments were directed by vice director Ivan Beck and were described as a solution for all future storage and housing needs, in a conference in April 1988, Ivan Beck requested funding from the United States government in order to reach said solution. The experiments continued as Async got funding from the government.

The Async Research Institute (also known as the Async Foundation or simply Async) is a research organization responsible for opening the Threshold (using the Low-Proximity Magnetic Distortion System) into the Backrooms. It is located at the Async Research Facility in San Jose, California.