“It says “no trace here,” not yours, not whatever’s following you, and I figure whoever wrote it never went back that way.”
A null zone is a stretch of Level 0.1 where nothing leaves a trace. You walk and the echo of your footsteps doesn’t sound, and the creatures that cross it don’t leave one either. That silence brings no calm, because the one warning the place usually gives is missing.
Where it appears
Only in the blackout zones of Level 0, the ones you can already recognize from afar by their dead light. Not every blackout room is null, and according to the archive’s reports a little over one in three carries the sign that gives it away. The rest of the blackout is simply dark.
How to recognize it
- A note on the floor reading “No trace here.” It is the most reliable sign.
- At the edge, the crossed-out eye of the Graffiti, an open eye with a line struck through it. Whoever painted it wanted you to know what you were crossing.
- The hum carries on wherever it was, but your steps don’t answer against the carpet.
Notes of this kind are counted among the Floor Notes and the found texts of Level 0.
How to survive
- If you see the crossed-out eye, don’t walk in blind. Go around the zone if you can.
- If you’re already inside, don’t trust that nothing is following you, because not hearing it doesn’t mean it isn’t behind you.
- Count your steps. It is the only thing that will tell you how far you’ve gone.
- Leave the way you came in. Environmental events can close the way back.
What people say
Some say that inside a null zone the creatures lose your trail, and that this makes it a hiding place. Others say the opposite: that whoever enters leaves no trace, but the trace of whatever was already inside can’t be heard either, and that is why you don’t come out the same. There is also no agreement on whether the silence extends past the sign or ends at the crossed-out eye.