This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/miistermerlin on 2024-11-09 21:28:18+00:00.

I never thought I’d be in this position, sitting here, telling you all of this. But the truth can only be buried for so long.

I Can’t tell you my real name, for obvious. What i can disclose is that for the last seven years, I worked as a research analyst for a government contractor. I was assigned to a project that I thought would just be about surveillance systems and data analysis. I had no idea it would lead me into something so dark, so twisted.

The project, codenamed “Erebus”, involved building replicas of major cities miles underground. I’m talking about more than just shelters or bunkers. These were, are full-scale cities complete with streets, buildings, public spaces, and even parks, all designed to look exactly like cities above ground. I’ve seen replicas of New York, Chicago, and parts of San Francisco. But here’s the thing that’s going to blow your mind: they’ve created a system of artificial illumination that mimics natural sunlight. And I’m not talking about some dim, artificial glow. No, this was bright, warm, real sunlight, so real that people who were brought down there could live indefinitely without ever knowing the difference.

At first, I thought it was just a strange project for some kind of future crisis—like a massive bunker for elites, or maybe a contingency plan for global disaster. But then I learned the truth. This wasn’t just about survival. The government, our government has been kidnapping people for years. I mean that literally. They’ve been taking civilians, entire families even, and bringing them to these underground cities, where they’ve been held in secret.

They tell the people they’ve been relocated for safety, for a ‘new start,’ or some other cover story. They make them believe they’re part of a relocation program. But it’s all a lie. The truth is, they’ve been studying their psychological reactions to living in these replicas of the real world. They want to know what happens when people are placed in environments that are exactly like the ones they’re used to, but with no connection to the outside world. No contact with the surface. No real escape.

I’ve laid my eyes on countless reports. They monitor everything, their mental health, their emotions, their stress levels, how they adapt to the artificial sunlight, to the fake seasons, to the fact that they’re essentially trapped. They’re studying how people psychologically adjust to being isolated in a city that’s perfect on the surface but hollow and fake underneath.

Some of these people have been down there for years, and they have no idea they’re part of an experiment. They’ve been told their families died in a disaster, or that they’re part of some secret government program. But the reality is far worse. They’re being observed like lab rats in a maze, their every move tracked, their thoughts and behaviors analyzed. And some don’t make it long before their sanity is fractured beyond repair…

I was part of the team that helped manage the data. I had access to the psychological reports. I knew exactly what was going on, but I stayed silent for so long. The reports showed the breakdowns, the depressions, the suicides, the violent outbursts. People who went down there as families, only to slowly devolve into something completely different. They’re trying to see how the human mind reacts when everything it believes to be real is taken away, when everything is a replica.

The worst part? There are more of these cities than anyone could possibly know. They’re scattered all over the place buried so deep, you’d never think to look. I’ve seen the maps. The entire project spans continents. And each city is more advanced than the last.

I tried to walk away. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing what was going on, but every time I tried to talk, they made sure I knew who was in charge. People disappear… People I knew, people who got too close, were never seen again.

I can’t hide anymore. I don’t know if I’m going to make it out of this alive, but at least you’ll know the truth.

In closing, know this. There is a hell. It exists beneath our feet… there’s no fire… No brimstone, just hollow buildings and empty streets.