Generalies
PLACEHOLDER is a parasitic species of the Helminth genre. They thrive thanks to a cycle that involves two hosts: a Scit and a human. As mankind is a natural target of the entities, they represent a major danger for people, as they actively destroy the nervous system, transforming the victim in what could be described as a mindless zombie.
Parasitic Cycle
The entity posesses three states. However, the passage to one state to another require a completely different type to temperature. For this reason, the parasite will only go from egg to larvae in a specific cold temperature, while it will only mature from a larvae to an adult in a warm temperature. Since the process of maturation will require a lot of ressources and nutrient as soon as it starts, the exact and precise temperature allow it to only start this while they are in an environment that can fullfill its need of nutrients. The complete difference of temperature between the two passages also mean that the parasite won’t mature too quickly, as they depend on a different kind of nutrient source to perform the maturation. If PLACEHOLDER starts the eclosion or maturation process and for some reason cannot finish it, the instance of the entity will die. It therefore relies heavily on this temperature system, which can be a way to fight it (see Sanitary Mesures below).
The eggs of the entity can be found in water or other humid places. They can thrive in both cold and warm almospheres. There, they need to penetrates Scits, simply by entering its body while it eats1. Indeed, they are one of the only Backrooms entity posessing a cold body. This means that their body is the only place that posesses both the nutrients and the temperature necessary for the eggs to hatch into larvaes. In the body of the Scit, those eggs will circulate in the innervated fat of the entity, where the cold temperature needed for the hatching process are. There, the PLACEHOLDER eggs will hatch, revealing the larvaes. However, said larvaes will quickly shift in a kystic form by consumming proteins from the Scit fat, as the temperature is too cold for them to survive normally. Not only this, but the larvaes also need a temperature similar of the one present in human body to go from a larvae to a full adult, which basically makes the Scit as a host no longer useful, hence why they need to enter this stage to persist. The kystic form is extremely resilient and can exist for decades in the fat of Scits before they are eaten.
This is where humans get involed in the cycle of PLACEHOLDER. Indeed, as the meat of Scits is very commonly consumed by wanderers and group members alike2, those people will also ingest the entity larvaes in kystic form while consuming it. As they did in the body of the now eaten entity, the entities, in a larvae form this time, they will use blood circulation to move. However, this time, they have a flagellum they can use to move faster, and control their destination better. This is needed, as fewer larvaes made it to the next step, since most infected Scits won’t get eaten by humans, which result in a loss for the entity. The presence of a flagellum also allow the entity to go faster, but also to move during the next step, that require them to enter into the human’s brain. They penetrate by going through the blood strain barrier. They will then begin to move towards human neurons. Here, they will start eating myelin shealth, which posesses the necessary lipids for the entity to fully grow into its adult form. However, myelin shealth is responsible for fastening the electric messages in neurons. Destroying it means that slowly, the human will start to lose their reflexes, while also getting difficulties of moving their arms and logs. However, the most well-known effect of an infection by PLACEHOLDER happens once the larvaes manage to grow into their adult form. Indeed, as an adult, they will be able to lay eggs. As in this state, only a dozen of adult specimens still live. They now need to lay their eggs in a damp place, where Scits will be able to be infected once more, continuing the cycle.
To allow for that, all but one adult PLACEHOLDER will migrate back in the blood circulation, where they will start laying eggs in the blood. But the worst is to come, as the now solitary parasite in the head will start to cut speficic neurons. The next state is quite obscure, as we currently don’t know the specific pattern of the destroyed neurons. However, it seem to break the human’s free will, effectively making it a simple puppet whose alost entirely destroyed neuron system will only contributes to one thing: finding a place where Scits live. This process can take time, and the most common symtomes include memory loss, difficulties to walk or to talk. Many wanderers have slowly seen their friends or family members helplessly falling into mutism or sometimes even insanity, without any way to help them, only being able to watch. In the latest stage, the wanderer will still be able to think or look for information, often using the database to noclip into a level containing a lake or a river where Scits are known to live. Those wanderers can easily be recognized, as they are trembling, livid beings that are walking by people without any talk. It is crucial not to attempt to help them, for they are effectively dead already. Do not touche an infected wanderer, as you may get infected by some remaining larvaes. Once water is found, the infected wanderer will simply jump into it, drowning in mere minutes. There, decomposition will do its duty, liberating the eggs in the water for the cycle to continue on.
Safety Mesures
As the entity and its actions cannot be cured, it is crucial to protect yourself against it. Common yet important practice includes washing your hands3. It is also very important to cook Scit meat before eating it, as the high temperature will be too much for even the kystic forms to bear. Once they are dead, they do not pose any ulterior threat. If for some reason you cannot cook Scit meat, it is highly advised not to consume it, as PLACEHOLDER is extremely common within them. It’s often better to starve for a day than to die within a month of such an horrible and irreversible fate.
If you are drinking water from places such as rivers or lakes, you can try to put them at the exact temperature of 14,7°C, as it is the natural temperature of Scit bodies. The eggs will start to hatch, but the larvaes will quickly die due to the lack of nutrients around, which prevent them from entering their kystic form.
If you see someone with pale skin and white eyes that seems to walk with some difficulties, sometimes almost falling or tripping, do not attempt to help them or even touch them. As heartless as it may seem at first glance, killing the infected wanderer can ironically save hundreds of others, as the host will ever make it to water, effectively stopping the cycle of the entity.
Discovery
PLACEHOLDER have been around for ages, since as long as humans have been present in the Backrooms. Members of The Lost have been talking about the ‘’invisible plague’’ that controlled some of their members. It was a fairly common disease during their era, as they couldn’t know about the real reason of it, instead claiming it to be Argos’ way of tormenting the people that didn’t follow justice and honor.
All the information known about the entity has only been possible thanks to a collaboration between the M.E.G. and The Doctors of the Neon Hospital, an alliance that has been around since the discovery of Staphylococcus liminalis by them.