‘It’s not fair to say that ‘The Entrance to the Underground’ is dangerous because it leads to dangerous places. In fact, those sensible travellers that choose to remain within a kilometer of ‘The Entrance’ on its subterranean side have very little to fear. It’s around the kilometer point that ‘The Underground’ begins to fork, and that’s where danger lies, still not from any one aspect but in the broad sense that it becomes increasingly likely one will get lost past the first turn. 

Why?

Well because nobody has yet found ‘The Exit to the Underground,’ though it could be argued ‘The Entrance’ serves both purposes. ‘The Entrance’ leads down into a nation-sprawling web of subterranean infrastructure, some of which is abandoned and some of which, like the New York Subway System, remains active. From ‘The Entrance,’ located at the back of a mineshaft in Eastern Wyoming, a careful traveler can find themselves in the dank sewers of New Orleans or the basement cities of Iowa without ever having found a way to reach the surface. Unless one backtracks through ‘The Entrance,’ it is impossible to leave. 

Those travellers who have come upon the bottoms of open wells or underground warehouses repurposed for raves report that those exits that should exist, those exits through which other people seem to pass, are inaccessible to those who have moved first through ‘The Entrance to the Underground.’ A cave-in will occur. A door will lock. An immovable bouncer will block the way. ‘The Underground’ rearranges itself to prevent exit through any other means.

Why risk it then?

There are a few reasons. Suspected criminals sometimes avoid capture in ‘The Underground,’ leveraging their seeming inability to leave by normal means. And reckless explorers believe that because a thing is dangerous it must be conquered. Finally, braving ‘The Entrance to the Underground’ is currently the only known means by which to access ‘The Hidden Operahouse,’ a Wayside attraction in its own right.

Those hoping to attempt a viewing of ‘The Hidden Opera’ should pack for two weeks travel and a night’s stay for the show itself. Other guides suggest food for an extra week as a buffer- it’s easy to get turned around in ‘The Underground.’ This guide suggests that the week will only prolong a miserable end. ‘

-an excerpt, Autumn by the Wayside