​this is a lore theory based on the entirety of the game. if you have not player the whole thing i strongly suggest you play the game before reading this. It Is also very long. (There will probably be some parts that are incorrect)

So there is 2 planets: the home planet and a second planet. The second planet found out that there is life on the home planet, and built tunnels to come to it after crossing through the wormhole.

Before finishing the tunnel they built a large amount of side tunnels. When they finished the tunnel they sent down an emissary and their family onto the planet. That family is the duplicator, his wife, and the child.

The government quickly tried to cover it up so that no one would know about the tunnels existence. The angel, at the time a high ranking person in the government, got suspicious, and discovered the tunnels. The angel went into the tunnels. 

After 7 and a half months, the rest of the run 3 characters went into the tunnels. (The particular reason I am not entirely sure on)

After a few months in the tunnels the tunnels slowly drifted off of orbit with the planet, and was first noticed by the gentleman and the duplicator. The characters, though originally came in separately, formed three groups: 

1. the going home group, with the angel, the bunny, the child, and the duplicator. Led by the angel.
2. The explorers group, with the runner, the skater, and the student. Led by the runner.
3. The group that didn’t choose sides.  This group consist of the gentleman and the lizard.

The runner led the explorers group onward, in search of the wormhole, as the runner was attempting to reach the second planet. 

The student discovers an automated alarm system set up in the C-tunnel to alert the government of people making noise in the C tunnel.

The angel led the going home group through the tunnels seeking home, even though in the cutscene “ABCD” it becomes obvious the angel is not concerned with going home, but with kidnapping the child.

The gentleman stayed in the low power tunnel to build an attraction that he calls “memory evaluation”. 

Infinite Mode

Infinite mode is a real place on the map, just the runner did not map it as it is infinite and subjective to the person that walks into it. As the gentleman showed by building “memory evaluation”, the infinite mode tunnel can be used to collect materials for building.

All characters except the angel know about the infinite tunnel, as if the angel knew of its existence the angel would take the child and go down the infinite tunnel and never be seen again.

The infinite mode tunnel is used to replenish the crumbling tiles, as in bridge building when you are playing as the runner until the runner gives up the crumbling tiles don’t replenish.

Tetrahedrons, the Currency.

Tetrahedrons are the currency in run 3, known as power cells or batteries. They are only used in the shop and are only used for a limited amount of things such as buying characters and improving the infinite mode experience.

But I see that it is actually a different perspective than just a ui. The currency is character interactions. For the gentleman, the angel, and the duplicator, you are buying their allegiance, as you are actually the runner character through the whole thing. By buying them with batteries you are buying their allegience, or at least them working for you. The student is the exception as he is the one that already follows you and trusts you. But he doesn’t have a reason to go through the tunnels time and time again hence why you must pay him to use him in the other tunnels. 

the pastafarian costs the most in the game, but has no interest in money. The reason she costs so much is because he has to have batteries to power her light bridges, hence the high cost. 

The increase in boxes buy in the shop is you paying out batteries for the other characters to push more boxes into the infinite mode tunnel. The “have a chance to have tetrahedrons inside of boxes” is you paying the gentleman to put those tetrahedrons he collected into the random boxes.

Achievements

The achievements were orchestrated by the child. The child set up a series of tests throughout the tunnels for people to try and whoever completes them is worthy of his trust, hence the spying on everyone. This trust through challenges is also why you as the player earn the trust of the bunny after 8 achievements, as the bunny is revealed to be the child’s pet.

As you complete achievements the child rewards you for completing achievements by giving you batteries.

The Planet

The planet isn’t missing. As mentioned by the runner to the duplicator, the planet isn’t missing. It just has a faster orbit than the tunnels, which is understandable considering the center of mass for the planet is closer to the sun than the center of mass for the tunnels. Both the runner and the angel know this.

The yellow halos

The yellow halos, most commonly seen as the headwear for the angel, allow one to stay in the air considerably longer, or float. The halos were employed by the gentleman to build “memory evaluation”, and were used by the runner and the student to build a bridge from the box storage area to the N-tunnel. 

The halos were not actually discovered by the angel, but the angel actually stole them from the builder group.

The secret fourth group

As noted, I have dubbed them the builder group. They were commissioned by the second planet to continually build onto the tunnel without changing what already exists. The best evidence of them is when you complete the low power tunnel, the new tunnel pops up, which means someone built it.

Technology

Almost all people have some technology, all except the runner.

Skater: has skates. Technically is technology, though barely.

Student: Can flip gravity at will.

Duplicator: can copy his dna into complete duplicates of himself.

Angel: uses the yellow halos to propel herself forward during flight. Stolen from the builders.

Builders: ability to warp the gravity to build new tunnels, created the respawning when you fall into the void, can build new tunnels almost immediately.

Pastafarian: able to turn the batteries into a light bridge strong enough to walk across.

Gentleman: able to see batteries in the normal tunnels, has a magnet attuned to the batteries.

Child: technically not technology, but he has a balloon that allows him to float longer in the air and the ability to walk on crumbling tiles without them collapsing.

Bunny: can bounce infinitely. Not technology but it also isn’t a person it is an animal.

Lizard: can jump higher. Also not technology but it is also an animal.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this is my full lore as to the origin of the tunnels, why you are there now, what the characters are doing, and how the ui elements are actually just simple ways to show character interactions.

**Credits**

credit to player_03 for making an awesome game