Traphouse

='Traphouse'=

The collective now defending its perceived home had its Mob Mentality activated by the warning on screen from the ruler, whom they'd only seen for the first time just now. They abandoned all hope of escape, and then put their faith in the benignity of the one who watched them, and apparently kept them alive, which they came to the conclusion of simply and only because they weren't dead yet, and were provided for just enough to survive and thrive. That was all that their basic natures allowed them to understand at a primal level, so in a primal reactive state they became an Angry Mob, and served now the Traphouse in totality to keep them alive, since they weren't ever going to escape. They chased out the intruders that acquired the attention of their new master, the Trap Walls suddenly no longer being sealed, and turning easily for passage. None seemed to really think of it initially, but after a while of being chased by the Angry Mob, they realized then that the goal of the ruler wasn't to kill them, after all... But, acquiring the room full of people as servants on the same level as them to do its dirty work seemed like more its alley. Clever sneaky brat. They had to press on again through the corridors, and split up, risking getting lost only so the mob would thin and eventually give up and return to the safety and protection that they loved.
-Angry Mob-

As usual, there were many casualties from both sides, and the survivors that remained hadn't fully regrouped, if they ever would again. If they hadn't by now, there might not have been a chance for it later, either. They were either dead or lost, and likely considered them the same, or died or got lost looking for people who had moved on without thinking they'd done so. But of course, there was the wary vagrant or two that... Filled in the gaps. There were much less of the original crew than before, and for them, they started to worry. Some of these new people might have been spies, or secretly plotting against them, or any number of other things that they didn't know about. The eldest of the group's members stood together since the beginning, and hadn't formed that level of camaraderie with the new members... Nor they with them. They didn't even know if they had that capacity, or what they would do at all for any reason. Now, even the members of their own crew were starting to make them feel unsafe... Paranoia easily started to set, and they considered branching off, but wanted to go against it to prevent people from feeling left behind, or even just doing anything inhumane to another living creature that possibly wanted to make an attempt at leaving this place, just as they. They were conflicted, but still wary of their options, and judging the situation as it progressed.
-Party-

Trekking on, they were cognizant of also more Trap Walls and the people who lived in the walls for safety. There clearly wasn't just one, but that didn't mean that there were many, nor that they were close. None could actually tell how large or small the Traphouse was due to its proportions and designs. The corridors, now small, restricted visibility, and looked similar, so it was feasible that the Traphouse was much larger than they thought -and- that they'd been going in circles -- both of which were incredibly arduous for them. Much time went on where nothing happened, and there was no sound, save the occasional scraping and shuffling around. Sometimes it sounded like it came from above them, but they knew it just had to be the people behind the Trap Doors and Trap Walls, as well as like, Mimics or other creatures. It was something they'd become accustom to, by this point; nothing out of the ordinary for their traversal. But, something abnormal did finally occur... A long, wide-mouthed noose fell suddenly before someone whilst they walked, snatching and hanging them from the ceiling. They knew that there wasn't anything there to begin with, and for that to have happened, something had to let the rope down and pull on it. Now, they were faced with the threat of the possibilities of there being higher levels without ever having -seen- a staircase up or down into one, and also creatures being above them -- probably other sentient people -- that were trying to hang them. The only thing to do was fall into the Trap Walls for safety... Yet, it was probably if they did, the ruler would show up on their electronics and force the mob to drive them back out. The predicament was dire, but with how small the corridors were, it was almost an inevitability they would get snagged at some point. So, the Trap Walls were their only plausible option.
-Trap Ceiling-

Hiding out within the walls, having to sneak to and through them from other wall passages was much more an effective means of movement than through the corridors, they found, but again fell into the now much more tedious and time-consuming maze that was the Trap Walls and which led where and which ones would be sealed and what times. Obviously, the creature didn't always appear and antagonize the wall people... But in certain scenarios, it would appear before them, and incur the same Mob Mentality about them to rid them of the interlopers, driving them out much faster -- sometimes, even back the way that they came, and if conditions were unfavorable at all, even if between themselves and previous wall people, they would be in a great ordeal worse. There were definitely times where they needed to escape into the outer corridors, and were getting pretty good at navigating them, but also ended up teaching the other beings in the Traphouse how to navigate better simply because they showed them and yet could not fully escape nor elude them unless they stopped themselves. So it was a rather intricate little learning algorithm happening within the confines of that specific controlled space, and it was being noted thoroughly.
-Watchers-