The trio continues to converse with each other while █████ listens.
("It surprises me how they're taking this so well despite getting transported into a different place.")
Suddenly... the whole room shakes for a few moments.
Lanora stumbled a bit before she regained her balance, "What was that?" She said, a bit surprised and confused.
"The whole place shook. Did something happen?" Syle said, then he looked at █████, "Hey, you went with the Narrator earlier, where did he go?"
"Oh, he said he was gathering something, not sure what." █████ answered... "Oh yeah, why is he taking so long?"
The place shook again, a bit more intense than before.
Some people in the larger group struggled to control their balance, some fell down to the floor. Some half-human, half-wolf people howled as they fell onto another, creating a domino-fall effect. Some mysterious slime-like creature splatted into the wall before slipping down, even if they have no face, they seem to be annoyed from what happened.
... "Are we gonna check for that or no?" Syle asked the other three, "Surely something happened?"
The other three didn't speak up first but looked at each other.
Skipping forward, the four seem to have agreed and are walking throughout the hallways of the Saferoom, trying to find the Narrator.
"Don't you guys think this looks like something from the Backrooms?" █████ said.
"Oh, you thought of that?" Lanora said, looking back at them, "I'm kind of a fan of liminal stuff, it feels weird to be in one."
"Does this closely resemble the backrooms?" Dagus said, looking at the other two talking from the side,
"There's no buzzing sound from the lights due to vibrations."
"Could be the components. The lights are installed better here, maybe." █████ said.
They continued to walk through the hallways, Lanora had her hand trailing the concrete walls.
After a few minutes, they finally found The Narrator in a room, standing still and looking around, he looks like he's sweating.
("That thing is here.") The Narrator thought to himself, He seems tense while he looks at the walls, ("When is the saferoom going to collapse? We have to leave this place.")
"Hey, old man." Syle asked, "Did something happen?" He called him out from behind.
Narrator was taken aback slightly, he turns around to see them, "You are all here. Is the larger group doing fine?"
"Seems like so. What's going on? I suppose you felt that too, right?" █████ asked him about the event earlier.
"Yeah, the shake." The Narrator repeats, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Something's here."
"Huh?" Lanora stares at The Narrator, "Something?"
"It's outside. It's trying to get in." The Narrator explains to them, he looks around the walls.
("This is the 9th time I'm encountering it.") The Narrator thought to himself, ("Even after travelling through 60 saferooms, it's still catching up to me. If it forcefully triggered a collapse, then that's good. But I can't help but feel like it learned how to properly break in.")
The Narrator then looks at █████, "█████, go back to the main room. Just to make sure they're alright."
"Is something going to happen?" █████ asked for some answer.
"I can't be for sure. But when it happens, I need you to guide them." The Narrator said.
"Guide?" █████ repeats.
"Yes, 'Guide.' Now go!" The Narrator said.
█████ steps back before taking a full turn and running towards the main room.
While they run through the hallways and corridors, they notice some cracks on the walls from before are getting bigger. The small hole beyond the crack seems to be shining...
("Is behind the wall the same white space?!") █████ thought to themselves while continuing to run. The place shook again, they almost stumbled but gained some footing and continued running.
... They seem to have reached a slightly bigger room. But nonetheless, █████ continued to run.
But something's weird: whenever they go into a hallway, it feels like they're back to the same room again. ("What is this, why am I back here?") They thought to themselves. █████ takes a different turn to see if something would change, but it was futile because they appear back in the same room.
("Am I looping around? The fuck is this?") █████ thought to themselves again, taking a different route again. This time, the hallway seems to be a bit longer, but they returned to the same room. ("What the fuck!?")
They kept going through a different route, even walking back from where they were before, but the result stayed the same: they returned to the same room. "Narrator! What the fuck is this?!" █████ shouted to the nothingness.
Meanwhile, in the main room.
The larger group seems anxious about what's going on.
"What's going on?" | "Why is it shaking, are we in danger?" | "Anyone knows what's going on?" | "Where are those other 5 people? Shouldn't they be here?"
They keep asking questions, trying to ease the tension. A man with fangs speaks up, "Are we really going to wait for them here? It's taking so long for them to come back."
A woman with horns on their head and a pointy tail, one horn broken, speaks up, "I-I think they're trying to handle whatever is going on outside."
The same man replied to her, "Nonsense! They're probably planning to just leave us to die here."
"Uhh..." A man with yellowish-pink skin color in a suit speaks up, "You don't know that... We are the example that we're still alive here."
The man with fangs replied to him, "What? You? Do you really think I would believe that you survived long here with that shady red guy?"
"Uhh yes...?" A man with yellowish-pink skin replied, "If you don't believe me, then I don't care, the other people here can confirm." He said as he gestured to the other colorful people.
"Uh huh? Where are you from anyway? You look like you got some skin cancer." The man with fangs said.
"Skin can- These are no skin cancer! This is just how we look!" The man with yellowish-pink skin replied. "Yeah! We're from Centauri! We got very colorful skins there!" A woman with reddish-white skin speaks up to continue his words.
"Yeah, that's right. Yeah!" | "Shame on this guy!" | "Booooo!" | "Just leave this place already!"
Some Centauri people said to the man with fangs.
("... These dumbasses think I would really believe them.") The man with fangs thought to himself, ("You're all probably trying to deceive me, a vampire. For I can detect lies.")
When suddenly, █████ was thrown into the room from the entrance.
Some people in the large group gasped and were startled.
"Are they okay?" Someone said.
... █████ quickly gets themselves up and looks at them.
"Oh, you guys are okay!" █████ said, "I got to deal with some looping rooms and bullshit just earlier. But I'm okay."
"What happened? Where's the Narrator and the other three?" A random person asked them as they got close to █████.
"They're still back there, but I'm told to stay here and 'guide' you guys or something." █████ said.
"Oh, then that means the saferoom is going to collapse!" A Centaurian male human spoke up.
The people that aren't Centaurian turn sharply to look at the guy that said it.
... "What?" █████ said, terrified.
"Yeah, after some time, this whole place is going to break down, and we have to get out through a crack in the air that will open up, like a rift! When entering, you get transported to random different worlds." The same Centaurian said.
... "You... you know about these?" █████ asked him.
"Oh yeah! We've been with the Narrator for some time to know." The same Centaurian replied.
("Exactly why I don't like these folks.") The man with fangs thought to himself.