The Maze

The Maze, also known as The Instrument, is the network of tunnels and rooms running underneath the town of Redacre that work to produce the mysterious sounds that beckon from below the surface.

Description

Sleepers playing on the Strings in the Maze in the TBC Announcement Trailer.

Access to the Maze is available to players at level two, though access is limited and will grow as the player climbs through levels. It's unknown how far the Maze stretches, but it seems to run underneath the entirety of Redacre and then some. Players can access the Maze through the basement, kitchens, or storage rooms of houses. While not all missions require players to go into the Maze, players still have access regardless and can venture to the Maze if they wish.

The Maze itself is host to plentiful red cables, relays, drums, and other means of noise making that contribute to The Song. Coordinating their plentiful Hosts, SPEAK-AS-ONE uses these to play the Song across Redacre. During the day, the Instrument plays at the same intensity as it does at night but what is played is "subtler". It has been noted that The Song makes the body a temporary part of the Instrument.

History

Before the Game

SPEAK-AS-ONE's ancient hosts learned how to make crude instruments, precursors to the great Instrument under Redacre, to influence The Song.^{[citation needed]} Geographically, Redacre was host to an expansive natural cave system before being inhabited. Natural formations such as stalactites can still be seen in various corridors such as the Film Archives, New Growth, and Dream Therapy. In addition to the natural caves, mining operations in Redacre's earlier history laid foundations for what would eventually become the Maze.

THE-MEASURE-CUTS was at one point allied with SPEAK-AS-ONE, and has referred to the "noise" in Redacre as his creation, perhaps referring to the Instrument. The Voice chose the "grand names" of the rooms of the Maze, but due to their reclusive nature and attention in other places, some rooms were never officially named, such as String Relay B.

A Host of THEE-I-DARE, named Ailisa, helped tune the Instrument due to having perfect pitch and being able to hear notes precisely. THEE-I-DARE has also explained it is much harder to free people from SPEAK-AS-ONE's influence because of the Instrument. Hosts have broken away from SAO in the past, but errors occur when someone rejects a Voice; those who resist a Voice often go mad.

In-Game

The Instrument that was constructed throughout the Maze is used by Sleepers and Lucids to report Sins committed by The Blackout Club (Group) while they conduct Missions.

Locations

There are many rooms and passageways in the Maze, each with their own unique features, designs, and purposes:

920 Observation

The Airway

The Arches

The Barracks

Cryptogram Library

Dream Therapy

Elevator (Lower West Hoadly)

Film Archives

Host Conditioning

Ingestion

Instrument Supply

Maze Connection

Nerve Center

New Growth

The Plexus

Signal Relay

Sleeper Lockers

Somniloquy (With Scaffolding)

Somniloquy (Without Scaffolding)

String Relay B

Subliminal Media

The Throat

The Twist

The Well

Trivia

• During development, there was a "tiny town" room in the Maze that was large enough to crouch inside of, and showed SPEAK-AS-ONE's plans for further expansions, with "tiles" on carts nearby.