Huaisang makes a soft grunt noise of disagreement at Angelo's argument. This place is a nightmare. The advantages are far outweighed by the horrors. His 'son' will learn that soon enough. "I don't think staying is a choice."

As far as he knows, they'd all leave if they could. Locals included, though for many of them the thing that traps them is the inability to acknowledge the horror of their existence.

It's the lead-in to more existential philosophy than Huaisang wants to explore. Ignorance is surely a trap, and almost anyone in any life would want to escape it if they learned that there was an option for something more.

"Please." Huaisang drains the last of his mediocre grape juice and sets it down with a sigh. "I'll participate in my own pretending and imagine that it's something actually palatable."