STATU[E]S

VI. THE NEW DIVIDE

VI. THE NEW DIVIDE

The Invasion marked a new era for the mannequins of Homo Natura.

When the Invaders took over The Extension, the rest of the Originals thought that the new place would become a part of their grounds. However, after several days, it became apparent that the Invaders were not willing to share The Extension.

A group of mannequins that posed at the shoe section took an inspiration from the Invaders and started claiming the section as their own. Another group, the ones that were positioned at the women's bags section, felt the need to own their section after finding out that the shoe section has been owned. The mannequins from another section saw this as a trend and promptly followed suit. This new setup at the Homo Natura confused everyone. Befuddled murmurs and subtle inquiries were exchanged, and yet they still cannot figure out what would happen next. Do they need to secure a place of their own? Can they traverse the territory of the ones who actually have one? What will happen once they owned a section?

None of them have an inkling clue. Even the ones who established territories merely followed their gut feelings.

One night, a dispute broke out between the Invaders and the owners of the shoe section. The conflict arose when one of the Invaders roamed along the shoe racks. A mannequin from the group that owned the section tried to ward off the Invader and claimed that only the members of their group can walk on that section. However, the Invader stood his ground and claimed that he was still a part of the Originals; and therefore, the Originals' area was also their area. No sooner, a fight broke out, and the clueless others had to break it.

The next night, a group of mannequins decided that they needed new rules. They just do not know who would decide what the rules are. A mannequin volunteered a solution, and they all agreed that that was exactly what they needed.

That was how they designated a leader.

The chosen leader of the Originals immediately presided over his subordinates. With the help of a selected few, the leader came up with a set of rules, the most important of which was the one that forbade anyone from entering a group territory without asking for permission from the members. Everyone agreed with that rule; but the groups contested some of the other rules that were presented and claimed that as a group, they were entitled to have their own rules and their own leaders.

The night ended with every single one returning to their made up groups, while the unaffiliated and their designated leader decided to become a group.

For the following months, the mannequins of Homo Natura lived in their own groups, with their own rules, inside their own territories. Groups disbanded and reunited; groups emerged and groups merged. In the end, they all decided to divide the store into four territories, and the residents for each one will be known respectively as the Northerners, the Southerners, the Westerners, and Easterners.