I appreciate it and totally agree on the concerns. It sounds like the mapping needs some rework and I might entirely redo the confusing map. I'm glad I didn't make it even more confusing as I'd originally intended with lots of ups and downs :D
The computer is actually running a bit of a minigame in the background that causes it to level up. Every 10 seconds or so it's taking a turn that can add security and/or work on evolving itself. Lots of little things that happen throughout the stage influence the speed of actions and leveling up, but mostly it can just be thought of as an evolution timer. Over time, it spawns more powerful enemies, more often, or gets better at tracing you... though each game it'll develop down different paths.
Changing floors is absolutely the intended strat, though not exactly as I'd wanted. The idea was that if it sees you on Floor 3 and you leave... it'd search floors 2 and 4 actively. So, you can keep moving around and causing a ruckus to draw away security. I didn't trust my UI feedback or level design for the jam, so I set it to a full reset instead. You're encouraged to jump floor often and play keep away, but it's not extremely strict or time-wastey.
So, yeah, there's lots of crazy stuff happening in the background.