Chapter 12: First Challenges

Helen, Heidi, Michelle and I meet in our bathroom the next morning, but we don’t have time to do more than wash and dress ourselves. I change into my short vinyl minidress and matching thighhigh boots for today’s challenges.

After breakfast, we assemble in the basement room. The elderly woman who gave us instructions yesterday is the only one here with us. I soon learn that she is referred to as the Warden, and she is in charge of refereeing our challenges. The Warden fixes a plastic wrist band displaying our name and a barcode onto our wrists. These are apparently to ensure that we are assigned the correct score. Then we are divided into two teams for the first challenge. Each team is escorted into a different basement room not far from the main room. The only light in our room is provided by a ceiling light covered by a metal mesh grill.

My teammates consist of David, Franz, Helen and another female known only a ‘X’. We vary in age from late teens to early thirties. I spoke to them all at some stage last night, but I can’t remember many details about them. They all know some words in English, but only Helen and I are native English speakers. Fortunately the Warden hands each of us a small sheet written in our own language, detailing the challenge we must complete. The first challenge seems simple, but common sense warns me that its ease is an illusion. To succeed, the team must report to the main room before the halfhour time limit runs out.

Needless to say, the door has been locked and there’s no visible means of opening it from this side of the door. To add to our problems, it soon becomes clear that the overhead light is slowly dimming. We’ll be pitched into complete darkness by the time our halfhour expires. None of us takes charge of our group. After all, we are all submissive by nature and taking charge of any gathering runs contrary to our very psyche. Time is wasted while one after another we try to open the door, repeating identical moves made by everyone else. One of the men reaches for the overhead light, in an effort to stop it from going out. It’s a good idea, but futile. The grill is firmly bolted in place and it blocks any access to the light fitting.

It occurs to me that there must be some way to escape. Perhaps there’s a hidden control panel that opens the door. Or a secret door. Despite our language difficulties, others soon start copying my efforts to find a release mechanism hidden in the wall. There are blemishes and cracks in the stone walls of the room. Any one of them could hide what we need.

We achieve success about twenty minutes into the challenge, by which time the overhead light has reduced to little more than that of a candle. We discover a small metal strip wedged between two of the stone slabs that make up the floor. We try moving the strip but it remains stubbornly in place. We feel around the surrounding slabs, but they all seem solid enough, giving no hint of a trap door. Only when the overhead light dims further do I realise that the metal strip has a faint glow. It’s a sensor! On impulse I hold my wrist band’s barcode over the sensor. I’m rewarded by the sound of the door unlocking. We all charge for the door with indecent haste.

Apart from the Warden, the main room is deserted when we arrive. The mistresses must be meeting somewhere more comfortable. We are clearly the first team to arrive. Fortunately the more experienced team members know that to finish the scenario, we each need to scan our barcode against the device resting on a table. Only then is our success officially recognised.

“What are supposed to do now?” I ask the rest of my team.

“Sshhh!” replies the Warden, holding her finger to her lips.

I can only follow the lead of my more experienced teammates. They sit in a line on one of the nearby benches with their hands on their head. Is this what we are required to do once we finish a challenge? Clearly it is. I squeeze onto the end of bench next to the others and put my hands on my head. This is presumably what Mistress Matilda meant when she told me I needed to display obedience and submission.