Chapter 58

Day???:

Adam’s door was closed again. John exchanged a frown with the other two before banging his hand on the metal.

“Adam? Adam!” He called.

“Just! A! Minute!” There was a pause. “Timer! Locks!” Adam puffed faintly.

John turned to Vorigan. “Guess we’re waiting. Why didn’t you tell me about the ‘three doors’ thing?”

Vorigan frowned, glancing at Dulgan. “I thought your friend would already have mentioned it.”

John’s attention made Dulgan look at the ground. “We dinna get many o’ the Boon, inna deeps. ‘Ey mostly stay up near the Road. I canna rem’ber the las’ time I saw one.” He held up his false hand. “Our own medicine’s much rougher. I dinna know if’n ‘twas an untrue legend ‘r no’.”

John grimaced. “I wish you’d told me anyway. I get the feeling that this’ll be really hard.”

Dulgan bowed, nearly touching his head to his knees. “I ‘pologize, my friend. ‘Twas no’ intentional, I ‘sure you.”

“Okay, nothing we can do about it now anyway.” John put his hand on Dulgan’s shoulder after the Dwimar straightened.

“Dammit!” Adam shouted from within the room.

A deep ‘wha-wha’-type sound came from beyond the door, and the metal quivered slightly.

“Adam?” John yelled, concerned.

“Yeah! Just a sec!” His friend returned.

“Hey there.” Adam sighed, sticking his head out a minute later. “Oh! You found everybody, good deal!”

“So, how does this work?” John asked. “Do I help you, then Dulgan or Vorigan, or what?”

“Well...” Adam pondered. “Once I actually started the sequence in the right order ... I think it was the right order anyway, an hourglass appeared and this door locked. I don’t know if it unlocks if I’m successful. And I’ve failed twice...”

“What?” John pushed forward. “Let me see.”

“Hold on.” Adam held a palm up. “Let’s figure out our logistics, then we can work on each room.”

“Do you have a suggestion?” Vorigan asked politely.

“So, a couple of considerations I’ve thought of.” Adam began. “One, if the door locks when I’m doing the solution, what if it doesn’t unlock until after I’ve left? Will John be able to follow me? But on the other hand, this place seems big on threes. What if there’s um, more dire consequences if I fail one more time?”

“Good point.” Dulgan spoke up. “Do you ‘ave a suggestion?”

“Yeah.” Adam said. “I think I’ve figured it out, but I’ll let John come in and see if I’m missing something. Then he’ll wait out here while I try one more time. If I pass, we’ll be able to see what happens and make a plan from there. If I don’t, maybe he still can pass if you two do your parts.”

“Adam!” John protested.

“No.” Vorigan spoke with overriding certainty. “Your friend is correct. Your task requires you to help us do a fourth door. It doesn’t specify any others. According to you, Adam will not truly die, even if failure kills him here. Correct?”

John nodded. “That’s what happened to all the others. They woke up back on our world.”

“So, it is reasonable for him to take a greater risk than you. The consequences are much less.” Vorigan argued. “You are a staunch ally, to be willing to stand and face them with him, but unless you can say you’ll significantly improve his chances, you should heed his words.”

“All right.” John agreed, finally. “But let me come in and take a Look around, at least.”

As Adam opened the door wider, the other two stepped back and turned away.

“We’ll go ‘n’ check our rooms.” Dulgan said, not looking back. “Jus’ for a little bit. No reason no’ to be thinkin’ ‘bout ‘em. Come get us when you’re ready.”

“Okay.” John agreed as they moved off in opposite directions.

Inside the room, things had changed slightly. The four corner blocks were all still in their original spots, but now the two side walls had a third cube centered between them. Everything else was identical to when John last stepped out.

“Uh, where’d the other two blocks come from?” John wanted to know.

Adam snorted. “You know how I said I’ve failed twice already? Well, after each time, another block appeared. That’s one of the reasons why I’m afraid I’ll be completely trapped if I fail again. The only other place for one is right in front of the door.”

John absently stepped to the side. “Good point. What symbols do the new ones have?”

“That’s the other thing.” Adam walked over to one, pointing. “All the symbols shuffled after each failure. This one here is the square now.”

John blinked, scanning the room quickly for any anomalies he could See.

“What did the pictures on the doorframe show?” He asked as he walked around.

Adam moved to the locked door in question. “At the bottom are the four symbols, from the original blocks: square, circle, star, triangle. Then the one you saw: a figure putting its hand on the wall. I assume that meant pushing in one of the marked bricks around the room.” He swirled a finger around. “Those changed too after each failure. The one you uncovered was next: a quick movement to a block. Then a block with an arrow going into the hole. Above that was another figure putting their hand on the wall.”

He ended by pointing at the upper portion of the lintel.

“And the top?” John inquired.

“I can’t reach it.” Adam said. “But the other side shows another running figure, then sliding the block up an incline. The ones on the lower portion seem to show that I have to keep stacking the blocks, but I’m having a little trouble understanding them.”

John stepped over and laid his hands on the rough surface. Adam joined him and together they walked their hands down the column.

“A stair-step?” John asked after the first figure appeared. “How do you get the block on top?”

“I don’t know.” Adam admitted. “We’re pretty strong, but even if we got one up, there’s no way we’d get all of the next three.”

“So, what have you gotten to?” John looked around the room.

“I put the square one in the middle, then activated the circle the first time. That’s when the hourglass appeared.” Adam pointed up at the ledge with the dragon statue on it. “There was plenty of time, but I realized the timer meant that I should’ve done the circle first. But that doesn’t make sense from the order on the frame, there. I tried going back and re-pressing the square brick, and that did make a ramp appear. So, I pushed the circle block up onto the square one that was already in place. They felt like they weighed the same, so what difference does it make, right?”

“Wrong?” John guessed, in an ‘of course’ tone.

“Yeah.” Adam admitted. “As soon as I got the second one in place, there was this almost game-show ‘too bad, so sad’ sound. The hourglass disappeared, and all the blocks teleported to the corners. Plus, a fifth one appeared over on that wall.” He pointed to one side.

“Did you get any farther the second time around?” John frowned.

“Nope. Circle first, but as soon as the square was on top, same result.” Adam shook his head in frustration. “I’m guessing that’s the wrong order, but I don’t know which one is correct. Now, there’s a hexagon, and a sun, too. Those aren’t even on the picture.”

John wandered around the room until he found the block with the sun icon on it. Whatever magic had drawn it, or created it, the thing now Looked no different than a solid cube of stone with a small engraving. Nothing more. He stared at the icon, counting seven rays evenly distributed around the not-quite-circular center.

Deep in thought, John turned around to stare through Adam.

“How do the blocks release?” He asked absently.

“There’s two holes in each one, towards the inward corner.” Adam pointed at the part of the nearest block that was tucked into the corner itself. “Two pins retract into the wall when I push the brick with the same symbol. As long as I get the block far enough out of position, when the pins reset after a few seconds, they don’t have anything to grab on to.”

“So ... releasing a block, as long as it’s not the circle one, doesn’t do anything other than let you move it around.” John confirmed.

Adam shrugged. “I think so.”

“Why don’t you move the square again, and stand on it to see if there’s more on the top?” John pointed at the crosspiece above the locked door.

Adam’s mouth opened and closed several times without sound.

“God-dammit!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “I’m never living this down!”

John’s breath burst out. “Oh man! Seriously? You are so ... shit, we won’t be able to talk about it afterward.”

“We w—on’t? Oh yeah, that ‘geese’ thing!” Adam cackled. “Ha-ha!”

“Yeah, well.” John pointed two fingers at his eyes, then flipped his hand around to point at Adam’s face. “You know, and I’ll know, it took this dumb grunt to figure it out for you.”

Adam turned without another word and found a brick to push. The ‘sun’ block John was examining made a ‘thunk’ noise, so he hooked a finger and pulled the cube away from the wall. On the back sides, he found that the holes Adam mentioned were angled such that the three-inch-thick pins, which shot back out from the wall a few seconds later, would’ve immobilize the stone again if he hadn’t moved it.

John braced and inched the heavy cube over next to the locked door.

“Thank you.” Adam smirked, hopping up on top.

Sure enough, as the SEAL laid his hands over the top of the frame, then removed them a minute later, he revealed another set of images.

“Circle first.” Adam muttered. “We knew that. Triangle next? And there’s a person over it. On top of it, maybe? Then square.”

“Star, hexagon, and sun.” John guessed, interrupting him.

“Yeah.” Adam confirmed a few minutes later. “With a person over the star, and the sun too.”

“Number of sides.” John said.

“It’s counting by how many sides!” Adam blurted out simultaneously.

“Anything else?” John asked, pointing at the extra space between the sun and the end of the cross-piece.

“Yeah.” Adam informed him after another minute. “A stop sign. Then ... ugh, a skull, I think. Pretty sure that means if I fail after the stop sign a—p”

“Octagon.” John corrected.

“Whatever,” Adam rolled his eyes theatrically, “mister smarty-pants. After that, I think it’s ‘no more chances’.”

“Seems like.” John scrunched his face. “I really don’t like leaving you here by yourself though.”

Adam shook his head emphatically. “No. Whatever happens to me, we know I’ll wake up back on Earth. You ... not so much.”

John tilted his head. “Um, we think you’ll wake up on Earth. They told me that my ‘feed’ disappeared while I was doing the first Challenge Tasks. What if that means... ?”

Adam continued with the head-shaking. “Doesn’t matter. If I die, they know it’s because I was doing this. Whoever they send next, please give them the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know who it might be, but until we know how to get you home, they’ll be all you’ve got.”

“No douche-bags allowed.” John snarked.

Adam held his hands out in a helpless gesture. “If it’s a teams guy, that shouldn’t be an issue. Somebody else? Who knows.”

John snorted. “Like there aren’t any dickheads in the teams.”

“We try to keep them out of the unit.” Adam argued. “And I think we’re pretty good at picking the right guys. Besides, Chatman, the unit Chief picked me because he knew we were friends. I can’t see him picking a replacement who couldn’t work with you.”

“All right.” John acquiesced, changing the subject back. “It seemed like the pictures stayed visible for longer than I would’ve thought.”

“Yeah,” Adam agreed, “if I only put my hand on them for a few seconds, they fade pretty fast. But if I do over a minute, they stay for a lot longer. Maybe five minutes or so?”

“That must have made it easier to figure out.” John said.

“It did. Otherwise I’d’ve been redoing it a bunch of times to figure out.” Adam admitted.

“What do you think the figures on top of some of the shapes mean?” John pointed back at the top of the doorframe.

Adam looked back up. “My impression is that they’re sitting down.” He pointed at the depression where the blocks needed to go. “I think I need to sit down on top of them after I get them stacked.”

John thought for a second. “Sounds logical. Minus needing my dumb ass to bail you out, I think you’re getting the hang of this.”

“Ha-ha.” Adam looked around the room. “You know, we should pull all of the blocks out. Stage them around the crater there. It would make things a heck of a lot easier.”

John snapped his fingers, ending with a finger pointed at his friend. “Another good idea.”

They did that, making a loose circle of the blocks in the room’s center before Adam realized their mistake.

“Duh!” He slapped his forehead. “We need one over here so I can push the circle brick! It’s too high up.”

John sighed. “Yeah, we’re making mistakes. Let’s take a break.”

They sat down and ate a few bites of what very little food they had left.

Adam held up his nearly-empty canteen. “I hope we find water, or finish this, soon!”

“Yeah!” John agreed, brushing himself off.

“Okay.” Adam pointed out the door. “Go grab the others, and let’s do this.”

John stepped close to Adam, holding a hand out.

“Thanks, brother.” He said with feeling. “It means a lot.”

The SEAL grabbed John’s forearm, Roman-style.

“I know for a fact you would’ve done the same for me.” He said grimly.

“Still.”

“Yeah.” Adam tossed his head. “Go. Let’s see if we’re right.”

Both Vorigan and Dulgan were waiting in the corridor with John while Adam started his third attempt. All were leaning in, with an ear to the now-locked door.

“Ugh, I was right!” Adam called. “The door’s blocked.”

The Vamp and Dwimar shot John questioning looks.

“Every time he fails, it gets harder.” John explained.

The Dwarf gulped while Vorigan nodded knowingly.

“Gr-ugh!” Adam grunted loudly.

A few moments later, “Whoa! I was right again!”

“Don’t let it go to your head!” John yelled.

“This ... oops! Oh, wow, I guess that’s one way to do it! You’re not going to believe this!” Adam shouted, a minute later.

“What?” John asked.

“It’s like an elevator!” Adam explained. “Gotta put the block on top, and it lifts up!”

They waited for another quarter-hour as the SEAL grunted and groaned but didn’t bother saying much else. Every once in a while he’d let out a nervous, “Whoa!” but otherwise sounded like he was on track to solve it.

Sure enough, a chiming sound rang out accompanied by Adam’s excited, “Yes!”

A moment later, the door swung open and the SEAL stepped out into the hallway.

“Guess that answers that.” He remarked, with a huge grin.

“Can I see?” John asked, as the other two cautiously peered over Adam’s shoulders.

“Of course.” Adam made a Vanna White arm sweep.

Inside, the walls were bare, with a column in the center. It was only three and a half blocks high though, leading John to move closer and examine the bottom one.

“Looks like they sank into the floor.” He remarked.

“Yup.” Adam agreed. “Whenever I got on top.”

Beyond, the locked door was gone. Only the frame remained, and though their room was well-lit, only darkness existed beyond the opening.

“Now what?” John asked reasonably. “You go through?”

Adam shrugged. “I’d guess so. Should you stand outside, just in case?”

John nodded, so they switched places.

“See you on the other side.” The former soldier announced to Adam’s wave as the SEAL marched through the portal and vanished.

Instantly, the room went dark followed by the door to the hallway slamming shut. Adam’s name disappeared, like an invisible eraser sweeping across it.

“Guess that’s that.” John mused, turning to his friends. “Who’s next?”

Vorigan pointed at Dulgan. “The Dwimar should choose. What would you prefer, Master Dwarf?”

Dulgan stroked his chin in thought for a bit.

“If’n I go firs’, John migh’ learn somethin’ to help ya.” He allowed finally.

“Indeed.” Vorigan nodded. “And though I would say that you are a prime example of how capable the Dwimar can be, I would also say that I’ve been alive for far longer with a much greater range of experience. I could not honestly say which is more valuable for completing this Challenge. However, given your actions in battle, and after John and his friend disappeared into the Labyrinth, I would suggest that I go next. It would give you the greatest chance to succeed, with John helping. I believe I might have a tiny advantage, with my years.”

“I wanna argue.” Dulgan replied. “Bu’ I think yer righ’.”

“Very well.” Vorigan looked at John, motioning to follow back to his room.

While Dulgan lurked in the hallway outside, John stepped in right behind the Vamp, glancing around curiously.

And was shocked by what he found; the room looked exactly like Adam’s. A block in each corner, the rough locked door’s frame with the dragon statue above it and the shallow, square depression in the middle of the floor.

John opened his mouth to tell Vorigan precisely that, and found he couldn’t. Trying again, he discovered that nothing he tried to say about Adam’s room would come out. He knew exactly what Vorigan needed to do, but couldn’t say anything.

“Well, shit.” He muttered.

Vorigan faced him, “What do you think, my ally?”

“I ... can’t talk ... about Adam’s.” John finally got out.

“Ah.” Vorigan eyed him carefully. “But you think there are some similarities?”

John’s mouth worked silently, and he shrugged helplessly after a second.

“Not a problem.” Vorigan waved the question away. “What can you say?”

Cautiously, waiting for his body to refuse, John made his way to the locked door. He laid both hands together on the frame for a minute, feeling the uneven surface below his palms. When he lifted them off though, there wasn’t any change.