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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 1:32:10 GMT -5
It was difficult, but he managed to pull out what was stuck under the food. What he found was not one object, but two. They were dice.
8-sided die (first): - A green die, with 8 sides.
8-sided die (second): - Another green die, with 8 sides.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 1:36:05 GMT -5
He took the dice out and flew back over to the desk.
"Now, I'm sure I need to use this cup with the dice. But in what way...?"
Blake took out all of the dice and put them in the cup.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 1:39:23 GMT -5
The dice all went into the cup. They bounced around wildly inside, due to the momentum. Considering that the dice were magnetic, perhaps there was a way to roll them without the help of gravity.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 1:42:27 GMT -5
In that moment, Blake remembered how the green die stuck to the desk. He picked up the cup, and tried to roll the dice down onto the desk to see what would happen.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 1:48:13 GMT -5
The dice bounced up and down on the metallic desk, as though they were being pulled down to it by gravity. Almost perfectly mimicking the behavior of dice on Earth, they eventually finished bouncing, and rested on the desk.
The six-sided die landed on 3. The first eight-sided die landed on 2. The second eight-sided die landed on 4.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 1:53:37 GMT -5
After seeing the dice land on their respective numbers, Blake turned over to the bookshelf.
"It looks like that was the code I needed. I can only presume that the number four refers to the red book, because it's the fourth from the left. If I need to start there, then I should pull out either the second from the left on the second row, or the second on the left from the bottom row."
Blake unclamped the red book, and then unclamped the second book from the left on the second row, followed by the third book from the left on the third row.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 1:59:01 GMT -5
Unfortunately, when he attempted to unclamp the red book, it wouldn't budge. It seemed to be the only book that wouldn't move.
Upon unclamping the second book, nothing happened. But when he tried to unclamp the third book, there was a buzz sound, indicating denial.
A small sign on the wall by the bookshelf caught his eye. It read "for the safety of the crew, only one book may be removed at any given time."
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:04:34 GMT -5
"Damn...only one at a time? And the red book won't move."
He sighed, but remembered that he was making progress. The third book on the last row had moved, and he knew it had to be one of the books that needed to be unclamped.
"Maybe the red book is just telling me that I need to start pulling books looking from the left..."
He tried a differing combination. He tried pulling the second book on the top, the fourth book on the second row, and then the third book on the bottom. After unclamping one of the books, he put it back and moved on to the next.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:06:01 GMT -5
Every gray book was unclamped and re-clamped successfully. However, nothing happened.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:11:05 GMT -5
"My teachers always told me that I'd never amount to much in terms of problem solving, even if my life depended on it. Why can't I think of something...?"
Thinking of a new combination failed. In a makeshift attempt to clear his mind once again, he turned towards the nightstand and examined it, anxiously awaiting some kind of clue that would get him out of the room.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:14:46 GMT -5
Searching the night-table anxiously, he saw the digital clock again.
Night-table: - Right to the left of the bed. Built into the floor. - Had an alarm clock, nailed to the surface due to the lack of gravity. This was the same clock that woke him up. The current time was 11:34 AM. - The clock didn't have a power cable coming out of it.
Hearing the creaking of the hatch above him again, he realized that he only had 5 minutes left until it opened.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:18:09 GMT -5
"Nngh...the alarm clock's not going to help me now. H-Has it been four minutes already? Dammit, I'm wasting time! There has to be something I've overlooked. Could it be by the bed?"
He then turns to face the bed and look more closely.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:24:44 GMT -5
Blake found himself staring closely at the bed where he had woken up. It showed many signs of use, suggesting that he wasn't the first or even fifth one to sleep in it.
Bed: - Had a sleeping bag tied down to it. This is where he had been sleeping. - There was one pillow tied to it as well, at head-level. This is where his head was resting. - With some force, it seemed likely that he could reach his hand under either of them.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:29:31 GMT -5
Blake found himself tracing some sort of outline on the bed with his finger.
"It seems I'm not the only one that's gone through this. It makes me wonder what kind of a place this really is."
He turned to look at the pillows and took note of how they were tied down as well.
"Well isn't that just sweet. Someone came in here and made sure everything was tied down so we wouldn't go floating away. I'll be sure to thank whoever did this later."
He tries to reach under and see if he's missing anything on the bed.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:32:44 GMT -5
After a thorough check under the sleeping bag, he failed to find anything under it. However, he felt a thin, pole-like object under the pillow. Upon pulling it out, he discovered that it was a flashlight.
Flashlight: - A thin teal flashlight. - Has a black switch on the side.
He tried to recall if he had encountered anything that was too dark to see, recently.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:35:38 GMT -5
"A flashlight...? I think I know where to use this. I swear, If I have to run around hunting for batteries too..."
Hoping for the best, Blake uses the switch.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:39:00 GMT -5
...Ironically, the switch did nothing. The flashlight had no batteries. Inside his head, he could hear a voice laughing at his dispair.
Perhaps, though, he needn't "hunt" for the them. Maybe he had already been near some recently, and simply overlooked them.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:44:16 GMT -5
As soon as he realized the switch did nothing, all emotion drained from Blake's face.
"Note to self: keep your big mouth shut."
As soon as he was going to look around the room for batteries, he realized that the horrible screeching noise earlier had to have come from somewhere in the room!
"The alarm clock...!"
He raced, or rather floated at a mild pace, over to the clock searching for an area for which he could remove and take out the batteries.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:46:55 GMT -5
His search was a success. Inside the clock were two AA batteries, ripe for the picking.
Digital alarm clock: - The current time was 11:35 AM. - The clock didn't have a power-cable coming out of it. - On the back, was a small battery compartment, containing two AA batteries.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:49:03 GMT -5
He took the batteries out, silently thanking that he didn't have to waste more time searching for them. After putting the batteries in the flashlight, he then moved towards the wooden cabinet using the flashlight to brighten up the previously dark area.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:53:44 GMT -5
As he got closer to the cabinet, the back of it became brighter, until he could see it clearly. What he found inside was a small code, scratched into the bottom of the back right corner. The code was "2R 2D 3L 1U".
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 2:56:32 GMT -5
"This seems more like a code than anything else I've seen in this room. Maybe I can use this on the bookshelf."
Reciting the pattern in his head for memorization, he went over to the bookshelf and traced out the pattern, starting from the red book: Two right, two down, three left, and one up. He then unclamped the book that it led to.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 2:59:44 GMT -5
Unclamping the third book from the left, on the middle row, Blake found that the book in his hands was in fact a false book. It seemed heavier than the other books he had taken out.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 3:02:39 GMT -5
Blake weighed the book in his hands and felt it was far too heavy for a normal-sized book. He then opened it to obtain what could be inside.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 3:05:58 GMT -5
Inside the book, he found a green compartment. It seemed to be the same shade of green as the dice.
Green case: - It was locked. The case would not not open. - There was a number pad on the front of it, with an enter button. - The screen above the number pad showed spaces for 4 digits: "- - - -"
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 3:11:51 GMT -5
Blake stared at the green case, almost sensing what was inside of it.
"This...has to be it. One more stupid puzzle."
He made the connection between the green case and the dice, and recalled the numbers in his head. 3,2,4...But there were four spots on the number pad.
"The color can't be just a coincidence. Maybe it means I'm supposed to start with the green dice first. So if I input a 1 here..."
He input the number 1324.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 3:16:03 GMT -5
"Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt." The case buzzed at him in denial. He must have put in the wrong code.
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 3:20:20 GMT -5
"No dice, huh?"
He smiled at his own pun, and then thought of his next move.
"Maybe there's something else I missed. There's three numbers I have, but there are four spots. If I can just find-"
Perhaps it was because he was so focused on something else, or because he had simply overlooked it, but Blake had never noticed the mirror before. He was drawn to it, as if it was beckoning him with the face of his own.
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Post by Zero on Apr 29, 2013 3:30:32 GMT -5
As Blake floated toward the mirror, he noticed a green 4-sided die taped to it. It had been just what he was looking for. Tall Mirror- Attached to the wall, not far to the bookshelf. - It was quite dirty. - There was a 4-sided die taped to it. 4-sided die:- A green die with 4 sides. However, just as he got within grabbing distance of it, he noticed how odd his face looked in his reflection. There were huge rings under his eyes. He looked incredibly weak and malnourished. If not for his familiar clothes, he would almost have looked like a stranger to himself. His hair was a mess, and his overall body shape looked terrible. It was as though he hadn't gotten any exercise for 20 years. Just then, a sharp memory hit him...
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Post by Blake Donovan on Apr 29, 2013 3:37:16 GMT -5
"Ahh!"
Blake's head suddenly felt as if it was going to explode. He grabbed both sides of it, desperately wishing for the pain to go away. Luckily, it left as soon as it had come.
"So...am I to believe a freak in a gas mask came and took me out of nowhere?! That's insanity!"
Just as Blake was about to go on and vent out his rage, he realized that the clock was ticking down ever so quickly.
"Right. The die."
He picked up the die from the mirror, mixed it with the others in the cup, and threw them all down onto the metal desk.
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