Delta

Chapter Two: The Tutorial

We stepped through the door into another white room. As soon as we stepped through, the door slid closed behind us. In front of us was a tall white wall. I looked up at it. It seemed about thirty feet high, and it leveled off at the top. 

"This first tutorial test will teach you how to use the grappling devices attached to your glove." Jeffrey said, his voice distributed throughout the room evenly. "To use the grappling hook, you must locate the button on the underside of the glove. To aim the grapple, flick your arm forward in the direction you want, similar to the action of using a fishing rod. It may take a few tries for you to succeed." 

So that's what the thing on my glove was. A grapple. I rotated my wrist and found the button on the wrist of the glove. I pressed it, then flung my arm backwards and then forwards like Jeffrey had instructed. The grapple flew out, a long black cord trailing out behind it. It hit the side of the wall about fifteen feet below the edge and slid down. I watched it fall in dismay.

"To reel in the grapple, simply press the button again." Jeffrey instructed. I pressed the button, and the cord began retracting back into the glove, pulling the hook along with it. I watched as the cord coiled itself up neatly inside a small box on the glove, before the lid snapped shut and the hook rested on the top of my glove once again. 

"Let me give this a try." Ella said, pressing her button. She flung her wrist over her shoulder, then forward with a clean, swift motion. The grapple flew through the air, much higher than mine had. It hooked onto the top of the wall, and held firm. I looked at Ella in disbelief, and she smiled, pleased with herself. She looked over at me, looking amazed. 

"I can't believe I did that first try!" She said happily. 

"To reel yourself up, pull down on the cord for a few seconds, then release. Rest assured that the cord is designed to hold up to three hundred pounds."

Nevertheless, Ella looked slightly unsure as she tugged down on the cord. When she let go, the cord immediately began to reel itself in, lifting her off of her feet. Slowly, she began to get pulled up. 

"This is... really weird." Ella said as she twisted her body, trying to face the wall. Her arm was pulled above her head, and I wondered if it hurt her shoulder. She tried bracing her feet against the wall as she was pulled up, but they only slid off. I watched her slow progress up the wall, witholding the temptation throwing my own grapple until she was safely out of the way. With my aim, I would probably catch her in the face or chest, and I really didn't want to kill the only other person here with me, especially not in the first room of the tutorial. After about a minute, she had reached the top of the wall. Putting both hands on the edge, she pulled herself up and onto the platform above, pressing the button to disable the grapple as soon as she was up. 

"Come on Reagan!" She called down to me. "Give it another try!" Trying not to feel slightly jealous at how Ella had mastered the art of grappling so quickly, I pressed the button and repeated the arm motion. This time, my grapple flew farther than before, but didn't quite catch the top. It fell to the ground, and I quickly pressed the button to reel it back on. I felt my cheeks heating up and I looked down so Ella wouldn't see. I hoped she wasn't getting restless with waiting for me. The grapple seemed to reel in very slowly. 

"Come on," I muttered under my breath. Finally, it finished coiling itself back up, and I threw it again. At last, it made it to the top of the wall. 

"Great job!" Ella called down supportively. "Now just reel yourself up!" I grabbed the cord with my other hand and gave it a tug, then released. My arm was pulled upwards as the cord began to coil itself up, and eventually my feet left the ground. I quickly found how awkward it was. My arm extended above my head, the rest of my body felt pretty useless. There was no strain on my shoulder, so the cord was doing its job well. I tried spinning around to face the wall as Ella had done, but instead I just spun in a complete circle. I felt as useless as a rag doll. I looked down at the ground below me. It wasn't scary now, but who knows how high up I might have to go in future tests? As I came into arms length of the top, I reached up with my right hand and grabbed the top. Then, when I was high enough, I grabbed on with my other hand and pulled myself up over the edge. I rolled over into a sitting position, and pressed the button on my glove. The grapple detached and pulled itself back onto my glove.