Delta

Chapter Three: The Tests

The first test looked relatively simple. There was a large glowing red button on the floor (in the shape of a triangle, of course). Up high on one of the walls was a platform where the door was. 

"Let's see what this button does." Ella said, walking over and standing on the button. As soon as she did, a large section of the wall slid away, revealing a white platform mounted into the wall. 

"Here, stay there." I said, walking over to the area where the wall had slid away. Pressing the button on my glove, I flung my arm forwards. The grapple caught onto the platform and I pulled down on the cord. The cord began coiling itself up and I began to get pulled up to the platform. When I was high enough, I reached out and grabbed onto the edge, hauling myself up all the way. I detached the grapple and stood up. The only thing on the platform was a small pillar with a red lever on it. I flicked it experimentally. There was a grinding noise, and I looked over to where Ella was standing. Above her, a section of the ceiling had slid away, revealing a tube. Suddenly, something tumbled out of the cube, and for a terrifying moment I though Ella would be crushed. Luckily, she had quick instincts and she dove out of the way as a large block dropped out of the tube and onto the button. I supposed that the purpose of the cube was to keep the wall from sliding back in place, trapping me in. 

"Whew. That was close." Ella said, straightening up. I turned so she couldn't see the embarrassment on my face. I probably should have told her I was going to flick the lever to give her a warning. Ella had turned and had flung her grapple up to the platform where the door was. As she was reeling herself up, I peered over the edge of the platform I was standing on. Now that I thought about it, how was I supposed to get down? It was way too high for me to jump off of. By that time Ella had climbed onto the platform where the door was and was looking over at me. 

"Just try to grapple over from there." She called over. I took her advice and flung my grapple over to the other platform. It caught on and held. At least I seemed to be getting the hang of that. I walked nervously over to the edge and looked down. It was a long drop, but in order to get over to the platform, I would have to swing down. I sat down on the edge, my legs dangling down. 

"I really hope this holds." I muttered as I took a final deep breath before sliding off the platform. I swung down, nearly slamming into the wall opposite. Luckily, I just about managed to stick out my feet and push off the wall before I hit it. Apparently the cord had already had enough of a tug, because as soon as I had straightened out it began reeling me up.

"That was pretty cool." Ella said as soon as I had climbed up. "You know, if we practice enough, I bet we could do some pretty cool things with these grapples." 

"Yeah." I said, trying not to think of what would happen if I tried to do the 'cool things' she was talking about. I pictured myself jumping off of a ledge while at the same time throwing a grapple. Yeah, I know how that would turn out. 

The next room was very large. It also seemed a lot more complex. We walked out onto a large platform. About twenty feet below us was the brown acid. At the far end of the room which was pretty far, was another platform with the door. This platform was black, meaning the grapple couldn't hook onto it, but I didn't think that our grapples would even reach that far from this distance. I spotted another pillar with a lever on top over there. All around the room were more platforms with levers. In the middle of it all were metal tracks running all over the ceiling. Dangling down in front of us was a small metal bar with a thick black cord on either side. The cords connected to a pair of wheels at the top that slotted into the metal tracks. 

"This is so cool!" Ella said for the tenth time today, gazing out at it all. Apparently she found dangerous situations exciting. I wished I could match her enthusiasm. 

"I wonder what we have to do." She said. I looked at what could only be called a zip-line, and at all the levers scattered around the room. I looked up at the tracks and noticed that it looked like their route could be switched. At the moment, the tracks that the zip-line ran past one of the levers and straight into a dead-end.

"I think we have to use the zip-line to flick the levers and alter the route so we can get to the door." I said. 

"Wow, you figured that out fast, good job!" Ella said, smiling at me. I hoped she genuinely thought I was smart and that she wasn't just saying that so I would feel better after embarrassing myself in front of her. 

"Here, I'll go first if you want, and see how this works." She said, stepping forward. 

"Wait," I said as something caught my eye. Each button had a small glowing blue line that ran up the wall to the track on the ceiling. It was very faint, which made it hard to spot. I examined the lines. "I think there's a certain order we have to flick the levers in. If you look at the lines that run from the levers up to the track, you can see what tracks the levers will switch. That means that if we flick them in the wrong order, we could end up getting stuck at a dead-end." I studied the scene for a minute or two, figuring out the order of the levers. Finally, I felt like I had gotten it down. 

"Can I go first?" I asked. "I can test out my theory, and if it works I can tell you which levers to switch when it's your turn. "

"Of course, go ahead." Ella said, stepping back so I could access the zip-line.

 I walked up and nervously grabbed the metal bar tightly in both hands. I hoped that I would be able to hold on, or else it was game over. 

"Right. Here it goes." I said, swallowing hard. Then, I stepped off the platform and went flying. 

I zoomed towards the first lever and prepared to stick out my hand. This would be the hard part. When I felt I was close enough, I pulled one hand off the bar and held it out. I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to hold on. I flew past the lever and flicked it over with my hand. I heard a click, meaning that the track had switched. I had just managed to put my hand back on the bar when I unexpectedly turned a very sharp corner. At the speed I was going at, I nearly lost my grip and I would have flown off if I hadn't had my other hand on the bar. Two more levers were coming up. I remembered that I had to flick the second lever first, then the track would take me around to the first one. I flew past one lever, then stuck my hand out again and flicked the second one. The track clicked and I went around a U-turn. Reaching out my left hand, I passed the lever I had just clicked, then flicked over the other one. Another sharp turn and now I was heading out straight across the room. I nervously looked down at the deadly acid ten or fifteen feet below. There were three levers on the other side of the room. I had memorized the order to flick them in, and executed it perfectly. I flicked the last lever and the track turned, bringing me straight to the platform. I jerked to a stop, nearly losing my grip again on the sweaty handlebar. I reached out with my foot and stepped off onto solid ground. I let out a breath and looked up. I couldn't help the smile on my face. I had managed to stay alive and solve the puzzle. 

"Great job Reagan!" Ella called to me from across the room.

"Thanks!" I yelled back, but then I frowned. How was Ella supposed to get over here? I looked over at the lever next to me. Maybe that would help. I flicked it to the other side, and suddenly the zip-line was off, zooming through the room. Tracks turned and clicked, and within seconds, the zip-line rolled to a stop in front of Ella, the puzzle completely reset. 

"Perfect." I said. Then I yelled the order to flick the levers to Ella. I repeated myself a few times until she said she had memorized it, then watched as she grabbed onto the metal bar and zoomed down the track. She flicked the levers with ease, keeping a steady grip the whole time. Within a minute, she landed in front of me. 

"Great job figuring out that puzzle Reagan." She said, holding her hand up for a high-five. 

"Thanks." I said, feeling a little better about myself. Maybe I wasn't completely useless after all.