Delta

Chapter Four: The Elixirs

The next tests introduced nothing new. In one of the tests we had to use our skates to slide off another ramp and hit a button on the ceiling. In another test we dealt more with buttons and cubes, and managed to get a better understanding of how they worked. After an hour or two of progressing through the chambers, we were finally introduced to some new things.

"Good job on completing the tests so far." Jeffrey said as we approached a door. "In this next test you will be experimenting with the effects of Delta's special brewed elixirs and how they will help you in future tests. You will be free to experiment with the effects of the elixirs, both good and bad. Rest assured that all elixirs used in testing are perfectly safe and consumable. This test will allow you to experiment with and recognize the different elixirs and their uses."

Ella and I walked through the door that had just slid open and took a look at the next test chamber. It looked a lot more complex than most of the ones we had already been through. First of all, on both walls were three grey tubes that disappeared into the ceiling. The tubes on the left wall had the word Splash printed in white letters on each one. The tubes on the right had the word Drink printed on. 

The platform we had to get to was way up on the opposite wall on the other side of the room. In front of us was a glass wall. It only stretched a little more than halfway across the room. I walked up to it and peered through, and saw the first robots. There were five of them. They were made of white metal, and reached to about the height of my knees. They each had a single glowing blue eye in the middle of their bodies, and two robotic legs that sprouted out on each side. A few of them stood still with two metal plates that must have been eyelids closed over their blue eye. The others scuttled around in a circle. They reminded me of spiders a little bit. 

"What are those things?" Ella asked, coming up to stand beside me. 

"They're probably obstacles." I said in answer to her question. "Things we need to work around." 

"Do you think they're dangerous?" Ella asked. 

"I'm not sure," I said, examining the small robots. "I would say the most likely are, but they could also be things that do something to help us." 

"I guess we have to find out then." Ella said, walking over to the edge of the wall. Before I could stop her, she had run around the corner. She stood in front of the robots for a second, before darting back around to the other side of the glass. It was lucky she was fast, because as soon as the robots sensed movement, they all snapped their attention towards it, glowing blue lasers shooting out of their eyes.

"You almost killed yourself!" I scolded her as the robots swung around their lasers for about thirty more seconds, searching for the source of movement. 

"Look, I don't think they can see us through the glass." Ella said, ignoring me. She was right; the robot spiders didn't seem to notice us on the other side of the glass. I looked over at the wall that the robots were pointing their lasers at, curious to see if their lasers were in fact dangerous. As I had expected, the white wall was scorched with dozens of black lines. 

"So those are definitely dangerous." I said, pointing out the lines. "The robots seem to react immediately to any movement, and we need to get past them." I had noticed a lever in a small room on the other side of the robots. I showed Ella. "There is no other way to reach that lever except by walking directly past those robots. Therefore there must be a way for us to get over there without being seen, or if we found a way to block their lasers."

"We haven't tried the elixirs yet." Ella said, gesturing towards the tubes. "That ought to be the solution." 

We walked over to the tubes that said Splash. Under each opening was a red button on the side of the wall. Ella walked over and stood under the first tube. I considered trying to warn her. but decided against it. She wouldn't listen, and anyways, someone had to figure out what those tubes did. Ella pressed the button on the wall and we both waited for something to happen. Nothing happened right away, and I wondered if maybe the elixirs had been used up, or maybe the tubes hadn't been used in a long time. I was ticking the seconds away in my head. At forty seconds, there was a groaning sound in the tube and suddenly a light green liquid suddenly spilled out of the tube, directly onto Ella. I half expected the liquid to burn through her skin like acid or something dramatic like that, but nothing happened. The spray of liquid quickly stopped, and Ella was left covered head to toe in what looked like green paint. The edge of the tube was now splattered in green, and the liquid dripped down from the rim down into the metal grate that Ella was standing on. She had stiffened up as the liquid had poured down on her. Now, she opened her eyes and looked up at me with a grimace on her face.