The Paradox Challenge

Chapter Two

Sierra took in the detail for a moment, surveying the patterns. Each tile had either three lines, a circle, criss-crossing vines of an “S”, or a simple square.

“This is going to be hard,” she muttered, staring back at the countdown which was now at nine minutes. She didn't understand at all what she was supposed to do and there were no instructions. They expected the solver to see a pattern beforehand, understand what to do next, and then solve accordingly. However, Sierra was terrible at puzzles.

“I don't know how I survived this long,” she mumbled before reaching her hands up to feel the metal squares. She placed a finger on one that had a circle, brushing it lighting and wondering what it was made off.

Suddenly, it lit up, glowing an luminescent yellow through the gold linings. Sierra yelped in surprise, stumbling off the casket. The floor was cold and hard as she landed on her side in brief pain. When she stood up again, an edge of irritation crept into her attitude. Of course she'd freak out at a light turning on.

Glancing back up, Sierra squinted her eyes to study the formation of the tiles. Repositioning herself on her casket, she reached back to touch the glowing piece. As soon as her finger brushed against the metal, the light faded out like a blown out candle. Sierra grinned. Now she understood. These tiles were triggers. If pressed in the right order, she'd be able to escape.

An idea quickly formed in her mind.

Sierra got back down off her coffin and began to work vigorously at pulling out one of the rods from it's hinges. Even though she now knew how to do the puzzle, it didn't mean she could solve it. In fact, far from it. She had never been great at problem solving or puzzle. So, Sierra would turn to one thing that had kept her alive for so long.

Cheating. She was going to cheat.

In the light of the room, it was easier to work at the hinges than it had been while inside panicking for air. Her hands worked to pry the rods out until she finally had enough grip to loosen the nails. Her fingers were trembling, which made everything more difficult, and the clock was now at seven minutes and rapidly going down. However, Sierra was determined not to blow it. Gritting her teeth, she finally managed to pull out a single rod. She held the thin metal cylinder in her fingers, weighing its value, before standing back up to face the tiles.

Sierra worked to wedge the rod beneath the first glowing slab. Once it was under, she sawed off the edges of sealing and wriggled it through until slowly, but surely, she managed to pop off one of the squares. A spark ignited, snuffing out onto the cold, stone floor. Looking inside through the darkness, Sierra saw the depths of wires peering from beneath.

A smile spread across her face as she began to reassemble the circuitry. With seven minutes left on the clock, she knew she could get this done.

The room was small with no windows and no doors. A bleak, sort of prison-like aura hummed throughout the shadows of the place, intensifying my nervous anticipation. Still, the room was heavily ornamented with oriental rugs, thick crimson tapestries, delicately laced shawls that rested against victorian chairs, and a large grandfather clock against the back wall. It's hour hand was missing and strange symbols were engraved along the edges.

“Welcome to your first puzzle, part one,” Ren grinned with a sweep of his hands.

“What am I supposed to do?” I whispered, staring up at the shadow of the clock. I could hear it faintly ticking, which meant that everything was in tact. Still, its looming darkness was chilling in aspect.

“Solve it.”

“Thanks a lot,” I smirked, stepping up to place a hand on the symbols.