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Puzzles for a Million
Chapter 4
“Alright everyone, in this round, there will be many parts to it. And this time, you won’t just be put into any room, but one without gravity. Good luck.” The man looked approvingly at the 4 teams in front of him. 3 girls and 5 boys.
George and Kris headed towards the room farthest to the left. As soon as they stepped in and locked the door, they started to float. George immediately turned upside down, and floated up to the ceiling. As he thrashed about, it looked as if he was walking upside down. As for Kris, he seemed to be in sleeping position, but only floating!
“Dang, this is so awesome……..it even beats having all the games in the world!” Kris exclaimed. He continued floating as he watched his friend.
Meanwhile, George was having a panic attack. His arms moved around in a blur while his face became red from holding his breath.
“No…….air………! Can’t……breathe….!” George exclaimed. Kris shook his head as he began to laugh uncontrollably at his friend.
“You dummy! There’s something called “breathing”! Yep, that’s right. Keep breathing. Don’t hold your breath. See? There!” Kris started to understand how this floating thing worked and began to “swim” towards George to help him.
“Having fun everyone? Well, your first task is to get your feet to the ground and walk across the room. The only rule is that you may NOT float across the room. We will be watching with cameras that we had installed into the rooms.” The sound from the intercom turned off and George and Kris were left alone once again.
Immediately, George went to the wall and began to try to push himself to the ground. It worked, but when he tried to walk across the room, he was lifted right up into the air again. Kris tried as well, but was left with the same results. They grumbled as they kept trying this, but both weren’t able to cross the room.
On Kris’ last attempt, he swam over to George but then ended up using too much force so he ended up slamming into the wall. His head grew dizzy, but then he noticed both him and George are now on the ground! Confused, Kris looked at the wall to find that the place where he had slammed into was now pushed in. It looked like a panel……..a button……that turned off the zero gravity!
Excited, Kris told George with 2 breaths about what he discovered and they walked across the room together to the door on the other side that required them to crawl through. The sides to this mini tunnel were metal and cool. Once they reached the other side, cold air blasted them.
In this room, a sheet of paper floated around the place until it settled in front of George and Kris’ feet. George picked it up and stared at the numerous letters that stared right back at him.
“KWKWKKRWRKKKKKWRSRWWO
SWWSWORSSRWOROSROKSKWK
OKOKWSOWRSSORWRKWOWKR
KSRKRWKWRWSWRROWRSOKS
KSRSWRKKOOWOOOKSOKKRS
RWRWSWROSKKWRWKKSWKSS
RWOORWRWWSWSSKWSWOWRK
SWSWKWKOKKORKROWSKRRK
WSWWWKWOOROWSKRKSKOWW.” The note read.
George and Kris put their heads together to work out the code. They tried to use all the ways they had learned to crack the code, but none of them worked. As George wondered, his brain began to wander to math. Multiplication came to him and eventually the multiplication table came to him as well.
Kris, noticing the look on George’s face asked, “Um, George, hello? Earth to George….Earth to George…..what are you thinking about?!” George shook his head and answered that he was thinking about multiplication tables. Just then, Kris got an idea.
“What if…we draw a table like the multiplication table…and we place the letters from this note on the left and the top columns…like the numbers in a multiplication table… and then we place the alphabet letters in the empty spaces…” Kris took a pencil from his pocket and began to draw the table on the back. When complete, both George and Kris knew it was correct.
Using the table, they eventually cracked the code. “You have deciphered a code based on the ADFGX cipher used by Germany in World War I. The key word was Discovery,” George read. Just then, a sound came on.
“Congratulations, George and Kris. Please proceed to the next room.” At that point, a wall opened up like the automatic store doors. And George and Kris walked into the next room.
In the new room, there was a bow and arrow and a target. A piece of paper was taped to a wall with the large letters that spelled out “DIRECTIONS” above it. For this part, they were to aim for the bull’s eye in one try.
George knew immediately, from previous levels, that he had to quickly do calculations to figure out how high to aim the bow, how far to pull back the arm, and where to stand. His brain immediately took in numbers to plug in x, y, z, a, b’s to solve the problems. Before long, he gave the directions to Kris and after listening, Kris let go of the arrow and they both watched it soar.
Time seemed to slow down as the arrow traveled towards the target. Just a second before it hit, a slight wind hit the arrow and it plunged down- a centimeter below the bull’s eye. Kris and George were shocked. Quickly, George did the calculations again and realized a slight mistake that he had made. Angry at himself, he started banging his head on the wall. As they waited for what was to come, Kris went to console his best friend.
At last, just when George calmed down, the directions came for them to exit the room. In the new room, they met only one other team. The man told them that the other two teams were still not complete. One was still stuck in the gravity room while one was cracking the code. The man also continued on explaining that even though George and Kris missed the bull’s eye, they were allowed to continue since they had finished at least. Thanking the man, George and Kris turned to the other team and congratulated the team of a girl and a boy. They smiled in return.
George and Kris headed towards the room farthest to the left. As soon as they stepped in and locked the door, they started to float. George immediately turned upside down, and floated up to the ceiling. As he thrashed about, it looked as if he was walking upside down. As for Kris, he seemed to be in sleeping position, but only floating!
“Dang, this is so awesome……..it even beats having all the games in the world!” Kris exclaimed. He continued floating as he watched his friend.
Meanwhile, George was having a panic attack. His arms moved around in a blur while his face became red from holding his breath.
“No…….air………! Can’t……breathe….!” George exclaimed. Kris shook his head as he began to laugh uncontrollably at his friend.
“You dummy! There’s something called “breathing”! Yep, that’s right. Keep breathing. Don’t hold your breath. See? There!” Kris started to understand how this floating thing worked and began to “swim” towards George to help him.
“Having fun everyone? Well, your first task is to get your feet to the ground and walk across the room. The only rule is that you may NOT float across the room. We will be watching with cameras that we had installed into the rooms.” The sound from the intercom turned off and George and Kris were left alone once again.
Immediately, George went to the wall and began to try to push himself to the ground. It worked, but when he tried to walk across the room, he was lifted right up into the air again. Kris tried as well, but was left with the same results. They grumbled as they kept trying this, but both weren’t able to cross the room.
On Kris’ last attempt, he swam over to George but then ended up using too much force so he ended up slamming into the wall. His head grew dizzy, but then he noticed both him and George are now on the ground! Confused, Kris looked at the wall to find that the place where he had slammed into was now pushed in. It looked like a panel……..a button……that turned off the zero gravity!
Excited, Kris told George with 2 breaths about what he discovered and they walked across the room together to the door on the other side that required them to crawl through. The sides to this mini tunnel were metal and cool. Once they reached the other side, cold air blasted them.
In this room, a sheet of paper floated around the place until it settled in front of George and Kris’ feet. George picked it up and stared at the numerous letters that stared right back at him.
“KWKWKKRWRKKKKKWRSRWWO
SWWSWORSSRWOROSROKSKWK
OKOKWSOWRSSORWRKWOWKR
KSRKRWKWRWSWRROWRSOKS
KSRSWRKKOOWOOOKSOKKRS
RWRWSWROSKKWRWKKSWKSS
RWOORWRWWSWSSKWSWOWRK
SWSWKWKOKKORKROWSKRRK
WSWWWKWOOROWSKRKSKOWW.” The note read.
George and Kris put their heads together to work out the code. They tried to use all the ways they had learned to crack the code, but none of them worked. As George wondered, his brain began to wander to math. Multiplication came to him and eventually the multiplication table came to him as well.
Kris, noticing the look on George’s face asked, “Um, George, hello? Earth to George….Earth to George…..what are you thinking about?!” George shook his head and answered that he was thinking about multiplication tables. Just then, Kris got an idea.
“What if…we draw a table like the multiplication table…and we place the letters from this note on the left and the top columns…like the numbers in a multiplication table… and then we place the alphabet letters in the empty spaces…” Kris took a pencil from his pocket and began to draw the table on the back. When complete, both George and Kris knew it was correct.
Using the table, they eventually cracked the code. “You have deciphered a code based on the ADFGX cipher used by Germany in World War I. The key word was Discovery,” George read. Just then, a sound came on.
“Congratulations, George and Kris. Please proceed to the next room.” At that point, a wall opened up like the automatic store doors. And George and Kris walked into the next room.
In the new room, there was a bow and arrow and a target. A piece of paper was taped to a wall with the large letters that spelled out “DIRECTIONS” above it. For this part, they were to aim for the bull’s eye in one try.
George knew immediately, from previous levels, that he had to quickly do calculations to figure out how high to aim the bow, how far to pull back the arm, and where to stand. His brain immediately took in numbers to plug in x, y, z, a, b’s to solve the problems. Before long, he gave the directions to Kris and after listening, Kris let go of the arrow and they both watched it soar.
Time seemed to slow down as the arrow traveled towards the target. Just a second before it hit, a slight wind hit the arrow and it plunged down- a centimeter below the bull’s eye. Kris and George were shocked. Quickly, George did the calculations again and realized a slight mistake that he had made. Angry at himself, he started banging his head on the wall. As they waited for what was to come, Kris went to console his best friend.
At last, just when George calmed down, the directions came for them to exit the room. In the new room, they met only one other team. The man told them that the other two teams were still not complete. One was still stuck in the gravity room while one was cracking the code. The man also continued on explaining that even though George and Kris missed the bull’s eye, they were allowed to continue since they had finished at least. Thanking the man, George and Kris turned to the other team and congratulated the team of a girl and a boy. They smiled in return.
♠ ♠ ♠
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