Another Sunday Snippet -

The escape pod – fifteen minutes and counting:

The digital countdown clock on the wall was Paul’s only opponent. Two minutes had whizzed by already and there were twelve minutes left to escape…

‘Think I’ll stick to a full hour escape room next time!’ Paul spun the digits on the padlock using a code he’d just found in a number maze on the back wall. Playing solo is no fun either, he thought.

7732, a tug of the lock and the black box was open, revealing an envelope that contained a clue.

This new pop-up concept needed volunteers to trial it and Paul had secured a slot. Although he was now wishing he hadn’t! The experience lacked the story line that made all the other rooms memorable. Plus, it was dark and cramped with an unidentifiable smell.

‘Ok, next puzzle – an anagram,’ he declared aloud, missing having someone to talk to as he had always completed games with his wife previously. 

ehad     oruy     bovae     pu    loko 

‘Toooooo easy,’ he announced aloud as he looked up – giving the owners the feeback they wanted.

His celebratory mood soon changed. ‘There’s nothing up there?’ he called into the CCTV and microphone to notify his ‘Games Master.’

Ding!

A much-needed clue pinged in:

YOU NEED TO FIND SOMETHING IN THE POD FIRST!

Paul scratched his head. It was claustrophobic in the pod and a bead of sweat was forming across his forehead. What am I missing? His initial observation of the two-metre cube (on being locked in) was how bare it was apart from the puzzle on the wall, the black box and the red cube chair.

Ding! 00:10:00

‘The cube chair,’ Paul muttered as he began to feel the edges of the red plastic box. The edges were joined, but not tightly. Manoeuvring the plastic with his palms, Paul managed to slide the top face off towards him. This revealed a torch, a code sheet, a whiteboard and a pen.

Instinct kicked in and Paul shone the torch up onto the ceiling. This revealed a series of four codes that he immediately set about writing onto the whiteboard. He glanced at the countdown timer (00:06:45) and knew that he needed to hurry.

The seconds ticked by and turned into minutes.

With less than two minutes remaining, Paul had the exit code for the keypad on the pod of the door!

UP, LEFT, LEFT, DOWN

A brief, victory tune played, and the door clicked opened. He done it! 

Ahh, daylight and freedom!