Ultraviolet

Chapter 12: The Bocerd Puzzle

(Author's Note: In some places, you will see three dashes in a row. Those are meant to resemble an em dash. I just put them there because there's not an actual character on the keyboard for the em dash, so I would have had to go copy one to paste every time I wanted to write. It was easier for me to replace them with three dashes.)

"If we're all ready, then we shall embark on our quest to get to the Passenger Dimension," Turo declared.

It seemed as if Turo had taken up the role of leader as we left her cozy cottage, and I was fine with that. Our group was growing, and we needed someone to guide us through the Third Reality, and who better to do that job than Turo? She was employed as a nurse there! As we walked to the Bocerd Puzzle, I tried to do mathematics in my head to warm up my brain. Our team quizzed each other with logic puzzles to get us thinking outside of the box. We didn't even know what kind of puzzle was awaiting us, but whatever it could be, we were convinced we were prepared!

The sun was shining endlessly, and the skies remained clear the entire trip. I surmise that that was because the weather of the Third Reality is constantly "perfect." The path to the Bocerd Puzzle was a winding walkway that spiraled around a tall mountain. It seemed to circle around itself forever, but I could tell that we were slowly increasing in elevation as we walked along the path. The gradual climb up the mountain was not steep at all, so it did not take a lot out of me. Tall trees with bright green leaves formed a canopy above our heads. Rays of sunshine broke through the leaves on rare occasion, leaving small circles of light resting on the dirt. Nopira and I made shadow puppets with our hands and acted out ridiculous scenes to pass the time. Rukni and Juxame simply talked about the pros and cons of being the early bird who gets the worm in a literal sense. Turo did not chat with us. She only marched ahead quietly instead, stopping every few minutes to examine a leaf or a rock on the side of the path.

At last, we reached an anomaly on the trail. A metal board about twenty feet long and ten feet high stood in the middle of the path. A transparent, purple barrier stretched forever into the distance, blocking us from stepping past the board. I decided that I would try to pass the barrier and defeat the Bocerd Puzzle by cheating.

"Ouch!" I yelped as the barrier shocked me.

"Dianne, it's made from electricity and magic! I know it is alluring, but you can't just walk through it," Juxame advised.

I stepped back to look at the board more closely. A portion of the middle of the metal board was indented, containing a few dozen sliding pieces that looked like the squares on a chess board. Each piece was a color. There were numerous gadgets and machines attached to the board. Cogs and pistons lined the sides of the board, seeming to power all active machinery featured. A small sheet of paper lay in front of the metal board. Turo picked up the paper and furrowed her eyebrows.

"This is so confusing! 'Take the colored tickets, and properly arrange all of the tiles. Use the key to activate the last machine. The barrier will lift, and you will be able to pass'. Huh? I see the colored tiles, but where do we get the tickets from, and where do we find the key to activate whatever the 'last machine' is?"

"Turo, please, do not trouble yourself! We will analyze each aspect of the puzzle, and then use what we have interpreted to figure out where to start in order to solve it. There is a chute below the tiles, which will most likely deposit an item of importance when the tiles have been placed correctly. Maybe it will deposit the key to the 'last machine.' The author of the note stated that we must arrange the tiles in the proper order, but we must use the tickets to do that. We do not know where to put each tile, so we should start with the machines," Rukni directed.

"I agree. It is quite obvious that we need not bother with the cogs and pistons on the sides of the board because they are moving so swiftly. Let us begin with the machinery closer to the middle. It is possible that those machines could produce the tickets we need to arrange the tiles," Juxame added.