“What’s that supposed to mean?” Moore questioned, turning his head to the left.

Chrysalis opened her mouth to reply, but was kept from speaking as the curtain lifted. The unveiled room before Chrysalis’ view was much more plain-looking than the previous room. There were no fixtures on the wall or the ceiling, save a small black speaker she could see in the center of the room, no doubt where Smoke’s voice was coming from. The floor was a simple series of tiles, at first look. A humming noise from behind pulled the changeling from her thoughts, making her look to see the doorway they’d entered from become blocked by a solid red wall of light.

“So they put a time crunch on this one. That’s interesting.” Chrysalis remarked, making Moore turn his head left and right.

“I can’t see shit. What the hell is happening?” He asked again.

“We need to move forward. They’re making us move quick, or else we’ll have to start over.” Chrysalis answered, staying behind him. “Take a step forward. I think this is some kind of maze trick room.”

“Alright.” Moore held his arms up, the chain making Chrysalis’ left hand follow before he took one step forward, moving from the starting platform they were at and into the room proper. As soon as both his and Chrysalis’ feet were on the tile, it triggered several things at once. The tile they occupied glowed a bright yellow, while the tiles before them seemed to shuffle in colors before settling between green and red. Chancing a look behind her, Chrysalis narrowed her eyes as she saw the wall of red light begin to creep forward, slow for the time being.

“We have to make our way across the room. It looks like there’s more than one route, since the tiles that look safe are shuffled.” Chrysalis described for Moore. There were two green tiles to her right, albeit a wide step away. On her left, there was a solitary green tile, but surrounded by red tiles on every side. It looked harder to reach for them both together, so the right way would have to do.

“Ok, there’s two tiles to your right. Turn yourself a little to the right, and walk forward. I’ll be right behind you.” Chrysalis instructed him.

“Ok. This is...weird.” He commented. Chrysalis watched as he lifted his left leg up, and extended it out to try and follow her directions. Moore’s wide gait helped in this case, allowing him to reach the two tiles with little trouble. Being right behind him, the changeling followed, and looked behind again to check for any changes. The yellow tile had changed to red, and the wall of light continued its slow forward creep. “Where next?”

Chrysalis directed her gaze forward. Now there was only one green tile in immediate reach, directly in front of them. It was a risky reach, however, but something was making the changeling suspicious. As difficult as it was to maneuver through this room like they were, it was still too easy. All she was needing to do was to make sure that Moore didn’t step too far or too close to make his mark.

“Ok, straight ahead. It’s a small step, so don’t go too far.” She said, getting a nod from the blindfolded man. He lifted his foot and moved forward, but Chrysalis’ eyes widened as the green tile suddenly flickered, then changed to red right before Moore’s foot made contact.

“Wait!”

Too late; Moore’s foot pressed the tile, evoking a warning alarm that made him jump and pull back to the tiles they were on. Chrysalis watched as the other green tiles shifted, randomizing their positions again around the room. Looking behind her, she watched as the red wall of light looming behind them progressed a little faster, approaching at a faster crawl than before.

“Shit. It was a trick panel.” Chrysalis cursed.

“What happened?” Moore asked. “What do we do?”

“Move faster and make sure we don’t step on any other red tiles. The more we hit, the faster that wall behind us will catch up.”

“What wall?!”

“Just move, Moore!”

“Where? I can’t fucking see, remember!” He fired back at her.

“Godsdammit.” Chrysalis swore as she saw a green tile to their right light up. “To the right. I’ll keep pace with you.”

It took Moore a moment to try and orient himself, causing Chrysalis to put her hands on his shoulders and direct him on the precise direction. It helped out, allowing him to reach the tile and her to follow him. The time crunch was starting to itch at the back of Chrysalis’ mind, as she pondered if they’d hidden any other traps in the room for them. They were clever, she could give that much to them. They were about halfway into the room, but still had some ways to go before they got to the end, which was denoted by a bright white lit tile.

“Ok, small step forward. It’s directly in front of us.” Chrysalis instructed. She kept her hands on his shoulders, staying close to make sure he didn’t go too far or not far enough.

“Think Moondancer and Thorax had a harder time with this than we are?” Moore questioned.

“Those two have more experience with this than we do. I’m sure they were thrilled.” Chrysalis replied. “Ok, take two steps left and then forward.”

Moore obeyed, and stepped forward onto the next green tile, securing his standing. Chrysalis looked behind them again, seeing the wall of red light still dragging forward. The tiles behind it had gone completely black, making the woman huff before stepping to follow after Moore. Only the tiles shifted again, and her heels came down upon a blue tile, catching her by surprise. When her feet made contact, the tile glowed before dulling again. Confused, Chrysalis made to move her feet, but found they would not pull away. Moore waited beside her on a still green tile while she struggled.

“Shit. Come on!” She cursed, drawing Moore’s attention to her. “Another trick tile. I’m stuck.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Do I make jokes, smartass?” She replied, trying without avail to get her heel free. Looking down at the tile again, Chrysalis growled before a thought struck her. Kneeling down, she loosened a clasp on her heels, and wiggled her feet free of them. “There. I better get them back later on.” Chrysalis said. Her bare feet were warmed by the light emanating from the green tile beneath her and Moore. “Come on.”

“Time for things to speed up some!” Clouded Smoke’s voice made Chrysalis and Moore’s heads jerk up, before the changeling turned to look behind her. The wall of red light, which had been steady in pace but still far behind them, began moving much faster. The sheer increase in speed made her eyes widen before turning back to Moore.

“I hate this damn game. Come on! Screw this!” Chrysalis yelled before plowing forward. Being chained to her, Moore had no choice but to follow when her arm jerked his forward, making him stumble before righting himself. Both of their steps hit green and red tiles alike, the goal of the room in sight dead ahead. Their long strides carried them far, but their triggering of the red tiles only sped up the impending wall behind them as well. The hum of the magic-induced wall became louder as they drew to the end.

Chrysalis took one last look behind her before grabbing for Moore’s arm, clasping her hand on his to tug him forward with her. Her legs tensed before she leapt forward, bringing Moore with her as she landed on the glowing white tile signifying the goal point. Gravity caught up with her, however, as Moore barreled into her from behind, bringing them both to the floor if within safety. The red wall of light stopped as a celebratory chime sounded from the intercom.

“Good work! You’ve made it through room number two!” Smoke’s voice called out to them. “Smart thinking to brave the rest of the way to save time. One wrong step, and you would’ve had to start over!”

Chrysalis growled and lifted her head up, shaking it to move her green locks out of her face. “Praise the Sun.” She huffed, trying to get up but being kept in place by Moore’s weight. “Moore, get up, would you? There’s better ways to get close to me.”

“You frickin’ tugged me off my feet, give me a sec.” He fired back before moving to stand. His midriff had been pressing into the changeling’s back, his weight shifting as he got up. His arm chained to hers brought her up partially, making her stand to follow him once he was upright. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting a mad dash like that.”

“It’s fine. We beat the challenge anyway. Thanks to my quick thinking.” She asserted, lifting her free hand to brush her hair back behind her and out of her face. “See? Listening to me gets you where you want to go. You just have to do things my way.”

“...Even in teamwork exercises, you still insist on being the leader, huh?” Moore replied, his sarcasm flowing through his tone as he stood there.

Chrysalis frowned at the blindfolded man and reached up, undoing the tied knot of her garters that was covering his eyes. He managed to get them off with her help, keeping them clutched in his hand while she stared at his revealed eyes.

“I can work with others plenty fine, Moore. So long as they know when the chips are down, I’m the one at the top.” She insisted. “Do you really suppose you’d have cleared that room on the first try if the roles were switched?”

“To be fair, it’s hard to guide someone who can’t see. No walls to go by, nothing to feel out with but my own two hands.” He told her. “But...you did good, Chrysalis. I admit, I’d probably not do as well under the sudden crunch. I’d take time to think, and we needed instant decisions then.”

“Now you’re getting it.” The changeling told him with a small smile.

The doorway in front of them slid to the right, unveiling the room awaiting them. It was well-lit, allowing her to see plenty of the room’s details. If anything, the room appeared to be designed much like a spare personal study. Bookshelves lined one wall, littered with dozens of books of all sizes and shapes. There were storage boxes along another wall, stacked one on top of the other, next to filing cabinets and glass displays. A mirror was perched on top of the boxes, though there looked to be some kind of writing across its surface. In the middle of the room, a large oak desk was seated with a rolling chair parked beside it, and a black container with the lid open.

“Well. We can see, at least.” Moore commented from beside her as they entered. “Already an improvement.”

“True. Though this looks strangely normal for a room to ‘escape’ from,” Chrysalis said as she looked about the room. “I don’t trust it.”

“You don’t trust anything but yourself, Chrysalis.”

“Because only I’m smart enough to be trusted, Moore.” She replied before the intercom crackled to life.

“Welcome to room number three!” Clear Mirror’s voice came through again. “This is the final part of the challenge. As you can see, in the middle of the room, there is an open empty container waiting to be filled. The door out is charmed to open only when enough material has been gathered into the container to meet its requirements. You’ll have to solve what can meet that requirement. There’s multiple ways to solve this dilemma, but know this: you’ll need one key item hidden within this room to find the way out. Good luck!”

“A scavenger hunt. A little childish, but fair enough.” Chrysalis summarized as she turned to look around the room. “I imagine they’ve hidden items in some of these boxes. Things worth value to meet the challenge.”

“Good deduction. But she said there’s a key item. They wouldn’t make it so easy that they’d leave the important item in the open.” Moore pointed out.

“Good to see you’re keeping up, Moore. Any ideas on where it’d be?” Chrysalis asked as she walked over towards the boxes, bringing Moore with her as they were still chained together.

“Not sure. The room looks too plain to have it out in the open, so they’re probably expecting us to dig a little. We could try the boxes first.” He suggested. “The key item won’t open the door by itself, I’m sure. But it's just another hoop to jump through to beat the challenge.”

“No time to waste then.” Chrysalis plucked up the first small box at the top of the pile, jostling the others and making the mirror perched atop them shake. Moore grabbed for the mirror before it would move further, and lowered it to the floor at their feet. Opening her selected box, Chrysalis found it filled with newspaper cuttings, and shifted through them until she felt her fingers brush something cold and metallic. Pulling it out, the CEO smiled to herself at the golden watch in her grasp.

“Shame we can’t keep these items. It’d be nice collateral for us if we won.” she commented before tossing it into the container on the desk with a wave of her hand. The watch vanished into it, causing a brief blue glow to emanate from its depths before going dark once more.

“Honestly, Chrysalis,” Moore huffed from beside her, opening another box and digging out a charm bracelet, gleaming in silver ornaments. “You almost make it sound like you’re thinking of sharing. You sure you didn’t hit your head earlier?”

“Who said I was referring to you?” She replied.

“Never mind. Feels like this box is empty anyway.” He said as he gave the box a shake, then tossed it aside. This carried on for a few minutes, each box either unveiling nothing of use to them or something small to throw into the container on the desk. Yet it felt like little progress was being made by the time they got to the last box.

“We’ve not found it yet. Maybe it's in the filing cabinet?” Moore said as he looked around the room.

Chrysalis opened the wooden container and reached inside, her fingers brushing another metallic item. It was small, though, fitting in the palm of her hand as she withdrew it, before opening her hand to find she’d discovered a small yellow key.

“It’s no hidden item, but I think I found something to help.” Chrysalis said, getting Moore’s attention as he turned back to her. Bringing both their arms up, she held up the key and slipped it into the lock that was keeping the chain in place. With the lock undone, the binding metal came loose and fell to the floor between them. Chrysalis sighed as she flexed her now freed hand, Moore giving his a shake before lowering his arm.

“Thank goodness.” Moore said while Chrysalis smirked.

“Only you would complain about being chained to a beautiful woman, Moore.” She teased.

“Hardly. More about getting loose from the carnivore attached to me.” He replied, making Chrysalis snort before they turned to look at the rest of the room. “We’re missing something. Even if we go through the cabinets, that’s hardly a hunt for things when it's so obvious. We need to think harder.”

“Let’s play their game then. If I was a rich homeowner - and I am - where would I try to hide my valuables out of harm’s or thieves’ way?” Chrysalis questioned.

Moore brought a hand to his chin as he thought, keeping quiet. Now free to move, he turned away from Chrysalis’ direction and looked behind them at the now discarded pile of boxes, as well as the mirror on the floor now. Chrysalis let her eyes wander across the room as she continued thinking.

“The picture frames are a possibility, but that might lead to a safe that’s locked. Maybe in the desk itself?” She murmured as ideas ran through her brain. “But that’s still so...obvious. Anyone with a brain would think to check there.”

“Then we need to think of things not so obvious.” Moore said from behind her. Chrysalis turned and looked as her would-be partner picked up the mirror on the ground before bringing it forward to her. “Can you make any sense of this?”

Taking the mirror from him, Chrysalis took one look at the garbled message scrawled across the mirror’s surface before raising an eyebrow. “Someone got drunk in the middle of setting up the room?”

“Hardly. It’s a hidden message.” Moore told her, making her look up at him. “Switch the letters around, and we’d have a clue maybe on what we’re missing, or where to look.”

“Fair idea. Can’t hurt to try.” Chrysalis said before setting the mirror on the table to look at it, her reflection staring back at her and Moore’s behind the jumbled letters. In her mind, she started to try and piece together what the words could be properly, shifting letters left and right as various words crossed her mind. “As...cold as...stone, yet harder too.”

“You find me...where I-no, wait, where you hear, I do.” Moore finished the second half and scratched at his head. “...the heck?”

“Our hint’s a riddle. Figures.” Chrysalis scoffed before looking at Moore. “It’s describing an item, I gathered that much. But there’s tons of things that are cold as stone, yet harder.”

“Where you hear, I do. Somewhere we all hear something?” Moore muttered before shaking his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“You can play with your drunken mirror, Moore. I’m going to check the cabinets. There might be something else in them.” Chrysalis declared. She turned away and walked towards the untouched cabinets, but was stopped when Moore grabbed her wrist.

“We need to solve this first, or else we’ll not get out! Remember what Clear said?” he said, frowning at her. "Without that key item, no matter what else we find, we don't get out!"

Chrysalis growled and tugged her wrist away before folding her arms over her chest. “She said there’s more than one way to solve this puzzle. The whole ‘key item’ thing might be them bullshitting us to make us spin in circles when the answer’s simpler than that!” she argued.

“I know that, but if solving this makes us solve the puzzle that much faster, wouldn’t that be just as smart?” he pointed out. “Do you have to be so stubborn on this? You’ve taken charge every time so far. Work with me for once, why don’t you?”

“I have, Moore, each time we’ve needed to. I told you; I don’t play second fiddle. I’m the leader.” Chrysalis answered.

“I swear, you just lead to win arguments. You’re like an old nanny nagging her husband just so she can win.” He declared, his eyes hardened with irritation. The suited man opened his mouth to continue, but stopped, making Chrysalis raise an eyebrow.

“If you're about to ask if I have any grey hairs, I'd strongly reconsider. Unless you want to be fired?” She questioned.

“No, just...shut up a second.” He told her, making the changeling scoff before he looked back at the mirror, then to her again. “Marriage. What’s the biggest symbol for marriage in modern society, Chrysalis?”

“I guess that’d be a bridal outfit, or maybe a...diamond ring.” Chrysalis replied, her eyes widening in realization of Moore’s point. “Holy shit, a diamond ring. A diamond is always harder than stone, and cool to the touch.”

“And it's always where you hear 'I do'. Most importantly, diamond rings are always expensive as Tartarus.” Moore pointed out. “If we can find that ring, we find the key item we need to get out of here.”

“Ok, but where?” Chrysalis asked, turning away from Moore to survey the room. “A diamond ring is small. It’s not going to just be lying out in the open.” Her eyes panned the cast aside boxes, a brief contemplation crossing her mind to wonder if the ring could’ve been hidden amongst the rubbish they’d thrown aside. But she put that thought aside when she reminded herself the roommakers would want them to look harder than that. Her eyes fell upon the bookcase, and she wandered over to it while speaking. “Check the desk over. There might be a hidden compartment on it, or something in one of the drawers.”

“Right.” Moore agreed, kneeling down to inspect the wooden furniture while Chrysalis’ gaze looked along the books before her. She wasn’t sure why or how, but her instincts were telling her something was hidden here. Whether it was the ring or not, a bookshelf offered a vast array of spots to hide something. The changeling first tried to move the shelf itself, to see if something was behind it, but the heavy weight kept it from budging. Next, she ran a hand along the sides and top of the wooden shelf, suspecting there could be a hidden switch or hiding spot that would run odd against her fingers. Yet she was given nothing, as far as she could tell.

“Dammit. Where are you?” she muttered, taking a step back from the shelf to rethink her strategy. Letting her eyes wander along the books, her gaze fell upon an obscure red book that was wedged between thick reference textbooks. The odd coloring, as well as its smaller size, made the book seem out of place. Reaching up, she tugged the book out from the shelf, watching for a moment to see if that would trigger some sort of switch or mechanism. Nothing moved, leading the woman to gaze down at what was in her hands.

“Her Lover’s Savage Heartbeat? Ugh.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the title of the book before opening it to the front pages. A brief skimming of the chapter index let her find, amidst the boring cliche titles and names, one chapter labeled Marriage. Turning towards the back, she heard Moore sigh as he left the desk.

“Nothing but dust and empty drawers. It was a false lead.” He said from behind her. “What did you find?”

“Terrible literature, for a start.” Chrysalis replied as she flipped through the pages of the chapter. Ignoring the prose before her, she smiled to herself when a final page turn revealed a prize: a gleaming, bright diamond ring, taped in place on the page itself. A gentle tug freed the jewelry from its spot, and she held the ring up to show Moore. “But I did find a prize inside.”

“Sure beats a decoder ring in the cereal box.” He remarked as she dropped it into the black gathering container. The box gave a glow, this time colored red, before settling. This time, however, the box closed of its own accord, making Chrysalis raise an eyebrow before turning to watch as a doorway on the far side of the room opened, revealing an exit.“That’s it? I thought we needed more?” Moore asked.

“It’s classic misdirection.” Chrysalis replied as she walked towards the exit, her partner following behind her. “They never explicitly said we needed to have the ring and plenty of treasure. Only the ring was the real requirement. The trick is making the players think they need more than the bare essentials to escape. If you put your mind to it, finding the precise required items first is the priority to escape the fastest, instead of scrambling like a chicken with its head cut off.” She explained. “It’s clever, I have to admit. I could see others getting tripped over it.”

“But let me guess: you’re too clever for that?” Moore offered.

Chrysalis just smiled over at him. “See, Moore? We’re working together better already. You’re already complimenting me.”

“I was trying to be sarcastic, but...you know what? It’s fine. Take the compliment.” Moore sighed as they exited the room and emerged in a simple hallway, the door behind them closing once they were out of the room. They pressed on, walking down the hallway and coming to another door that Chrysalis pushed open. For a brief moment, Chrysalis steeled herself for a surprise twist to their exiting the room, as if some final trap door would suddenly spring open. But nothing of the sort showed itself, as the two found themselves in the lobby where they’d come from at the beginning, with Clouded Smoke and Clear Mirror waiting with delighted expressions.

“Congratulations! You beat the challenge!” Mirror declared, giving a light clap of her hands.

“Well done! For first timers, you were very clever in solving the puzzles and besting the rooms. You even managed to best Miss Moondancer and Thorax’s times.” Smoke added. “What do you think? Any commentary on your experience?”

Chrysalis shared a look with Moore, who shrugged his shoulders, not sure of what to offer here. Giving a toss of her long hair behind her, Chrysalis spoke for them both.

“It was an impressive challenge, and commendable as a practice of teamwork. If I had not had Moore as my partner in this endeavor, perhaps I would still be in there, as he did solve the riddle faster than I did.” She replied, glancing at the male beside her again. “It seems he has some uses that even I didn’t know about.”

Moore rubbed the back of his head. “To be fair, she led the whole time. That second room almost got us, if not for her getting us through it.” He said back. “This was...definitely different than anything I’ve done before. You two definitely have a talent for making puzzle rooms.”

“Thank you very much!” Mirror replied, giving a bow of her head as did Smoke. “We checked on some of the other participants, and some are still continuing through their challenges. If you’d like, you’re free to go and observe them, or carry on at your leisure. Thank you again for allowing us to help you and your company, Miss Chrysalis.”

“It was definitely entertaining. I’ll be certain to keep you two in mind, if we decide to employ such things next time around.” Chrysalis assured them before looking up as Moondancer and Thorax joined them.

“I see you two made it through. Well done, Miss Chrysalis, Moore.” Thorax remarked while Moondancer nodded, “How did you get through so quick?”

“Quick thinking and reliable smarts, Thorax. That’s why I’m at the top, after all.” The changeling woman replied. Moore snorted from beside her, but said nothing elsewise until he noticed Moondancer’s odd look at his side.

“Something the matter, miss Moondancer?”

“Why are Chrysalis’ stockings in your pocket?” she questioned, making Moore do a double take before digging the cloth pieces out of his pocket and holding them up.

“Isn’t it obvious? I had to motivate him somehow, and what better way to motivate a man than by showing a little leg?” Chrysalis taunted, making Moore scowl at her before throwing the clothing to her, the woman catching the balled up leggings with ease.

“We had to use them for a blindfold, since the provided one was missing. It was her idea to begin with.” Moore pointed out, making Moondancer nod while Thorax looked to Chrysalis for confirmation. The woman just smiled to herself and shrugged her shoulders.

“What can I say? I know how to improvise when the situation calls for it.”

Author's Note

And that's part 2! Who says you can't make work fun? Even a hard-liner like Chrysalis can keep things surprising in her business. But we're not done yet! You want to find out what happens next? Then you better tune in to next week's chapter! See you then!