His eyes opened. Blinding lights awoke him from his slumber, as he tried to make out what was happening.
Where was he? What was he doing here?
All these questions were going through Yu's head as he blinked and tried to soothe his eyes, adapting them to the influx of light. Yu slowly got himself up, now sitting on the cold ground he was just laying on. Taking a look around, all he saw was white. The ivory walls did not show many points of interest. He was inside of a perfectly square white room with nothing inside of it except for himself. There did not seem to be an exit or entrance for that matter, no openings besides a little metal shaft he noticed at the very top right corner of one of the four walls. Yu got on his feet and started walking around, touching the walls as he went. The walls seemed to be made of some hard steel-like construct, possibly titanium. He quickly started his deductions, reaching the conclusion that wherever he was, this must be a military grade facility.
But why was he here?
This thought kept circling his mind over and over again. He vividly tried to remember anything before he woke up, but he could not. He knew there was a reason he was here in captivity, but he could not make out why that was. He also noted himself wearing a white garment and pants, reminiscent of a psychic ward.
"Welcome."
The voice startled Yu. He assumed a defensive position and quickly glanced around the room. He did not spot any speakers, so how did he hear that? Yu examined the exact makeup of the walls around him. That is when he realized, there wasn't just one continuous wall of titanium, there were four titanium panels put together into one. That left some room in between each one of those panels for, say, acoustic sound waves from a speaker to get through. That meant this room was enveloped by another, like concentric walls of a military fortress. Yu's thoughts kept spinning, making his head feel like he had freshly come off a rollercoaster ride. As the voice appeared once again, he grasped the risky situation and let go of his deriding thoughts.
"Do you know why you are here?" the voice asked with a metallic ring to it.
Yu did not answer. Inaudible muttering came through the titanium walls, and as the speakers turned off there was a crackling sound of electric disconnection. So, he was right about his speaker theory, Yu thought to himself in triumph. Then, the speakers turned back on, though the conversation seemed to be only audible one sided, and most of all, the attention was not directed at him. Then, the crackling static sound is audible again, signaling to Yu that the audio output into this room has been disabled completely. Very interesting, he thought to himself. Yu decided to continue looking for clues as to his whereabouts and how to proceed out of this room. Weirdly enough, there wasn't even a hint of panic within him, not a shred of unrest. Where a panicked frown should be, there was a smile.
This is rather exciting, he thought to himself.
The metallic crackling noises blasted through the speakers again. The previous voice halled through the room again.
"Welcome, Subject 128. I apologize for my previous misconduct in proper introductions. You may call me "ARC". I believe you must have many questions surrounding your whereabouts?"
Yu waited for a few seconds, conflicted about the prospect of giving an answer and its further outcomes. After a brief silence, he replied:
"I do. I presume you won't be as happy-go-lucky and give me the answers to all my questions?"
"Very forthcoming indeed. Well, I will explain your presence here and how to advance this chamber."
Advance this chamber. That was a very intriguing wording over here. Does that mean there are more?
"Alright" Yu responded.
All of a sudden, the lower two of the four panels on one side of the white walls started moving outwards, opening a pathway.
"You may proceed." The robotic voice proclaimed.
Yu decided to adhere to the voice, following the newly opened path. As he crossed, he eyed the ventilation shaft in the high corner of the white room. After passing through the opening, he arrived at another fully white room, almost identical to the one he was in before. The two exceptions to this rule were a big red button, placed in the middle of the room and an elongated tube hanging from the ceiling in a corner. The tube looked like some sort of dispenser. Before Yu was even able to react to any of the observations, the opening behind him closed, leaving him trapped in another white room yet again.
"In your peripheral vision you should be able to observe one conditional activation device and a dispenser that will, if approached, employ one enabler device. Can you confirm this please?"
Yu, slightly confused, still got the meaning behind the explanation, despite the convoluted wording.
"If you mean the huge red button and this tube looking thing, then yes, I can confirm," Yu responds calmly. Barely acknowledging the answer, ARC proceeded with the instructions.
"I will leave you to your own devices throughout this and the next chamber. You may proceed at your own pace and try whatever you please. You will also be handsomely rewarded for your efforts."
Yu raised his eyebrows after hearing this but didn't question anything further.
"Please note that you will not be assisted in any way and communications will be cut off until you reach the desired terminal point of the current activity."
The crackling noise appeared again, signaling the end of the conversation. A slightly confused Yu made his way towards the big red button. Wasn't this a bit too simple? He took one foot off of the ground and placed it on the button, with no weight added onto it. Nothing. He then stood on there with his whole bodyweight, which prompted the button to be pushed down. The button lit up, now in a bright green and another pathway just like the one before revealed itself, with the two lower panels in the wall sliding to the side.
"But let me guess," Yu muttered whilst getting off of the button, "this is a weighted plate."
As he suspected, the door closed again, barring his entryway. Yu then glanced over to the tube. Proximity triggered, huh? He approached the tube and not even two metres away, the opening unleashed, and a metallic cube fell down. Yu went to pick it up, underestimating its weight. 'Weighted Testing Cube' was emblazoned on it with a shimmering text, right above a bigger '1'. He turned around to the button, now noticing the engraved '1' on the side rails on the button. Yu proceeded to carry the cube towards the button and placed it on there, opening the door yet again. Wasn't this actually a bit too easy? Now that he thinks about it, Yu is in fact taking his momentary situation a bit too lightly. Was this an abduction where he is part of a science experiment? Are they going to bring out some portal device now? Did he die and reincarnate in a different world? And it just so happens to have weird white testing facilities? Maybe he just travelled through time, into the future or stuck in stasis for years. Or this could all just be a simulation. Or maybe he was just thinking too much into it and this is just an escape room? Pretty advanced, with the memory wiping and all. In any case, Yu had decided 'it is what it is' and to reach a further conclusion he must progress. So, progress he did, through the exit into the next room.
The next room was a remarkable sight; Various weighted pressure sensitive buttons scattered across the room and a few cubes lying around. Yu counted three buttons, three smaller cubes and one big cube. He walked around, trying to take in the information he needed. On one of the walls there was an odd scribble. He couldn't make it out fully, but it seemed to depict some sort of lengthy formula. Yu made a mental note of it being there but moved on, now turning his attention towards the numbers on the cubes. The bigger one says '1', just like the previous cube. The smaller ones on the other hand show a new symbol. '1/2' is embedded onto the smaller cubes.
I see, Yu noted internally. Based on the fact that the button in the last room activated under the condition of either him or the cube standing there, he surmises that Yu approximately weighed as much as the cube with the one on it. Assuming the smaller cubes were what they said, they should weigh half as much as the bigger cube. Yu pressed on by examining the buttons. Each one of them left quite the space in-between them, making it hard to do any quick position switching strategies. Inspecting each button individually, he noted their labeling and weight requirement. The Button labeled with "A" required a weight of 1, "B" needed a weight of 1 and C required a weight of 1.5. So, a total weight requirement of three and a half.
Yu glanced over to the cubes. He had one cube with the weight of one, three cubes with half weights and himself. That did indeed total to the required weight. Yu observed the entire room, trying to find any more clues. Then he saw it; There was a display embedded into one of the walls, which currently showed a pure white screen. As it blended in perfectly with the rest of the room, he didn't immediately notice it. To test an idea of his out, he walked towards Button A and put his entire body weight on it, fulfilling its own weight requirement. The button changed colors yet again, now glowing in a bright green. Meanwhile, the screen now displayed a number. "2.5" was written on it in huge red numbers. By the looks of it, this number seems to show the remaining required weights left. Yu, triumphant about his discovery, pressed on with experimenting and finding a solution. As he stepped off of the button, the screen now showed a 3.5 instead of going blank. He tried arranging the cubes in a sensible way. He put the big cube onto A, the three small cubes onto the C and himself on B. That brought the number down to zero and all of a sudden, the connecting doorway opened again, opening the passage to the next room. But before he could even move a step, it dawned on him; Him getting off of the Button means the door will close down again. There is no way how he could proceed to the next room physically, as long as the requirement stays the same. As long as he himself is part of the puzzle.
Some time has passed. Yu experimented with the weights and his own bodyweight. He tried various combinations but none of them allowed him to step off of a button to proceed to the next chamber. He decided to examine the rest of this room, to find more clues as to how he should continue. But even after much time has passed, minutes or possibly hours, he couldn't arrive at a solution. He tried to put all the weights as normal on the buttons again, with him included as the weight, yet again opening the doorway. But this time, Yu noticed something he did not notice before. Behind the door is not the next room. It's a smaller room with a single '1' block in it. That would in theory solve his problem, no? But why put the solution behind the end of the riddle? Something still didn't add up. This must mean that getting past this door was not the solution, it was still part of the puzzle.
A long time went by. Yu wouldn't know how much, as there weren't any clocks in this place. He was numb to the passage of time by now anyhow. Yu was still at the cubes, trying to arrange them in a way that would work out. He racked his brain, going over everything he had observed. The numbers added up perfectly, yet he himself was still an integral part of the weight system. The moment he stepped off, the entire system collapsed. But now, with this extra '1' cube just out of reach, he realized the game was testing something beyond just arranging cubes – it was testing his ability to shift weights without breaking the current setup.
He approached the doorway again and looked at the extra cube. If only he could grab it without stepping off the button…
His eyes scanned the edges of the doorway, looking for anything he missed. That's when he noticed it: the door didn't close instantly. Yu stepped off his button for a split second and watched closely. The screen flickered as the number increased back to 3.5, but the door remained open for a brief moment before shutting completely. It was not much – maybe a second or two – but it was something.
He experimented a bit more, confirming his suspicion:
The door had a slight delay before closing when weight was removed from a button. It immediately closed if weight was placed on a button but then removed too quickly. This meant he had a brief window where he could move before the puzzle reset. Now Yu saw the real challenge; He needed to replace himself on Button B while using this delay to grab the new cube. Once he had the cube, he'd have enough total weight to set up a solution where he wasn't needed. He started formulating a plan.
First, he arranged the cubes just like when he tried his first attempt. 1 on A, 3 halves on C and himself on B. The door opened. But instead of stepping away immediately, he tested how fast he could move toward the extra cube whilst keeping an eye on the delay.
Now to the next step.
He rushed into the smaller room and grabbed the '1' cube. The door slammed shut behind him, but now he held the missing piece of the puzzle. When he tried to lift the cube – which was no easy feat, as the cube was approximately his weight – he noticed that this cube was standing on a button. Yu put down the cube, to the side of the button. He closely inspected the glossy siderails, on which he found the final solution to the puzzle: the number "3.5". A big grin appeared on Yu's face.
Yu lifted the cube and approached the door. Initially thinking he was locked in and getting out would be a puzzle in and of itself, he was relieved to see that the door opened up again when approached. He took the '1' cube and placed it in the middle of the doorway, after which he stepped away backwards. This in turn closed the doors, with the cube stuck in the middle. Yu's theory has been proven true; The cube is hardy and stable enough to not get smashed in between the wall panels serving as the door – that meant that there now was a permanent opening between the two rooms.
Yu jumped over the cube and grabbed the smaller cubes, throwing them through the open door and into the small room, one by one. After that he grabbed the bigger cube and carried it over, bringing it over into the small room. After he had brought all of the cubes into the room and close to the button with the 3.5 requirement, he placed the buttons on there, one by one. After the requirement was fulfilled, a loud 'ding' sound was played, as if to confirm that Yu successfully solved the puzzle. To reinforce that, the weighted button underneath the cubes did not turn green this time but – oddly enough – yellow. The room started shaking and the ground beneath him suddenly started moving. The floor turned into a moving platform, descending him further down into the ground until he reached a new room. This one was rather elongated, like a hallway. But at the end of that hallway, there was something. A certain thing that seemed to shine, that exuded an energy, calling out to him.
"I am highly delighted to witness your successful passing of the previous test chambers. You may claim your reward now."