Prof. Silvain (See
solution)
I stepped out of the portal into the cool, fresh night air. This
had to be it. I turned back and looked at the portal that had
brought me here, noticing that it seemed to be made of two
indeterminate lines bound together magically.
I turned and ran down the nearest stairs -- I had no time to
lose. In front of me stood the right hand of the evil conglomerate
that was trying to strip the planet of life and resources. I had
to stop it. Knowing that a frontal assault wouldn't be the optimal
way to do it, I chose the more sinister path.
Running under a shaky-looking bridge and further onward, I had
the feeling that I had escaped from there for the moment. Then,
turning right, I walked along the beach until I came to the first
port town. He had been here, there was no mistaking that.
I could feel his evil here
I was about to move when I noticed a small, glowing stone, about
the size of a marble. I quickly picked it up, and studied it
closely. I had seen this pale green glow before. I was in a hurry,
so I popped it into my bracelet on my arm, and traveled inland
from the beach. I quickly scanned the town for signs, and found
just a few words protecting the rights of these people. I noted
the second to last letter of the last word.
After crossing the twin trails, I turned left and picked up the
pace. I noticed that someone had carved something into a nearby
tree. I noted the third letter on the fourth line, and looked
around me. There was nothing. I twirled my sword and returned it
to its place on my back and hurried on.
Seeing the house of the head of the evil conglomerate in front of
me, I quickly ducked into a convenient inn. I dashed through the
courtyard, and came out facing a strange arena. Quickly turning
right, running, turning right again, I dashed into a less well
beaten path a little farther forward on my left.
Running past the stairs, I tried to enter the door in the corner.
It was locked. I didn't have time to figure out how the lock
worked; I just smashed the glass to eliminate the problem. Once
inside, I descended into the maze-like dungeon.
I ran past the marker, but not before the drink vendor called my
attention to the seventh letter on the same number line as right
turns I made in my descent. As I read the notice, I knew it
couldn't apply to me, but a letter is a letter in the end. Oh,
well. I ran on, stopping as I saw a strange megaphone in an open
locker. I didn't grab it as it had nothing to do with me.
At the next opportunity, I turned left and ran to the end of the
corridor. The last letter framed in blue glowed briefly, and I
knew it was the one I was searching for. I turned right, and at
the next opportunity, turned left, and burst through the doors.
I was then directed left a little later. After wandering the
smaller maze ahead, I finally came out onto another choice. I
fretted for a moment, then ran through to the left. While racing
down the corridor, I summed all the numbers that followed dashes,
were framed in red, and were on my right. I called that number n.
I hurtled up the stairs to my right, and ran by a misplaced rug.
Escaping from the dungeon, I realized I could turn my head and
see the horizon again. I passed through the tower, and went to the
right of the sunken ship into a building. While running down the
corridor, I stopped to read he writing on the wall. More
specifically, I noted the fifth letter in the first word.
I emerged into the jungle. I turned right once for each character
in my real, given name, and charged. I stopped when the corridor
turned for the first time, turned left, and knew I was in the
right place. Armed with my letters and their inverse, I was ready.
I just hoped that the others were too. Soon he would catch the man
in the black cape, and find out what really happened five years
ago. I would settle my past. I began to cast a spell. A beam of
light formed in front of me, and projected down through the floor
somewhere far in front of me.
The other two women stepped out of glowing screens to find
themselves in a place filled with machine sounds. They looked
around, staring at the characters contained within each glowing
screen. They recognized a girl whose name was the Japanese word
meaning "cherry blossom" and counted how many games she appeared
in.
Erratum for the above statement:
Just to clear things up totally, note that on the second page,
the "cherry blossom" character should appear normally and
commonly in the games.
Leaving the noisy, darkened room, and passing the post office,
they traveled up the stairs.
Before heading outside the building, one woman checked her long
braid, and noted that the small white marble-sized stone was still
attached to the ribbon she used to bind her braid. The other
adjusted her suspenders and said, "When I first signed up with
avalanche, I never expected this kind of a mission... but I
suppose that this just goes along with saving the planet in the
end."
The other nodded, brushed the bangs out of her face, and glanced
at the musical offerings. They walked out the door, and into the
blinding snowstorm outside. They walked forward and stopped when
they got to the stone benches. They then turned right the same
number of times that the aforementioned character appeared, and
started.
80 right
113 left
53 left
3 right
13 right
4 left
4 right
18 right
5 left
"This feels like safe cracking, doesn't it?" The other woman just laughed.
67 left
53 right
1 left
8 right
2 right
16 right
5 right
5 left
25 right
In the middle of this last move, the woman with the braid stopped
and examined the lettering on an object behind them. "I see. It
has to be the meaning of this second letter of the first line."
100 left
"Is this it? The alignment feels so beautiful here..."
"While the symmetry is good, this is not the place. We must move
onward." She trudged on through the storm. Reluctantly, the other
woman followed.
17 right
16 left
This was it. This had to be it. After all they had been through
getting here.
"No, wait, something's missing. We need to know why someone might
come here... Why would someone come to this place? That's the last
piece of information we need to crack this!" They both thought for
a while, and came up with the appropriate word in gerund form.
The woman with the brain began casting a spell as the other
adjusted the metal claws she used for fighting. After the casting
was over, a beam of light shot forth in the direction the faced at
about waist level.
"Come on, if he's done his part, what we've been searching for
should be just ahead at the brightest part."
What remains is to weave a tapestry of the things gained.