“Well, I didn’t see this coming,” Colonel Dillo said with a slow clap.

“Is that a good or bad thing, sir?” said Major Caps, who had been standing rather stiffly next to his chair since returning from his unfortunate visit with room three.

"There is no good or bad. Only circumstances and perspectives, my good Major."

Major Caps gave Dillo a puzzled glance. He let it be.

The screen displaying test room three was still empty. Dillo had manifested a new screen for the hallway between the rooms where they watched the two boys named Satch and Jace. Funny that. He hadn’t considered the boys may name themselves. But he also never considered they would accidentally break a rendering and exit their test room. What else could these brilliant little renegades do?

After considering the question, he realized the only thing stopping the others from breaking through their walls was time. And the experiments he had planned wouldn't be possible if they were outside their test rooms. Goodness, the last time his plans had fallen apart this fast was his date with Lady Carmella. A chance at love gone as quick as it kindled, all thanks to a well-meant gift and an all too flammable dress.

But this situation was still redeemable.

He downed his drink, his face scrunching at its goodness.

“I’ve got a new plan,” he said while manifesting three more screens displaying large empty spaces. He got straight to work on filling them.

“Sir? Excuse me, but shouldn’t we consult the General on this development first?”

Dillo waved the notion off as walls and various objects formed on the screen he was staring into. “No time, Major. I’m busy being a genius.”

***

Satch groaned like he was trying to force a poop out sideways. He pushed on the wall that previously knit itself into place, veins bulging on his forehead as he gritted his teeth. Nothing changed. He dropped in defeat.

“I can’t do it,” Satch said on the verge of tears.

Jace was busy inspecting the rest of the hall. The only notable things about it were the numbers on the walls. He looked at the part of the wall that led to their old room. It was between the numbers “1” and “5”. Likely, that’s where the number “3” would have been. Could each of these numbers lead to other rooms?

“Do you know how you turned our wall into fairy dust?” Jace asked.

“No,” Satch replied. He was shaking again.

“Think back to how it happened. Relive it for a moment and see if you can piece together how you did it.” He rapped a knuckle on the number 4 printed on the wall that was almost as tall as himself. “We might be able to get through these walls instead.”

A flicker of hope sparked in Satch’s eyes, or it was just the tears, Jace couldn’t tell for sure. Either way he seemed to be trying Jace’s suggestion as he muttered, “we need to get out of here,” on repeat the way he did when the wall exploded into dust.

Jace placed both palms against the number 4 himself, trying to see if he could figure it out. If Satch could do it then he could definitely do it too.

Something moved in the corner of his eye.

At the end of the hall opposite to where the stairs had been, a chain clinked around on the ground as it slithered to the far wall and began climbing up.

“What is that?!” Satch cried.

Jace bolted towards it. But by the time he got close, the chain had formed an “X” over the wall and went stiff. Jace slid to a stop as a key lock formed where the chains intersected. Then, as Jace blinked, the wall behind the chains was no longer a wall. It was a door.

Nothing about this felt right. Sure, he didn’t remember why, but that didn’t stop him from feeling that this should have been impossible. But it sure was an exciting development.

“Was that a snake?” Satch said from the other end of the hall.

Jace took a few steps back and studied the new door for a moment. Then he grabbed the bar handle and tried to push the door open. As he expected it didn’t budge. However, when he pulled it… The chains clinked as they restricted the door from moving any further.

“What’s going on?” Satch called out.

“Get over here and see for yourself!”

“Just tell me, I can hear you fine from over there!”

Jace prodded at the key lock. It was about as big as his head, with a keyhole that could fit his hand. So, he wiggled his hand into the hole. But inside it had sharp edges so he pulled his hand free before needlessly cutting himself open. The slot was clearly meant for a key. It was peculiar that he knew that solely based on its function as a tool. He could vaguely imagine what one may look like.

Finally curious enough to overcome his nerves, Satch jogged over.

“Is that a door?” Satch said.

“Yup,” Jace said as he turned away from it, “and we’re gonna need a key to get through it.”

Satch looked at the chains and lock and pieced the situation together. “But why would a door that we can’t even get through show up out of nowhere?”

“Who cares, what we need now is the key to get it open.”

But a key that big would stick out like a sore thumb. If they were going to find a key it had to be somewhere they haven’t seen yet. That, or…

Jace ran for the opening of the room they started in. If the lock formed out of nowhere then the key could have too. Sure enough, he turned past the opening to see a large silver key on the floor in the center of the plain white room.

“Bingo.”

“What’s a ‘bingo’? Did you find something?”

Jace walked in and picked up the key. Well, he tried to pick up the key, but it was extremely heavy. He grabbed it with both hands and pulled with all his might, but he was still only able to budge it an inch before his fingers slipped and he fell to his butt.

Jace had imagined walking out into the hall with key in hand to see Satch’s amazement at his quick thinking, but so much for that. “Hey Satch, gimme a hand.”

“Why do you need my hand?” Satch said with concern, “we both only have two.”

“Dammit Satch, I mean come help me!”

He tried another time to move the key, but no luck. When he looked back up, Satch was standing in the opening outside the room.

Jace pointed at the key. “Look, here it is. It must have appeared here when the lock did, but it's so heavy that it needs two people to move it.”

Satch didn’t move.

“Meaning, get in here and help.”

Satch scratched at his arm. “Why though?”

“What is it with you and the pointless questions? The key is here and the lock is there. Move key to lock and we get through door. Simple as that.”

“No,” said Satch with surprising sternness, “why would a key that needs two people to move it appear back in our room?”

“Because--” Jace bit off his words and considered a moment. Wait. Since entering the hall, they avoided going back into the room based on the fear that they could get trapped back in it.

“What if I step in there and the wall closes again… and then I can’t open it like last time?”

Jace looked down at the key. It was practically begging to be moved. If they could get it into the lock they could continue… but that was the point. It was the perfect bait.

“Dammit,” Jace said, standing, “so you think it’s a trap?”

“I think so, yeah.”

Jace exited the room, joining Satch to look at the key from out in the hall. But now what? They couldn’t stand there hiding from a possibility. The problem was that Jace agreed with it. He wanted to move forward but he didn't want to risk going backward.

“Go see if you can move it,” Jace said.

“What? No way! You’re gonna come in after me once I go.”

Jace gave Satch a dry look. “No I won’t, okay. It didn’t close up with just me in there, so it probably won’t if you go in alone too.”

“Probably?”

Jace lifted his hands and spread his face in a way to say ‘well, duh, I can’t know for sure.’

For once, it looked like Satch picked up what he meant. He took one step into the room but that’s where he stopped. He remained there for a moment, half in and half out, shaking like he was pushing against an invisible force.

Jace rolled his eyes and his attention landed on the ball he was bouncing earlier. Where had he gotten that anyway? It felt like he always had it… but there was definitely a brief moment when there was nothing in the room. He remembered the feeling clearly, the desire for something to do, something to play with. Then he found the ball in a place that he was sure he checked earlier but thought nothing of it at the time. All that mattered was the fact that he had a ball that bounced.

He considered that a moment. If a key could appear out of nowhere then couldn’t that ball have too? What if what he wanted had something to do with what was created? But he never wanted another door, and especially not one that was locked… but he supposed the puzzle was kind of fun. No, it couldn’t have been himself that triggered the creation.

Satch was still shaking in place. It was very unlikely to have been him either. Or could things be created through subconscious desires? Was all of this just a dream or something? How could he test this?

Satch cleared his throat. “Do you think that old guy is watching us?”

Jace was pulled out of his head. “Watching us?”

Satch nodded, still struggling to push at nothing. “Yeah, that old guy showed up right after I thought you were gonna kill and eat me.”

Jace huffed. “I told you, I thought we were playing a game, don’t be so dramatic about it.”

“Well you may have thought that, but to me and anyone else watching, it would have looked pretty bad.”

“So you think the guy I hit in the balls showed up to save you?”

“I mean maybe, but I at least think he was watching us somehow. And--wouldn’t he still be watching? Trying to get us back into the room?”

The old guy watching… Someone with desires of their own. Jace had hardly anything concrete to base his theory on, but it felt like a fun one to run with: Strong desires can create things.

If the old guy wanted Jace and Satch back in their room, then he would create a means to bait and trap them.

But what would happen if he desired to move the key more than the old guy wanted to trap them?

Jace pulled Satch back by the shirt. “I’ve got an idea.”

Satch didn’t resist being pulled away, in fact, he practically jumped back.

Jace stood over the key like a beast over its prey. He rubbed his hands together as he collected his thoughts and intentions, focusing all of them on one desire: move this key.

He felt a tingling in the far back of his head, as all other thoughts were banished. Move this key. The tingling sensation flooded over his body as he squatted and gripped the key with both hands. Then he pulled!

… Then he pulled!

He rubbed his hands on his pants real quick. Then he pulled!

“Aren’t you just doing the same thing as before?” Satch said.

“No!” Jace said, pulling again from a different angle, “this time I want it more!”

“Oh…” Satch nodded, “is that making a difference?”

Jace’s fingers slipped free and he fell to his butt exactly like he did the first time. Damn. So either the theory was entirely wrong or there is another variable unaccounted for.

“Shut up,” Jace said, jumping back to his feet, “I’ll test this another way.”

“Oooooo what’re you testing?”

That was not Satch’s voice.

Satch screamed and jumped into the room but managed to keep a hand on the edge of the opening. There was a new boy in the opening wearing the same gray jumpsuit as Jace and Satch. He was lanky with big, curious eyes, and a dusty mop of blonde hair on his head.

Another boy appeared next to the one with big eyes. He was smiling with little teeth and a lot of freckles. “You spooked him! Let me try!” the new boy snapped. A loud pop and flash of light burst next to Satch’s hand. He yelped and pulled back the last bit of him that was out in the hall.

“This guy’s fun--”

The boy’s voice was cut off as the space between the paintings slammed shut, the walls pulled together. Chains burst out of it, sewing themselves tightly over the exit space.

Jace darted for it, trying to pull the chains free. But he had no effect. In seconds, the space between the paintings was completely covered in a barrier of steel.

Satch crumpled to the floor.

Jace jumped excitedly.

“That was another person like us! Two of them! And one of them made a--” Jace snapped his fingers, “like a tiny explosion-thing!”

“Yeah, that got us trapped again.” Satch’s expression sunk.

Tiny bits of light began to collect out of thin air at the center of the chains, constructing another lock just like the one outside. Jace spun to look for the key, and sure enough, it was still in the room.

“Well, the good news is we know it was a trap now.”

“How is that good news?” Satch whimpered.

“At least we got an answer about something,” Jace stood over the key, “but the extra good news is that we already have a way out.”

Satch looked at the lock for a bit. “Not much of a trap if we could just get out again.”

“Just get up and lift.”