Maze Within A Maze

Posted on Jan 13, 2017 @ 1:05pm by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Jan 13, 2017 @ 1:05pm

Mission: Holodeck Havoc

“Maze within Maze”
(contd from Sarah’s ‘Patient-Dragon Confidentiality Is Totally A Thing Right?’)

Location: USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.17] 0110.1800
Scene: Holodeck 10

“Computer, set parameters,” Jasmine commanded, pacing a little back and forth. “3D, Type - multiple, start location - cavern and set difficulty to level 10.”

[[Affirmative,]] intoned the computer. [[Parameters set.]]

“Begin program.” The black and yellow lines, making up the holodeck matrix, flickered to the entrance to a cavern at the bottom of a mountain. Jasmine’s gaze was fixed on the wide, gaping hole of darkness, where a puzzle awaited her. Smiling, the young woman entered the cavern, allowing a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The security chief ventured a little further inside, when the cavern widened and dimly lit. And there it was, two grey stone structures, about ten feet high on opposite sides of each other – the entrance to the maze and the beginning of Jasmine’s adventure in the holodeck.

“Computer, display layout.” A holographic map of the 3D maze, a cube with ten floors, hovered above the ground in front of her. Jasmine studied the layout, taking a closer look of each floor and searching for possible paths to the other side, which was at the bottom, the tenth floor – the numbering of the floors for this maze went in descending order. The user was allowed to request a display of the layout of the maze as often as he or she desired after the program started, however would need to wait an hour before requesting the map another time. So one had to choose wisely as to the right time to refer to the layout and Jasmine knew from having run the program a few times, was when the user was really in a tight spot – the chances of that happening at level 10 was quite high.

Jasmine waved away the layout and inhaled deeply as she took a step past the entrance, where her journey through the maze began. As expected, the first floor, the top in this maze, was a square stone labyrinth, where she needed to head to the centre to reach the floor below. This should be easy and she knew that, having run the simulation before, where the first floor of the 3D maze was the easiest. However, Jasmine also knew, when making a turn to the left, things would get rather complicated, further into the maze.

As she walked along the pathway, she observed the grey stone walls on both sides, had ancient writing from different civilizations, such as hieroglyphs and so on. Looking up, she spotted the stalactites protruding from the cavern’s ceiling. She then gazed downwards and spotted the stalagmites, sticking out through the rocky floor, knowing she’d have to move around them. Coming up a corner, Jasmine made a right. Another right, followed by a left. She walked a few feet on the path, when she came upon a junction, where three paths branched. Without thinking, Jasmine took the middle path and turned out to be correct. For the next five minutes, according to the chronometer, Jasmine walked at a casual pace as if she was in no hurry. The path then curved right and immediately, she took a left and then right in quick succession. After a couple more turns, left and right, Jasmine finally reached the centre. She paused, taking in a few quick breaths and stared ahead, there was a square gap at the centre of the chamber, where stone steps on all four sides led downwards. She made her way closer to the centre and walked down the steps to the second floor. What awaited her next was hers or anyone’s guess.

As Jasmine was making her way down, she could spot specks of light at the bottom. The specks grew larger as she was coming closer. When she reached the bottom, she squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the bright light, coming through an archway. Jasmine walked past the archway to enter a clearing in front of the entrance to a hedgerow maze. Jasmine glanced up and saw the clear sky with the sun shining down on her.

There was more than one possible path or exit to the next floor. Recalling the layout from memory, Jasmine remembered, one of the entrances to the third floor was somewhere within the maze, not exactly the centre, but close to it. She began moving, her path leading her through the opening, surrounded by tall, green hedges. It felt a little warm, all part of the program, to make it real. She continued walking straight ahead for now.

--------
Time index: 10 minutes later

After an uneventful trip through the hedge maze with hardly any critters present, the path widened. Jasmine encountered a wide, stone bridge, which was standing over a river. She looked past the bridge and spotted a Japanese style pagoda that looked to be around three to four storeys high. Jasmine let out a sigh and started walking across the bridge.

As she was moving, casually glancing at her surroundings, she felt something brushing past her arm. Jasmine tilted her head sideways and then forward, her brown eyes twinkling with amusement and her lips curling into a smile. A fluffy white rabbit, adorned in a tangerine coloured kimono with white flower patterns, hopped towards the building. It was not the only holographic creature heading for the pagoda. Jasmine encountered other holograms, comprising of more animals, birds and cute creatures that looked to have come out of a cartoon, all heading for the same building. Laughing, she went along with them to the entrance, knowing that the path to the next floor was likely inside the building.
When she approached the front doors, a large rhino stood on two feet, wearing some kind of ebony body armour and helmet, permitting all the holograms inside. Jasmine kept going but within inches from the door, the rhino blocked her path by stomping its foot in front of her. The security chief produced a dry chuckle. Her first obstacle was a bipedal rhinoceros, towering over by a foot, wearing a Samurai uniform, which she was able to recognize from a conversation she remembered having with a Japanese friend about the Samurai. This was going to be interesting, if not amusing – well, because it was a hologram and therefore not real. Jasmine stared up at him, her gaze meeting his stern one and decided to just go along for the ride.

The rhino hologram opened its mouth and in a deep voice, spoke, its eyes boring into her, “I have not seen you before. You smell funny and I don’t like funny.” He sneered at her, bending forward so that his face was only a few inches from her. “Are you human? Humans smell bad and are not allowed in the bathhouse. Yet, you may not be human because all the spirits are not in a state of panic due to your presence.”
A bathhouse. Of course, a dawn of realization hit the young woman. A childhood memory flashed in her mind. Jasmine recalled, when she was a child at around ten, she had tried a program that was based on an old twentieth or twenty first century cartoon about kids and spirits and a bathhouse was involved. Now, while Jasmine attempted level 10 a few times for this program, she had not managed to complete it yet. Level 10 was challenging and would take about many hours to complete, time which Jasmine didn’t have. Unfortunately, such was the setup of the program that if the user left in the middle, then they’d have to start from the beginning. But Jasmine wasn’t intimidated by the enormous task that laid ahead of her and would take on the challenges level 10 threw at her with enthusiasm – after all part of the fun was the journey to solve a maze and having fun overcoming the obstacles.

So playing along, Jasmine replied with a smile, “I am a spirit.”

“Prove it,” the hologram demanded.

“How?”

The rhino’s mouth widened. Was that a hint of a smile or perhaps a sneer? “Answer the riddle.”

“Here we go.” Jasmine, having run through the program many times, knew that answering riddles were one of the things that if successful would allow the user to proceed further. And a good thing, the program permitted up to three chances, otherwise the user had the option to start all over again or take another route and on some floors, the latter was not even a choice. But in this case, if Jasmine was unsuccessful in figuring out the rhino’s riddle, then she’d have to find another route, a much longer one from what she remembered from the layout, to the next floor.

“What walks on two legs, eats like a pig and whose stink pollutes our world, that not even bathing a thousand times will get rid of the stench.”

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. Not a riddle she’d heard of before. She pondered for a moment and her brown eyes lit up. Of course, from the holo-novel, she’d remembered, based on the cartoon, there was something about the spirits in the story and their disgust with humans. And the answer was so obvious, Jasmine thought with amusement. Giving the hologram a rather smug smile, she answered, “A human.”

The rhino erupted in a booming laughter, patting Jasmine on her back. “Correct! You are a spirit after all.”

“Well, I’m glad that pleases you.” A hint of sarcasm was visible in her voice.

“I thought you would fail,” the hologram continued amidst laughing. “And I’d have been forced to turn you into a pig.” He stepped aside, pushed the door inward.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, muttering to herself, “I know, it’s just a hologram.” Of course, the hologram wouldn’t really turn the user into a pig as the program would have likely changed the environment. She walked past the hologram.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, Jasmine sighed. Almost there. She took a few steps forward in a large room with high ceilings. The room was well-decorated with numerous paintings lining up the walls, Japanese lettering everywhere and various statues, depicting figures from ancient Japan, placed at each corner. She glanced to the side and spotted to her amazement, a wide spiral staircase with handrails covered in gold and steps wrapped in a bright red carpet that flowed down like a river. Something bumped into her knee, making the young woman turn around. She noticed many holographic creatures passing her in the form of animals, bird and even reptiles. A couple of mice, carrying little brushes and towels went around her feet and trotted down the corridor.
“Now which door will lead me out of this floor,” Jasmine said, studying her surroundings. She eyed the corridor, where those spirit mice went and spotted a row of doors that led to, likely the baths, if this were a real bathhouse. But in a maze, there were chances that one of those doors led to the floor below. But then there were other corridors. In fact, from the main hall, four corridors branched out – so which one to take. Maybe there was a puzzle she needed to solve, in order to find the right room.

“Please come this way,” came a female voice from behind.

Jasmine turned around and her eyes widened in surprise. Facing her was a bluish green dragon and it or she was talking to her. Well, the wonders of holodeck technology. The dragon was floating in air and small bat-like wings protruded from its front limbs. One of the dragon’s legs lifted towards her, a white towel, soft and fluffy to touch and a small pouch, hanging from its claws that resembled an eagle’s talons. “For me?”

The dragon nodded. “Yes.”

“Thank you.” Jasmine smiled, taking the towel and the pouch.

“Follow me,” said the dragon in a soft voice as she pointed in the direction of a corridor with her one of her talons.

“Where are you taking me?”

“The door to the third floor.”

“Okay, then lead the way.” Jasmine followed the serpent like creature as it floated in the air.

This was an interesting experience, Jasmine thought, her gaze on the dragon, its snake like body moving effortlessly past the many doors. It stopped in front of the door at the far end of the corridor. “Here,” the dragon announced and then vanished.

“Uhm…Thanks,” she said to the empty space, where her guide occupied a moment ago. Turning around, she placed her hand on the door and pulled at the edge. The door slid open and cold winds blew into her face. Shivering from the sudden drop in temperature, Jasmine touched her cheek with one hand and felt it cold to touch. This was going to be an interesting floor. Inhaling and then exhaling, Jasmine moved forward through the opening.

Gone were the warmth and liveliness of the bathhouse and in its place was a cold wilderness, the only noise being the wind. Jasmine studied her surroundings and to her side, found a grey parka and thick gloves. Wonderful. She could now continue through the third floor, not freezing to death- unlikely to happen after all it was the holodeck and the safeties were on. Jasmine grabbed the parka and wore it over her Starfleet uniform. She then took the gloves and put it over her hands. Now she was warm. She put the pouch in one of the coat’s pockets, deciding to check the contents later – probably something she needed to overcome an obstacle or answer another riddle. Jasmine then folded the towel, given by the dragon spirit and held it under her arm. She wore a quizzical expression, eyeing the towel and wondered why the hologram gave it to her. Maybe she was going to get wet in this maze

Looming over her were tall glaciers, neatly arranged together in blocks and curved inward. From the layout, Jasmine remembered the maze on the third floor was a concentric circle labyrinth and the entrance to the fourth floor was at the centre. She was standing within the outermost wall. This was going to be challenging and if she made it out of this floor, then things were going to get harder. The setting was also unfamiliar to her. Jasmine gazed down, the ground was covered in snow and was a little icy. She had to be careful, Jasmine thought, her foot nearly skidding as she began walking.

A few feet down the snowy path, Jasmine suddenly felt a cold chill down her back, her skin prickling and hairs standing up. She could hear her heart beating loudly and her breathing became rapid. She halted in midstride, when something brushed her back – the young woman shivered. Jasmine slowly twisted her body and head, her feet planted firmly on the ground. Her mouth dropped and eyes widened.

Hovering before her was a wraith like figure, wearing a tattered, black robe with no legs and loose arms with no sign of hands at the ends of the sleeves. Beneath the hood, Jasmine saw a gaping black hole and out of that pit of darkness came angry whispery sounds. For a moment, Jasmine was spooked and then relaxed, this was a hologram – a very believable one at that. She burst out laughing, ignoring the creepy, floating creature for a moment. This was the holodeck, Jasmine reminded herself and that wraith thing wasn’t real – it couldn’t harm her. The wraith hologram crept closer and blew cold air on her hand, the holographic glove turned to ice. Sighing, Jasmine smacked her frozen hand and the glove smashed into many pieces, leaving her hand exposed to the freezing cold. Once again, the creepy creature blew at the same hand but nothing happened and Jasmine let out a sigh of relief. Grinning, she waved at the wraith. “Nice knowing you.” She put the exposed hand inside the coat’s pocket. Turning around, she headed forward and briefly glanced behind her shoulder. The wraith was gliding behind her, maintaining a distance of few feet. She shrugged, not at all bothered by the hologram. But she wondered if it played a role in her quest to get to the next floor. An obstacle, maybe.

Jasmine walked for a while, it was quiet, giving her the opportunity to delve into some thoughts. It had only been a day since her arrival on the Phoenix. After reporting to Captain Kane, she headed to her quarters to drop her bag and then went to the Security Centre. She had introduced herself to her staff and that seemed to have gone well, no stumbles so far in her first foray as chief. And then she was familiarizing herself with the ship’s systems, specifically its defences and her fellow officers’ profiles. Time was so short that she hadn’t gotten to meet any of the other senior officers yet. She was immediately thrust into volunteering to test the holodeck systems.

Speaking of holodecks, Jasmine glanced behind and the wraith creature was gone. Wonder where it was off to? Probably off scaring some poor, unsuspecting hologram. She stopped at an opening to her left, the first inner circular wall. She glanced forward and noticed two more openings a couple of metres further down on the inner wall. Jasmine raised an eyebrow, wondering which entry point was the right one, after all in the labyrinth, there was only one way to the centre. Sighing, perhaps it was time to consult the layout or just pick a route and hope she was right. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do right now – at least not until the tests were complete. So she might as well have some fun.

Out of the furthermost opening, she saw to her surprise, a group of heavily armed men and women, wearing furs and carrying weapons. Some wore eye makeup. They were heading her way. Jasmine wondered if she should get out of the way or was she facing an obstacle. As they were approaching her, Jasmine realized the horde were the Vikings. With the little knowledge she possessed about them, she sighed, knowing her obstacle was coming upon her…until they just brushed her aside and went on their merry way. Jasmine sported a puzzled expression. Odd. She thought they were the obstacle. One of the holograms, a shield maiden stopped to peek behind her and then resumed moving with the others.

She spotted a man and woman, bundled up in brown furs, coming up towards her on a sleigh, pulled by two huskies. The woman lifted her head and Jasmine, from her facial features, identified her to be one of the indigenous people who lived in the Arctic regions on EARTH. The sleigh turned to enter through the middle opening.

“Do I follow them?” she asked, her voice echoing off the glacier walls. But then, she heard some tapping sounds, which grew louder. Jasmine turned to her right and let out a hearty laugh. This was weird, yet amusing. A trio of penguins were by her side near the outer wall, their tiny feet tapping on the icy floor. The dark haired woman noticed a pattern or rhythm in the penguins’ tapping. They were dancing. She began moving, the penguins coming along with her. “Alright, you can come with me,” she said, addressing the birds. “I could sure use some company.”

“Maybe I should check the layout if I end up being wrong,” Jasmine said, talking to no one in particular.

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~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX