#75

Another door will open, and Lefty will go through. He'll try not to look at the charred bones poking up at the top of the hot fuel.

In the next room, the lights will be on, so he can see the situation at once. There'll be two chambers, once again: one with Zanne, and one with Usius. Between their chambers, there'll be a sealed off room with another computer terminal, facing towards Zanne; it'll look like he has to access it. The dividing wall will hooked up to a computer screen that will once more be on Lefty's side. As he approaches it, he'll see a mechanical arm come out of the wall in Usius' chamber. It'll be holding a syringe; and despite his struggles, it will go into his arm. On Lefty's screen, a timer appears again, even as the riddle does.

“It seems that you've met with defeat, Lefty. Fear not; you have two more chances. The syringe in Usius' room has just injected him with a growth hormone that will cause him to expand into a shape much larger than his chamber, once the timer runs out. Needless to say, this will be fatal. Zanne can give him the antidote if you unlock his computer. If he doesn't reach it in time, his cell will fill with high-level thermal energy, consuming him in a second. Good luck.

“Your riddle is: A Frenchman seeks democracy. Who is he?”

Lefty will begin to sweat once again. He will not allow himself another failure.

“Citizen.” No. Damn.

“Civilian.” Nope on that. Bloody hell.

He'll think for a long while, about French history. He was, or will be, never much for book smarts, but he will remember the Revolution. Maybe that's what this refers to.

“Revolutionary.” No. “Rebel.” No. “Dissenter.” No.

That's when a voice will come over another intercom. “The Goddess Libertas isn't that important yet, Lefty. That comes later.” Okay. What?

Keep focusing. There'll only be ten more seconds again.

“Good citizen.” No. “Patriot.” No. “Freedom fighter.” No, and...

“NO!!!”

A wave of white-hot energy will flow over Zanne; and without sight, Lefty will only be able to hear distorted screams and the shattering of bones as Usius becomes an involuntary giant. He'll have failed again. At first sadness will pour over him; but then it will turn once more into nothing but rage.

The answer will appear as it did before: “A voter.” A voter? That's a bit more obvious. The clearness of it will frustrate him further; but there will still be a sort of mystery to it. Why the fuck does the voter have to be French? Some sort of worthless translation pun?

“One more trial,” Fox will say over the loud speaker. “Pass or fail, you may confront me up ahead.”

Lefty will say nothing, instead feeling his veins pucker, his flesh turn red hot. He'll hang onto those feelings; because he feels that soon, they'll be all he'll have.