Tales from Terraverse | Chapter 2

Before you proceed, make sure you’ve read Chapter 1.

X has only 3% charge left. He tries to recharge using the machines available at the magnetic charging stations, but unfortunately they are incompatible with his power socket. He can see that his system is crashing.

D-Centra sees the panic on his face. It starts spinning around X at great speed. When X opens his eyes, he finds himself in a place surrounded by flying droids who look like they’re in deep meditation. One has power beads juggling in its hands while another has a spinning halo around its head. One of them comes forward and touches his power socket. Instantly, X’s power is restored to 100%. He is back on his feet.

D-Centra tells him about the ZERODroid community that lives in Area 00. They’re the powerbrokers of Terraverse. Without them, the Droid community will run out of power A.K.A. become zero. One of the ZERODroids makes a hologram in the air while staring at him. X can see that it’s the map of the Terraverse. Some areas are illuminated. The hologram disappears almost immediately and both of them are transported back to Area 99 in a flash. When he opens his closed fist, X finds three brightly-lit blue beads in it.

X realises that before he goes to Area 11 and starts his mission, he needs to find the secret map to the Terraverse. It’s the key to where all the codes are hidden. He turns to D-Centra. It says, “Locked in the LOOP HQ, you will find what you are looking for.”

The next target is clear. X is on the move. He finds that the LOOP HQ is situated inside a large maze. He needs to reach the middle of it to access the tower. “There have been droids who tried reaching this tower, but have been stuck in the maze for eons of time,” D-Centra warns him. X can’t afford to waste time. While he is working out a plan, he juggles the blue beads in his hands. They slip out of his hands and roll into different paths.

Two of the beads return. He decides to follow the bead that has disappeared.

Lo and behold, it leads him to the tower. He is the first one to ever reach it. But the gates to the tower are locked. X needs to crack a puzzle to gain entry. A screen appears. It reads: ‘XoIT9IN^&oQ’. He computes all possible combinations in his head. He has three tries. He keys in the wrong answer twice.

D-Centra intervenes, “Think maze, think search, think failure.”

X puts in ‘DESTINY’ on the screen.

The gate opens. He gets the masterplan of the Terraverse that reveals the underground portals hidden within the Terraverse. He realises that Area 11 is hidden under Area 99 and there is a portal to take him there, but there are multiple barriers in the way. He plans his heist strategy to steal the first piece of code. But, he realises the blue beads have lost their energy and without them, he can’t get out of the maze.

What happens next? Find out in Chapter 3.