The Tale of the Missing Words

The Chess Master sat there with a look on his face that resembled both utter disbelief and shock…

Not in a bad way, more like in a surprised way…as even far more experienced Chess players have been easily beaten by him in the past. The difference was The Competitor’s sheer determination combined with fearless execution- traits often missing among other, more experience players.

The Chess Master and The Competitor both knew what was to happen next…The Interogation

Meanwhile, the Guide so far is completely unaware of what has transpired. He would not be allowed to observe these tests. His work has been done and it was up to The Competitor to earn her way out of this maze.

The Competitor and Chess Master immediately proceeded into the next phase, the last one that, if successful, would free her of this maze and propel her into the Upward Spiral.

She was escorted into an area of the maze by the Chess Master that was already set up for her interrogation. It was 4 on 1 after the Chess Master took the final seat next to his co-interrogators at a table, surrounded by nothing but the green brush of the maze, and an opening behind the table.

The Competitor could see that the opening behind the interrogators was the exit to the maze and that this test was the last thing standing in the way of her exit.

The pressure was on, which is exactly The Competitor’s comfort zone…another rare trait

Without hesitation, the interrogation began…

• What brought you here?
• Why do you want to take this particular exit to the maze?
• Do you know who we are and what we do?
• What would you do if you reach the upward spiral and something unexpected happens?

With exquisite accuracy and articulation, The Competitor answered all of the interrogator’s inquiries until one particular question was asked…

She was handed a scroll. It seemed to be an ancient text, and written on it was a clearly foreign, alien, or historical language…seemingly ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, but not quite the same.

What does this scroll say? Answer correctly and we will immediately let you free of this maze.

The Competitor stood there, frozen and panicked, something very unusual for her. She had no idea what this language was or what any of it meant.

She began stuttering, trying to translate what the hieroglyphs looked like into a coherent statement.

But it was not working…it was clear that she was struggling to translate the scroll…

“WHAT IS THE TRANSLATION?” the panel demanded

But she was unable to come up with the words.

The panel was disappointed. It was quite an easy answer on her part that did not require any proficiency in the language to answer correctly.

It was a test. And she got lucky…

Because of her stellar performance throughout the Chess match and the rest of The Interogation, the panel decided to grant her access to the exit of the maze.

Just before exiting, The Competitor informed the Guide as to what had transpired.

“Nice work, I am proud of you…didn’t we discuss the Magic Words?”

Never in a million years will The Competitor forget the Magic Words.