Crap.
“I clap, yet I have nohands. What am I?”
I parted my lips to attempt a guess, but nothing came to me at all. “Pass.”
“Thunder.”
Ugh.
“I am broken without being held. What am I?”
I passed again, even as my nerves frayed, my heart thundering in my chest.
“A promise.”
I cursed. 1 minute 5 seconds.
“I am something you always have, yet always leave behind. What am I?”
I bit down hard on my lip, then again grated out “Pass!” I couldn’t afford to keep passing, but I also couldn’t afford to waste too much time on a single question.
“Fingerprints.”
“Next!” I urged.
“I am easy to get into yet hard to get out of. What am I?”
My breath caught as the timer dipped below a minute.
“This stupid tank?!” I cried.
“Trouble.”
I had to get this next question. I had to. I already got three in the bag. Just one more. Just…think.
“Say my name and I’ll disappear. What am I?”
I stilled, knowing I didn’t have the time to pass again.
I forced my eyes closed once more, trying with everything I had to focus. Willing everything else around me out of existence. The water. The glass. The screen. Everything, until there was just…
“Silence,” I said softly.
Creaking sounded above me.
My eyes shot open. A panel gave way.
I immediately reached up to the gap, my hands franticallyfeeling around for purchase, then hauled myself upward, adrenaline lending strength to my weakened arm muscles.
Once my upper body was over the edge, I hurriedly swung my legs out of the water, bringing them thumping onto the firm metal flooring. The panel sealed itself shut, blocking out the blue glow of the tank and leaving me once again immersed in the dim red haze of the chamber.
I rose shakily to my feet, staring about the empty room, my harried breathing loud in my ears.
Was that it?
I heard panels opening somewhere above me, and then something heavy slammed down against the floor all around me, trapping me in pitch darkness.
A mechanical growling erupted near my feet, the type that would come from an engine or a rotor. Hot air blew at me from all angles. I closed my eyes to prevent my eyeballs from drying out and felt for the edges of my entrapment. It was cylindrical and lined with vents from which the air emanated.
