Seek a Way Out

First, I went over to the wall with the door. It was locked, as expected.

Next, I examined the cabinets with dishes and silverware. The only thing that seemed out of place was a fork with the prongs bent at odd angles. I grabbed it, just in case I needed it. Next was the dishes. Most of them were plain white, but there were a few with patterns. Nine, exactly. I grabbed them and set them on the counter.

Next was the pantry. "Why does Zero need so much underwear?" Nueve asked. "There's a whole cabinet for panties."

"It's a pantry," I responded. "It's where food is stored."

"Oh," blushed Nueve. She moved away, embarrassed that she made such a stupid mistake. I examined the pantry. Unfortunately, there was no food. I was really hungry, even though I knew that there's no way I could starve to death. In the back of the pantry were 9 holes. I looked at the plates. They were the exact same side. I arranged the plates to make a pattern. It was a cherry blossom tree. Something clicked, and a noise sounded from over by the sink. I ran to it.

The drain had unlocked. At the bottom I could see something that was silver and glinting connected to some sort of ball. I tried both of the levers. No water came out. I opened the cabinet under the sink. There was a simple lever puzzle. I turned the lever pieces so that the water flow worked, then turned the sink on. Cold water came out the faucet, quickly filling the drain. The ball floated to the top, and I picked it up. Tied to it was a tiny silver key.

I walked over to look at the rest of the kitchen. The oven had a handle that opened it, and I pulled it. Locked. There was no keyhole, and the only way I could think to open it was turning the knobs to certain degrees. There were 4 knobs, corresponding to the stovetop. I tried a few random combinations. 47, 82, 110, 44. The oven stayed locked, and none of the burners actually turned on.

"I found something in the pantry!" Nueve cried. I ran over to her, fork and key in hand. She was holding a little wooden box with a tiny keyhole.

"It's locked," I muttered under my breath. Grabbing the key, I tried it in the lock. It clicked, and the box opened. Inside there was a sheet of paper that had 4 numbers on it. 12, 69, 147, 83. Grabbing the piece of paper, I ran over to the oven. The faster I solved this puzzle, the faster we would be out of the room. I turned the dials to display the correct numbers. The oven popped open.

Inside was another box, this time with 4 little holes on the top. I inserted the bent fork prongs into the holes. There was another click, and the box was open. It had an 8-letter code, like the keypad on the door corresponded to. I ran over to the door and typed in the code. FREEZER. With a click, the red dot turned green. The door was unlocked.

You Found It!