The Right Way

Gen then said, "The orb has to imitate me ..."

And Briny said, "That's what happened when you got the other orb."

"All right. I'll try."

Gen then turned to the orb again and began to imitate it again.

He then began to think, 'From what Briny said, I need to get to a point where the orb starts imitating me, but that doesn't make much sense. Why would the orb start imitating me out of nowhere?'

He then continued thinking as he imitated the orb, and then thought, 'I thought that fixing the orb's movement was the way to catch it because I always feel this weird feeling when I imitate the wrong movement of the orb. It's like I know I'm on the wrong way.'

Gen then continued to imitate the orb and then thought, 'Wrong way ... maybe ... maybe the point is not to imitate the orb? Maybe the goal is to go the right way! That would explain why the orb had to follow me. The real goal is not just to follow the right path. I have to guide the orb along the right path!'

Gen then became quite excited to realize this and thought, 'But how am I supposed to know the right way? Hmm ... apart from the wrong movement, the orb is always moving the right way. Maybe I'll have to imitate it for a while to understand the feeling of the right way. Let's try.'

Gen then began to imitate the orb for a long time, and then suddenly, he stopped, closed his eyes, and began to think.

Back to the present ...

Gen stood there for a long time thinking, and in the meantime, Raja and Lina arrived. They talked a little with Briny and then turned to Gen.

Raja then said, "Got it. So he still doesn't know how to get the silver orb."

And Lina said, "What you said makes sense. He actually got to a point where the orb was following him, but there was also another detail that I noticed."

Briny then said, "Which one?"

And Lina said, "He didn't seem to be struggling."

Raja then said, "He wasn't struggling?"

Briny then said, "What do you mean?"

And Lina said, "When I say struggling, I mean it looked like he wasn't even thinking about the movements he was going to make and was just walking forward."

Raja then said, "Now that you mention it, it's true. It was like he was walking forward smoothly."

And Briny said, "Hm, you're right. Maybe we should call him to warn him about this."

Raja then said, "I'll call him.", and then started to approach Gen, but before he could say anything, Gen started to walk, and seeing this, Lina said, "Wait a minute, Raja. From what Briny said, he stood still for a long time. If he's walking now, he must have understood something."

And Raja said, "Okay. I thought of that too. I won't get in his way."

Gen then continued walking, and after a while, he started to make some movements, going sideways and backward, and the silver orb was following him in almost every movement.

Gen then continued to do this for some time, and with each passing second, the silver orb followed him more and more faithfully. This continued for some time until, at one point, the orb began to glow every five moves. It then glowed a total of five times and then stood still.

Seeing this, Raja said, "Looks like he did it again."

And Briny said, "Was it luck?"

"Maybe. Let me ask him."

Lina then said, "Wait a minute, Raja."

And Raja said, "What is it, Lina?"

"Don't call him yet. He's still walking."

"But he already got the orb, and when this happened in the last room, you called him."

"I know, but don't call him this time. Maybe he'll figure something out."

"Okay, if you're saying so."

Gen then kept walking for a long time after that, to a point where Raja said, "We need to call him. He's been at it too long."

And Briny said, "I think so too."

Lina then said, "Okay, let's call him", and Raja went to call him, but when he looked at Gen, he realized that he had stopped. He then looked in his direction and started to approach with the silver orb following him.

Raja then said, "Hey, Gen, did you figure out how to get the silver orbs?"

And Gen said, "I think so. I'll have to check in the next room."

"Great. Let's go to the next room then."

Briny then said, "I'll lead the way.", and then walked down the hall.

They then walked down the corridor until they came to another room. They were alone in this room, and seeing the silver orb, they went towards it.

When they arrived, the three of them gave Gen some room, and Lina said, "Try not to take too long this time."

And Gen said, "If I'm right, it won't take long at all."

He then closed his eyes, concentrated for a few seconds, and then started walking forward. After a few steps, he began to move sideways and backward as well, and after a short while, the orb began to mimic him, glowed five times, and then stood still.

Gen then kept walking, and Lina said, "Gen. It's over. You got the orb.", and Gen then opened his eyes and saw that the orb was standing next to him.

He then took the orb and handed it to Briny, who was the one carrying all the orbs.

Lina then said, "Looks like you have learned how to do it now."

And Raja said, "That's right. What is the secret of this part, Gen?"

Gen then said, "Well, this part is more complex."

And Raja said, "Complex, how?"

Gen then said, "Do you remember when I said that I was feeling a different sensation while I was imitating the bronze orbs?"

"Yes, I remember."

"So, to get the silver orbs, you need to be able to feel that same sensation, only without relying on the orb."

"I don't understand, Gen. What does this sensation have to do with all these movements you make to get the silver orb?"

"That feeling points me in the right direction."

"Right direction?"

"Yes. It seems that the three phases of the challenge are very similar."

"What do you mean?"

"As I said in the previous phase. The first phase of the event consists of following the path that the sand takes in order to reach the right end. The second phase of the event consists of following the path that the currents travel in order to pass through it. Now, in the third stage of the event, it seems that the goal is to follow this feeling that I talked about so that you can get on the right path, and when you get on the right path, your reward is the orbs."

Briny then said, "Are you saying then that to get the orbs the right way, you have to get on the right path?"

And Gen said, "Exactly. The bronze orbs always go the right way. I think its purpose is to present the right path to the person and get them to start feeling the sensation that I talked about. The silver orb goes the right way most of the time, but it goes out of the way several times, so you have to guide it the right way to get it."

Briny then said, "Got it. Now, all that's missing is the golden orb. If it keeps going at this rate, it will probably never go the right way."

And Gen said, "That's right. Maybe that is it."

Raja then said, "Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's get the rest of the silver orbs and go towards the gold orb."

And Gen said, "That's right."

Briny then said, "Let's go.", and then they went out into the corridor.

They then went from room to room, picking up the three missing silver orbs, and met up with three groups on the way. One of them recognized Briny and just let them take the orb, and the other two were working together to take orbs and didn't want to give up the orb, but Briny flooded the room they were in and dealt with the two groups quickly.

They then took the orbs and went towards the next room, which was empty, and then they just took the orb and went on towards the next room.

Raja then said, "Finally, the next room is the golden orb."

And Gen said, "That's right. Let's get it and get past this stage of the event."

Briny then said, "Let's take it easy. No one has ever been able to get the golden orb."

And Lina then said, "Then we'll be the first."