Light shone, bright as day. Couching a little, eyes darting, I tapped at the new textures beneath my feet. Ceramic. I left red behind on the dry, smooth tiles as I entered. What is this place? It looks familiar, so familiar. Why? With another step, the stone door groaned to a close. No, not stone. I spun and saw only dusty white concrete, identical to the walls of this Room. Full body chills ran down my spine as they seemed to bear down on me, twitching at my claws. The air was cloying, cramped, knotting in my chest, clogging the base of my throat. This place was wrong. Okay, Breathe. Just breathe. In. I sucked in a small gasp through gritted teeth.

  Out. Keep breathing. A twisted déjà vu sent me back to the moment I woke. Fe- Panic clawed at me, tearing away huge strips of the confidence I wore into this Room. My eyes darted around, trying to take in every detail all at once. Rectangular. Light filtered in through two windows to my left. To my right, three doors, aged and scratched. Desks and chairs of that same dark wood, old, forgotten, stretched out in five rows, paired off evenly. Twenty of them. Another desk was up front, larger, and seated with a leather-backrested chair, tucked into a corner.

  And in front of me, capturing my attention; a blackboard embedded in the wall, white chalk writing spread across its dark surface. And an analog clock with its hour hand pointing to ‘1’, frozen. A tablet lay on a desk in the front row, second to the left. I couldn’t shake the unease; a long tray based the board, chalk and eraser set up neatly. The writing itself though, too even to be handwritten. And yet I was alone. Who wrote with such precision?

  Please finish the puzzle within 60 minutes. The timer will start when you sit at the designated desk, first row, second from the left.

  The paper provided lists the necessary instructions. The puzzle can be cleared once all problems have been solved correctly.

  Extra credit may be earned for early completion proportional to the remaining time.

  Instructions on the paper… paper? It’d be a far stretch to call the tablet ‘paper’. That’s not paper. Maybe there was something I didn’t know about this place. Why would they call that slate ‘paper’? Okay. Either way, I had a task. Sixty minutes. One hour. That’s all I had. I glanced up at the frozen clock hands. I bet they’d start moving the moment I sat down. A countdown. Timer and paper. They called this a Puzzle Room? More like an exam Room. An exam Room. Exam… People take a test here? What kind-

  My breath caught.

  I clutched my chest. No injury. I had no difficulty breathing. Did I imagine that? It felt like my heart stopped for a moment. There was something about this place though, familiar. I was connected to it somehow. But the thought remained out of reach. Tantalizing. Frustration filled my bones What the fuck’s wrong with me? I shut my eyes and grunted. Just do whatever puzzle they gave me and be done, pushing the discomfort away for now. Not gone, just, further away. Watching. Okay, let’s pull up my status.

  ‘Show status’

  Four doors, four different Rooms, one unknown. Curious. I dismissed the status and inspected each one in turn. It was easy enough given how much light was pouring in through the windows. Judging by the brightness, it’s probably late morning or noon. Wait. Light. From the windows! I rushed there, dropping my stuff off on the desk.

  It’s a pretty tight fit between each desk. I heard the slap of a chair against my leg as my tail shoved it aside. Reaching the large panes of glass, I devoured every detail. It was divided into five sections, three below, two above. I clutched the sill as I looked through. Trees, a field of glass, a dirt track. Are those buildings far away? Glancing up, I saw the sun. This. This could change everything. Outside, city, community.

  This Room wasn’t cut off from the outside world entirely. I hadn’t considered moving on without using a door. Until now. The wristband didn’t mention anything. But what’d happen if I went out in an… unconventional way? Nothing could stop me. I don’t like the feeling of this place anyway. That sense of wrongness though… less from the space itself and more from within. Just another to leave. Puzzles were tempting, but freedom and answers sounded better. I scrabbled at the sill with my claws, trying to rip it open. Where’s the latch? The handles? The seams? It’s not designed to be opened? Makes sense, they wouldn’t let Visitors out so easy.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Clenching my fist, I shrugged to myself. Guess I was punching this time around. A dull gong sounded, scaled knuckles against glass. No cracks. For an old exam Room, the pane was surprisingly tough. I brought my first down again and again, switching to elbows, knees, and even, in desperation, my palms. Muscles strained, claws dug into palms from the repeated impacts. And not even a scratch. I refuse to let this stand. I won’t allow it. Any hammers here? I’d take a hammer-like. Hammer-adjacent. I looked over my shoulder, towards the desks and chairs. It’ll have to do. I needed more space. I didn’t want my swing interrupted by hitting something else. And I want to see what’s beyond. The glass’s tough, so I needed to bring everything I had at it. As I dragged a desk away, I noticed a recess beneath it. Every desk had one, but they all looked empty. I noticed marks on some desks. White lines. Like, someone, something, had written on them. Unreadable. Just random scribbles. I expected them to be readable? Why? I was missing something. Or forgot. Something familiar. No, don’t think about it. Damn it, I wanted to. My hands reached for a backrest, a rectangular board held attached with a pair of prism-shaped sticks. Lifting it up, I tested the heft. Not bad. Solid. The chair might have been old, but it wasn’t fragile. More than enough for smashing.

  In the middle of the Room, wielding a chair in both hands, I glanced at the clock, the blackboard, and the tablet. There was a moment of hesitation. I could’ve solved the puzzle before any of this. I could’ve… No.

  I sprinted. Building momentum, the chair overhead. I jumped, twisted, and slammed down with everything I had.

  Blinking, I lay on the floor, staring at the shattered remains of the chair scattered around me. My face fell. The window hadn’t budged in the slightest. No cracks, nothing. Why, how? Was I not as strong as I thought I was? Even if the glass was reinforced or bulletproof, there should be something. It felt like I’d hurled myself at a concrete wall. It was like the lamps in the last Room, unyielding. If that didn’t work, nothing else I could do would. Maybe there was a trick to it, but it was nothing I could come up with. For now.

  I groaned. My bones ached from the impact. Clenching my teeth, I picked myself up, brushing off some dust, noticing the faintest of lines scratched into my scales. Nicks from the splinters, barely noticeable. “Fine, I’ll do your puzzle” I muttered to myself, dragging myself over to the front row, untouched from my rampage. My stuff was still over by the back row, book faced down on the tilings.

  Silence. The way I liked it… but I was half-expecting something. Some kind of beratement, an announcement, a warning, maybe. I had no idea if the ruckus I made was against the rules or not. Hell, I had no idea what any of the rules were. Still quiet, the only sound was the scraping of my toenails along the ceramic. Reaching the front row, I stopped between the second and third desk. Not touching anything yet, especially the second one. On it sat a rectangular, flat device with a dark, blank screen. A tablet. It’ll probably turn on when-

  Greeting Visitor, your task is to finish the puzzle on this paper.

  Words blinked to life. How the fuck does it know I’m next to it? Also bro, it’s not paper.

  The following puzzle is a Sudoku.

  Instructions: You will be provided with a 9 x 9 grid of square spaces. It will be sectioned off into nine 3 x 3 smaller grids with darker lines.

  Fill in each space with a number, 1-9. You may not repeat numbers along any row or column, or in any of the 3 x 3 grids. . There will be some spaces already filled out.

  To fill in a number, tap the desired space: an overlay will appear listing the numbers 1-9. Then, tap the desired number. Placement is not final; you may change your answer by tapping the chosen space again.

  When all numbers are filled in correctly, the puzzle will automatically submit.

  You must complete three Sudoku to clear this Puzzle Room.

  I stared at the word ‘Sudoku’. Something stirred inside me. This game, this puzzle. I know. I know what it is, I know how to solve them, I am good at solving them. Flashes of numbers, patterns, and tricks surfaced, fragments of hours spent bent over grid after grid. I just can’t remember. This is my clue. To something I’d forgotten. No need for the instructions, I understood them like the back of my hand… well, probably not these hands.

  I was about to sit down but stopped. Something’s nudging at the back of my mind. What was I missing? More preparation? There wasn’t anything else to find. The only place left anything useful could be hidden would be the recess under the desk. But I’d checked them all when I searched the Room. Wait. There was one desk I hadn't checked. Careless. To my chagrin and relief, something was tucked away. Pen and paper. My first attempt scrabbling at them got the pen out but only creased the sheets. Getting those would be tricky. Placing the pen down gently, I reached back underneath. A few rounds of wood-screeching later, I brandished my prize: three blank sheets. Ripped. And crumpled. I flattened them out best I could. It’d do. Probably. Picking up the pen again, I blinked in surprise; despite my cumbersome claws, I could wield the pen with ease. It felt natural. Leaning down over the desk, my fingers curled as I scribbled a few words on the first sheet. ‘fuck that window’ Legible. Clear. Huh. Was I just that skilled with a pen that my claws didn’t slow me down at all?

  Great. I could use these to jot down notes. It’d help me keep track of spaces with multiple possible answers until I could rule them out with more information. I began drawing a 9x9 grid. No ruler, freehand. The pen glided across the page leaving a line, perfectly straight. Huh. I didn't think I could do that before. It was a little unsettling just how perfect the boxes came out, even, straight, almost like it had been printed. I wrote down the various tricks and methods I knew to solve Sudoku so I could reference them quickly. I didn’t know how difficult a puzzle it’d be, but I doubt it’d be a walk in the park. If this place had a tutorial, I’d already finished it. It’d be foolish to think it’d pull its punches. For extra credit, whatever that meant, I’d need to blitz through this. I had one hour and three puzzles to get through.

  I set the instruments alongside the tablet and looked at the clock. Still frozen. Alright. Well, in case I was wrong about it keeping track of how much time I had, I should get started immediately. Pulling the chair out, I slid my tail, one hand forcing it through the gap in the backrest. Adjusting, twisting a bit. Uncomfortable, but it’d have to do, I sat down.