Chapter Three

THE GEAR LOCKS

Past the bridge: a brass door with two gear locks. Behind the crew, the fog snuffs the corridor lamps one by one.

DEVLock A multiplied x by six and shows 42. Lock B split x into four equal turns and shows one turn: eight.

THEONaming the unknown x tells us exactly what each lock DID. Then we undo it — inverses again.

ZARALike my pulley test: 3g = 12 means one g is 12 ÷ 3 — four. And if w ÷ 2 = 5, the whole w is 5 × 2 — ten.

A letter like x stands for the unknown number. Say what was done to it, then apply the inverse to both sides.

TheGear Locks