Location: North Seatac Park (THESEUS TWO)
Arrival code: LABYRINTH
The relationship between the Minotians and the Taurans has always been tenuous at best. Due to the rough terrain and overpowering electromagnetic interference on Theseus Two, communication between the two cultures is troublesome and infrequent. Being unable to keep abreast of one another's activities, the societies have a distrust for one another. This causes trade between the two people to be a very delicate and complex process.
You have been hired to assist in the exchange of goods between the Minotians and Taurans. Between these two nations lies a large stretch of canyons that must be navigated by trade ships. A map of this terrain has been provided below these instructions. Because of the conditions within the canyons, the ships will be piloted remotely by you. Unfortunately, the ships lack adequate power to broadcast their positions from within the strong electromagnetic fields so you will not know their actual positions once they have entered the canyons. They will however be able to receive commands from the more powerful transmitters at the base.
Complicating matters further are the demands of the Minotians and Taurans. Their mutual distrust for one another has made this type of transaction a very ritualistic event. If the trade ships take more than 50 pargeons to reach their destination port, then the trade is off. Additionally, if either of the parties finds out that they received their package after the other one, then the trade is off. This means that you must bring the ships to their respective ports with a delta of no more than 1 pargeon.
You must direct the Minotian ship from location 1 (see map) to location 4. The Tauran ship must travel from location 2 to location 3. The ships will enter the canyons at the same time. They can move in any of the four cardinal directions. Each directional command you issue is followed by both ships. Therefore you must generate a single set of commands that bring both ships to their final destination. Because of the nature of the canyons, a ship that collides with the canyon wall while moving in one of the four cardinal directions is unlikely to ricochet much assuming you have piloted carefully. These ships were designed to collide with canyon walls without taking any damage.
When teams arrived at this location, they recieved the above instructions and map. There were also four large wooden labyrinths waiting for them. Once they had solved the labyrinth on paper, they were invited to test their solution on one of the real ones. At least two people were required to manipulate a labyrinth; four was more common. When a team was ready, GC dropped two tennis balls into the maze at the starting locations and closed the lid so the team could not see inside. The players then had to manipulate the maze according to the pattern they worked out and hope that the tennis balls arrived at their respective destinations together.
It's not as cool as the real thing, but you can give it a try below. Use the buttons to direct the ships.
Show hints at [0] [25] [35] [40] minutes
25: You may soon be thinking of a solution to the labyrinth that involves having the Minotian ship at (1,1) and Tauran ship at (8,2) after 5 moves, assuming the upper left corner of the labyrinth is (1,1).
35: You may soon be thinking of a solution to the labyrinth that involves having the Minotian ship at (1,1) and the Tauran ship at (3,6) after 10 moves, assuming the upper left corner of the labyrinth is (1,1).
40: You may soon be thinking of a solution to the labyrinth that involves having the Minotian ship at (7,8) and Tauran ship at (2,6) after 15 moves, assuming the upper left corner of the labyrinth is (1,1).
There are a number of possible solutions to this, although they will not vary too much. Here is one (North, of course, is up):
| 1. East | 6. South | 11. East | 16. South |
| 2. North | 7. West | 12. South | 17. East |
| 3. East | 8. South | 13. East | 18. South |
| 4. North | 9. West | 14. South | 19. West |
| 5. West | 10. South | 15. West | 20. North |
When the labyrinth was successfully completed, the two tennis balls dropped out together. Inside each tennis ball was a slip of paper with part of the two-word solution: MALLOX POINT
