[ WP ] You 've been trapped in Y location for Z hours , solve for X to escape the algebra zone .

*Between the worlds and the heavens, there lie shadowy planes of higher dimensions where mortal men fear to tread, where beasts of unimaginable terror lurk to prey on the unprepared. * 
 
 `` We're stuck,'' Toby said glumly. `` I hate algebra.'' 
 
 `` We can do this,'' Sally said. `` We just have to keep trying.'' 
 
 `` We've been trying for hours, and look where it's got us. We're completely lost.'' 
 
 *In the shadows, a beast stirred. It raised its head and sniffed. From among the fractal trees and Mobius rocks, a scent wafted to its nose. The scent of humans, trapped in the Algebraic Zone. * 
 
 *The beast arose from its bed, and left the lair. It was time to hunt. * 
 
 `` We're thinking about this wrong,'' Sally said. `` What if geometry here is not Euclidean? We've been looking at this all wrong...'' 
 
 Toby blinked and wiped his spectacles. `` That could work,'' he admitted. `` What if we tried a differential equation instead of a linear one?'' 
 
 *The beast crouched behind a fractal tree, and licked its lips. A gob of saliva slowly fell from its slavering jaws, but did not fall straight to the ground, at least not as you and I would see it, for space here was in more than three dimensions, and curved in ways that we can not even begin to imagine. * 
 
 *It watched the two humans, and then charged. They began to run. The beast picked up speed. And the faster it ran, the faster they did. * 
 
 `` Got it,'' Sally said. `` Substitute for X with a new equation, and the whole thing solves it self.'' 
 
 *The beast was almost upon them. It opened its fanged mouth and lunged for the slower of the two, the boy. * 
 
 *But suddenly space bent in a new way that the beast was unprepared for, and it lost its footing. It picked itself up, snarling, but they were already gone. Letting out a howl of frustration, it slunk back to its lair. * 
 
 `` Ok, what next?'' said Toby, finishing the algebra problem with a flourish of his pencil. 
 
 Sally turned the page. `` Next up? Calculus.'' 
 
 *In another of the hidden dimensions, a different beast stirred in its cave, as the smell of two mortals drifted in on the breeze. * 
 
 -- - 
 
 Read more of my stories at r/jd_rallage
