Herbert, in that second saw salvation. He ran at the idiot bug/roommate in the back of the cell and ripped the thing out of his hands. Pressing a button, he turned it on. Gears started moving. It was working! I'm home free! Thank you God… I knew you loved me! And then… he saw it. He had set it up to break his lock… the first key-code was all he needed to break to get out of the cell, and it became apparent he was lost.

Lines of code flowed down the screen. Lines and lines and lines… He could understand some of it. But, it unnerved him, the irony of the situation, all of it was algebra. HARD algebra… The kind that… Herb had a sudden flashback.

"It's not that hard Herb, THINK…" the royal mathematician said. "How do you expect to communicate with people if you can't even solve THIS problem? The world works with math, move and breathes in math…" the instructor paused and looked down at Herb's worksheet, "Gah! Herb… you are lost!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Herb cried. He was so close. "(x + 3)(x + 8) 26? What does it mean? What do I do?" Herb was on the brink of tears and a psychotic meltdown again. Scratching furiously in the dirt for hours Herb ended up with a bunch of useless, unintelligible nonsense.

And then, like an angel from above had decided that he needed something good to happen to him on his epic quest, Daddy Long-Legs spoke. "It's x… squared… to cinqo x minused… minus that big 50… gives ya zeeero cat… Zero…" Herb was lost. What in the world was this crazy bug screeching now? And then, he knew!

"You… (Herb pointed at the bug)… know ALGEBRA!" A flutter of hope was restored in him. And then…

"Nah… man… it just… came to me…" he said, high as usual.

"No… You can't be," Herb said, "You can't be, you can't be (Herb's voice grew increasingly louder each second. "How can you not know. I have been trying to figure out the answer for hours, and then you chime in with a piece, how is that possible? You have to know something…" Herb began wailing.

"Oh yeah… (Long-Legs sighed emphatically)… x minus ten… x positive… 5… right… positive 10… or… negative 5"

With a jerk, Herbert jumped to his feet. Pointing his finger accusingly in Daddy's direction, Herbert screeched, "You do know!"

"Nah… man… just… peace…" Daddy Long-Leg's said. "Pie to my r squarrrred baby…" the bug said to know one in particular… motioning with his arms at some spot on the wall. "Yeah…"

Herb decided to ignore that bit about pie. He wanted some now more than anything, but to get some, he would first have to get out of this jail cell. It had become obvious hours ago that the warden did not want to feed him. Apparently, she was still smoldering, over Herb's tirade that morning.

What worried Herbert about the answer to the problem Daddy had given him was that there was apparently more than one answer. That means the code could be any of those numbers and the other problems' solution together. And, Herbert also knew, there were at least 4 doors he needed to open to get out of this place. That left 6 numbers and any million arrangements of them, maybe even repeating, that could be the codes. Herb's mind reeled.

"(4d – 1)² 5d(3d – 2)… um… that means it's… 4 times 5… or-" Herb trailed off doing strange, unheard of math in his head.

"Root double… cat… same solution… oooo… baby… same solution twice… that's one… times 2… minus 1… cat… minus 1"

Minus 1? Herb thought. Wait! Minus 1! Herb began to frantically scribble the answers to the equations Daddy was giving him onto the floor.

"(a + 4)(a + 4) 49?" Herb said. He was probing now. He knew that whether Daddy knew it or not, he was spouting how to solve the equations and their answers. I wonder if my math tutor was like this when he wasn't in the classroom? High and spouting random equation answers with his buddies? Herb didn't know.

"eleven… negative… and… ooo yeah… 3 cat… 3…"

Herbert scribble furiously on the ground. So, he had solved the problems embedded in the code.

Now he just had to put in the right code to the locks. Hooking up his little machine to the electronic lock, a blue screen popped up. "CODE NEEDED" it read. Herb looked at the floor. He mentally seared the numbers into his brain. Thinking on those lines, Herb punched 4 numbers into the code slot.

-11, 10, 3, -5

The machine beeped. A countdown started on the machine. Herb was bewildered and confused. Did I get it wrong? What happens when the countdown ends? Herb didn't want to stick around to find out. Frantically, Herb typed all the combinations that came to him.

10, -1, 3, -1

5, 10, -11, -1

3, -11, 5, -1

-1, 5, -1, -11

The machine stopped blinking. The countdown stopped and the screen beeped and turned green. Yes! Herb thought. I did it. The alarm didn't go… Herb was cut off as he looked down at the screen, the countdown continued faster than before and then, even though he had been allowed to exit, a blaring siren was set off.

Herb took off running, machine in hand. On his heels, he could hear a very angry, green-masked-face warden running after him. He made a series of random turns and reached another door. "Not here…" Herb said under his breath, quietly swearing to himself. "What is with the world and it hating me?"

Herb hooked the machine in as fast as he could to the lock. He paused. Oh no… I forgot the numbers!

Herb punched random numbers and symbols into the machine, starting the countdown for another siren yet again on yet another door. Hearing an angry warden coming faster and closer every second, Herb, desperate, slammed his webbed foot hard into the machine, smacking it against the wall. A beep, and Herb was through the 2nd door.

Herb, however, had set off the main section of the palace's alarms. Guards came pouring from every door in front and behind him. Herb was forced to fight, leap, and dodge oncoming attacks and gunfire, while still attempting to find another door and get away from a very angry warden (who was still on his tail).

Running like crazy, Herb reached a door, which looked to lead, outside. Herb cheered inside. He had finally reached the exit… He would be free. Then, the realization set in. Oh my goodness… I forgot the numbers. Herb nearly burst into tears, except he didn't have time. He knew smacking the machine again was not going to work in his favor. It was already sparking and beeping loudly enough as it was. It looked, actually, like it was about to explode in his hands.

Herb fumbled with hooking it up to the lock. All the while, guards, flunkies, and the warden getting closer and closer. Herb's machine however was spitting out random numbers now. "X6 - x²" the screen flashed wildly, changing colors, static covering the screen. Sparks came from the machine rapidly now. It's going to blow! It's going to blow before I make it out! Herb was yelling inside. OK, ok, ok… calm… I have to solve this… It must be algebra… No biggie…

Forcing himself to remember Herb rushed through the math. "x4" Herb said. That had to be the answer. But the machine began flashing and screeching even more wildly when he tried to enter it. Why don't I have a calculator with me? Herb screeched internally. I knew I needed to carry those around more often.

Another voice echoed in Herb's head though. His math teacher scolding him, "It's all applicable to life," he said.

Then, cutting his math teacher off from the whole lecture, he remembered the royal computer bank. "All electronic devices have calculators on them," said the jovial librarian, who had no clue that Herbert was going to use the information to cheat on his next test.

"Yes!" Herbert nearly jumped for joy. Then, he remembered his situation. He frantically keyed buttons searching for the calculator. "Yes!" Herbert cried as he found it. "Yes, yes, yes!" Herbert said as he got the answer. As fast as he could Herb typed into the flashing, now sizzling, code space:

X2 (x2 + 1)(x + 1)(x - 1)

Pushing his way through the heavy glass doors, Herb tasted good, clean air. He sprinted away from the castle almost giddy with joy. I'm free, I'm free!