
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
A 10x10 arrangement of alternating black and white squares has a black square $R$ in the second-bottom row and a white square $S$ in the top-most row. Given that a marker is initially placed at $R$ and can move to an immediately adjoining white square on the row above either to the left or right, and the path must consist of exactly 8 steps, calculate the number of valid paths from $R$ to $S$.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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