STEP 0Not really a puzzle, just the way to this forum.
On Marketplace are the two following ads (found by searching "symbols"):
message board for UofC strangeness/mysterious symbols:
marketplace.uchicago.edu/listing.php?id=205038Made by Alexander Anneken (aanneken@uchicago.edu)
Weird symbols on campus:
marketplace.uchicago.edu/listing.php?id=204778Made by George Trower (WvidXbivW@uchicago.edu / gdtrower@gmail.com)
Note, wvidxbivw gives no results on directory.uchicago.edu
Searching for Wall-Medina email text on Google
STEP 1Start:
Pins found at the in at the Interstitial game demo lead to the following website:
www.mediafire.com/xivwdvovbwvix. It is an account owned by gdtrower (George Trower). That address only has the frag 3, but
www.mediafire.com/?6e0oi9z2u4z9965 has all of them. (How did you get these?)
How to decode:
Open the images in TextEdit (and only TextEdit). Each picture has a corresponding .rtf file that contains 6 blocks of gibberish. If you do a search for the gibberish, you will find it in the text version of the picture. The first block of gibberish is in the picture text one too many times, the second block is in the picture text two too many times, etc. Erase all the extra text and you have yourself clean pictures.
Message:
1
Hello, My name is Dr. Annalisa Skargaard. If you're reading this letter it means the improbable is possible, and our attempt to open a communication channel has succeeded. Please understand the importance of what I am about to explain to you.
I am the lead researcher in the OmeoStat Network Connectivity lab. For the past year our work has been focused on hastening the evolution of our Device Integration systems via the process of endogenous data uploading. Because of the potential danger of the unfinished design code leaking onto public forums, we enforced a strict prohibition on Network use in the lab space. Pw 2: vOv
2
Three weeks ago, due to an internal breach in security, there was a massive code leak, and the upload processes of every active Device user were gravely compromised. As far as we have been able to gather, as users began emergency syncing to correct for the glitch, the new fragmented code caused a malfunction in their inter-cerebral components, severing their tracked conscious' prcoesses from their physical bodies.
We had one death here in the lab, Peter Gaston, the original source of the security breach. We ahve only made cursory excursions outside of the lab compound, fearing the worst. We have been unable to contact emergency assistance through any of our planet's know channels. Pw 1: Xib
3
It is very likely that only those in Network quarantine zones like Omeostat have survived this catastrophe. Because of the highly sensitive nature of our work the locations of these quarantine labs are not publicly known. The fourteen survivors remaining in my lab may be the last of our kind.
This is an attempt to reach out to anyone who is capable of helping us rebuild our communication channels physically or via the Network. For many reasons, including the threat of worsening the extant damage to our local Network, we may not be able to uplike directly until we determine the trustworthiness of any potential sources of aid. If you receive this message, please go to
www.omeostat.com and enter the encoded password information you have been given so that we can establish a secure connection. Pw 3: diX
STEP 2Combining the three password chunks, we get XibvOvdiX. This is the correct password for
www.omeostat.com. Upon submitting the password, you are prompted for your email.
STEP 3After entering your email, you will get an email message from George Trower with the following code:
Start:
227: 2
107: 1
111: 1
16:3
107: 1
171:4
6:2
228:4
26:1
25:1
/
225:4
122:1
10:7
6
108:1
How to decode:
Somehow, this gives you the link
tiny.cc/ylg6w, which leads to
www.flickr.com/photos/62741985@N06/5708428103/, the one and only picture on the account of clatterhorn.
Picture:
The picture is of Jones Laboratory, that building between Kent and the Admin building.
maps.uchicago.edu/mainquad/joneslab.htmlMessage:
It is clear that a connection has formed between our two worlds, but the scope and the character of the connection remains indefinite. We are obligated to be vigilant in protecting the uploaded minds from further corruption in the hope that they may, one day, be recovered. We must remain trepidatious in divulging direct link information and operating uncertain channels of communication. Our hope that the minds can be retrieved is also what obligates us to seek your assistance and cooperation.
We have come to believe that there are a finite number of survivors in our world, living outside of known Network Quarantine sites, some of whom may also be in contact with your world. Our surveillance capabilities were greatly damaged during the event, but research staff members have noticed that certain technical equipment has gone missing from our storage areas. We have not recovered any of the missing equipment in searches of the area surrounding our lab offices.
Look for small, possibly broken or dismantled circuitry and mechanical parts. If you encounter anything you believe fits this description, mark a pattern in the area where it was found and move it to the location pictured above. This will assist our efforts to track and catalog the missing equipment.
"