The Black Mesa Pizza Code Mystery

The Final Countdown to the Pizza Code Mystery ARG - Where is Dr. Horn?

2019-08-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

So, we did it! The Hex/HALOS.txt code puzzle was solved, and it was with the help of everyone that we finally uncovered the end of the ARG!

However, we are not finished, and Storm has advised us that our sole mission now is to piece together what it was all about. One key of finalizing the puzzle is figuring out where Dr. Horn went, and that is what I'm going to hypothesize about today.

Before I begin, please note that this is only my personal take on the story--it should in no way influence your own examinations unless you wish it to, and even then it should only serve as a launching point for your own ideas, examinations, and hypotheses.

Where is Dr. Horn?

Note: If you wish to watch the video instead, scroll to the end of this post and click the video link.

My goal with this is to try and chain the events together, which includes indicating where Dr. Horn went and what may have occurred in the places he visited. To begin, we start with his office. Naturally, our first question is, was Dr. Horn even in here when things went down? My theory is that he was either in his office or heading towards the cafe, considering we have a looping message on one of the monitors that says Dr. Horn's pizza was ready for pick-up. This suggests it was his lunchtime when things got hairy, so he was most likely either at his desk, speaking with someone in their office, or heading to the cafe. With this in mind, I set out to find the closest area near his office that made sense for his "first moves" to occur.

Now, the X01 and X02 rooms are part of the ARG, and the X01 room is right down the hall from Dr. Horn's office, so it's possible he went there, first. However, he didn't stay there, and we know this from his movements around the rest of the facility. So, I kept looking.

Really, the only way to go from here was downstairs to the canteen, so I headed downstairs.

So, one thing we do know from this area is that there's a hidden room below the stairs here. There's a hatch in the floor that almost looks like it either leads below the facility or into another chamber--so, odds are this is how Dr. Horn was getting in. We also have a "the pizza is a lie" message down at the end of this hallway, where the door to Lab A is. Furthermore, we have a body here, which is perhaps where Dr. Horn got the blood from to write this message:

A message written in blood, and Body 1

This suggests that Dr. Horn came this way (since this hallway theoretically leads right to the staircase, but both ends are blocked off in the game). So, that means he either saw the body or killed the scientist, then used his blood to write his first pizza-lie message and the cipher on the wall.

The rooms to the left of this exit don't seem to have any clues as to Dr. Horn's presence (this is also where you start the level), so I went right:

Oh look! Another body! Body 2!

I'm not saying this one was Dr. Horn's fault, but I find it interesting that all of these bodies have a huge amount of blood. It almost makes you wonder if Dr. Horn was trying to get to this blood--perhaps because he thought he might garner some nutrient or needed entity from this blood? Perhaps because he thought people ate his pizzas, and he needed to get something from them? Either way, I continued my search, egged on by this discovery.

I followed the bodies, essentially, which eventually led me through the bathrooms and into the canteen:

Body 3

Body 4

Body 5

Bodies 6 and 7

So, at this point, I was convinced Dr. Horn murdered all of these people.

My reasoning was that the bodies were are all eviscerated in the same manner, with huge quantities of blood. However, I realized these people could have been killed by Xenians, so I went back and tried to compare these bodies to people who were killed earlier in the facility. I went to the Office Complex level, and I was able to find many bodies that were in a similar state to our own--in one such case, it looked as though the person had just been killed by a headcrab scientist:

The plot thickens.

Okay, so maybe Dr. Horn isn't going around slaying these people, but what's the deal with him writing all the messages about the pizzas in blood? I was still convinced that it had something to do with the blood itself, so I returned to the canteen in QE and began moving forward again in my investigation.

I went directly across from the canteen into the general offices, and uncovered a few other bodies. The first had bullet-holes on the wall behind it, so I assume this was the HECU's work:

Body 8

And another one:

Body 9

And then here's a body in the hall beyond the canteen:

Body 10

And then right after the body is Dr. Bottomley's office:

Body 11 / Dr. Bottomley???

Well, there's no doubt Dr. Bottomley (or this version of him) was killed by HECU, hence the multiple bullet holes. Furthermore, those bullet holes are likely MP5 bullet holes, based on the size of them and the spread. The only other weapon I could see it being was the shotgun, since the HECU did carry those, too, so I did a quick test. I stood in Dr. Bottomley's door and shot the far wall:

Shotgun fun.

The holes on the left are from Dr. Bottomley's office door, the ones in the middle are from about halfway to the far wall from his office door, and the final shot was made with my back to the wall opposite Dr. Bottomley's office. The spread is nowhere near what we see behind his desk, and I really doubt someone would have shot him from that far away. So, my point stands--HECU killed Dr. Bottomley (and, as an aside, this is just further proof of how shitty of a shot they are). Furthermore, I'm under the impression that the HECU likely killed a vast majority of the other scientists, as well. At this point in the game, we know they are in the facility, and they actively try to kill us in the QE chapter.

Anyhow, with that determination made, I continued down the hallway opposite Dr. Bottomley's office and past the canteen.

Onto the next map, our first order of business is to take out the HECU in the central lobby. After that's taken care of, I notice that there's a bloodstain on the wall . . . but no body:

Odd.

I think, well that's weird, but I don't really pay much attention to it, for perhaps either the HECU dragged the body away, or perhaps a headcrab took over whomever it was that was here. I do find it interesting, however, that our "Big Four" are listed here:

"Founded in 19 (bloodstain)"

Anyhow, I'm feeling particularly adrenalized by that last battle, so I continue on my merry way.

Oh, looky--another body in the conference room here, and another wall riddled with bullet-holes.

Body 12

And then, finally, from here I went into the security office with the bloody footprints:

Body 13

I noticed that in this instance, the footprints do not lead right to the hatch but instead seem to lead to the console, likely because Dr. Horn was opening the security doors. So, perhaps he wasn't actually using the hatches, but that point was moot now, anyway.

I also noticed that a pistol and a shotgun were missing from the wall mounts--possibly Dr. Horn took them?

Dr. Horn wuz here?

Anyway, onward ho!

Right through the double security doors is another body:

Body 14

Another body in the Tesla overcharge button room:

Body 15

And one outside in the main chamber:

Body 16

There's another one in the pool of water at the base, although there's no blood so I'm not counting this one:

Nope.

I then moved on into the next chamber . . .

. . . and this is where I came upon my first true evidence that Dr. Horn was doing something with these bodies. As you can see from this screenshot, his footprints are here, along with his handprints, and a body was very clearly dragged into the maintenance room:

Body 17

And now I had some footprints to follow, both confirming that Dr. Horn came this way, but also verifying which way I needed to head next. So, I followed them.

Another body in the hallway after a couple HECU grunts:

Body 18

Above the Cyronics room, I found another Tesla discharge button and another body:

Body 19

Near the freight elevator past Cyronics, I found another body, and a door that looked vaguely familiar:

Body 20

Make note of this door--it will come into play later.

In the hallway past the freight elevator, another body--this one may not count, for the simple fact that Dr. Horn likely took the freight elevator, which means he would not have passed by this way:

Body 21?

And then BOOM! Full circle--two bodies right outside the staircase to Lab D, just down the hallway from the Lab A doors that are sealed off:

Bodies 22 and 23.

But wait a minute . . . . Perhaps you're wondering the same thing I was at this point--why the full circle? It didn't make sense, especially because if he could make a circle, why not just head directly for wherever he was going? And then it hit me--the doors. It didn't make sense to make the circle, no, but Dr. Horn may not have had a choice. So, long story short, I thought about the many, many ways I could present this examination, and I settled on a video. With all the nuances of it, I thought it would be far more interesting to watch me detail it than read another whole summary.

So, without further ado, here it is:

So, long story short, I think Dr. Horn ended up taking the freight elevator down, and he then took the truck onto Silo D. Furthermore, although you can get 23 bodies total via the examination above, I'm wondering if the "21 into ONE" might have something to do with the bodies. If you exclude Dr. Bottomley's body, and perhaps one of the others (the one after the freight elevator, perhaps, since Dr. Horn would not have passed through that way) there are 21 total in my examination.

Perhaps the "21 into ONE" means Dr. Horn ate part of the bodies, or perhaps took the blood for purposes yet unknown? I do believe it refers to the bodies, and perhaps he was trying to reclaim his pizza because he thought the scientists were all eating it.

Whatever the case, that's all I have for you. Thanks for reading/watching, and I'll catch you next time!

Further Information From Storm

2015-06-15T07:35:00.003-07:00

Just a brief update regarding a few bits of information that Storm provided during a conversation today. Here's the pertinent info from our conversation:

[EVIL]GunslingersRequiem: 1. Were you really Code_ / 0418 from the forums? 2. Should we spend more effort constructing the story in the game rather than focusing so closely on the web-based clues?

[BMS] stormseeker: 1. yep 2. a bit of both. I suspect if all else fails, something will come along and assist

To recap, Storm really was Code_ / 0418, so we could definitely take his PM at face value at least in the sense that we are probably on the right track with the encryption methods we've considered. Second, the web-based clues are relevant, but we also need to spend some time in the game continuing to look for clues that may assist with the HALOS file and possibly other future assets of the ARG. That said, I have included a new page entitled "Steam Release Clues" under the "In-Game Clues" heading on the front page of the wiki. Please do not hesitate to post whatever you may find that looks important, for we can always weed out (as a collaborative effort) those things we deem unnecessary, or redirect information we already have to their proper places on the ARG. Furthermore, you are all of course always welcome to contribute any thoughts you have to the blog and continue to submit key/keyphrase ideas you come up with. I have a list already in the works, and once I hit a certain threshold I will begin posting them to the wiki in alphabetical order.

Storm also mentioned that, if we are still unable to come up with a solution prior to a certain time, something may assist us down the road. However, I think we should continue to focus our efforts on what we have rather than simply play the waiting game. We owe him at least that much.

Possible Key Submission Form

2015-06-04T17:38:00.001-07:00

I have added a page where anyone can submit a possible key and describe how they came up with it. Visitors to the page can also view previously submitted keys to ensure that someone else has not already come up with it. You can directly follow the link below, or utilize the one found within the "Quick Resource Guide" box on the right side of the page.

Possible Key Submission Form

JohnNotJohn's Secret Identity

2015-03-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

~~Well, if you're here you probably already know that user JohnNotJohn on the forums is actually HALOS. I ran across this message earlier today, one of the first posts by JohnNotJohn:~~

"I've been looking over some of the earlier pages of the thread, and I noticed that Storm said we were close two years ago, when the HALOS file was found. All of the work that has been done since then has focused on ultimately solving that one puzzle. Meaning everything Storm has done since then must have been subtly hinting at the solution to that puzzle. However, he might just be messing with us. Also, I personally recommend the 80s and 90s, corresponding to about a year ago. Lots of interesting stuff, including acronyms, anagrams, analyzing static, large amounts of numbers, and more. Old thoughts sometimes inspire new thoughts. See if anything occurs to you while re-reading.

~~Just keep your eyes peeled, and you might find something."~~

~~"I AM HALOS"~~

Anyhow, now that we have this information, I've decided that it would be wise to collaborate all of the posts by JohnNotJohn. If no one beats me to it, I will update the Wiki with a page sporting these posts, as well as a section left open for speculation by visitors to the Wiki.

It turns out this is not really a reference to the "real" HALOS, but a horrendously cruel ploy by one of the users on the forum. Nonetheless, JohnNotJohn's got some good ideas, so I figured I'd leave this up in case it helps anyone.

2/27/15
Hello, long-time reader, first-time poster here.
A strange thought occurred to me, and I felt like I should share it.

If kxbm.net is supposed to be a local news site for the area around Black Mesa, and if localdesertsingles.com is supposed to be a dating site for the same area, isn't it odd that both sites are reporting unusually high server loads?

Also, I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but Thomas Lee is an anagram of "Meet Halos."

2/27/15
"Tim Evans" = "TV in Mesa"

2/27/15
Thanks!
I did an anagram search of Tim Evans after I noticed the Thomas Lee one. I would have posted it earlier, but I didn't want to start a wild goose chase involving every TV in the game. Apologies for that.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for anything else.

2/27/15
faed: "Which actually is 2000.0037245213093 milliseconds."

I'm curious about those numbers. It would have been simple enough to just encode 2000ms

2/27/15
I was working on that name. Nice job noticing the BMRF. With that in mind, I was able to get "Frank Abrams" = "BMRF as an ark"

It's a bit of a stretch, but it might be something.

2/28/15
I've been looking over some of the earlier pages of the thread, and I noticed that Storm said we were close two years ago, when the HALOS file was found. All of the work that has been done since then has focused on ultimately solving that one puzzle. Meaning everything Storm has done since then must have been subtly hinting at the solution to that puzzle. However, he might just be messing with us. Also, I personally recommend the 80s and 90s, corresponding to about a year ago. Lots of interesting stuff, including acronyms, anagrams, analyzing static, large amounts of numbers, and more. Old thoughts sometimes inspire new thoughts. See if anything occurs to you while re-reading.
Just keep your eyes peeled, and you might find something.

3/1/15
Doing a bit of research, it seems AES, Twofish, and Serpent all use key lenghts of 128, 192, or 256 bits. This means the password would need to be 16, 24, or 32 characters long. BENALOHPAILLIER is only 15 letters.

Rjindael, whichwas used as the basis for AES, can also be used with a 20 or 28 character password, in addition to those mentioned above.

This is just from the Wikipedia entries on those systems.

3/1/15
Clue 6 pointed to the HALOS file.
Clue 5 gave the password "BENALOHPAILLIER."
Clue 3 was the first mention of HALOS, as far as I can tell.

Clue 4, however, doesn't seem to add much at first. But consider this: it gave a login "HALOS"
Combining the login and the password gives a total of 20 characters, which can be used as a 160-bit key for a Rijndael cipher.

3/1/15
thewizard99: "After looking back, someone mentioned about SP/Twofish a while back ( 2 years ) and someone brushed right past it. With this board and it being noted. We seem to be on the right track.
Now how does Serpant/Twofish work?"

I mentioned this earlier.

JohnNotJohn: "Doing a bit of research, it seems AES, Twofish, and Serpent all use key lenghts of 128, 192, or 256 bits. This means the password would need to be 16, 24, or 32 characters long."

3/2/15
"congratulationsyouwonthePIZZA" is 29 bytes, but I can't help but feel it's related somehow.

Was the capitalization of "PIZZA" a part of the solution?

Edit: I checked the wiki. The cipher used ASCII characters, so the capitalization is intentional. Curious, considering the suspected encryption of the 752 hex code requires a case sensitive password.

3/5/15
I've taken some time to look into the underlying story of the ARG, seeing as it is something Storm has repeatedly told us to do. While reviewing the clues we have been given, as well as the current established theories, a few points stuck out.

First, there is the connection between HALOS, Niobium, and pizzas. The first time all three were mentioned in a single clue was in the 'Tempus Omnia Revelant' page, posted after the trail went cold on the HALOS file.
There is a long-standing that Niobium was being smuggled in on pizzas and used to build an AI called HALOS. While this would explain the large portion of the budget being spent on pizza, it doesn't explain why the Niobium was being smuggled in the first place. The use of Niobium in the construction of an AI is established in whiteboard c0a1x_labboard_am1. However, from the same whiteboard, it can be inferred that Dr. Montero, often noted as an administrator, was aware that Dr. Bottomley was in possession of Niobium. Why, then, were measures being taken to smuggle it in?
My theory is that the Niobium was initially being used in the development of the Tau Cannon. After all, the usage of Nb alloys as a superconductor is often linked to its use in particle accelerators. This would explain why Dr. Montero was aware of its presence in the Biodome. However, if Nb can also be used in an AI, and Dr. Horn and Dr. Bottomley were secretly using for this purpose, they would need a way to smuggle in additional Nb so as to avoid detection. This is why they used pizzas. A stockpile of pizzas, while strange, would seem much more innocent than a stockpile--or worse, unexplained disappearances--of an element often used in jet engines (see C-103 alloy) and currently being used in the Tau Cannon, the destructive power of which we are all familiar with.
This theory doesn't replace the long-standing one, but rather acts to fill on some of the gaps, and make use of the clues which have been provided.

Second, understanding the significance of the pizzas, what is the implication of their theft by Dr. Stone and Dr. Welsh? Whiteboard c2a4x_labboard1 already shows Dr. Horn's frustration regarding one of the security guards taking and eating the pizzas. This is understandable, because it would mean that more pizzas would have to be ordered to replace the Niobium. But consider what would happen if someone made a concentrated effort to steal and hide as many pizzas as possible. Recall that the events of Half-Life 1 take place in May, while the diary entry from Dr. Welsh mentioning the plan to steal the pizzas is dated in either September or October, depending on what format was used for the date. Since we are still able to find countless pizzas scattered throughout the facility, and the large contribution of pizza orders to the Biodome budget, as well as their continued theft (see whiteboard c2a4x_labboard15). is still being seen as an issue, it would appear that this has been going on for several months--almost a year, in fact.

If something about the previous statement seems strange, that is because it should. According to the evidence presented above, Dr. Horn had been continuing to smuggle in Niobium using pizzas right up to the events of HL1. However, this seems to contradict IRC clues 2 and 3, which points to the recovery of Niobium at Holloman Air Force Base, and the subsequent continuation of project HALOS thereafter. I have several theories regarding this, but they are mostly speculation.

3/6/15
If we're looking at elements, here are some fun facts. Element 22, titanium, is often alloyed with Niobium and other elements to produce superalloys for use in rocket engines and other assemblies. Additionally, niobium-titanium alloys are type II superconductors, with applications in MRI machines and particle accelerators. For some fun with 21: Scandium, element 21, was historically alloyed with aluminum for use in the Russian MiG.

Edit: For those who would rather not grasp at straws, here are some interesting thoughts I have on some of the clues we've been given:

IRC Clue 1: Applying the [Recipient] [Message] [Sender] format yields the message "Don't let him find us," from Dr. Welsh to Dr. Horn. Also, the version that appears in "Tempus omnia revelant," under a section evidently written by "HALOS AUTOMATED," adds an attempt to triangulate the source. That section also contains a list of Niobium isotopes.

IRC Clue 5: The inner code is designated as a message for Dr. Horn, to be sent by HALOS "in level seven cases." The inner code transmission is preceded by an attempt to connect to "User H," the subsequent sending of data, and the statement "SECURITY LEVEL 7 ALPHA." The clue also contains an attempt to locate the leak suspected in IRC Clue 3

~~If I were to take a guess right now, I would say HALOS is online and not friendly.~~

3/6/15
1 is the ASCII code for Start of Header. The Hex code is 376 bytes, 8 short of an even 384 for a 128 bit block. Scandium is element 21, and consists of 8 letters.

3/7/15
Nice work! I've been pouring over all the whiteboards for clues, so I was aware of the change in the samples, but I never paid attention to the numbers. There is a good chance 21 may refer to the sample EP-0021. However, I not entirely convinced that 1 refers to the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. EP-0021 never technically went into it over the course of the game.

The mention of the switch in samples, however, reminded me of what was written on the whiteboard with the budget and the description of the cascade cipher. There is a not mentioning a specimen transfer from the Lambda complex to the Biodome.

Remember how the keyword for the SECOM cipher, "laseroptroniclinearinducercannon," was written on the same board as the ciphertext? This might be a similar case. After doing a bit of background research, and considering how the board mentions that the area is still under construction, we may need to widen our search for clues.

3/7/15
A few days ago, I looked over the IRC clues to see if there were any clues the formatting. I reached the same idea regarding the [********] in IRC 4 at that time.

What strikes me as most notable regarding IRC 6 and HALOS.txt is the proxyhost, which is different from all previous messages.

My guess is that the IRC clues are transmission from HALOS. (IRC 1 included an intercepted transmission, as the Tempus page suggests)

Taken together, there are three adresses, which I've taken to indicate three HALOS sites. The first is 164, which intercepted IRC 1 and sent IRC 4. The second is 155, which I believe was built using Nb from HAFB. This one sent out IRC 3, with IRC 5 being a sort of automated "dying message" when the site was compromised.

The third is 345, which I believe is the newest site, set up by Horn after he received IRC 5, hence "you should bring pizzas," being code for Niobium to build a new computer to run HALOS.

I'm not sure how IRC 2 fits in.

EDIT: Perhaps IRC 2 was just a simple message, rather than a transmission from HALOS. That would explain the lack of the typical formatting.

3/7/15
Perhaps something in the IRC clues can help us with the HALOS code. If only we had been discussing that earlier, say, in the last few posts.

3/7/15
CPU: "The same happens here.Whiteboard C2a4x labboard15.jpg references Anamalous Materials which is the chapter name of where the Anti-Mass Spectrometer is located and it also mentions the Resonance Cascade which is what the Anti-Mass Spectrometer caused. Storm had aslo said "It's everywhere you look" which would indicate seeing the results of the resonance cascade. His comment that "the password will probably be hinted at, perhaps in a less than obvious way" also matches"

I'm not disagreeing with you. If the password works, then it works. Try it and we will know. In the mean time, I'll continue following Storm's other advice, and work out the story.

3/8/15
Astij: "I think 'its everywhere you look' is in relation to the fact that that particular message was decoded by SECOM, which was hidden in the very message we were reading. Also, where is that second quote from, I don't think I've seen it before."

It's from the PM from 0418_08151814, an alias of Stormseeker. It's on his page on the wiki. The PM includes several hints at the method of encryption.

3/9/15
I've always felt that the phrasing "21 goes into 1" is indicative of some form of metonymy. Subject-verb agreement requires that "21" be a singular object. Youdon't say "21 somethings goes into so." That why I agreed with CPU regarding a reference to Xen crystal EP-0021.

It's mentioned quite a bit on some of the whiteboards. Also, since it's referred to as a specimen, I would guess that it was the specimen transfered to the biodome.

Either way, I would agree that the key probably references the biodome, and the encryption is probably referenced in the PM from code. Personally, my (metaphorical) money is on an AES encryption, since it is mentioned in both the PM and the whiteboards.

EDIT: Remember the OTR-style security breakdown from Code_'s PM? It mentioned cascade ciphers later on, but only a single cipher for the hex code.

Possible .JPG Image Hex Buried Within .PNG Image On BMRF.us

2014-08-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

~~What follows is the hex code with the .jpg signatures found within the .png image on the BMRF.us site:~~

FFD82688844564C413116AD534C9D534349B44A3A7F1C6A709AB . . .

It turns out that this is not a .jpg embedded in the .png, as it does not include a complete signature. Oh well; worth a shot!

Update Part 2 of 2: Concept Map

2014-08-25T21:48:00.001-07:00

You can now open or save the concept map simply by clicking the link below. You can also click the embedded picture to open it in a separate screen for closer examination. Keep in mind that the picture is fuzzy here, but opening the link provides the full, high-resolution version.

Open/save the Concept Map

Update Part 1 of 2: Timeline

2014-08-25T18:18:00.002-07:00

I will be updating the blog and the Wiki pages to reflect two entities that I believe will aid us in our quest to solve the 752-character Hex Code. The first, which I've included here, is a timeline of hints/solutions that began after IRC Clue #1 and prior to Code D being solved. I am also constructing a concept map to identify key ideas that are reflected throughout multiple parts of the ARG--my hope is that this will aid us in determining possible relationships between clues, whilst also potentially excluding red herrings.

Final Timeline - Codes A-D Onward

(Events begin after IRC Clue #1 and before Code D solution)

October 4, 2012

IRC Clue #2 - “Note Welsh”

“N38°57'8.05" W77°8'44.82".
Solution two ignore loc data N32°52'50.77" W106°20'49.40" not buried at initial loc, fly here.
Travel 14.16 miles east we transferred the niobium there.
Await further instructions.”
Capital letters in initial solution spell out “NOTE WELSH”

October 5, 2012

IRC Clue #3 - “X01/X02”

“INCOMING TRANSMISSION - LOC 2 LAYER 2 SUBSTRATA 3 X01/X02 HALOS PROJECT INITIATED
41Nb recovered. HAFB Compromised.
Transfer to site complete, project HALOS underway. Further INFO [Classified].
CODE BASE 64 compromised, switch to old code talker.
They are watching, assume leaker on site.
WSMR No longer viable location, move to main site, check external sources.”

November 4, 2012

SECOM cipher solved

Grilled Pizza image on site

Message hidden at bottom of page:

‘They stole the lie, as if that matters to me, HALOS is far too complete to stop now. They can't hide there, not now, not now I have this, this holds the key to all things... they CAN'T hide from me. I will follow them, I'll set up a link and this to remind me. Perhaps I should hide it on the secure site, perhaps that would be best. I'll find them though and they will pay, they will definitely pay. Dr Marcel was right when he said, "When you're building a cage for Satan, you don't ask him to wait around whilst you put the doors on." Welsh is probably behind this, but he won't get away with it.’

Decoded image message:

“congratulationsyouwonthePIZZA”

November 4, 2012

IRC Clue #4 - “Prime Site Compromised”

Base64 decoding: “Proxyhost@-84-9-123-164.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepted//?OTR,1,3,?OTR:[I---MI-G TR--SMI---ON - UN---WN S##RCE]Access detected to personal site.
Security compromised.
HALOS project under threat. Site offline as response. Switching to new protocols.[********] ~[OTR//2.0]Q0FZRUlMVEhEWkVIVEhBTlpJRVRLSU5OQUFTVFNPU
0lCSVNPRElIVEhBTlpJRURaRUhUS0lOV09MTEFDSEVFRElCRUhUSEFOWklFQ0FZRUlMVEhEWkVIRElCRUhUSEFOWklFTkFBU1RTT1NJTk9EQUlIVEhBTlpJRU1BRU5BQVNUU09TSUdBSFRLSU5ORUFTSEpTTlRIQU5aSUUKRElCRUhZQVpaSUxJTlNIVVNIRFpFSEtMSVpaSUVORVNIQ0hFRUNBWUVJTFRIS0xJWlpJRVlBWlpJR0FIU0hVU0hCRURJQk
VIWUFaWklTSFVTSEJJU09ESUhOT0RBSUg=[/]~
[Transmission Ends]”
Navajo Code + Playfair (Key: “Terminal”) decryption of inner portion:
“PRIMESITECOMPROMISEDRETURNBMRFLOGINHALOS”

November 5, 2012

IRC Clue #5 - “BENALOHPAILLIER”

Base64 decode #1:
“[[Proxyhost@-84-9-123-155.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepted//?OTR,1,3,?OTR:[INCOMING TRANSMISSION UNKNOWN SOURCE]LEAK SOURCE DETECTED. TRIANGULATING...MIX CASCADE
HOP DETECTED...ATTEMPTING TIMING ATTACK...[TERMINATED] CANNOT CONNECT TO HOST...ATTEMPTING CONNECT TO USER H... SENDING DATA. SECURITY LEVEL 7 ALPHA.[OTR//3.0]
QkFRS1ggSk9BSkcgWEFIRUQgSUZHSVogRlpEUEIgVVNYTEcgR1hIRkEgVUFVV00gSEJRQU0gV0FYVlkgTFFRUlkgV1JVV1YgRVRRT0sgQkFDQkUgSldITVMgSFZPTlogSUFIUEEgU09XQ00gTEdBVFggVUVYT1EgRFJ
RRUogQlZMQk8gREpJSEUgQ1pUSE0gWktISUUgTk9NTFMgQVhWVlcKRVRXSVMgRVRJR00gUlhFVkYgUVlBVUIgVkZDRUIgUFdCVUsgRU1OT0wgVw==[/][End Transmission]|¬[Terminal.] ~~ [Transmission Ends]]”
Base64 and running key decode #2 (inner portion):
"This is a message left for Dr. Horn. Just to remind you in case of emergencies that the password to the HALOS files is BENALOHPAILLIER. I have programmed HALOS to send in level seven cases. You should bring pizzas."

November 7, 2012

IRC Clue #6 - “HALOS.TXT”

Reminder to check website which led to discovery of HALOS.txt:
“[[ProxyhoSt@-84-9-I23-345.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepTEd//?OTR,3,4,?OTR:[INCOMING TRANSMISSION]ThEpIzZaIsaLiE...HALOS[Transmission Ends]]”
Not mentioned on Wiki (I have since updated to reflect this), but the capital letters after the first “p” spell out: “SITE”

This is obviously just a hint to return to the site

CURRENT

752-character hex code retrieved from HALOS.txt . . . .

Feedback For Writers • Index page

2014-08-02T20:07:00.001-07:00

My latest pet project:

Feedback For Writers • Index page

Check it out if you have a knack for writing, need a critique on an essay or other written work, or just like giving constructive criticism! Even if you don't, do me a favor and sign up. Your registration helps improve the numbers!

Two Notable Things On the "Tempus" Page

2014-07-12T18:49:00.001-07:00

There are two things I recently noticed on the "Tempus" Wiki page; one seems more crucial than the other, but they both bear mentioning.

1.

The primary examination is on this part of the Wiki page:

INTERCEPT 099.00//a

Report{BMRF-HALOS-AITR-0001,
author =     {HALOS AUTOMATED},
title =      INTERCEPT DATA,
year =      20xx,
month =      OCT,
institution = {Black Mesa Research Facility - HALOS DEPT},
number =      {099.00//a}
}

I have no idea why I didn't notice this before, but that looks exactly like programming language. At first it looked like a mix of simply HTML and CSS, seeing as how there are no called functions, but there are tons of programming languages that I don't know--Python, for instance. Perhaps someone else would have a much easier time noting trends or key indicators that point toward one language.

2.

The second interesting thing is the line: institution = {Black Mesa Research Facility - HALOS DEPT},

I don't think that the HALOS project was a well-known entity within the facility (only a few people were "in on it"), so calling it the HALOS DEPT (HALOS department) seems to indicate that this message is as we originally suspected--a direct message within the systems or makers of HALOS that was not supposed to be "leaked" to the public.

Anyhow, hopefully this will get some gears chugging along again! Any thoughts?

Where We Currently Stand

2014-02-18T07:35:00.001-08:00

Code/Storm's Private Messages

We haven't had much success with the ARG lately, as we're still stuck on the Hex Code puzzle. I recently revealed that Storm had been PMing me directly about the ARG, although his messages revealed little:

"Apologies for the time delay, things have been hell here for the last month or so.

I ran the code through a few programs that analyze entropy via auto-correlation, the n gram results indicate a weak encryption, but one that results in highly entropic data (which I correlated against a similar data set size from a randomness extractor) when decoded via Hex, which I suspect is a secondary encode, as most encrypted data sent via communications is encoded in order to avoid corruption. This may have skewed the block size analysis done previously (resulting in 376bytes or 64bits).

Code:
³+�:5ºÝfW|$ÁOÉCFÑ1§ÅK¸/þà"aWw?$y#Ü!ö,Ô.‘Ã²gµE«Êí¯aQ
Nê‡Í3ÇÇ?q10œÄ(´$=TðDùÏb–Ù¿÷9~C˜æ2Ú
?äx³¥O]Üiuú÷I„žbYZŸc•‘=à>:¬?8ŒEû…þ‘5AÖÀƒ˜òÈƒ2¨/ß�(büÜOçäj?éQÅÈ´dã:¹,–†.‹À™¸8�Úy¶?ä¢Y›mHÇ¹SŒîc‘D ôaº’äþu$,Ø?QÖ•Q˜‡j|ª½{@I"A0©fÌ³Á9F:?~š7ª†?²xü—1À œŒy~y“
@eF²Lšb›&Â?Î*KäXš7_ësÄ«"\„Œøž)²q3—6G?J‰(íÖTiŒ^[PgFövZo%Þ¤Ú@þ¶e?E$i6•ˆ=Ë!æûþû¸Z)‘”€6¥+]Thinking in a non linear way, I've tried to classify the OTR message header with its increasing scale as the puzzles moved on.

[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION LEVEL 8][OTR//4.0]

working from that basis and the other messages I have developed this list.

Level 0 - 2 = Non Encrypted or Encoded (similar to private and confidential?)
Level 3 - 4 = OTR 1 - Base 64 or Base 85 encoded
Level 5 - 6 = OTR 2 - Hyper-encrypted (layered) Pen and Paper Ciphers
Level 7 = OTR 3 - Hyper-encrypted (layered) One Time Pad
Level 8 = OTR 4 - ???
Level 9 - ?? = OTR 5 - ???

Considering a flawed OTP (which it was, considering the ability to analyze it), when done properly should be information-theoretically secure, the next level should be either hyper-encryption using random bits (which is unlikely considering the difficulty in making that crackable and for the fact it's usually used on hardware encryption chips), or some form of Block Cipher (from which if we assume the scale of Levels goes up to 10), can be extended into simple block ciphers with small block size, which analysis seems to indicate it is not, up to triple cascaded ciphers with high block sizes, salts and perhaps even key files to add additional strength.

It is just an assumption, but one using the available evidence, OTR 4.0 is either a 128bit or 256bit block cipher with an unknown mode and key length. I would assume AES or Rjindael as candidates to allow for the most commonly used (also as Off the Record encryption uses AES as its base algorithm, that may be a hint). So to modify the list -

Level 0 - 2 = Non Encrypted or Encoded (similar to private and confidential?)
Level 3 - 4 = OTR 1 - Base 64 or Base 85 encoded
Level 5 - 6 = OTR 2 - Hyper-encrypted (layered) Pen and Paper Ciphers
Level 7 = OTR 3 - Hyper-encrypted (layered) One Time Pad
Level 8 = OTR 4 - 128bit/256bit block cipher (AES or Rjindael or Twofish or Serpent)
Level 9 = OTR 5 - Cascaded Block Ciphers with salt (SHA 512 or Whirlpool etc)
Level 10 = OTR 6 - Cascaded Block Ciphers with salt and possible key file additions (to increase password strength)

For the moment therefore, I will continue to try and analyze the non Hex code and work out the block size, algorithm basis, key length etc.

If it is a block cipher, then algorithm cracking is pointless, and as such key forcing may be necessary.

If I were a betting man, I would say this is a 256bit encryption, probably of the AES or Rjindael cipher algorithm (not that you can tell from the code, but its pretty common) .

The password will probably be hinted at, perhaps in a less than obvious way. We can assume this much as it is almost impossible to analyze a cipher text with only one message and nothing to confirm patterns. Once I've got a rough estimate of what mode/algorithm it uses, I can dedicate some run time to rainbow table attacks on the key. I have a feeling this is a holding puzzle, designed to allow time to construct further aspects of the ARG or work on whatever is behind their NDA.

Recently there was a problem with the computer systems at work, so I may not have access to all the analytical machinery I usually do, it may take a bit longer to get more information, if i find anything interesting I'll let you know. I may have access to some more specialist equipment at a later date, so more progress will likely be made then. I think we can rule out SSH or OTP though."

Latest Message from Storm

Another thing to note is that we have received another message on the ARG's main Wiki site, in the comments section of the "Tempus omnia revelant" page. The message is as follows:

"Aug 09
--------------
W### has been p########## well on the L#### O####### L######## Can####, other#### kn### as the T## Cann##. My t##### to the #####etic
induction coil have reduced the likelyhood of overcharge by 200%! I still cannot fathom why the fuse we introduced continues to fail
however, perhaps the leptons have a mi7s6d0976)(&^A)S()F ()A^SF) A()&^ ^)(AS&^ (^6097^)(76)(*"_)"_)(*")(*!")(*!")(!"*)(.................................. ........ .........................................."

It is believed by some that the different symbols may be converted to numbers--the resulting "code" is:

7609760976090906090766097696609760976098202098209812098120912809

It's important to note, however, that this code is probably just produced by random keystrokes.

My Prediction

Below is something I recently posted on the forums about the ARG, and I currently stand by it:

"I have pretty much concluded at this point that we're dealing with 3DES. The Lucifer cipher is directly connected to DES. Furthermore, we have things happening in groups of threes:

In the image with red writing, the word "lies" is written three times--there may be a fourth, but it looks like something else.

The first "lies" is also underlined three times.

We have three instances of Satan/Lucifer being mentioned:
* Once on the grilledpizza page: "When you're building a cage for Satan, you don't ask him to wait around whilst you put the doors on."
* The picture with the red writing
* Indirect suggestion with the Dante's Inferno references: "Raphèl maí amèche zabí almi"

Other than that, I think it's just a feeling. I found this page randomly tonight: It details how someone solved a hex code for a contest to win tickets. The first round of the code actually mentioned Lucifer, and the gentleman used DES to solve it. His hex code was extremely similar to ours."

Other Possibly Relevant Material

Lastly, here is some other information pulled from the Wiki that may or may not be helpful or even relevant:

User:Dr_Horn created the page Tempus omnia revelant (Time reveals all) after the trail on this problem went cold. Stormseeker then updated the forum thread's original post, adding the text 'tempus omnia revelant'. This seems to confirm that the Wikia account for Dr Horn is indeed Stormseeker.
Stormseeker later says on his Steam Profile:
- "If it's about the ARG, I've not set up or had any sites setup for hacking, so no. There is an answer, but you can't brute force it, the CIA couldn't brute force it. Someone is already close."
Stormseeker teased encryption may not be the right idea. "How do you know solving this has anything to do with encryption?"
- Or maybe not

Latest Attempt

2013-09-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

My latest attempt at cracking the Hex Code was to run it through a binary conversion, then take that result and put that through a decimal converter. The result is as follows:

179 43 0 58 53 186 221 102 87 124 36 193 79 201 25 6 67 70 209 49 167 197 75 184 47 254 3 224 34 97 87 119 36 121 35 220 33 246 44 212 24 46 145 195 178 103 181 69 171 202 237 175 2 97 81 13 78 234 30 135 205 51 199 199 113 49 48 156 196 40 14 180 36 61 17 84 240 68 249 207 98 150 217 191 247 57 126 67 144 152 127 230 50 3 218 13 228 2 120 179 165 79 93 220 105 117 250 4 247 73 132 158 26 98 89 90 159 99 11 7 149 145 61 224 21 62 58 172 56 140 69 251 157 133 12 254 145 53 65 214 192 131 152 242 200 131 50 168 47 223 0 40 29 98 252 220 79 231 228 106 233 12 81 197 200 6 180 17 100 227 58 185 44 150 134 46 6 139 12 22 192 153 144 184 56 26 0 218 121 21 182 127 228 162 15 89 155 15 27 109 72 25 19 199 185 83 140 238 99 145 68 244 21 97 186 146 228 254 117 29 30 36 44 216 143 81 214 149 81 152 135 19 106 124 21 170 189 123 64 4 73 34 1 65 48 169 31 23 15 102 204 179 193 57 70 58 126 144 154 55 170 134 63 178 120 5 252 151 49 192 156 140 121 6 126 121 147 10 64 101 70 178 76 154 98 155 38 194 206 42 75 228 143 88 154 55 95 235 115 31 196 171 34 92 17 132 140 248 158 41 31 148 113 51 151 12 6 54 24 71 74 137 40 1 237 214 143 84 105 140 94 91 80 103 70 246 118 90 111 127 18 37 222 164 218 17 64 254 182 15 101 7 69 36 28 105 54 149 136 61 203 33 230 251 254 251 184 90 41 145 148 128 54 165 43 93

I then took this result and examined it in a couple of different cipher detection programs--the resulting correlations were extremely high (a few points off a perfect match) for the following ciphers:

Tridigital

Monome Dinome

Morbit

Grandpre

I will continue trying different keys and attempting to bruteforce my way through it, but hopefully this will help others do the same and maybe, just maybe, this will lead to something!

Examination of the Hex Code

2013-04-11T16:01:00.001-07:00

Long time no see, folks!

I've been reviewing the hex code and attempting to view it from all angles. Something I attempted was to convert the hexadecimal code into binary. I used this converter here: Hex to Binary Tool

The end result is as follows:

10110011001010110000000000111010
00000011010110111010110111010110
00000110010101110111110000100100
00001100000101001111110010010001
00001001000001100100001101000110
00001101000100110001101001111100
00000101010010111011100000101111
00001111111000000011111000000010
00000010011000010101011101110111
00000010010001111001001000111101
00001100001000011111011000101100
00001101010000011000001011101001
00000001110000111011001001100111
00001011010101000101101010111100
00001010111011011010111100000010
00000110000101010001000011010100
00001110111010100001111010000111
11001101001100111100011111000111
00000000011100010011000100110000
00001001110011000100001010000000
00001110101101000010010000111101
00000001000101010100111100000100
00000100111110011100111101100010
00001001011011011001101111111111
00000111001110010111111001000011
10010000100110000111111111100110
00000011001000000011110110100000
00000000110111100100000000100111
00001000101100111010010101001111
00000101110111011100011010010111
00000101111110100000010011110111
00000100100110000100100111100001
00001010011000100101100101011010
10011111011000110000101100000111
00001001010110010001001111011110
00000000000101010011111000111010
00000000101011000011100010001100
00000100010111111011100111011000
00000101000011001111111010010001
00000011010101000001110101101100
00000000100000111001100011110010
11001000100000110011001010101000
00000010111111011111000000000010
00001000000111010110001011111100
00001101110001001111111001111110
00000000010001101010111010010000
00001100010100011100010111001000
00000000011010110100000100010110
00000100111000110011101010111001
00101100100101101000011000101110
00000000011010001011000011000001
00000110110000001001100110010000
00001011100000111000000110100000
00000000110110100111100100010101
00000000101101100111111111100100
00001010001000001111010110011001
00001011000011110001101101101101
01001000000110010001001111000111
00001011100101010011100011001110
00001110011000111001000101000100
00001111010000010101011000011011
00001010100100101110010011111110
00000111010100011101000111100010
00000000010000101100110110001000
00001111010100011101011010010101
01010001100110001000011100010011
00000110101001111100000101011010
00001010101111010111101101000000
00000000010001001001001000100000
00000001010000010011000010101001
00000001111100010111000011110110
00000110110011001011001111000001
00000000001110010100011000111010
01111110100100001001101000110111
00001010101010000110001111111011
00000010011110000000010111111100
00001001011100110001110000001001
00001100100011000111100100000110
00000111111001111001100100110000
00001010010000000110010101000110
00001011001001001100100110100110
00000010100110110010011011000010
00001100111000101010010010111110
00000100100011110101100010011010
00000011011101011111111010110111
00000011000111111100010010101011
00000010001001011100000100011000
00000100100011001111100010011110
00000010100100011111101100100111
00000001001100111001011100001100
00000110001101100001100001000111
00000000010010101000100100101000
00000000000111101101110101101000
00001111010101000110100110001100
00000101111001011011010100000110
00000111010001101111011001110110
00000101101001101111011111110001
00000010001001011101111010100100
11011010000100010100000011111110
00001011011000001111011001010000
00000000011101000101001001000001
00001100011010010011011010010101
00001000100000111101110010110010
00000001111001101111101111111110
00001111101110111000010110100010
00001001100100011001010010000000
00110110101001010010101101011101
00000000

After doing so, it appeared as though there was a consistent pattern throughout the binary, so I then attempted to convert it to an image. I constructed a .txt document from the binary and utilized this Binary to Image Tool--using 32 blocks per line.

The resulting image:

Now, there's always the chance that the hex to binary conversion failed, or that the binary to image conversion failed, or both, and that this is simply a random pattern generated by that failure. However, if it's not an error, then this may potentially lead to something.

But what? *shrug*

My Take on the Pizza Code Mystery Story

2013-01-24T13:32:00.002-08:00

Please note before you read this that this is simply my take on the entire Pizza Code Mystery story, and is not something that should be considered set in stone by any means. Hopefully, by highlighting some key points and putting my personal spin on them, it will incite some ideas.

So, without further ado, here it is:

I think it has become rather obvious that Dr. Horn set up the HALOS project in the X01 and X02 rooms of the BMRF. As we can see from the letter on Welsh's website, only Dr. Horn, Paul Bottomley, and perhaps Dr. Junek had access to the HALOS project. Furthermore, Horn was using the lab budget to buy pizzas and fund the project. In an attempt to get back at Dr. Horn, Welsh and some of his buddies decide to play a prank on him by taking his pizzas and hiding them throughout the facility.

Before we get to that, however, it's important to understand what we can about the HALOS project. It is definitely some sort of artificial intelligence--we can derive that from a number of sources:

The whiteboard in "Anomolous Materials" that has a note directed to Paul Bottomley that asks him to call J.D. Marcel on ext. 1187-463 about the Niobium-5 that he needs for that "AI project 'thing'". It is signed "Dr. Montero"
The Tempus omnia revelant page added to the wiki has a section that shows a report with the author as {HALOS AUTOMATED}
The messages sent out by "someone mysterious" are probably partially sent out by the HALOS AI, particularly because of the way they are worded. They sound very machine-like and inorganic.

That said, the HALOS project is definitely a very crucial entity to Dr. Horn, and it seems as though the HALOS system is still in contact with Dr. Horn after he "escaped" the BMRF.

So what about the relationship between Horn and Welsh? Well, apparently Horn got pretty pissed off that Welsh was taking his "misbegotten goods", as we can see from the image attached with the wiki page that Horn scribbled all over in red. He writes, "Stone will pay" and "Steals it, eats it". Either Horn really loves his pizza, or he is pissed that his secret funding is a bust. My money's on the latter.

When all hell breaks loose in the Black Mesa facility, Horn gets out. Paul Bottomley is dead (or is he?), probably killed by the military. Everyone else is running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Horn knows he's the last man standing that can continue the HALOS project--so, what does he do? He activates the AI project, basically giving it the option to fend for itself.

This is where the IRC chat clues come into play. I believe these are coming from someone in an attempt to give Horn directions and aid him in setting up another HALOS site. The second IRC chat clue points him towards Niobium, a vital ingredient for the HALOS project (as we saw on the "Anomolous Materials" whiteboard). The third clue states that the 41Nb was recovered and that the HAFB was compromised. Perhaps this is Horn sending this message to the secretive individual that sent the first message. However, it's important to note the Tempus omnia revelant wiki page that mentions "...Sending MINDAT via HAFB". Either Horn or the HALOS AI was sending mineral data via the Hollomans Air Force Base.

In the same clue that identifies HAFB as being compromised, the message identifies the White Sands Missile Range as "no longer viable", then suggests that the message's receiver move to the main site. The next IRC chat message then states that access was detected at the personal site, the security therefore compromised. It identifies the HALOS project as being under threat, then states that the site is offline as a response. There was an embedded message as well:

prime site compromised return bmrf login halos

The next message definitely appears as though it arises from an AI, for it is in all caps and is attempting multiple methods of attack--it also appears to be attempting to connect to Horn, as it says, "ATTEMPTING CONNECT TO USER H . . . ."

Finally, we are left with the message left for Dr. Horn (by whom?) that reminds him of the password "BENALOHPAILLIER" in case of emergencies. And, as we know, there has obviously been a serious emergency. It also says, "You should bring pizzas", which means that the person (or thing) sending this message was part of the original HALOS project at BMRF, which then identifies why Horn had to buy so much pizza. Whoever was helping Horn with the HALOS project seemed to love pizza, which makes me wonder if the strange messenger is in fact Paul Bottomley. They were working together at BMRF, so it makes sense that it would be Bottomley.

And then we come to the latest clue. It appears to be sent by the HALOS AI, stating that the primary site is offline and the primary servers are overloaded. It then mentions that a user activation is required--PASSCODE INPUT FOR SITE ACTIVATION REQUIRED, and the final test pattern has been set.

So, alas, this is where we stand. BMRF is toast, completely annihilated by the combination of forces Gordon Freeman had to deal with. Horn is on the run, perhaps holed up in some remote location attempting to get back into the HALOS AI program, or even attempting to reroute it to his current location. The message left by Bottomley about bringing pizzas suggests he is still alive and still in contact with Horn. Welsh is holed up somewhere too, because he is responsible for the first IRC chat clue. Either that or it was sent before the onset of the BMRF massacre and he is now toast because of it.

Anyway, I've done the best I can to provide some sort of narrative, and even if it's completely wrong (which I'm sure a good chunk of it is), I hope it will still spark some fresh lines of thought.

Storyline Work

2013-01-24T10:31:00.001-08:00

It was brought to my attention on the Wiki that the information I had composed was more of a summary of clues rather than an actual storyline. That said, I have printed out all of the information I gathered from the in-game sources, the IRC chat clues, and everything else. From this, I will be utilizing my narrative skills (be warned: they are limited) to compose an actual storyline that we can all (hopefully) relate to and develop ideas from.

Happy Holidays!

2012-12-24T22:41:00.003-08:00

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Hope you all enjoy your time off from work, school, and your busy lives in general. They say this is one of the most stressful times of the year for some folks, and I just hope you all take some much needed downtime and relaaaaaaaax.

And may it truly be a Happy New Year!

The Story Thus Far . . . .

2012-12-20T16:13:00.001-08:00

I think, as Stormseeker has indicated, that it is vital we compose a storyline of what has occurred thus far. That said, I will be doing so in this post. I will then be including a consistent link to this post on the link bar to the right, and will also update the Wiki to showcase this storyline. If I have missed any vital parts, do not hesitate to let me know. I want to make this as complete as possible to best accommodate the ARG.

The story:

When we first discovered the codes, we noted that there were four codes to be found. These codes were set up by Dr. Horn, which led us to realize it was Stormseeker (Chris Horn) setting up the majority of this. The primary code D, the one that led to the last digits needed for the "thepizzaisalie" site, was directed to a Dr. Bottomley, who has since been identified as one of Storm's friends.

There were also a couple of IRC clues given prior to the solving of the other web-based clues. These were:

The IRC clue "editing" the Konami Code cipher (Code A), although it has been hinted that the original form "bon ami" was intentional, for it means "good friend". This chat clue also states, "Don't let him find us--Dr. Welsh", suggesting that Dr. Welsh was a key player in the ARG, as well. We found out later, via Welsh's profile site, that this is the case.
The second IRC clue that first mentions coordinates:

N38°57'8.05" W77°8'44.82".
Solution two ignore loc data N32°52'50.77" W106°20'49.40" not buried at

initial loc, fly here.
Travel 14.16 miles east we transferred the niobium there.
Await further instructions.

And broken into pieces:

38° 57' 8.05 N 77° 8' 44.82" W The Kryptos Statue in CIA Headquarters, Washington 32° 52' 50.77 N 106° 20' 49.40" W White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico

-15' 49.35" W 14.16 miles East of the first location leads to a Domino's Pizza in Washington

-14' 39.84" W 14.16 miles East of the second locationleads to a fairly deserted looking area close to Hollomans Air Force Base mentioned in IRC clue 3 .

3. The second location clue:

INCOMING TRANSMISSION - LOC 2 LAYER 2 SUBSTRATA 3 X01/X02 HALOS PROJECT INITIATED
41Nb recovered. HAFB Compromised.
Transfer to site complete, project HALOS underway. Further INFO [Classified].
CODE BASE 64 compromised, switch to old code talker.
They are watching, assume leaker on site.
WSMR No longer viable location, move to main site, check external sources.

Now, we have no idea who these messages are being sent to, but we can speculate that they originate with Dr. Horn because they mention the missing / hidden X01 and X02 rooms. They also mention the HALOS project which has become synonymous with Dr. Horn's later clues.

After discovering the website and solving the binary puzzle, we then began getting web-based puzzles. These began with this puzzle, that turned out to be Base 64 with a Navajo message inside of it, which then needed a Playfair cipher to finish it off:

Proxyhost@-84-9-123-164.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepted//?OTR,1,3,?OTR:[I---MI-G TR
--SMI---ON - UN---WN S##RCE]
Access detected to personal site.
Security compromised.
HALOS project under threat. Site offline as response. Switching to new protocols.
[********] ~[OTR//2.0]

Solved portion:

primesitecompromisedreturnbmrfloginhalos

After solving this, we received another clue in chat, also in Base64 that used a one-time pad encryption. Brute-forcing it using key words eventually led to it being solved:

[[Proxyhost@-84-9-123-155.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepted//?OTR,1,3,?OTR:
[INCOMING TRANSMISSION UNKNOWN SOURCE]LEAK SOURCE DETECTED. TRIANGULATING...MIX CASCADE
HOP DETECTED...ATTEMPTING TIMING ATTACK...[TERMINATED] CANNOT CONNECT TO  HOST...
ATTEMPTING CONNECT TO USER H... SENDING DATA. SECURITY LEVEL 7 ALPHA.  [OTR//3.0]

Solved portion:

"This is a message left for Dr. Horn. Just to remind you in case of 
emergencies that the password to the HALOS files is BENALOHPAILLIER. I 
have programmed HALOS to send in level seven cases. You should bring 
pizzas."

We now see that we have a login for the HALOS project, as well as a password. Furthermore, there is someone else sending these messages because they are being sent to Dr. Horn. Could it be Welsh? Bottomley? Or a new entity altogether?

Lastly, we received a new file on the "thepizzaisalie" site--this HALOS.txt file is the one we're stuck on now, and the message is thus:

[[Proxyhost@-84-9-123-345.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepted//?OTR,3,4,?OTR:[INCOMING TRANSMISSION CLASSIFIED SOURCE]SUBJECT ANALYSIS - TENACIOUS. SITE OFFLINE.........{Primary Servers Overloaded}... USER ACTIVATION REQUIRED... PASSCODE INPUT FOR SITE ACTIVATION REQUIRED...SET FOR FINAL TEST PATTERN....ANALYSIS COMPLETE>>> [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION LEVEL 8][OTR//4.0]

B32B003A 35BADD66 577C24C1 4FC91906 4346D131 A7C54BB8 2FFE03E0 22615777
247923DC 21F62CD4 182E91C3 B267B545 ABCAEDAF 0261510D 4EEA1E87 CD33C7C7
7131309C C4280EB4 243D1154 F044F9CF 6296D9BF F7397E43 90987FE6 3203DA0D
E40278B3 A54F5DDC 6975FA04 F749849E 1A62595A 9F630B07 95913DE0 153E3AAC
388C45FB 9D850CFE 913541D6 C08398F2 C88332A8 2FDF0028 1D62FCDC 4FE7E46A
E90C51C5 C806B411 64E33AB9 2C96862E 068B0C16 C09990B8 381A00DA 7915B67F
E4A20F59 9B0F1B6D 481913C7 B9538CEE 639144F4 1561BA92 E4FE751D 1E242CD8
8F51D695 51988713 6A7C15AA BD7B4004 49220141 30A91F17 0F66CCB3 C139463A
7E909A37 AA863FB2 7805FC97 31C09C8C 79067E79 930A4065 46B24C9A 629B26C2
CE2A4BE4 8F589A37 5FEB731F C4AB225C 11848CF8 9E291FB2 7133970C 06361847
4A892801 EDD68F54 698C5E5B 506746F6 765A6F7F 1225DEA4 DA1140FE B60F6507
45241C69 3695883D CB21E6FB FEFBB85A 29919480 36A52B5D

[/][End Transmission]|¬[ABORTIVE.] ~~ [Transmission Ends]]

We may be stuck here, but I think we have all the information we need. We have a login and a password, and I don't think the password is a direct key to the actual cipher, but should simply be used to access the HALOS site, whatever that may be. We seem to have overlooked the other clues, and I think we need to put them together to make this next big leap and pass through the gate to the next portion. With this in mind, maybe we need to look at other possible sites / links that have previously been added or left undiscovered.

My Absence and The Latest Clues

2012-12-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for my month-long extended absence. Around 7pm today I finished my last final of the semester, and this last three weeks has been a doozy (to say the least). First and foremost, I want to apologize for letting this blog die a bit in that time. I never intended to take this long to get back in the game, but every time I sat down to update something else popped up. Thankfully, I've got a full two and a half weeks to relax . . .

And crack some pizza codes.

So where are we now? I've taken some time reviewing the forums, particularly the wiki page update.

First of all . . . I like it. It means that this clue is supposed to be difficult, and I think we've come to our next "gate".

The letters italicized in the original terminal message spell out: "seek out code he is watching"

It's written like that on purpose; it's not seek out the code, he is watching, but rather seek out Code_ who is a user on the IRC chat. Code_ is also 0418_08151814 on the forums. Perhaps he is an extension of the ARG, perhaps not. But I think it's clear that this is what the message intends for us to think. Whether it's a red herring or not is left to be determined.

Noting this, I think we all need to pay special attention to what he mentions. Furthermore, I think you've all thrown in some very, very interesting things on the forum, and I get that feeling that we are on the correct path. This last code surely has to do with the Niobium, as seen by the inclusion on the wiki page.

I have an opinion about who is watching--I think the AI is some extension of Stormseeker himself. Whether that extension is a program he created, or a scapegoat for fulfilling his own desires at getting back at Dr. Stone and Dr. Welsh, I think there is a third party here "watching" us.

As for the code itself, it may be a very complicated cipher, but it might also be a hint at something else. We've gotten through some difficult ciphers (the one-time pad comes to mind), and this might be a change-up just to throw us off the path. Perhaps there is some sort of substitution intended with the Niobium mention.

I will see what I can do with the new information, and will update if I find anything. I'm glad to see that you folks have kept this very much alive while I've been in school, and I look forward to seeing what's to come. Oh, and before I forget--expect a new poll and rate-it question soon!

Next Steps For Hexadecimal Code

2012-11-19T16:50:00.001-08:00

Well, sorry for the long delay, folks. I was hoping we'd make some headway within a couple of weeks and I could update the blog, but as of yet . . . nothing. Our new code (check the post prior to this one for a full look at that) is a hexidecimal code, and the primary challenge is finding out how it is meant to be applied and then doing so. It's not as straightforward as the SECOM cipher for the simple reason that there are multiple ways it can be implemented, the least of which is a direct cascading cipher or similar method. Seeing how we've been focusing primarily on standard ciphers throughout this ARG, it's a safe bet that we will continue in a similar fashion. However, the way the first portion of this code was cracked leads me to believe it is another language related to programming rather than a direct cipher.

For now, I will continue to keep a lookout for new ideas, and want to remind you all to keep active as best you can. I understand there is a lot to be done over the holidays, so no rush or anything. I do, however, want to stress how important it is to keep this ARG alive, and remember that we've come to a brick wall before. And, after that was finally scaled, we knocked down multiple ciphers in rapid-fire succession. That said, don't give up!

To those of you celebrating Thanksgiving, happy wishes to all of you and yours!

Where We Stand Now

2012-11-07T18:23:00.003-08:00

It's been a crazy past few days--lots going on in regards to the ARG. First and foremost, I want to thank all of you who have put forth the effort and decoded these ciphers at a rapid-fire pace. Since the one-time pad cipher, we've received another major code. Referenced in the one-time cipher as the HALOS file, the HALOS.txt file was discovered on Stormseeker's website [NOTE: To access this link, you will need to input "drhorn" as the username and "1001085139140914" as the password].

As of now, the HALOS.txt file has been decrypted . . . mostly. The decrypted .txt file reads:

[[Proxyhost@-84-9-123-345.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepted//?OTR,3,4,?OTR:[INCOMING TRANSMISSION CLASSIFIED SOURCE]SUBJECT ANALYSIS - TENACIOUS. SITE OFFLINE.........{Primary Servers Overloaded}... USER ACTIVATION REQUIRED... PASSCODE INPUT FOR SITE ACTIVATION REQUIRED...SET FOR FINAL TEST PATTERN....ANALYSIS COMPLETE>>> [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION LEVEL 8][OTR//4.0]b32b003a35badd66577c24c14fc919064346d131a7c54bb82ffe03e022615777247
923dc21f62cd4182e91c3b267b545abcaedaf0261510d4eea1e87cd33c7c77131309cc4280eb42
43d1154f044f9cf6296d9bff7397e4390987fe63203da0de40278b3a54f5ddc6975fa04f749849e1
a62595a9f630b0795913de0153e3aac388c45fb9d850cfe913541d6c08398f2c88332a82fdf0028
1d62fcdc4fe7e46ae90c51c5c806b41164e33ab92c96862e068b0c16c09990b8381a00da7915b6
7fe4a20f599b0f1b6d481913c7b9538cee639144f41561ba92e4fe751d1e242cd88f51d69551988
7136a7c15aabd7b40044922014130a91f170f66ccb3c139463a7e909a37aa863fb27805fc9731c
09c8c79067e79930a406546b24c9a629b26c2ce2a4be48f589a375feb731fc4ab225c11848cf89e
291fb27133970c063618474a892801edd68f54698c5e5b506746f6765a6f7f1225dea4da1140feb
60f650745241c693695883dcb21e6fbfefbb85a2991948036a52b5d[/][End Transmission]|¬[ABORTIVE.] ~~ [Transmission Ends]]

The part of most interest is the part I've highlighted. This is obviously hexadecimal, but how is it converted? My theory is that it is some sort of image--a very, very basic image, of course, but an image nonetheless. There is also some speculation that it is related to off-the record encoding, although all of the messages to this point have referenced OTR.

So, that is where we stand.

As for the blog, I'm going to put up a poll related to the entirety rather than each individual piece (at least for now), and will be removing the Cipher Formats page. I'm doing the latter because we've gotten past the roadblock that was the SECOM cipher, and as of now we haven't seen any reversed or columnated text. That said, it's rather pointless. Should the need arise, however, I will of course implement the page again, or something similar.

I will also be implementing a rating widget that will allow each of you to rate your experience with the ARG. Although it doesn't directly impact the ARG in any way, I am curious to see how each of you feels about the progress, difficulty, etc.

IRC Code Solved

2012-11-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Just a few hours after my last post, the IRC code was solved. Turns out it WAS a one-time pad, and the input the cipher was based on is a quote by Giordano Bruno:

"It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."

And the message, decoded by pointless:

This is a message left for Dr. Horn. Just to remind you in case of emergencies that the password to the HALOS files is BENALOHPAILLIER. I have programmed HALOS to send in level seven cases. You should bring pizzas.

Therefore, we have the password and a potential username. Now all that's left to do is discover how to get into the BMRF site or find another related site . . . .

Analysis of IRC Code / Small Update

2012-11-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

I've updated the Cipher Formats page to include the new IRC code and have added a new poll to the right-hand side toolbar.

In regard to the code, I've done an analysis in my cryptology tool--the top ten choices are as follows, listed in order from most similar to least similar:

Running Key...........0
Digrafid................1
Vig Slidefair...........2
Nicodemus.............3
Trifid...................3
Gronsfeld..............3
Vigenere...............4
Quagmire2.............4
Quagmire3.............4
Portax..................4

Of course, it's entirely possible that this analysis is inaccurate if the code is actually composed of two ciphers rather than just one.

The Next Roadblock

2012-11-06T11:10:00.004-08:00

Since solving the Code D SECOM cipher, I've noticed two things. First and foremost, the explosion of people posting on the forums and once again becoming active in the ARG. For me, that is a great thing to see, and is as encouraging as it is helpful. The second thing I've noticed is the growing complexity of the puzzles. Granted, the time taken to complete them is nothing compared to the time it took to complete the SECOM cipher, but I feel like that was due to the anonymity of that cipher and the reality that not that many folks were working on it. Looking at the two others that have been solved, the triangle converted to binary is actually a pretty clever ruse. Personally, I printed the damn thing out and spent an hour at work trying to figure out how to fold it to create a message. We can thank bobsayshilol from the forums for suggesting a binary conversion, and pointless for extending the use of binary and coming up with a solution. Therefore, despite how quickly it was solved, that was a pretty complex puzzle that definitely required thinking outside the proverbial box.

The second puzzle, the IRC chat, was Navajo Code, and it wasn't particularly challenging. However, now that we've come to the third "new" puzzle, the second IRC chat code, I'm noting a trend. The message, after Base 64 decoding, is as follows:

INCOMING TRANSMISSION UNKNOWN SOURCE] LEAK SOURCE DETECTED. TRIANGULATING . . . MIX CASCADE HOP DETECTED . . . ATTEMPTING TIMING ATTACK . . . [TERMINATED] CANNOT CONNECT TO HOST . . . ATTEMPTING CONNECT TO USER H . . . SENDING DATA. SECURITY LEVEL 7 ALPHA.

BAQKX JOAJG XAHED IFGIZ FZDPB USXLG GXHFA UAUWM HBQAM WAXVY LQQRY WRUWV ETQOK BACBE JWHMS HVONZ IAHPA SOWCM LGATX UEXOQ DRQEJ BVLBO DJIHE CZTHM ZKHIE NOMLS AXVVW ETWIS ETIGM RXEVF QYAUB VFCEB PWBUK EMNOL W

The first thing I noticed in this message was the mention of "mix cascade" which, to me, signifies that this cipher may be a variant of a cascade cipher. If that's the case, we may be in for the long haul on this one. Depending on the ciphers used, that could require a lot of time and determination.

Considering this realization, I will be updating the Cipher Formats page to reflect this new cipher--it will be listed in regular format, without the spaces, and backward. In this case, and after how the Code D cipher was cracked, I don't feel the columnated format will be much use. Furthermore, depending on how much time this cipher takes to solve, I intend to include descriptions of the ciphers that it could end up utilizing.

Till then, hope you all have fun attempting the new cipher, and I'm glad to see past (and new) faces attempting to solve the ARG.

The Enigma Cipher (Code D) Solution

2012-11-03T23:41:00.000-07:00

At last, the Enigma Cipher has been solved, and it has turned out to be Code D. So what are the steps I took to solve it? Well, not very many, actually. It turns out that it was a SECOM cipher, which I pretty much figured out from collaborating with Code_ from the IRC channel. He also pointed me to a very valuable site that had a lot of working decoders and other resources: Dropbox resources

After downloading the SECOM cipher, the use of which had pretty much been extra verified by Storm's response to the "wibble" inquiry, it was a matter of plugging in possible 20-character key phrases. Took a look at the whiteboards, searching for inputs, and it just happened that "Laser Optronic Linear Inducer Cannon" (LOL Cannon) worked.

The resulting message:

"IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT RESEARCH INTO POTENTIAL ALTERNATIVE BRIDGING METHODS MAY BE SUPPORTED BY THE INCLUSION AND APPLICATION OF THE LASER OPTRONIC LINEAR INDUCER ARRAY TO ACT AS AN AXIS MODULATOR FOR REGULATION AND FOCUSING AN UNKNOWN ENERGY FORM WAS DETECTED WHILST INVESTIGATING THIS HYPOTHESIS PLEASE USE CODE D 0914 TO COMPLETE THE SEQUENCE ON MY SITE"

The beginning is very similar to the first internet clue we got from the Konami code input on Storm's website.

After determining the four codes, I went back to the "thestormseeker.com/thepizzaisalie" page and input "drhorn" as the username and the four codes in order "1001085139140914" as the password, and lo' and behold it got me into the webpage. It shows the parent directory, which is Storm's profile facade page, but it also links to two other files:

http://thestormseeker.com/thepizzaisalie/1001085139140914.html
http://thestormseeker.com/thepizzaisalie/grilledpizza.jpg

All said and done, I think it's safe to say that we can move on from the QE chapter and begin to focus our efforts on this new clue and how it relates to the greater story of the ARG.

I want to congratulate all of those who have worked so hard on this ARG thus far, and want to encourage everyone to continue doing so. We hit a brick wall for a while, but through dedication and digging the end result is success; and that, truly, is what it's all about. Each and every thought someone presented on the forums, wiki, or blog has led to this, and everyone should be proud.

The mushy stuff over with, let's press on to the next challenge! And yeah . . . it looks like a doozy . . . .

PPC-xx Hand Ciphers

2012-10-31T14:12:00.002-07:00

As I continue to try and determine a straddling checkerboard that could work with the first transposition numbers, I've done a little research on other ciphers similar to the SECOM cipher. It turns out there is another type of cipher, simply called the paper-and-pencil cipher - xx (PPC-xx), that uses four varying keys in order to produce the straddling checkerboard and resulting transpositions. A variant of the SECOM cipher, there are only a couple that seem viable, but at least it is a new direction. The SECOM cipher is rather simple as it is, but these are potentially even simpler. Check out Dirk's weblog for more information on the cipher.

And further information on PPC-xx can be found here.

For now, I am both biding my time in the vain hope that Storm will let loose a little more information about the cipher and attempting to complete a checkerboard that works. Also, I would like to encourage you all to submit anything you are working on to the blog, so that I can continue to compile as much data as possible and work toward a solution. Even if it's just some scribblings on a napkin, you simply never know what little piece of information or fresh line of thinking will open the door to a solution. So, again, I would love to receive your submissions, and I will of course give credit where it is due on the Contributions page.

SECOM Cipher Attempt

2012-10-27T01:32:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned on the forums, the SECOM is very similar to the VIC cipher and also uses an extended straddling checkerboard (which ties in with the Code C message). Anyway, what follows is an attempt to determine the two transpositions utilizing the key phrase "Superbus Via Inscientiae":

I took the first twenty characters of the phrase and split them into two groups of ten:

S U P E R B U S V I A I N S C I E N T I

I then assigned numbers to each letter corresponding to alphabetical order, with 0 being last:

S U P E R B U S V I A I N S C I E N T I

6 8 4 2 5 1 9 7 0 3 1 4 7 9 2 5 3 8 0 6

I then added the number of the second group to the numbers of the first group. When you do this step, it's important NOT to carry the tens column--in other words, if you get 5 + 8 = 13, you drop the ten and use only the 3:

6842519703

+ 1479253806

------------------

7211762509

I then create a block composed of 50 NEW numbers by using chain addition. In other words, I take the 7 + 2 = 9 and write the 9 below the 7. Then I take 2 + 1 = 3 and write the 3 below the 2 . . . so on and so forth. Once again, the tens column is not carried:

7211762509

----------------

9328387598

2501152470

7512676177

2638336849

8911694237

Then, take these last 10 digits and assign numbers to them much like you did with the letters above; except of course, that you will be going in order of the numbers rather than the alphabetical order of the letters:

8911694237

---------------

8912605347

This final 10-digit number should be the header for our straddling checkerboard.

What I'm including next is a couple of charts depicting the first and second transpositions I derived from the separate halves of the key phrase and the cipher text we've been provided. As long as the key phrase is "Superbus Via Inscientiae", then these transpositions will work, and all that's left to do is find a valid straddling checkerboard to apply to them. For an explanation of how I got these transpositions, visit this site.

In the long run, the only chart that really matters is the first transposition, because if the key phrase is right, then this is considered the "original" cipher text encoded directly from the straddling checkerboard.

Both transpositions, in the order that I completed them (reverse order due to decoding process):

Second Transposition

3	0	9	2	5	3	1	5	8	8	3	3	3	4	9
1	7	8	9	1	3	8	5	9	9	4	8	1	9	0
4	5	9	9	1	3	4	1	5	1	9	4	5	7	9
1	5	4	2	8	8	7	1	3	9	6	4	2	9	0
6	0	3	3	1	1	9	9	0	8	1	1	9	7	2
5	9	8	8	9	9	9	8	1	9	0	1	6	7	1
1	9	6	9	9	8	8	3	9	8	1	8	3	8	1
4	4	4	8	3	8	9	2	3	8	9	1	7	4	8
9	4	9	7	1	7	9	1	1	7	3	8	7	1	9
1	7	3	3	5	7	4	8	4	8	6	3	6	1	7
6	7	3	5	9	1	7	9	9	2	8	9	2	1	3
1	1	2	7	9	1	8	9	7	9	3	1	1	3	1
9	7	3	1	7	1	4	1	3	9	9	1	2	9	9
7	1	0	3	0	1	3	1	1	0	3	1	9	3	8
9	1	4	8	9	8	9	9	3	5	9	1	5	9	0
9	5	2	5	2	2	1	2	0	9	9	9	3	5	4
8	2	0	3	3	2	3	7	0	0	8	5	3	1	9
4	2	9	7	1	6	2	1	1	9	5	6	3	9	7
3	8	3	1	5	1	7	9	4	4	5	2	9	3	1
0	9	6	5	1	1	7	4	9	1	9	7	9	4	7
8	9	4	3	2	9	6	8	4	8	0	4	4	9	8
9	1	3	9	2	3	7	4	4	4	5	8	4	4	1
1	9	8	5	9	9	9	5	8	9	9	9	5	9	9
1	1	8	8	8	0	4	1	4	9	1	9	3	9	9
9	3	9	1	3	9	0	6	1	2	2	4	4	3	1
3	1	9	1	4	5	7	0	3	8	2	9	9	5	9
3	3	2	9	3	2	0	1	9	9	8	3	7	5	9
1	9	5	9	9	3	3	5	9	3	9	0	3	9	8
3	9	0	2	4	1	1	8	9	1	3	1	4	3	5
9	3	1	8	1	3	8	3	1	3	8	9	1	5	9
3	1	2	0	0	1	0	5	9	2	4	9	6	1	3
7	8	9	5	9	7	4	1	5	7	4	8	8	7	1
4	7	3	0	3	8	3	3	3	8	9	4	0	7	4
8	8	1	3	1	8	1	8	1	1	9	8	9	1	9
4	7	4	9	4	0	9	1	9	0	8	0	5	0	1
9	3	3	0	6	8	1	7	0	4	8	5	9	9	9
1	3	9	4	1	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

First Transposition

9	9	3	4	0	3	1	3	3	8
1	1	0	7	3	8	7	1	1	9
3	4	9	4	3	1	9	3	5	9
9	9	2	9	1	8	9	8	1	3
0	1	5	4	1	9	2	9	7	5
6	9	3	0	5	1	8	1	9	9
3	3	1	9	9	7	9	3	4	1
1	9	5	1	8	4	1	1	4	5
9	9	8	9	8	8	1	2	5	9
1	1	8	0	9	3	2	0	2	9
4	2	3	8	9	8	7	0	9	5
5	2	3	9	9	7	9	1	3	2
7	4	1	3	1	1	1	0	1	5
0	4	7	3	9	9	8	5	5	2
3	3	8	0	6	3	9	9	1	2
3	1	9	6	9	6	7	2	1	1
3	8	1	8	9	1	9	4	7	2
2	2	3	1	8	7	3	9	4	0
9	9	8	7	8	2	1	6	9	9
3	9	5	0	3	1	1	1	1	9
2	5	9	4	4	3	9	7	9	9
0	9	9	8	4	3	7	8	7	3
1	8	4	5	4	1	3	9	9	5
9	3	8	1	8	9	1	5	4	4
9	7	1	3	3	0	7	9	7	4
1	5	4	9	8	8	1	7	2	3
9	9	5	4	9	2	4	4	9	8
5	0	9	1	2	0	1	1	6	0
9	3	9	3	3	3	3	5	8	9
9	9	1	4	9	3	9	7	4	6
3	8	3	9	4	2	9	4	8	8
3	4	4	9	9	3	1	8	0	9
5	3	1	0	7	7	2	8	4	4
9	5	5	9	1	0	9	7	4	3
3	5	1	9	7	0	7	1	9	9
9	9	9	9	9	8	1	4	8	1
3	3	4	0	1	5	0	7	3	3
9	8	5	8	1	3	3	3	7	9
0	9	7	1	7	1	0	0	4	2
2	4	1	1	1	9	1	3	4	1
4	0	5	9	7	2	3	8	4	9
1	7	4	7	3	9	1	3	5	8
1	4	2	2	3	7	1	3	8	5
8	9	8	8	5	1	0	3	4	9
9	8	8	1	7	6	3	8	4	9
1	9	7	9	4	2	1	8	1	1
3	1	1	0	8	1	9	1	9	1
1	9	3	1	4	1	3	3	5	8
9	0	9	6	8	9	8	1	8	8
3	5	6	7	6	5	9	8	9	8
1	0	4	1	6	6	1	1	9	0
8	1	2	9	7	3	4	8	9	4
1	9	9	8	3	9	8	1	5	9
3	9	0	1	5	7	9	1	9	3
8	9	6	8	9	X	X	X	X	X

Once again, this text would be the "original" encoded text as long as the key phrase is right. Although these may not be the correct transpositions due to the key phrase being wrong, hopefully it gives you all an idea of how we can reverse engineer the cipher to get at what we need.

3	0	9	2	5	3	1	5	8	8	3	3	3	4	9
1	7	8	9	1	3	8	5	9	9	4	8	1	9	0
4	5	9	9	1	3	4	1	5	1	9	4	5	7	9
1	5	4	2	8	8	7	1	3	9	6	4	2	9	0
6	0	3	3	1	1	9	9	0	8	1	1	9	7	2
5	9	8	8	9	9	9	8	1	9	0	1	6	7	1
1	9	6	9	9	8	8	3	9	8	1	8	3	8	1
4	4	4	8	3	8	9	2	3	8	9	1	7	4	8
9	4	9	7	1	7	9	1	1	7	3	8	7	1	9
1	7	3	3	5	7	4	8	4	8	6	3	6	1	7
6	7	3	5	9	1	7	9	9	2	8	9	2	1	3
1	1	2	7	9	1	8	9	7	9	3	1	1	3	1
9	7	3	1	7	1	4	1	3	9	9	1	2	9	9
7	1	0	3	0	1	3	1	1	0	3	1	9	3	8
9	1	4	8	9	8	9	9	3	5	9	1	5	9	0
9	5	2	5	2	2	1	2	0	9	9	9	3	5	4
8	2	0	3	3	2	3	7	0	0	8	5	3	1	9
4	2	9	7	1	6	2	1	1	9	5	6	3	9	7
3	8	3	1	5	1	7	9	4	4	5	2	9	3	1
0	9	6	5	1	1	7	4	9	1	9	7	9	4	7
8	9	4	3	2	9	6	8	4	8	0	4	4	9	8
9	1	3	9	2	3	7	4	4	4	5	8	4	4	1
1	9	8	5	9	9	9	5	8	9	9	9	5	9	9
1	1	8	8	8	0	4	1	4	9	1	9	3	9	9
9	3	9	1	3	9	0	6	1	2	2	4	4	3	1
3	1	9	1	4	5	7	0	3	8	2	9	9	5	9
3	3	2	9	3	2	0	1	9	9	8	3	7	5	9
1	9	5	9	9	3	3	5	9	3	9	0	3	9	8
3	9	0	2	4	1	1	8	9	1	3	1	4	3	5
9	3	1	8	1	3	8	3	1	3	8	9	1	5	9
3	1	2	0	0	1	0	5	9	2	4	9	6	1	3
7	8	9	5	9	7	4	1	5	7	4	8	8	7	1
4	7	3	0	3	8	3	3	3	8	9	4	0	7	4
8	8	1	3	1	8	1	8	1	1	9	8	9	1	9
4	7	4	9	4	0	9	1	9	0	8	0	5	0	1
9	3	3	0	6	8	1	7	0	4	8	5	9	9	9
1	3	9	4	1	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

9	9	3	4	0	3	1	3	3	8
1	1	0	7	3	8	7	1	1	9
3	4	9	4	3	1	9	3	5	9
9	9	2	9	1	8	9	8	1	3
0	1	5	4	1	9	2	9	7	5
6	9	3	0	5	1	8	1	9	9
3	3	1	9	9	7	9	3	4	1
1	9	5	1	8	4	1	1	4	5
9	9	8	9	8	8	1	2	5	9
1	1	8	0	9	3	2	0	2	9
4	2	3	8	9	8	7	0	9	5
5	2	3	9	9	7	9	1	3	2
7	4	1	3	1	1	1	0	1	5
0	4	7	3	9	9	8	5	5	2
3	3	8	0	6	3	9	9	1	2
3	1	9	6	9	6	7	2	1	1
3	8	1	8	9	1	9	4	7	2
2	2	3	1	8	7	3	9	4	0
9	9	8	7	8	2	1	6	9	9
3	9	5	0	3	1	1	1	1	9
2	5	9	4	4	3	9	7	9	9
0	9	9	8	4	3	7	8	7	3
1	8	4	5	4	1	3	9	9	5
9	3	8	1	8	9	1	5	4	4
9	7	1	3	3	0	7	9	7	4
1	5	4	9	8	8	1	7	2	3
9	9	5	4	9	2	4	4	9	8
5	0	9	1	2	0	1	1	6	0
9	3	9	3	3	3	3	5	8	9
9	9	1	4	9	3	9	7	4	6
3	8	3	9	4	2	9	4	8	8
3	4	4	9	9	3	1	8	0	9
5	3	1	0	7	7	2	8	4	4
9	5	5	9	1	0	9	7	4	3
3	5	1	9	7	0	7	1	9	9
9	9	9	9	9	8	1	4	8	1
3	3	4	0	1	5	0	7	3	3
9	8	5	8	1	3	3	3	7	9
0	9	7	1	7	1	0	0	4	2
2	4	1	1	1	9	1	3	4	1
4	0	5	9	7	2	3	8	4	9
1	7	4	7	3	9	1	3	5	8
1	4	2	2	3	7	1	3	8	5
8	9	8	8	5	1	0	3	4	9
9	8	8	1	7	6	3	8	4	9
1	9	7	9	4	2	1	8	1	1
3	1	1	0	8	1	9	1	9	1
1	9	3	1	4	1	3	3	5	8
9	0	9	6	8	9	8	1	8	8
3	5	6	7	6	5	9	8	9	8
1	0	4	1	6	6	1	1	9	0
8	1	2	9	7	3	4	8	9	4
1	9	9	8	3	9	8	1	5	9
3	9	0	1	5	7	9	1	9	3
8	9	6	8	9	X	X	X	X	X

3	0	9	2	5	3	1	5	8	8	3	3	3	4	9
1	7	8	9	1	3	8	5	9	9	4	8	1	9	0
4	5	9	9	1	3	4	1	5	1	9	4	5	7	9
1	5	4	2	8	8	7	1	3	9	6	4	2	9	0
6	0	3	3	1	1	9	9	0	8	1	1	9	7	2
5	9	8	8	9	9	9	8	1	9	0	1	6	7	1
1	9	6	9	9	8	8	3	9	8	1	8	3	8	1
4	4	4	8	3	8	9	2	3	8	9	1	7	4	8
9	4	9	7	1	7	9	1	1	7	3	8	7	1	9
1	7	3	3	5	7	4	8	4	8	6	3	6	1	7
6	7	3	5	9	1	7	9	9	2	8	9	2	1	3
1	1	2	7	9	1	8	9	7	9	3	1	1	3	1
9	7	3	1	7	1	4	1	3	9	9	1	2	9	9
7	1	0	3	0	1	3	1	1	0	3	1	9	3	8
9	1	4	8	9	8	9	9	3	5	9	1	5	9	0
9	5	2	5	2	2	1	2	0	9	9	9	3	5	4
8	2	0	3	3	2	3	7	0	0	8	5	3	1	9
4	2	9	7	1	6	2	1	1	9	5	6	3	9	7
3	8	3	1	5	1	7	9	4	4	5	2	9	3	1
0	9	6	5	1	1	7	4	9	1	9	7	9	4	7
8	9	4	3	2	9	6	8	4	8	0	4	4	9	8
9	1	3	9	2	3	7	4	4	4	5	8	4	4	1
1	9	8	5	9	9	9	5	8	9	9	9	5	9	9
1	1	8	8	8	0	4	1	4	9	1	9	3	9	9
9	3	9	1	3	9	0	6	1	2	2	4	4	3	1
3	1	9	1	4	5	7	0	3	8	2	9	9	5	9
3	3	2	9	3	2	0	1	9	9	8	3	7	5	9
1	9	5	9	9	3	3	5	9	3	9	0	3	9	8
3	9	0	2	4	1	1	8	9	1	3	1	4	3	5
9	3	1	8	1	3	8	3	1	3	8	9	1	5	9
3	1	2	0	0	1	0	5	9	2	4	9	6	1	3
7	8	9	5	9	7	4	1	5	7	4	8	8	7	1
4	7	3	0	3	8	3	3	3	8	9	4	0	7	4
8	8	1	3	1	8	1	8	1	1	9	8	9	1	9
4	7	4	9	4	0	9	1	9	0	8	0	5	0	1
9	3	3	0	6	8	1	7	0	4	8	5	9	9	9
1	3	9	4	1	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

9	9	3	4	0	3	1	3	3	8
1	1	0	7	3	8	7	1	1	9
3	4	9	4	3	1	9	3	5	9
9	9	2	9	1	8	9	8	1	3
0	1	5	4	1	9	2	9	7	5
6	9	3	0	5	1	8	1	9	9
3	3	1	9	9	7	9	3	4	1
1	9	5	1	8	4	1	1	4	5
9	9	8	9	8	8	1	2	5	9
1	1	8	0	9	3	2	0	2	9
4	2	3	8	9	8	7	0	9	5
5	2	3	9	9	7	9	1	3	2
7	4	1	3	1	1	1	0	1	5
0	4	7	3	9	9	8	5	5	2
3	3	8	0	6	3	9	9	1	2
3	1	9	6	9	6	7	2	1	1
3	8	1	8	9	1	9	4	7	2
2	2	3	1	8	7	3	9	4	0
9	9	8	7	8	2	1	6	9	9
3	9	5	0	3	1	1	1	1	9
2	5	9	4	4	3	9	7	9	9
0	9	9	8	4	3	7	8	7	3
1	8	4	5	4	1	3	9	9	5
9	3	8	1	8	9	1	5	4	4
9	7	1	3	3	0	7	9	7	4
1	5	4	9	8	8	1	7	2	3
9	9	5	4	9	2	4	4	9	8
5	0	9	1	2	0	1	1	6	0
9	3	9	3	3	3	3	5	8	9
9	9	1	4	9	3	9	7	4	6
3	8	3	9	4	2	9	4	8	8
3	4	4	9	9	3	1	8	0	9
5	3	1	0	7	7	2	8	4	4
9	5	5	9	1	0	9	7	4	3
3	5	1	9	7	0	7	1	9	9
9	9	9	9	9	8	1	4	8	1
3	3	4	0	1	5	0	7	3	3
9	8	5	8	1	3	3	3	7	9
0	9	7	1	7	1	0	0	4	2
2	4	1	1	1	9	1	3	4	1
4	0	5	9	7	2	3	8	4	9
1	7	4	7	3	9	1	3	5	8
1	4	2	2	3	7	1	3	8	5
8	9	8	8	5	1	0	3	4	9
9	8	8	1	7	6	3	8	4	9
1	9	7	9	4	2	1	8	1	1
3	1	1	0	8	1	9	1	9	1
1	9	3	1	4	1	3	3	5	8
9	0	9	6	8	9	8	1	8	8
3	5	6	7	6	5	9	8	9	8
1	0	4	1	6	6	1	1	9	0
8	1	2	9	7	3	4	8	9	4
1	9	9	8	3	9	8	1	5	9
3	9	0	1	5	7	9	1	9	3
8	9	6	8	9	X	X	X	X	X

3	0	9	2	5	3	1	5	8	8	3	3	3	4	9
1	7	8	9	1	3	8	5	9	9	4	8	1	9	0
4	5	9	9	1	3	4	1	5	1	9	4	5	7	9
1	5	4	2	8	8	7	1	3	9	6	4	2	9	0
6	0	3	3	1	1	9	9	0	8	1	1	9	7	2
5	9	8	8	9	9	9	8	1	9	0	1	6	7	1
1	9	6	9	9	8	8	3	9	8	1	8	3	8	1
4	4	4	8	3	8	9	2	3	8	9	1	7	4	8
9	4	9	7	1	7	9	1	1	7	3	8	7	1	9
1	7	3	3	5	7	4	8	4	8	6	3	6	1	7
6	7	3	5	9	1	7	9	9	2	8	9	2	1	3
1	1	2	7	9	1	8	9	7	9	3	1	1	3	1
9	7	3	1	7	1	4	1	3	9	9	1	2	9	9
7	1	0	3	0	1	3	1	1	0	3	1	9	3	8
9	1	4	8	9	8	9	9	3	5	9	1	5	9	0
9	5	2	5	2	2	1	2	0	9	9	9	3	5	4
8	2	0	3	3	2	3	7	0	0	8	5	3	1	9
4	2	9	7	1	6	2	1	1	9	5	6	3	9	7
3	8	3	1	5	1	7	9	4	4	5	2	9	3	1
0	9	6	5	1	1	7	4	9	1	9	7	9	4	7
8	9	4	3	2	9	6	8	4	8	0	4	4	9	8
9	1	3	9	2	3	7	4	4	4	5	8	4	4	1
1	9	8	5	9	9	9	5	8	9	9	9	5	9	9
1	1	8	8	8	0	4	1	4	9	1	9	3	9	9
9	3	9	1	3	9	0	6	1	2	2	4	4	3	1
3	1	9	1	4	5	7	0	3	8	2	9	9	5	9
3	3	2	9	3	2	0	1	9	9	8	3	7	5	9
1	9	5	9	9	3	3	5	9	3	9	0	3	9	8
3	9	0	2	4	1	1	8	9	1	3	1	4	3	5
9	3	1	8	1	3	8	3	1	3	8	9	1	5	9
3	1	2	0	0	1	0	5	9	2	4	9	6	1	3
7	8	9	5	9	7	4	1	5	7	4	8	8	7	1
4	7	3	0	3	8	3	3	3	8	9	4	0	7	4
8	8	1	3	1	8	1	8	1	1	9	8	9	1	9
4	7	4	9	4	0	9	1	9	0	8	0	5	0	1
9	3	3	0	6	8	1	7	0	4	8	5	9	9	9
1	3	9	4	1	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

9	9	3	4	0	3	1	3	3	8
1	1	0	7	3	8	7	1	1	9
3	4	9	4	3	1	9	3	5	9
9	9	2	9	1	8	9	8	1	3
0	1	5	4	1	9	2	9	7	5
6	9	3	0	5	1	8	1	9	9
3	3	1	9	9	7	9	3	4	1
1	9	5	1	8	4	1	1	4	5
9	9	8	9	8	8	1	2	5	9
1	1	8	0	9	3	2	0	2	9
4	2	3	8	9	8	7	0	9	5
5	2	3	9	9	7	9	1	3	2
7	4	1	3	1	1	1	0	1	5
0	4	7	3	9	9	8	5	5	2
3	3	8	0	6	3	9	9	1	2
3	1	9	6	9	6	7	2	1	1
3	8	1	8	9	1	9	4	7	2
2	2	3	1	8	7	3	9	4	0
9	9	8	7	8	2	1	6	9	9
3	9	5	0	3	1	1	1	1	9
2	5	9	4	4	3	9	7	9	9
0	9	9	8	4	3	7	8	7	3
1	8	4	5	4	1	3	9	9	5
9	3	8	1	8	9	1	5	4	4
9	7	1	3	3	0	7	9	7	4
1	5	4	9	8	8	1	7	2	3
9	9	5	4	9	2	4	4	9	8
5	0	9	1	2	0	1	1	6	0
9	3	9	3	3	3	3	5	8	9
9	9	1	4	9	3	9	7	4	6
3	8	3	9	4	2	9	4	8	8
3	4	4	9	9	3	1	8	0	9
5	3	1	0	7	7	2	8	4	4
9	5	5	9	1	0	9	7	4	3
3	5	1	9	7	0	7	1	9	9
9	9	9	9	9	8	1	4	8	1
3	3	4	0	1	5	0	7	3	3
9	8	5	8	1	3	3	3	7	9
0	9	7	1	7	1	0	0	4	2
2	4	1	1	1	9	1	3	4	1
4	0	5	9	7	2	3	8	4	9
1	7	4	7	3	9	1	3	5	8
1	4	2	2	3	7	1	3	8	5
8	9	8	8	5	1	0	3	4	9
9	8	8	1	7	6	3	8	4	9
1	9	7	9	4	2	1	8	1	1
3	1	1	0	8	1	9	1	9	1
1	9	3	1	4	1	3	3	5	8
9	0	9	6	8	9	8	1	8	8
3	5	6	7	6	5	9	8	9	8
1	0	4	1	6	6	1	1	9	0
8	1	2	9	7	3	4	8	9	4
1	9	9	8	3	9	8	1	5	9
3	9	0	1	5	7	9	1	9	3
8	9	6	8	9	X	X	X	X	X