Hints

Contact Letter

• This letter from the contact provides an update of the situation in NACS. Laila wants you to help her find out what Theodore Markson did to the NACS intranet. You are also tasked with finding the password to the vote page and voting on the Lock-in Protocol now that you are a member of the Council.

FAILSAFE.RESTRICTED File

• Use the puzzle box to unlock this file.
• The wall of text in this file is in binary code. Similar to Episode 4, use a binary translator to decode this text.
• The end of the message on this file is the key to unlocking a PATRICIA response. This key works with another item in this episode.
• Use Oswald's FBI badge number for his identity, which is "XF90D053".
• Decode the FBI badge number using "the sum" of all the individual digits and numbers associated with the letters. For example: F = 6 because it is the sixth letter in the alphabet. Add X + F + 9 + 0 + D + 0 + 5 + 3.

Jordan's Statement

• Pay attention to the P.S. from Jordan at the bottom of this document.

• The P.S. says that "beginnings are what matter the most". This is a clue to use the first letter of every sentence to find a hidden message.

Laila's Announcement

• Pay close attention to the instructions Laila gives in her announcement.

Password Card

• Pay attention to the handbook rule number on the card. Also look for a word that describes the type of cipher it is.

• This is a "shift" cipher. The rule mentioned is number 5. Shift the letters of the password by five in the alphabet.

P.A.T.R.I.C.I.A. Code

• There is a series of binary codes at the end of PATRICIA's last response. Use a binary decoder to translate the message.

Stopwatch

• Notice the engraving on the back of the stopwatch. This item works with other documents in this episode and a previous episode.
• The back of the stopwatch features the engraving: "...said #36".
• Consider types of ciphers that feature the number 36.
• The phrase "Tick, tick, tick..." in the manifesto from Episode 4 can be combined with the message on the back of the stopwatch. This is a clue to use the stopwatch with this document from Episode 4.
• The "...said #36" on the back of the stopwatch reveals a clue to use a base 36 cipher.
• The base 36 cipher should be used to decipher the numbers in the manifesto and another document in this episode.
• To decode base 36, you can do it manually or use a decoder. Solving this cipher manually is a lot of guess-and-check work, so it's best to use a decoder, such as this one.
• Should you choose to decode manually, use the principal of arithmetic base change (conversion from base 36 to base 10). There are 36 alphanumeric symbols (26 are letters of the alphabet and the first 10 digits). E.g., 0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz (36 characters total).
• The number should first be converted to a number in base 10. E.g., B36 (B = 11, 3 = 3, 6 = 6). So, 11 x 36^2 + 3 x 36^1 + 6 x 36^0 = 14370.

Reveals

Contact Letter

• Laila wants you to vote on the Lock-in, however, there are several things in your way. Theo has blocked the vote page. You must somehow find the password to this page. Perhaps finding Theo's restricted file and deciphering what his last message is will help.

FAILSAFE.RESTRICTED File

• When deciphered, the slip of paper inside the puzzle box reads: APOGEE. "Apogee" is the password to the Failsafe.Restricted File.

• The binary code translates to:

  • "I will take PATRICIA. I know the trails. I know the outposts. With the right equipment I can build a terminal anywhere. My destiny will never escape me. No one was ready to see how beautiful my plan was, and so you will live as captives under the rule of a broken PATRICIA. In case things go awry, and I am unable to bring PATRICIA back from the brink of chaos, use the following fail-safe key: Derrida, ending in the sum of Oswald's identity. We are all just numbers in the end."
• The numbers add up to 51. 24 + 6 + 9 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 5 + 3 = 51.
• Use this number with the other part of the key given in the Failsafe.Restricted File to unlock PATRICIA's response.

• The key to unlocking the PATRICIA response is "Derrida51".

Jordan's Statement

• The message says" "I HAVE SUPPLIES. JOIN ME ON SURFACE."

Laila's Announcement

• Laila's announcement leads to a backdoor link on the www.nacsfacility.net website within Laila's name on her Personnel File. There is no password needed.

Password Card

• The decoded message is "AlanTuring".

P.A.T.R.I.C.I.A. Code

• Once decoded, "Please stop Markson. Let me help you one last time. Unlock the vote page with something you will never see again. Time is running out. There's a shadow hanging over me."
• This is a riddle which reveals the password to the vote page.
• The answer to the riddle is "yesterday". The password for the vote page is "yesterday". Go to the homepage of www.nacsfacility.net and click on "Directory" then "Council Portal" to input the password.

Puzzle Box

• The solution for this puzzle box is multiple steps.
• The puzzle box consists of two pieces, an outer piece with a peg and an inner maze-like piece. The goal is to guide the peg through the maze to separate the pieces.

• At the top of the puzzle box, there are three openings. Two are side-by-side and one is on the opposite side of the cylinder. When looking at the two side-by-side openings, begin with the one on the left.
• Do not go all the way down, find the opening partway down on the left side and slide the peg downward along that path, turning left again at the next opening. Once again, do not go down to the bottom of this path because it is a dead-end.
• Go up at your first opportunity, then go right until you hit a wall. Go up slightly and go right again at the next opportunity. Continue upward until you hit a wall and then turn left: your only option at this point.
• When you hit the next wall go down, and then go left at the bottom, and then go down, and then go left again. This should be the only possible path at this stage of the maze.
• Go up slightly and make the first possible right. After hitting the wall, go up to the next wall and turn left. Go down when you hit the next wall.
• Take the short path right, and then go down again, making the first possible right. Do not go all the way to the bottom of this downward path.
• Continue to the right until you hit a wall. There will be other options to go down, do not take any of them. When you hit that wall go up, go right, go down, go right, go down, and go right again.
• Go up slightly, taking the first possible right. Do not go all the way up. Continue right until you hit a wall and then go down as far as possible.
• Continue to the right until you have the opportunity to go down again. Take the opportunity to go down and then go left. Take the next opportunity to go down and free the maze piece from the outer piece of the puzzle box.
• There is a slip of paper inside the puzzle box. "647793158" is written on the slip of paper. The cipher used previously in this episode, the base 36 cipher, can be used again to decipher the message.
• When deciphered, the slip of paper reads: APOGEE. "Apogee" is the password to the Failsafe.Restricted file.

Stopwatch

• Use the base 36 cipher to decode the strings of numbers from the manifesto in Episode 4.

• Decoded, these messages read:

  • "Whoever controls PATRICIA controls humanity. Let this be a lesson to whoever stands in my way. Let this be the rising action, the moments that fall like dominoes that were always meant to be. Failure here means nothing. I will never stop."
  • "I already have access to her original programming."