In the hours leading up to Persepolis 03/04/05, Verum Inveniri made a post on G+ asking for agent representatives from each faction to received critical intel. Agents @SQL from the Enlightened and @funkypig from the Resistance were chosen to receive the intel.

The message the Enlightened received was:

Jack,

Contact acknowledged. Dead drop at the Vancouver Community Library. 901 C Street, Vancouver, WA 98660. 978-1-61530-020-4.

Good luck.
VI

The message the Resistance received was:

funkypig,

Contact acknowledged. Dead drop at the Vancouver Community Library. 901 C Street, Vancouver, WA 98660. 978-0-7653-3170-0.

Good luck.
VI

Visiting that particular library and retrieving the book revealed a code book inside filled with one time pads. The pages in the booklet were exactly the ones in this post but the post was not available to the public until after the 8th puzzle.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/109846653838501599116/posts/93pPNnCVSa7

Postcard #1

At approximately 17:30UTC, the postcards started appearing. Most postcards had 2 components, the mini puzzle and the one time pads. Each postcard had 2 passcodes and a bit of text describing the situation.

I HOPE THIS MESSAGE FINDS YOU WELL STRANGE ACTIONS ARE AFOOT / 118.12 / 023.18

Looking at all the code pages, we see the numbers 118 and 023 at the top corners of the page. 12 and 18 must coincide with line numbers.

118.12

ZAIPJ SOLOE YLZIY LOEYK LHKQZ HOOVW CWWOA LOIAW YOJZA LRDGB

Using a one time pad tool (Rumkin.com), we can decrypt the message:

Your message:

I HOPE THIS MESSAGE FINDS YOU WELL STRANGE ACTIONS ARE AFOOT

The pad:

ZAIPJ SOLOE YLZIY LOEYK LHKQZ HOOVW CWWOA LOIAW YOJZA LRDGB

Result:

J HGAV BTXE IGHTSIT REPTH REE XXXX XXPERSE POLISPE RSE POLIS

We see some familiar words in the decrypted string:

JHGAVBTX EIGHT SITREP THREE XXXXXX PERSEPOLIS PERSEPOLIS

The volatile passcode format is:

[A-Z]{8}[0-9]KEYWORD[0-9]

which corresponds to the beginning of the code, the remainder of the code is not used.

JHGAVBTX8SITREP3

023.18

TDXXA ETXKU POBIC PRXFL VBRSI BHOWJ LFGLN KHLAG VIWCM SNGGLP ERSE POLI SPERSEP OLISX XXC ODEX WKGVHVR QVIIISK EPS ISIII

PERSEPOLIS PERSEPOLIS XXX CODE X WKGVHVRQ VIII SKEPSIS III

WKGVHVRQ8SKEPSIS3

Postcard #2

UNDERSTOOD COMMUNICATE
WITH SHARED RESOURCE
UPSILON IOTA

x + y = 362.57
2x - 3y = -280.56

Mini Puzzle

This is the first puzzle with a mini puzzle to find which code page and line to use. Solving for x and y:

x = 161.43
y = 201.14

161.43

WQWXA LDAFL YZMVU UEXDA QPUJN YOJNC WYPEX BGCRR XKXXZ JQXPLYXHHRHQOJS EPARATEFXTO HOKU UTRECH TPORTLAN DSILOPE SREP

YXHHRHQO J SEPARATE F X TOHOKU UTRECHT PORTLAND SILOPESREP

YXHHRHQO9SEPARATE5

201.14

CFSQC OBXKO ITQPW OSZQS YEUHQ YTVJR KNNQK FYYBC HMVLD JEXMHSILOPESREP UVWXYZQDKBG SOMR UOFINT ERCEPTED SIGNALE ERHT

SILOPESREPUVWXYZ QDKBGSOM RUOF INTERCEPTED SIGNAL EERHT

Keyword subs are still fair game for these puzzles.

QDKBGSOM4SIGINT3

Postcard #3

MGUTK HLLSK UDBIY GREPR VVAKA MVJMJ UWAKL KOEJF POJWI NWTFM

$\begin{bmatrix} 4 & 2 & -3 \\ 8 & -1 & 2\\ \pi & 5 & -5 \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} x \\ y \\ z \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} \frac{1}{10} ( 80 \sqrt 5 - 7277 ) \\ \frac{12159}{25} + 16 \sqrt 5 \\ 2 \pi \sqrt 5 - \frac{11817}{10} \end{bmatrix}$

Starting with the 3rd code, the message is no longer written in plaintext on the postcard.

Mini Puzzle

Solving the matrix gives the following approximate values for x, y, and z.

x = 4.47
y = 250.02
z = 13.68 ~ 136.08

004.47

XSCBC GAHVI GRMRK UJMLU HQDCN RRWES MZIRX TOYFI MKQSG USQIP
POSSI BLEXC OMPRO MISEX OFXIN VENIR IXSTO RAGEX DETEC TEDXX

POSSIBLE COMPROMISE OF INVENIRI STORAGE DETECTED

The message is now found in one of the decrypted messages, specifically the “first” one.

250.02

ITTQN ICXXO IZJQY ANHON PNNSL APEHQ WPSCZ GCGIU PBZWV KOYXE
ENBDX ZJOVW MESSA GEXBE GINSP MGFFT YHIIM EMYBL ANKAN DIVII

ENBDXZJOVW MESSAGE BEGINS PMGFFTYH II ME MY BLANK AND I VII

The phrase is ‘me, myself, and I‘:

PMGFFTYH2SELF7

136.08

PQVBN FOEAS CLJQW YACEN QQVFW YJMPM BOQNJ OSXGX ARNWK UZXGE
XQZSX CXHSS SSSSC IRCLE FFFFE OMXXX TIKXC WWHDI PXWAY TXWZI

XQZSXCXH SSSSSS CIRCLE FFFF EOM XXX TIKXCWWHDIPXWAYTXWZI

We see 6 S’s and 4 F’s and both numbers start with the corresponding letter.

XQZSXCXH6CIRCLE4

CIRCLE is not a keyword, but SHAPE is.

XQZSXCXH6SHAPE4

Postcard #4

NZIWI XIRZA WLNBT NNHGA MYVAX QVUVF NSSOJ YDKAB YIEJG DRRXY

!#^>$*
wpq|qu
FWYTQQ

Mini Puzzle

!#^>$* is a simple symbol to number conversion with a QWERTY keyboard.

wpq|qu corresponds to numbers immediately above and slightly to the left of each alphabet letter, the pipe will be a decimal.

FWYTQQ is 6 characters long and is actually part of a goo.gl link pointing to onesixone.sixteen

136.48

GLMZW DGKCS JSJQW ZIKOS GLNVP OVHCI SSHUF BVSDZ KWPSS RJZTV
HOWXM UCHXI NTELX OFXSI GNIFI CANTX VALUE XISXC OMPRO MISED

HOW MUCH INTEL OF SIGNIFICANT VALUE IS COMPROMISED

201.17

NWBQT ACQMS JHVIF YPZCP JJRXA IIODQ JOPDB MVRYB EPWVT KVDAB
ADHGP XGBNI NESTO PYIEL DPEDX INGSP EEDLI MITCA UTION TWOXX

ADHGPXGB NINE STOP YIELD PEDXING SPEED LIMIT CAUTION TWO XX

STOP, YIELD, PED-X-ING (pedestrian crossing), etc. are all road signs, and signs is a keyword.

ADHGPXGB9SIGNS2

161.16

YVREE AFTXG AQYXL HYDYI ELHWX KKUHQ JZLKY BVGLX QIABA ODGPG
PERSE XDYCU WVPEI GPEIS INOEA GLAOP ETHEL XIEPE IAEIG POLIS

PERSE XDYCUWVP EIG PEISINOE AGLAOPE THELXIEPEIA EIG POLIS

Peisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia are the three sisters that make up The Sirens.

XDYCUWVP8SIRENS8

Postcard #5

DHCEG RBPQK CQPZP ZCNGE DUAEG MIMTN PWKXL FIHRL ZUXXO NDZSO

MMCCCVI
----------....-...--.----
..X.X...XX.X...XXX-..XX.X..XX.X

Mini Puzzle

MMCCCVI are the Roman Numerals for 2306, of which 23.06 is the corresponding page.line

----------....-...--.---- can be broken up into groups of 5.

----- ----- ....- ...-- .---- interpreted as Morse code gives you 00431.

..X.X...XX.X...XXX-..XX.X..XX.X

When this line is broken up into groups of 6 and separated into 3 rows it will give a braille pattern.

.. .. .. .. .. X. XX .X - XX XX X. .X XX .X .X

Reading the braille directly gives 240-44, but there is no page 240. This is a typo and should be 250-44

23.06

JUAAP YBHDN KCDVS UUCCM GGVHO IVULU HBGAY FPNAH CIPFW FQTVR
UNCER TAINX SOMEX FILES XOFXS ENSIT IVEXN ATURE XMISS INGXX

UNCERTAIN SOME FILES OF SENSITIVE NATURE MISSING

004.31

RJKUC QUAVC UIJLB LOZSQ PGMQS YUYFZ BIWJX RUTDX LGJJA HSVXG
MYSKE BHPVI IIGOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO GLEVI

MYSKEBHP VIII GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGLE VI

Google is known for its search engine. Search is a keyword.

MYSKEBHP8SEARCH6

250.44

XLVHH IYKXT OIXKB HJZTY OJGMN VUEBK LWHWH BDENL WTTTJ ZKKPN
GWHXZ JDFTR OISPO STONG PLUST ROISD EADBE EFDEA DBEEF OTPDB

GWHXZJDF TROIS POST ON G PLUS TROIS DEADBEEF DEADBEEF OTP DB

Post on G+ is akin to sharing. Share is a keyword.

GWHXZJDF3SHARE3

Postcard #6

YGSEP UMZHB BJTPB GLZLR IMUFK OGISJ QNZKB ANHLH HEXDB BGOZI

Sn-74.92
CUFE.TIV
Ar-4S23D[3,10]

Mini Puzzle

Sn is the chemical element Tin, with a atomic weight of 118.710
74.92 corresponds to atomic weight of the chemical element Arsenic, atomic number 33.
The page number is 118 (from Sn) and line number is 33 from Arsenic.

CUFE.TIV
Cu (Copper), Fe (Iron), Ti (Titanium), V (Vanadium) are all in Period 4 of the periodic table. They are groups 11, 8, 4 and 5 respectively.

Ar-4S23D[3,10]
Vanadium (23) has electron configuration Ar-4s² 3d³
Zinc (30) has electron configuration Ar-4s² 3d¹⁰

118.33

ETNQY BSMHI XMGLF OORTU PFQOG RCNKG MAXGE HZKLU JHFJJ MCMGL
UNFOR TUNAT EXNEW SXISX THERE XEVID ENCEX TOXAN YXSUS PECTX

UNFORTUNATE NEWS IS THERE EVIDENCE TO ANY SUSPECT

118.45

PGLCH QGSAS TJLHU BDWFI AGOWD GYFMA KGRIV RFDDE AEQUT WYMCL
JAHCI EGHHJ IAIIH FIDGJ IGGJH IIHGJ GHICG JIEID HAHJI FICXX

JA HC IE GH HJ IA II HF ID GJ IG GJ HI IH GJ GH IC GJ IE ID HA HJ IF IC XX

Converting letters to numbers, A = 0, and ignoring the XX:

90 72 84 67 79 80 88 75 83 69 86 69 78 83 69 67 82 69 84 83 70 79 85 82

Decimal to ASCII conversion:

ZHTCOPXKSEVENSECRETSFOUR

ZHTCOPXK7SECRETS4

23.30

JZIBJ AKVTZ IVBZH GUVIZ EXBFJ MDEND JFQAQ OATWR QMEJG FJQAI
PHKDG UCEOC TOSQU AREDS EPTAB CDEFG HIJKL MNOPQ RSTUV WXYZA

PHKDGUCE OCTO SQUARED SEPT ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZA

Squared is not a keyword, but it is a shape. Shaped is not a known keyword but it works.

PHKDGUCE8SHAPED7

Postcard #7

PDDEG ZGFXU THRVB QLKAS ANPOS HUIEM QZNNE DMPTN GRDVL AVBTY

0xc9.0x1b / 0372.012 / 0010.00100

Mini Puzzle

0xc9.0x1b is hexademical, converting the two pieces to decimal produces 201.27

0372.012 is octal, converting the two pieces to decimal produces 250.10

0010.00100 is quaternary , converting the two pieces to decimal produces 004.16

201.27

CPGAL RDBKS PKDQE LXTYO XQLBZ QWLRY TIJYQ MTXWZ BUVIS JBYPH
NOXEV IDENC EXOFX FORCE DXENT RYXNO XREPO RTSXO FXINT RUDER

NO EVIDENCE OF FORCED ENTRY NO REPORTS OF INTRUDER

250.10

OMBHN WHLKM RUJCU IURCA WSLBH DBPAV YHUFT SZLPK NDCRW ASYPV
BRCXT DZUNI CNITH IRTYS EVENL ETTER SSTIL LNEED TOBEP ADDED

BRCXTDZUNICNI THIRTY SEVEN LETTERS STILL NEED TO BE PADDED

C is pronounced like see.

BRCXTDZU9SEE9

004.16

PUTOC ICSCR FURCX FAWOK YGLDS UOETY PVWAW QEYFK YEIND SWDWC
AJKQE RENVD ONATE LLOMI CHELA NGELO BERNI NIROD INVII IZYXW

AJKQEREN V DONATELLO MICHELANGELO BERNINI RODIN VIII ZYXW

Donatello, Michelangelo, Bernini, and Rodin were sculptors. Sculptors shape objects. Shapers is the keyword.

AJKQEREN5SHAPERS8

Postcard #8

MPVUU IFZGM VEYGH BVNKJ XJPJF WAALU TCFZM FTJNX TYUKN PEMGH

P/310620/126256/45076/I

Mini Puzzle

The numbers look octal, but actually correspond to digits of the irrational number Pi. Reading the n’th to n+5’th number of Pi gives you the three page.line numbers needed.

023.20

MYRXW ULCGK CKYVW DYVQD RFXQX JUDSN LKIDM NWJAA LLCCK LHDSG
AREXY OUXAC TUALL YXSUG GESTI NGXTH ISXWA SXANX INSID EXJOB

ARE YOU ACTUALLY SUGGESTING THIS WAS AN INSIDE JOB

250.23

WPIWH FTXOI GLLSO YNSCG TGHWM IIOLJ IYOOI FOYJE BFDGV PAESN
QANYN DMCSE PTNOT DIVID EDINT OSMAL LERLE AFLET STRES AEIOU

QANYNDMC SEPT NOT DIVIDED INTO SMALLER LEAFLETS TRES AEIOU

Doing a search for the phrase ‘not dividied into smaller leaflets’ should produce the keyword: simple.

QANYNDMC7SIMPLE3

004.05

GNHPZ TIPDJ SEYGH BVNKJ XJPJF WAALU TCFZM FTJNX TYUHK MBJJK
GCOFV PXKDD DAAAA AAAAA AAAAA AAAAA AAAAA AAAAA AAADD DDDXX

GCOFVPXK DDD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DDDDD XX

There are 32 A’s in the keyword section, 32 in ASCII corresponds to the space character.
The number of D’s reveal the number for the passcode.

GCOFVPXK3SPACE5

Postcard #9

LFZBY FBBRT VDOMA CNHQX QFNQF UDSGD DMHEK NEFRX BCZSJ VYWBP

USS Barber IX
SOE Force XXV
Sentaka-Dai type IXX

Mini Puzzle

Doing a quick search for the non-Roman Numeral part of the mini puzzle should reveal a number that corresponds to a page number. The Roman Numeral corresponds to the line.

161.9

DIZPB NTPCI XGXIL OWOIK KIUJB XYSEK LPYKS UHCDP OWCGL YPIAS
IXAMX SIMPL YXREP ORTIN GXTHE XFACT SXJUS TXDOI NGXMY XJOBX

I AM SIMPLY REPORTING THE FACTS JUST DOING MY JOB

136.25

SSTNY XGJMP LQZYF UIPCT WSWCN MVAAZ QZHQZ FANJT VPSEQ NBEEL
TNGOA IVSFE KNPOV IFSOE UNROS IISGE NNAOL IESIE GNHOT IXSXE

Reading every other letter in the decrypted text reveal:

TGAVFKPVFOURSIGNALEIGHTXX

TGAVFKPV FOUR SIGNAL EIGHT XX

TGAVFKPV4SIGNAL8

201.19

ARLNK RNNDF HPAYM ONEIK KVTXM QQSCN ERZWC VASZJ OYGNV BHSTU
LOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OADIN GKUTT ENAEQ ZVIII SENSO NETFO UREIV

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOADING KUTTENAEQZ VIII SENSONETFOURE IV

Certain parts of the code can be converted from numbers to Roman Numerals and vice versa.

KUT TEN AEQZ VIII SENS ONE T FOUR E IV

Converting TEN to X, ONE to I, FOUR to IV, VIII to 8, and IV to 4:

KUT X AEQZ 8 SENS I T IV E 4

KUTXAEQZ8SENSITIVE4

Postcard #10

ZQGRD ISARR RRDKV UNLWR DTAFU CPAMA OFCOO YRRGW KWUUU QIRCM

156
26
176

Mini Puzzle

No other clues were provided in the postcard. The numbers for the mini puzzle were close to page numbers, all of them within 50 values.

156 = 118+36 ~ 118.36
26 = 4+22 ~ 004.22
176 = 136+40 ~ 136.40

118.36

WCJTP OBDID QUCGC BJUZK PXDTU PRDTS CBKRS QGGJD DOCXN QTCYZ
DOXYO URXJO BXBET TERXH OWXMA NYXTI MESXW ILLXT HISXH APPEN

DO YOUR JOB BETTER HOW MANY TIMES WILL THIS HAPPEN

004.22

GRCPJ DNUJR IOXIR LFJSL ALLXG PLWVI USUYU UCDPD KLSUF XOAYU
TZECU FFGIA JDGCE JICEG DIPIO NEERS UNIQU EPORT ALCAP TURES

TZECUFFG IAJDGCEJICEGDI PIONEERS UNIQUE PORTAL CAPTURES

Converting the letters at the end of the code part into numbers (A=0):

TZECUFFG 80936249824638

Assume the two 8’s are numbers for the passcode format:

TZECUFFG 8 093624982463 8

Do a search for 093624982463 reveals the barcode for CD (Seal: Soul). Soul is a keyword:

TZECUFFG8SOUL8

136.40

PRUZX ENSWN MJIGQ MSHEY DGXFD ZMJME MLJTK HYJEW ZUDUH GPKLI
KZMSG EFIVE FIVEF IVEST ANDAR DDRAW CUTVE RTICA LCRAN KTHRE

KZMSGEFIVEFIVEFIVESTANDARDDRAWCUTVERTICALCRANKXHRE

KZMSGE FIVE FIVE FIVE STANDARD DRAW CUT VERTICAL CRANK THRE

Searching for ‘standard draw cut vertical crank’ reveals shaper.

KZMSGEVV5SHAPER3

Postcard #1

118.12

Your message:

The pad:

Result:

023.18

Postcard #2

Mini Puzzle

161.43

201.14

Postcard #3

Mini Puzzle

004.47

250.02

136.08

Postcard #4

Mini Puzzle

136.48

201.17

161.16

Postcard #5

Mini Puzzle

23.06

004.31

250.44

Postcard #6

Mini Puzzle

118.33

118.45

23.30

Postcard #7

Mini Puzzle

201.27

250.10

004.16

Postcard #8

Mini Puzzle

023.20

250.23

004.05

Postcard #9

Mini Puzzle

161.9

136.25

201.19

Postcard #10

Mini Puzzle

118.36

004.22

136.40

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