[Guest]

Sorry this took a while. Had the idea all along, was just lazy to type out the story.

***

The companions entered a well-lit hall, with three arched doorways, all locked except two, the one they came in from and the one opposite that. There was also a small wooden door in one of the corners. Clavius opened the wooden door to discover a small stash of dried food and water. Lee and Jeanne who took a peek into the other two entrances

"Looks like we're going to be here for a while guys," Clavius said as he held up a loaf of bread. Everyone groaned. Feeling hungry, they sat down, had lunch, and discussed their circumstances. If rationed, the food will last them for about 2 weeks. They had no idea what had happened to them but all five agreed that they had to work together to figure out a way out.

After eating, the companions headed to the room opposite to the one they came from and started looking around. The room was of the same design as the previous one, but there were 6 computer terminals in the room. There was a larger terminal in the middle, surrounding in a circular pattern by the other 5. They tried accessing the terminals. The screens of the surrounding terminals flared to life.

"Ah! There is internet connection! Let's try contacting someone!" Jeanne exclaimed. She tried sending out emails or logging on to instant messaging services, but they were all blocked. She looked around. Everyone had the same disappointed look on their faces.

"Now what?" asked Dave. His question was answered when the screen of the middle computer lit up, bearing the following message;

Welcome fellow friends. We welcome you to the Labyrinth. We are sorry for the ... way we had to bring you here. We can't have you knowing where you are or what is happening - that will take the suspense out of this ... experiment, no? You will know the reason behind this when you find your way out.

Well, enough small talk. Here is the second piece of the puzzle you have to solve. We bid you good luck and we look forward to seeing you, if you don't get lost in translation before that.

R = P, T = Y, Y = F

Yd. t.f frg b..e co ucp.v

Bquymtdwttvepmu?

Experimental Log - E-029

12-15-2008: Putting DNA into the heart of Vire gave rise to an enigma. It proved troublesome.

12-21-2008: We still can't solve it. Julius will be back from vacation in a week. Maybe he will have an idea.

12-27-2008: Julius said he had an idea. We are waiting patiently. Let's hope this gets solved before New Year's.

12-29-2008: He did it!

12-30-2008: Experiment was completed successfully. Moving on to phase 2 trials next year.

*PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE*

"Is this some sick joke?" groaned Lee.

"I don't know but looks like we are their white mice, whoever they are. Might as well play along," replied Dave. "Someone hit the keyboard."

Clavius who was closest to the terminal pressed enter.

*PASSWORD:

"Password?" Jeanne raised her eyebrows.

***

What would you do?

[Guest]

I was thining of that because Vire+DNA anagrams to Invader. Guess that was incorrect. Still trying hard to figure this out. If you want to nudge us along a little more, than that would be welcomed.

You're going in the right track. Well, you need to put DNA into the heart of Vire. Remember, sometimes word plays require a substitution.

Edited March 26, 2009 by scsw

[Guest]

You're going in the right track. Well, you need to put DNA into the heart of Vire. Remember, sometimes word plays require a substitution.

Not getting it...

[Guest]

Not getting it...

I just got some information that may help (thanks for the nudge, scsw) but I am still working out the answer.

scsw suggested a word substitution, so DNA could be gene. Putting Gene into the heart of Vire gives you Vigenere. Not sure what it means, but if you try to pronounce it you get "visionary"

Vire is also the name of a type of arrow, but I doubt that this will lead anywhere.

Edited March 26, 2009 by IDoNotExist

[Guest]

I just got some information that may help (thanks for the nudge, scsw) but I am still working out the answer.

"Putting DNA into the heart of Vire"

scsw suggested a word substitution, so DNA could be gene. Putting Gene into the heart of Vire gives you Vigenere. Not sure what it means, but if you try to pronounce it you get "visionary"

Vire is also the name of a type of arrow, but I doubt that this will lead anywhere.

Try using google.

Oh, don't forget the spoiler.

Edited March 26, 2009 by scsw

[Guest]

Oh, don't forget the spoiler.

Try using google.

"widuhlmsoleaked?" doesnt make any sense either. There is still more to figure out?

Edited March 26, 2009 by IDoNotExist

[Guest]

"widuhlmsoleaked?" doesnt make any sense either. There is still more to figure out?

We're not done with Clue 4 yet. Read it again and think about all the themes that's been used so far - they're all ciphers.

[Pickett]

We're not done with Clue 4 yet. Read it again and think about all the themes that's been used so far - they're all ciphers.

I don't think the result of the vigenere cipher is a Caesar cipher like I originally thought...because here's all of the Caeser ciphers for the result:

widuhlmsoleaked?

xjevimntpmfblfe?

ykfwjnouqngcmgf?

zlgxkopvrohdnhg?

amhylpqwspiemih?

bnizmqrxtqjfnji?

cojanrsyurkgokj?

dpkbostzvslhplk?

eqlcptuawtmiqml?

frmdquvbxunjrnm?

gsnervwcyvokson?

htofswxdzwpltpo?

iupgtxyeaxqmuqp?

jvqhuyzfbyrnvrq?

kwrivzagczsowsr?

lxsjwabhdatpxts?

mytkxbciebuqyut?

nzulycdjfcvrzvu?

oavmzdekgdusawv?

pbwnaeflhevtbxw?

qcxobfgmifwucyx?

rdypcghnjgxvdzy?

sezqdhiokhyweaz?

tfareijplizxfba?

ugbsfjkqmjaygcb?

and none of those seem to make any sense...so, maybe we have to do something between the vigenere and Caesar ciphers...

[Guest]

I don't think the result of the vigenere cipher is a Caesar cipher like I originally thought...because here's all of the Caeser ciphers for the result:

widuhlmsoleaked?

xjevimntpmfblfe?

ykfwjnouqngcmgf?

zlgxkopvrohdnhg?

amhylpqwspiemih?

bnizmqrxtqjfnji?

cojanrsyurkgokj?

dpkbostzvslhplk?

eqlcptuawtmiqml?

frmdquvbxunjrnm?

gsnervwcyvokson?

htofswxdzwpltpo?

iupgtxyeaxqmuqp?

jvqhuyzfbyrnvrq?

kwrivzagczsowsr?

lxsjwabhdatpxts?

mytkxbciebuqyut?

nzulycdjfcvrzvu?

oavmzdekgdusawv?

pbwnaeflhevtbxw?

qcxobfgmifwucyx?

rdypcghnjgxvdzy?

sezqdhiokhyweaz?

tfareijplizxfba?

ugbsfjkqmjaygcb?

and none of those seem to make any sense...so, maybe we have to do something between the vigenere and Caesar ciphers...

Think inside the box.

I think this is the last hint you'll need to solve the puzzle. Will start typing out the next one now.

[Guest]

Think inside the box.

I think this is the last hint you'll need to solve the puzzle. Will start typing out the next one now.

The quote "julius will be back in a week"...perhaps we need to have a shift of 7?

But then what?

(I am learning all kinds of ciphers now)

[Guest]

The quote "julius will be back in a week"...perhaps we need to have a shift of 7?

But then what?

(I am learning all kinds of ciphers now)

No shifts needed.

You need to think inside the box.

[Guest]

Who the hell u ppl think u are??

I leave for some hours and u practically solve it!!

lol

im sure that thinking inside the box is so simple...

unfortunately, it probably has a second meaning...

[Guest]

No shifts needed.

You need to think inside the box.

How can Caeser be right, yet the puzzle does not require shifts?

[Guest]

Alas, cryptology was never my thing... lol.... IDNE, I think I'll have to leave this one up to you.

[Guest]

box could be the computer, or a spoiler box...

maybe we need his idea...

[Guest]

Hmm, if thinking inside the box doesn't help, try going back to square one.

[Guest]

Hmm, if thinking inside the box doesn't help, try going back to square one.

I randomly stumbled on the answer. Well, randomly stumbled on the question and got the answer.

Who Killed Medusa?

widu
hlms
olea
ked

widuhlmsoleaked=

Perseus.

I believe that this is the password

Edited March 26, 2009 by IDoNotExist

[Guest]

I randomly stumbled on the answer. Well, randomly stumbled on the question and got the answer.

Who Killed Medusa?

Perseus.

I believe that this is the password

We have a winner. I'll explain everything in the next post.

Should I PM you when I get the next one up?

[Guest]

We have a winner. I'll explain everything in the next post.

Should I PM you when I get the next one up?

Yes please

[Guest]

send me a PM too please.

ok, at first i didnt understand

widuhlmsoleaked=

widu

hlms

olea

ked

But now i get it

im like, HOLY **** - you're a genius.

Well done!!

[Guest]

Yeah, if it has to do with programming/cyphers/codes, then I'm hopeless, but I would like a PM as well if it's not.

[Guest]

The members of the group stared at each other.

Clavius broke the silence. "Four clues huh? The first looks like the key to a cipher. See, R corresponds to P, T to Y and Y to F."

Dave looked hard at the screen. "Definitely not a frameshift cipher. Looks more like a substitution one. But how are the rest of the alphabets assigned?"

Everyone stared blankly at the screen.

"RTY, RTY, why is it so familiar?" Jeanne thought out loud.

Lee shrugged. "Let's try looking it up." He walked to his terminal and started typing when he gasped. All eyes were on him.

"What?"

"RTY! I think it alludes to the QWERTY keyboard. Let's try searching for QWERTY." Lee types in the letters and a few moments later looked up.

"Guys, apparently there are a few different layouts for the QWERTY keyboard. Such as AZERTY and QWERTZ. You think it's one of those?"

"Wait. Could it be the Dvorak layout?" Yulianna interjected. "In my college there are some computers that use that layout, especially for programming classes."

"Worth a shot," said Lee as he looked for a converter online. "Y, d, fullstop ..." Lee's words became a mumble. "Convert!".

"Yes! It's right. Clue 2 reads 'The key you need is fire.' Let's try the next one."

A few moments later Lee's grin turned sour.

"It's not working guys."

"What do you mean not working?" asked Jeanne.

"Come take a look for yourselves."

Everyone crowded around Lee's terminal. The translation reads "X'gfmye,yyk.lmgZ".

"So we have another cipher?" asked Clavius.

Dave nods. "Looks like it. Maybe Clue 2 will give us an idea. The key we need is fire? Maybe there's a fire cipher?" Dave typed itin the search box and pressed enter. "Nothing."

"Well let's try Clue 4. That actually makes more sense than this jumble of letters," suggested Jeanne.

The companions huddled together and tried to figure it out. After some time, everyone got restless.

"It's 11pm guys. Let's get some rest." said Clavius looking up from his watch.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They had more food and went to sleep, backs against the cool marble walls.

The next morning, they awoke in the same confinement and got back to work. To everyone's surprise, Dave was already awake and working on it. Dave beamed at everyone.

"I got it. Those sneaky [blimp]! Look at this, :Putting DNA into the heart of Vire gave rise to an enigma.". DNA can be GENE and if you put that in the heart of Vire, it gives Vigenere. I did a search on it and it returned a cipher. Plug it into a converter with fire as the key, voila; 'widuhlmsoleaked?'. There onwards I'm stumped."

"I think that we have to use both clues 3 and 4 together so let's go off clue 4 again." said Yulianna. "Julius? Julius Caesar? Maybe a Caesar cipher?"

Multiple tries later, they hit a dead end.

"It's useless. All 26 shifts do not work. Any other ideas?"

Clavius thought out loud, "What if it's a Caesar square? I know it's not made by him, but it does have his name, so... Aha! Got it!" He held the paper up for the rest of the group.

"Who killed Medusa?"

"Perseus."

Jeanne typed it in. "It worked!"

The screen blanks out and reads;

"Congratulations! You are one step closer to finding the truth. The last door is open. I bid you luck. Oh, and here is a small reward for solving that puzzle. You will have access to an encyclopedia database and will be able to communicate with each other through these PDAs. Have fun."

The terminal opened and revealed 5 PDAs.

"Whoever they are, they sure planned this a while ago," said Jeanne. She held one up and her name was carved on the back of it. The same holds true for the other four.

"Like I said, a sick joke," said Lee as the rest grabbed their PDAs. They headed out of the room and into the next, hoping to make some sense out of this 'game' they are playing.

*****

Thanks for your patience. I'll have the next one up tomorrow!

[Guest]

Oh, don't forget the spoiler.

Try using google.

Do you have to use the Vigenere square? If so then I'm working on decoding it.

[Guest]

Do you have to use the Vigenere square? If so then I'm working on decoding it.

Yes.